Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin - Whitney Port on Rehabbing Spending Habits and the Price of Style

Episode Date: July 12, 2024

Not all celebs are open about their financial journey— but we wish they would be. Basically, we just wish more celebs would be like Whitney Port-Rosenman (The Hills, The City, With Whit). Today, Nicole and Whitney have an honest conversation about money: the good, the bad and the not-so-cute. Plus, Whitney helps Nicole follow the money trail of fashion, and describes what it takes to get into the biz. Spoiler alert: it involves literally getting on your hands and knees and rubbing feet. It’s a wild story you have to hear to believe... Want more Whit? Find it all here: whitneyport.com 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.

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. 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'm Nicole Lappin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. It's time for some money rehab. Not all celebrities are down to talk about money. You've probably encountered interviews where this is all too clear. There are some celebs who, when asked about money, say everything is rainbows and butterflies and they have just enough money, but not too much, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But the truth is, we all have money issues, and I wish more celebs would just open up about their

money challenges too. Because seeing people who we view as uber successful open up about the times they've needed money rehab just normalizes what we're all going through. Basically, I wish more people would be like Whitney Port Rosenman. Whitney is known for starring in the reality TV show The Hills, which featured other reality TV royalty like Lauren Conrad, and then went on to star in her own spinoff The City. Since then, Whitney has set roots even deeper in the fashion world and hosts two popular podcasts, With Wit and Fertility FM.

Today, Whitney and I have a very honest conversation about money, the good, the bad, the not-so-cute. Plus, Whitney also helps me follow the money trail of fashion and describes what it takes to get into the fashion world. Spoiler alert, it involves literally getting on your hands and knees and scrubbing feet. It's a crazy story, and it starts now. Whitney Port Rosenman, welcome to Money Rehab. Thank you for having me. Have you ever needed Money Rehab? For sure. Oh my God. When I actually got engaged, I remember having like a $35,000 credit card bill.

And I had known about it for a while and I was letting it rack up and was just paying essentially the interest each month. And when I got engaged, I felt like, okay, this is the time when I have to tell my partner. And it felt like this huge secret. And I felt really ashamed of it. And I told him one night and he was definitely shocked, but he was like, we'll figure it out. And I remember at the time, luckily being able to pay it off pretty quickly, but I definitely constantly feel like I need money rehab. Sometimes I feel like I'm spending without actually connecting to the money that's being spent. And I think that that kind of mindset

probably is very prevalent with how easily we shop these days. But I definitely can spend. And I think because I started to make money in my early 20s, when I was 20 years old, I got on TV and started making real money. And I think that being so young, making money, we're not really taught, or at least I wasn't taught fully how to manage it and how to save. And I spent a lot. And I think that that became this behavior of mine that I've tried to quell as I've gotten older, but definitely a mindset that I think has been something I've tried to work against since making money so young. You talk a lot about intuitive eating. Do you think there should be

more discussion around intuitive spending? That's actually a really good idea. I do think that there should. I think that we should become more mindful about what we're spending on and really asking ourselves, do we need this? Will this bring us more joy? Is this filling us up or are we just spending just to spend? And I haven't thought about bringing that kind of conversation into that mix, but it totally makes sense. Why not, right? Well, because you said you weren't connected to what you were spending. And so it sounds like either you were using it to hide from something or make yourself feel better, which is often what we do with eating, right? It's not about the food.

It's about trying to make yourself feel better for something else deeper that's going on. Right. I think what's so hard is this culture of newness and needing new things and wearing new things. And this idea of consumption, part of me loves it. My job is fashion. That's my world. I have such an appreciation for actual things, but I don't want to go overboard with it, you know? So I definitely have to set boundaries. And then also, luckily for me, I don't have a husband that's a spender. So that really keeps me in check. I'm assuming that conversations since the one about your credit card debt have gotten easier. Oh my God. Yes. So much easier. I mean,

have gotten easier? Oh my God. Yes. So much easier. I mean, I still get anxiety leading up to our end of the year business manager meetings, honestly, because I'll think like, oh my gosh, did I spend too much on Postmates this year? And is that going to be a thing? Like I'll think about all the things that I could get called out for, but then I'm like, this is a partnership. We shouldn't be so overbearing over each other. But then I'm like, this is a partnership. We shouldn't be so overbearing over each other. But then I'm like, at the same time, we need to be responsible. I'm holding up mirrors to each other. So if we are doing things that the other person isn't aligned with or throwing money away, everybody should know. So because I'm more of the spender and a little bit more frivolous, I definitely still get that anxiety leading up to those kinds of meetings.

