Trading Secrets - 262. Kaylor Martin: From college graduation to Love Island, BTS of landing on reality TV, broke college kid mentality & the need to be busy

Episode Date: November 10, 2025

This week, Jason is joined by Love Island USA standout and rising lifestyle creator, Kaylor Martin! Kaylor became a fan favorite during season six of Love Island where her humor, authenticity, and confidence caught national attention. Since leaving the villa, she turned that spotlight into a career, growing her platform, collaborating with some of the biggest brands in the country, and building a personal brand that is going well beyond TV.  Kaylor dives into the many different ways she was making an income before Love Island — from juggling six college classes and three jobs to tutoring on the side. She shares how she graduated college and flew to Fiji just a week later, what the application process for Love Island was really like, and why she decided to be bold and a little vulgar in her questionnaire. Kaylor opens up about her expectations going into the show versus what actually happened, her relationship with money, and why she still holds onto the broke college student mentality. She talks about spending the last of her money on Shein outfits for the show, how she hopes to use her platform moving forward, and whether she’d consider going back to school.  Kaylor also breaks down the value she sees in education, how she defines her brand, and why she’s sticking with content creation. She takes listeners behind the scenes of Love Island — including how she got some secret intel — reveals how much her first brand deal paid, and shares why she loves staying constantly busy. Plus, Kaylor opens up about filming Beyond the Villa during a dark time in her life, the other reality shows she’d consider joining, why she likes LTK and Amazon Storefront, and what her plans are for the future. Kaylor 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: Kaylor Martin 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:  Spend more time interviewing candidates who check all your boxes - less stress, less time, more results now with Indeed Sponsored Jobs and listeners of this show will get a SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to to help get your job the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com/SECRETS  Bilt: Bilt is turning a monthly expense into an opportunity to earn rewards and discover the best that your neighborhood has to offer. Your rent is finally working for you.Earn points on rent and around your neighborhood, wherever you call home, by going to joinbilt.com/tradingsecrets  Boll & Branch: Give yourself and your loved ones the most extraordinary feeling sleep with 25% off sitewide, plus free shipping and extended returns during Boll & Branch's best sale of the year. Shop now at BollAndBranch.com/tradingsecrets with code tradingsecrets. Booking.com: If your vacation rental isn't listed on Booking.com, it could be invisible to millions of travelers searching the platform. Don't miss out on consistent bookings and global reach. Head over to Booking.com and start your listing today. Get Seen. Get Booked on Booking.com

Welcome back to another episode of Trading Secrets. Today we are joined by Love Island USA standout and rising lifestyle creator Kayla Martin. Kayla became a fan favorite during season six of Love Island where her humor, authenticity, and confidence. caught national attention. But since leaving the villa, she turned that spotlight into a career, growing her platform, collaborating with some of the biggest brands in the country, and building a personal brand that is going well beyond TV. Today, we're going to break down the business of reality television. What really happens after the cameras stop rolling and how someone like Kayla is turning opportunity into entrepreneurship? Kailer, thank you so much for being on Trading

Secrets. Thanks for having me. It's been a long time coming. I feel like we were supposed to do this like a while ago. A while. I know, but you are, you got a million things going. I feel like last time we saw each other was Art Basel Celsius. We were playing in that Padell Tournament. Can you believe that was almost a year ago? No. And honestly, like it feels like it's like five years ago. Yeah. It's crazy. I say there's like real time and then there's like this like post reality TV, social media time. And one year to me feels like 10 lifetimes. Do you feel the same? There's so much going on. Yeah. Like so many events. So many. I mean, like great opportunities. is, but it's like just a lot and you kind of lose track of time. It's crazy. And for you, when

exactly was it that you started filming? Was it like early 2024? How long ago did you start filming? We started, I think I remember being flown out to Fiji on May 13th, 2024. I literally could have just botched that honestly. I think like early to mid-May we got flown out, but then you go into like quarantine for like three weeks. And then we really started filming on June 7th, I believe, of 2024. So this for you has all happened, like all of this, right? You got a million and a half followers on TikTok, a million on Instagram. You're doing all kinds of partnerships. Like life is so different. This has only been in the last year and a half. It's crazy. Wild. All right, let's start before this all came to fruition. And then we'll get into like what today looks like.

But, you know, you're from right outside the Pittsburgh area. Remember we talked a little bit about Are you a Steelers fan? Of course. You got to be, right? Stealers, Penn's fan. Yeah, of course. All right. And you go to school, you have an undergraduate in psychology, and then you were enrolled

to start and get your master's in autism behavioral analysis, but then Love Island came. So your plan was to go film Love Island for the summer and then go to school. Before that, what were you doing after school? You graduated to make money and what were you doing for a career? Actually, I didn't really have time after college. I went right into, I graduated. a weekend before I flew out to Fiji. So during my senior year, I was working with autistic children.

I was tutoring on campus. And I also was doing bartending and bottle service. So like literally all different kinds of like aspects of things for just to earn money. And then I went on the show having no expectations on how it would do. I mean, LaValle Island was a show that was known, but it was never what it is today. So it's crazy. I feel like season six, like walk. and even ran so season seven could sprint like Love Island is on the map it's the biggest show that's out

there I want to think about this though when I went on reality TV I was 29 years old and oftentimes I look back at it I'm like thank God I was 29 because if my 22 year old self was out there it would have been a shit show I was 22 I know right when you started you were 22 and like essentially like I kind of had just turned 22 like I'm I'm a January girl like I was born in January so it was like May so I was like kind of freshly 22 years old and going through and I look back at like I'm 23 now almost 24 but like looking back whenever I was 22 I feel like so baby-fied like I feel like also in this life like you can grow up very fast because like you're in the public eye and which I'm very grateful for but it's like tough you know I think you have no choice but to look in and grow

mentally spiritually like all the things in this world because there's so many outside added pressures that you never had before, right? It happens that quick. One thing I'll say, too, is I think about graduate being a senior in college. When I went to college, I could be real with you. I don't think I ever heard, and this was a long time ago, no one talked about social media, no one ever talked about maybe being casted for reality TV. When you went to school where some of your friends like, that would be a dream to be a social media influence or creator or go on reality TV. Is that a conversation? So you know what? It's not really a conversation like it would be in like New York if you're from L.A. or Miami, like, I'm from Pennsylvania. I mean the sticks of P.A.

Being a social media influencer isn't talked about at all. Like, that's not something like, even in Pittsburgh, like, I can, I can't even name, like, three influencers from Pittsburgh that, like, do, like, be in the space for a living. Like, they're not influencers for a living. I can't really think of anyone like that. So whenever I was telling my friends that I was applying to go on Love Island, they were like, what the hell? Like, no way. And, like, of course, we all had our doubts like what are the odds that I actually get this and a lot of the cast members that I was on the show with and I think even season seven were reached out to I applied like through the application I'm not from a town where like casting producers know me or walking around the ball

right like I'm not like outside like some of the people are like you know where they have a little bit of a following so casting producers follow them like no I applied to the 150 questionnaire I did all the callback interviews. I did like absolutely everything under the sun that you have to do for the raw process, which I'm very grateful for because I really appreciate that I went through all of that. But being in classes, my senior year, taking six classes, being a tutor, working three jobs and also applying to reality TV show. Like, it was tough. It was hard. It's wild. And you told a story on a podcast. I think it was Nick Viles podcast, but something about your at Applebee's with your friends and you told them you applied,

but your application got screwed up. And something happened with an ex-boyfriend. What was the full story there? Yeah. So it was Christmas break. I was home for the holidays. I saw the ad for Love Island application to come through. Honestly, I was like, I don't know if this shit's a scam or not.

