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How to Build a Women's Media Empire: with Betches founder Sami Sage · QUESTION EVERYTHING

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Big things happen when you're pretty, pretty bold, pretty clever,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: pretty strong. I'm Danielle Robe, and each week my guests
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: and I have conversations that put a new spin on pretty.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: This is pretty smart. Sammy Sage is one of the
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: co founders of Betches, a hugely popular female founded and
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: led media and entertainment brand. She knew early on that
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: the Internet offered up endless possibilities, but there was just
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: one problem. None of the content she was seeing was
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: geared towards her and other women her age. I'm talking
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: pre Instagram years before TikTok, so, Sammy and her two
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: co founders set out to make content they wanted to see.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Ten years later, they've grown Betches into a digital empire,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: a website, a handful of podcasts, three best selling books,
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: Instagram pay and a community of millions, and all without
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: taking a penny of investor money. What's even more remarkable
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: the relationships at the center of the brand. Sammy launched
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Betches with her two childhood friends turned college roommates, and
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: together they've become digital media moguls. Okay, Sammy Sage, I'm
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: so happy to be sitting here. I'm pretty smart with
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: you. You are one of my very favorite follows on Instagram
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: and have become an IRL friend as well. But you
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: really teach me things, and so I know that everybody's
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: going to be really excited to learn from you today.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: Well, first of all, thank you. I mean, it's definitely mutual.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: We're going to get into some of your opinions on
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: pop culture topics because you have an interesting take. But
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: I kind of want to give everybody a baseline of
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: who you are in your story and how you started Beches,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: which is I can't even as I was researching, I
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: was like, I can't believe she started this company. So
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: you and your co founders started betches while you were
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: still in college. Do you remember the first time you
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: created something together that you were really proud of? Oh?
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I remember.
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: At this point it's really countless, but I remember the
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: first night we did this, like I mean, I kind
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: of guess I just remember it in flashes, but it's
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: very clear, it's very vivid.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Really what the feelings of that night were.
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: You know, we were the three of us have been
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: friends since we were you know, not as like a trio.
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: You know, we weren't like the three Musketeers. But you know,
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: we were all friendly and had individual you know, relationships
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: with each other, and we by chance happened to go
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: to the same college. I mean, our high school sent
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: a lot of a lot of students to the same
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: to you know, good schools. We went to Cornell and
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: they took a lot of people from our high school,
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: and you know, we were three of them, and we
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: stayed friends. You know, we were always connected, and we
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: basically ended up living together our senior year.
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: And something that we just always connected on, I.
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: Think was you know, just a little bit of like
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: a a more cynical humor sort of you know, we
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: enjoy analyzing I oh, and we always have enjoyed analyzing
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: sort of you know, the zeitgeist and the you know,
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: sort of weird ways that what are we're now called millennials,
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: but at the time we were just kids in college
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: sort of what are the unique ways and idiosyncrasyeds of
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: the millennial generation? And that's something we always really wanted to,
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: always felt connected to giving a funny take on And
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: that's really how Betcha's was born. We you know, so
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: we were blogging like one night in our apartment in February.
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: It was a cold Iphica night. There wasn't you know,
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: there's not much to do in Ethica and the mid
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: February range, and we were just kind of like, oh,
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: let's make a you know, at the time, the bro
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: culture was very strong, like Tucker Max was like Nitegeist, Yeah,
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: and we felt not we felt that there was not
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: really something out there, you know, other than to maybe
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: like jez Bell and Balker like that could really felt
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: cater to us or that felt like represented us. Like
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: a lot of women's media was very cheesy. So we ultimately,
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: you know, we started this anonymous blog. Betches loved this
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: and it was you know, listicals were very popular at
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: the time, so we used that format and it was
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: just a running satirical list of things that Betcha's like
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: and I mean without going through every step. But that
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: was now eleven years ago. Since then, we didn't set
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: out to start a business. We just wanted to kind
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: of like have fun and laugh and satirize the people
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: around us that we knew were ridiculous. But we were
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: also sort of partaking in it and that was kind
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: of our way of processing. But you know, over time
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: we monetized This was like before Instagram, So we got
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: on Instagram.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: We were one of the earlier meme.
