Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin - Change Maker, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, Comedian

Episode Date: July 2, 2023

Originally aired 4.13.22 Entertainment is a tough business to break into. But why? Today, Nicole talks to Anjelah Johnson-Reyes about why so few talented actors make it big, and how you can position yourself financially to live the Hollywood dream.  You can learn more about Anjelah's book "Who Do I Think I Am?" here: https://anjelah.com/#book 

One of the most stressful periods of my life was when I was in credit card debt. I got to a point where I just knew that I had to get it under control for my financial future and also for my mental health. We've all hit a point where we've realized it was time to make some serious money moves. So take control of your finances by using a Chime checking account with features like no maintenance fees, fee-free overdraft up to $200, or getting paid up to two days early with direct deposit. Learn more at Chime.com slash MNN. When you check out Chime, you'll see that you can overdraft up to $200 with no fees. If you're an OG listener, you know about my infamous $35 overdraft fee that

I got from buying a $7 latte and how I am still very fired up about it. If I had Chime back then, that wouldn't even be a story. Make your fall finances a little greener by working toward your financial goals with Chime. Open your account in just two minutes at Chime.com slash MNN. That's Chime.com slash MNN. Chime. Feels like progress. Banking services and debit card provided by the Bancorp Bank N.A. or Stride Bank N.A. Members FDIC. SpotMe eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply. Boosts are available to eligible Chime members enrolled in SpotMe and are subject to monthly limits. Terms and conditions apply. Go to Chime.com slash disclosures for details.

Hey guys, are you ready for some money rehab? Wall Street has been completely upended by an unlikely player game stop and should i have a 401k because you don't do it no i know you think the whole world revolves around you and your money well it doesn't charge for wasting our time i will take a check you recognize her from anchoring on CNN, CNBC, and Bloomberg. The only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. Nicole Lappin.

As you know, here on Money Rehab, we feature changemakers, public figures making change in every sense of the word, and along the way have been in, or might still be, in Money Rehab. Today I'm talking to Angela Johnson Reyes. Angela is a writer and comedian. You definitely know her from her time on MADtv when she played the infamous characters like Tammy the nail salon employee and Bone Kwee Kwee. So yes, you can safely say Angela has definitely left a mark on the entertainment industry. And that's really, really hard to do. But why is it so hard to break into showbiz? I mean, there are so many dreamers

out there who want to be pop stars or movie stars, all the stars. In every family, there's one youngster, a cousin, a niece or nephew, or maybe even your child, or maybe even you, who has a dream. So I wanted to ask Angela what it's really like to try and make it in Hollywood and how you can position yourself financially to follow that dream. Angela, welcome to Money Rehab. So before we dive into our Changemaker episodes, we have a quick round of Money Rehab Never Have I Ever. So it's like Never Have I Ever, the drinking game. Have you played that? Yes. But unfortunately with no alcohol. So if you have done something, just say you have.

And if you haven't, just say you haven't. Okay. Never have I ever played the lottery. Oh no, I have. Wait, does gambling count as lottery? Because that's different. Never have I ever gambled. Oh, yes, I have. Never have I ever been fired from a job. I think I have. Never have I ever negotiated a contract. By myself? No. I always have help with contracts. Never have I ever signed a prenup. Never. Never have I ever taken a mental health day. Oh, I live on mental health days.

Never have I ever turned down a role in Pitch Perfect. Listen, we all make mistakes in our life but yes i was offered a role in pitch perfect and i turned it down because i was way conservative christian at the time and i was like no i think this is gonna be like a not good movie that i should be a part of and like i think there was one i one crude joke in the script that i was like no like on this high horse I'm not gonna do this movie and then it comes out and it's the most amazing you know empowering female movie and I could have been a part of it but shit happens but never have I ever sold out a venue for a stand-up show many times you have such an amazing story, Angela, and you really put it

