230. Brynn Whitfield: How she landed being in the RHONY cast, being a standup creative, balancing a full-time job in tech outside of reality tv, and diving into her mindset on money and relationships

Summary

Podcast Summary: Trading Secrets – Episode 230 featuring Bryn Whitfield

Introduction

In Episode 230 of Trading Secrets, hosted by Ryan Seacrest from Audioboom Studios, entrepreneur and Real Housewives of New York City (RHONY) star Bryn Whitfield delves deep into her multifaceted career, her journey into reality television, and her unique perspectives on money and relationships. Released on April 14, 2025, this episode offers listeners an intimate look into Bryn's life, balancing her corporate marketing background with her reality TV persona and entrepreneurial ventures.

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1. Bryn’s Journey to RHONY

Bryn Whitfield’s entry into RHONY was serendipitous. As she recounts, “[They] slid into my DMs” (02:21), highlighting how her presence on social media, despite her minimalistic approach, caught the attention of the show's casting directors. Her network, particularly through mutual connections like Savannah Engel, played a pivotal role in her selection. Bryn humorously shares her initial skepticism, thinking it was a scam, but eventually embraced the opportunity after encouragement from Savannah.

Notable Quote:

“It was a scam because I was on private. I never posted on Instagram. I hate phones, I hate technology, and I work in tech.” – Bryn Whitfield (02:24)

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2. Professional Career and Consulting Expertise

Before her stint on RHONY, Bryn built an impressive career in corporate marketing, managing strategic media relations for giants like Shell Oil, Unilever, and Johnson & Johnson. Transitioning from corporate roles, she co-founded Hopi, a dating app tailored for college students. Her consulting work is particularly noteworthy; Bryn commands premium rates, earning upwards of $600 per hour by offering top-tier marketing and creative strategies to high-profile clients.

Notable Quote:

“The value they're getting me is like 60 minutes of me on Adderall and just fucking Don Drapering the fuck out of them.” – Bryn Whitfield (10:18)

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3. Balancing Reality TV and Corporate Responsibilities

Bryn discusses the challenges of juggling her role on RHONY with her demanding career. Despite the glamorous facade of reality TV, she emphasizes the mundane aspects of her day-to-day work, such as brainstorming with her dog and managing her business from her home office. This dual life often leads to misconceptions about her lifestyle, with some labeling her as a "sugar baby," a notion Bryn vehemently rejects by stressing her professional commitments.

Notable Quote:

“I'm the only one that works a full-time job on my cast. I'm the only one that works a full-time job, no one else.” – Bryn Whitfield (14:57)

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4. Money and Relationships: A Complex Intersection

A significant portion of the discussion revolves around Bryn’s views on money and its influence on her personal relationships. She openly acknowledges her attraction to financially successful individuals, linking it to her need for security stemming from her modest upbringing. This perspective has led to various engagements, some of which ended due to trust issues related to money.

Notable Quotes:

“I equate money with being able to keep me safe.” – Bryn Whitfield (18:33)

“I trust him. I'm safe.” – Bryn Whitfield (19:21)

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5. Prenuptial Agreements: Opinions and Personal Stance

Bryn shares her strong stance on prenuptial agreements, advocating for their necessity to protect oneself financially in marriage. While she is proponent of prenups, she admits hesitation in signing them herself, especially when proposed by potential partners. This dichotomy highlights the complexities of navigating love and financial security.

Notable Quotes:

“I think they should be mandatory.” – Bryn Whitfield (26:05)

“I'm a prenup for all my girlfriends... Protect yourself.” – Bryn Whitfield (27:56)

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6. Entrepreneurial Venture: Hopi – A College Dating App

Bryn elaborates on the inception of Hopi, a dating app exclusively designed for college students. Her entrepreneurial spirit shines through as she recounts confidently pitching herself as a co-founder to a former Bumble founder. Despite facing rigorous vetting processes, Bryn’s determination secured her role as Chief Marketing Officer and co-founder. Hopi is currently in its test and growth phase, targeting expansion to young adults across North America.

Notable Quote:

“I just introduced myself as, hi, I'm your next co-founder...” – Bryn Whitfield (41:00)

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7. Negotiation Tactics: Maximizing Professional Value

Bryn offers actionable advice for listeners on effective negotiation, especially during annual reviews. She emphasizes the importance of meticulously tracking and quantifying one’s achievements throughout the year. According to her, entering a review unprepared signifies a lack of professional diligence.

Notable Quote:

“You walk in and it's literally all on paper and it's literally written out, and you just push it over and you're like, here's what I did.” – Bryn Whitfield (44:07)

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8. Final Insights and Trading Secret

Concluding the episode, Bryn shares her "Trading Secret"—the resilience to endure and overcome life’s darkest moments. She encourages listeners to persist through adversity, believing that even the bleakest times can herald the beginning of something great. This philosophy underscores her journey from corporate marketing to reality TV and entrepreneurship.

Notable Quote:

“Know that the lowest point, the lowest you felt... this is the beginning of something great.” – Bryn Whitfield (48:42)

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Conclusion

Bryn Whitfield’s appearance on Trading Secrets offers a compelling blend of professional expertise, personal anecdotes, and candid discussions on sensitive topics like money and relationships. Her ability to balance a high-pressure career with the demands of reality television, all while launching a successful entrepreneurial venture, provides invaluable insights for listeners navigating similar paths. Bryn’s unapologetic honesty and strategic mindset make this episode a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersections of finance, career, and personal growth.

Where to Find Bryn Whitfield:

• Podcast: Available on Spotify and all major podcast platforms.
• Dating App: Download Hopi from the App Store.
• Contact: For more information, visit Bryn’s podcast page on Spotify.

Transcript

[Bryn Whitfield]

Foreign.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Welcome back to another episode of Trading Secrets. Today we are joined by entrepreneur, marketing professional, and more notably a personality on Bravo's Real Housewives of New York City, Bryn Whitfield. Brynn Brin joined the rebooted cast of rony for season 14 in 2023 and returned for the most recent season 15, which wrapped up in January. Prior to diving into reality tv, Bryn has an extensive career in corporate marketing. Bryn worked on an award winning campaign for global campaigns of the largest companies, managing and executing strategic media relations programs for clients across multiple industries and clients spanning Shell Oil, Unilever, Johnson and Johnson and many tech. More recently, Bryn co founded a dating app strictly for college students called Hopi. We're going to dive into all your experience thus far, Rony, the evolution of your professional career, your new app, and where you see it going from here. Bryn, welcome on Trading Secrets.

[Bryn Whitfield]

So excited to be here in Trading Spaces.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It is an absolute honor to have you on Trading Spaces. I was just on Bryn's podcast and she. You called this Trading Spaces? Actually, I feel like it was an episode of Trading Spaces.

[Bryn Whitfield]

It was because we held space for one another and then we also traded secrets. So it's like a hybrid.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I feel like we did a lot in that episode and here we are today.

[Bryn Whitfield]

We did so much that now the second date's gonna be awkward.

[Ryan Seacrest]

The second date. It's gonna be hard to live up to the first. It's gonna be hard to live up to the first one. But here we are. We're gonna rip it. All right. We're gonna talk business. I know you like to talk business.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yes.

[Ryan Seacrest]

We're gonna talk money. I know you like to talk money.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Love it.

[Ryan Seacrest]

We might be able to talk a little bit of money and love, because I know you love both money and love topics.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Stop telling me.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I think you said your two favorite topics were sex and money.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah. Well, I thank you for making me a lady. I actually said finance and fucking, but.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Oh, sorry.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I apologize.

