How a Broke Bartender Turned $50 Into a Multi-Million Dollar Brand—The Skinny Confidential

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Today we're talking to Lauren Bostick, the absolute killer behind a blog that has now turned into the Skinny Confidential and a podcast with over 400 million downloads.

I am Lauren Bostick and welcome to the Burnouts.

Take us back. You're in college. You have the idea for the Skinny Confidential.

Did you know an online sorority was going to work?

You know what? I let's. The sorority thing's funny for me. I went to college and I feel like one of the things at that time, I don't know if this is how your guys's college experience was, was to join a sorority.

Yep.

I went to San Diego State and that's kind of just like what you did to get in with the community. And so I went to do like to check the box to rush and did I actually remember sleeping in my car during rush? Cause I was like, what is this? Yeah, can we talk about this? I feel like I've never talked about this. You get interviewed by other girls, but they're like evaluating you by the way you look. It felt like, to be honest with you, looking back, it felt super vapid. After I got accepted, they like sent me like a bill and call me like oblivious. I didn't realize that there would be a bill to join sorority to have friends. It just did. I didn't understand. I'm like, you want now me to pay $800 a semester? It was, which at the time for me was a lot of money. I was paying for my own college. It was not for me. And so I dropped out, I think the second day of the sorority. Yeah. Anyways, I started thinking, if I have to.

Pay to make friends in a community in college, how can I do this? For free. And how can I do it online and how can I make it a resource for other women? Because I love other women. I just didn't want to have to spend all the money.

You don't have to pay to be friends with them completely.

Also, there felt like it was like a judgment to get in.

Yep.

Too.

Yeah.

You know, they only accept a certain amount of people. The energy was off.

What did your friends think when you were like, I don't want to be part of a sorority?

I looked at my school experience as you come in with your brief case and you leave with it. And looking back, was that a mistake? I don't know. I was. I was very entrepreneurial in college, and I was very driven to make my own way.

And you were teaching classes too, right? You were bartending and teaching classes.

I was teaching at Pure Bar and Pilates, and I. I was like. Basically, I was like, what is the quickest way to do this in the most efficient, effective way to get out, to move on to the next step? So almost like a lily pad.

Yep.

So I don't mean. I don't know if that answers your question. I think it's part of the culture. I don't think I immersed myself enough in the culture of college. It was just like, I went on campus, I did what I had to do, and then it was, like, off to make money.

Wow.

And listen, I was supporting myself at the time, so that's maybe a survivor tactic.

Sophia was the exact same way until we became friends. I tried to break her. It took months of us living together to convince her, hey, like, let's. You know. And then we ended up starting the business together. But she was pre law. I wanted to be pre med at the time. And Sophia, you didn't really, like. I mean, we wanted to have, like, a friendship, but it wasn't like you were investing a ton of time and, like, okay, you know, let's build. Like, let's have, like, a college experience here where we really build close relationships. And so I think that was something that I broke you.

You definitely broke me. I mean, I think I felt very similarly to you, where I was like, college is a step towards the rest of your life.

What everyone needs to realize is everyone's different. And, like, just because someone likes to do this doesn't mean the other person likes to do this. And, like, when. When it comes to college experiences, I get why people want to go a pot puss and have a blast at college. I totally get it. I get why people want to Join a sorority. I get why people want a bazillion friends. I understand. I just think, like, as you. As you start to get older and grow, you start to just really know yourself and what your tastes are and, like, it might not be the same as what everyone else wants.

Like, you.

That's okay to use college as a lily pad. It's okay to not want to go to college.

Yeah.

I feel like you have to, like, lean into, like, what works for you 100%.

And so how did you realize that what was going to work for you was starting a blog?

I think that I launched the blog because I was interested in brand. So I launched the blog in mind with creating a brand. I knew in 10 years, in 15 years, that I wanted to create, like, a movement, a brand. So the blog was a byproduct of knowing I wanted to launch a brand. So to me, there was no, like, rush to get it out there. There was no.

