Trading Secrets - 52: Morgan Willett, Big Brother WINNER & MTV cast reveals the secrets to “winning” reality TV shows

Episode Date: May 16, 2022

In this week’s episode, entrepreneur, fitness instructor, and reality TV star Morgan Willett shares her experience very(!) quickly leaving the corporate world to pursue career opportunities in LA. Listen to find out how she became a contestant on Big Brother, MTV’s Ex On The Beach, and The Challenge, and the strategies she employed to outperform the other contestants on Big Brother and ultimately win. Morgan reveals how different reality shows compensate their cast and reward the winners. What did she spend her earnings on? During the podcast, Morgan opens up about her life as an influencer, the brand deals that come with it, and all of the money associated with managers and talent agencies. Hear what Morgan aspires to accomplish in the near future, her most prized money management tips, and much more valuable insight in another episode you can’t afford to miss.   Sponsors: Fahertybrand.com code SECRETS for 20% off LinkedIn.com/SECRETS to post your job for free! Shopify.com/secrets for a free 14-day trial   Produced by Dear Media.

The following podcast is a Dear Media production. Welcome back to another episode of Trading Secrets, where we are joined by an entrepreneur, fitness instructor, and social media influencer by the name of Borgon Willett. After graduating from UT Austin with a degree in journalism and deciding that the corporate world was not for her. She moved to Texas, then from Texas to California, where she began her career in reality TV. You might have seen her on Big Brother over the top, where she won. We're going to get into that. MTV's X on the beach and the challenge. She now has her own fitness business called Move Like Morgan and a blog through which she inspires people in her strong

community to live healthier, more fulfilling lives. So we're going to talk all about the transition from undergrad to reality TV, all the different shows, the compensation, where the money's at, and what Morgan's life has looked like. Morgan, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you so much. Jason, you can follow me around wherever I go and introduce me because that was fantastic. So the next time I go on a date, I'm going to invite you, and you're going to introduce me. Thank you. You guys go on the date and before you show up or ready as you guys sit down, I'll sit down. This is Morgan, Willen. Let me tell you all about like two minutes in, out, out the door. And then, like, you'll just pump your tires and you'll be feeling like a million bucks.

Exactly. That's all I want. Thank you. And I know you said before we get going, you're not feeling like a million bucks today because you're just at stagecoach party. Yes. So to those listening, I don't normally sound like this. I normally have a functioning voice. I was at stage coach all weekend. I, you know, I drank a lot. I didn't drink a lot of water. I'm just full transparency. But I'm here. I feel great. It's just my voice isn't here. But it's okay. As long as you guys can understand me. we're good to go. I love that. Now, I have to ask one follow-up question as it relates to stage coach. And this is a business money podcast. Was there any, because listen, we see it. Everyone's at Coachella. Everyone's at Stagecoach. And I'm wondering, I know a lot of people go because there's business ties, either through networking or they're paid through some type of partnership or something to do some type of brand activation while they're there. Did you have any type of business incentive to go or was it strictly just for fun and to let loose? So I will say, I did

one brand deal at Stagecoach, full transparency, but I did tell my manager, I was like, look, I have one. I'll do one and then I'm going to enjoy myself because at Coachella, I think I did like for a day. It was booked. I had a spreadsheet. I had times. I had my assistant texting me when things needed to be posted by what time I had to submit it. And it was just chaos. Like I didn't really get to enjoy myself because I was going to so many different things. And I constantly had to be on and I was constantly posting. So I did say stage coach, I'll do my one post for like boot barn. It was a great time. I took the photo. There's a whole story behind that. And then I put my phone up for the most part and enjoyed myself. Okay. I got to ask one more follow up because that is wild.

I'm hearing that and I'm like, whoa, four a day. So are you doing four different like stories for different brands? Or are you doing like you're actually like going to their getting paid for an appearance? Like what does that look like for a day? I've never even heard of that. So for Coachella, it was wild. So I'm sure you heard about Revolve Fest. Of course. That whole thing. Everyone heard about Revolfest.

I did not have a bad experience. So like I can't say too much, but I did hear about the craziness. So with Revolve, you had to do X amount of posts. So I was already doing that. I already had to deal with Absolute. Then I did a deal with Absolute. So I had to do a post and a story for them. And that required me to go actually to the absolute tent.

So I had to make that appearance. Then I was doing an appearance for direct TV. So after the festival, we went to. a neon carnival. Then I had to do post and stories there. And then I think I had a couple other brands that had already been working with before Coachella that I had to post during there. So it was just chaos. I'm also like the type A queen. So like I live by a Google sheet and like I posted it on my story and people were like, you're a psychopath. And I'm like, it's the only way that I can function is by like checking off things and color coordinating and all of this stuff. So I mean,

whatever works. Like I managed to get it all done. But after that, I was like, I need a social media break, which like doesn't really exist for me. I think I took like five minutes off from my phone. And then I was like back to posting, but it was chaos. I love it. And that's one the big misconceptions, I think, of stagecoach and Coachella. So people are like, oh, it's just influencers getting together and just raging the whole time. When really it's, it's, there's so much business behind it. And there's so much reason why people go. Like people are getting paid to go. and then they're doing the collaborations which are going to have a greater reach than obviously just the location they're in. Give me a round, if you're comfortable, a roundabout for either Coachella or

stagecoach. You can decide how much around, around $5,000, around $10,000, how much you make off those brand deals at one of the events? So I think for Coachella I ended up making around like 12. Okay. So like a pretty good, because I wasn't going to go to Coachella. I was like, No, not for me. All my friends are going. And I was like, I'm going to rest up. I'm going to get ready for stagecoach. And then I got presented with all the deals.

