Nicole Lapin

How does a woman who once struggled with her own finances become a must watch, must listen to expert in the field of money?  Time to find out!

Nicole Lapin is a high energy network anchor, best-selling author and business entrepreneur who’s credited with inspiring women (and men) to take control of their money and make the most of it.  Now, she’s a guest with Kraig Kann on Tracks To Success.

Her story is inspiring as she shares a story of rags to riches and a career she worked hard to make happen.  Find out why she left a television host job mid-contract to bet on herself and what moved her to write not one but three books aimed at empowering women to own their financial future.

Featured in 30 under 30, 40 under 40 and a sought after speaker, Lapin and Kann will have you listening for career advice and heading to your monthly budget for a quick evaluation!

Transcript

0 (4s):
Welcome to tracks to success brought to you by presentation partners. This is the podcast that brings you inspiring people, and they're inspiring stories. How did they find their way to the top and how can their path help you do the same? Here's your host network, broadcaster, executive and entrepreneur. Greg can

1 (29s):
Right now on this edition of tracks to success, a familiar face in the financial space who deserves a ton of credit for learning how to manage her own before becoming a sought after expert, helping others, a television anchor, she found her way to the network at the youngest of ages and is truly cashed in turning business entrepreneur and going from daily bright lights to very bright ideas that she's published in multiple books and magazines and talked about on multiple shows, stages, and content platforms, including those through her own production company.

1 (1m 10s):
This female financial power broker might not be able to show you the money, but with stints on CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, Bloomberg, and Steve Harvey show, just to name a few she's teaching women how to handle it. Her toughest challenge in helping others manage money, probably managing her time because after once nearly going broke herself, she's now going mad with business opportunities. Her name is Nicole Lapin, entrepreneur speaker, and author of bestsellers, rich bitch and boss bitch, and becoming superwoman, her inspiring story.

1 (1m 55s):
And this addition of tracks to success starts now, Nicole, this is awesome. Totally thrilled to spend some time with you. Thank you so much for our listeners out there, full disclosure. We crossed paths back in the television days and I'll explain how in just a little bit, but I think Nicole's kind of graduated. I'm using the term graduated Nicole, because you've done so many things since we did do a little television bit together, and I'm very impressed, which is why I want you on this podcast. So I start out with a huge, thank you really appreciate the time

0 (2m 33s):
I always make the time for casework.

1 (2m 37s):
I really appreciate that. That's very kind of you very kind now the challenge of this podcast for me and believe me, I face some challenges with this thing was where do I start? Because there are so many things I want to talk to you about that I, I get excited about. So I could start in a certain spot. I know where I want to start, but if you are going to start this thing, if you were sitting in my chair and you were going to interview Nicole Lapin, where would you start? What would be the first thing that you would want to get out there for the public to know about you?

2 (3m 7s):
Oh, I don't wish that on anyone. So if you know where to start, Greg, that is more than any man has in the history of the world. I cannot wait to find out where that is. Okay.

1 (3m 20s):
Okay. Then I know exactly where I'm starting. You've written three books. I don't want to talk about the first two. I want to talk about the most recent one, which is called becoming super woman. That is a really cool title. The other two are even cooler, which I'll get to, but becoming super woman. What's the mission with that? What made you want to put that out there? And what's behind it? That's tied to Nicole Lapin.

2 (3m 42s):
So becoming super woman is a 12 step plan to go from burnout to balance and all of my fellow step plans because like many 12 step recovery programs, the first step is admitting you have a problem. And I think that is the hardest step oftentimes. And I think as you know, a lot of women try to be super woman, the character, the one word version, because there's a space, a very intentional space in my book title. And that space allows for the woman to put her oxygen mask on first, before helping others and becoming super woman. That one word version is unsustainable.

2 (4m 24s):
I think a lot of women try to do it all and be it all and be all things to all people. So ultimately she's nothing to herself and that's how I felt. And that compelled me to try and share my story or for other women who were struggling with burnout or break down and realize that it's actually the biggest asset or liability. I think self care is the biggest asset or liability in your career. And I've talked about career and finances for two decades. I believe. So. You know, beyond the negotiating, beyond all the tricks of the trade, if you are not taking care of yourself and nothing else matters.

1 (5m 2s):
Yeah, I would totally agree with that. Doesn't matter, male or female, you gotta think about yourself. Be healthy, be happy, and then help others. Let's toss out some cool things. People probably don't know about Nicole outside of all those fun things. I shared in my fancy little open before we started this, I'm going to rip through them and see which one really sticks to you. And you go, yeah, I'm proud of that. Number one, valedictorian of your class at Northwestern. I man, we're talking about Northwestern here. That's cool.

