00:07:58.500and yeah and she she said someone asked her well you know what about people that that criticize
00:08:03.420you for profiting from the pain and she said well first of all the pain was happening anyway
00:08:08.600it's not like she chose to have things you know that have gone wrong and i'll leave that for the
00:08:14.180show to you know people can go watch the show and see all that's gone wrong in this very young woman's
00:08:18.020life so many things but you know so many things have gone wrong but she said i had my best year
00:08:22.480ever the year my life exploded i never made more money and if that's not a good consolation
00:08:28.320surprise i don't know what is right fair fair and i want to interject here i don't we can't
00:08:33.180criticize her or for making money off something terrible that happened to her and if we do let
00:08:38.160let's conjure one of my patron saints nora efron who famously say that yes right who famously said0.95
00:08:46.220that everything is copy and when the worst thing happened to her when her husband cheated on her
00:08:52.820when she was eight months pregnant she wrote a book that turned into a movie with jack nicholson
00:08:57.660Meryl Streep isn't it yes exactly I literally have in my notes Nora Ephron you know everything0.98
00:09:06.600is content everything is content everything is good on you bad shit happens you you get yours
00:09:13.000okay like I do not criticize anyone for that and they're honest about their mistakes like she's the0.83
00:09:20.360first person to say how many bad decisions she has made but one thing that these women do say
00:09:26.180in the show is that they were they're married i mean they're so young there's their babies
00:09:31.520i mean i mean that is i mean something i just please like i also like as i'm watching them
00:09:37.820and as i'm being judgmental as i'm watching it i'm like oh my god i can't believe they just said
00:09:43.020that i can't believe they look like that that they're doing that i i think back to me in my
00:09:47.70020s and i'm like god damn it if anyone had made a reality show of me and actually when i was in my
00:09:52.94020s people were making reality shows of some of my friends because i was a gossip columnist and i
00:09:58.800remember like my girlfriends were on that lizzie grubman reality show i remember that yes oh gosh
00:10:06.080okay why wouldn't they say yes though that's the thing like at this it seemed well also like i'm
00:10:10.360sure i'm sure they didn't have much of a choice in the matter um but right well because things
00:10:14.840were happening anyway things were happening but like um yeah my friends kelly and rachel and i
00:10:19.820look back at like some of these shows and i'm like oh my god i mean they were babies i was and
00:10:25.280i was a baby like thank god i was not on on the tv or really even on the social media like i was on1.00
00:10:31.080the facebook right well and remember you're saying in your 20s okay so these women some of them are
00:10:38.400currently 22 and 23 i mean they have many babies in some cases they're already divorced and they're
00:10:46.24020. This is like college. Yeah. Right. This is like the age they are. Like, can you imagine
00:10:52.160how you were when you were graduating college? And these women, again, let's get back to money,1.00
00:10:57.380are making a ton of money. I mean, so Michaela, okay. I spent five minutes just before we started1.00
00:11:02.460recording. I flipped through her Instagram and Michaela is 23. And I believe she was pregnant
00:11:10.100at 16, had her first baby at 17. And she also has, well, I'll say that in a minute. But so
00:11:16.960her endorsement deals just recently were Oral-B, T-Mobile, then she's got a bunch of shampoos,0.91
00:11:23.440then she's got these pretzel flips. And like, she is so good at this. She's very talented.
00:11:29.860And, you know, people may criticize how they spend their money. They definitely
00:11:33.980have a lot of plastic surgery. She did a whole thing on, you know, getting her boobs removed.1.00
00:11:39.540so it's like oh my god how old was she when she got them in right they're already they're already0.97
00:11:43.860taking it down a notch right yeah they're taking them out yeah they're taking them out already so
00:11:49.900just we're not gonna be judgmental but no i'm not judgmental i want are you kidding oh my gosh
00:11:54.300i'm gonna get i'm getting my boobs lifted i'm lifting i'm lifting these lifting these babies
00:11:58.800back up so i recently read i somewhere that there's a whole big trend now to have smaller ones
00:12:04.440actually like yoga boobs is like a thing yoga boobs it was in the times it was in the times
00:12:08.880Yeah. No, I and I and it's not that I want them bigger. It's just that they're like these like sun dried tomatoes now after feeding three children.0.60
00:12:17.960That's very Sicilian in Heria. So it's a good like little.0.99
00:12:20.840I believe I believe that I that I described my own boobs when I was writing Sicilian in Heria.
00:12:25.420Yeah. Yeah. My sad my sad flop bangers. But I digress. I digress. Just to say.
