Mastering Reinvention: Viral TikToker-Turned-Podcaster, Meredith Lynch

Thinking about making a pivot in your career? 

Get ready to be inspired by the queen of reinvention, Meredith Lynch! 

From viral TikTok influencer to Podcaster and Comedian, Meredith is known for her celebrity deep dives where she exposes celebrity ties to private equity.

In this episode, Meredith shares what it’s like to receive cease and desist letters from some of the most powerful names in Hollywood and how she’s turned online haters into fuel for her comedic fire.

If you’re looking for an empowering story of evolution, truth-telling, and making your voice heard, grab your headphones and tune in for some serious wisdom and laughs!

Check out Meredith's Podcast, Oddly Specific on Apple Podcasts and YouTube
Follow Meredith On TikTok

🏁 Connect With Us On Instagram!

• Not Nice Clever
• Candice Carcioppolo
• Kat Torre

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🎙 Book Kat and Candice to speak at your next event, summit or workshop HERE

Chapters

• 0:00 Navigating Online Haters and Standing for What You Believe In
• 23:33 The Power of Comedy and Finding Freedom On Stage
• 31:33 31:23 Age is Just a Number: It's Never Too Late to Start
• 35:10 Oddly Specific: Blending Pop Culture and Exposing Private Equity
• 37:59 Caffeinate and Get Over It: Overcoming Setbacks

Transcript

The title of the podcast came from a mean Reddit comment about me, which I don't really let myself read Reddit anymore. But I was on Reddit and I was reading this person who basically was like, I don't like Meredith Lynch. It's like, a number. I mean, like I've been hearing that since kindergarten. I learned pretty quickly, you know, that when you're deep diving people who have access to a lot of power and money, you have to be super careful. One of the first deep dives that

I really got into was that I was doing this content on Rachel Zoe, who had these subscription boxes. Were people not receiving their boxes? That's what I was being told. Rachel did not love that. And that was a wild ride because she got a little litigious. I grew up in a very regular, hardworking community. And when I see an injustice, even if it's as silly as people not getting their subscription box, I'm going to say something.

When you stand for something, inevitably other people will be like, well, you aren't standing for me. You're against me. I can be a lot more free on stage. People take things so seriously on social media. For example, I made a joke the other day about the fact that like the town that I'm from has 13 Dunkin Donuts. And then I posted a little clip of it online and someone wrote in and was like,

So this is something you're proud of. It's actually shameful. Shameful? Excuse me, our country runs on Dunkin'. One of the things that's really challenging for people when they consume content on social media is to realize that people are multifaceted. Today, we are beyond thrilled to welcome a true queen of reinvention, Meredith Lynch. From her early days as a beauty influencer to becoming a viral TikToker, exposing celebrity ties to private equity.

And now a rising comedian and podcaster, Meredith has mastered the art of evolving her brand. She's named one of the four best tea accounts by Business Insider. You know, we love the tea and her sharp insights have been featured in Rolling Stone, Entertainment Tonight, and the LA Times. So today we're talking to her about this evolution, dealing with online haters and her new podcast, Oddly Specific, where she blends her love for calling out the truth.

with her undeniable talent for comedy. So get ready for some real talk with the one and only Meredith Lynch. So thank you, Meredith, for hopping on with us here today. Our clever crew knows that Candice and I have each of our own past lives. have reinvented ourselves many times over. And you actually started off as a content creator in the beauty space. I would love to know how,

that got you to there, got you to where you are now. Take us through that journey because we all have past lives and we'd love to hear about yours. Yeah. I am from Boston originally and I moved to LA about four years ago and I moved during the height of COVID. It was December of 2020 when I moved and I really didn't know anyone out here. I was with my husband and I had started this new job that was based in LA, but I was working.

remotely. I really, I'm just gonna say it, I was really lonely and really bored. And so I've always been someone who likes social media, but I made a video on social media, and it was a makeup video. And it kind of like in hindsight, it really didn't go that viral, but it felt to me that it went very viral. Virality is relative, right? Right. Exactly. So anyway, I

I've always loved makeup. I was always a kid who wanted $10 to go to CVS and buy a lip smackers or whatever. But for me, I started making these videos where I would go and try some drugstore products and try the higher end stuff and work with what I had. And I really enjoyed it. And I was getting some paid partnerships and I was getting a lot of products sent to me. And then I had this aha moment where I was like,

I am not an expert on this. I mean, I definitely know a little bit about what I'm talking about, but there are so many people who are makeup artists, are estheticians, are dermatologists. They have a better sense of this. And I started to think about, what do I actually know? And that is pop culture. So I started to transition away from the makeup content to more of the pop culture content, because it was really about, do I actually have knowledge in? What am I actually passionate about?