2 (5m 35s):
Well that and three 50 will get me a soy latte when my lots are used again in this world. So it hasn't really helped me in my life. It just proves that I have always been a complete nerd. And maybe that's why I'm single because I didn't go to college parties and I've rewritten financial dictionaries in the back of my car.

1 (5m 53s):
Yeah, whatever you've got that on your resume. That's pretty solid. A in the miss America pageant 2016, really,

2 (6m 3s):
For real, I always wanted to do this and I wanted to ask a smarty pants questions. And miss America is the biggest scholarship organization for women. It's not the Trump one. That's miss USA. And I loved, I loved my experience there. I had a motorcade, a police escort for an entire week at Atlantic city because those folks are really intense from different States. By the way, they will try to Brett having a police escort was definitely something I'll never forget. In addition to everything else there,

1 (6m 33s):
That's pretty neat. I'd put that on the list. First female ever to win money idle of the year. Now you beat out Tony Robbins and Dave Ramsey for this thing,

2 (6m 45s):
Dude, it's money. I don't have the year. It's not American idol. It is like the nerd Olympics. Yeah. I don't know if that's something that I'm definitely gonna put out on my dating app,

1 (6m 59s):
Beat Dave you'd beat Dave Ramsey and Tony Robbins. I mean that, that's a big deal. Those are two big heavy hitters. Come on. You got to put that higher here. How about this one then maybe this will get you excited. I'm going to throw two together at once here, New York observer once voted you the number one bachelorette in the New York city media. Now, if that's not cool enough, I'm not talking about the bachelor and the bachelorette show the series, but that is really cool in a big city like that. Or maybe it's the fact that you were on the golf channel once upon a time, which one?

2 (7m 32s):
Oh yes, duh. The golf channel. You know, I was very shocked when they told me I was going to be on the golf channel. I was so confused. Cause it was when Comcast and NBC merged and I was just like, wow, I don't know about any of this golf stuff, but I'll go on and talk about the Dow I guess. And it was, it became one of my most favorite TV things that I've done in the last couple of decades. Cause I started on the, or when I was 15 years old.

1 (8m 6s):
Yeah, it was fun. And you were very good and it gave us something. Look at the audience of the golf channels. A lot of people that care about the market and you delivered it very well. A lot of bubbly enthusiasm at seven o'clock in the morning. That was very impressive. Now let's go way back. All right. Let's let's talk childhood because clearly you've got an amazing resume. Where did Nicole grow up? And were you always destined for all this cool stuff? When you were a kid, did you feel like you were that type of kid? That was that driven?

2 (8m 38s):
Oh my gosh. So we're going back to the womb. It sounds like I grew up in Los Angeles and no I was destined to become a homeless crack addict in an alleyway. I definitely was not destined for making it business much less being in business for sure. I grew up in an immigrant family. So first generation American, super broken home, never had the wall street journal on the kitchen counter and never talked about stocks or bonds or any of that stuff. Didn't have a silver spoon in my mouth growing up. Some people have assumed that I barely had a food spoon with food in my mouth growing up at all.

2 (9m 20s):
I actually, my father died of a drug overdose when I was 11 and I never really thought that I was going to make much of my life. And I was dealt a terrible hand. I played it the best I could and I won way bigger than I ever expected. And I just needed a job. Like I didn't want to be in finance. I hated finance. My boyfriend in high school said he wanted to be a hedge fund manager. And I thought that dude want it to be in gardening. So I definitely didn't think I was going to go on to write rich bitch or boss bitch, or like be on CNBC or Bloomberg or you know, the golf Joel talking about what was going on in the markets.

2 (10m 0s):
I just was offered a job in business news and I lied and said that I knew about business news and because they needed a job and I faked it to like Meda and the rest is history.

1 (10m 13s):
Okay. That's pretty cool. Now what I found out was that you started television at like in your teenage years, back in high school, cable access and stuff. And then like everybody else, you went to a journalism school. I said like, everybody else, not everybody went to a, a good journalism school like Northwestern. And then all of a sudden you go to the local markets and play that whole game. Like a lot of people that get into TV. So with that, what was your big break? Who was the influencer that got Nicole Lapin pushed in the right direction based upon, you know, a childhood that you say didn't set you up for greatness?

2 (10m 53s):
Well, I think it was a mosaic of a bunch of different people. Yeah. I like a lot of teams, angsty teens wanted to figure out where I belonged and I thought maybe I would be a dancer. I was, I went to a performing arts high school. I was a dance major, like the fame school. Then I wanted to be a poet and be a writer and sit under a tree. And then I was like, Oh wow, I have to probably pay bills. So I went into journalism and then made less than $20,000 a year. But you know, I ultimately became a writer, so it's not the kind I expected. And I often say, you know, when entrepreneurial experts will say, go out and do what you love, Yolo, FOMO, whatever, yo just burn your corporate bra.

