The Hidden Cost of Managing a $100M Social Media Empire | Marybeth DSH #901

Whatever.

Make a long story short, we waited a little while and it was a tear.

So I got another surgery to fix the tears.

Jeez.

And then all of a sudden, I was down in Miami and this black came across my eye.

I know.

That's scared.

So I ran back down there and a detached retina.

Holy crap.

Oh, that was brutal.

That's what fighters get when they get knocked out.

Brutal.

All right, guys, we got Meredith here.

Your first show.

First time as a guest.

The first podcast.

Wow, I'm honored.

Yeah.

Make it a fun one.

Yeah.

You were just talking about an eye surgery that went haywire.

What happened there?

Yeah.

Well, I went for corrective lenses.

You know, at my age, you can't get the laser.

You have to get corrective lenses.

So I went and like the little small print where everything that can go wrong, where they kind of warn you.

Well, that happened to me.

And the funny part is I made my husband get it first as like the guinea pig because I was like, if anything happens.

Smart.

Yeah, well, you know, I mean, I got to keep the family together.

I got things to do.

So if anything's going to happen.

Sacrifice him first.

Well, yeah, kind of.

So he got it done and perfect.

Like he sees perfect.

Everything's wonderful.

And at first, I didn't see as well as he did afterwards because we kind of like tested it.

And I was like, all right.

And they say, well, it might get better or whatever.

And I was down in Miami doing one of Stephen's.

I was decorating one of his penthouse.

Like every time he gets home or something, I do it up for him.

And all of a sudden, I just got like a black over my eye, like a little bit.

And I was going to see, I was seeing, I called the,

I called our friend, like, no, the surgeon, and he said, go to this place.

I called another friend that's really big.

He sells like lasers from Bachelor or whatever.

And that's the number one retinal institute down there.

God, I don't know why I can't remember it off the.

But anyway, he got me in with the top surgeon and I went in there and it was awful blood.

Whatever.

Make a long story short, we waited a little while and it was a tear.

So I got another surgery to fix the tears.

And then all of a sudden I was down in Miami and this, this black came across my eye.

I know.

I was scared.

So I ran back down there and a detached retina.

Holy crap.

Oh, that was brutal.

That's what fighters get when they get knocked out.

Brutal.

I did nothing.

I was hanging pictures and stuff and it happened.

It was brutal, though.

I had to lay down for, I don't know how many weeks, and you couldn't put your head up.

You had to lay down.

You had to sleep like that.

It was brutal.

Geez, how long did that last?

The recovery was weeks.

It was a lot.

I couldn't pick up like over 20 pounds.

I couldn't bend down.

It was brutal.

Yeah.

That's crazy.

When I was in fifth grade, I went blind for a week.

How'd that happen?

So there was this new thing at the time, these contact lenses you put in at night and you would wake up with 2020 vision.

So what happened was I put it on, woke up, took them off and I was blind.

Yeah, but wait, was this like something that was just like on Instagram or something that you buy or it was a doctor?

No, it was like proven.

It was with a doctor.

My mom took me because

for some reason I didn't want regular contacts, but I don't know why exactly, but she took me, we got them, woke up, had no vision.

isn't that crazy oh my god my whole retina was burnt off burnt off yeah it was completely gone so then how'd you get it back it regrew in like a week really it rejuvenated but um my mom didn't believe me so she sent me to school and you couldn't see i couldn't see shit so i got off the bus and i just went straight to the nurse i made the bus driver take me by hand Wow.

Yeah, it was an experience.

Well, now, why didn't your mom believe you?

Did you use this, like, were you one of those kids that woke up and said, oh, my stomach hurts and all that stuff to get out of shit?

That doesn't work on Asians.

Oh, really?

Yeah, yeah.

Asian people.

It works with Italians.

Right.

Yeah, no.

Because I used to pick my kids up all the time.

Oh, yeah.

You were that mom?

Oh, yeah.

Wow.

I got a headache.

The teacher wasn't nice to me.

Dan.

Did Steve do that a lot?

I don't know.

They all had their fair share.

My kids never had a school lunch.

I bought them lunch every single day.

Dan.

Like, you went to school and brought them lunch?

Yep.

Holy Holy crap.

So were you a helicopter parent?

Kind of.

Really?

I volunteered.

Oh, wow.

I was there.

Worked out, though.

Your kids are seeming to be killing it now.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's good.

Yeah, they're doing all right.

And Steve's the oldest, or no, no, no.

Steve's, no, Steve's not the oldest.

He has an older brother.

Okay.

So he's the second oldest.

Wow.

So what are the other three kids doing right now?

Okay.

Well, my oldest, oldest,

she's from my first marriage.