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: Accounts, which was sort of a good way to express
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: what we were doing with the blog and keep moving forward.
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: That's where we first started to monetize a few years later,
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: podcasting e comm we're our you know, big expansions and
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: I don't even know, I mean, I guess now we
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: could talk about you know what it is. We're a
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: multi platform. You know, our audience is over fifty million women.
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: We have you're a media company, yeah, yeah, And I
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: mean we're fully self funded, we're fully bootstrapped, and you know,
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: we've been profitable since I don't even know a year
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: several of this, you know, since we started, you know,
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: attempting to monetize.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: Can you actually let's talk about that, because when did
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: how long were you doing this before you decided to monetize.
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: It wasn't really before we decided. It was before we
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: were like able to do it substantially. You know, we
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: were we set up to you know, have web advertising,
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: you know, within the first six months, and then we'd
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: also got a book deal. I mean, it was definitely
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: not enough to fund the like lives in Manhattan for
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: three people at the time. Even at the time when
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: like costs, we're crazy love or it's crazy to think
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: about that, but we thankfully had, you know, we were
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: able to live like in.
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: Our parents' home without paying rent.
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: You know, ultimately, like we were able to be supported
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: until we were able to you know, make make enough money.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: But you know it was not.
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: Those were very tight years for us personally. But you know,
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: I don't want to down believe the fact that we
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: were lucky enough to be secure enough to pursue it,
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: especially without you know, having families or anything.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: When you're starting a business, there's so many decisions to make.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: How did you know, like from a business perspective, how
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: did you learn to trust yourself that you were making
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: the right decisions? Because these are things that, like you
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: were talking to you weren't just doing brand deals like
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: you were building a company.
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: Right, There was a very step learning curve and everything
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: really took a lot of time. And again, like the
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: factors that you know really enabled us to do that
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: were you know, our our timing, our personal situations, the
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: fact that you know, we were able to lean on
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: like you know, living in our parents' homes, so it
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: wasn't something.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: That happens like overnight.
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: It really took I would say a solid four to
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: five years until we were able to monetize enough to
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: some you know, support ourselves a little, you know enough. Yeah,
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: I would say between four and six years. But before
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: that was like a full reality. We hired our first
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: employee in twenty fifteen, and yeah, it's it was. It
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: was not an easy process. You know, we worked with
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: like freelancers and interns. You know, we tried a lot
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: of different things, and we were incredibly hands on at
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: the time. I mean, we still are extremely hands on,
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: I think, as far as you know, a lot of
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: businesses go.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: But you know, we were really just figuring it out
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: on the fly.
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: I also want to add none of us have wet
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: had business degrees or really any formal business knowledge, and
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: the three of us are are creatives honestly, so we
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: you know, it was definitely a learning curve for how
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: to divide those responsibilities teach.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: Ourselves how to create a business out of this. But
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: you know, and you know, these are the early days
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: I'm talking about.
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: In the most recent years. You know, now we are
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: at fifty employees. We you know, have all these multiple platforms,
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: numerous podcasts. You know, it's have multiple revenue streams, so
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: it's you know, it's obviously a very different story. But truly,
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: we would not have been able to do what we
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: have done now without this team. And we are very, very,
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: very very grateful to have an incredible team.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: I appreciate how team oriented you are. I also think
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: that no amount of like security or privilege or any
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: of it can sort of like get in the way
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: of people who have a mission like you three were
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: clearly like willingness to be successful and we're going to
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: do whatever you could to make it, so, you know,
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: like I just think I interviewed the three women started
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: Dagnied Dover, and they were very precise about like one
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: woman started it and she brought on two co founders
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: very thoughtfully, like Okay, I need somebody who's a CFO,
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: I need somebody who's the designer, and then I'm the CEO.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: Like you were three college friends who, like you said,
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: were all three creatives, and we're like, we're going to
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: figure this out.
