How Maggie Q Went From Spending $0.75 per Day to Hollywood Stardom and a Wellness Empire

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I'm Nicole Lappin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand.

It's time for some money rehab.

Maggie Q's story isn't the typical Hollywood fairy tale.

She went from couchsurfing and hustling overseas to starring in blockbuster films and building a wellness empire.

You've seen her in Mission Impossible 3, Divergent, The Protégé, Nikita, and most recently, she's starring in the Bosch spin-off ballard.

But what you might not know is that behind the red carpets and all of the amazing stunt work, Maggie has been on a serious self-made financial journey.

Today, we talk about how she went from broke to building real wealth, the unhinged things she did to save money, how Jackie Chan changed her life, and what losing her home in a mudslide taught her about the intersection of mental health and financial health.

She also takes us behind the scenes of starting her wellness company, which she started started after having her own health issues and seeing serious gaps in the supplement industry.

Maggie opens up personally in a way that I truly found so, so moving.

She talks openly and honestly about what makes her relationship with her husband so special and whether or not she wants to have kids.

Her answers right now.

Maggie Q, welcome to Money Rehab.

I'm so happy to be here because we've been in touch for a minute.

I had you on CNN like 15 or maybe 20 years ago, but remotely.

I was in Atlanta.

Oh, okay, got it.

Yeah.

And now we're here.

And now we're here.

And I just read that you are so happy right now, which makes me so happy.

Oh, thank you.

I am really happy right now.

Amazing.

Tell me more.

How are we so happy?

Well, so I just recently got married.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

But we actually cheated because we were married.

Just in a civil ceremony.

Exactly.

And, but we never had a wedding party.

And so, you know, family started to get older.

Parents started to get sick and diagnosed with things, and all that stuff, life stuff.

Yeah, and so that was kind of terrible.

And I just thought, you know, what would really make my mom happy if we had a huge party?

We did plan on having a party.

So we were like, let's just do a party.

And I'm like, we should probably do a ceremony.

And he's like, okay, let's do a ceremony.

So we did the whole thing.

We did it.

We did it, did it?

Yeah, it was fun.

I didn't really realize before that why people got married.

I understood the institution of marriage, which I think is awesome, but the party and stuff.

And I guess maybe it's the Hollywood-jaded thing.

I don't want to go to another party.

I want to be invited, but also have the option.

Right.

To say no.

It's just another event that you have to kind of get ready for it.

And I'm like, I don't want to get ready for an event.

I understand it for people who never get to do that.

I think that's the coolest thing ever.

But for me, I was like, honey, I don't need to do a party.

And then I did it and I realized why people do it.

It was just this profound, wonderful thing where I looked around and I was like, everyone I love is in one place.

That's so cool.

That's exactly how I felt actually.

We had a super tiny, tiny wedding, and I was against it.

I was like, let's just go to the courthouse.

Let's not do a thing.

Maybe me too.

I was like, I don't care.

And it was the only time, I think, that everybody we love was together.

And even people that you love that don't spend time together and then they fall in love with each other and you're like, I knew it.

I knew it.

You're all good people.

Well, also, I mean, the financial part where obviously I'm money rehab, I was like, it's such a waste of money to

do all of these things that will be temporary.

Exactly.

Was any of your financial health a contributing factor to your amazing mental health?

I think it always is because I think that as a young woman, very young woman, like in my teenage years,

I don't know why this happened to me, but I had it in my head that financial freedom equaled freedom.

Just period, full stop.

As a woman, it just gave me a ton of choices.

It gave me, you know, the kind kind of security that no person could give me, because even if a person gave that to you and had security, that person could go away.

But if you did it yourself,

you'd always sort of have a type of security.

And maybe it was because I was a very insecure person and needed something to feel secure about.

And so I thought, well, money and success would do that for me.

Not in a gratuitous way, not in a way where you're showing off your money and success, but just knowing in your heart and in your mind that I can take care of myself.

So that was always a big thing for me from Go.

What a wise young baby.

That's so cool.

But take me back to that time in your life because you went to your first year of college trying to save up for your second year, right?

And then you couldn't go back.

So you didn't come from money.

I did not come from money.

And I, well, maybe that's part of it.

Didn't grow up with really anything.

And then the decision to go to college was mine and mine alone.

And if I wanted to do that, I had to pay for it.

And so that's okay.

You know, a lot of people are in that position.

And so I got a scholarship for athletics and I started.

And at the time, I was working retail.

I was having to train.

So to keep a scholarship, I don't know if you guys have ever, you know, had an athletic scholarship.

Not an athletic one.

It's, you, you get it and you have to keep it, right?

Like anything.

And as a very physical person, it was...

It was really tough because I had trainings in the morning, trainings in the afternoon, but after school hours, I had to work as well.

And so

that was, it was, it's just, it was impossible it was one of those things it was like i'm not gonna survive this because i have to work retail till midnight and close the store i was working at and then be up at 5 a.m again for training go to school all day and then have training and then go back to work i just knew that i wouldn't survive just physically survive mentally i'd go crazy and so yeah so i left and at that point did you go to hong kong I actually went to Tokyo first.

Okay.

I went to Tokyo.

Model.

Strange story.

Well, I was not a model, to be very clear.

A girlfriend of mine, who's very beautiful and always has been, was a model.

And essentially what it was was she felt sorry for me because she saw what diarrhea.

How stunning you are.

No.

And she was like, Maggie, how are you going to do this?

You're paying rent at this place.

And I'd been living on my own already for a minute.

You're working.

You're going to school.

Like, you're not going to survive.

And I was like, well, that was my thought.

And she said, why don't you come with me to Tokyo?

I can introduce you to my agency.

Mind you, I don't know if you know the modeling world, but models don't do this.

They don't go, hey, come with me.

I'll introduce you to my agent and my clients.

You know, this is a person who's just remarkable and her heart was huge.

And really, all she saw was my suffering and thought, how can I help her alleviate her suffering?

And so she took me with her.

And it was really.

It was gross.

