Is Our Influencer Wealth Going to Ruin Our Lives?

Summary

The Ramsey Show Highlights: Episode Summary Episode Title: Is Our Influencer Wealth Going to Ruin Our Lives?
Host/Author: Ramsey Network
Release Date: May 10, 2025

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Introduction

In the episode titled "Is Our Influencer Wealth Going to Ruin Our Lives?", the Ramsey Network delves into the burgeoning world of social media influencers and the financial opportunities it presents, juxtaposed against the potential personal and familial challenges. Host Dave Ramsey, along with guest Rachel Cruze, offers insights and advice to a listener grappling with the sudden rise of their spouse as a social media influencer.

Listener’s Situation: Rapid Social Media Growth

Josh, the listener, shares his personal journey:

"[...] we just moved out to Phoenix, Arizona about a year and a half ago for my job. [...] a year and a half later, she's kind of blown up all over social media. I mean, we're about, she's about to hit a million subscribers [...] we're starting to get some pretty big brand sponsorship, some ad revenue."
[00:06]

Josh explains that his wife began pursuing social media influencer activities as a creative outlet during their move. Over the past year and a half, her efforts have led to substantial growth, nearing a million subscribers on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, and attracting significant brand sponsorships and ad revenue opportunities.

Monetizing Social Media: Opportunities and Skepticism

As the conversation unfolds, Josh expresses uncertainty about monetizing these opportunities without jeopardizing family life:

"People asking about doing a podcast with her. We haven't said yes to any of this. We don't know how it's really going to affect our family's life."
[00:06]

Dave Ramsey challenges the validity of some of the high monetary figures presented to Josh:

"And that number is real. The other one's bullcrap. Okay, Nobody's paying you 75,000 an episode for a podcast that hadn't launched."
[01:39]

Rachel Cruze acknowledges the reality of ad revenue while remaining cautious about inflated podcast deal offers:

"Yeah, but on social, it is very common for that size of an audience to get paid."
[02:08]

Despite Rachel’s affirmation of ad revenue's legitimacy, Dave maintains skepticism regarding the $75,000 podcast offer, suggesting it might be an overreach by certain agents or podcasters.

Balancing Wealth and Family: Setting Priorities

The core of the discussion revolves around whether the financial gains from influencer activities are worth the potential strain on family life. Josh poses two primary concerns:

1. Should they pursue influencer opportunities?
2. How to manage the impact on their family?

"How lucrative is this? Is it worth doing it? [...] is this something we want to dive into and explore, or is this going to ruin our lives type of thing?"
[02:52]

Rachel advises establishing clear boundaries to ensure that social media activities do not overshadow family priorities:

"I do think that they're very healthy to create boundaries where you guys want. And I would be stricter on the boundaries early on."
[03:19]

She emphasizes the importance of treating social media endeavors as a job, rather than letting them fluidly intertwine with personal life, which can lead to negative long-term effects on family dynamics.

Setting Boundaries: Practical Steps

Rachel outlines practical strategies to maintain a healthy balance:

• Scheduled Content Creation: Allocating specific times for filming and content creation to prevent it from encroaching on family time.

  "From 5pm to 8pm we're not. We're not filming this stuff."
  [04:37]

• Selective Content Sharing: Deciding which aspects of family life are shared online and which remain private.

  "What parts of our life are our life and they don't go on the air."
  [05:00]

• Predefined Limits: Establishing "hard and fast" rules to easily disengage from influencer activities if they begin to negatively impact family life.

Risks: Golden Handcuffs and Addiction

Rachel warns of the "golden handcuffs" phenomenon, where lucrative income streams make it difficult to step away despite personal or familial sacrifices:

"It's like, how could we say no? If it ever got to a point where it's stressful and it's starting to ruin the family it could be a hard no to stop because it's such a lot of money."
[06:20]

She highlights the addictive nature of rapid financial gain and the ease with which money can overshadow personal well-being and family cohesion.

