Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin - Change Maker: Julia Haart, Executive, on Building Brands, the Digital Future and My Unorthodox Life

Episode Date: October 15, 2021

Today, Nicole talks to Julia Haart, CEO of Elite World Group and star of My Unorthodox Life on Netflix. Julia unpacks why everyone should have a personal brand (no matter what industry you’re in), and how to differentiate yourself at work. You won’t want to miss it! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Money rehabbers, you get it. When you're trying to have it all, you end up doing a lot of juggling. You have to balance your work, your friends, and everything in between. So when it comes to your finances, the last thing you need is more juggling. That's where Bank of America steps in. With Bank of America, you can manage your banking, borrowing, and even investing all in one place. Their digital tools bring everything together under one roof, giving you a clear view of your finances whenever you need it. Plus, with Bank of America's wealth of expert guidance available at any time, you can feel confident that your

money is working as hard as you do. So why overcomplicate your money? Keep it simple with Bank of America, your one-stop shop for everything you need today and the goals you're working toward tomorrow. To get started, visit bofa.com slash newprosmedia. That's b-o-f-a dot com slash n-e-w pros p-r-o-s media. bfa.com slash newprosmedia. Hey guys, are you ready for some money rehab? Wall Street has been completely upended by an unlikely player, GameStop. And should I have a 401k? You don't do it? No, I never do it. 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. Like an old school 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. So today I'm talking to Julia Hart. Julia is an incredible boss bitch who has been at the helm of elite world groups since 2019 and has been making some big waves in the digital space. Julia is also the star of My Unorthodox Life, a reality show on Netflix documenting Julia's life after leaving an Orthodox Jewish community. But you probably know all about that already.

So today we're going to be getting into things you don't know about Julia. From her experience in the world of fashion and business, Julia has a lot of advice on brands and beyond. And Julia called me from Paris Fashion Week, super casual, to share that advice with all of you. So Julia, welcome to Money Rehab. Thank you so much. So before we dive in, we do a quick round of Money Rehab, hot or not. So instead of hot or not, just say yay or nay. This is in the financial world, of course. So for example, if I was playing and I was asked yay or nay, retirement accounts, I would say yay, obviously, because I am all about retirement accounts. Very bullish, of course.

So are you ready? Yay or nay? Prenups. Yay. Lottery tickets. Yay or nay? Honestly, I'm going to say yay. I'm always a wishful, hopeful thinker, so it doesn't hurt. You know, I wouldn't do it on a daily basis, certainly. It's more of like a when you're in a gas station and you see a thing. Cryptocurrency, yay or nay? Nay. Investing in the market, yay or nay? Nay. Negotiating bills, yay or nay? What kind of bills? Credit card bills, utility bills. I didn't even know you could do that. You can. Everything's negotiable, sister. Yay and double yay. Touch triple yay to that one.

Yay, yay, yay, yay. Negotiating contracts, yay or nay? Yay. Giving expensive gifts, yay or nay? Yay. I agree. My love language is gift giving. Mental health days. Oh my goodness, I wish I had more of those. Yay, I agree. My love language is gift giving. Mental health days.

Oh my goodness. I wish I had more of those. Yay, I wish. Does that count? Perfect. Time shares, yay or nay? Nay. Credit cards, yay or nay? This is my first year ever having credit cards because I don't like the idea of debt. But to build a credit rating and a report, you need to have some. So I say yay. So yay or nay financial literacy. Yay. All the way. So my team knows that I do not watch any reality shows, period. End of story. I have never seen

The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, any Housewives iteration, any real estate show, any Kardashian show, but I cannot stop watching yours. You are my first. I will never forget my first. If anyone hasn't seen it, I highly, highly recommend it. And I have literally never said that. So listen up if you're not watching. What are you doing? Congratulations on the second season, Julia. I'm so excited. And I'm sure you're probably more excited. Tell me a little bit about why you wanted to do this show.

Well, to me, you know, it took me a very long time. The simplest way to encapsulate why I left my world is I left a world where your biology determines your destiny, because I wanted to be the arbiter of my destiny. I wanted to be free to decide what kind of woman I would be and what my purpose in life was, that my purpose in life isn't predetermined simply and solely because I am born a female. And that's the world I come from. So then to actually talk about that, you know, is a very, first of all, it was a very difficult time period in my life. You know, I was planning on committing suicide. It was not a happy moment

for me. So to be, I'm a very, I know it sounds crazy because I have Instagram for business and all of this stuff, but I'm a very private person, you know? And so to literally show the world my life, and then the book is going to be even more like that. I mean, people on the street are going to know the most intimate details of my thoughts and experiences. It's a very frightening thing to do, especially when you know, if you attack fundamentalism, fundamentalism, it's not staying quietly, they're going to attack back, right? And so, but I realized that if my motives are pure, if the whole purpose of this is that my story can

hopefully help other women, other people who are, doesn't necessarily have to be in the same situation as mine, but whether they're stuck in a bad marriage or they have never gotten a career because they were told they don't need a career, they just need a job or whatever in your life is holding you back or giving you pain. To me, my story, I mean, if you've seen the show, it's a happy one. It's not an angry, I have no anger in my heart. There's only a desire to create a better world where women have more options and choices. So that's why I felt that the story has to be told because if I can do it at 43, knowing really no education. And when I say no education, I did go to high school, right?

