Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin - Comedian Iliza Shlesinger on Reaching Financial Independence by Ignoring the Joneses

Episode Date: August 12, 2024

Iliza Shlesinger is one of the most accomplished and talented comedians in the world and today, she comes on the show to talk comic-onomics, the economics of comedy. Iliza tells Nicole about the money lessons she's learned throughout her career, how she's avoided the temptations around keeping up with the Joneses and the easy hack she uses to save extra money. Check out Iliza on tour! Find when she's coming to your city here: https://iliza.com/pages/tour-dates All investing involves the risk of loss, including loss of principal. Brokerage services for US-listed, registered securities, options and bonds in a self-directed account are offered by Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA & SIPC. Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank. Brokerage services for alternative assets are offered by Dalmore Group, LLC, member FINRA & SIPC. Brokerage services for treasury accounts offering 6-month T-Bills are offered by Jiko Securities, Inc., member FINRA & SIPC. Banking services are offered by Jiko Bank, a division of Mid-Central National Bank. Securities investments: Not FDIC Insured; No Bank Guarantee; May Lose Value.  Brokerage services for Regulation A securities are offered through Dalmore Group, LLC, member FINRA & SIPC. Risks at public.com/disclosures/alts-risk-and-conflict-of-interest-disclosure See public.com/#disclosures-main for more information.

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.

I love hosting on Airbnb. It's a great way to bring in some extra cash, but I totally get it that it might sound overwhelming to start or even too complicated if, say, you want to put your summer home in Maine on Airbnb, but you live full time in San Francisco and you can't go to Maine every time you need to change sheets for your guests or something like that. If thoughts like these have been holding you back, I have great news for you. Airbnb has launched a co-host network, which is a network of high quality local co-hosts with Airbnb experience that can take care of your home and your guests. Co-hosts can do what you don't have time for, like managing your

reservations, messaging your guests, giving support at the property, or even create your listing for you. I always want to line up a reservation for my house when I'm traveling for work, but sometimes I just don't get around to it because getting ready to travel always feels like a scramble, so I don't end up making time to make my house look guest-friendly. I guess that's the best way to put it. But I'm matching with a co-host so I can still make that extra cash while also making it easy on myself. Find a co-host at Airbnb.com slash host. I'm Nicole Lappin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. It's time for some money rehab. What you're about to hear is one of my favorite episodes I have ever, seriously, done on this show.

And as you know, I do not say that about every episode. This one in particular is special to me because it is with the one, the only, Eliza Schlesinger. Eliza might be my favorite comedian in the whole wide world. And in our conversation today, we talk about money lessons she learned throughout her career. She has some great tips for saving money that I totally endorse, and also how to avoid temptation for keeping up with the Joneses or Kardashians or whatever. We also dig into something we have a different perspective on. And I have to say, Eliza is the role model for how to have a productive and fair conversation with someone you don't totally agree with. Something we could all use the lesson in right now. Here's our conversation. Eliza, I'm so excited to say welcome to Money Rehab.

Nicole, I'm so excited to be here and to be on a podcast about finances versus just dating or horror stories about being in middle school. So thank you. We wanted to diversify. That's what we do. So I am legit your biggest fan. I've seen everything you've done. Even in COVID, when we were all scared to see humans, I went to your drive-in show at the Magic Castle. Oh, wow. It was weird, but cool. It was weird to have the audience laugh with the flashing lights of their cars. But I think it gives you a glimpse of what life will be like with our AI overlords in the near future. We're doing great. So in the day to day of being your number one fan, I've read a lot of your interviews, and I have noticed how

you often speak to the perspective of a female comic. And I see that you feel like girl boss scenario where you're asked of being a female comic, not just a comic, you know, obviously, the patriarchy is real. So honestly, you have to deal with different shit than male comics. So do you think those conversations on gendered experiences are helpful or does it just make your eyes roll? I guess it depends on where the intention is coming from, who's forcing you to answer the question to whom you're speaking. Because I think sometimes we say female comic as if being one of the best female comics puts you at the top of the women. But because men are seen as better, somehow you're just as good as the worst male comic in the echelon above. So these qualifiers, I don't see how it matters. It

matters in terms of women getting to do more. Like I just played ball arena in Denver and they told me I was the first female comic to play that arena. And I'm like, it's not really something I want to rest my laurels on because I'm sure other women who do better than me could have played that if they wanted to. It's like, let's celebrate real landmark victories. First woman on the moon, because women historically were not allowed to touch science. I just don't believe in patting yourself on the back for something that through another lens could have been done by someone else. And I also think there are so many women who obviously came before me, came up at the same time as me, who just did the work. Of course, you don't want women who come after you to have to deal with any of that garbage that

