Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin - Former Disney Star Christy Carlson Romano and Brendan Rooney on Losing All the Disney Money, Healing Financial Trauma and Working With Your Spouse

Episode Date: June 18, 2024

You might think that Brendan Rooney, who had a "normal" middle-class childhood, enlisted in the Marines, and then went to Columbia University would have very little in common with Christy Carlson Romano, former Disney Channel child star who, in her words, made— and lost— millions of dollars. And yet, the married couple say their childhoods were not that different when it came to the hard financial lessons. Nicole sits down with Christy and Brendan, who run the podcast network Podco, and talk about what it's like being business partners with your romantic partner. Then, Christy talks about her financial journey after rocketing to superstardom so young, and how she made— and lost millions. We talk about when spending can turn into a form of self-harm, and her advice to anyone looking to build a healthier relationship with money. To watch Christy's YouTube video "How I Lost All My Money," click here. Learn more about Brendan and Christy's podcast network here.

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. There's that old expression, stars are just like us. But when it comes to child stars,

that expression can feel like total BS. Take Disney Channel stars, for example. Can you imagine making millions of dollars before you were even old enough to rent a car? That was the reality for Christy Carlson Romano, who you might remember as Ren from Even Stevens, or as the voice of Kim from Kim Possible. As different as that existence may have been from your own childhood, in the first part of our conversation, you actually might feel like Christy Carlson Romano is just like us. I chat with her and her husband, Brendan Rooney, about their company and how they juggle being romantic partners and business partners. And after listening to their totally relatable advice, you might forget that you were talking to America's sweetheart. In the second part of our conversation, though, we get to be a fly on the wall for when stars

are not just like us. Christy talks about her financial journey from skyrocketing into superstardom so young and how she made and lost millions. We talk about how spending can turn into a form of self-harm and her advice to anyone looking to build a healthier relationship with money. Here's Christy and Brendan. Christy and Brendan, welcome to Money Rehab. Oh my goodness, how cool. Thanks for having us. The coolest. It's so good to have you. Brendan, you're the CEO of Podco, Christy. You're the partner and, of course, host of the show Iconic.

Tell us a little bit about sleeping together and working together. How do you do it? Separate bedrooms. How don't you? No, no, no, no. She's kidding. I am kidding. We've been together forever. We've been together

13 years and we didn't start working together until we started doing social media content. And originally it wasn't, you know, sponsored, paid, anything like that. And Brendan got a master's degree from AFI in screenwriting. And so he would come up with these really funny ideas and he's just got a knack for storytelling, visual storytelling. And so it ended up like right after having kids becoming sort of like this world of like mommy influencer stuff, which to be honest, you know, as we'll get into being a child performer, that wasn't really going to be our lane. And so we were like, well, what else do we want to do in terms of creating community and maybe monetizing it? And then we just took that. We're like, well, what's the next evolution to this?

What's more sustainable? So we thought. And we're like, well, why don't we do a podcast? And we did her podcast. We're like, well, if we can do this, we could probably start a network. And let's be different. Let's be social and video forward. So we really actually, the first time we really worked together was probably like halfway through our relationship. We've been married together for 13 years. We've been married for 10. And it turns out like when I'm doing something and she's not involved, it's always worse. That's very sweet.

No, it's truly worse. And I think a lot of people will say like, oh, no, you get your marriage and your business and they're together. For me, it just one makes the other stronger. It's a privilege, I think, really to be able to do're together. For me, it just, one makes the other stronger, right? It's a privilege, I think, really to be able to do it together. You share in the pain, you share in the joy. Does it make you better romantic partner? I love that question. That's actually a really good question. Yeah. I'd say yes. Yeah. We're very intimately, emotionally intertwined. And I think people who have been married for a long time lose sight of each other's emotions or intimate thoughts, right? And then they become different