It was thought out. It was purposeful. It was meticulous. I remember I hired this guy for $50 a month to design the website. Cause I couldn't pay him up all up front. I would design the whole website on a poster board and bring him to Starbucks and show him the poster board of how the blog would be designed. And I knew that later on and I talked about this on our episode, it would be like the octopus with the tentacles. It was like, is it a book? Is it a show? Is it a product line? Like, what is it? So in knowing I wanted to launch a brand, it was a different mindset than someone who wants to be a blogger. So, yep, here's the example I'll give a lot of bloggers at the time. And I don't know if you guys remember this, but they were like, here's what my shoes are. Here's my nail polish color. I'm in the street running with flowers. I did this too. So not me. Not know. Like, I've. I've done it.

We're gonna pull it up.

Yeah, pull it up. But it was all about, like, what they were wearing. And I was like, I want a resour and a community where I can find out what your dress is and what mascara Sophia's wearing and, you know, whose lip gloss. What's. What's on Cindy Crawford's vanity. Like, I wanted, like, a full 360 approach of. Of everyone's tips and tricks. And that stemmed from, like, not wanting to pay $800 from the sorority and to do it online and to do a resource. So that's how it started out. But it definitely was like, it was. I set out to build a brand new. So the blog was the byproduct of that.

Wow, that's. So you knew from the very beginning that it was gonna become something a lot bigger.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Totally.

Wow.

And listen, I'm sure a lot of bloggers that launched at the time had had that in mind, but I think to build a brand, you have to make it bigger than you. And so I could sit there and tell you about what brow powder I was wearing and what lip gloss, and I did do that. But there had to be more than Lauren Everett's at the time. Now I'm Lauren Bostick. Everett's had to be more than that. It wasn't enough for me to build brand. I'm like, let me reach out to a hundred models on Twitter today, and it's called Twitter at the time, and DM them and let me. Maybe I'll get two yeses, and then I'll take those two yeses and I'll leverage that to get, um, maybe like, a. A more famous model. But then I also didn't sleep on, like, the Everyday Girl, so I did that with the blog. I was like, okay, let's get someone who has really great tips. The nutritionist, the Pilates teacher down the street. But let's also try to get the big models, let's also try to get the celebrities. But, like, let's mix it all together and create the resource. So that's how the blog started.

When did the blog actually become a business? I think I had read online for three years. You didn't try to make any money from it. Was that intentional?

I didn't think about money in the beginning. The money was. And listen, I knew the money would come.

Yep.

Like, the money's gonna come. Do what you do and do it well and do it not with the intention to make money. That is boring. There are so many ways that you can go make money. To me, it was like, build the value, Build an incredible brand, Build an incredible blog. The money's a byproduct of that. And I think you can tell the people online and you guys know this who just want to make money.

Yep.

And it's. I don't know. I just don't find it interesting. You'll make money if you create something that people need. And, like, yeah, it's pretty simple. So I didn't make $1 for three years, and now this is a different time. That wouldn't work now like, now, listen, if someone came to me and they're like, I've been podcasting for three years and I haven't made a dime, I'd be like, we need to start monetizing.

Yeah.

But at the time, like, people. People didn't know how to monetize on the Internet like, that. I was making, like, you know, money to start off affiliate, and then I got, like, a collab for $800, and that was, like, a big deal with splits 59. But I was blogging seven days a week and did not make one dime for three years. And the podcast, by the way, was very similar. We. I think we podcasted for a year and didn't make any money. And that was a choice. It was like, not even gonna worry about the money.

Yeah.

Cause it'll come. And I think that if you're just looking to make money in a creative endeavor, whether it's art, writing, podcasting, whatever it is.

It'S not the right question to ask. How. How should I make money? The right question to ask is, how can I bring value from a unique perspective and have a point of view?

And I'm curious for you. Like, have there been moments over your career where you were, like, holding holy. I made it, like, kind of a different topic, but I think it's just so interesting to look at. You started with such a small blog. Like, you started with something so authentic, and you really have built, like, an empire at this point. Like, what have been the highlights for you?

It honestly feels like the Three Little Pigs. Everyone should go read that book, the House of Brick. It's just one brick at a time. There's not been. For me, there's no. I'm not. I haven't gone viral. I'm not going to the moon. I'm like, there's this thing called astronaut syndrome where astronauts go to the moon and they come back down to Earth and they actually get depressed. Because when you've gone to the moon.

