Speaker 1: I'm Emily Chang, and this is the circuit today. I'm
Speaker 1: taking you to La, home of Hollywood heavyweights, where there
Speaker 1: are some new kids in town. The TikTok stars. One
Speaker 1: of the biggest is Charlie Emilio, who became a sleeper
Speaker 1: social media sensation through the pandemic. She now has over
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty million followers on TikTok, one of
Speaker 1: the platform's most popular creators. I sat down with Charlie
Speaker 1: and her parents, Heidi and Mark Dmilio to talk about
Speaker 1: life in the spotlight.
Speaker 2: My first day walking into the TikTok office with my
Speaker 2: sister who We're in La for like a few days,
Speaker 2: and we just strolled by the office and everyone kind
Speaker 2: of looked like, who's this girl. Back in a few
Speaker 2: weeks later and they're like, oh my gosh, Charlie.
Speaker 1: We also talk about how they're hoping to turn that
Speaker 1: meteoric rise into a long lasting business empire. They've got
Speaker 1: a reality show, a VC fund, a new shoe line,
Speaker 1: and more. Here's my conversation with the Damelio family, So.
Speaker 3: Dancing with the Stars. Congratulations, by the way, who Nickelodeon
Speaker 3: brand deals endorsements, the VC fund ces south by Southwest, Like,
Speaker 3: how do you even keep track of it?
Speaker 4: All?
Speaker 5: Our calendar is pretty intense and we all have a
Speaker 5: shared calendar so we all know, Like before I call them, like,
Speaker 5: let me make sure they weren't able to sleep till
Speaker 5: noon today.
Speaker 4: I don't want to wake anybody up.
Speaker 5: And we have a team that helps us keep our
Speaker 5: calendar going pretty strong.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 3: I see how much you're all doing, and it's still
Speaker 3: almost shocking how new you still are to this sort
Speaker 3: of being famous thing, Like it happened really fast. Are
Speaker 3: you used to it yet?
Speaker 6: I think Heidi and I are probably more used to
Speaker 6: it because we don't get one one hundred of Charlie,
Speaker 6: Like we went out to dinner last day and they
Speaker 6: took a couple of pictures of us and that was it.
Speaker 4: She gets mobbed in a lot of instance. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I kind of stay in a little bubble almost
Speaker 2: of you know, my very very close friends, and I
Speaker 2: think it helps, like having my hometown friends that I
Speaker 2: talk to that can you know, still be like a
Speaker 2: little rough today and like like there's it's just so
Speaker 2: normal to where I don't feel any type of way
Speaker 2: about how people see me. But then when I do,
Speaker 2: you know, go out and there's people there and or
Speaker 2: there's a meet angry and people are like crying. That's
Speaker 2: when sometimes I'm why, like I don't personally understand it,
Speaker 2: and I feel like that's something that either comes with
Speaker 2: time or it's just always going to feel like I'm
Speaker 2: a little out of place, almost because it is. It's
Speaker 2: something very new. There's no rule book for it, and
Speaker 2: how do you ever truly understand the impact that you
Speaker 2: can have on someone's life?
Speaker 3: You know, there's also no parenting guide for how to
Speaker 3: raise two people who are TikTok famous.
Speaker 4: Right, yes, there's not.
Speaker 5: I feel like for Charlie when she does go out,
Speaker 5: it's like a unicorn when she's out of her house.
Speaker 5: So people love, people get extra excited. Like Dixie loves,
Speaker 5: she loves driving, she loves going shopping, she loves going out,
Speaker 5: so people are I feel a little bit more used
Speaker 5: to seeing her out. But when she goes out, it's like, wait,
Speaker 5: she's out.
Speaker 3: And then out in the wild. It's almost like you
Speaker 3: won this TikTok lottery. You were thrust into the spotlight
Speaker 3: so fast. And I've actually heard you say a few
Speaker 3: times you don't even know why you took off? Do
Speaker 3: you get it now? Like, do you think you understand
Speaker 3: why everyone was so obsessed with you?
Speaker 4: No?
Speaker 2: Like, imagine it happens to you and then all of
Speaker 2: a sudden, there's all of these people that are watching
Speaker 2: what you do and taking inspiration from the things you do,
Speaker 2: and everyone always asks like, how do you do it?
