Coming to Cal Poly, communications sophomore Jasmine Phipps said she would wonder, and hope, that she’d see another Black student in one of her classes.
“[That] bothered me to the point where I was like, ‘Okay, I wanna share what I am experiencing because I know it will help other people,’” Phipps said.
Then, in December 2022, Phipps began her podcast called “Spilling Tea with a POC.”
Phipps described her podcast as motivating, inspiring and different. She hopes to have guests who are at a place career-wise that she, and other students, would hope to be in the near future.
Phipps also wants to bring on Black entrepreneurs who are students at Cal Poly to talk about their experiences with their businesses, as well as people who have degrees and would make a good fit for specific episodes, she said.
Building on past experience speaking at various events, Phipps said she aspires to become a motivational speaker to inspire young people in her community and across the globe. As such, she said listeners can expect more motivational episodes on the podcast going forward.
“My determination to become a motivational speaker crystallized when I was in the sixth grade,” Phipps said. “I come from a long line of entrepreneurs, and I’ve found that I want to be an entrepreneur myself. I’ve been preparing to go into business for as long as I can remember.”
Phipps explained how she looks for advice from her elders to help with guidance and direction.
“I often wanted someone with a voice for my age,” Phipps said. “I decided I wanted to be that voice.”
During quarantine in 2020, Phipps wrote and published a teen’s guide, “Bringing Your Vision To Life,” in hopes to create a foundation of success and pave the way for future students of color. ‘Bringing Your Vision To Life’ can be found on Amazon.
Phipps gained inspiration to write the book because of her journey of healing after being injured while running track in high school, which is an activity that she picked up in fourth grade.
“Not having that foundation and structure in my life anymore led me to have to find that somewhere else,” Phipps said.
Phipps was raised by two successful parents and felt a sense of pressure to succeed as an individual, though she did not want to be known for what her parents achieved. This led her to her personal quote: “Why wait, be great.”
“I started to write speeches in sixth grade. I have always been a writer,” Phipps said. “I started with fifteen pages and brought it to my dad. He told me to bring it back to him when I was done and that helped me learn while writing. Before I knew it, I had a whole book.”
Phipps encourages people to join her journey by listening to the podcast.
According to Phipps, listeners can expect more consistency and greater variety in episodes in the near future.
Episodes of “Spilling Tea with a POC” can be listened to on Spotify or Apple Music. More information about current and future episodes can be found on Phipp’s website, jasminephipps.com.