00:12:30.080My point is like a judgment free zone.0.98
00:12:32.140exactly if you looked at mikayla as a 23 year old entrepreneur in any other business wouldn't you be1.00
00:12:39.120blown away between her following like brands she's worked with the money we don't know how
00:12:44.220much money exactly she's made but i mean this girl is 23 like what did i didn't 20 i was a
00:12:50.980production assistant yeah you know at a cable tv station like i don't you know totally i was a
00:12:56.320gossip columnist making like twenty one thousand dollars a year but but but that's actually a
00:13:01.540really cool accomplishment at 23 that that's pretty amazing thank you but yeah yeah but
00:13:06.500mikayla probably makes more than you of course she makes more than i do now okay let's be honest
00:13:10.740like two or three kids right so yeah and my guess just based on you know the timing of everything1.00
00:13:17.220probably not college educated i don't know um but probably i'd be damn impressed if that girl1.00
00:13:23.140went to college with three babies starting at 17. Right. So how amazing are these women when you1.00
00:13:28.500think about the fact that given that this stuff has happened to them anyway, right, this is what1.00
00:13:34.000they're making money. They're the bread wearers for their families. I mean, Taylor has been on,
00:13:38.580you know, so many TV shows talking about this stuff, but I think somewhere I read she's probably
00:13:42.720between what was before the show, between three and five million dollars. We know she's talked
00:13:47.360about having a team of people helping her um this is this is real money this is real money
00:13:53.840this is real money are incredible what they are doing and again i want to just put in this like
00:13:59.500big yield sign for people that are like oh i'll do that too first of all they're actually really
00:14:03.900talented and entertaining in front of the camera which we don't all have that talent but also just
00:14:08.560because you air your life story laundry doesn't mean a brand will sponsor you no it should be
00:14:13.100no it really it really it really doesn't so yeah it's i mean they're making real money and that's
00:14:20.540that's important to say i want to i also want to say they're not trad wives that's that's the thing
00:14:25.280they're really the opposite of trad wives and i think we were a lot of people were going into
00:14:29.380this show despite the backdrop of the swinging scandal thinking oh my gosh this is the secret
00:14:34.840lives of trad wives no no no no these women are the opposite of trad wives they're big and and as
00:14:40.200you said i'm not saying that we should hold them up on a pedestal or say they're role models but
00:14:44.120they are bucking the patriarchal model that they were raised in and that is saying something
00:14:50.980and it's also interesting to watch how and it will be interesting to watch even now that the
00:14:56.940shows come out how they relate to their husbands some of their husbands are really into it and
00:15:01.960boyfriends i should say they participate in the videos they do the endorsements with them i mean
00:15:06.460they are like and i don't know how their corporation how their businesses are structured
00:15:10.440but like i wouldn't be shocked if their husbands are their employees right because they're in these
00:15:14.540videos with them and even the ones you know that don't seem supportive they kind of are in a way
00:15:22.100i think they're kind of they're they don't know how to react to this because they have this pressure
00:15:26.720and i guess i'm alluding to if people have watched this this guy zach who's married to jen
00:15:30.500affleck and yes the affleck he affleck he appears in the show he did not get a good edit as we like
00:15:38.420to say with when it comes to reality shows but i know when the you know you see the videos and this
00:15:43.820is probably before the episodes came out um he's into it this is really exciting i mean these girls
00:15:49.080all these women all traveled all around the country promoting it and the husbands very often
00:15:53.680were right there in tow you know holding their handbags like go honey i think he really enjoyed
00:15:58.500the attention so maybe he's had a change of heart and maybe he realizes wait a second uh this is
00:16:03.660great my wife is supporting me while i go to medical school and gamble away money and all i
00:16:09.180have to do is like smile yes i just have to smile away all our money yeah gamble gamble all of our
00:16:14.120money and just smile and look pretty honey smile and exactly ready yes well it'll be it's interesting
00:16:19.300to see how the husbands react to sort of a spotlight being shined on them because i don't
00:16:26.980know that they really have that much self-awareness, some of them. And that will also be
00:16:31.640interesting. Oh, yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, I don't think they have. But again, how would they have
00:16:36.840self-awareness? They're all children. I'm going to stop this. We're going to take a quick break
00:16:40.900to make money. And when we get back, I want to talk about the pilot. Okay, we're back. And I want
00:16:55.040to dig into your thoughts on that pilot. Yeah. So in the pilot, things are very different because
00:17:02.840we see a really tough confrontation with the main person, Taylor, and her boyfriend. And
00:17:13.240it's just very disturbing. And then what's interesting is that by the time we get to the
00:17:19.340main episodes, they're back together and she's pregnant and you're, and that's never really
00:17:24.700addressed. And I think it's very interesting that they are selective in what they show on their
00:17:31.080social media. Right. And in a way, I think this show showed more, but it doesn't seem to have
00:17:38.840affected their likability, their appeal and their brand. And that goes back to the fact that they
00:17:45.160are just, you know, and I say this again with no judgment because the pain is there. They are
00:17:49.780profiting from their pain, but also they have no choice. This is what they do for a living.
