The credit bureaus are out here telling folks about your business. Here’s how you can stop them.
Are you receiving an onslaught of pesky calls from potential lenders or “pre-screened” offers from credit card companies? This may be because the credit bureaus have sold your information.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, credit reporting agencies such as Transunion, Equifax, or Experian are legally allowed to sell your credit information, including an unlisted phone number, to potential lenders.
“Trigger leads” occur when a lender gives specific criteria to the credit reporting agencies, and the agencies create a report based on those criteria. The National Law Review states that the most common trigger event is when one applies for a mortgage.
Harry Samler, investigative reporter for Atlanta News First, said that after he applied for a loan, he received more than 100 calls from potential lenders in one day.
“Three lenders confirmed they received my number from one of the three major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and Transunion,” Samler wrote for Atlanta News First.
Unless you opt out, all three major credit reporting agencies provide your personal information to third-party lenders.
“We use and sell personal data to non-affiliated parties for the following commercial purposes: Commercial credit reporting. Some of our affiliates collect, use, and sell personal data when acting as a consumer reporting agency, as this activity is regulated by the FCRA,” Equifax states on its website.
There are several ways to opt out at Equifax. Consumers can call 888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688). Click here to opt-out online.
You call also mail in your request by sending a letter to:
Equifax Information Services LLC P.O. Box 740123 Atlanta, GA 30374-0123
To opt out at Experian, click here. You can also send an email to optout@experian.com with your full name, including name variations, address, email address, and phone number.
Transunion requires you to create an account to opt out online. You can also call them at 866-310-8763.
Your cell phone carrier may also provide tools to help reduce unsolicited calls and texts. T-Mobile users can dial #662 to activate the Scam Shield feature, and Verizon users can download the Call Filter app from their phone’s app store.
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David Steward’s $11.4 billion net worth earned him a spot on the Forbes 400.
David Steward has the highest ranking for a Black person on the 2024 Forbes 400 list.
Tied in 84th place with a net worth of $11.4 billion, Steward secured his placement as the founder and chairman of IT provider World Wide Technology. He co-founded the company in 1990 and now holds a majority stake in the $20 billion enterprise, which counts Citi, Verizon, and the federal government among its clients.
Steward, 73, comes from humble beginnings in the segregated South. He grew up with seven siblings and a father who worked as a mechanic, janitor, and trash collector. After earning his degree from Central Missouri University, he worked in sales for Missouri Pacific Railroad, Union Pacific, and FedEx before co-founding World Wide Technology. It was still a struggle before finding financial success, as Steward can recall watching his car get repossessed from the office parking lot.
His philanthropic efforts include contributing $1.3 million to the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 2018 to establish the David and Thelma Steward Institute for Jazz Studies. Stewards’ rags to riches story instilled a strong belief in the accessibility of the American Dream.
“The breadth and depth of opportunities we have here, coupled with a culture that allows you to be all you can be, makes it possible for anyone to be successful,” Steward said, as cited by the Horatio Alger Association. “We have a competitive edge over other countries, and it is important for us to preserve that. It’s great that my story is only one of millions in America. I feel blessed to live in this great country.”
Steward is engaged with various organizations dedicated to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion for historically underrepresented communities, including the National Urban League, the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, Boy Scouts of America, Boys Hope Girls Hope, BEYA, NPower, the National Minority Supplier Development Council, and the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation.
His family is avid supporters of the family of the late Wendell Scott, the first African American driver in NASCAR and the first to win a race in what is now the Cup Series. Their advocacy played a crucial role in prompting NASCAR to acknowledge Scott’s historic achievement officially, culminating in presenting a long-overdue trophy to Scott’s children and grandchildren in 2021—almost 58 years after the race and 31 years after Scott’s passing.
Along with Steward, other Black billionaires who earned a spot on the Forbes 400 include Robert F. Smith, who came in at the 88th spot.
Credit card debt has risen despite high interest rates, a sign that many Americans have been relying on credit cards to get them through inflation.
According to the latest numbers from the Federal Reserve Credit Survey, Black Americans carry, on average, $4,360 in credit card debt, the third highest figure by ethnicity, according to available demographic data.
However, along with Latinx Americans, Black Americans share the lowest median credit card debt at $1,700.
According to Motley Fool, credit card debt has risen despite high interest rates, a sign that many Americans have been relying on credit cards to get through inflation.