What are you gonna do, Right? You've gone to the moon. It's pretty fucking insane. And this happens a lot. You see this a lot with really famous sports players. Like, they'll get, like, the biggest trophy, everything, and then the sports career will go away, and then they get depressed, and it happens. You can go Google studies on this. I think it's called astronaut syndrome. I. I don't want to go to the moon right away. I want to build slowly and strategically with something that has a really strong foundation, and that's. It's taken a long time so there's been no epiphany. Have I had moments that are cool? Of course. I mean, you guys have already had moments that are cool. But I would let me ask you this. When you got Kris Jenner on the podcast, you feel like you made it?

Absolutely not.

No. But it's an amazing accolade. It's an amazing thing to add to the resume. But I'm just going to guess that you guys are like, what's next? Yep, yep. Yeah, of course. That's an. After this interview, you'll say, what's next? Like, that is a true boo entrepreneur.

So what's next for you?

Next for me is a baby.

Literally huge.

Literally. Literally a baby. And I think really leaning into that moment because babies grow. This is stupid, but they grow so fast. I know everyone says that I have.

A niece, and it's crazy to see.

It's like they're laying there doing nothing, and then all of a sudden they're walking. So I really just want to take some space. I no longer want to, like, collaborate or partner or do anything. That is not something that I'm, like, so excited about. That makes so much sense to the community and the brand. It has to make sense.

Wait, like, what's the biggest opportunity you've turned down because you were like, this doesn't feel aligned.

I turn down things all the time. You have to turn down things to make space to the yeses. You know, I've turned down a lot of. I've turned out a lot of money. I've turned down a lot of opportunity. But if it. I have a funnel with my team. I've never talked about this on the show, so I have a funnel where it has to hit certain points for it to be a yes. Like, if it's not. If it's not hitting the points, then it's just a no.

What are the points?

Well, it depends what it is. If you're talking about, like, a co brand, are you talking about launching product? Are you talking about who we're having on the show?

What's the funnel for guests that they have to check?

The funnel for guests is you have to be able to speak on a mic. That's number one. So we, our team, will listen to the person that's coming on. If you don't know how to speak, and I don't mean this to be mean. You gotta have the. You gotta have the chops to speak on a mic. Because I don't want to sit here and talk to a puppet like, yep.

You could do it.

You got to hit the ping pong ball back. That's number one. I don't care about how many followers you have. If you have a good story and you have a unique point of view, it's a yes.

And then what? Another point I would say is it has to provide some kind of value to the audience. So with you two, I'll just use you as an example. It's. I think what you're doing is really fresh, it's really relevant, it's really innovative, it's inspiring, it's entrepreneurial. I also think your story of like the, the Bluetooth tampon and how that changed into what you're doing now, like, it's, it's, it's a mixture and a medley and a recipe of all these different things that make sense for the show. I know that if someone's listening and they're in college or they're not in college, maybe they're out of college, are gonna be inspired by that episode. So to me, it has to be a win for us, a win for the guest and a win for the audience. And it has to hit those three points. And you would be surprised how many people do not hit those three points. Good on a mic. Unique point of view, good story and provide value to the audience to do all those things at once, it's rare. So there's hundreds of people, I would say thousands of people that just aren't a fit. Also, if you're coming to sell something. Yeah, I don't need Vanna White.

Yep.

I don't want to. You're just selling something. The whole time I've had people where I had to stop. Like, I'd be like, I've had to say, listen, we want to tell your story. We want the audience to fall in love with you. And if you're just going to schlep and sell to them, they're going to. They smell it.

Yeah.

You turn it off. I don't want to be sold to. Then there's episodes we have not posted. If it is not good for the audience, goodbye. Like, I.

What about brand deals? What are the. What funnel do they go through?

The brand deals have to be something that I'm already using and if I'm not using it, I have to try it for like two months. But it has to be something I'm interested in trying. I also like marriage and a partnership, not a one night stand. Like, I don't want to just like them and leave them. Yeah. I want like a longevity situation. So, like A great partnership that I've had is like symbiotica. Like I take their vitamins and it's been this like four year thing where the founders come on the podcast. Like we just love the brand and it turned into me being an advisor and like maybe that turns into me being an investor. A lot of, a lot of the brands that I've talked about organically, I've turned into an investor situation. So it has to make sense to what I'm doing. I'm not just going to promote something for money.

