Trading Secrets - 309. Janet Caperna: The Valley, Social Media Money, Bravo Fame & Financial Planning

Episode Date: June 22, 2026

This week, Jason is joined by Bravo personality and The Valley star Janet Caperna for a conversation about career reinvention, reality television, social media monetization, entrepreneurship, financial planning, and the unexpected path that led her from Ohio to becoming one of Bravo’s fastest-rising stars. Before becoming a reality television personality, Janet built a completely different career. Growing up in Ohio, she earned degrees in English and American Sign Language interpretation before managing a large team of interpreters. Following a divorce in her late twenties, Janet made the difficult decision to leave Ohio for Los Angeles, seeking a fresh start and a new chapter in life. Janet shares how a friendship with Scheana Shay unexpectedly opened doors in Hollywood and eventually led her into the world of executive support for high-net-worth individuals. She reflects on working for a billionaire family before landing what she describes as a dream role helping build Avaline, the wine company founded by Cameron Diaz and Katherine Power. Janet offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at how celebrity-founded businesses actually operate, explaining why Avaline succeeded by having deeply involved founders who treated the company like a true startup rather than simply lending their names to a brand. Jason and Janet dive into the realities of executive assistant careers, discussing compensation, benefits, equity opportunities, and why top assistants today can earn well into six figures. Janet also shares lessons learned from working alongside successful entrepreneurs, including how identifying gaps in the market can become the foundation for a successful business. The conversation then shifts to Bravo and the creation of The Valley. Janet explains how the show originated from real-life friendships, why she initially hesitated to join reality television, and how perfect timing—including leaving Avaline, becoming pregnant, and receiving the Bravo opportunity—ultimately changed the trajectory of her career. She discusses the realities of reality TV compensation, what viewers don’t see behind the scenes, and why authenticity is critical for long-term success on television. Janet also opens up about navigating public criticism, internet hate, and social media scrutiny. She shares how difficult early seasons helped her develop resilience and why she now avoids placing too much value on either praise or criticism from strangers online. Instead, she focuses on feedback from close friends and family while continuing to build her platform in an authentic way. Beyond reality television, Janet discusses podcasting, content creation, and social media monetization. She reveals how her podcast grew organically, why some of the most successful content comes from unplanned conversations, and how she evaluates brand partnerships to ensure they align with her personal values. From landing her first paid sponsorships to building a growing audience, Janet shares practical insights for anyone looking to create content and monetize an online platform. Throughout the episode, Janet reflects on friendship, gratitude, financial discipline, and the importance of staying grounded while navigating success. Whether discussing reality television, entrepreneurship, personal finance, or career pivots, she emphasizes the value of taking calculated risks while maintaining a long-term perspective. Janet reveals all this and so much more in another episode you can’t afford to miss! Subscribe to the Trading Secrets podcast! Host: Jason Tartick Audio: John Gurney Video: Marc Colcer Guest: Janet Caperna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to another episode of Trading Secrets. Today we are joined by one of Bravo's fastest rising reality television personalities, Janet Keperda. Jedda first entered the Bravo universe through friendships connected to Vanderpump Rules. But she's now become one of the breakout stars of the Valley. Bravo's newest hit series following marriage, parenting, friendships in the realities of adult life after reality TV fame. But beyond the headlines and drama, Janet's story is actually really interesting. Before reality television, she won. worked in executive-supported roles for celebrity-owned brands, lived in a much more traditional life outside of Hollywood, and then suddenly found herself navigating fame, internet criticism, internet love, social media monetization, and building a brand in front of millions of viewers. Today, we're going to talk all about the business reality of television, how Bravo talent might

actually get paid. Social media deals, navigating public perception, marriage, money, internet culture and all the mayhem that got her to where she is today. Janet, welcome to trading secrets. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here. This is awesome. You know, I think what's really cool is your story is, I think, very relatable to almost like any age in 2026. If we go to up-and-coming kids in high school with aspirations to do big things in social media, do things differently and go to school in the Midwest, but move out West, to then finding that, working for a big celebrity brand like Cameron Diaz is wine brand, and then doing it on your own, I think there's so many things from your navigation your career that all ages can relate

to. So let's go back in time because I think going chronologically kind of helps people see the vision of how you got to where you are. But you know, you go to Ohio University, you're working in the Midwest, and then you actually go through a divorce. And it's my understanding based on the research I did, the divorce was really the light that sparked you to move out west to change career and life direction. Tell me about what that was like and how hard it was to make that decision and some of the things that went through your mind while making that big leap of faith. Definitely.

So like you said, I grew up in Ohio, in Columbus, Ohio. I went to school in Ohio University where I got a bachelor's in English. After that, I went to Columbus State, which is a local community college, and got a second associate's degree in American Sign Language interpreting an education. And then after that, in Ohio, while I was married and living there, I worked as a sign language interpreter for a few years. That kind of led me then to, I was working for an agency, and I started managing the agency. So instead of going out and being in the field as an interpreter myself, I was managing about 40 other interpreters schedules and, you know, when anything would pop up, like somebody got a flat tire on the

way to a job, I would look at through our other interpreter's schedules and move everybody around. And that really kind of gave me a love for logistics, planning, scheduling, all of that. And so when I went through my divorce, which was, you know, I think the product of nobody should be able to get married when they're 22 years old. I was very, very young. And then, you know, by 27, sort of figuring out what I wanted to do in life. And we just kind of realized we weren't right for each other. So I had a family of an aunt and uncle who live in Los Felas, California, and have been in the movie and TV industry for a long time. So they never had kids. So when I used to come out here for like two weeks every summer, my spring breaks, I would come out here and they would

show me L.A., but like a real L.A. Like we would go to like the farmer's market and like tea at the peninsula hotel and all these kind of cool places, less touristy and more like what you would do if you lived here. So I always had a love for L.A. And when I was getting divorced, I wanted physical space between, you know, that situation and to get away for a little while. So I was planning on moving out here temporarily. And my job at the time managing the sign language interpreting agency was remote. So that allowed me to really take my life somewhere else for a little while and after a while I made friends with Sheena Shea from Vanderpump Rules. When I moved out here, she's my first friend in L.A.