[Ryan Seacrest]

How dare that. I misquote you. But here we are. All right, so let's just start from the top. So everyone knows you for a multitude of reasons, but Real Housewives of New York definitely being the number one of that long list. How did Real Housewives in New York find you?

[Bryn Whitfield]

They slid into my DMs.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Really?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Does that happen a lot?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Like every other thing that's ever happened to me in my life, Shows or people? Yeah. No. The casting director slated my dm, so they had gotten my name from a mutual friend who's a fashion publicist. Savannah Engel. She's amazing. And I was properly fucking off in the south of France.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Interesting.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Who were you fucking off with?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Girlfriends.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah. And I was just chugging Rose and I had left. I was head of communications at a tech company that had got acquired by Advent and International. So I had a mini golden parachute. So I figured.

[Ryan Seacrest]

What does that mean, mini? Like financial transparency is big here. So what's. What's mini golden transparency? Talk money to me.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Okay. What's your credit score?

[Ryan Seacrest]

What's that? Oh, no, it's in my book. I put it on my book. My Most recent's like 812. I don't have any debt. Zero.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Mine. I just checked mine today. Mine's 710. It dipped.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Wow.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Like a 40 point dip.

[Ryan Seacrest]

How much did you make last year?

[Bryn Whitfield]

You really want to know?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah. Tell me.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Are you serious?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, let's do it.

[Bryn Whitfield]

If I ask you to edit this out, will you?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Okay. You won't like this.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I will. Of course I will.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I will.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Give me a roundish number.

[Bryn Whitfield]

It was seven figures.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah. Okay.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Below.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Barely. I barely made. I barely made.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It's out worth able. Like, that's. That's. That makes sense.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I barely made seven figures. By, like the hair on earballs, I mean.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Seven figures.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Okay, so barely.

[Ryan Seacrest]

All right, well, what's the mini golden parachute? So you're working the company.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah. So it's got stock options and stock grants and whatnot. And in the acquisition, the first eight employees, we could have stayed or we could have taken our options and left and there was a cash bonus involved. So I was like, okay, I have the equivalent of a year's salary. And then, you know, still hoping that that company does well. And so I was like, okay, for the first time since I was 15 years old, I'm going to take time off. And because I've worked my entire life, I started at Dairy Queen and then I ended up at an ad tech company. And I was like, okay, I'm gonna take time off and get a new job. I wanted to move to London and get another job as head of comms or marketing or something in ad tech.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And then what do you think? Like, so they reached out to you. You're doing your thing.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I thought it was a sweet.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Like, where do you think it came? What do you think sparked it? Did anybody say or suggest or poke or be like, you gotta go find her?

[Bryn Whitfield]

No. So Savannah, who's a fashion publicist and like an it girl in New York. She was auditioning for it herself, and she went all the way to 30 Rock. So there's like, you do different interviews. You do zooms, you do in person, and then one of the final interviews is 30 Rock, where you actually go in person, and then one of the final interviews is you meet Andy and blah, blah, blah. So she had gone to 30 Rock, but then she was like, I can't do this. I don't want to do this. She backed out. And they're like, fine, give us a list of names. Jessel and I were on that list of names. My castmate. So they slid into my DMs, and I thought it was a scam because I was on private. I never posted on Instagram. Like, I. I hate phones, I hate technology, I hate social media, and I work in tech. But I. Steve Jobs did too. He didn't realize kids use iPads. But I. I thought it was a weird, like, crypto scam. So, like, hi, Brand, you work. Work with the Real Housewives in New York, and we're casting. Will you talk to us? And I was like, delete. They sent me a second message. I deleted it again. And then finally Savannah, who's from Georgia, she's like, dumbass. It's really. The housewives are trying to call you. I should introduce you to Sav. You think I like whiskey and beer? She's literally me, but she's from the fucking Delta.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay.

[Bryn Whitfield]

And she's also like, Anna Winter's like, golden child. Like, she's a darling and beautiful, and she's from the fucking South.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Interesting.

[Bryn Whitfield]

So, Sav. Yeah. She was like, pick up your fucking phone. The Real Housewives trying to call you. So I was like, okay. So I went on one 10 minute zoom.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Then I had a. Then they were like, okay, so this is just a prep call for our next zoom, which is gonna be like, have you watched the show? I was like, of course I watch Atlanta. Beverly Hills. They're like, so you've seen the confessional, the glorious background, and you're dolled up.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Real quick. Before you tell me about the confessional, who is your favorite Real Housewife back in the day?

[Bryn Whitfield]

I love Kyle Richards. I love Dorit. I like Beverly Hills.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Lisa Vanderpumps is my friend's mom. I loved Lisa. I love Camille Grammer. I love Portia. I love.

[Ryan Seacrest]

So you're a big fan. Big fan of the show.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Huge fan.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay, so then you go to confessional. So you gotta be. You gotta be freaking out a little bit. Like, you're you're in the confessional where all your, like, the people that you love and look up to are there?

[Bryn Whitfield]

No, but they're like, it's just gonna be an interview with the casting director where you sit there and they're like, just make your background kind of resemble. But me, I next level stuff. So I wore this like pink feather dress. I wore my little Chanel pink earrings. I did like a ponytail. I ripped like six. Three to six shots of tequila beforehand. Because I'm thinking, this is gonna be a funny story. Like my life is nothing but like.

[Ryan Seacrest]

What kind of tequila. Just curious.

[Bryn Whitfield]

1942, okay. I'm not a basic fan, only the best. But I just ripped shots and I just like went on. And it was like a 90 minute interview. And they're just asking me things or asking me who I've date, like funny dating stories. They asked me, what do people. When you ask other people about you, what would they say? And I said, I just actually had gone on like two Raya dates. And I was like, it's funny. Both dudes said something. They were like, you remind me a lot of the girl from Schitt's Creek, Alexis. You know, because I'm always like, telling stories. I was like that one time when I got kidnapped by the Korean police, North Korea. And the casting director laughed and I was like, and I love the song. And she's like, what song? And I just stood up in my apartment on my zoom camera. Okay. And I'm like, a little bit Alexis. I was like, did you sing it? I danced the whole choreography.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I was like, can you dance it?

[Bryn Whitfield]

I'm expensive sushi on a huge, huge yacht. I'm a little bit single and I'm. When I'm not just la la la la la la la. A little bit Alexis. I did the whole thing and I just sat back down. I was like, sorry. And they're like, you're perfect. They're like, we'll call you right back. And then that was it.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Give us two minutes, literally.

[Bryn Whitfield]

And then I had one other zoom again with three. One from NBC, one from Bravo, and one from the production company. Never met Andy. And then so it was like two weeks and three zooms. 10 minutes, 90 minutes, 30 minutes. And they talked to me.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Done.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah. Yeah. And the first time I met Andy, I was like, everyone else got to meet you. I didn't get to meet you. He goes, no, I saw the tapes.

[Ryan Seacrest]

He saw enough. He's like, that's it. Sign it up. She's batched it all right, so you talked about mini golden parachute. They offer you the contract. What do you think about what they're paying you per episode? Like, are you thinking like, is this worth it?

[Bryn Whitfield]

No, no, it's true. It's my doordash money.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It's. Yeah.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I spend more on doordash per week than what I made per season.

[Ryan Seacrest]

How much do you spend on doordash a week?

[Bryn Whitfield]

A lot.

[Ryan Seacrest]

But not like.