It was indentured servitude.

It was like they, it really was.

I mean, they front your ticket and they front your rent and then you have to pay them back by getting jobs, which makes sense.

I mean, you obviously have to pay people back if they're fronting for you, but there's no risk for them because you can't leave until you make the money back for them.

Yeah, it was, it was a really,

that industry is not okay.

That's not how it still works.

I don't think that's how it's still.

I don't think people can get away with that now.

They might be able to get away with it with people that they can take advantage of.

But you had no money.

I had no money.

I had 20 bucks.

I read that you had.

I don't know if that

was less than that.

I had nothing.

So it was, I arrived in a foreign place going, why better work?

And it was interesting because I was there for a while and I got one job that allowed me to pay them back.

And so I went back to Hawaii after that to get my life together.

And I just, there was nothing there for me.

There was nothing.

I wanted to see the world.

I'd

gotten out already, lived in Tokyo, this big city that was so exciting.

And I'd met so many cool people from all over the world.

And then I went back to my little island and I just, I wasn't happy.

I didn't want to be there anymore.

I just knew there was so much out there.

So my second trip was Taipei.

I went with the same friend.

We went to Taipei, but that didn't work out.

Got no work.

Nobody wanted me.

They were like, they wanted at the time, they wanted famous Chinese people, which I'm not, I'm not famous or Chinese, and or blondes with blue eyes.

That was the look at the time.

And so my look was just not on the board.

And so they kind of just, every room, they were like, leave.

We're not looking for exotic.

We're not looking for any of that.

So I bought a one-way ticket like a Hail Mary to Hong Kong.

And that's where I ended up settling for about eight years.

What's the craziest thing you did to save money?

I didn't eat.

Oh man.

I didn't eat meals.

So in Hong Kong, they have these bows, you know, the buns, right?

Like at dim sum, you can get that bun that has the meat in the middle.

Or you weren't vegan at the time?

No, I was too poor to be vegan.

Fair.

There was no Erewhon in Hong Kong.

There was no.

It wasn't easy easy and it was kind of gross at the time, but I still did it even when I did do it.

But yeah, no, I was eating whatever I could eat.

So those buns were, I think they were like 15 cents or 20 cents U.S.

So I would buy three of them for the day and I'd eat one in the morning and then I'd go out and try to get jobs and do that.

And then one in the afternoon and one at night.

And that was kind of what I did for a while.

So you can imagine how

malnourished.

You got a cow bun again.

I never wanted anyone to look at that.

It was so gross.

And at what point did you meet Jackie Chan?

I modeled for about a year.

And when I say modeled, I use the term very loosely.

Okay.

I was doing toothpaste commercials and bank commercials and all that.

So for whatever reason,

he had a management company at that time where he managed talent.

And so Jackie is the ultimate businessman.

If you ever get to interview him, you should.

He parlayed his movie career into just everything, right?

Like merchandise, directing, having an agency where he was training young stars, bringing young stars up because he knows he's not going to be around forever.

So he was looking for the next generation of action stars.

And, you know, I was a runner and a swimmer.

Like I wasn't, I don't do martial arts, right?

And so his company approached me and said, hey, you know, you did these commercials and people are talking about you and they want to see you in movies.

And I, I just laughed.

I was like, why would anyone want to see me in a movie?

That's so ridiculous.

And they said, well, it may seem silly to you, but that's the demand out there.

What do you think?

And I remember I just didn't know why they were approaching me, so I said no, because I just thought it was ridiculous.

And I thought this big famous star, and I'm going to do something that I don't know how to do and then disappoint him.

And why would that's such a silly place to put yourself in, right?

When you have no expertise.

Did you think it was a scam?

Not a scam.

I just thought they didn't know what they were talking about, which is very silly because they obviously know what they're talking about, right?

He's obviously very successful.

So I said, how about this?

In six months, if people are still asking for me, then we can talk again.

And six months to the month, they came back and said, people are still talking about you.

Let's do it.

And so I ended up becoming one of their, they call them artists over there.

And that's when I met him and his team.

Jackie travels with a team of 10 stuntmen who are.

always there and always interchangeable.

So because he's Jackie Chan, right?

So for sure.

When he's in a movie, right?

I mean, he's a level that no one's at.

So when he's in a film, if you know him and you know the team, I know who he's fighting in every film because it's the same people.

Because he can't just fight some guy, right?

He can't just fight some actor or some stuntman.

He's not B-Y-O,

stunt man.

Yeah.

Yes, exactly right.

And they're with him everywhere.

They're like these little minions that follow him around.

You can always spot him because there's always like 10 people following him everywhere he goes.

Do you still talk to him?

I talk to him if I see him.

I don't like text him or anything, but does he text?

I don't know.

You feel he does?

I can't like on the fence.

He ended up dissolving the whole agency.

It's not even there anymore, the agency I was with.

And he moved all his operations to China.

I don't even think he's based out of Hong Kong anymore.

But yeah, he's got a totally different life from when I started with him.

And so I was trained by his team for action movies.

So, I mean, you really can't have a better,

I mean, it wasn't pleasant training, but you can't have a better experience in terms of work ethic.

Sure.

And that sounds like it changed your life at that point.

It really did.

That was when you got your first big paycheck.

Yes, exactly.

Exactly.

Do you remember that moment from three bow buns a day to like real money?

Yeah, it was very surreal to have any money because I didn't grow up with money.

I still remember not knowing what to do with it.

And I do see people who spend all their money and go bankrupt who come from nothing.

And I'm like, yeah, I get that.

I totally get that.

You're excited and you want all the things, right?

You You later learn that all the things don't make you happy and they don't matter and they're kind of fun, but really, you know, there's more to life.

And you come to that at some point if you don't lose all your money before then.

But my goal was to buy my first house.

My whole thing was like, I want a home that's mine.

I don't want to pay rent.

I don't want a landlord.

I don't want to deal with anyone.

Like I want to, again, I want to be free.

I want to have freedom.

And so at 22, I bought my first house and I was

so ecstatic.

