This Credit Expert Went From Prison to Six Figures

Sypreme Essence, the founder of Credit Warriors®, is extremely passionate about credit and educating others on repairing and maintaining their credit. But before she was a six-figure credit expert, Sypreme spent three years in prison for possession of a narcotic with the attempt to sell. Upon her release, she started another business, which did well, but she had to close it.

Sypreme found herself with a 519 credit score and living off a $300 weekly salary. Having no support system, Sypreme took initiative and spent many hours in the library researching how to repair her credit on her own, and within months her score increased by 200 points.

Armed with her self-taught knowledge and a model, Sypreme was eager to share with others seeking to restore their own credit and break the cycle of generational poverty. This inspired her to start her Facebook group, Credit Warriors in 2016, and a group of 12 quickly grew to over 400k. She now owns and operates Credit Warriors®, a Connecticut and Atlanta-based credit repair company specifically designed to assist its members to achieve total financial freedom. Dive in below and learn how Sypreme battled her credit and won, plus tips on how you can do the same.

Fancy: How would you describe your swagher? What makes Sypreme, Sypreme?

Sypreme: Sypreme is transparent. I am unapologetic. In this life, there are things that I have gone through, but I always make sure that I share those experiences in hopes that it will help someone else. 

Fancy: Yes, I always say our stories are usually for others. Now you first fixed your own credit, and then you went on to share that process and educate others. So do you identify as a credit coach or would you say financial coach? How do you describe it? 

Sypreme: I would say I empower people to take charge of their financial lives. Credit is life. It’s essential. It’s what the soul is to human form. So it’s still repairing their financial life. Instead of enabling people, I come in, and I actually teach them how to fish. This changes their whole entire life as well as the lives of the people around them because they choose to educate those who come after them from my teachings. Credit Warriors’ mantra is “each one, teach one”, and that’s what I encourage all my members to do, ‘make sure that anything that you learn, you teach someone else’.

Fancy: I love how you worded that. I remember reading how you were once living off a $300 weekly salary, so I’m curious as to what did you do prior to Credit Warriors and prior to prison. What were you doing before then?

Sypreme: Before prison, I was wild. I was all about fast money. I just wanted it, and I wanted now. It was now, now, now. My value systems were still within me, but I didn’t implement them in my daily living. Instead of doing the 9-5 thing, I ran with the wrong crowd. I had a boyfriend who sold drugs, and I helped him, which got me in a lot of trouble.  

Fancy: Going back even before then, how you were brought up? What were your money beliefs? Were finances or credit or anything like that discussed within your household? Were you told anything about that then?

Sypreme: Never! I grew up mostly during the crack epidemic in the 80’s. All of our parents were on drugs. So it was the norm for me to sleep over someone’s house whose parents did drugs in the other room, and I happen to go from house to house. I was living with different friends and skipping school. I had a loving grandmother who tried to keep me on the straight path, but she was more elderly, and she was easy for me to get over on. 

So I manipulated her to stay out with my friends. However, even when I was in my grandmother’s house, she was very loving, but she was also enabling. She did everything for us. She saw no wrong in her eyes when it came to my uncle and me. He and I are about a year apart and we just got over on her for real.

We got over left and right, and finances were never discussed. Her and my grandfather always said they were poor, but looking at their house in the neighborhood they lived in, you wouldn’t have thought it. They lived in a beautiful house sitting on a lake and surrounded by woods, but across the street was a school and behind that school was the projects, and I fell in love with those projects.

Fancy: Wow! And it’s funny, because I’m listening to you, and I’m like, many of us do the same thing and can totally relate to that. We all have a past. So, if you had to share your top three credit tips for repairing your credit, what would they be?

Sypreme: I would say this. I would say to first establish credit, because, without any credit, your score is heavily damaged. It makes up 30% of your entire credit score. So if you have more revolving trade lines than you do a self-infliction, you’re all messed up.

I would also suggest adding a secure credit card.  That should bring your score up to between maybe 30 and 50 points, sometimes even more, and then you can add a couple of trade lines. We’ve all been trade-lined. The limit is five thousand dollars; it’s a guaranteed trade line. And if you add it to your credit report, your score will jump between maybe 50 and 110 points. I can provide that trade line for you if you’d like in a link or something. Then I would say keep your credit usage below 30%, but since you’re trying to rebuild, I would say keep it between one and 10 percent and let it report purposely to the credit bureaus by the closing statement date.

