Transcript of Kat Von D on Good Business and Bad Contracts

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. One of the most stressful periods of my life was when I was in credit card debt. I got to a point where I just knew that I had to get it under control for my financial future and also for my mental health. We've all hit a point where we've realized it was time to make some serious money moves. So take control of your finances by using a Chime checking account with features like no maintenance fees, fee-free overdraft up to $200, or getting paid up to two days early with direct deposit. Learn more at chime. Com/chime. Com/chime. Com. /mnen. When you check out Chime, you'll see that you can overdraft up to $200 with no fees. If you're an OG listener, you know about my infamous $35 overdraft fee that I got from buying a $7 latte and how I am still very fired up about it. If I had Chime back then, that wouldn't even be a story.

Make your fall finances a little greener by working towards your financial goals with Chime. Open your account in just two minutes at chime. Com/mnen. That's chime. Com/mnen. Chime. It feels like progress. Banking services and debit card provided by the Bancorp Bank NA or Stride Bank NA. Members FDIC. Spotme eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply. Boots are available to eligible Chime members enrolled in SpotMe and are subject to monthly limits. Terms and conditions apply. Go to chime. Com/disclosures for details. I'm Nicole Lappin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. It's time for some money rehab. If your dream job lands in front of you, you'd take it, right? You might even take it no questions asked without reading the fine print. That's exactly what happened to Kat Von D, tattoo artist and entrepreneur. Kat recently sat down with Nelly Galan on her M&N podcast, Moneymaker, Mi Mundo Rico, to talk about the dreamy contract she signed that turned into a complete and utter nightmare, and how she got out of it. If you know Kat from Miami Inc. And LA Inc. You are in for a surprise because she is so much more than what you saw on TV.

And for anyone interested in turning their hobby into a jobby, Kat is the master and has lessons for days.

Wow, Welcome to Moneymaker, the podcast that gives you the tools to enrich your life in every sense of the word. I'm your host, Nelly Galand. Let's get started. So Kat Mondi, I can't even believe I'm here with you. I mean, you're Latina. I'm Latina, so you can imagine that Latinos follow other Latinos. And I've just loved everything you've done. Now you're a singer. You're a goat tattoo. You're the goat in tattoo. And you also have had my favorite makeup line. I'm obsessed. And you've just done so many businesses, so I'm just so happy to have you here. Oh, thank you. What comes up for me with you, because we're both Latinos and we're very American, is that saying, Follow your bliss and the money will come, which is very Joseph Campbell. And I think that as Latinos, we also know that that's a little bit entitled and true, but not true, because you follow your bliss. There are many blisses of your life. Some make money and some don't. You have followed all your blisses. And also you've done parallel lives where you made money in different ways. So super excited to get the whole scoop from you.

So you were born in Mexico, which I don't know if a lot of people know that about you.

I don't think a lot of people know that I'm Latina. That you're Latina, man.

You're so Latina. And your parents were like, Argentina, and then they moved to Mexico, and then you came from Mexico here. I have to ask you because I left school when I was 15, and you left school very young.

You're like my parallel life sister.

Yes, parallel life. And so my parents lost it. And so I know that the Latino parents must have freaking lost it. Can you tell us what happened?

Yeah. I was born in Mexico. I was born in a little pueblito que se llama Monte Morelos. Yes, of course. It's right next to Monterrey.

It's like-Norteña, from the northern part of Mexico.

Yeah, but my family is from Argentina, so we're all mixed up. But my parents were missionaries for the church. My dad was building hospitals in these little towns where there was no access to hospitals, just doing amazing work. I'm so grateful for that because to me, my heart is in Mexico. That's my motherland. I love Argentina, too. I'm not a disposite to that side either. But the way that I speak Spanish is a lot more Mexican. I mean, it's mixed.

But so many people don't. They think Latinos are all the same. We all have different accents. It's like America where you have a Southern accent, whatever. It is a little different.

Then we moved to America in the '80s. I was five or six. Then we moved to a little town called Loma Linda, which is- Of course. Where the hospital, the great hospital is. Yeah, exactly. Two hours east of LA. My parents, they weren't Americanized at all, which I loved. My siblings and I, we led a pretty humble, modest life. Went to church on the Sabbath, we were. When I started falling into the tattoo world- I don't think people realize Latinos are not into tattoos. No. Now, it's a lot more accepted.