And it's like, look, like you're not going to turn down money. Like I think anyone would be like, that's stupid to turn down that big of a payout. So I like did a mad dash. I ordered all my outfits like 24 hours in advance. We got like the shittiest hotel room because it was the only one left. I think I paid $700 for a double bed in like the worst hotel room possible. it. I was like, I just need to get down to Coachella. I got to do my job and then I'm going to get out. It's so wild, too, because if you think about even like a P&L for an influencer, like you are

writing off a hotel room at Stagecoach against your revenue and you're doing something like that, like how cool is that? And not only are you getting paid the 12K to go to Coachella, but you're also making, you're building all these new networks, right? Maybe your manager's there. Maybe there's another brand that sees you. Maybe another deal comes from it. Or you collab with So it's a wild world. And I know from the outside, it looks a lot different than what it is from a business perspective coming from someone that's there and doing it. So thank you for sharing that. I think that's going to open up a lot of like insight to what people stereotype or think about when they see Coachella stage coach. But let's back up a few steps because that wasn't even on the script, but we just went into it. But what was on the script is that you went to UT Austin, right? And is it true? What I was reading about you is that you decided to go right into, you moved to LA, you go into reality TV before even entering the corporate world. And one of the things I think you've said is that you had known that the corporate world wasn't for you. So I wanted to ask you, how did you realize it? Like for me, it took me 10 years

to be like, of corporate grinding to just be like, I need a change. For you, how did you know like rate, I mean, guys, by the way, UT Austin, incredible school, very, very hard school to get into. So we're not talking about some throwaway school, right? Like, what may you say, nope, I'm going to go into TV and take a shot at that and not even try the corporate world. Okay. So there is a little bit of a backstory behind that. So I actually, I was in the corporate world for two weeks. A total of 14 days. I missed that in the research. I don't normally talk about that. But so I graduated not to toot my own horn with highest honors from. Let's go. There Like, she is smart.

She got a good GPA. Like, as I was cheering and in a sorority and working full time, like, I don't know how I did it. I must have drank an excessive amount of Red Bull, which I did. As I'm drinking an Alani energy drink right now. I love those. Yes, Alani. I work with Alani.

Use my discount code, Jason. Another brand. There you go. But anyway, so I graduated. My dad is like, he's the quintessential dad. He was like, all right. So what's the next step? You got a job lined up.

graduations today. Are you working tomorrow? I'm like, dad, you're stressing me out. But like, you feel the pressure to as soon as you graduate, jump into a job. Like, you don't want to be the person who's like twiddling their thumbs. Like, what am I going to do next? So my degree was in journalism. I did a few internships. I thought I was going to be like the next news anchor. I realized there's no money in that. Like these people, the grind and going back to a small town, like I'm from small town, Texas. I was not about to move back to small town, Texas. So I figured I would take a job in PR, which is similar to journalism. And I got a job in Austin for a PR company.

And it was cool. Like they did music festivals. I thought it was great. My first day there, I left during my lunch break and cried in my car. And I was just like, I can't do this. Like I was a PR. Well, what was it that made you break down first day? So I think it was just the shock of like what the nine to five is.

I just was not aware. I wasn't used to it. Like, I was wearing a pencil skirt. I sat in a desk for six hours and I answered phones all day long. That's all I did. I answered phones. I typed on a spreadsheet. I answered a phone. I typed on a spreadsheet. And I think I just had a wake-up call. And I was like, I know my personality. I know what I have to offer. Like, I know I can do greater things. And I've always been pretty over the top. If you've looked at my Instagram, you can probably gather that. I've never, I don't know, I've, I've never been the girl to like blend it. Like, I'm the girl in the room who's dancing on the bar and I'm like, all right, I know I can do something with this. I know I'm not met to be in a desk. So I came home from work every single day and I was

crying. And of course, who do I cry to? My older sister. And finally, she's so sick of like listening to me. She saw on Twitter that they were casting for a show, Big Brother. She's a huge fan. I've never seen the show ever. Didn't know what it was. I don't watch reality TV, but she sent it to me and she was like, look, I think this might be the answer to your problem. Why don't you just DM them? See what they say. What do you have to lose? You're miserable. So I literally DM the casting director. Didn't do an application. I was so desperate at that point. I sent him a photo. I said, hey, I'm Morgan. I'm interested. Here's my info, blah, blah, blah. He DMed me the next day and was like, let's set up a Zoom call. I was like, I was like,

all right, here we go. And then from there, fast forward, I went through all the casting, like an expedited process. They were like, you need to be in L.A. next week for finals. And I'm like, I just started this new corporate job. Like, I haven't accrued time off. Like, didn't even know that existed. I'm like, what I have to accrue hours to get time off? Like, what is this? So I went to my boss and I was like, hey, I'm quitting. And she was like, what? We just hired you. Like, we just put you through training. It's like, are you going to give a two weeks notice. And I was like, no, I can't. Oh, shit. I definitely, I have burned that bridge so hard. I'm so sorry to my boss at Giant Noise PR in Austin, Texas, because I couldn't. And she was

like, well, what are you doing? And with reality TV, like, as you know, like, you kind of can't tell them anything. Sure. It gets very. You got all those NDAs and confidentiality agreements. Yeah. You don't want to ruin your chances. So I was like, I kind of can't tell you. But like, I just got to go to L.A. for something. And, like, I just remember, like, the look on her face. And actually, my professor at UT, she was the one who helped me get the job. And I got a very not nice Facebook message from her. And I was like, I'm sorry. Like, I just had a gut feeling that this is what I was meant to do. Like, I had a gut feeling this was going to open some doors for me. And, like, when that comes, like, you just have to take the chance and take the risk. My father was

very disappointed in me. Very unhappy. That's out, like, based on how your father, you said your father is, like the quintessential father, I can imagine when you tell them after two weeks that you started in a great PR firm at home, UT Austin, you tell him, going to L.A. for a freaking reality television show. He's probably like, you're out of your damn mind and probably super mad. One thing I wanted to ask you, so because just to give, we like to give insight into salaries and stuff for different careers, someone gets out of school at UT Austin, gets a PR gig. What does someone get paid for something like that?

I think my starting salary was like around 40, 45, something like. But the big play in PR is you get to, for anyone interested in the industry, you're working like, again, at big music festivals and you're working usually with like big celebrities or big businesses to promote their stuff and where you can really make it big is if you go off on your own or you become a partner, right? Right. Okay. So then you leave, you leave the PR, you're out.

You go to L.A., dad's mad, professors mad, companies mad. and you start on big brother. Now, tell me a little bit about that journey, because one of the cool things, spoiler, is that Morgan won, Morgan won big brother. So tell me a little bit about that journey and what was like your biggest takeaway, and then I want to get into the money behind the prize.

