Trading Secrets - 233. Bran Flakezz: From $8.65/hr at Forever 21 to over 6 figures in content creation, Brandon Edelman’s wild BTS of building a platform by being authentically himself, staying frugal, and prioritizing mental health

Episode Date: May 5, 2025

This week, Jason is joined by content creator, podcast host, and Philadelphia’s favorite influencer, Brandon Edelman aka Bran Flakezz! Bran gained recognition after being cast on Barstool Sports inaugural reality TV show, Project Verified, after having initial success with his TikTok content. Since being a runner up on the show, Bran has continued to grow his brand on social media, add the title podcast host to his resume, and increase his gross annual income by almost 20x from when he was primarily working in retail.  In this episode, Bran opens up about his journey navigating imposter syndrome and staying authentic in the digital space. He reflects on pivotal moments that shaped his life—from high school struggles with popularity to finding his true self in college. Bran breaks down his approach to content creation, including how he uses TikTok analytics, the power of a strong “hook,” and applying an MLA-style formula to videos. He also shares what it felt like to hit 1 million followers and the deeper motivation behind his content: supporting local businesses. The conversation spans his background in retail, platform-by-platform differences, and why he champions salary transparency and acknowledges privilege. Bran also dives into staying frugal, the value of genuine apologies, what meaningful collaborations look like to him, why convenience should never be underestimated, and protecting your mental health. Bran reveals all this and so much more in another episode you can’t afford to miss! Host: Jason Tartick Co-Host: David Arduin Audio: John Gurney Guest: Bran Flakezz Stay connected with the Trading Secrets Podcast!  Instagram: @tradingsecretspodcast  Youtube: Trading Secrets Facebook: Join the Group All Access: Free 30-Day Trial  Trading Secrets Steals & Deals! Indeed: When it comes to hiring, Indeed is all you need. There's no need to wait any longer-speed up your hiring right now with Indeed. For a $75 SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to get your jobs more visibility, visit Indeed.com/SECRETS Northwestern Registered Agent: Northwest Registered Agent has been helping businesses launch and grow for nearly 30 years. Don’t wait, protect your privacy, build your brand and set up your business in just 10 clicks in 10 minutes! Visit www.northwestregisteredagent.com/tradingsecrets and start building something amazing! Booking.com: Whether you're looking to earn that extra income, fill those vacant weekends, or grow your business, head over to Booking.com to see how you can get started today. The reach is global, the bookings are consistent, and the control is yours. For the bookings you've dreamed of, list your property on Booking.com 

Welcome back to another episode of Trading Secrets. Today we are joined by content creator, podcast host, and Philadelphia favorite influencer Brandon Edelman, AKA Brand Flakes. Brand gained recognition after being cast. on Barstool Sports inaugural reality TV show, Project Verified, after having initial success with his TikTok content. Since being a runner-up on the show, Brand has continued to grow his brand on social media.

Add the title, podcast host to his resume, and increase his gross annual income by almost 20 times from when he primarily worked in retail. Today, we are going to discuss his life working in retail, how he transitioned to a full-time content creation, and how he successfully manages expenses after a drastic increase in personal income. We have so much more to cover.

But, Brand, thank you so much for being on sharing secrets. Thank you for having me, King, Jason. What an honor, my man. No, the honor is all mine. It was so funny how we met. We were at Grant's premiere, and Brand comes over. Dude, your energy is just any room you're in, it just lights up. And you can come over, I'm like, who is this bright light?

And you're like, let's do this TikTok. So it's so funny. I'd actually seen you for the first time at Rock and New Year's Eve, 2023. We did that like brunch. It was Joey's thing. And I was right. I was so, I used to be like really like imposter syndrome and I didn't like to like say hi to people. And I wanted to say hi to you so bad because one of the first episodes that I watched of your podcast was when you had corporate Natalie on and that episode helped me so much in like my career. And I wanted to fan girl so bad. And I was like, I don't want to bother him. I don't want to bother him. And I just didn't say hi. So when I saw

you at The Bachelor, I was like, I'm not missing this opportunity again. I'm going to say hi. him. When you said that, they just gave me goosebumps. Well, the purpose of like this podcast is to really try and help educate and impact people with what they're doing and to see that you listen to that. And corporate Natalie is unbelievable. I've looked up to her in the industry since I started. She's unbelievable.

And to see your success with it is really cool. So I appreciate that. But it was funny when you came up. I mean, actually, let's talk about this. So for everyone, I'm sure everyone knows at this point. But brand is just crushing social media. And what's really cool about it is the growth in your transparency. So if you're sitting back home and you're trying to brand yourself,

you're trying to brand your business on social media, you're wondering about just the transparency of like what creators make and what it looks like, the good, the bad, the ugly. You're going to get it in this episode. But one thing I was really impressed with was, I mean, the sound you had was hilarious. What was the sound again? Are you atop or a bottom?

Are you top or bottom? Teresa Jude Dice or is that Judich and Richard Hatch on House of Villains. And she's like very like, it was shocking to the audience that she's so well versed in LGBTQ like language. And she's like, chopper bottom, do you do poppers? Like, all of the stuff. He was like, what? Wait.

So still to this day, I don't know what poppers are. Okay. What are poppers? Like, I'm not going to, like, explain this, like, the best way. Okay. Technically, it's like what they call cleaner. It's almost like how people like sniff nail, polish remover, like it.

But it's not like, so basically what poppers do is they relax your muscles. So when gay people have sex of the ass, it loose, it makes you feel more relaxed. But it's become. sort of like a party drug because it's basically like sniffing like nail polish remover. So like people at the gay bar, but honestly straight people have been doing it a lot too. Like they'll just pull out poppers and sniff it. It's like doing a whip it. Okay.

Yeah. Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's a good good thing. So yeah, it's a little bit of a wild thing. It's intention is to be used to relax yourself during intercourse. Okay. Well, thank you for that very professional breakdown.

I love it. I was turned strong. I was like, what did I sign up for? But whatever, let's rip it. People loved it. We had a great time with it, and it was so nice to meet you. But one one thing I was really impressed with is at that party, it felt as though you had some ideas, you came with some sounds, and you did like four or five different videos, maybe

even more. Is that a lot of part of your strategy? Like, are you thinking about where you're going to be, how you're going to be there, what sounds would work, and then ripping it? Yeah, you know, I think a lot of the time it's really on the moment where I see something and I think of something. I try to come, like, prepared with, like, one or two backup ideas, but my content really does the best when it's extremely authentic and on the nose. And right away, I see something.

I'm like, oh, record it. So, yeah, I had a few things saved. But when I go to events like that, like, I definitely want to network. Like, Disney invites me to this. Like, Disney, ABC inviting me. I'm like, okay, I want to make a really good impression. I want to network not just with people like you, but also with executives that work for Hulu and executives that work for The Bachelor. because that's just a great opportunity to put your hand in these people who are key stakeholders in the industry.

Interesting. Okay. So you're thinking I'm going to make an impression. I'm going to make videos. They'll call me back. And they did have you at 2023? They had you at this? Did they call you back? Yeah, they did. That's my third event that I've done with them. So the first one was actually really sick. They invited me to their shark tank party. That was in 2023. I got to meet Barbara. I got to meet Mark Cuban, Kevin. And then I came back. That's where I saw you at Rock and New Year's Eve. So funny. I just. saw Ryan C. Chris at the Outlaw Gym in L.A., and he, like, gave me a double take. He's like, you look really familiar. And I was like, we did rock a New Year's Eve together.

And then the third one I did his Bachelor, which is great. Now, how, like, is that think about what you just said. It was, it wasn't many years ago that you were working in retail making $40,000 a year. You went on Vivian 2's podcast, who's a great, good friend of the show. She's been on the show. Her podcast, shut out. Networth and chill. And you talked about in 2024, grossing $768,000. Yeah. Is that a pit, like Ryan C. Chris says hello to you. Did you ever see this in your career? Not even close. Like, no, no shape or form.

Just in anything, like, I was not cool in high school. I had, like, you know, a lot of really bad demons and insecurities. And I always, I think I always wanted this life, but, like, constantly, like, told myself it would never happen. And it did. I think, like, for me, where the shift in my life happened was, like, college and kind of getting that fresh start and really finding the people that, like, I was always meant to be around and being. in the rooms that I always was meant to be in. And that really built up this confidence in me that I took to the internet in 2021.

And I don't know. You know, I had the confidence when I started TikTok. I didn't make a video right away. I probably downloaded the app a month before I ever posted. And I watched people's videos. And I was just like, I feel like I could do this. I was like, I think I'm just as funny of these people. I think I have really creative ideas on how to create

And I was like, I'm going to go for it. But I was like, I aggressively went for it. My friends were like, dude, like, what are you doing? Like, why are you, like, getting home from work every night and, like, telling us you can't hang out? I was like, because I have to record videos. And they're like, what do you mean? Like, you have to record videos. I was like, no, like, I'm watching what these people say online.

They say you have to post twice a day and be consistent. I was like, I'm going to do it. They say that you have to use this kind of a hook. They say that you have to, like, make videos in this format. And I really did follow, like, a lot of the templates of creators that, like, I remember, I think this guy, his name is Jackson's Tips. I hope he still exists because he's incredible. Okay.

I would watch his videos every day and he would tell you how to make a good TikTok and I would watch it and his shit worked for me. And I'm like, yeah, so did I ever see this coming? No, but I'm very happy it did. And I'm just really grateful for the whole experience. I'm going to get into high school for a minute. Yeah. And then I'm going to get into the hooks.

