Drama Queens - Work in Progress: Tinx

Episode Date: May 15, 2025

Temperatures are climbing in here! Radio and podcast host and NY Times best-selling author, Tinx, has just dropped her anticipated debut fiction novel, "Hotter in the Hamptons!” It’s a romance for a new generation, sizzling with sexual tension! TikTok’s “big sister” joins Sophia to talk all about her steamy new tale — including addressing the ghostwriting drama — her novel getting the TV treatment, and what she learned in her 20s that she wants all young women to know! Plus, dating red flags, learning boundaries as a content creator, and her work in progress! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hey, everyone, it's Sophia. Welcome to Work in Progress. Hi, Whipsmarties. Today, we are joined by TikTok's big sister. You know her as tanks, none other than Christina Najjar. She is a New York Times best-selling author. She is a podcast and radio host, and it's really her wit and candor that have established

her as a resounding voice for women. She is engaging and empathetic and not afraid to change her mind. We all got to know her with her satirical rich mom content five years ago, and her takes on pop culture, theories on sex, dating, and relationships, and honest reviews, and recommendations of everything from food and restaurants to beauty, fashion, and lifestyle products, have placed her squarely in the cultural zeitgeist. Tinks has a devoted fan base, and everyone is incredibly excited for her new novel, Hotter in the Hamptons, which is available now and is being adapted for television next.

Let's dive in with Tinks. Okay, girl, well, before we get into, you know, where we are and, and what we're all up to these days, I actually really like to kind of go a little back in time with people. And I'm always really curious if you could hang out with your younger self, you know, when you were nine or ten years old, do you think you would see a kind of connection to who you were becoming when you were a little kid and who you are right now? 100%. I think you can definitely see the roots of who I am. I think I would be so excited if I knew that this was my life. When I was like five, I would be like, yeah, oh my God, we made it. But yeah, I think, you know, who we are as kids, kind of us in our most pure form in a way. That's like who we are before the world walks with us and tells us that we can't do things and gives us doubt and insecurities. And I don't know, kids are so pure in that way. They're just like their personalities are so

defined, even though they're young, so it's a really interesting thought. What about you? Do you feel like you would see the roots of yourself? Absolutely. And I think to your point, you know, the becoming and the sort of life paths and other people's influence and all sorts of things that I think, I don't want to say, like, took me off my path necessarily, but definitely I feel like I went through all sorts of stages in phases trying to figure out what was really for me. And I think to your point, when you're really young, and I think especially like feisty little girls, you kind of know yourself. And then you get told a lot about who you're not supposed to be or what you're not supposed to be. And I think I think there's a really interesting thing as you evolve where in a way you sort of also unlearn a lot to get back

to your sort of core self. Where did you grow up? I grew up in London. You did. Yeah, I grew up in London and then I moved to the States when I was 19 to go to college. But I think like what you're saying is so interesting. It's like you're pure and yourself and then the world like changes you because you're like, oh, I need to be this.

I need to try this. I need to be insecure. I need to do that. And then right around for me like my early 30s was when I was started to like, be like, oh, I need to unlearn all that stuff and go back to who I really am. And I just think it's so interesting, like so many women have, I think most women have this evolution of like re-learning who you really are. Because 20s is all about like, like trying on different hats.

Like, you know, oh, maybe I'll hang with these people like, oh, am I like a cool girl or am I like this girl or whatever? And then in your 30s, you're like, I actually just need to go back to who I am. And it's like, it's kind of amazing. I love it. I'm into 30s so far. Oh, I like that. That makes me really happy to hear. I loved turning 30. I think especially because, you know, for me and some of my closest friends, we just spent nine years on a show where, by the way, we repeated high school. So it's a literal emotional hold back. And then we were sort of stuck there and all the discoveries so many of our friends did in their 20s, we didn't really get to do. So in this really interesting way, I felt like I was discovering a lot in my 30s. And then all the discovery, so many of our friends did in their 20s, we didn't really get to do. So in this really interesting way. So in this really interesting way, I felt like I was discovering a lot in my 30s. And then all,

Also, it felt like the task of the first half of my 30s was unlearning, like, very devout good girl behavior at work. Like, no, I don't always need to make everything easier for everyone else. Totally. And then weirdly, the second half of my 30s, I think I had to confront that I didn't even know how to do that for my own life. And then at 40, like the first year that I was 40, everything shifted. And I went, oh, okay, I get it.