Okay, yeah, the fun stuff. It was incredible. So my experience was a little different. I did it with my sister. Most people, you go in solo, you compete, all that fun stuff. Sometimes they'll do a sister twist. or like they'll bring in like a family member so that was our surprise i was unaware that she was going on everyone's like you knew i promise we did not know so she ended up joining me and it was we

weren't that close before the show we went on the show and we it like being in that pressure cooker situation will bond you like no other so that was like the most rewarding thing is getting to do that experience with my sister and she helped me like i was the girl on the show that cried all the time and all of that so like having her there was like having a rock and And it was just such an interesting, unique experience. Like, my parents have two daughters, no other kids. Both of them ended up on a reality TV show that you can watch one, two, four seven. So my mom did not turn off her TV.

I think I was there 65 days. That TV stayed on for 65 days, 24 hours a day. Like, she was watching our every move. So it was just such an interesting, unique once in a lifetime experience. my obviously experience was great because I won. Like everyone was like, oh, like, did you enjoy it? My sister's like, it was okay. Like I made it halfway and I'm like, I had a great time.

I was 22 fresh out of college and won. And you just won. What place did your sister come in? So she got halfway. So she made it to the halfway point. So that's like six or seventh or something? Like, because there's what, 13, 15 contestants? Yeah.

So she made it like six or seventh. It's just, it's funny because she was the super fan. So she's like the older sister, the kind of more responsible one. She watched every episode. She knew everything. I was like the young idiot 22 year old whose sister told her to apply and I somehow ended up winning.

And she was like, really? What do you attest it to though? So she knows all this strategy and game through. What do you attest? How did you win? How did you outgame everyone in that house? So my strategy, you just have to be likable. And that's, it sounds easy, right?

Like, just be likable. But when you're in that situation and you have 13 strangers of all different walks of life, all different personality types. Like, it's really easy to get annoyed. It's easy to, like, roll your eyes. It's easy to get in fights. And my strategy was, if you're likable, and like, like, I'm a relatively likable person to anyone.

Like, I'm just easy to get along with. So I knew if I could just get people to like me, they're not going to vote me off. There's going to be someone else who pisses them off. They're always going to be a bigger target. So be the likable, lovable girl. don't be too good, like be good enough to where you're smart, but don't be too much of a threat. And then once I got to the end,

that's when I was like, all right, you need to start winning. You got to kick it up a notch. That's when you can kind of be a little bit more threatening because you've already made it to the end. Whereas my sister, she came in like balls to the wall. She was like, she won the first competition. She was a super fan. She was gaming, making alliances.

And I was like, no. Like, guys, if you're going on Big Brother, just play dumb. Like at least for the first three weeks, like just be a non-threat and you're going to make it to the end. And so you make it to the end and it's between you and who is in second? So it was Jason Roy, who was actually on a previous season. So he was like the veteran twist. Okay. So he's a vet.

You're with him. The winner gets, I think in this season, it was 250K, right? Correct. 250K. And the second place gets what? They got, I want to say, 25. 25. So that's a huge jump off, especially a 20.

22, 250k versus 25K, all based on voting. Tell me when you had the opportunity in the podium to sell everyone on why you should win, what selling tactics did you use that maybe someone listening can take away and use in their life in some capacity to get everyone to vote for you? So I think being humble, I think that that was the key is like not making it so much about you. Like me, me, me. Here's what I've done. Here's why you need to vote for me. in our season, the house was split into two. So it was one side versus the other, and it was very separated. Like you either liked one side or you liked this side, and there was no crossover.

So when I did my speech, I knew I need to remind the fans of my alliance, everyone who left before me. So when they vote for me, my point was you're not just voting for me to win. You're voting for Shelby, Alex, Scott, Monty, all of these people, like I represent them. So by you voting for me, it's not just a win for me as much as I would love the money. It's a win for like all of my other people. So I think that was like a huge selling point. I also think being the underdog, like everyone loves an underdog situation. So like if you can ever use that to your advantage, like I don't know if that relates to like the work world.

But if you can, that's definitely helpful because people want to see. They want to see someone who has struggled. And like in my case, I was the only one left in my alliance, like alone with the other group who hated us. And I'm by myself. So to, you know, kind of be like the last one standing, I obviously think that helped a lot too. And I was like, yeah. I mean, those are all like really, really good takeaways in any corporate environment or any work environment or relationship environment. Those are, those are brilliant. So you walk out, you win. So you're 22. You went 250K. Before I even ask you what you did with the money. Are you guys paid? Did you get paid at all to go on the show? Do you get like

a stipend or something? Yes. So you get a stipend. you get, I want to say, $1,000 a week for Big Brother, but the catch is, if you win, you don't get your stipend, which I was like a little upset about. I was like, no, no, no, that was not told to me. I was thinking I was getting $5,000 a week. And then the check on top and they're like, no, no, no, no, if you make it to the end, we get rid of the stipend. So I just got the 250. So you get the 250. Do they tax it immediately or do you have to deal with that? Oh, my God. Yes. It is fast. But what's crazy, though, I assumed they would take care of the taxes, you know, then they give you your cut.

No, I literally got mailed in like a paper thin envelope, $250,000 to my house. I was like, wait, someone could have, this is a lot of money to be dropped off in a mailbox somewhere, like casually. I just remember opening it, not really realizing. And I was like, holy shit, like I have $250,000 in my hand. And then it's up to you to like, do the whole tax. thing. And trust me, I, like, asked my dad. I was like, dad, are they going to notice if I don't pay my taxes on this?