I can't even tell you.

It was that feeling of just, this is mine.

This is my home.

You know, I came from my parents' house to being out in the world, hotels, rentals, and then finally having something of my own.

It was, I can't describe that feeling.

I recommend it for every woman.

Agreed.

Yeah.

And so you never went crazy.

Like you never, as soon as you got money, spent it.

I did spend some of it.

I mean, I got sucked into the whole, like, I wanted the nice bag and I wanted, you know, I wanted all those things, especially in a city like Hong Kong because it's extremely shallow.

You know, everybody walks with their bag out front like this, you know.

So it's the first thing you see before, you know, they walk into the room.

And so the bag was a big status symbol back, late 90s, early 2000s.

I mean, I think it still is, but it was a really big deal back then.

You know, what did you buy?

I think it was Gucci.

I think it was Gucci.

It was like Gucci and LV.

Like those were the two.

I mean, those are still big,

obviously.

But at that time, it was like.

It was major.

And then when I started getting campaigns and I started working with fashion houses, I didn't have to buy bags anymore.

So that was exciting.

Because they gave them to you.

Exactly.

They always give them to you when you don't need them.

It's really interesting.

They just give it to the people that have the money.

I know.

It's so ironic.

Hold on to your wallets.

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And now for some more money rehab.

Do you think that being in Hollywood changed your relationship with money, especially as a woman negotiating your worth and trying to figure out what money has to do with that?

Oh my gosh.

Definitely.

I mean, I don't know what every woman's worry is in Hollywood.

I know that mine from the beginning, you know, at 25 when I got Mission Possible,

it was,

I guess I'm a real planner aheader.

Because at 25, you know, getting like the biggest movie in the world, I went, okay, there's a time limit to this.

It's not going to be forever.

I'm not going to be this forever.

I'm not going to look like this forever.

People aren't going to want me.

So I have to start now, start thinking about what's my exit plan.

And that was my thought at 25.

That is so wise beyond your years.

It was weird.

I think I just, I mean, you see it happen all the time, right?

And if you're not seeing people's stories and you're not learning from the lessons that they unfortunately didn't get to learn from, then you're really missing out, right?

It's like just to participate in gossip and all that sort of stuff, it's fun, but it's like,

there should be cautionary tales that actually affect you.

And you should look at people's lives and go, how did so-and-so go from being so rich and famous to now like bankrupt?

It happens all the time.

with singers.

We've done a ton of episodes about it.

Have you?

Yeah.

And it sounds like...

Also, coming from

a place where you didn't have a lot of money, it felt like maybe a scarcity mentality when you got it.

Yes.

My mom's an immigrant and we're like, you know, my mom washes the Ziploc bag.

I still get it.

My mom is worth millions of dollars now, by the way.

And she washes the Ziploc bag.

And she's like, honey, don't throw that away.

I call my parents the first conservationist.

My dad's in his 80s, my mom's in her late 70s.

I'm like, you guys are the real conservationists.

All these young people are like, climate change on their iPhones and this and that, you know, and crypto and all that sort of stuff that uses more energy than anything.

It's funny.

It's like, actually, the person who's washing the Ziploc bag, that's the environmentalist.

And the

fine Tupperware, yeah.

Right, exactly.

Reusing the pickle.

My mom doesn't throw anything.

I think all, so I'm first generation too, and I think all immigrant families are kind of the same.

It's the best.

But also in the idea that they don't want to take on debt.

So did you ever go into debt?

No.

And luckily,

that came from my mom.

So my mom didn't let my dad touch the money.

My mom took all of his paychecks away and gave him an allowance okay yes she was like

because she didn't trust him she's like you're not good with money and i am and so this is not a department you're gonna head up this is my job of her yeah and so you know i mean luckily he was fine with it you know and he has everything he has today because of her Without her, he'd be broke.

I mean, he likes things and he just has all these little interests and he thinks buying this is fun and that.

And she would not let him do any of that.

Isn't that funny?

So you felt like when you've got your first big gig that it wasn't going to last forever.

I heard that you now have a role with your team that until a project is really far along or serious, they can't tell you about it.

Correct.

Is that stem from that?

I just don't want to know.

I think that it's not that hard to figure out the formula that makes actors crazy.

It's not really that hard.

Tell me the formula.

Well, it's just sort of like this expectation of what's either coming or what should be coming.

My husband was telling me the other day that the most unhappy people always use the word should.

I should have gotten this.

She should have married me.

I should be rich.

I should be, you know, all these things.

And so that's a, it's a real trap, right?

And so I think the ego gets involved.

I think expectations are natural.

I think that's a total human nature to have expectations, but I don't want to have them.

I want to be very counterhuman.

I want to go into everything and sort of

realize that I'm starting from zero.

And the reality reality is in Hollywood, like anything, I mean, even with a house or whatever it is, if you're not signing on the dotted line, it's not yours, right?

So I look at everything like that, you know, no matter what kind of compliment they give me.

And I think that goes back to Hong Kong too, because being represented by Jackie's company and his team, there were no compliments.

So when I got back to the States and I was working on my first movie here, it was so funny because everything I did was amazing.

Everyone was like, you're so amazing.

You're so awesome.

Here's this.

And I was like, what are they talking about?

I'm just doing my job, just like a normal person who works hard, right?

But it was just weird.

I didn't know compliments and I fully rejected them.

And do you feel like when you got them, they weren't genuine or they just were given out more loosey-goosey than Jackie's?

I felt that they were given out too generously.

And so they didn't mean as much.

Right.

It's like if I get a compliment from my,

you know, someone who knows me really well and who knows my flaws and who knows my journey and is like, hey, you know, I've known all this and you've come from here to here.

And Meg, that's pretty cool.

That means a lot to me.

That means the world to me.

But even with people who like the work or whatever, and they're complimentary, it's very nice.

But you really can't take it to heart because at the same time, you'd have to take all the negative stuff to heart too.

And you shouldn't take that to heart either.

So I just try to cross the board, not kind of of indulge in any of it.