has nothing to do with whether you're funny or not, or whether you're talented or not. So it's not about that. Of course, you want the world to be easier because you do want everything to be merit based. I do want you to succeed because you're fucking funny, not because of anything else. And so I hate when it's used as a crutch. I hate hearing comics say, I don't get booked because of this, because of this. Everybody has something that makes it a little bit hard on them. But by that same token, that crutch can also be your stepping stone. So the answer to that is just be talented. Just don't suck. Nobody who's actually talented and does the work doesn't get ahead. It literally does not happen. You have to put in the work. And you may think you're putting in the work, but the person next

to you is putting in three times the work and maybe isn't even as talented, but they're putting in the work. In the category of shit female comics have to deal with, you've also said that there are wage gaps in random increments in comedy. Can you explain? I don't remember when I said that, but I believe it. I don't think I said that, but whoever said that is smart. I'll give you an example. I was asked to do a show once, and it's a show that I had done many times, and they used my name to sell tickets, and they were giving me, we'll just say a number that is not the number because that's not what this is about we'll say it was a hundred dollars just to make it even okay they were giving me a hundred dollars and I found out that they were giving a different celebrity who is more famous than me

but not in the realm of stand-up does not sell more tickets does not play larger venues does not have a functioning tour that person was getting 200 And I went to the bookers and I was like, this isn't right. I put in the work. I help build up your brand. You use my face to sell these tickets. And now it's like a secret that you're giving this person more just because of their name. If this were a celebrity contest, great. But this is about stand up. And I know the people that are coming to see me. And they did give me that raise because it was like a secret that they were doing it. Sometimes it's just built in. Sometimes it's arbitrary. There's only a handful of women in comedy who make a ton of money. And I hate to say it, but I do think the men in comedy make a ton more. comedy make a ton more. And that's not that the women are getting paid less. I just think this equates to accessibility. And I can answer this question by saying, I cannot tell you how many women have come to my shows and said to me, this is my first standup show. I don't like

standup. I like this. And I always ask them, why don't you like standup? Who doesn't love to laugh? And a lot of them struggle to answer it and I insert for them I'm like it's because it was never made for you historically it was from a male perspective through a male lens and a lot of women had to who were very funny still had to skew have to skew a little masculine I definitely skew a little masculine at times and then the more my comedies evolved it's become about talking to women. But because of that, people are more apt to go see a male comic because that's the standard. Oh, I'm in good hands. It's a guy. And you're taking a risk on a woman. Therefore, the ticket price might be lower because you're

hoping people will come in. But then again, it does come down to supply and demand. I mean, a ticket to see Ali Wong is probably more expensive than a ticket to see me. And that just is what it is. Yeah. Comiconomics, I guess. You should copyright that. You should copyright it. I can't write about money. I can only write about what clubs charge. Comiconomics. No one's going to read it, but it's very smart that you said that. You should write that down. I recently had a conversation with a comic on the show who helped us follow the money trail

of comedy from the beginning of a career and what the reality is like having to work for free. What was your experience like? Unpopular opinion now, but like nobody wants your shitty five minutes. So you are lucky that someone is giving you the stage time. And I know I sound kind of old school at that. It was not a thing to pay comics for the longest time, early 2000s, which is when I got started. No one got paid. In New York, they did. And I went to London and they gave me some money and I was shocked. It just wasn't a thing in L.A. and maybe it just

wasn't a thing for me, but it was about getting off work, getting in your Chevy Blazer and going around to these bars that would give you seven minutes on a Wednesday at 1030, you know, whoever would give you time, because at the beginning, it's not worth any money. What you're working hard for is the time is being allowed into the gym so you can get your workout in. And then somehow it changed. Clubs started paying the comedy store forever, just has like a certain amount they pay in the OR, but in the main room you get a certain amount based on however many people buy the tickets, not like profit sharing, but fluctuates. And the improv forever paid like $15 or $8 a set. Like it was so minimal because you were there to work out. The product you were delivering wasn't really worth that much, and you were getting better. So what you get in the end was stronger, so then you could take it on the road and make your money. And then all of a sudden, everyone started paying something, even if it's like a nominal fee. And it just happened over time, especially coming out of