all out there in your new book, Who Do I Think I Am? I want to start with a little bit on your background. You were born and raised in San Jose. Early on, I think you were given an assignment of what do I want to be when I grow up, and you kind of pretended to be a lawyer, but that's how you realized that you liked pretending, and so acting was calling you. But I'm assuming you were drawn to say you wanted to be a lawyer because of financial security. Were you thinking about money when you're thinking about your future? Was financial freedom important to you that early on? I think when I was that young, I just wanted to do whatever I saw in the movies. And in the movies, like people had a desk and they had a lot of work and they had phone calls and red pens and that I just wanted to like be

busy working boss. Like, yes. Okay. No, bye. Like, I don't know if it was about money or more. So I just wanted to be the boss. Okay. But then you became a Raiderette boss, which I found awesome. I actually did a piece for Bloomberg on the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders where I went inside and I was so surprised by how little money they made. And I love in your book that you talk about all the money you've made at all sorts of random jobs. So can you tell listeners if they don't know how much you were making per game? So I was a cheerleader for the Oakland Raiders 2002-2003. And at that time, we were the highest paid cheerleaders in the NFL at a whopping $80 a game.

Some bananas. And we didn't get paid per game. We got paid at the end of the season. So with taxes and everything, I think my check was like 500 something dollars. Although this was kind of cool. You talk about how you made money from the calendars and you made way more money, like 2000 bucks from the calendars that you took to move to LA. That seems boss bitchy. That sounds entrepreneurial of you guys. Definitely. So we got to buy our calendars wholesale and then you go to the mall and

you'd send up a calendar sign and you'd sign your calendars and sell them. So it was like, all the girls had been on the squad for a while. They got the good malls and the good stores where people spend money. And then the rest of us rookies, we had to go to like the hood malls, you know, but, um, I remember this, I think you will appreciate this one. So I, um, I was done with the Raiders February. We went to the Superbowl that year. We were done the weekend after the Superbowl, I moved to LA to pursue my dreams, to be an actress, but technically I was still a Raiderette. my dreams to be an actress, but technically I was still a Raiderette. So I was still in contract and I still had my uniform until June. So while I was in LA, I was doing calendar signings and Raiderette events in LA, setting them up myself. And I had a cousin who worked on the hip hop radio

station in LA. Anytime he would do an appearance somewhere where he's like, you know, yeah, what's up? This is Joe Grande. I'm going to be at, you know, whatever Tico's tacos on Friday from five to 8 PM, come hang out, whatever. And there's going to be an Oakland Raider at there signing her calendars. So I would go with him to all of his press events and I would just wear my uniform, bring a box of calendars, and I would sell my calendars all the way up until June until my contract was done. And that's how I partly survived in the beginning. That's awesome. And also very entrepreneurial of you at the time. You used it as well to kind of get your first extra gig. Oh yeah. So my very first job was being an extra on the TV show

friends. And still to this day, it's one of my favorite jobs I've ever had. And, um, my friend who was helping me get started and, you know, showing me the rope, she was like, I want you to go to central casting and there's going to be a line of people out the door waiting to be an extra, but don't wait in that line. I want you to get, go to the store, get a tray of cookies and your Raider at headshot. And I want you to go and ask for Sam. And when you get Sam, give him the cookies in your headshot, tell him you're new to town and you want to be an extra. And I'm like, okay, this sounds real sleazy. Like, I don't know what kind of casting couch you try and get me on, but I don't like this so far. And so we, I go there. Sure enough, there's a line of people at the door and I'm like, Oh my God, she was right. And then everybody's

watching me walk by with my sleazy cookies in my hand. Like everybody knows what I'm trying to do. And then I get to the window and I'm like, I'm here for Sam. And they're like, okay, he'll be right out. Here comes this guy. Keep in mind, this is like a month after the Superbowl that we just were in. Here comes this guy walking out of the back offices wearing a Raiders hat. Yes. Like, oh, hi, these cookies are for you. And here's my Raider headshot. And he's like, no way, Raiders.