She is in Atlanta married and then we have rocco who he's 28 and then steven who's going to be 26 at the end of the month and then brianna the youngest who just turned 22.

got it yeah yeah so brianna works uh works for stephen rocco's a realtor and a boat captain

yeah what about the other one the oldest one well she's a stay-at-home mom stay-at-home mom yeah okay wow yeah yeah nice did you see this blow up coming with Steve at any point or was it super fast?

No.

The way I kind of found, no, it happened fast.

It happened fast once it happened.

But what he was doing like

dumb little things like the cinnamon challenge, eating dog food.

And I didn't even know.

People would tell me because like I'd be at my work or something and they'd be like, oh, did you hear what your son did yesterday?

And I'm like, I don't know.

But he was always hustling.

Like in middle school,

in middle school, he would sell like cans of soda.

He'd bring a backpack and it would have like smarty pants and those smarty smarty is the candy pants.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And like

sodas, candy, and he hustled that.

Nice.

Then he had a hustle.

He was breaking in people's like he could do the phones.

Then he was building, yeah.

Then he was building up rooms.

He always had something going on, room scapes and selling them, which I didn't even know about.

Like people would tell me and I'd be like, my son's doing that.

Besides like the sodas and all that, because I used to do that.

I used to buy it for him.

Then he'd go there and make money.

But I was like, hey, listen, if he's going to be an entrepreneur, you know what I mean?

He probably saw it from you because you own two businesses out there.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

He probably got it.

Yeah, he always worked.

Yeah, yeah.

And my first one was a kid business

because when my husband and I decided to have children, like we planned it all and,

you know, I wasn't going to work.

I'm a worker.

Right.

So it was hard.

So I had to find something that I could do.

So that's when I volunteered volunteered at their kids' school.

And then I saw a need in the community.

So I opened up an enrichment center.

So my kids were able to come with me.

So what's an enrichment center?

It was like

everything I did with my kids, which was a lot.

So all the sports I did or anything.

Like I remember Rocco having taekwondo and I'd sit on this chair, you know, for like however long.

And I was like, this chair is so uncomfortable.

Like this is so shitty.

It's so hot here.

Like, why can't they have water, you know, available?

Like, everything I went through, like as a parent, especially juggling so many kids and everything, I

changed.

So then I opened up an enrichment center and it was like a one-stop shop.

So

and I, my tagline was like, educate to empower, you know.

So during the day, it was like all homeschool.

And I got teachers from like teaching students and everything from

UCF.

And so we did homeschool.

We did like language classes.

We did after school, but the after school, they could take things there.

So

I ended up opening up three of them and franchising.

But

so they could do dance there.

They could do music there.

They could do tutoring there.

So it's like a one-stop shop.

So the parent doesn't have to pick up and rush everywhere because I know that feeling, you know.

Especially with four kids.

You were probably going to be a little bit more.

So I was just like,

I'm going to do

what

everybody.

That's cool.

Yeah, you saw a need, and you well, it started kind of like a cooking.

Like, I started doing cooking at their school, they went to a Montessori, so they're really into that.

And I started doing after school, like, little cooking classes because I volunteered in their classrooms all the time, and like, I'd make lemonade and do all this kind of stuff.

So, I started this little cooking class, and then it just like I was booked solid for the year.

Like, parents would come in and pay for the year to have their kid in my class.

Damn, I know.

So, I was like, all right, they, you know, you were that cool mom.

Kind of.

Yeah, you were.

You were.

That cool mom where everyone wanted to go over their house.

Well, we made it that way because I had to know all my kids' friends.

Yeah.

So like our house, we built a rec room and it had like a pool table, poker table, big TVs.

We had ping-pong table.

We had horses, four-wheelers, because I always wanted to know who my kids were hanging with and I always wanted to know the friends and the family.

So if they drop them off and pick them up, I get to know the parents.

I'd rather have them at my house.

Right.

So like on the weekends, there would be like kids sleeping over everywhere and stuff.

And I always wanted to have, I didn't want my kids, if they ever did something wrong, to be like, oh, shit, I, oh, if my mom finds out, you know, I want them to be like, shit, let me call my mom.

Mess up in the house, yeah.

Yeah, like, let me call my mom.

You know, like, they knew if there was ever a problem or whatever, like, you come home.

Yeah.

Don't worry about getting in trouble.

Right.

Like, if you go out and you get drunk or something, don't even, don't worry about the trouble.

You just call us, you know, and we'll come get you.

We're not gonna, don't worry about being grounded and all that kind of crap.

That's the problem: that's when they make bad decisions, when they're scared.

They do something and they get scared, so then they go sleep over at a friend's house or get into a car with somebody, you know what I mean?

Because they're scared.

I always wanted my kids to know, you know,

we all fuck up, right?

Respect, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, when don't do something stupid,

you call us.

So we always wanted to be like the safe house, you know.

Did you ever step in there and end some friendships or relationships for your kids?

Well, kind of, yeah, behind the scenes.

Yeah, I'm good.

Yeah, I'm definitely known for that.