2 (11m 38s):
I'm like, well, I didn't really have the luxury to go do what I loved, but I had figured out how to love what I did. And I became a writer, just not, I kind of expected

1 (11m 50s):
You worked on the floor of the Chicago mercantile exchange. I mean, that's pretty impressive. Was that the thing that did get you hooked where you said, okay, I kind of do like business. I kind of do like finance and I could go in this direction. Was that the break?

2 (12m 5s):
Well, it was definitely my, I was 18. It was definitely my first foray into anything about business or money. And it sounded like Chinese, to me, it sounded like complete jargon. And what I realized is that many is just a language like anything else. We just don't have a Rosetta stone for that language. And so I was like, well, I figured out harder things in my life. So I guess they can figure this out. But the truth is I was super scared and I was super clueless. And so once I could understand the language, I spoke it to the world. I never would have imagined that, you know, fast forward I would be teaching anyone else how to speak that language. Like I'm the least likely person to become a finance, anything.

2 (12m 47s):
And so if I can do it, anyone can do.

1 (12m 50s):
Yeah. But you're an expert. And in everything I read, this is what humanizes you. This is what to me is the compelling story behind the career. And that is that well, before you ever started teaching and helping people manage their money, you had to figure out how to manage your own because you were in trouble. What's the story behind that?

2 (13m 11s):
Yeah. I grew up like a lot of first generation American kids using cash land. I didn't know any thing about a mortgage or, you know, a credit card or APR or any of that stuff. And when I got my dream job at CNN, I was 21, which is high class problems. Cause you have to keep raising the bar after that, which is a whole other story. And the moral of that story is the external solutions are not helpful for internal problems because, you know, I think I self prescribed, not drugs or alcohol, but work for many years to hide from a really traumatic upbringing.

2 (13m 56s):
And I ultimately got at PTSD diagnosis for, and I didn't even know that folks who didn't go to war could get that. But while I was, I was trying to medicate with work for so many years, I got a credit card and I got myself into a whole bunch of debt because they didn't know how to use it. And I figured out how to get out the hard way. And I realized that it's not that complicated. Once you can understand finance and money and stuff like that. Like sometimes we suffer more in imagination than in reality. And yeah, if you wouldn't go to China, you didn't speak Chinese. You get really confused if you went to wall street or Chicago work, or if you got yourself in debt, like you'd be really confused.

2 (14m 38s):
But then when you can speak the language you realize it's actually not that complicated. And you know, it's not that difficult once you actually learn this jargon is stuff that I think keeps a lot of people out of the conversation. So the one thing you,

1 (14m 52s):
You taught yourself or, or the talk you gave yourself or the message that you learned that helped you pull yourself out of debt to get yourself on the right track to even make this a career.

2 (15m 5s):
Well, I broke it down into baby steps. So I think anything overwhelming broken down into baby steps as much more manageable and something that you can tackle much easier. And so that's why I, you know, again, I wanted to be poet finance books for sure. But when I did, you know, it was after 10 years of trying to get a book deal for false starts for agents, for proposals that didn't go anywhere. And I thought it would never happen for me, but once it did, you know, breaking it down into those steps was what actually just helped me.

2 (15m 47s):
And I think that's what ultimately ended up resonating with other people. I thought rich bitch would either be dead on arrival. You can't call a book rich bitch and not expect people to have feelings about it or do really, really well like pressure it. And I truly had no idea which way to go, but yeah, thankfully it did the latter and yeah, one book became two became three and then I just signed a two book deal. What is happening? I don't have actual babies, but I birth a lot of book, baby girl.

1 (16m 27s):
That is so cool. Okay. You've just taken me there. I was going to go there in a little bit. So let's talk about that. The book rich pitch, all right. That does elicit emotion. It makes people feel something, same thing with boss bitch and then no, the superwoman book. So let's go back to the first one and the failed opportunities and all of a sudden it goes out there. The things sells out on Amazon in like a week and everybody's all over it. Did you feel you'd arrived?

2 (16m 57s):
I was so confused. I, I did all of this prep behind like the name of rich bitch taking back the word bitch and owning it as a badge of honor. You know, I've been called a bitch in a derogatory sentence throughout my career. And that just meant that I was strong, ambitious, and powerful. And if that meant I was a bitch then awesome. I'm a bitch. And I own that as a badge of honor, but like nobody really cared about that part. And I think it was, it was the first time that this finance space that was typically really boring and stodgy was disrupted. And I didn't even know that that's what I was doing at the time. I didn't know, like I'm going to disrupt the personal finance section of the bookstore.