[Bryn Whitfield]

But not 5,000 per week. No. God, no. Wait, what did I say? What's. I'm trying to figure out a roundabout way to not say what I. Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That'S why I'm just asking you how much you make, how much you pay.

[Bryn Whitfield]

On doordash Dash, I spend like 2 to $3,000.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And DoorDash. Did you ever consider the risk? Like, were you, like, is the risk worth this reward?

[Bryn Whitfield]

For sure. So I was worried about. Because everyone that I consult with are these like top 100 cpgs, right? So. And I consult with them, which a lot of America doesn't know what consulting means and they think that's being a sugar baby. Consulting means that I have gotten to the place in my career where the clients that I had and the brands that I worked with and the agencies that I've worked at were so well known that I'm able to step back, not be in the day to day office. But basically they call me for advice or to work on a deck or create a campaign idea, and they pay me very well for it. So how much do they pay you very well? I make as much as a lawyer does per hour.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Like 400 bucks.

[Bryn Whitfield]

More than that.

[Ryan Seacrest]

500 bucks?

[Bryn Whitfield]

No, six.

[Ryan Seacrest]

600 bucks. Just for an hour?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But an equinox trainer makes $130 an hour.

[Ryan Seacrest]

100%. But no, you should. Consultants don't expect to make that. But for people that. All right, now we're getting serious for a second, educational wise. You're consulting. What is the value they're paying you? 600 an hour. What is the value they're getting in return?

[Bryn Whitfield]

The value they're getting me is like 60 minutes of me on Adderall and just fucking Don drapering the fuck out of them.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And so you're giving them all the.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Genius shit, like literally 60 minutes of me being like me at my best and just like pop, pop taglines, creative ideas, something for the ad campaign. Like, I can literally just pull and mind you, takes me a while. Sometimes I'll procrastinate on something or I'll read the brief and then I Take six days or do you have anything? Do you have anything? I'm like, no, not yet. And then all of a sudden it's like 17 ideas.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You come up with creative for them.

[Bryn Whitfield]

They'll give me a brief and then I make the creative. The campaign should be what the influencers should be saying, what's cool, what's whatever, what's happening, what's trending. And I just tell them what to say and do. So it's kind of like stand up comedy, but creative. Stand up creative.

[Ryan Seacrest]

What's wild is like you were getting paid 600 bucks an hour at the minimum to do this consulting to come up with these briefs for creators. You now go on reality tv. You are a Real Housewife of New York now you're a creator. You gotta be making more as a creator than you were as a consultant.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yes, I am. Yes. I mean, but here's the thing, which is why I've now started my company and I enjoy being back like full time and being chief marketing officer. Like, I'm used to being in an office and running a team and doing that. Like, so I just do now endorsements and sponsorships on the side.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay.

[Bryn Whitfield]

So it was only really like about a year in between season one and season two that I properly was kind of in between. I was just consulting, Consulting and then I was filming, so I could only bill 10 hours a week. Then the second the show was done, I went back to consulting full time my clients. At which were some of the biggest skincare lines. If you shop at CVS and walk down the skincare aisle, facial or body, you've seen 30% of the brands that you see on the shelf. I've worked with.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Interesting.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I've done the marketing for. Yeah. And the agencies I work with, they white label my creative. And they were like, guess what brand that pays us a gazillion dollars a month a new idea. It's actually consultants in the background that helps the team formulate, brainstorm ideate and create those concepts. So they a lot of times will white label my work, which is why I can't show my work on tv.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Interesting.

[Bryn Whitfield]

And there was actually one publication, I think it was Nylon or something, that mentioned the company I work with. And the brand director was like, we love you so much and we adore you from the brand. But they were like, we don't want to be associated with this show. So it's the massive national skincare line.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Interesting.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah. And they're like, we love you, but we don't want to be associated with that. Or our competitor has ad buys with the network. So we don't want to be. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But then. So I had to be hush, hush about everything. And then as you know, when you don't share everything and every detail and the reason why people label you, people are like, they label you. And they're like, well, why? Well, how? And then they just, they create their own story of what you are. So like, oh, she's a sugar baby. She gets money from dudes. I'm like, I wish, right? Well, I'd love to.

[Ryan Seacrest]

All right, well, one of the things we talked about, I mean, you nailed it, right? So if you're white labeling, people wouldn't know what you're doing. And then as a result of that, people are asking what you're doing. Especially on a show where it's all these high profile people doing these big things. And I even saw a people article about you kind of snapping back at them, being like, are you kidding me? Do you want to talk about everything I've done? And you've listed all those which I listed in your intro, right? So those are things that you've done.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Somebody copy me in my LinkedIn bio.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yes, got it. ChatGPT also helps. But the thing is, like, what you said, sugar baby, you and I on your podcast talked about gold digger. You have been with pretty wealthy people before. How? What are your thoughts when people say stuff like that to you and how do you combat it?

[Bryn Whitfield]

What I tell people and even what I told my castmates in a very long text message. Like the one time in my season that I went off on everyone, that everyone keeps referencing and Jeff Lewis references one time. Which again, for being on for now. Three years. Two seasons. Three years. Like, I went off on people one time. One time. One text message. I sent a very long, lengthy one where I read them the riot act and I was like, here's what's up. Leave my name and my work out of your mouth. You want to throw receipts on the table? Do you want me to bring up my JP Morgan chase right now? I have W2s. I have everything with everything trackable, with every receipt, every invoice I've ever spent. What do you do for a living? Like, in the irony of the fact that I'm the only one that works a full time job on my cast. I'm the only one that works a full time job, no one else. Wait, really think about it. We have influencers, we have models, we have art curators, we have people that did work at J. Crew three years ago, but now they're just, like, honorary positions. We have, like, a real estate agent that hasn't sold a house in seven years.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Who's that?

[Bryn Whitfield]

No, I'm just saying. I know starting businesses and being entrepreneurs and doing amazing stuff, don't get me wrong. But, like, I'm. And they're all very successful and making.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Money, but you're saying none of them are working 50 hours a week on one thing.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Like, you're doing the boring ass job that most of America, we all do, which is nine to five. And I sit at a desk and I make and I go on zoom calls. There's nothing glamorous about that. The show doesn't want to shoot that. Like, it's just me brainstorming with my dog. I'm bouncing ideas off sugar. Like, there's no. That's not, like, shootable. I mean, maybe now with the dating app, because it's like a fancy office with, like, it looks cool, maybe now they'll want to shoot that. But to date, it hasn't. It's just. There's nothing to shoot. Like, consulting is not glamorous. It pays well, but it's not glamorous. Which is, like, my favorite.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And that's why you snap back on people. That's why you snap back a little bit.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, I just think it's, like, just because you don't know or because you don't have a LinkedIn login, like, don't, like, come at me and say gross things about me.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I get that. I get that. All right, let's talk about your dating life a little bit. So like you said, Raya, already. And just in general, we've talked a little bit about it on your podcast. But, like, how in the different areas of someone's attributes, and I want to, like, dig in this a little bit. Wealth and money is where on the list? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

[Bryn Whitfield]

What's the other options?

[Ryan Seacrest]

I mean, there's, I think, about dating. It could be their looks, their sex appeal, their personality, their. I don't know, what are things? What are common attributes?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Okay, humor.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Humor's number one.

[Bryn Whitfield]

No, no, no. Intelligence. I'm a sapiosexual.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay.

[Bryn Whitfield]

You can actually be ugly and poor, but if you're, like, very smart, ugly.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And poor person would care.

[Bryn Whitfield]

But if you're like, a scientist.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Interesting.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I have a thing for scientists. And if you have, like, a bunch of patents.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay, but the patents can.