Well, it also sounds like you are utilizing something that we see on Wall Street, which is it's better to beat low expectations.

My husband had a hedge fund.

He was on Wall Street for 30 years.

And he always says to me, honey, under promise and over-deliver.

Always.

And I'm like, okay, that's great.

So it was part of my personality already, but I learned a lot from him in that way.

A lot.

What has he taught you about money?

Oh, gosh.

Well, first of all, he teaches you.

What have you taught taught him, I'm sure, too?

I teach him more of the softer side Sears things about life, you know, like that.

He always tells me, like, you've taught me that the little things matter, you know, this and that, you know, like with your partner.

But he's such a global thinker, I'll put it that way.

And he's such a big picture guy, obviously.

And he admittedly will say, honey, I'm sorry, I'm not good at the small stuff, but you will always be taken care of.

I will always watch out for your welfare.

I will always give you the best advice, you know, that kind of thing.

And

I don't know anyone like that.

I don't don't know anyone like him.

And I think because my husband has had great success in his career, he's not insecure about my success.

I've never had that.

Never had that.

I've been with nice people who have been like, good for you.

And then I've been with insanely jealous people who have not overtly said they don't want me to make it, but never wanted me to make it

because it was some kind of

personal attack on their own level, fame, money, or otherwise.

And it's not pie, right?

It's not.

Yeah, there's enough to go around.

It's crazy.

And I never thought that a man would compete with me.

The wrong man competes with you.

And that's when it's over.

That's when you're like, okay, this is done.

Did you realize that when it was too late?

No, because I got out of all those.

So that was good.

Yeah, it was really good.

And now I'm right where I belong, which is really nice.

And somebody who has earned everything that he's earned and actually is pushing me for my success.

You know, he really wants to push me in business and everything else that I'm doing because he's like, honey, the more success you have, the happier you're going to be as an individual.

He's like, do you need to make money?

No, but I want you to.

And I want you to have success in the fields that you're interested in because you're going to be a happy person.

And that makes us a happier couple.

And so, right.

How good?

How did you guys meet?

We met through my lawyer years ago.

He was married for a long time.

I was engaged to someone else.

And my lawyer was like, let's have a dinner.

You were all nice people.

And I was like, okay.

So we go to dinner and she was right.

Like him and his wife were so, such nice people, so grounded.

His story was exactly my family's story.

Exactly.

They fled on the same day,

same war, same city.

His family went on a boat.

My family went out in a helicopter.

And both ended up in refugee camps, both ended up in the United States.

And so his story was very,

really touched me that somebody like him, who, you know, has 10 brothers and sisters and grew up in a 600 square foot apartment where they're all sleeping on the floor, was able to have the massive success that he has had in his career.

And that's like the ultimate immigrant story, right?

Came from nothing.

I'm so proud of him.

I mean, it's unbelievable.

But I remember meeting him just as a friend, as a human being, and going, I'm so proud of you as a human.

Like, you are the perfect immigrant story.

You're the American dream.

And, you know, he really did it because he watched his parents suffer because they were so poor.

And he just was like, I don't want my mom to suffer anymore.

I'm done.

Not going to have it anymore.

So that's why he made it.

And so in seeing his story, I just thought, what an admirable human being.

And that's what I left the dinner with.

Like, what a great human being.

Didn't see him for years.

And then I was raising money for a charity charity based out of the UK that was helping kids in Vietnam.

And I'm like, who would be interested in this?

And I thought about him.

So I called my lawyer.

I said, do you think he'll meet with me about this charity?

I need money.

And she goes, of course he'll meet with you.

And I said, well, you just ask him because I don't want to pressure him to see me and just show up.

And so she did.

And then I showed up as at his office.

And this is, I think, like two and a half years after that dinner.

And he's like, how's everything going?

And I said, good.

He said, how's your fiancé?

I said, I'm actually not engaged anymore.

And I said, how's home life?

And he's like, I'm divorced.

And I was like, well, how strange.

Still, nothing happened.

We were just friends for a couple of years until anything happened.

But that day, he asked me what my plans were in my businesses.

And I said, well, I'm opening my second business.

And he's like, tell me about that.

And then he became one of my investors that day.

So that was cool.

Very cool.

Never gave me money for my charity, by the way.

Oh.

Why not?

I don't know.

He was like, he's so interested in business.

And he, I mean, he said he would.

I just never pressed it.

And then I met a bunch of his other friends who were like, we'll give you money.

And then they did.

And then I didn't need any more.

So that was fine.

But yeah, so that's how it all happened.

We were friends for a few years after we had remet back up.

And he was obviously, you know, had been married for a very long time, faithfully married for a very long time.

So he was having a great time.

You know, he had all these pretty girls and stuff.

And I would.

have dinner with them.

And yeah, it was just a, I really was just a real, a friend.

And then when did it?

I I think everybody around me knew, everyone around him and everyone around me knew.

And so they'd say things like, what's uh, what's uh, how's your friendship going?

I'm like, great.

Is he dating anywhere?

I'm like, yeah, he's dating like a few people.

And they're like, and you're not one of them.

I'm like, no, no, no, just a friend.

And I was like, why do people keep asking me this?

I don't understand.

And also, mind you, I was, to be fair, very wary of men with success.

Why?

I didn't like them.

I just just didn't.

I lived in Hong Kong, which was, you know, how much money is in that city.

And I knew at that time

so many people with massive amounts of money, you know, people who came into money, people who made it on their own.

And it was just all very douchey.

You know, it was just all very, just, everything was like, they're very unfaithful.

Like, it was just all gross, like what I was exposed to in the money world.

And of course, this is like big city and all that.

So I just lumped him in with all the rich guys I've known in my life and just thought, well, he's the same, obviously.

You know, all these guys are the same.

You know, they're successful and they think they can have whoever they want and

which is, for the most part, true.

So you thought hedge fund guy douchebag.

Totally.

100%.

Yeah.

I really did.

And he is the polar opposite of that.

He is not a dirtbag at all.