Dave reinforces the importance of prioritizing family and personal relationships over financial pursuits:

"The ones I see get messed up [...] their family is first. Their relationships are first. This is just a job."
[06:10]

Conclusion and Advice

Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze offer pragmatic advice to Josh and listeners in similar situations:

• Prioritize Family and Relationships: Ensure that personal relationships remain paramount above financial opportunities.

• Intentional Engagement: Approach social media monetization deliberately, with clear boundaries and predefined limits.

• Guard Against Overcommitment: Be wary of offers that seem too good to be true and assess their potential impact on family life.

"I think you try it. I think you put some boundaries on it and move forward and don't believe everything you hear and try to cash some checks."
[06:50]

Overall, the episode underscores the importance of balancing financial opportunities in the influencer space with the preservation of family integrity and personal well-being.

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Created by the Ramsey Network to provide insights and advice on managing life and money effectively.

Transcript

[Dave Ramsey]

Brought to you by the EveryDollar app. Start budgeting for free today.

[Josh]

Me and my wife, we just moved out to Phoenix, Arizona about a year and a half ago for my job. As we moved, she was job hunting and you know, she sees, she follows a lot of social media, some influencers and she's like, man, I can do this. So she was kind of doing that on the side. Kind of fun, creative thing for her to do while she was job hunting. And a year and a half later, she's kind of blown up all over social media. I mean, we're about, she's about to hit a million subscribers, a little over on some TikToks and Instagram and we're starting to get some pretty big brand sponsorship, some ad revenue. You know, just stuff like that that's reaching out to us. People asking about doing a podcast with her. We haven't said yes to any of this. We don't know how it's really going to affect our family's life. I know you guys kind of handle this. We don't know if it's like, oh, is this something that's going to work out well for us? Do we pursue this? And it's a lot of money that' Some of these brands are thrown at us or people.

[Dave Ramsey]

What's a lot of money? How much?

[Josh]

Podcasts. People asking podcasts.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, I'm talking about how much money? Give me a dollar figure you're talking about. She's reached. Go ahead.

[Josh]

We haven't, we haven't cashed in anything yet. We're just kind of on standby because we don't know how it's going to affect our family. If we want our family lives on social media. We're starting to have kids, but we've had podcast people reach out and say, hey, let's do an episode. 75,000. We've had AD revenue say, hey, make a video with our product in it. We'll give you 10 grand or 15 grand. And that's a 30 second video on TikTok.

[Dave Ramsey]

And that number is real. The other one's bullcrap. Okay, Nobody's paying you 75,000 an episode for a podcast that hadn't launched.

[Josh]

That's what we don't know.

[Dave Ramsey]

We don't know.

[Josh]

Well, no, no. People who have a podcast want her to come on and they're going to.

[Dave Ramsey]

Pay her 75,000 for being a guest.

[Josh]

That's what people are throwing at us.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's like the, like the actual podcaster or some goober agent, like some goober agent.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Josh]

You don't know what's real.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm calling bs.

[Rachel Cruz]

Okay, maybe on that, but on social, it is very common for that size of an audience to get paid.

[Dave Ramsey]

The ad revenue is very real.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's why I said the first number is very real.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yes.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. And even more, that could be even a conservative number. The podcast number is not. I've done five or six podcasts this week, and I hadn't been paid for one.

[Josh]

Right. So we don't know.

[Dave Ramsey]

And my footprint's a little larger than you're talking about.

[Josh]

I agree. That's why we're reaching.

[Dave Ramsey]

I'm just saying. It's just not. That's not real.

[Rachel Cruz]

I know, but there is a whole world out there, and it is wild what people will pay. So all that to say, you guys could make, I mean, hundreds of thousands of dollars a year by her just doing this. So you're asking.

[Dave Ramsey]

I hear two questions. One is, should we do it? How do we control it impacting our family? And what do we. With the money? Is that the two questions?

[Josh]

Yes, sir. Like, how lucrative is this? Is it worth doing it? And you guys. I know you guys are all over social media, and so how's it affected your family with people knowing about your lives and trying to. You know, I don't. We just don't know, is this something we want to dive into and explore, or is this going to ruin our lives type of thing?

