Coffee With E

600 Subscribers, Countless Moments: Celebrating 1 Year of Coffee with E

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🎉 Cheers to ONE YEAR of Coffee with E! What started as an idea turned into a thriving, heartfelt platform with 600+ subscribers (and counting). In this special solo episode, Erica Rawls celebrates your support and reflects on the top episodes and moments that made this journey unforgettable.

From inspiring guests to powerful personal truths, you’ll revisit:

  • Relationship wisdom passed down from Erica’s grandfather 
  • The jaw-dropping moment Dr. Amber Sessom named workplace abuse
  • A raw, honest conversation between Erica and her son on police trauma
  • The unexpectedly deep business mindset from Ben Bragg
  • Viral encouragement to do it scared
  • Lessons from four powerful young women in “Lessons Unheard”
  • Gillian Brooks’ honest talk on toxic friendships and divine alignment


💡 “This show isn’t about me, it’s about YOU. Thank you for building this with me.”

📢 Help us hit 1,000 subscribers by June 30 — subscribe, share, and let us know who you want to see next.

✨ Sponsored by:

TOCH Construction, Rob Shaw – Allstate, Chavis Law Firm 

🏠 Funded by The Erica Rawls Team

#PodcastAnniversary #CoffeeWithE #BestOfEpisodes #BlackCreators #WomenPodcasters #YouTubeMilestone #LeadershipAndLegacy #EmpowermentPodcast #GrowthMindset #HealingConversations



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Erica Rawls:

Hey, y'all guess what? It is? A whole year since we had this podcast set up. I mean, we went from keeping it real to coffee with E and you all stuck with me the whole time. I am so excited. I actually can get a little choked up. We went from zero subscribers to 580 as the time that we're recording this podcast and I am so excited about it. You want to know why? Because I do not take it for granted that 580 of y'all saw fit enough to follow me For what, like really? So that just really gets me choked up and I'm excited.

Erica Rawls:

I have to share something with you. I have a goal. I have a goal to get to a thousand subscribers by the end of June 30th. Why a thousand? Because I don't know the. The YouTube people said that that's when you know. I guess you're in kind of thing. That means you're really making some traction and then you could do better things, open up great opportunity, other opportunities to serve you all, to bring you better content. So can you help me by sharing Now, if you're streaming, if you listen to this on Spotify, apple Podcasts, iheartradio and Amazon Music? I mean, share it on there too, right, because some people like to listen while they drive, and that's okay.

Erica Rawls:

But today episode, we're going to be talking about a few of your favorite episodes and clips and moments that we've, because we identified this one here. First of all, let me give you a backstory. Let me stop. Let me stop. I'm getting excited. I'm getting ahead of myself. Okay, so the one that you saw, or the most views so far, happens to be dear friends of mine and I affectionately refer to them as the relationship pros, and you all loved them so much. It resonated with you so much that you enjoyed it.

Erica Rawls:

Now the one clip and hopefully you don't hear it too much because we're going to put it in this actual video here the one clip actually has to do with. It was called the heart of commitment, okay, and it happened to be about he's having a conversation about someone that is near and dear to me. You want to know who that near and dear person is my grandfather. How small is this world. That the advice that he provided. He had referenced something that my grandfather had given him advice about relationships. So here's the clip. Check it out. You all love this part.

Julius Cabbagestalk:

One of the things that I heard one time that I still carry with me and I actually used it the other day was actually it was your grandfather, erica. Okay, he said if a man tried to hit on my wife, I don't get upset. I say to myself he got good taste, you know. He said no need to get upset, so that's about her whole life.

Julius Cabbagestalk:

It's a real life. This comes with maturity. Now we went to go pick up my youngest daughter from school. I knew where we were going, but she felt like we didn't knew where we were going. But she felt like we, she, we didn't know where we were going, okay. So she needed to go ask one of the maintenance workers that was riding around on his lawnmower or something. And, uh, she went and asked him and then he trying to hit on her.

Julius Cabbagestalk:

Oh, I kept, I kept walking because I found this hilarious. I, I kept, I kept walking because, you know, I thought that's like your grandfather said hey, you got good taste, you know. And I'm, I kept walking because, you know, I thought that's like your grandfather said hey, he got good taste, you know. And I'm saying to myself if you fool enough to go with him, then feel free. You know, but you know, I, I just, I found it hilarious.

Julius Cabbagestalk:

So I started messing with her the entire day, telling her you know what's wrong, you didn't want to go with extra, extra big laugh. So I was messing. But those are things where maybe the 18 year old at me would have gotten upset, would have tried to handle it different, whereas the the mature person of me now says kind of find it comical. Yeah, you laugh about it. Now you're texting people joking about it because it's like you. You're going to get upset every time somebody finds your spouse attractive. You know, if nobody else found your spouse attractive, you may want to question why you're with your spouse that you know that's fair, that I get, that I get.