COVID. People just started paying more in terms of doing sets around town. And so, I mean, I could definitely talk about the economics of getting paid for your real gigs and how you start. You go into a club, you're a comic, you're brand new, and they will give you a guarantee. They will say you get $3,000 for the weekend, $3,500. Can you stay Thursday through Sunday? Can you come in Wednesday so you can do press at 5am till 11am all Thursday? Can you do three shows like and then eventually you get to a place where it's a door deal versus so you'll get X amount of money versus 90% of the gross box office sales from the door, whichever one's greater. They would do bonuses. If we reach 250 people in the club, you get an extra $500. So you'd hit your bonuses. And then you get into bigger, better deals. And then you move into

theaters and bigger theaters. And usually those deals are, sometimes you get a guarantee, like at a casino, you get a flat guarantee. So it does not matter who shows up because they're not making money off of the ticket purchase as much as they are making money off of the drinks, off of who's using the slots, off of who's going to restaurants. They just want people in there. A big theater, you might get a guarantee versus 90% gross box office, whatever. Every booker decides based on that comic and their performance, like what kind of deal you're going to get. Just to clarify, the OR is not the operating room. It's the original room. It's the room with the big glass window that you see when you pull up to

the comedy store. Sorry, that was like too cool for school lingo. So for you, before you were making money in comedy, did you have to supplement with other jobs? Like how did you pay for the Chevy? The Chevy came with me from high school. Chevy Blazer with a cool splash decal. It was a great car. I was one of the few, and this is taking it back. So I graduated college in 2004 or 2005. I graduated a little early, and I actually can't remember. And at the time, I didn't know anything about the industry. So I was like, well, I'll just get a job.

And I got the job, and I started doing stand-up at night. So that was just the thing that I did at night. Because I was in my early 20s I had so much energy so you could do that and go out drinking after and get up for work not do a great job at your desk but like you were there so my income was my income there was no gig economy at the time internet comedy was in its infancy and I won last comic standing three years in so I did not have to take any of the traditional or non-traditional routes that most comics take where you feature for someone or you go out. I became a headliner. So I wasn't making a ton of money, but I was making a living. So I was able to buy a condo. And my parents are very money focused. So I bought that.

And then I just worked every weekend. I had no kids. I had no husband. I had a small dog. And so I was just out every weekend for years. And this is also times were less expensive. I mean, I always tell the story of my first apartment in LA was two bed, two bath, hardwood floor, two parking spaces for $1,200 a month. So obviously, it's a different time.

But slowly, you start to cobble obviously, it's a different time. But slowly, you start to cobble together like little gigs here and there. I definitely remember quitting my job to pursue comedy full time. There was like a several month gap between that and doing the show, where I would get paid for like, writing an internet show for someone or writing a sketch for someone just kind of cobbling it together. And your parents were money motivated. Did that affect how you felt about going into comedy or how they felt change your opinion about going into comedy and not making a consistent amount of money? Money minded, not money motivated. My parents were extremely supportive.

My mother is financially prudent. We never spent more than we had. There was never any struggle. My parents got divorced, and I'm sure that that wasn't the prettiest thing, but my mother was always on top of things. And my dad eventually went on to become a financial advisor way later in my life, like in my 30s. But even as a kid, I had a job, and I had a kid, as a teenager, and I had a checkbook. And I would go, and I had a kid as a teenager and I had a checkbook and I would go and I'd cash in my check and I'd balance it. So it wasn't a huge conversation, but I've just never spent beyond what I had. I tend to spend the bulk of my money on expensive plane tickets. And now as a functioning adult, you know, on my mortgage and things like that, but like, you're not going to see a ton of designer bags or designer sneakers or jewelry other than the three pieces that I wear. Shout out to like Susie Orman, who I think always wears

the same gold earrings. There's just there's nothing crippling me financially. And has it been tough with the inconsistency? Like you might have a couple of shows or appearances in one month and then like none for a stretch. You've said in the past that the finances of your career were slow burn. I remember in my 20s saying, I am going to work my fingers to the bone in my 20s so that I can relax a little bit more in my 30s. And I really did. And that's not just saving financially. And it was never about saving. I've got to save a certain amount. Just putting money away, not living beyond your means, but also laying a foundation, going into those markets. Look, the internet changed everything. There are people who

have been doing comedy way less than me that hit it big on TikTok, that have tours. It's not about that as much as I made hay while the sun was shining and I went out into these markets and I worked hard and I built up a fan base. That's not going anywhere. So while you may not be the biggest comic in the world, the fans that you do have do continue to support you and having that emotional cushion which leads to a financial cushion enables me to exercise and do other projects and i've saved enough money and been smart about it that if push came to shove we could make some stuff liquid very quickly. I love that for you. You've said that you are now making millions. Fuck yeah, Mazel Tov. Have you ever felt like you needed money rehab? No, just because I'm constantly... I mean, years ago, my manager was like,

