271 | Fast, Fair, and Fun: On Reporting (and Consuming) News, with Erica Mandy

Erica Mandy

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Today on Love, your Money® , I’m thrilled to bring you a conversation with someone I personally listen to nearly six days a week: award-winning broadcast journalist Erica Mandy.

 

After a decade-long career in TV news, Erica left the traditional newsroom to create and host the popular daily news podcast, The NewsWorthy–a show that delivers the day’s news in a way that’s convenient, unbiased, and enjoyable.

 

Erica and I first crossed paths years ago at a podcasting industry event when both of our shows were just getting started. As I got to know her and became a loyal listener of The NewsWorthy, I was struck by how aligned our values are, especially when it comes to covering financial and economic events. Her “fast, fair, fun” approach to news reporting has guided my experience through major global moments, from the COVID-19 pandemic to presidential inaugurations, Olympic games, and more!

 

In this episode, Erica shares her journey from traditional news reporting to building her own media platform. We discuss how her approach to delivering news has changed, the behind-the-scenes challenges and rewards of running a successful daily news podcast, and her mission to help people stay informed without the overwhelm.

 

Erica is a woman whose work has inspired me, and whose voice has become a trusted part of my daily routine. I am delighted to introduce you to her, and I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Here’s what you’ll find out in this week’s episode of Love, your Money:

  • 04:36 The types of media we consume, how the news influences how we feel, and why it’s leading Americans to feel news burnout
  • 07:07 Why Erica left TV news, the impact that working in the newsroom had on her well-being, and the point of diminishing returns with media consumption
  • 09:25 How Erica and her team decide which stories that make it onto her daily news podcast, The NewsWorthy
  • 10:41 How the newsroom functioned when Erica worked there–from who chooses and writes the stories to doing interviews, picking lead headlines, and delivering the news on-air or in print
  • 16:20 The benefits of independent news and the kind of impact Erica wants her show to have
  • 22:58 The cost of giving up the dramatic lens in delivering the news–whether it’s current events or financial news–and why the sacrifice is worth it to Erica (and me!)
  • 24:05 The time + team it takes to produce a 10-15 minute daily news show

Inspiring Quotes & Words to Remember

“Part of the reason I started the podcast that I do now, The NewsWorthy, is because I kept hearing from people how depressed they were by the news, how overwhelmed by the news they were, how biased it was. Pew Research has shown that two thirds of Americans are burned out by the news.”

“My goal is to help people stay informed so you can make the right decisions, and you can have good conversations and not feel like you're living under a rock when everybody else is talking about something. But also, that you can live your life without worrying all the time; without feeling like you need to be anxious all day long.”

“That first line you hear, or the tease to the story that grabs your attention, that is often what sticks with people. Not necessarily all the facts that come later in the story… I think that's where sometimes things can get a little messed up or overblown.”

“I remember thinking, ‘I am not going to end up on Jimmy Kimmel from this story.’”

“How can I help people stay informed without the anxiety and overwhelm?”

“While I think information is good, I think information without the ability to take action can be overblown; it can be anxiety inducing. And so, as somebody who saw the worst case scenario all the time and was impacted by it, I'm very careful about, how do we talk about this story in a way that is informative; it is the things that people need to know, that can allow them to advocate if they want to, without giving them things that's just going to cause anxiety and do no other good.”-

“We’re always trying to analyze those things–to the best of our ability–to be factual and give you as much of the story as we think you need to know, without putting in opinion.”

Resources and Related to Love, your Money Content

Enjoy the Show?​

Hilary Hendershott: Well, hey, Money Lover! Today on the show, I’m interviewing someone whose voice I personally listen to sometimes 6 days a week. She’s award-winning broadcast journalist Erica Mandy. Erica is the founder and host of the popular daily news podcast, The NewsWorthy. And ever since she left her decade-long career in TV news to launch the show, she’s been on a mission to help people stay informed in a more convenient, unbiased, and even enjoyable way.

 

Hilary Hendershott: Erica and I met years ago at a podcasting event when our podcasts were just little baby podcasts. And now they’re all grown up. And as Erica and I got to know each other, and I listened to her show, I found that we actually have a really similar mindset around how financial and economic events should be covered.

