Andrea Bartson (2:01)

We tend to accept reality as it is, rather than how we want it to be. And we're at this vortex of time, at this moment, where we can all decide the reality that we want to create.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (2:14)

But then everything changed. One explosive article from New York magazine turned her into a villain overnight.

Andrea Bartson (2:20)

I know every single person that was quoted in that article, every single one of them has had A vendetta against me.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (2:28)

And this morning, we received an anonymous email warning us not to platform her. So who really is Andrea Bartson? Is she the next Anna Delvey? Or is this a complete witch hunt and we are all in the wrong? I know what it feels like when the media decides who you are before you get to speak. That's why I wanted to hear from her directly. No filters, no headlines, no middleman, just Andrea. This is one of the wildest interviews we've ever done. And now you can decide for yourself. So originally, I saw this post that a handle on Instagram called Palm Beach Socialite had posted, and they had reposted the story that the New York magazine had put out, which was called the fake Cartier and the fake Rockefeller. So then I went down the rabbit hole and I went onto the New York magazine site. I looked up the writer. I saw that the writer was friends with the writer who had done my story with the New York Times. The girl who did my story. It took us eight months. She was completely credible. There was so much back and forth with the law department. You know, things have to be verified. You can't just say stuff. So, anyways, I went through all this. I read it. I read the article. I found it fascinating. And then I clicked on her name because they linked to her and it went to Andrea Barson's Instagram. And I noticed she followed me, which I was surprised about. So I followed her back and I went into the DMs and I said, hey, this seems like a crazy story. You know, when is the next time you're gonna be in Palm Beach? And she writes me back within 30 seconds. And she said, I'll be there on Monday. And I said, okay, well, then let's get together. Do you wanna do the podcast? And she said, yes. What led to that was a lot of emails. She wanted to get on the phone and tell me her side of the story. And so people that don't know how I prep for these things, I do a lot of background research, but I rarely wanna get on the phone with the person I'm interviewing before my interview, because I think it's really important to have that organic conversation when we meet. And I don't want to know their perspective or their side very much. I just want to know the facts about what's been said about them or what's out there so I can ask the questions that anyone reading an article would really be asking themselves. So she tried to get on the phone with me. I wouldn't Let her. I just said, I know your side. Because she had sent me like, a dozen text messages a day, and I said, and I know the other side, so let's just meet. She arrives at my house maybe 15 minutes late, and so I worried that she was gonna cancel. She gets here, we sit down, and she wanted to talk before we started, and I really said, let's just get into it. Let's just talk on air.

Andrea Bartson (5:32)

So can we just chat for a little bit before.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (5:34)

Yeah, sure.

Andrea Bartson (5:35)

Okay.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (5:36)

Let's get you in your spot. Can she get you something to drink, or are you okay with us? What did you want to talk about before we start?

Andrea Bartson (5:44)

No, just about, like, what we're gonna say or.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (5:47)

I'm just gonna have a conversation with you. I'm not here in a perspective of trying to blame you, accuse you of anything. I'm allowing you to either set the record straight or talk about what you want to talk about. But if you ignore the elephant in the room, it's not gonna do you any justice.

Andrea Bartson (6:03)

Yeah.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (6:04)

Two, one. Andrea, thank you so much for joining me today on Misunderstood. How are you feeling?

Andrea Bartson (6:12)

You know, I'm generally a positive person and a happy person, so, you know, I conn my spirituality, so I always feel like regardless of what happens in life, it's always for a bigger spiritual reason.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (6:27)

Okay, well, that's a good way to see things, for sure. So I want people to get to know you, and I want to get to know you a little bit because there's been this article that's come out. People are talking about it. I can imagine, because I've been through something similar. Not exactly what you've been through, but the fact that people take a narrative and. And now there's a belief about you out there. I want to get to know you a little bit. So I know you're from Ohio. Oh, you're not from Ohio. Okay, well, where are you from?