Like, honestly, who knows if this is like just a weirdo trying to like get my information? Right. But I was like, you know what? Fuck it. Sorry, can I swear on here. Yeah, you can swear. Swear away. Yeah.

So I apply. my ex at the time you know like your ex-boyfriends where you like you're not together but like you feel comfortable so I like was hooking up with him like I just felt comfortable with him and he called me and I was like you know what you lost my application like I was like fully transparent telling him I was applying for the show I was so upset and then you know a couple fish bowls a couple buzzballs later and I applied again and thank God I did wait wait why did you tell him he you said who lost your application He did because I was filling it out and he kept spamming my phone. So I answered the phone and I left the whole Google, like the whole Google sheet out was went out the window.

And I was so pissed because the Love Island application, if you have to do it, if you do it the raw way, you have to do this application, which is like 150 questions. Okay. And if you're applying to be on a reality TV show, the number one tip is you cannot just give like one sentence answers. Like you have to give the like open ended answers and explain. explain every little detail and be as bat shit crazy as you actually are because that's why people will like you. So we had Harry Jousie on the podcast and excuse my language here is that I'm getting a little vulgar. It's his words not mine. But he talked about the fact that he created like a thousand different applications. He put in different names. He would send he would send dick picks

in his application. He talked about the fact he would do literally anything to get the attention of the producers. Clearly it's worked out for him in more ways than one. Yeah. Did in your application, was there anything like specific you did to be like, pay attention? I'm here. I was answering sex stories. My most embarrassing sex stories, how many bodies I have. Do they ask those questions or you just answer you? Well, they kind of ask, but like you just do tell because they want someone who's batshit crazy on reality TV. That's what's made for reality. So I was being very vulgar. I was opening up. I was telling them every little detail to my worst sex story or the most embarrassing moment that I had

in the bedroom, like all of it. Yeah, that's crazy. I mean, that's what we'll get you on the show. It got you on the show. And it got you as an OG. The other thing I think about, too, is when I went on the show so long ago, it was we didn't, we had an idea that the bachelor franchise could do something for you, but we didn't know exactly. And social media was still like up in the air. These days, it's so vividly transparent. And I did read on the, line, I don't know if this is true or not. Were you in social media and assigned to a modeling agency before you went on? So I was. So whenever I was a little girl, I was a musical kid. I lived being in the musicals. My mom was just such a great mom, even though I'm not good at acting or singing

or anything, she was like, you go, baby, let's try this out. So whenever I was younger, I did musicals and I was also like, would try out for like commercials and stuff like that. And then right before the show, I kind of wanted to get into that, like, again, whether it's in Pittsburgh and being an extra or just, like, doing little things, but I never really took it seriously. And I was signed with them, but it wasn't, like, exclusively. And honestly, like, I didn't get any work. Like, I wasn't, like, doing any modeling gigs or getting any acting gigs at all. And I was just signed with them. And I emailed, like, my agent, who's still my agent and manager now, and was like hey tea like just want to let you know like I'm in Fiji about to go to Love Island like

I don't know like I should tell you this but like you can't tell anyone she's like honey I'm not gonna tell anyone like we'll see where this puts you like I'm not sure if like I don't know what will come out of this like it's a hit or miss with reality and then I left the villa and I called her and I was like I think the show did pretty well and I'm gonna need some help here yeah she's like babe let's get to work your job just got a lot easier yeah all right but then I to ask you when you went on the show, again, with our time, it was up in the air. You don't know it's going to come. You had to know at this point, though, that, like, social media could blow up and you have to be thinking a strategy to go on the show is to, like, have that opportunity

career-wise. Honestly, like, I see what you're saying. Like, sure, that is an option. I'm like, yeah, maybe I'll leave with, like, 100K followers. Okay. Never in a million years had I thought, and I don't think anyone on the season six cast had thought that this would become a full-time career and just change your life. Like my life will always be changed, whether it's 10 years and I'm not doing any work. Let's say I'm going to school and I'm pursuing working with autistic children. It still will always be like life changing for me. And I think all of us and going on the show, like I said, like sure, I thought maybe I'd gain

a little bit of followers, but I didn't have those expectations of my life completely changing like it has. Did your family have any reservations about you doing this? They were like, well, they always knew I liked acting. doing things like that, but they had never thought that something like this would come about. And my, actually, my stepdad was kind of freaked out. What do you mean you're going to Fiji? What's the name of the people? Like, are they going to kidnap you? Like, so worried as parents get. And yeah, they just didn't really fully grasp it. And I don't think they did until like the show

really started blowing up. And my mom was going grocery shopping and people were asking to take pictures of my mother. She's like, what is going on? And then whenever I left Love Island, I was like, I'm going to pursue social media. They were like, no, the hell you're not. You're going to get your ass back in school. And then I started making money and showing them. And they're like, holy shit, you're making more than both of us combined. Like, you pursue that, baby.

You reach for the stars. So they're very supportive and I'm very lucky. But I'm from a very small town that still, like, I think my, if my papy were still around, he'd be like, get your ass back in school. Like, what are you doing? Like, I don't give a shit. Like, get out of L.A. Like, you need to come back, like, home to your small town.

So I think a lot of people where I'm from have that mindset. And I always say, like, even now, like, my biggest haters or where I'm from, like, the small town haters. But, yeah, it's crazy. We're all driven by the search for better. But when it comes to hiring, the best way to search for a candidate isn't to search at all. Don't search. Just match with Indeed. If you need to hire, you need Indeed.

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your preferences to be the best for you. And listeners of this show, we'll get a $75-sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com.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. We'll get into a little bit of Love Island and like what career in business looks like for you now. But I'd be remiss if I didn't ask. We had Katie Feeney on the podcast. And she talked about how when she was 18 on Snapchat and five weeks. she made a million dollars and her dad saw the check and was like, I don't believe it. He did all this due diligence. He's like, oh my God, that's real. Like, that's real money. You talked a little bit about where you're from and then you're now making more than your parents did.

Like, what is your relationship with money and what is the reaction to like some of the dollars and cents that have been now coming in? Well, my relationship with money, like I literally still try to live like I'm a broke college student because realistically, I'm like the craziest stressor about everything and I like never really, you never really know when you're in this space when it's going to end. True. So I'm like a hoarder with my money. Like I just, I don't go out and buy a Louis Vuitton bag every week.

Like I just bought my first ever mu mu leather jacket and I bought it and I felt the worst. Like, I'm like, no, like I shouldn't have bought this. Like, what the fuck am I doing? So yeah, I think with money wise, I'm really, I'm really safe with my money and broke. Like, I don't need to be going out to Nobu every night. Like, Chick-fil-A is fine for me. I didn't come from money.

I'm from, like, the actually the poorest, the lowest income county in Pennsylvania. So having any little money is great. It's so great. And like I try to save it. And like my dream is like to buy my brother a car when he turns 16 and like things like that in investing my money instead of like going out. Like we were in Vegas for unwell with everyone and like Kendall and rubber gambling. And I'm like, you know what? I'm not going to give him my money.