Now this is my time. I love that. Do you do, like, what kind of self-work do you do? Or, like, what kind of, like, how do you best, like, get to know yourself and, like, do all these things? Like, do you do therapy, journaling? I mean, everything, you know, artist's way. I found a great, great therapist who I really like. And I think finding the right therapist for you is kind of like finding the right partner for you.

Agree, 100%. It's like there's relationship. you've been in that have been great. They serve a reason. They take you through a season. You can love people and then move on from them. And I think, interestingly, like, therapy can be a lot like that, too, where it takes a while to get from just enjoying hanging out with someone to get to a really constructive place where you know that your life is better because of their presence. A hundred percent. I know. Finding a good therapist is, like, it's so key. It's so crucial. Has it been that for you? too? What's what's yeah I have like an amazing therapist that I worked with for like five years and

I've been doing my job for five years so I started like being online five years ago and it was so crucial to have someone who could like support me during this like weird job that I have where it's like you know it's not normal to get so much feedback on yourself like I think that's not like a normal human experience and so for anyone who is in the public eye you know the regular public eye or on the internet like it's just a bizarre experience to hear so much about yourself back to you and you need someone to really help you weather that and and help you process and be like no it's not normal like it's it's actually really strange like it's really strange that you get thousands of comments about your appearance or this or that or like it's bizarre so my therapist is

amazing and i've been with her for five years and you know to your point she really like does make me a better person and i just so appreciate the work we do together and i just so appreciate the work we do together and I journal as well. I actually am I've done the artist's way before but I like didn't I didn't do it properly so I'm planning to do it this summer really just like take time and like really really use it. I feel very ready and very called to do it right now so I'm excited about that. I do too. It's really interesting because I have a friend of mine gave it to me literally 10 years ago. Yeah. I think it's your time and I've carried this weathered copy around in my backpack on like every trip to every set to every everything and i got about halfway through it last summer

and went um okay i don't actually have the time i want to devote to this to finishing it and in a weird way i think i also had to get to a point in my life where i could be okay with that where i could put a book down halfway and be like i'll revisit this when i have a beat it's important to me i'll come back to it, I used to have a real kind of all or nothing like perfectionist tendency, which is terrible because perfectionism just sets you up to fail all the time. Totally. Because perfect doesn't exist. And so to unlearn a little bit of that has been really interesting too.

I wonder for you this shift into online life, because I'm thinking about when we met at our mutual friends' house at that barbecue, I feel like it was kind of in the first year maybe that you were doing this thing. thing. And I think about your history, you know, going to Stanford, getting a master's at Parsons, like you had goals that you were pursuing in a more traditional light, and then you stepped into this very non-traditional space. And to your point, that comes with a flood of information about yourself that is not healthy. And you've talked about the anxiety of, I guess, the byproduct. of the anxiety that comes with that.

Like, why do you think the shift happened? What led you to say, oh, I've gotten this kind of an education, but now I'm going to live with it in this non-traditional fashion? How did you kind of make sense of what you thought you were going to do versus what you actually do now and how it's shifted your life? Honestly, don't even think I was, like, aware of it when it was happening. I just like was thrust in the online world and I loved it. It's like very alluring.

Like obviously, especially at the beginning, you're like, oh my God, like the validation feels so good and you're, you feel so popular and, you know, you think this is incredible. Like everyone thinks I'm funny, whatever. And so I wasn't like super cognizant of where I thought I was going to be and like what I, what I am doing now. But I will say I think that a lot of who I thought I was going to be has helped me in this job like I worked in corporate America like I know how to send an email I know how to do a PowerPoint presentation like all of that stuff has has become useful in a way in this world and

that's truly how I try to just operate anyway like even if you have an experience where you're like oh I didn't like this or like this was a bad job or this was this or that like you always can take something from it and it's always building to who you are going to become and I that's like giving me a lot of peace um throughout my life. So I try to think about that often. Yeah, I like that. How do you, I guess I'm curious about this because I know what it is to have a lot of people think they know a lot about you. And your online life is so fractional to who you are as a human.