people. They grow apart. You can't really grow apart from your partner if everything is working pretty cohesively. Exhaustively communicative. And you said this is your family business. How much of the family is going to get involved? Do your daughters want in? Do you want your daughters in? You said you weren't going to do the mommy blogger, momfluencer thing because of child star stuff and you didn't want them involved. So where do you toe that line? Well, it is actually a really interesting point you make. We had been presented with a lot of really amazing opportunities, and I'm sure we could have gone down a whole different route. Nickelodeon at one point,

even years ago, this is years ago, they had asked me to be one of their main stable of mom influencers. And they would send you boxes of recipes with Gak and Rugrats merch and stuff. And I was like, this doesn't feel, first of all, it's not Disney, but I was like, I don't know if I need to be a part of this little world in this very direct to consumer way when it affects my children. So like one of the last things that we did was with American Girl. And I was really excited

because my girls were actually fans of the product. But that was one of the last videos because I started to check in with Brendan and I was like, are we going to continue to go down this this route? And if so, we owe it to them to put money away. Oh, yeah, we do that. But I think regarding Podco specifically, time will tell is what I'd say for one, it will depend on what their interests are. I'd say this, like our goal is to have something stashed away for them, but to also have them go and earn on their own. Because I think value is derived from accomplishment, right? So if you're constantly getting a leg up, when you do get there, you just kind of adapt to that situation. The contentment wanes and you start to

get depressed, right? I think you've always said the obstacle is the way, right? You know, a lot of what I've talked about on my podcast, which was called Vulnerable before I rebranded to Iconic. Vulnerable was, you know, I was in direct conversation with child performers and it just became sort of this. I felt like I was on rote memory with how much I was explaining my past and, you know, how I want to change. But ultimately, you know, I feel even worse for people who are considered like nepo babies because they didn't do anything to anybody. They just were born and they're getting this harsh treatment. So it sounds like you guys want to balance between, well, the American girl gig that you had for them and then whatever they're going to find on their own

and show them, teach them the value of work. And because we're money rehab, we always want to follow the money trail. You said to put money away. What does that mean? Like blocking and tackling? Did you give them a salary? Did you open a 529? Did you open a custodial Roth IRA? Tell us everything. Right. This kind of the way we're both now talking about maybe a potential real estate play where they could have a home that we rent out that would pay. We could put that money away from them. We live in Austin and it's a really weird place to live for real estate.

It's had this massive boom when we came here in 2020. And then now the rental market is so hot. It's just sort of this like wild, wild west or wild south. It's weird here right now. Yeah. Because everyone's, a lot of people are selling and leaving as well. I don't know if it's the heat or what it is, but real estate is a really, to me, it feels really risky. And you know, when I was growing up, we didn't put money away. I lost a lot of money and I talk about it on my YouTube channel. And I learned a lot of lessons there. Brendan was in the military and he opened lines of credit because he thought he was going to die. And like he had to live with

that and student loans, you know, so everybody's in our family has come from out, you know, the, the obstacle was the way for us as well. That's a Ryan holiday book. I want to make sure I give shout out to Ryan holiday. Yes. I am a big fan. If anyone has not watched the 10 minute YouTube video, how I lost all my money immediately, please just stop this podcast and do that. So sucked into it. It was awesome, Christy. But I do want to double click actually on Brendan's story.

So what was your relationship with money growing up? Bad. I mean, interestingly enough, my folks had the right idea of what to do with me and even for themselves. So my, I guess I'm going to give it back a little bit of backstory. Was born to a single mother. She was 17 when she had me. Met my stepfather and then they got married when I was seven. And I watched him kind of start really low middle class and work his way up to, I'd say, solid middle class, starting with a small

town home, then another town home. I mean, we started in apartments and then worked that way to eventually get a track home in Orange County, which they just sold for 1.85, somewhere around there. And they bought it for around 430, right? But that was 20 some odd or maybe 30 years ago at this point. I always tell my girls, because we'll buy them things randomly. We'll go to target and do things. Like, do you understand when I was a kid, we got gifts twice a year, birthday, Christmas, that was it. Like everything else was like, you want something, go out and wash the neighbor's car, go out and mow a lawn, right? Best, in my opinion, thing that could happen to me.