Yeah, yeah. Because I always find it fascinating where people are today, people that we look up to, people that we follow and what actually like, where did it stem from? What was it like? Yeah. And in high school, you said that you had a lot of demons. When you say that, like, were you a troublemaker? Were you dealing with depression? Like, what do you think it was? I, like, wanted to be really cool. Like, I always, like, I really, like, would see the kids that would, like, go to the parties and do, you know, had the amazing pictures before the homecoming dances and, you know, had these really exciting weekend plans. And I just didn't have that. I was not popular. And there was. is like so, like, I look back on that. I mean, you should always look back on yourself and cringe. I think if there's no growth without cringing.

Of course. But, like, I was, like, like, person that, like, if I got invited to a party or something, or, like, I remember one time, I'll always never forgive myself for this. One time I got invited to, like, a cool person's, like, prom pictures. And my mom was there. And I was like, Mom, stop. Like, you're embarrassing me. Like, ugh.

Like, just like, that kind of, who wanted to be, like, so bad. And, like, I look back on that. And I was just like, ugh. Like, I wanted, it's so funny now, like, a lot of the kids who, I don't want to use the word bullied, but, like, we're not nice to me in high school. Yeah. I live in Philly 30 minutes from where I went to high school. Most of my high school, like, counterparts all live in Philly. So many kids that would have never even gave me the time of day in class are now like up my ass.

That's so, yeah. Bittersweet. Bitter sweet, yeah. And, you know, like, everyone grows up. Like, everyone was an asshole in high school at some point. But, like, you don't forget those kind of, like, formative, like, year. and like you know that phrase by Maya Angela like you can forget what people said and did

but you'll never forget how they made you feel like that is that rings true all the time it's really interesting in high school how like you wanted to be the guy and you're struggling with that and weren't and then you now are and it sounds so corny Jason but like all I had to do is be myself all I had to do is be myself

and like when I was like trying to fit in I was being like a and even now in like influencer circles like there's times where I've noticed me, like, trying to, like, appease to, like, a big-time content creator. And, like, I'm like, why am I doing this? No, no, no, no, no.

Like, the people who value me will value me for who I am and where I am and what I'm doing. And anybody else, like, if you feel like you're, like, have to act a certain way, that's not the type of person you should be around. And career, relationships, friendships, you want to be places where you can authentically be yourself and you're surrounded by people that, like,

appreciate that about you. Like, you saying, like, I'm a light in a room. Like, that's how I want people to talk about me. Yeah. I don't want people to say, you know, something else about me. Like that, that's truly like, I hold that kind of, those kind of people in like high regard. Yeah. One of the thing that's interesting that you're talked about is just being yourself and dropping into that. Yeah. I had my brother on the show and we talked openly about it, maybe for like one of the first times ever, but he didn't come out until he was in college actually. Yeah.

And he talked a little bit about like how that struggle delayed kind of him dropping into himself and understanding himself. For sure. Did you come out at an early age? Did that have any impact? I told like my first friends when I was like 13 and 14, probably more 14. And then I came out to my mom on my 17th birthday. And then when I got to college, that's when I was like, I've told this story before. I got to college and I was like really stressed out, had a lot of, put a lot of pressure

on myself of like, I don't want this to be the same experience as high school. Like I really want to enjoy this. I remember this beautiful tall, six foot blonde girl invited me to look at her dorm room, like, how you would do on your first, everyone's like looking at each other's rooms. she had a rainbow pride flag up and I was like oh like do you have like a gay best friend she's like no I am gay and I was like I had total like internalized homophobia I thought if you were a lesbian you looked this way if you were a gay guy you look this way I'm looking at this like six foot model and she's like no I'm a lesbian and I was like after she said that I was like oh I'm gay I like instantly said and I was like I'm going to tell everybody I'm gay here and it was just like everyone loved me and it was so funny I went to a small school where like fashion merchandising was what I studied and it was a big major but we also had sports teams and the baseball team the guys like loved me. And they were all like, brand flakes, beef flakes, flakes. And I was like, why are these like big macho men like being so nice?

They're like, no, we like fuck with you. Like, you're cool as fuck. And I was like, wow, like, I would have never experienced this in high school. Like, it was just great. That's a special story. It's really special. It really is a special story. Yeah. I think as you're telling that, there's something that when we work with creators, I try and do with some of my content too, is that vulnerability just will equal

relatability, which equals empowerment, right? So she was vulnerable. She shared what she felt. you felt relatable, you felt empowered, and that helped you break out into who you are, which I think is so cool. That's one of the equations we also use for content. You talked a little bit about your hooks, so I want to go back to that. People that are listening to this, and I know there's people that want to talk and hear the dollars.

Those dollars are coming. We're going to talk about it, 700 plus thousand. We're going to get the weeds. But before we do, talk to me about the structure of your videos then versus now. Do you still currently use hooks? For people that are listening to this, that don't know what a hook is, what is a hook? And how do you construct your video when you think about it from like a director and producer? Yeah. So with TikTok, which is my main platform, it's a short form platform, you really have the first two seconds to get people to watch.

Otherwise, they're going to scroll. And with TikTok, it's all about watch time. So let's say you have a video that is 15 seconds long. If people are averaging, they're watching seven seconds of that, they're watching 50% of your video through, which is actually good. Did not know that. So if they hit seven seconds, they're likely to hit it. They're likely to continue to walk a whole way through. So how it works, which people don't talk about this, how TikTok makes money is they get advertisement dollars from massive corporations like any other business. Sure. Their analytics are, hey, look at the screen time of our average consumer.

They're spending two, three hours on TikTok a day. So what is TikTok going to push on the algorithm? Videos that people are watching all the way through because then, let's say someone watches my 15 second video twice. That just became a 15 second video that someone consumed for 30 seconds. So the hook is really important because that's the first thing people are going to say, the first one to three seconds, lock that person in. What is this video about?

What are you about to see? Peek our interest here. So in the beginning, I was doing a lot of hooks where, like, a lot of times I would make series centered around the hook. So my first big series was rating my nights from the weekend, where I would go through what I did on a weekend and read each night, Friday, 7 out of 10. This is what I did. Saturday, 6 out of 10 is what happened. And that was the hook in itself, rating my nights from this past week. So the hook was, though, you were just like, here's my ratings.

So then people want to hear it. Like, give people examples of actual. I would say, like, the hook would be rating my nights from this past weekend. But the video would start with me green screening, a crazy image of me from the weekend. So, like, maybe it's like me on someone's shoulders at a bar. I would say rating my nights from this past weekend, I remember one that went really viral. I met Young Gravy. I love it.

He's great. It's a picture of me and Young Gravy. So that you can also do visual hooks. Like, this is it. But a lot of times now, I think because I have an established following, which is really great, my followers, like, just want to hear what I have to say no matter what. But I do try to kind of get people in. I do this series called Hawk Girl Walking, where I go on a rant as I'm walking. And there's a formula.

I use the standard MLA essay format. Hook, three supporting points, closing argument. Give me an example of one. Yeah. So it's like, and it always comes from the heart. Like first three seconds, I'm so sick of people who are in codependent relationships. That's the hook. Now you're in.

Ben in one before. Exactly. And that's why I pick something that, one, I feel and can talk about. But two, if you've been a codependent relationship, you want to watch it. Oh, I'm already yet. If you have a friend that's been in a codependent relationship, you want to watch it. If you think maybe your parents are in a codependent. So it's very universal, global.

So that's my, then I get into my three supporting bullet points. One, structure the relatability, but also put your funny personality on it, which is, You know those couples that you genuinely think would fucking go to the bathroom together if they could? Funny, hilarious. Everyone's like, yep, nodding your head as you're listening, I know. And then you kind of want, I always try to do one where you almost play devil's advocate and play the other side.

And then I'm like, I feel bad for them because I feel like there's something obviously missing in their life that is making them kind of lean codependent. Then hit it home. But at the same time, I miss my friend. And then you kind of closed it with something like, let's all be able to do things on our own two feet. and have, you know, things for yourself

and then things for your relationship. Quick, punchy, easy, reshareable, repostable, boom, you're in it. And it sounds, I said this on his, like, it's not being manipulative, it's strictly just being strategic. That's my personal, I hate people who are in codependent relationships. Everyone's lost a friend to a codependent relationship. Everyone, not a lot of us have been in codependent relationships. So it's not like I'm manufacturing this.

It's just thinking about what's a feeling and experience that I have and how can I tell that experience in a way that is going to make other people feel seen and heard? And that's how you make content. Listing your vacation rental on booking.com opens the door to more guests. Booking.com is one of the most downloaded travel apps in the world. That makes it the place for you to list your vacation rental

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You were strategic when you put your shoes and your pants on. When they painted this wall, it was strategic. Yeah. Like, everything is, but it has just such a negative connotation, which is bullshit. Be strategic. Think about how you can, like, inform your people in the best way. That's going to make sense and make them want to continue to look. And then when they continue to look, they follow you.

And you just hit over a million followers. Man, did you celebrate? Like, when you hit a million followers, some people throw a balloon up there. Some people just say thank you. You were everywhere with it. And so I wanted to ask you, like, tell, was there strategy in putting that out? And also, when you hit the million follower mark, what does that mean to you financially and professionally?