Speaker 2: I'm posting the same stuff that I posted before. I
Speaker 2: don't really know. It feels like nothing changed, but all
Speaker 2: of a sudden people took a liking to me and
Speaker 2: it all went a little bit crazy from there. It's
Speaker 2: very hard to pinpoint exactly what it could have been.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so you've got this Damelia family business, and I
Speaker 3: know you all have your own roles, Like Mark, you
Speaker 3: have a business background?
Speaker 6: Hi?
Speaker 3: Do you or a model? Charlie is Charlie? What do
Speaker 3: you want people to know about the business and what
Speaker 3: you're trying to accomplish? And you know, what are your roles?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 6: I mean we we came up with the concept of
Speaker 6: the Melia brands, not anything unique to our to what
Speaker 6: other people with notoriety or celebrities have done. We just
Speaker 6: there were times that we would partner with with certain
Speaker 6: certain companies and there was someone else's creative direction. And
Speaker 6: I think both Dixie and Charlie have their finger on
Speaker 6: the pulse of what's happening. And we were still doing
Speaker 6: endorsement deals. Charlie's still doing endorsement deals. But we've always
Speaker 6: been very particular on the endorsement deals we're doing. And
Speaker 6: now we're going to have more control over the products
Speaker 6: we make.
Speaker 4: And that's what's that's what I.
Speaker 3: Love and you you've got like the creative stuff going.
Speaker 5: I've been really involved in the creative side of the
Speaker 5: shoe brand. I always check in with the girls because
Speaker 5: they're really smart with knowing like, oh, this isn't gonna work,
Speaker 5: this is going to work. That coupled with things that
Speaker 5: I know without a doubt when it comes to that.
Speaker 5: So between the four of us, like I feel like
Speaker 5: we'll have we all have like our input that's going
Speaker 5: to make it launch really well.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Mark, I heard you say on your podcast that people
Speaker 3: think you're calculated, that you have some sort of master plan, right.
Speaker 3: Is that a misperception?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 6: Absolutely, Like we always just lie by the seat of
Speaker 6: our pants. The brand stuff is probably more the most
Speaker 6: calculated thing we've done and It's something that I feel
Speaker 6: most comfortable doing because I have a background, and I
Speaker 6: have my clothing brand. I've worked with the Didis Mitchell
Speaker 6: and Nas and other companies, So this is something that
Speaker 6: you have to calculate other things. It was just like
Speaker 6: sometimes we'd post, sometimes we wouldn't.
Speaker 4: It was all over the place.
Speaker 6: And I think that's just back to the thing you
Speaker 6: were saying before, like why, Charlie. I think it was
Speaker 6: a right place, right time, And I think that it
Speaker 6: just was past a time where everybody's trying to take
Speaker 6: the perfect picture and show this perfect self.
Speaker 4: And I think what TikTok showed is.
Speaker 6: A girl of fifteen year old girl in her room,
Speaker 6: just hanging out with her bed unmade and close on
Speaker 6: the floor and just doing dances and really shed a
Speaker 6: light to what.
Speaker 4: A young girl's doing. And I think it resonated with everybody.
Speaker 4: But none of that was calculated.
Speaker 3: The scrutiny is unrelenting. Fans like your fans are fickle
Speaker 3: at this point, now a few years into this, how
Speaker 3: do you deal with that?
Speaker 2: Still? I think that that's something that I don't know
Speaker 2: if you can ever just completely ignore, because it's always
Speaker 2: going to be there. No matter what. But I think
Speaker 2: it definitely gets a little bit easier to not let
Speaker 2: it be, you know, so damaging to use a person.
Speaker 2: There's definitely days where I see something and I like
Speaker 2: can't what was it? What was it this time? And
Speaker 2: there's sometimes that I'm like, that's not even real. And
Speaker 2: there's so many rumors that circulate that get people so
Speaker 2: much negative attention that you know, you can't set everything straight.
Speaker 2: You can't make sure everyone knows the truth in every
Speaker 2: single situation, and you've never stop arguing with people, so
Speaker 2: you eventually just you know, they if they think that
Speaker 2: this is how I am, no matter what I say,
Speaker 2: it's not really going to change their mind because they
Speaker 2: have this narrative that they believe. Stick to the people
Speaker 2: that actually like you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so it was twenty nineteen that things really took off. Like,
Speaker 3: if you could give advice to your twenty nineteen self,
Speaker 3: what would that be.