2 (17m 41s):
Like, no, I just wrote what I thought I would have wanted as I taught myself how to get my own financial life together and become a reporter and anchor. And then I ultimately went on to get all those alphabet soup certifications. I was like, I would want this. And so yeah, when it sold out, when it hit the New York times best seller list, like, you know, it was, it was as much of a shock to me as it probably was to my publisher who, you know, I think in wall street and in life, there's two truisms, one buy low sell high. And the other that it's better to beat low expectations. So I definitely beat low expertise.

1 (18m 19s):
You've definitely done that. You just talked about the alphabet soup. So let's go through your TV career a little bit and we'll get back to the book. And in just a minute, 2005, CNN, CNN headline news, you helped them launch the 24 hour live stream situation for them, CNN international, then off to MSNBC, CNBC NBC, the today show then Bloomberg is in the mix as well for you. I mean, you have had Nicole and amazing set of platforms from which to grow. What did you learn about yourself with all of the shows that you did and the people that you interviewed were talking fortune 500 CEOs.

1 (19m 1s):
I mean, you've been there. What did you learn about yourself with all of that?

2 (19m 5s):
It sounds like I'd get around Craig. You know, I think I learned that it takes awhile to become really comfortable in your own skin. And that's a journey in life. It's a journey on television. And when I started, I wanted to have all this like photo gravitas where I cut my hair really short and a little ankle Bob and I lowered my voice and I wore shoulder pads and Ts my hair. And, you know, I tried to be older and wiser than I was, but the truth was I knew what I was talking about and I could have long hair and talk to CEOs and politicians and go mano a mano with them.

2 (19m 49s):
Then the only person that was really the enemy of that was myself. And sometimes the biggest enemy is between your ears. And so I had intense imposter syndrome. Like I never thought every day that my bads was going to work at CNN, I would walk in. I'd be like, they definitely are going to figure me out. They're definitely going to just turn off my badge and it's not going to work because like, they're going to realize that they made a huge mistake in hiring me and it always worked. They didn't fire me and I deserve to be there. And I auditioned along with a bunch of other folks and did all these tests and stuff like that. And, and I deserved it.

2 (20m 29s):
I was just the one that had

1 (20m 33s):
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1 (21m 21s):
We're talking with author TV, anchor, entrepreneur, Nicole Lapin. I want to have some fun with a couple of other things that are tied to your TV career because in the midst of all that reporting and finding out what it was like to be in front of those bright lights and teasing your hair and all the things that you just talked about, you've reported on us budget woes before, right? You've been right there in the midst of the economy and sharing all those things. So, so talk to me about where we are in the United States. Are you a glass half full or glass half empty on the state of the union when it comes to dollars and cents?

2 (22m 0s):
Well, I think that the only thing we can control is ourselves. We can't control the global economy. We can't control any of the madness happening with the pandemic or the stock market. We can only control ourselves in our own little economies. And I think now is a better time than ever to learn the language of money. If you haven't learned it already. And like, I, again, the least likely person to speak the language of money, much less speaker to the world. Like I didn't learn it. My, my family definitely like only use cash in a nefarious way. Totally never liked the upstanding, you know, history of the stock market.

2 (22m 42s):
That was nothing we talked about. And, you know, I, I could have said, wow, well, what was me? I didn't learn it. We don't learn this in school. We learned a lot of BS stuff like the Pythagorean theorem, how to dissect a frog and I can be like, well, I didn't learn it. So I'm just going to bury my head in the sand. You know, I think it's a combination of forgiving your former self for what he or she doesn't know. And then moving forward saying that that's not okay moving forward and then I can do better. And listen, if you, you know, learn this stuff growing up, amazing. If you have a trust fund, like I'm not mad at you, I'm really jealous.

2 (23m 26s):
But if you did, like, you're never as young as you are today. You know, if not now than when, and this is a great time to learn the things that may have scared you. And once you do, you realize that they're actually not that scary.

1 (23m 41s):
You talked about Bloomberg television and we know tied to the markets and finance hosted a bunch of things. There interviewed a bunch of people, entrepreneurs from startups included in that. So think back who's the most interesting or compelling guy or woman that comes to your mind immediately, right? That you say, wow, I got to sit with them. And I know you've talked to the head founder of LinkedIn and Zappos and other places as well, but what jumps right to the front of Nicole's mind?

2 (24m 12s):
Oh my gosh. As somebody who is an amazing entrepreneur. Yeah. I really love, you know, it's not an entrepreneur, but I loved the governor of Montana. I'm a guy named Brian Schweitzer at the time. He was, he invited me to his ranch in Montana and I was doing a governor's stories around like how the States were broke and they were running a surplus. And I was just so impressed. He spoke Arabic a, like I was so thoughtful about the economy and the state of the state. He was this rising star in the democratic party. And I got a fly fishing license while I was there.