Shut up. Shut up. Go see your accountant right now. I was like, okay. That's amazing. And did you, like, did you buy something big or did you do anything special with the money or were you just like, you know what? This is a good start. I'll put it away and start savings. What was your plan with the money? So luckily, I have pretty great parents who are pretty wise. And trust me, as a 22 year old, I wanted a new car. I wanted to do all these crazy things. And my dad was like, give me the check. Give me the check, Morgan. Like, let's not do anything crazy. But I did, I took my family on vacation. I took them to Cabo. We did that. And then my main thing I did with like a chunk of it is I moved to California. So I was very

fortunate when I did move to California because I didn't really have a game plan when I moved out here. And a lot of people in L.A., like, you grind. You work three jobs. You're hustling, all that. I was fortunate that I had a cushion from Big Brother to help me with. the move to give me a little bit of money to live off of when I could so I could figure out the rest of my life and then I put the rest all in it's all tied up Craig my accountant he's he's got that a lot he talks to me about stocks all the time I'm like yeah do whatever Craig just make me some money okay I love it so when you grow you get off the show you got the 250k your tax on it life is good your decision to leave PR pays off big time now at this point what is

your social media following like like how did big brother help you grow your social media following so big brother and people don't really realize this it helped me a little bit but not that much so my season was like the fall kind of off brand season and people are always like are you upset that like yours wasn't the normal summer season and people don't recognize you as much and i'm like honestly no because had i been on a summer season i might not have won like i don't know what that would have looked like. And I like where my life is now. Like I feel everything worked out for a reason. But after Big Brother, I think I had 20,000 followers. So like, so not enough to like change your life. You don't have enough followers to like change your life. So at any point, are you thinking maybe I might

go back to the work world? Or are you thinking I have to keep this momentum rolling into something else? What's going through your career had? So it was a stressful probably year and a half in my life. because I knew I could not go back. I was like, you know what? I've been out of it enough. I cannot go back. I knew I had a degree to fall back on. And trust me,

my parents love to remind me like, hey, there's always that nine to five life. And I'm like, I'm not doing it. I can't. I know I can do something bigger. So for the first year, I was kind of living off some of my big brother money. I think I took a job at like the soul cycle,

working at the front desk to get some other like pocket cash. and then trying to do TV hosting. So I was really set that, like, I was going to be on e-news. I was going to auditions. I was freelancing, all of that fun stuff, kind of just waiting for another opportunity. I was like, you know what? As long as I keep grinding, something will come from this. I don't know what it will be.

And that's when I got a call from MTV. And this was the show that you got called to go on. Again, I know you went on X's on the Beach and Challenge, but X's on the Beach was first, right? Yes, correct. So did you know that it was, like, how do they position the show? I can't imagine that they're like, Morgan, we got this great show. You're going to go on the beach and then you're actually going to show up. Like, what do they tell you? Like, it's like an MTV dating show? They call it an untitled dating show. You don't know the network. You don't really know the premise, but you can kind of put two and two together. Like, all right, dating show, they mention a beach.

They also ask you for a list of like every guy you've ever talked to ever. not just dated like who have you gone on a date with like who have you hooked up with once like i think i gave them like a list of like 25 dudes that like i think some of them i like i went to go get breakfast with at this point i was just like i matched with him on tinder yeah take take your pick from all of them the only i had one long term serious boyfriend in college and i did not give them his name because he was the one person that like i cared about and like i was like you know i don't want like my actual ex showing up anyone else like i had a fling with sure sure sure but yeah i i excluded him got it okay and so then you go on the show do you are you negotiating hard at this point

to get like paid a certain amount to go on or are you more just like shit i just another show like sign me up i'm in so i was i was new to this whole one MTV world and two negotiation i was like so confused they throw a lot of words at you i wanted more money yeah like everyone wants more But they kind of make it as like, well, we've got a lot of people to choose from. So, like, if you negotiate, like, you're going to get cut. And at this point, I was like, you know what? You just need to get in somewhere. You need to get your face out there, see where this leads.

And then you can negotiate more. So, like, I think I agree with like whatever. I think for X on the beach, I got, oh, my God, maybe like 3,000 a week. I don't even, I think it might have even been less than that. Like, it was nothing substantial, probably even less than that. But, like, I was on the show with Farron. from teen mom, and she got six figures for showing up. So, like, it depends on who you are.

Like, I was a nobody from, like, like, no one really loved me. And at this point, I was just like, you know what, take it. Like, let's roll with it. Let's see where it goes. I knew I wasn't, as long as I could pay my rent, I did not care, like, what I was going to make from it. I just needed to. And how long did you guys film for?

Oh, my God. I think we filmed for five weeks. Like, it was a long time. Okay. Like, it's so funny because like in your, when you said five weeks, I'm thinking, that's a bachelor where it was like two and a half, three months. I'm like, five weeks is not too bad. But I can imagine five weeks. You know, I could do Bachelor. You guys, you guys are normal, seem well adjusted. Think of five weeks. You'd be surprised. Probably. But like five weeks with like an MTV crowd. It's a whole different ball game. People were throwing drinks at walls. People were punching people. People were assaulting producers. Like, I was like, where am I? Like, I am too nice and normal Texas girl for this. I'm like, I don't know what

I signed up for, but we're going to roll with it. I have a buddy who was on the same season I was from The Bachelorette, and then he went on an MTV show. And night one, he's like, oh, shit. This is no ABC, The Bachelorette. This shit is nuts. It is gnarly. Like, it takes a special, I always say it takes a very special person to be able to handle MTV. And I realized, like, I don't think that's me. When you look back at your time on X's On the Beach, would you have done it again knowing what you know now? You know what?

My initial answer would be like, I absolutely would not do it again. Sure, sure. But like when you really sit down and think about it, like it opened so many doors for me. Like, I would not be sitting here talking to you right now. I would not be going to Coachella working with like amazing brands had I not got on that show. Because then it led me to the challenge. then it led me to like wherever else that did. So as much as I didn't love my experience,

like I am thankful for it in a sense. I'll never do it again. But like I'm looking for it. All right. Let's talk numbers. How did your social media following grow after Exxon Beach? So that actually helped me out a lot. And I think that's what I'm thankful for.

So I started at probably 20. I think I was 20,000. I was unverified at the time. Through X on the beach, I ended up getting verified. And I think I hit around 150, from doing that show. Okay.

And so that also puts you in the MTV Network. And the MTV Network is what led you to the challenge. So how long after filming, X on the Beach, did you go on the challenge? What was the time gap? Three days. What? Yeah. Three days later, I left.

So I went from filming five weeks of sleep deprivation, drinking copious amounts of alcohol, crying, screaming, like mental warfare. And then they're like, I got the call kind of halfway through X on the beach. And they're like, all right, are you interested in the challenge? And I mean, full transparency, my main goal with going on X on the beach was to try and get on the challenge. Interesting. Okay. I'm athletic. I'm fit. I'm competitive. Like, that was my end goal. I was like, I know I'm going to do well if I go on the challenge.