Oh, yeah.

So you were vocal.

Yeah, pretty much.

Okay.

That's cool, though.

Sometimes you need that because if you're hanging out with a bad person or whatever.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

My kids usually picked.

You know, like I remember Rocco, you know, had this one girl.

And, you know, my kids, I didn't make them do a lot of stuff, but they had to take a music lesson.

They had to play a sport.

Wow.

Because just a sport teaches you, you know, about being team and every, you know, teaches you a lot.

And music just is good for you, right?

So they all played.

music and they all did sports.

I remember Stephen one time, he was like, oh, I don't know what I, I said, either you pick it or me and I might put your ass in damn, you know, fadminton.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

So either you pick it or I pick it what did he pick uh he he did football both my sons did football um

weightlifting and wrestling

yeah steve's a big dude yeah so football makes sense yeah raccoon rocka was bigger he's like

heftier but yeah he did football weightlifting and he played guitar and drums

Wow.

So when Steve introduced Selena, what was your reaction?

Well, when they first,

I remember extremely clearly the very first time I met Selena.

And I was sitting outside the school waiting for Stephen to get out of football or something.

One of his friends go, they call me Miss D because the last name is so big.

And when the kids were little, I didn't want their friends or whatever not to talk to me because you know how they get intimidated if they can't say your name?

Yeah, yeah.

So I changed it to Miss D so everybody would feel comfortable.

And they'd be like, hey, Miss D, you know.

So anyway, he was like, Miss D,

this is

Stephen want you to meet or something, Selena.

And they gave me her name, Selena Smith, and I thought it was fake.

And I was like, ah, they don't want me to look, you know, look her up and start doing my research, right?

So I thought it was like a Smith.

You know, I thought the kid was,

and she came to the car, and I remember she was like.

chewing gum cute beautiful you know selena's beautiful and she she was sweet she was cute um

and uh

yeah,

I remember that.

And she was just like, hi, you could tell she was shy.

Wow.

So you couldn't even look her up because her name was so common.

Well, I thought it was a fake name.

And I said, oh, he's not telling me her real last name because he doesn't want me to start asking around.

Because I volunteer in school so much.

They know I go raid, you know.

Like my daughter, she started with her boyfriend.

I couldn't get the name out of her for nothing.

Stephen told on her.

I said, mom, you know, bring on the statement.

Stephen somebody?

Yeah, he did.

He got mad at her and raided.

Oh, man.

That's okay.

That's okay with me.

I was like, give me the name.

She's like, I will never give you his name.

I said, I'm going to get his name.

I'll find out.

Give me a couple days.

Damn.

He's a great kid.

She's still with him.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, my God.

Yeah, he's amazing.

Damn, so your kids, all of them are high school sweethearts dating?

Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah, basically.

That's rare for those to last.

Yeah.

Well, their dad and I have been together 38 years.

Damn.

So you guys met in high school too?

20.

We were at school.

Oh, college?

20.

We didn't go to college.

Oh, you didn't?

Wow.

I went to school for natural health.

I went to Clayton College and they closed down, so I never

went there.

Speaking of natural health, you're about to be 60 and you're looking amazing.

Yeah.

Shout out to Gary Brecca.

Yeah, you're not kidding.

Crazy, right?

What he did.

Biohacking.

It's a real deal.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, my allergies.

I'm so sorry.

No, you're good.

Yeah, that was

the best thing.

Stephen

sent them to our house, and we started with the stem cells and the blood work and been doing it ever since.

Yeah.

It's cool to see his journey, too, because he used to pound those alcohol bottles.

Oh, yeah.

I remember those videos from like years ago.

He would drink the whole bottle.

Yeah.

And now he's changed man.

Yeah, I didn't know he did that.

Really?

Yeah.

I mean, I found out afterwards, but I mean, I didn't know that he.

Oh, yeah.

That's how he blew up.

Yeah.

Yeah.

He would pound the whole bottle and two.

And now I look at him and I'm like, oh, my God.

I can't believe he did that.

No, I don't know how he did it.

But Stephen always had,

Stephen was one of those, like, if he said he was going to do something or he set his mind to doing something, he did it.

Like, he followed through.

He did it.

He's got that.

Stephen was a different one.

You know, I always believed.

The thing with him is like,

if he said, mom,

I

like this.

The other day I was in this

pizza place and it's called a made man, right?

And he's up there and there's only like eight of them.

They've been doing it since 2004.

You have to eat this pizza.

I don't know.

It's like six pounds.

It's like disgusting.

People can't do it, grown men or whatever.

And they try and they do this challenge.

You become a made man, you get like 20% off for your whole life and you get a shirt, right?

Then there's a whole wall of everybody that's tried it.

And Stephen was, I don't even know how old he was.

It was like 2016 or 14 or something.

He did it because I just looked at it.