Now, it's different. But back then, oh, no. I mean, no. It's like It's almost like that.

The only two people that get tattoos are like pandilleros or prostitutes.

Yeah, it's prostitutes or these gang members, right? So they really see it as... And by the way, I got into the entertainment business, which to them is in Latin America, if you're in the entertainment, it's prostitutes. Institution. So Latinos don't get it. So I can't imagine your parents during this period.

What happened is I got into punk rock music. And so I think that, to me, spoke on a very profound level, just this feeling of being an outsider. And I've always felt I felt that within my own family unit. I never really felt like I fit into a lot of places. I don't know if it's part of that is that I am mixed. So it's like, I don't fit in here, I don't fit in there. Where do I belong? And then this revolutionary My music, to me was like, embraced all that, and I love that. It wasn't anything having to do with rebelling. It was more about embracing that we're outsiders and it's okay. I shaved my head into a mohawk, and I think my parents just... That was worse than the tattoos. Because for them, it's like, How are we going to explain it to the church? I get it. It was very in your face. At that time, people weren't dying their hair. This was not considered acceptable. I gave them probably a lot of white hairs. But now they've seen what I've done with my life, and they're very proud of me.

But I've apologized for the hell that I put them through and stuff. But that's part of having kids.

Yeah, when you have kids, you realize it. But I think you're talking about something also very important that when you come from another place and you come into this country, and then you're a little bit of American, whatever that version of American is, you do feel weird. But in a weird way, it's a building block toward a business because you also know You understand differences in people and you understand desires in people, and you can code switch. Yeah, totally. Between a Latino culture and this and the punk culture.

Yeah.

So I look at that in your trajectory. Yeah.

No, I love that. The code switching. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, that is true. When it comes to building a brand or any project that I pour myself into, I really come at it from the perspective of being a fan. I know that things can become corporate and they can become big and mainstream. But at the end of the day, I'm a fan of music. I'm the person that will stand in line and buy a ticket. I will buy the artwork. And so if I don't want it, why would I make it? And even though what I like might not be what everybody likes, I know that I'm not alone. There's other people that are outsiders that can relate.

So how did you go from loving punk and loving tattoos for yourself to turning tattoos into a business for you?

So I was 14 when I did my first tattoo, and I did it... I know. I did it on- I'm cringing for your parents already. Well, it's crazy because I have a son now and he's four, and I can't imagine him doing half of the things that I was doing, just living on my own at such an early age and running away and moving across the country on a Greyhound bus and smoking cigarettes. You and I are twins. I I just grew up too fast. Again, I don't think I would necessarily change a lot of things about my path. But it's interesting. I'm like, Man, at 14, I already knew what I wanted to do. Basically, my neighborhood punk rock friend had this homemade tattoo machine. He said, Hey, I was painting on punk rock jackets at the time, and he's like, You're really good. You draw really well.

So you're really an artist?

Yeah. I've always been drawing since I was a kid. My mom said, since I could hold a pencil. So he said, Hey, you should tattoo me. I said, Okay. I didn't know anything about the tattoo tattoo industry. I didn't have a point of reference. I think that that was a good thing. Most people go through a traditional apprenticeship where somebody that's more experienced shows them how to tattoo. And for me, I had no idea what was bad or what was good. I was just doing it. It's liberating in that sense. But I tracked down the first tattoo I ever did to photograph it when I came out with my first book. And oh, my God, it was like the art was there, the heart was there, but the skill and technique, the equipment was not there.

So poor person that got that tattoo.

Yeah, but also, too, I mean- Now he has a cat on detail, too. Yeah, the original. So then I got into my first tattoo shop when I was 16, and that's when I had to unlearnt a lot of ghetto habits that I picked up along the way. It was refreshing to be around bikers who... It wasn't about a business. It was like, We lived for this art. It's like, Yes, it's a profession. Yes, it's a job. It means to the end. But that's not why we do it. We We don't do it because we have to. We do it because we need to. It's in you. I think that's such an exciting thing. I don't like to use the word blessing because it's so contrived sometimes. But I really feel blessed that I got to know at an early age what I wanted to do. So then I went to school. I went to junior high, and then I went to my first two weeks of high school, my freshman year. And then I already knew I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. I just dropped out, much to my parents' dismay, and then dedicated myself to tattooing.

