On today’s “Tamron Hall,” social media vloggers Khadeen and Devale Ellis discussed their new book “We Over Me,” and how they made sure their marriage worked amid financial struggles during the financial crisis of 2008. See what they had to say inside…
Devale and Khadeen Ellis on making sure their marriage worked amid financial struggles:
Devale said, “When I first retired from the NFL, we transitioned back to moving to Brooklyn. I lost a ton of money in the stock market. You know all of the stories that you hear of the football players spending money on frivolous things, that didn’t happen. I bought property, I invested in stock market but then we had the economic crisis of 2008 and 2009, I lost everything and we had to move back to my grandmother’s Brooklyn apartment and I moved back with the love of my life and at that time, she said to me, ‘So okay, what are we doing? What are we going to do?’ Well, the first thing we need is health insurance, you’re pregnant. She went and took her engagement ring off, turned it inside, put it in the jewelry box.’” Khadeen jumped in, “Makeup was my trade. I used to do makeup at MAC. So I said, ‘I’m going to get me a job.’ I took it off, put it in the jewelry box, put on a beat face, put on some black, got on the bus, the B44, and went to the mall and said, ‘I need a job!” Devale added, “See and that’s the one thing I always say. Our power dynamic never shifts depending on who’s making more money at what time. I was in the NFL making half a million dollars a year. The minute I got cut, she didn’t say, ‘Oh I’m out of here. I gotta find something else,’ she said, ‘what do we have to do?’ and I made her this promise, I said, ‘I promise you we will get back to where we were,’ and all she kept saying to me was, ‘I know,’ and then I started a business. I have a very entrepreneurial mindset. I said, ‘babe I’m going to start this business. I’m going to need you to hold this down for this time. Let me start this business,’ and as I started the business and the business grew, the minute I said, ‘you don’t have to go to work no more,’ she said, ‘good because I’m ready to quit anyway,’ but the whole time, she never made me feel less than a man. I never made her feel like she was less of a woman for being too masculine. We just supported each other.” Khadeen added, “I was also pregnant with our first son at the time too so it was also being pregnant, hormonal, having to work. I was like, ‘I want to be home with my baby!’ First time mom. There was a lot of things at one time but listen, we over me, always has been.”