Why was it such a big celebration for you? Yeah, I think for a lot of reasons. So I, when I first started off, I used to throw a party for every time I hit 100,000. So I had 100K party. I had a 200K party. I had a 300k party. And then I stopped. But I remember one day being like, damn, I'll, like, imagine.

if one day I make it to a million. Like that would be epic, the one million party, like what that would look like. It's funny because I actually didn't even end up. I did have a party just with my friends. And that kind of, we'll talk about why, you know, how things have shaped me. But yeah, when that, it's, it's crazy in February, just a month and a half ago, I was laying in bed with this man. And he had asked me what my goals were for this year. And I said, you know, I would love to it a million followers. But at that point, this was in February. I had 736,000. I was like, there's no way I'm ever going to hit that this year. I was like, maybe I can get to 900 by the end of the year.

But I was like, by the end of the year, I would love to hit a million. And he texted me two weeks later. He goes, how the fuck were we just talking about how your 20, 25 goal was to hit a million? And two weeks later, you already did it. How'd you do it? I think what really pushed was I went to this local Philadelphia business that I saw on the news was being discriminated against. It was a really crazy day. It was a Wednesday.

And the next day I left for Aspen. So I had a really busy day with meetings. I had an hour break and I opened up my phone I see I mentioned in this video like 60 times I'm like great I'm getting canceled what happened and sure enough the video was actually just Fox News reporting on this woman

who's opened up her business in Philadelphia and she was being discriminated against and was having a really horrible time my heart broke for her because she was like I'm from New Jersey I've heard this is the city of brotherly love I was so excited to start my business. My parents are two local business owners my dad owned his business for 30 years

So my heart sank And I looked at my I looked at where her business was It was down the street From where I was at the time And I looked at my calendar I messaged Tao group Which is who I had a meeting with at four

I said I have to push my meeting till five And if we have to cancel They're like no we can meet at five I said great I ran down the street She closed at 3 o'clock It was 2.15 And I made a video about it

That oh my God It got 11 million views And I got 180,000 followers From one single video Which just shows at home Like hey It all takes as one And then I was like

like, holy crap. And it's a very, like, positive and impactful thing. Yeah, and it was really like... That came from purity. And I never expected that. Like, I, you know, of course, when you make a video, you want it to do well. But I was like, you know, like, I just hope people go and support this woman's business. And then when that happened, someone reached out to me and was like, hey, across the street

from that business is a smoothie bar. And she actually is about to close. Like, her doors are about to close. And I went to her business and she had to go fund me. And she was like, yeah, there's no way. I need to raise $70,000. or I'm going to have to close. And I said, let me try.

And we're at $110,000. Stop it. And actually, Jason, tonight, I'm going to Times Square because I raised the money through Linktree. And Link Tree put me up on a billboard in Times Square. Come on. So actually, after this podcast, before we have our show tonight, I'm going to head down to Times Square and see myself on a freaking billboard.

So you're going to be at a Times Square billboard and you're saving a business all in one from just like pure intentions. And you hit the Million Mark. Now, what is the Million Mark? let's talk about this. Does it impact your rates? Does it impact you get paid more? Of course.

Like, significantly? Yes. So, like, obviously as you grow as a creator, your rates go up, you know, with more and more eyes on your content. That's more and more eyes for advertising dollars. You know, simply what we were talking about earlier with TikTok. So, yeah, of course, your rates go up, which is great. But I think for me, it's just I didn't think I was ever going to hit that number.

And I remember when TikTok was almost banned in January, feeling like, damn, I never even got to hit a million. Yeah. And now to say, like, I did. did it. It's just like incredible. And it's like, okay, now, on the road to two million. Let's get to two million now. On the road to two million. All right. Let's talk about this. Back in the day, you're working in retail, 40,000, 60 some thousand. You then get the big bump to 73,000. And you made a decision that you were going to peel off for the summer to just try content

creation. How much money did you save up to give yourself that room to do it? So I started in retail. I made $8.65 at Forever 21. That was my first job. I then wanted to work for urban Outfitters Incorporated's corporate. So I was like, I need to work at their store first. So I made $8.25. I took a pay cut. I was like, I'm going to switch to Urban Outfitters. I worked to the fitting room. Loved it. Best job ever. And sure enough, I got hired for their corporation, which owns Urban Outfitters, free people anthropology. They're like, we know you love Urban, but we want you to work for Anthropology. And I was like, what? An older woman's brand? Like, I know nothing about it. They're like, no, we think you'll do really well here. And they were right. So I made $41,000 a year at the

corporation. I was a merchandise assistant. So I handled all the clothing samples. I was really on my feet. I loved the job. I would do the job today if I made $760,000 doing it. I was obsessed with it. But while I was working that job, I was like, okay, this is not going to pay my bills. I have 30K in student loans that I still need to pay off. I have parents that need to retire that I want to help support. How am I going to make more money? And then when I heard about TikTok, I just started posting on it. I was like, maybe eventually this will monetize. And sure enough. It did, obviously. What year was that? I started in 2021. When you went full time, though, you quit your job, obviously. So to answer your question, so I left anthropology. I worked

for GoPuff for a little bit. They saw that I was doing content. I thought I was going to get fired. They were like, no, let's bump you up to 73K. We'll move you on the social team. Love it. I got burned out really quickly doing that. I was like, damn, like, I'm trying to make videos for them. I'm making videos for myself. I also really just want to make videos for myself. I had saved up a few, I got my first few brand deals that were like $2,000 to $3,000 each. I was like, holy crap. Like, I can save all this money because I have GoPuff for my actual like funds. And now I have this like side hustle where I'm making like an extra $3,000 a month. Like that's pretty, that's pretty major. So I made like probably 10 to 15K in brand deals

that I had saved. It was just sitting in my savings account. And then I got my yearly bonus in April. And I was like, I'm going to try it. I called my mom and I thought she was going to tell me I was crazy, and she was like, I don't know anything about this business, Brandon, but she was like, if you're like hot right now, she was like, shouldn't you act on it now? Like, you can go back to corporate if, you know, at any point. And I was kind of like really over GoPuff at that point in general. Like, I would have gone back to anthropology, if anything.

I was like, you know what, you're right. Like, let's take the summer off and let's, let's try it. That summer I made double my GoPuff salary in brand deals. That summer and brand deals. Okay. And what year was that? 2022. So in 2022, fast forward to 2025.

We're here today. But 2022, how much did you make in content creation? Probably like 150,000. Okay, about 150,000. Which was crazy. Which is crazy because you're making triple, you're double what you were doing. Now, it's from a timing perspective.

Yeah. You told, I heard in one podcast, you said you were working about 40 to 60 hours in the fashion retail space. How many hours do you think you're working a week in content creation? Every second I breathe. Okay, so 24-7. 24-7. It doesn't stop.

Okay. So you make the 150K. Now, give me the breakdown that year, 2022. What is that breakdown of that coming from? And I'll get into another question. shift. Yeah, I would say 130,000 of that came from content creation because

honestly, maybe even more brand deals, affiliate links. Yeah, majority brand deals. At that point, like almost all brand deals, I would say. Yeah, because I quit GoPuff in April. So I got like a third of what my yearly salary was. So, yeah, I would say at least 120, maybe even 130

came from content creation that year. And how many followers did you have at that point? I ended that year with, I think 400,000 followers. So I think that's a good indicator. You go into 2023 and you have about 400,000 followers and on TikTok, how many on Instagram at this point? Oh, none. Like 20K, like 15K. Okay. And then how much in 2023 did you make? Probably like 300,000. 300,000 bucks. Yeah. And that's a rough up. That's a gross amount, right? Yeah. This is pre-management fees. This is pre-taxes. Like, that's like, you know, all the bottom number. And then you

cut backwards after that, which we talked about on VIVs, yeah. Of course. So I'm not seeing $300,000 go on my bank, no. Right. Because at this point, you got your management fees around 20%. 20%. Yeah. And then taxes. Okay. And then you got it at your expenses. Yeah. Then 2024 becomes a marquee year for you. 768,000. Yeah. And then break down the structure of what you bring home. Yeah. So I got this wrong on VIVs. But first, 20% of that goes to management. You never see that money. It never goes in your account. Never anything. Never saw it. So we're down to the like, what, 550 or something? From that 550, you work with your account and you write out your expenses. I paid, I paid actually monthly taxes so that when April comes around this time

a year, it's not like a shock to the system. But yeah, I paid monthly and quarterly taxes. I file as an S corp. And yeah, he handled all of that stuff. This year, actually, the business is so big that I actually hired a business manager who I, that's something I really recommend for someone who's like making a lot of money like that, especially in a field like this. And that's great because him I meet with biweekly. We go over what I'm spending, what cards need to be used because I have the business card and then my personal card. That is way more like buttoned up investment strategy. You can get half service or full service, full service. They will legit pay your bills for you like on auto pay. Like you never have to stress like, oh, did I miss a credit

card payment? Like you're a business manager. What do you have to pay a business manager? I can't share that. Okay. Is it a percentage or is it a? No, it's just a flat rate. Yeah, it's a flat rate. Yep. All right, gotcha. Yeah.

So this year, 2025, you're outperforming 700,000 in 20204? I think so. I think so. Yeah? You think you're in a good spot? I think, you know, if the goal was to hit a million followers, the goal for this year is to hit a million dollars. Are you on your way to do it?