I'm going to invest. I just rather, yeah, play it safe. Good for you. That is awesome. Now we've had Cordell on the podcast. Of course, he was on your season. And he talked about when he was working at the airlines, he was making like $21 an hour.

And then we've had O'Landre on as well. But one of the things we talked a little bit about was the process to get on. You've already alluded to it. But once you get to the next step, Cordell talked about the fact he had to do a 1,500 psych question test. And I was curious through your experience, either that test or anything else when you're actually like down to the finals. Was there anything that was like peculiar or anything that you think you did to differentiate yourself through that

process to actually become an OG on the show? You know what? I feel like I don't really know what really made them pick me. I was just very authentic. I was like, I'm a crier. I'm a social butterfly. Social butterfly. I'm bat shit crazy. And I was actually doing my Love Island applications through my, like, in my college bedroom. And I remember the executive producer from Love Island said, Kayla, I love you even more because look at the room you're in. Like, it was like the littlest, tiniest box of a room. Like, I didn't try to clean it up.

I didn't have a ring light. And I think they really, like, appreciated that, you know, like the just being raw. The authenticity of it. There's, like, beer cans, like, in the back. Like, it's messy. It's disgusting. But, like, it shows the producers, like, who you are. and, like, you don't care to, like, put it on for them.

Yeah. But the psych evals, like, were insane, so long. It was so exhausting, too, because, like, that's what I did in college. So it was, like, I'm leaving psych class just to fill out a psych evaluation form. That's crazy. But when I see some of these people that are on Love Island, like, their styles, unbelievable. They'll have, like, the craziest outfits that you can tell. A lot of them are extremely expensive.

A lot of bling. Yeah. When you went on the show, did you. have much money to your name and how much did you spend on your clothing? So I actually made a TikTok about this and it was I didn't make a TikTok. I'm I was filming myself in my red Honda Civic driving down the road with it keyed on the side like cigarette holes burnt into the seat and I'm like guys and I just did this for my private story that literally consisted of like three of my best friends because when you go on the violin you can't tell anyone like you can't like you have to

keep it hush hush. So I'm in my car. I'm like, guys, I don't know what to do. Like, I'm from Pennsylvania The Sticks. We wear hoodies and leggings out to the bars, okay? I don't have stilettos. I don't have pretty outfits. Like, that just didn't exist in my wardrobe. So I'm like looking on like White Thawks. I got so much shit from Sheen. Oh my goodness. And it worked. Before filming? Yes. So you just DMed them? No, no, no, no. I couldn't tell anyone. So I was spending like my last dollars in my bank account. I spent, I think, $2,500 on outfits. Okay. It's a lot of money for a college student. That's a fortune. Yes. And I was like, you know what? Like, I hope this pays off. Like, this is like an investment, hopefully. Yeah.

Thank God. I did. Thank God. Like, everyone loved my outfits. But I remember I actually filmed a TikTok. You can find it on my TikTok page. And I'm like driving in my Honda saying, like, guys, I spent like 2,500 on my outfits so far. Like, I hope that's enough. Like, I can't be spending like thousands of dollars. So when you went on Love Island, you spent, okay, so you spent about 2,500. When you went on Love Island, though, you don't have much money to your name at this point. No. Okay. And when you go on though, do you have, because you guys filmed for how long? So we went in on June 7th and I think I left the villa in like on July 23rd, 24. When you're gone for that long, like, do you have rent or like, how do you have your credit card bills set up on auto payment? Are you allowed to use your phone?

Lucky because I hadn't moved out of college the weekend before I flew out to Fiji. So it was a shit show moving all of my stuff out of my college house because I was going to Fiji. But that was the good thing. I didn't have a lease at the time because my lease ended with my school semester. So I moved all my college ship back into my parents' house. Okay. They hated it. So yeah, I didn't have, I didn't have rent to pay.

My car was fully paid off. My phone bill, my mom took care of. So. And then your credit card, you just put it on like automatic payment. I didn't have a credit card. Okay. You're like, you're like, I literally just graduated. What do you think? I never owned a credit card until like a couple months ago. It was funny. We had one of the bachelors recently on, you know, Joey Grazia day. And he talked about the fact that when he was filming, he forgot to do his auto payment on his credit card and he missed some of the payments. And he's like filming the bachelor, like dinged my credit a little bit, which is hilarious. You know, it's so funny. This is kind of off topic. But a couple months ago, I go home with my boyfriend. And I'm like, mom, where's my college diploma and she's like it's right there and I'm like that's not my college diploma I

realized I never got my college diploma and I didn't even realize until like three months ago because I'm never home and I'm just go go go go go go then I never received my college diploma Jason I didn't walk or what no I walked but when you walk you walk with like a with a fake one oh that's right they give you the fake one yeah yeah until like months after while I was in Fiji so I didn't even and whenever I left the show the last thing I was worried about was my college diploma. I'm like calling my school freaking out. I'm like, fuck, I didn't, I didn't graduate. Like, I must have failed. Like, no, it just never was shipped to my house. Oh my gosh. I didn't even realize. Unbelievable. Yeah. All right. Well, so you go on the school. Did you get your diploma,

by the way? Yes. Yes. I got it. I graduated. It's all good. This episode Tring Secrets is brought to you by booking.com. I've got to say, if you're looking to grow your vacation rental business, this is the place to be. Booking.com is one of the most downloaded travel apps in the world. And for good reason, since 2010, they have helped over 1.8 billion vacation rental guests find places to stay. That's billion with a beat. But here's the thing. Most vacation rental hosts don't even realize they can list their properties on booking.com. And if you're not on the platform, your rental is basically invisible to millions of booking.com travelers worldwide. After all, they can't book what they can't see, right? But once you

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you'll go back to school? You know what? I have really been thinking about it. And I think my mom went to school for 12 years. She's like six credits away from her doctorates. She's like going back to school now. So expectations are really high in my family. And not only that, I just, like, think education is so cool. And I miss working with children with disabilities. It's so fulfilling. Sure, this job is, too. If I could use my platform to, like, spread awareness about autism and something that I'm passionate about, that would really fulfill me.

And I think going to school for my master's and potentially my doctorates would just be very fulfilling. And when I'm 40-some day, I want to be able to be like, yeah, I have my undergrad, my master's, and then potentially my doctorate. You know, so I've been really thinking about it, and I think now that things are kind of slowing down for me, I, I am considering going back to school. Because realistically, Jason, like, I had brand deals and I fly and stuff like that. But, like, what do I do from, like, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. There's, like, I could go to school. Yeah. I could realistically go to school. I used to work, like, from 7 a.m. in the morning to 8 p.m. at night, you know? So I'm considering it. And I've been telling my team, like, I'm thinking about going to school.

They're like, no, wait, you don't have to. And, like, even my boyfriend's, like, you don't have to go back to school, babe. Like, you could just start a business or something, but it's like, it's something that I'm passionate about. So, yeah, I'm thinking about it. You said, it's funny that, like, when I hear the word slowing down, you're like, things are slowing down. To me, I'm like, I don't know what you're talking about.

Like, I went on your socials. I see your engagement. I see, you know, you're on Love Island. You go and be on the villa. You got a million things. When you say slowing down, what's slowing down? Well, I don't know if it's slowing down. I think I'm just like really, it's easier to navigate now than it was like coming right off the show.