According to Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, that is precisely what occurred.
“They (Americans) used credit card debt to supplement their incomes to maintain their purchasing power,” Zandi told Time Magazine. “Families who turned to credit cards to fill in budget gaps now have higher interest payments.”
Zandi also offered a hopeful outlook, “The good news is card growth has slowed, and lenders have tightened their underwriting. There are some signs that things are starting to stabilize and level off.”
Despite the lower median credit card debt figure, New York Federal Reserve researchers found that Black and Latinx credit card holders were more likely to be delinquent on credit card debt.
However, according to CBS News, there may be a few ways to escape credit card debt through credit card debt forgiveness programs.
Usually, getting credit card debt forgiven involves contacting creditors to settle the debt for less than the original amount owed.
Another option is to work with a debt consolidation or a debt relief company, but there are typically some requirements to be met before that is an option.
Most companies require a minimum of $7,500 in unsecured debt, but that figure varies by company.
If that figure is more than what is owed to a creditor, it is likely your best bet to negotiate directly with the creditor, but if your credit score is good enough, you can also apply for a debt consolidation loan or a balance transfer credit card, which comes with a low (usually 0% APR) introductory interest rate.
In addition, credit counseling agencies can give cardholders budgeting advice and enroll them in a debt management plan that can lower interest rates and consolidate payments.
The last and, in some cases, the most desperate option is to declare bankruptcy, which essentially wipes your debts and gives you a clean slate, but it does damage your credit score and, depending on the type of bankruptcy declaration, can take as long as five years to resolve.
As Black Cosmopolitan previously reported, there are ways to control debts proactively so you don’t have to be in a position where you need debt consolidation services.
One of the best methods is proactively tracking your credit card purchases. Most major credit card companies have systems that allow you to see your balance, so take advantage of that resource so you don’t fall behind on your monthly payments.
Another money management tip is to use a debit card or cash for purchases lower than $50 and only use your credit card for larger purchases. This will allow you to spread the cost over time in more manageable amounts.
According to Beverly Anderson, president of Global Consumer Solutions at Equifax, knowing what you spend and paying what you can are major keys to avoiding credit card debt in the first place.
“A consumer should look at how much they’re making and what they’re spending,” Anderson told CNBC Select, “Knowing exactly where you stand and what you can afford may help you better manage financial commitments.”
Anderson continued, “When a consumer is not able to pay in full, they should pay whatever they can and avoid any late payment as that may not only hurt their credit standing but further increase the interest rate.”
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A former tech employee shares tips on how to quietly vacation while on the clock.
Meet Tobi Oluwole, a former big tech employee who spent ten weeks vacationing from 2022 to 2023 but only officially reported three weeks of vacation time.
Now a full-time entrepreneur and LinkedIn creator, Oluwole is reminiscing on the weeks of traveling he used to do while still on the clock working for a major tech company. In 2022, he traveled every six weeks and only clocked two weeks of vacation. In 2023, Oluwole quietly vacationed for three weeks but only reported one week of vacation time.
“Over the course of 15 months, I spent a total of ten weeks quiet vacationing from my fully remote job,” he told Business Insider.
“I think quiet vacationing may be good for productivity; I was genuinely so happy while traveling the world, and it translated into my productivity at work.”
This growing trend among remote workers, known as quiet vacationing, involves employees taking time off without informing their boss—an alternative to the quiet quitting movement.
How Oluwole managed to vacation without his job knowing, as a remote worker, there were specific processes he had to take and consider before taking flight. He outlines these considerations in five tips he shares for other remote workers who want to add more quiet vacations into their work week.
Learn how to build systems that allow you to do your job more effectively but in less time.
“As long as you are performing, you will have fewer eyes on you,” Oluwole says. “I figured out that since we worked remotely, all I had to do was ensure that my team always performed well, and I could be anywhere in the world.”
Oluwole developed a system to automate messages and tasks and would schedule dedicated time in his calendar to prevent random meetings from being booked. He had teammates send notes, or he would read the AI-generated meeting summaries and use a virtual background for calls. As a manager, he still had a team to look over, which he successfully did by implementing effective systems, such as reducing all one-on-one meetings from an hour to just 15 to 30 minutes each week. He also established a daily revenue tracker to keep his team informed about the targets they needed to reach to meet their monthly and quarterly quotas.
Learn how to get work done through people.
