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Deep Dive with Ali AbdaalDeep Dive with Ali Abdaal

Patricia Bright: How She Built A Million Dollar Empire

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Patricia BrightguestAli Abdaalhost
Apr 11, 20221h 10mWatch on YouTube

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Transcript

  1. 0:00 – 2:00

    Intro

    1. PB

      So the same thoughts that keep you up at night keep me up at night.

    2. AA

      Okay.

    3. PB

      'Cause for a long time, for me, money was a motivator, 'cause I grew up poor. So I know what it's like to not have anything, and then to have money, you're like, "Oh, is this it?" My motivator is creating. As long as I'm alive, I'm just gonna have ideas and I'm gonna try and make them happen. That is where I've now become comfortable within myself. And in all of those ideas, if I can give back and make someone feel good, or make them laugh, or, or provide something that changes their life in a little way-

    4. AA

      Yeah

    5. PB

      ... then I'm happy.

    6. AA

      Hey, friends. Welcome back to Deep Dive. If you're new here, my name is Ali, and in each episode, I chat to entrepreneurs, authors, creators, and other inspiring people about how they got to where they are, and the strategies and tools that we can collectively use on our shared journey of living healthier, happier, more productive lives. My conversation this week is with Patricia Bright. Patricia is a YouTuber, an entrepreneur, a writer, a podcaster, and so many more things. She's got 2.85 million subscribers on her fashion and beauty channel. She has another half a million subscribers on a personal finance theme channel, and she's got over one million followers on her Instagram, where she posts mostly about beauty and lifestyle and that kinda stuff. But her life wasn't always like this. Uh, her journey started in a council estate in South London where, to use her words, she was totally broke. And when she was in school, she became this self-proclaimed hustler. She started making money, uh, doing hair for the girls in her school for £5 a pop so that she could make money to buy school dinners with. And from those humble beginnings, she is now CEO of a multi-million dollar empire. In this episode, we touch on a few things. We talk about success, the idea of success, where that comes from, from how kind of financial success relates to success in life, and how me and Patricia think about those things. We talk about how we can figure out what to do with our career in terms of, like, do we wanna do something that makes a lot of money, or do we wanna do something that follows our passion and that we feel more fulfilled by? I really enjoyed having the conversation. Um, it's amazing how open and transparent and honest Patricia is, and how much of herself she has kinda put out there on the internet. So without further ado, I hope you enjoy this conversation between me and Patricia Bright. You started your YouTube channel in 2010.

    7. PB

      Mm-hmm.

    8. AA

      Uh, like, age of like, in the original, original days of YouTube. And-

    9. PB

      Yeah

    10. AA

      ... um, obviously the, the, um,

  2. 2:00 – 8:25

    Success and building self-belief

    1. AA

      the landscape of YouTube was very different in 2010 than it is now in 2022.

    2. PB

      Very different.

    3. AA

      Um, and you've become, like, phenomenally successful on the platform. You've got your own, like, YouTube Original series.

    4. PB

      Yeah.

    5. AA

      You've got your own documentary. You had the podcast which did amazingly, billboards in Times Square, that, that whole shebang. Um, one thing that you said in, in your, in your YouTube Original documentary thing was that you've had all this success, but you don't feel successful. Um-

    6. PB

      Hmm

    7. AA

      ... and I wanted to ask, like, what, what, what do you mean by that?

    8. PB

      So I actually think that was at the time then. I've had a lot of, um, therapy and coaching since then, and I'm really excited by what I've done. But at the time, n- naturally I'm not very good at seeing the things that I've achieved, because there are so many things that I still wanna do. And I think what is the definition of success is, like, quite hard to, to put your finger on, and I don't think at the time I had my finger on what success looked like to me.

    9. AA

      Mm.

    10. PB

      And I felt like there was more things that I wanted to do, and there still are. There are more things that I wanna do. So that's maybe one of the reasons why I felt like I wasn't successful. But I take it back, 'cause I am successful and I've done amazing, so.

    11. AA

      Okay.

    12. PB

      Yeah.

    13. AA

      But what was the, uh, w- what were the learnings from, say, therapy or coaching and stuff that made you now feel that, oh, I am actually successful?