What meeting? What is that? Okay, so we have a business manager who will do quarterly meetings with him where we'll just look into what's been made, what's been spent, what taxes are due. are due, just taking a look at like what's actually going on. Because I think for a while when I was young, I was having, it was my dad or my brother or an accountant, like looking at all these things. And I wasn't really aware of what was being spent or the consequences of not saving. So now we'll have these quarterly meetings and it's those meetings that I get nervous for, you know, just like, did my love for shoes just take over my rationale? You know what I mean? Like those things. Thank you for double clicking and getting to the root of where that comes from, because I think that's really important to talk about money. Otherwise, no habits are

ever going to change. And also, like you said, just being mindful about the spending. I did today go through all of my monthly recurring purchases and made sure that those were all things that I used. Yes, I did do that, which felt really good. I mean, people have told me that I should be going through my credit card statements every month to make sure that everything looks good. And I'm definitely guilty of not doing that. But do you do that? I try to do that. I would be lying if I said I still comb through every single thing, but I try to view it as self-care. So I love a mani, a ped pedi deep tissue massage just as much as the next girl. I spent so much money on that.

But I do think some of this more boring stuff, like the adulting stuff, whether it's going through your credit card statements, going to the doctor, not fun, sexy, no spa vibes, but also a different form of self-care. And so you said it like you went through your subscriptions and you felt great after. Exactly. Like I think so many of us can have this underlying subconscious stress about finances. And I think that the only way to really overcome that is to actually know what's going on. And so many of us are scared to look. It's so hard, but it's the only way to track and know what you're doing. You have a lot of young women that look up to you and would love to be in the fashion business. If somebody is listening and they're saying, damn, I am cute. I love style just like Whitney. How do they break into the fashion business? I think first finding their point of view and what their aesthetic is and what their plan is going to be, how they're going to put that into the world. Establishing a strong voice for yourself on social media is the way to go.

And even if that has to be your hobby while you're working another nine to five. But I think that first investing in some quick tech for yourself, some lighting, some cameras, I think figuring out what is your message? Are you going to focus on essentials like a quick, easy staple dressing? Are you focusing on styling for geriatric millennials? Are you like, dialing for geriatric millennials. Are you like, what is your niche? What is your- Wait a minute. Is that me?

Basically, it's me too. So like my husband and I had to look it up, but I think it's 36 to 42 or something like that. What happened to elder millennial? When did it become geriatric? What? I don't know, but find your niche and really becoming a micro influencer is the way to try to

get yourself out there while also maybe interning somewhere or getting a job in a realm of the fashion industry that you want. Do you want to be a stylist? Okay. In a big city, you can find stylists to go intern an assistant for, but even if you're in a small city, maybe there's an app, let's say trunk club or something. I don't even know if trunk club exists anymore, but there's styling business like glam hive. There's so many different ways. I think you just have to figure out the area that you want to be in and then manifest your energy in that direction, both socially and in the real world. Well, so if we can sort of dive into like how that works to get started, do you need a portfolio?

Do you need to have relationships with designers if you want to become a stylist first? If you want to become a stylist first, yes. There are different ways that you can be a stylist. Like you can join platforms like Glam Hive, for instance, that you can be a stylist. You can join platforms like Glam Hive, for instance, and you can sign up to become a stylist and you can make a portfolio with them of either your work or mood boards that express yourself. And then you can become like a digital stylist and people can sign up and book with you. Or you can start styling your friends for free. Start doing things that are creative ways where you can be scrappy,

like get in your friend's closet, film yourself cleaning out her closet, film yourself putting looks together with her, cut together videos. Try to do things as much as you can just for like free of charge, get your name out there, you know? I think that those are investments in your future.

I have to ask, is the fashion closet a real thing? When you want to go and borrow stuff, can you just borrow whatever you want? You're so cute. So you can't borrow whatever you want. It depends on brands. There's certain brands that I have formulated relationships with throughout the years that will now, if I have an event, I can reach out to them and say, can I pull something from your latest collection to wear to this event? Not every designer will lend you something, obviously. It depends on how many followers you have, your engagement, or what your even content looks like. You could have very little followers, but have beautiful content and they could find value in that.