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: I mean, there's also the fact that I mean, not
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: only were we friends like in college, but we've known
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: each other since.
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: We were like, yeah, like three like adolescent, you know, so.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: Which means you speak to each other differently.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: We speak to each other differently.
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: You have a friend relationship that the lines blur by
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: the second, you know, with the relationship. And also so
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: you have three people who don't really know how to
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: run a business and our friends and all have to
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: sort of figure it out.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: We're we're also like in our early twenties.
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: And I don't think it's any secret that the transition
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: that we all go through between like twenty two and
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: twenty nine, so the three of us kind of learning
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: each who we right we were, how we were going
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: to be running a business, and then how to navigate
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: those like, you know, friendship dynamics.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: It really was not you.
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: Know, I will never say at all that it was easy,
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: that there weren't times that were just so confusing and stressful,
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: But I mean.
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: I think ultimately the foundation was strong enough.
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: It is strong enough, and we really care about each other,
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: and we really care about the business too.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: And here's the thing, it doesn't end at each phase.
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: There's new things to new dynamics to navigate new you know,
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: as you add a bigger team, you're basically resetting your
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: responsibilities at all times.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: You know, it really requires a lot of work.
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: But I do think there is a lot of trust
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: between us and understanding of who we each are, what
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: we're each good at, and we really just you know,
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: I care about them like my family.
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: So they are at this point, Yeah.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they are.
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: I mean we always joke it's like a three way
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: marriage that we've been in for ten years at this point,
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: eleven years.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you mentioned never taking investor money. The three of
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: you still own one hundred percent of your company, and
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: I've read that you said getting invested in can destroy
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: your company. Did I say that?
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: Oh?
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: God, well, I agree with you. Actually, I think it
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: can depending on who is investing. I feel like at
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: this point, with fifty employees, you are probably getting offers.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: You don't even have to necessarily go looking. Why have
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: you remained one hundred percent invested?
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: I mean, up until this point, it's been a matter
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: of like lack of necessity and you know, also lack
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: of the right just opportunity. I would say, it's not like, oh,
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: we will never take investors in money. I say, you
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: know it can destroyer company. That doesn't mean it like
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: will destroy your company. My understanding of it, from having observed,
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: from having spoken to people in the industry and in others,
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: is that it is a very partner dependent situation. And
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: you know the right also, like businesses are run by people,
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: and they might make wrong decisions depending on their own
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: life circumstances or the way that they're affected by the
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: money that they make.
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: So there's just so many different factors that are not predictable.
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: And I don't mean to say like, oh, this will
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: destroyer company, but it could.
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: And for us, what.
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: We have done is spend so much time focusing on
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: building brand equity and you know, building a name that
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: people can feel so strongly about and no stance for
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: something and because ultimately what that translates into is trust.
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: And I think one of the real you know, I
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: don't know if you've probably noticed, like as of maybe
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: two years ago, every brand was like, we need to
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: be authentical, like we want to be relatable and authentic.
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: Maybe relatable was before authentic, but you know what I mean.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: It's a thing like that Girl Boss. Then it was relatable,
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: that it was authentic.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: And now it's vulnerable.
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: Now it's vulnerable. Right, you can't just like pivot.
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: On what your main tone is You either like are
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: you aren't?
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: And consumers are smart enough or intuitive enough?
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: I don't, you know, because media literacy is a huge problem,
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: but many consumers are intuitive enough to be able to
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: understand when a company is full of shit, and even
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: if maybe there was a time when they weren't savvy enough,
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: now they are. So it's like, you know, I think
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: that ultimately it was the reason we've never taken investors
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: was a mix of circumstances, opportunities, necessity, and for us,
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: what we have is the brand, and you know it,
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: it doesn't just kind of it's not something that you
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: can always buy.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: So when I was coming up, I worked at a
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: place called Clever TV, which was under Define Media was
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: sort of this like YouTube conglomerate, and I remember BuzzFeed
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: was like who we were kind of our company always
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: looked to I remember being in meetings thinking like, well,
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: we're going to do the BuzzFeed model, which meant like
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: try a lot of things because it was low cost
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: to do things on the internet, So throw a lot
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: out there, see what sticks, and then if something hits
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: you run with it. I feel like Betch's has in
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: a more thoughtful way, kind of been one of the
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: only companies to be successful at that model, Like you
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: guys really do try a lot of things. Is that
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: still part of the ethos?