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If I'm in college and I want to start a brand, I want to build my personal brand. What would you say? Like, what would be your thing? Like, how do I start?

That's a really good question. I think that you have to first pick your medium. So not everyone is built for a mic. Not everyone is built for video. Not everyone is built for Instagram. Instagram is very. A lot of it's very curated. Like maybe like you like to be like sloppy and let it hang out. So TikTok's more your vibe. I think you have to pick which medium is synergistic to who you are. For me, out of all the mediums I've done, that is definitely podcasting. Like, if you turn. We turned off the cameras right now. I, I'm good with just talking on the mic. I like the intimacy of it. I could do a solo episode for two hours alone, no problem. Like, I just, I'm an oversharer. Um, I, I, I don't need, like, a script. I'm just comfortable on a mic. And I would do it in stages. I wouldn't be. So, like, we have to launch like a LinkedIn and a substack and a, it's like, do one thing and do it really, really well and make sure you're really, really targeted and refined with the point of view and make sure there's a brand that you're building so it has longevity.

So when did you realize, though, that what you were doing was something that was going to become your career? And then how did you continue to elevate it?

I knew I was building something from the very day I started because I'm a, I'm the type of person and I think both of you guys can relate to this where it's like, if I'm going to do something, it's going to be a hundred percent and, like, there's no other option. So the brand was like, right away as far as the evolution of it, I think, and you guys have experienced this, you talked about this on our show was like, you throw things at a wall and you see what works. And I'll give you an example of something that didn't work. I launched, like, a fitness app early on and like, that's, Listen, I love fitness. I work out every day, but I don't want to be the expert on fitness. That wasn't right. So I, I stopped that. It was doing well, it was making money, but it wasn't what I, I wasn't excited about. So, like, you throw things at the wall and you, whether it's a Bluetooth tampon, we go called Elizabeth Holmes.

Everyone's calling us Elizabeth Holmes for the Bluetooth tampon.

Really?

I know. I was shocked.

They always have to do a brand of something.

There has to be something.

Yeah, there has to be. That's okay, though. You, it's, you have to be able to put yourself out there to the public to, like, laugh at. If they're not, like, laughing at you and calling you Elizabeth Holmes, you're not doing it right. It, like, I think that's. Let them call you Elizabeth Holmes. They could be not talking about you.

And when did you first, like, when did you make your first hire? What was the first thing you delegated by far?

And this is a tip for anyone who's listening? The first hire that you have should be someone who runs your time. And not only your time, your attention. The two most important things you have as a business person is your attention and your time. And so I think when you are hiring, you should hire someone who is looking at your day like a scientist. The person who looks at my day has every single thing so organized, it's disgusting. I have my driving time, my reading time, my meditating time, time with my children. So I can, I can use all my energy and all my fuel on the things where my strengths are, where people make a mistake and is when they're in business for like, let's say five years and they're delegating fuel towards their weaknesses. I have no interest in that. If it can be done without me at this point, it's gotta be done without me. And all of my time and attention need to go towards the priority. So I would say your first hire should be someone who is a scientist of your calendar. And if you don't have someone right now, you could get an intern. Like get someone who is really organized with time, really important.

That's so interesting.

They should be texting you your alarms every day. The second you that they start, your alarms should be in your text message. You have a 9:30. This is what it is. Here's the brief you have. This is who's coming on the show. Here's the information. Like it should be someone that's almost like a chat GPT of your life. That is by far the most important hire. I think product design and, and product iteration and innovation and disruption. That has to be me.

And then I think that that's. Those are the only things. I'm trying to build a company and a brand though, that's bigger than me. That's. And you guys are doing that with what you're doing. It's so important to make it bigger than you. It cannot be your show. It needs to be so big that it could function without you. And so, you know, I don't want to be taking a mirror selfie at 65 years old, sharing my outfit. That's just not what I want to do. Listen, if you want to do that, good for you. I'm having someone on the podcast that does that and she's fucking fabulous tomorrow. But I know where I want to go and that's not. I'm okay with also being behind the scenes and I'm okay with making it way bigger than me.