So you can borrow things for sure. But if fashion closet, let's say Vogue magazine. Yes, they have a fashion closet, like accessories, clothes, shoes, bags, all of the latest season that they pull for all their photo shoots. But me as an intern or could not just like pull from the closet to wear for a night out unless I asked my boss. And that would probably be a really special situation. Have you ever borrowed something and just not returned it or forgotten to return it? Yes, all the time. So like there's a lot of things that you'll borrow or you'll get sent that you're not sure like, are they gifts or not? And so you hold on to them. And then if people ask for them back, obviously you always give them back, but I've never knowingly kept something.

Well, actually there was one pair of shoes from a photo shoot in New York. I remember we were filming at Elle and it was a pair of Giuseppe Zanotti sparkle shoes. And I got to wear them home from the photo shoot. And it was like very unclear whether I got to keep them or not. And I didn't ask. And I was like, you know what? I feel like if nobody says anything, I'm just going to hold on to them. And I did. And how did that work? Did anyone else? Fine. I still have them. No one ever said anything ever. Stunning. Which celebrities do you think are killing the style game right now? I mean, I'm always a Kendall Jenner or Hailey Bieber fan. I love how they can make fashion just look cool and comfortable. Like love a sneaker, love a flat. They can get all

dressed up too, but it doesn't look effortless actually, if I'm being perfectly honest, but it's cool and put together. I think that Zoe Kravitz is also chic and I feel like she's a celebrity that people could emulate her style and also like an accessible and affordable way too, because it's very simple. It's just about being white t-shirts, black trench, dark jeans, very, very simple classics. Yeah. It's always the people that don't need free shit always get free shit. I know. And like, they're probably still all buying all their stuff too, you know, but I know, I know. I mean, making your content stand out. And if you're in the business of wanting to start making money via affiliate links and starting your own brand online, making your content stand out and making sure it's visibly aesthetically pleasing.

I think you'd be surprised with how much brands would actually want to gift you and not being afraid to just DM brands and be like, hey, take a look at my profile. Here's some of my work. Here's my address. Totally. Why not? I think that's a good way to also sort of fake it till you make it to start working with brands in that way where they're not paying you. They're maybe just gifting you product just to like start building out your product content portfolio. Would you create like maybe a fake rep if you didn't have one? You mean someone to just say like,

hey, I'm Whitney Port's assistant or something like that. I've never done that before, but sure, why not? I've done that. Yeah, just like, hey, messaging you on behalf of so-and-so. They're not going to care if they found out either.

And it's easier for them. They can be honest. If they want to give you, they'll give it. If they don't, then you know they're being honest, you know, and it's fine. No harm, no foul. Continue to up your content game and you'll eventually get there. There are so many expensive brands, of course, out there. There are also a lot of affordable ones that are just not as great as designers, like just not as well made or material or whatever. What's one piece that's expensive

that you think is totally worth it? I got this pair of tight but spandexy black pants by The Row, Mary-Kate and Ashley's line. And when I got them, I was like, am I going to wear these? These are very expensive for essentially a legging trouser. How expensive? $900. For leggings? Yeah. Do you want me to show you them? Yes. Okay. I'll get them out of my closet. Okay. These pants were sold out because the fit was so great. They'll never go out of style. I wear them all the time with a white button down over, with a pretty slip dress over, with a t-shirt and a leather jacket.

There's just so many different ways to style these. And I feel like you wouldn't think about a nice pair of pants to be your expensive thing, but they're seasonless. I also think that a nice structured, tailored black suit jacket is good too. Or whatever color, honestly, is your color. Are you a brown girl? Are you more of a nude girl or a cream girl or an ivory girl? Pick the color blazer you think you'll get the most use out of and invest in a good one. I think that those are two basics that will go a long way. You'll probably have in your closet the rest of your life. Okay. So that's on the personal investment where you're buying something

that's going to last and is timeless, not on the resale front, because there's other stuff that defies economics and actually appreciates like Birkin bags. So that kind of stuff, I don't collect to resell. I collect just as a collector and I feel like I'll have it forever and then I'll pass it on to either daughters or nieces or sisters or whatever. My husband definitely, he's interested in becoming a collector of watches. Not also again to resell, but they can be investment pieces if all else fails, obviously. But I don't have a Birkin. I'm really a firm believer. I like to buy vintage accessories. I feel like buying bags of the season, they quickly go out of style. In my opinion, I was doing that for a while. I felt like when money was flowing in, I was getting like the bags of the season. And I

was finding that by the next season, they were out of style. So I'm very into buying vintage designer bags. So I follow a bunch of vintage sourcers online. And I know some in LA that I'll just go check in. And I think that those go a longer way for me. You mentioned starting out being an intern. You were obviously an intern at Teen Vogue and DBF and Women's Wear Daily and W, and you've built your career from there. Being an intern, though, can be like totally thankless work. I mean, maybe it's more thankful than when I was an intern a million and a half years ago. But what kind of advice would you give someone who wants to try to stay motivated with their goals and their dream job feels so, so far away.