I think so. Okay. I love it. I love it. I think that is unbelievable. Think about how far you've come, doing what you do now. How much I wonder, though, is when you think about your, earnings. Yeah. There's brand deals, right? There's affiliate links. There is whatever else that,

you know, if you have your own businesses, you can obviously earn from that. And then there's the creator fund. Yeah. From a TikToker. Yeah. 1.1 million followers. What is the creator fund pay you? On average, before all of this, I was getting like $3,000 a month, which is amazing. Recently, it's been trending up to like $5,000 a month, which is great. And what people don't realize about TikTok is like, I just get money from the creator fund. I see creators that really use TikTok shop, and they're making like $10 to $15,000 a month on TikTok shop, which is crazy. Like, if you interview, like, a very lifestyle creator, like a beautiful blonde,

like an acquired style, she probably makes a killing off affiliate links. Like the girls that follow her want to know what she's using for hair, makeup clothes. That's not my platform. I'm an entertainment-based creator. So sure, do I get the occasional, hey, where's your shirt from? And maybe sometimes they'll buy it. Yeah. But majority of my income is brand-partisan.

partnerships because that's what pays me. I'm not a product pusher. I'm not like a linker. I'm not, do I do it here and there? Absolutely. But that's never going to be like the bread and butter of my business. It's not really like what I'm more entertainment comedy focused. Why is it hard to 1.1 million followers on TikTok, 300,000, around 300,000 on Instagram. Why is it so hard to convert from TikTok to Instagram? I think the strategy, this was my issue. So it's actually so funny. So I remember I went to film project verified in March of 2023. I think I had 22,000 followers on Instagram. And I was just trying to be like

every other Instagram bitch, like just pictures that were aesthetic pleasing. And I just had to have a hard talk with myself. I was like, Brandon, that is not who you are. Like, I know you like posting a nice pretty photo. Yeah. I was like, but you are funny. Stop posting fucking pictures and just repurpose

your content that you've already made onto Instagram Reels. Stop being difficult with yourself. Sure enough, I started that week posting Monday through Friday a reel every single day, and now I'm up to 300,000 followers, and it's insane. To your point as to why it's so delayed, I think because TikTok is a video-centric platform that was made for that. Instagram has been around for years, and it did start as a photo app.

And now I think a lot of people are still like, I've seen a lot of people now start to love reels, but for a while people are like, Instagram reels, no, that's why it took me so long as a creator to even hop on it. And, you know, some people do like a killing on threads and stuff. Like, you can't have every platform. You have to pick and choose, like, what is for you. But, yeah, no, I think that is why it's harder to convert. I think it's just a totally different, a bit of an older audience.

I think it's a photo app first. Yeah. I think there's a world where eventually, and I think you already might be able to do this, you're going to open Instagram and it's going to automatically open to reels. And I think people are going to freak the fuck out when that happens. But until that happens, it's a photo first app. Yeah. And I think it's harder to grow with just photos.

Yeah, it's interesting. And threads, I think I, last month, I think I made like $3,000 or $4,000 from the creator fund on threads. There's a creator fund on threads? Creator fund and there was a bonus program. Okay, see? So I need to be on threads. You need to be on threads. I need to be on threads.

And think about how quick your ideas come. You don't have to fill them. You just have to type it. And I think that's what's so interesting. So it's like, we look at a salary of $768,000. I'm at the point of my career now where I'm like, okay, but do I need to put $70,000 of that towards an assistant who can help me then post on threads, post on Snapchat. And then I'm paying her 70K. But what if she's able to make me a few hundred thousand dollars off of other platforms

that I'm too spread thin right now to manage? So those are more of the conversations I'm having now as a business person. It's like, okay, how do I sustain the business? Always the most important thing. How do I sustain? How do I grow? And how can we get creative with growth? Because now the following is there.

It's great. Like, you know, of course I'm always want to grow my platform, but I'm very happy with my platform size. Now it's like, how do I actually grow that dollar amount? and it's having those conversations of, do I invest in this? Do I invest in that? So I think that's kind of like the interesting part of it all. It's interesting. So Nick Vial just sold his podcast for eight figures. Yeah. So that's 10 million plus, right? Wow. And people ask me like, what do you think? Give me the business breakdown, Jason. Yeah. My business breakdown is

unbelievable subject. Everybody wants to know the gossip of any breakup. He's really good at breaking down his perspective and giving opinion, irregardless of what people think. Yeah. And one of the biggest things he's done so well is reinvest into the company. So it's an eight-figure business. And I would assume he is spending millions of dollars on his business because he's reinvesting in it. And I think that's one thing creator is going to have to do in a big way. Yeah. I also think like this is something I learned early on to and I was so happy. I remember the first time I made some kind of video. I remember I made a video in like probably January of 2022 where I was like, hey, I made $10,000 in content creation this month. And I explained my strategy and someone so politely said, it would be really nice to talk about

how privilege also plays a part in this. And it's so true. I mean, at the end of the day, TikTok has been researched. The algorithm favors white creators. When I started this conversation on VIV's podcast, there was a lot of conversation that was like, hey, this is great,

but black creators aren't making this amount of money. And that's why, to me, salary transparency is so important. Yes. Because we don't live in an ideal and just world where everybody who's doing the same thing gets treated the same. And I want to open those conversations so that you know, I remember Markell Washington's ditched my video. I'm like,

Markell is making less money than me. He's so entertaining. He's so talented. He is 10 million followers. That's not okay. Yeah. So it's hard now to have these types of conversation. It's impossible to not acknowledge that, hey, like, at the end of the day, I'm a white man.

And that is going to open doors for me that it shouldn't, but it unfortunately does. And I hope as we get more progressive as a society, that's not a thing anymore. You know, but, you know, we're still in the year of 2025 and we've only gone so much and I don't get political, but we have a crazy precedent. So things are just crazy, you know? So I really think, you know, also speaking about this stuff, it's so, strategy is there.

Talent is there. I will never discredit myself from any of the hard work. You can't take away my work ethic, my strategy, my creativity. But of course, at the end of day, I'm still a white man that grew up in a middle class, lower middle class family that had a cell phone who some people don't have a phone to even be able to create that. So I always like to kind of also talk about that as well. No, I think I think it's so important. Your transparency is going to make an impact. It already has. And that will change the way hopefully brands think when they're going out for casting and how they're paying

and keep doing what you're doing. And those are things you want to do on our podcast and do not stop because everything you're saying is bang on and it's so important. And the theme of this whole podcast is it's the shit where we don't talk about and we work in school. And these are the things that you've got to talk about, like, no matter what. I do have a question for you about sustainability, like in this space. I mean, does that worry? Like, okay, TikTok almost shuts off the other. We still don't know in April.

I have friends that work at TikTok. We don't know what's going to happen in April. What do you think about sustainability in this career? And, like, how do you manage what you have big income? How do you manage money not knowing what's coming? Like, what's your take on that? So definitely saving is something I've always, and I think that I got from, like, as a kid who,

grew up lower, middle class, like we were the type of family. I talked about this on VIV's podcast. If the air conditioner broke in the house and it was $10,000 to replace it, the next three months were going to be super difficult for us. Like, we were going to be living very paycheck to paycheck. Hey, guys, no eating out this week. Like, this is what we have. This is what we are. And I remember as a kid being like, I never want to live like this again as an adult. I want to be able to say, hey, the air conditioning broke. It sucks. I have to pay $10,000, but I don't want to, you know, and that's a privileged life. Both of that is privileged. Like, to even have air conditioning is privilege. Sure. But I remember.

thinking like if I ever come into a lot of money, I want to save it. And recently it's funny, I've definitely been buying some designer items, but for the majority of my stuff, I save money. And I want to do that because, one, the platform volatility is obviously you never know what's going to happen. And two, the internet can turn on you at any point. You know, I, you have to take everything with the parasycial relationships with a grain of salt because it's like these people who are so loving and love you and support you and adore you, know just as much about you as the people who absolutely hate you, which is really nothing at all. You know, you see two minutes of my life on TikTok every day. You don't see the 24 hours a day that I'm working thinking. You don't know

my intimate relationships. You don't know me. You know what I choose to share and show you, which for me happens to be very authentically me. But what if one day people say, hey, he's not funny anymore or we don't like this anymore or another person who's similar to me knocks out of the park, but they're 10 years younger and they're more creative and they're more strategic. You never know. So I, for that reason,

want to save all of my money because you never know when you're going to not have it anymore. 700,000, 330 net income 2024. Of that 330, what do you think? How much do you think you saved? 300. You saved majority of your money. 50,000 of that had to go to expenses like rent.

And stuff, but yeah, this year definitely a little bit different. I've definitely been more of a like kind of how we talked about with Nick. Like, okay, I need to invest back in the business. And honestly, it sounds crazy for me. Like, I've been on like a little designer shopping hall, but I was like, I'm going to these events and I look like shit. Like I'm just, I had like in a funny way. But I was like, I don't want to like walk into a room and not look sophisticated anymore. Like I want to walk in and look very presentable.

And if that means I want to, you know, a little $4,000 handbag on me, I'm going to fucking do it. And, you know, it's thinking about that, but also then thinking about, like, do I want to put $70,000 into this to hire an assistant so that she can grow my Snapchat, my threads, you know? Sure. So it's all about, like, kind of now this year, it's like, okay, you're making a lot of money,

but how can you invest that in the right ways, but also save what you need to save? Because for me, my dream has always been to buy a beach house at the Jersey Shore. I love it. I've heard that, right? So realistically, I probably could have done it this year, but I'm frugal, and I'm like, no, I want to wait until next year. If I can do this for one more year,

I want to buy that house and not be like, okay, I bought the house and now I'm broke. I want to be able to buy that house and be like, okay, I can buy another house. You will buy that house? You'll make content around it and that will go viral and I'll lead to the next house. Oh, I hope so. You talked a little bit about like the idea of like people turning on you. Was there ever a point you were almost canceled? No.