Now, unfortunately, I wasn't really great with money. Got into the military and they had like, you know, these predators who are charging incredibly high interest rates, getting into these credit cards. They come to the base. I don't know if that still happens anymore. That's horrible. Yeah, this was like 2001, 2002. Yeah, they do it in. That's horrible. Yeah. This was like 2001, 2002. Yeah. And for me, it's like, you have a real kind of, well, screw it. Who knows what's going to happen, right? I joined in 01. There was only Afghanistan and

Iraq kicked off out of nowhere. And we're just kind of like, we don't know what's going to happen. We're young. Who cares? Yeah. And you're not getting paid a lot. You have no financial advice. Was bad with my money there. And then, you know, gotten some debt and had to go into debt to go to Columbia. But my thought was, well, I gotta, I mean, if I got into this school, I definitely should go, you know, post-military. And then luckily the chapter 33 GI bill happened kind of a third of the way through my studies. And I took a year off and came back. I went and lived abroad. I came back and now, you know, they were paying for almost the entirety of the education, right? And same thing for the master's degree through the vocational

rehabilitation program. So things started to correct there and then got better once we really kind of figured out that social media was this great place to be. You had a very different childhood. I know it can't be summarized here, but if you could just try to summarize how money was going in and out of your bank account when you were in your teens and early twenties. Yeah. So I'm a typical statistic of a child actor who mismanaged their money. And I tried really hard as I was coming of age, which let's call it, I was a little delayed in the maturation process there because my mom had taken care of all of my money and I would sign the checks and I would pay

out my mom as an employee. And she would also be doing all my bills. And then, you know, this business manager who'd worked for us for, I want to say like three or four years when I was at the height of my earning with Disney. It's interesting because I kind of told my mom, look, I don't like the way things are going down. I don't know what's in my account. I'm 21. I need to know how much I have in the bank. And so I was so immature when it came to financial fluency that I started to get angry and resentful. I asked her to step down as the, I guess she was like the president of my corporation that I had for my filings and everything. And so I had her step down, which caused a personal rift between us for about a year. And we're perfectly fine now, but that was a very awkward

time for me at 21. And it actually was my whole family that I didn't speak to for about a year and we're perfectly fine now, but that was a very awkward time for me at 21. And it actually was my whole family that I didn't speak to for about a year after that. And so it's, it's hard, you know, when you're learning about your money and starting from scratch while also dealing with the emotional abuse of that money, you know, so like, I didn't get into therapy to talk about the financial abuse that I had kind of maybe had. And I then started weaponizing my money and shopping wrong and doing things wrong. And so I wasn't exactly, I don't, I wouldn't even call it failing upwards. I was just failing myself without any help as well. So I think this is probably why, when you were talking about like why we work so well

is because our baggage is it's cut from the same crazy cloth and it may be different sizes, but it's the same pattern. Well, I'd say too, is like, I think a lot of people, they only see the time that the, that the child performer gets that first gig, but before they got their first gig more times than not, there were years and years of auditions and working on the craft and like not having a childhood, really, as we know it, to get to that first thing they landed or the thing they're known for. And so you put in all this work, you think,

okay, I've worked this hard to get here. Now here I am, let's go. Like when you go work your way up in a company, you think, well, I've got the skillset. Now transfer over to here. I worked at Amazon, whatever. I'll transfer over to Meta. Right. And it does not work like that. You very well may never get another gig again. But when you're young, your young brain is telling you, well, this is the new standard. So I can accommodate that standard. I think that's not to like that time. And with social media, what I've noticed about the younger actors that have come through, you know, Disney doesn't really exist the way that it did in even Nickelodeon. Like it's not like the studio star system that it was during like the Y2K golden era.