let's get you a business manager. So I have enough people monitoring my money. I have the business manager. I have the guy that does my stocks. I had my dad while he worked at Principal Financial. He no longer does. I have my mother, who's always asking questions that I pretend I have the answers to. And then I'm like, I actually have no idea. And I get statements, you know, and I keep an eye on these things. And the big trick is always asking questions when they send you your statements. So it looks like you read it, even if your eyes roll into the back of your head and you're like, I'm still not positive what a money market fund is. But it's simple math. Don't spend more than you earn. And if you want a house, take out a loan

and then one day just pay it down. Like don't pay cash for that. So I just I have money invested in various things. It's all conservative. I'm not a cowboy. I don't want to like go nuts. You know, these are very safe, either federally backed investments or things like Apple, you know, buy you some expensive stock that's going to stay steady. And then once in a while, you put like 10 grid into like a product that you like or something or a pickleball company, just because you're like, what if I took this right? Did you really? I did. I love pickleball. And I called my guy and I was like, let's invest in like one of the companies or something. And he's like, oh, LeBron James just got into pickleball. And I was like, see, he and I are often compared.

Same, same, but just a little different. I see no difference. It was like an angel investment that you made in a private company. One or two, just because, I don't know, it's also okay to actually put money into things that you believe in. You know, I look at ecological impact of banks, like I was at Chase Bank, and then I realized that they had one of the bigger carbon footprints. So I took my money out, like you have the power to do these things. It's up to you if you want to invest in like an oil company. It's up to you if you want to do these things. But I try to make it count. We talk about this literally every day.

Yeah. Your money is your vote on your values. It's true. And I think we live in a time now where it's like, well, fuck it. I just want to make some money. And it's like we all feel that way. We all keep using Amazon. Meanwhile, China is like slowly poisoning everything. We're like, well, I needed a blender. So it's tough because people's when I'm insurance, life is hard. You just want your flat iron delivered. I mean, yes, as a Jewish girl, I need a flat iron. It's a need to have not a nice to have. By the way, you would go get it at the store if there were people working there. If it wasn't a nightmare, if I wasn't going to be accosted by homeless people walking in. Like, we've gotten to a world where you have to weigh out, is a baby seal going to die for this in 50 years?

Or is it easier to just order this and not deal with the shitstorm of a society that we're all kind of living in? It's fine. You can just go to Target. It'd be fine. What are some of the biggest moneymakers in comedy? From my understanding, Ray, it's touring and specials, performing at events. What are the most lucrative parts of the business? Okay, for stand-up comedy in particular. So if you are someone like Kevin

Hart or like Gabriel Iglesias, I mean, Gabriel Iglesias sold out Dodger Stadium, probably made $7 million or something just on ticket sales. I mean, it's Dodger Stadium. At a certain point, touring, merchandise, all of these things, all the soft sales that go along with it, someone like Jerry Seinfeld, his tickets are very expensive. So these are all money-making things. A lot of comics put their material online on TikTok and they make money that way. And it's not so much the stand up as much as it is the platform that they use to endorse other products. They get paid to do things. So there are comedians, not necessarily stand up by trade, who monetize their content in brilliant ways. are ways to be dynamic with the money that you make. For some people, they kill it on merchandise,

but the act is like whatever. So it really just depends on the echelon of comedy that we're talking about. Your specials, if you are Dave Chappelle, you're going to get the GDP of fucking Nicaragua to make one of your specials. By the way, I went to his show and I bought a sweater or sweatshirt and it was like

$100. It was very soft and smushy. Merchandise is so expensive. My merchant, I mean, these are expensive because not only do you have to pay to get it made, pay to get it sourced, pay to get it printed, you have to pay a company to do all that, to handle it, to physically sell it, and then you have to pay a cut of that to the venue. So you have to have these margins because it has to be expensive. Otherwise, there's almost no point. You don't want to break even. So you have to have these margins because it has to be expensive. Otherwise, there's almost no point. You don't want to break even. You certainly don't want to lose money. Your special, depending on the comic, you get paid X amount of dollars. And then as we've seen through these various strikes, you get no residuals based off of that. However,

at least for a comic like me, because I did specials with a platform like Netflix, I am able now to go and take my show to other countries. Not every comic who has Netflix specials tours other countries. I've been doing it for several years. So sometimes it's not about the money you get up front as much as the ways in which it trickles down into other aspects of your career. Nobody would have given me a book if I weren't a successful comic.