Andrea Bartson (6:54)

A lot of the facts are incorrect, starting with that. So I'm actually from Chicago.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (6:58)

Okay.

Andrea Bartson (6:59)

I was born in the city. I was a city kid, and my father's from Chicago. Actually goes. My family goes back generations in Chicago. My great grandfather actually was a famous politician during the time of Al Capone, and. And he was nicknamed Honest Pete because he was the only honest politician during the time of mobsters. And he fought for people, so he fought for what's right that side of the family, and Bart's inside the family, which I've heard the most stories from, had a no fear gene, so they fought for people. No matter what and really stood by people. So he was actually very famous in the media and was nicknamed Honest Pete because he didn't care he if they were mobsters or not. He was going to stand up for for people.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (7:50)

I love that. Okay, and how long did you live in Chicago?

Andrea Bartson (7:53)

I was born there and you know, I was there until I was about seven and then we moved to Pennsylvania. Later we moved to Ohio.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (8:03)

Okay. Were your parents still married or.

Andrea Bartson (8:05)

Yeah, they were married the whole time. My, my father passed away when I was 17.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (8:09)

Sorry.

Andrea Bartson (8:11)

I'm a back to Chicago after college, after Kent State, went to college or went to back to Chicago then. But yeah, so I've lived, I grew up in the Midwest, you know, overall.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (8:27)

And do you have siblings?

Andrea Bartson (8:29)

Pardon me?

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (8:29)

Do you have siblings?

Andrea Bartson (8:31)

Yeah, so I have two brothers and a little sister.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (8:34)

Oh, nice.

Andrea Bartson (8:35)

Yeah.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (8:35)

Are you close with them?

Andrea Bartson (8:36)

Yeah, very close.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (8:38)

Let's talk about your early years in Chicago. What stands out to you?

Andrea Bartson (8:42)

So my parents were very different from each other. My father was a big personality, big city guy, probably the biggest bachelor, one of the biggest bachelors in Chicago. Good looking, smart, successful, and very good person. Always help people. And my mother was from Ohio. She was from a family, Irish Catholic family. And they met, they fell in love and they were joined together because they were both wanted to make a difference in the world and that's what united them. And they were both very spiritual and they spent their life, every day of their life very similar to me. Actually now it's full circle because they went out and they had fun and they were the it couple of Chicago. Like I said, my father was, you know, the it guy and then they were the it couple. But they didn't just socialize to socialize. Everything that they did was about making a difference and their businesses were making a difference and their social was about making a difference. And if anyone wanted to hang out with them and do all of the fun things that they did, it was all for bringing together a community to make change in the world.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (10:02)

So this is how you learned this and this is how you. That came into your life.

Andrea Bartson (10:05)

It had nothing to do with, you know, as an artist said, like, you know, getting into parties. I was actually born into that. So my father, who was a psychologist, spiritual psychologist, he didn't, he thought it was good to expose kids at a very early age to multiple stimuluses. And so as a baby, I never had a babysitter. So I was going to dinner parties and political conventions and hobnobbing since I was a baby. And so it's just completely natural for me. And I felt very comfortable in that environment. In fact, was very young, I think two years old. I was actually on the COVID of Time Life magazine with my father. It was at a political event and he was holding a mixed drink and he was talking to someone. And then I was turned the other way looking at someone else. And I had these big eyes and I was very curious.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (11:03)

And what did you want to be when you were younger?

Andrea Bartson (11:07)

What did I want to be? I wanted to be an architect, actually. So all I wanted to do was play with blocks and build and create. I was very creative and had a natural analytical side and a creative side. Just wanted to build things. And my father, who's very transformative, brilliant guy, he actually trained my brothers and I since birth how to play business. And we were playing business and I played bank. And he taught us.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (11:45)

When you say play business, you mean like monopoly kind of thing?