He is the greatest human being I've ever known in my life and a very honorable human being.

So, you know, I've always, I think, and was always looking for someone that, a partner that I could look up to.

I want to look up to my admirer, yeah.

Admire, yeah, want to be like.

And it sounds like it was familiar, too, just the story.

Yeah, which is interesting, right?

Really interesting.

So, I, it's all kind of came together very strange.

And it's beautiful because his ex-wife is now married to somebody that she loves, and we're married now.

So, it's really, it's really nice.

Everyone's happy.

Hold on to your wallets.

Money rehab will be right back.

And now for some more Money Rehab.

And you have a stepson.

I do, yeah.

How's that gone?

Awesome.

Yeah.

He's perfect.

I don't know what else to say.

He's a perfect person because he has a really good heart.

He's very kind.

He's not not weird.

He was always very accepting of his dad's happiness.

And I just never had an issue with him.

And mind you, I've had issues before.

I mean, I've been with people who've had kids.

Yeah, it's not easy.

And it's not their fault.

It's just not easy.

It's not an easy scenario.

And so I think because I did go through a lot of that and it was really difficult in other relationships, maybe this is my...

gift.

I don't know.

Yes, you paid your dues.

It sounds like.

That's what I was trying to say.

Yeah, I've been with men who had kids and it was, you know, it's always really hard.

Nobody grows up thinking like, you know what I want to be is a stepmom.

Really want to be a stepmom.

I really want their kids to resent me and want their mom.

You know, originally in the Cinderella story, it was supposed to be the mom, and then they made it the stepmom because they felt like societally just wrong to hate.

To hate your mom.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, and also, I think the stepmom scenario, I mean, more often than not, you know, the horror horror stories, it's not fun.

And I cannot understand people who go into a scenario with children.

And obviously children can be their own pill, right?

But ever want

bad for them or ever treat them.

I just don't understand treating children that way.

Like at all, because even if they mistreat you, they're children.

Like they, they're angry or confused or they're hurt or they want something that's not happening.

And you have to understand them.

You're the adult.

I cannot get behind these people who are not good to stepkids.

I just, I hear it all the time.

It happens too often, and it really upsets me.

I will say, sometimes they say things that feel like an adult, and you have to like, oh, you have to, you have to remind yourself.

That's the thing about going to the grown-up, right?

You have to.

That's your own.

That's a grown-up.

I just had a baby.

She's eight months.

Congratulations, by the way.

You look amazing.

Thank you.

Trauma is amazing.

I'm not perfect.

It's fine.

What was your relationship like with kids?

Did you want kids?

Yeah, you know, it's funny because I never, well, there's a few things I didn't put emphasis on.

Marriage, like we were talking about, family, or any of that.

And I think that it sneaks up on you.

Because I was so focused on being financially independent, like we talked about, nothing else was really factoring in.

Not men, not, in fact, I treated men terribly.

Terribly.

I treated them like they were replaceable and not important to me and awful.

Like it's not good.

I do not respect that about myself at that time when I was young.

Your former self.

My former self, exactly.

I think it's a terrible thing to be, to just be focused on yourself.

I know why.

I know where it comes from,

but you don't treat people like that, number one.

And so I think that I kind of alienated people who wanted to be close to me because I wouldn't let them be close to me.

And it's like, that's all you want, right?

When you're with someone.

And if you're not going to let someone do that, then you shouldn't let them into your your life, right?

But I did it anyway.

So I, yeah, I just, as I kept growing in my field, I just kept wanting to grow and grow and grow.

And then I got involved in nonprofits that meant a lot to me.

And then that kept me really busy with fundraising for them.

And then I had my own career.

And then I had dreams of starting a business where I could give back to the charities that I loved.

And then I did that.

And so it was just like, it was kind of non-stop.

The train left the station and it never stopped again.

And so all of the things that I think are really important in hindsight were not important to me at all at the time.

And so you just start getting older and older and you're like, am I going to do this or not?

And then, you know, I only had met my husband five years ago.

Well, I met him much further back than that, but we got together five years ago.

So yeah, and then we sort of talked about it and we thought, well, we won't be careful at all.

And if we have a kid, great.

And we just never did.

Yeah.

So that was kind of the mandate, you know, and he still tells me like do you want and we're like oh my god but we're so old now and we love our lifestyle

well it sounds like your stepson is about to go to college yeah so you'll be empty nesters and then

potentially starting all which we could i have 10 nieces and nephews My husband has 38 nieces and nephews.

He has 10 brothers and sisters.

That's wild.

Hi.

So we definitely have a lot of kids in our orbit, which is great.

And I take a lot of pride in, you know, my nieces and nephews and being involved in their lives and, you know, helping them where I can and all of that.

So I definitely have kids around me.

I just, I never had the dream of having them.

I think having kids is probably the most, well, it is the most incredible thing in the world.

And if it could have happened for me, I absolutely would have.

But I chose my partner and we've tried.

And

because you also have other

babies with businesses too, which is how I thought of this too.

I had my daughter when I was 40 and I really came to terms with the idea that, you know, I'm a mother in other ways.

Like I'm a mother through teaching women about financial literacy and through businesses and I have book babies and other things.

Yes.

It's funny when I was telling my husband actually that you were coming over.

He's like, I love all the stuff I've seen her in, but also like her stomach.

There's something going on with her stomach.

It's a viral long top limit.

Yeah.

And I'm like, cool.

Yes.

And so during the pandemic, I was watching YouTube and I see a 30-minute commercial.

I know, is that crazy?

We've done it.

For Activated You.

And I swear to God, and this is not sponsored or anything.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I was so into it.

I was so captivated by you and your storytelling and how beautiful it was.

I'm like, how am I watching an ad 27 minutes in?

This is crazy.

And I ordered Activated You.

By the way, it was sold out.

Oh, good.

Okay, good.

They canceled your, you can't, I don't know, whoever canceled my order.

I was like, what what,

the way you told the story about the supplement, I swear to God, no one has ever nailed it.