I can't say it translates to acting. I still very much have to audition for things, but you wouldn't have had me on this podcast if I weren't a successful comic, you know, so you start to build this platform that materializes in other ways financially, whether it's appearances, being on a panel on game shows. So it's money you're making in conjunction with the platform that you're building. And so there are so many ways that you can make money off of stand up that don't actually have to do with the stand up with just the hard ticket. Podcast is a great example, too. For sure. If you still go to some of these smaller clubs that don't pay a lot because you're like testing out your material and that's valuable too, right? Oh, absolutely. I mean, look, Wednesday smaller clubs,

I'm talking about doing sets around town. And when I say a set, I mean me coming in to do 15 minutes, 20 minutes. And if you're a friend of mine and you give me $25, that's fine. Because we have a rapport and a relationship. But if you're just a booker that's always booked me, then I have to value my time. And I recently went through this and this is a this is a lesson that's out there. I did not invent this lesson. But for women in particular, your time is valuable.

And the power of saying no is incredibly valuable. Now, this is not to say no so that you have no opportunities left, but it's not out of the ordinary for me to do like three sets in a night. I have no opportunities left, but it's not out of the ordinary for me to do like three sets in a night. And I've been getting asked to do so many sets because I always show up on time. I always deliver a great product and I'm killing myself running around town as I have been since I was 22. And now I'm 40 with a baby and I'm like a little tired. And I, you have that, like what makes Sammy run mentality really? Cause you got to get every set. And part of why I'm successful is because I write so much. But I had to talk to a booker recently. I was like, all of these other people are giving me this amount of money. I didn't ask for this. This just seems to be a going rate. And I need you to match it. And he, I never use the word mansplain, wrote me a multi-page text explaining why his business model doesn't support that, how this is hard, why he can't. And I just wrote back at the end,

like, yeah, stand-up comedy is fucking hard. If you don't want to pay me, I do not have to do your show. There's no disrespect here. But I need to value my time. I'm like hurting my throat getting these places and these guys are just throwing me this cash and he came up in the money because I was willing to walk away for my own sanity

and these are small steps that I do at home. This is cash that I keep buried under a rock that I use to like get my nails done, play the cleaning lady, buy my daughter a class somewhere but it adds up.

In fact, it adds up so much that I'll keep all that cash for like a year. I have a safe now buried somewhere very deep. But when I told my money guy how much just cash I had, his eyes fell out of his head. He was like, you need to bring that to me. We need to put it into a bank. You cannot just have it sitting in an oak tree in your backyard because you just get cash. It's cash business. Yeah. I mean, both, right? Both can be true at the same time. I have an immigrant's daughter.

And so like I always had cash under the sink behind the maxi pads. It was just how we did it. By the way, it's a fucking don't move. Sorry. And like, girls, you should know almost no price is set in stone. So when someone comes to your house to do a service, you say, can I get a discount if I pay you a cash? And nine times out of 10,

that guy who will pocket it will be like, yeah, no problem. They will have that number ready for you. This is not about devaluing a service. This is about saying, let's cut out the middleman and the government and your boss. You came here to check my toilet.

It turned out nothing was wrong, but you had to pay for the service call. Here's the cash. We don't have to talk about this. And that is fine. I have tried to make sure that all my assistants who are always young girls know this. I'm like, offer cash. Because at the end of the day, everybody could use $25 more. It's not about haggling and it's not about being rude. It's about just being like, hey, I just want to float this by you. How about I pay you cash? And they always, almost always are like, yeah, great, 200 flat. And then you give them a free soda. I give them a spin drift. And then they're happy that they came and then they leave. These are great life tips. Thank you for these hacks.

Hold on to your wallets. 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 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 Bank Corp Bank NA or Stride Bank NA. 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. I love hosting on Airbnb. It's a great way to bring in some extra cash. But I totally get it that it might sound overwhelming to start or even too complicated if, say, you want to put your summer home in Maine on Airbnb, but you live full-time in San Francisco and you can't go to Maine every time you need to

change sheets for your guests or something like that. If thoughts like these have been holding you back, I have great news for you. Airbnb has launched a co-host network, which is a network of high-quality local co-hosts with Airbnb experience that can take care of your home and your guests. Co-hosts can do what you don't have time for, like managing your reservations, messaging your guests, giving support at the property, or even create your listing for you. I always want to line up a reservation for my house when I'm traveling for work, but sometimes I just don't get around to it because getting ready to travel always