Andrea Bartson (11:49)

Like, what do you mean, like played? Everything was play. So he taught us to be very empowered and he taught us critical thinking skills at a young age. And he groomed us basically to know how to think on our own, to make critical decisions, to know cause and effect. We learned chess at age 3. My brothers and I interacted in a way so that later in life I realized the brilliance even now is everything is play. It's fun. You want to get into media, learn media. You want to write a book, write a book. You want to create a movie, create a movie. Which is partly what I'll do now. I never anticipated doing it this early, but now that I have a story, I'll do that. But everything was seamless and easy for us. So, you know, we decided whatever we wanted to play. And it was talk about a genderless environment. You know, we. There was no gender involved in my family. Like, you know, I wanted to be the bank and my brother wanted to be the chef.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (12:54)

So amazing. So what did you study? What did you end up majoring in?

Andrea Bartson (13:00)

So I majored in marketing. Marketing, Advertising, heavy science. I come from a medical family, so that was natural. My mother was a nurse. She had a home health care business. So I majored in both creative things and science, kind of technical things. So, you know, business strategy was a natural thing for me. I love to create businesses and problem solve. So saved a little bit of everything and, you know, mix that together as my major.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (13:37)

Right. So let me ask you then about your. You talked about your family. People are up in arms a lot. And calling you the fake Cartier is Cartier part of your name or was that just something you decided would be fun to put on a LinkedIn profile? Where did that come from?

Andrea Bartson (13:54)

So my great grandmother is Mary Cartier. She was married to Peter Bartson, the famous politician. So, you know, I didn't, it's actually we grew up more with the stories of my great grandfather and that side of the family that was the Jewish side of the family that was very strong. And you know, they actually going all the way back on the Bartson side. They fought against the Bolsheviks in the Russian revolution. So that's really the strong sort of part of my family on that side, the strong personality. They were comedians and big personalities. And my, my great grandmother, you know, we didn't hear as much about her. So, you know, and I was named after her. Actually my middle name is Mary. So I brought that into, you know, incorporating it as a way to respect her and also because I relate to her just as much as I relate to the Bartson side.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (14:52)

Okay. You know, so just to clarify, Cartier wasn't your birth given middle name, but you're now explaining why you gave yourself that later in life.

Andrea Bartson (15:02)

Exactly. And honestly, it was very passively. It's not like I go around, you know, talking about it.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (15:09)

So it was more of a clickbait

Andrea Bartson (15:10)

when I introduced myself. Everyone knows me as Andrea Bartson, you know, and in fact, no one even knew that was part of my name until this article came out. So. Ah, got it. Yeah.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (15:21)

Okay. Do you think that it opened doors for you at all or you think people really didn't know that?

Andrea Bartson (15:27)

They really didn't know that. And you know, because of where I'm from, you know, I've always, regardless, I've always taken pride in building my own credibility. That's super important to me. Okay. So it doesn't really matter to me what my last name is or anyone else's last name for that matter.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (15:48)

Okay. Have you ever been married? Like, have you taken someone else's name?

Andrea Bartson (15:52)

A couple times. Okay, yeah. So, you know, to me it's not about your name. It's like, what's your integrity level? What's your character? What do you do? What do you create?

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (16:02)

So explain to me what you do now or what your job, you know, what your job is, what you've been doing.

Andrea Bartson (16:07)

So I basically created a company that is an authentic representation of my life because I realized before I did this that because I have such a broad span of interests and talents or skills, I would keep them all separate. And I realized that the people That I knew actually that I, and this is actually good reason, I usually kept them separate. Right. Because people don't necessarily mix with each other.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (16:41)

Right.

Andrea Bartson (16:41)

That's true. So I kept my credible side of my life over here, which was my business life. I'm in pharmaceuticals and I'm in biotech and finance, very serious professions that I've spent my whole life building and building credibility and for quite frankly in a more masculine dominated world. So as a woman, you have to work three times as hard to build that credibility. And I did and I'm proud of that. But then on the other side, because I'm also, and I think this comes through the Cartier side like I, I love elegance, I love luxury, I love beauty. So I would allow those outlets through different channels of my life that were more social. Like I love to go to art galleries and I love to travel. I love an international world. But even my friend groups were separate.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (17:33)

Okay.

