In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews certified financial planner and author Bobbi Rebell. Bobbi shares a pivotal story about gaining executive buy‑in from Reuters’ editor‑in‑chief to launch her book, emphasizing the importance of securing support for side‑hustles. She advises listeners to be ambitious in their asks, illustrating how targeting high‑profile guests like Kevin O’Leary and David Bach led to early podcast success. Bobbi recounts creating a viral promotional video using PowToon after a three‑hour self‑study, which dramatically increased her traffic. She discusses personal growth lessons, urging her younger self to overcome shyness, and outlines her view of happiness as detaching from peer financial comparisons. Bobbi highlights Tony Robbins’ "Awaken the Giant Within" as a transformative read that taught decisive action, and shares a favorite quote from Mr. Rogers about making the most of each day. The episode concludes with her online contact information (website, Twitter, Instagram) and a sponsor plug for Authors Unite.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode. All right, everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. Today I have Bobbi Rebel with us. She's a certified financial planner and host of the Financial Grown-Up podcast and also the author of How to Be a Financial Grown-Up. So welcome to the show, Bobbi.
Hey, Tyler, I'm such a fan. Thanks for having me.
Thank you so much.
And thanks for joining.
Yes. And this is, uh, we should mention that you're right, this This is the 200th episode of the podcast. So, this is a really special one, and I'm glad you're here with us, Bobbi.
And congratulations.
Thank you. So, we will kick it off. The first question I have for you, Bobbi, on the 200th episode is what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
So many stories, Tyler. The one I'm going to share with your listeners is when I was getting ready to write my book that you just mentioned, How to Be a Financial Grown-Up, I got a lot of pushback because I was a television anchor at Reuters, which is a big global news organization, and people didn't think I could write a book. Even my closest friends and family kind of asked who I was going to get as a ghostwriter. So I didn't have a lot of buy-in. So I went to the editor-in-chief of Reuters, a guy named Steve Adler, who's lovely. And I went to— I made an appointment. He didn't know me well. He just knew me from chitchat at the elevator. He had just written a book. I went— first of all, I went and read the book cover to cover. Made an appointment, went to see him, and I asked his advice and listened intently for as long as he would give me, took his advice, and most importantly, I got his buy-in. So by having buy-in at the top of your company when you're starting what was at the time a side hustle, that really gives you a solid foundation to start an ambitious project. And I really encourage people, because a lot of people want to do side hustles, to make sure that their employers know about it and that they get their support. Before they start, because that'll make everyone happy.
And what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
It's really important to be ambitious in your ask. So a lot of my background as a television producer, reporter, and anchor was in inviting guests to be on different programs, whether it was CNBC, CNN, and as I mentioned, Reuters. And that also translated to my book and now my podcast. So it's really important to be ambitious Don't assume someone will say no. If you want an A-level actress, ask 100 actresses. Someone will say yes. So before my podcast even started, I was ambitious with my ask. And even pre-launch, I had guests like Kevin O'Leary from Shark Tank and David Bach, who's an amazing financial expert. He's the guy that came up with the whole term, the latte factor. And so always be ambitious. Aim high when you're asking for things.
I agree. I have to chime in there. I agree with that so much. I always tell people that. I'm like, it's honestly a numbers game. Like, I get when you think about like Kevin O'Leary or something, like in your mind you're like, he'll probably say no. But it's like, if you reach out to 1,000 people that are at that status, like one of them is going to say yes. Like, yes, it just always happens. So you got to just ask 1,000 people and most people stop at like 5. So thank you for saying that. And what's your best piece of overall business advice?
It's really important, Tyler, to learn everything you can at every level, even the most granular level. So for example, just recently I learned on a lark how to make little cartoon videos. I did it one Sunday with my 10-year-old son who wanted to do cartoons, and I was looking for a creative way to promote the podcast because Facebook can be not so supportive when you put up text. So I wanted to do video, and I literally researched— within 3 hours, I researched what program I wanted. I learned the program. I made a video. That first video, Tyler Wagner Wagner, went viral, was picked up by Business Insider, who wrote an article about it, and it literally quintupled my traffic in one day.
If you wouldn't mind, what software do you use?
I'm sorry?
If you wouldn't mind sharing, what software do you use for that?
I use PowToon. P-O-W-T-O-O-N. Super easy, super simple. I have no affiliation with the company.
Yep, no, I've actually heard of them, so that's very cool. And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
To be less shy. I was really shy, and my career as a journalist really started by being on the debate team because my father insisted I learned to speak in public because I was so painfully shy when I was younger.
And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
Not to have a scorecard and don't measure yourself against others, Tyler, because they say there's some statistics out there that say you feel wealthy when your peer group has the same or you have less money. I'm sorry, if you have the same or more money than your peer group or the people you surround yourself with, you feel good about yourself. If you feel like you're the poor one, You know, like the whole expression friends with money. If you feel like the poor one, you don't feel good. You gotta detach from that and just be yourself, be your friends. Your real friends will, you know, will love you no matter what. And don't be always comparing.
And what's the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
I've read so many amazing books. So I'm just gonna pick one that impacted me when I started the side hustle into the Financial Grown-Up brand, which is the book and now the podcast. And that is a book by Tony Robbins who also talk about aiming high. He wrote the foreword to my book, and he wrote a book called Awaken the Giant Within. And in that book, he talks about the fact that you have to just decide. And you can sit here and play the victim and say, oh, somebody started, the starting line was different for them. Well, nobody had a worse starting line, or very few people, than Tony Robbins, if you know his background. And he became who he is today through sheer deciding to just be the person he envisioned himself to be. And I, took it upon myself to have to start this whole other business while I had a very demanding full-time job. I had 3 kids at home, I had a husband, I had a dog, all this stuff going on. But you know what? I just decided that I was going to make it happen and I found the time and I encourage everyone to do so. And so Tony Robbins and really every book by him has been inspiring to me.
Yes, I love him too. And congrats on getting him to write the foreword. That is incredible.
Well, that goes back to the aiming high, right?
Yeah. Congrats. That's just like awesome. And what's your favorite quote and why?
So Tyler, there are so many good quotes, just like with the books. But what comes to mind is that recently I was at my dad's house and I was cleaning out some old stuff and I found my high school yearbook. And in that I had a quote from Mr. Rogers, which not all of your listeners may know this, but there was an old TV show called Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. And in that he says, let's make the most of this beautiful day. And I wrote that as my senior year quote in my yearbook. And I remember in my 20s and 30s thinking that was really corny and how stupid, how basic. Couldn't I come up with something a little deeper? But now I look back and I think, you know what, let's make the most of this beautiful day. It's kind of okay. I like that. I'll take it.
Yes, I love it. Bobbi, thank you so much for coming on. There's so much value in this episode. And the last question I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?
So my website, bobbirebell.com, has everything. Also, please follow me on Twitter @bobbirebell, B-O-B-B-I-R-E-B-E-L-L, and on Instagram @bobbirebell1.
Awesome. Thank you again, Bobbi. We really appreciate it.
Tyler, thank you so much, and congratulations on the big 200.
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