Speaker 2: I think the only advice that I could really give
Speaker 2: would be a version of the figure it out, Like
Speaker 2: there's no there's no need to always be so worried
Speaker 2: about what's next, because it is going to work out.
Speaker 2: It's all going to be fine, And even if this
Speaker 2: all goes away, It's going to be fine, you know,
Speaker 2: because there's always yourself that you have to you know,
Speaker 2: be confident enoughing that you're going to have people around
Speaker 2: you that like you as a person, and you kind
Speaker 2: of just have to take it one step at a time.
Speaker 3: How about advice to the parents. I mean, you've got
Speaker 3: like new teenagers, kids going on social media every day,
Speaker 3: I mean in general in the world right and all
Speaker 3: parents trying to figure out how to deal with that.
Speaker 6: Heidi and I always talked about early on, like both
Speaker 6: Tixi and Charlie have their own personal brand before all
Speaker 6: of this, and that.
Speaker 4: They need to protect that.
Speaker 6: And with that we gained a lot of trust in
Speaker 6: them because they proved to us that they were so
Speaker 6: we never checked text we never checked posts.
Speaker 4: And I would tell parents out.
Speaker 6: There to keep your eye on them, but give them
Speaker 6: the freedom to instill in them what you think is
Speaker 6: right and wrong and the kids will follow that and
Speaker 6: don't be too overbearing.
Speaker 4: And I think that was what we did.
Speaker 3: All right, Well, mine are ten and under, so I'm
Speaker 3: going to try to ingest that. I'm sure you've been
Speaker 3: following a little bit, you know, the TikTok controversy in
Speaker 3: China and are there security concerns and should it be banned?
Speaker 3: What do you think about all that.
Speaker 6: I don't think it should be banned. I think that
Speaker 6: if you're worried about the information that social media apps
Speaker 6: are taking, you should worry about them all, and if
Speaker 6: you're not going to worry about them all, you shouldn't
Speaker 6: worry about any of them.
Speaker 3: Charlie, what do you think?
Speaker 2: I think that's a question that people ask me a lot,
Speaker 2: and I, you know, as a eighteen year old girl
Speaker 2: who makes videos on the Internet, I don't think that
Speaker 2: that's a decision that I'm educated enough to be understand
Speaker 2: or have a real opinion on.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I didn't have TikTok Stars launching a venture capital
Speaker 3: fund in my crystal ball a few years ago, but
Speaker 3: here you are four four four capital. Talk to us
Speaker 3: about the mission and what you're trying.
Speaker 2: To do here.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 6: So we partnered with a group of really smart investors
Speaker 6: and they're going out there basically partnering with mid to
Speaker 6: late stage companies that take an investment, and they're putting
Speaker 6: money into really cool companies that all have a great story,
Speaker 6: companies that are minority driven or female CEOs and and
Speaker 6: stuff that relates back to what we think. I think
Speaker 6: we feel that and it's not just lip service. We
Speaker 6: have an obligation to do to do good things with
Speaker 6: this platform, and we know we're not going to be
Speaker 6: in this position necessarily forever and need to do good
Speaker 6: while we have.
Speaker 3: The opportunity to a number of female founders, Right, why
Speaker 3: is that important.
Speaker 5: Just in our family alone to have I think there's
Speaker 5: three of us that as females feel like we can
Speaker 5: do anything. And then in our company here, there's a
Speaker 5: lot of women that work here, and it's just they
Speaker 5: were the best for their position they were applying for.
Speaker 5: It's just the way it was.
Speaker 4: And I think.
Speaker 5: Sometimes with that we forget how hard it is out
Speaker 5: there for women to take it to the next step.
Speaker 5: And so to be able to be a part of
Speaker 5: that and to give them that opportunity to bring their
Speaker 5: passion to the next level is something that was It
Speaker 5: was just a no brainer.
Speaker 3: The economy is changing, Like we're in a different environment
Speaker 3: now than maybe when even you launch this, Like how
Speaker 3: do you think about that when you're thinking about where
Speaker 3: to deploy capital into who?
