Not Your Gratitude Project + Boss It or Toss It: Vacation Edition

In this episode of Just US, Liz Nolley and Kere Thomas dive into a letter from “Not Your Gratitude Project,” a high-performing Black woman whose boss keeps hitting her with the same undermining line: “You should be thankful you even have a job.” And whew…Liz and Kere are immediately triggered—because they’ve lived it.

They break down why that phrase isn’t “just a joke,” but a classic corporate gaslighting and intimidation tactic meant to control behavior and shrink confidence. From documenting every incident (and every win), to pulling receipts, gathering third-party praise, and getting HR involved when necessary, they outline real strategies to protect your peace and your career. They also talk about reading the room: is this one manager, a toxic culture, or a warning sign about layoffs? And no matter what—keep your “corporate go bag” ready: updated resume, active network, and a financial cushion.

Then the episode shifts into a lighter (but still very real) round of Boss It or Toss It: Vacation Spots Black Folks Love (Besides Martha’s Vineyard)—with hot takes on Atlantic City, Dubai, Jamaica, cruises, Miami, Vegas, Ghana, and the undefeated favorite: staying home.

Come for the coaching, stay for the laughs, the culture, and the mic-drop moments.

Hey everybody. I'm Liz Nolley. I'm Kere Thomas, and welcome to the Just US Podcast, A place for black women navigating corporate spaces.

So Liz, we have a very interesting letter that I am excited to get to, so let's go right into the readout.

Okay. Alright, well this one is from a reader called who calls herself, not your gratitude project.

She writes. Dear Liz and Kere, I am a black woman now. Excuse me, lemme start over. I am a black woman working in a corporate environment where on paper, I should feel accomplished. I've worked hard for my degrees, delivered consistently strong results and earned praise from colleagues across the organization.

But my manager has a habit of saying something that chips away at me every time. Mm-hmm. You should be thankful you even have a job.

I am triggered

Woohoohoo. I feel personally attacked.

Yes. Triggered all the things.

Angry. Wait, where's that playlist from the previous episode? Right.

Who we. Okay. They gonna make me put on some DMX up in here. Right? But okay, let's continue with the letter then we'll get into it. Sometimes she says, it's said jokingly. Other times it's wrapped in a comment about the economy or the competitive job market, but no matter how it's delivered, the message lands the same, that I'm somehow lucky to be here instead of here because I've earned it.

It's demeaning. Mm-hmm. It's dismissive. Mm-hmm. And it makes me question whether she sees my value at all.

Hmm.

I've tried to brush it off, but lately the comments feel heavier. I've started wondering if this is a red flag, or even worse, a sign that she sees me as replaceable. Hmm. I've been in corporate long enough to know when someone is trying to subtly remind you of your place.

I don't want to overreact, but I don't want to let this slide either. How should I handle a boss who uses you? Should be thankful you have a job as a way to manage, motivate, or minimize. Is this something I address directly, escalate or simply take as my cue to update my resume? Signed not your gratitude project.

Go.

Why does she always do that? Because it's fun. Listen, first of all, you don't have to be grateful for anything I'm saying, especially something that you have worked for.

She says it and then she says it right there. She says it right there in the letter. She has worked for, worked hard for her degrees, delivered consistently strong results and earned praise from colleagues across the organization.

Yeah, it is just a simple way of her boss. Trying to control how she behaves, what she does. It's a fear tactic to get exactly what you want from that person. Don't fall for it.

A hundred percent. This is the corporate? Yeah, corporate. Gaslight corporate, exactly. Manipulation game.

I hate this with a passion. I as a manager would never say this to someone. I might think it in my head, but I'm never gonna say that out loud. You should be thankful you have this job. No.

Work in these United States today is a transactional relationship.

Yes it is. I do my work. You pay me.