And I have the weird thing where there are people who know or think they know me, Sophia. And then there are people who will see me and be like, Brooke or Aaron. Or like, they like yell a character name at me. Yeah. But you are Christina and you're also Tinks, but Tinks is you-ish. It's so weird. Does it feel like a character? Is it a nickname that came from a friend that now blew up into a persona?

Like, how do you balance those? It's so funny. I feel like Tinks is like, I feel like I am Tinks. Like I really do feel like it. But, you know, it's also like it's an online persona. Like, it's not really who. I am. And so it is interesting when people think that they know, like, all about me. And I mean, you have the same thing. It's like, it must be even crazier for you because you're like,

exactly. Some people think they know who you are. Some people literally think that you're a character that they have so much emotional attachment to that they feel like deeply connected to you. And you're like, that was not me. That was a projection of a character that I like was the vessel for. Like, that's got to be really shrippy. I don't know. I think all of these relationships that we have are so interesting and it's like at the end of the day it is beautiful to connect with people over whether it's a character or something online but it's it's just it's just shades of reality you know it's different different pinpoints of reality different points of your personality and you know I don't know it's it's so interesting yeah it is kind of a trip and and I think especially

no matter how open or private you choose to be online, you can try to be your most authentic self, you can try to be vulnerable where you find it appropriate, you can try to be the most honest about things, and people are still going to receive you as they receive you, not as you are. And that is a really interesting thing. I mean, how to have to balance other people's expectations when you're just you and they're just them, but suddenly there's 2 million or 5 million or 10 million of them and you're still just you. How do you kind of toe the line, you know, being an online girly and maintaining a sense of privacy because, you know, you talk about dating, you talk about your life. How do you figure out what to share and what to hold? I've scaled back a lot

on talking about like my like I try to talk about dating in a general concept and not like my own experience as much now because I definitely was at a point where I was kind of dating and I was telling my followers like too much like I was I would be on a date and I would be literally thinking like oh I'm going to tell the girls about this tomorrow like and that's no way to live I had to set that boundary like which is a shame because it's the best content and people love it and it would always go viral and whatever it was so fun but it just ultimately made me feel confused about what was me and like what was the story that I was telling and it that's not healthy like you know and I think it's a trap that a lot of content creators fall into where

they're like they'll do things so that it they can talk about it in content and I was just like I need to keep this for myself like I I'm going through the you know I'm going on dates with people and maybe I spend time with people whatever but like I'll tell my followers once it's past you know, once it's in the past and it's just a story. But I think that the act of telling like during when you're seeing someone was just was too intense and it was too confusing. And it just, it gets, it gets to be confusing. I would, I would think like, wait, do I really like this person or am I just going

on a date with them so that I can like do a podcast about it the next day? Like, that's no way to live. And it's just like you, I think you have to set boundaries with yourself and be like, what am I willing to do for views and, you know, it's always evolving and I'm really glad that I kind of like pulled back and um I love sharing my life like I really do love sharing it with my community but there's also just certain things where I'm like you know I don't need to share everything like yeah I was literally in the gynecologist yesterday and I was like gonna do like a whole thing about I don't know like that that's another really big gray area for me

because I have the privilege of like having healthcare and I have certain you know end endo and PCOS and things that so many women suffer from and I know that a fraction of my followers have the same like not a lot of people have access to good health care and so that's a gray area for me because I want to inspire women who follow me to go and be their own advocates and and you know ask questions about their birth control and ask questions about why they have pain and all that stuff but it's also just difficult because it's like it's such a sensitive thing and I'm not a doctor and I never want to give medical advice and you know but but it's like i also know i have this platform and i want to inspire him and be like no like ask your doctor again like if you feel this or whatever so that's

another area where i'm like damn am i really on the internet talking about my iud again but i hope that that helps you know like that's an area where i don't mind to overshare a little bit because it could inspire someone to go and ask again or find a better solution for their health issue or whatnot. So it's, it's hard, but you kind of have to just, like, set your boundaries and do your best. I totally feel that. And it's tricky, too, you know, I don't, I've thought about this for myself where it's like, I don't only want to reflect on something when I feel like I've really buttoned it up, you know, where I, where I've really settled in it. And then I can talk about it. It's like, sometimes I think it's really healthy to say, I don't know yet. I don't have

