Transcript of How Maria Menounos Went From Sweeping Floors to Raking In Millions

So recently I started looking at my wellness routine, and I wanted to see if there was any way I could enhance my results. I looked at my vitamins and I realized they were not as clean as I had thought. The list of ingredients was long with things like gelatin and artificial flavors, which obviously have no added value and can cause some digestive issues. After doing some research, I came across Vimergy. Vimergy makes liquid vitamins and supplements that use clean ingredients and are not loaded with unnecessary fillers and binders like citric acid. And because they're liquid, they absorb faster than tablets, gummies, and capsules. And they're much easier to take if you have difficulty swallowing your pills, which I always have. It's a whole process.

I've tried putting the water in first and then the vitamins, and just And unlike multivitamins, you can actually customize your vitamin routine so you only take what you need and nothing you don't. They're honestly so easy to integrate into my day.

I just add them into my morning juice or smoothie and at night in my tea before I go to bed. Right now, Vimmergy is offering my listeners free shipping using the code MNN. And you can save up to 12 % with their mix and save program. That's vimmergy. Com, V-I-M-E-R-G-Y. Com, with code MNN, as in Money News Network. Try them today. I can't wait to hear what you think, and more importantly, how you feel. When I get together with my entrepreneur friends, we often commiserate about how hard it is to hire, especially when you're on a deadline. It is such a tough hurdle to overcome because it takes a whole lot of time to search for great candidates and then sort through all the applications. Well, if you're an employer who can relate, I have one question for you. It is the same question I asked my friends. Have you tried ZipRecruiter? Ziprecruiter has figured out how to solve this very problem. In fact, four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter, get a quality candidate within the first day. Right now, you can try ZipRecruiter for free at ziprecruiter. Com/moneyrehab. So I'm sure you want to know, how fast does ZipRecruiter's smart technology start showing your job to qualified candidates?

Well, immediately. And you can invite top candidates for your job to apply, to encourage them to apply sooner. So relax, employers, and let ZipRecruiter speed up your hiring. See it for yourself. Just go to ziprecruiter. Com/moneyrehab right now and try it for free. Again, that's ZipRecruiter. Com/moneyrehab. Ziprecruiter, the smartest way to hire. I'm Nicole Lappin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. It's time for some money rehab. Today, I'm talking to Maria Menunos. You could know her from a zillion places. Maybe you've seen her on channel One. If you're an Ogie fan and watched her in high school or Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, The Today Show, One Tree Hill, or Russellmania, or maybe you listened to her awesome podcast, Hill Squad, or have read her New York Times bestselling books. Despite Maria's long and very impressive career in media, she started with no connections, zero. She is no nepo baby. It's actually a term that I taught her about in the conversation. She is the daughter of immigrants who hustle to make a rich life for herself. Today, I'm talking to her about how she did it so you can do it, too.

We talk about her experience of the immigrant hustle, being in the sandwich generation where she's taking care of the generation above and below her, and what her cancer diagnosis taught her about financial planning. Oh, and I should also say, if you are listening on Spotify, you can also watch the video of our in-person interview in our new M&N studios. So if you're a visual person, check that out. Now, here's Maria.

Maria Menunos, welcome to Money Rehab. Thanks for having me. It's so cool to talk with you because we've run around each other for years and years. I think we had the same agent. We're at NBC. I was in business, you were in entertainment. Never really crossed paths, but I always have so admired you and your openness and your honesty and your hustle and your grind. Do you think a lot I'm also first-generation American. Do you think that comes from being an immigrant?

Yeah, I think so. I think so. I think that's why I love hiring first-genners, too, because they sell fire in their belly, and they have come from nothing, so they want to see something happen. My parents came from nothing, and they were janitors in Boston, and we worked with them cleaning nightclubs. And that was my childhood, was in a dirty nightclub that I love and have very fond memories of, even though I was evading rats and cockroaches on the regular.

But you didn't know any different.

I didn't know any better. We would create forts out of these boxes that would hold huge amounts of cups that they would put drinks in. I learned work ethic from watching my parents work so hard to clean this massive nightclub seven days a week, 365 days a year. I watched them then leave that one, go to multiple other ones. There were other ones throughout the Boston area. There were offices that we cleaned, and then we'd get to go And so if we wanted to get home fast or if we wanted to get to a family's house, our relative's house on the weekend, we all had to pitch in and help, and that's how we would get to go.