Like, come on. So that was my goal. And so when they approached me and I was like, oh, my God, yes. Absolutely. I don't care how long I have in between. like, I will go. I did not realize. By the time I left, I had 24 hours to go get new stuff, wash my clothes, unpack, repack, get my shots, go see the doctor. Like, I'll call my parents and tell them I'm alive. At this point, dad's just like, what the fuck? Yeah, my dad's like, you are a lost cause at this point. I quit. I need him up on you. I need three more vacations from your winnings. Yeah. My poor father. He has been through the ringer with me.

And then I told him, I was like, hey, tomorrow, I'm going to Africa. They're like, white? I was like, yeah, I'm going to go film another show. And they're like, okay. So I left. So you go on three days. That is absolutely nuts. So you go three days and you go on the challenge.

You got a little leverage. Okay? Now you got Big Brother on your belt. You got MTV Exeter on the beach. Did you negotiate this time? Or you're like, fuck it. Let's just do it. So with the challenge, I will say it is harder to negotiate.

because they have like payment tiers. So when you're first starting off, everyone from my understanding, I could be incorrect, but from my understanding, you all get paid the same. You're all a working year one. Then when you get like three years in, like you're like three to five, you're in a different payment tiered. You get paid more.

Then people like CT, like the West, the big names, like they get paid. Oh my God, six figures for walking in the door. Like it's absurd. So at that point, I just wanted to get on, like there was no negotiations, like no negotiations. I signed the contract. I said, all right, give me a shot, fly me to Africa, like, let's go. So, yeah, it was probably about the same amount of money I made for going on X on the Beach weekly. So like three, three K a week.

Yeah, about that. And I think I don't. And how long you film for? I mean, that one filmed probably two months. I was only there two weeks. It was a short-lived. Oh, shoot. I didn't do as well as I thought.

I did not pick a great partner. I thought by picking the partner I picked, I was going to go to the end. I was banking on winning. I was like, I'm going to the end with this guy. He's won more than anyone. And it turns out everyone in the house hated him. And we got voted out very quickly.

And so, okay, so you get voted off quickly, two weeks into it. What does the winner of the challenge get? How much? It depends on the season. So with the challenge, they do it differently. Sometimes you win with a partner. And they split the cost.

Sometimes it's one winner. Sometimes it's three winners. I think on my season, gosh, I didn't even, full transparency, I didn't even watch my season. I was like, oh, can't watch that. I think the first place winner one set, like they all split a million. I want to say he bought 750,000. I could be wrong. But like last season or a couple seasons ago, like there was a girl and a guy winner that each split the million.

So it's always like a million split between X amount of people. Okay. And your partner on the challenge, that was Johnny, right? Yes, correct. Gotcha. And so part of your strategy was this guy's a veteran. I'll partner up with Johnny and we'll get to the end. Yes.

I was like he's won more than anyone. You guys are stupid for not picking them. But me, I had five weeks on X on the beach. I didn't have time to do homework. I didn't have time to watch past seasons. And like, I had never watched the challenge in my life. I just knew I wanted to compete on it. But that paid off for you with Big Brother.

So you would think, like, maybe going in blind is actually ignorance is bliss in these situations just being you. It turned out I wasn't. So you get off to show, and I know a guy like Johnny, he's been on like, how many, like, 8,455 challenge seasons? Like, he's been on like forever. Did you ever think that you could make, be one of these challenge people that, like, this will be your career.

You'll be on challenge every year. I will say, I never thought this was going to be my career. I was hoping maybe a couple seasons, you know, make a name. I mean, again, full transparency over here. Like, I was just one, I wanted to compete. But more than that, I wanted to build a brand. And I wanted to build that following. And so what year was it that the challenge ended?

How long ago was that? That was 2018. So, wow. 2018. Okay, so it's been about four years since you've been on a show. And your interest levels like, maybe, might do it. I think it depends on the show. I think it depends on the money at this point.

And it would have to be something I'm very passionate about because, like I said, you're taking a gamble with going on TV. You don't know how they're going to edit you. You don't know what's going to happen. And at this point, I'm doing good. I love my fitness business. I love helping people. I've got such a solid brand. I'm working with dream partnerships that I never thought I'd get to work with. So I'm like, why leave something good? I'm pretty comfortable doing what I'm doing. Cool. I love it. And of X's on the beach, MTV the challenge, or of course you end up in a relationship with Johnny, which is a big MTV relationship, which, and I know it didn't work out, sorry for that. But of those three things, what grew your following at the greatest rate? Oh, man. I want to lie. I really want to lie right now to you. I'm not going to. You don't seem like a liar. I'm not a liar. I'm always trying to be transparent, but I honestly think my relationship probably. it grew it fast because people are interested they want to see it you know to people from their favorite show together so that and like we traveled all the time like who doesn't want to watch that adventure unfold and go from being partners to being in a relationship like getting to watch all of that so i would say like that definitely skyrocketed a lot of things wish it would have

ended a little differently but again like everything happens for a reason and you know my biggest fear was when my relationship ended, would the following from that go away? Like, I remember, like, breaking down and, like, calling my manager. And I was like, I'm so scared. Like, I don't know what to do. Like, I can't stay here. But if I leave, do I lose my brand deal? Like, do I lose my livelihood?

Am I going to be able to pay rent? And it's like, no, the people they do like you for you. And, yeah, like, I've lost some, some MTV followers. Sure, you know, so be it. I still am making more money than I was. last year, so I'm okay. Gotcha. Take the good with the bad. I mean, that's just, that's just part of the wild, wild west that we live in. And that was actually going to be one of my questions. My next, my follow-up was going to be like, obviously, there was a business

opportunity there, but was business really, did it hurt it all? Did you, so obviously you saw a little bit of a following drop, but did your brand deals or anything like that diminish it all after the breakup or no? No. In fact, I feel like it humanized me a little bit more. and that's what I've learned with social media, especially influencers, like people want to relate to you. They don't want to see you being perfect all the time. They don't want to see you like glam,

like on private jets. Like, yeah, that's fun sometimes. But they want to see you crying. They want to see you going through life like just like they are. And unfortunately, and kind of fortunately,

like my breakup was so public. And I was like, all right, you've got two options. You can either pretend everything's okay. and like try and go that way or you can just be a human and be like, yo, here's what's happening.

You guys can follow me through it or you cannot. Like, it's up to you. But the amount of support I got through that was shocking. Like I was mind-blown. And yeah, like I lost some of the MTV people and they're not interested in me slinging ads anymore.