2 (24m 55s):
He taught me how to fly through her. She taught me how to, you know, throw knives. It's actually the only time I've ever gotten tackled by secret service, we were like messing around with teasers because you're on this ranch, there's no service or like electricity or anything. And so we were all just hanging out and they were showing me how to do these things that I had never learned before growing up in LA. And we were messing around with tasers and I thought I was being really cute and being like, ha I'm Charlie's angels. And I sort of like pointed it and we got her hers direction and I totally got tackled. There were like, it's all fun and games until point a taser and the government.

2 (25m 40s):
We're not friends. So definitely definitely a memorable experience for a lot of presents.

1 (25m 45s):
You've talked to entrepreneurs. Bottom line is you are one. And when did you kind of get comfortable with that? And think I can own this. I, Nicole happened and my own brand and I'm going to put it out there comfortably when

2 (26m 3s):
Wow. So I never really calculated how I would build this brand because a lot of people will ask me, you know, how they can build something similar. And the truth is I made it up as I went along and I found a market for accessible financial content. You know, Susie Orman was mazing. And while I was at CNBC, you know, she was sort of the voice of financial advice. I'd worked with her and Jean Chatzky and a lot of amazing personal finance experts, but I felt like it wasn't accessible to me and my generation. You know, the idea not buying a latte seems ridiculous.

2 (26m 46s):
And I was like, well, I actually think that financial advice is fine. If you buy a latte and rent, instead of buying a house and not buying a lot of times, I don't think the financial gods are going to come down and get you. So let's try something else. And I tried to really capture that white space. And what I saw was the market. And as it found resonance, I just continued to grow from it. I actually started when I left CNBC and I left mid contract because I, I felt so strongly about this, this opportunity. And I had a great job and a super sweet salary and all these things.

2 (27m 28s):
And like people were very confused. My agent at the time was like, you're ruining your career. You're you're this is the worst idea you've ever had ever, ever, ever. And I was like, well, watch me. And that's what I did. I started with recession East side. I don't know if you remember this. It was during the thick of the recession and I launched it. Recession used a.com and then a year later, the recession ended, which was amazing for the economy, but terrible for my business. And I thought, wow, okay, well, I tried this entrepreneur. I could always go back to TV and work for somebody else, but I pivoted. And that became the basis for rich bitch. And you know, fast forward to this pandemic where everybody's pivoting, I think entrepreneurs and true entrepreneurs will have pivoted a bazillion times before and will continue pandemic or not.

1 (28m 19s):
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1 (29m 13s):
So T tell me about this. Tell me about this. What was your goal early on? What was your goal early on? Did you have a specific goal and were you incredibly nervous? Because you just said, you told your boss, Hey, guess what? I got this basically, and I'm going to go do it. Did you have a goal?

2 (29m 33s):
You know, my goal was to provide accessible financial content to a mainstream audience. And so I loved being on CNBC and to those CEOs and being on the golf channel and talking to the audience of, you know, old, rich white men. And that's not me editorializing, you know, this that's, who's watching the golf channel. That's, who's watching CNBC, like, you know that, and that just wasn't the audience that I wanted to reach. And I was so lucky to be able to reach like the richest, most powerful country for a long time. But I felt like I wanted to reach my former self, that girl who was smiling and nodding and not joining basic money conversations. Cause she was too freaked out the girl whose boyfriend dumped her because he couldn't, I couldn't hang out with his wall street friends.

2 (30m 19s):
That's legit. That's a legit story. And I felt like Elle woods. I was like, okay, well, you know, his, his wall street friends came calling when I was anchoring business news. So I felt vindicated in that. And I thought I could bottle that and I could help other women who are feeling those same fears.

1 (30m 39s):
So you felt that women needed what you could offer. Is that fair? Did they need something in your face? A little bit? I say that because look, Nicole, you've been recognized in groups like 30, under 30, 40, under 40 and other things. And I don't know specifically why they tagged you. I don't even know if you know why they tagged you, but everything you've put out there, including the names of those books, right? Rich bitch, boss, bitch, kind of in your face type stuff. It almost seems like you believe that women needed that. Is that fair?

2 (31m 16s):
Yeah. I just don't think they knew they needed that. And so I had one big criticism from Mika Brzezinski on morning, Joe and I used to be on their show. I used to do their show and then the gold channel and a bunch of NBC stations. And she said like, I don't know about the title of this book. I like the concept, but I'm not sure about the title. And my answer to that was I think the end was justified. The means if you could get a woman to pick up a money book, never imagined she picked up a money book, then we are all winning. And that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to make this sneak attack a little in your face, but also like, you know, a lot of candy and sugar on top of some spinach.

2 (31m 59s):
And I think that that's the way that this topic was going to get digested the best. And so that's, that's definitely where my heart was going into this.