That's it. Work is at will. Yeah. So you can come when you want to leave when you want to. And the flip side of that coin is your, your employer within a certain set of parameters can invite you to leave if they want to too. Right. Right. But you, we, we not on the plantation anymore,

But if my performance doesn't dictate that I'm going to be let go, then you don't tell me. I should be thankful 'cause you're not gonna get rid of me. That's right. So I don't have to listen to that from you. And then I would, I would take it further as that's an intimidation tactic and that is a cue for me to call HR.

Hostile work environment. Yeah, that's what this is. If I were you, not your gratitude project, I would document every single case of when she says this to you, the circumstances, the time, the place, the date, and if there are others around who heard it and don't let her put it in writing. 'cause Yeah. Then you know you could be. That exactly. That could hold up very well in a court of law. Exactly. If, if it goes there and it looks good when your lawyer's negotiating a settlement agreement too. Right. But, but I would start document.

Those are called receipts.

00:06:23 Kere

They're probably saying some other crazy stuff too. And there's probably more of it coming from, I mean, more of it heard by other people as well.

Exactly, and my guess is she's probably, you're probably not the only person that this manager has said this to, and if you are, you gotta look at Like, are you the only one? The only one, yeah. That she's saying it to.

Why is she saying that to me?

I'm assuming it's to she, you know, or is it that she's saying it to everybody on the team?

Mm-hmm. Either. Either way it's inappropriate.

Either way it's inappropriate. But either way, you're looking at the pattern and you gotta document that pattern from an HR perspective. Right? If you're dealing with that. But I would also say to our friend. Not the gratitude project. Mm-hmm. I would say to, to you, don't let this person get inside your head and gaslight you into thinking that your boss is doing you some kind of a favor.

Oh, this is not a favor.

Gone are the days of, of the corporate plantation, so you don't have to Yes. A bossa Yes, ma'am. Yes. A massive bossa to any, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You, you have earned it. You are qualified. You, you are there for a reason. You do your job, you do it extremely well. Based on what you put in this letter. Don't let anybody gaslight you into thinking that they're doing you the favor by having, if anything, every day before you walk into that place, you need to say. You know what?

This company is lucky to have me, right? You The prize, like, because you're bringing all your skills, your degrees, your training, your experiences to the job, you're making your department look good. Every day, you're making this boss of yours look good. Every day. You're making your clients look good, or whatever the case may be.

You need to dial back into your energy. And, and all of the, the skills and accomplishments and things that you bring to the table, don't let somebody shift that, that away from you.

Gaslighting. Gaslighting is a good phrase for this because, you know, we as black women, we always, what's the saying? Work twice as hard to get half as much, half as far. And for someone to tell you that you should be lucky when you know that you are doing. Twice the work to get recognized. Preach, preach. No, I don't. I don't have to feel lucky. I'm putting in the work so. Don't come at me with that. 'cause that is definitely a gaslighting tactic.

A hundred percent. And chances are you're probably underpaid anyway.

00:09:28 Liz

So now that we have been sufficiently triggered and up and heared, which is my new verb for, for things that inspire that DMX. Party up energy.

What is the solution for her?

You're wired for excellence. You know this. Your boss knows this. Everybody who works with you knows this, and you know this. Why? Because you put it in your letter to us. So I know you know this. So. Make sure that you remind yourself of that every day and make sure you document not just these microaggressions when they happen, but document your successes, right?

All of those coworkers and colleagues who give you positive remarks or every time you get a win with one of them or something like that, say, you know, what would you mind sending? Hmm. Yeah, my boss a note saying that you enjoyed working with me on this project. Chances are they'll do it, and then they'll either blind copy you or flip you a copy of that note afterwards.

All of that goes in the file, right? You got a document, document, document to see why you're a right,

Because here's one thing and this, I've had this experience where people that I've worked with on projects have sent bad feedback, but also people have sent good feedback. And usually you can tell if the bad feedback is personal or not.

Based on what the good feedback says. Right. And sometimes it completely negates what that person was saying. That person had a personal vendetta and all of the good feedback outweighed that.

00:11:39

Kere: Mm-hmm.