I love the pop culture angle because that's something where I'm not as strong, but Candace will always be like, so there's this trend on TikTok called lucky girl syndrome and we're going to do an episode about it or like JLo's like, like non -alcoholic or alcoholic brand launch. Like Candace is the pop culture resident of the two of us. Right Candace? Yeah, I try to be, but not at Meredith's level at all. So I'll let her talk about pop culture, but I like to bring it in when I can, when it's relevant to what we're talking about. because I'm just,

I'm a fan. love social media. love watching content. I love seeing how brands work and how brands grow. And if there's ever a chance for me to talk about something that's going on right now, then I want to grab that. But what I love that you said was that you kind of just started with something you knew you were interested in, which was beauty, right? You're the girl who wanted to buy those lip smackers. Me too. I love that you just started and then in the journey you figured it out.

And maybe you're still figuring it out, right? And I work with so many clients who are just afraid to start because they don't know what the end is going to look like. And the truth is none of us know what the end is going to look like. So I like to just share that messy part. Yeah. I mean, I think sometimes I do social media and consulting on the side a little bit. I've been really busy with my nine to five lately, so I haven't really had time for that. But

One of the things that I tell people is like, just start creating because I'll talk to people who are like, I want to get like everything set up. I want to have a strategy. I want to whatever it's you can just start. I'm going to have a studio and I need a microphone and I need to like get something on my walls for the sound. And it's just like, you're, you're not there yet, hun. And it's okay. Just be where you are. Yeah. And people really love to see that journey. I love talking to people who have been following me since I was doing makeup.

There are people who are, I actually went back the other day and I looked at my first like viral video and I looked at some of the comments and there was like a couple of people who I still recognize from comments now. And I actually wrote to them. was like, thank you for sticking by me. Like we've been on a wild ride. And so, you know, it's, that evolution and the internet is constantly evolving too.

The TikTok that I joined in or started creating on in 2021 is not the TikTok that exists now. So it, when you go into it with this idea of like, this is who I'm going to be, this is what I'm going to share on there. That might not be what the app wants from you. So we know that today you're known for your TikTok beep dives. So tell us a little bit like.

back the curtain, give us a peek. How did that get started and what makes you so passionate about this? the deep dives actually started looking at celebrity what I eat in a day. Do you remember those? They used to be really big. They're not as big anymore. my gosh. I actually - because boundaries and personal health. No, I actually watch what I eat in a day from kind of regular people, but I've never actually watched from celebrities. That's interesting.

Yeah. So they're like a cracker in water or it really depends on the person. And some of them are really, are really wild. And so I started finding these what I eat in a day is and people started sending them to me too. And for a while people magazine had a feature where they would do what I eat in a day is quite frequently. And so I started doing deep dives on the, what I eat in a day is. And so I would make these videos where I would just do kind of like funny commentary on them. You know, there was a

Yeah, there was one where the guy ate, I think it was eight servings of salmon every single day.

And I know I'm like, honestly, think you could have mercury poisoning. of mercury in that? Yeah. I was going to say, like, can we get some heavy metal poisoning or testing done on him? Not poisoning, but like, my gosh. So some, and I think also to keep in mind, especially now that I've been doing this for so long, I also wonder like how many times is the publicist just sending something in? That's true. Or like, how often is it just so they can promote?

know, maybe the nutrition supplements that they're taking that they have a sponsorship with. like, it's all very cultivated. And I think that's really important for people to keep in mind anytime that they see something from celebrities. So I started doing those. And from those started getting more into the deep dives because from that people were starting to like send me sort of things. And one of the first deep dives that I really got into was that I was doing this content on Rachel Zoe, who had

at the time, she still has them, these subscription boxes where, you know, those used to be very popular, like the Stitch Fix and the Birchbox and FabFitFun. I mean, they still exist. And so I started to do a deep dive on Rachel's and that was really my first big deep dive kickoff because someone had asked me to do her What I Eat in a Day and I couldn't find it.