I feel like no matter what country they're from, it's a very similar discussion around money and the value of money. What was that like?

My dad came here after his older brother. His older brother came first, set roots, and He had built his own business, started a restaurant. I mean, from nothing. I give him so much credit. He came here alone, and then he would bring all of the brothers over one by one. He would pay for them to come to America. And And he'd have a big bag, apparently, of money. And he would say, It's in the attic. You need anything, you go in and you take what you need. To his brothers. I can't imagine feeling so just... I don't know. I'd like to think I'm pretty generous, but I don't think I'm that generous, where it's like, Oh, yeah, it's unlimited money. It's in the bag. Just take whatever you want. I'd be like, Wait, what if they take everything and then I have nothing left?

But that's the immigrant mentality.

It's like in a bag or under my sink or in a safe, but not in a bank or not in debt or mortgages or credit cards.

For me, it wasn't talked about it. Money was always a source of stress for me.

Oh, for us. So that was my uncle's story, and he helped everybody. And then my dad was sick with type 1 diabetes, and his medications were really, really expensive. And he went a different route with my mom and the cleaning. And when you don't know the language, that's usually the first thing. You're a maid, you're a housekeeper, you're a cleaner, or some thing like that. And then him and his brother started a carpet installation business. So they would install carpets and tiles. He really wanted to start businesses. He had that bug in him. But my mom was always so scared of him being tied to anything like that, where she wasn't to be with him. And there was just a lot of things. And so for us, the only thing I know is he learned from his brother to invest in stocks and invest in mutual funds. And they would always talk about investing, even with whatever little they had. I would hear that in the background. There was a period where my dad lost his main club and we didn't have money, and my uncle would leave groceries at our doorstep. My mom had to get a job to get health insurance for the family at a school cafeteria.

So we definitely had our struggles, but I did learn about investing because of my uncle. And so I bought my first stock when I was in high school. What was it? It was called Macrochem. I'll never forget it. I won Miss Massachusetts, Teen USA, and I got my money and said, buying a stock. I love that.

How much money did you get?

It was like a thousand dollars. And I bought a stock, and it was called Macrochem. And the whole idea, and why I liked it, was that it was a pain reliever, but in cream form rather than pill form. I said, wow, that's so smart. I think that's such a cool thing to invest in. And so I did. And then it wasn't long after that I was going to college, and my dad had cut me off because I was dating someone who wasn't Greek, which was not popular. My dad wanted me to be with a Greek boy. And I got a job in California and I needed that cash, and so I sold it. So I didn't really make anything because it was a very short time. But I don't- Are the company still around? I've tried looking for it. I don't know what happened to it officially.

Investing as a first-generation American is a new concept, but so is debt. Did you ever see credit cards or discussion of mortgage, or was everything in cash?

So I don't remember their credit card status. I don't believe they really ever had any credit card situations because they knew if they got them. I remember getting a Discover credit card, I think it was in college, and I had a couple of thousand dollars on there and I thought my life was over. I was like, Oh, am I going to pay this? Oh, my God. And the monthly bill with the interest. I was like, This is so much. But, yeah, they didn't really spend above their means. My parents never did. The only debt I think that we really had to worry about was my college debt, which I thought they were paying for, but really all the loans, my cousin did the paperwork because they didn't know what to do. And the paperwork all ended up in my name. And somehow a daughter of janitors had to pay full price at Emerson College and didn't get any assistance. But we thought my cousin was smarter than us and he would be able to do the paperwork. And who knows? This is what happens when you farm shit out, guys. How much was it? I mean, at the time, it was like 40 grand a year.

And you paid it off?

Yeah, I I got some scholarships, which was helpful. And then eventually, yeah, Kevin helped me pay off the rest of it when we first moved to LA and I was working, and we just kept writing checks and finished it off.

Did you feel like after you got into credit card debt, you needed money rehab? Was that the first stint of money rehab you needed in your life?