And now looking back, I really feel like that was sort of a butterfly effect of where I am now. But I made friends with Sheena and she was kind of watching what I was doing for work and was like, you should be an assistant. Like you can do a lot of the stuff that these big, you know, celebrity assistants need. And I helped her with a lot of stuff when we were traveling. like if she got a job, you know, doing a paid appearance or something, I would go with her. She would, you know, get my hotel room comped from her, you know, brand deals and stuff. And I would just sort of help her with stuff as I was there.

And I really fell in love with that as I was helping her. And I was like, maybe I should look into this. So I started updating my resume and putting it out to a couple agencies. There's a couple really good staffing agencies for assistance, housekeepers. house managers, butlers, chefs, like everybody that runs the house for high net worth individuals, I started putting my resume out there and got my first job as an assistant for, I signed an NDA so I can't reveal too much about who they are, but a billionaire in Los Angeles who had a very, very busy schedule, doing a lot of philanthropy and, you know, had a family. And so I worked for

them for a year and I really loved what I was doing. But after that, I sort of grew and ended up working for Avalene, which was Cameron Diaz and Catherine Powers wine business. And I was there for a few years and that was the best job ever. I can imagine. I'm going to pause you there because there's so much that we have to cover amongst all these steps. First of all, my curiosity is taking me in a different direction. Sign language interpreters. This is why I love this podcast, things you never think about. Of course it makes sense that they would be employed by agencies and agencies would get them work, but it's something you don't think about. What is, and we talk money on this podcast, like a sign language interpreter, when you're booking them for something, right? What are, like,

what are they paid for that? So an average interpreter when you're starting out, and this was, you know, eight, 10 years ago, so it may have changed since then. But starting out would be somewhere between $30 and $40 an hour for, that's the very big. But then when you have like specialty interpreters that are in like the medical field or education field, doing concerts, things that require a lot more prep and understanding of like jargon and that field specifically, you can get all the way up to like the hundred to 150 an hour range. Wow. Amazing. Okay. And then another thing we talk a lot about on this podcast, it's just this marriage of love and money. Like there's a lot of moving parts with it. It's real.

A lot of people deal with the stresses of it, the successes of it. And people have tips and tricks. We also learned from trials and tribulations through your divorce. Was there any takeaways, lessons you learned as it relates to love and money and what that looks like in lessons or anything of that nature? Yeah. So my ex-husband and I, we're still friendly. I think both of us just realized we got married too young. And he's a great guy and we still, you know, support each other and are happy for each other

and where we are in life. Luckily in Ohio, you can't do this in California, but in Ohio, you can do a disillusion instead of a divorce, which is a more friendly version of a divorce, where you together sit down and divide up your assets and everything the way you want it to. And then you basically have a judge sign off on it. So we were really lucky in that we weren't arguing over, you know, money or anything big. You know, he started a business while we were married, but I didn't want to, you know, touch that at all. I was really proud of him for what he had succeeded in that. And so when we left, we was sort of like, let's sell our house. If we make money off that, let's split it evenly.

Let's split up our cars. Let's not touch each other's personal assets. And luckily, the whole time we were married, we kept separate bank accounts, which I think is really smart. I still do that today in my marriage. We have a joint bank account, but then we also have separate. And so we sat down, divided everything up really without too much argument. And had, I mean, we went into like a lawyer's office, had a judge sign off on everything. And then we went and got brunch afterwards. So we had a very friendly separation and divorce. That is the most refreshing story I heard. People get married.

It doesn't work out. You grow out of love. It's okay. You sign the paperwork. You have lunch and brunch afterwards. That's a beautiful thing. I actually was just on a TV network talking about the teeter totter approach. And I was like, you can't have a customized approach with love and money.

But one idea that I think is effective is have your own individual accounts, create a joint account. And then my theory is like based on your insurer. income. Like if someone, let's say is a couple you want to contribute $5,000 to this account. If someone makes two times more than the other partner, you contribute two times more to that joint account than have your own money. Do you have any sort of philosophy that's working for you guys as far as like kind of that goes with a joint account and your own separate accounts? Yeah, we've always kept separate accounts. And then we've had our own when, you know, when I was working as an assistant, my paychecks went into my account. My husband's a lawyer.

His money went into his account. We actually didn't have. have a joint bank account until we did the show together because we make the same amount off of the show together. So all of our checks are equal in that. And basically with that account, everything goes into there from the show or any like brand deals or anything like that that we do. And then from there, we basically, you know, Jason's really good about having a good cash flow and income. And I'm really the one in the relationship that's looking into like retirement accounts and making sure that we have like a brokerage. And, you know, he's always contributed to a 401. K. But other than that, he would just sort of spend what he had or have like some cash savings,

but he wasn't a very big saver and like, you know, looking into the future as much as I was. So we sort of with our joint account, once it reaches a certain level of cash, then we put it into a retirement account that I manage. Wow. I mean, that is so rare. Like usually what we have on the show is someone will talk about someone's very financially focused. The other person is not in one person will kind of manage the finances. This is a rare circumstance where like within the category of finance and personal finance, you have someone who's really good at like short term cash flow and someone that's really good at long term planning. That's different. And obviously it works. So, that's pretty cool. Yeah. Jason doesn't really, I mean, he's really busy. He works a lot. So I feel like

I have more time during the day to sort of look into what we should be investing in. And I'm very like, I don't do risky investments. Most of our stuff is in the S&P 500 or various mutual funds that are very safe investments, stuff we can tuck away money in and not look at it, like on a daily basis. I don't want to be day trading. I don't want to be looking every single day. I pop in, you know, here and there, make sure everything looks good. But really, the money that we put away is like not to be touched for, you know, 20 plus years is the goal. I love it. I love it. That's awesome. That's good stuff. Well, you mentioned earlier in your just your chronological breakdown of what life looked like professionally and personally, you said, Sheena Shea, she, been on the podcast,

It also reminds me a Lala Kent. She's been on the podcast. I was looking that Lala Ken has also just recently been on your podcast, the side of the hill. So for everyone curious about China or Lala Kent and your podcast, it's coming. We're going to dive into that. Before we do, though, I want to get into this breakdown of what your career looked like. You work for the billionaire.

