Natalie Brunell: “The American dream as hard to achieve as ever. Bitcoin is the embodiment of hope."
Becoming the most recognizable face in Bitcoin
(FULL Interview Here 👆)
Natalie Brunell: “The American dream as hard to achieve as ever. Bitcoin is the embodiment of hope."
🎙️Playable Characters Show Ep042
💎 Presented by Bitcoin Trading Cards
Natalie Bio:
Natalie Brunell is a podcast host, educator and media commentator in the Bitcoin space. Her popular podcast show, Coin Stories, features one-on-one interviews with prominent thought leaders about Bitcoin, the state of the economy, news headlines affecting the working class and more. Natalie is an award-winning broadcast journalist dedicated to covering the stories that matter to hard-working families around the world.
Connect with Natalie here:
Listen to Coin Stories on Spotify -
Timestamps:
00:00 Truth Will Heal The Divisions
06:20 When Natalie Realized System Couldn’t Fix Itself
10:14 Stories & Lessons From Growing Up In Poland
15:25 Can Bitcoin Save American Dream For Younger Generations
18:36 From Journalism To Macro Economics & Bitcoin
23:23 Advice To Bitcoin Educators & Orange-Pillers
27:00 How Education, Career Path, & World Travel Prepared Nat
32:15 Finding Your Calling, Truly
37:15 Decentralized Media & Tech Evolution
38:50 Original Podcast & Learning From Legacy Media
40:15 Introducing Herself To Bitcoiners In IRL To Expand Coin Stories
44:30 Are Bitcoiners Too Idealistic, Are They Blind?
47:12 Who She Hasn’t Interviewed Yet But Would Love To…
49:22 Spreading Bitcoin Education Outside The “Echo Chamber”
51:24 What Drives Her Every Day & Gives Her Hope
54:45 Becoming a Bitcoin Trading Card
55:35 What Natalie Collected Growing Up & Still Does
57:30 The EndGAME & Advice To Her Younger Self
Transcription:
Brandon Gentile (09:59.589)
Miss Natalie Brunell, thank you so much for joining me today on this episode. And we can't call you that much, I guess, much into the future. So congratulations to you and Sam. And thank you for joining me.
Natalie Brunell (10:14.759)
Thank you. Well, he's got a strong last name, so I'm excited about it. No, it's great to see you. Thanks for having me.
Brandon Gentile (10:21.081)
Yes. So we were just talking offline, obviously, about numerous different things. And some things are taboo and not. But we're just talking about this cultural malaise that we're in. And I think of the kids. I think of your story. I think of my story is very different than yours, similar in many ways, but very different at the same time. And you coming over from Poland when you're five years old. And I just got me thinking about kids again. You and I have talked about this.
over the last number of years too. I mean, I have four kids. You guys have kids, we'll have kids. It's like, what world are we building right now? And it's like, we think about, you know, this country, like we don't care about kids. I don't care what anyone says. It's like, we can say all we want. Like, if we just saved one life, you know, we gotta get rid of guns because we gotta save one life. But everything we do, the actions say very differently. We don't protect kids in schools. We're, you know, indebting them through the treasury market. We are, you know, pillaging and raping and pillaging the family and the structure. The fathers are gone.
Um, there's a lot there, but I know it's something that kind of, you know, tugs at, at your heartstrings and just from knowing you and knowing your story and everything, where, where are we and where are we going?
Natalie Brunell (11:33.462)
Yeah, I mean, there's a lot there to explore. I think that we've seen the breakdown of a lot of values in society, including morality and the breakdown of family structures. And largely, I think the culprit is economic and is the concentration of both economic and political power. A lot of people are really struggling today. And when I think of children, I think of innocence and I think of hope.
Young people, I think, usually are supposed to have an easier time feeling hope than maybe someone who's been through a lot of different experiences and struggles. But today across the board, old and young, I think a lot of people lack hope. Larry Fink, who now seems to be one of the biggest Bitcoin proponents.
He wrote in a recent investor letter about how this lack of hope is the most concerning economic data point he's seen, that four out of 10 Americans see no hope in the future. It was a really interesting statistic to read because around me, I think we see the symptoms of the breakdown of hope. People feel like they're just treading water. One job is not enough. There's a pressure on everyone in the family to provide sometimes.
multiple jobs are not enough. Young people don't see the potential of being able to afford a home, which was not very difficult for just one or two generations before them. I think that turns into very short-term actions and behavior where Natalie Smolensky said this beautifully on my show, where people just turn to grift and it's like, get mine and get out.
everyone's in it for themselves as opposed to being able to really drop our time preference and think about the future, plan for the future. You need to be financially secure in order to be able to think about the future and all of us are just trying to survive day to day. And so we do, we see a breakdown within many aspects of society that leads to more crime, more health issues. And I think that if we can repair the very core problem as opposed to maybe treating some of the symptoms or fighting over them, especially politically.