1 (32m 10s):
The thing that I'm most impressed by is the fact that you started your own production company and you're basically producing money, content, finance content that's geared toward women. So as a followup to what I just asked you, why not men? Why is it not that men wouldn't take your advice? Believe me, there's so much good stuff out there. I'm sure they're paying great attention to it, but there is a clear focus to women only why.

2 (32m 37s):
So I think with media, you have to know your audience and if you try to be all things to all people, you're nothing to anyone. And I told you about a few proposals that didn't go through over 10 years to get my first book deal. And one of them was called making bank and it was all things to all people. Cool, fine, and not would have been dead on arrival for sure. And I think what rich bitch did was say, okay, I know exactly who she is. I know how old she is. I know what brands she like. She is me. She's my former self. And the, the information is agnostic.

2 (33m 18s):
I mean, I love finding photos of men who are reading rich bitch or Ross rich or whatever. And I post them a lot because they think they're amazing on the hilarious and a lot of moms who read it, give it to their sons. Like if they want to hear me talk about, you know, ex-boyfriend's stories and be called a bitch, like get after it because the advice is for everyone. But I think in media, in order to resonate, you really need to know exactly who your audience is and you can't dilute that or else it just doesn't work for anyone.

1 (33m 48s):
Yeah. I would agree with that. No question know your audience and don't tell them what they need. Listen to them to find out what they will consume or what they're wanting. And clearly you've found the perfect recipe for our listeners out there. Nicole is the expert on many shows, many networks, Steve Harvey, you make appearances there. Access Hollywood. I mean, come on, I've already rattled off all these other networks. How in the world do you find the time for all this stuff? You even did a show called hatched where you're the host and it's a business competition show. So I don't know how you find the time to do all this stuff.

2 (34m 24s):
You know, I think time is your most valuable asset and this is kind of angry from a money lady. You can always get more money. You can't get more time. And I think about that a lot. I actually have a tattoo that says that it's, I don't know if you can see it, but it's on my arm. And it says there, and I think about the idea of time, a lot, and that, you know, it's, it's a really limited asset and that I want to be really proud of how I'm using it. So I, you know, you kind of don't find time, just make it like, you know, it's not a hiding under a couch. Like I'll just find the time. Like what, no, I don't think anyone in the history of the world has found time.

2 (35m 8s):
You just make the time for the things that you deem important. And I think the more intentional I am about that, the more fulfilled to use your word. I am.

1 (35m 18s):
Yeah. I love that word. I really do.

2 (35m 21s):
In addition to hosting this podcast, Craig leads the, can advise, regroup focused on elevating communication for companies and individuals, company consulting, empowering team, and individual workshops, mind altering webinars, and Craig's keynotes for your conference or company meeting. They're all on the menu of services. Can advisory helps companies clarify their message, helps professionals build and showcase their brand and helps everyone present their best selves. So if you're the leader of a team or company looking to give your employees a game changing one day experience or an individual who wants to become a speaker and presenter that gets other people talking visit Ken advisory.com.

2 (36m 11s):
And when you do connect, make sure to mention the tracks to success podcast, to receive a special discount on any of the can advisory services. That's can advisory.com. Now back to the interview,

1 (36m 28s):
We're talking with Nicole Lapin spends a lot of time in New York spends a lot of time in a lot of places. You talked about making time. You spend time with charity as well, and that's a pretty deep dive and something that seems like you're pretty empowered and inspired to do a lot of that also geared toward women among the many things that you've done. Is there a charitable effort that you're most proud of?

2 (36m 54s):
Well, thank you for the question. It's something that I think about a lot. I actually started when I was starting my production company down the road of creating a <inaudible> myself and that's really expensive and really complicated. And I realized that there actually doesn't need to be a whole other charity by me that I could contribute to a lot of amazing charities that already exist and probably make more of an impact. Like I, I'm not in this for vanity, I don't need like another thing with my name on it. And so yeah, women in need it's dear to my heart, it's it helps women in New York city who are homeless and helps with education and, and career services.

2 (37m 39s):
I also have always been really passionate about kids, medical charities and my father growing up was a doctor and he was a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant surgeon. He was also an alcoholic and a drug addict. And so I think the, the dichotomy of public success and private pain has been branded into my DNA. And it's always been something really been important to me to honor and celebrate the, the good part of what I remember of him for serve as a Jacqueline Hyde part. But, but the really powerful part has been important for me to, to celebrate and, and, and also see that part of what my upbringing was because like everybody is it's complicated.

2 (38m 27s):
It's not all bad. It's not all good. And there are lots of shades of

1 (38m 32s):
Your energy is one of the things that stands to me. I don't know if you realize that that's one of the things that makes you, you, and I say that as a compliment and in talking about your brand and your entrepreneurship and the things that you're taking on, et cetera, what is your goal in helping people?