Oh, my God. So he signed me up to be an extra right away. And I got to be on Friends, which at the time was the number one show on television. So it's like the most coveted spot to be an extra. Yes. And it sounds like he hooked you up with the union too, which is not a common thing for those who don't know about SAG-AFTRA. I'm part of it.

It's, it's like a catch 22. It's really fucked up in my opinion, because you kind of can't get it. You can't get a job without the SAG-AFTRA and you can't get SAG-AFTRA without the job. Right. What? How does

that even work? It's so crazy. And so he put me in the computer system as a SAG-EXTRA, which means when you get paid at the end of the day, they give you vouchers and you either get a union voucher or a non-union voucher. Non-unions, we got paid like 65 bucks a day. And then unions, we got paid like, I think it was like 125 bucks a day or something. Well, I got paid like 65 bucks a day and then unions we got paid like i think it was like 125 bucks a day or something well i got my voucher for the day and it was a union voucher and i was like what i'm not in the union but i got a union voucher and i was like oh my gosh that guy sam put me in the computer as a union person so that i will get my vouchers because you need three union vouchers to join the union and the way that you get a union voucher,

if you're not in the union is a union extra has to not show up for work that day. And that means they have an extra union voucher. And so they'll hand that out to like whoever their favorite person was of the day. It's kind of like political like that. And so I started getting all these union vouchers and people would come up to me and be like, Hey, how do you join the union? I know nothing about this. I just moved to Hollywood. I have no idea. This guy just hooked me up and put me in the computer system. I was having to come up with all these lies and be like, Oh man, it's hard. Like you just have to wait for your turn. And like, I knew nothing. I was just lucky. And I got my union vouchers right away. So I got

to join the union. That golden ticket. You're like first step, be a Raiders girl. Second step, find a Raiders fan. Third step, get the golden ticket. But also I found it so interesting because you're really transparent, which I love. I'm not sure if other interviewers for your book have picked up on the little money details, but I did. You talk like really transparently about how how much everything costs. And can you tell the story about the time that you booked a role in Kanye's pilot, like before he was a Kardashian, you didn't have the money for the union for folks not in the entertainment industry. I'm not sure if they understand how that works with the you know, I think we get that it's sporadic, but also that residual checks can be random and high, but you just don't know when

they'll magically appear. And then you have to pay this big hunk of money for being part of this coveted union. Yeah. So this was early on in my career. I got an audition for this pilot and it was a Kanye West pilot. And this is years ago. I'm in my early twenties. And, um, I ended up booking the role and I was so excited and I was in the SAG union already, but this is when SAG and AFTRA were separate. So you had to join two separate unions. Well, this pilot was in the AFTRA union. And so they were like, you have to join the after union in order to film your part. And it costs $1,700 to join the after union. And I am broke at this point. Like I don't have money. I'm on unemployment. Like I have no money to pay this union. So I call everyone I know. And this is like

before go find me pages because I call people like manually dialing a phone number being like, hey, can you donate to my union fund, please? And I called like cousins, I called friends, like anybody who I could. And I finally got my $1,700. And I joined the union. And I'm like, this is it. This is my life, my career, my big break. I finally I booked a role. Let's go. And the day before I was supposed to film my role, they cut my part out of the episode. So I joined the after union for no reason. And I didn't even get a paycheck in the end so I could pay people back. pay people back. I mean, see, that's just part of this Hollywood story that a lot of folks don't know. I mean, it sounds like for you, comedy wasn't the natural fit, but you were making more money in some of the comedy gigs or like a comedy competition that you were making as an extra. So were you following the money trail at a necessity that you just needed to pay the bills and you weren't necessarily super, super passionateings. Like it wasn't really working at the time for me. And, um, I started doing standup comedy kind of just for fun. Like I took a class, I wrote some