Maybe it was my senior year at high school or something. I don't know. I think it was freshman year of college. I can't remember. But I remember asking my dad for a loan to pay them off, and he said no. And I was like, okay. And my dad was a king of saying no. So he became very resourceful because he always said no to everything. And so I'd have to figure out another way. So I said to him one day, I go, Yeah, you said no all the time. And I don't know if it was strategic. I believe it wasn't. But either way, it worked because it made me very resourceful. I had always find a way.

What was the way?

I mean, I just had to save up and keep paying it off. That's it. I think when we, when Kevin came into my life, because he was much more organized mentally than I am, I'm a little more scattered, he consolidated everything. I'm pretty sure we consolidated everything into one loan and then slowly paid it off.

Do you feel like you have a general scarcity mindset around money or an abundance mindset? A hundred %. I always have. No matter how much money you have. That's it.

When I look at my earnings over all of these years, I'm like, holy shit, that number's big. And I'm grateful that I also... Because my dad was such a saver, and I watched him, I... You know, again, it wasn't like they had a lot, but he always was saving and hiding money. I learned to save, and I saved... I mean, at one point, I think I did the estimate, it was like 30 % of my money that I made. And they say to save 5 to 10 % or something of every check, right? The more the merrier. Whoopy Goldberg, I think, said, she pulled me aside and she said, Save 10 % of every check. I would save, and then I would also take any extra money on top of salaries I was making from campaigns like Pantene or whatever I did. I'd buy property, I'd suck it away, like that. I never saw it, never touched it. So I was really cognizant of saving and investing. And then I got into investing. And so there was real estate, and then there was the money market stuff. But as someone who grew up poor, I'm like, I'm not going to go buy stuff.

And so then my husband would start forcing me to go shopping. You need to feel like you are earning and succeeding and you need to go feel this. Otherwise it's not worth it. And I'm like, okay. So I've gotten better, but I definitely always have been scared.

Do you think that ever goes away?

I don't. I think there are moments of reprieve when you're conscious. So when I'm super conscious and in my good flow and good state of being, where I'm meditating or I'm feeling good, I know that this is a part of my being that is also not mine. I'm aware that those were my parents struggles. With therapy, I've realized I've always been wealthy when it was up to me. Not that that's any dig on my parents or anything like that. It's just I succeeded at 21 years old. I was already doing really, really, really well. Those weren't my struggles necessarily. Those were my parents. So I've had to make sure I switched that on. I'm like, No, Maria, that's not your struggle or that's not your thing.

Or trauma, financial trauma.

Yeah, that was my parents. I had to live through it and go through it, too, obviously. But I don't have to worry about it like that because they killed themselves to give me opportunity to be better, to know better, to be educated, to have a better path, right? The next generation is always supposed to be helping the next one. So when I'm cognizant and I'm conscious, I'm like, okay, I'm safe. I'm good. I work hard. I know what to do. I'm fine. All is well. You've always been fine. Yeah. So now sometimes, sometimes if I'm feeling a little... I will go buy something, just to prove to myself, Maria, you're fine. Everything is fine. Just go, go. You want that? That one thing is not going to make a difference. You're not going to go broke because you went and bought that pair of shoes. You worked hard. Go enjoy it. And so I'll talk to myself and talk myself through it.

It's a balance. We've We've talked about this before. It's between thinking you're going to live forever and thinking you're going to die tomorrow. The two extremes of hoarding and spending are not ideal because it can give you anxiety either way. So you're finding the balance. You're finding what works.

Well, you got to trust the data, too, right? So I've spent so much time in my life worrying and stressing and fearing, and it's always been fine, right? So my husband fears not, fears zero about money.

But you live in a fight or flight.

But I'm- Financially. The complete opposite. And so at some point, I had to let go. And again, it doesn't mean that the seagals don't come back to the shore, they flock, and then they come back. But I try to keep them away as much as possible.

I think it was the greatest hit sometimes, that they'll come back. You'll be broke, alone, and homeless, and die in the gutter. And I'm like, Oh, yeah. Nice to see you again. Yeah. You have to address them, otherwise you'll just get more and more stressed out. Have you found that the dynamics with your family when you started making money changed? When you were 21 and you started making money, did you support your family as the breadwinner? What does that do to the family dynamics?