So I was going to the events. I was, I was drinking. I wasn't really taking like social media seriously. And now that I am, like I have my brand, like there, I feel like I could also go to school and do both. I mean, hey, I worked three jobs and went to school before. So like I feel like I could navigate that. Pretty well. When you say taking social media seriously and then your brand, my first.

question to you is so I have an idea of like what your brand is what if you had to define your brand what would you say your brand is I think just being authentic real and transparent with my followers like I am not the person who wakes up and goes to Pilates and like is a clean girl and is organized and I think I'm very transparent like to my followers about all of that or like what I'm going through if I'm feeling anxiety crying being an emotional crazy girl all of it And I think most of all just, like, making girls feel seen and heard and understand that, like, social media is not perfect. Like, I talk about all the time. I use FaceTune.

I go to Canal Street to get my designer bags. Like, you know, things like that, I think just being, like, real and authentic. Having an authentic self and brand is, I'd say my brand. Okay. I'm still trying to navigate what my brand is. And I don't really know. And I think that's okay. I think that's okay.

And I think that's part of your brand, right? Part of your brand is, like, I'm going to figure this out. this is who I am, come on the journey with me. You said taking social media seriously, what does that mean? Like, for instance, like posting every day and not going to brand events and not being shit-faced drunk, like every brand event and actually networking. Like, I remember it's so crazy. I remember my first ever New York Fashion Week, and I was hammered the entire time.

And I didn't do any networking. And now, like, I'm, like, looking back to, like, this year, this recent fashion week and everything that I did. And I remember my friends coming into town like, yeah, let's fucking party. go out like it's fashion week. I'm like, this is actually a networking like opportunity for me to like meet with everyone who has activations here and brands and other people in this industry. So I think that I like I said, I did a lot of growing up in a year, but I think realizing that like shit, this is a brand and this is something that can have momentum for years if you really take it

seriously. That's the, I would say the biggest thing I see, especially with reality stars, is they come off and the high is so high because it's just like, you. you're going from being a college student in my world stuck behind a banking desk, just doing finance to like invited to these crazy parties and getting paid to do all these things. And I see with most people is they're always going to have the fun. You're going to have the fun. But they aren't able to shift the fun and the partying. And then it all dies down because at the end of the day, it's like you have to work to sustain it. And if you don't, it's going to go away. So like that self-correction I think is brilliant and sounds like you're all

over it. Yeah. Also, like, I'm 23. So I came off the show. I was 22. And, like, of course, I'm 23. I still like to party. Yeah. But I just, instead of going out on a Monday and Tuesday night, I'm like, you know what, I'm going to wake up and film. I'm going to consume TikTok so I can create. I'm going to, I have like a notes app on my phone on a notes page of like content and spell. And like kind of curating that and like just brainstorming on things that I can curate for my community. I love it. Going back to your degree, we had Jen, Tran on the show. She was a bachelorette. And then she got her degree in PT, I believe it was, or a PA. And she said, she went on Dance with the Stars and she said, I'm going to do Dance with Stars. I'm going to be a

creator. And in a couple of years, I'm done. I'll do my little stuff here and there, but I'm going back to work full time. With you going back to school or at least seeing that on your horizon, do you think you'll go full speed into working in that industry and then do creating on the side or No. Okay. That was that was very clear. I think ultimately like I want to be a creator as long as I can. If I'm having a baby like babies and having a family someday, I'd love to like curate content for that or like whatever chapter I am in my life. And even if I am in school, I'm going to say, hey bitches, let's try the 22 page paper together. Like come on. Yeah. Yeah. Let's make content with it. Yeah. Exactly. And I think that's what I love about also like my like my followers, my community. They'll follow me in no matter what aspect I am. So if I am,

struggling, and I'm going for my master's degree, and I'm like, oh, this teacher, I can't eff-stand her, like, they're going to love that, and then you're going to follow me in that aspect as well. So even if I do pursue something in the workforce, I will never stop making content. I love it. I love it. We saw a lot of emotions on season six, right? A lot of, like, there's some tears, and even I was going to say it a little bit and be out of two.

But would you say at all, when we're talking about psychology, did you use any of that skill set or that education at all to your advantage during the show? No. Not at all. I wasn't self-regulating. Everyone's like, wow, like you're a psych major. Oh my God, I can't believe she's a psych major. She fucking cries all the time. I'm like, I'm a psych major and that's why I know it's okay to cry. It's okay to be emotional. I'm like, being emotional is good, actually. You're emotionally intelligent because you are in touch with your emotions. So to all the haters, I got so much hate for crying. And it's actually so funny because they hate. are just haters because I also have so many amazing women who are like, thank you. I feel so seen because I cry every day too. So yeah, I don't know if I really use psych at all in the show or I don't think I use psychology even in my interview process. I may have, but I have no idea. I think that's a good point though. It's like actually knowing your feelings to express your feelings is the definition of being connected to yourself, which is part of psychology. So like

is kind of like backwards as that sounds by crying a lot. It actually is like that you're that in tune with yourself. And that's what allowed you to connect to people. When you went on the show, you talked a little bit about kind of draining the bank account, $2,500, you got your stuff, you're packed up. Do you get paid at all to be on the show? You do get paid.

You do get paid. More than the $2,500 you spend in clothes? Yes. Oh, wow. Okay. All right. So it was a good payday then going on the show. I actually made more just working.

I had three jobs. So like I made more. not being on the show. I mean, now, of course. Yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's way different. All right. So tell me a little bit more behind the scenes of Love Island, though. I know I think there's, for what you can share, I think there's like a two drink day max, you guys get your food catered on days off.

You can't talk to the guys. What are some other trading secrets we wouldn't know about the show unless we heard it from you? Well, one thing that they do is they take your phone and quarantine before you go on. We get Amazon Fire TV. sticks. And some of them, like, have access to, like, Spotify and things like that. You get Netflix. And I remember a week before I went on the show, I had my Amazon Fire TV stick. And before I got my phone taken, I was like, Mom, I have your Netflix account. You have my, like, we have a shared Netflix account. So once I get announced as an OG, I won't really know.

They don't tell you until, like, a day before. So I'm like, a week before you go in the villa, they announce basically who the OGs are. They don't tell you until after that week. And of course, your hope you're like make me you need it yeah i cannot go weeks without my phone in this hotel room so i asked my mom and i would change the netflix names on on my fire stick and i had to be like hey mom like did i get ogy she's like yes baby you got it i'm like and i would change like the that is so smart so i would change each name and i would be like hey mom like is there any cute guys and she'd be like yes rob and kendall is like what she wrote in the thing so stop it yeah Yeah. I had a little intel before going on, which is, which was good, but very bad on my end. And I actually talked about this on chicks in the office. And I don't know. I'd love to ask the season seven cast if they got Netflix. Because if they didn't, it's definitely my fault. Do you know of any of your cast members did anything like? So what we did the same thing. He did the same with his Netflix? Yes.

So what we used to do is like we could go to the gym. And you know how you can sometimes connect like the treadmill to the Wi-Fi? We would connect the treadmill to the Wi-Fi. We would connect the treadmill to the Wi-Fi. but they would be watching, right? So they were like, there'd be like a handler there. And we were just like type in emails and stuff to try and get that. But that's really good. The Netflix name of count, that's brilliant. So you get off the show, though, things go really well for you. There's highs, there's lows.