“Whenever work needed to be done on the days I was quiet vacationing, I’d delegate as many tasks as I could to my team,” Oluwole shared.
“I chose a team captain who stood in for me to run team meetings when I was out being a tourist and paired people up according to their strengths and weaknesses. This is why the team almost never missed our quota.”
His team also enjoyed the task delegation and had “good things” to say about Oluwole’s management style. He credits this to the motivation and inspiration he provided his team through support and financial reassurance.
“When we had big goals, or if our team was behind, I’d get on calls to close deals with them. I was very intentional about making sure they knew I’d be in the fire with them when I needed to be, which built lots of trust,” he explained.
Quality time he also helped. Oluwole spent time outside work with his team and even planned annual trips with them. He also avoided micromanaging, which motivated them to continue working hard even when he wasn’t around.
Say “no” more often to projects that don’t align with your career goals.
“This really helped me avoid playing politics or the career ladder game,” Oluwole said. “If an opportunity didn’t serve my long-term goals or was too high-profile, I’d turn it down.”
“I turned down projects, stating I didn’t have enough capacity, and also refused to attend non-essential meetings,” he added.
Build something you own outside your job.
While working at a major tech company, Oluwole actively side-hustled on LinkedIn, building a following of over 100,000. He promoted a career boot camp on the platform and secured multiple brand partnerships, earning between $5,000 and $8,000 monthly in addition to his day job.
“My company had a 90-day work-from-anywhere policy, but it required us to submit each location we were going to work from, and I chose not to follow it,” he said.
“Having my own side hustle allowed me to not feel the pressure to follow all the rules. It also gave me disposable income to use for traveling and do all of this without fear.”
Try to find a boss who values your productivity more than your physical presence, although that can be out of your control.
“I did sometimes get questioned by my boss and sometimes even higher-ups about my schedule and availability, but it happened rarely and wasn’t a big issue,” Oluwole said.
Due to his strong performance and his team’s ability to meet their quotas, Oluwole received positive performance reviews, resulting in a 13% raise at the tech company. After enjoying ten weeks of quiet vacationing throughout the year, he left the company, relocated to Paris, France, with his wife, and transitioned to working for himself full-time.
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Leadership can get so wrapped up in their own initiatives they can’t see the roots of other issues that can be improved.
Reader’s Question:
Dear Fairygodmentor,
I feel so stuck in a career rut. There’s nowhere for me to go in this organization. I feel tempted to take on a different role just to get out of this situation because my manager thinks it would be “a good move” for me. What is your advice on how I can take back control of my career path?
Best wishes,
Stuck in a Rut
Dear Stuck in a Rut,
Shirley Chisholm spoke about bringing your own folding chair to get a seat at the table. In times where you feel stuck—sometimes you have to build your own darn table! I used to get stuck in a rut all the time, especially when I would get on someone else’s career track and not the one I created for myself.
At one point in my career, I took a voluntary demotion to move onto a different career track. What was supposed to be only a 12-18 month “assignment” turned into what felt like a 4.5-year sentence with no parole. I was bored, unmotivated, and had grown bitter. I kept exploring roles outside of the path that others had put me on and kept coming up with zero movement. So, to liven things up, I started to think of myself as an internal consultant. What needed fixing or attention? How could I improve the business from the inside out?
Sometimes leadership gets so wrapped up in their initiatives that they can’t see the roots or sources of other issues you may see that can be improved upon, ultimately improving the business. I worked in human resources at the time, so I created some employee focus groups. What did they feel needed to be fixed?
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With the data from the focus groups, I created solutions. To gain buy-in, I would enlist the help of these employees to roll out these initiatives. It broke me out of the Groundhog Day-to-Day doldrums. I also created visibility for myself and ultimately my department. Some of those initiatives that I internally consulted on became national initiatives. And this is all because I decided to do something to create some change and shed some light on what I thought was a stalled-out career. My initiatives were getting noticed, and I got a call one day to join a team as a supervisor in a completely different department. I broke out of my rut and kept moving forward. I used that same internal consultant mindset to ultimately drive results for my new team and the business.
If you can’t find opportunities within the organization, look externally through volunteering. There are tons of organizations that need board members with various skills and abilities. You can leverage those skills externally and bring them back inside your current organization. Don’t forget to put those skills on your resume. Just because you didn’t get paid for your work doesn’t mean it didn’t count.