How do you plan? Like, are you planning like years Ahead. Do you sit down every quarter? And you're like, okay, you and Michael sit down. You're like, these are our goals for the next X amount of time.

You know what's so funny is I think I got this from your dad, I think.

Are you serious? Yeah. Oh, my God.

It's called Think Week. Does your dad. Yep, I do a think week.

Where do you go for your Think Week?

I. I don't do a whole week. Sorry, Bill. I don't do a whole week. I do probably three days. And it's. It's the best days of the year to do it are the 2nd, the 3rd, and the 4th of January, because everyone is like, leave me the fuck alone.

Yep.

If you think about the best, best time to take a break from everyone, it's those three days. Think about was just the holidays. Everyone's emotionally exhausted. And those three days, the second, the third, the fourth, wherever I am, I will just do, like three days of thinking. I talked to Michael about it. We take walks. We have, like, it. I have my notes app and it has, like, what. What I want out of the year. Like, if broken down, I'll put, like, where my priorities are. I also will think about where I want to be in 10 years. And the first. The first thing I do, and I've talked about this a lot, is I go to a hole in the wall foot spa.

I love that.

It's so good. You gotta find a hole in the wall. The dirtier the better.

Like, something you ever worry about, a foot fungus. Like, how dirty are we going?

It's too good. It's foot fungus, shmongous. I don't know what's going on in the back. It's silent.

It could be a Ponzi scheme. Who knows who?

It's like, who knows what's going on in there? But you find a foot spa, it's quiet, and I will literally just get my feet rubbed for two hours and just bring a notepad. That's one way. Other ways are like walking for 20 minutes in the morning. You guys are in New York City, just take a walk and put your phone down. It's fucking hard. Yeah, it's hard because everyone thinks that doing and reacting is how you gain momentum. That is not true. The most strategic people, if you look in history, the most strategic, smartest people who have created value and legacy are the ones that have created space to.

Think in, in the sense of creating space. Like, you have your own personal brand, your own personal business. And then you also have this joint venture with your husband. How do you balance those two in terms of like, how do you focus on your own brand but then also co creating a brand?

I don't balance, really. I feel like I blend. So, like my life blends into my life, blends into my business, blends into my kids. Like, my business, it's. It's a part of like our ether, our world. It doesn't feel like I separate the categories. I am a partner of Dear Media. So it's not something I work on day to day. It's more like I give opinions or I'll be like, this talent's amazing. Like, you have to check them out. But I'm not running the company and the operations and logistics with my business. I feel like I am. I know what hat I'm putting on. I'm the creative director. I am really giving direction to product innovation, like I said. And then with the show, and you guys know this, you're talent, you're the host. So you show up and that's the hat. I'm not trying to produce it or edit it or do all this shit that I'm not. I'm not trying to create YouTube thumbnail. I'm not. I just want to show up. I want to give it my all. I'm like an athlete. This is. It's time to perform. And then it's like, what's next? And as far as when I'm a mother, I walk in the door and I put my phone away. This if. If anyone's listening, their mom. When I walk in that door, the phone is away. I don't want to look at it. I don't want to be on it in front of my kids. I want to be present. So I'm a hundred percent when I'm a mother. And I think that that's a side that I don't get to show a lot on social and the podcast, because when I'm like being very feminine at home and like curating the home and being a homemaker, it's like I don't, I don't want to snap every detail on social media. I want to.

How do you decide what's personal versus what you put out there publicly intuitively?

If I go to post something and it feels like, like, I'll give you. There's a lot of people that share, like their kids walking or potty training or like eating their first bite. I'm not doing that.

Do you and Michael ever disagree about that?

No, we're totally aligned with that. He's He's. He, like, is even more. He's even more than me. Like, we. I don't feel my kids are extras in the play.

They're extras in the play. I love that if you get to.

See him once in a while, you get to see him. But we're not dissecting everything about them. And maybe, like, I'll link, like, a cup. They're using once in a while. But, like, I. I don't. They didn't sign up for this. And I'm not going to put, like, emojis over their face. I'm not going to go that far. But just intuitively, like, my antennas will go up on what I shouldn't and shouldn't post.