Yeah, I'll never forget. When I first met Kevin, he's like, Why do you want to make it so bad? And I was like, I want to give my parents the life they never had. And that was really my driving motivation. I always had this desire and this fire in my to come out to LA and do all this cool stuff that I was seeing. And I really, really wanted to be able to give my parents the life they never had. And I did. I bought them a brand new Hummer at one point with a big red bow coming up the driveway and I hear... I have the recording of my mom because she didn't have video back then on phones. But I recorded her when she saw it come up the driveway, and then bought them a house. To me, it was fun to see to succeed in this business and to do the work I was doing, only because it was fun to spoil them with the experiences and whatever things I could.

And then when Kevin came in the picture, you guys have been together for 100,000 years. You said his mentality around money was different. He was organized, more calm. So he's an abundant mindset?

He grew up rebellious against his family that was like, No, you can't have that chocolate and whatever. So he goes the other way too far, and I go the other way too far. So he will rebelliously, say, spend. Now, he's not somebody who's going to go buy cars and clothes or whatever. He'll spend on business, thank God. At least it's going in the right place. But he won't say no. He doesn't worry. And I'm completely the opposite way. So I think that we've both helped each other in that. But he is more organized. My family, we were high-anxied, stressed. We were in fight or flight constantly. My dad was almost dying every day with his low blood sugar attack. So we were really on pins and needles. And because of that, maybe that's why we were so scatterbrained with organization, which then leads to a lot of stress because finances aren't organized, houses aren't organized. Everything gets really stressful.

It feels really chaotic. And how do you guys deal with the finances now? Do you smush everything together?

Everything's always been together because we both are a team. And he leaves it to me. He's like, You know what you're doing. And I'm like, Wait, but you have to make decisions, too. So we made this big investment maybe a year ago or whatever. And I'm like, I'm not making this decision without you. Sit down You're taking the seminars. You're listening to it with me. And we are making decisions together because I don't want you to come at me if this is some bad decision later. This is us making this decision together. So I try to educate him along the way But he trusts me. And then he's like, I got my things I'm good at. These are the things you're good at. And I'm like, Okay, I got it.

But you guys generally agree, or he differs to you as he should.

In terms of?

Financial big decisions.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, sometimes I disagree with his. I be like, We don't need another car. And he's like, yeah, but it's a 1942. It's only $5,000. I go, the insurance is going to cost just as much, and we don't need another thing to maintain. And I can't deal with you going to the car, people every two minutes getting it fixed. Like, stupid stuff.

But you've been the one that has mostly made all the money among everybody, would you say?

For some of it, yeah.

Did it change a parental dynamic, where you almost became more of a provider, parental figure?

I would say that I've always called my parents my kids. I mean, most of my adult life, because I took over their finances, I took over their health care, everything. And it does change the dynamic because my dad was the boss, and that was a weird thing for him, because unfortunately, sometimes the person who's paying ends up being the boss. Whether I'm officially taking that as a role or not, I was never thinking I was the boss of my dad. But, there are moments where it feels like that. And so I think that was a hard thing at first because he He's a very proud, stubborn Greek male.

Did he feel like a masculated?

Maybe. You'd have to ask him, but I think that it all worked out in the end. I mean, I have a Christmas card on my desk. My dad's not super expressive. He's emotional, but he wrote me the most beautiful card. It was in the throes of my mom passing. It was just like, no one would do what you guys have done for us. And I can't thank you enough for everything you've done. And he knows, and And he's known, we're there to help them and take care of them and make it as easy as possible. And that card will just be forever my, that's why I did it, for that one card. Sorry.

You have so much responsibility. You have so much financial responsibility. Sounds like you always have.

