The Coinigma Chronicle
The Coinigma Chronicle could range from entrepurial updates, financial lessons or just some thoughts I'd like to share as I navigate the mysteries of life.
Entry #1: April 2025: A Turning Point for That’s Clearly Wealth
April 2025 will go down as a major turning point for me.
In just one month, I hosted the first-ever That’s Clearly Wealth (TCW) premiere screening, presented my E5 capstone project, and watched my latest series, Between The Ticks, get shown in a high school Financial Literacy class in PG County, Maryland.
And honestly? I’m tired just writing all that.
Why This Month Mattered
I know I have to stay grounded in this moment, because I certainly didn’t do it all on my own.
The production of Between The Ticks honestly deserves a movie in its own right.
[Maybe I should do that?]
It still blows my mind how many students—many of whom didn’t know me—were willing to be a part of it. A full month of work, wild weather, and constant doubt about whether I really knew what I was doing. Truth is, I didn’t at first. But I did know why I was doing it.
And that why must have mattered, because 15 people showed up and made it happen.
I’ll dive deeper into that another time.
Building the Premiere
About a year after production began, I teamed up with my friend Emily Chan to plan the premiere. Her eye for detail and her no-nonsense honesty ("I don't know about that, Neziah") kept the whole event from spiraling out of control.
Then there’s my on-campus organization, the Minority Business Alliance (MBA), who helped me connect with student orgs and departments to co-sponsor and support the event's marketing. MBA is going to change the U of R campus for the better—no doubt in my mind.
[Side note: Marketing is so important. I forbid any more slander against marketing majors!]
The Big Day(s)
How did I feel the day of the premiere? Grateful.
I didn’t know how many people would come—or if anyone would at all. But once it started, I was just present. The space didn’t exist before, and suddenly, it did.
I also loved the movies as a kid. Now I can say that I did a movie premeire with popcorn, soda, a red carpet...the whole shabang! That's just so cool to me. I feel like I made little me proud that day.
My E5 presentation reflected that spirit. I summed up a year of work: The Exponential Heist, Between The Ticks, all the classes I took. Going in, I expected that by the end, I’d have it all figured out.
Well… I don’t. Not yet. But I feel closer to the goal. Because compared to my older future self, I'm technically "little me" now. I know future me will make me so proud with how we grow from here.
Bringing It to the Classroom
Sharing Between The Ticks with high school students was huge. The point wasn’t to have them praise the work—it was to see what clicked for them, what didn’t, and how I could bridge that gap.
They need this information. Many of them don’t have the life experience to know they need financial literacy. But that doesn’t mean 15 years from now—it means right now.
It's not easy reaching them. But it’s not impossible either. I saw hope in those classrooms. And I saw that I need to keep stepping out of my comfort zone to meet students where they are.
Because I was them. Honestly, sometimes I still am. But I’m working to get better—and to inspire others to do the same.
Final Thoughts
This may not have been the most polished post—but I’m glad I shared it with you. That’s what TCW is all about: making real moments unforgettable.
That’s Clearly Wealth,
Neziah
Entry #2: On Paper it's only been fours years
I toiled around a lot on how I'd commerate four years of That's Clearly Wealth. While I may not be the most consistent creator in the world, I always post on my yearly anniversary.
But this year felt different.
For the first time ever, I'm celebrating this while no longer being a college student. Now fully catapulted into the real world. As you could imagine, some days feel heavier than others. We see it the news, in our communities and certainly feel it in ourselves.
I myself began to wonder: "What's the point of financial literacy in a world that seems to be crumbling?"
We're certainly not in a drought of knowledge and there are still systemic barriers in place that doesn't get erased simply because we know what a budget is. To say the least, I felt hopeless. Wondering if what I've been doing for the past four years has truly amounted to anything outside of my own personal gain? How much have I really gained?
While I don't have many hobbies, I can always trust my creativity to give me an outlet to sort out my thoughts and feelings.
"On Paper" was originally shot last December and was meant to be a sequel to my first film, "StopWatch: An Investing Story", and a prequel to "Between The Ticks". But I wasn't able to get the project done in time and decided to put it back into the vault. Maybe my gut was telling me it wasn't the right time.
So why is now the right time?
Because a theme that I tried communicate in this story is that we all have a story. Which isn't always pretty and doesn't always lead us to making the best decisions. Especially if we didn't have the best options. In this story (and in Stop Watch) when it came to a moment where punsihment and ridicule could've rained down, empathy and support prevailed. To me it's beautiful to see Liz from StopWatch showcase the same empathy that was given to her to someone else who needed it. Cause like her, she knew he had a story. And that he wanted to be better. He was just waiting for someone to give him the opportuntiy to do so.
To me hope is a powerful thing. It's something I tried to share in every video I've made these past four years. But as I'm getting older, I'm realizng that it's not the end but only the beginning. Action is how hope is made tangible and its power is able to truly shine and inspire the next generation to believe that hope is worth having. Worth fighting to protect.
I know for the past 2 years or so my content output has changed. I don't post frequently nor do typically post the straight to the point videos like I use to. This is partly due to me wanting to develop myself as an artist but also in me believing that we are more likely to be moved by our hearts than our heads. That stories move us much farther than statisitcs could alone. As ironic as it sounds, the sole pursuit of wealth just didn't feel like my whole world anymore. Building this brand no longer felt like my whole world anymore.
For four years I've been trying to find my own clarity on what That's Clearly Wealth is supposed to be. Is this a scalable business? What do I hope they'll do after they watch anything I've created? Can I measure the impact I think I'm making? And Once again, what's the point of financial literacy in a world that seems to be crumbling?
I don't know....the answer for you. I've never known what you should or should not do. I only ever wanted to challenge or inspire you to ask yourself questions that needed answering. You're smart and have the technology to answer ANY financial questions you may have. But they don't get answered if you never ask them. If you give on imporving one of the most necessary skills in this money centered society of ours, what else will you give up on? How can we change things for the better without financial literacy?
Radical Change and Financial Literacy go hand in hand in my book.
The world is probably crumbling, but I gotta keep trying to make it better. We gotta keep trying to make it better. Together.
These four years of TCW has been my way of doing that. It was a start, not a finish. I still wanna do more beyond the screen. Actually go out into my community and share what I know and learn what I don't. Until either I or this world is crumbled for good, there's still time to leave a postive impact.
On paper, it may seem like it'll get only worse from here. It may indeed. But my paper never said that I have to accept the worse as my reality. Even if it did, that'd be the part I would just cross out.
Thank you for your support these past for years. I only wanted to give you my best, and I hope you felt like I did. I hope you've found clarity in your life. And if not, just know I'm right there with you on the journey to finding it.
Because.... WE ARE CLEARLY WEALTH!
Farewell,
Neziah