What happens when you grow up knowing what it feels like to not have enough money?
For La La Anthony, that feeling became part of the fuel behind her ambition. Raised by a single mom, La La learned early that she wanted to build a life where she could take care of herself and never have to feel guilty about asking for money. That independent spirit eventually took her from an unpaid radio internship at 16 to a career spanning radio, acting, producing, entrepreneurship, fashion, and philanthropy.
In this episode of Brown Ambition, Mandi Money sits down with La La to talk about the money lessons she had to learn the hard way, from spending her first paychecks on things that made her look successful to negotiating an $80,000 salary at just 18 without a lawyer or agent. La La gets candid about what it took to understand her worth, why she believes you have to stay involved in your finances even when you have financial professionals managing your money, and why asking questions is a critical part of becoming financially literate.
Mandi and La La also talk about building wealth as a Black entrepreneur, the importance of access and capital for Black and brown founders, and La La’s growing interest in supporting innovative businesses. Plus, La La opens up about raising her son Kiyan to understand the importance of paying attention to his money from a young age, and the ongoing challenge of learning how to balance a relentless work ethic with rest, family, and actually enjoying the life she’s worked so hard to build.
In this episode, we get into:
• How growing up without much money shaped La La’s entrepreneurial spirit
• The lessons she learned from her first paychecks and early money mistakes
• Why knowing your worth matters when negotiating your salary and contracts
• The importance of being actively involved in your finances, even when you have a financial team
• Why financial literacy also means being willing to admit what you don’t know
• Supporting Black and brown founders who don’t have easy access to startup capital
• Teaching the next generation about saving, investing, and financial responsibility
• The tension between ambition, work ethic, motherhood, and making time to actually live
• Learning to give yourself grace when you’re figuring it all out
La La’s biggest money lesson? Give yourself grace. None of us get a roadmap for being an entrepreneur, a parent, an employee, or simply trying to build a life that feels good. We’re all learning as we go.
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