You then decide to go move in a different direction. And like you said, you end up at Cameron Diaz's wine company. What did your role look like in Catherine Powers? What did your role look like in that as far as probably like education experience and also monetization? Walk me through that decision. Yeah. So they were, excuse me, they were starting Avaline. They had started Aveline a couple months before I got there.

So I was, I think they're maybe like less, they had less than 10 employees when I started. And they really needed someone. They're both very busy, savvy business women. They needed somebody who was going to help them with the day-to-day management. So they needed basically a liaison between them and the company. So I came on as an executive assistant so that I could basically be eyes and ears on the marketing team, the executive team, everybody over at Avalene and then relay to Catherine and Cameron what they needed to know, questions they needed to be answering, you know, meetings they needed to be scheduling and sort of taking out anything that they don't need to know or that they don't need to be involved in. But both of them are extremely hands on with Ablein. very much not like a lot of celebrity businesses where, you know, they're just slapping their name on

it and they're not involved in the day to day. They hired me because they wanted to know what was going on. They wanted to make sure that they were, you know, managing everything like hands on themselves. And I think that's why Abilene's so successful now. I mean, now they're on their probably eighth year of business, if I had to guess. And they're in like 6,000 grocery stores. They have a really great online business. And I think it's so successful because they really keep their eyes and ears on their team. They hire amazing people. They're really, really on top of it. And yeah, my job was basically just to make sure that they were knowing the ins and ounce of everything that was going on. We just had Kyle Cook on and he talked about how the fact that so many of these celebrity brands

don't actually have the celebrity involved in the day-to-day operation. And he talked about not only was he involved, but like having the personal guarantee. of these loans tied to his name, which means the banks and the government were coming after him. So it's interesting to hear from your vantage point that that's one of the differentiating factors that kind of has led to their success. What would you say, you know, we see the success of Cameron Diaz or Catherine Powers and so many people see what's out there. They see what's public. Behind the scenes working with them one-on-one, what do you think the biggest learning lesson is that you took away from what's made them who they are? Honestly, working for

them. I felt like there were some days I should be paying them for a master class in business because they were so, so hands on. I mean, from everything from the pantones, there would be days that we would just be sitting down with a literal book of colors and trying to figure out which color matches the new variety of wine that they're releasing, talking about, you know, meeting with the marketing team and talking about what would be the most effective campaign, how to use Cameron's celebrity, but not in a cheesy way that doesn't feel natural to her. So, you know, having other friends and people come in and doing like cooking content with Cameron was a big part of it. She at home, like in her daily life is a big home cook. So she would want to do these cooking videos where

she paired her recipes with the wine. And then every once in would have like some celebrity friends or family members pop in and which would happen naturally. If you were at her house during the day, that's what she was doing. So she was, They were really, really involved in every single aspect. Every person that was hired, either Catherine or Cameron had a meeting with them before they were signed on to make sure that they were right person for the role. They were incredibly impressive. And, you know, both of them invested their own money into Avalene. So it wasn't just them going out, finding investors and then slapping their name on it.

It was their money that started the brand. And I feel like they started the brand because they were genuine friends and they would often sit around. they're both extremely clean when it comes to everything in their food, their skin care, everything in life. And so they were sitting down one day and they're like, you know, wine kind of doesn't make me feel great. And they were like, what actually is in wine? And they looked at the back of a bottle of wine and they realized this is like one of the only consumables that doesn't have the ingredients on the back of a label. And they're like, we don't even know what we're drinking. How is that possible?

How does this, you know, how do you not have to put your ingredients on a bottle of wine? And so they started seeking out, like, where can we find organic wine? How is organic wine advertised or listed on the bottle? And they found that a lot of this information was missing. And that if they wanted that in their life, there were probably other consumers that wanted that too, especially with this like clean revolution we're having where everybody suddenly cares about, you know, what's in their skin care, what's in every, you know, part of the meat that they're eating. And they're like, how come wine hasn't like leaned into this already? And they were pretty early on with that idea. And they decided like something I really learned for them is like if it's something that you don't feel like is missing from your life that you want to have, you know, that you can't find somewhere. That's the business you should go into. I love it. Find that, find that like just the bridging gap of a pain point, whether you're hated or love it and build a business around it. And it's so cool to hear from people that have worked for teams because you hear kind of one or two things.

You hear the team is putting the talent on a pedestal, and it's the team that's driving their success. And then you hear some people where it's like the talent is the quarterback, and the team is so good at supporting their success and helping them get there. Then, of course, you have everyone that just works in unison, which is very rare. But it's really cool to hear that side of it. Two more questions on the EA role with Cameron Deans and Catherine Powers. I got to imagine that's a job that there's a lot of people that want to knock on that door. There's a lot of people that want to work for those two and a new brand. What was the hardest thing about the interview process, either a question that you think put

you in the seat to land that job? You know, I didn't know who I was interviewing for for the first probably two or three interviews. I knew that it was a celebrity owned wine business and that intrigued me. I thought that was really cool. I drink wine. And I was like, this could be fun. This could be an interesting pivot and have some interesting cool stuff going on.