The way you.

Thank you so much because it's true.

Because I think the truth resonates.

Yeah, you can tell.

And, you know, a lot of celebrities, you know, they have brands, right?

It's a thing now.

Back when I had the idea for my business, there was really not a lot of that going on.

And even if it was, it was sort of like the celebrity would come and be absorbed into a brand, which is fine.

I mean, your face of it.

You're the the face of and there's nothing wrong with that that's great i had an idea for a company because i really wanted to help people because i was in a place of ill health in my 20s that was like unthinkable at that age right at that age you're supposed to be irresponsible and be able to do whatever you want and i didn't have that and so i thought oh my god i went on this journey to get better and I got better and it took years years and years and so much education and so much of what I had to do to learn about this was just get out there into the world, stalk doctors, like literally stalk these doctors that I respected, not famous doctors, but famous in their field.

Show up at their conferences, take notes.

I mean, that was my college.

I didn't go to college, right?

So I would be there.

learning everything I could.

And these people were very appreciative.

They actually really loved that I was showing up at these things.

And they said, you know, if you need anything, you need to be mentored, come back.

I'll talk to you about, you know, my expertise.

I'm like, oh my God.

So that's what I did for years and helped myself.

And once I did, I thought, I want other people to feel good too.

That was my MO.

Just,

it was very simple.

I want everyone to feel good because when you feel good, like you're just a better person.

Like you do good.

You feel good.

So I went out to start looking for investors or people that I could partner with.

And I had no idea about business, nothing.

All I knew was I had a vision and I knew how to do it, but I didn't know the business part of it.

So I ended up luckily finding a parent company that already existed.

So I didn't have to end up like raising the money.

They put the capital forward to start the company.

And they already had a brand with Dr.

Gundry.

And they were really just doctor-based.

And so they were like, well, we want to do this with you, but no one's going to listen to you because you're not a doctor.

And I'm like, I hear you, but I know what it's like to feel terrible

and then come back from it.

And that's what I want to help people with.

I mean, we can get doctors in to consult for help, but I really think it'll resonate.

And they're like, no, it won't.

And it did.

Because we had a medical director that came on with me because they were afraid that no one would listen to me.

And then nobody was listening to him.

And then they had to actually exit him from the company.

And then it was just me.

But they didn't believe in what I was doing.

They were like, we'll see, but we doubt it.

And here I am 10 years later.

Yeah.

So it's been interesting.

It's been really interesting learning about business as I go because my second business, I made a ton of mistakes.

You know, I did that from the ground up.

I raised my first round and did everything and hired everybody.

And so that was really tough.

I learned a lot and I think I'm going to go into my third venture soon, probably next year.

And that'll be my last business I'm doing because I want to retire at some point.

I mean, it sounds like you can retire now, that you're on a mission.

What were some of those lessons that you

did learn from?

Just all of it, right?

Just all of like where you're spending, where you should be spending, where you shouldn't be spending, like what positions I didn't need to fill yet until later, and what positions I should have spent more money on.

One of the biggest mistakes I made, unfortunately, we launched that business during COVID.

And that was the timing, you know, I mean, we were ready to go and COVID hit in Europe and we were a month away from launching.

And I'm like, oh my gosh, what's happening in the world?

So that happened.

So now we're out during COVID.

You know, everybody's frozen their bank accounts and aren't, you know, I mean, everyone's, you know, shit scared, right?

Obviously.

And what I should have done, which would have been really smart, very risky, but what I should have done was I should have put more money towards ad spend when everything had shut down rather than hold back.

Because you were scared?

I was scared.

I thought it was a big mistake.

I thought nobody was buying, but.

I was buying.

Yeah.

My husband said, you were wrong because that fear didn't last very long.

And then

people needed something to do, and they had their Peloton bikes at home, and they were doing, you know, yoga on Zoom and all that.

And the culture was consistently like living its life.

It just wasn't doing it out in the public.

But you had money at the time.

So, why did you want to bring on investors?

For their expertise as well.

You know, there was a bunch of different people I met with where I just needed them as advisors, you know, people who were successful in the space.

And now I know in a much clearer way who and why I will go to certain people because I'm doing the same thing now, raising money for something else.

It's not just about because there's money everywhere.

Anyone can give you money, but they can't give you the advice that you need every step of the way.

And certain people can.

And so that's really who you should gravitate towards.

How much money did your husband give you?

250,000.

Yes.

Have you given it back?

I have not.

Good.

Have you given investors money back?

I have not yet, but I have an idea actually because

I want to wind one thing down and roll it into something else.

So I may actually roll their investments into something else that I'm doing, which I'm kind of excited about.

So, yeah.

Will your husband invest in that?

Yes, definitely.

And also, he wants to do business together, which I can't think of a more trustworthy and smarter person to be in business with.

So that will actually be fun because then we just get time together in that space.

Just from the desire so early on to be financially independent, have you kept finances separate?

Yes.

For me, I've never had a joint bank account ever.

And I never will because I don't even know what that does.

I've always just worked and had my own money.

And I've seen so many women.

It just breaks my heart.

Like, it kills me.

That's why I love so much what you do.

You know, friends, sisters, or, you know,

people who

put all their eggs in that basket and then it ended and their money was just gone, you know, and I just, oh, that makes me, makes me so sad because

you should trust your partner and you should have that, you know, I mean, there's nothing wrong with having your money together and having trust and all that sort of stuff, but

it does go south.

And you always have to be prepared for that.

It was funny.

I told a friend's sister recently to start moving money out of her accounts because she was telling me stories and the stories were were like, This is not gonna end well.

Like, have a secret account before they get divorced.

Correct.

I'm like, you need to just, because it's your money too.

I mean, you know, it's not like she was stealing his money.

I mean, like, just, you know, start putting your paychecks into your own account because the stories you're telling me, she's like, you think it's bad?

I'm like, it's so bad.

I don't know why she couldn't see it, but that was the advice.

And then it ended badly.

Yeah.