Speaker 6: I think the good thing about what we did is
Speaker 6: we actually are creating tangible products.
Speaker 4: Where a lot of people invested in.
Speaker 6: In apps or software or things that had an immense
Speaker 6: amount of capital that.
Speaker 4: They needed to deploy.
Speaker 6: We make a shoe and we sell it and investors
Speaker 6: can hold it, and with our name behind it, we've
Speaker 6: been able to create a lot of excitement, Like we
Speaker 6: raise money during a time that no one was raising money,
Speaker 6: and I owe it to my partner, rich Rosenblatt, who navigated.
Speaker 4: Me through all of this.
Speaker 3: Now there's a lot of creators out there that are
Speaker 3: trying to launch their own brands. Not everyone has his
Speaker 3: money followers as Charlie, I'll give you that, But what's
Speaker 3: going to make your stand out? What's going to be
Speaker 3: the cut above the rest.
Speaker 4: A couple of things.
Speaker 6: One is the fact that we have Dixie and Charlie
Speaker 6: on the pulse of what's happening with their generation, and
Speaker 6: I think Heidi with her experience, And we have hired
Speaker 6: really talented people. I mean, our head of design, Lauren
Speaker 6: came from Comudo Group worked was that one of the
Speaker 6: top designers of Jessica Simson Footwear. We've hired one of
Speaker 6: the top directors of production to actually help us manufacture
Speaker 6: the shoes. So part knowledge and I think part quality
Speaker 6: of the people we've hired is going to separate us.
Speaker 3: There's so many creators that are looking at you all
Speaker 3: for inspiration, and I'm just so curious, Like, you know,
Speaker 3: it's like, well, can you tell us about the secret sauce?
Speaker 3: Like in those early days, how much did TikTok support you?
Speaker 3: Did they work with you, did they help you? Or
Speaker 3: was it really all you?
Speaker 2: I just hopped on it one day and started posting
Speaker 2: I do give sixteen year old knee a pat on
Speaker 2: the back. And I think there was lots of decisions
Speaker 2: that we made as a family that helped us get
Speaker 2: to where we are now. It was so out of nowhere.
Speaker 2: How could I ask TikTok for support when I didn't
Speaker 2: even know that there was, Like people like, I don't
Speaker 2: know what's going I don't know who these people are. Now,
Speaker 2: obviously we've developed more of a relationship with the apps,
Speaker 2: and that's just kind of a part of the journey
Speaker 2: where you have to figure out how to best support
Speaker 2: yourself as a creator.
Speaker 4: They were so new that they really didn't know what
Speaker 4: they were doing.
Speaker 6: They would just call to say, hey, do you guys,
Speaker 6: everybody's home, you want to do taco Tuesdays and put
Speaker 6: up a camera and they would run it live on
Speaker 6: TikTok like there was and we were just like, sure, yeah,
Speaker 6: that sounds fun.
Speaker 4: We're sitting home. Everyone else is sitting home.
Speaker 6: As much as we didn't have a master plan or
Speaker 6: a roadmap, they didn't have a plan or a roadmap either.
Speaker 2: They didn't know what was going on either, and it
Speaker 2: kind of took everyone by surprise. And I think that's
Speaker 2: also kind of a fun part was we all got
Speaker 2: to you know, they grew as an app. I grew
Speaker 2: as a creator and as a person, and we grew
Speaker 2: as a family kind of all at the same time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, how much do you think it was the algorithm?
Speaker 2: I think that that is probably one of the questions
Speaker 2: I could ask the most. And genuinely, I have no idea,
Speaker 2: because truly, I don't even think the people at TikTok
Speaker 2: understand the algorithm. So I mean, I know what works
Speaker 2: for me and what doesn't, and I can make those
Speaker 2: decisions either based on what works for the algorithm or
Speaker 2: what I want to put, and I normally pick what
Speaker 2: I want to.
Speaker 3: Guess there's some controversy around how much creators should get paid.
Speaker 3: And you know, there's a lot of creators out there
Speaker 3: who think they don't get enough love from the platforms
Speaker 3: that they're on and helping generate all these using content.