Everybody has to remember that everything is just a phase and that while it looks like so many people have made it overnight, and especially in this day and age, I guess for some people it is, but for most people, that's just not the case. So to really try to come into a job without an ego and know that you're going to have to do some shit that you're not going to love doing, but that's just life. I think that in order to reap reward, you have to make some sacrifices. And that definitely happened for me. I remember I had one job where there were thousands of rhinestones on the pockets of these pair of jeans. And I had to like, for all these different samples, I had to count these rhinestones.

Or one time there was this actress, we were doing a photo shoot and she had really ashy feet. And I got on my hands and knees and rubbed lotion on her feet. You never know what you're going to be asked to do. And you just kind of have to show up with a smile on your face. And I think the best attitude wins the game. The best attitude and the person who's willing to get shit done and is not a no person is like, yes, I'll figure this out. That is how you're going to get far and how you're going to see doors opening. I will not ask you to out Miss Ashy Feet because we don't want to do that to anybody.

But I assume you've probably seen her out in the world. Yeah. And she's so gorgeous. So I didn't even care. I remember when I did it, I just like snapped into action. And then afterwards, I was like, oh, I need to wash my hands. Like, what did I just do? And she didn't even clean them or anything before. So I even sound like a brat maybe complaining about that. But I started as an intern, as like a real intern. I was working at Women's Wear Daily and was a real intern. Then once we started filming the show, I would say my intern responsibilities were not necessarily always like super real. It was like made for reality.

Yeah. Like I think that it was a glorified version of what an intern's job actually looks like, you know, like they don't ask an intern to like fly a dress to New York. I mean, maybe they do. I don't know. But there was, you know, such fun, glamorous things that I think could happen, but were happening to us all the time. I mean, I don't know, like, I don't watch reality TV, but I would assume like an ashy feet, lotion foot job would be great reality TV. I don't know. Pretty good. I'm like, maybe I'm downplaying it too much. I think it's great. I think it's fascinating. And I'm sure when you see this woman, as stunning as she is, like you must only think about her as she'd be.

A hundred percent. I'm like, I can't not. Hold on to your wallets. Money Rehab will be right back. I love hosting on Airbnb. It's a great way to bring in some extra cash. 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.

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. 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 N.A. or Stride Bank N.A. Members FDIC. SpotMe eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply.

Boosts are available to eligible Chime members enrolled in SpotMe and are subject to monthly limits. Terms and conditions apply. Go to Chime.com slash disclosures for details. Hey, money rehabbers, if you're super into fashion like Whitney, but unlike Whitney, don't want it to be your full-time gig, you can still potentially make money from your favorite brands through investing. And if you get started with Magnify, the AI investing assistant, you could be set up by the time this episode is over. Magnify is like Siri, but specialized in answering your investing questions. So you could say, Magnify, build a portfolio of fashion stocks on the rise. Or Magnify, which investing funds hold supreme? Or simply, show me fashion investments.

To learn more about Magnify, check out the link in the episode description. Okay, back to it. And now for some more money rehab. You said something awesome, Whitney, that you had a simplification process in your late 30s of your career and your personal life. Can you tell us more about what you meant by that? Yeah. So there's so much about me that I now try to talk kindly about because before I would say that I was sort of scattered and I was the business person. And even in my personal life that would just throw a bunch of things up at the wall and see what sticks. And I felt like I was doing so many things, but I wasn't doing them

to the fullest. Like I was just kind of doing them halfway because I was so overwhelmed by all the different things. So I decided to write down a list of professional and personal priorities, things I do in my job that make me really happy, things I do in my job that are the most financially successful and things that I want to do more of, and then did the same thing within my personal life and decided that I was just going to focus on those things and not take on new projects or new invitations or say yes to things unless they were on that list or fell into the bucket on that list. And I think that that has changed my whole outlook on life and has cleared up so much space in my brain.