And so in that period that you dedicate yourself, because there's one thing of loving something and then mastering it. So how long did it take you to really feel grounded in that mastery?

A little bit less than 10 years. See?

I've been hearing that a lot from people. I mean, for me, I didn't make money for 10 years and then it all- I made money.

I made money, but I'm saying that you- I remember the point where I was like, Oh, this is becoming second nature. In the beginning, I would do tattoos, and I'm like, I'm doing a good job. But I could do better. And you can always do better. But there's a point where you're like, Okay, I'm doing a portrait tattoo, and it really resembles the original. I feel satisfied.

You feel comfortable in your skin doing it.

I don't feel afraid in any way. And so I think that took a little longer. But along the way, I was making money. I was providing for my family. I was taking on a lot of responsibilities that teenagers shouldn't have to, just growing up way too fast.

So you're learning all this, and then how does the first TV show come up?

Yeah. So the TV show was interesting. At that point, I was already doing portraits, and I was already booked out for almost two years in advance. It was just I was really doing great.

Because people in the tattoo world become obsessed with a specific artist, right?

I wouldn't call it obsessed. I think that there's an artist for everybody. I have weaknesses, there's things that I don't do because I'm not good at them. And you should go to those people who mastered that genre of tattooing. But yeah, a lot of people become very loyal to their artists or to a certain style. I personally always love black and gray in realism, so that's what I gravitated towards. So I was tattooing. I was in my 20s at that point, and I was tattooing at a shop in Hollywood. I was drinking a lot at the time and partying as 20-year-olds do. I think I was in Finland, actually, at a metal concert There was a festival, and I was tattooing a bunch of metal bands. I got the call saying that they wanted me to come out to do this tattoo show. I was like, Who's going to watch that? That's so stupid. It's so boring because we just sit there and we just do this, and that's the world's most boring show. But then there was a part of me that was like, at the time, there was not a lot of female tattooers.

I could probably name all of them on two hands. I felt like a certain sense of responsibility because I know how networks are and they're going to hire people based on looks versus what they're capable of doing. There was a little bit of gatekeeping, I guess, in that sense. I said, Okay, I'm going to give it a try. I showed up and I wasn't familiar with the other artists. We didn't know each other. I don't think we had a great chemistry at all. It was not fun. It was like I didn't connect with the people in Miami because it's very- It's different. It's different. I really stuck out a sore thumb, not in a good way. I felt very isolated and alone, to be honest. I didn't have any friends. I started just really diving deeper into my addiction as a form of coping. I started doing a lot of drugs at that time. And at one point, I just had enough. I just had to get out of it. I got offered my own TV show. They wanted to do a spin-off show in LA, LA Inc. I agreed to it mainly because it nullified my first contract, which I signed completely drunk.

And it just had a lot of things where I was signing rights away that I should have had a lawyer present. I didn't know because I was a young kid. I said, okay, well, now I've grown up and I've got a lawyer and I know what I'm going to do. And so I built this shop. And shortly after that is when I got sober, and that is really when my life turned around. And that's like, I won't be too preachy about it, but it is a big part of my story. It's like, when I first started tattooing, I made an agreement with myself where I said, if anything ever gets in the way of my passion, that gets cut out. During that time, I broke up with boyfriends. If they felt I worked too much or whatever it was. And then when I realized that drinking and drugs was getting in the way, that's when I was like, I got to break up with drinking and drugs. And overnight, I just stopped. I cut out all my friends that I drank with and deleted all my drug dealers. I stopped going to the places where I used to go.

And it was, again, this lonely place place to be in because I was figuring out. I didn't have any real friends. Even when I look back at certain production when I was filming, I'm like, Oh, they liked me better when I was drunk or when I was wild.

Well, because that's good TV, right? That's good radio. Yeah.