Speaker 3: Actually at south By Southwest, this former TikTok product guy
Speaker 3: said they launched this two billion dollar creator fund that
Speaker 3: they were going to pay on all these creators just
Speaker 3: because of the competition they didn't want you for example,
Speaker 3: like going to Instagram, going to YouTube, and that no
Speaker 3: one would ever know if they actually paid it.
Speaker 2: What's your reaction to that.
Speaker 6: I learned early on that I think different than movie
Speaker 6: studios and television studios, where the talent is the most important,
Speaker 6: with companies like TikTok and Instagram, the software that's the
Speaker 6: driving force. So they look at it as you're interchangeable,
Speaker 6: and we never looked at it like you owe us something.
Speaker 6: But I do think they could do more based on
Speaker 6: the valuation of TikTok being potentially a forty billion dollar company.
Speaker 4: I think the creators should share in that more than
Speaker 4: they do.
Speaker 3: What was the jump from TikTok to TV?
Speaker 2: Like, the biggest thing for me has always been the
Speaker 2: talking part on TikTok. I don't talk. Most people don't
Speaker 2: know what my voice sounds like. They've never really heard
Speaker 2: me say much. Yeah, and I'm fine with that. But
Speaker 2: you know, when you have a show that's documenting your life,
Speaker 2: you want to tell your story because you have a
Speaker 2: chance to really explain all sides rather than you have
Speaker 2: fifteen seconds to what three minutes? It's so different, and
Speaker 2: you know you also you have these interviews where you
Speaker 2: can kind of look back and you know they'll ask
Speaker 2: you a question in your life. For god, I did that,
Speaker 2: So now I'm like, well, let me tell you how
Speaker 2: I was really feeling. And it's kind of a nice
Speaker 2: place to, you know, open up and be able to
Speaker 2: share those stories that no one else would hear without it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, do you feel a sense of urgency in this moment?
Speaker 3: Like this fame could be fleeting, we should capitalize on
Speaker 3: it now, Like how do we make the most of
Speaker 3: this opportunity or no, hy do?
Speaker 5: Yes, We've always talked about that, We've seen platforms coming
Speaker 5: go we know this, and so we always try to
Speaker 5: do content on all the platforms, but also fine for
Speaker 5: especially for the girls, but even for market on like
Speaker 5: our passion projects, things that we enjoy doing but could
Speaker 5: make a living at if all of this goes away,
Speaker 5: and you know, yeah, the girls are very aware of
Speaker 5: this could all end, and so that's why it's important
Speaker 5: to take these opportunities and make the most of them,
Speaker 5: but also have fun while you're doing it. I think
Speaker 5: that's been the They're probably sick of hearing Mark and I.
Speaker 2: Say, like, you have to enjoy it. You're going to
Speaker 2: look back at this time and think what was I
Speaker 2: worrying about so much? Like I should have just enjoyed it.
Speaker 3: So, yeah, do you worry it could all the poof
Speaker 3: or you just don't don't think that far ahead.
Speaker 2: I think everyone else probably wishes that I worry more
Speaker 2: about it, because when the time comes to make a
Speaker 2: video or or speak or whatever it is, you know,
Speaker 2: I always look at it as what do I feel
Speaker 2: like saying? What do I feel like making? Rather than well,
Speaker 2: i've heard that this performs best, Let me do exactly that.
Speaker 2: There's way there's ways to definitely further grow your audience.
Speaker 2: But at the same time, those core people that watch you,
Speaker 2: they're going to follow you to whatever makes you happy.
Speaker 2: And I feel like those the people that care almost unconditionally.
Speaker 2: They're going to support every new exciting venture that you take.
Speaker 2: But it's definitely sometimes like, well this could all go
Speaker 2: in tomorrow. What are we gonna do? And I make
Speaker 2: jokes like maybe I could do like social media marketings.
Speaker 2: But that's why it's fun to do new things like
Speaker 2: footwear or fragrance or you know fashion. It's there's so
Speaker 2: many different outlets that you can have or dance like.
Speaker 2: The show was incredible. It took a lot of time,
Speaker 2: but it was probably one of the most fun experiences
Speaker 2: I've had since starting this.
Speaker 3: Also, I think if you ever have to do social
Speaker 3: media marketing, you can probably make a pretty.
Speaker 2: She'll be okay.
Speaker 3: As the empire gets bigger and you're on all of
Speaker 3: these different platforms, how are you thinking about.