Erica Rawls:

Man, did I really pick that bad of a?

Julius Cabbagestalk:

dud Right. But it goes back to exposure that I heard an older gentleman preaching and one day he mentioned it and it made me think about it and it stuck with me, so that helped me when I was faced with that situation. I handle it different because I looked at it from a more mature perspective.

Erica Rawls:

Now to know Julius is to truly love him, and we will definitely be bringing him back, as well as his wife, because she had dropped some amazing jewels and they are on our channel, the relationship pros. So stay tuned, y'all. I cannot wait. Next one, the next one, y'all. I mean, this was just recent, maybe two weeks ago. Do you remember Dr Amber Sessom when she brought in the heat, talking about how you are to show up in your true, authentic self at the workplace? Y'all, you heard her and you loved it, and you could not wait to get more. She literally brought so many gems. I don't even know where to start, but this particular segment that you all thought was so good was when she actually was sharing how to lead in a room when you're the only woman in there. You all loved it. Check this out, check this moment out.

Dr. Amber Sessom:

Everyone has a great vision statement, everyone has a great mission statement and when I come in, I say where are you? In and out of alignment? It's glaring, and then that's the work that we can do. But you can't do that just as a CEO, just as a superintendent. You have to do that in collaboration with not just the staff but the community. So it's been really helpful to do that, but it makes people come alive because they find their voice. We're no longer thinking that you're in middle school. There's something about organizations that we treat people like they're children, and I just think that's disrespect. I'm like I'm a full grown adult and even when I was a child, though, I would say I'm still a human being. Like, why are you talking to me like that? I try to disrupt that thought of why are you yelling at them? Yeah, they're human beings at work. Yes, I've had people that have said that they have ptsd from their leaders oh my gosh.

Dr. Amber Sessom:

And we had to sit and I mean I had a whole group of c-suite people and they said they scream and yell at me, no, and they have been doing this for 15 years. So then when they got a new leadership, they were still operating in that same fear mindset and I had to say you have to, we've now moved on and we have to let that go. But so many people are dealing with that every day and we don't know it until you give them the space to name it and you're like oh my gosh, you've been dealing with this for 15 years. That's not OK. But they thought it was OK because I got this high paying salary, isn't it OK?

Erica Rawls:

That's abuse, wouldn't you think?

Dr. Amber Sessom:

It is abuse. Yeah, I've had people say that to me. We did a presentation on black female leadership within school psychology at our national conference. This lady is in the audience weeping, she. This lady is in the audience weeping. She had to get up, come back in, still couldn't get herself together. Afterwards I just said can I give you a hug? And I hugged her and she goes you gave me the language. I didn't know what it was called and she said my abuser is at this conference. She called her boss her abuser, and I'm thinking that language is powerful, right. Abuse. And how many of us don't even realize that that's what's happening? You named it. It's abuse that we think, well, I'm getting this paycheck, this is just how it is and it doesn't have to be.

Erica Rawls:

That's verbal abuse.

Dr. Amber Sessom:

It's verbal abuse and there's a lot of people enduring this and we don't know. Or I have people say, oh my gosh, I'm having panic attacks attacks.

Erica Rawls:

I'm having heart palpitations. I can't sleep. Dr Amber Sessom she is a force and I believe that her best work is still ahead of her. I need you all to check her out. She has her own podcast set up Natural Inclination and her and her daughter have these amazing, raw and authentic conversation. Now her daughter is only 10. And they're already taking the main stage. When I say I get goosebumps, I am getting goosebumps because I get so excited about seeing people do great things. Dr Sessom, we are watching you and I'm hoping people in our community can connect so we can make a great impact. Okay, y'all next up, next up. Here we go.

Erica Rawls:

So this next one that was so popular actually was under a different brand name. Keeping it Real, and I don't know why. Y'all but you were selecting ones and the ones that are resonating with you are really hitting close to home. This one is probably the closest because I sat down with my son and we actually had a raw conversation about an unfortunate situation that he had to deal with and it was his interaction a negative interaction with the police force. Now you hear it all the time in the news and you never think it's going to be at your front door and it did.

Erica Rawls:

It was unfortunate, but the good news is he's here to talk about it and that, if anything else, I'm grateful for. You know God never wastes an experience. I know that for sure. So I don't know why that happened to him or how he's going to be using it in the future, but you all have resonated with you and I don't know if it's because you had that same experience or if it's just simply you were shocked to learn that someone that you may know, if you're in our community, or someone that he that looks like you, has that same experience. Whatever it is, it resonated. I need you to check out this popular segment, as a black man that was just at a shooting that, hey, we need to ask him questions. So, instead of cooperating, you said nope, I'm not going to deal with it because of past experiences.