There's definitely been times where I've said stuff that hasn't been well received. I think we've all been in a position like that where, you know, one to two days are a little rough. You know, you got a video that gets mentioned. But no, I've never been. Thank God. Yeah. I mean, I think that's everyone's biggest fear. Like, the space is, like, getting canceled.

But there is, like, this, like, element of, like, being canceled. You have some, like, decision in that. Like, you can choose to be canceled. You can choose to accept that fate or you can try to, you know, uncancel yourself, whether it depends on what you're canceled for, but, like, apologizing, writing those wrongs and becoming a better person and just, you know, developing and growing with it. I'm not a fan of cancel culture.

I think that doesn't allow room for growth and change, which we all need as human beings. I don't think there's anybody on the street who doesn't have a regret. And I'm sure if you asked every single person, hey, think of the worst thing you've ever done. Would you care if we posted it online? I'm sure everyone would shit their pants.

So in this career, you just take that risk that, hey, you're in the public eye, someone could record you doing something or saying something. And it's a risk. It obviously is. I try to really keep an open mind about people and think, hey, like, that sucks that that person did that, but maybe there's more to the story. And that's also

a privileged way to look at it too. You know, I'm, you know, I'm, you know. Yeah. No, I think it makes a lot of sense. You know, one thing I commend you for too is you're really good at defending yourself and speaking to like what you're thinking. Yeah. That's like one thing I like really struggle with, especially online. I'm like, I just don't even want to engage in drama, so I just won't even defend it. It's hard to because like, in this space, like, you're told to not speak up. Because it is true. You can easily put your foot in your mouth. And a traditional publicist will say, hey, don't say anything.

Let us form the statement for you. That is something in my career that I will struggle with when it gets to that. Because I don't like anyone speaking on my behalf, ever. If I screw up, I want to be the one that says, sorry. I don't want to read apology that's not written by me. That's not. But so many creators do it. It's so obvious.

It's tacky and it's obvious. I think you lose it. A few weeks ago, I made this, like, really out of line nasty video about another creator. I quickly took it down. I didn't even honestly probably, like, quote unquote, need to make an apology video. But I felt icky about it. And I was like, hey, like, I just had a diva moment. That wasn't me and I'm really sorry.

And it was really well, it was shaved. Everyone was like, wow, we've never, like, one, we didn't even know what happened. You took it down so quickly, but two, like, good on you. And I think it's like, we're human beings. You're going to screw up. It's inevitable. Like, just, just own it and apologize for it. And I think the biggest part.

of an apology, what makes an apology an apology I learned this week one of therapy. An apology with no change is manipulation. An apology needs a call to action. I'm sorry for doing this and this is what I'm going to do to make sure it doesn't happen again. Or this is what I'm going to do again to write that wrong.

This is what I'm going to do to be a better person and then actually acting on that. That's an apology. Wow, that's a power line right there. That's a good line from your therapist. That would make a very good threat. In fact, I might quote it from you. You can steal it.

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Indeed's matching engine is constantly learning from your preferences to be the best for you. And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsor job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com slash hire. Just go to Indeed.com slash hire right now and support our show by saying we sent you there. Indeed.com slash hire. Terms and conditions apply. You need to hire. You need indeed. No, I think it's great. I love it. I want to talk to you about this. Tonight, we are going to see the last five years starting Nick Jonas, Adrian Warren. So excited about that. Let's talk about the Tonys. Think about the Tonys. You win the big award. I want you to give me 2025. You're going to break a million this year. That's the goal. That's the dream. The home's coming. In 2024, three quarters of a million. In 2024, what was your Tony deal? Walk me through what it was and how much.

Give me the scoop. So the Tony deal, I think it really depends on, like, what you view as, like, a win. Like, financials are different. Like, financially, my biggest deal was with Google in 2024. Huge deal. But my Tony deal, which did- What does huge deal mean? Like, 100 grand, 40 grand, 10 grand, 3 grand?

Like, for me, like, if I'm getting, like, 40 to 50, K, that's a, that's a Tony. And that would be like a couple TikToks? One TikTok. I can't say. I can't say now. I can't say. Okay.

But yeah, at the time, like, it was probably a couple TikToks for 40 to 50K. Yeah. It's changed now. Yeah, yeah. It's changed that. But no, for me, the Tony deal of 2024 was, I'd said one of my goals was I always wanted a really fun collaboration where I was like had a menu item of some sort. So just salad came to me and they were like, hey, we're doing a summer collaboration,

a menu with Poppy. And we want you to be the face of it. And we want, it was. everything that I ever wanted. It was a photo shoot. We had a launch dinner with influencers. I was here in New York for three weeks doing all of the behind the scenes about it. I was super involved creatively in the process of the wardrobe, what we were going to do. And that was the Tony deal for me. I was like, that was like one of my biggest goals for 2024. I was like, I really want a brand collab that's more than me just advertising a product.

It's like I'm very involved in it. And that's how I want to do most of my clubs now. Like I want to be like my dream this year, 2025, I want to do a campaign with boys lie. I'm obsessed with their brand. The two girls are from Philly, and we've been talking, and I'm like, any chance that you get, like, please keep me in mind, whether it's a pride campaign or doesn't even need to be pride. Like, let's freaking do something together. So that's the goal for this year. We can stitch this if it happens. Okay, I love it. We're going to stitch it. I want to ask you this question. Jim Carrey, he put a check in his wallet. He wrote it out for $10 million, moved to L.A. and said, five years, I will make $10 million of income off acting.

It was on year four and a half, dumb and dumber hit. That's when he hit his $10 million. He showed the check. It was beat up. It was disheveled. It was everything. If we put that check in your wallet, what dollar amount are you writing and when do you want to make it by?

What's the dream manifest? Can I be corny? Yes. Instead of a check, show me a picture with my parents smiling on the beach on the porch. It makes me want to cry. Yeah. That's for me, like, listen, money is great. But, like, that makes me smile to see, like, two people that worked blood, sweat, and tears, and, you know, never saw the kind of finances that I'm making.

And if I can make their last 20, 30 years on this earth, the most, I'm getting emotional, like, the most perfect years. Like, that is worth 10 times more than any dollar amount. So show me that picture of my parents smiling on the Jersey Shore Beach. And you know what? Put me in the middle of that. And maybe, like, a cute little dog. That's so sad. it. All right, let's go. I want you to put that picture in your wallet. It's going to happen.

I can't wait for it does. And what it does, we're going to stitch that right there. Talk to you about this. One thing you overspend on, you know you overspend on, unless you go completely broke, you'll keep spending on it. What is it? I mean, definitely overspend on my clothes. I have a little bit of a designer addiction right now. Like those shoes. How much are those shoes? These are actually got secondhand $800. What brand are those? These are levitans, but I should have gotten them treated. really awful. But no, I got those secondhand, which was great. Wait, I have a dumb question. What does that even mean getting them treated? So, see how these are like cowhide? So I could have,

if I, if I was smart, I would take these to someone to have on them what's called Scotch guarded. So they spray it. So that way it's harder for things to like stick, stain, you know, get this like so that the red souls don't do what they're freaking doing. Okay. I, you know, this was like a thrift find, but yeah, I should take better care of these. But I definitely overspend on clothes. I think you know, the whole I would love your take on this, the whole renting versus homeowner type of thing.

I'm sure a lot of people would be like, dude, you're spending so much on rent, which I'm really not. Like I live in Philly. My rent's $2,100. It would be $6,200 to have half the size apartment if I lived in New York, which is why I stay Philly true to the end of the roots. But yeah, I would say I overspend on

clothes. I don't really, I definitely overspend on going out to eat. I don't drive, so I overspend on Uber's. But like, That's probably it. Okay, so I want you to know this. In 1970 and 1990, priced income ratio, the price of a home versus the household income was around two times, right? So the home that they owned was valued at about two times the income of the actual

family that lived there. Right now, it's around six to seven times. So buying a house right now, especially as a first-time home buyer, is a big question mark because there's just the price is so crazy. Also, you have insane volatility right now. I mean, with what's happening in the market, in tariffs and the cost of lumber and the cost of labor and everything else. We don't know what the hell is going to happen with home prices.

Now, historically, home prices always rise. So I would tell you, if you try and time it perfectly, you'll never get in. I would probably wait right now. You're spending 3% of your income, and that is valued, that's valued at a million dollars this year. You're spending 3% of your income on housing. That is insane. You're right.

That's really not bad. Yeah. When you put it like that, Jason. Think about how much money you can save because you're only spending 2.5% of your income on money or on housing. Now, most people, I would have to look at the averages to get it right. And in the recap, I'll tell you. But I would say it's anywhere from like 20 to 30%. You're spending literally like literally 10% of what people are spending.