 

Hilary Hendershott: I mean, honestly, her mindset permeates all of the topics that she covers. But we’re focusing on financial and economic events. And since I think the national financial news media does such a sometimes terrible job, I really wanted her to talk with you today about how she covers events and the difference between what she used to do and what she does now.

 

Hilary Hendershott: So since I started listening to her, The NewsWorthy has guided my own experience of so many global events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, a handful of presidencies, the Olympic games. I mean basically anything newsworthy.

 

Hilary Hendershott: The NewsWorthy uses its signature “fast, fair, fun” approach to the day’s news to keep listeners up to date with a wide range of perspectives on a variety of events and topics, from politics to business to entertainment. I’ve really grown to love Erica’s ethos and delivery, so I invited her on the show to give you, my listeners, an insider’s perspective on what it’s like to be a traditional news reporter and to highlight the differences between the way she used to share news stories compared to the way she gets to report them now.

 

Hilary Hendershott: The NewsWorthy has been listed as a top 25 daily news podcast on Apple Podcasts, named a ‘Best Podcast’ by Harper’s Bazaar, recommended as a ‘Best News App’ by Fast Company, and Erica was named one of “50 Women Changing the World in Media & Entertainment” by the nonprofit Take The Lead. I’m delighted to introduce you to the one and only Erica Mandy, and I hope you enjoy listening to her as much as I do.

 

Hilary Hendershott: Welcome to the show, Erica.

 

Erica Mandy: Thank you so much for having me, Hilary.

 

Hilary Hendershott: After all this time, I’m excited to circle back with you. I don’t know if you remember this, but when we first met, the event we met at, and you were struggling…

 

Erica Mandy: Podcast Movement.

 

Hilary Hendershott: It was at Podcast Movement. And you were struggling because people have to type into their podcast player exactly what the name of your show is in order to find it. And I said, “Change your show name to The News Muse.” Do you remember that? I think you actually…

 

Erica Mandy: I do, actually, Hilary…

 

Hilary Hendershott: I felt so bad about that.

 

Erica Mandy: You were like, “I’m sure you cannot get the trademark for that.” And you were right that there was another show called that. But I did get the trademark for it. But it took some time. Yeah.

 

Hilary Hendershott: Go on with yourself.

 

Erica Mandy: But you’re right, I mean even now, with like Alexa, when somebody tries to say The NewsWorthy, they’re like, “the news!”, and you’re like, no, Alexa, The NewsWorthy.

 

Erica Mandy: So there are some challenges. You weren’t off on that, but we’ve made it work 7 years later. Isn’t that crazy?

 

Hilary Hendershott: You truly have made it work. Seven years, a couple babies.

 

Erica Mandy: One baby.

 

Hilary Hendershott: Well for me, my baby, your baby.

 

Erica Mandy: Oh, yeah. True.

 

Hilary Hendershott: So it’s great to finally get to talk with you about how you think about the news and what fills most people’s ears when you think about the– I call it the national financial news media. You know, I’m talking about the big networks. And so let’s just start with that question. I often rail on some of the things I hear come out of the national financial news media. And I think it’s harmful, I think it scares people, and I think people do things as a result of that that aren’t good for them.

 

Hilary Hendershott: What was your experience when you were in television news? What was that like for you? How do you think about that now? Just tell me from your perspective, I’m really curious.

 

Erica Mandy: Well, first, let me just say, I think a lot of people feel the same way as you. And part of the reason I started the podcast that I do now, The NewsWorthy, is because I kept hearing from people how depressed they were by the news, how overwhelmed by the news they were, how biased it was. And Pew Research has shown that two thirds of Americans–and this has been done multiple times since 2017, and it keeps showing the same thing–that two thirds of Americans are burned out by the news.

 

Erica Mandy: And so a lot of people feel that way. From my experience, look, I know a lot of people say “the media.”

 

Erica Mandy: Just like in any profession, there’s a wide variety of types of media, even though a lot of people like to say “the media” and kind of lump it all together, there’s a variety of companies; networks; individuals working there who are willing to do different things and have different goals.