But I interviewed, and I had a strong resume. The billionaire that I worked for first is sort of known in this town as being very tough. And people, it's almost like a devil's worst product job. Everyone's like, if you can work for her for a year and not get fired and not give up and quit, you can work for anybody. So, and she was a reference for me after that. She was very, very supportive in me moving on to the next thing. When she hired me, she said, like, everybody that works for me goes on to do something great. So like stick with me and you'll do it. And she was true to her word. So once that was a big part of it is that I had her name on my resume. So I think Cameron knew who she was had heard a little bit about her. Catherine knew who she was. And so they were like very impressed that I stuck with her for a year. That was a big part of getting in with Cameron. And then I think you don't both of them rely on a lot of the natural chemistry you have with somebody. So once I did get to maybe the third or fourth interview with Cameron and Catherine, I was like, oh,

okay, this is, it sort of almost took away the nervousness of meeting an A with celebrity like them because I was so concentrated and had learned so much about the role and the job and I really wanted it. So by the time I met with them, I thought, okay, this is the part of the interview where we're either going to hit it off or we're not. And I don't want to be in a position where I'm not hitting it off with somebody, like an executive assistant, personal assistant, all of those roles, it's like dating. Like if it's not right and the chemistry is not there, it's not going to happen. So you can have all of the qualifications and the strongest resume in the world. But if you sit down with them and it's, you're just not feeling it, then it's not going to work. So once I sat down with them,

I was so impressed with their friendship and business relationship, how they were going about hiring everybody and just their chemistry between the two of them. I was like, they're going to do something huge. Like this is going to be big. And I wanted to be a part of it. And I wanted to be a part of And I think we had that natural chemistry. So, you know, it worked out. That's pretty cool. One of the last questions I got on this part of your journey and your career is you look at like an entry-level support type role in Ohio, right, where you're from, versus the experience at this point that you have. You're working for one of the hardest billionaires to work for that carries insane reputation in one of the biggest, and one of the biggest of best cities in the country, L.A.

And now you're working your way with all this experience to an A-list celebrity in a support role. I have to imagine an entry-level support role in Ohio is compensated much differently than a new brand startup for a big celebrity. What does that look like? Yeah. Is there a, like, earn equity? Do you, is it cash only? What's the compensation look like? You know, the best roles, I think, and one of the reasons Avaline worked so well is that they had amazing benefits.

So that was really great to have like full, you know, health dental eye care benefits. A 401K and an employer will match a 401K, that's super important because that's just extra free, tax-free money that you're getting to put away every year. And then potential equity in the company is also a very big plus. So those things, you don't get at every assistant role. A lot of them, it will be just the basics benefits. depends on the role. But those are really important things. And, you know, and also like a bonus structure and yearly raises, which Avaline did and had, those are all things that are telling me

that a company's investing in me in the same way I'm investing in a company. So if I'm going to put all of my time and really be passionate about what I'm doing, I want to know that they're taking care of me too. And those are just the beginning signs of showing that a company is like really, really putting in the time, the money, the effort, and investing in their talent. I like it. So full, full package of all the good stuff. From a base, I got to ask it. Otherwise, I'm not doing my job from like a cash compensation. Can that be a six-figure job? Definitely. I would say, you know, six figures is I think if you're hiring an executive assistant that you expect to work 40 plus hours a week and is available if

something, if there's an event on a weekend, for marketing team, you want them there. There's evening work that pops up. If you want somebody that's really dedicated, six figures, I think is the minimum for an executive assistant these days. The range I'm seeing now, because I'm still on some of the emails with the agencies and I see the jobs pop up is about 130 to 150,000 a year. Holy smokes. The EA role is popping these days. Yeah, I mean, you see like at the Oscars or the Emmys, it seems like every time there's an award show, there's a new viral clip of one of these executive assistants that's like running in the streets at 2 a.m. Getting their talent down, chasing the police, getting, I mean, it's crazy. It's a whole different

world out in L.A. But let's transition to what everyone knows you most for, which is Bravo. So talk to me about behind the scenes. What is something behind the scenes we wouldn't know about how and when they approach you and how this came about? You know, for us, it came from natural friendships, which is why I think the Valley is so successful. When Jacks and Brittany were friends of Jason and I's for years before and now that they're divorced, not so much of the Jack side, but we were friends with them for years. And when we moved to the Valley, we're like walking distance from now Brittany's house. So we, especially during the pandemic, when we would barely see people, they were like people

that we're also not going out or doing anything. So we would hang out with them and we got really close. And they started floating the idea of like, we're pitching this TV show and we want to do a TV show about our friends right now where we are in this stage of life. And when this originally started getting talked about, I was still at Avalene. Jason is, you know, a lawyer, which he still is a partner at his firm.

We were like, I don't know if we can do this with our current careers. And then as it evolved, because TV shows take years and years. to make. Once they started getting the okay for a pilot, things were starting to get greenlit in the background. And I'm not sure exactly how that entire process goes because they kind of keep us out of that until it's ready to go. But once that they were in this point where they said, okay, we're like good to go. I had just left Avalene. Cameron was going back in the movie business and she needed somebody who could travel with her. And I had just gotten married. Jesus and I were talking about starting a family. I was like, I can't be bopping all over the country and world like for weeks at a time.