    14. PB

      Oh, just mindset. Like, I didn't realize that, you know, thoughts become... And shout out to Jacqueline, because she's amazing and she's helped me a lot. Um, but thoughts become your feelings, right? So I realized that I had the wrong kind of thoughts, these weird imposing thoughts that would say, "You're not successful," or, "You haven't done," or, "You haven't achieved." So then I would feel like that, whereas now if I look at the reality of, of actually I've done this thing, I've got a show, I've had a YouTube channel for 10 years, I've built an audience, I have sold product, I've done so many things. Actually, all that evidence supports, um, success in the things I've wanted to be successful in. So that is, that's it.

    15. AA

      Okay.

    16. PB

      Just looking at the reality.

    17. AA

      So is it, so it sounds like you're sort of objectively analyzing, be like, "Here, here are all my kind of accolades, achievements, et cetera."

    18. PB

      Yeah.

    19. AA

      "Therefore, surely this must mean me-

    20. PB

      Yeah

    21. AA

      ... and I'm successful." And then if you tell yourself that enough, then over time-

    22. PB

      Yeah

    23. AA

      ... uh, with the right professional to help you, help g-

    24. PB

      Yeah

    25. AA

      ... guide you through the process, you genuinely start to believe it.

    26. PB

      Yeah. You just look at the facts. Like, and I think sometimes our minds tell us all these weird lies that aren't actually based in, like, reality. It's not true. So you have to sometimes take a step out and look at it from a more logical perspective, and then replace those weird biological or weird psychological thoughts to then, um, kind of reframe things.

    27. AA

      It's, it strikes me that, like, so you are, sort of by almost every definition, phenomenally successful.

    28. PB

      Mm.

    29. AA

      Um, do you think that, let's say, if there is a more, quote, "normal person" list- listening to this who doesn't have, like, huge businesses and brands built up-

    30. PB

      Mm

  3. 8:25 – 14:22

    Why you shouldn’t focus on your passions

    1. AA

      Okay, so yeah, often when I speak, so when, when I speak to people who are maybe in their sort of early to mid-20s and they're having that crisis of, "I don't know what to do"-

    2. PB

      Mm

    3. AA

      ... um, you know, a lot of the internet would say, "Hey, fi- find your passion and follow that passion."

    4. PB

      I don't believe in that.

    5. AA

      Oh, you don't believe in that?

    6. PB

      Don't believe in passions.

    7. AA

      Tell me.

    8. PB

      I absolutely think that's so dead.

    9. AA

      Yeah.

    10. PB

      [laughs] Okay. Sorry, I just interrupted you, but I-

    11. AA

      This is great, yeah. Well, that's why I'm passionate about it, yeah

    12. PB

      ... I don't believe in, like, the idea of following a passion, especially if you're broke or you're hungry, 'cause passion may not put food on the table, and passion isn't gonna pay the rent, right? So once you've been able to kind of deal with those basis, those basics there, like, get those covered, and then I think it's about you defining, like, what is something you have skills in doing now, and, um, you, again, are interested in. You can execute in that kind of, those key areas, and I don't, I wouldn't call that passion. I'd just call it... What would I call it?

    13. AA

      Like working on your strengths or, or, like-

    14. PB

      Well-

    15. AA

      ... play, playing to your strengths, that kind of thing?

    16. PB

      Yeah, playing to your strength, but just doing something. So, like, sometimes that, that you, you're waiting for passion to come or, like, a, a wind of inspiration to come, and it's not gonna come. You're gonna wait forever. So it's better to just do something, anything. It doesn't even have to be the thing that you're passionate about or you like. Maybe it's a thing you can do right there and then. It might be like, "Oh, I'm not passionate. Okay, let me just, you know, read the book or clean my room or make a meal or go on a walk." Doing something versus doing nothing is a good idea.

    17. AA

      Hmm. Yeah, it's kinda like what Cal- Cal Newport talks about in So Good They Can't Ignore You. Uh, he talks about this idea of kind of follow, follow your passion is really terrible advice-

    18. PB

      Mm

    19. AA

      ... because as you said, you know, you're pa- I'm passionate about playing the guitar. The chances of me making a career out of playing the guitar are minuscule.

    20. PB

      Exactly.

    21. AA

      And, uh, instead, if you aim to become really good at something, then a passion often develops for the thing that you are then really good at.

    22. PB

      I love it.

    23. AA

      And then you can, as you become good at the thing, it then gives you career capital, and often the thing that makes people passionate about their job is a sense of autonomy, a sense of freedom-

    24. PB

      Mm-hmm

    25. AA

      ... a sense that they can do what they want with their time.

    26. PB

      Mm-hmm.