the answer. I'm figuring this out. But then there's the inverse where if you do that, if you don't have the exact right sound bite or you don't, you know, seem 100% confident, people are like, oh, look at this person. They're in a struggle. They, they backed out of an answer. They, and it's like, well, sometimes you just get trapped. Sometimes you just don't know yet. Yeah. Sometimes you don't know yet. And also sometimes you change your mind. Like, you know, like, sometimes they're evolving. Oh, well, in 2021, you said that I was like, yeah, that was four years ago like are you saying you never change your mind when you get new information like that's bad shit like yeah and that's it's it's it's it's really tough like I I always like feel so oh my god like just

to use the birth control example again I was like because people want to know and I get it because it's like a thing that women talk about all the time I'm like okay I had an IUD I really liked it and then I took it out and people were like but you said you liked it why did you take it out like da da da and I'm like dude like we're all changing all the time our bodies our minds everything and you just kind of have to like, you can be inspired by people that you see, but you don't have to like follow exactly what they say. You kind of kind of just use it as an inspiration. But yeah, it's tricky.

And now a word from our sponsors that I really enjoy, and I think you will too. I also think, I mean, even what we were talking about when we first jumped on, things are also shifting in ways that we have to figure out how to, address. Like, there are people who have been in my life, who I have respected, who've, like, in the year 2025, gone a little cuckoo and turned into people who I watch, like, lie on the internet, because now they're selling you stuff with the lie. And I'm like, yeah, I'm super embarrassed that I talked about how inspiring I thought this person was five years ago. But now they're, like, hawking snake oil and, you know, making money doing it. And I'm like,

icky and so I think I think your example of reminding people that you're allowed to change your mind is important you can always change your mind it's like the smartest people that I know are people that like change their mind it's like strong opinions loosely held like that's what I say and that's what I like if you give me new information I'm happy to say you know what I was wrong or okay yeah that sounds totally right or like whatever I think we all need to be more nimble and I think we all need to be like get in the habit of doing that more i think with the internet people really like to be like what you said like are you used to and it's like dude we should be encouraging people to constantly be increasing their information and flow and and being like oh yeah like i see that

differently or i do see your point i'm going to change my mind or actually don't with that person anymore because of xyz like normalize it normalize it like we can't be we can't be doing this and honestly like i have to say i think that i think the left and i'm i'm i'm you know would call myself definitely on the left like i think that the left could actually be a lot better about that in general instead of being like no no no no more arguing amongst ourselves i'm like we got bigger goals we got we got way bigger goals we have to really like eyes in the prize now um and that's something i think about all the time like i'm just like you know if someone i don't know i just think got to stay nimble got to stay open-minded yeah it's like you know what it makes me think of for

us you know the um there's that like don't panic art that you see everywhere where like all the little fish are being chased by the giant fish yeah all the little fish make an even bigger fish and go after like the one i'm like guys we have to stop like little fish fighting and make the formation to get the big fish because like are you paying attention to like logging and they're legalizing chemicals like arsenic like in the air yeah we have to stop with some of the semantics and some of the i know we're like on the internet like getting on each other's ass being like well you said this and i think technically we should say this and i'm like dude we actually have like alarm bells should be ringing like this is a we are in crisis and i think that we can stop fighting amongst

ourselves about like whatever in the ticot comments and we should all be banding together yeah i'm like because the billionaires are trying to poison our water and build bunkers and we still need tap water. So, like, let's get it together. Also, Republicans don't fight amongst themselves. Like, I honestly, like, I honestly admire them. I think it's one of their greatest strengths is that they never fight with each other. You never see that. Like, even if they have disagreements, that they're never, like, publicly, like, talking bad about each other, like, having squabbles. They are united and boy, does it show. Well, and they unite in, like, a crazy way. in a crazy way.

Like when I, when I see certain things happen, and I go, oh, well, that's going to be the end of this for someone, like, you know, Roy Moore, a pedophile running for office. And the Republicans were like, yeah, but he's a conservative, so we'll vote for him. And I was like, what the fuck? Like, what? And by the way, I don't think that's good banding together at all. I think that's actually really terrifying. No, it's like, but it does illustrate, like, how hard they ride for each other.

