How do you slyly tell your boss that you need more than five weeks off to film a hit reality T.V. show where you could meet your future spouse in a 12-by-12-foot pod? Better yet, how do you explain that you won’t see your partner before actually saying “yes” to a marriage proposal, you’ll only have 28 days with them before you say “I do,” and you’re quitting your job to pursue an influencer career?
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TechTranscript
00:00 As influencers, after the show has aired,
00:02 we both made over a half a million dollars.
00:06 - Each. - Each.
00:07 My name is DT Van Patti.
00:17 I am 32 years old.
00:19 - And I'm Natalie Lee, and I'm 31 years old,
00:22 and you may recognize us from "Love is Flying" season two.
00:24 (upbeat music)
00:27 I really enjoyed my job.
00:34 I still kept my job throughout filming "Love is Blind"
00:37 and also after, and even while the show was coming out.
00:40 - I also loved my job, and even though I quit that job,
00:44 I can still use the things that I learned in technology
00:46 in content creation today.
00:48 Honestly, I did not tell my boss
00:50 that I was gonna go film a reality TV show,
00:53 because I just don't think
00:55 that I would have gone over well.
00:56 - You didn't?
00:57 - No, I didn't tell them. - I didn't know that.
00:59 - I was just like, I accumulated my PTO days,
01:02 and I was just like, "Hey, I'm gonna be taking
01:03 "a long vacation," and most of the filming,
01:07 the second half of it, I literally just worked throughout it,
01:10 so I didn't have to tell them.
01:12 - I was honest with my boss
01:14 that I was doing a reality TV show.
01:16 I didn't say it was "Love is Blind"
01:18 because I feel like that would have been
01:19 a whole other conversation about getting engaged
01:23 sight unseen and things like that.
01:25 We were able to work while filming "Love is Blind,"
01:27 so that made it much easier and more palatable
01:31 for my boss to allow me to take the time off for the show.
01:34 They were like, "What are you doing?"
01:36 And they were like, "You don't really seem
01:36 "like the type to do reality TV."
01:40 And I was like, "Oh, it's like a marriage,
01:42 "a serious marriage show," and then so,
01:44 they didn't know it was "Love is Blind,"
01:45 and then it came out, and they were like,
01:46 "Uh, you did this show on Netflix.
01:50 "We thought it was a documentary about love."
01:53 - This is why I didn't tell them.
01:54 This is why I didn't tell them,
01:55 'cause I'm not trying to have that conversation.
01:57 - I won't lie, it did impact me professionally a lot.
02:01 I remember being in meetings with my coworkers
02:04 and my clients, and they would,
02:06 you could tell they wanted to ask questions,
02:08 and I'd be doing a presentation or something,
02:10 and they're like, "So, how was it like in those pods?"
02:15 I'm like, "What?
02:16 "I thought we were talking about this Excel sheet
02:17 "that I spent 18 hours on."
02:19 While the show was airing, I realized the impact
02:24 that it had just on my life in general,
02:26 and I really wanted to continue working,
02:29 but I was realizing months into it
02:32 that I wasn't able to do content creation
02:34 and working full-time and showing up at my 100% in both.
02:38 So for me, just to give it my all into one career path,
02:42 I had to pick a lane.
02:44 And so, I decided to take a risk
02:46 and to quit my corporate job.
02:48 After Love is Wine aired
02:50 and our social media following went up,
02:52 I did see a huge shift when it came to my yearly salary.
02:56 I am making, as a content creator,
02:58 three times my corporate salary,
03:00 and so it just made sense for me
03:01 to pursue content creation full-time.
03:04 I would say 95% of my current income is from brand deals.
03:08 - Me and my brand manager don't wanna overwhelm
03:12 my social media because you want to have a mix
03:14 of organic content and branded content
03:17 when you're representing a brand through your content.
03:20 You wanna make sure that it speaks to you.
03:22 Sometimes it can be a very high deal,
03:25 like almost a salary's worth,
03:28 but other times it's very low, like only two to three K,
03:32 but those smaller brand deals mean more to you
03:35 because you are using them in your everyday life.
03:38 - When we saw the money that we could make
03:40 from sponsorships and just from social media
03:43 and putting content out there,
03:44 that's when I started to think
03:45 I could really go far with this.
03:47 - I won't share the brand,
03:48 but the most I've gotten paid for a brand deal
03:51 is around 50K, and that was pretty amazing,
03:55 and I used the brand and the fact that
03:58 they also allowed me the creativity
03:59 to create content for them of authentically using it.
04:02 I thought that was so cool.
04:04 - The amount that I'm making now
04:05 is exponentially higher than what I was before.
04:08 I do invest a lot of it into stocks.
04:12 I'm trying to educate myself more in the financial world
04:16 and to figuring out how I can invest it.
04:19 I wanna be a homeowner soon,
04:20 so even investing in property is a big deal for me
04:24 and also saving for my retirement.