Now when people are like, Oh, I watched L. A. I'm like,. I get a little bit cringy because I've grown up a lot. I'm 40 now, so it's like I was in my 20s and 30s during that time. I like myself a lot better now than I was then. But I was really grateful for the opportunity to be on TV because, A, I'm not afraid of documenting things. I think documenting things is amazing. I'm a really crazy, obsessive archiver, so I archive everything. Me too. I own the first five of everything I've ever made. And we have everything neatly archived. And I have every line drawing for every tattoo I've ever done. So to me, documenting my life for that decade was amazing.

I think that's a really interesting point. I've spent a lot of time at the Library of Congress, and I noticed the common denominator between successful people is they keep their archives. It's so interesting. George Washington and Lincoln kept everything in their life. And I think that's just something interesting to hear from you. It's true. It's almost like you know that you're going to need it.

Yeah, or I don't know why. I think at the time, I was like, I'm never going to have kids. I'm married to my job and all that stuff. And I thought, I'm not passing this down to anybody, but is this a legacy Is this my mark? And to a certain degree? Also, I get emotionally attached to your. I like seeing the growth. I have the first drawings from when I was a child up until now, and it's like, Wow, I got better. And that's something to be proud of. Of course.

But it's interesting because you do a TV show, and no matter what we say, let's be honest, a TV show is a commercial for your brand. Yeah, of course. And it does create a whole other parallel track for you business-wise that you could never have scaled to the degree that you scaled it. Can we talk a little bit about that?

Sure. I will say that times have changed since I've been on TV. I don't think people watch TV the same way they did as back then. Back then, we were competing with shows like Sopranos. Then my heart really just broke up with television once it turned into reality. Because we were like a docuseries at first. It was more documenting the tattoos and the stories behind them. Then it turned into like, Okay, now we're competing with Jersey Shore. There's something for everybody. I'm not knocking that at all. I just think that's not what I do. I don't have that within me to make that television. I saw myself growing out of it at that time. I think whatever you put out into the world is what you're going to get. So whatever it is that you want to do, put more of that out there. I don't understand people on Instagram or on social media now, putting garbage out or just things that are fleeting because I'm like, that's what you put out. It's what you're going to be demanded of. To me, I like to put out what I to create. I love reading. I love writing.

So I started writing books. Then I learned how to photograph. And then I photographed my second book. And then I was actually approached for my makeup line. That was never something that I was like, I want to have a makeup line.

But actually, when I saw it, I was like, what a cool brand extension in a weird way. Because look, you have great makeup yourself. But also, I don't know, I thought your makeup line was very tight, the way you even named it, like tattoo eyeliner. It It was just very appropriate.

Yeah, it's a form of self-expression, and that's what I was selling. I wasn't selling a beauty standard because I'm like, Fuck a beauty standard. But to me, it's more just like- But it was vegan.

So that's something that was important to you. Yeah.

I later formulated things to be vegan. But to me, originally, the purpose of my makeup line was just to show an artistic expression in a world where beauty is more defined by personal esthetics or something like that. I think it was fun the first five years. And after the five years, I feel like it got so big that I just lost control of it. And then I saw the mutation of YouTube happen, and that to me was like, I'm just not anything I want to be a part of. Again, I'm not criticizing anybody's approach to stuff because there's a lot of great entrepreneurs, YouTubers and influencers. But is that what I want to contribute to? I knew in my heart that's not what I wanted to do anymore. The last half of owning my makeup line, I was quite miserable, to be honest. It's just, Okay, let's see what we could do. Where's the compromise here? And that's okay. I feel like I got out at the perfect time before the piece of the pie was getting very divided.

I have Let me ask you because when you put your name on something and then you sell it, so many times they own your name. I know that they've taken your name and now they've turned it into... It means something else, right?

We basically agreed that I would take my name back. At the I thought, Oh, well, it's just my initials. It'll be fine. And now I regret it because I feel like people still think I own it and I hate it. I have nothing to do with it. I don't know who they're hiring. I don't follow them. I don't know what products they're making. And it is hard because people think like, Oh, Kat made that. And it's like, I have no idea what the creative direction is. I wish they would change their name.

Yeah, so that's a cautionary tale. Yeah, totally.

If I could go back in time, that That's one thing I would change. I'd be like, Just change it to something else.