And I think that's a huge key to their success. Like even when Pete Heggseth literally chatted war group plans, like, they were like, well, who hasn't done that? And I'm like, if someone on the left did that, that everybody else would be like, burn them at the steak, like, kick them out. And I'm like, to your point, it's not good, but it's effective. Yeah. Well, and it's like the thing that was never lost on me was that it was the tech people from the George Bush White House that gave Hillary Clinton the server. they were like, oh, this is the only way you're going to be able to do your work also from home. We'll come set it up for you.

And then the Republicans turned it into this big, like, this radical leftist scandal. And I was like, no, no, this is, what? This is like bipartisan technological information sharing. And you can critique it, but to act like it was like some f*** up thing she did when Bush's guy literally did it for her. What are you talking about? And then they're on signal. And I'm like, okay, okay. So really nothing matters, but they'll stick together to your point.

They stick together. They stay together. It's a clear goal. It's singular goal. And it's staying in power. And they're doing a really good job of it. And I would like to see less like less left on left crime. I'm like, let's just.

I totally agree. It's like, do you want to be right or do you want to win? You know, like the kind of thing. I'm like. Well, and it's passed for me even like right or win. It's like, do you want to be the most? most right? Or do you want to lose the planet? It's like, I feel like we're in end game. I'm like, guys, if we don't figure out how to be the Avengers, like the universe blows up. So, hello?

I know. It's scary. It's scary times. It's scary. It's also, I think, important for us to have conversations like this. I think it's important for us. I really do think it matters for people who care and who care to be informed, who are willing to operate with a science mind to say, I do agree that science is real, truth is truth, like the air should be clean, and I always want to learn more, I always want to intake more, I always want to challenge myself to expand my purview. I think that that requires, I mean, I know at least for me, it requires a certain amount of maturity. I think I was much more like, damn the man, burn it down person in my 20s than I am now. I've really learned to value, you know, patience and pragmatism and I can have hard

conversations that are not do or die. Yeah. Like in this moment for you, and, you know, that might be for me getting into my early 40s, in this sort of mid-30s moment for you when you look at the girls, you know, as you talk about being TikTok's older sister, like, when you look at these girls who look up to you in their 20s, are there lessons like this, you know, patience, willingness, whatever it may be, are there lessons you really wish you could pass down to them that you've had to learn as you've entered a new decade? I think 100%. And I try to like share as much as possible. And some of them, you know, you really just have to kind of go through it. like some of it is just life experience and you need to just kind of do it but I always say like I wasted so much time in my 20s like worried about body image stuff and I think that's one of the ones where it's it's tricky but if I could just impress upon the younger girls like to not let it be the main thing in their life and like we all have our struggles we're all on a journey 100% it's terrible for women but I just feel like if I had wasted a few less hours like being so mean to myself and just like how much it held me back. like I think just literally switching self-talk to being from negative to positive like genuinely will change your life and I so I hope that you know listening to me they can kind of try to do it a little earlier I mean I think dating like not seeking validation from other people

not losing yourself in relationships like so important and you know my 20s I was just seeking validation I just wanted validation I didn't I wasn't even like oh does this person like me like am I having a good time like do I feel seen it was just like I need to like have this validation of this person liking me back and you know so I try as as much as possible to share my experiences and and and just like you know encourage them to think about things and to think about themselves more kindly and yeah that's what I want I mean I kind of also wish I had had when I was like in my 20s I wish I'd had an influencer who was like single because I felt like everybody online was in a relationship and I was like oh I'm such a freak like it's only me

and so I don't know maybe I'm like hopefully if they're single they can see that you don't die if you're single it's you can have fun you can have a full life and it's actually like a beautiful stage of life and you should everyone should be grateful for for all the stages totally I also think it's so I don't know I mean I know we sort of split I won't say a generation but we split a decade you and I and I feel like in my 20s all women were ever encouraged to ask essentially boiled down to the unasked question which was am I being chosen not what do I choose what do I like what makes me feel good what makes me feel secure how am I being treated it was like what can I do and how can I and where can I and it was this it was really sort of toxic and

it's interesting you know i've had to come to terms even with how the pressure that i don't even know that i was conscious of about wanting to be a parent and what 40 meant and all of these things sort of made me not self-interrogate certain things in ways yeah getting into something that i thought was one thing and then i realized was not and like it was a weird moment for me to sit and go oh, I had such a good time spending years of my 30s being single, and I had no pressure about it. And then I almost feel like that thing from back then crept back in, and I didn't even see it coming. Yeah, yeah. And so we've got to talk about this stuff.