Andrea Bartson (17:33)

So I kept my friends completely separate. But I realized that the right thing to do for humanity is. And at this time we're going through a huge transformation in the world right now. And people don't, not necessarily everyone, people don't realize it necessarily. But from a spiritual perspective, we're separating from a third dimensional world to a fifth dimensional world. And part of that from a monetary standpoint is there's this great wealth transfer that's happening right now. So wealth is being transferred through generations, specifically to women and next gens, next generations. So the difference of what's happening now from any other time in history is that the people that are going to inherit the wealth actually care about making a difference in the world more than any other time.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (18:31)

Okay.

Andrea Bartson (18:31)

And power is shifting.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (18:33)

So is this why you started Global Passion Project?

Andrea Bartson (18:36)

That's why I started Global Passion Projects because I realized that I was in a unique position to help people that inherit money actually make a difference in the world. And I could be the channel for that. But it's not as simple as simply inheriting wealth or investing in impact different businesses. Because most of the wealth that's being transferred is transferred to people that never had to necessarily have a job. They didn't necessarily have to learn the skills or of working hard. Right.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (19:09)

Building their, this whole family office type of thing I think is intimidating to people. They don't really understand it.

Andrea Bartson (19:15)

Exactly.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (19:16)

And there's a lot of questions around it and it sounds very intimidating and off putting because people don't know a lot about it.

Andrea Bartson (19:23)

Yeah.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (19:23)

But you essentially were throwing parties for people in that industry.

Weight Watchers Announcer (19:28)

Right?

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (19:28)

Is that how you would say it?

Andrea Bartson (19:30)

Yeah. So I basically wanted to take out the intimidation factor, right? That's exactly right. Because I'm friends with both groups. Right, okay. And I realized that neither one of these groups would never ever meet each other in a million years. My credible people sort of think of these other jet set people as kind of superficial. And the superficial people are maybe intimidated by the people that are building businesses. But I thought I could really do a service because I had to learn it because I didn't receive my inheritances. I was supposed to receive three or four different inheritances from both sides of my family. And I used to be mad at my parents, actually, because I was like, why are you guys nice guys? You know, my cousins are getting, you know, like huge houses. Just inherited, like I, I, you know, inherited the heiress attitude without the heir. And my mother would get mad at me because she's like, you're such a princess. And I'm like, that's right. I am like, why didn't you get my heir? But I learned and I'm grateful. I'm grateful I had to work hard and learn skills because now that's what I can offer the world. I can teach the people that I jet set all over the world with and I can help them this. Help them understand and learn and accelerate their learning so that they feel as though they have purpose and mission and they can make a difference. Life is not about partying.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (20:58)

So this is interesting because it's. I mean, it sounds great and I can see that you're having these authentic parties leading up to this article. How many parties would you say you had thrown for your foundation?

Andrea Bartson (21:10)

And actually, it's not a party at all, really. I just add in the fun element so that it takes out the intimidation.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (21:17)

Is it like a summit? What?

Andrea Bartson (21:19)

Yeah. So there's a lot of psychology baked into it. So essentially it's a business event where I curate everything. So I curate the businesses that come in. All the businesses are making a difference either in healthcare or clean energy. All the businesses, what they have in common is they're part of creating a new earth. What I realized in the disconnect between philanthropy and impact investing is that philanthropists look for the solutions, but the solutions are rarely in philanthropy. The solutions are actually usually in business. There are incredible amount of businesses right now that are literally transforming the world right now. And people don't even realize that that's happening. So what I do is I create a business event. I have top thought leaders come in from every category And I infuse that

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (22:14)

you've created relationships with over time.