That's why I And I remember him just coming in and saying, like, mom, I need 20 bucks.

And I was like, for what?

And he says, you know, he'll just tell me, don't worry about it.

I'm just going to do this little contest.

And he put on like a sweatsuit and he's running around the block, turning around the block, like prepping for it, whatever.

And he came back.

And then somebody said, oh, you know, Steve's a made man.

So he took the 20 bucks and he went and entered this.

pizza thing.

Wow.

Bought the pizza and did.

Yeah.

So like

he went into this

physique competition when he was like 16 with all men just out of the blue

like he's like mom i want to wake bored and then he went and he like went every single day like when he's kind of got like that mind where if he says i'm gonna do it like he'll do it but he'll do it do it do it all right he's got that confidence yeah he'll do it like he'll take it to the end that's cool yeah where do you think he picked that up from um

I don't know.

He was just kind of always like that, like just motivated.

Like, I remember he's like, mom, I need a treadmill in my room.

And like in middle school you just hear him in there running like playing the guitar he's like oh i need two lessons a week and then he just practiced like crazy he's he's good at guitar wow he's talented man yeah i didn't know this side of him for real oh yeah yeah yeah some of his video some of his clips and stuff he'll play his guitar really yeah wow yeah holy crap were you just buying him a bunch of stuff like whenever he asked um

i think all my kids kind of got what they wanted but he

if he showed interest in something, it wasn't like a waste of money with him, put it that way.

You know what I mean?

He didn't say, mom, I want a guitar or something like that.

And then it would just be like two weeks later, put in the closet.

Like he did it.

Got it.

Yeah.

So, you know, back to the question about him getting famous, that's what he was doing little stuff, little stuff, but he was getting like notice.

Like, he started blowing up in the hometown, which I didn't even know know what it meant.

Everybody's like, you know how big he is on Instagram?

And I was like, no, I don't even know what Instagram is.

Yeah, you didn't even have one, right?

No, no, now I'm kind of, I was forced into it.

Now I'm like on Twitter every day.

And yeah, speaking of Twitter, you tweet out dogs a lot.

I know.

I love dogs.

I know, me too.

I got two at the house.

How many do you have?

Well, Stephen has, he had like 11.

So holy crap.

His dogs, these aren't my dogs.

These are like Stephen's dogs.

We started with one when he was in school.

He went and saved one and tried to tell us he was baby, he was watching it because that was his thing.

He'd watch dogs, which means me and his dad would watch, or I'd watch a dog.

And

he came home with one.

And my husband's just like,

don't they miss their dog?

When is this dog going back home?

But it was Stevens.

He went and he saved it.

He saw it on Craigslist.

You saw it on the street or?

No, Craigslist.

He sold his Xbox or something to go get the money to get it.

And then his grandmother, his Nana, who he talks about, who he was real close with, gave him money to go get it.

And she took that secret to her grave.

He happened to tell.

And she's told me, I can't believe he got a dog without even asking.

She was the one that gave him the money, too.

Wow.

Shout out to her.

Yeah.

Oh, no, they were,

she was very much like that.

That's your mom or your...

No, that's my husband's mom.

Yeah, they were very close to my kids.

But anyway, so that was the first one and then he moved out to an apartment but we had acreage and all and the dog was used to running and you can't do that to the dog it's it's was one of those dogs that really hyper not an apartment dog right young so we're like he can't go there that's not right so then he goes oh fine i'll go get another dog so then he goes and rescues another dog um the big pit bull, right?

So he goes to the pound and rescues him.

Then that dog has anxiety.

So every time Stephen leaves, it starts crying.

So every day I had to pick up the dog and babysit it, right?

So then that's when he moves to the clout house.

And the dog was so attached to him, it was sick.

You know, we get that dog and it was sick and everything.

But then the dog got attached to us.

So we're like, okay, so now we have two.

And then we just recently got one of his dobermints because he rescued another dog.

from a fan, came and dropped it off, and it was beating up on the dobermint.

So then we had to take that

and then he bought a rottweiler puppy and then the another dog was the same one was like beating up on the puppy so we have so we have four okay you said 11 though but he's got yeah oh he's got 11 yeah but the four with me

oh so he's got seven

yeah um wow and i think selena just got an up between him and selena

Yeah, yeah, that's goals right there.

Yeah, I would have as many dogs as I can if I had the space.

Yeah, dogs are just amazing.

I know, I know.

I help like when people have problems, I probably shouldn't say it because I'll probably get bombarded, but on like Twitter, I'm like, you know, I send them money.

I'm like, oh, wow, go get your dog fixed.

You know, because people, they love them, but they don't have the money to like for the vet or something, you know, when something's wrong.

And I'm always like, oh, you got me with the dog.

Damn.

How do you know they're not scamming, though?

I have all the mods, like, look them up and stuff like that.

Yeah.

Like, I've offered, sometimes I'm like, let me call the vet, you know?