    27. AA

      And if you're really good at something, you can then negotiate autonomy, even if you, even, even if you're not an entrepreneur or a creator. Even as an employee, you can-

    28. PB

      Yeah

    29. AA

      ... find that passion, but you have to become good at something first, rather than thinking, "Oh, I'm passionate about guitar. I'm passionate about football. I'm obviously gonna make a career out of that"-

    30. PB

      Mm-hmm

  4. 14:22 – 23:16

    Motivation and fulfilment at work

    1. AA

      it's, it's v- it's very much a first world problem, but it's, um, like once you've ticked the box of like financial success-

    2. PB

      Yeah

    3. AA

      ... then i- in a way the q- question in my mind becomes, well, what's the point of trying to grow the audience, trying to launch more products? Is it to make more money? Is it to help people? But like I can help people without selling my products. Like, so why would I sell my products? Or m- you know, perhaps it is to make money. Like, is it fame? Is it like, I don't know, getting more and more accolades? Is it to get on Forbes 30 under 30? Like, what, what the hell am I doing all this for?

    4. PB

      Yeah.

    5. AA

      Um, yeah. How do, how do you think about it?

    6. PB

      So the same thoughts that keep you up at night keep me up at night.

    7. AA

      Okay.

    8. PB

      'Cause the reality is when money is no longer a motivator, 'cause for a long time for me money was a motivator 'cause I grew up poor, so I know what it's like to not have anything, and then to have money you're like, "Oh, is this it?" It's like, "Oh, okay." And then like I had an existential crisis when I was like, "Oh, my God, I don't care about money anymore," um, in that way. Um, so I think that it's like def- again, I've defined my motivator is creating. As long as I'm alive, I'm just gonna have ideas, and I'm gonna try and make them happen. That is where I've now become comfortable within myself. Um, and in all of those ideas, if I can give back and make someone feel good or make them laugh or, or provide something that m- changes their life in-

    9. AA

      Yeah

    10. PB

      ... a little way, then I'm happy.

    11. AA

      Ah.

    12. PB

      So I've defined that for myself now.

    13. AA

      Okay.

    14. PB

      Mm-hmm.

    15. AA

      It sounds like your north star, kind of your core value almost is to always be creating.

    16. PB

      Yeah. Do something.

    17. AA

      Yeah.

    18. PB

      Create something.

    19. AA

      And like, you know, that, that, that process of idea to execution fills you with a lot of like internal joy.

    20. PB

      That's it.

    21. AA

      And even if you didn't make any money from it, you'd still be doing this, and you'd still wanna do it when you're 95 years old.

    22. PB

      100%, yeah.

    23. AA

      Nice.

    24. PB

      But I've, I've just defined that for myself-

    25. AA

      Yeah

    26. PB

      ... over, over the last like two years or so that I realize that is the thing that drives me. That's what made me make videos. I just wanted to make something.

    27. AA

      Yeah.

    28. PB

      I was bored, so I had to create. And then when I created I was happy.

    29. AA

      Yeah.

    30. PB

      And then it became a business, and then I was doing the same thing, and I was bored of that-

  5. 23:16 – 25:59

    How do you feel about money?

    1. AA

      Yeah, how, how, how do you feel about money [laughs] broadly?

    2. PB

      I like money. I think it's a really good tool. I think it's really valuable. Um, I think it gives you loads of options, and I think from not having money to then having it, like, I can just see the benefits of how it makes life so much easier.

    3. AA

      Okay.

    4. PB

      Like everyone-

    5. AA

      What, what, what's that before and after like?

    6. PB

      Like the choices that you have to make, you can probably take a bit more time to make a choice when you, you have m- more money. You can be a bit more patient about taking the next step, whereas if you are desperate for where your next paycheck's gonna come from, you may take a shortcut or you may do something that isn't the best for you because you really need that income, which is what so many people are dealing with all the time. So I think that money gives you the freedom to make choices that are more thought out and potentially better in the long term for you.

    7. AA

      Yeah. Um, so you've got this, uh, extra, this sort of second YouTube channel, The Break-

    8. PB

      Mm-hmm

    9. AA

      ... which has got its own website and products and things like that, where you educate people about kind of money and finances and stuff.

    10. PB

      Yeah.

    11. AA

      I will put links to all of that stuff wherever people are watching or listening to this. Um, w- how, how much do you think it's actually possible for people to, I guess, change their lot in life? Kind of the whole rags to riches thing, is that- Like, how, how does that happen and, and is, is that actually achievable for normal people, do you think? Like, well, what, what are the different factors that go on here?