Yeah, that's so real. I know. Some of the best years are the single ones, and you've just got to enjoy it for what it is and, like, push the pressure out, rage against it because it's just not useful or helpful at all. Yeah. Yeah. Do you think that attitudes like that are changing in what you see, at least with your audience online, because, you know, you talk about the, I'm talking about that pressure. You're talking about body image, for example. There are so many ways that we've been sort of consciously or subconsciously encouraged to make ourselves a little smaller or a little sad or a little more self-conscious. Do you think it's changing? I wish that I could say it was. I think like the society we live on is a patriarchy and it like thrives off of keeping women down.

And I honestly, sadly think that a lot of the like aggression we're seeing towards women now is a reaction is a direct reaction to like the Me Too movement. Like I think that that was a big power moment for women where we were able to band together and like really start talking about something that has. plagued women since the dawn of time and something that's extremely difficult and extremely hard to talk about, we've found a way. And my personal opinion is that a lot of like the war on women's health care, the war on abortion, the war on women right now is kind of a direct reaction to women banding together and being like, oh, no, actually like you can't do this anymore. And we're going to, we're going to talk about it. I feel like with women, we fight so hard. And we, we still can only make incremental progress because the odds are really stacked against us. And

right now, I think with this current administration, it just feels very aggressive towards women. And it feels like women are sometimes not even people in their eyes. Like, you know, when I was reading the thing about like, oh, they're going to pay women, maybe they'll pay women $5,000 like it's an incentive to have a child. And it's like, that's insulting because the hospital bill to actually birth the baby is more than $5,000. So that's actually insulting. Like, if you actually thought of women as people, you would address that the fact that there's no universal health care, you would address the fact that there's no mandatory

paid leave. Yeah. Like you would address, you know, like you would even address all the problems we have with kids, guns and schools, et cetera. But they're not thinking about women as people. They're thinking about them as a tool to get. to their economic goal. Well, they're thinking about us as breeders and the unfortunate thing is and they really gave it away in that Dobbs decision when they said they want to ensure a domestic

supply of infants. And then you find out that there's tech companies that are pitching, you know, oh, Texas is a great place to build your company because look at our birth rates. You're going to have a big labor force. It's like, it's honestly weird. It's like, don't, does it not bother you? like as a fellow human being like doesn't it bother everyone that like that's how they're thinking like it creeps me out I'm like oh what I don't know that doesn't like doesn't put me in the mood to have a child but whatever um yeah so I don't know it's just like I think it's getting better in the sense that I think women are super aware of like what's happening to them and what's going on it doesn't make it any easier you know what I mean it doesn't make it any easier in the day to day and so I don't know like the stats are saying women are thriving that we're going to college more we more more single women own homes in the U.S. over 30 than single men like women are outperforming men in every vertical but like why doesn't it feel better why doesn't it feel better because the fact that we are the fact that as you said we've gained any measure of power is why we're being attacked and trying to be relegated to

second class citizens again because they don't like it and it's like You forget that it's not a this or that, us or them. It's if we get paid better, the GDP of the country goes up. Everyone gets paid better. Everyone does better. It doesn't have to be this sort of totalitarian dog-eat-dog energy. Like, that's so patriarchal. It is, yeah.

I know, and that's, like, not what women want. They seem to really threaten. No, we want the matriarchy, and, like, they don't want that. I know. We don't want to, like, end. all men we just want to like get paid fairly and like not be like have life be so hard like it's not I don't know it's it's you know I'm so proud of women for all that we've done and for those stats that you hear like it's it's really incredible about how women are just

in so many verticals like really making incredible advancements I just wish that it you know felt like more I don't know I felt wish it felt like nicer Yeah, I mean, I wish it felt like we weren't in quicksand all the time. Oh, it was such a good way to put it. That's exactly right. Yeah. That's kind of it for me. Yeah.