[Bryn Whitfield]

No, but I like, you're like, you can tell me. Shit. I dated a dude who worked, like, the Nobel Prize reactor, and I was like, ugh. Like, I like smart, so brain, then probably. Money, then humor, then personality, then looks.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And we talked a little on your podcast about it. But, like, when you talk about money, if they're broke, will you go on a date with them?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, for sure.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Oh, you will.

[Bryn Whitfield]

He can be broke as long as he's. You're like, so let's go on a date.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah. I'm like, what are we waiting for?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Should we go for? No, I. It's fine. But you just have to be, like, working on something or you have to have a company or an idea. You have to be passionate about something. You have to be like, look, I'm doing this, and I. I know this is going to work. And you have to be so confident.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Bryn Whitfield]

You should look me in the eyes and be like, I'm gonna be a billionaire in five years.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And I'm like, has anyone done that to you before?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yes.

[Ryan Seacrest]

How's that worked out?

[Bryn Whitfield]

And they've done very well.

[Ryan Seacrest]

They've become billionaires.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah. There's a few people that said it and they didn't. The ones that I knew, I'm like a talent scout. Like, you're a manager.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Interesting.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I'm a talent scout for, like, not the end.

[Ryan Seacrest]

For wealthy people.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I can tell there's, like, a passion, there's a grit. A lot of the times it's people that don't come for money.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay.

[Bryn Whitfield]

A lot of the times it's people like myself that have, like, been through Sid or seen shit, or you're dealing with other demons that you're like, I'm not even. It's not about the money. Like, I want to be billionaire, but I'm just gonna give it all away. I don't really care. I just wanna be like, I want capitalism, and then I'll donate it. I came in this world with nothing. I will leave with nothing. But I just. There's this thing. I have to feel safe because I grew up with such nothing that I have to create everything. And not through a man. I have to do it myself.

[Ryan Seacrest]

But is that your draw? But when you talk about, like, you're getting labeled as, like, sugar baby and bullshit is your draw. You wanna be successful, you are successful, and then you wanna be with someone that has success. The draw to that is based on the fact. Where do you think it is? Like, if you stem it back, we talked a little bit about it, but if you stem it back to your childhood. Is it safety? Is it security? Like, why is it that you're attracted to those people who have achieved X, Y, and Z and created this?

[Bryn Whitfield]

I equate money with being able to keep me safe.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay, but with the engagements you've had with the people who've done well, did you feel safe in those relationships when they had that wealth?

[Bryn Whitfield]

God, they did. At the beginning.

[Ryan Seacrest]

This isn't like, I got you. It's more like, I think, a learning lesson, right? I think it's more like it's interesting for someone who's gone through it, wants it to see if that's what it is.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I think the money made me feel at the beginning like it was gonna be that. And then as I got into it, I didn't feel like I trusted them with. I trusted their past, I trusted their bank account. I trusted their family money. But my dream man is like, what was that one show about the apocalypse where all the zombies come departed? Or what was it called? The Walking Dead.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Walking Dead.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, yeah, we did it, guys.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Walking Dead. But, like, the zombie apocalypse can come, and, like, you're gonna figure out how to keep us safe. Like, you can access resources, you can play politics. You can, if necessary, like, do what you have to do in order to keep us safe. Like, I just brought up the zombie Apollo lips talking about my childhood, but I just have to feel like you can figure it all out. Like, I want a guy that we can get in the car, and we're trying to, like, make it out to. Like, we have to get to the Hamptons first, whatever. And he's. And I'm like, oh, you should go this way. And he's like, no, no, no, no. I know this. We're gonna take blah, blah, blah out. I want someone who I can just finally, like, shut my brain off and be not stupid, but, like, not have to think about everything and not have to be in survival mode and just.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Be like, makes sense.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I trust him. I'm safe.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Did any of your relationships. Because you were engaged, right?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, a few times.

[Ryan Seacrest]

A few times. Did any of those relationships not work out because of trust and money? Like, this whole concept of I trust.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Them, and then they all had money.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay.

[Bryn Whitfield]

So I think I made a whole thing where, looking back, if I'm really honest, I can. Even now, I could make up. Like, I could just start talking and probably convince you that it was them, but it was me.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Interesting.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Why? What was it?

[Bryn Whitfield]

I don't know. I just wasn't Ready? I was fucked up.

[Ryan Seacrest]

What do you.

[Bryn Whitfield]

It was me. It was me.

[Ryan Seacrest]

But you think in every single relationship, that's, like, the most mature thing I've ever heard a human say. You think at every relationship that didn't work out, it was. It was you?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, it was me.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And you're taking full ownership?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yes.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I think it, like, every relationship, I've never done this. I think in every relationship, maybe she.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Would pay you for this.

[Ryan Seacrest]

But I think in every relationship, like, as someone who's had a lot of them, that hasn't worked out, and there are things. I could certainly point the finger. I could point the thumb, too, but I think it takes two to break up. You don't think it takes two?

[Bryn Whitfield]

It takes two to tango. It takes two to fuck. It takes two to break up.

[Ryan Seacrest]

True. So then it's not all on you.

[Bryn Whitfield]

No, I'm playing.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I got your back right now.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Thank you.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Did you cheat? Did you cheat?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Never. I would never cheat.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Then why was it you? Then? How was it you?

[Bryn Whitfield]

No, no, no. I can't stand cheaters. There's not. I don't like two things. I have two cardinal sins. I grew up Roman Catholic. Do not lie to my face. And don't waste my time. Time is the most precious resource you can recreate. You can print money off of cheaters.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's so true.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Don't waste my time.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's so true.

[Bryn Whitfield]

And do not lie to my face. Lie behind my back.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Fine.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I don't really care. I don't see it. But don't look in my face and be like. And tell me a lie. I become very, like, the Irish in me. Comes out.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Interesting.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I'm trying to figure out why it didn't work out then. Or do you not want to do it?

[Bryn Whitfield]

It was because of me. No, it's just me. Like, I wasn't ready or I was poking. Creating problems where I should have, instead of being like them, been like, no, this is where. I never had a model growing up where I saw mom and dad fight and it's okay. And people just. They come around, and then the next day and you work it out. My whole thing was. All I saw was family members fighting, lawyers not talking, arguing, screaming, horrificness. Like, I never understood that. Like, it's normal. So I would get very weirded out by, like, small, sort of, like, we would bat heads, and I'd be like, I'm done.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Bryn Whitfield]

And they'd be like, dude, it's a. We're having, like, a. Like, a heated conversation. I'M like, no, no, no, no, no. I think I see something, I'm out. And I would just leave. I was a massive, Like, I was a non stop avoidant.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Is it playoff flavorist?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Some people call it avoidant. I call it a flight risk.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay.

[Bryn Whitfield]

PJ's on PJ's. No, but I just always was, like, always running and running away from things. And I. And still to this day, you know, even on the show in season two, my past season, I really struggled because I'm actually. I don't like confrontation. I like making drama, but I actually don't. And I like playful, dumb little fights.