But it's hard because they're buying a brand, right? Yeah. So a lot of business information here because you do a show. The show is a commercial for a brand that sometimes you can brand extend, but people then come to you. And how many people do licenses and do all kinds of stuff? You do them, and it sounds great, but they don't always work out. And then you have to figure out, did I put my name? Should I have called it something else? And maybe the first time you do it, you don't think of that. Sure. That it may be a divorce, and then somebody else has your name.

Right. So when I did Miami Inc, for example, they owned the rights to my name, my likeness, all my artwork. I mean, that was what I was fighting for because I was like, Oh, this I can't even believe that that's legal. How can somebody own, while you're alive, your name and likeness? Meaning that I couldn't do anything with my name without their permission. That's terrible. Then when I did LA Inc, at that point, I got a good lawyer and he was like, Oh, no, we got to get rid of this deal.

This is all very cautionary because when you are the brand you're selling versus you come up with a line, which you now are doing a lot of other business deals, and we'll talk about that. So when you're selling yourself, then it's very connected to you. And if something goes wrong and it's a divorce in business, they own you. And that's happened to a lot of designers, a lot of people.

And then the other part of it, to me, maybe Maybe the more emotionally important part is that when something fails, nobody knows the Wizard of Oz that's behind that's actually running things. You have to deal with that. If the makeup line were to fail now, people would think it's me, and it's not. But at the same time, I think you pick your battles.

Well, entrepreneurs, you think of yourself, I see as an artist, but you're really an artist and an entrepreneur. And I think the entrepreneur part of you has to make mistakes. I made a million mistakes. Oh, I have failed. I tell everybody, I have failed more than I succeeded. You only have to succeed two or three times. That's all people remember. But you have to fail to learn to go to the next level. Totally. So I also love it because you've talked a lot about your entrepreneurial life and also buying homes and all kinds of stuff. Where did you go after this whole makeup thing? Because I know you're doing your own businesses.

The makeup stuff started just consuming my whole life. We were based out of San Francisco, so I was flying out there sometimes twice a week. I mean, it was I didn't really have a life outside of it.

Were you still tattooing at that point?

Yeah, I was balancing it whenever I was in town. But I haven't done tattoos for money in... It's been over a decade now. I only tattoo my friends, and it's more of a gift that I do. I don't really depend on that. My first and foremost passion in life has always been music. I started playing piano when I was five years old. I was a classically trained pianist, and music influences everything I've ever done. I had been working on an album for about 10 years prior to releasing it, I think two years ago or a year ago. So when I sold my makeup line, I said, Hey, I really want to tour. I want to make this my next focus. And the only way I'm going to do that is going to be compartmentalizing and choosing. You cannot do it all. You can, it just won't be good.

That's why I said, Follow your bliss, maybe in Spanish, in épocas, in periods of your life.

Yeah, they run other courses. And then this was a perfect time for me, so I did that. And then I have a shoe line, too, that I learned so much from the-The makeup? Yeah, just from production. And it's interesting because now we're at a little bit of a tipping point where it's like, Okay, we were a baby brand, and now we're starting to grow. And I'm like, I still want to keep you small because it's nice to be in control of all of that. And I'm a little traumatized with other experiences. But it's a good thing. It's a good thing to be able to do that and grow things that they do stand up on their own. And we'll see how that goes as well.

Hold on. Moneymaker 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 M-N-N, 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, with code M-N-N, as in Money News Network. Try them today. I can't wait to hear what you think, and more importantly, how you feel. Money rehabbers, we know all too well that financial worries can pop up at any time. Am I planning for retirement properly? Am I taking advantage of every tax deduction I possibly can be? I mean, the list goes on and on. What you need is a place you can quickly turn to for financial advice or a second opinion. And that's Moneypickle. Moneypickle matches you with a trusted, vetted financial advisor based on your specific financial situation and goals. Then You can set up a free video meeting or a phone call to discuss your questions whenever is convenient for you. No need for an in-person meeting. The best part about Money Pickle is that it does all the vetting for you. They have thoroughly vetted every single one of their advisors to make sure they have a clean history history with their current and past clients, which is really important. A Series 65, Series 66, and/or CFP certifications to ensure they're well-equipped with all the knowledge and ethical standards you need.