    12. PB

      This is a really hard, hard ... And also, a quite an upsetting question, 'cause I actually really don't think most people are gonna go from rags to riches. I feel like it's a 0.001%. I feel like it's, uh, based in a lot of luck. I think, um, it's based in so many different factors that most people are not gonna be able to ever control. Like, if you grow up in some village and, or a desert, that's, that's it. You've been born into that. No amount of work hard is going to make the rain come out of the sky to fulfill the drought that is causing your animals to die. Like, that's something that you cannot control. So I think there's a lot of factors that people can't control, but I do think that people can focus on the little things that they can control, um, to make their life a little bit easier. But most people aren't gonna go from rags to riches. They might just have minor incremental improvements in their lifetime.

    13. AA

      And so when you advise people or, I guess it's not technically financial advice, but when you-

    14. PB

      Mm-hmm

    15. AA

      ... educate people about money-

    16. PB

      Mm-hmm

    17. AA

      ... what are the ... Like, I guess, I guess if you were speaking

  6. 25:59 – 31:28

    What financial advice would you give your younger self?

    1. AA

      to your younger self when you were broke, what, what is the advice you would've given to that younger, younger person?

    2. PB

      Actually, my number one advice is don't do what everybody else is doing. Like, we're really under pressure to, like, spend and have and do and, uh, fit in.

    3. AA

      Mm.

    4. PB

      And I would just advise myself, don't do that, 'cause most of that stuff isn't helpful for most people. The classics make sense. Save where you can as much as you can. And make more where you can, how you can. And live a, a bit more frugally if you're struggling financially, and then invest in yourself and invest in other things to aid your opportunities for long-term growth. So I s- I believe in those principles.

    5. AA

      Yeah.

    6. PB

      And that's what I would advise anybody and everyone. I'm not saying it's gonna make you rich. It's not gonna make you a millionaire, it's not gonna make you a billionaire, but it might make your life a little bit easier if you develop those basics around finances.

    7. AA

      Yeah. What are the kind of biggest mistakes that you see people/that you made when you were younger, um, in the realm of, in the realm of money?

    8. PB

      To be honest, I was pretty good with money, um, because, again, I say this all the time, when you don't have, like, you don't ... I don't wanna spend money, um, unwittingly be- un- un- crazily-

    9. AA

      Mm

    10. PB

      ... because I didn't have it to spend like that. So I was pretty smart with my money, and I was really good at making money. So I was making money from b- from 11 years old in terms of I knew that I liked money and I knew that I wanted it, and I knew that if my parents can't give me dinner money to go to school, then I'm gonna make my own dinner money. So I would, um, like do hair in the playground, and I'd make £5 here and there. And then I would make products, and I'd sell products. And you know, even at uni I had a part-time job, and then I would have my own clients as well. So I would do hair. So I would always have money, but I would always try and save it and then spend it on the things that, you know, I liked and, um, were, were valuable to me. But I never spent all of my money, and I'd never be entirely broke. But then, say, my biggest money mistakes came when I actually started making more money, and it was around, like, the whole business side of money. I didn't know that I had to pay taxes.

    11. AA

      Oh.

    12. PB

      And I was an accountant.

    13. AA

      Yeah. [laughs]

    14. PB

      [laughs] Again, I worked in banking.

    15. AA

      Yeah.

    16. PB

      So I've, I obviously had a full-time job, and then I bought a house when I was 23. Me and my husband, we bought a house together, which was really good at the time. And I was making money, and I was just spending the money that I made, you know, on the house or on things that I wanted. And then I didn't realize that I was meant to pay my, um, corporation tax. I didn't even know what corporation tax was. And then I ended up being slapped with a fine for, like, £15,000. And at the time I was like, "Where the hell am I gonna get £15,000 from?"

    17. AA

      Yeah.

    18. PB

      I don't, I don't know what that means. I didn't know how to, like, manage that or anything. So that was the, like, one of the big mistakes I made.

    19. AA

      Oh, wow. [laughs]

    20. PB

      I wasn't informed at all-

    21. AA

      Yeah

    22. PB

      ... from a business perspective on how to run my finances.

