Hello, everyone.

I am Chelsea Fagan.

And I am incredibly excited to welcome you

to our brand-new show, The Financial Confessions.

It's very exciting for us for a lot of reasons,

primarily because it's a podcast, which

we've never done before.

But it's also a video podcast, which

I feel like is the best of all possible worlds,

as someone who likes to listen to her podcasts on YouTube,

for some reason.

I can't really even explain why.

But it's also just a chance for us to really kind of deep dive

into money with people in a way that we're not

usually able to because, obviously, our YouTube videos

do have a time limit generally.

And even for things like articles,

there's only really so far you can go, especially when you're

trying to focus on one topic.

Whereas with these conversations that we're

going to be having with all kinds of people on the show,

we really have a chance to talk about money in a way

that people are a little bit nervous to at first.

Usually in, like, minute 12, 13 of the conversation,

you start getting into the real good stuff.

But people have to really warm up to it,

because most people are really not

used to talking about money.

But we're lucky that people, for whatever reason,

feel comfortable talking to me about money.

So we're going to hear people share

a lot of stuff on this show that they've never shared, things

like what they earn, what they used

to earn at old jobs, the financial secrets

of their industry, all kinds of stuff that truly

is a confession for people.

So I want to tell you guys a little bit more about the show

and introduce you to our incredible producer, who we're

so excited to be making with.

But first, I also want to quickly

talk to you guys about who we are

producing this fabulous show with, and that is Intuit.

And if you've never heard of Intuit,

that's not that surprising.

But you have almost certainly heard

of a lot of their products.

They make things like TurboTax and QuickBooks

and Mint, all three of which are products

I use every single day.

They're tools that I have on my phone and my computer

because, obviously, I have my personal finances to manage,

but I also run a small business that

has employees and payroll and invoicing

and all kinds of stuff.

So using these programs have truly saved my life.

In fact, one of the very first things

I ever did to get good with money,

well before I even started TFD, was download Mint onto my phone

so that I can start tracking my budget, which is something

that I had literally never done before at that time in my life.

And so I can say with total sincerity

that I absolutely love the Intuit suite of products

and can endorse them wholeheartedly.

I have used, or to this day use every single one of them.

In fact, I was on QuickBooks about an hour ago

looking at stuff for TFD.

So all that to say, throughout this show,

we are going to be learning a little bit about the Intuit

products and what they can do for you.

And we're just incredibly excited to be working with them

to produce this show because they

have done so many awesome things in my financial life.

Just check out the link in our description

or in the show notes, and you can get started right away.

But I am also incredibly excited to introduce to you

guys our producer, a very good friend of mine,

someone who is just so talented and so on the internet

that it's unbelievable the quantity of things

that he does.

And it's so exciting that he's doing this project with us

because, frankly, I didn't think he would have the time.

But he is going to be our producer,

and we'll see him on every episode.

He'll be part of the conversation

and also sharing a little bit about his financial life.

And his name is Ryan Houlihan.

Hello!

Hello.

And he's sitting right next to me.

It's so exciting.

Where will you usually be?

I will usually be at a little booth

we've built, where I'm running all the tech stuff.

I'm looking things up.

I'll be like in The Matrix, where they're like hacking

and, like, jacked in.

But for today, I'm here just to say hi

so you guys can get to know my face a little bit.

Yes.

And so tell our audience, who may not know you yet,

a little bit about yourself.

So I am a video producer.

I am a comedian and an editor.

I wear a lot of different hats.

I also love-- I am very passionate about doing

charity work for women in New York City.

So I'm a busy body, red head.

And I absolutely, absolutely love The Financial Diet.

And I absolutely love podcasting.

It's a real passion of mine.

And it's been my entire adult life.

Do you like talking about money?

I love talking about money.

I would say I get the kind of thrill

that some people get from, like, dirty talk.

I love it.

Oh, same.

Because it's a taboo.

And you know me.

At a dinner party, I can go for five hours on a taboo topic,

like religion, sex.

But money is the one of that trifecta

that people are still terrified and guilty and embarrassed and

uncomfortable.