And so, you know, I hate to be that person where you're like, prepare for the worst, but you do have to prepare for the worst, no matter what

i hear you i think that you always have to have your own back especially if you don't come from money so how do you guys deal with it does he pay for

house vacation yeah yeah yeah exactly yeah he takes care of his family he takes care of us but

What I do and what he's really happy about for me is he's like, yeah, you have your own stuff.

Take care of like, he's like, obviously, your family needs anything.

I'm here.

There's no problem.

But he loves that I have my own thing going on because I take care of my family too.

You know, and I, you know, want all my sisters to be okay, my parents to be okay, and everybody to be okay.

So I make sure, he's like, you focus on your family.

You make sure they're good.

You make sure they're, you know, and he knows that me earning what I earned on my own and taking care of my family makes me feel good.

Right.

So he's like, whatever like we're involved, like, you know, that involves us, you don't have to worry about that.

That's taken care of.

I got that.

And so I get to focus on people that I really love and not worry about it.

And your businesses.

And my businesses, yeah.

So it sounds like you guys didn't sit down and say, okay, like yours, mine, ours.

No, we were just like, let's get married.

And we'll just, nothing really changed, right?

We're just kind of the same.

Yeah.

I was seeing that you like to read some woo-woo books and healing.

How do you incorporate that into business?

We had, do you know Lavinia Erico?

How does that name sound familiar?

Co-founder of Equinox, a friend.

She's awesome.

She's been on the show.

She says practical woo came into her business.

Oh, interesting.

so how does that manifest for you because you love so much of the health stuff and i think financial health and we started our conversation talking about this is a big part of just general wellness i think financial wellness should be part of more of a wellness conversation i totally agree because how can you have good mental health if you're not financially stable

I can't.

Doesn't that drive people to divorce and arguments and this and that murder?

I mean, all kinds of stuff happens when around money.

Yeah.

It's crazy.

So funny.

I say murder.

I have a cop show, so of course, you know, I'm incorporating it.

We see it all the time.

Like,

I haven't seen the homicidal part of it, but I'll take your word for it.

On my side, I've seen it.

I have so many friends.

They're all detectives.

It's crazy.

I love Dateline.

It's a whole thing.

So one of the woo-woo books you're probably talking about is

The Untethered Soul.

So Michael Singer, I think, is one of the most profound authors alive.

spiritual men.

And again, he's not, I won't call him a guru because I can't stand that word.

And those people who just need sycophants and just need,

that's a whole nother ballgame.

Michael Singer is more like, you'll love this.

And if you don't know his story, you should.

He was on the board of a company that he built.

I can't remember what the business was.

He was worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

And then he was under investigation all of a sudden for fraud.

something somebody in the upper ranks of his company was being fraudulent and they had to investigate everybody.

So basically,

he literally lost everything, literally everything.

Okay, all his money, his status, his company, everything he'd built, and he was innocent, right?

I mean, he hadn't done anything.

And so he said, the greatest spiritual lesson of his life was when he lost everything.

Because if you're not okay

when you've lost everything and you have hundreds of millions of dollars, he said, you should be the same person.

There should be no difference in your nervousness, peace.

Nothing should be disturbed.

And that's a crazy concept.

Okay.

So, okay.

He's under investigation for six years.

Okay.

They come after him.

And you know when they come after you for financial fraud, they come after you.

And he could do nothing.

He couldn't get another job, start another company, and make more money.

Nothing.

So he sat there for six years under investigation until he was cleared, but now he has nothing.

Zero.

He had to start over.

And he just said, I came into my spirituality when I was under investigation because I knew that I had to get to a place where I was okay no matter what.

And, you know, people have interviewed him and said,

how can you be under investigation, lose hundreds of millions of dollars, and you're okay?

He's like, but that's the challenge.

That's what we're here for.

We're here to be okay no matter what.

And I think it's the disease of our society, period.

Like, I'm okay if he loves me, not okay if he doesn't love me.

I'm okay if I have money.

I'm not okay if I don't have money.

I'm okay if I'm famous, but if my fame starts to recede, I'm not okay, right?

And so, I think that the spiritual lesson that he teaches is the most important one you can teach anyone because it just crosses every boundary.

It doesn't matter who you are, how much you have, what industry you work in, it's true no matter what.

And so, that book, and he has three of them, he has the surrender experiment, he has the untethered soul, and then he has a more recent one.

They are, Nicole, when I tell you, they are the most freeing books you can ever read because they're really just about letting go.

No matter what's happening to you, no matter what.

I'm talking like from the smallest thing like being in traffic, and we live in LA, so we know what that is, and being okay with it, to losing hundreds of millions of dollars or not getting the guy or losing the friend, whatever it is, you should be okay.

And he really teaches how to do that practically.

So that's how I was able to cross that over into business.

You have to have that.

I'm going to call it Zen for lack of a better word, but you have to have it because no matter what you're losing, as we know, there's going to be something gained.

Maybe it's not tomorrow or the next day, but something will.

How many times have you broken up with someone and been devastated and then

and now you're with your husband and you're like, oh my God, I'm so glad I didn't.

Well, there's also this arrival fallacy.

Like, I'll be happy when I get there.

Always.

And then you get there and you're like,

but I'll really be happy when I get.

But that's what Michael Singer is talking about.

Exactly what he's talking about.

And at our wedding we had a little quote from him right under and my husband is friends with him he actually reached out to him just to tell him how much his books meant to him and Michael reached back and he was like what I never respond to anyone and he responded to my husband and so they're in communication now and we had these chargers at the wedding and they were glass and so right under it I had a Michael Singer quote and it said something like I stand in awe of knowing that everything that happens to us happens in the perfect time,

in the perfect place, and it's okay.

Like it's all okay.

Yeah.

Because it's so profound you can apply it to anything in life and I definitely apply it in business because as you know business is up and down.

You will lose way more than you win.

I mean the only constant is change and that resonates with me so much after losing everything in the fires this year.

I'm sure.

Same thing.

It was it puts everything to perspective.