Like that was just not going to be conducive to us like trying to have a baby. And so I left on great terms. It was, you know, I'm still friends and, you know, close with everybody over at Avalene and support them. But it was like this period of time where I wasn't working at the time. I had this offer coming in from Bravo. And then right at that same time, I found out I was pregnant. So I was like, all right. Jason and I kind of sat down and we look to each other and we're like, I'm like, I either need to update my resume and get an assistant job before I look like I'm six months pregnant or we got to maybe take a leap of faith and plunge into this new interesting opportunity and try out reality TV, which is a place neither of us ever thought we would be. I always thought it was super fascinating having friends that were in this world and I loved watching them do it. I never thought.

could do it myself. So it all sort of like the stars aligned in that aspect where it was like I was ending, you know, my career at Abilene. I was pregnant and this opportunity opened up right at the same time. Okay. So this opportunity and it's almost literally everything for you is perfect timing here. And Jason is an attorney, right? So his billable hours in California, I'm sure, pretty high. And you're just starting this role. And then on top of it, you're left kind of behind the scenes uninformed of when it will come to fruition. Will you be picked? Is it going to get greenlit? How at that point, and do you at that point, even negotiate when they put an offer on your

table to join the cast? Yeah. So we met with, we knew that we were pretty much in the final running, I would say. Like I think Jackson, Brittany first started with a long list of probably like 20 friends that they pitched for the show. And we had, you know, done some interviews with producers, some people. from the network actually came to our home. They wanted to see like actually inside of our life, what our life was like. And so after we met with people, we were like, okay, I think we are,

you know, they let us know, like, it's probably going to be us. And we were like, let's give this a go and see what happens. And, you know, if it doesn't work out, I'm really like, I really believe in like the universe and fate and everything happens for a reason. So once we kind of went through this process, I was like, if it doesn't work out, then I'll take a year off this is what Jason and I decided. I would take a year off from assisting. And then after the babies, you know, three, six months old, somewhere in that range, then I'll go back to work if the show doesn't work out. And so that was sort of our backup plan. And we were sort of budgeting and planning for that if the show didn't work out. This is where your long-term retirement planning comes

into fruition. I know you can only share so much, but I got to imagine that when you look at a first season of a new show, even though it has history connected to a very successful show at Bravo, it's going to be paying a lot less than your operational support executive assistant role at Adelene. Is that correct? Yeah, it was less the first year. But that, I think because they wanted to see how, you know, what the show is going to be, is this show going to go past a first season? Is it going to flop like, and we're going to have no viewers?

It's pretty rare, actually, for a reality show to get greenlit for an entire season instead of just a single pilot. So they were really taking a leaf of faith on us. And so, yeah, the first year, I think that they weren't going to throw a ton of money into this. And I think that's very normal. But since then, it has definitely been worth the time. Okay. So since season one, it's outpaced the earnings of your previous career. Do you feel, because you get a lot of screen time, you're on watch what happens live all the time.

Like, you are a main character. do you feel especially knowing that like in learning that a lot of these shows just get pilots they don't even get first seasons and then now you're on the second season you're earning more than you did as an EA now your your career is is taking off in a new industry do you feel pressure when you film to make sure you're bringing the most dialed version of you i think in a lot of bravo shows even real housewives we see um different characters are cast from other shows or from other experiences, they come on and they have to dial back almost because they're worried about what perception will be like. From my perception of you, it looks like you stay right at who you are

or dial in as a result of that, your main character. Is that part of your like strategy when you're going on these shows and you're filming? I think the strategy is you just have to not have a strategy. And you know, there's times where like before each season, Jason and I are like, what's going on in our lives? We're pretty boring actually right now. And then something crazy happens like Jason plays basketball, tears his knee apart, and suddenly is like bedridden, and we're dealing with that on camera. So anytime, I think if you try to like self-produce and like create your own storylines, that's when it comes off as fake and, you know, people are not interested in watching that. You just have to roll with the punches in life. And whatever's happening in your life,

you just have to be honest about and, you know, be real about. You know, there's a couple times coming up where I did not handle, you know, Jason being in bed pretty much and having to take care of a two-year-old by myself and, you know, having all and taking care of him at the same time. So I think you're going to see that process and that was all very raw and real. And there were points of that time where I was like, gosh, I wish there wasn't a camera here because I feel embarrassed that I'm like, you know, lose in my mind a little bit here. But if you just lean into it and say like, you know what, we agreed to share our life. This is what's going on in our life right now. And instead of of like hiding from it or trying not to show certain things, just being like, I'm just going to give

it to them, you know, the good, the bad, the ugly, and hope that it all works out. Yeah, I think it's perfectly said. I was recently asked, again, back to Kyle Cook, actually, we did a Bloomberg panel and we were asked a little bit about like how life has actually changed since you run a reality TV and have a social media platform. And my response is actually very similar to what you just said. It's like every single person in this room right now, you have your community. And in your community things happen that you talk about the dinner table or over a drink, right? Someone gets married, someone gets divorced. There's a new baby. There's, you know, someone had an affair, right? It happens in everybody's lives and there's that table talk. And the only difference really is that you're putting

your life out there to more people. So there's more noise. But like the same stories, the same things naturally happen organically. And that's why a show like the Valley is doing well because those moments are relatable, right? Those moments are relatable that you're taking care of a two year old. Your husband's in bed. people can relate to all sides of it and have opinion. And so, yeah, that's my take on that. Something else to me that's relatable that when I was, you know, knowing about your story and looking more into it, I feel very, I feel very passionate about this topic. You had said it about the universe. Like the universe works out the way it should. You mentioned Jackson, Brittany. When you're in relationships or friendships or business partnerships, the natural progression of

life is you meet new people. And with those new people, you meet new people. And you could be in a relationship today. And through that person, you meet a friend of theirs. And you and their friend become very good friends. And then that relationship doesn't work out. You can still have that friendship. Yeah. And I think people that put these like handcuffs on these situations where it's like individuals should be controlled based on the fact that they made an introduction or changed something for them, is so silly and quite frankly toxic it. That's my personal opinion. Your story, there are some dots to storylines that connect to you and, you know,

she know we're friends and that's what led you to the show. And then there was some pushback you got because of that. Yeah. I think a lot of people that listen to this deal with that in some scenario of their life, right? It could be, there could be someone who's in sales right now who got introduced to a new company and then they got promoted over their friend when they got there. someone that's a nurse that, you know, got moved into administration, but a friend is pissed off about this. So I think there are people that connect to this whole thing that has happened to you.