I mean, since I was old enough to talk, I could write well. Right. And, um. And I, I, and so the fact, and I knew it was crazy, but the way she would come at me so hard and she was my boss and everything like that, I started questioning what I knew factually to be true. But my clients. They were like over the moon with the work that I was doing for them.

Not just what I was doing, but how I was doing it. Mm-hmm. And the way that I managed their expectations and built relationships with them and everything. And it was the positive feedback, overwhelmingly positive feedback from them. And thankfully the organization I worked at did 360s, so all of the negative stuff that she was negatively campaigning about.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Relative to me was severely overweighted and over, you know, and outweighed by everybody else that I work with. Whether it was a peer, whether it was a CEO above her and above, you know, or everybody in between was overwhelmingly positive. You know, it, it was personal, you know? Yeah. And it was a power play.

Yeah. So I had that experience because one person. I supported a C-Suite executive with their communications, and one person was afraid to tell that executive something about this announcement that we were working on, and I would not make the changes until they spoke to the executive. But they refused to do it.

And so in their minds, I was being difficult. Difficult.

Yeah. You were the problem

But you want me to. Fix your problem for you. That's not why I am here. Right. You need to have that conversation with your boss. Mm-hmm. So, but yeah. Yeah. That's the kind of stuff that you deal with in these type of situations that you should be thankful for.

Wait...time out for some black conversation. Mm-hmm. Anyway, you are nobody's charity case. Remember that, right? Like you had to interview with multiple people. You had to come right, demonstrate a portfolio of experiences, a portfolio of work, portfolio of credentials, degrees, training, et cetera. You deserve to be there.

You know, and, and you get compensated with that. That's what your paycheck and your bonus and your benefits and all of that is for, because you deserve to be there. There are no favors here. Nobody's lucky, right? Yeah. Like there's no, there's no beholding this here. Right.

Okay. Unless you think that she is questioning your work, your performance.

Yeah. That's a separate issue.

And that's another conversation.

That's a separate issue. But she, in the letter, she says that, that there's no performance issues. Right. So then, yeah. And if, and to guard against that. Go, go out there, document those successes, document your wins, and get some third party endorsements and you know, notes.

Like don't ever be afraid to ask your internal clients, colleagues who give you praises, you know, to you who you did a great job for, to drop a line to your, to your boss. Chances are, if you are having a major issue with a particular boss, other people are having an issue with that boss. So you, you don't know.

Yeah. You, you don't know the air up there 'cause you're so like into the weeds of your own experience.

Yeah.

So that's number one. Don't internalize it. You're nobody's charity case. Document your, your successes. Um, so that's number one and number two, and if it's appropriate and if you have this personality type.

00:15:3 Kere

Hmm.

You can push back and call bs.

This was written for me.

In a professional way, you can go back and, and say to your boss, like, What do you mean? I'm sorry? Can you provide some more clarification about what you mean by that? Is this a performance issue? Mm-hmm. Or is there something else going on here? Can we, can I get 30 minutes on your calendar? Would like to discuss it and in that, and then that check in. Say, I know you repeatedly say that I'm lucky to have a job.

Just want to get on. Just wanna make sure that I understand where that's coming from, what's driving that. Put her on the spot. Yeah. Flip that script, change that dynamic.

Because if there's no issue with my work performance, then it's not luck.

Right, right. Where she's just, oh, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Okay, fine. Well, I'd appreciate it if. You didn't joke like that because I don't find it funny to me. It feels, um, a little bit threatening. Yeah. It feel, it, it creates insecurity in the department. Mm-hmm. And it's not the best for, for the team's morale.

Exactly.

You know, when you, when you, all of the above, when you say things like that, like you can find the ways to say it that works for you, but.

Yeah, you can, you can call her out, but do it professionally. Don't go full DMX up in here. Up in here on her. Okay. But I'm just saying like

You could go Dolly Parton nine to five maybe. I mean, you know, in that movie they wrapped that man up and left him in the office overnight. Don't kidnap your boss.

