We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Simone The Mastermind. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Simone The below.

Simone, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the toughest things about entrepreneurship is that there is almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

My family and I (my two children and my grandmother stays with me) became homeless just two months before the expected launch of my marketing program. A marketing program that I have become so passionate about, that I decided to eliminate all other services that did not relate to it. I’ve been in business for nine years and was excited that I finally found my sweet spot–assisting people of color with expanding and leveraging their online presence to scale their own brands. Unfortunately, dealing with identity theft turned my life upside down very quickly and caused me to put a halt on everything.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Absolutely. Hello, everyone! I am Simone the Mastermind, your number one business and marketing strategist. Underpaid and under pressure CEOs turn to me to eliminate that round-the-clock grind. Together we expand your presence online to turn those lurks into dollars spent with your brand.

I am also an author, speaker, podcaster, and lifestyle influencer.

I am known on social media as Santana or Yellabizbae (Instagram: @yellabizbae) where I share marketing tips, review local spots and events, and also openly advocate for the cannabis community. I’m also pretty damn funny.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I surely do. In fact, it is quite recent if we are gonna be completely honest. As I was saying previously, identity theft mixed with a little housing crisis here in my city led my family and I into homelessness. On April 5, 2023, we had to leave our home.

Months prior, I was seeking a new home for more space. The house that we stayed in for three years was damaged and the property management was not fixing the issue, but masking it instead. My children and I were becoming sick, mold and mildew were popping up in the home, and I even had electrical issues when it rained once (I lost power in half of my home). I contacted the proper authorities, but this is a mega property management. At this point, I was just ready to break my lease and find a new, safer home for my family and I. In December of 2022, I applied for a home and was denied. No biggie. It wasn’t until my second denial that I decided to look into my credit and consumer reports, only to learn that I was dealing with a bit of identity theft. Not only was I being denied rental applications, I couldn’t even open a personal bank account. It was then that I learned that it seemed as if I was using HER credit. Oh the irony.

I’m well versed in credit restoration, so in my mind, it wouldn’t be a big problem. Pull my reports, verify my identity, send off a few letters and boom–back on track. It did not work out this way. I was doing a lot of back and forth and still was having the hardest time with clearing my social. So much that April came around before I knew it. My family and I had to leave the home and I had no idea where we would go. Literally my biggest fear manifested. We had to hurry and pack up the home that we lived in for the last three years in about three to four days.

I’m a strategist, so I was bracing for the “fall”. I got us an Airbnb for a few days then a hotel, just to give me time to work some things out. Things didn’t get better. I maxed out on credit cards, depleted any savings I had left, and became exhausted with telling people what was going on so that I could ask for money. I was a problem solver for others, but just could not find my way out of my own problem. Nobody ever missed a meal, shower, day of school, or had to sleep on the street. I kept telling myself to hold on through the kids’ graduations (kindergarten and fifth grade). I just didn’t realize that being homeless with a family of four was a lot more expensive than just being behind on bills. In fact, things got so horribly worse that I was convinced that I’ve hit rock bottom in my depression and that it was just time to “check out”. People over the last two years have been so used to seeing me function in my depression that I truly think that no one understood the magnitude of that I was truly falling apart.

On May 4, 2023, I wrote a letter that I now can look back and say that I am glad that i didn’t finish. Instead, I had to put my feelings of shame and anger to the side to publicly ask for help. Was I worried about what people would think? Absolutely. However, it was a moment where I had to decide if was going to succumb to pride or humility. So I had to remind myself of that and reach out. That led to some people showing up for me where others that I expected to did not. I can honestly say this was a season where I had to remain obedient for the things that I prayed about and trust my own discernment, even when things didn’t make sense. Surely a season of revelations and personal growth of realizing that you cannot lean on anyone but God. Allow Him to get people and places and things to show up on your behalf.

Fast forward a month later, I got the chance that I have been praying long and hard for. I’ve dished out hundreds of dollars in application fees and admin fees over these last few months, only to be denied every time. I remember I prayed that God would touch the hearts of everybody that I needed to speak to on that day. I spoke to a lady and just told her the truth on what I’ve been going through these last few months. That in a nutshell, the identity theft stuff had my scores too low for anyone’s approval but that I wasn’t going to be able to make it any longer with $1,400/week in hotel reservations. There wasn’t anyone else we could stay with. Nothing else I could do. I had exhausted all other options at this point. I truly felt like death was an easier option at this point. Oh but God…

I was approved for a new place.

The lady asked me when did I want to move in. I merely replied with, “today!”

The date was June 15, 2023–the same date that I originally planned on launching the Melanated Accelerator, my online marketing program for BIPOC business owners and creators. Instead, I was launching something else–another shot at this thing called life.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

One thing that I have always took pride on was being my authentic self. That doesn’t take away my ability to read the room, but more so a reminder that I enjoyed showing up as my unapologetic self and also being self aware. These are characteristics that I built my self branding on. I am consistent, in both personal and professional aspects and I continue to produce results for any business that I work with. I’ve been behind the scenes of countless businesses that so many people love. For me it has always been about one thing–being able to successfully problem solve for others. My reputation is a reflection of that. In fact, that’s how the name “The Mastermind” came to be!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.simonemastermind.com | www.melanatedaccelerator.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/yellabizbae
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/yellabizbae
• Twitter: twitter.com/yellabizbae
• Youtube: youtube.com/yellabizbae
• Email: [email protected] (for PR/Events) and [email protected] (for business and marketing)

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