Obviously, you're dealing with drama and Aaron and the breakup. And there's just a lot. And there's just a lot, right? And then you stay together, all the stuff. But I'm wondering from a business perspective, that's where I want to kind of take this. When you got off the show, what was the first big, deal that you're like, because I'll never forget when it was like the first deal was offered. I'm like, wait, I'm getting paid that to do that. What was that moment for you?

I called my mother and I was like crying. What I made off of one brand out off of the show, I haven't made this in four months and I'm making it for one job. Like, it was insane. And I think that's also when my mom started to take me seriously and be like, okay, yes, maybe you don't have to go back to school. Keep doing like spread your wings. It was insane. I think my, and even And even, like, being invited on, like, trips, like, brand trips. Like, I went on the Tart trip last year. And, like, going on, like, a trip like that, like, literally, I'm a crier. I was crying.

I'm so grateful, you know, and being in this space with people that I grew up watching on social media. And I grew up watching the Tart trips for years and then being invited on one was, like, what the hell is going on? Like, thank you, Jesus, honestly. I was like, this is amazing. I love it. I read something that said the organization in your house is a dictation of the organization in your life. When we think about self-care, I want you to think about something you could do to improve your self-care, and I have it for you. The change is upgrading your sleep.

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Get 15% off plus free shipping on your first set of sheets at bullenbranch.com slash trading secrets. That's bullenbranch.com slash trading secrets to get 15% off. O-L-L-A-N-D branch.com slash trading secrets, exclusions apply, see sites for detail. Your rates have changed. Your numbers have changed. That first number, can you share what that number was that blew you away? Yeah, it was, it was 20K. Wow. 20K was my first brand deal. That's unbelievable. There was a lot of deliverables in that one. Yeah. There was a lot. There was a lot. But, yeah, it was 20K, and I went to Omongiri. Wow. And it was like, Amongiri is like the best resort in the world.

I mean, it's like, a number one. You need to go to the best resort in the world? Like, absolutely, yes. With it three months ago, you're at Applebee's having the two-for-one special trying to get your application in. So, like, making transactions just to pay for the fishbow? Exactly, exactly. The other interesting thing, too, is, like, the reality, like, how quick it is.

You know, a lot of shows you film, there's months of time, and then you get this. I mean, it was so fast, so quick. What caught you off guard the most by the speed of which it all happened? I think just being in the public eye for the first time and like having everyone look at your life under literally a microscope I think that was the most challenging thing but also I was in such like a high like you said like I'm so glad that you mentioned that because I was on such a high and like I don't even think I was clocking the things that would have been like tough or difficult yeah do you feel like because it's now about a year and a half a little bit that you missed that high a little bit Do you feel like you try to chase that high at all, either financially, business-wise, or personally? Sometimes, yes. Like, going now, like, we finished Beyond the Villa and I'm, like, texting my team, like, what's next to me? Like, what are we going to do next?

Like, or should we be in the reality space still? Like, should we go out to, like, pursuing, like, serious acting? Like, I think I'm also, I'm a worker. I've always been a worker. So going off the show, you have, like, what, five brand deals a week to? do consistently for a year. And then I would film Beyond the Villa. So I had that to look forward to. And I think now, sure, I have so many amazing opportunities and brand deals to look forward to, but now I'm like, what's the next big project for me? And it's kind of hard to navigate because

when you're in college and you have this plan to go for your master's and then your doctorates and open a business up with your mom and create a psych firm and all of this stuff, it kind of, it changes because in this life, as you know, you're not really sure what's next for you. I mean, at least for me. Like, if someone's like, Taylor, where do you see yourself in five years? I'm like, no idea. I have no idea. But I think that's also the beauty.

Like, we're all just figuring it out. And realistically, we always will figure it out, especially if you're a hard worker. It's a good perspective. You'll be fine. I was happy before Love Island. And I was such a happy person. And I still am. and I always will be, no matter what the circumstances are.

So as much as I'm a stressor and my team can second me on this, I'm like, what's next? Like, my schedule's looking a little bit empty. They're like, Taylor, it's fine. And then lo and behold, three days later, I have like a million radio studio and events and all of this. And now you wish you had a schedule that was up to you, right? Exactly. But I think also, like, since I was working so much and coming off the show on such a high, sorry, I'm like such a yapper. No, it's great.

Coming off the show and having such a high and then having, like, for instance, my boyfriend works, like from in the morning tonight, I'm like, okay, I can go to the gym and clean and make content. And I still feel like I have so much time in the day. What else do I do? And that's where I'm like, I could potentially take a class or two for my master's degree or something like that because I want to be busy all the time. Yeah.

I just like that. I am the same way. I get up, go, go, go, go, go. That's just how it is, which is helpful in this space, which is always. built on what's next, what's next. And I think I would tell you that any reality star that I've had on this show, we've talked a little bit about this. So I'm curious kind of how it relates to you.

Usually when what's next is the question, there then becomes some form of like really trying to dive into what the identity is. And some people either deal with like identity crisis or imposter syndrome or looking too far left and right at peers. Do you feel any of that in any capacity now about a year and a half or so removed from the original show. I'm, like, very hard on myself. Yeah.

Like, very, very hard on myself. And I think after Love Island, I don't really know if this answers your question, but, like, after Love Island, I was accumulating, like, over 3 million views per video on my page or whatnot. For now, I'm like, I have to be consistent. And, like, let's say I have a video that doesn't do well that I put time into, I'll get so upset that I'll literally take the video down. And, like, because I'm very hard on myself and I'm like,

what did I not do that people didn't connect with? things like that. And then I speak with other influencers and they're like, honey, the algorithm ebbs and flows. Like, it's fine. And like, I'm also very fucking lucky to have a following basically overnight when there's people who have millions of followers or YouTubers who have been working at this for years. So I need to kind of just like come into touch and be like, it's fine. Like, it's going to be fine. And I'm like, oh, telling my boyfriend, like, this only got 400k views. He's like, dude, there's people with a million. of followers that just revenue 300k or 200k per video chill out and he's like be grateful because

you sound like a cry baby right now so it's kind of but it's also just because this is my work like I want to take this like seriously when I want when I had brands come and look at my page and I try to explain to him he's like why do you care so much about likes or views I'm like this is my job yeah right so like when brands come to my page it's like your portfolio for them to look at Sure. I mean, like it's like when you look at a quarterback, they care about their statistics because their statistics help their contract. Right. And in this space, the reality is it's not like you're chasing likes because you want more likes. It's because those analytics provide a better rate and better opportunities for you. So it makes perfect sense. And I think the idea of like gratitude in this space is such a great way to stay grounded. So you're all over it. Do you have a dream? Obviously we talk a lot about numbers on this podcast. Do you have like a dream dollar amount either for like a brand deal or an amount in an annual basis? This is my goal. I want to make this much a year. I want to save this much or by this year I want to have this. Do you have anything like that? I have a bunch of dreams and goals that I've already achieved. And I keep just shooting higher. Like for those dreams and goals, for instance, I'd love to get a

half a million dollar brand deal. Like that would be insane. That's really shooting for the stars. I think you're just putting it out there. You're going to manifest it's going to happen. 100%. Yeah. So like things like that, of course. But like, like, I'm so beyond grateful for the brand deals that I even am now receiving. Like I couldn't imagine in a million years having a six-figure brand deal ever. I'm like that like that's insane. So like even having that like throughout this year, I think I have achieved a lot of of my goals and my dreams. And I'm very grateful for my team for helping me achieve those because I remember coming off the show and talking to my manager and she was like, what's your dream?