 

Erica Mandy: I think in general, you know, pundits–people who give opinions–really are the ones that stand out to me as exaggerating things, wanting to be the most extreme, loudest. And it’s just like social media today, right? The people who are most opinionated and have the most extreme views tend to get the most likes and comments, because people are arguing in the comments. And then the algorithm picks that up and sends it to more people.

 

Erica Mandy: And so I do think that is concerning because the wide variety of people in America are probably more on the middle ground. But it doesn’t feel that way when we are constantly hearing from pundits and people with opinions, probably on financial news.

 

Erica Mandy: And then, when it comes to just fact reporting, I do think that there’s unintentional reasons that kind of turn stories into these overblown or dramatic things. And then there’s more intentional. And we can get into that. But there’s a wide variety of factors across all of these different types of media that I think lead to the burnout that we’re seeing among Americans.

 

Hilary Hendershott: So interesting to hear you say two thirds of America are burned out on the news. I mean, I sort of feel burned out on life when I occasionally, mistakenly listen to some of it. Right? Because the sky is always falling. How do you think about that as you frame your show now? What’s the filter you put on, and how do you organize your thoughts around that?

 

Erica Mandy: Well, let me first just say that when I got out of TV news, I realized the impact it had on me personally.

 

Hilary Hendershott: Hmm.

 

Erica Mandy: So I first got out of it because I heard from other people, you know, what I was saying before, and I wanted to provide a different option for them. But I also realized that it had a really severe impact on me, and frankly gave me anxiety, because every day I was going and reporting on the worst case scenarios. And so these things were happening. I was talking to the victims of real life scenarios. But the reality is, is a lot of that stuff is still rare.

 

Erica Mandy: But when we’re constantly putting it out there, it doesn’t feel rare, especially for someone who, for over 10 years, was talking to a victim of every possible scenario in your life. So you know, I go on a hike, and I think about the person who fell off that mountain. I go to a certain neighborhood and I think about the shooting that happened here. And it’s… this kind of wears on you where you’re just constantly thinking about what could happen, even though it probably won’t. And so, watching the news a lot when that’s all we talk about on the news can make everybody feel that way, and that’s not a fun way to live right.

 

Hilary Hendershott: No.

 

Erica Mandy: So I think there was some work for me to do when I got out to say, you know, we don’t need to be spending hours, even when there’s breaking news, like there’s a shooting. People will sit and watch, you know, CNN Breaking News for hours on end for every little detail. That’s going to give you anxiety and not change the information you have. I can give you the details in a minute or two on our podcast and then you can choose to, you know, advocate for how you feel about it or make a change in your life based on that information. You don’t need to be watching it, anxious, for two hours, waiting for the next tiny little detail that’s not going to change anything.

 

Hilary Hendershott: Right, the shooting itself took 10 seconds. You don’t need to think about it for three hours, right.

 

Erica Mandy: Right. And if you want to go and advocate about gun rights, or whatever it is that is your opinion about it, then fine. But again, you don’t need breaking-news-banner like craziness for hours on end to go do that, and to have your feelings.

 

Erica Mandy: So my goal is to help people stay informed so you can make the right decisions. And you can have good conversations and not feel like you’re living under a rock when everybody else is talking about something. But also, that you can live your life without worrying all the time, without feeling like you need to be anxious all day long. And so, you know, there’s a few things that we do, which is, one: What are the biggest stories of the day? That’s what we’re going to put in.

 

Erica Mandy: And then what actually impacts you? Versus something that you really don’t need to know about, because there’s nothing you can do about it.

 

Erica Mandy: And then also, how do we bring a variety of stories? Because it’s not just politics and death that impact our lives.

 

Erica Mandy: It’s technology, it’s business. It’s entertainment, even. It’s science. And so we always try to–even in a 10 minute show, because we know people are busy–we always try to bring all of those aspects of life into that short show. And so you are reminded, yes, we’re going to talk about the politics, and maybe you know something big and tragic that happened. We’re going to talk about that for a couple of minutes.

 

Erica Mandy: But we’re also going to talk about the award show happening tonight; the technology company that’s doing something big; the health breakthrough that happened. And hopefully, that will give you a more well-rounded view of what’s going on in the world.

 

Hilary Hendershott: I think the thing that I sometimes think is– because, I’m specific about using this term, because the umbrella term “media” encompasses so many people. So I always say the national financial news media. We could say, CNN Money. You know, we could name the networks, right? But I think you know what I’m talking about, and how you know the sky is always falling when you tune in there.