    23. AA

      And you were an accountant and worked in a bank. But I guess, like-

    24. PB

      And-

    25. AA

      ... just connecting that to the day-to-day

    26. PB

      So, and that's the thing about, like, say, the education system. I can do the corporate finance course and still get a module and get a two one in my exams, and then work at Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, and work at all these, like, big firms, but they're not teaching me how to live my life as an individual and how to manage my finances as an individual. And actually, in the bank, so many people who work there are in debt. Like, they were, like, I used to see people who, they're using their credit cards. They were struggling financially, and they were on high salaries. But they're living beyond their means. So as soon as they made money, like, they were spending more than they had. Like, it was crazy. So even in that industry, I think they were worse off because they felt like they had to keep up with everybody else.

    27. AA

      Is that something that you've kinda struggled with, the whole keeping up with the Joneses type thing? Because, uh, because people talk about it in films and books and stuff. But I guess I, I don't, like, I think, I think of, of all my friends, I know one guy who just frigging loves spending £600 on a pair of shoes just to flash it-

    28. PB

      Mm-hmm

    29. AA

      ... at a club and then never wear it again.

    30. PB

      [laughs]

  7. 31:28 – 37:36

    Your life as an influencer

    1. PB

      yes and no. So actually, I recognize that the amount I spend on clothing and bags, [laughs] jewelry, like, is, is, is maybe in, in 100,000 a year, right?

    2. AA

      Bloody hell.

    3. PB

      Which is insane, right? [laughs]

    4. AA

      Oh my God. [laughs]

    5. PB

      But that is part of my job, right?

    6. AA

      Yeah. [laughs]

    7. PB

      So, so everybody else might be like-

    8. AA

      Thought-

    9. PB

      ... "What the hell?"

    10. AA

      Yeah, it's tax deductible expenses. [laughs]

    11. PB

      Whereas that, yeah, whereas it is. Like, I could expect s- e- expense most of them.

    12. AA

      Yeah.

    13. PB

      Um, and maybe let's say 70,000 a year or something like that. So that is a lot, right? But that's the nature of my job. But the thing that started to scare me as w- and started to bother me was knowing that there are other people who are watching me who, who it isn't their job, but I might be influencing in them-

    14. AA

      Yeah

    15. PB

      ... in that way. So that's why I had to come and bring my finance knowledge to say, "Yes, I like a Chanel bag. Um, I might buy four a year. Don't buy four a year."

    16. AA

      [laughs]

    17. PB

      [laughs] Save and buy one a year, okay? And this is how to do it.

    18. AA

      Yeah.

    19. PB

      So for me, it was really important to bring that balance because we could look like life is peachy and spending money all the time, but this is our job.

    20. AA

      Yeah.

    21. PB

      Um, and I didn't wanna encourage people to do that as much.

    22. AA

      Okay. So I guess that's how you bal- like, yeah, how, how do you balance that I wanna buy four Chanel bags a year with I'm encouraging people to live frugally, and I don't wanna get a housekeeper because it might be expensive, but I'm buying four Chanel bags a year? K- like, how, how do you, how do you balance those different things? Uh [laughs]

    23. PB

      I don't know. [laughs] I feel like I'm being called out, but the reality is that I'm still trying to work on that, like-

    24. AA

      Yeah

    25. PB

      ... 'cause I think everybody has two sides. Some of us wanna save more, but some of us like, like nice things.

    26. AA

      Mm.

    27. PB

      So I've, I've accepted that's what, who I am and, and what I'm about. But everything to me is also about balance, like, um, if I'm gonna buy the four Chanel bags, maybe it won't be four, maybe it will be two, and maybe I'll make sure I've s- um, saved and invested, um, this amount first, and then I'll buy the Chanel bag. And that's how I advise anyone who follows me.

    28. AA

      Yeah.

    29. PB

      And I used to do, uh, you know, the, a content format I used to do was called haul videos.

    30. AA

      Oh, yeah.

  8. 37:36 – 43:40

    How to start a side-hustle

    1. AA

      let's say someone is listening to this. They're at, like, you know, mid, uh, early to mid-20s. They've got a job and they wanna do a business on the side-

    2. PB

      Mm-hmm

    3. AA

      ... to make that $8,000 a month or whatever to supplement their income.

    4. PB

      Mm-hmm.

    5. AA

      What would ... How, how, how would you approach that? Like, do you have a, a method, a system, process, like?

    6. PB

      So I mean, I would tell people to use the skills that they currently have, knowledge they currently have, tools that they currently have. So if you know something, so say someone I know who's really good at Excel, well, just either help people build Excel templates or sell Excel templates.

    7. AA

      Yeah.