Don't do that. Don't do that. But. Invite her to a conversation or in your next one-on-one, ask her what? Well, what do you mean by that? Like, what's behind that? Or when you say that, like mm-hmm. Do, is that your way of signaling to me that layoffs are coming and I should be looking for other opportunities?

Yep.

Um, you know, like you can, you can call her out on that or, or are you just being funny? Well, well. Quite frankly, if you could keep those jokes to a minimum, because I don't think it's funny. I find it, you know, a little bit intimidating. If not, um, you know,

It sounds like a threat.

Yeah, it sounds like a threat.

Yeah.

And you can say, is that a, is that meant to be a threat? Or is that a joke? Or are layoffs coming? What, what? What's underneath that? What's behind that?

Mm-hmm. Yep.

And then let her defend.

Yeah,

And if you're afraid to have that conversation with her by yourself. If you know that other people, she said that kind of thing to, ask it at a staff meeting or ask it in front of other people, or get your HR business partner to sit down with you and have that conversation as a threesome.

It does not hurt to have a conversation with HR if it gets to where they're saying this constantly and you are feeling a little bit intimidated or threatened. Have the conversation with HR.

You know, and if you're the only one HR pick, HR people pick up on those kinds of things. Oh yeah. And you could say it's the only, you know, black woman in the department, I don't know if that's a threat. I don't know if that, if she's signaling something to me, I don't know how to take that.

So I'm wondering if you could join me for a conversation with her. Yeah. You know, and sit down. And the three of us, I, I just wanna have somebody else present. Yeah. So that, you know, the conversation gets documented.

And you also, you also want it documented that you had a conversation with HR. Now what? Now sometimes HR can be a little ineffective, no offense to anybody in HR, but sometimes, because they are towing the corporate line.

They may not have a sense of urgency about this, but they do have to document that you had the conversation. Right. And that's what you wanna have on the books.

A hundred percent. You gotta memorialize that conversation. Absolutely. And document it. All right.

Another thing that I would say is, we talked about this a little bit, is. Take inventory. Mm-hmm. Like, are you the only person that she's saying? Yeah. Is it the culture of your organization?

Like when you talk to other colleagues in other pockets of the organization or their bosses, like, do you work in just a toxic environment where all of the managers are like, ha, y'all are lucky to be here.

You know, whatever. Like, you know, that that speaks to a bigger cultural problem across the organization. Or is it just this one? Manager, or what's the word on the street? What, you know, like, see, you can, you can poke around with other clients, other people that interact with your boss, other colleagues and things like that.

And just see if it's, if it's a pattern of one person or if it's indicative of a broader culture. And then you can make some decisions around, you know, how you know where to go and, and how to go from here.

Is it different if. Your manager is saying, you're lucky to have a job, or We're all lucky to have a job. Does it matter? Is that semantics or does it mean something different if they say we're all lucky to have a job?

I think it's an important nuance. Okay. Um, because. Huh. You are lucky to have a job. It's about you. That's, that's you. Mm-hmm. Versus well, you know, we're lucky to have jobs. Yeah. Like, kind of thing.

That means that your manager is fearful of something broader and bigger, like signaling, Hey, we on the Titanic together. Yeah, yeah. And we are about to go down versus I'm about to push you over. You know what I mean?

It's the I'm Rose and you're Jack and there's only room for one of us on the door.

You know what I mean? Like, so I, I think that's, that's the nuance. And yeah, if you can have that conversation. With your boss and say, what's behind that? Like, are layoffs coming? Are, are, you know, are, are, are all of our jobs in jeopardy? Or is this a threat just for me?

Like, you know, that that's why you have to look at that? Or is it just the broader, con, broader culture? Mm-hmm. We worked at a place where, you know, managers would throw that line around like, like Frisbees, like everybody said that like, yeah.

That whole place was in flames.