Erica Rawls:

Right, yeah, and I'm just, I'm just gonna run, I want to run, I'm gonna be safer if I run, and then getting caught and tased and caught, jumped on and the first thing he says to you is yeah, we should have shot you in the head.

Aris Scott:

We should have shot. That was crazy. That was crazy. That was crazy. I ain't gonna lie, that was crazy. But at the same time it's like, it's sad, but like we normalize stuff like that.

Aris Scott:

When I say we, I mean like, like from experiences, stuff that we saw. Like I'm not like if that would have happened, like obviously it didn't for a reason, but like let's just say they do shoot and I survived that I wouldn't have been surprised. You know. I'm saying like that's not something I would have been like, oh my god, I can't believe they shot at me. It's like I was more so, like, wow, they didn't shoot because literally this past weekend a little boy was running from the cops and got killed. Same area, same same style cops running after him. You know what I'm saying. So like I don't. And it is crazy because, like, like I said, stuff like that is kind of like normalized, like seeing people get like shot, people get cute, like I don't, like I had to experience like death at a young age, like when it comes to like gun violence, and then also, like you know, police, police doing stuff like that, like that was like I don't know.

Erica Rawls:

Yeah, that one was heavy. That was, and I'm hoping it educated you and I'm hoping you're able to share it with someone that may be struggling, that has recently gone through it or has a family member that has gone through that. I don't wish that on anyone. Y'all I don't. Ok. Next up, let's make this a little lighter. Ok, because Y'all I don't Okay. Next up, let's make this a little lighter. Okay, because that was a little heavy. That was a little heavy, right. So let's make it a little bit lighter. How about that?

Erica Rawls:

So most recent, we had the privilege of sitting down with someone that is, someone that cleans for a living. I'm only laughing because when I think of this person here, ben Bragg, I think of this quote. It just resonated. He said it so often, so you cannot not remember this. He is a super cool guy, right, and you cannot think of him without thinking of this quote. If you watch the full episode, he says he is temporarily temporarily, can I say it? Temporarily motivated to be permanently lazy. I mean, aren't we all kind of, I guess, if you think about it in the grand scheme of things? But I think he has a I don't know expeditious plan to make sure he no longer has to work. However, y'all heard him. You really thought what he had to say when he talks about why he documents every step of his process. That resonated with you. Check this piece out.

Ben Bragg:

When I went to the franchising they said, hey, we can help you with the financials and I'll do this, but we don't know the operations. And I went there in 2005. And I went there in 2005, I didn't go back and get started till 2011 because I was like 500 pages and my ADHD just shut me down?

Ben Bragg:

yeah, I was like no way. So then over the years I started just thinking about how can I organize? So now I had this, everything in business. I started saying, okay, I need to be able to write this down and document the process, because when people buy a franchise, they can't think it's designed like that. You need to. Hey, how do I go to a building? You got to get the keys, you stick it in the hole, turn the alarm off. There can be no aspect of it that is wondering to thought. So that's what I had to do. So it took me years to ABB and then. So I finally started getting the franchising developing. And then I came into another problem. It was a positive problem Got the franchises and people up.

Ben Bragg:

And then people started coming to me saying, ben, I need you to price this job for me now yeah there again, I'm going to resort back to my word of lazy is therefore and I want to see you switch this up Therefore. So now all of these contractors are coming to me for proposals, can you do this proposal? Now? I got work on my desk and then they got the nerve to call me and say did I do it yet? Now, granted, this is money that'll build a business, right, and I don't want to do the work. So, miss Erica Ross, please give me what that word would be.

Erica Rawls:

Ben, we're rooting for you to be temporarily motivated to be permanently lazy. We need updates. Okay, update us. How about that? Okay, the next one is yours truly. Who would have thought that you all are resonating with this one clip? The one clip about do it afraid, even if success scares you. That's a real thing. It's a real thing, and I'm so glad that you all loved it and enjoyed it, and we're going to do more content like that in the future too, because I think it's important. That's what this platform is all about. So, yeah, here it is. Here is the segment right here.

Erica Rawls:

One of the things I feel is a great testament to you being a successful business person or a business owner is results through other, and then they actually go out, and they do just as well as you. You're grooming people to be the best people that they possibly be, so they can actually evolve into the best versions of themselves. Sure, some people are going to stay and some people may leave, but as long as your business is growing, some people may leave, but as long as your business is growing, that's a great testament to you. So this is what I need you to do. I need you to do it afraid. It's okay to be afraid, but you can't be stuck in fear, because that is not acceptable. Take that leap of faith, go after it, grab it and just keep going. You have nothing to lose. I promise you you'll be happy. You did Y'all. I can't help but to be a cheerleader. I promise you I'm going to be your biggest cheerleader. Have I said that to you before? You're going to hear it a million times, because it's true. I'm rooting for you. Do it, do it afraid, do it well, do it in excellence, and let me know how you make out. Now I have two more for you. The first one both of these are full episodes and this is when the channel was really young, so the numbers that these pulled in is absolutely amazing. I want to say at the time that the two episodes that I'm going to share with you here in a moment, we may have had 200 max people. Now, when I say 200 subscribers people that are engaged that's how many people that we have subscribed on YouTube. Now, if you're watching this or listening to this on another streaming channel, they're getting better with the analytics, and yet the home of Coffee with E at one time, keeping it real is on YouTube. So join us. We would love to see you in the comments there too.