I went to teacher seminary, but I was educated for the 1800s, I did go to high school, right? I went to teacher's seminary, but I was educated for the 1800s, not for the 21st century, just like women were educated in the 1800s, right? To be good wives and good mothers. So I felt like I didn't have a choice. And it's so evident if you watch the show. So thank you so much for doing that. I know there are a ton of interviews out there about your past, but I really want to focus on what's next for you because you are just a force. And I have never slipped into anyone's DMs, much less a woman. So I slipped into your DMs for this.

And I was like, I need to be your best friend. I want you involved in the show, the book, all the things because of that power you had to inspire other women to leave whatever crappy circumstances they have. Because your circumstance was crappy. My circumstance was crappy in a different way. And I think that's so relatable. So now you're the CEO of Elite World Group. Can you tell us a little bit more about what your life looks like now?

What is a day in the life of Julia? So, you know, the reason I took over the company and what I'm so excited about is we're, I mean, to me, think blockbuster versus Netflix, right? To me, the entire fashion world was, I mean, and people don't realize this, but not just hesitant to change, immune to change, adverse to change, right? Things have been done a certain way forever. And if you think about how a talent, let's just start with a model because it's the simplest example. How do they become famous? A creative director, a casting agent, a photographer, a magazine editor had to choose that. That to me is not freedom because your own hard work,

you could be ambitious, hungry, working hard. But if someone didn't like you, too fat, too short, too tall to this, end of story. You were not in control of your own financial security, of your own financial independence, and thereby, to me, you weren't free. So the reason I took over the company is I realized that with the advent of social media, like what you're doing, right? You are the media. It isn't about the traditional magazine or the television on NBC or a billboard. People come to be inspired as to what to buy, where to travel, what to wear on digital. And when you think about that, you realize it isn't about the runway at all or the magazine cover. It's about the fact that the talent, they've got the audience, which makes them the media.

And if they're the media, guess what? You have the audience, you've got the power because it's now the casting agents and the creative directors and the magazine editors chasing the talent because the talent brings the viewers. Hold on to your wallets, boys and girls. Money Rehab will be right back. Now for some more Money Rehab. So you would rather have somebody who is crushing it on tiktok than this traditionally gorgeous woman that you would think is running walking the victoria secret run absolutely and by the way very often the person that we now sign to walk the victoria campaign is also the girl on tiktok meaning it's not one or the other, right? It's

that you're a full package, meaning most people until recently, they saw a tennis player. They saw how well that person plays tennis. They saw a beautiful model. They see how well she walks around. But those are the things people do. That's not who they are. And for the first time, that interconnectivity, that pure ability of any human being to share their truth without asking permission on the digital stage, it creates honesty and organic, believable truth. And that to me enables women who never had a voice, who only had a photo, who are only shown for how well they play tennis or how beautiful they look on the runway. They get to say, hey, I'm passionate about whales. I want to help people who have mental illnesses or who need help in mental health. I'm sure you have

things that you love and care about. You have half a million followers. I guarantee you that we do a deep dive. We figure out who your audience is, what they're interested in, and then we create content and product to build you into a brand. Well, it makes all the sense in the world because you're talking about the ABCs and the NBCs. But if you have like a Tampax commercial, you don't know who's watching. Dudes are watching. They're not buying Tampax.

But if you can laser focus on who exactly is reaching that audience, then that's what advertisers really want. I mean, you're really disrupting the space, Julia. And I'm so excited to see what you're going to do with it. Thank you. But I really disrupting the space, Julia, and I'm so excited to see what you're going to do with it. Thank you. But I love that you said that, Nicole, because what you said is very, very important. It's the first time in history. So I was talking about from our talent side, but from the business side, you're 100% correct. Ad spend was never considered

a working dollar because it was unquantifiable. You remember when you would walk into a store and they would say, oh, did you hear about us from the billboard? Please tell us, was it a friend? Was it this? Because there was no way of measuring the success of your campaign. In our company, first of all, as opposed to many companies where only represent like top tab talent, right? We represent the gamut. I have people who have 150 million followers, some of the top talent in the world. I'm not going to name them. You know them very well. And then I've got people who have 10,000 followers because of three things. Number one, for a brand to sell a product, you need that mix because the top talent gives you exposure. But those small influencers give you engagement.