Always, yeah. Sometimes it's funny. I was talking to somebody recently, I can't remember who it was, and they were like, Gosh, I wish... I just don't know what it's like to just I have to think about myself, and what do I want to do, and how do I want to spend my money? And I started laughing, and she's like, Why are you laughing? I go, Because I've said that a few times myself, where you're just like, What would it have been like to have my own place? Because my parents lived with us, too, a lot of the year because it was easier to take care of them when they were under my roof. So it was like, what would it be like if I could just freely go on trips and buy whatever I wanted to buy? Because I also had to have an extreme scarcity Our City mindset because it wasn't just me, it was a team. And so we've had a lot of broken wings that we help as well. And a lot of people have lived with us, taken cars. That's why Kevin, I think, is obsessed with having more cars because we're always giving them other people to take because they're falling on hard times.

And so it's definitely been a lot of responsibility in every way. So, yeah, sometimes you're just like, what would it be like to not have to think about anything other than yourself? But then it is just you.

Well, you're in this generation that I think is really struggling as a sandwich generation where people around our age take care of their parents, but also their own kids.

Yeah, but that's at our age now. I've been doing it since I was 22.

Well, with a new baby, now you have the real sandwich.

Yeah, my little munchkin.

Hold on to your wallets. Money Rehab will be right back. So recently, I started looking at my wellness routine, and I wanted to see if there was any way I could enhance my results. I looked at my vitamins, and I realized they were not as clean as I had thought. The list of ingredients was long with things like gelatin and artificial flavors, which obviously have no added value and can cause some digestive issues. After doing some research, I came across Vimergy. Vimergy makes liquid vitamins and supplements that use clean ingredients and are not loaded with unnecessary fillers and binders like citric acid. And because they're liquid, they absorb faster than tablets, gummies, and capsules. And they're much easier to take if you have difficulty swallowing your pills, which I always have. It's a whole process.

I've tried putting the water in first and then the vitamins, and.

And unlike multivitamins, you can actually customize your vitamin routine so you only take what you need and nothing you don't.

They're honestly so easy to integrate into my day.

I just add them into my morning juice or smoothie and at night in my tea before I go to bed. Right now, Vimergy is offering my listeners free shipping using the code MNN, and you can save up to 12 % with their mix and save program. That's vimergy. Com, V-I-M-E-R-G-Y. Com. Com with code MNN, as in Money News Network. Try them today. I can't wait to hear what you think, and more importantly, how you feel. When I get together with my entrepreneur friends, we often commiserate about how hard it is to hire, especially when you're on a deadline. It is such a tough hurdle to overcome because it takes a whole lot of time to search for great candidates and then sort through all the applications. Well, if you're an employer who can relate, I have one question for you. It is the same question I asked my friends. Have you tried ZipRecruiter? Ziprecruiter has figured out how to solve this very problem. In fact, four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Right now, you can try ZipRecruiter for free at ziprecruiter. Com/moneyrehab. So I'm sure you want to know, how How fast does ZipRecruiter's smart technology start showing your job to qualified candidates?

Well, immediately. And you can invite top candidates for your job to apply, to encourage them to apply sooner. So relax, employers, and let ZipRecruiter speed up your hiring. See it for yourself. Just go to Ziprecruiter. Com/moneyrehab right now and try it for free. Again, that's ziprecruiter. Com/moneyrehab. Ziprecruiter, the smartest way to hire. And now for some more money rehab.

And how has having a daughter changed her mentality around money? Have you wanted to give her the things more of a real playground versus a box that held cups?

Yeah, it's interesting because we, I think, are doing a blend, right? We have this play pen for her, and somehow all these toys and all these stuffed animals come, Guys, we can't fill this thing up. She's going to be so numb and not want for anything. So I have her playing with rocks and dirt in the front yard, and I try to keep her in that state and that place where she's having to pick roses, and we go on sniffing tours, and I'll take her on little hikes, and I shift the carriage on two wheels so she can sniff this rose and sniff that rose. And in terms of finances, I've set up her 529 account. I'm setting up her Roth IRA. I have all of these things so that, because we're older parents, setting her up financially so that she's good. But she will be taught how to work hard and to value money, and I will be teaching her how to invest.

I will be teaching her, too. I will be coming over. We'll have classes for both of our daughters.

We actually want to do a baby business class.

I would love that because it's incumbent on parents. They're not learning it in school. They're not learning it anywhere else. And I think about, too, you and I growing up in much different circumstances than I will be giving my daughter in much different circumstances that you're giving your daughter. How do you balance that idea?