Because the up and up people are like,

here's the bill you can call the vet or something like that.

Yeah, so dogs are your saucepan.

Yeah, it's like, you know, or dog food or something.

Yeah.

I get videos every day

about dogs.

Yeah, me too.

Oh, my God.

Me too.

Me too.

I love them, though.

They're the best.

I know.

My parents didn't let me get any growing up, and I don't want that for my kids.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We were kind of like that.

We had one.

His name was Rocky.

He was little.

He was very snobby.

He wasn't like a real loving.

He was like a little snobby dog.

Yeah, I like the big boys.

The little ones are usually.

Well, we always wanted the little ones, and then we got one.

And then we're like, uh-uh.

Then when Steven started with the big ones, I like the big ones.

Yeah, small ones got attitude.

Yeah.

You know, big ones are just friendly.

Yeah, so sweet and everything.

Yeah.

Yeah, he was a Bijapoo.

What the fuck is that?

I've never heard of it.

It's a Bichon and a poodle.

And like,

poodles are smart, and Bichons are stupid.

So, like, it would do like stupid things.

We're like, there's the Bichon in them.

But it just wasn't like warm and friendly.

Wow.

You know, because we bought them.

So I was like, that's what, you know, you go rescue them.

They're grateful and thankful.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's easy.

Yeah.

Little designer ones are little shits.

Right?

Have you been to PowerSlap out here yet in Vegas?

Yeah.

How was that?

Yeah.

That was.

Odd.

It was like.

That's how I felt too.

Really?

I saw the first guy get knocked out.

I'm like, holy crap.

Yeah, I couldn't, I, I couldn't quite figure it out.

Like, you know, when they do, like, oh, cupping or off the side, you know, then, like, I started getting into it.

But it was kind of like long in between,

like, waiting.

Yeah.

I don't know.

But then, like, just like, uh,

just like the fights, like some of them were characters and it was funny, you know, but it was,

I left, I didn't want to see the girls do it.

So I left right before the girls.

Got it.

I was like, I don't know.

You were just picturing your daughter there or something?

something i don't i don't know and then when they go down you know i get like scared dude one guy went down for like five minutes when i was yeah like even when i go to the fights you know like and i'm sitting up there i'm like this the ufc fights yeah i'm like and i was like stop stop i get like anxious

anxious and then when they go down you know like the mom of me i'm always like oh my god please let him be all right yeah some of those knockouts are brutal brutal and then i don't know why they don't stop him like he's obviously down.

Like, why do you let him keep punching him?

It's because the refs get a lot of heat if they end it too early.

They get a lot of hate.

So they don't want to, you know.

Well, it's the people that probably say, oh, he would have won if they didn't stop.

He was going to get back up.

Yeah.

You know, so that gets on the ref.

And then sometimes the ref gets fired.

Yeah.

They end it too early.

It's horrible.

Yeah.

It's a tough job.

I wouldn't want a ref, actually.

No, I wouldn't either.

I mean, I know just like giving away money, you know how Steve, you know,

like if somebody doesn't get it, all of a sudden, like they got a beat, you know.

Oh, they got, they post on Twitter, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I saw with that cash out thing you did.

I get murdered and I'm like, listen, I'm just like, I'm nobody.

I just help little things, you know what I mean?

But I was like, my God.

It's crazy.

Yeah.

You're giving out money and you're still getting hated for it.

Yeah, but like not expecting anything back, just like helping.

Like if you have a story, you know, like, cause I just feel like if you have it and you don't give it, like, shame on you.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

Like, you know, a couple hundred dollars to help somebody or whatever that's down and out.

No, it's crazy.

Like, Mr.

Beast gives a ton of money and he's getting a lot of hate right now, too.

So, people just hate.

Is it his money or sponsors?

Probably both.

Yeah.

See, we don't do sponsors' money.

Oh, you don't?

No, no, no, no, no.

Wow.

You just give out your own money.

No, it's all our own money.

100% all our own.

Because Stephen always said he didn't want that to be.

Like, he does does his videos he pays for his team and yeah he just feels he said it's like giving wow because you guys give out a ton yeah millions right I yeah definitely millions but I you know I

also tell him too when you when you get a sponsor whatever it is your money because you're working for it right you know yeah he's very selective of sponsors I noticed very very he doesn't drown his name he has to believe in it a hundred percent right like a hundred percent he will never do anything he won't do anything that he doesn't believe in that he wouldn't take eat drink or anything himself um

and he doesn't do anything that

is i don't know like scammy or anything you know he's very cautious that's good though because some creators sell out yeah you know oh i know five sponsors a video and then it's just disingenuous yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I've seen it.

I know exactly what you're talking about.

I mean, I knew somebody that was in the space one time and they were selling everything.

And I'm thinking to myself, I go, you don't even use that shit.

Like, who are you kidding?