 

Hilary Hendershott: And yet, in reality, if you look at life. Life gets so much better over time. The stock market goes up more than the cost of living. Right? Like we solve most of the problems we know about.

 

Hilary Hendershott: We get better and better at investing in cheaper ways which increase our personal returns to ourselves and our portfolios. Right? And so I think it’s sort of–it’s contrary to what I know to be true as a human being, but people can still get hooked because they maybe don’t know enough to know the context for this particular headline, etc, etc.

 

Hilary Hendershott: Do the marching orders for those kinds of stories or headlines come from above in the news? Or did you have autonomy when you were the one doing the story? What’s that environment like?

 

Erica Mandy: I mean again, every place is going to be different. But I’ll talk about my experience.

 

Erica Mandy: We would have a meeting at the start of my shift about all of the things that we could cover, and then together as a newsroom, you know, we decide, what is that going to be. So in some ways there was an order of like, here’s what you’re going to go work on. And I could bring ideas, and some days they were chosen, and some days they weren’t, and I was just given whatever else was going on.

 

Erica Mandy: But once I’m out in the field, I did have a lot of autonomy about that. There would be some discussions with my bosses, but I’m the reporter doing the interviews, the research. And there might be, “Well, what about this angle like? I really needed you to get this”, or they really want you to talk to the victim of, you know, stuff like that, like they give wildfires like, “Can you get closer to the flames?”, you know.

 

Erica Mandy: But I think when it comes to the actual facts that I’m reporting, I’m the one talking to the expert; I’m the one writing the script for my story.

 

Erica Mandy: Now, where things can change a little bit is, you know, I send the story back. I’m going to be live out in the field and the anchor and the producer back in the studio are going to tease my story or they decide to write a different lead line for it.

 

Erica Mandy: And maybe they–intentionally or not intentionally–you know, don’t fully understand it the way that I do. And so they change something to sound more interesting… and it’s not accurate.

 

Erica Mandy: I have had those experiences. Not every day, by any means. But where I’m live, you know, out in the field, I’ve got my earpiece in listening to the anchor toss the story to me, and I hear something, and I’m like, that wasn’t right, you know. Like, why did you change my line? Because that is not accurate, or that’s not the point of the story. And it’s like that first line you hear, or the tease to the story that grabs your attention, that is often what sticks with people. Not necessarily all the facts that come later in the story.

 

Erica Mandy: So I think that’s where sometimes things can get a little messed up or overblown. And then there are instances where I’m sent to do a story where I’m like this is stupid. And why am I here? And I have to make it work without feeling like an idiot. And actually one of those things in Los Angeles specifically, and this, again, was not every day.

 

Erica Mandy: This is another thing where it’s like, this is an example where I’m going to tell you this story, and Hilary, you could go and tease this like, “How Erica says stories are overblown in the news”, and then the reality is, this is a fraction of my experience instead of the whole thing. So that’s like an example of how things easily get overblown. I give you something real, and then you make it seem like that’s all there is to the story.

 

Erica Mandy: But, anyway, what the story is, is that covering wind in Los Angeles was always kind of a joke, which is tough, because, you know, I don’t know when this is airing, but about a week ago we had the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.

 

Hilary Hendershott: We just had the fires.

 

Erica Mandy: And wind was a true factor there in causing that. And so there are times when it is absolutely the story. But I have had experiences years ago, where I was sent out to cover wind that was supposed to be really bad, and when I got out there it was like not that windy.

 

Erica Mandy: Like people’s hair was blowing around, you know. And it was like, well, it’s too late to change you, like, can you make it work, you know?

 

Hilary Hendershott: Oh, no!

 

Erica Mandy: Cause they have a certain amount of time they need to fill.