[Ryan Seacrest]

But you don't like the intensity of, like.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, like, my castmate, Jessel, and I. She gets mad at me because I got a spray tan, and I, like, love that, but I can't. When people actually get into it and I think that they're serious, I get very. I'm very sensitive, and I don't. And I can't stand confrontation.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Interesting. Where do you think that stems from, dude?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Childhood?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah. Always.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Always, Always. I'm the same way. That's why I asked. I'm the same way. Like, conference, like, and I've had to work on it over. Well, because conflict is just growth trying to happen. Conflict is good, right?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Like, conflict is growth trying to happen.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Right. So if, like, if we are disagreeing at something, we're trying to figure out where we both need to grow. So it's just like, when you're conflicting with something, it's just growth that's attempting. It's just, how are you gonna. Are you gonna handle it in a healthy version to get where you should?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yes.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You know, so it's. It's being someone that, like, runs from it. That is me. It's like, the only way you can learn is that the more you step into it, actually, your future is better off because you're preventing things. It's proactive. I've worked on it.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, you're working on it.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I'm working on it. I'm working on it.

[Bryn Whitfield]

My initials are BMW. BMW. Wip.

[Ryan Seacrest]

There you go. You got it.

[Bryn Whitfield]

It's just a draft. It's just a Google Docs draft.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Very simple. All right. I got a tough one. It's, you know, business podcast. We talk finance here. Tough conversation to step into, especially someone who's been engaged a couple times. I've been engaged before. Prenups.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I wanted to ask you about this. I signed my cards. I didn't ask you about this.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Is your cards from your show? Are over here.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I stuff them in the chair along with my phone number.

[Ryan Seacrest]

What is your take on prenups?

[Bryn Whitfield]

I was gonna ask you. Are you gonna make someone sign a prenup?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Well, I just asked you. Okay, I will tell you. I will tell you my.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I just. Reverse uno, Joe.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I'll answer it, but then you have to not change your answer.

[Bryn Whitfield]

No, no, I'll come after you for sure.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Come after what? What are you coming after?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Belle. Belle. Did you pick up on that innuendo? She hates it.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Oh, God. Yeah. She's like, just get the hell out of here. All right, here we go. This is my take on it.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Okay? Hot take, hot take. Prenups.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Every single state. What are you laughing at? Every single.

[Bryn Whitfield]

That's a business partner. Just.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Just laughing over here. Yeah. That's the second time he made.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I know.

[Ryan Seacrest]

He's doing a podcast today. It's like the third or fourth. He's definitely enjoying this podcast. All right, here's my take. Every. We have a prenup. Every person who's married, you and I have prenup.

[Bryn Whitfield]

We have a prenup. Babe. We signed it before we signed.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It's done. It's over. Forget about it. All right, let me get my head straight. Every single couple has a prenup. It's their state laws. And then you can take the state laws. You could customize it, or you cannot customize it. I am a proponent, just like him and I, business partner over here, we have a customized agreement. It makes sense for most of us, right? Different colors, different hearts, different stitches. Just like build a bear. So I think that every couple, you have a. You have a. You have a prenup. Whether you don't or do you do, it's either federal or state. And based on your state. It's your state laws. And so I think you should customize it to make it extremely equitable for both parties. So you don't have to wonder.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Do you want to know my opinion?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, I asked your opinion before I was forced to give mine.

[Bryn Whitfield]

You asked, and I forced you to answer. I think they should be mandatory.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Mandatory?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Interesting.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Come on.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I mean, they are.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I'm a capitalist.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, okay.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Of course.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Of course. It's absurd. The fact that we've mixed this whole marriage and what intention. And then now what it's become this hallmark, and then we're trying to get people back, and then we have all these, like, Love island uk. I mean, come on, people, let's be honest. Marriage should be based on love and compatibility. For sure. And then also compatibility, whether that be financial, moral, et cetera, et cetera. But there's too high of stakes for. At any, I think, like, income level. I think everyone. You never know. Hello. Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey. Yeah, hello.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It's true.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Like, she crushed it. So I just think that they should be. You have to sign a marriage certificate, and then you guys should have to talk about it. Cause I think most people that then have to have that conversation wouldn't even end up getting married.

[Ryan Seacrest]

So. Very pro prenup.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Oh, my God. Holler. We went prenup. Kanye.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay, there you go.

[Bryn Whitfield]

However, though, hypocrite. Because every time that a guy has mentioned that he's going to make me sign a prenup, I'm like, I don't know what that means.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Why do you do that? Why do you do that?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Because. Because they have more.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Bryn Whitfield]

So why would I do that?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Has that ever led to the engagement?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Not becoming married in California, where it's 50, 50 if we divorce, no questions asked. And then, you know, too, it's like, oh, my God, like, sign something. Like, my hands, my wrists. Dentists don't work. And then, you know, in, like, prison or whatever, when you're in a straight jacket, which I would never know about, but I do when they're like, put it in their mouth and then you have to sign. I'm like, I have cavities. I pretend it's like when I'm getting an X ray. I'm like, I hate radiation at the dentist. Like, don't sign it.

[Ryan Seacrest]

All right, so I'm immediately. So you won't sign a prenup. You're pro prenup, but you won't sign up.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I'm a prenup for all my girlfriends, and I'm like, get that fucking prenup. Even though he has more. Like, protect yourself.

[Ryan Seacrest]

But not for you.

[Bryn Whitfield]

For me. I'll be like, do you not love me?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Bryn Whitfield]

No. I would probably actually sign it because now where I'm at, I would want to protect myself. It used to be because I'd be like, the dude has more. I'm not going to give this guy three kids for him to leave me for someone half my age. Now it's more like, I have a lot to protect, so I'm going to make someone else sign it.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Is it like. Do you think that's part of the issue, though, is if you lead. If you do lead with money and you're looking for someone that has money, don't you think part of the issue, because this is what I think is that part of the issue becomes that the leverage in the relationship becomes based on money, and therefore the ease of them leaving after three kids becomes greater because the only thing tying the relationship together at the forefront was actually money. Like, do you subscribe to that?

[Bryn Whitfield]

I think you're thinking too much about it.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Interesting. You think it's like, what? What do you think? I think you think money and what's so. So sex and money. What do you. I don't. I think it's a. I think it's an evil thing. You. I think it's like, when I say evil, I think it, like, leads.

[Bryn Whitfield]

It's toxic. No, no.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Money and sex is great, but I think. I think it's like. Leads to time. I'm like, it's evil. You're like, literally, it's bliss. But don't you think it leads to toxicity? Because then wrong.

[Bryn Whitfield]

People. People are toxic. Situations and scenarios are not toxic. Marriage is not toxic. Divorce isn't.

[Ryan Seacrest]

No, marriage isn't toxic.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Divorce doesn't even have to be toxic. People make things toxic. I should know. I'm a toxic person. I'm just joking. I'm just joking. I just.

[Ryan Seacrest]

All right, so for anyone out there that's, like, struggling with this concept. How do you. Struggling with what the of, like, dealing with career, love, and money. What suggestions do you have?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Marry for money and then pay for it for the rest of your life.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Unbelievable. If you had a book, what would you name it?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Face, don't ass up.

[Ryan Seacrest]

All right.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Bull markets.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Bull markets.

[Bryn Whitfield]

And how to a smart investment strategy for your personal wealth.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Unbelievable. All right, we talked on your pod, on your podcast. We talked about this guy.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Your ratings are going to dip.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Who gave. They're gonna go off the charts here. They're gonna go off the charts. Please give us five stars even if.

[Bryn Whitfield]

You don't subscribe to this in the app store, too. Five stars. And then also hit the subscribe button.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Thank you so much. That was great. All right, hang on. You talked about on a podcast. I went on yours, which. Congratulations. Your podcast.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Now you pop my podcast.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yes, I did. That was an honor.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Only one person can take your podcast.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's true. I did it.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Even if I become a psychopath, what if I, like, show up at your podcast store and I'm like, do you love me?