Another career rut buster that I would lean heavily on was being a Fairygodmentor® to others. There’s always someone else who aspires to be where you are. Help them get there. Take the time, listen, share best practices, and build relationships. This action will also breathe new life into a job that you thought was a dead end.
Find the pain and fix it. Build your own darn table!
You got this!
Yours truly,
Your Fairygodmentor®
Joyel Crawford is an award-winning career and leadership development professional and the founder of Crawford Leadership Strategies, a consultancy that develops empowered, results-driven leaders through engaging leadership development coaching, training, and facilitation. She is the author of the best-selling book and audiobook, Show Your Ask: Using Your Voice to Advocate for Yourself and Your Career.
Have a question about handling a micromanager? Are you having difficulty navigating spaces because of your hair? Is work stressing you out. Do you need support coaching poor performance or are you wondering how to negotiate and get the job offer you desire effectively? Do you have any questions about career and leadership development?
Acclaimed music industry executive and decorated songwriter, shares tips for Black professionals.
Written by Tab Nkhereanye
We’ve all had that feeling that we’re on the wrong path to achieve our professional dreams. You’re not alone. Here is what I did in my journey from hit songwriter to music industry executive.
It’s hard enough to get a foot in the door in your desired industry in general, let alone parlay that into your next chapter and arena as a professional. This was something I learned firsthand. Growing up, music was everything to me and something I wanted to get involved with intimately, so I started networking, sharing my music, and collaborating; one thing led to another, and a decade passed, and I had co-written a handful of No. 1 songs for artists like Justin Bieber, Mary J. Blige, Madonna, and Brittney Spears. However, I really wanted to explore the DNA of hitmaking from the music business perspective. This was something not many if any, writers had done, so I had to roll up my sleeves and figure out a path to that journey. Along that way, there were a lot of setbacks and wins, No. 1 records and flops, job changes, and energy being put into my new role. Today, I am currently SVP of Artists and Repertoire at BMG, where I firmly stand on the other side of the world of hitmaking. Here are the ways I got to where I was.
Decide Where You Want To Go
Having a north star when approaching a career change is the first priority of accomplishing the mission. Explore job descriptions that connect with your professional desires and goals and land on a role or career that is most aligned with your goals.
Identify Skills and Make A Networking Plan
Many people, even yourself, will put your past experiences and jobs into a box. To start this journey, you will need to look at where you have been and identify what skills can translate and have you excel in your new career path. These skills are what will make you marketable. Take those skills and make a plan for how you will get to the decision-makers and experts in this new field. Who will you need to meet? Who are your champions? Who can be a new champion of your work and skills? Where will you find these champions?
Create Messaging Points + Start Networking
Rightfully or wrongfully, everyone you know has you associated with where you are and where you have been — it takes signaling with language and direct messaging to help guide your new and old champions to where they can best put you to implement your plan.
Lay out where you have been and how your skills make you right for your new path. Have these points in your mind when conversing with people to build a narrative for your champions. Don’t beat around the bush; lay out why you want to make this step, why it will be great, and most importantly, how people in your network can potentially help.
People are good and want to help each other. Help make it easy for them to showcase you with others in their network.
Be Your Own Engine
During my career transition from songwriter to executive, I found that many decision-makers were risk averse. That is why I forged my own path as I continued networking and conversations—hitting the pavement, meeting new artists, exploring opportunities that I could bring to life, and using these projects to essentially build my portfolio. What can you do to not only signal your work but also show potential naysayers that you are actually doing the work already?
Mentality
This journey is not for the faint of heart. It requires a lot of rejection, comes with roadblocks and difficulties, and the wrong mental approach can get in the way or completely derail your journey. Have patience with yourself, have patience with others, and be kind to yourself. Keep doing the next right thing and working hard on these aforementioned steps, and you will get to where you want to go.
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Over the last 20 years, Tab Nkhereanye, SVP of A&R (Artists & Repertoire) at BMG, has been one of the driving forces behind hitmakers and top charting songs alike. Nkheranye’s success in the music industry is unlike many, providing him with one of the most unique perspectives in the field and a resume that is hard to top. His path to BMG was not a traditional one at all; as a songwriter in the first decade of his career, he was responsible for multiple No. 1 hits, writing with Justin Bieber, Madonna, Mary J. Blige, and Brittany Spears.