 

Erica Mandy: And I actually remember thinking, like, I am not going to end up on Jimmy Kimmel from this story, because before I was sent out on this story there was a Jimmy Kimmel segment where he specifically called out LA reporters reporting on the wind and played a clip of of a reporter actually saying kind of what I just alluded to, which is showing video of someone’s hair like blowing in the wind, and and the reporter being like, “And her hair was blowing, and umbrellas were blowing around.” And it was like this was the news story, and so…

 

Erica Mandy: And it’s like, wind is a legit story, when you know things are actually getting damaged, or you know, there could be fires or whatever. But in these instances, I remember thinking like, I’m just gonna say, like they might not like it. But I’m going to say, you know, hey, it really wasn’t as bad as they were expecting out here. We are seeing some, you know, things blow around.

 

Erica Mandy: And I was just like, I’m going to be real, you know, but they wanted me to report on it. So that’s what I did. But yeah, I definitely found myself in those scenarios sometimes where it’s like this didn’t turn out. Or you go to a city council meeting or something and it wasn’t all that dramatic. And you’re like, okay, how can I make this sound interesting?

 

Hilary Hendershott: Right. I feel like, actually, that was one of the funniest stories that’s been told on my podcast in several episodes. Thank you for that. I will remember the hair blowing.

 

Erica Mandy: I will not end up on Jimmy Kimmel as the reporter they’re making fun of. That was my promise to myself.

 

Hilary Hendershott: Oh, I can just imagine you out there.

 

Erica Mandy:  I’m gonna send you the clip after this.

 

Hilary Hendershott: Yeah, you should. You should. We’ll put it on the socials. So, obviously fear and doomsday scenarios grab people’s attention, right? So if I think something’s dangerous or something horrible is going to happen or has happened, my brain makes me want to tune in. And clearly a lot of people are using their frontal cortexes to tune out…

 

Hilary Hendershott: But so was there a specific inciting event that had you decide to leave this cushy, 6-figure, “I’m on television” job and start your own podcast? Or was it a cascade of things?

 

Erica Mandy: I think it was a cascade of things. There were times when I was like, this isn’t worth me risking my life, you know, at these wildfires and protests and certain things. I think that was part of it. There was another part of it where I did feel like, you know, what we already talked about, which, everything was worst case scenario, everything was doom and gloom, and I just couldn’t handle it anymore personally. And then the main thing was hearing from other people what you just talked about–people are tuning out the news, and then they’re not going to be informed because we’re feeding them this constant doom.

 

Erica Mandy: And you know, on a national level, people are questioning if it’s biased. And yeah, like people are recognizing this. And then I saw what was happening in the podcast space, and that there was an opportunity to create something different. And I became really passionate about that. And I actually did a lot of research and testing about what that could look like.

 

Erica Mandy: And realized that it could be something that could help people feel less anxiety and overwhelm about the news. So it was really a combination of my experience over years.

 

Erica Mandy: And then really getting excited about the possibility. But you know, my last day working before–I had already decided and I was leaving–they were like, “Okay, Erica, what story do you want to cover? You know, it’s your last day.” And I was like, “Oh, there’s this veteran that has this really amazing story. I want to go talk to him and share his story.”

 

Erica Mandy: And so I was in the middle of doing that interview, and they called, and they’re like, “I’m sorry, we’ve got a murder suicide. We got to send you. Breaking news.”

 

Erica Mandy: And I was just like, “Yeah, I’m tired of that now”, you know. And I’m not saying there’s not a place for that here and there…

 

Hilary Hendershott: No, you’re not. I’m not hearing that.

 

Erica Mandy: And it was just like it solidified on that last day of like, you know, I’m going to go cover this murder suicide instead of telling this really inspiring story that I was excited about.

 

Erica Mandy: It was just lots of instances like that, that eventually led me to look into, how can I help people stay informed without the anxiety and overwhelm?

 

Hilary Hendershott: Well, the democratization of the media has been such a wonderful thing in general, and for me personally. I tell you, I subscribe to your show, and probably two or three other shows. And then I read industry publications, and that’s it. You know, I, personally am completely insulated from that kind of messaging, and so grateful for the independent news industry in general, that people can customize what they want to listen to, and how they want to take in information.

 

Hilary Hendershott: Where do you feel you most can spread your wings in terms of having editorial control? What are the examples when you just really take a deep breath and say, I’m so glad I get to decide how to portray this and how to publish this.

 

Erica Mandy: Before I get to that, I do want to say I agree with you. I think that it’s allowed so many people to get the news in the way that they need to for their lives; that’s going to benefit them. I do think it puts the onus on the consumer a little bit to make sure they’re listening to legit people.