Speaker 2: Like how much you want to put yourselves out there?
Speaker 3: Like keep putting yourselves out there? Will that always be
Speaker 3: part of your brand?
Speaker 6: I think one of the reasons why we started Damelio
Speaker 6: Brands is that kind of will help us whether we
Speaker 6: want to. If we have a thriving footwear company that's
Speaker 6: doing extremely well, then Charlie has the opportunity and I
Speaker 6: have the opportunity, and Heidi has the opportunity to be as.
Speaker 4: Involved or is not as involved as we'd like to be.
Speaker 4: But right now this is fun for me.
Speaker 6: I think Heidi had a blast with Dancing with the Stars,
Speaker 6: but I would love Charlie and Dick' to have the
Speaker 6: ability that if they want to take ten steps back
Speaker 6: and just kind of relax a little bit, they had
Speaker 6: that opportunity.
Speaker 3: Do you ever think about how much your daughters are
Speaker 3: putting themselves out there and should they be doing that,
Speaker 3: and you know, wondering if.
Speaker 2: This is the right thing.
Speaker 5: I kind of let them take the lead, but we
Speaker 5: always have talked about it. And one thing that we
Speaker 5: talked about because when this all started for Charlie specifically,
Speaker 5: she was fifteen and she was kind of after about
Speaker 5: a year and a half, she felt a little stuck
Speaker 5: and if she would try to, like dress a little
Speaker 5: differently or do things a little differently, her audience didn't
Speaker 5: like that, and I said, it reminded me of that
Speaker 5: sort of thing where like young kids who were on shows,
Speaker 5: they can't grow up, they're stuck there, and I didn't
Speaker 5: want that to happen to them, so I said, I
Speaker 5: think you need to show yourself growing up because it
Speaker 5: was really getting to her. It was really she felt
Speaker 5: very stuck and she had to be perfect and happy
Speaker 5: all the time, and she wasn't. You know, she's a
Speaker 5: normal human being. She has like everybody has her upst down.
Speaker 2: So I said, you have to just.
Speaker 5: You have to because they're not going to see it
Speaker 5: unless you show it. And so I think for as
Speaker 5: far as showing themselves online like that was my advice
Speaker 5: to them is like show yourself growing up. And I
Speaker 5: think it's I think they felt like it worked and
Speaker 5: they were happy to feel like they could have growth.
Speaker 5: And with that, you're doing things that eighteen year olds
Speaker 5: or dixis now twenty one, twenty one year olds are
Speaker 5: doing and they're adults. They live in their own house,
Speaker 5: they play their own Brant.
Speaker 3: I believe it's the last episode of the second season
Speaker 3: where you say you have some growing up to Jerry.
Speaker 3: You're excited to show this chapter growing up and you
Speaker 3: have shown so many sides of yourself, which I think
Speaker 3: probably really helpful to a lot of people out there,
Speaker 3: kids who are struggling Right as you grow up, are
Speaker 3: you thinking about how your audience changes and how you
Speaker 3: reach them in new and different ways?
Speaker 2: Absolutely. I think the years of fifteen years old to
Speaker 2: eighteen years old, you probably have some of the most
Speaker 2: change within yourself. You know, kids are going off to college,
Speaker 2: they're being more independent, and if I still had to be,
Speaker 2: you know, fifteen, I would be making things that everyone
Speaker 2: else wanted. But also the people that were there from
Speaker 2: the beginning, they're going up too, and they're maturing. They're
Speaker 2: not going to want everything with sparkles and the all this, like,
Speaker 2: you know, like things that more young teenagers want rather
Speaker 2: than you know, eighteen years old. Talking about trying to
Speaker 2: understand you know, being independent, being self sufficient, being not
Speaker 2: relying on your parents as much, and I think that
Speaker 2: that's a very important part of the journey. But when
Speaker 2: it comes to you know, posting things for other people
Speaker 2: to feel more comfortable, there's definitely a disconnect between me
Speaker 2: posting on my phone and the actual amount of people
Speaker 2: that are seeing it. Like when people bring up videos
Speaker 2: that I've posted in the past, like I forgot that
Speaker 2: other people like my grandma's watching it, like my old
Speaker 2: teachers are watching it, my friends are watching it. I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 2: you're so right. I've heard from you know, people that
Speaker 2: watch me that some of the stuff that I've either
Speaker 2: talked about or shown or said did help in a way,
Speaker 2: so that that's good. It makes me feel like even
Speaker 2: when I embarrass myself a little bit online, I'm doing
Speaker 2: it for a good reason.