I couldn't find one, I think. And so I was like, well, let me like, see what else she's up to. And then I found that she had these subscription boxes and I did a deep dive on those. And so, and that was a wild ride because she got a little litigious. I think were people like, were people not receiving their boxes or not receiving what they said? Well, so I think I remember that this is that's what I was being told. So basically what I read. Yes. Allegedly when I looked at the, at the, at the

boxes. You know, I was reading the Instagram comments and a lot of the comments were like, I ordered my box six months ago. How come it's not here yet? You charged my card twice. My boss box was missing an item. mean, comment after comment like this. And so what I started doing was I started showing the comments and being like, this is crazy that like people are saying they're not getting it. And Rachel did not love that. She did not like me sharing those things. In fact, she accused me of

Photoshopping the comments. Wow. Yes. anyway, I learned pretty quickly, you know, that when you're deep diving people who have access to a lot of power and money, you have to be super careful. But really and truly, I am just like a regular person. I'm not from a lot of money. I grew up like in a very like regular hardworking community and

When I see an injustice, like even if it's as silly as people, you know, not getting their subscription box, like I'm going to say something. And so that's kind of the antithesis of the deep dives. love that because, know, like you said, you were using there's, so many pros and cons to social media. And I think using it to shine a light on things or to even give companies or brands an opportunity to make things right. They might not even let's play devil's advocate.

Rachel Zoe or whoever it is, or might not have even known that that was happening because of all the things that she and her organization or who brands have going on, right? Like Candice and I have learned working with companies and teams of like various sizes, there's things that slip through the cracks. So like even playing devil's advocate, at least you're bringing it to light. And I love like defending those or using your platform to help others like solve problems and meet those needs. And I love that you weren't just like doing these deep dives for your own

like edification, like people were asking you like, Hey, can you do this? Hey, can you do that? You were responding to them too. And making like your community feel heard while also, you know, potentially writing an injustice that could have maybe been easily fixed too. And so I love that. I will say it seems like things have gotten better over her subscription box company, but we love that. I do still see like as recently as like a month ago, I still saw comments that were like, where's the box?

Like, so, you know, I think I kind of, I think I was onto something there, but yeah, you're right. Like a lot of these big companies might not necessarily know what is happening. I had an incident once with like a PR that was sent to me via a third party. And then the third party got really like out of hand with like asking me for feedback on the product and they had sent me the wrong product. So anyway, that was like a whole other thing.

But I ended up connecting with the company itself and they had no idea. Like I showed them the emails that I had been getting from this third company of like they're like essentially like they asked to send me something. They sent me the wrong thing. And then when they sent me the wrong thing, they just kept being like, well, try it anyways and then tell us what we think. And I was like, I know, but I didn't ask for this. So, right. And so anyway,

Then I ended up connecting with the company directly and they were great. And they were just like, had like, this is so inappropriate. We had no idea that this is how our brand was being represented by this agency. So yeah, that's a great point. I love that. This is one way that you share your values because a lot of times Kat and I work with clients and we talk about how important it is to know your values, understand, you know,

what you want to portray and what you want your audience to know about you. And it sounds like you're really rooted in your values, which is why it matters for you to share these stories. And I think sometimes people have a hard time drawing the line like, well, how do I share my values? Do I have to say like, I believe in justice? You don't have to say it like that, but you can show it by the conversations that you have and the...

topics that you bring up and the people you choose to highlight. And so I really love that that comes through in what you're doing. Thank you. And so you brought up something too, and Candice, when you were talking about how knowing your values and sharing them and acting on them, when you do that, when you stand for something, inevitably, other people will be like, well, you aren't standing for me, you're against me. If you're standing here, you're not standing with me. And so like,

Candice and I have had those situations pop up where like sometimes people will kind of project in the comments or the haters will pop up or the trolls or I think somebody, this is my favorite example of this and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it too, Meredith. Like somebody commented on one of Candice's viral reels. was a clip of her speaking about Kylie Jenner being the face of her personal brand. And he was like, well, I hope dinner's still on the table with all these motivational speeches. And I commented, was it something like that or what was it specifically?

Yeah, he said, so like, I'm on stage and for a lot of and he said, yeah, he was like, I hope his dinner still gets made on top of these motivational speeches that you like to give basically.