 

Erica Mandy: Because I think there is also a lot of quote unquote experts out there. And I’m sure you see this in the financial industry, too, where people are claiming they, you know, this is how you should do things, and they have no experience or yeah.

 

Hilary Hendershott: Yes, you are on your own to decide. You are your own fact checker, for sure.

 

Erica Mandy: Yes, and so I think you know, consumers have to be wary about what independent places they’re looking at.

 

Erica Mandy: You know, I know that you talk about things being overblown a lot. So just yesterday there was a story that, it was about like certain chemicals being in sludge that then used in fertilizer. And at the end of the day, nothing had changed yet, no law was being changed, and knowing that the chemical was in sludge, that then goes in fertilizer, didn’t give you any information to actually change your choices at the grocery store. And so it felt like, this is fear mongering.

 

Erica Mandy: Unless we can tell people what different choices they have, or how they can change their behavior, or what law is changing. So let’s hold off on this one until one of those things comes to light.

 

Erica Mandy: Because, while I think information is good, I think information without the ability to take action can be overblown; it can be anxiety inducing.

 

Hilary Hendershott: Yes.

 

Erica Mandy: And so, as somebody who saw the worst case scenario all the time and was impacted by it, I’m very careful about, how do we talk about this story in a way that is informative; it is the things that people need to know, that can allow them to advocate if they want to, without giving them things that’s just going to cause anxiety and do no other good.

 

Erica Mandy: And I think with the complaints of news being biased, we are very conscious about how we talk about politics, and how we represent the different sides. So we are a short show. So we’re not getting into all the nuances of everything, so that makes it a little easier. But you know, I think about my tone; I think about what words we’re using to describe something. You know, if we say somebody denied something, does that kind of imply that they’re lying?

 

Erica Mandy: Or are we saying what they’re saying, instead? You know, we’re just kind of always trying to analyze those things–to the best of our ability–to be factual and give you as much of the story as we think you need to know, without putting in opinion.

 

Erica Mandy: And so that’s where we really focus. And again, I think, kind of adding in that variety that it’s not just doom and gloom. That’s so important to me, like, how can we make sure people know other things are going on? And can both be part of the conversation already happening across the nation, as well as have new interesting things to add to the conversation.

 

Hilary Hendershott: I subscribe to a little Facebook channel that’s like “wonderful miraculous soft puppy things that happened last week”, you know, and I always love it when I see their posts. It’s like something amazing happened with a puppy in Kansas. And it’s like it’s just a few seconds of my day. But it puts a smile on my face, you know?

 

Erica Mandy: Yeah.

 

Hilary Hendershott: And then kind of the other side of the hand of this whole messaging thing that we’ve been discussing is, and as a person who wants to be–and has been–fair and balanced and factual in what I talk about when it comes to money; finance; the economy. I sometimes feel like I’m giving up the hooks, right?

 

Hilary Hendershott: I sometimes wish I could write the dramatic headline because I’d love to have the clicks. I’d love to have people tune in, right? Do you ever feel like that? Do you ever feel like…

 

Erica Mandy: 100%. Yeah. It’s the same thing we talked about on social media, same thing with podcasts, same thing with anywhere. If you’re not the most extreme, opinionated thing, you are kind of giving up the views and the clicks and the likes and the arguments that are going to pick the algorithm.

 

Hilary Hendershott: The controversy.

 

Erica Mandy: Yeah, the controversy. Exactly. So yeah, that is the sacrifice. But I know that both of us believe enough in the alternative that we’re willing to sacrifice some of that to provide the people who do want that kind of middle of the road thing, a place to go.

 

Hilary Hendershott: Yeah. So here’s a question I’ve had for years as I’ve been listening to your show. It shows up in my podcast player at like 2 o’clock in the morning. How long does it take you, and how many people are working to produce your 10-minute show? How long does it take to produce a daily show?

 

Erica Mandy: I mean, we spend a full day. I mean, I have an executive producer who’s spending 8 to 10 hours, you know, researching everything across the Internet for that day; fact checking certain things. So I have a full time executive producer, a part-time producer who then is also part time on my Saturday interview segment. And then me, who reviews everything, records everything. I used to do it all myself, actually, when I first started 7 years ago. But now I have a team.