feels like a scramble, so I don't end up making time to make my house look guest friendly. I guess that's the best way to put it. But I'm matching with a co-host so I can still make that extra cash while also making it easy on myself. Find a co-host at Airbnb.com slash host. And now for some more money rehab. Let's do some glitter talk. For any listeners who didn't see your hot forever special, I don't know what they've been doing with their lives, but can you explain? Glitter speak is my name for the third, fourth wave-ish empowerment jargon that women have through no malintent pulled largely from the queer community the sort of yes girl yes queen slay all day and then it sort of transforms into like work bitch yes girl rose all day a lot of it's very based in wine but it's all this language that is applied to basically merchandise to get women to buy into the soft idea of feminism. And I don't know how much we actually implement it day to day. It's not for me to say, but it is for me to say that like a pin that says feminist with a to do list does nothing. things, actually talking about ideas, changing minds. And I think we've been brainwashed by this very one-sided, weird female jargon that isn't actually empowering in a workplace setting, mostly because men also can't use it. And so I think it's silent, pejorative,

marginalizing, and dumb. I think it's fucking dumb. So I know you're a big proponent of talking it through when people have different opinions on something instead of just loudly yelling into an echo chamber. And I want to do that together because I actually have a different take slightly on Glitter Talk, and I'd love to get your reaction to it. Let's do it. So my first book is called Rich Bitch. My second book is called Boss Bitch. And I'm glad in your piece, you brought up the fact that some of glitter talk was stolen from black queer culture. Like, yes, queen work, mama, all of it. But I was in a very male dominated industry finance, not unlike comedy.

But I was called a bitch just for being ambitious. So taking the word back in the titles of my books was something that I felt genuinely empowering to me. And I hope that it would be empowering for any woman who picked up the book. Yeah, you know, not everybody feels empowered by the same thing. And I think it's important that we as women like totally acknowledge it. And that's okay. Like I can't take away from any successes that you have or your books. I've seen other books with those titles, like how to be a boss bitch, which I'm currently talking about in my standup now. And I think what started probably several years ago, initially as this idea of taking a word back, the reason we're taking it back is to your point, because we are called these things so often. And so a lot of

women are like, fine, then I'll be that. If that's what you think I am, that's what I'll be. And what's unfair is that we get called a bitch for things that are not bitchy at all, for owning yourself, for providing for yourself, for speaking up. And so it's a way of taking it back. It doesn't resonate with me, but I can understand using it as a way to sell books because you don't want to title it an in-depth look at finance from a female lens. Like no one's going to pick up that thesis. So it's up there with, you know, I posed half naked for my very first comedy special album cover. And it's about getting eyeballs. And so for me, it's less about the critique of that and more about going in depth to what that really means and unearthing where that comes from

and acknowledging that it actually isn't empowering to all women, but it's okay that it is for you. So it's not a knock against anyone that tries. Like if you made money off that book, great. Yeah. And if we can get a woman to pick up a money book who never imagined she picked up a money book otherwise, then I guess we all win.

It makes it more fun. Women need things to be a little bit gilded, a little bit more fun. And we all resonate with that. There's a reason things are pink. There's a reason things are glittery. I just think the ubiquity of it sometimes just gets to be a bit much. In LA, we get this stuff first and then you go places and everything is like slay all

day, twerking and working. And you're like, OK, all right. It's up there with bless this mess. Dance like no one's watching. Yeah. Live, love, laugh. Yeah. Like that Ray Dunn kind of thing where like at first it was like, wow, that's cool. And then it just becomes so overused.

Yeah, I don't categorically disagree with you, of course. And by the way, I think parsing through some of my own reactions to it was a little confusing. You know, for example, the term girl boss, which was another book I think is ridiculous think is ridiculous. And even in finance, I won't name names, but there are apps like Shrink It and Pink It, finance for women, investing for women. That gives me the ick because historically, the stock market has returned 8% regardless if you have a penis or vagina. But women have historically been marginalized, as you know, in finance, vagina. But women have historically been marginalized, as you know, in finance, and I want them to be financially independent. So I guess if it takes a pink app to do that,