become that anybody who's launched on one of their shows is able to sort of become they have the autonomy in their social media presence unless their contracts have changed which i'm sure they're somehow protected they're able to build a following on social now like if christy is social existed when christy was doing her thing she'd have like 35 40 million followers right now right but like it's maybe maybe less whatever 10 50 whatever it is half of whatever lolita has yeah there you go they're able to say okay if they're smart especially and and if they're not doing this listen to this and do this take take take the notoriety you're getting from traditional media and they're often doing this they're putting all that effort into social and they're looking at that thing as just an external factor

to grow the social, which gives them the reach and the followership to be able to have, you know, an audience and potentially perpetuity. Yeah. Like that's making shows and being on shows now, especially ones that get big is way better than having had done it back then, even though the residuals may be less and the pay structure maybe isn't as good as it could have been, like you now have this huge thing to make yourself marketable for a long time. Well, and let's put it this way.

So the money that I lost or was making when I was working with Disney, like when I talked about at the height, it dwarfs in comparison to what I've been able to make with Brendan for my own socials, not for other podcasts. I'm just talking about from what we've been able to pull in since starting. It's just like, sometimes for so long, I was like, well, why would I go 12 hours a day on set to be away from my kids when they're in the other room and I'm going to have to fly

out for weeks on end? So it's just like, you get a lot more choosy with what you do. Yeah. You get some flexibility. And you didn't know how much money you were making until you were 21? Yeah, pretty much. Was it hidden from you? Or did you get an allowance? So I got a salary.

But in relation to what was being saved, I may have been, I was talked to in a way that was a little bit infantilizing. And so I think that everyone was a little shocked and scared at how to talk to me about it. And I don't know why. I think like that's what I kind of have to not think too much about because that's where I think the financial abuse comes in, where it's like, why would you want somebody to be in the dark about their monies? Well, because they also had their own financial traumas, likely.

Because that's for sure. We all don't want this stuff in school, right? And I think weaponizing spending is something that's really common. I've seen this before in people who make a lot of money. They spend it to self-destruct or like financial cutting to sort of self-harm by using money. I mean, you can use money in the same way as you can use emotions to empower or to bring down, right? So how did you get from that place, Christy, to a healthier relationship with money? Goodness. 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 seven dollar 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. And now for some more money rehab. So how did you get from that place, Christy, to a healthier relationship with money? Goodness. Like I said, when we met, I was going to Barnard slash Columbia university. And I was, I went back at 20, was it 26? The first time I had left from 21 to 26. And between those years was when I, you know, acquired my money and then spent a lot of it and then fell back into just wanting some sort of a safety net, which was the arms of the university because they

were able to grant, well, the college was able to grant me access to a tuition. I had had my Cougan fund, which was literally all my money put away for Columbia, but I had lived off of all of that safety net. And when I came to them in open arms, they were like, we'll give you a grant and you can finish your degree. And I will forever be in debt to them and donate to them in open arms, they were like, we'll give you a grant and you can finish your degree. And I will forever be in debt to them and donate to them and love them. But it's, it's, it's really, it was really a critical turning point for me because I had to be so humbled where I was their celebrity actress that they would tout at their tours. And then now I'm- For when you were first.

For when I was 18. And now I was coming back at 26 feeling like I was very, very humbled. So I lived in a studio apartment. And again, I'm 26. I've lived a million lives. I meet this guy and he blew my mind when it came to what I could be and just like have more confidence in myself and show up for my life. And so my life changed drastically after we started dating. So yeah, I mean, look, we were, we were scrappy when we got married. We were engaged for two years because we were saving money for our wedding. We had a destination wedding in Banff and you DIY the whole thing, DIY the whole thing, DIY it. And I fell in love with crafting and realized that I could be really scrappy. I was, I was raised by scrappy Italian American

middle-class family. And it started to come back to me like how, you know, we lived on the road for not a lot of money, my mom and I, and even when I was doing Even Stevens, we didn't spend, well, we spent money, but just not on our lifestyle. So I started realizing that the materialism didn't need to happen with the brand names and that my life could be comfortable without feeling like I had to compare myself to the Hilary Duff's or the Ravens or the Shia, like the people that I'd grown up with who are now like ultra, ultra rich and famous. So that was my, that was my reality up until, you know, we kind of became a, a, a unit. Well, it sounds like you guys have had quite a journey of financial discovery and learning and growing over the years. Just to clarify though, Christy, in that video, how you lost all your money, all your Disney money. You talked about having student debt.