00:17:54.380And you kind of make that deal with the devil when you become an influencer. I mean, you know,
00:17:59.100Taylor is doing, she did ads for Milk. It's so adorable with her kids. And you talk a lot on the
00:18:05.780show, like how will the kids feel when they're older? I hope these kids love it because they're
00:18:09.700adorable. They're great in these ads. And, you know, it is what it is. It's a family business.
00:18:14.500but it does go to like how far are you willing to go to keep this business going and will they
00:18:20.200outgrow it when they get older because we do keep talking about how young they are
00:18:23.620yeah well you know you i really like that question will they outgrow it because i think about that a
00:18:30.160lot when it comes to fame uh i thought about it in the early days of reality television um you know
00:18:37.720when everyone was questioning whether or not the kardashians were a blip and i remember i wrote at
00:18:43.000the end of a chapter in Celebrity Inc., one of my first nonfiction books, it was a chapter about
00:18:49.420Paris Hilton, not the Kardashians, because the Kardashians were brand new when this book came
00:18:53.000out. They were brand new. But I say at the end of it, I was like, the Kardashian brand, the reality
00:18:57.060brand, can continue if these girls start breeding. Yeah, I know, I know. Weirdly prescient. And so
00:19:06.980I think that we've seen reality stars grow up with this medium. Look at the Jersey Shore cast
00:19:15.780right now, right? And so these girls might have, these women, these young women might have a long
00:19:23.680future ahead of them, not just in reality television, but in creating, which as we know,
00:19:29.140there is actually more money in creating, in creating content for the small screen in your
00:19:35.080hands than there is in TV these days. That is absolutely true. And remember, every life stage
00:19:41.560for these women will create a financial opportunity. So for example, I talked about0.98
00:19:47.580Michaela's ads recently. So Taylor, you know, she went on vacation to a hotel in Park City
00:19:54.160and documented it. These are all ads. She did a tanning video. She did then she did things with
00:19:58.860her kids, floating pools. Then she did a nutrition one. Then she did some stroller stuff. I mentioned0.97
00:20:04.940the milk one then dara jewelers then a baby thing so every all of these things are coming to her as1.00
00:20:11.720she has a newborn baby she gets more opportunity for baby deals she needs a break she can go
00:20:17.600contract with a travel company and then she's got a travel deal and so on um she did a cute video
00:20:23.720with her baby daddy with dakota for phone cases with one of the kids and it was really engaging
00:27:50.460Maybe things happen and the money isn't so good going forward.
00:27:53.340I hope that they are doing some financial planning.
00:27:55.600There's a lot they could do, by the way.
00:27:57.400I'm going to get a little nerdy here, but, you know, I'm joking about employing their families, but they can also pay their children, you know, because their children are effectively influencers and put money away at a lower tax bracket or put money away for their college.
00:28:09.820I hope that they're doing all of those things.
00:28:12.160They can be paying their children, right?
00:28:37.980But he was employed and he legitimately and he was paid at his tax rate, not mine.
00:28:44.060right and so your children if it's it's like any other job if your children are posing for social
00:28:50.280media and participating in these ads they are working and should be paid and they as i mentioned
00:28:57.480are probably in a lower tax bracket than you and even if they're not what a great way to start an
00:29:03.840investing fund for your kid and depending on the age appropriateness what a great way to start
00:29:08.680teaching them about money in different ways and say you're helping mommy do this you know let's
00:29:13.540say i and i have no idea if taylor plays her kids but she did a really cute ad for milk with the
00:29:18.360kids participating it was the most adorable thing everyone should check it out they like try to pour
00:29:22.340milk into the glass with blindfolds on it's beyond adorable um but the kids are in the video just like
00:29:27.360she is she could be paying her children and her children would have income at a lower tax rate0.95
00:29:31.800i'm gonna bet than their mom and isn't that great everyone wins every everyone really does one win
00:29:37.820And it lights off in the blow if they're not that happy when they get older, when she shows them, you know, the seven-figure bank account because somebody has grown so much over the years.
00:29:45.900Like, that could make them feel good about their childhood jobs because it is work.
00:30:00.340But also, my issue is always unpaid labor.
00:30:03.900And so making sure that children are compensated for the work they're doing, making sure that when they come out the other side of this, they're well taken care of.
00:30:12.760And that's it's just a whole, whole other other situation.
00:30:17.000So, yeah, I mean, I would absolutely hope that they're doing that.
00:30:19.680But the truth is and we don't know and we don't know.
00:30:28.360It's one of the things I want to talk about.
00:30:30.300I don't want to I don't want to judge.