And I'm wondering your take on it and advice you have for someone that's going through something like that, wherever it is in their workspace and how you specifically have dealt with it. I think communication is so important. And Sheena's like family to me. We've been friends for almost a decade now. So as I was navigating this process of deciding if I would do this show or not, She was a big part of that. There was a lot of conversations where I was like, do you think I should do this? Do you think I'm interesting enough to do this? You know, would you support me doing this?

And then, you know, she was extremely supportive along the whole way and was like, give it a shot. It's fun. Like, go along for the ride. If it doesn't work out, if you're not interesting, you won't get us back. You know, we had a lot of like fun conversations about it. And then as I started, you know, when I got my first paid brand deal, Sheena was one of the first people I called and thanked and said, like, I am so appreciative that I met you, that it became what it is today.

And now as I'm cashing this check, like, can I take you to dinner? Like, I would like to like do something nice for you. So, you know, she's been extremely supportive along the way. And I think I think you lose relationships if you're not communicating effectively in those situations. If I would have just been interviewing for the show and not, you know, let Sheena in on what I was doing, it would have come off as a little bit shady. But she was along the ride with me and knew sort of what I was doing every step.

of the way. And then I always just show appreciation where I feel like appreciation is due. And, you know, when when big things happen that are because of the Bravo world and because Sheena introduced me to this group of friends and it became what it became, you know, I'm always appreciative of her. That's a really good take. Because I think you're right. Like understanding that there might be frustration or envy in those situations, I think some people in their heads like say, of course, there's no problem with this. Why would there? And they forget that other piece of communication. So I think that's a really big one. And then the piece of show appreciation, I think is another one easier said than done. Right. I think it's much easier to be like, I appreciate you. But then you cash that

first check and you're like actually acting on it with execution and actual like, let's go to dinner. Trading secrets, I wouldn't be doing my job for an ask that first paycheck, that first brand deal. We all remember ours. What did yours look like? What was that first payday for a brand deal? I had two around the same time. And I don't want to get direct of how much I got paid, but like, are less than, way less than six figures, like in the five figure range. And I had two. I had one for a skincare company that my friend started and that I had always been supporting anyway. So I was very excited to jump on board with them. They were like, let's do a video and put it out there. And then I had another one with Chili's that was so exciting because I am a fast food, girly. And I love fried food, junk food, all of that.

And I met Chili's in Encino, like, way too much. So when that came across, I remember getting the email and I ran into Jason's office. I was like, oh, my gosh, Chili's wants to do like an ad with me. And I was like, I would do it for like a gift card to Chili's. And Jason was like, well, don't tell them that because they're probably going to pay you real money. And I was just excited to be like a part of that. And, you know, I only want to say yes to brand deals that I believe in and that it's actually something that I buy on my own. If I'm not willing to pay for the product or the brand myself,

then I'm not going to do it. And luckily, because of, you know, Jason and I's financials and the way that we've set things up and the way we budget, I don't have to say yes to every offer that comes across. So if something comes in and I'm like, oh, I would never do that. Or, you know, sometimes I like see stuff and I laugh thinking of myself trying to advertise that. I'm like, this would be, this would come off so fake and cheesy. Like, there's just no way I can do this. So I feel like it's, it's, I feel lucky that I have the ability to say no to some things. And I feel like that's just the best way to do it is to only say yes to the things that really you feel strongly about. Yeah. Your, your start to this was a little bit more gracious than mine. Back in 2018, the first one I did,

I had no idea I got a call. It was for a weighted blanket. I was like, what do I have to do? Post a photo. Okay, then what? How about 15 grand to post a photo? photo of a way to blanket. I didn't think, I was like, come take that phone. Let's call. I don't give a shit what's going on here. How is what, talk to me about some of that strategy. Like, can you think of a big deal either monetarily or one that was like really hard to pass up, but you did pass it up because you're just like a doesn't align? I haven't had too many huge ones. Luckily, I haven't had to say no to like a giant check. And I'm happy that I haven't been put in that position. It's a lot of like little smaller stuff. So a lot of it will be like a skincare brand that I've never tried. And so I'm like, eh, like,

that's not really my thing. Like a sunless tanner brand. And I'm like, I don't do some like I get a spray tan maybe once a year and I have somebody come do it. Like little things like that that I'm like, unless I like get into this sometime later in life, just the sum of the stuff just doesn't feel aligned. And I am such a bad actor. I hate doing the frontward facing camera videos as is. And so the idea of like trying to be like, hi, this is, you know, it makes me cringe. I can't do it. And so, you know, anytime even if I wanted to say yes to it, I feel like I'm like, I would just, I would be so bad at this. I would send this over and they'd be like, no. Fair enough. I feel like though you are active. Like your social media is active. You're posting a lot.

You have your podcast. It feels like in 2026, mid-2020s, everyone kind of has an opinion on social media and the business behind it. What's your take on it? I feel like right now I try to keep my social media just authentic and fun and just show a glimpse of what I'm doing in my everyday life. I cook probably six dinners a week for my family, and that's something that's really I love to do. And so my best friend Jared, who co-hosts our podcast with us, he's over at our house most nights for dinner. And we found this kind of funny way of sharing

my recipes because he doesn't cook at all. And often when I'm cooking, he's like, why are you doing that? Like, why are you patting that dry first? Why are you? And I was sort of teaching him little like cooking methods as I was in the kitchen. And so we started recording some of my cooking content of just me, and he was just recording it and editing it. And then we realized, like, him popping in and asking these questions and being somebody who doesn't know how to cook was actually the kind of magical element that we were missing. And so we started putting out cooking videos together. And it's mostly me cooking and then assigning him little tasks of him being like, how big do I cut this? What, like, what's the, you know, process here? And I think people were,