I responded, well, Candice's community, all of us like definitely came to her defense, but I was like, you, was like, so funny that he said that about you because you actually do make dinner. I don't. was like, so she does. that was the irony. Right. And I'm like, you can come over to my profile or not. I'm just going to block and delete you. Like, cause I'm not the one who makes dinner. Like that's why I have to be with a chef so he can help make me dinner. But like, are you with it? Do you have a chef in your life? I do. do. Yes. See that's really smart.

my gosh, Meredith, we are going to trade stories about dating a chef. I've thought about doing no, no, no. I don't have a chef. you do. God, no. No, no, no. I just meant like what a smart way to outsource. I mean, we're all about leverage here. JK, so you're not with a chef. Meredith, let's just No, I'm married to a wonderful person who can make mac and cheese.

Like, it's nostalgic, right? It's you in a different way. Yeah, I do cook though. I love, I love to cook, but yes, I totally know what you mean. but I think one of the things that's really challenging for people when they consume content on social media, and I'm guilty of this as well, is to realize that people are multifaceted. So when we see a video of someone, we, for the sake of our brain, we make a snap judgment about them.

whether it's right or wrong. and a lot of times it brings up our own insecurities. And, you know, in particular, there's a lot going on right now in our country, and I hold different views than some people. And I have gotten a lot of like, you are a childless, miserable woman. I get those quite frequently. And those comments are really, really hurtful. And

But I also see where they're coming from. They're coming from a snap judgment. They're coming from a place of pain. I do think as a woman content creator on the app, do find I get a lot of nasty comments pretty quickly about my physical appearance, my life choices, whatever they may be. But I think it comes from a place of

making a snap judgment about someone. Yeah. It's a very emotionally mature response and awareness, but it still hurts. And so I think I like now too that you see on Instagram, says, welcome to the conversation. Let's be respectful. Even just making those little tweaks. yeah, people are going to be people. How do you, when you

get those comments and they sting a little bit. What do you, do you have something you say to yourself? How do you push through it? Because I know that there has to be some days when you're just like, like, why do I do this? And then you kind of push through, right? So like, what does that look like for you? Well, it really depends on how I'm doing that day. Yeah, for sure. That definitely plays a role in it. So when I do see a comment that

hurts me. One of the first things I do is I check in with myself, right? So how am I feeling right now? I use the, don't know if you're familiar with halt, which is like, am I angry, lonely or tired? So when I receive something like that, first I check in and like, I'm like, okay, am I any of these things right now? Because that's going to affect how I perceive this comment, right?

And if I am one of those things, maybe it's best to just push it aside and self -care.

I have to keep in mind that my life is a huge, big, long line. And everybody who sees me on social media, whether they love me or don't love me, is seeing a microscopic dot in that line. So they don't know me. Their opinion of me does not hold weight. I will say like,

Yeah, sometimes it hurts. Like some of the comments that I've gotten have been like deep. mean, I've had people send me things that like are deeply hurtful. Like I made a joke a few weeks ago about someone wearing tanning goggles in a tanning bed that someone might be running for president right now. But that's a joke. and that's, mean, like that's, you know, and I also, and it was part of a comedy set that I had done and the full set I make

fun of Joe Biden and then I make fun of Trump. So it wasn't like, I was just like doing this set that just makes fun of Trump. I was making fun of both of them. And so I got a comment that was like, if this woman wants to comment on Trump's appearance, she needs to lose 50 pounds first. And it just, did hurt. It does hurt. And the other thing is like,

I actually wasn't commenting on Trump's physical appearance. Like if he wears the tanning goggles in the tanning bed, that's kind of like a personal choice. like, I also really try, you know, at this point in my life, like I try not to comment on like the physical things that people can't change. Right. If like, I'm going to make a joke about the shirt you wore, fine. If I'm going to wear it, make a joke about your tan line, fine. But I'm not going to make a joke about somebody's body or somebody's teeth. And I get that kind of stuff a lot. So

I think like also remembering that like, well, like that's a choice to talk like that. That's a choice to be like that in the world. And it also reminds us how we don't want to be. like, to be fair, look at any person on social media and look at like all of their comments. Like look at Simone Biles comments before the Olympics and you'll just be like, there are a lot of weirdos out there.