I was laughing because I would always tell my best friend growing up, I'm like, She's going to be in coach with you because she was going to be the nanny. We were joking. And I was like, She's going to learn how to earn her way up to first class. And meanwhile, she's on private planes. I mean, it's silly, but at the same time, that's for my sanity and my peace. But I think that we also have to understand, and this is what I've been learning from other parents who grew up the same way we did and had kids be more privileged, and they grew up to be fine, amazing humans. So we have hope, because I'm terrified. They were like, Maria, they aren't growing up like us. So we can't force them to grow up like us because they're also going to be so confused. Of course, you have money. My dad used to say, I don't have any money, and I believed him because he didn't. I mean, he had a few things hidden in the wall, and then I figured that out, but whatever. But for us, they are growing up different. But that's going to be on us, again, to really teach them about how privileged they are, and we're going to have to teach them how to earn and figure out how to incentivize them chores, whatever it is.

We're going to have to do our version. When I look at our good friends, the Stallones, their daughters are amazing. They're the best girls. They're so pure. They're so loving. And I think of what Jennifer has taught me. She would take them to Montana, and she would have them riding horses and being out in nature, and she didn't raise them Hollywood. And then I have my friends Melina Kenakreides and the Chickles. They've all raised really great humans. And so I'm just looking to them to help guide me in this journey where I'm like, Shit, I would want to put her in the same incubator I came in, where it's like, You're growing up hard, kid, and you're going to be bored, and you're going to have to grind and figure it out. And she's just not growing up like that. It's different. But I know I can instill values in her. And those were the things I think that were our guiding force, probably more than just growing a poor. And when she wants stuff, she's going to have to earn stuff.

I think we all know that our biggest source of wealth, ultimately, is not money, but health. You know this all too well, all too intimately. For our listeners who don't know the story of you being diagnosed with a rare type of pancreatic cancer, can you tell us about how that happened?

Yeah. So let's say 2022, I was issues. I was really bloated all the time, and I knew something was off. So I got an endoscopy and a colonoscopy early that year. They found some precancerous conditions, but they're like, Come back in two years. And I'm like, Wait, so when I have cancer, is that your goal? I don't get it, but whatever. I'm going to keep investigating. As the year went on, I had increasingly moments, just moments, where I was in a lot of pain. I was on one flight, for example, that I remember, and I was dying in pain. And I thought it was the Farrow salad. I was like, I'm never eating Farrow again. And then another time, November 2022, I was in so much pain. I was like, I have to go to the hospital. And I've never said that. And my friend took me to the hospital. They did a CT scan, and they were like, You're fine. Nothing. And I'm like, Okay, but then why am I dying of pain? It was excruciating. December 2022, it was right after Christmas Eve, the 26th of December, I'm at Anastasia's house, The Eyebrow Guru, and this woman comes up to me.

She's, I've been trying to reach you, your producer, isn't getting back to me. You got to come do my pro-nuvo scan. And she was really adamant, and it felt different. And I was like, Okay, got it. Noted. I feel like someone's talking to me. I'm going. So I went in January 2023, last year, and And they discovered a large mass on my pancreas. I called the hospital back that I had gone to two months prior. I was like, Hey, can you recheck that scan? Because this is what's going on. And they're like, Oh, yeah. So it was two centimeters then. They missed it. This is where 20 Robin says, Doctors can be sincere, but they can also be sincerely wrong. So it had doubled in size within two months, and I ended up having to have surgery last February. They took the tail of my pancreas, my in the spleen, just in case any cancer had passed on into the spleen, 17 lymph nodes, and then I also had a fibroid, a massive fibroid. So even though I didn't give birth, I have the C-section to prove. Something came out of there. And luckily, all of my scans have been clear since, so they got everything out, thank God.

But that was after, of course, the whole brain tumor surgery and the type 1 diabetes diagnosis and a few other things in between. So it's been an interesting health journey that led me to my show, Heal Squad, that has saved my life because that was why they were trying to reach me, was because I had the health show. And if I wasn't to have gotten that scan, I may not have been alive to see my baby born that June. Crazy. Yeah.