2 (38m 54s):
Wow. You know, I, I think that for me, my purpose in the last gosh, since I left network news has been almost a decade. You know, my purpose has really been to empower women in a way that, you know, I never expected myself to be and, and having a platform, whatever platform I did, I'm not like delusional that I'm, you know, some Kardashians with this same platform, but I felt a huge responsibility to use whatever platform I had in a way that I was really, really proud of.

2 (39m 38s):
And so my goal is to just continue to grow that platform and to really be of service to others. You know, I am 36 years old and don't have a family of my own. It's actually something that I wanted more than anything else. And I froze my eggs on good morning, America. Like I went through the whole process and it's not been something that's happened for me. And, you know, I think there was a lot of stigma around, around where, you know, I didn't want to have kids. And, and then I really like went deep into my inbox and to my soul. And I saw how many people I was helping.

2 (40m 18s):
And I realized that, you know what, my life didn't turn out exactly as I expected, but maybe it's actually gonna turn out better. And this is, was something that, you know, I had to embrace for myself and, and find clarity and peace around. And yeah, I keep popping out these books, I guess, no babies, no actual human babies. And every time, like, I think I'm going to take birth control for the books. And I don't, I'm like my tubes are definitely tied after this last one. And whoops, I just got pregnant with books, twins like that happened.

2 (41m 2s):
So yeah, people want to keep, keep listening and keep reading and keep talking to me. Then I'll keep producing.

1 (41m 10s):
I have figured out in our conversation today, why you have become successful. And to me, it's not only because you're an expert in a given field, it's because you humanize it and you keep it real and you don't shy away from tossing out the authentic you, whether you realize that or not. That's what I see now, this Nicole has called tracks to success. Are you proud of your track to success? Is there anything you would have done different, especially given that you opened up to me about a very difficult childhood?

2 (41m 48s):
I, wow. Am I proud of myself? You know what? I'm not there. I would really, really hard on myself and it's something that I'm working on and it's something that I, you know, I'm, I'm trying to quiet the mean girl inside my head, because I think from outward appearances, you think people have like, got it all together. And you know, the more I open up about the things that are taboo, whether it's money or mental health or fertility or stuff that people don't want to talk about, I'm kind of like, listen, I'm rich. My goals early on the rest is just gravy. So if I can do something better, legitimately beneficial to others, and I am able to say, I'll go first with these uncomfortable conversations.

2 (42m 36s):
I'll show you mine. If you show me yours or don't even show me yours, but show yourself the truth. And then I think I win. But I, you know, during my battle with burnout and a diagnosis of PTSD, I realized that I don't wish I didn't have PTSD that came with many, many rounds. I'm in the ring with darkness and many, many, many episodes of severe depression, but also hyper arousal, which is the definition in the DSM of PTSD, which is not the sexy kind. But it's, you know, this, this really intense work ethic and productivity, then I wouldn't be who I am today.

2 (43m 22s):
And so I used to want to be so different. You know, I wanted a perfect family and I wanted like, you know, to be happy all the time. I'm proud of myself and all these things. And, and I think recently I just said, you know, I was different. I wouldn't be able to be talking with you today. I wouldn't be able to have the platform I did. And that was a big part of my last book, where I had to not look at it as my biggest problem, but my biggest superpower and, you know, it's something that I never thought I actually would frame it now.

1 (43m 56s):
Some great stuff right there. We've only got a couple minutes left. I want to ask you a few questions before we go specifically about some advice that you would give. I'm sure you speak on many stages and platforms and groups, et cetera, through this platform. What's the biggest advice about money that you would give anybody, not just women, anybody?

2 (44m 19s):
My biggest advice about money is to speak the language. And if there's stuff that you don't understand, then chances are a lot of folks don't understand it either. But you know, that's, I think the biggest impediment to getting any sort of financial life together is just speaking the language first,

1 (44m 40s):
Meaning to understand it when we're confused, helped talk me through that, speaking the language.

2 (44m 47s):
So yes, when you were confused, I used to, and I alluded to this earlier, like smile and nod instead of joining conversations. And I talked about that in my first book where, you know, there would be conversations where people would say like, Oh, shorting a stock, blah. And I would just be like, yeah, totally. I understand what you're saying. And you have no idea, but I am like super, super comfortable now. And even when I was on the air in business news, I would ask folks like, what does that mean? And I think a lot of people are nervous about that. Especially, you know, in TV, I got to a place where I was like, listen, I know that I'm smart matters. And if I don't understand it, then the viewers not going to understand it, but you kind of have to like really have some clips, but to do that.