Nah, people should just focus on a few things.

Like, he's killing it with Happy Dad.

Oh, yeah.

Like, if you just focus on a couple of different things, that's all you really need.

You don't need to be doing

too much.

Yeah.

And then not only that,

you give it 100%.

Otherwise, you do it half-ass if you're piecing tons of things.

Yeah, you can't.

You're one person.

How much attention can you give?

Yeah, for real.

Any of his purchases that you disagree with?

Yeah.

Yeah.

He's bought some crazy stuff.

Yeah.

I don't like, like,

I don't know how many watches he needs to have.

That drives me freaking crazy.

Him and Neil seem to be getting together all the time.

Yeah, it drives me crazy.

You know?

Thank God, like, I got a great relationship with Neil.

Yeah.

You know, he calls me Auntie Marabeth.

You know, like, great relation.

Like, I can call him and just say, Neil, come on.

You know?

Well, luckily with watches, to be fair, they maintain value production.

No, they do, like, the Rolexes and all, but I just don't think he needs as many as,

you know.

All his real estate,

that's solid.

That's golden.

I don't care if it's an asset, you know, like his cars, certain cars.

Most of his cars, though, are worth, you know, he's made a couple of dumb car purchases, but he's pretty good.

And he's just getting better.

There's nothing crazy.

He just bought a jet, right?

I saw him talk about that.

Yeah, yeah.

We're in the middle of ironing out that contract.

It's not the same as buying a car or a house.

Yeah.

Well, it makes sense because seven dogs, you can't really bring them on commercial planes.

No, you can't.

Yeah.

And they're not allowed to be in crates or anything.

He

which I hate because they could die down there.

Yeah.

Oh, he would never put a dog down there.

Never.

Never.

Like, I've seen dogs get lost.

I've seen dogs die.

It's cold down there.

I would never do it.

It's inhumane.

Yeah.

I truly believe believe that, too.

Yeah, that's cool, though.

Yeah, I saw how many cars were at the house on that one video.

Yeah.

Like 12 cars.

Yeah, I think he's up to maybe 13 or something.

He just bought like 11 and a half acres and scott like a farm there.

So now he's into trucks.

He's got a big guy.

That was in a different country, right?

No, he's got one in a different country.

That's not the farm.

No, that's over there in Florida.

Oh, so they got like donkeys, horse,

chickens, a big garden.

yeah, miniature ponies, four-wheelers, side-by-side.

So he's into trucks now.

So he bought us several trucks.

You taking care of the farm too?

Actually, his sister.

I was.

My husband and I were over there.

We were like, no, because we just bought acreage ourselves, you know, in the town where our kids were raised.

Yeah.

Was that a big town?

No, no, no, it was very small.

Oh, really?

So it was tight?

Yeah.

And we had our house that we redid for our kids.

And our kids, you know, grew up there.

And I don't know, we sold it and then regretted it.

You know, it was like a year.

We tried to get it back, and they don't want to sell it back.

And then we found one right down the road with more acreage.

So we're so happy.

So it worked out.

Yeah, yeah.

So we go back there for the beach and there, you know, just back and forth.

So that town just holds a special place in your heart.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, we love it.

Yeah.

It's just where the kids were raised and the school and familiar, you know.

A lot of people retire in Florida.

Yeah.

They go there and call it quits, you know?

Well, let me tell you.

well, I showed you my before and after.

Oh, yeah.

That was me trying to retire.

Lord.

And we went and we lived at the beach and it was eating out, drinking what my husband and I would sit out on the patio and it was like out of not getting up and having a purpose.

And we didn't have any property anymore because we had this beach house with a like a little yard.

Yeah.

And you just found yourself.

You got bored, right?

Doing nothing.

Yeah, especially with me, like high-end, you know, energy and stuff.

It was like.

And you were in your 50s.

You retired really early.

Real early.

So did my husband.

Yeah.

But then Stephen just got super busy and I just started

doing his stuff.

That's like,

you know, and thank God, you know.

So now I'm like full-blown working 24-7.

So what's your, what's your role there?

I basically handle everything, all his personal stuff, all his business stuff.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

You're like his manager?

Yeah, more like business manager.

I don't go go out and get him deals.

I mean, all contracts and everything come to me, and I work like with his legal and stuff.

And, you know, I work with all his staff and

payroll, pay all the bills, personal, everything.

Yeah, because you ran a big company.

So you learned all that.

You had 60 employees, I think you said.

Yeah, I had like 60 employees.

Yeah, I had my original center.

I had three.

Yeah.

But then I was in the corporate world too, as well, you know, before I.

Oh, yeah?

What did you do there?

I was a like international domestic operations manager for a global logistics company.

So it was, yeah, it was kind of.

That's a big title for someone I didn't go to college.

Yeah, yeah, but I had to work harder.

I was like the only woman to make it to my position.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

So, but, you know, that was back in the day.