relate to that because you either know how to cook and you align with me or you don't and you align with him asking the questions. So that's something that we have fun like putting out cooking videos for and I hope to monetize that one day. There's a couple of food brands that I've worked with who send me like some really great PR packages that I would love to do some brand work with. But I want to keep it authentic. And so that feels like a very real element of my life that I'm happy to share. And if that moves into money opportunities, I'm happy to take those. I love it. Try new things. New things happen might be monetized. On the reality TV, as you've learned and and see season to season season, there's just a lot of noise. The Bravo, I think universe is one of the most

passionate universes out there. Spend now more than ever, Summer House and everything else happening. Every show is popping off. And then you see on social media, right, you plan and you do your podcast and you're looking to move into potentially becoming a food creator, right? Like all these things pop up. it's a two-part question but one how has the noise impacted you like the loud noises of those that aren't so favorable or those that are favorable and how do you then manage going season to season knowing if you do something or step into shit there might be massive consequences on things that you are continuing to try and monetize on social media I would say I'm looking back now I am actually grateful that I got a lot of hate in the early seasons and

season one and two. I got a lot of backlash, a lot of people that did not vibe with me, that did not like how I did things or my attitude. And so I started out understanding how bad, you know, the response from the audience can be. And now it's gotten, you know, a lot of people I think have gotten to know me a little bit better. And now I have people who support me and I get kind comments. But what I've learned through both of those, both getting support and having people, you know, love you and having people hate you is not to put too much value in the opinion of strangers either way. So I love the fan base. I was a fan of Bravo before I was on Bravo. So I love interacting with people online and talking to people, but I also try not to let the comments either

inflate my ego or bring me down. So I try to listen to what my friends and family are saying first. And I love having friends that hold me accountable and say like, you shouldn't have said that or you shouldn't have done that. And here's what you could have done better or differently. But as far as like, if somebody's leaving a hate comment or saying like, you're the best and you were right and this and that, I try to like listen, take it in a little bit, but then not put too much value in it. Yeah, that's, I mean, great perspective, great balance. That's how you got to do it. You mentioned season one and two. Going back to season one, let's just think about it, knowing what you know now. What would you, I'm going to force you. You got to give me something.

A lot of people say, I would do nothing. What would you do differently knowing what you know now? You know, season when I was pregnant, so I was very, like, I was at a different stage in life than I had ever been before. I think if I, I'm typically somebody who would say, like, I wouldn't do anything because it's led me to where I am now. I wouldn't change anything. That being said, I think I didn't realize that, you know, these were all real friendships that had years of history before cameras were in our lives. And there was stuff that happened before, you know, the valley started where like, I had an issue with somebody. And but the audience didn't see that. They saw it pick up at a very specific point in life. So I wish I would have maybe explained background a little bit more or given people fresh starts on the show and sort of watch things evolve instead of holding grudges from things that happened a year or two before we filmed and bringing that grudge, you know, into the show.

That's a good perspective. Like the idea that the viewing audience doesn't know 10 years ago, right? Right. bring in these like these triggers and in past issues and then you have to re-explain these things that don't make sense because they haven't been explained to the audience that's yeah that's actually that's a pretty good take uh explaining the audience is something you're doing right with your podcast now the side of the hill so when you started it let's talk about this talk to me about some of the startup costs how hard was it to get it off the ground and running a lot of people these days are trying to start

podcasts but they don't talk about some of the work that goes behind it or the money they have to put fourth. Give us a summary of what that looked like. If you're thinking of starting a podcast, I would say start slow and build it from there based on how much income you're bringing in from it. We started with just the audio equipment, which I think ran us like $5 to $600 for like mics and the recorder, you know, memory cards, batteries, that's the basics. And once, instead of going and pitching ourselves with no experience to some of these bigger, you know, podcasts, studios, we decided we would go with a studio called ACAS that basically matches you with ads and they take a smaller percentage than the big studios.

And so we were like, we really made it like homegrown. So Jared, who's our podcast co-host, he edits and does everything for our podcast. He's basically our producer and editor. And he learned, we basically had somebody, we paid somebody a friend who was editing a podcast to teach him how to edit. And I feel like that's what I would recommend, you know, to anybody starting out is instead of investing a ton in paying for editing or producing or things like that, do it yourself. See if it's something you're passionate enough about to put the work in yourself instead of investing money and paying to do it. Once we started making some money off of our podcast, we invested in some video equipment so that we could have video teasers, which I think are really good marketing, you know, really good for marketing and putting, you know, stuff.

out on socials. So I think our cameras ran us probably $1,200 or so. We have two cameras, tripods, some lighting. So we were willing, you know, to take basically the first paycheck we made from our podcast and put it right back into having cameras so that we could do these video teasers. And eventually, once Jared, you know, isn't completely overwhelmed with the editing of all of that, eventually I think we'll do a full video podcast. But for right now, we just have the cameras, the audio equipment. And we just have. do video teasers. In 300 plus episodes, I don't think anybody's ever mentioned ACAS, which is so smart. Like it's such a great way for the masses to get up, get going, see if it works. Like you don't have to

throw all. You hear these horror stories of people just throwing $50,000 buying a studio and they don't even have their concept. Like get a microphone, get ACAS, 500 bucks, start it, see what happens. And you can go from there. You guys are releasing episodes every Wednesday now. Talk to me about like what you want the growth to be financially and from an actual, just a listenership perspective, whether it's either who you have on or what you anticipate growth to be. Like, what's the dream look like, Christopal? Yeah. Well, we realized actually through our numbers that having guests don't do as well as just

having the three of us, Jason, Jared, and I talking. So we realize that our audience actually really likes our banter and just hearing us talk about life, pop culture, just what's going on in the world. and just kind of us going off on these tangents. I say that our podcast is sort of like being plucked into our living room on a, on a weeknight that like we're eating dinner together. Because you have Jared who's gay, single, like obsessed with Britney Spears and the free Britney movement. And, you know, everything that's going on in his life.