Their followers think that they're their best friends. Now, a brand at scale can't do that because they would have to aggregate thousands of those small influencers to get the message across. But I represent thousands. So you come to Elite World Group and you have that aggregate. And it's exactly as you said, who we choose. So first of all, we have over 2 billion in viewership. I don't think there's a media company in the world that has over 2 billion in viewership, but not only can we give you scale, but we can give you targeting and specificity

because we utilize data and analytics to pick the right person for the right product and literally deep dive into their audience to figure out which audience members are most likely to buy that product. So it's truly this, I mean, so for the first time ad spend becomes working dollar, your CMO and your company can go to the CEO and say, this is what I spent. This is precisely what every dollar gets you. So we make them into heroes. Everyone likes to be a hero. Yes, please. And you doing this, you're definitely my shero because you're on the cutting edge of this virtual space. Can you tell me more about what elite world groups, upcoming projects are in the virtual space and of course, virtual avatars,

which sounds amazing. So Nicole, first of all, favorite questions ever. Like, oh my God, this is the greatest interview. Thank you. So avatars, when I, again, when I came in a year and a half ago and it was well, actually now it's two years in 2019 in April, I came in with this as my plan that I was going to transform it into this talent media conglomerate. And, you know, this idea that people are afraid of technology,

afraid of change, right? We're very, people are generally very comfortable doing the same thing, but I've been doing it successfully for 20 years. I don't care. Life is about change and creativity and breaking whatever is the norm today to create a better norm for tomorrow. So when I was looking at, you know, I'm a researcher, that's how I've done everything because I'm not educated. So I had to educate myself. So when I started, you know, really educating myself about this industry and I started reading about avatars and, you know, the metaverse and all of this, I thought to myself, this is the future. It's clear. It's obvious. More young people today fill Madison Square Garden to watch someone else play video games, which is incomprehensible to me, then watch baseball, right? These are statistical facts. So if that's the case, instead of bemoaning new technology, let's figure out a way to utilize it in the service of our talent. So instead of worrying about the fact that avatars will replace real people, I decided to create avatars out of real people. So what does this enable us to do?

So let's take it from the talent side and the brand side. So from the talent side, the first thing that I did is give people longevity in their career, right? By building them into brands and networks. Avatars gives them immortality. Avatars don't die. Avatars live forever. Our avatars are the most realistic avatars ever. You've seen, there's nothing like it in the world. If you look at other avatars are the most realistic avatars ever. I mean, you've seen. There's nothing like it in the world. If you look at other avatars, because they look like cartoon characters next to ours. Ours are so realistic that when you, you know, you've seen it online, when you'll see it on TV, you can see the peach fuzz on the skin. It's almost impossible to tell the difference between them.

on the skin. It's almost impossible to tell the difference between two. And we are contracting with a company that is inputting AI into the avatars. So now, for example, I've created an avatar. We've started creating avatars for a bunch of our talent. The more time you spend with your avatar, your avatar will not only walk and talk like you, avatar will start thinking like you, will answer questions like you. So imagine if you're a famous tennis player or a famous actress or a famous model, and you've built your own IP, your children, your grandchildren will still be keeping your memory alive because your avatar is still there. We're not just giving people longevity. We're giving them immortality and a vast array of new ways to monetize their thing. Do you imagine that this is going to catch on in the next year, five years,

10 years more so because it's still on the cutting edge right now? We launched it a week ago. We've already booked four campaigns. And I'm talking all in the multi-millions in, I think, less than seven days. So I'm thinking this is going to go pretty well. I mean, it's what everybody's looking for. We've been contracted by two companies to create video games for their brands. I'm not allowed to say who yet. We have the Steve Madden that we've announced already, the Steve Madden. We've got the Tommy Hilfiger campaign fashion show.

And then we've got some really exciting virtual experiences that we're creating with brands that honestly, like that's a whole other conversation because it's again, never been done. It's going to blow people's minds. I'm so excited. So tell me just finally, what piece of career advice would you give your former self? Because it seems like not only are you teaching younger people, but you're also learning from younger people. I actually found you through your daughter's TikTok. Oh, my goodness.

Absolutely. So it sounds like you're learning so much from your kids. When I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with Elite, they're the people I went to. I walked into every... Shlomo was in Columbia. Miriam was in Stanford. I literally would walk around and pull the students

because after everything I read, I wanted to see what young people actually thought. You know, so absolutely. Honestly, the advice I would give my younger self is stop waiting. You know what's inside of you. Go get it, you know? And that, you know, it always kills me

that it took me until I was 43 years old to make that change. I hate that. I was miserable for, you know, 30 years, right? I couldn't, I was as miserable at 43 as I was the same miserable at 20. But that's the, you know, I wish I could go back and say, why are you waiting? Get your ass off this chair and fucking walk out the door. You can do it. So yeah, that's the only piece of advice is stop waiting. Whatever you think you want to do, whatever's in your heart, whatever impediment you think is preventing you, just go for it anyway. Do not wait.

For today's tip, you can take straight to the bank. If you're following someone else's lead, you can take straight to the bank. If you're following someone else's lead, you're never going to come in first. Julia's work in the digital world shows how it pays off to do something completely new. It can be difficult to take the risk involved with doing something that's never been done before, of course, but it can also pay huge dividends later on. it can also pay huge dividends later on. 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.