And it, uh, so I was, you know, it was like me and men.

So like running Stevens stuff is kind of

because

I'm working in a male dominant yeah, yeah, tall guys.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

But you're used to it, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I got thick skin, yeah, yeah,

I got real, yeah, I got real thick skin.

I love that,

yeah.

Some people think, oh, they're just talking to,

you know, oh, his mom or something, but then, you know, I get the respect where I should get the respect where I need it, right?

So when people call me and, you know, make deal on the phone or whatever,

I don't get intimidated very easily.

Yeah.

Yeah, I'm sure there's been angry people coming at you at times.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I get hate.

Oh, yeah, I get hate.

Yeah.

People like me just to fold, you know, and just be like, okay.

They probably expect you to fold.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

They're just like, oh, you're talking to Steve's mom.

Oh, yeah, I'm going to get over, you know, but

I don't care.

Yeah.

What do they come at you for usually?

Whatever.

You know.

Like, if I don't like contracts

or if I don't think something's fair.

Right.

That's good that he has someone like that.

I'm gonna pop on the phone with you.

Yeah, no problem.

There's people trying to use him, I bet.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

There's a lot of sharks, right?

You know, a good friend, you know, well, he became a good friend from just working with Steve.

You know, he helps us with some stuff.

And he even said, Mary, Beth, there's so many sharks out there.

They're going to come at your son right and left.

And I was like, well, yeah.

They're going to have to go, you know, through me.

They see him as a dollar sign, you know?

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

I'm fighting.

I, you know, one time I just said said it's like that whack-a-mole, you know, like a freaking whack one down and another one pops up, you know, it's constant.

So, you know, yeah, shout out to you.

That's needed.

I wish I had that when I was starting out, honestly.

Yeah.

I got scammed.

I got definitely taken advantage of.

He does too, but he does things.

He's so much better, but like he'll do things that I don't know.

So I can't.

Be involved if I don't know.

Right.

And like, there's one promise I made to my son in the very beginning when I started doing his business and everything.

I said,

I know what I know.

I mean, thank God I've got like business behind me and stuff, but there's some things I don't know.

And I promise you this, I'll never pretend I know something.

You know, and I told him that from the very beginning, I'll help you any way I can.

There are things I know and I definitely know, but I don't know everything.

And I promise you, I'll never pretend to know because I'll always make sure it's right.

So, you know, like, he's got got a great legal team.

You know, he's got financial advisors.

You know what I mean?

Like, I talk to people.

I don't make all the decisions by myself or anything like that.

I'm not, I would never do that.

That's harmful.

Absolutely.

I love that.

Yeah, you can only do what you could do, right?

No, that's so powerful because a lot of parents try to educate their kids on everything

when they're not experts in certain fields.

Yeah, or they just take it on because they want to be the boss.

I don't have to be the boss.

I don't give a shit.

At the end of the day, it's my son's success, you know, and making the right decision.

Whether, you know,

sometimes I don't know.

I have to educate myself sometimes.

Yeah.

So whenever he gets involved in something, like I really dig in deep, you know, I ask questions.

I just don't sit back.

Yeah.

He just doesn't run around signing his name and stuff, you know.

Right.

And a lot of

these influencers actually go broke, but you guys are doing so well with the investment stuff.

It's impressive.

Well, that's the one thing.

I try.

I try so hard.

I'm always like, Stephen, let me help you build your wealth, please.

You know?

Yeah, that's awesome.

What's next with your podcast?

I know you're filming after this.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm going to film after this.

Timmy's coming in, and then we're just going to get back into it.

You know,

I don't know.

Maybe start having guests.

I don't know.

You know, I was really comfortable with

the family just kind of talking about everyday.

crap.

I mean, for whatever reason,

people are interested in our family.

It was doing well.

Yeah, it was doing well.

Yeah.

And it was fun.

I saw the views.

Yeah, you guys were vibing.

It was natural.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So I'm going to try.

My son, you know, he just had his baby.

Then I went through my surgeries and everything else.

So, you know, it was hard to do it.

And I was traveling so much with Steven.

I was here so much.

You know, I have to fly my other son in.

And so I don't know.

I'm going to start it up again.

And it will be fun, you know.

Yeah, it's a unique show.

It's relatable.

Yeah, that's the thing.

That's why I was saying, like, even with questions here, I don't care what people throw at me because there's nothing.

We don't have any skeletons in our closet and there's nothing that's not out there on the table.

Right.

And I don't care about talking about it because it's truth.

You know, you could sleep all night.

Oh, I sleep good.

Yeah.

Well, because there's nobody could, there's nothing that I won't say.

You know, I mean, we don't have skeletons in the closet.

Everything's kind of out there.

There's nothing.

Yeah.

And that's rare for celebrities and influencers.

Super rare.

Because usually to get to that level, you got to have some skeletons.