I love that because I think that was really intentional. My parents were really intentional about that, about me growing up in Seattle and not, like, a big city and making sure we were. We didn't use, you know, my dad's last name until we were in high school. And that was a decision we had, was whether we use the last name Gates or. We went by my mom's last name. And it really allowed me to be able to make friends in, like, a really authentic way. Before I'd be like, oh, this is my family. Or, like, this is who I'm related to. Come over to my house. Like, and so I was able to see, like, okay, who are my. Who are my friends versus, like, not. And that was, I think, really, really important because I honestly think I could have been, like, you know, I don't think it would have necessarily been good for me to be fully, like, in the spotlight as a child.

That is amazing that your parents did that for you, especially.

When I was on math team, I had different colored braces. The Seahawks are. Our football team is. Our colors are blue and green. So I had, you know, the green rubber band, the blue rubber band. Green, blue, green, blue.

Put a picture up.

Oh, I will. I 100% will. I'll send you one. And I really thought I was doing something. I'm not gonna lie. I felt really good.

You know what, though? Your parents empowered that. That's so cool that they made that conscious decision. And you also were probably able, like you said, to, like, see who was your friend. For real. Like, it's almost refreshing that they did that. I think that's cool.

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No way.

Mmm.

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For real.

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When did you guys get social media? Like, how old were you?

Oh, my God. I remember I very intentionally did not get social media until my senior year of high school. And my friends all thought I was so, so weird because I was like, the only person who didn't have social media.

Your senior year?

My senior, yearly.

I literally, like, did not have a phone until, like, my sophomore year of high school because I was so intentional of. I know that this is something that is really negative for me. Like, any time I would see my friend's social media and, like, see other people posting, it just made me feel horrible because it was like I would be getting fomo. Like, I'd be comparing myself to people.

That's amazing that you knew that. In 10th grade.

I didn't. I knew nothing of that. I was on that thing like this.

I.

And I wasn't allowed an iPhone until I moved to. Till I went to Stanford. Till I was out of the under the roof. I love that I had a Windows Phone forever. It was a real hindrance to my social life. I was like, can everyone please link it in the one drive? Hey, ladies, before we all leave this morning, let's link it in the OneDrive. Don't forget that one photo of me from the side. I looked amazing.

Do you guys remember the Nokia phone?

Oh, that's what I had. I had.

It was like Snake.

Not that one? No.

Okay.

That's vintage.

Yeah, that was a little bit. Did you ever have a Zune?

No.

Zune is like The Microsoft version of iPhone and of ipod. It ended up getting discontinued.

That's amazing, though, that you had that. I like that you had that phone until I didn't. What is the. No, I like. I like that you had the Windows phone until you.

It was discontinued By. By the time I had gotten rid of it, like, it had been discontinued for two years. I couldn't like it when it would break.

Looking back, don't you like it? No. You wish you had an iPhone? It's so bad. To be fair.

To be fair, Actually, no.

I, I.

But if I say to my parents that I. That I'm thankful for it, then they'll never let me for. Because I've made such a stance at home that I'm not thankful for it, that I'd have to go backwards on that.

So I'm honest with you.

I'm.

I don't want that. The longer my kids don't want it, the better. Like, I'm just, like, I'm not, I'm not giving them anything. They can come ask me. Well, they have to negotiate. They can do a presentation, PowerPoint. It'll have to be, like, a whole thing. The phone. I feel like as long as you can be away from it, the better.

Who's a stricter parent, you or Michael?

Different things tell me. I'm strict about what they eat and drink. I listen, I'm. I'm like 80, 20. I'll let them have the jelly beans and the, the cookies and all that, but, like, when I can be purposeful, I'll be purposeful. So, like, I think about, like, what they're gonna have for breakfast every morning. I'll think about, like, what they're eating, if they're getting protein. I also, this is maybe up. I do this thing called cookie water. Everyone should try cookie water. So I say, do you want cookie water? And I put a scoop of coconut electrolytes in their water and a scoop of creatine, sometimes some mango aminos, and I froth it up, and I say, here's the cookie water. And then at night, we have candy water. Candy water is magnesium water with vitamins. And then we also have watermelon water, which is watermelon aminos. So I, I. What I do with my kids all the time is I rebrand everything.