[Ryan Seacrest]

I'm here. Like, here's the prenup. You're like, I'm out running.

[Bryn Whitfield]

And then I just.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Even if you don't release it the first time, it Was. It was the podcast, Jerry. Which is an honor.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yes. Okay. Anyway, let's get. Let's get dialed in here. You had mentioned that someone said to you, 34 million is the net worth. That's like the dream network. That's like, that's. I think it's like, I think we talked about that. I think that's a pretty accurate number.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Do you like 12? Because here's the thing. As much as I'm totally. Because I live in New York, totally disillusioned by money at this point.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah. Like, why are you disillusioned by money? Fascinated. The questions I keep asking. I'm just fascinated with your. Your relationship with money. It's wild.

[Bryn Whitfield]

It's wild.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Your relationship with money is wild.

[Bryn Whitfield]

But okay, so it's not wrong.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It's not wrong. It's not wrong.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Like the welfare kids. But then also, we could also just blame it all on New York City.

[Ryan Seacrest]

New York City or education, everything.

[Bryn Whitfield]

No, we're delusion. In New York, grasses is greener. So what do you model? There's always a richer guy. There's always a better house in the Hamptons.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's actually true.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I love New York.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's why you can't chase. I think you can't chase money here because you'll. You're never going to get faster, stronger, better.

[Bryn Whitfield]

No, no, everybody, we're all super. Even to live in New York, you literally have to be rich. There's this funny, like, post yesterday, and I made a comment on New Yorker's Instagram handle. It said something like, overheard at the Upper east side Whole Foods. And it was like, this guy was like, bro, you make 250k a year. Why don't you just fly private? And the response just goes, lol. No. And then I wrote and I was like, dude, on 250k a year in New York. My comment was, I was like, you can't even take an Uber to jfk. I was like, see you at the Jamaica Station, sweetheart. Like, you said that to him? No, I just put it in the comments. I got like a thousand likes in like an hour. Because that's the truth. $250,000 a quarter of a million dollars. Which again, growing up, I thought maybe the most I'd max was like $75,000. It's like huge, right?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Bryn Whitfield]

250K in New York. You're like, eh, eh.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Well, if you, if you do quick math, right, 250k, 50% to taxes, 125k. Okay, then how much you paying on Rent here.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Rent, let's call it. You want to know what you're paying? Rent?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah. How much you pay in rent?

[Bryn Whitfield]

I pay. I think either. I don't. I should know the number.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Give me a guess.

[Bryn Whitfield]

It's either 12,000 or 14,000amonth.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay, so you have a nice place. You have a nice place.

[Bryn Whitfield]

You want to come?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, if it's 14,000, I think if my math's wrong, 160.

[Bryn Whitfield]

No, it's 12. I think it's 12,500. I think it was 14, but I negotiated them down to 12.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Well, let's just call it 14. Because my math. I did the number 140, so that's 28. So 168,000. 168,000. So if you're making $250,000. This isn't. I'm just saying this example, $250,000 and you cut the taxes in half. You're at $125 and you're getting a $14,000 in just rent. You're already in a deficit. So that's where.

[Bryn Whitfield]

This is the Great Depression.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, this is the Great Depression. What do you think? What do you think in New York is an amount you should strive to make if you just want to live?

[Bryn Whitfield]

You have to make seven figures to live in New York.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Unless you want to live in a neighborhood or if. Unless you have a rent controlled apartment or unless mommy and daddy are subsidizing your lifestyle or putting down a down payment.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Sometimes I can't tell if, like, you're doing a bit or you're like.

[Bryn Whitfield]

It's always a bit.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay.

[Bryn Whitfield]

But unless Mommy, daddy are putting down your deposit or unless you're a drug dealer, you can't live in New York. So everyone that lives here is naturally, you have money. I don't know where the money comes from, but you have money. So again, back to my show, people would be like, I don't understand. Like, to be in New York, you have to have money. Like, we're a pack of cigarettes is $22. Stir fry is $32. Like, a cocktail is $38. Like, we, like. I go places. Miami, Los Angeles, God forbid if I go back home to Indiana. I went grocery shopping in France, and I was like, I got all these groceries for a dinner party, like. And I was like, oh, my God, this is gonna be like €400. It was literally €68. And I'm like, it's crazy. What are we doing in Mexico City? I'm a billionaire. Like, New York is absolutely delusional.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Do you think it's sustainable in New York, or do you think it's gonna pop?

[Bryn Whitfield]

It's New York. Of course it's sustainable.

[Ryan Seacrest]

What do you mean? It's just like, everything happens.

[Bryn Whitfield]

It's not. But it is. It's not. But it is.

[Ryan Seacrest]

But it just always works out.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, it will. Cause it's New York. Where's it gonna go? We're the epicenter of the entire world.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's true. That's true.

[Bryn Whitfield]

New York is wild. It's really wild living here.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's crazy. What do you think is. As far as spending. What is something that you. Do you think you overspend on that?

[Bryn Whitfield]

I overspend on clothing and like.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Like, what does that category look like?

[Bryn Whitfield]

What do you mean, monthly? What are you talking?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Like, monthly? Yeah. What do you think? This transparency.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Don't ask me by wax. Like, what are we talking about here? It's like, a lot.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It's like 10,000, 20,000. 30,000.

[Bryn Whitfield]

No, don't kill.

[Ryan Seacrest]

30,000. Yeah, yeah, like 25,000.

[Bryn Whitfield]

No, no, 20,000. 20. Too much. No, we go 15,000.

[Ryan Seacrest]

10,000. Like five to 10,000.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Address is $2,000. Yeah, yeah. My shoes are $2,000.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay. What is tomorrow you go, bro, what.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Are we doing tomorrow when we wake.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Up in the morning?

[Bryn Whitfield]

So how I like my eggs? Scrambled, like, very. With a little bit of milk.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Like little cheese or what?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or Julia Childs. She makes a very good scrambled. That's why I like my eggs.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Oh, boy. Tomorrow.

[Bryn Whitfield]

What?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Oh, tomorrow you go broke. Okay? You go broke, you got nothing. Well, you have something, but not everything.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Based off my brain.

[Ryan Seacrest]

What's. Yeah, you got your brain and you got a couple bucks. What's one thing that you overspend on? You know, you overspend on clothes is obviously too much, but you overspend on it today, but you're going to continue to overspend on it.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Probably food. That's such a boring answer.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's fine. That's okay.

[Bryn Whitfield]

But it would be.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You were due for a boring answer.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I know, right? At some point you have to be boring because it's all about, like, balancing yourself out.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It's all about balancing because you've just been firing fir.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Appreciate the good, you have to do the bad. But only the reason why is because I do a lot of doordash and uber eats, and it's really expensive food. Event now is like coffee. Like, coffee in New York is $14 a cup.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah. It's true. All right, Rapid Fire, I want you to think about all your housewives, okay?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Oh, God.

[Ryan Seacrest]

We're going to play a game of. We'll call it CEO. You're the CEO. You have to decide who.

[Bryn Whitfield]

What's your least favorite missionary?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay, I thought you were going with the title of a company, but, hey, I thought you were going to be like, payroll, but there we missionary now, you know? All right, so you got all the housewives. Line them up. Okay.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Okay.

[Ryan Seacrest]

This season, you gotta pick any one of them to be your business partner. You're doing a deal with them right now.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Who is it from any franchise?