Natalie Brunell (13:40.054)
then maybe we can start to remedy and create a better future that is more healed, that is more prosperous, that is more unified rather than divided. I hope that Bitcoin will help us get there.
Brandon Gentile (13:55.161)
Yeah, just boy, you know, you're like, you kind of touch on it too, right? We're, we're killing our own inside of ourselves. We're, you know, we're sedating them. My, my wife, as you know, is a, is an attorney, um, does social security law and the amount of people that she talks to and like, hears from, and they're like 14 year old girls talking about Xanax and stuff in, in their high school. And like, I didn't know what Xanax was till I was like 30 years old. I don't even know, like,
It's so it was just, you know, we didn't grow up. We were you know, you and I didn't get out of school that long ago. And things have just so radically deteriorated that it's like you said, that's you were when you left school, you were in your fiat job, I guess, of journalism. You know, you got to see all that up close. You know, what was what was the big thing, I guess, that the inflection point, I guess, of you realizing
this, the politics, journalism news, and trying to bring merit, show accountability, and really being a change agent, I guess. But when did you realize like this, I'm not going to fix it from this system. Like this, this isn't going to work doing it this way. What was that inflection point?
Natalie Brunell (15:11.714)
Well, that inflection point was me learning about Bitcoin and having to humble myself and realize that I knew very little about economics and money and that I really needed to go on this journey to teach myself so that I could really understand this solution that was presented before me, which I fully, fully believe in now and that's why I want to help educate people. But I went through several experiences of ups and downs where I questioned a lot of things in the system. I'm first generation.
It was kind of a struggle to not just assimilate, but just knowing that my family wasn't as well off as the other families around us and dealing with that sort of financial scarcity, but hoping and desiring abundance and working really hard for it and putting my focus on education as being sort of the avenue where I could potentially achieve that. But then all of a sudden seeing my parents lose everything in the financial crisis and kind of thinking, well.
Is this system as fair and full of opportunity as it claims to have? Because it seems like the people at the top are all bailed out when something goes wrong and the working class and the middle class sort of suffers. And I wanted to hold the powerful accountable. I think that's what drew me to investigative journalism. But it's really interesting to look back at my career because I was definitely reporting on all the symptoms that we talked about, the symptoms of the broken system, cost of living going up.
people struggling to make it, people struggling to afford education and housing and healthcare, people turning to things like crimes, mental health issues increasing. And again, all of these are symptoms of something very, very broken at the core of all of our human activity, which is the economic component, which is the money, who controls it, who issues it, how much is there, what is it backed by.
I didn't understand any of that until I learned about Bitcoin. For me, it was a very cathartic and transformative experience, also very humbling, like I said, because I realized that, wow, I didn't learn any of this. Had I known this, I might have been better equipped to face some of the challenges that I faced. Now, I hope to help other people because we are really disadvantaged when it comes to...
Natalie Brunell (17:29.734)
learning about any of this in our current school systems and in our work lives in general.
Brandon Gentile (17:38.341)
Yeah, we were just talking this week on space and just like the weaponization of language, just everything and just being, like you just mentioned schools, like it's, you know, like my little ones are again, they're seven, five, three and one and they know they're government run schools. They're not public schools, they're government run and in saying, you know, talking about things how they really are instead of using, I don't know, not analogies, but just, you know,
government speak, I guess, in a way, and these just accepted terms and norms. So you were you were born in Poland, you were born in and how do you how do you say where you're born? Is it Wucz or Locz? How would how do you say it? Yeah. That's funny. Is there? Yeah, like right in the middle, isn't it? Yeah. That's hilarious. That's really funny. So what it
Natalie Brunell (18:17.366)
Yeah, yeah, which it means boat.
Natalie Brunell (18:24.21)
Yeah, which is ironic because it's like right smack dab in the middle of the country, not on an ocean.