Do you know what I mean? Like, so it wasn't just like, it wasn't, it wasn't personal, like between like a manager and personal, like this letter, this. From what I get based on just what's in the letter, it seems like, it sounds very personal. It sounds seems like a one-on-one problem versus like it, but that's why you have to do your research and poke around and get that intel and look for the patterns.

Like is everybody's manager saying, you know, you're saying this or, or is only my manager saying it. Okay. And if it's only my manager saying it, is she only saying it to me or is she saying it to everybody else?

Yeah.

And then you get a real clear picture of what's what, you get a clearer picture of what's going on here.

Yeah.

Um, and then finally, not your gratitude project. I would say regardless of what happens. Update that resume anyway.

Every year. Yeah. At least once a year. I check my resume, make sure it's updated, change some language, whatever.

Gotta have your corporate go bag ready.

Always be always be ready. Be ready, and, and. Have that financial go bag ready, right? Build your financial cushion. So sock away some of that bonus, like get your six months of salary in your cash reserve somewhere in case, you know, maybe it's not your manager, maybe it is, you know, the organization, something's coming around the pipe that you don't see.

You know, so just make sure that you are ready, like, but. Part of being ready is making sure that your resume is up to date. Mm-hmm. That your cover letter is up, that you're in regular, regular contact with those references, not just, you know, the day before you need them to, to be called, you know, like those rest, those, those relationships with those key people.

You know, keep your network live and popping in case you ever need, you know, the, the time to start. Networking isn't when you need your network, right? You gotta start networking long before you need your network so that it's primed and ready to go when you need it. And your resume is the same way.

And listen if you are lucky to have that job. Your luck will bring you another one. Thank you.

Waiting please…Kere, we gotta come up with an emoji for like a, a mic drop or something because every time Kere's got bars we gotta come up with a little graphic for that or something, but I don't know.

That's my new tagline. She has the bars she got, that's a, we should do that t-shirt in the store.

She got bars in the store at Liz, the purpose coach.com/store. Shameless plug. Support the podcast. Buy our merch. Get the merch. But maybe that's a t-shirt that we have to add into the store. Yeah, there you go. But, um, but seriously, like you always gotta be ready. Right. You like, um, absolutely. What's the expression?

You gotta stay ready so you never have to get ready. Exactly. Like, so part of that is making sure that your resume ought to be up to date anyway, I had a, um, former boss turned mentor. Mm-hmm. Um, who used to, who told me that he goes on at least two interviews a year. And he had been with his company for, like…

I had a manager tell me the same thing,

And he had been with the company like 20 years. Yeah. I was like, you 've been here forever. You're not going anywhere. Why would you do that? Like I, at the time, he told me I didn't understand. Right. Yeah. I totally didn't understand. And he was like, just to keep my skills sharp, that's what he said. And to keep my resume sharp and to check my market value.

There you go.

I was like, woo. Check my value. You know, they, they're always talking about know your worth. Exactly. Know your worth. This is it.

Yeah.

It's not just, see, okay, as black folk. We, we, we are strong on the intrinsic value that we possess. The spiritual value. What does that mean? Spiritual value? You know, the value of having you in my life, right?

And the value of being in the presence me so much to, to me, you know what I mean? Like, we, we, we strong, we go hard in that intrinsic paint. But, but you can't pay bills with intrinsic value.

You cannot, you cannot pay bills.

Wait time out for some black conversation, really? So you, I sell them. So you have to know your market value exactly the dollar amount that your skills and collective experiences your.

Uh, your swag, all of your intangibles, like they talking about football players having tangibles. Yes. All of those things go in your, your personal brand. All of that goes into determining your market value. Mm-hmm. Right? And so when he said that, I was like, huh. Yeah, that's that. It made a lot of, it made a lot of sense to me.

Yeah, I hadn't heard that before. I was like in my thirties when he said that, that was like, yeah. And so, you know, so that's good practice anyway. It really is.

So, and I learned from that when my manager said that my manager was a black woman at the time, mine was a black man who told me and. She said the same thing.