    8. PB

      Like, this is something you can already do. That's where I would start off, and then looking at scaling that, um, or pricing it higher. That's what I would tell most people to do. I wouldn't tell them to go and invest in a product, um, and spend loads of, on inventory without testing a model first because I think that's really expensive and actually hard to, like, make happen. But I'd just say use what you've got. Like, if you've got a spare room, rent that out. Why you would have a spare room? I don't know.

    9. AA

      Yeah.

    10. PB

      But something like that, or if you like animals, why don't you start pet sitting or something, or dog walking. So pe- loads of dog walkers make, like, a ton of money 'cause they, like, dog walk 10, 10 dogs for, like, £50 a day. They can make, like, £500 a day. Is that five ... Is that the right maths?

    11. AA

      Yeah. Sounds about right.

    12. PB

      Yeah. There we go.

    13. AA

      Pretty good. Yeah.

    14. PB

      Right. They can do that, right? And even for instance, I'm working with a cake decorator and someone who does balloons and decor and, like, you know, I'm paying her £500, and it's, it's something I can't do, but she's really good at. She loves it. Um, so there's ways that people can make money-

    15. AA

      Mm

    16. PB

      ... from things that they, they are good at doing already.

    17. AA

      Yeah. Yeah, it's like that Venn diagram of the, the things that you're good at, the things that you like-

    18. PB

      Mm-hmm

    19. AA

      ... and the things that there is a market for.

    20. PB

      Exactly.

    21. AA

      And I remember when, you know, my, uh, in, you know, I li- I- I like to think of it as my origin story. When I was 18 years old, I got scammed out of my life savings when buying a MacBook off of Gumtree. Um, and I was like, "Right, I need to make this £1,000 back," 'cause I'd saved up for, like, years and years to get to that point.

    22. PB

      Yeah.

    23. AA

      And I was like, "All right, what's the list of things I'm good at and the things I like doing?" And on that list was teaching. On that list it was, like, making websites, and on that list was, um, I did reasonably well in med school entrance exams to get in.

    24. PB

      Mm-hmm.

    25. AA

      I was like, "Cool, what if I combine teaching with the med school entrance exam?" So I teach people how to get into med school, and then I make a website for it that markets it nationally. And that was the thing that made my business successful. Uh, and, you know, I th- I just think a lot, I think a lot of people are like, "Hey, I'm gonna learn day trading completely from scratch, and then I'm gonna make loads of money 'cause I found some course that does it." It's like, it's really hard-

    26. PB

      Yeah

    27. AA

      ... to compete in a market where you are not already good at the thing.

    28. PB

      Exactly.

    29. AA

      So step one is to get good at something, and if you're already good at something, then find a way to make money off the back of that if you can.

    30. PB

      Exactly. If not, it's, you're fighting a losing battle, or you recognize that it's not gonna be fast. So if you wanna be a day trader and you're gonna spend three years or two years dedicated to learning i- entirely, fine, but you might be broke and lose loads of money in, during that period of time. But you can get good in, like, three years, right? 10,000 hours and all that jazz.

  9. 43:40 – 49:50

    Being a creator and sponsorships

    1. AA

      like, it sounds like from the, from the conversations we've been having, like, you're more a creator first.

    2. PB

      Mm.

    3. AA

      And sort of a, you're more of a creative who's then building a business around that.

    4. PB

      Mm.

    5. AA

      Whereas I feel like I approach things as more of, like, an entrepreneur, where then the creator element is just sort of a, a sprinkle into that.

    6. PB

      An aspect.

    7. AA

      Um-

    8. PB

      I'm trying to get there, but again, I like the idea of, like, doing it from how I feel-

    9. AA

      Yeah

    10. PB

      ... and what my heart says, 'cause I think that's actually better in the long run. Or I feel more satisfaction personally-

    11. AA

      Yes. Yeah, definitely

    12. PB

      ... that way.

    13. AA

      Yeah.

    14. PB

      Where someone else, you know, may feel like the fact that I've executed my plan, they feel better from executing their plan, which might be more of you.

    15. AA

      Yeah. Yeah, potentially. But I find for me as well, like, when I go too much into the b- into businessman territory, it stops becoming fun.

    16. PB

      Okay. Fine.

    17. AA

      And then it's like, okay, let's look, like, claw it back a little bit.

    18. PB

      Spread is created.