That's what happens when you're a geriatric millennial. I know. You have to clear up space. I mean, there is this perception, right? Like your 20s are where it's at, but it sounds like you went through an epiphany where they're potentially overrated and like 30s is where it's at. I feel like honestly, my dad died when I was 28 years old. I got married when I was 32, which was amazing, but it was very, a very hard couple of years leading up to getting married. And then after we got married, got pregnant with Sonny and being pregnant was really hard and filled with a certain amount of grief too, because of missing my dad. And I think that I was surviving through grief during my early

to mid thirties. And then I think it wasn't until this past couple of years that I've reflected and taken a look back and been like, okay, it's actually maybe time to make some changes. Especially I restarted going to therapy about six months ago. And I was hearing myself say things that I've been hearing myself say for so long. And I'm like, something needs to change. And so this idea of simplification really hit home for me. And it's been working. I love that. It's like the Marie Kondo-fication of your life.

Yes. The same intuitive, mindful thing. It's like, is this job, will it make me happy? Is it worth the time and energy? Will it help exposure in the long run? You just have to weigh the pros and cons and just be thoughtful about all the things that you're doing and how much they're worth versus what are your real priorities. Yeah.

And I love that you talk about going to therapy. I do too. Fridays, 10 o'clock, it's on my calendar. No meetings are taken during that time. No recordings are being done. I think it's really important regardless of if something happens or not. I used to in my 20s go as a triage situation. And so I found when you do it regularly, even when something isn't wrong, that's when the good stuff happens. Was there an impetus that got you back into therapy or like a

reason that you sort of fell out of the routine? Yeah, I've been in and out of it. I feel like since my dad passed away, I was out of it because honestly, I just wasn't connecting with my therapist. And I was realizing it wasn't even her fault. It was just the type of therapist that she was. I needed someone that was like a little bit more interactive and that was going to ask me more questions and help me with tools and skills as opposed to just a listening ear for me to vent to. So I started looking for people like that, more actionable and can give cognitive reasoning skills and all that stuff. And someone that specialized in someone going through the loss and fertility stuff, loss with my dad and grief, and then certain fertility issues that I've had and the loss associated with that. So making sure that I'm finding someone that

really specializes in that stuff so that I can focus and hone in on that. I think it's so nice for it to not just be like me sitting generally chatting about what happened that week. There can be so much more to it. Yeah. I'm a tool-based therapy person. Love a CBT tool, a DBT tool, all the skills, give me a listicle, give me homework. Same. She even started bringing up EMDR. I've done it once so far and that was like really powerful. And so working on a little bit more of that too, for more deeply rooted things. Deeply rooted trauma. It's never a fun day to do it. I've done a bunch of that. It's like, I know you're so emotionally exhausted afterwards. It's like never a fun day to do a colonoscopy. a bunch of that. It's like, I know you're so emotionally exhausted afterwards. It's like never a fun day to do a colonoscopy. I've had to do a lot of colonoscopies too,

but like, and it's never a fun day to like dig into your deep wounds and like replay them and hold buzzers and like try to retrain your neural pathways. I know, but I guess it's necessary. I didn't know that you could retrain them. So that's cool. It is very cool. And thank you for talking more about that. And how does support like that look in your marriage? Is it more like listening based advice giving? I think it's definitely both. Timmy and I depend on each other so much for that stuff. We're very much like at the end of the day, those types of communicators, at least for me, I want to like get everything out of my head and onto him.

But I think that I've learned as you get older, that there's certain conversations, like you don't have to unload everything on your partner. I think that there's certain things that don't have to become worries for them that you can kind of handle on your own. And I think that that's been really valuable to me because they can soak up your anxieties and your griefs. And I think that talking to a therapist, they're not, they don't feel the way about you. Their heart's not in it as much. So I think that, yeah, definitely picking and choosing what I really need to talk to him about.

And then also making sure that I'm starting it if I do need to talk to him about. And then also making sure that I'm starting it. If I do need to talk to him about something or I'm upset about something that I'm phrasing it in a way that he will be open and receptive to, as opposed to just, I'm upset that you don't, you know, it's like, Hey, can you chat for a second? Making sure that they're in a place to hear you. Very, very important and only usually figured out through a lot of trial and lots and lots more error. Like it doesn't happen overnight. It's like we've been married eight years,

but I feel like it is just like what everybody says. Parts of us stay the same. Parts of us change. We have to be open to both of those things. And our partner should be someone to help us become the best version of ourselves and sometimes hold up a mirror to those things that we could be doing better, but mostly to lift us up. Yeah. I love the mirror, not the magnifying glass. I'm always fascinated too when couples sleep together and work together, I guess. You and Tim do a lot of creative work together on your podcast and on your YouTube channel.