It's amazing. So, Jason, does this logic work tonight when I go to the product store and a bag is like $4,000? do I just say like this is 0.04% of my income like it well it could it could I'm going to call you every time I have like I'm going to say Jason validate me can you approve me right tell me I should buy this what it does do though is because you're only spending two and a half percent of your total income assuming it's a million dollars gross your actual housing it gives you much more cushion to go do things like that yeah you go spend the 4k on that for me I'm oh I'm a big advocate I know this is like the last question you ask so I don't want to like spoil it but one of my rules

is convenience is worth money all the time and for me the convenience of my sink getting fucked up and I call the front desk and say send maintenance up

invaluable invaluable in fucking valuable I've seen my friends who are homeowners that could cost them an arm and a leg cost them two months rent

and it could cost them two weeks of stress because you know the hey the plumber can't come today or hey this is not the quote that we agreed on. Oh my God, I just watched my parents get their roof fixed. I was like, I never want to have a fucking roof. Fuck it. I'll live in a box. I'll live in a box and it can rain on me

every fucking day. I'm not dealing with that shit. I don't want a roof. I don't need a roof over my head. I don't need a roof. Yeah, like, it's insane. So like, for me, that convenience, like, I spent this, like, this is, this is crazy. I went to Miami last week. How much you spend out there? So. Cocktails, 50 bucks. So I did something totally different. It's Miami Music Week. Most traffic you'll ever see in a city. It's just insane. And it's so hard in Miami when you're at a place where it's like, especially during that week, promoters and it's very exclusive. You know, you could go to, you might have a plan of going to this restaurant and this club. You get there. You can't get into either. And then you have to call another car. I said, I'm not dealing with that. I'm paying

$4,000. And for the three and a half days that I'm there, I'm hiring a driver. That driver picked me up at the airport. He sat at every single establishment. We were at beautiful Escalade. It was, I didn't even feel bad about it. I was like, holy fuck, this is the best money I've ever spent. Uber's would have been like $180 surcharged. I probably would have honestly ended up breaking close to even with how much I was spending on Uber. And I was staying in North Beach, which is far from South Beach and Brickle in Miami Music Week traffic. So I was like, fuck it. I'm not going to do that. And my friends looked at me and they were like, Brand like, we loved the whole weekend, but we loved that car service that you got.

The driver was amazing. He was like, if you ever needed a driver another other city. Was that a ridiculous luxury cost for a three-day vacation absolutely? And I will not be doing that on every trip. But for that trip,

it was a celebratory trip. And I was like, I got everything else at a really great deal. I was like, I'm going to splurge on that. And the convenience of every time I wanted to leave a place,

him just sitting there, opening the door for me, you want an ice cold water. Hell fucking yeah, I do. Hell fucking yeah. Get me in. The other thing, too, is when you get that convenience

and you feel that convenience. I'm going to work harder so that I can have that convenience whenever I want it. That's the thirst. I feel like everyone, like obviously I have to hire an assistant. My dream is to have a driver.

I never want, I literally never want to drive. I want to just sit in the back of a car. I had a brand in L.A. fly me out. And they hired the most bougie driving service I've ever had. He goes, what do you want to watch? I'm like, what do you mean?

He pulls out this little TV. I was like, I'm behind on White Lotus. He goes, I have White Lotus. I'm sitting in this car. Little old me who used to drive in my mom's wind star with stained seats and a window that didn't go down. I'm sitting in a Cadillac watching White Lotus on the 101. I'm like, this is fucking nuts, Brandon.

Dude, I love it. I love it. Honestly, this isn't even an episode. Trading Secrets is an episode of manifestation. There's things that you've manifested. I can't wait for them to come in reality because we are going to stitch the living shit out of them. I only got two more questions for you.

What I got for you is for people that are back there, they're trying to post. They're hearing you. They're inspired. You know, corporate Natalie came on here and inspired you. you're going to inspire so many people that listen to this. How many times do they have to post? What's your formula? How many days, you know, from a week perspective,

are you making sure you get certain amount of videos? Like, what is successful in a week of content creation from output, look from brands? Yeah. So I post twice today on TikTok. Always. Always. And then Monday.

What times? 5 p.m. one video, usually then one evening video, like anywhere between 7 to 9 p.m. 5 p.m. people get off work. Always do work. But it's not to say your morning posts are going to flop. Also, everyone lives at different time zones. But traditionally, one at 5 p.m., then one at like seven or eight at night.

On Instagram reels, I post Monday through Friday. I try to post one reel or grid posts like a static photo every single day at 5 p.m. I don't post on Instagram on weekends. Like, I'll post stories, but typically I don't find my posts on Instagram do well on the weekends. I think people are just not on their phone as much. So, yeah. Do you care about engagement? Absolutely.

Yeah, of course I care about. So you're like, if one post flaps, you're just like whatever, just keep going. I mean, it definitely, if it's a post I work really hard on, and I think it's going to do amazing, it sucks when it flops. It's just like anything in business. Like when you work hard on a project and you don't get recognized for it in corporate, you know, like, and then you like barely try on something and everyone's like, great job, Brandon. It's the same thing with videos. Like when it takes five seconds to make a video and it gets like eight million views, I'm like, what the fuck? And then I put my blood sweat and tears into like a talking story time video and it shits the bed.

I'm like, all right, everyone fucking hates me. But no, yeah, engagement's super important to me. But yeah, posting twice a day. But here's the thing and I will always add this caveat you can't pour from an empty cup if you're one week you're like hey I am fucking going through it

and I can only post once this week I took I was hospitalized this past summer I had a mental breakdown from work from a lot of things work personal life childhood demons that I was not addressing

and just every exhaustion what does a breakdown mean like you just couldn't function I was hospitalized I went to the hospital with I was diagnosed with panic disorder I was having panic attacks to the point

It was every single day. I went agoraphobic for a week and didn't leave my house. My resting heart rate was 1.22 beats per minute. I was, like, sat in the ER for four hours until they could drop my heart rate to a point where I was able to leave. And I was given the option to go to therapy three times a week or visit an outpatient clinic. So it was very aggressive. And for July, August, and September, I posted maybe one video, two videos a week. And it sustained my platform.

but I thought my career was going to be done, and now look at me. I'm booming, but I wasn't going to take a break until I literally was hospitalized and needed to. So, you know, you have to, you have to kind of gamble with that. So thank you for sharing. Yeah. So be consistent, try to grow your business, but put your mental health first because this is a very taxing job on your mental health. I will say that. It sure. Let me tell you, especially as of late. Let me ask you this. Yeah. I'm going to know this is where we're going to wrap. Okay.

I want you, you're the master, you're growing at a fast rate, you're making a ton of money. Yeah. I want you to break down for the people. Yeah. What is Jason Tardick on his social platforms? What do I need to do more of? What do I need to do less of? What do you think is good?

Give me the master class, brands of Jason. You're teaching me. You know, I know a lot of people from the Bachelor franchise. By the way, you can shred me right now. You guys don't like to talk about what a lot of people want to know. I want to know what the fuck are they feeding you while you live in that damn mansion. Yeah. I want to know, like, what, I would love to see a transparency reality TV series, like, from you.

I would love to see you talk about, and it doesn't need to be anything about your cast members or your seasons, but, like, be like, this is my audition tape. Here's what I would recommend if you want to be on reality TV. Take a, you have, you've done a great job of building out your own brand. But, like, don't forget your roots, you know? Like, let's lean into it. Like, I want to hear, like, the little, like, I remember, I'm a big fan of MTV, The Challenge. And one of my favorite YouTube videos. I always put on that show.

Yeah, I would love to see that shit. I'm one of my favorite. I should, I could talk about my auditions. Yeah, you could talk about your auditions. It's like, you could talk about, I'm sure MTV has reached out to you before. I'm sure other networks like the traders. Netflix just reached out. Netflix, yeah.

Like, I want to hear more. No one talks about that. And that's why I think we're afraid. We're afraid of it. Then they're not going to, yeah. But like, that's not true. Look at me. I talk about TikTok and numbers.

Brands are still calling me. You talked about your income. I talked about my income. Yeah. So I want to see Jason talk more about that stuff. And also it's like just in general, from men, I want to see more mental health videos. Like you said just now, and I want to lean, if this is my podcast,

I'd be like, what do you mean as of late? It's been hard on you. I want to hear what's been hard on you. Like, genuinely, like, men are, we live in a world where men do not, like, to show emotion or feelings and all it does is cause chaos in the world. Like, tell me what's been going on. Like you said, you started, you said vulnerability is relatability. Relate to us.

Like, you're obviously a stud. You have a huge success. This is an amazing platform. You're a business guy. But, like, what's going on in the heart, Jason. That's what I want to see for me. All right. That's really good advice. I'm getting better at stories.

It's tougher with Realtz and TikToks, but I'm going to do more of that. I'm going to do more of that. I'm going to take your advice. We'll see how it goes. And tell the story of how you broke your finger and the Super Bowl. We didn't even get into it. Yeah, we didn't even get it. My finger is this way.

Holy shit. It was literally like this way. I'm like, dude, this is not good. You're like, you need a nurse. I'll take care of that. I'm still me. I love it. Unbelievable.

Thank you so much. All right. Well, I can talk you about million things for another hour, but we got to wrap. You got to go see your Times Square photo. We got to go see the last five years tonight. We got a Sunday, fun day out of us. Before we go, we got to get your trading secrets. So something that's special to you.

Maybe something you would have told yourself as a kid, financial advice, personal advice, life advice. It's one trading secret that only come from your experience. What could you leave us with? Yeah, it's a corny phrase, but it's not about where you are. It's about who you're with. And I think for me, part of the reason I'm so successful is I've had the same friends for 10 years. I've had an amazing family. it's always about the people that's the people around you create the environment you can be in the

i remember when i had my mental breakdown i was in montauk new york i was looking at the beach it was the most beautiful place in the world and i couldn't have been more unhappy and then the first time i felt joy again was sitting on the couch with my best friends we were watching the hot chicken eating wendies and i was like this is this is it like this is what i wanted like so just surround yourself with people that love you uplift you want to see you win aren't scared to challenge you aren't scared to tell you constructive feedback, but really just raise the bar for you and raise, like, help you stay, you know, just help you be a better person. Yeah. I like that. I like that a lot. You know, I think my, I always like to say, what is my trading secret that I learned from you? Yeah.