    19. AA

      And finding some kind of middle way of, like, creator and entrepreneur, and finding a way for the, the two to meet in the middle, so retaining, like, the artsy side of being a creator-

    20. PB

      Mm-hmm

    21. AA

      ... with the data-driven, sciencey plan, quarterly planning side of being an entrepreneur-

    22. PB

      Mm

    23. AA

      ... for example.

    24. PB

      I need probably more of that.

    25. AA

      Mm.

    26. PB

      I'm gonna get there.

    27. AA

      Nice. What does your business look like at the moment? Like, what are the-

    28. PB

      Mm.

    29. AA

      What does the Patricia Bright p- portfolio look like?

    30. PB

      Portfolio look like. Okay, so maybe I break it down. So I, do you mean, like, as an individual or personally as well?

  10. 49:50 – 54:10

    Your property portfolio

    1. AA

      with the, with the property portfolio, are you, are you open to talking about that? Like-

    2. PB

      Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fine

    3. AA

      ... how did, how did that develop over time? When did you get started?

    4. PB

      Um, so I ... So funny enough, my mom actually owned property, so she's an immigrant. But she bought her like first council house, um, and then she bought like five to s- six properties in total around the UK herself.

    5. AA

      Mm-hmm.

    6. PB

      And so when I was like 18, I was helping her do that. Even when I was at uni, I helped her, like, with tenancy agreements and, um, like cleaning and all that kinda jazz. So I've always been into property, and I thought I hated, I thought I hated property management. But then when I started to get revenue and had some extra, and I was like, "Well, what should I do with this?" The, the first thing I thought was, "You know what? Let me get into the property market." And so, um, I bought ... Oh, the first place we actually bought was buying my own house from me. Um, we used the company money to buy a house that we already owned.

    7. AA

      Mm-hmm.

    8. PB

      And so, the company now owns my old house so that we could get the money to buy a new house. And then that was rented out, and that was, that's been really cool-

    9. AA

      Yeah

    10. PB

      ... and that's fun. And then, um, the next property was because my sister was looking for her, her house, and then the guy was like, "Well, there's a flat upstairs you might wanna look at. It costs a bit more, but you might like it." And we were like, "Oh, this is really cool." So we bought that flat, and then we like were looking at some auction properties, and we bought one without seeing it, and then we bought it. It was like, "Oh, we love this." And then we bought that property and then a few others. And then-

    11. AA

      Oh, wow

    12. PB

      ... it just kind of cascaded from there.

    13. AA

      Okay. So it's like you have a property investment company that buys the properties, and then the rent goes into that.

    14. PB

      Yes. So we have an investment company specifically for property.

    15. AA

      Nice. Yeah, that's really cool. I've started dabbling with that, like, in the last few months myself.

    16. PB

      Okay, perfect.

    17. AA

      And it's quite fun. [laughs]

    18. PB

      Yeah. It's cool.

    19. AA

      Yeah.

    20. PB

      I don't do a lot of it. I'm not gonna lie.

    21. AA

      Yeah.

    22. PB

      My husband is the-

    23. AA

      Yeah

    24. PB

      ... he loves the property stuff 'cause he goes to the houses.

    25. AA

      Oh, okay, yeah.

    26. PB

      Like, he fixes stuff.

    27. AA

      Yeah.

    28. PB

      And he like, he's the electrician, or he'll be like there with his, like, tool belt on.

    29. AA

      Yeah.

    30. PB

      Like, "I've just got something to go sort out."

  11. 54:10 – 58:20

    Do you feel you have enough?

    1. AA

      do you feel like you have enough money, or do you feel like you need to make more and then at, at some point you will have enough?

    2. PB

      Oh, yeah, I don't feel like I have enough money. Yeah, that's a fact.

    3. AA

      Hmm.

    4. PB

      So [laughs] I need more. Um, I'd like more for different things.

    5. AA

      Yeah.

    6. PB

      So when I think about how long life is, and then I c- think about, like, my revenue-generating years, I recognize that there's probably more I need, um, for the fact that I have children, and I want them to go to school, and then there are other things I'm gonna do for other people. And like, I wanna be able to buy someone a house and be like, "Oh, that's fine."

    7. AA

      Hmm.

    8. PB

      Like, and then buy my mom's house and then do this for someone who needs it. So I know that I'm nowhere near that figure that I want to be at to do the things-

    9. AA

      Yeah

    10. PB

      ... that I wanna do.

    11. AA

      Okay. Have you got a number in mind, or is it just sort of more than-

    12. PB

      Like 100 million.