Cool. So be it. But like the majority of the people have been like, thank you. Like you've helped me through my breakup. You've helped me get out of a bad situation. So like the silver lining for all of it was like, yeah, like, okay, yeah, unfortunately I had 300,000 people watching that happen, but I've been able to make so many more connections with women all over the world that,

like, I still get reached out to saying thank you. So like, it's been kind of a blessing in a weird way. Yeah, that's great. I mean, I totally agree. I mean, you said it even early on in your big brother days of like how you were able to have success. And it was like being open, being vulnerable, just being real. and sometimes, you know, when you're feeling hurt, being an underdog, like, people get it. They've been there. So, I mean, that all connects perfectly. One question I get asked a lot is someone who's very much involved in the same world as you is, are you worried about like two years, five years, ten years from now, and what is like your plan

with that? How do you think about it? And so I'm curious with someone like yourself who now you're four years removed from the show and obviously you've built your own brands and things are going good. But what would you're, because I have to deal with those questions all the time. But I'm curious what your answer would be, like the two-year, five, your 10, year, 20-year outlook. What are some of your concerns? What are some of your kind of like motivations and what are some of your like securities? Right. I mean, trust me, I get asked this question all the

time. People are like, so what are you going to do when you're, you're not an influencer anymore? I'm like, excuse me, I would like to do this as long as I can. But I am aware, like, Instagram could go away tomorrow. TikTok could go away tomorrow. We don't know when these apps are going to die out. So that's why. it's so important to me to have backup plans and like I'm all over the place like I have a book club I've got my travel blog I've got move like Morgan I've teach workout classes I do on-demand workouts I'm now doing miles with Morgan where I'm like traveling with people it's just so important for me to build a brand beyond just Instagram like yeah you're making a ton of money off

that cool and yeah it takes you 60 seconds to film an ad and you make 20 grand that's amazing but if that goes away, what are you going to do? Like, you have to have a backup plan. So, like, my two-year plan, I'm hoping I'm still doing this. I would love for Instagram to still be around. I would love to eventually get married. And I'm always like, I would be a kick-ass mommy blogger. Like, give me a kid.

Like, let's do it. Like, I would be so good at that. But, you know, I got to get a boyfriend first for that one. So we're going to worry about that later. But eventually, like, I'm about to launch a fitness app. So my movement, Morgan, will now. go via an app. So I'm hoping that will take off a little bit more because ideally like I'd love to do Instagram on the side. Like if I want and then have my fitness business and my brand to really

fall back on. Amazing. And do you have an idea when the app might launch? I'm hoping for some time in May. So move like Morgan. Simple and easy. Like Morgan. I love it. All right. Well, we'll have to wrap up here with your trading secret. One thing I got to say is if the book club, you guys need someone to come in, I'd be happy to present my book. You'd let me know. That would be cool. It just dropped in April. Give me a shout.

I got you. I love it. Well, you have sold your story. It has been such a cool story. I love the 14 days in PR in the exit. That's unbelievable. Tell us a trading secret. Someone couldn't read on any of these articles about Morgan or find on Google or

seeing your page. A trading secret about career management, money management, something that you could leave our listeners with. My biggest tip, and this is going to say, sounds so like broad, but like you have to stay organized and you have to take it into your own hands. I feel like the reason I've been so successful is because I do it all myself. I don't let an assistant answer my DMs. I don't let anyone touch my social media. I do all my editing. I do all my like I feel like when you get bigger and like a lot of influencers like, oh, I can have someone

else do it for me. Like someone can edit it. Someone can do it. Someone can post for me. And it's like, no, I will forever do everything myself. I'm very hands-on. I think the more hands-on you can be, the more successful you're going to be. So, like, stay organized. I have a content calendar. Like, do it all your, do the hard work yourself and it's going to pay off. There's a reason my screen time is 12 hours a day. Like, there's a reason. Like, it's all me. So I think that's my biggest tip is if you want the success, you've got to do it yourself. It's not going to be handed to you. And you can't depend on anyone else to get you, like, where you want to be. I love that. And I think it's so, I think part of that is so relatable and part of it is so far-fetched.

But I want to touch the far-fetched thing because people will listen, listen. People are going to listen to this and say, Morgan, and Jason, you guys got struck by luck lightning, right? You got asked to go on a show and then you're now an influencer doing all X, Y, and Z. But I want to challenge that. And going back to your point, Morgan, is you have to put yourselves in position to get lucky, right? So if you want to be lucky, you have to put yourself in a position to get lucky, which obviously you did. took chops to break what I call the blueprint against what your professor said, what your boss said, what your parents said, to go do it your way and no one else's way. The other thing is people get struck by lightning and people listening, you're going to get an opportunity. Something will come up if you put yourself out there. A lot of people will get

that and things fall. They don't take advantage of it. And the thing is, is once you get that opportunity, you have to go out there and do it for yourself and make it for yourself and do your content calendar and go ask for deals and go knock on Lori's desk and go knock on Courtney's text. No one is going to do it for you. And the reason that you're having such success with everything that you're doing four years after being on a show is because you've done it. And I think that's exactly the point to anybody that's thinking,

well, you got struck with the lightning luck. Guess what? Four years later, it's still moving in a trajectory that is extremely opportunistic. So I love the trading secret. Love what you're doing. Congrats on everything. And for anyone that wants to follow, I know you don't have a mommy blog yet,

but I believe you do have a blog. you have an app, you have a bunch of stuff. Tell people where they can get everything that Morgan's got going on. Okay, so my website where you can find basically everything is move like Morgan.com. That's where I've got my blog, my on-demand workouts, all of my social media. But if you just feel like following me on Instagram and you just want some awesome deals and discount codes, it's at Morgan Lee, L-E-I-G-H-Willette. I love it.

And those discount codes are real. My mom will call me and be like, hey, like I know you did this like two months ago, but I'm buying it now. Like, I need that code. So go to Morgan and check out. They're good discounts. Yes. And they don't come all the time, honestly.

They'll do, what these brands will do is they'll do waves where like maybe revenues down or they got marketing budget approval. They'll do like one quarter, blitz it, and then they go back to their pricing. So definitely take advantage of that stuff. But Morgan, thank you so much for joining us on another episode of Trading Secrets. We so appreciate your time. Thank you. Ding, ding, ding, dang, we are ringing in the bell on the Morgan Willett episode with the one and only the curious Canadian. And David, give me your thoughts, your breakdown.