It sounds like you both had student debt, right? Yeah. Do you still do? Yeah, we still do. And you're, yeah. Do you have a student debt? A few hundred thousand. Yeah. Thank you, Ivy League. Yeah, Ivy League. Mine's not as much as yours, is it? No, I mean collectively. Okay. And my master's degree. So, you know, I went to the American Film Institute, which is expensive. But I think the Vogue Rehab program, if there's any veterans or veteran spouses listening, it's a really fantastic social. It was a loophole at the time.

And I think a friend of yours had found a way to enter into the program. What's neat about that is that your taxes that you pay go back to it. So it's kind of cool the way they do it. They flagged for that. Yeah, the vocational rehabilitation program. But anyway, we still have- Does having all that debt make you nervous, anxious, stressed? You know, it is what it is.

I don't like it. I don't like it at all. But we plan over time to get rid of it. You know, just keep chipping away and get rid of it. We've suffered a lot, I think, in terms of judging ourselves monetarily. I think we've been so blessed to have found a lane to create a really good lifestyle for our family. And what we're doing is we're just living earnestly, paying that down. And, you know, every decision made, be smarter, be smarter. What can you learn if you've had, if you have a failure and you don't, if you don't look at it as a lesson, then you will fail again and you will fail again. You have to like take the knowledge you get from failing and fail upward.

My thoughts on school, on college have changed tremendously, which is essentially they are businesses. I mean, they're great places to learn. But you mentioned something earlier that I think is very valuable, which is like, why are we not teaching financial fluency at a, at an, you know, whatever middle school level? That's why I wake up every day, Brendan. That's what I'm trying to do. I mean, we're doing right. But it's crazy that it's not in it's not it's not a part of the public school system. We have a conveyor belt. And we don't learn it in our homes either. I grew up in an immigrant family. I had my own financial drill mess too. We didn't talk about it. There's no magical, everybody sit around the kitchen table and let's read the Wall Street Journal. That's maybe only on Disney shows.

We're going to read the Wall Street Journal, look at markets, not understand them, and suddenly get smart about money. I think that level of education, like listening to a podcast like yours regularly is probably way more beneficial to a 2024 on, you know, content life, lifestyle than spending hundreds of thousands of dollars at an elite university. You know, you'll get things from that experience. So get me wrong that that can last a lifetime, namely a Rolodex and some other

stuff, but it's really not what it used to be. So you, it sounds like maybe you regret going, you know, I had a really, really valuable friendships come out of that. Namely me. It was awesome. I wouldn't have met my wife. Which was the most important. But it was also at a time in my life where I needed community and healing. You know, like coming out of the military, I got from Columbia something I had never

really felt before, which is like, hey, just so you know, you're smart. And just so you know, you're smart. And just so you know, you're capable. Like these aren't things that I heard or saw affirmed in my life often. So there's not regret there. But what I would say is, if I had this part of me developed, that's developed now, then I would never have gone to college. I wouldn't, you know, if I were more balanced, like then, like I am now, no, I would have just, I would have been like, let me find all the great content, consume it, learn, read, learn more independently. And then you'd Matt Damon it. You'd Matt Damon it. Yeah. For $5 in late fees or something. Exactly. Let's go. something at the library. So against this backdrop of these formative experiences with money,

it sounds like you guys have learned to stop shaming yourself, which is super cool because you have like a shitty thing and then all the shame and guilt and all that stuff on top of it just like adds on, which is unnecessary, but hard, a hard habit to break because we all can get into a shame cycle and spiral. Did you guys have a hard time talking to each other about your finances? No, not really. In the beginning? Okay. In the beginning. Yeah. In the beginning it was tougher. Now it's like, Hey, we've got a hurdle to clear. It's not going to be a fun conversation, but it's a necessary one. Yeah. I think it was because we had kids. And when we had kids, everything changed. Everything changed.