    13. AA

      Oh, okay. Yeah. [laughs]

    14. PB

      What is that?

    15. AA

      Yeah.

    16. PB

      It's a billion. Like-

    17. AA

      Yeah. I was like-

    18. PB

      Is it ever increasing number, I bet. Um, no, I don't have a specific figure.

    19. AA

      Okay. Yeah, this is something that I think about a lot because they, again, coming back to that stuff we were talking about around doing things for the passion versus doing things for the money.

    20. PB

      Mm-hmm.

    21. AA

      And something I often think about is like, uh, what, like, if I ... What, what's the difference between the way I'm spending my time right now versus the way I would spend my time if I had 100 million in the bank?

    22. PB

      Okay.

    23. AA

      And like so, and therefore, that, those two different scenarios illustrate what are the things I'm doing for money rather than for fun. And so I think even if I had around 100 million in the bank, I would still make YouTube videos, and I would still do podcasts 'cause it's cool talking to cool people.

    24. PB

      Mm-hmm.

    25. AA

      But I probably wouldn't do courses because courses are specifically a revenue-generating thing, and I just chuck them online for free.

    26. PB

      Got it.

    27. AA

      And so for me, it's like the... well, then therefore the primary reason I'm doing courses is because it makes money.

    28. PB

      Mm-hmm.

    29. AA

      Which we then need to sustain the business, but ei- either way, it, it's doing it for the money rather than for the joy.

    30. PB

      Yeah.

  12. 58:20 – 1:10:02

    How do you feel about identity?

    1. AA

      change gears a bit to talking about identity. So you, um, I think a few, a few minutes ago when we were talking, when I asked you about your portfolio, you said, "Well, I'm an influencer, therefore I work with brands," et cetera, et cetera. How do you think of your own identity?

    2. PB

      That's a good question. This is a really good question that I'm still trying to define and actually redefine. So for the last 10 years, I've been a, maybe I should say online content creator 'cause it's not just about influencing. I've been educating, I've been entertaining-

    3. AA

      Mm

    4. PB

      ... I've been creating content, and I also work with brands. So I've been a online content creator for the last 10 years. But, and that's been my identity, which is putting myself out there in a way that most people don't put themselves out there. I realize I'm a weirdo for what I put out there. It's crazy that I do this, but I do. Whereas I know that, like, for the next 10 years, I know that I wanna, you know, also wear other hats, and I'm also a mum, and I'm also a wife, and I'm also an entrepreneur, and I also run a brand and businesses. So I think I wanna lean more into those as an identity, um, moving forward.

    5. AA

      Hmm. So, yeah.

    6. PB

      The, the identity of personality as well. I'm a personality.

    7. AA

      Yeah.

    8. PB

      But I feel like everyone's a personality, so.

    9. AA

      Yeah. [laughs]

    10. PB

      I don't, I don't know what that means. Okay.

    11. AA

      Hmm. Yeah, I k- I kinda find my- find myself struggling with this when, like, it's, it's very easy to have a very legible identity as being a doctor. Every- everyone knows what that involves.

    12. PB

      Oh, yeah, exactly. Yeah.

    13. AA

      And then you leave that behind and you're like, "Oh, am I... You know, I guess, I guess I'm an influencer now. What, what?" [laughs]

    14. PB

      And then there's a prestige associated with it.

    15. AA

      Yeah.

    16. PB

      Like, you know, I worked in banking. I was a banker.

    17. AA

      Yeah.

    18. PB

      You know? Or I'm a consultant. It's like, I'm an online content creator.

    19. AA

      Yeah. [laughs]

    20. PB

      Like, uh, like, uh-

    21. AA

      I take photos on Instagram.

    22. PB

      Like... Yeah, exactly. [laughs]

    23. AA

      [laughs]

    24. PB

      Like, you know, I'm a doctor. They're like, "I make videos on YouTube." [laughs]

    25. AA

      I make silly videos on the internet, yeah.

    26. PB

      Like, that's, it's a weird thing, like, 'cause it's still valuable.

    27. AA

      Mm.

    28. PB

      Like, there is this thing of people, even in the industry, they wanna label you. Like, even I work with certain management companies, they're like, "Well, you're not a model. You're not an author. You're not a this." So they like to put people into specific boxes. I'm like, "Definitely not a model, and I'm definitely not..." Well, I am an author 'cause I've published a book, but I don't call myself an author.

    29. AA

      Mm.

    30. PB

      But maybe I should.

Episode duration: 1:10:02

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