What do you got? I mean, just all these people now, two in a row, they just make you want to go to Coach Hell and Stagecoach. See, I was thinking we've had a couple Big Brother people, and they both did decent. It makes me want to go on Big Brother. Well, we've talked on this pod about our mutual desire to go on Big Brother. I know you may be Blackballed being an ABC or on a CBS show,

but hey, it's out there. I think we've got to make a campaign. I'm all for it. I want to do it. But really, really good episode, more into the influencing style and career. But I think she touched on some things that are pretty relevant to what some people may be going through right now with just the current state of the economy and stuff that I want to get to if you're down for that. Yeah, let's do it. Love it.

All right. So the first thing, first off, how relatable. She says she lives her life through Google Sheets. Are you a Google Sheeter? I am a Google Sheeter. And with all the companies, we have Google Sheets, but we're trying to take a lot of the Google Sheets and implement them into like CRM. in different softwares because it's a great starting point, but there's definitely better ways to do it once things continue to grow.

But big on Google sheets. Yeah, you have to be. So one thing I got to touch on is she talked a lot about Coachella and the brand deals that she did with Absolute Revolve. She did an appearance fee in a Direc TV. We've talked a lot about influencer and kind of rates and stuff. And you mentioned how you have the talent agency there that you're 50% founder of. She's got 12K for four brand deals at a pretty marquee event.

that struck me as low for what we've really talked about with different influencers as a talent manager. Do you think you could have, do you think those are low? Do you think you could have got our better rates? Yes. So I'm just going to be very direct. I think I could have definitely got her better rates. Morgan, if you listen to the recap, I'd recommend continue to really push your agent to drive better rates. But that being said, I will say some of the companies I did hear her talk about, like Revolve, they are notoriously, notoriously, notoriously, super frugal with their deployment of capital for marketing because they know there's massive demand for people wanting to rep their stuff because it's apparently really good quality. So I think

there's probably a lot of demand for the deal she did, but she's got good engagement. She's got good following. If I was managing her, I would tell her we'd want to shoot for more than 12K. But at the end of the day, 12K to go have fun, that's a good weekend. Yeah, I'm not going to knock it. Now, she did say it's a lot of work because even you were surprised, like four brand deals in a weekend event is a lot. she also mentioned in that world, Lori Kay, who, you know, in the bachelor world, is very popular for an agent representing, you know, reality TV talent. She said, I loved

how she just, like, kind of cold emailed her and was like, I want you to rent me. And she's like, nope, you're not at the follower limit. What do you think the follower limit was for Lori Kay to work with her? And what are your thoughts on that kind of strategic business approach? Yeah, I mean, for sure. Lori Kay is an absolute bulldog. And when I say that, I mean, like she,

Brett, when she decides to rep you, she is going to do everything and anything in her power to find profitability and aligned branding. Like, she's very, very good at what she does. So that being said, I think the strategy from Lori there was, I only have so much bandwidth. I know if I take on a client, you're going to get all of my everything. And I have to have the economics make sense. And right now it doesn't make sense. But if you do come on and when you come on and you work only with me, you'll get the best. I would think that. That's her strategy. That being said, I think it's probably around like the two, I'm guessing here, strictly guessing,

$250,000-ish mark. But the one thing is that the big thing with Morgan is that she has a niche, she's posting every day, and she's building a strong community. So at that point, like we've talked about, the following means less because deals will come in left and right. I just think as like a takeaway is a listener. Like anyone who listens to our podcast, whether they admit it or not, they're looking for motivation advice. They're looking for a spark, a takeaway. And I just love her takeaway. It was like,

oh, I need to get to, let's say, 250K followers. I'm at 150K. Time to work. Like time to put more contact. It's not like, oh, I'm not good enough. I've tried, like, quit. And she talked about that in her trading secret, how she said she really like has a hands-on approach that she doesn't let anyone touch her DM. She doesn't let anyone touch her social. She doesn't let anyone edit her videos or her pictures. And from that, it becomes more authentic. And like you said, she now has like a really loyal following. I'm curious from what you do and maybe even what people around you, like KB and stuff, do you guys, are you, do you have the same approach?

Do you not let anyone touch your social respond to people? Or how do you manage that for your own success? No, I mean, I have to grow and scale all the things we're doing, right? We got the networking event. We got the newsletter. I got restart where we're posting every day. We have Facebook groups. I'm trying to build my social following on LinkedIn.

We got book one. I got book two. I got trading secrets. I have my own influencing deals. I have an MTC agency. I have other areas I'm trying to expand. There is no way. Take a breath.

I can do that. I can't do that by myself. And the problem is, is I will miss so much. So on my email account, I have two people that manage, I think it might even be three, three people that have access to my email. So we can see it all. I have two people that have access to my entire Instagram DMs. And so I have a team that helps me.

That's not to say that I don't go in there. and respond. I actually, David, you'll love this. Great story. So there is a, there, you'll remember this because you were at, yeah, you were at Buffalo with me, right? No, you were. You were. Yes, yeah, yeah. There was a kid named Ryan Clark, okay? The one who wanted help with the proposal. Yeah, and I think by this time I could say it because I think he's trying to swing it this Saturday. So we're recording right now on Thursday, May 12th, this Saturday, May 14th, he's proposing to his fiancee. He came up, he waited in line for over an hour and a half. He then came up. and said, I've learned a lot about what you talk about doing, and it's positioning and taking

a shot being proactive. I'm here to get your book, yes, but I'm also here to ask you for favor. Can you and Caitlin help me with my proposal? And I was like blown away. I said, hey, here's the email address. That guy right there and manages it. I'm going to introduce you. Let's try and do it. He emails. Okay. Life happens. Falls through the cracks. He emails again. Falls through the cracks. He DMs me. I see it. I respond to him. He emails again. I mean, we're talking about 15 plus reachouts, almost fell through the cracks, ended up that his persistence is going to make it happen. Caitlin and I are filming today. He's proposing Saturday. Congratulations, Ryan. So take your shot, get your shot, be persistent. And I'm in there. I'm watching. I'm following. I love it. I think

that whole conversation comes back to you have to do it yourself until you get to a point that makes sense. Obviously, like you said, like listing off those things, you can't do it all. But doing it all, start, keeps it authentic. What is one thing that you'll never let anyone touch in your, in your, I say, career life, like all the things that you do? Like, what's the one thing that's like, no one will ever do this the way, whether it's like the way you can put in your schedule or like, you know, what's the one thing? I have one personal email that no one will touch, but me. And I have, I will say that my, most of my, I say no one will touch, but my accountant has full access, probably just that personal email or my phone.