And I didn't want- What did you guys do? Tackle it together? Like have a mega account? Have separate accounts? Yours, mine, ours? No, we share in all our accounts. Yeah, we've always shared.

There's never been any discrepancies. Like we always confer with each other when it comes to spending. We've never committed like, what do they call it? Like when you're financially cheating on your spouse. Like we've never done it. Yeah. Yeah. We've never, I can't relate to that at all. Me either. No, not at all. Yeah. Like hiding money or being dead or, oh yeah, that's no, we, we, yeah, we share and we get, you know, if there are pain

points, you just get through them. And again, those things aren't fun, but I always say people got through a lot harder shit 20,000 years ago. Like we're not running from tigers here. Like we can figure this out. This is the modern day tiger. I think, you know, debt is, is, and you know, financial instability probably is the closest thing to the modern day tiger chasing you in the jungle that exists right but um our ancestors but we still have that same like fight flight reaction oh yeah yeah it feels like a tiger feels like a tiger absolutely so the way to get through that is back in the day is the tribe would communicate if you're alone in the jungle you're gonna die like back then but now it's hey share share in the knowledge communicate through it we're gonna navigate through this jungle get to the other side and

then we're gonna go kill the boar and like if we can you know think about that in the knowledge, communicate through it. We're going to navigate through this jungle, get to the other side, and then we're going to go kill the boar. And like, if we can, you know, think about that in the ways that we produce these shows or launch new shows, or maybe pivot and, you know, have a whole new format within a show. That's the stuff I realized that I've always been rewarded for doing.

Is there a nostalgic show? Is there a nostalgic show that you'd want to cover? Unless they haven't. Right now. I know it. Yeah. What is it? Go ahead. We just stopped finishing.

We finished watching Lost. Yeah. He's really wanting to do a Lost rewatch. And this is one of the things I mean. It's like we launched Pretty Little Liars, but we launched Pretty Little Liars True Crime. So we have a real life death investigator who comes on, relates what happened in the episode to actual crimes that have played out in real life and disrupted a bit. Like what other new format can we do?

How do we hybridize podcasts with something else and more? Yeah, I think you just have to stay hungry and sharp. That's our takeaway from our scrappy upbringings. We're resilient. We keep fighting. We never give up. In Brendan's case, as a Marine veteran, he adapts and overcomes. But I'm right there with him, meeting him at every turn. So that's kind of our way. And you talk about that scrappy, difficult upbringing. I mean, Chrissy, you talk a lot also about early adulthood being a really difficult

time in your life. If you could go back, I mean, we talked about whether or not you regret fancy Ivy League, very expensive education. Would you choose not to be on screen that young? Oh, good. Good. Yeah, I would absolutely do it again. I would ask more questions. I would ask more questions. I just didn't ask enough questions. I kind of sat back and I just didn't lean in when, you know, when things got scary. You know, I kind of just kind of froze. Confronting. For years.

Yeah. And it's something that I've worked, I'm working on obviously in therapy and stuff. Years. Yeah. And it's something that I've worked, I'm working on obviously in therapy and stuff. And I think that sometimes the way that we're dealing with money, it reverberates in all the things that we do. So that's why I love your podcast because you're really demystifying the relationship to that and how it affects, you know, in your life. Well, the half-life shrinks if you confront something sooner. That's the other thing, right? In those uncomfortable conversations with money, we were like, oh, no, no, just push it away. And what happens?