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, because it's it's not just about like where will
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: we get the next marginal dollar? Obviously that is a question,
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: you know, and resources are a part of any question.
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: In any business. But what's the point if your audience
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: does not like it? You know?
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: I think we always talk about, like why did we
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: get on Instagram first?
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: It's because we liked the platform.
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: I'll never forget another want to talk about another memory,
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: Like I'll never forget Aleen and I we we're neighbors
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: growing up, or we were like drive around the corner.
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: We were driving around like in our neighborhood, and like
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: we were downloaded Instagram and I remember feeling like this
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: app is so pretty and fun and I just want
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: to stay on it. And there's It's not like every
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: platform will give you that feeling. So when you feel
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: a certain way, you can, you know, talk to you.
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: You have a natural focus group in your at least
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: in our business. We have a natural focus group in
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: our friends and people we know. And I think that
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: we there is a bit of intuition involved and then
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: there's trial and error.
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: Another thing when you don't have an investors.
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: Is that you're very careful how you spend your money,
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: extremely careful.
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: And I know that you understand this very well. You're
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: not just gonna like throw a lot in a project.
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: You're not just gonna hire five thousand video creators because
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: Facebook is like inflating your video views even though it's
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: very tempting, because video is a high cost activity. So
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: we were always very careful about the cost of trying new.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: Things, and you know, trial and error, easing our.
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: Way into things and just really again like within that,
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: staying true to the brand voice and the humor, because
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: that's what has always sought us apart and that's what
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: we want.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: One of the things that I was surprised about. I
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: didn't know this when I was researching, is that Betch
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: just started out very apolitical, like you guys even had
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: jokes saying a Betch doesn't pay attention to news, And
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: it's fully different now. I mean, you're one of the
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: most politically I would say, like active and interested people
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: that I know, so and like thatch'es Stup your podcast
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: every morning talks about news. What was the switch for
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: you guys?
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: So, you know, it's funny, Like, I've always been really political.
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: I was I was personally not a political but the
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: concept of the Betch was, like we said, like it
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: was a satire, so it was you know, it was
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: not supposed to be like fully real, And we always
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: felt that there were sort of like two factions of
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: the audience or like the people who like read it
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: with a wink and we're like, this is so fucking
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: funny because it's that satire, and then the people who
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: were like, oh, this is.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: Bible, yeah, this is me, yeah, and like this is
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: me and.
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: There's no problems here.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: So I needstinction that you knew that there were two
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: people reading it.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: I mean there's you know, that's a generalization, but that
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: was just sort of my sense right at the time.
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: And then I mean, we could never have written a
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: funny enough post about not keeping up with the news
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: if we didn't know stuff about.
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: The news, like not that you know. So I've always been.
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: Very interested in politics, Like it's when I was young,
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: I would like the President of all Congress and the
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: Global Awareness Club. I was very big Overrgie for in
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: high school. So I've been following this. I mean my
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: mom would take me to.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: Vote every year.
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: Like my grandmother basically got dementia or she developed Alzheimer's
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: after the two thousand election and literally knew because you
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: would not shut up about how al Gore should have won.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: She kept repeating herself. So that's how we caught her Alzheimer's.
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: Like, the news is always out of my house, like
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: I and it makes it easy now for me to
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: interpret because I've been following like for so long. It's
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: like it's a language that you have to learn. So
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: you know, Thattches itself.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Doesn't say anything like with finance, it's the vocabulary and
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: then you can kind of plug in.
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely, Becha is a different company when we started,
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: and like we're not satirical really now, like we're just
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: straight humor. So it's for you know, humor and comment commentary.