What has that been like? What's the evolution been like of being partners in business and in life? Has that been like, what's the evolution been like of being partners in business and in life? We had to really like figure out what works for us in terms of the content that we do together. So we first started working together when we did our YouTube series, I love my baby butt. And he was like my producer on that. Like he was asking me questions and wanting me to talk about things that maybe in that moment, I didn't really want to get into, but I did because we were filming like a pretty intimate series about what it was like for me going through my pregnancy and the ups and downs. And that was hard for us. A lot of filming sessions we'd have to stop because I would be like so sensitive. And I was also in the throes

of pregnancy and postpartum and all that stuff. So we found that if we work in a more formatted way and we don't take it as like seriously, that we can have fun with it. So like our date night for interest, our podcast, we do that. We were like, what would be fun and easy for us to do and not require so much of us prepping together and working together and follow up afterwards. So we created this format where we just record for an hour every two weeks

and we pretend like we're on a date night and we talk about what you would talk about on a date night. And for us, it's actually a date night. Like we talk about what is really going on and it's more cathartic than anything. So that works for us. And like then, of course, there's producers who are editing it and listening to it and putting it out there so we don't have to be listening to ourselves over and over and hearing it and, you know, blah, blah, blah. And then our YouTube, same thing.

We were like, what do we love to do together? We'd love to sit and watch TV and like make jokes. And so during COVID, when we were trying to figure out how to make content at home, we're like, let's rewatch some of the shows that you were on and do reaction videos to them. And so we did that and we've just figured out how to create formats that are fun for us to do.

He's not digging into my fashion collaborations. For us, we have to set those boundaries. He's not my quote, Instagram husband, out there taking my photos and editing them and cutting everything. We didn't want that blur of lines. We needed more, this is our roles, this is what we do together. And that works. Yeah. But there's also so many other people who can talk with you about fashion collabs. Like, he doesn't have to be all the things. No, he doesn't. And we're lucky that we're able to set those boundaries. And like, could he be all those things and maybe us be more successful and keep things more in house and blah, blah, blah? Maybe. But I think that would be a strain on him and on our marriage. So you make those choices sometimes like putting money

at the bottom of the list. And sometimes ultimately that does create better bottom line because you are clearer. Yeah, you're happier and you're able to show up for the things that you really want to do. Totally. Are there any topics that are off limits now or too emotional for you guys to talk about? Nothing. Oh. No, we are like so an open book. I mean, there will be things

that we'll be going through in the moment that we won't want to talk about, like certain phases of trying to have another kid, certain miscarriages and things like that, that I wasn't just live posting that we keep intimate between the two of us. But for the most part, everything ends up getting discussed and mulled over and talked about. Yeah, that's what I was getting at. It was like more, do you give yourself a grace period or like a mourning period?

A hundred percent. I wasn't really before and I was finding I was having an effect on me. I was living these things and then I was getting all these opinions and comments and it was like, but what's my opinion on what the next step should be or how I should handle this? And so I was like,

I need to get all these voices out of my head, even though I can tell myself that they are strangers and that I shouldn't listen to everything good or bad, you know, whether it's good advice or bad, you don't always know and it can just complicate things. So I think for me, it's definitely been beneficial to hold on to those things that I feel like are going to confuse me. Really smart advice. Whitney, you have been so open and honest. Thank you. We end our episodes with a money tip listeners can take straight to the bank. Do you have one to leave us with? It

can be anything from a tip on investing, to saving, to budgeting, to negotiating, dealing with financial anxiety, anything. I know it sounds easy, but I think that if we can just put, and it can be a number up to you, but I want to start putting just like $200 a week away into a savings account and see what that can do. Cause I feel like sometimes we'll put a lot of savings into investment accounts and those are obviously working more than if you were just to put it in like obviously a cash account. But I think sometimes there are little things that we want to do, whether it's throw a party or go on a vacation or little frivolous things that will be like, no, we shouldn't do that. We don't have the five grand

or the 10 grand or whatever it's going to be. And so I kind of just want to have that fun little pile of cash that we can do something more like frivolous and fun with that we would