Now, I don't know if she said who else she said that to, but she took special interest in letting me know that. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And did not discourage me from doing it, so that was good, beneficial. 'cause when the time came and it was time for me to ask for that number. Mm-hmm I was prepared 'cause I knew what was out there in the world waiting for me.

Black conversation. Yes.

I did.

Unless you got a friend that works in compensation and benefits and can give you what of what we do and can give you those pay grade ranges and all of that and can give you the comp data on what you, what you ought to be earning. Yeah. And stuff like that. Even if you do have that friend, whether you do or you don't, yeah, it's good to go out, check your market value and keep your network fresh because that same job that you turned down just because you were in a market value check, kind of a mode that could be, you know, a God opportunity for you Yeah. Down the road. And that you didn't even know, like was out there. Like it could be something. Yeah. You know, like you just don't know.

You may have met another person in that interview process that becomes part of your network and when the time comes, that connection is valuable.

Exactly. Exactly. Exactly, exactly.

And not just intrinsically

A hundred percent. So we are rooting for you. Our good sister? Yes. Not your gratitude project. Um, any part. Those are my thoughts. Any parting thoughts for you?

No, I think we, we said it all. Um, I would say she has a lot to be grateful for, but that paycheck. It's not something of gratitude that is a transactional action, and you can feel free to remind them of that.

A hundred percent. And if you don't remind anybody else, remind yourself exactly of that. You are there for that paycheck, that in incentive compensation, incentive pay.

And do not devalue yourself because of what someone else says.

That part. That part and make sure you get your dollar on the dollar. Yeah. Not the 60 cents on the dollar. Right. You know, kind of thing. Exactly. Like I actually had a boss tell me, well, you get paid very well. And I was like, yeah, I've earned it. Right. I was like, I've earned it. I was like, you, you see my resume?

Have you I that, that's what I said. I said, well, I said, well, based on my skills and experiences, I said, I'm having to send you a copy of my resume if you like.

That's the clap back right there.

And she just got real quiet and everything. And I said, okay. So then I let her off the hook after that. 'cause I knew she, she felt real uncomfortable. I was like, you know, like Jay-Z says I got 99 problems at work, but my, but my paycheck's not one. And she just started laughing, you know, 'cause she is, you know, she wasn't one of us, but she likes our culture and our music. So, you know, I tried to bridge the gap in a manner in which she understood.

That made her feel welcome.

It did... but not invited to the cookout. She can't come to the cookout. That's another episode.

One day we're gonna have a conversation about, we are gonna have a why I am not coming to the cookout.

Look, I got security at the cookout. Okay.

You better if you want me to show up. Okay. That's all I'm saying.

Some of us ain't getting into my cookout. Exactly. I'm just saying. So y'all stop being, so loose with the invites….so we won't talk about that on the invites, but, but I digress.

Top 10 reasons why I'm not coming to the cookout. Yeah. On the next episode.

But, um, but for our dear letter writer, um.

Oh wow. Thank you Amir. Right on time as always with the audio, but, um, but, but seriously, all jokes aside, we, we have a lot of fun on this show 'cause we deal with a lot of serious topics. Yeah. But not your gratitude project. You are right. You are nobody's gratitude project. Mm-hmm. You know, you are a fierce, competent, capable, um, accomplished professional who....My hope for you is that you are appropriately compensated for all that you bring to the table. So don't let this Gaslight game or any other Gaslight game make you question your worth, but have your corporate go bag ready. To include your financial safety net and your updated resume and all those tools, document, document, document.

But keep yourself lifted and prayed up and, and stood up and like, don't suffer silently on this one. Yeah, you don't have to. You got options.

Exactly. That was a good one. That that letter. Really got to me.

Whew, girl.

I thought I'm like, yeah. More so than some of the other ones because ugh, we've been there. Yes, I was triggered, I was attacked. I was attacked. But it felt like maybe I wrote that letter. I did not, but I, I, could have.