And if you really like your financial advisor, you can hire them outside of Money Pickle to be your financial advisor moving forward. But there is never any obligation to do so, so honestly, there's nothing to lose. Don't wait for those important financial questions to finally get answered. Head to Moneypickle now and schedule a free meeting to figure out your financial next steps. Go to Moneypickle moneypickle. Com/mnn. That's moneypickle. Com/mnen. Me again. If you are loving this conversation, and I know you are, don't forget to subscribe to Moneymaker. The link is right there in the episode description. Okay, back to Nelly and Kat.

Let's get back to the show. So you're doing the music, which you love, this next passion, but you do have an entrepreneurial life because I always say, especially to women, life is about mission and money, and we forget that money has to be in a part of the equation because you can't do your mission without money. Yeah, exactly. So can you talk a little bit about that?

Yeah. I will say I have changed a little bit of my perspective. I used to be a workhorse. I used to be one of the- Workaholic. Yeah. I just hate the term bus. I know. But I used to be like, Oh, that's so cool. Now, after I got married and had a kid, I realized that stay at home, Mom's a... I have a little bit of an envy to that. The idea of making your empire be your family is a really enticing thing for me. It doesn't mean that I have to let go of what I do because I do think you can do both.

Well, I think also coming from our background as immigrant kids, I think when you spend so much time also taking care of your family, which I don't think people realize, and you are so motivated to succeed, and maybe you don't even know why, but it's Because your parents have gone through so much. And then it catches up with you where you go, I am the moneymaker. That's why the show is called Moneymaker, because I was the moneymaker of my family. That you are the moneymaker and that maybe you also need to take a break and give yourself some space, right?

I think so. I have no problem admitting that I've gotten something wrong. And there's been many times in my life that I've gotten things very wrong. But I think in this case, I used to make fun of domestication. Maybe because- It wasn't cool to you, and now it's very cool. Yeah, because I thought my mom was a stay-at-home mom, and my dad was away working most of the time. I don't know. It's not what I want for my family. My husband's so on board with the same thing. He's a musician as well, and he's an artist. We do feel lucky that we're able to stay at home as much as we do with our son. But I want to homeschool my son. I want to live on a homestead. I know earlier today, we were talking about moving and everything. I lived in Hollywood a majority of my life, and I love California. I love the weather. I love the dirt. I love my friends here.

What happened that you decided to pick up and leave?

I think I want to give my son similar upbringing that I had when I lived in Mexico, even though I was only there up until I was six. There was a feeling of simplicity, modesty, and nature. There wasn't all these complications of life, and now in this day and age, it's even more. I fear that it's going to be a lot of to go against the grain of what is normal now. I think what we have as normal is not good. There's great things about social media, but I think there's terrible things about it, especially with children. This is obviously my own perspective. Some people are like, I love giving my baby an iPad. That's fine. We don't do that.

It's funny. You're almost becoming more traditional.

Yeah. Basically, I found a similar house as the one we're in right now because I like a lot of the Victorian architecture. It's in the middle of nowhere in Indiana. Even my friends in Indiana have never heard of this place. It's a town with a population of 10,000 people. It's right on the Ohio River, and the house is on 14 acres of land. We're going to build a lake and have- You probably bought it for a lot less money than in LA.

Oh, yeah.

But I'll tell you really quick, what was the most appealing thing to me when we went there, because I remember seeing this house that I loved for the longest time. It was on the historical Homes of America listing. While it was a bed and breakfast for 10 or 20 years, but now it's on the market, let's just go and see it. So if we- And you were just looking? Yeah, we weren't even looking for a house. I just said, This house is on the market. I don't know anything about this place. Let's just go to my husband. And we bought a plane ticket, went there, and we drove up to this majestic house on a hill, and we loved it. At nighttime, we walked around the little town. What I loved was that in every little house, there was a light on in the dining room and families were seated at the dining table. I was like, This is my childhood. We sat down, we prayed before we ate, and we unwrapped our day together as a family. Whether we liked it or not, that was what we did. I live in Hancock Park right now, and it's like, you walk around and I don't see that here.