[Rachel Cruz]

I think it's all on how you guys approach it, how you position it, and the role that it plays in your life. So I do think that they're very healthy to create boundaries where you guys want. And I would be stricter on the boundaries early on. And as you get used to something, maybe you're a little bit more flexible and you're like, yeah, that can kind of move. We feel good with that. I don't do it for a living. And I do think there. There's a world out there. Yeah. Where this is their. This is their world and their life and their family is their content completely. And so with those people that I've talked to in that space, a lot of them do have very strict guidelines of times that they shoot, times they don't. Because I do think this mingling of the phone and social and videoing everything for content, which is the job, essentially, I think it does affect the family in a very negative way over time. And so for you guys just to say, yeah, we can enter into the space, but, you know, from 5pm to 8pm we're not. We're not filming this stuff. Like, you know, we may do some content here or there throughout the day. I don't know. Do you know me? I feel like you have to be very, very, very intentional and seeing it as a job versus it being so fluid with your life. Because people that I see do that.

[Dave Ramsey]

Can consume you.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, it just takes over, you know.

[Dave Ramsey]

Consumes everything if you're not careful. It's like a reality TV show being in your house.

[Rachel Cruz]

Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's it. And you're the. And you're the camera crew. Yeah, totally, totally.

[Dave Ramsey]

So the. The other piece I would add to that is just to say, you know, you can make decisions about kids and those kinds of things. You also need to make decisions about subjects that are not going to be on the air. What parts of our life are our life and they don't go on the air. The first 10 years Rachel was married, no one ever saw Winston. He hated it. Now he's Mr. Internet. But in the last two years, he's embraced it. Right? But, yeah, that was the thing. John Deloney's kids faces don't show up on his. He puts cartoon fake covers over them. Rachel shows her kids. Yeah, I put mine on and so forth. But again, Rachel made a comment there. That's accurate. We're not in that business. We utilize social media, but we're not in the business of, quote, being an influencer or running a reality show over our Instagram or something. We're using it. We're utilizing the platform differently. So we're monetizing it differently, number one. Number two, we don't have to. We don't have to have quite the shoot schedule that you guys might have.

[Rachel Cruz]

Can I say this, too? I would. And I don't know how you would. I don't know how you would discern this, Josh, but somewhere along the lines that this can be an industry, I think, because I could feel myself get into it, that you make money so fast and pretty quick. Like, he's true. Like, like, Yeah, I need three stories back to back, and we'll pay you 15 grand. And you're like, oh, my God, it can end up being golden handcuffs where you're making so much. You're making, you know, 400, 500 plus thousand dollars a year. And it is work. I'm not saying it's not, but it's like, how could we say no? If it ever got to a point where it's stressful and it's starting to ruin the family it could be a hard no to stop because it's such, like, lucrative money. Does that make sense?

[Dave Ramsey]

You get addicted to it?

[Rachel Cruz]

Well, yeah. And it's like, we. Even if it's ruining us, it's such easy. It's money's right there. Like, oh, my gosh, that would be so hard. So it's like there would be some hard and fast rules of stopping if you could lay out ahead of time, which I think is hard. But it can be a golden handcuff kind of thing where you end up sacrificing the family in a sense, even if it's going down because it's just a lot of money. Does that make sense? And people feel that in other jobs too.

[Dave Ramsey]

But Rachel's in a group of ladies that you would know all of their names. And they meet periodically that are friends. And some of them. That is their gig. And so she's getting the inside scoop on what they're making in that group. And I don't. I'm not in the middle of that, but I've heard the numbers and I know some of the ladies were talking about and they are making bank. So she. So her. So her advice is dead on. What I would tell you is this. The ones I see get messed up and I'm looking in from the outside are the ones who this becomes their God, rather than God being their God and rather than their family is first. Their relationships are first. And this is just a job. It's all it is. And so it doesn't take over. It's in the fourth rung down the ladder of importance. So we get to it when we get to it. But we're not sacrificing the child's mental health or our personal relationship, and we're not violating people, you know, but other than that, I think you try it. I think you put some boundaries on it and move forward and don't believe everything you hear and try to cash some checks. Create your free every dollar budget today. The simplest way to budget for your life.