I just after that I just wanted to get rid of most of what I owned.

Well, a lot of what I owned did get

so you lost your house?

Yep, I lost my house.

Unfortunately, the one, was that the one that you bought when you were

in your 20s?

No, that was when I bought here.

That was mine.

So it had been my thing, you know.

And

it's so crazy when this is your biggest asset, right?

And it's just gone.

And you're standing there and it's gone.

And

again, back to Michael Singer.

You have to be standing there.

And it was the most pitiful scene.

I was standing there.

It was pouring rain.

I was up to my knees in mud.

I'm looking at it it and it's crushed.

And the fire department's walking up the hill and they're firefighters.

They've seen everything and they were like, oh,

I mean, they had their hands over their mouths and they didn't know what to do.

And I'm just bawling, just standing there crying.

And they didn't know what to do.

So they all kind of looked at each other and they all just hugged me.

It was so sweet.

But that's the Michael Singer moment of I'm standing there.

I'm looking at my house and everything I've done and owned.

And I just renovated it, of course.

It was like perfect.

And that's when things get taken away from you.

And I'm supposed to be okay in that moment.

As okay as I was when my house was standing.

And that's the challenge.

And I take that challenge really seriously.

And I think it's incredibly profound to live that way.

It's one thing to read it in a book.

It's another thing to actually

put it into practice.

Oh, it's so hard.

It's so hard.

And I didn't just face losing a home.

I faced like

neighbors who were awful.

Just like awful.

So there was a mudslide.

It was on state property.

State land was the mountain behind my house.

So the mountain collapsed, went just through my home.

Unexpectedly.

Yeah.

You couldn't get anything out.

I wasn't even there.

I was like, my husband and I were doing something.

And then the neighbors texted my assistant and said, oh, there's some damage to your gate, like my drive-in gate.

But I'm thinking, My driving-gate is quite far down from the house.

Like, how can my gate be damaged by something?

Then I get there and it's steel and it's completely bent up.

I mean, because the boulders were so big and the mud was so forceful that it came right through steel and it just bent the steel all the way up.

And I'm like, holy shit.

And I keep walking.

And then as I get up to the house, it's just crushed.

I mean, completely crushed.

I mean, the mud was above the roof.

So you're seeing part of the house and you're going, oh, God.

And so, you know, I'm from an island, right?

If something like that happens on an island, it's a little unfair, you know, how I compare them because I'm from an island where people are very loving.

There'd be a a line around the block with people with like shovels and like food.

Let's go, Maggie.

What do you need?

Let's dig some stuff out.

Let's try to.

And that just didn't happen here.

People were mad at me

because they had mud in their driveway.

They wanted to sue me.

It was so awful.

And that was the other thing.

I was like, I'm out of here.

I'm done.

I can't do this.

I don't want to be around people who are just trying to get and get and get.

That's not who I am.

So a month later, I run into all the firemen.

I'm at the coffee shop here in Brentwood, and I'm sitting there.

And I see all these guys.

They're not in full garb, but I see their faces.

And I'm like, how do I know that guy?

Is he an actor?

I'm like, in no context, because it was so traumatic, right?

But I know the face.

And so they get their coffee, they sit down, and I'm looking at them like this, and they're looking at me.

And I'm like, oh my God.

So I walk up to them.

I'm like, guys, it's me.

Remember?

They're like, of course, are you okay?

I'm like, I left.

And every single one of them nodded.

They were like, good for you.

Get out.

Because no one's going to help you.

It was crazy.

The state turns their back on you.

They're like, oh, that was our land that fell in your house.

Sorry.

Not our fault.

Yeah.

It's crazy.

Did you have insurance?

Yeah, but it doesn't cover mudslides.

They took it off the policies a couple years ago.

Of course.

Of course they did.

And, you know, you have mudslide, but then there's also flooding, right, from the rains.

But that's not the flooding they cover.

They only cover flooding that comes from pipes within the house.

Zero coverage.

So if there's a fire, like there's potential for coverage if you have fire coverage, obviously, but they don't cover months like that.

But you have to, in California, get extra earthquake coverage.

That's not included.

Exactly.

It's all extra.

It's really just, it's too big of a risk.

It's just too big of a risk.

I mean, how can you, you know, have an asset that big and then, you know, not be able to insure yourself?

Well, I hope you take this compliment from me.

It's so genuine.

I'm so in awe and so proud of everything that you've built despite everything you've gone through and so much we end our episodes by asking for a tip that listeners can take to the bank and so through all of the financial ups and downs and trauma that you've been through what would you tell somebody today

that they could implement into their own life i'll give them a tip from my mom and this is hilarious we obviously didn't grow up with anything like i spoke about but i wanted things because when you have nothing you want everything right

And so I would, as an annoying kid, would say to my mom, Mama, mom, can we get this?

You know, I don't know what it was, whether it was like cookies or like a

bag or whatever it is.

And I would say,

it's 50% off or it's 60% off, whatever it is, right?

Because I thought that would appeal to her, right?

My mom, my mom would say to me, you know, she's very accented.

She said, honey, I don't buy 100% off.

And I'm like, oh, God.

And you just sort of go, that's true.

That's actually

so true.

So I think my advice would be per my mom, if you don't need it, don't get it.

Even if it's on sale.

Even if it's on sale, don't let that fool you.

Because that's part of marketing.

It's a $1,000 sweater.

Now it's only $500.

And you're like, what?

Basically free.

It's not hard-earned anymore.

I would just advise them not to be marketed to.

Be like Maggie's mom.

Save 100%.

Wash your Ziploc bags.

Money Rehab is a production of Money News Network.

I'm your host, Nicole Lappin.

Money Rehab's executive producer is Morgan Lavoy.

Our researcher is Emily Holmes.

Do you need some Money Rehab?

And let's be honest, we all do.

So email us your money questions, moneyrehab at moneynewsnetwork.com to potentially have your questions answered on the show or even have a one-on-one intervention with me.

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And lastly, thank you.

No, seriously, thank you.

Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important investment you can make.