Over there, it's just very working class people, very simple. I love that. They don't give a shit who I am. It's awesome. The first time we went there, we went to AJ's Diner. It was this little David Lynchy-looking, greasy spoon place. The lady was just like, Oh, are you the lady that bought the house? I'm like, Yeah. I'm like, How do you know? She's like, I don't know. You have black hair. They don't care about you. I love that. They care about you as a neighbor. They'll bring you over a loaf of bread and then leave it at your doorstep.

But do you think it's also that we're craving home? Yes. That feeling of home. I lived in Hancock Park for seven years, and I don't know my neighbors. That's right. Well, it's because you come from a country where there's a sense of home. Sometimes when we come here, We feel like we don't fit anywhere. So you're trying to recreate that. But also, I think going back to young people and talking about money, everybody wants to go to New York, LA, all these things. You don't realize there's many places to go live that are still small towns that you can actually buy a house for cheap and actually own it for 20 years and retire off of that house or whatever. And we're forgetting to talk about that. Everybody just wants to go to LA and be famous and be on be an influencer or be on social media. And there's so many other places, especially in today's world, where you can work from home, that we can populate and create small town communities that are- I will say this.

Look, if you're young and you want to move to LA or New York, you should do that. There's certain opportunities here that you will not get elsewhere. There's pros and cons to everything.

So what would be for young people? What would be the three things that you would say to them that you've learned in this Mission and Money life and really following your bliss and also evolving. It sounds like your bliss has changed, right? And what you focused on has changed. And how do you track that trajectory?

I think the whole follow your bliss thing, I was reading something the other day about how to choose wisely what your dream is because a lot of times some stuff is not realistic. And do you really want to waste your time?

So it's being realistic or getting the feedback of what you're really good at.

Yeah, or what people are responding to. It's like, sometimes you can be good at stuff, it just doesn't work. I'm doing this music thing and I'm going to keep trying, and we'll see how it goes, and hopefully people like it, but I don't know. I'm just doing things because I believe in it and I love it, and we're going to try this out. But I think sometimes it's okay to say, Hey, maybe this isn't working out. Sometimes there's other practical things that are equally important. I was telling my husband, I'm like, Man, I'm useless if I'm not creating art. But that's It's scary because it might not have as long of a lifeline as somebody who has an actual trade. I don't know how to frame a house. I don't know how to... And that's why I think lately, people knock stay at home moms, and I think that is an amazing job to have. If you can do that, that's so cool. And if you find the right partner to do that and have a little nuclear family, that is such a beautiful balance, too. For me, I need to have both worlds. I can't just be a stay at home mom.

I have to create. Even my husband says, You'd be so miserable if that's all you did. I'm like, Yeah, it's true.

But I think what you're saying, too, is that the things that you do that succeed or make you money are not always forever. If you're a professional athlete, that's not going to be forever.

Like influencers. I wonder, what does that look like in 10 years?

Yeah, that's right. So you have to cultivate other things.

I have friends who are strippers. There's a very short life. Yeah, you don't see In your 50s.

60-year-old stripper.

No.

You do have to cultivate both sides. Sure.

Yeah.

On the other hand, we can all evolve and switch gears. Totally. I agree with that. But do we switch gears in what we're good at versus something we may love but isn't really where our gifts lie? And that's the question. And also, you're very lucky that you love something and you've known it early. Yeah, totally. And that also you had that platform that scaled it for you, be good or bad. Totally. One thing that is very clear to me to hear from you is life is also about timing. You land in the right place at the right time, and then maybe the media changes and we don't like or we don't want to do it or whatever. And today, that world is based on TikTok and short form media, and people do even quicker, faster stuff, but they're monetizing it. So it's a business now. Will it be a business in 10 years? We don't know. No.

Yeah. I mean, now that you say it, I I think of what would I be doing if I, let's say, didn't have a TV show, I would be, I think, a successful tattooer. At the end of the day, I was still doing, regardless of what came my way, I was still doing what I loved and making great money at it, consistent. It was booked out two years prior to be on the show. It was five to six tattoos a day, averaging anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 each.

So your mastery in a focused area is what brings you to everything else. And then you have to decide if those are the thing- For me, at least it worked that way.