Andrea Bartson (22:16)

Yes, over 25 years. Yeah, 25 years. I am friends with these people and I've met these people. So I bring in top thought leaders from longevity, from science, AI and then I also bring in the artistic part of my life. So I'm friends with filmmakers, I'm friends with musicians, chefs, celebrity chefs. So I feel as though it's important to honor the creators as much as it is to honor the entrepreneurs, because it's going to be a combination of talent that brings us into a new world.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (22:52)

So leading up to this success that you're having now, I mean, you had to start out somewhere. So after college, you did what. What did you do to start getting into the events business?

Andrea Bartson (23:02)

Well, no, that. The event thing is just a new thing. Oh, God. And that's just part of my business.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (23:07)

Okay.

Andrea Bartson (23:07)

That's not really. That's just one element of it.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (23:10)

Okay.

Andrea Bartson (23:11)

But after call, after college, you know, I went into, you know, mostly advertising initially and all pharmaceuticals initially, because in different parts of that. So I combined, even early on, my analytical skills with the creative part of what I was able to do. And a lot of it was linked to problem solving. So it goes all the way back to the skills that my father taught us initially. And my brothers and I were taught a very important lesson, two very important lessons very early on. Even when we were 2 and 3 years old, we were actually not allowed to go to my parents and have a problem. Weren't allowed to complain. Rule number one, no complaints. We couldn't come to him about a problem unless we also already figured out the solution. So it's very powerful thing. I've seen my nieces and nephews do this, and they would go up to my brother and say, dad, you know, this is a problem I'm having. I think this is a solution. I already did it. What do you think? Do you agree?

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (24:22)

Yes.

Andrea Bartson (24:23)

Power out of out of day one. And so that was one lesson. The other lesson was, and this actually is full circle right now, is my father said to me at a young age, andrea, there's never a problem that you cannot solve in life. Don't forget that. And he said, If you ever think that there's a problem you can't solve, it's only because you haven't gone big enough and it's your trigger that you need to go outside of your comfort zone. You need to be bigger than you already are, because there's a solution that the world needs that's Outside of your comfort zone. So. Wow. It's forcing me to be out of my comfort zone.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (25:28)

Yes. I can see.

Andrea Bartson (25:28)

I was always behind the brand. I strategically created some of the largest brands in the world. I was behind the scenes. I'm fundamentally shy, or I used to be when I was younger. So it's very comfortable for me to create big brands like Lipitor and Botox and Viagra. I was sort of the mastermind behind the curtain. And I love to create and love to create sort of big brands and big experiences.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (25:59)

What do you mean the mastermind behind the curtain? Like doing the advertising. Like you spoke about advertising.

Andrea Bartson (26:03)

Okay, got it. So I was a strategist behind the scenes. I would direct different groups, you know, writers and creatives and artists and strategists.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (26:11)

And were you the contracted to do this or you worked for these companies? Both.

Andrea Bartson (26:16)

Both. You know, early on, you know, you take on positions, you know, and you climb your way up through the ladder. In New York City.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (26:25)

Yeah.

Andrea Bartson (26:25)

You know, and then later in life, you know, you take on bigger and bigger positions. You're paid more.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (26:30)

Sure.

Andrea Bartson (26:31)

Bigger salaries. You take on assignments. And for me, because I'd love to do brand launches, I would focus on the largest brand launch for that agency and I would orchestrate that and lead that, and then I would go off to another brand launch.

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Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (29:48)

So let's talk about March of this year. An article came out in New York magazine called the Fake Cartier and the Fake Rockefeller. How do you think you got to the point where this article was being written about you from the life you were, what you would say, authentically living? What happened?

Andrea Bartson (30:11)

Well, unfortunately, and I think this is partly coming from the Midwest, you believe the best in everyone. And so I think as a Midwesterner coming to New York, one of the things you have to be most careful of is being taken advantage of or being naive. So I think I was naive in a few situations related to women and became friends at one time or acquaintances with the women that wrote the article.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (30:52)

You mean the women that were interviewed or wrote the article?