That's what I would say. And so that's kind of how I try to look at it. Yeah. The HALT framework, hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. mean, that's so Yeah. It's so good. That is clever crew. Take notes. H -A -L -T. Thank you, Meredith. It's technically from 12 step, but I think it's really helpful. Yeah. And I mean, honestly, sometimes I've ended up talking to people who have sent me really nasty comments and

You know, they like I had somebody, you know, leave me some really nasty comments about my appearance. And when I followed up with them, they were like, I'm really sorry. I was having a really bad day. I was really not feeling good about myself. And I took it out on you. And, you know, I forgive that person a thousand percent. That's fine. But I hope that like in the future, they go for a walk instead of going and yeah. And saying something to me.

So you brought up comedy. So you're now actually venturing into this new arena. I want to know how you've been able to balance the serious nature of your work, because I know there's a serious side. You talk a lot about private equity. And that doesn't seem so comical, necessarily. How do you balance the light -heartedness of comedy with other things that you talk about online?

Yeah, I mean, that's definitely a challenge in some ways. I can be so much more, I can be a lot more free on stage. I can make jokes on stage that I could never make on social media. And I don't mean because they are like line crossing, but because people take things so seriously on social media versus on in -person. Yeah, exactly. someone on stage. They can read you better. So when I...

When I think about it, doing standup is like a freedom in a way to make the jokes that I might not be able to make on social without people freaking out. for example, I made a joke the other day about the fact that the town that I'm from has 13 Dunkin' Donuts. Now I think it only has nine, but at one point it had 13. And so I made this joke about it on stage and people really liked it. Corinne was there actually.

and then I posted a little clip of it online and someone wrote in and was like, so this is something you're proud of that your town has 13 Dunkin donuts. It's actually shameful. I was just like, this is the difference. me. Our country runs on Dunkin. Okay. Including me and my ass who's always on the go. Right. Do you like Dunkin Kat? I love Dunkin. Me too. Candice, where are you on Dunkin?

I get the regular coffee at Dunkin that has the cream and sugar in it already just as is, and I can do that. Are you a Starbucks person? Probably more than, yes, more than Dunkin. Okay, that's okay. I'm a once -a -week coffee girl. wow. You only need coffee once a week? I know, she's superhuman. She drinks so much water. She reminds me to drink water.

Teach me. my God. I'm like put the IV in the second I wake up. Like, my God. So anyway, the way that I see it is like comedy on stage gives me an opportunity to like be silly and be goofy. And, you know, the personal connections that I've been able to make through comedy have been really life -giving. So social media is really fun. Don't get me wrong, but it can be very isolating. Yes.

It's you and your phone and you're alone. And one of the things that I tell people when I talk to them about, if they're saying, I want to start making content or something, the things that you do on the app should be so the quality of your life is better off of the app. And I try to keep that in mind. I have made so many friends from being on social media. It's been amazing, but.

We can all fall into that trap of just becoming isolated on our apps and on our phones. friends. Right. We never actually see them in real life. Right. And so what comedy does for me is it makes me have to go to open mics. It makes me have to go to class because I've been in comedy classes now for the last year. So it gives me this other outlet.

And it's made me connect with lot of really cool, especially women here in LA. There's a couple of cool men, but like I've met so many cool women doing comedy and that has been like, can't, I can't walk away from that. And I think it just gets to like two things can be true. And sometimes like I weave some of that, that serious stuff into my comedy. Like right now I'm working on a whole thing about the constitution for my comedy. Cause I.

think like the Constitution's kind of unhinged. It's just a bit out of date. We've got to give it a facelift. Just give it a facelift. Maintain the essence. Exactly. Just give it a facelift. I mean, and so when people are like, well, it's in the Constitution, I'm like, yeah, it was written by a bunch of land -owning white men in the late 1700s. We don't even use the HR policy from last year at my job because it's out of date.

that right there. anyway, so like I try to sometimes blend some of that serious stuff into into my comedy, but it's it's a lot of fun and it's a really fun outlet. Have either of you ever done stand up? No, never. But I've been talking to my husband about taking an improv class with me. Like, come on, really, improv class with me. Yeah, I think it would be great because I are. I know Kat and I are on stage a lot and I host workshops in front of people. And I think just even

having some background can help connect even more, even if it's not like I do stand up, right? But I think it would still be really beneficial. Yeah, improv, I've been told I haven't taken improv yet, but improv is really great. I've heard for people who are working in the podcast space because it's you guys are pros, clearly, but