I think it's true.

I think that's true of an athlete. It's true of anybody that does something and masters it, like sticks to it. For a period of time. Sometimes I think it's so much better to be that famous. That you're famous for a specific thing that people respect you for. Totally. Because then it's very grounded in something you really know how to do. You're not a fraud. You didn't just show up and become famous because you happen to be in... It's because you do have a skill that no one else has and that you've mastered.

Yeah. No, I agree with that for sure.

But it's the finding that for people that's not so easy. Finding that passion that's not so easy. I want to talk about being a moneymaker and being a woman that's made money. And how has that changed your life compared to other women? How are you empowered in a way that most women aren't? Because somehow what you've for a living has brought you some level of wealth, right? Yeah, of course. So how does that feel? And what do you think about that?

It's interesting because I was having a conversation with my friend Alex. She has a jewelry line that does really well. She was saying, When you sold your makeup line, you made a bunch of money. You're all set. What more do you want? I'm like, Yeah, what more do I want? I think mainly because I still feel young and there's so much that I want to do. I think the The hardest failure that I will ever face is not being able to do all the things that I want to do before I die. But I'm going to die trying. But I think now that I have a kid, it's changed certain things that I'd like in life. It's a weird balance. I want my son to not... I want him to have a clear understanding that the luxuries we have are not given. You can't be entitled to this. You have to work hard for it. But then I also want to have the means to be able to have him him in whatever classes and extracurricular he wants to do. I want to have tutors. We want to do homeschool. There's certain things that require money.

I want that.

So you're saying not necessarily grandiose things, but that money has given you choices?

Yeah, I want the ability to be able to stay at home to a certain degree and enjoy my life with my son. And you can't do that if I don't make money. What I will say is that something that you said earlier today that I loved was that about the means, means for the mission. I think that's the important part, is that what is it that you love to do and figure out a way to make money doing that? It's not that simple, but it's like, that's the dream. The dream is to be able to do what you love and make money.

But as a woman that has interviewed a lot of women entrepreneurs, I think there's another piece we're missing, which is very important, which is we just went through the whole me too thing, and women coming out and saying they put up with a lot of shit, not just in relationships, in bosses, in this and that. And I think what I've gathered from so many women I've talked to is this idea of becoming self-made, and everyone becomes self-made in a different way. And it does give you this empowerment to not put up... When you have FU money, you don't put up with a lot from a bad relationship or a boss that's horrible or whatever. And the empowerment that being self-reliant economically brings to a woman is very powerful. I want to know if you feel that way.

I don't know if I agree with that. I mean, I guess I know what you're saying, but I feel like it shouldn't take money for you to be able to tell somebody to fuck off.

But there are a lot of women that are economically attached to a man or attached to a woman, whoever they're with. Yeah.

But that's, I mean, don't do that. I know a lot of people don't like Jordan Peterson. You're a chingona. You're a chingona. I love Jordan Peterson. But he talks about how women are just so agreeable sometimes. I look back at my life and I go, I was not agreeable. Maybe that's why I pushed forward, because I didn't make my agenda an issue. I just was like, I'm going to be better than I can possibly be and most likely be better than you. It's like, that way, by the time that I went to Miami Inc. And these fucking just insecure men would give me the hardest time. I was like, at the end of the day, I'd come home and I'm like, I tattoo circles around you. So what are you holding over my head? At the end of the day, I know my power because I've worked for this. So it wasn't about money. They were probably making more money than I was. But I definitely wasn't making money off of the contract. So it was just more about you know your self-worth, so why would you put up with it? I don't need a guy or money or what the world thinks of me to know my value.

Well, you certainly are an incredible Well, you're an incredible artist and an incredible moneymaker, which doesn't always go together. I love that.

I'm so happy.

Moneymaker is a production of Money News Network. Moneymaker is written and hosted by me, Nelly Galana. Our executive producer is Morgan LaVoy. Thanks for listening. See you next time.

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... I don't know, it's 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, Vimergy is offering my listeners free shipping using the code M-N-N, 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, with code M-N-N, as in, Money News Network. Try them today. I can't wait to hear what you think, and more importantly, how you feel.