Then you have Jason who's like this very logical lawyer who like half the time when we're in the podcast. He's like, allegedly, allegedly that happened. You guys can't say that as fact. And we're like, okay, allegedly this person did this. and then I'm sort of somewhere in between the two of them. And but our, you know, our conversations that we were having like in our living room after, you know, I made dinner were so funny to me and so interesting. And, you know, when people would come over, they'd be like, you guys are so like good at this.

You should start a podcast. And everybody says that. But once we did, we realized that like our audience, that's what they gravitate towards. It's we get the most DMs about like the smallest little things that we don't even plan on talking about. We'll make a couple pop culture topics and things that we want to hit or like weird things in our TikTok algorithms. And then the thing that people pick up on is like we got more responses because we were talking about how do like arenas that have basketball one night and then ice hockey the next night? How do they do that? Is there an ice hockey rink like under the ground of the basketball thing?

And we were all just like, I think it was Jared and I were just like, how does that work? That's so crazy. And we got hundreds of messages of people being like, This is how it works actually. You inspired me to go look this up. So here's how it. And we were like, it was like a two minute segment that we didn't even plan on talking about.

That was just this tangent. And so I think people really gravitate towards like our natural conversation and the things that we don't even plan on, you know, talking about. Sounds like that's your secret sauce. Like the secret sauce is taking Janet's life and just putting it all on different forms,

whether it's, whether it's Bravo or podcast, you don't need guests. You just need you. What do you think next? A few seasons under your belt. What do you think the future looks like with Bravo and reality TV for you? Well, Bravo, I'm always grateful to be a part of it.

And I never count my eggs before they hatch. So every season I plan on like if we're asked back, I'm always like, if, you know, it's not a when. It's an if for me. If we're, you know, lucky enough to be asked back for another season, then, you know, we'll sit down. We'll talk about it if it's best for our family that year. and we'll decide, you know, then. But I'm so grateful for everything that we've done on Bravo, and I'd like to continue sharing our story there.

And then, yeah, continuing just some fun stuff that we have going on in life. You know, Jared, my best, we've been taking sewing machine classes. We've taken, like, 12 together. And that's been this, like, silly side project or side thing that we started just as, like, a fun hobby of learning how to, you know, use sewing machines and building, like, little projects. And now I sort of have a glimmer of my eye of like, huh, maybe I could make some stuff for the kitchen that I could use and then see if that's a business one day. And we're still like very, very early stages, but it's a fun hobby that I'm kind of like, this could be fun. Maybe I could

sell something I make on a sewing machine. So that's like a next like little project that I think I'm excited to lean into. The options are endless. All right. Let's let's wrap with this. Quick little rapid fire and then we'll get your trading secret. Rapid fire, let's start with this. One thing you spend too much money on, you know you spend too much money on it unless you go broke, you're not going to keep, you're not going to stop spending that much money on it. What's that one thing? Estate sale jewelry. Oh, wow. That's very peculiar. Interesting. Do you go resell it? I don't resell. My grandma used to go to jewelry auctions and she would always buy secondhand jewelry. And so there's a couple, there's a place called Jack We're and Sons in Beverly Hills. I love going to their shop. And I love getting something for a deal. So,

you know, when you buy jewelry new, you get the price markup. If you get something that's used, you can get a lot cooler stuff. So whenever I, whenever I, sometimes I'll like rain check like, Mother's Day, birthday, Christmas presents and be like, hey, Jason, there's this one thing that I have my eye on. It'll count for like four presents. So I love a state sale jewelry. That's really cool. Very peculiar. All right. Let's go into this one show that you would love to be on. I would of the Bravo universe. A reality show. You're like, that would be cool to do that.

I love all the baking shows. I would love to go on like, is it cake or, you know, what, like, if I was British, the British baking show, but some sort of cooking show, I would say. A cooking show. All right. Now let's go into Apprentice territory. You have been and worked with some of the biggest brands with some of the biggest celebrities. You've seen a lot.

You're building your own brand. One person from your show, you got to hire to build a business. brand with. Who are you hiring for your show? I would say Lala Kent. She has already built so many cool brands and things. And so she's a lot of experience in that world. And I think that she's learned what to do, what not to do. So I think she'd be a great business partner. I love it. She's a boss. All right. Opposite. You're the CEO. You're running the show. And every single person on the show works for your company. And you got to fire someone right now. Who you fire in? Oh, I'm going to fire. Oh, man, this is tough. I'm going to say Kristen because she's always late.

Okay. All right. Punctuality is important for Jen. I'm on time. That's fair. You've got to be on time. I love it. All right. Well, Jed, it's been so cool to hear about what you've done, where you're going, and what next looks like. Thank you for coming on trading secrets. But you got to wrap with the trading secret. So it's something specific to you. It could be finance related, professional, personal, but something about your journey, your life, your life, your current life, a current professional situation that someone can learn from. What can you leave us with? I would say never spend beyond your means. So if you have a steady income budget within that, and then if you have something on top of that, a side hustle, put that money into savings. Do not spend as if your side hustle is going to be there forever. Spend within your regular income, and anything you make on top of that, save as much as you can. Start a brokerage account, find boring investments that you don't have to look into, save, save, save as much as you can

and don't spend as if whatever you're making that year is going to be there forever. That's a good trading secret, especially first quarter, I think of 2026, was the highest highest household debt we have seen ever in the United States. And we're starting to see delinquencies on student debt and consumer credit card debt hitting high. So stop overspending and manage that cash flow just like Jason does. But Janet, where can everyone find everything you have going on? Yeah.

So on Instagram, I'm just at Janet. Our podcast is this side of the hill, everywhere you listen to podcasts. And we release episodes every Wednesday. And my TikTok, I don't do too much, but I'm Janet Kepernah on TikTok. All right. I love it. Well, everyone go give Janet a follow. Sounds like we got baking and food in the future.

More seasons reality TV. Hopefully keep bringing that fire energy that you do. And thank you so much for being on this episode of Traying Secrets. Thanks so much for having me.