[Ryan Seacrest]

No, from your. Your season.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Oh, Jenna.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Jenna. And why.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, yeah. She's a fabulous business partner. She knows how to navigate a C suite. She understands she's a proper businesswoman who's had the experience, been there, done that. And not just the fact that she can operate within that circle. She worked her way up through it. My best friend, Pandora Vanderpump. Her mom's Lisa Vanderpump. And the thing that I love about Pandy and her husband Jason, who's my friend from Indiana, is the fact that, yes, they own the restaurants at the end of the day, like Pandy and Jason, and they help run them now, but it's only because Lisa made them start as the bar people.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Wow.

[Bryn Whitfield]

And busing tables. They had to bus tables. And then they got to be servers. They served me when they asked me to be on Vanderpump Rules. They were served servers at Villa Blanca while Shayna and everyone was Jax Were at Vanderpump Rules. Then they got to be head of staff. Then they got to be the manager of the restaurant. Then they got to be so, like, you have to have someone who's worked the whole gamut. And Jenna completely understands what it's like to be from the mailroom to the intern to the associate to the brand director to the PR to the creative, and then C suite. And I think that's what makes someone fully knowledgeable and properly versus be. Like, you have a board assignment, and you're like. Like, that's a. You got handed that on a plate.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That was a. Like, a very, very nice endorsement to Jenna.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Jenna's very smart.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay, now let's do the opposite. You got your team.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Real Housewives New York. You're the CEO. You gotta fire someone who you fire.

[Bryn Whitfield]

In the real house. Oh, Rebecca.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Oh, well, that was a no. That was.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Why Rebecca? Personally, I've always liked her, and we get along in the Hamptons and stuff like that for reality tv, which, again, I can differentiate and I can film. And I know in my mind there's reality and there's reality. She's not good for reality tv.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Got it.

[Bryn Whitfield]

She can't shut off. You're filming with her, and she's, like, aware that the cameras are there, and she was, like, you know, just there to support her business. And, like. No, but that comes, like, organically and sub directly and through the back door.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Correct.

[Bryn Whitfield]

You gotta just be you and share and do the thing. Like, don't hide your kids. Don't fly into film. Like, just be yourself and then on social, promote your stuff. It was like, more time filming, making reels than I'm like, dude, we're filming. Just be present. If you make the show pop off, you will pop off. But that didn't register. So I would fire her because she's a great businesswoman, very smart, but I think just stay in the office. Don't try to use leverage reality TV to make your business pop.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Interesting. All right, who would.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Businesswoman.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, Great businesswoman. Who would you switch places with? With? Like, if you're like, I could switch places with any single person in that.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Show, it could be for Aaron.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Aaron's great. She came on the podcast. She is awesome.

[Bryn Whitfield]

She's a baby.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Huge fan. She is a bump. She's great. Abe's great.

[Bryn Whitfield]

She's not being. Sometimes she annoys me, and I annoy her. But when she's. When Aaron is her coolest, she's like, my. She's like the fucking coolest chick to hang out with.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Sometimes makes me think, like, I wish, like, she weren't married and have kids, because she's like, if Aaron weren't married to her kids, she'd be me. Aaron's cool. Like, she's just like. She's just like.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You guys would go out together.

[Bryn Whitfield]

We do go out together now. And she'll go hard, but, like, she.

[Ryan Seacrest]

She would be your wing woman.

[Bryn Whitfield]

She's just cool. Like, she's cool. She's smart. She's a cool chick.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Bryn Whitfield]

She just wants to do cool things.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Bryn Whitfield]

She. Okay, Gotcha.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I hear you. All right. There you go. Well, that was that game. That was. That was it. Higher Fire. Throw it in your podcast. Give a little shout out. Where can everyone find your podcast? Find me your podcast, Find your podcast.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Get my address out.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I won't.

[Bryn Whitfield]

No. On Spotify.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You're implying I have your address now?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, I already texted it to you. Now you can find me on Spotify. Please see below.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay, Spotify. All right, There you go. Before we wrap here, you gotta tell people about your dating app. I think that's a cool endeavor that you're doing. Thank you. Tell people how you started it and what did it look like and where is it at today?

[Bryn Whitfield]

So I did a few partnerships for dating apps. Partnerships. And in doing those, everyone was always saying, you should start your own dating app. You should start your own dating app. So I was in conversations with some people and some investors and then got word of the fact that someone who was working, formerly a founder of Bumble, was potentially making an app, but didn't know it was just literally an idea in his head. So I set up a meeting and made a business deck and went and pitched him and literally just introduced myself as, hi, I'm your next co founder. And then sat down.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You did it with that confidence.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Literally.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Wow.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I literally just introduced myself as his co founder and I was like, hi, I'm this person. That's two instances.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I'm like a serious note again. That's two instances in which your confidence immediately propelled you.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Because I knew it's what I wanted.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Zoom. And that.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, I knew it's what I wanted.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I knew that's no mistake.

[Bryn Whitfield]

And it made sense. And you have to be. When I was a little girl, my grandma used to say, like, she could. This was when Giuliani was mayor. She's like, she could sell the Brooklyn Bridge to Giuliani. Like, like, when I believe in something, when I want something, I'm just. I can manifest anything. Work wise, you're dialed relationship, not so much, but work wise, I'm like, this is me. This is it. So I went in, I said, hi, I'm your new co founder, and this is my vision and this is your idea, and you're the genius and you're the tech guy and you're the entrepreneur and you're the billionaire and you're this person. But this is what I know as far as, like, marketing and PR and American nuances in the dating world. And, like, we're at the zeitgeist moment. This is the beauty. And sold him on it. And then we had a very long trial period. He definitely made me go in, went over all the developers and all the tech team, and it was a very long process, which is why I couldn't talk about it on the show because I was literally interviewing for four months in order to be. He just didn't give it to me. He was like, you need to win over 40 fucking tech developers who've been doing this for 20 years. Earn the best of the business.

[Ryan Seacrest]

So I did you want them out?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, I won them over.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And so what's your role at the company now?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Chief Marketing officer, but more importantly, co founder.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Is that like, do you get cash and stock?

[Bryn Whitfield]

I have equity.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay, so you got all equity?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, I own a percent of the company.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And how's the company doing right now?

[Bryn Whitfield]

It's doing well. We don't have a valuation yet because we're a startup, but, you know, it's going well. And similar to Vreal and similar to other companies, we will be privately funded the entire time.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Wow.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, we don't need to take on things. Yeah, that's the same.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And it's only for college students, right?

[Bryn Whitfield]

Just for now, because we're in the test and growth phase.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay. Okay. And so if there is a college student listening to it, where can I find it?

[Bryn Whitfield]

If there's a college. If you have a Edu, just go to the App Store and download Hoppy and give us five stars. But if everything goes along to plan, we're hoping it's going to be the summer of Hoppy, a happy Hoppy summer. And we're going to open it up to basically all young adults. I love it. If you're in North America, we're going to open up to everyone.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay, Amazing. All right, Last thing I got before I go. Because you attack things with such confidence and it works out in your favor, I think negotiation is a huge topic of conversation amongst my listeners. What type of advice do you have for people that are going up into negotiation? They're meeting with their bosses. It's annual reviews. They don't know how to approach it. How do you approach it?

[Bryn Whitfield]

So you're looking in to your annual review and if you don't know what you're about to say, you're in trouble and you may as well just try again next year.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay.