And that's what makes it fun to talk about.

It's so fun.

And I'm going to let you guys into a little bit

of fourth-wall breaking here to say that we've already filmed

a few episodes with guests, because we

thought it would make this conversation even better.

And we've already had a big number reveal.

We've already had one of our guests, who you'll

see very soon, share exactly what she earns and earned

for the past few years.

And we were saying when that happened,

we got to get a bell or something,

because it gives me-- and I'm sure it gave you--

an actual physical chill to hear people break that barrier.

It's a relief.

Yeah.

It's a relief because you're not talking

in these vagaries, where you don't

want to step on their toes.

And they don't want to--

I just moved into a new apartment.

And everyone has been so nervous to ask the question, what

are you paying for the place?

Yeah.

I was asked it at lunch when I was

talking about your apartment.

And I was like, I'll let Ryan answer.

Well, the entire world would like to know.

Our new apartment is 2.89 K a month,

which is under budget for what we feasibly

could pay, but over budget for what we were hoping for.

But to just have that number out,

then someone knows the reality of what you're dealing with

and what it would cost to live where you live.

And if you got a deal, if you can talk to your--

some co-workers are going to be uncomfortable.

But if you can talk to people in your industry,

you can talk to family members about your raw numbers,

then people know what's feasible for you.

They can compare and know what they should be asking.

The big thing with freelancers-- we both work in media--

is they don't want you to talk to each other

and say what the rates are because the biggest,

oldest magazine brands are the best

at low-balling you and making sure you

have no contact with anyone else that works there.

And having five people on their roster that they pay,

like, $7 a word.

I-- it's--

I feel like the worst part, too, about people not feeling

like they can talk to each other about money

is that, to this end, all it does

is further consolidate the power in a few people's hands.

And even-- whether it's what you pay for rent or what you paid

for your house or your salary or your net worth,

whatever the number may be, the more people who are--

I'm not certainly not putting us in an oppressed class.

Mm-mm.

But no matter what the kind of number

you're talking about financially,

the more numbers we have about each other,

the more it really diffuses that leverage

and diffuses the power.

I'm curious what you're most excited to talk about

on the show.

I think I'm really excited to put together

a larger theme of two things.

One, the amount of luck that is--

most people's lives are 90% luck because you

didn't get hit by a car, and you didn't get cancer,

and you didn't get struck by lightning.

And you were born where you were born.

You were born within the vicinity

of a higher-learning education scenario

and that you could afford, through loans or something

else, and you're able-bodied.

And there's a lot of luck.

And I think that's going to be a theme that

emerges when we talk to successful people,

that they can show up.

They can be the right place at the right time, which is luck.

But they can also work really hard.

But that to get there, it's sort of like the thing

where people say self-made.

But you use the roads that we all paid for.

And you--

I hate that term.

But also, the other thing I really, really, really

can't wait to talk to people about is

I love knowing what people splurge on,

because I don't think--

I think, obviously, for some people,

it is a bad habit that they shouldn't have.

But for other people, it lets you know their priorities.

Some people splurge on Broadway tickets because they truly--

that experience gives them a creative push,

or it's their big outlet.

And I would love to see if people splurge

on investing, if people surge on family,

if people splurge on recreation, creativity.

I always like to know that because I know where I splurge.

And I always feel guilty about it,

even though I know the reasons why I spend more on something

or less on something.

And I wanted a little picture into other people's minds

so that we all can be more comfortable with the fact

that sometimes you roll up to Starbucks, and you drop $20,

and you're like, I don't care.

What the hell are you buying for $20 at Starbucks?

You get that grilled cheese sandwich.

Oh!

You get yourself a trenta Refresher.

Oh, right!

This is like we're getting a peek into his order.

Well, speaking of splurges, that actually

happens to be one of our rapid-fire questions.

Oh, yes!

Look at that transition.

We have to do like, (SINGING) rapid fire. (SPEAKING)

We have to get some sort of liked

so these are questions for you guys

that we're going to be asking to all of our guests

at the end of our show to kind of just