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: So we were able to make the switch to news. Also,
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: we made the switch in twenty fifteen when things were
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: just like not okay, like not the things.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: Have really ever been like that great, but you know,
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: but for everybody, but that time was just so beyond
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: the pale.
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: I mean now looking back, it's kids child's play, but
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: like we had to write about it, and you know,
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: it also became like more mainstream to care, which has
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: now ebbed and flowed. But at that point it was like, Okay,
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: we we have the ability to do this, we have
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: a perspective, and we're just like leaning into it. So
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: we you know, the Upstarters newsletter became a podcast and
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: now I have you know, it's now a huge Instagram account.
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: I do a morning podcast, a daily five minute like
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: quick rundown of the news called The Morning Announcements, and
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: it's you know, it's like sort of semi scripted with
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: banter and commentary where I basically explain the top headlines
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: of the day and make some comments and five minutes,
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: you know, everything's going on.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: I honestly like if you're following that, like you are
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: you know.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: What you're what's going on?
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you're relatively and you're like baseline informed, you.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: Are based on informs.
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: So I kind of call it like the gateway to
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: hard news because like I, like you said, like it's
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: a vocabulary, and if you don't know the vocabulary, it's
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: like where am I gonna what am I going to
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: read the BBC? Yeah, and it's important, like it's you know,
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: it's important to me, and yeah, so we try to
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: be like a gateway to understanding and make it like
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: less intense and scary and just yeah, there.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: Was interpret there was a study I read from Pew
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: that said at least half of us adults get their
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: news from social media sometimes. I mean, I'm a reader,
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: I'm a news junkie. I was a political science major
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: and I still get a lot of my news from
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: social media. So I think that you really are not
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: just a gateway, but you're like a very accessible form
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: and reliable form of information, like I I trust you.
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: I mean, it's the stressful thing is that I have
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: like a job. I would love to be doing this
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: full time, like making content for the news.
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: It is stressful in that for not being like.
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: A real reporter, like I'm not a reporter and like
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: I'm not reporting these stories, I am curating them, And
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: with that comes a lot of responsibility because what you're
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: leading out is just as important as what you're putting in.
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: And if I don't have.
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: The ability to be like a completely thorough curator, which
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: is like a time you know, or really a time question.
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: Then I struggle a lot, honestly.
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: Like social media I find to be very overwhelming as
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: a place to share news, and a lot of big
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: part of the reason is because you have a responsibility,
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: and I think that people take it maybe not maybe
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: as people are consuming it don't realize that there is
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: a responsibility on the person who's putting it out there.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: Even with entertainment news, like everybody is sort of a
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: citizen journalist, right, and it's like, yeah, entertainment, it's a
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: little less damaging, Like, yeah, it's hurtful to people's feelings,
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: but are you really like moving the needle? I don't know.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: With hard news, if you don't recognize who your news
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: source is, it can be very damaging.
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: I want to play a Betch's predict game with you
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: because I want your opinion on a bunch of things.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, okay, okay. Will Kanye West ever truly
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: be canceled?
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: No?
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: I do not think he will ever truly be canceled
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: because he has called attraction to him.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: There are certain people who just they are uncancelled by
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: there by who they are. And sorry, I don't make
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: the rules, and I don't want it to be this way.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: I love for him to get canceled. Like here's the thing.
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: I don't believe in canceling people, but I just wish
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: you would shut the actual fuck up, Like.
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: I don't even if he would just shut the fuck
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: up about the things he's.
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: Saying now, the really disturbing things he's saying about.
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: George Floyd and Jews.
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: And I literally can't even white lives Matt, like I
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: can't even get into the specifics of this because and
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: I do try not to unless he actually does something
• 23:15
  Speaker 3: like his acquisition of Parlor highly highly highly highly problematic
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: in some ways more problematic than anything he's ever said.
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: The fact that he has acquired this this social media company,
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: and I truly say he's rented it to the ground.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: For anyone who doesn't Marler is a conservative social media
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: safe and from my understanding, Candace Owen's husband owns it
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: or you used to yes app and is very interesting.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: I feel like Candace Owen actually manipulated his situation.