jokes, I did pretty well. So I was like, okay, I'll do it again. And that would go up at the improv on Tuesday or, you know, buzz cafe on Thursday or whatever, just here and there going up at different spots. And, um, I got a message on my space. This is how long ago this was. I got a message on my space and it was like, um, Hey, would you like to perform at our Mormon holiday party? And I was like, okay, but I'm not Mormon. And they're like, Oh no, it's totally fine. We just need comedians who will work clean, which means don't say cuss words or talk about sex or anything like that. And so I was like, Oh yeah, I could do that. Sure. So I go to this Mormon holiday party and turns out it's a comedy competition. They got 10 clean comedians to come and perform for

all the Mormon kids there. And so we all performed. I tied for first place and I won $600 that night. And that was the most money I had ever made in my entire life in like one day. And that was in doing 10 minutes of standup comedy. And I was in that moment. I was like, wait a minute, I can make $600 doing 10 minutes of comedy. I'm going to be a comedian. And that's kind of what I flipped in was like, maybe I should write more jokes and start taking this comedy thing seriously. And that's kind of when the switch happened for me. Hold on to your wallets, boys and girls. Money rehab will be right back. One of the most stressful periods of my life was when I was in credit card debt. I got to a point where I just knew that I had to get it under control for my financial future

and also for my mental health. We've all hit a point where we've knew that I had to get it under control for my financial future and also for my mental health. We've all hit a point where we've realized it was time to make some serious money moves. So take control of your finances by using a Chime checking account with features like no maintenance fees, fee-free overdraft up to $200, or getting paid up to two days early with direct deposit. Learn more at Chime.com slash MNN. When you check out Chime, you'll see that you can overdraft up to $200 with no fees. If you're an OG listener, you know about my infamous $35 overdraft fee that I got from buying a $7 latte and how I am still very fired up about it. If I had Chime back then, that wouldn't even be a story. Make your fall finances a little greener

by working toward your financial goals with Chime. Open your account in just two minutes at Chime.com slash MNN. That's Chime.com slash MNN. Chime. Feels like progress. Banking services and debit card provided by the Bancorp Bank N.A. or Stride Bank N.A. Members FDIC. SpotMe eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply. Boosts are available to eligible Chime members enrolled in SpotMe and are subject to monthly limits. Terms and conditions apply.

Go to chime.com slash disclosures for details. Now for some more money rehab. Was that also a switch into some of the imposter syndrome that you were grappling with? You talk about how it was heightened by not speaking Spanish, but also that you didn't have a whole bunch of jokes going into this. How did you deal with that? So I have always had like a bit of imposter syndrome and still today I can dip into it a little bit. It's like one day you're on top of the world thinking like, I am so funny. I am so talented. I am creative. Like, oh my gosh, I did all these things. And then the next day you're like, oh my gosh, what a fluke. It was just lucky. I was just lucky.

I'm not even that funny. I'm not even that creative. Like, I don't even know how I wrote that nail salon joke or created Bon Quiqui. Like that was just luck, you know? And then the next day you're like, girl, get your act together. What are you talking about? Like, do you and do you well. So I definitely deal with that imposter syndrome. And it could be triggered by anything like being in it. Like you said, a conversation where I don't speak Spanish. I'm like, Oh, I'm not a real Mexican. Or, you know, whatever it is. And you talk about the nail salon bit. This was what really put you on the map. You went viral with this. It was part of your original set, I believe.

Can you tell us the story, though, and the lesson that came from it about basically giving your rights over to this bit, to these Verizon folks for 25 bucks? So it was actually was a different company that was making videos to be uploaded to Verizon phones. And this particular company who I don't like to mention their name because they were shady. Um, I went to perform at this comedy club and they were like, if you do 10 minutes, we'll give you 25 bucks. And I was like, yes, 25 bucks. That's going to give me some top ramen, some Cheerios, some gas. Let's go.