My phone. My phone. My text messages. That's it. No one will get access to my text messages or my email. Like we have so many, you and I have so many personal conversations. All of us have personal conversations. That's my, that's my lock spot. Love it. All right. I got one last question. How about you? Can I ask you though? I know we're moving quick here for the street cap. But what about you? Do you have one thing that like only David for sure will see and no one else? That's a good question. It's a tough one. I think text messages is. is one of them in a weird way for me like I think like my my note section like I just think like good one because I have a good note section is like my therapy yeah so I have like I do journaling I do you know you do your to do your you know your layout like I have like my weddings and events for every like two summers ahead so I can plan around it but I also have some like pretty personal stuff some measurable goals some motivational stuff like I don't know I think

the notes section is like that one little sacred piece of like my phone that has thoughts in it where texts are like conversations with others but notes is more like personal so i think my note section which is uh would be my thing i never really thought about that though okay that's a good one yeah it's a good one i like but i got i got one more question i've actually been really curious to ask your thoughts on this i've thought i've uh seen a little bit on your restart page about this and what's going on in society and the economy right now. Morgan talked about her first job. She went in the corporate world.

She got 40K for her first PR job. Now, it seems low, and it is low, but that is shockingly like a pretty average entry salary coming out of college. Giving everything that's going on in the world right now, stock market's crashing, inflation is at record highs, what do you think will be the demand for those corporate type entry-level jobs as we move forward.

Do you think that the demand will be higher and lower from both ends? And do you think the 40K to like 50K standard entry level is going to go up or down, given everything that's going on? That's my main question. Great question. I think there's something really, really sexy about being in college and then getting with a big PR firm and within a month or two or three from graduating, you are in meetings with monster celebrities, like Z-list to A-list.

Like, that's pretty cool. And as a result of that, there's higher demand for PR. And as a result of that, I think that they can negotiate people down pretty good. I did look as you were literally, as you're asking me this, it's where my brain's going. I went to Glassdoor. Looks like the average entry level for a PR position in 2022 as of May, according to Glass Store, $61,705 bucks. They're saying base pays right around what you just said, 42K with 20K of like potential bonuses. Low end 39,000. extremely high end, 105K. So here's what I think, though. Inflation right now is 8.5%. That was the 40-year high last month. Inflation this month, the April report just came out, it is 8.3%, which was higher than what analysts had expected. The problem is when you have costs going up at that rate, you cannot, unfortunately, what's going to have to happen is your salaries are going to have to go up. Otherwise, people aren't going to work because they can't afford it. And unemployment right now is still at all-time lows. So you're going to see with that unemployment at all-time lows, inflation at all-time highs,

people are going to have to get paid more or they just won't work. And unemployment will go up. So we'll see what happens in the shift of the economy. I think there's a lot of moving parts. For anyone that doesn't know, right now, S&P 500 year-to-date in 2020 is down almost 20%. NASDAQ is almost down 30%. If this is news to you, you need to know 2022 has been a fucking disaster financially. Disaster. Couldn't be much worse. And right now, it's looking like at least

it's not going to get that much better. We're going to see some spikes, but we're in a bare market. So what I would tell you is be smart with your budgeting, be smart with what you're doing. And one strategy I'll leave you with, and then I'll kick it to you, David, if you got anything else, is something called averaging down with dollar cost averaging. So averaging down is if you buy Facebook at $300 a share, it's now selling at $190 a share. you are buying it back at $190.90 a share. So you're staying in the same investment, but you're reducing your overall price per share

by buying at this low amount. I would couple that with dollar cost averaging, which is you pick a time and date, and you buy a certain amount. So suppose you got 5K you want to invest in Facebook, June 1st, take 20% of that, so $1,000 and invest in average down into Facebook. So you're getting at $190.90.

July 1st, dollar cost average by averaging down into Facebook. Maybe at July 1st, it's 170 or 210. You'll have different entry points to it five times. That's my tip for everyone in this crazy market. I like it. That hits home because I just, as of yesterday, I actually pulled all my money out of the stock market.

And I was like, it's just too crazy right now. And I need to just take a breath because seeing the red and the daggers and everything, I just needed to kind of reset. But that's great advice. That's a big no-no, but you did it. So it's already there. So now you've got to average down and you got to get back in because it will come back. It always does.

It always does. So just be aware. I will. And I thought that was a great recap. It's just something I've thought of like, especially our generation. Like we went through kind of 2008 and like the crash there and we've gone through the pandemic and there's been some political turmoil. And we've seen the stock market do crazy things. And we've seen one thing that's never changed is like these corporate Fortune 500 companies, I remember 2008, 2012, like the, the same.

salaries were the same. Like, they haven't really changed towards, you know, for, you know, the volatility and the inflation. So just something I want to get your opinion on. But another really great episode. Thank you, Morgan, for coming on. And that's, I'm just, it's sunny out. I'm in a really good mood. And life is good right now. Life is good. Yeah. And I think you mentioned something about salaries. We have Juan Salting, a guy that just Jerry Lee, who does all salaries and job placement for the masses. And he talks about how to get the job resume tips, interview tips, and the dollars amount going. And I think you'll be shocked by that episode based on what you just said. So more to come with that. Next week, we have Roland Pollard. Roland is an unbelievable guy

at no following, big and cheerleading as his four-year-old daughter, that him and his daughter started doing cheer videos. One video went viral, 40 million, 40 million views. He now has over six million TikTok followers and other like hundreds of thousands all over the place. His life has changed. He talks about the dollars, how his life has changed, the parenting behind it, and everything in between. So that's coming up next Monday. Thank you guys for tuning into another episode of Traying Secrets. Secrets when we hope you can't afford to miss. And please remember, give us five stars, put your comments. We're literally reading every single one of them. We'll see you next Monday.

Living the dream