And when people get cancer diagnosis, they often change the way they view money. If they go through remission, they say, Fuck it. How long do I have left? Let's go spend. Did it change the way you- It changed me instantly.

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So, Nicole, can you imagine you find out that you have pancreatic cancer and you're like, wait, what? I was shook. I can't imagine. The most terrifying moments of my life, especially knowing that Athena was on the way. I remember within two days, I had to go meet an oncologist, and his office was Beverly Hills. At the same time, I had Oprah Winfrey's birthday at Anastasia's house. She was doing this 25 Most Powerful Women dinner, and then honoring Oprah's birthday, and I was one of the 25 women invited. And I'm like, I need something to wear because life still has to keep going. We're not just stopping. And so I went into a store. They didn't have anything. I have six minutes before this appointment, and I remembered an ad I saw like, Alexander McQueen, and it was just one of those things, where, Oh, that's so beautiful, but I would never buy that. I walked into the store. I said, Please give me that entire look, head to toe. I have six minutes. And I bought the whole look. I ran out the door. I got in the car. Kevin was waiting outside. I go, I just spent a shit ton of money.

Oh my God. Because I've never done that before. He goes, Oh, guess a fuck. You might be dying. Of course, you should buy it. Spend all of it. I'm like, Yeah, yeah, I It was just a funny sick moment, obviously. You have to laugh, I guess. And then, luckily, I came through, and oh my God, my jaw is tightening up just thinking about all of this. I came through surgery. It was a really painful surgery and a hard recovery, but I got through. And that first scan, coming back clear, I remember coming home, and my dad was in the driveway, and both of us just started bawling when I was like, I'm safe, I'm safe. But it did change me because now I'm not reckless, but I'm also like, no, I'm enjoying my life. So I don't care what it's going to cost sometimes, where I'm like, No, this family trip is worth it because this is a memory we're going to have forever, and we're doing it. I don't care. Or, Yeah, no, I want that. And I'm not going to deprive myself of that now because I've spent so many years depriving myself.

I know that sounds crazy, but if you really knew me inside, talk to my husband, talk to anybody who's worked intimately with me. They know how cheap I am with myself. I've bought all of my assistance Chanel bags. I've bought everyone who works for me things like that, but I never would get it for myself. So it has changed. But then on the flip side, it's also changed in wanting to make money off of my money, wanting to really be very focused on how I'm investing and how I'm investing for Athena's future so that she is safe regardless, because I know life is so fickle and it can change so quickly. That's why when people say, really appreciate your health today because you don't know what's coming tomorrow. We are in a moment in life where between all of the poisoning that's coming through our water, our food, our air, and every possible way, We are in a moment where it really could happen at any time to anybody. So we have to be really, really careful. And I think that we have to live accordingly. And if you're somebody who has a scarcity mindset, and you are somebody who's afraid, I think this might be your moment to just ease up a little bit.

It doesn't mean don't still make smart decisions and smart choices, but the extreme on anything, whether it's diet, whether it's health, whether it's money, it's not good. So I'm trying not to be as extreme with all of that and time, and really time. Like today, I'm spending the whole day with my daughter. This is the one hour she's not with me, and I'm not going to worry about work. Same thing happened yesterday. I remember yesterday being like, wow, I'm really just not caring right now. And I'm like, Okay, if something happened tomorrow, would you regret it? Nope. Okay, Maria, keep going. Because I know I have to go away for a week for work overseas, and I'm trying not to fly her a lot because her brain's developing. This is another thing you'll have to pay attention to. Her brain is developing. Those scanners at the airport carry so much radiation. For us, it's For them, it's completely detrimental. And so I'm trying to only fly her when necessary. And so I'm like, Okay, I'm going to be gone for, I think, four or five days. I have to spend as much time with her as I can now.

To make up for it.

And I know your first reaction was a worst-case scenario during all the health stuff. I'm a goneer. Did it change the way you viewed estate planning? Did you have a will before that?

Did you create it?

Oh, yeah, we've had Again, thanks to the business managers, 20 years, we've had them.

They've always... I mean, they've been adjusted here and there and changed as people you thought were your family and friends or not. And so even today, I was looking for an advanced directive for my dad, and I saw, Will change or trust changed because this person is getting taken out. I'm like, if these people knew how we thought of them before they broke our hearts and stomped all over them because we were giving them so much. Now it'll all go to Athena.