Andrea Bartson (30:55)

No, they. There were women that orchestrated that article, that knew, that found each other, knew each Other.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (31:04)

So I know you believe that, but if I'm. I'm genuinely asking, because people will ask this question. You know, I researched that writer I saw who follows her. There was an article written in the New York Times about me, and I was interviewed for it. So I know you know, the upstanding journalism that I will say this group of people that I worked with has, and they are friends with this writer. I've been in journalism. I can't believe that a journalist would take any sort of payment or anything like that from somebody to tell a story. That's just my personal opinion. Now. It's hard to believe.

Andrea Bartson (31:42)

Listen, you don't realize it until you're victimized by it.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (31:47)

Well, what I have been victimized about is the media hijacking my narrative. And that's why I wanted to have you here.

Andrea Bartson (31:53)

Yes.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (31:54)

Because the media can put any angle and spin on the story, and that doesn't mean it's true. I will verify that. So let me ask a question. Did Jen, the writer, reach out to you and try to get a quote from you?

Andrea Bartson (32:04)

Not until the very end.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (32:06)

Okay. And she just showed it to you.

Andrea Bartson (32:07)

It was all. And the questions that were asked were very defamatory, not even close to being accurate, so I could tell how the narrative was being spun.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (32:17)

So she was posing it to you. I'm guessing that she was asking you a question about something you were accused of and.

Andrea Bartson (32:22)

Yeah. So it was like a story.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (32:25)

Okay.

Andrea Bartson (32:25)

Yeah. And it was at the end. The other thing is. Well, there's a couple things related to that.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (32:32)

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Trust me, your sleep will thank you. The Saturday episodes of Misunderstood are really for Patreon. We've given you free access to the beginning of interview. To hear the rest of this interview, let me ask a question. How do you make money doing this? Would you say it is an accurate statement that you have ever crashed a party? There have been reports that he's not a Rockefeller and that he was a former actor and musician. Did you know that? Please move over to our Patreon. The link is in the description below. If Patreon is something you can't figure out, which some people have a hard time doing, if you go onto our page on Apple Podcasts you can find us there. It will ask you to subscribe and become a member. It's the exact same stuff that that's on Patreon. I hope you enjoyed this episode so far about Andrea Barson. Please head over and listen to the rest. I will tell you that I took it a step further once our show ended. She was waiting for her Uber and she was telling me, you know, I assumed her credibility would be completely gone after this. And I asked her when her next event was. Oddly enough, she was having an event in Palm beach at a restaurant called Beach A, which is very well known, high end, you know, restaurant on the island in Palm beach. The following night, which was this Tuesday. And I said I would go and because I really wanted to be there and see what the hell people are talking about, what was going on. So I will give you guys a little piece of like info about this little tea. So she was ordering this Uber and you know, I'm running late for an appointment which I had to cancel because she stayed for an extra hour because the Uber never came. I got her an Uber. She wasn't clear about where she was staying. She changed the location of where she was staying. I got her the Uber so she could get out of here, which, listen, it was a little weird. I've never had to organize a car for a person coming to be interviewed and the location she had me send her to was different than the location she told me she was staying at. So I end up spending 80 bucks or whatever to get her out of my house, which was. I mean, I'm not trying to be rude, but it was a little bit awkward. She had overstayed her welcome for a little bit and I had missed my appointment, which, okay, it's fine, but I just thought it was a Little strange she couldn't get her own Uber together and that she was staying essentially at the Hilton when, you know, people claim that she's from the Cartier family. Okay, Neither here nor there. So I decide to go to this event on Tuesday. I go with my friend Ellie, and the event started at. So we. I saw the invite, and the invite said it was $150 per person and it was to support her mission, which we talk about in the interview. The Global shit. What's it called? Global Passion Project. The Global Passion Project, which is her foundation. So it wasn't for a charity. I want to be clear about that. It was for her foundation and people, I guess, were paying. She invited me and a guest. So we show up. I started to make a video when we got out of the car. Because when we got out of the car at Beach A, there was no one there. I could see inside. Not one person was there. So I make a little video. I turn it off. I walk into Beach A and I ask if she's having a party. And they say, oh, yes, it's in the back. So we walked through the back, and I turned and looked at Ellie. And I'm like. I'm shocked, because when we looked at the back, it was completely filled with about 60 people. And it's probably as many as it could hold. And they were having a cocktail party. So we walked back there. I saw some familiar faces of people who are wealth managers. Real people. Like, these are real people. You know, you think if you're dealing with frauds and fraudsters and liars, that they're, like, surrounded by those people. But there were some real people there. Okay? The one thing I will say is, just as we got there, the food ran out. I know they had food. Cause I saw the tray. There was one tray, and it was gone. I read that in her article that there was never enough food. But there was an open bar, and there was another company, Odyssey, that has drinks, health drinks or something. That was a sponsored booth that they were offering food, drinks. Excuse me. So anyway, as soon as we get there, we talk to a few people, we get our drinks, and the event starts. Andrea gets up, and I've gotta tell you, she was very poised. She's very good at the microphone, and she knows what she's talking about. She was introducing the event. It's like a biohacking, biotech, I don't know, event. And I was still looking around to be like, wow, how did she get all these people here? Maybe they haven't Read the article. So as she's talking about what the interview is about, this woman gets up and she says, what about addressing the issue of the article and how you're frauding everybody, defrauding everybody, or you're lying to everybody? Now, I will stop for one second because this now came out the next day. The woman started posting like she really wanted attention from it, so it made it to page six. It is the headline. It is the top line story on page six right now, which is insane. And it talks about her heckling. Now, this was pretty embarrassing for the heckler because no one supported her. And you would have thought that people would have been like, yeah, yeah, we want to hear about that. No one in the room wanted to hear about it. They were there very clearly to support Andrea. I wanna say that because it was a shock to me, too, but I watched it happen. The woman took her seat, and Andrea very calmly, you know, addressed it and