And now a word from our wonderful sponsors. I want to pivot to some joy because, you know, your book is out. Yes. It's so exciting. You, by the way, you wrote a story about. women like when you think about becoming an author that's a big deal what what was the what was the impetus for this where did the story come from why did you decide you wanted to write a book why did you want it to be fiction instead of your story like how did this come to fruition how did you

take literary power i i wanted to do something that was purely creative i like i think that you know sharing my life online is like it's always about me and I'm a bit sick of myself to be honest with you and I just like wanted to do something that was like a story I've always loved storytelling and stories and and you know I used to write these little characters on my Instagram and I was just like well what if I kept going and like finish the tour story so I wanted to do something that was fun you know I also think you really need escapism right now I wanted it to be light and glamorous and sexy and I wanted you to be able to like drink rosé and read it in one sitting one summer's day and just like have a have a glimmer into the world of influencing and the

hamptons and like just glamorous fun sexiness so um yeah it's I I wanted to do it because I was inspired to do it and that's like the purest thing you know well were you drawing on real life experience? Like, have you spent a lot of time in that space? Where did this sort of story begin? I've spent a lot of time in the Hamptons. Honestly, a lot of it was like inspired by my followers. Certain questions they would ask me, kind of sparked my creativity. And, you know, I made the main character and influencer because that's the knowledge I have. But she's not me. It's, you know, there might be some Easter eggs in there. There might be a few characters based on real life people, but she's not me.

I just wanted to do like a creative story, something that was separate for me and something that just felt like escapism, like summer escapism. Yeah. Okay. And obviously I have to ask about some of the online, you know,

narrative about it because the novel is, it is, it's glamorous, it's luxurious, it's spicy. It's also sapphic. There's been a, ton of, you know, conversation and chatter about what's appropriate there and what's not. Yeah. Because you're not a queer woman, but you had a queer collaborator. Yeah.

Gabrielle. But then people were saying, you know, she wasn't credited properly. And then you were like, but she's in the acknowledgments. Like, can you catch us up? What happened here? Yeah. Why do you think it took off that way? I don't know.

I, like, I had the best experience. Like, I think it's the right thing to do. like, I'm not a lesbian, so I don't have that lived experience and I wanted to get it right. I wanted to nail it. And I think it's also the right thing to do to, like, hire queer voices and, you know, collaborate when needed. And it was an amazing experience. She's an amazing writer and we had a great time working on it together.

So I don't, I'm not really sure why the narrative, like, took off like this. It's interesting. Do you maybe think it's about what certain people think? like you were saying, what the right term should have been? Like, you acknowledge her as a collaborator. Other people said, you can't deny a ghost writer. And you're like, how's someone a ghostwriter, if they're literally printed as a collaborator?

Yeah. Do you feel like it's an X's and O's thing? I don't know. Like, I think, like, when you hear the word ghost writer, it sounds like someone just wrote the book and, like, a celebrity slaps their name on it. And that's not what this is. I think like, I don't know, I think words matter, but like she's literally the first person

acknowledged in the credit in the acknowledgments. Like, so, so I think like, and also a lot of the people who are commenting on it haven't read it yet. So I think maybe when they read it, they might see more of like what it is and what it's not. I feel that. Yeah. So we'll see. Obviously, you guys, you know, you can't help a grin when you talk about her. You had a great experience working with her, what is it like to work with a collaborator? And I ask because it's something I think a lot about. I love writing, but I, you know, I'm more of a classically or, you know, partially collegiately trained journalist. Like an op-ed or an essay is really my space. Yeah. Yeah. When I think about some ideas that I, you know, I'm toying with, and I'm like, maybe it would be really fun to write

something with someone because I've never written a book before. What was it like? What was it like? like to sit down with someone? What does collaboration look like? Are you walking around the city, like recording your conversations? Are you Zooming? How is it to learn that with somebody like her? I mean, it's amazing. Like, it was my first time writing fiction. So I feel like I learned so much from her. She's an incredible writer. And it was a great experience. Like, I'm a really collaborative person. I like to learn all the time. And yeah, it was great. Like, I don't know why. As a with online like everything gets twisted into something that it's not like it was an incredible experience and um i'm so glad that i did it yeah well and that's why i'm i'm like what is it like