You're using the branding tactics with the kids.

I love it. Everything's a rebrand.

That's genius.

It's how you get your kids to do anything. So I'll be like, oh, my God.

I got you a New cup. It's the strawberry Shortcake cup. I don't know if you want it, but it's Strawberry Shortcake. Had it. So if you want it, I'll give it to you. But you might just like the cup you're using. And they'll be using, like, a plastic cup, but the strawberry Shortcake cup is glass. So, like, all. Everything is, like, a moment to. To change the name. So it's appealing. You have to appeal to their self interest. That's the tactic with kids.

And what about Michael?

Same thing. Rebrand everything and.

But what is he strict about?

Oh, what's he strict about? Michael is strict about manners. I'm strict about manners, too. Like, please and thank you. He's strict about whining. He's not a bit. He's big on the whining. And he wants to make sure that they're setting the foundation for the future. So, like, whatever direction we decide to go in, whether it's public, private, homeschool, whatever it is, he's, like, specific about that. So he's more macro, I'm more micro.

And for you, you guys, like, for your relationship, do you think it's different offline and online?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Def. I mean, listen, there's. There's similarities when we're on, but also at home, like, it's like any other couple. Do you know what I mean? We fight. He's annoying. I think that the difference is, is that we've known each other since we were 12, so a lot of people online will be like, their banter, like, she's mean to him or he's mean to her. It's like, we've been best friends since we were 12 years old. Yeah. So we know where the line is. Like, we're so confident with where the line is. I know how far I can push. I know how to get what I want. I know every single facet.

I know how to get what I want. I love that.

How to puppeteer and maneuver, whatever it is. Like, we. We understand each other really fundamentally. And so I think that sometimes that maybe gets lost on the podcast. Whereas at home, it's like, we just know. We know the lines.

Why did it, like, go from friendship to romantic and then business partner?

We met on the playground and we liked each other right away. And we. I put this in quotes. We dated from 12 to 15, and then I went off with older guys, as one does.

Bi.

Yeah. Bye. And he always was, like. He always would text me and, like, was always sniffing around, but I was like, I Was in a different. You were in a different league. I was doing some different things.

Yeah. Yeah.

So is he.

So I don't know with men my age. Okay.

I just was having fun.

Yeah.

And I'm glad I did. And then we got back together after we both finished college, and we've been inseparable ever since.

Like, how did you guys reconnect?

What a beautiful story.

He was pretty persistent. He. He was pretty persistent over the 10 years we were apart. He was. He. He knew.

He. 15 to 20. And are you guys, like, are you close friends during this period of time or is there any periods of non talking?

No, there was. We were not. We were friends. We were not close friends. I was very aloof. Looking back, like, I'm like, oh, my God. I, like, got him to be obsessed with me because of the way I was without even knowing I was doing it. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Like, when you ignore a man. Yeah. They can't take it. They can't take it. I'm like, my friends will call me. They'll be like, I like this guy. He's not texting me back. I'm like, do nothing. And they're like, what do you. What do you mean, do nothing? They. They're like, I don't understand. I'm like, literally, do nothing. Just ignore them.

It's like the moment that someone thinks they can't access you, of course they're gonna want to access you. Like, that's just literally human psychology. And I think it goes beyond just relationships, like investor negotiations, anything. The moment where you're like, I'm not interested, or like, I don't need you. When. When people realize, like, desperation is the most negative, unattractive thing that anyone can be in any situation.

Okay.

But on the flip side, like, on bit in business, like, when a candidate reaches out like five, six times, like, honestly, sometimes I respect the hustle. So how do you justify that on the business end? What would you say?

Honestly, that's an amazing question. And I think where it becomes different is it's a circumstance of choice of where is that person in their life. If you're in a situation where you're a college student, no one knows who you are, you have no way of getting your foot in the door other than relentlessly dming someone to try to get their attention. I'm very conscious of that and I really respect that. Like, if you're putting yourself out there and you also are adding value, I think that's actually the really big thing where I Will genuinely really respect people is the people who very strategically craft a message that is oriented in giving me value, like coming to us and being like, I think Thea is a really awesome company. I would love to be an intern. If I was an intern. Here are all of the things that I would change about your business that is attractive. I wonder how you felt about that with Michael. I'm sure he wasn't being annoying.