Speaker 1: The circuit continues after this quick break.
Speaker 2: Okay, so come on in. This is the glamor room, Okay,
Speaker 2: where you know we get ready throughout the day or
Speaker 2: if we are here doing meetings or whatever it could be.
Speaker 3: Love a hip glamorom.
Speaker 2: You know, we've got all of the makeup products that
Speaker 2: are kind of essential to us, all of the things
Speaker 2: that we need every day for hair and you know,
Speaker 2: some extra wardrobe. All that importance is that your perfume
Speaker 2: it is This is Born Dreamer. It's been out about
Speaker 2: eight months now, so this is very exciting. If you
Speaker 2: saw the amount of renderings of just what Bourn Dreamer
Speaker 2: can look like on this it is wild. Yeah, all
Speaker 2: of these little things that seem so small. It takes
Speaker 2: some time as well as you know, making it recyclable
Speaker 2: and refillable, which it's kind of wild. How many perfumes
Speaker 2: are not like this one. You can screw the top
Speaker 2: off of which is able to make it recyclable.
Speaker 3: Given everything you've learned, you must have a good sense
Speaker 3: of what gen Z.
Speaker 2: Wants, like what you think Jennysen wants. I think that
Speaker 2: that's something that is ever changing. You know. The next
Speaker 2: kind of version of this, which I'm super excited about.
Speaker 2: I have here that no one's really seen yet. It's
Speaker 2: travel version.
Speaker 3: Oh. You know, people think influencers don't have real job. Yes,
Speaker 3: what would you say to those people?
Speaker 2: I think it depends on what you do with what
Speaker 2: you have. You know, this could definitely be something where
Speaker 2: I don't have to be involved in this, but for
Speaker 2: me to want to wear the same scent every day,
Speaker 2: I have to love it.
Speaker 3: Social Media burnout is real. Do you still feel the
Speaker 3: burn sometimes?
Speaker 2: And what do you do when you feel that? Absolutely?
Speaker 2: I mean it's inevitable doing posting all the time. You know,
Speaker 2: you're not always in a creative space, and those are
Speaker 2: the moments where you really have to stop and take
Speaker 2: a step back and sometimes pivot. You know, sometimes things
Speaker 2: you thought you liked it, but it's just not something
Speaker 2: that you're feeling passionate about anymore. And there's ways to
Speaker 2: change that. So it's really picking what it is that
Speaker 2: you want to focus on the most and understanding that
Speaker 2: things change.
Speaker 3: You've been open about body shaming and bullying. What do
Speaker 3: you think about beauty filters and people using those to
Speaker 3: show a certain side of themselves.
Speaker 2: I think it's unique to each and every person. Everyone
Speaker 2: is insecurities. I post bad photos of myself, and I
Speaker 2: still post the best of the worst. There's never going
Speaker 2: to be a time where every single person is happy
Speaker 2: with every single part about them and that's just human nature.
Speaker 2: You can't control that, And I think it's what you
Speaker 2: choose to interact with that really makes the difference in
Speaker 2: how you use social media. But when it comes down
Speaker 2: to filters and changing the shape of how you look
Speaker 2: or you know, that's every person's decision and it's who
Speaker 2: you kind of choose to look at. If that's not
Speaker 2: something that you can really look at without feeling a
Speaker 2: certain way about yourself, then you know that's really a
Speaker 2: time in your life where you have to say, well,
Speaker 2: I need to kind of take a step back, because
Speaker 2: you're in control for the most part. But I would
Speaker 2: never say that filters are need to go away forever,
Speaker 2: you know, because that's not ever going to happen, and
Speaker 2: that's not reality, and I think it's just I try
Speaker 2: to post as real as I can, and if people
Speaker 2: decide to do that as well, that's great. But I'm
Speaker 2: also not going to make you feel bad for posting
Speaker 2: something that might be edited, because maybe that's just how
Speaker 2: you're going to feel the best about the way you
Speaker 2: look that day. Never know what someone else is going through.