Andrea Bartson (38:57)

said, not about women. Take you down on the living. Because that's really what that was about. So thank you for being here. Thank you for being collaborative.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (39:05)

This is not the place for this. This is not women supporting women. And you're crashing this party because I never invited you. So the woman takes a seat. Eventually, Andrea finishes her speech. She starts with the first guest speaker, and as the guest speaker is happening, Andrea is very calmly filming the guest speaker. And somehow the other people get ushered out and they left. I really actually wanted to talk to her because I wanted to, like, get the inside scoop. Now I'm gonna fast forward this story, and I will just let you know that they had four speakers that were all credible. Really good. I have to say, I even learned something from it. I know my friend who I went with, learned something from it. And we met some really interesting people. I got a lot of business cards from people that I wanted to follow up with. So it was not a waste of my time where I very much expected it to be. And I was really shocked that Andrea stood up for herself and held the room like she did. She also held a Q and A. I think I'm a pretty good interviewer. She held a Q and A with two, like a professional athlete and a former Navy SEAL who was a top public speaker. And she was asking them questions that I was really shocked that she wasn't just, you know, a mess, which I kind of expected her to be. She was very thoughtful, she was very smart, and she held the room and she held her own. And she introduced me, which was a little bit uncomfortable. And I just said, you know, there are things going on behind the scenes, and Andrea's doing her. Her first interview on my show this weekend. If you're here to support her, please watch Misunderstood on Saturday. And after I got off the stage, a man got up. Two men ended up getting up and addressed what was happening.

Andrea's Supporter (40:51)

I'm here tonight because Andrea is near and dear to my heart. And there's a bit of an elephant in the room where on social media, there have been rumors and people have been casting aspersions on Andrea and talking about her and trying to knock her down. I know Andrea for 10 years, and I been living here for, like, whatever, 30, 40 years, and I've only known her to be a person of integrity, a person who's always furthering good causes, and she's always put on events where people who have something to say and something to contribute get together and discuss ways to make life better for all of us.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (41:53)

Yes.