Yeah.

You know?

No,

I don't think they'll find any.

Unless there's stuff that I don't know about.

You know, I mean, everything's been out there.

I was, you know, married before.

That was a big thing.

I mean, my kids teased me.

You know, Stephen was going through that thing of.

Oh, I didn't even see that.

What happened?

Oh, God, saying, oh, you.

cheated on dad.

I didn't cheat on dad.

I was married before dad, you know, but that was his big thing.

My mom screwed another guy.

It was my husband, you dumbass.

You know?

Oh, wait, so is he from the first marriage or the second?

Oh, no, no.

they're all from the same dad.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, no, my first daughter's from the first marriage.

Got it.

Yeah, it was a very short marriage.

It was, it wasn't a bad thing.

There was nothing bad.

I mean, people could pull that up too.

It was, it was short.

He was more like a friend, you know, like a best friend.

And then when I met Steve

senior, it was just like love at first sight.

And I got divorced and

that went with it.

Got it.

If that's the worst thing they have on you, I think you'll be good.

Yeah, that's the worst thing.

I mean, I can't think of anything else.

And then

five years later, my first husband turns gay.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

I took a turn.

I know.

I was like, well, thank God

you waited five years.

Otherwise, I'd be blamed for that, you know?

Did you see signs of it at all?

Yeah,

Steve saw, Steve Senior.

He was like, you know, your husband's gay.

And I said, he is not.

He just likes himself, you know.

And he goes, no, he walks with a swoosh.

Swoosh?

Yeah, like he walked like this.

Oh, like kind of fluid-like.

Yeah.

Interesting.

He called it swoosh.

So he's like, no, your husband's gay.

And I said, get out of here.

He is not.

If anything, he's the opposite, you know.

But he did like himself.

You know, he used to, you know, look in the mirror.

But I was like, he just likes himself.

He was a good-looking man, you know.

I don't know.

I didn't think he was gay.

Yeah, I mean, why would you if you're having sex?

And yeah, like, why would you assume that?

I don't know.

He just,

I, well, he was.

He's married now, but it's to a man.

So.

Holy crap.

Yeah.

That's it.

That's like our

family secret.

Yeah.

But it's not even a secret.

Is he still in the daughter's life?

Yeah, that's complicated, you know, with between them.

I was always more,

you know, she was with me.

She worked at my business.

She lived, you know, Steve Sr.

was in her life since she was one.

Oh, God.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I was very young.

You know, it was

so.

So Steve Sr.

was basically her dad then.

Yeah, he was there, you know, through school and

everything.

That makes sense.

Well, it's been fun.

Where can people find you and find the podcast and everything?

Well, we're filming today.

It's going to be on YouTube.

We post on YouTube, and we're going to try and do weekly.

And then I'm on Twitter, The Real Delio.

What a name.

The Real Delio One on Twitter.

I'm kind of, Steve threw me in there and then all of a sudden it was just like blowing up.

Now I've got like this whole Twitter family.

It's very like community oriented.

Twitter, yeah.

It's not like Instagram or anything.

No, Twitter, you have conversations with people.

Oh, I know.

Everyone's like, good morning, Marybeth.

And all of a sudden, I'm like, oh my God, that was so nice.

You know?

It's like you wake up to this whole community, you know?

Well, when you're giving money out, yeah, people will be nice to you.

Yeah,

yeah.

Well, that too, you know, but I, and then I don't, I don't really know what I'm doing.

So I'm like, am I supposed to answer everybody?

Answer everybody.

I'm like, oh, I'm so sorry for your loss.

Oh, I hope you feel better.

Somebody's like, what are you doing?

I was like, are you not supposed to do that?

No, you're really not.

Really?

Why?

Well, it's not sustainable because you're going to start getting hundreds and thousands.

So if it would take too long,

you won't be able to do it in a few months.

Yeah.

Oh, no, no, no.

I know.

I'm going up.

I've got like.

You got to pick and choose your battles.

Yeah.

I know.

Yeah, I don't really respond to anyone.

You don't?

Just because it would take so long because I'm getting thousands of comments.

Yeah, but you're big.

I'm not big.

I only have like 14,000 followers.

Yeah, but it'll go quick.

Yeah.

Yeah, you'll see.

Yeah.

But no, keep doing what you can for now.

Yeah, I know.

That's sweet of you.

And then all I do is I post something dumb once in a while that Steven says, and I'll get a text from him saying, get off Twitter forever, please.

Making him look bad.

Yeah.

Well, I don't think it makes him look bad.

He just doesn't like, you know.

whatever I post probably some stupid like quote or something because I'm big into like the quotes you know, motivational quotes or something.

I love it.

Well, we'll link it all below.

Thanks for coming on.

Yeah, thank you for having me.

I enjoyed it.

Yeah, that was cool.

Thanks for watching, guys.

See you next time.