I was like, get outta my head. Not, not your gratitude project. But if you're out there and you're dealing with a situation in corporate America and you want some coaching and support, advice, guidance or whatever, like hit us up at list of purpose coach.com/podcast.

Just, you know, check the notes below and um, check the website below and send us your letter. Or if you really, really want some. Some, some extra love from Carrie and myself. Come on the show. Come hang out with us. Come hang out with us. We'll boss some things. We'll toss some things. Yes. We'll, and we'll give you some coaching on the show.

All right. Awesome. So, so thank you. Not your gratitude project for trusting us to support you with your letter today. Appreciate you.

Well, next up is one of our favorite segments. We gonna boss it or toss it. I love this part. And in the spirit of dealing with the stresses at work, sometimes you just wanna take a break. Yeah. And we tend to like to go a lot of different places.

We love us some Martha's Vineyard.

So I thought we could go on vacation. I love this. And we could boss or toss some vacation spots that we love black folks. Love that are not Martha's Vineyard.

I love this. I love, thank you, Kere. Oh, I can't wait to hear what's on this list because. During a certain time of year around Labor Day weekend and stuff like that, like you would think Martha's Vineyard is the only place on earth that black folks like to go where you can find us.

Uh, I'm saying, you know, so, so I am so curious, intrigued, and excited, um, to figure out what's on this list, to find out what's on this list.

All right. So boss it or toss it. Atlantic City.

Ah. Being a, being Jersey girls. Yeah. It's not that I don't like Atlantic City, but I don't like Atlantic City.

Uh, same

like I go there like all the time for conferences. I go to the spa, I go down, I got people in South Jersey and the whole nine.

There is stuff to do.

There's plenty to do. I go to concerts there. Not plenty.

There's stuff to do.

I go to concerts there. They got, you can go to a concert there. They got Kelsey's, they got, you know, like, yeah, it's a whole chicken bone beach. Or like, it's, it's a whole vibe. Like, you know, it's a whole thing. But when I think of vacation, yeah, that's not on the list.

That's a weekender. That's a, I'm going to this show and it's down in Atlantic City, so I'm gonna stay over.

Atlantic City's kinda like you grow up next, living next to like somebody that becomes like a big superstar and they're like Michael Jackson to the world, but they're just Mike from around the way, you know, you know what I'm saying?

Like, they're just, you know, like, and you're just like, oh, that's just him. City is Mike. You know what I mean? You know, like it's just. Like, you're just like, eh, whatever. Yeah, I know him.

Yes. The kid from up the street. You know, like,

Okay. Next up. Dubai.

Ooh, I'm gonna boss Dubai because that's on the to-do list. That's on the places to go. You're tossing Dubai.

I'm tossing Dubai.

I wanna go. I'm curious.

Overrated. That's what I think. I've never been.

I love this. This is why we do this segment,

But I think it is overrated to me. Let me know how it goes when you go there.

I will. I'll let you know if it's overrated or not.

Next up, Jamaica. Ah,

I love Jamaica. I just, I'm bossing Jamaica.

I don't care. I'm bossing Jamaica. Jamaica is the perfect black folks vacation spot. Okay. Because we love the food. We love the music. Like you just said, we love the vibe and they like us there. Everything is Irie.

Okay. I, oh, you cannot. Tell me, Jamaica's not the boss.

And even when like a Jamaican is mad and telling you off, there's something very lyrical or musical about it. I'm like, yeah, you right. You right. I was wrong for that. Yeah, you, it's right. It's poetic. It's poetic. I like So shout out to Jamaica.

I think I like our group chat that I think I was like, I must be like. My 23 and me must have some Jamaican DNA somewhere, because I get the best like Jamaican reels that come up in my Instagram and I'm here for all of it. Like, shout out to Jamaica. You know, one love one, one people.

One heart, one Destiny. I can't wait to go back. I'm me either. Me either. I love, love Jamaica,

Um, cruises.