I'm fine with it. Yeah, it's no different than you entitling your book that or someone posing naked. It's about what gets you in the door and then do the words in your book back it up? Does the content of my album back it up? There's nothing wrong with getting customers in the door with like a free coupon. But then does your food stand the test of time? Does your product stay the test of time? And in terms of Girlboss, when that was first said, I don't know if Sofia Amoroso was like the first one ever to say, but if she was, it was a novel concept because women did not have a term for a girl that was like, I take no shit. I'm getting this done. I'm doing it my way. But again, and I think as a comic, what I mostly react to is just the oversaturation. I tend to, I'm not a futurist, but I like things before they are cool. And then once they get too cool, it's a lot of imitators. And so what was this juggernaut idea, this iconoclast idea, very quickly becomes, again, ubiquitous. And so that's tiring. Yeah, totally. I have written two more books since then, and I have seven more on the way and none will have bitch in the title. And I think that's better. You capitalized on a moment, which is financially prudent, and you moved on. If you kept calling yourself like the money bitch,

unless that was like a billion dollar empire and then I can't say anything, it would be like, okay, that was so five years ago. So I think the difference for me between boss bitch and girl boss is the qualifier with girl boss, the qualifier is that you're a girl with boss bitch, the qualifier is that you're a boss. So with boss bitch, I felt like my messaging was, hey, if I'm a bitch, OK, then I'm a boss bitch. And having a qualifier is helpful if you're reclaiming a word. But we're not trying to reclaim the word boss. We're trying to claim the word boss. And having girl as the qualifier for that doesn't really help the cause.

Why don't we put a comma after boss so that if you're speaking to someone, you're like, actually, it's boss, bitch. I think it's just a matter of punctuation, folks. Listen, punctuation is real. Have you seen like the Oxford comma stuff? I don't believe in the Oxford comma. I think it goes comma and then you get out of space. I think doing the extra comma, I just I wasn't brought up that way with those values. doing the extra comma. I just I wasn't brought up that way with those values. Okay. I want to ask you this weird shit that's going on lately of people throwing stuff on stage at performers. Cardi B, Harry Styles, Drake, Bebe Rexha. Like what the hell is happening? I think the world has lost its mind in general. Because I know that a couple comics have dealt

with this. Look, throwing things. I mean, we all watch those cartoons where a vaughnville act is up and people like throw tomatoes it does not happen as much as you would think but because everyone has a cell phone now if it does happen one out of every 15 000 times you see it and it's such a outrageous behavior that it seems like it's happening often. I think, first of all, we live in a society that's soundbite based. So you don't know what happened before that. You just don't know. I'm not saying anyone deserves it, but you don't know. If they said, okay, throw something, or if they were being encouraged, or if security was harassing someone, you just don't know. But I will tell you, just from working in clubs for many years,

you put people in a dark room, you give them alcohol, then you get them excited or you make them feel something. Emotions get stirred and not everybody has control over their emotions, particularly when there's alcohol. Not everybody wasn't raised in a bar. So it's the perfect cocktail for civil disruption. I mean, has anything like that happened to you? Or like, would you throw shit back? What would you do? I wouldn't just because I know that performers

could get sued very easily. People are hoping you will throw something back so they can like take everything. And as a high profile performer, you have to have performers insurance, like you have to be so protected. Because even if it was not your mistake, look at who's the guy that incited the riot, Travis Scott, right? All those people that rioted at his show. He incited it. He was like, yeah, do it. And he was one of the promoters and he ended up getting sued. They will find the source of the money and you will get sued. I recently did a show and unbeknownst to me, the venue had a bunch of rescue dogs in the lobby and I didn't clear it. Nobody ran it by us. We had no idea. And after like we flipped out,

if somebody got bitten by one of those rescue dogs, I would be the one suit, not the venue. You're so vulnerable as a performer. So make sure you have performer's insurance because people will find a way to see you. Have I ever dealt with something getting thrown? No, I haven't. Where do you get performer's insurance? Is that like a Lloyd's of London thing? Yeah, you gotta go through your money guy or your agent or your manager. These are things too that you don't realize. I mean, I was definitely sued. I'm not allowed to talk about it. You can for sure Google this. Just Google Eliza Schlesinger lawsuit for putting on a show like a female friendly show, and was not aware of performers insurance at the time definitely have it now.