The problem grows. It's like the same thing when there's an issue in a friendship or on set or anything in life. We say at Money Rehab, the only problem you can't fix is the one you don't admit you have, which we often hide a lot of money issues and suffer more in imagination than in reality. What would you ask, Christy, if you could go back? How much money am I making? That would be the question I would ask. That's a good place to start. How much money am I making annually? And can we do this in a way that doesn't scare me? Can we demystify this for my 19-year-old, 20-year-old, 21-year-old brain? That's really hard. I understand that it was probably really

hard for them to do that, but there had to have been a way. With everyone making salaries off of money that I was making, it was in their best interest to empower me. I just want to provide a bit of context to what you were saying, see, because I think it's very easy. And I've seen comments like this before where something like, how could you just not know how much money you're making? How could you just spend this much money? How could you, right? And I think people just, they look at their lives or their childhoods and they say, okay, well, I would know, I would know. But when you're from the age of six, you know, to 18, just be like, show up here,

do this, go right here. Hit your marks. You're on Broadway, eight, nine years old, whatever, on tour all year, just commuting every single day for hours and hours and hours, never ever socializing normally, learning how to ride a bike on set, being around adults all the time in an adult environment, not knowing what's happening. It's very common to not know or to not ask questions about your money, right? It's very, very common. So I just wanted to put that. And see, that's, that's great. Have you guys use those experiences to inform how you talk to your daughters about money? Like, did you tell them how much you were making for the brand deal that you guys worked on together?

No, I think she was five at the time. So I don't think that was- We put some money in the Vanguard. Yeah, we put it away for her. But now she's seven. Our oldest is seven. Our youngest is five. But she's getting Tooth Fairy money.

Yeah, so for Tooth Fairy money, you know, there'll be something under there. And, you know, you got three options, right? You can save it. You can spend it. You can use it in a charitable way. Right. So which one do you choose? Well, they're always going to spend it like when they're younger. It's like, okay, great. By the way, save, spend, share. If you wanted the alliteration, that's like what parents often use. Yeah. There you go.

If you have like little piggy banks or something like that, typically when you have kids, you sort of have them split it up to start thinking charitably, but also save, but also, you know, enjoy a little bit too. You can also have her negotiate with the tooth fairy or negotiate for allowance. Oh, she negotiates. She negotiates well. I love that. We'll go to Target and she's like, oh, I want this thing. I was like, well, the tooth fairy left you five dollars. This thing is 10. So daddy's covering the other half. That's

what we're that's the deal. She's just now getting to an age where she can start to understand it. Right. It's starting to make sense to her. It's always interesting to ask kids like how much stuff costs, like how much does a house cost or a car or something like that? It's just it's always interesting to ask kids like how much stuff costs like how much does a house cost or a car or something like that it's just it's just so funny it's also like definitely do that they have no idea yeah they constantly are like oh they know how old we are they remind us how old we are every day you're 40 right you're 41 i'm like we've yes well we end our episodes guys by asking our guests for one tip listeners can take straight to the bank. You guys have shared a lot about your money journeys. Thank you for being so open and

honest and vulnerable. Can you share one piece of money advice that's benefited you that our listeners should know today? Learn from others, right? Wisdom, they say, is learning from your mistakes. True wisdom is learning from the mistakes of others. So ask questions as much as possible to people that you, especially people that you respect, right? Because you are in a financial position you want to be in. Like that, that will absolutely help you. I said take calculated risks. Yeah, that's mine.

I think don't just rush it. No, just be very calculated. Yeah. Ask a lot of questions. That's the follow up to what I would have done differently in my youth. So it kind of makes sense. No dumb questions. Money Rehab is a production of Money News Network i'm your host nicole lappen 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 so email us your money questions money rehab at money news network.com to potentially have your questions answered on the show or even have a one-on-one intervention with me and follow us us on Instagram at Money News and TikTok at Money News Network 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.