It's really great for you to be able to like pivot in the moment. And I'm sure like on stage things happen. so improv I've heard is, I don't know if you follow Francesca Ramsey, but she's fantastic. And she was actually, she was the one who told me I should take a stand up class like a year and change ago. Yes. Like on an Instagram, not Instagram, Tik Tok live, we were just talking and you know, I was, someone was like, have you ever tried stand up? And she was like, you should take a class. And so that's sort of, you know,

And that's what I mean where the app can provide like these aha moments of ways that your life might never go. But she has said to people, I've heard her say that if you're going to do a podcast or you want to get into some type of interviewing or journalism, that improv is a great class. All right. Putting it on my to -do list for real this time. you. Done. It's co -signed. Yeah. Especially if Dom's listening to this episode, he's going to be like, the facts.

the facts, we're signing up. So Meredith, you've mentioned you're nine to five. You mentioned you do social media consulting. We love a good side hustle. And then now you're getting into standup. how would you, and so you're balancing all of this and you've pivoted and you've grown and changed. Like for those in the clever crew who are listening in and maybe they're considering a career pivot or reinventing themselves, what advice, like what would be the most useful advice?

that you would want to give to them listening in.

First of all, never underestimate the power of getting outside. because this, like when you're thinking about these changes in your life, they can feel really overwhelming. And I can get very caught in my head and like, I'm like, my God, why hasn't this happened for me? Why hasn't that happened? But like, if you can get outside.

spend some time in nature, reframe yourself for a minute. Just like even for 15 minutes, it can be a game changer in those moments. Because I think when you're thinking about these things, you tend to get like bogged down in the weeds, right? I would also recommend free writing. So that's something that they recommend to a lot of comedians. And that's just like, wake up in the morning and write for 15 minutes, just like, whatever's on your mind, whatever's on your heart, just like pour it out on the page.

and see what comes out of that. I think the last thing that I would say is to remember that life is short, but it's also long. So if you're feeling like, it's too late for me to try this thing, or everyone's going to judge me if I do it, silence that. Because like I said, it's short, but it's also long. You don't want to have these regrets.

But you also, people always say like, it's later than you think. No, it's not. It's earlier than you think. That's what I believe. I really do. can, like, you don't have to have it all figured out. If you want to start a social media account, if you want to, you know, career pivot and also like recognizing there's a lot of effing privilege in that. Like, it's not that easy. Like, so if that's something you're even thinking about and it feels daunting and it feels scary.

That's also okay. I just for context, know, I have been doing the social media thing since 2021 and I'm still trying to figure out where I'm at. Like I still don't exactly know my path. I still try things and fail miserably at them on there. I still, you know, there's been so many like almosts and maybes and you just can't let yourself get deterred by those.

And that happens, especially if you're someone who's thinking about the content world, you're going to get so many like, this thing might happen. And then it doesn't. But just you just have to pick up and keep going. Yeah, I love that. No, I love your advice. I think it's great. It's spot on. And I just had a real today actually about two of my clients who are in their 50s because it's been driving me insane that people are like, I'm too old or like, you know, no one's going to watch me. No one's going to care about me. And I have just two clients recently who really crushed it and they started

making content in their fifties. so I shared their stories just to get people to be like, it doesn't matter how old you are. It just matters that you have something to say and that you have your own unique perspective and you have value to add. And so, I love that you shared that right now, but also you have something that you just launched recently, which is your podcast, oddly specific, which I love that name actually.

Seriously, we when we heard it, it's like, it's such a perfect name. But tell us what is oddly specific about and then what made you want to go this podcasting route? Yeah, so oddly specific, which actually the title of the podcast came from a mean Reddit comment about me, which I don't really let myself read Reddit anymore.

Yeah. But I was on Reddit and I was reading this person who basically was like, I don't like Meredith Lynch. It's like, a number. I like I've been hearing that since kindergarten. Like not everybody's going to like me. Like when people write it and they tell me like, I don't like you. I'm like, okay, that's cool. You're not going to like everybody. But they said, you know, I don't really, I don't like Meredith Lynch. She remembers the most oddly specific detail and then she fixates on it.

for like ever. And I was like, yeah, that's the bit.

the cool thing. Right? So that's where the genesis of the name came from. And what we're doing on there is we're looking at private equity, which is something that I'm really passionate about. It's one of the things that I think this country needs to be paying more attention to. And I won't drag you down in the details, but it's making the wealth gap a lot wider in this country. And I believe that the wealth gap is one of the biggest problems that we have. And so

Essentially, we typically either do an episode about private equity and then go into a little pop culture, but sometimes we will do a private equity episode and then we'll do a pop culture episode. So it's this sort of blending of the private equity piece and the pop culture piece. Because like I said, everybody contains multitudes. And, you know, I've had people tell me, well, I wish there was more pop culture. I wish there was more private equity.