I'd rather just get to some place. And after the middle passage, black people on a boat. Wow. Yeah. I went there. I went there. So you went all the way back to the beginning. Although, shout out to Ted Lange playing Isaac. That's the only black man on a boat I need to see right on the boat. That's the only black man I need to see on a boat.

I do not love being on the water nonstop. Yeah. For some places you have to be on the water for over 24 hours. Yeah. I can't, I'm like outta my mind. Yeah. Um, I wanna be in a place as much as possible.

Exactly. Two days on the water. That could be two days enjoying exploring climbing mountains and gonna museums and stuff like that.

There's not do on those boats, on those boat. Like they try to come up with stuff, but it's not, they get real small, not Yeah.

Yeah. And being trapped on a boat like. And Mm,

I'm, I'm, I don't love cruises.

I don't love cruises either, although I think everybody should go on at least one cruise to have at least one go on. At least one to have the experience.

But my people love cruises though for some reason.

Yeah. Your people do love cruises. Your people

The Jamaicans? All right. Next up, Miami.

I am gonna toss Miami.

I'm a boss Miami,

Amir's bossing Miami.

If I'm going to Miami, I'm going all the way to Puerto Rico. This is all I'm saying.

Oh, well that's valid.

I mean, don't get me wrong. Miami has a lot of awesome things going for it and stuff like that. Yeah. And everything, but I, I think I'm kind of like over Miami.

So I'm a Florida girl in addition to being a Jersey girl. Yes, you are. And, um, I love Miami. I love not. Not the strip of Miami. Yeah, I like the beach love. Yeah. It really is a great beach. They have amazing food in Miami.

It is expensive, but it's such a laid back vibe. Hmm. Off the strip. I keep saying that. Okay. And sometimes the strip is fun. If you are with the right group, you can have fun on the strip. So I, I still like it. I'm not going during spring break or during Independence Day weekend or whatever.

That's the wrong time to go, but there are good times to go to Miami.

Yeah, I'm just over Miami. I've been there and done that. Yeah. No need to do it again, but if I went, I'd enjoy it, but yeah, not, not gonna prioritize it.

Okay. How about Las Vegas? You do? I do.

Oh, I love Vegas. I do. I boss Vegas. The reason why we boss Vegas. Is because like New York City, like it, it, there's something, it's 24 hours. There's always something to do that's true you to all kinds of shenanigans if you want to, or you could just chill and enjoy, you know, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, like it's a short trip to a, a whole bunch of other places.

Well, when you say that then that's different. I'm thinking like Vegas, Vegas, Vegas strip and walking up and down the strip just is not fun for me. We've done that, so...

I get it. I get it. Vegas is like Miami for you. Been there and done that. Yeah, exactly. Moved on. But yeah, same.

Same thing.

I feel you. I feel you.

Okay, next up, Ghana. The country in Africa.

I've never been neither, but I wanna go. Neither. I wanna boss. I'm gonna boss it. I'm gonna, I'm, I'm gonna boss Ghana. I'm gonna boss it. You're gonna boss Ghana? Yeah. Yeah.

And

I wanna go to the door. No return.

Yes. That would be amazing. Yeah. Okay. And then finally, I have one more home boss.

Boss. All day.

I will be comfortable at home. Any chance I get.

I love home like a Stephanie Mills song. This is all I'm saying. I do, I do.

We could do this again. I have some more, but we'll save those for next time. We'll save those for another day.

That's why I wasn't pressed over the pandemic because I was home.

I was not either let me tell you.

Quarantine was easy work.

That was also incentive for why I am now not in corporate America. Again, because you're not alone. The idea of being at home rather than going into the office appeals to me. This is all I'm saying.

00:45:36 Kere

Thanks Liz. Well, that's it for us

That's it for this episode. Y'all come see us again. Tune in yes to the next episode and um we'll see you next time.

And don't forget to like and subscribe to the Just US podcast, so you never miss an episode.