04:27 - Okay, here's how I save and invest my money.
04:30 First, it goes into my 401K, I max that out,
04:33 and then it goes into a backdoor Roth IRA,
04:36 and then I will invest in broad index funds,
04:40 so the S&P 500, and then I will put--
04:42 - Can you tell she's from finance?
04:44 - And then I will put a little bit
04:46 into my high-yield savings account or into the money market,
04:49 my money market account, and then, yeah,
04:52 and then I have nothing for myself.
04:54 Deepti and I are both daughters of immigrants.
04:56 Something that we've talked about often is
04:58 the money that we save is really for our family
05:01 to kind of give back and what they put in on us.
05:05 I know that sending me to college,
05:08 but just making sure that I got the best education
05:11 growing up, that took a lot on my family,
05:13 and to take me to violin lessons
05:14 because they wanted me to have different skill sets.
05:17 I know that that was a struggle for my family sometimes,
05:21 and so for me, when I think about the money
05:24 that I make as an influencer, it's not for me.
05:26 It's for my family.
05:28 - Absolutely, I second that.
05:29 My parents sacrificed so much,
05:33 and they left their entire family behind
05:35 so that me and my siblings could have an amazing life here,
05:39 and so this is just a testament to their sacrifice.
05:43 It's really hard hearing their stories
05:44 and how they grew up in the US just facing a lot of racism,
05:47 but also just how poor they were in the country
05:50 because they didn't know English,
05:52 and their parents didn't know English.
05:54 I remember my dad told me that having cereal was a luxury.
05:58 Like, it was kind of seen as dessert when he was growing up.
06:01 - My parents immigrated from India.
06:03 I was eight years old when I moved to America,
06:06 and it was the toughest transition ever,
06:08 and I think I mentioned before, I was extremely bullied.
06:11 I couldn't even understand my teacher's English.
06:14 It was a hard dialect for me to pick up on,
06:17 and so it was a hard transition.
06:19 - I think it's really powerful coming from
06:22 a family of immigrants and just kind of
06:25 the different values and skill sets that you do learn,
06:28 just the skill sets of survival,
06:30 surviving in a country where you don't speak the language,
06:34 and so it really helps you not take life for granted.
06:38 (gentle music)
06:40 - I think the podcast has really given us
06:45 a platform and an opportunity to really connect with people
06:48 on a broader scale.
06:49 We took a conversation, and we made it into an idea,
06:52 and then everything kind of just came to fruition from there.
06:56 We got the mics.
06:57 We were like, let's just practice.
06:59 Let's just recap these episodes,
07:01 and I think that really spearheaded us
07:04 into such an amazing opportunity
07:07 because now we have a platform to really speak our mind
07:10 and also talk about a show that has spearheaded us
07:15 into all these opportunities.
07:17 - We edit, we produce the videos all on our own,
07:19 and so it's been a huge learning opportunity
07:22 and another opportunity for us to be entrepreneurs.
07:25 We partnered with an agency,
07:26 and right now we are in the works
07:29 of signing with a podcast network.
07:31 We would have never thought that our podcast
07:34 could have gone this far, quite honestly.
07:36 Hitting number 20 on Apple Podcast Charts
07:40 and also number 10 on Spotify US Podcast Charts,
07:43 I mean, that was-- - That's insane.
07:45 - We did not realize how successful the podcast can be.
07:49 - The show has really opened up
07:51 a window of opportunities for me.
07:53 I am a TEDx speaker.
07:55 I'm an author.
07:56 I feel like I have no idea what's gonna come in the future,
08:00 and it is a little scary,
08:01 but it's also extremely exciting.
08:03 I have no idea how long this content creation
08:07 or influencer life is going to last,
08:09 but as long as I show up authentically,
08:11 create good content for brands,
08:13 I feel like I can keep it going,
08:15 and if at any moment I can't,
08:17 I literally will go back to training,
08:20 get well-versed in technology again
08:23 because that's where my roots are.
08:25 - I'm not an author,
08:26 but I was mentioned in one page in Deepti's book,
08:29 (both laughing)
08:30 but for me, it is short-term.
08:32 I just can't see myself doing it forever
08:34 and sharing my life.
08:36 I'm a pretty private person,
08:38 and quite honestly,
08:39 I really liked being a management consultant.
08:41 I liked being able to work with different people,
08:44 work in different industries,
08:45 work with different clients,
08:46 and learn from them,
08:47 and you can't really do that as an influencer,
08:49 so I really do kind of miss that world.
08:51 I'm gonna take advantage of the money,
08:53 strike when the iron's hot, obviously,
08:54 but I think within the next few years,
08:57 I could see myself going back into the corporate world.
09:00 - I'm sure someone's gonna watch this interview
09:02 and talk about having a pimple right here and right here,
09:05 and you know what?
09:06 Are we allowed to swear?
09:08 - Sure.
09:09 - (beep) you!
09:10 (both laughing)