And I think my trading secret is like, first and foremost, you've got to put the time in to drop into yourself. And the second, you're not pouring into your cup. It'll impact your business. It'll impact your mental health. And when you do, you might find areas of success you never even imagine. to be like, that's a big one. And then the other one is just like, I think that the way that you just go about things and the speed at which you go about it, right? In this world, there's analysis paralysis.

People overthink. They don't know what to say. They're scared to post. You see a business struggling because of discrimination. You say, fuck it. Like, this is my mission. I'm going there and I'm going to help them. Yeah.

And if there's positive impact from that, great. But you're going there with the pure intention to do it. And you move quick. Yes. A lot of, I could think of a million ideas. Beyond your feet. move, you're done. And the speed at which you move at the Super Bowl, the amount

that you posted, like you just, you think, you do, and you say, fuck it. And you don't care, and people come at you, whatever. I'll deal with it then. I'm going to put it out there. This is me. I'm going to impact people. And I think one of the most beautiful things you said, because I've asked that Jim Carrey question a lot to people that I'm really interested in what

their answer is. I don't ask it all the time. But like, I love, they're like, I don't want the check with the money. I want the picture. I want the picture with mom and dad, me, and a dog in the middle. your dream house because I've seen them struggle financially and I've seen them do well. They put me on this planet and I'm doing big things and I'm going to give back to them. That is really cool.

And that will motivate you in ways that you can't expect. So thank you for being on this episode. Where can everyone find everything brand? Yeah. Brand underscore flakes with Tuesdays on Instagram. Brand two underscores flakes on TikTok. Please listen to my podcast between us, Gurley's. That's on YouTube, Spotify. I'll have to get you on there.

Yeah. Those are my platforms. Amazing. Well, thank you so much for me on Trading Secrets. you killed it. We can't wait to continue to follow along. You're the vast. Ding, ding, ding. We are closing in the bell with the one end only. David Ardoin, the Curious Canadian with one of the big internet sensations, brand flakes.

David, I am sure. I just know in my gut. You love this episode. So I'm just curious. What are you thinking? And by the way, good to have you back because that last recap. If you guys didn't check out the Dustin Lynch recap, that was a shit show. It is good to have you back, David. Yeah, I want to say I felt a little. left out because there's so much action going on over there, but then I closed my eyes and transplanted myself into that room where that was happening and I was like this, but it's such a piece too much

for me. I think I, you know, living, being in my living room in Rochester, New York and trying to think of, of that room and stage coach, it sounded like a good time though. Stage coach overall, thumbs up, thumbs down, thumb sideways? Stage coach overall thumbs up. The logistics of getting

the, okay, here's a deal. With Coachella and stagecoach, it feels like it's all show. But there are parts of the game that are fun. Getting there is a nightmare. You know, just getting out there is a pain in the ass. Getting into the venues of pain in the ass. The walk just to get through the gates is a pain in the ass. People left and right is pain in the ass. But if you really enjoy music, like if you truly enjoy music, it is kind of cool that in, you know, a three-day span, you can see Post-Balone, Luke Combs, Backstreet Boys, like, that's cool. And not all in a very close

venue. So that I like it. But it's so much logistics. And I feel like 90% of people go to take the photos and leave. I'll tell you that much. Are you going to that event for work or for play? Like, is it, is it for fun or is it more work related? It's more work related. Like, well, while we're, while we're there, we're playing. We're having fun. But we have brand deals going on with other talent. We're working directly for a marketing agency perspective with other companies. And I had a couple deals going too so it was it was work but also while you're there yeah you have fun and we'll tell you what we have fun dude i got to tell you Andrew Spencer i've never hung out with him he is David I need you to hang out with him yes one of the funniest humans I've ever like hung out with like he he is so

funny dude so funny energy his energy and is like wit and like probably doesn't take anything seriously and but that's like in a good way like that's the best way his energy is like he just doesn't care like he's having fun like he's not so serious and stirred he's just like go with the flow and he knows how to make fun of himself but also make fun of the situation and he's great get out of it one of those people where you're like laughing at something that he does but in the back of your head it's like slow motion you're like man i wish i could be like that yeah yeah yeah kind of us i'm like man i need to be funnier also i need to hang out with you more you're awesome love it last last question i got about an event like stage coach from a business

perspective, where does it rank in like, is it top five, top three, top one and most profitable events that you do for the talent agency and your clients? Not much, man. It's, um, it's, there are some big deals happening for sure, but it's, it's so selective. It's, it feels like from the business perspective, they're selecting the people that are like the most relevant at the biggest peak in the biggest moment of their career and the people that they select this year for stage coaching Coachella that are getting paid big. I'm not talking about there's a lot of majority of what you guys see are very small deals and people that are actually getting, you know, they're getting like tickets and flights and, you know, a small fee. That's 90%. Then there

are some of the people that are getting big deals. And those are the people, and it feels like for these festivals, it's extreme relevance. And next year, it will be different people. And so it's a little bit of a different format. And as far as, like, the profitability, like, I don't know, Coachella and stagecoach are good. It's not great. What's the best? Super Bowl?

Yeah. Yeah. Super Bowl so far has been the best. Okay. But there's other things, man, like, you'd be surprised. Like, I don't know, like sometimes Valentine's Day pops. Sometimes, you know, sometimes Mother's Day pops this year, not as much. But it's just like the fourth quarter in general is the biggest, biggest part of the year.

And it's been a weird start to this year. I think in a lot of areas of business, but certainly in the creator space. You know, things are still good, but it's been a weird, a little bit of a weird time. Mother's Day coming up. Shout out to all the mothers out there. Make sure you take care of the mothers. This release is on Monday. and so the next time an episode of release

will be Mother's Day, we passed us. So all the gentlemen listening out there, don't forget about the mothers out there. And all the mothers, thank you for everything you guys do. You guys are the backbone behind people like David and I. I know how much we love our mothers. So thank you guys for everything you do. And happy Mother's Day to Ashley.

And you guys right now, listen up. You've got six days. So get on it. Get up on it. Dan, nah, no. Love it. Brand flakes. Should we pivot?

Pivot. Yes. So I didn't know anything about brand flakes, which is honestly certain. Wait, I'm shocked by that. You should be shocked. Because you're the TikTok guy. Like on our team, you're that you're like, you know, wait, you've never seen him on TikTok, dude. He's like the king of TikTok.

And a little bit of the barstool guy too. And the fact that he started on a barstool sponsored reality TV show. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, before I'm shocked. Before this episode, you had never heard of him. not a clue i honestly thought it was going to be a ceo of uh corn flakes type wow that's why i love the recaps no clue none none not a clue um so i thought it was a phenomenal episode i really really thought it was a great episode with some great perspectives with some great lessons and some great like i got a couple like hypotheticals that i want to ask you about this um from

things that ended up making him a little bit successful. And I'm going, I'm going old school. Yeah. Mr. Brand Flakes, I got to tell you, if you're listening to this right now, I can't tell you the last time that David said this was a great episode or phenomenal episode. He is a very tough critic. And for you to come in, David, using words like great and phenomenal, I'm impressed. I'm impressed.

Well, I think it was two weeks ago. We were going to change my name from Curious Canadian to Critical Canadian. But, no, we're here. And Mr. Brandflakes, if you are listening, and I hope you are, if someone like me wasn't aware of you before, that's a good thing for you, not a bad thing. It's a good thing. It shows your growth potential.

You're going to, you hit that $1 million. You're well on your way to $2 million. And I love how you share your success with people because it seems like he's all about doing right, doing right by people. A lot of his success stories have came from helping people and simply doing the right thing. So I got all the time in the world for Mr. Flakes. Yeah, David, what I'm going to say to that is like, if I could buy stock in Mr. Brand Flakes,

I'm buying stock right now. Like, I think he is taken off. I think he's going to continue to take off. He is, he's killing it. But I'm curious in this episode, like, what did you find interesting? What are some things you wanted to make sure we talked about? Yeah. I loved how he didn't sugarcoat how he got successful.

Like, he got successful by grinding, by following online templates of how to kind of go viral or build the social media platform, how to post, when to post, what to post, what hooks to have, et cetera, et cetera. He knew the metrics, two seconds.

You have two seconds to get people to watch and if they watch for seven seconds, they're more than likely to watch all the way through the video. I just thought, like, yeah,

it was like, he just got to work. Like, he studied it. It's like we used to go to school and study and ace an exam. Like, that's what he did. He studied on how to build

the social media platform. And then, So that's the number one thing. But here, the number two thing is he said that he wished that the reason, the main reason why he is successful is he was just finally himself. And he thought back to his high school life and how he was trying so hard to be someone who bought himself in a horrible high school experience in college. He met the six foot blonde, tall, smoking hot girl who said, yeah, I'm lesbian.