And so I went and I did my 10 minutes. They gave me my 25 bucks and I had to sign this contract because they were recording it. And this is before YouTube. So this was when it was flip phones. And they were like, we're going to upload these comedy clips to Verizon wireless and people can pay a dollar 99 to download a comedy clip. And then this brand new thing called YouTube comes out. And so they're like, oh, we'll just take all of these clips and we'll put them up on YouTube. And then it blew up. So I don't even own that joke. People

have asked me, oh my gosh, you probably made so many millions of dollars off of that. I've made not one penny off of that. What I made off of that was a loyal fan base and a long lasting career is what I made off of it. But that particular video, I have seen not one penny. It's a really interesting mindset that you were in after the nail salon bit went viral. You talk about Eat, Pray, Love. Elizabeth Gilbert talks about this in a TED Talk, where after Eat, Pray, Love, she felt like she had done the biggest thing she was ever going to do and that she couldn't top that. Can you tell us about meeting with a mentor that basically likened you to Quentin D'Arendino after Reservoir Dogs and was like, girl, chill. Like you have the best is still to come. Yeah. Um, I was hosting a, uh, a ward show or something in Texas. Like I just got hired to host something. And, uh, Robert Rodriguez was there, director. And, um, he had invited me to

come to his studio and have like a general meeting with him while i was in texas because that's where his studio is and so um i go to this meeting but i'm highly unprepared like i i don't have any ideas to pitch him i don't have like anything going on i just had this one character blow up on mad tv everybody started hearing about it and so he called me in for a meeting and it was such a special meeting because it wasn't like i was with a bunch of suits a bunch of executives at you know some big corporate office and like you have to be on on your toes and like have ideas and and present yourself like it was very vulnerable and and i was like i don't And I was like, I don't have any ideas to pitch.

And I kind of feel stuck, honestly, like after this character is so viral, like I don't know how I am going to top that. And he started talking to me about his friend, Quentin Tarantino, who also went through a similar situation and where he came out with this project. It did really well And then went through like this season of like, how am I going to top that? And then he ends up topping that and goes on to have an incredible career. like, yeah, let me not try to top myself. And that was one thing that he said. He's like, when you created one quickly, you weren't trying to top something you were just creating. So just get back into that and just create life is about balance. We're always balancing something. You're balancing having the most confidence thinking you're on top of the world to the next day, imposter syndrome, you're balancing working so hard and then resting. Like it's always about balance. One day I'm feeling insecure. And the next day I'm like, let's go. I got this. And, um, you never arrive where you're done growing, where you're done, um, learning lessons. Like I am constantly a student of life. I'm constantly evolving in my faith,

in my marriage, in my communication skills, in my craft, in my art, my creativity. I'm constantly evolving. So in that, it looks like this. It's a roller coaster. It's not just smooth sailing. Here's today's tip you can take straight to the bank, straight from Angela. Here's today's tip you can take straight to the bank, straight from Angela. Living a life with an exclamation point. I was writing in my journal one day and I was trying to manifest something that I wanted in my life. And I was excited about this vision that I saw and I was writing it in my journal. And I hesitated before I put it in an exclamation point. I hesitated and I was like, don't put an exclamation point. Don't

get too excited about it because if you don't get it, then that's when disappointment comes. That's when hurt comes. And it became one of those things where I had to challenge myself to be bold and be brave and put an exclamation point and expect good things to happen and to not anticipate hurt and disappointment. And so it was my challenge to everyone to dare to live your life with an exclamation point and risk being hurt if you don't get what you're praying for and hoping for. Money Rehab is a production of iHeartRadio. I'm your host, Nicole Lappin. Our producers are Morgan Lavoie and Mike Coscarelli.

Executive producers are Nikki Etor and Will Pearson. Our mascots are Penny and Mimsy. Huge thanks to OG Money Rehab team Michelle Lanz for her development work, Catherine Law for her production and writing magic, and Brandon Dickert for his editing, engineering, and sound design. And as always, thanks to you for finally investing in yourself so that you can get it together and get it all.