Speaker 3: Get scarier out there, like deep fake technology and you're
Speaker 3: a celebrity, right, Yeah, they're coming for you.
Speaker 2: Yeah. There's definitely been lots of instances that we've had to,
Speaker 2: you know, deal with in the proper ways. And now
Speaker 2: there's voice changing can make it sound like you say anything,
Speaker 2: and that is scary. That's really scary because people believe
Speaker 2: things so easily. I've even heard some made by my
Speaker 2: own fan pages. It's definitely something that needs to be
Speaker 2: figured out because that's something that can ruin someone's life
Speaker 2: as well as deep fakes. There's so many different levels
Speaker 2: of it, but sometimes it does get very scary to
Speaker 2: be in a position where people want to do that
Speaker 2: to you.
Speaker 3: What's your favorite TikTok trend, Mike, right now.
Speaker 2: You'vete TikTok trend right now would probably be all of
Speaker 2: the makeup trends that are going on, like the one
Speaker 2: dip Chalice doing your makeup in alphabetical order. I love
Speaker 2: watching people do makeup, so that's that's kind of where
Speaker 2: I gravitate towards watching right now.
Speaker 3: Least favorite TikTok trend.
Speaker 2: Ooh, least favorite TikTok trend would probably be the ones
Speaker 2: where people kind of talk about anything that happens they
Speaker 2: like rate either what people are wearing or their hair
Speaker 2: and their makeup. I don't always love that because when
Speaker 2: it happens to me sometimes I'm like, I love that dress,
Speaker 2: but everyone else hates it.
Speaker 3: Is there somewhere on the Internet that you love that's
Speaker 3: like your happy place.
Speaker 2: I feel like I am always on my phone, but
Speaker 2: that's kind of it's not really because it's my job.
Speaker 2: It's because I'm a teenager. Yeah, we're kind of, for
Speaker 2: the most part majority a little bit addicted to our phones.
Speaker 3: You show so much of yourself on camera on social media.
Speaker 3: Is there anything that we don't see? Like who's the
Speaker 3: Charlie we don't see? Or what are there? Is there
Speaker 3: anything you keep for yourself?
Speaker 2: Definitely? I think I've come to a point in my
Speaker 2: life where I keep the really bad days to myself,
Speaker 2: and I also keep the you know, nights hanging out
Speaker 2: with my friends to myself. For the most part, you
Speaker 2: would actually be surprised. I don't take a lot of
Speaker 2: pictures and photos when I'm just in the moment, and
Speaker 2: that's something that you know, it's great because I'm in
Speaker 2: the moment and my phone is gone and I'm just
Speaker 2: happy to be here. But then it is also nice
Speaker 2: to have those memories.
Speaker 3: Is that What advice would you have for teens out
Speaker 3: there who are trying to figure out their relationship with
Speaker 3: social media.
Speaker 2: I think people are always going to evolve and change
Speaker 2: and be on to the next thing, and you can't
Speaker 2: just keep chasing this unattainable perfectness or happiness or this
Speaker 2: life that you're never going to have a bad day.
Speaker 2: It's not reality. And I think that that's something that
Speaker 2: can be really hard to come to terms with. But
Speaker 2: once you kind of take the weight off of your
Speaker 2: shoulders that you need to be a certain perfect version
Speaker 2: of you, it's nice to be easy on yourself. Sometimes liberating.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well probably liberating for kids out there to hear
Speaker 3: you say that, So thank.
Speaker 2: You, thank you for having that with us.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Circuit.
Speaker 1: I'm Emily Chang. You can follow me on Twitter and
Speaker 1: Instagram at Emily Chang TV. You can watch new episodes
Speaker 1: of the Circuit on Bloomberg Television or on demand by
Speaker 1: downloading the Bloomberg app to your smart TV. And check
Speaker 1: out our other Bloomberg podcasts on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartMedia app,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to shows and let us know
Speaker 1: what you think by leaving us a review. I'm your
Speaker 1: host and executive producer. Our senior producer is Lauren Ellis.
Speaker 1: Our associate producer is Lizzie Phillip. Our editor is Sebastian Escobar.
Speaker 3: Thanks so much for listening.