And he was like, okay, ding, light bulb. I'm just going to be my authentic self and had a great college experience. I got a hypothetical for you. when people say you just have to be yourself right you hear that a lot right just be yourself

just be yourself when do you think you know what you are like you know what you mean like when you say you yourself like just be yourself do you think what makes you come to that point where like

you know what I'm confident enough to just be myself because I know now know what I am do you think it's age experience a moment of your life that's a hypothetical i want to throw at you i think it's a great hypothetical i think those people go through their entire lives not knowing who themselves are right i think the hardest thing to do is

to find yourself and then i think the hardest thing to do is once you find yourself be able to put boundaries as to where you're going to show that self right and like where it makes sense like even even when you are like you know yourself to your greatest depths you still have to have boundaries in life as to where that self that you have worked so hard to find and digest will navigate and how. And I think it becomes constant

work. And I don't think like anybody ever truly masters it. And I think once you fully master it, you don't. Because the curve balls don't end. And it's, in life, there's the high

rises and the low tides and there's good, there's bad, there's left, there's right, there's curveballs. There's days you feel like you just got fucking knocked out and there's days that you feel like you're literally the king in the world. And so I think even when you find yourself, you continue to grow to learn more about yourself and who you are. And I think it's an ever-ending journey if you're willing to be on that journey. And I think so many people go in life not willing to be on that journey as a result of that complacency is their lifestyle. And I don't think that's bad. And at times I'm like, I kind of, I don't know. There's part of me like ignorance is bliss.

I envy that a little bit so but yeah man I think it's an ever-ending search for growth if you're on that journey to continue to grow and that's one I support I think we you brought up so many good points there one is like mastering it like I don't think you ever master like yourself obviously we're all works and project but I think there is something about like double downing on who you are right where you have enough experience you have enough reflection or in brand flakes like I'm going to outwardly tell people that I'm gay like that is a double downing on who you you are because it's a moment and it's an experience where you've had negatives now you're seeing some positives you're like man if i just double down on who i am maybe the small positives that i feel

will become my overarching theme um and i know for me like i'm passionally myself i think sometimes it kind of couldn't get me i can rub people the wrong way as we know but i'm very hard stance in the way that i go things but like i know that i can say like i am myself i double down on being myself because of things and i and i would say like well what makes you so sure of yourself what's you know away from family away from friends i decided to create a life for myself and i'm very proud of that and because i'm happy with who i am and what i become i feel right in how i've gone through things so i feel good about that right so for yourself like what have you like what would you say has made you double down on like just being yourself

and do you think what and what finalized version of yourself do you think you are percentage wise like you're saying right now yeah oh man finalized version of myself like think about man if you think about the last seven years of my life the chapters that I've undergone have been growth and levels that I never would have imagined you know like huge successes and massive failures and like just so I've just gone through a lot in the last like seven years man since 2018 I've gone through a lot so I'm continuing but in saying that yeah how much more your true self do you feel than seven years ago oh yeah i think if i didn't take kind of the road i did and some of the risks i did in the life that i lived that i think i would have gone to 75

and i wouldn't be even close to where i am at 36 right now like living a very safe life so and and then you learn like when you get you know kicked to your feet and like knock down like it just it builds character in ways that you you never imagined couldn't i don't think you can truly get tested until you're really backed into a corner um and then i think like you know as far as like just doubling down i think the hardest thing for me david is like my whole life i i lived my life having safety by appealing to everyone else and finding you know you know being the athletic guy or whatever the captain of the team and like telling people you know all the things that made sense or getting the end the test making my parents proud like that was my safety safety and

made me feel good and that was a lot of self-sacrifice for like who I was and you know I just the more I get older and like where I'm at today man I just care so much less about what people think I mean I like there's so always so much just like noise whether it's in my professional life my personal life wherever that's just nonsense and I just don't I'm like I'm like whatever like what Like, you get so worked up every day trying to control things that you can't. And I think that's probably where I've made the biggest strides. And I'm still continuing to try and make strides. Yeah.

I mean, we've had a lot of personal conversations offline about that specifically. And I commend you because as sure as I am of myself and all those things, like, if I was in your position and people were talking about me in ways that they talk about you, like I could never do what you do. Like I could never sit there and be the bigger person and let people talk. I would go fucking nuclear. But then I would, you know, I'd be bouncing off the walls by reaction, by reaction, by reaction.

So I commend you for that. And it's part of your, like you said, your journey and what you've been through and stuff. So I know it's not been easy for you to, you know, just, you know, try and navigate your, you know, what you're going through and be the best version yourself. but I'm just taking a page at a Brand Flakes' book. You asked him what you needed to do on your socials or your platforms, and he said he wants you to be more vulnerable. So I'm just poking at the vulnerability sticks and asking you to define your whole life in a recap here.

So how am I doing? You're doing pretty good. You're doing pretty good. If I was fully vulnerable online, it'd be a grand shift, a whole brand shift. But we'll see. You know, maybe Brand Flakes will motivate me to do that. We'll see. But I think his hooks, I think his strategy, I think of what he's doing and how he's doing it,

but also doing it with intention and purity and authenticity. It's amazing. It's why he's built a community is. It's why he's had the success he's had. And it's why he's a guy that I was so excited, so excited to have on this podcast, an absolute beauty. I loved how he just doesn't think he's too smart. Like, he talked about hiring a business manager and talked about, you know, how great that's been. I have a couple questions about that.

He's very open about how much he made sense. $768,000 in 2024, 20% of management fees. He says he pays monthly and quarterly taxes, and he files as an S-Corp. What is an S-Corp? Yeah, so at S-Corp, it's just a structure of a business. So, you know how we talk about, like, LLCs and stuff on the show, right? So it's just a different designation. There's all different structures to a business and how it protects the business

and what it makes sense for, given the structure of the business. And the big thing about an S-Corp, it's a business structure that allows small businesses to pass income and then deductions and credits directly to shareholders avoiding corporate tax while offering different liability protection. So I will tell you that most creators are going to be either an LLC or an S-Corp. One of the things with an S-Corp is there's going to be more costs, like you're going to pay more to your accountants and attorneys for structuring an S-Corp, but there are some tax advantages too.

So, yeah, that's an S-Corp, David. And then he talked about hiring a business manager. He talked about half service and full service. You asked him how much he pays his business manager. He says he couldn't share that. Do you have any ideas? Sounds like he has a half service. The full service sounds like they do everything for you.

Like they pay your bills. They hold your hand. Like you basically don't worry about any of the finances. You must have to trust that person with everything. Thoughts on what a half service business manager makes for someone in that realm? Yeah, I'd say about. 60, 75 grand. Okay.

50 to 75 and they're running like all the businesses, you know, they're helping with like the taxes, the accounting, the attorneys, like they're managing all that. Also probably taking a lot of that risk off their plate as far as like holding the insurances for things like that and doing things like that. So I think every business manager does things differently, but my guess would be about 50 to 75. I just love that aspect of like business managers that are actually kind of like life coaches that are just doing all the things that we talk about that you don't learn in school,

like taxes and those type of things for people. Like I could use someone who's like, oh, David, you need to do this. That would be like the dream. It's just like have a life coach of like people who are telling me to do things that every person like squirms. Like you got to go get your passport renewed. Like all the things that I don't want to do.

I wish I had one of us. You know what? Soon enough with AI and outsourcing, I think at a very low cost, you might be able to get a virtual, like assistant to do things like that for you. My brother, who is an executive in his company, has a virtual assistant. Yeah, that's such a good point. One thing, I need to get a lot of things figured out in my life. Dude, real, real quick, before I know we're getting close, have you seen

the Black Mirror episode where the girl loses her, I don't know if it's husband or fiance and she's pregnant and she's missing him? And then she uses AI where they take all the information, for anyone that doesn't know about this, they take all the information from his social profiles and his social media and everything he's publicly put out there, and they upload it into AI so that she can have a text conversation with him. But based on all the information they have, they know how he would respond. So he's responding, just like he would normally respond, except he's dead. And then she's like, well, I really want to talk to him. So then they upload more information, like the YouTube videos and his press conferences and all this

stuff. And then he's able to have a phone conversation based on what they upload it. And then I won't ruin the episode, but they actually bring him to life as like a robot in person that you can see, feel, touch, and act like a human. But it's just someone that is like essentially created from the information that's already been out there by AI. And I'm like, David, I don't know how far we are off from this. Like, it's crazy. The whole series is too much. I mean, talk about a show that you- But that's AI.

Dude, I don't think like we're too off from that. We're not. That's why it's so scary. and like then you watch it as like with your with your partner or maybe you're not you're just watching it like it's a show that you watch before bed and then you're staring at the ceiling and it's 5 a m you're like oh my god that was that was that was too real crazy crazy well david before we wrap what else you got on the brand like no no the only thing i got is um a couple other things i'll just post or i'll talk about you know him talking about hiring a driver from miami music week i just love that story love it convenience has a cost and Tim talking about like taking care of himself and men talking more about mental health because his his hospital breakdown

of his mental breakdown was was wild but I'm going to end with one of the most wholesome things that he said and this is what separates brand flakes from a lot of the guests that we've had you said the blank check comment you told the Jim Carrey example and even though you told the example and shared the comment

he goes instead of a blank check show me a picture of my parents on a beach I loved that's what I love I love I got goosebumps when he answered that. That's when I know that Brand Flakes is our guy. And I will say, to bring it back to the very start of the episode, he said he was, you know, what he could have came up and talked to you and he didn't

because the corporate Natalie episode helped him so much in his journey. And then he finally saw you at the next event. He came right up to you and he talked to you. Just shows that this guy is like Salt of the Earth. Like he's, like I said, he's not, he doesn't think he's this, you know, he's not, doesn't think he's too smart for everybody. He's, you know, he's learning. he's he's educating himself he's implementing he's got a great soul he's got you know great morals

great values um that was a great episode all around great guest great guest generation big fan of brand flakes he is an absolute legend so excited to have him on and david thank you for being back on the recap we cannot wait to see brand flakes continue to soar and david i will see you next week on another episode of trading secrets one you can't afford to miss happy mother's day playing on me making that money and money living that dream making that money money money rain on me making that money living that dream