00:30:31.240I just I do. And I think about this. Also, from the perspective of someone that just I'm so over intense consumerism, it's bad for the planet. People are going broke. So many people are in debt and not these women. These women aren't in debt. But I hate elevating intense consumerism because when people watch it, when they consume the social media, they're like, I have to have that thing, too.
00:30:58.000I need that fancy bag. And most people go on a deck to have those things. So I'm not a fan
00:31:03.660of intense consumerism. Let's talk a little bit about their spending.
00:31:07.660Yes. So I want to say something. I have a slightly different perspective. What I get
00:31:13.600upset about is the influencers who have a closet full of Louis Vuitton bags and act like it's no
00:31:18.640big deal. When they use it as a baby bag, because we're both moms, baby bags get gross. Don't use
00:31:25.940Louis Vuitton as a baby back. It's gross. Use a gym bag or whatever. You know, the one that0.89
00:31:29.860somebody gave you or a hand-me-down. It's going to be disgusting in about a minute. So don't do
00:31:33.760that. But, you know, so I don't like when people have nice things that they don't respect.
00:31:38.120I loved this video that Macy did about how she always dreamed of, and Macy for context,
00:31:44.620was pregnant at 19 by her boyfriend, had to drop out of college where she was a tennis star.
00:31:49.300Her boyfriend then unexpectedly died, I believe in a car crash and she had the baby and so on.
00:31:53.940So this is no one, like this girl, like was working hard in college as a tennis star.
00:31:58.160And then all this, you know, stuff happened to her.
00:32:01.500And now she's a decade later launching her brand.
00:32:04.060She was like, I'm finally able to buy this bag that for me was my goal.
00:32:10.100This is one of the things she wanted to have enough money that she had enough disposable0.96
00:32:13.440money that she could reward herself buying the handbag of her choice for herself, not
00:32:18.340a man buying it for herself with money that she earned.
00:32:21.140I applaud that kind of consumerism. It's one bad. It represents a goal. It has meaning. It is special, and it will be coveted. That is very different from having to have, you know, six pairs of Golden Goose $600 sneakers because, you know, the other women that you have lunch with also have that, right?
00:32:39.140so i think it's important that we frame it correctly i think the message macy was saying was
00:32:43.680women or anyone watching if you work hard for a decade even though all this bad stuff happens to
00:32:50.360you work really hard and it is okay to buy yourself one handbag totally you know what i1.00
00:32:56.660mean yeah so that i think that framing it that way and remember none of these women yeah they're0.73
00:33:02.320pretty they're cute they're dancing there's a million cute dancing women on tiktok these women1.00
00:33:06.800have managed to break through through whatever and good for them and so let them enjoy it and0.99
00:33:14.260i don't see them spending so recklessly i i don't like you know that i stopped watching a lot of the
00:33:18.940housewives stuff because it just became too much it was like this is ridiculous they don't even
00:33:23.100own this stuff anymore they're just renting houses to look fancy right this is the opposite of that
00:33:27.520this is someone who's like look i had a baby at 19 after my boyfriend was killed i recovered i had
00:33:34.100another baby. I'm trying through IVF. You know, she's spending a lot of money on IVF to have
00:33:38.480another baby because I want to have more children. And this is the one thing I bought for myself
00:33:44.220that's totally frivolous. And she talks about it. She knows that it's not something she needed,
00:33:48.720but it was something that was meaningful to her. And so for that, I really applaud that. And look,
00:33:54.000their ads show that their ads, it's very clear. They write hashtag ad, they write partner,
00:33:58.800you know people they're watching this stuff you know what's up you know they're influencers you
00:34:04.720know they're using this shampoo brand which they just discovered recently and they absolutely love
00:34:08.460because they're being paid because it says they're being paid so that's okay let them earn their
00:34:12.580money that is a fair defense that is a fair defense well and also let's be honest they're
00:34:17.960getting almost everything in their life for free now now now now well and i you know if they needed
00:34:24.560investing advice, they should call you. I hope they will. I am here for you, ladies. I am
00:34:29.700absolutely here for you. And like I said, I'm cheering them on. I think these women work so
00:34:34.480hard in a very sometimes toxic workplace. Let's call it what it is. Because a lot of the time1.00
00:34:40.920they're doing these videos and the husbands are in the back looking kind of annoyed. And maybe
00:34:45.660it's an act sometimes, but I don't think it always is. I think now the husbands are on board because
00:34:50.280they're making so much money. And also because the spotlight is on the husbands. And if they're
00:34:54.800jerks, people are going to know to some degree, there's only so much you can hide. And I think1.00
00:34:59.800a couple of the husbands are wishing, you know, like the spotlight. I mean, I talked about Jen's
00:35:04.540husband, this woman, Whitney's husband, also not a flattering portrayal, right? And now they kind
00:35:10.340of see, I don't think that they saw themselves and seeing that sort of self-reflection, I think