And, you know, if you don't like it, just wait till the next episode because it may have what you want. But I started doing it because it's one of those things that I feel like I waited too long to do. So when I tell people like, just go for it, I wish I had started earlier. I kept thinking like, it's not ready yet. Or, you know, I tried to find a network and that didn't work out. And so I just feel like

It's a way for me to build a little bit of that community and have these conversations that I really want to have in a longer format. I'm going back to like when I started with content, I'm not an expert on a lot of stuff, but.

bringing in the experts and having those conversations and learning together is, think, where a lot of the fun happens on the podcast. You are just continuing to pull back the curtain. It's like the next iteration. You went from TikTok deep dives to now you're connecting what people are seeing in pop culture accounts to where's the money going, right? Who's actually getting rich? What do these agreements look like? I think that's

The peak behind the curtain, that's a superpower. All right, rapid fire, Meredith. No wrong answers. Just first thing that pops into your mind. What was one of your childhood nicknames? Lala. that's so cute. Yes, my mom did childcare for this little boy, and he always called me Lala. And I always was like, I don't know where it comes from.

But I did become Lala for a lot of people for a long time, which is weird because there's no L in my name. There is not. That's okay. All right. Next question. Now, as we're approaching fall, right? We're in summertime at time of this recording. Are you, especially being in LA, are you team pumpkin spice or are you team anti -pumpkin spice? I am team whatever gets you through the night. I've never, I've never had a pumpkin spice latte.

I don't know that I wouldn't. I don't think I've ever had an occasion to, but life is really hard. if getting a little treat makes your life better, I am all for it. I love that. You are team human support. I I am team human We love that. You are. Okay.

What is in your business, in your work, all that you do, what's the most underrated tool or software that like saves your sanity? Wow, that's such a great question.

I would say CapCut. I love CapCut. We do love a good video editing. that. Best advice you've ever received. Best advice I've ever received.

I had a job once and we used to always say to each other, I don't know where the genesis of this came from, but when things would get hard, we'd say, caffeinate and get over it. And I still say it to myself like every day. Caffeinate and get over it. I love that. So simple. All right. Slightly easier question or maybe not.

Who's your celebrity crush? my God. It's so funny that you say that because someone just left me a comment like an hour ago on social media that was like, I think you have a crush on Teddy Mellencamp. And I was like, first of all, like, that's totally fine. But like, I'm straight.

Not that she's not beautiful. have been married to a man. And so I wrote back and I was like, no, they were like, I think you the hots for Chubby Mellie Camp. And I was like, honestly, my only crushes are my husband. And this is like so specific. My husband and Bob Odenkirk. Do you know who that is? Yes, better call Saul.

He's got that allure of something about him in the suit with the hair and then the eyes. Yeah. guys, we're recording a podcast. Bring it back. Bring it back. are. Okay. Rapid fire. Rapid fire. Okay. A more. A few more questions. Okay. Meredith, what was the last book or audio book you couldn't put down? I have this person on my podcast tomorrow. So the book is right here. It's called Just the Funny Parts with Nell Scavell.

And she was the showrunner and the creator of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, among many other things. That's so cool. Love that. Cool. All right. Candice is one of her pastimes is finding her at the airport. She's always on the go. So Meredith, when you travel with or without your husband, what's your airport arrival time? Is it two hours before boarding or two minutes? Two hours.

Yep. Candice's team two minutes, I'm team two I just like to walk onto the plane. just, don't want to wait. I want to go. I would love to be that chill, but I'm at all. I just believe that everything always works out for me. So that's, that's why I'm chill. I love that. I believe that nothing's going to work out for me. So I'm going to be there. Like I would be there the night before if I could.

Okay. Another thing about me, I love all things astrology. so two part question, when do know your sign? And if not, what's your birthday? So I do know my sign. I know I'm a Sagittarius and I'm not an astrology girlie, which is such an LA embarrassment.