to collaborate with someone rather than you know what everybody else wants to dissect it into like were you guys in the same city or were you were you doing more phone calls like across the country you know how do you how do you get into the cadence of a creative project like that we like I mean we worked together so closely and like it would take on different forms we were in the same city but you know we would talk all the time and it was very like very back and forth like constant communication constant working constant talking and yeah it was it was great that's really exciting and the book has barely been in the world and it's already been announced that it's going to be a show the foster sisters are doing it like I'm so excited What is it feel like now that the book is coming out, obviously you've had a while since it's been finished, and now you're going to start to develop it for the screen. Do you feel like because of how much time you've had with the book, you're really ready for that? Does that also feel like a completely new adventure and you're ready to learn how that works? Like, where are you in that process?

I'm so excited to be an executive producer. the fosters are so smart and so incredible and I am so excited to roll my sleeves up and get to work and we started working on it, you know, start talking to writers. So I can't wait. It's going to be a new skill, more learning and I'm just so excited. That's really cool. Will you start trying to identify like a showrunner first and then go from there? We're talking to writers right now, so someone who will be able to adapt it for the screen. So that's just an incredible experience. meeting all these super talented people and just hearing their ideas about how to best adapt it for TV is like so cool. Yeah, I love that. Do you have kind of a dream cast in your mind or does it feel

I do? You do? Okay. But it's on my phone, but it's like I'm not saying who it is. I want to manifest. I don't want to jinx it. But yeah, I have people that I would really love to be involved. So we'll see. I think if anyone can do it, it's the fosters. They're so smart. I love this for you guys. It's really exciting. When you think about the book, when you think about Hotter in the Hamptons, although I guess book show either, is there an immediate craziest Hampton story that's yours or someone else's that comes to mind? Oh my gosh. I have a crazy Hampton story, but I signed an NDA so I can't talk about it. Oh, my God.

And I, but yeah, like I'm so inspired by the Hamptons. I've spent a lot of time there and it just is one of those places that's very cool. crazy shit always happens it's always romantic it's always like wild and and um so that was all like big and spoke for the book as well just that it's a place where like truly anything can happen yeah it's the kind of place that feels like a character in and of itself 100% just like new york and sex and city it's like exactly it's one of the characters so i'm excited for people to get immersed in that world i love it i can't wait um okay i have a few and they can be rapid or not if you but since you are TikTok's big sister we have a couple of large sort of theme

questions that we need your advice on first of which what do you think is the biggest dating red flag when they don't ask you questions about yourself oh yes and when people are rude to a hundred percent oh my god that's unacceptable what's your first date deal breaker is it being rude to servers in a restaurant rude to server rude to anyone just like bad energy. Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. Do you think it's ever okay to ghost someone? We actually got that question a lot in advance of this. I think it's okay. If you've never met them in person, like if you're talking on an app, like, I think it's okay to just, it's fine if you've never met them before. To just Homer Simpson into the bushes? Yes, exactly, exactly. Okay. Do you think you can

ever come back from getting the ick? Yeah, I think it's possible if you really like them. I think it's solvable for sure. You do. Yeah, if it's small, I think you get over at your like, oh, I can look past this. Interesting. I don't think I've ever gotten over it. Because it takes me a long time to get there. Yeah. If I get there, it's like it's like a stick of work in it.

It's definitely done. Yeah. We talked about this a little bit, but more in terms of your online community. But for you, if you could give your 22-year-old self one piece of advice, what do you think it would be? Stop boring so much. It's really not, it's really okay. And you're very young and you don't need to have everything figured out. Yeah. I like that a lot. And lastly, not a rapid fire question, but what, when you sort of look out at the year ahead of you right now and all the things you're working on and the place you are in your life, what feels like you're work in progress? Oh my gosh, myself. I'm always, we're all always works in progress. Like we all are. We're never done. And it's just more about like enjoying the journey and enjoying working on yourself.

And yeah, we're never done working on ourselves. So I'm the work in progress, I guess. Yeah, always.