It's a hard lesson, man. Also, a hard lesson that we learn in our careers is that you have to be okay with not everyone loving you, right? Comics know this all too well. You've said that an important moment for you was the realization that you can't please everyone. So what triggered that realization for you? I don't know. I mean, you obviously did your research and you're like pulling quotes from an interview that I definitely gave. And I think a lot of people, I mean, I'm not saying anything new, but hearing it, reading it, being told you can't please everyone, but like fully internalizing it comes down to, and sometimes this happens a little bit later in life, realizing I'm doing what makes me happy

from the highest light. And you are going to upset people based on things that you can't control. Nicole, you're going to really upset people because you're attractive and because you're self-motivated. Like that will upset people. You will upset people because you have an opinion. You will upset people because you said I breastfed and the other woman did it. You will upset people because you don't go out with them. And so I guess the point is try to go through life, not deliberately trying to hurt people, not trying to be a bitch, but if they're going to call you a bitch anyway, you may as well be a boss bitch. It's about, I'm not going to stop doing things that

I enjoy doing, right? Taking off my shirt when I work out, doing stand up comedy, being proud of what I do, kissing my dog on the mouth. I'm not going to stop shining or being myself just because it's upsetting people for reasons I cannot control because they're miserable. It'd be one thing if you were repeatedly told like, listen, you have a really bad attitude it's upsetting people maybe that's something to work on but it seems as if it's working you know you're making money you have fans it doesn't seem like you're hurting anyone so far so it's about setting that down we all care what people think anyone who says that they don't is a sociopath to an extent you care what your friends think you care what your partner thinks you do care what fans think. You don't want them to think you're a bad person, unless you're a male podcaster. You're probably okay with it. But it's about not straying from

the path that you're very clear on and making yourself happy in a non-selfish way. So I'm not going to stop singing to my dog or doing Pilates with my shirt off because I would be doing these things even if you weren't watching. I close all of our interviews with a money tip listeners can take straight to the bank. It can be anything. Eliza, tip on investing, budgeting. You said live below your means

or within your means. Of course, that's great advice. For parenthood, for saving, for negotiating, for kissing your dog, anything. First of all, always try to pay cash. It makes you look like a drug dealer, which is so cool. Always try to pay cash. Never forget that the things that are important to you are important to you for a reason. It's easy, especially somewhere like LA, to get distracted by what

other people purchase. You go online and everyone's getting 12 Amazon must-haves. You don't need it. It's going to break. It's cheap from China. It's plastic. You don't fucking need it. Okay. You don't need it. You don't need any of the things the algorithm is telling you you need. You want to online shop randomly one day to feel better. Great. Do it. But you do not need to fill a void in your life to fill an emotional soul with all of this garbage. Other people have things that are important to them. Some women love Hermes scarves. They just do. That's where they spend their money. Some people are sneaker heads. And I watch other people and I start to think like, oh, should I have better jeans? Should I have a nicer bag? And then when

I turn the internet off and I come back to like who I am, I'm like, those things are not important to you. It has nothing to do with knocking if it's important to something else. In my core, I am okay not wearing makeup to the grocery store and wearing sweatpants. These are not my values. Always coming back to what your values are and not getting swept up financially by keeping up with the Joneses. My neighbors, we do a really big Halloween here. Two of my neighbors have hired set decorators and they have incredible front lawns of Halloween stuff. And I so far only have out one pumpkin. And I started to get I was like, OK, well, I don't want I want to do my part. And then I remembered I don't have a fucking front lawn. I cannot do

what they're doing because from the start, I don't have the base that they have. And that applies to a lot of things. And never forget, you know, people spend money, but they might be actually like cash poor at the end of the day. Most people don't have the money. And that's okay if everything is leased and you owe on it. And that's how you want to live your life. You want six luxury cars and to never own your home or whatever. These things are okay. But what is important to you? And what are your goals? And I always just come back to that. I remind myself like, no, that's not your aesthetic. Those are not the things that are important to you. Don't have a front lawn. A front lawn. But metaphorically, like I don't have a front lawn. I don't have hair that will

support gorgeous extension. So I can't pay for them because my hair will break. So you don't have to have that. You don't have to have all the things because you will drain yourself financially and kill yourself emotionally. Try to keep up with all these things that most people don't even care if you have a real designer bag or not. Like who is that for?

And if you do, then that's great. But deep down, what matters to you? And if you really sit and think about it, the answers are usually pretty easy to discover. The answer is what matters to you is that your dog gets a new leash and that you have a first class ticket. Money Rehab is a production of Money News Network. I'm your host, Nicole Lappin. Money Rehab's executive producer is Morgan Lavoie.

Our researcher is Emily Holmes. Do you need some money rehab? And let's be honest, we all do. homes. Do you need some money rehab? And let's be honest, we all do. So email us your money questions, moneyrehab at moneynewsnetwork.com to potentially have your questions answered on the show or even have a one-on-one intervention with me. And follow us on Instagram at moneynews and TikTok at moneynewsnetwork for exclusive video content. And lastly, thank you. No, seriously, thank you. Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important investment you can make. Thank you.