How often have you changed your will?

A couple of times.

Just like professional breakups, family, stuff.

For us, a lot of our family, we've made our family. And people who have been intimately involved in our lives, we consider them family, and they were held in that regard.

Can we play a game of financial never have I ever? Okay.

Damn. I'm scared. All right, let's do it.

So basically, you put a finger down if you've done one of these things. Okay. Okay.

Never have I ever asked for a raise.

Oh, yeah, of course. All the time.

That's right. Never have I ever paid on a first date.

I've never been on dates, really. Yeah, I remember I went on a date with a Calvin Klein model once, and I went on a couple of dates, actually. But they always paid. Yeah.

Never have I ever signed a prenup.

We have a fake one. Wait, so do I put my finger down? It was on Howard Stern. So Kevin proposed on Howard Stern, and they had some fake prenup. We don't have a prenup. So do I put my finger down? I forget. I literally will never remember. You're going to have to tell me every time. We do not have one. Okay, so-Finger up. Finger up.

Never have I ever negotiated a bill.

Yeah, I don't think I have.

Never have I ever been fired from a job.

Never.

I've been laid off. Do I put a finger down?

L laid off isn't fired. Okay, great. Thank you. You said fired. You're right. Go ahead.

Never have I ever gambled in Vegas.

I have gambled in Vegas. But I don't gamble a lot. My maximum is like $100 because I'm like, You are not taking my money, people. But then I discovered this game called Blackjack Switch.

Have you ever played it? No. Normal blackjack, yes.

Fucking unbelievable. You play two hands of blackjack at the same time, so your odds are better, and you can move a jack over here to give yourself a 21. It's so much fun. So I feel like I've definitely maybe gone up to 300 on one of those tables for fun, but- Expender, Maria.

Never have I ever taken out debt.

I mean, my mortgage is debt.

Never have I ever worked at Dunkin' Donuts.

Of course, I worked at Dunkin' Donuts. Six years, baby. Finger up? Down. Down.

We're doing great.

I'm the worst.

Never have I ever funded retirement account.

I have retirement accounts. Oh, we did. So do we win because we have no fingers up?

We win. Okay, we make the rules. Okay, I love it. So that's how we win. We enter episodes, Maria, by asking all of our guests for a tip that listeners can take straight to the bank. Anything about business? My favorite tips.

I've learned from reading Tony Robbins' Money Master the Game, and so I highly recommend that. And I think that knowing the difference between a fiduciary and a broker was something that I would always blow people's minds with. My wealthiest friends who are worth almost a billion dollars didn't even know the difference. So never feel stupid about not knowing that. But a fiduciary has a fiducial responsibility to do what's in your best interest, where a broker doesn't. So you might buy mutual fund Lappin. And Mutual Fun Lappin, behind the scenes, has a three % fee. And then Mutual Fun Lappin B has a one %. But they decide which one they want to give you. And you don't know. And sometimes you'll be belly up. Even though you're winning, you're actually losing because of the fee you're paying behind the scenes. So that's why a fiduciary has to give you the one %, has to give you the best deal.

Money Money Rehab is a production of Money News Network. I'm your host, Nicole Lappin. Money Rehab's executive producer is Morgan LaVoy. Our researcher is Emily Holmes. Do you need some money rehab? And let's be honest, we all do. So email us your moneyquestions, moneyrehab@moneynewsnetwork. Com, to potentially have your questions answered on the show or even have a one-on-one intervention with me. And follow us on Instagram at Money News and TikTok at Money News Network for exclusive video content. And lastly, thank you. No, seriously, Thank you. Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important investment you can make. So recently I started looking at my wellness routine, and I wanted to see if there was any way I could enhance my results. I looked at my vitamins and I realized they were not as clean as I had thought. The list of ingredients experience was long with things like gelatin and artificial flavors, which obviously have no added value and can cause some digestive issues. After doing some research, I came across Vimergy. Vimergy makes liquid vitamins and supplements that use clean ingredients and are not loaded with unnecessary fillers and binders like citric acid.

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