How much do you want to make this year? And I said, a low number. I was like six figures. She's like, honey, you're going to make way more than that trust. And I was like, I don't know. And I'd text her and like now we have a chart of like how I'm doing this year. And being in two campaigns, like I did a Buffalo Wild Wings commercial with Kendall. I saw that.

Yeah. Commercial with Chennai. And like seriously like that going back and looking at whenever I first left the show and like talking to my booking manager. about how much money I want to make and then getting those opportunities. It's so insane. I'm so blessed. And that's where like that gratitude, the reflection piece is so important.

Well, you should. Like, think about it. Insane. Yeah, and you've changed your life and, you know, potentially changing your brother's life, like getting him a car and, like, you've opened your family's perspective and new things. Like, no, I mean, it's really important. And you're also, the way that you're stepping into authenticity is letting a lot of people shine in maybe ways that they couldn't

before. So, like, that's pretty fucking cool. Yeah, very lucky. That is awesome. All right, let's step into Beyond the Villa then. Obviously, come out of season six, it blows up. You just talked about how it's changed your life. Beyond the Villa, at least from just doing analytics, was a little different, right? The ratings weren't as high as they were in season six. Of course, still the biggest branded show out there right now. After Beyond the Villa, how did you feel about kind of like the business decision to go on, what it did for you, etc. Yeah, I was very, like, I was very in between about going on the show because of Love Island, how it did, and, you know, it can change your image, no matter, like, you're not sure what light

you're going to be in. And I thought I was going to be in a terrible light. Like, I'm not going to lie. Like, after filming Beyond the Villa, I was like, I'm going to be the villain. It's going to be terrible because I showed kind of a different side of myself and, like, stuck up for myself. And going back to you saying, like, Beyond the Villa didn't do the numbers. Love Island did initially, hell no. What sequel do you know that does better than the original? That's a great point. It doesn't. That's a great point. Especially it was it was the first unscripted series that Love Island did following Love Island like beyond the villa was the first ever season they did it. This is our first go at it. So honestly, I think it did really well for my brand. I'm very glad I did it. You know, it was tough. I went through literally I had like the worst early on of this year in my life. I lost. my grandma who basically raised me. I was in and out of the hospitals because I have kidney issues. I was seeing my ex-boyfriend for the first time. I wasn't getting along the best with one of my best friends at the time. So it was really challenging. And then also moving across the country,

living alone for the first time, it was all new. And it was really difficult for me. And being on beyond the villa during such a tough time, I mean, sure, it would have been for anyone who has like lost a family member for the first time, living alone and going through the things I went through. But I'm so glad that I did it. And I'm so proud of myself for being there, doing all of that, and just still being myself and remaining myself throughout the process. That's beautiful. I love it. If you're a renter, if you know a renter, listen up. Ever feel like you're stuck in this loop of rent payments just watching your money vanish into thin air? Well, it's time to turn that rent game around and start earning some serious rewards. That's where built rewards comes

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J-O-I-N-B-I-T dot com slash trading secrets. Make sure to use our URL so they know we sent you. JointBilt.com slash trading secrets to start earning points with your rent payments today. One question I had for everyone out, I don't want to get into like the T, the drama, but it's kind of a business question. So I'll prep you with that. We had Remy Bader on this week and she talked about how she did business with her dad. And it like, it did not work.

It failed. And they decided that and went their separate ways. business. And I was curious with you and Liv, was there anything that was connected to business that created tension in the relationship? Absolutely. 100%. And if so, what are you, because there's so many people listening to this right now that are thinking about doing business with their friends or couples that are in business together. So what are some of your learning lessons from that when it connects to business, thought leadership with friends? I think that ultimately you can navigate that. You know, Liv and I had a great, great YouTube channel. We're having the best time.

but that also can become tough because when you're when you're living with your best friend working with your best friend it's very difficult you don't have that separation you don't have that alone time and things can become very hostile and make your friendship not as fun anymore you know like live and i had great times together the youtube was great i wish we still could do blah moments it was killing it but there was issues that she had i had and then our youtube producer and it just became honestly just a shit show. And then getting brand deals and the same brand deals that things can become difficult and challenging and even competitive in some sorts of ways. Yeah. I mean, let's be real. Yeah. I don't think this is any, this isn't breaking news,

right? Like, look at Caller Daddy with Sophia and Alex. Like that's obviously like your, your starship of what happened and how it's very hard. I think it's hard in relationships. I think it's hard in friendships. I couldn't imagine dating someone who's also. in the same space I met. Yeah. Like, you know. Yeah. Oh, 100%.

I've done it before. It's very, very hard. Yeah. There are nuances that you never expect. And even when, even, obviously, so Toran, you've introduced him to social media. Even when you introduce someone to social media in a relationship, that creates added noise, even if it's not, right? Especially, I'm from a dating show.

So everyone cares about my dating, like, life and all of it. And, like, he's such a trooper. But, like, if he wasn't, like, I would have been, like, so fucked. Like literally, because he is such a trooper and like what the Aaron drama and him and like being on the show and everyone's saying he looks like Aaron. They're so rude to him. And I clap back at them sometimes because I'm like, if you guys, you guys stressed when I was in a terrible toxic relationship and now I'm happy and now you're like blowing our lines up. I love it. I mean, I love that he is holding it strong.

He's actually showing like how strong the relationship is and you're fighting for him out there a little bit, which is pretty cool. We talked business on this show, of course. Let's talk about hire or fire. Love Island, season six. You start a business. You got to hire one person. You got to fire one person. Who are you going to hire?

They're all on your organization. So one of them, you're going to hire and promote one. You got to fire. Who is it? I'm hiring Leah because she is the boss-ass business woman. Like, amazing. I'm hiring her, first of all, as well, because I need her to help me dress. Okay.

Who am I firing from the whole cast? Yeah. I mean, obviously, Aaron, I don't want to work with my ex. Yeah, yeah. That's like an easy one. Yeah, that was a little bit of a layout. All right. What about this?

Any other reality show other than Love Island? What is one show that you'd be like, that would be badass? That'd be cool. I love dancing with the stars. I mean, that would be so badass. Like, I grew up watching that with, like, my grandma. I feel like a lot of, like, old people watch Dancing with the Stars. I was going to ask you about dancing with the Stars because, but then I went on your

TikTok, I was looking at other TikToks to, like, see if there was anything I could, like, ask you about? And you did one? You're like, I have no rhythm. So do you think you would, do you think you would do you would do you would do well at answer to start? No, I think I would be terrible, but I'm hoping to learn. Okay. And then Traders, I think Traders is so cool.

I, like, I'm down with the drama. I don't want to, or like, maybe, like, actually, I love Bravo. Like, I love anything Bravo. So, like, being in the Bravo universe would be lovely. I grew up watching housewives. But, like, dating shows I'm never, I don't think I ever want to, I'm not doing that again. Like, I don't know.

Dating shows are off the table. Other shows certainly are. One thing I want to ask about your business before we get here was another thing you do, of course, is brand deals, but you do LTK. How does LTK factor into like income generation as it's significantly more, less, or close to brand partnership? I'm very new on LTK. I'm trying my best on there, but I think LTK, like I was telling you earlier prior, LTK has kind of made me feel like I have things to do during my day. It fulfills that like work aspect for me, like going on, taking pictures.