Let me see what else… I would say do not apply for too much credit at one time too fast. And if I could say the fourth one, because it’s very important, once you do start establishing credit, do not use it as a secondary income.  

Fancy: Gotcha. I know you are also passionate about people maintaining their good credit. Do you have any tips for developing the right mindset or practices to do so? Your last tip about the secondary income was kind of one, but do you have any others?

Sypreme: They can let it garden. What I mean by that is, they want to allow their credit to age. The more their credit ages, the more their credit score rises. So you want to use it sparingly. Do not use too much. That’s really like a standard universal rule when it comes to credit repair, period. If you start getting approved for astronomical amounts- and you will, because once you hit that 690 thresholds and up, you’re going to start getting pre-approvals for $10,000, you must know to respect that credit. Because if you do not, your beautiful golden score will tank.

Fancy: So what do you think makes Credit Warriors unique?

Sypreme: Credit Warriors is the first to give away the information on the level that we do. When I started Credit Warriors in 2016, I gave away the whole, entire blueprint, and I did not charge a dime. I was the first in this industry to give away the jewels like no other. People in the industry were very mad at me. They were mad because I gave it away. But then, they learned that there’s enough for everyone, and they started to do the same thing. Now we’re all getting along because everybody’s happy. 

Fancy: I’m actually in the group. A Facebook friend suggested it to me about two years ago, but unfortunately, I’m not as active as I would like to be. However, I did notice the engagement from the members and the excitement when someone shared their good news or when someone had a question about something, and everyone would pitch in to reply.

Sypreme: Definitely. It’s each one teach one. I think the most value that comes from my group is the group’s search engine. You know the group is very big. We have the largest group of its kind on Facebook. You don’t know if your neighbor is in it, and some people are very private. But when you type the question in the search engine, all the answers- thousands of answers will pop up.

I also have my book, the Credit Warriors Handbook that I give away for free. You can get that off my website. It teaches you how to repair your credit, step-by-step. It will always be free. That’s my gift to you guys. I will never sell that book, and I continue to update it. Every time I learn something new, I throw it in there.

Fancy: Is there anything from your other experiences in life that you are now able to say that you’ve used as a stepping stone or skills you can say you use now.

Sypreme: Well my dream was to be a published author. I wanted to be a New York Time’s best-selling author. I’m a writer by heart. That’s my first love. I love to write books, and I have a book coming out called Divine Warrior, but it took me awhile. Usually, I can write a book in 90 days, but this book took me about two years to write. It’s about how I got to where I am today, but mostly it took me so long to write it, because I don’t have the time anymore to write.

So this has taken me away from my first love which is writing. I thought I would be a best-selling author, but at the same time when you’re walking in your divine purpose and you’re obedient to that, the blessings will come so abundantly… You can only dream. This has given me a chance to talk about my convictions are, and I believe in the Law of Attraction. I believe what you put out there will come back. I’m able to implement that now in my teaching. 

Fancy: I do agree with you about how the blessings come when we are walking in our purpose. And this wasn’t one of my original questions, but from your time in jail, did that open your eyes also to the situation of the black community and how credit and financial literacy play a part in things? Did that happen to help awaken you in any way? 

Sypreme: When I look back on it now, yes. When I was doing my time, I was self-absorbed in my own dark hell, so I was so focused on myself, but I now see that it’s a revolving door. And the reason why it’s more present- especially for women, is because it’s like the programs that are designed today simply enable people. They’’ ll pay your light bill. They’ll do this; they’ll do that. They’ll give you food, but again, they don’t teach you how to fish.

So because of the lack of skills that people don’t get, they’re back in prison. Let’s not forget how the system is when you come out and you look for a job. No one wants to hire you because of the blemish that’s on your record. So it’s a revolving door.

My take on credit and financial literacy are if everyone’s credit was 720 or higher, I feel like the violence, even the violence in the world would cease- especially in the United States, because everybody will be so happy. They won’t have to rob and steal. They can get whatever they want. They’ll also be responsible to maintain that credit, of course, but I think credit is really everything. Credit is life. Cash is king, but credit is life.

Connect with Sypreme and Credit Warriors® below.

Websites: www.creditwarriors.org | www.sypremeessence.com

Instagram: @creditwarriorsinc

Facebook: @creditwarriorsinc

Sypreme also invites you to stop by her Atlanta location at the following:

3340 Peach Tree Road

Atlanta, GA 30326

Be sure to call and make certain she’s in the office first, of course.