Andrea's Supporter (41:54)

And whatever the whole social media thing is, whether casting aspersions on her or knocking her down, whatever, you know, as we know, there are people that live by knocking other people. People down. And I'm here tonight not just to support Andrea, but because anything that Andrea has ever invited me to, anything that Andrea has ever told me, it's a worthwhile cause for me, has always been something that meant something to me. And when I showed up, I learned something from it. I gleaned something from it, and it. It became important in my life. And so I'm here to thank her for being who she's always been for the whatever, 10, 15 years that I've known her. And I only know her to be a person of integrity, of truthfulness. And regardless what anybody says on social media, she's my friend. And I was always. I will always stand up for her.

Andrea Bartson (43:03)

And.

Andrea's Supporter (43:03)

And thank you for inviting me. It's my privilege to be here,

Andrea Bartson (43:11)

For teaching me what real friendship is. And all of you guys, you know, you really find out who your friends are in the foxhole, as they say, Right? You know, life is all about celebrating life, celebrating fun, friendship. Love you, Andrew.

Andrea's Supporter (43:30)

We love you, Andrea. Really.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (43:38)

With that being said, and to cut this down, there was a couple women that knew me a little bit. They walked over to me, and they were, like, thinking I was going to gossip or myself and Ellie were going to gossip. And they said, I can't believe anybody's here. And I asked them if they had paid, and they said no. So again, here are some other girls who weren't allowed to be at the event who just came in, were drinking her alcohol or whoever had paid for it and were talking badly about her. And I asked point blank, again, this was not to take aside, but just to understand where they were coming from. I said, do you. Have you ever met her? No. Has she personally taken something from you? No. Well, did you have a nice time tonight?

Andrea Bartson (44:17)

Yeah.

Rachel (Host/Interviewer) (44:18)

Did you get some drinks? Yeah. Okay, so what's your problem? You read an article and you're talking so badly about her that she's a fraud. But you can't have this herd mentality. You have to make your own decisions. You're here, you're now her guest, so you can ask her point blank, or you could be part of it and, like, enjoy the fact that you're here doing the same thing that she's accused of, because you didn't pay to get in here and you're at a party. So I just wanna make that clear. Like, I like to ask people questions because I think they should. People need to think about why you have an opinion about somebody and have it based on fact and experience as opposed to just reading something. Because it's happened to me. It happened to me for years. It still happens. People read things about me from the past, from the present, and they just make a decision without coming to me and getting to know me. And I'm not saying that she's not the fake Cartier. I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying, do your research and get the answers for yourself. So with that being said, you know, listen, I don't know what to say. I don't know if I was conned by the con. I don't know, at the end of the day, how this is gonna play out. I definitely think that there is a chance that there will be a documentary about whether or not this is the next Anna Delvey, and maybe she is. But I will tell you, I did have a good night, and I did feel like her event was pulled together in a very professional way. There was no money that anybody had spent. Anyone I spoke to said that they were invited and they had not paid the $150. So someone paid BJ, and I'm sure it was a sponsor. And, yes, journalists can call BJ and find out. Journalists can call Odyssey and find out who paid for them to be there if it wasn't a donation. But it's kind of like, if they're doing that, why? What's the witch hunt about? Has there been charities she's stolen from? Maybe. And if that's the case there. I'm assuming there will be some legal ramifications. So we'll see that, that if it gets played out or not, we'll see if she chooses to sue these women that are saying the defamatory things if they're not truths. We'll see if she tries to sue New York magazine for not doing the proper research. But you can't hide from the truth, right? You can't make up facts that don't exist and pose it as truth if you don't have the evidence. And you can't, you know, say that this is all a witch hunt without also providing evidence that it's a witch hunt. Right. So it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. Thank you so much for listening to Misunderstood. I'm your host, Rachel.

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