[Bryn Whitfield]

So annual reviews are based on. You have to be logging every win, kind of like repurposing every loss. But you should be tracking all of your wins throughout the year. So you walk in and it's literally all on paper and it's literally written out, and you just push it over and you're like, here's what I did. And it also be like quantifiable. It has to be. You have to use your action verbs. You have to say, look, I was able to take this thing and I changed it, you know, retainer from 6,000 to 16,000 I was able to help. Helps XY, one of our biggest accounts, increase growth on Social by 21%. You have to have things throughout the year. If you're walking into your annual review and you're nervous, you're in, you already failed. You already failed. It starts day one of your annual review starts day one of day two. Day two of when you got out of your last one. Anything that they said or any smart goals or anything that you have, you need to be the entire time logging your shit as if you're getting spanked on the ass every day. You gotta be like, I did this, I did this, I did this. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Do not walk in and be like, so in New York City, the cost of living has gone up. Are you. Nobody cares.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, I don't care.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Whenever people.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That is the worst way to go.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Whenever people present me with like, well, the cost of things gone off, I'd be like, why don't you walk in here with all the things that you did?

[Ryan Seacrest]

We just got that avid. Remember that? Like, she's like, well, my cost of this, what does that do for us? That means nothing.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Walks in with what you did.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yes. And the value you brought.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Why you can't. And know in the back of your. Your mind that it's going to take three months and probably a third of your salary to rehire you and train you. Use that to your advantage. So be like, here's where I'm at. Here's all the ways that I've won. I've saved the company money. I've actually, you know, contributed X, Y and Z at the same time. Here's continuing this trajectory. What I'm going to the value add the next 12 months, make yourself invaluable. The fact that you think you want to fire me. I got the balls. You have to have them by the balls. And then you have to actually know what you want as well. Like in salary, if they're like, sold, what do you want? And you're like, I don't know. Be like 150k. And then you bring up the, well, this is what the salary equivalent on indeed is. And I've taken on more responsibility. So actually I'm doing two roles. In one, you have to have like your fucking paperwork like the FBI. And then you sit there and then. Last piece of advice is you have to have the balls or the backup plan, which, as I always did, to walk away. They don't give you what you want. I'm cool, dude. Cause I have fucking been Interviewing for three months. That's what you do. That's how you roll.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I think you gotta write a book at this point. That was.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I am with gallery book Shiny. It's coming out in fall.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Book is coming soon. That's the thing.

[Bryn Whitfield]

But that's how you. But you know what? I learned it myself, and I learned it through a lot of failures. My first job, I remember Chris will tell you, at Edelman, I walked in and I was like, so all these printouts of LA living costs. Cause I was making $32,000 a year. I was living between two 99 cent stores. And he's like, let me tell you, you don't walk in with this, you walk in with that. So reschedule this meeting. And then he taught me, Chris Vanzini, I love you. He's still there, but. Yeah, but I learned the hard way. And now I know. And I even whisper to my team. I'm like, here's how you do this.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, Come through.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I was like, I'm giving you more responsibilities. I was like, this is where us.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Girls. Yeah. Feminism.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Feminism. Let's go. Last question I got. Before we get your trading secret. You're a manifestor. It's 2025. 2027. You broke into seven figures. 2020. Let's call it 2027. How much you going to make that year? Manifest it. What's the dream? What's it going to be? Give me a number. I'm a. Billy, you're a billionaire.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah. 2027 in two years. 2025. 18 to 24 months.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Wow.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yo, you gotta go quick. Life's short. You know what's gonna happen.

[Ryan Seacrest]

All right.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Make it literally count. No, with 2025, I'm going to build a lot of stuff, and the be delay the groundwork for all the amazing stuff. And I'm going to meet my husband this year. That's what I've discovered.

[Ryan Seacrest]

There you go.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, yeah. I'm not going to marry him. I'm just going to meet.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You're going to meet him this year, and then you'll figure out the married thing.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Yeah, yeah. And I'm going to make him sign up for you.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yes. Make him sign a prenup. There you go. Check and check. All right, we got to wrap up with your trading secret. So Trading secrets is no Professor YouTube video TikTok tutorial can teach them this. They can only learn from your experience. So something that's unique to you, either financially, professionally, or personally, it's like one Big last thing you could leave us on. For everyone that's listening, give them some advice in that area.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Know that the lowest point, the lowest you felt, you're super depressed. You're like, I can't recover. This is fucked. I'm fucked. Everything's wrong. I want to blow my brains out. This sucks. If you can just hang on a little bit and slap a smile on your face and power through. If you can find it in you, not even power through, just kind of just like wake up the next day and like not do something horrific. Little do you know, it's. I swear to God, it's the beginning of something great. I think life is nothing. It's not the destination, it's the journey. I think life is nothing but like fucked up shit happening and awesome shit happening. And it's about how you deal with the bad stuff. And if you learn, if you can learn from it. Otherwise it just keeps happening again. But I think life is just fucked up shit and great shit happening and then we just all die. But I think if you can, like, that's the key and the purpose. So just know that when the bad stuff is happening and you don't want to like, deal and you just. It's like nothing. You don't see any way out or any light. There's no glimpse of everything. Actually what I now love is that's the time when I can remember. I'm like, oh, wait, this is awesome. Because it can't get any worse. Like, that's when you get higher. I actually get scared now when everything's going great.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I'm like, it's coming to an end. Yeah.

[Bryn Whitfield]

A family member's gonna die, the IRS is coming, Something's happening, something bad's gonna happen. I'm scared when everything is going great. I see the first season of my show and then it's like, boom. Life will smash. The second you get cocky, the second you think it's all good, life just rips you down. So I actually now enjoy the bad parts. Cause I'm like nowhere to go but up.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah. And then like Rocky says, right? It's not about how many punches you get, it's how many you could take and keep going forward. That's good.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Okay, Rocky.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay, so no, but you got like, you got the good, you got the bad, you got the good, you got the bad, you got the good. It's this constant ping pong. It goes back and forth and back and forth and yeah, that's life. I think what you said, life is about, about Getting up and then living and then dying or something. You said like this funny, like, that was the funniest breakdown I've ever heard of life. But like, that's an interesting.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Happens fucked up happens when you die.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Then good stuff happens that you die that.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Honestly, it's not that soon.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You need to make merch with that line right there, right now.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I think not merch, not sweatshirts. Maybe bumpers.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Maybe bumper stickers or candles or something. But yeah, that's gonna be your road to the billionaire. It's on its way. It's gonna happen.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I'll see you there. I'll see you.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I'll see you there. We'll see you at the finish line. Where can everyone find everything else that you have on? You're like, tell the dating app.

[Bryn Whitfield]

Download Hoppy in the app. Y. It's a little pink bunny. You have to get on Spotify. You have to download the pod. Just down the pod. You don't need to follow me on Instagram. I just want you to listen because I've had amazing guests such as yourself, and I'm only getting started. So please see below on Spotify.

[Ryan Seacrest]

There you go.

[Bryn Whitfield]

And anywhere you listen to podcasts, anywhere. I don't judge.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And wait, will you be on the next season of Real Housewives?

[Bryn Whitfield]

I can't answer that question.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay, maybe the next season of Real House.

[Bryn Whitfield]

I'll be here. And maybe other places.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And maybe other places. Who knows? Thank you so much for being on this episode of Shading Secrets. Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest. Life comes at you fast, which is why it's important to find some time to relax a little. You time. Enter Chumba Casino. With no download required, you can jump on anytime, anywhere for the chance to redeem some serious prizes. So treat yourself with Chumba Casino and play over 100 online casino style games, all for free. Go to Chumbacasino.com to collect your free free welcome bonus. Sponsored by Chumba Casino.

[Bryn Whitfield]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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