It makes me feel like I have something to do. And it's kind of similar to Amazon storefront as well. Like going on linking products, like gives me something to do in the hours that I'm just sitting on my couch. Like I filmed for the day. I cleaned. I went to the gym. I've meal prepped. Like what else is there to do?

Yeah. So I really like LTK and Amazon storefront in that aspect because it kind of allows me to be on my laptop and like type and like add things and curate things for my followers. And I'm not making a shit ton of money on that on those. platforms, but it just gives me something to do, and it kind of fulfills that self-worth. I love it. I love it. Well, I appreciate you answering that. You obviously have done a lot, but there's so much more you could do, right? You have TikTok, Instagram, that's blowing up, but you could go back to YouTube series, podcasting. You talks about acting, hosting, maybe more reality TV. If you have the crystal ball, what direction do you think it's going to be? What's next

do you think for Kayla Martin's career? Well, you know what? I'd love to start a brand. I love makeup. I'd love to start something in that space potentially, but also I would love to do acting and I would love to maybe go in another reality show. So I also, I'm 23 years old and I'm not stressing it. I know I'll figure it out. I always have. I'm a worker. I know I'll navigate whatever comes at me or whatever I want to do. I really do think sometimes though work picks you and you don't pick work. So we'll see. I don't really know. I think I'm just, figuring it out and I think that's okay. Okay, more to come.

Big things are coming. Might see you're in your movie screen, might see you're in a reality TV show. Last question before you're trading secrets. It's an easy one. It's a money one. What is one thing that you overspend on? You know you overspend on it and you probably won't stop overspending on it.

A lot, like a three things. Can I get them all? Let's name them all. Freaking DoorDash. Oh, I get crushed. I know. And I express the DoorDash because when I'm hungry, I just want it. I'm impatient.

I agree. Uber is in New York City. I know. And when I'm running late, which I always am, the easiest option is to get an Uber. I just recently navigated the train. So I have no excuse but to take the train. I need to chill out. And also Amazon.

I buy something from Amazon like MS every day. What do you buy it on there? Like soaps, organizers, things I just moved into my New York apartment. Go to your Amazon storefront. You'll see. I like it. And I mean, I'm going to add number four. I think I saw you do the apartment guy tour, and I think you said your rent was like 5,500.

That's got to be up there. Yeah, it's like 5,700. See, you got to go check out your apartment. It's on the apartment guy, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I saw that. So there's some interesting stuff. But, Kayla, I appreciate you being on trading secrets. So cool to hear, like, where you've been, what you're doing, and where you plan to go.

But we got to end with your trading secrets. So it's specific to you. You can't learn from a professor or TikTok tutorial. We can only learn from your experience. I feel like always be you. always stay true to yourself, trust your heart, and everything will turn out. Just be yourself and people will see you for you and love you for you. Yeah, that's it. Simple one. But I think being authentic is the best way to be. I like it. And then I think the trading secret I learned from you

is that showing weakness as a strength, right? It's not, it's not a negative. Like when you're crying, that's not a negative. That's actually a strength. Like you're showing your emotions. And I think the other one I learned is that like when you can show up an authentic way, but still like a thought, like an intentional way, you can magnify everything you want to do. Like you knew you wanted to be on reality TV, but you also had stories. Like these other embarrassing sex stories or whatever, you had them and you're like, I'm not going to hide from. I'm not going to not only show my colors an authentic way. I'm going to do it with some thought and strategy and intention. And that's going to just magnify who I am, which is going to create success. So those are the two

I learned from you. This has been fun. Kayla, where can everyone? Everyone find everything you have going on? My TikTok, my Instagram, Snapchat. There you go. All of it. Go follow Kayla Martin. Maybe she'll be an actress. Maybe another reality star in the next show.

We'll see. But thank you for being on sharing secrets. Thank you. Ding, ding, ding. We are closing in the bell to the Kaler Martin episode. A lot of action here. Love Island. David, I know you're a fan.

What did you think? What's got you curious? Talk to me. Yeah, we got the, uh, the hat trick of Love Island guests here with Cordell Beckham and O'Landria. Always great to hear from Kaler. You know, pretty polarizing guests, I would say, in a really good way. She cried her way through season six and look at where she's at now.

And to see her and to kind of, I'm also really glad, Jason, we had her on now as opposed to two weeks off the show. I thought the perspective that she was able to bring, I thought that she talked about kind of where she's at in her career and things that she wants to kind of go back and do is really interesting. So overall, I thought it was great. I mean, we have, you know, Kaler in the hot seat, and that's exactly, you know, where we got to learn a lot about her and her journey. Yeah, I mean, exactly. I think you nailed it. It's, it's, the, the hat-trick comment is bang on.

I think, if you think about the O'Landria episode, it was all about really understanding her journey perspective and, like, where she's at from a business professional and financial mindset now. And I think we got to see that with Kaler. And, you know, she cried on the show. And she cried in this interview. which was beautiful, but I loved her take on it. She's like, you know, like showing like weakness or showing tears and emotion is not a negative, negative thing. It's a strength. No, and we've heard it a lot on this podcast before, but she doubles down on like her authentic self.

Like, you know, one thing is she gave the tip about applying for reality TV show, like answer all the questions in length, explaining all the authentic ways and craziness that they'd want to see in yourself. And she talked about like just really always double downing on that authentic. version of herself and that was even in her trading secret as well but i gotta say her authentic version of herself boy did we see it she was 22 years on the show i have it right here in my notes highlighted underline jason i can't imagine you or i going on love island the show of all shows in today's society at 22 years old can you paint a little bit of a picture for the people where you are at and how you think you would have been portrayed on

Love Island, season six, a 22 years old. 22 years old would have been a nightmare. I mean, you just like, I had no growth. I didn't know anything about myself. I had, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, did, no, it would have been a shit, like, like, an absolute shit show. Like, by the time that I went on reality TV, I had learned so much about my, like, just like, trigger points and, like, how to, how to, like, self, self-soothe, if that makes sense.

Like, to understand the things that. that drive you crazy but be like, okay, it's not just about what I'm feeling. It's about processing and understanding. And at 22, I couldn't do that. I mean, it would have been a disaster. Were you grad school? I think I got a good hometown edit on. You know, I just got like a good hometown guy at it on the bachelor, which is like what I am. But I think if it was 22, I might have been a villain. Where were you at 22 in your life? Were you going to grad school? So I graduated at 21. I was, so at 22, I had just moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and I was pursuing the banking industry, you know, going out every weekend, Thursday to Sunday, like ripping every weekend, you know,

doubling down on like, you're never going to be hung over at that age. So it would have been, it would have been a nightmare. Well, it's so funny that I think you said exactly what Kaler showed at 22, though. Like, you could self-sooth, right? I think at 22 we're also reactive, right? We don't have perspective, so we're reactive. So she's reacting in real time to Aaron, kissing this other girl and bringing her back to Cassie.

And here she is making her name off of crying reactively and not being able to get out of it. Listen, I was 22 years old as a freshman in college. 22-year-old freshman, I played four years of junior hockey. We need a whole podcast to explain the hockey world. I was 22 years old. I turned 22 in February, my freshman year at Kunapeak University. in Connecticut, which I was only there for one year.