 

Erica Mandy: And then we have an audio editor and a newsletter writer. But there’s basically three of us that are really working on the daily show, and I work on a lot of the business side now. So the two of them are really working on the initial part of it for, you know, 8 plus hours to put on this like 10-12 minute show.

 

Erica Mandy: And we work on it the night before, because we basically want to tell you everything that’s happened in the last 24 hours when you listen. And because we’re on, I know you’re on the west coast as well, but we want it to be ready and available for people waking up on the east coast.

 

Erica Mandy: So we do put it out, like, very first thing overnight for the west coast, and very first thing in the morning for the east coast, and we just catch you up on everything that has happened in the last 24 hours. But it takes a lot of work because we’ve looked at so much more than we actually report to decide what needs to go in there.

 

Erica Mandy: And then, with the things that do land in the show, we’re looking at multiple sources to try to bring you that balanced view and make sure that there’s not kind of a nuance that we’re missing that’s important to add. So we’re looking at multiple articles for the 10 to 12 stories that go in there and then we’ve looked at multiple stories to decide what 10 to 12 stories should land in there. So that’s what kind of takes all the time.

 

Erica Mandy: And then we’re all taking a look at it to say, is this the right way to word it? Are we being the most conversational? Are we being concise about it? You know, it’s sometimes harder to make something shorter than to just say it all, and do it in a way that is interesting but not alarmist. So we really try to, every day, think about all of those things, and, you know, it takes time.

 

Hilary Hendershott: Yeah, I bet. And you always have personal stories about your sponsors. You’re using all these products.

 

Hilary Hendershott: And I am going to myself, “How does she have the time?” I don’t even know. Yes, I always feel for you when I see the show show up. I think, “She must be working the midnight oil. She must be editing the show at 10-11pm.”

 

Hilary Hendershott: It seems like… I have so much respect for that kind of work.

 

 

Erica Mandy: Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, no, we do a lot of the work late, because we publish by 1am Pacific time and 4am Eastern time.

 

Hilary Hendershott: Great. Well, I can tell you–and for those of you listening to the show–I love her podcast. I highly encourage you, if you haven’t found your own customized independent news sources, check out The NewsWorthy. Her voice is pleasant to listen to. She comes through on her tagline, which is fast, fair, and fun.

 

Erica Mandy: That’s how I know you really listen. You got it down.

 

Hilary Hendershott: I do. You ready? Let’s do this. See? Thanks for being on Love, your Money®. I do have a signature question for you. Erica, if your money were expressing gratitude to you, or writing you a love note, what would it be thanking you or acknowledging you for?

 

Erica Mandy: Thank you for caring about me, but not caring about me so much that you weren’t willing to take risks.

 

Hilary Hendershott: Love it. I love it. And risks that led to, in your case, an amazing opportunity. Yeah.

 

Erica Mandy: And I debate whether to get into this. But you know, I say that with an acknowledgement of privilege, that you know, I do think–I didn’t have kids at the time. I had a family that, if really things went bad, I could go stay with them, right? And so I realize that not everybody has that.

 

Erica Mandy: And that taking a risk is a very individualized thing, and comes with certain privileges for some people and doesn’t for others. But I think at the end of the day, when I think about, you know, I knew enough about money to care about it, to pay off my credit cards, but I didn’t care so much about making so much of it that I wasn’t willing to start over if I had to.

 

Hilary Hendershott: Oh. Well, I mean, I do feel like this is the way of the world now, right? We’re pursuing fulfilling work. And it really is just like such an incredible turn of events given, you know, where our mindsets were in college, which was like, you know, which management consulting company can I go work for? So, I appreciate your life choices. Here’s to– here’s to following your passion, and thanks again for being on the show.

 

Erica Mandy: Thank you so much. This was a fun conversation.

Disclaimer

Hendershott Wealth Management, LLC and Love, your Money do not make specific investment recommendations on Love, your Money or in any public media. Any specific mentions of funds or investments are strictly for illustrative purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice or acted upon by individual investors. The opinions expressed in this episode are those of Hilary Hendershott, CFP®, MBA.

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