Erica Rawls:

Now, I had the privilege of, early on, having conversations with four dynamic young people and to this day, we stay connected because of our experience that we had. Why did I like them so much? Because they were so different and yet so much the same Between their age range, social, economic class, their jobs, their upbringing. They were just so rich with information that you all responded in such a great way, like it was absolutely amazing, so much so that we brought them back for a second episode. Who am I talking about?

Erica Rawls:

Well, the title of the episode Lessons Unheard y'all. We had over a thousand views and 13 conversations and we had so much more on our social media platforms. I mean, the numbers were crazy, insane. Gave me goosebumps, gave them a high Cause. You know that age bracket, you know it's just that a door for me like shot. Whenever you go on social media and you see that all these people are liking and engaging and yeah, y'all know, people know what I'm talking about. I mean they were texting back and forth like, oh my gosh, look what's going on. So you not only they, not only fed into you, you fed into them in such a way that you didn't know behind the scenes. So if you haven't seen it, we have four dynamic women lessons unheard. They are young, I want to say, the oldest one was 30, maybe 30. And they all had different stories and that just the energy was amazing, absolutely amazing. So check it.

Daneisha McQuay:

My biggest thing to my younger self would be to do what makes you happy and not what makes others happy, whether it's your family, your coaches, your teachers. Just to give a little background reflex a little bit, Go ahead.

Racquelle Perry:

That's something I would definitely tell myself is that even though you make a mistake because you're going to make mistakes like that's going to happen, that's just life, but those don't define you the biggest thing that you get out of your mistakes when you make them is that one is either you'll never do that again and if that does happen again, you know how to get yourself out of it.

Brooke Anderson:

One thing that and I'm still learning is you don't have to always get it right. I feel like that is my biggest thing in life. Even though I don't feel like I ever get it right, I feel like that's always my goal. I feel like I live my life in a way where I'm always like what is the right thing Instead of what is the thing for Denisha, you came here for one thing. You want to finish it, and that's it.

Quencey Hickerson:

My advice is to not be so passive, like kind of tell people what you want and go get it, instead of just saying OK.

Daneisha McQuay:

Sounds like you're around, people who are afraid that you were going to do better than them.

Quencey Hickerson:

And there's power in the tongue and obviously like to be more confident too, because I really did start off like very, very shy, Like. I would have never done this, like two months ago. I would have been like Erica, you're sweet, no.

Erica Rawls:

OK, y'all, this is the last one, definitely not the least, probably the most favorite one that resonated with a lot of people. I mean, a lot conversations were going back and forth, whether it was on YouTube, instagram, facebook, tiktok everywhere that we place this, you can definitely tell that this individual has so much favor, has so much God-gifted talent that she's able to resonate in a way that just captures your ears as well as your heart. The story that she shared was raw and it was just authentic and a lot of people can see themselves in her. Jillian Brooks episode was absolutely amazing and for that I thank you for responding in such a way. Never met her until we actually shot this episode.

Erica Rawls:

So to sit down with someone that you don't know, that's a risk. You only see things right, you read about people, but you never know if the chemistry is going to be right. And when I tell you that there was a fire that automatically lit as soon as I said hello at the front door happened to be at the studio. We weren't at a multimillion dollar mansion like most of our episodes. We literally were sitting down here in our studio that we're in today, and it was dynamic. When to change your front circle is the one that stands out the most.

Gillian Brooks:

One thing that's super important as you are getting older or as you're in your journey, is to always have discernment about the people around you. So, of course, like you said, there's people that we become friends just because the energy is right or we met somewhere and we just hit it off, and sometimes I don't think, subconsciously, that we take inventory on that person and why they're in our lives, and so this is something that I'm learning to do as I've gotten older is that when I meet people, I had to learn that everybody is not your friend. So I think it's important that people as us in general, women in general as well is to really take inventory of the people in our life and also why this person is in our lives really take inventory of the people in our life and also why this person is in our lives.

Erica Rawls:

Okay y'all, it's been a year and we're looking to have multiple years here to build on this platform. But guess what? Remember when I said this is not about me. I promise you it's not. It's about you. So I need you to do me a favor. Let me know what you want to hear about. Who do you want me to bring to have an interview with, to have coffee with me? Let's make it happen. Cheers to one year. Thank you for joining this community and I'm looking forward to the best, which is yet to come.

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