And the fact that I was only there for one year probably shows that I wasn't even ready to be a freshman in college in the United States with all this change, let alone put in front of billions of people watching my every move. So let's just thank the heavens that you weren't on at 22, that I wasn't on at 22. And let's just bless Kayla for having the perspective that she has now as an almost 24-year-old that she said, which still makes me feel quite old. Oh, yeah, I thought there are sometimes like she was speaking. And I was like, wait, what's that word?

like, oh, it's that Gen Z word? But also, you being 22, as a freshman, explains a lot why you gave me dirty looks in the beginning. You're like, who is this child? Who is this 18-year-old jumping on the bar like an asshole? Oh, unbelievable. Well, I got it. One thing that she said that stuck over, I'm just more curious about how curious, curious, about your point of view is she said that her biggest haters are where she's from,

so her hometown. you know you obviously are eight seven eight years past being on the show was that the same for you did you find your your what you thought was your closest circle or the people that you know you should maybe have your back because they should be a little supportive knowing who you are did you feel like that your biggest haters at that time or even now came from your hometown or your college or anything like that i was just curious yeah i think the boys have always had my back like you guys have always had my back through this journey that's for sure but i think like probably more buffalo in Rochester there always has been like a little bit of like just fun like passive digs and

stuff you know early on when people are just ripping me for doing ads and stuff and part of me getting like ripped on by my hometown people for the ads uh was that was like really the starting point where i was like i'm going to just talk about it like you know how much i made on that and then people are like wait what so i think it was always been like a little like fun jabs though the only thing i don't like that a lot of some of my friends back home will will do like if I do if I go out and someone comes up and says hello right and then they'll be like you know they'll kind of make fun of it they'll be like oh it's jason from the bachelor let's get a photo can i get your photo and to me that's so disrespectful because that person

who's coming up obviously in some way has we've connected in a way right like and it's like you're now kind of making them feel stupid that they've connected with someone that they feel like they in some capacity you either trust or relate to and you're like diminishing it and for why like what what does that do like so when people do that i'll like bring them aside be like don't do that like it's that that's not fun for me and it's not fun for the person who's trying to like say hi because they whatever they saw me on instagram or they listen to the podcast or whatever but other than that i wouldn't say but you know i don't know does that answer your question? Yeah, it does. I actually can picture in my head that some of our friends who would actually do that. I won't name names right now. Oh, yeah. I can see that. But I've also been on the other side of it, of being with you and around you in different places of seeing the people

come up to you and, you know, both of us, obviously having the opposite approach of like sincerity and being genuine and like putting ourselves in their shoes where if you and me, if I rolled up to Justin Bieber and said something and his buddies were chirping me, like I'd feel like a little asshole but instead like if him and his buddy were like oh that's so cool you're from here and you connect on different levels i'll never forget at my bachelor party we were at cosmopolitan at the chandelier bar and we were all there having one of our deep heart to hearts as we as we did that weekend and one girl came up and she came up to you strictly for the podcast not for the bachelor and then she actually um asked if this is the curious canadian and i was like oh my god i was

going to say sometimes we're together people come up to david the curious canadian yeah yeah they love it We count them all in one hand because it doesn't happen that often. But when it does, it's pretty unique. It's a cool feeling. All right. So back to Kaler, just a few more thoughts. What else is top of mind from this one? Top of mind is I would hire her.

Top of mind is I would hire Kaler because she said her age, she's almost 24, any single person. You see people coming off the show, what they're trying to get into their ventures, they're full time. They want to be an influencer. Now they're modeling. Now they're posting. Now they're a fitness model. the amount of times that she came back to saying that she wants to go back to school or that she wants to get more jobs or that her comfort zone is having three jobs and being a busy schedule and she even said like you know my agent tells me I don't need to go to school other people in industry saying I don't need to go back to school like I can make this a career and she's like Jason I don't do anything from 8 to 12 and she brought up LTK and she's like it makes me feel like I have things to do like I get to open my laptop and type and I just thought that that was so unique and for her long term trajectory

awesome perspective that she now has again a year and a half off the show instead of being right off the show if we interviewed her. She wouldn't have that perspective. I would hire if I was a business person. I think that mindset is going to really trend for her to be successful. I'd buy stock in her long term. I would hire her. I would invest in her. I think that she's going to continue to kill it. Her engagement's off the chart. She's focused on the right thing. She's authentic with her audience. She's real. I'm sure she'll have a bunch more reality TV in her future. And she's good. she just gets the game like you know what I mean listen there's a bit of a game to this and she gets it and that was when I said my trading secret was that like she knows how to still be

herself while being like okay I'm gonna I'm gonna play here and I'm gonna dial it in and I'm gonna bring it and watch out and so I respected that element of it and I think she's I also love that how real she keeps it like I don't think I don't think she's filtered in a way that like maybe most people like overthink things like she's just like yeah this is what it is take it a little bit. 100%. It goes back to her authentic self. I love that she kind of had her

boyfriends back and in a bunch of things of some hate that he gets and things people were saying about them and about him. So I loved her for that. And Jay, I'm going to end with my biggest takeaway. Go.

My biggest takeaway is why I love this podcast. And I think as someone who's listened to every single episode, obviously, as you say the one, the only, but definitely just a man of the people, the Curious Canadian,

is I've, you know how big of a love I. Ellen fan. I've said it on this podcast a hundred times. Having Kayla, I was locked in. I wanted to get more about Kaler. But near the end, it kind of hit me. It said, man, I really love this podcast because as much as I'm loving getting to know the guest, I also want to get to know something. And what I mean by that is take the symbiotic episode we just had. Take Chris Foss. Sometimes we have guests on. I want to get to know them. A. Rod and Rob Deerdeck. And I want to get to know these people, these individuals. I want to get to know them.

the reality stars, the celebrities. But man, some of these episodes where I get to know something, like symbiotica, I don't want to get to know symbiotica at all. I still, to this day, I don't even know the guy's name. But, man, I left that episode with a feeling. I was motivated. I was energized.

I was, like, wanting to talk about that topic in depth. I wanted to learn more. I felt like I need to make changes in my life. I love that we can have guests, and I feel like the reason we be able to stand the test of podcast time is we deliver that on a monthly basis. and every month you're going to come on and you're going to learn about someone

that you probably want or curious to learn about and then the other times you're going to really take away with that feeling of learning something, putting something in action or feeling like you're better off for the hour that you tuned into listening

and that is my final thought on this episode. That is a beautiful way to summarize what we do on this podcast. Sometimes it's get to know someone. Other times it's get to know something and where we'll end right now is if you know me, you know, Peggy Morton you're listening,

text me and if you don't know me email me or put it in the reviews five stars of course and let us know do you prefer the episodes where you get to know someone or do you prefer the episodes where you get to learn something and i think those are big different episodes and maybe your answer is a mix of both and that's what we do on trading secrets so david i think that's a great place to wrap this has been an awesome recap always good to see you and hear from you and uh make sure you guys tune in next week For another episode of Trading Secrets, you can't afford to miss. We have a jam-pack lineup of guests. And this week, actually next week, I'll be traveling to L.A.

To go to Dancing with Stars. So we might have a guest or two from there. Stay tuned for another episode of Trading Secrets. Hopefully this was one you couldn't afford to miss. Making that money, money, pay on me. Making that money, living that dream.