No, he wasn't a nat.

Was he a nat?

No, he wasn't a nat. He wasn't. You're so right. There's two. I respect strategy. That's what I would say. If you're going to reach out.

That's a great way to put it.

Yeah, I respect strategy. Michael had strategy.

Yep.

Took him a while, but he had strategy. He figured it out. He figured it out. He was resourceful. The number one quality I want for my kids is to be resourceful.

I had a friend who was applying for a job. The job market is tough right now with AI and everything because really, I feel like a lot of companies are slimming down because a lot of particularly entry level positions like, aren't there for like an entry level assistant or these different things. Anyways, I have a friend and he's graduating this year and there was a job he, he wanted and they said, oh, you can meet with our CEO.

Great.

They moved in through interstate interview stages and then they completely ghosted him. So he saved up money, he flew to San Francisco and he dropped off a proposal for them of how they could improve their business along with his resume. And then he flew home. He paid for his pit stop in San Francisco to go back to Seattle. And then sure enough, they followed up and offered him a job.

That's hot.

That's hot.

By the way, even if he doesn't get the job, the exercise of figuring something out and trying to make it work is so good for your brain. I think AI is an opportunity for everyone to get ultra Creative. I 100%. Instead of thinking like I remember when influencers. Influencers would be to me say to me, oh, or even podcasters. It's too saturated. I can't get in. I'm like, nope, that's an excuse for you not to execute. I think with AI, if you're, if, oh, AI is going to take my job. No, this is an opportunity for you to get so, so creative and you just kind of flip the perspective on its head.

If you were giving advice like when, if you were starting from scratch, what's one thing you would do differently.

I think the first mistake, the biggest mistake everybody makes is they. They create excuses not to execute. It is the biggest. I cannot tell you how many friends that I have gotten on the phone with that are forever students that just want to talk about their idea and tell me that's what I look for as an investment. By the way, when someone is executing, that is the number one thing I'm like, if you're executing, that is. That's the sauce. So a lot of people, they will. They'll read all the books or listen to all the podcasts, or, you guys know, go to all the classes, go to the school. And now they have to get their master's, and then they need their PhD in business. By the time the people that got their PhD in business graduated, I had had 10 years of a real life experience. PhD in business. Not saying one is better than the other, but you have to be able.

To hold the trigger.

Cute. That's the number one thing.

I mean, I feel like that's so true for us, too. I think that was. We didn't say this on your episode, but honestly, something that people really appreciated and respected when we were raising money is that we had a very, very bad version of our product.

Send them. That's okay.

That's okay. But we had created something like. We weren't just selling a vision. We also were saying we have actually taken steps towards building the first version of this, and if we have money, we can make a way, way better version of this. But we're already trying, and we already got people to buy things. We already have hundreds of people on it, and I think them seeing they're actually trying to build it, that's really, really good advice.

Well, Lauren, thank you for coming on the Burnouts. We couldn't be more grateful to have you.

Thank you guys for having me and coming all the way to Austin for me. That was very nice.

Anytime. And next time, once you have the baby, we're gonna do drinks. I know your guilty pleasure is a drink. So is mine, and we're doing it.

But Sophia doesn't drink. But you can have a mocktail.

Why do you think I don't drink? I thought you said she was sober in college.

I was a boring square for a little bit.

I told you I broke her. I told you I broke her.

So you broke the alcohol.

Now she'll have one drink every, like.

Three months with me. You might have to.

I would definitely have two drinks with you.

Good, good.

How can I help you today?

Hey, I need to talk about my loan.

No problem.

So I got the email. Sandy Spring bank is becoming Atlantic Union Bank.

That's right.

And will you still be your banker?

Of course.

More branches and ATMs.

Way more.

Still community driven.

Still live here.

Still give here mobile app.

Easy. Everything right at your fingertips. And what about my business? Always here to help you reach your goals. Sandy Spring bank is becoming Atlantic Union Bank.

October 2025.

Same bankers you love.

With even more to offer.

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