2 (45m 34s):
And you know, even in finance, like the bond guys wouldn't know what the equity guys would be talking about. And so a lot of there's a lot of fear around just asking a question, because, you know, you think you might look dumb, but you're only being a disservice to yourself.

1 (45m 52s):
Yeah. You talked about burnout and it's almost like overspending in a way, overspending of yourself to the point that you're finding yourself at a loss in a way, I'm sure you, as I said, speak to a lot of groups, so now I want to kind of leave them with this. The biggest advice you could give people who are either looking to become an entrepreneur or find their own path to success, what would you tell them, given everything you've gone through?

2 (46m 23s):
Wow. You know, I think that, you know, I go back to the language thing again, because once I realized that like short is not the opposite of tall, it's the opposite of long. And it just means something's going in the Cooper. Like it's not this exclusive club with this red velvet rope that I wasn't able to get in because you know, I didn't have the pedigree. Then that opened up all the possibilities to me. And so, you know, I think that being able to be an autodidact is super, super important. So teaching yourself stuff like, yeah, I went to a fancy school, but like, I didn't learn anything about television or finance or anything.

2 (47m 8s):
Like, you know, I still talk to people and it surprises me the stuff that I'll hear. Like one guy said, I have money because I have tracks like this scary Craig, you know, the amount of financial illiteracy out there is, is something that truly does scare me. And I use a lot of humor to try and get the message out there. But if it's business literacy or financial literacy, it's okay. If you don't understand it, but you know, it's not okay, moving forward,

1 (47m 43s):
Are there enough experts out there to help us?

2 (47m 46s):
I hope so. I hope there's more, I mean, listen to whoever you want, people will ask me all the time. Like, what do you think about Dave Ramsey is whatever. I'm like, I don't know if that resonates with you, like get after it. The truth is, you know, if somebody tells you they're an expert in something like really run the other way, like I know a lot, I don't necessarily call myself a full on expert, but there's always more to learn. I think that it's improved to rethink conventional wisdom about everything, especially finances and think for yourself. So don't take anything anyone says that it's gospel, like don't take stuff I say as possible. You know, it could be right for you like to not buy a latte and you know, buy a house like other financial experts say then great.

2 (48m 30s):
Just I think it's that moment. Like I became a vegetarian when I was younger and my family ate me and I could have decided self. I really liked me. And so I'm going to eat meat, but I decided not to. But it's that moment that like moment where you say self, do I like me or self? Is it okay to continue the way it's always been? And maybe the answer is yes. Maybe the answer is no, but don't just assume that because it's always been done a certain way means it needs to be that way.

1 (49m 0s):
Last thing what's gonna stand out from me of our little chat is the conversation with your agent and him telling you, or she telling you you're blowing your whole career. And you said, just watch me. Now you have hatched. I'm using that because you were on the show, hatched, hatched a lot of different things, a lot of opportunities. What are you most proud of?

2 (49m 29s):
I'm most proud of that. I'm still here and then I'm still making stuff and I haven't been completely burned out or jaded or blow my brains out just yet. So I'm, I'm, that's what I'm most proud of.

1 (49m 45s):
You've done a wonderful job. You're a fun read. You're a fun watch. You're a fun, listen folks out there, listeners by the book. And I hope you've, you've bought into Nicole lap and it's been a lot of fun chatting with you. I can't thank you enough for the time. It really means a lot.

2 (50m 3s):
Thank you, Craig.

1 (50m 10s):
Our conversation, Nicole and I talked about her show hatched, which is a business competition show. And that leads me to my one last thing. If you want to be an influencer, realize the importance of starting new projects and trying new things. The word hatch can be something exciting for you too. As you venture into something where you don't know the outcome, only the ambition and the goal of doing something great that other people might get some value from a few months back, I hatched the weekly live stream career chat conversation called elevating you reaching your peak.

1 (50m 51s):
I do it with a business friend of mine, Mike Mooney. And for us it was something new and an idea we were both passionate about as we try to give everyone who listens and watches something casual yet some real conversation to help them in their own careers. Nicole has ventured into many spaces and inspired women to take control of their finances and their lives. So what's your plan time for you to take control, start hatching some new ideas and building your own tracks to success. If you have a guest, you think belongs on the podcast, tweet at us at tracks to success until next time.

1 (51m 34s):
I'm Craig cam.

0 (51m 35s):
Thanks for listening. You've been listening to tracks to success, brought to you by presentation partners, visual storytellers, passionate about connecting presenters with their audience. Don't forget to subscribe to the show for more great interviews and thoughts on reaching your highest personal and professional summit. You can follow Craig on Twitter and Instagram using the handle at Craig pan and for exclusive tracks to success, content and news about our upcoming guests. You can find tracks to success on Twitter. It's at tracks to success.