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: A lot of people are saying that, and like, I agree,
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: but I am also like I'm not.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: I don't care about her like he chooses to say
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: these words.
• 23:59
  Speaker 3: I will not lead mental illness as an excuse, because
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: there are plenty of mentally ill people who do not
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: go down these rabbit holes, And especially when you have
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: someone who has so much access and knows they have
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: a mental illness and knows that they're choosing not to
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: take treatment and knows that they're hurting people because it's
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: been said to him and he doesn't care.
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: So I have no excuses for this man.
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: I hope Parlor explodes, not literally, but just implodes entirely.
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: And he's an incredibly dangerous person. But I do not
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: think that he will ever. It's just not him. I
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: think he's more likely to be president meant to be canceled.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Frankly, hot take. Okay, who is Pete Davidson gonna date next?
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: Ooh give me a second, Yeah, who just got divorced?
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: Remind me, everyone's joking about it, like they just got divorced,
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: and it's like Pete's gonna call her.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: The joke I heard with was mars st That was
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: after Martha Stewart.
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: It was like another person. Okay, cold on, who is
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: pe Davidson going to date next? Sorry, I'm like not
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: doing well, at.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: This I cannot also go to the next one.
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: Okay, I'm gonna think about this.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, what's ahead for Harry and Meghan's attempt to be
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: media moguls.
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: I think they're going to have like a solid two
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: years and then it remains to be seen because there's
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: too many things, like literally any random thing could happen
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: and change.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: The course of everything. So I say they're going to.
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: Have like a two year rise, not like an exponential rise,
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: but like a steady, a steady fifteen great angle twenty
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: degree angle rise. And then we will then we're going
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: to say because we got to see what happens in England,
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: we got to see what happens with their documentary, we
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: got to see what happens in these books that come out,
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: and then we have toe like what Wild's cars are
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: they going to do or will happen to them?
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: So I'm calling two years. They're on the up and up.
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: But also there will be consistent pr war with the Cambridges.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: I fully agree mistake and Charles.
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: Is going to use climate change to try to win favor.
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: But that's a good thing.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: We'll take it. Elon musk Twitter takeover.
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: What's ahead he's taking it over and Trump is coming
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: back on the platform, and there may be maybe a
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: new something will come up after that happens, maybe a
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: new platform.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: It depends.
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure.
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: People may change their user habits, but I'm not entirely sure.
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: Maybe they'll ac choir truth social.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: I didn't think about Trump coming back.
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's like has to be number one.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: It's been so nice without him. Okay, what will happen
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: during Rihanna's super Bowl halftime show. She's obviously going to
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: debut new music.
• 27:06
  Speaker 3: I think it's gonna be go off without a hitch,
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: and I think it's gonna be.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: Like legendary because like I was like, what if it's
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: not good?
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: I know it'll be good.
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: It's gonna be to be unreal, but I think, I mean,
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: the worst thing that could happen would be like a
• 27:21
  Speaker 3: random like stampoo. But I think that it will be
• 27:24
  Speaker 3: good no matter what. She will be good. The new music,
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: I don't know. I hope it's if there's a banger
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: like that'll be amazing. It might not be, though, like no,
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: I don't know, I think it will be, but there yeah,
• 27:41
  Speaker 3: I think it'll be very overall, it's gonna be an a.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: She has too many really talented people really close to
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: her for it to not be good.
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: Rihanna is a miss like she does not miss. She's
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: a mobil.
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: She's a really talented person, and I just I don't
• 27:58
  Speaker 3: see it going wrong.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: Okay, Lindsay Lohan, can she have a career come back?
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: She's trying, you think, Yeah.
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: I think she has to stay sober and she can.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: Okay, these are rapid fires. Okay, best word cerk at
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: Betches half day Fridays. You have an Instagram account for
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: hotels that you love. What is the hotel that you
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: wish you could live in?
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, the Rosewood Castiglion.
• 28:23
  Speaker 3: Del Bosco in Tuscany or yeah, yeah, yeah that's it?
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: Or what or what?
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: No, no, no, I was gonna say it, now it's not.
• 28:32
  Speaker 3: I we can't live on an island.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: Okay. A piece of dating advice you give to single people, I.
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: Have no dating advice. Good luck is my dating advice.
• 28:41
  Speaker 3: Honestly give Jordana Abraham and Jared Freied host you up.
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: They have the best dating advice. I have no dating advice.
• 28:49
  Speaker 3: I was a horrible dater. I got very lucky meeting
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: my husband and I have Okay, here's my dating advice.
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: Tell me, if you treat you like.
• 28:59
  Speaker 3: Asshole in the beginning, he's gonna treat you like an
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: asshole in the end.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: Period A wellness trend or a product that you deem
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: to be a worthy investment.
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: SPS.
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: What have you learned in your wedding planning process several
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: years ago that future brides should keep in mind.
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: On the day of You're not actually gonna notice if
• 29:22
  Speaker 3: anything goes wrong unless it's really really bad. So just like,
• 29:25
  Speaker 3: please don't sweat the small stuff and also, don't spend
• 29:31
  Speaker 3: more money.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: Than you have. Great one, a piece of advice your
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: mom has given you that you'll always carry with you.
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: Ooh, I mean she she said, Oh, I don't always
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: listen to this, but it's when in doubt, don't.
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: I like that? Yeah, it is a good one.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: Okay, I do a pretty smart question every week.
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: So we have these here. I saw them during our unpacking.
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: You're in our games cabinet.
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: Yay, Okay, I'm gonna pull yours. Most likely to splurge on.
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: A handbag or a five star hotel.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: A book that you've read that changed your life, something
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: you think everybody should read.
• 30:14
  Speaker 3: It's not going to change my life. But one of
• 30:17
  Speaker 3: my favorite books is The Power by Naomi Alderman.
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: I really like that one too.
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: I also love The Secret History by Donatar. Oh. A
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: book that actually changed my life is The Body Keeps
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: the Score.
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: Really, I haven't read that yet, and so many people
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: have recommended it to me for.
• 30:30
  Speaker 3: Anyone who has gone through like something that you really
• 30:33
  Speaker 3: can't get past anything in your life, or like even
• 30:37
  Speaker 3: if you don't know if you can't get past it,
• 30:38
  Speaker 3: but like anything really hard, that book.
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: Gives you so much perspective on why things.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: Do okay, Sammy Sage, what is the smartest decision you've
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: ever made?
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: Oh? Boy, how do I know to marry my husband?
• 30:57
  Speaker 3: Probably yeah, for who he is, he has good husband qualities.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: And you guys have built a beautiful life together.
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: Thank you. I'm still trying to think about who Pete
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: Davidson should date. Now, give me Olivia Wilde.
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: Oh she's not. I think she's gonna be with her
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: she's cemetery.
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: But I think that should still.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: Be like who should Pat Davidson date?
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: Who is who exists?
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: No more pop stars? If it's gonna last I want
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: him with somebody who's also like artsy and a little.
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: Edgy Selena Gomez.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: Actually though I actually love this.
• 31:42
  Speaker 3: I know she's very talented. I feel like I talk
• 31:46
  Speaker 3: about this all day.
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: I really like this. Okay, is it choogy of us
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: to say we ship them? I mean, who cares a
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: little huty? But we ship them who cares?
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: I actually think that could work because they both have
• 32:03
  Speaker 3: like deep feelings and.
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: I could see it, and I think she would appreciate
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: him for who he is.
• 32:10
  Speaker 3: She would let him wear two hats without giving him
• 32:12
  Speaker 3: more time about it, even if she was trying to
• 32:14
  Speaker 3: cover something for her Instagram.
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: I agree. Thank you so much. That's funny, Sammy. I
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: want to thank the people that make the show possible,
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: Colleen O'Neill, Jill Salama, Karrie O'Keefe, and Phil speed Tech. Okay,
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: you know what time it is. Today's a good day.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: To have a good day. I'll see you next week.