Brandon Gentile (18:33.609)
you know, kind of going back a little bit here, what were stories like? I mean, again, you moved when you were five over here, came to Chicago. What were the stories like from your family and what they had witnessed over the last 100 years, basically, I guess, really the 20th century. What were some of the things that they had told you or that you had kind of just picked up on for them? Obviously, an area where there was a lot of humanity was focused and there was a lot of things going on in the 20th century, quite honestly, from where you grew up. So what was that like?
Natalie Brunell (19:03.886)
Oh my gosh, so many stories. I wish I could remember all of them and I'm actually really grateful. I sat my grandma down before she passed away two years ago and I just interviewed her basically in the way that I've interviewed so many people in my life. I interviewed her about her young life and I really believe in that meme that hard times create strong people, easy times or strong people create easy times, easy times create weak people, all that.
Definitely, my parents and grandparents grew up in very, very difficult times, and they were very, very strong people, all of them. My parents and my grandparents obviously suffered through World War II when they were really, really young, and Poland was always like invaded from one side or another and had a difficult time in terms of just its own national identity. My mom grew up learning Russian as well as Polish.
And they grew up under communism where there was scarcity and totally botched means of production because it was all top down and the price signals were skew. And so my mom would wait in lines for food and necessities and sometimes she would get to the front of the line. She tells this story to me that I was very, very young. She was holding me. She got to the front of the line and they had just, they ran out. There was no more.
And I was hungry, I was crying, and so the lady in front of us turned around and gave us some of her food that she got from like the butcher or wherever we were because there was none left. And so a lot of things were conducted on the black market. My grandma was a cook and her husband, my grandfather, who I never had the chance to meet, I wish I did, he was a mechanic. And
my grandma would like sell meat under the table on the black market for cash because again, it was like that's what life under communism was. And so growing up, they dreamt of coming to the United States. My grandfather, again, he passed away before I was born, but he constantly told my mom, you got to get over there because that's where opportunity and hope is.
Brandon Gentile (21:04.903)
for now.
Natalie Brunell (21:06.954)
And so my mom, she grew up on American movies and music and loved all of it. Everyone wanted things that were made in America during that time. And she just desperately wanted to come here and waited for decades. That's like, when I think of my parents, I just think, wow, they waited for so long to be able to come here. And actually when they finally were able to, a lot of people might've just said, no, you know what? We're now in our 40s, whatever, we're just gonna stay behind. And no, my parents came, they sacrificed, they started over.
Natalie Brunell (21:41.455)
We didn't have many financial means when I was growing up. They slept on the sofa in this tiny apartment that we had. Everything was just about creating a better life for the children. That meant so much to me because even though they were really tough on us, that was like the ultimate…
sign of love and sacrifice that they just wanted my brother and me to have a better life. And so, they were willing to work so hard and start over and suffer and endure so much just for us. And there's nothing more selfless. And so, I really have always, I think, been very ambitious because I just want to justify their sacrifice and make them proud. And so, that definitely has informed my work for sure.
Brandon Gentile (22:35.534)
Yeah, that's
Natalie Brunell (22:39.584)
No.
Brandon Gentile (22:49.829)
you know, fiat jobs, you got to go through these down spells, family things going on and you get to it, you learn about gold and silver, maybe, you know, monetary history, and you're learning about these different things that get you to that level of finally seeing Bitcoin for what it is and understanding it. So he's really well said. What, again, touching on Bitcoin is hope. What
Again, something that I know you're passionate about. Do you think that the that dream like is America this whole thing with you know, people immigrating obviously a massive issue right now to currently Your family all of our families immigrated here at one time or another to America Is it is the American dream dead? Is it like Balaji said the other day? Is it gonna be like an? Internet is the new nation state in a way. Is it Bitcoin is the nation state? like what do you think things look like going forward here and like
I think you just said the other day too, or maybe it was just earlier in heaven deja vu, but it's, you know, like you're, your family came here, but then you might be leaving here. You know, like if not physically, maybe it's mentally, if figuratively, I don't know, but what are your thoughts on what, you know, what is that Bitcoin is so up with younger generations? How does that look for them?
Natalie Brunell (23:59.362)
Well, it is really crazy to think that America did represent all of those values and all of that economic hope and opportunity. For so many people around the world who have it so much worse, it still is, right? That's why so many people are desperately, I mean, risking their lives even to try to come here. Unfortunately, the American dream, I don't believe is as easy to achieve anymore and it's been hijacked.
And I don't know if I would say it's completely dead because I still think that there is a lot of opportunity aided by actually tools like the internet and the decentralization of media. That's why I'm able to do what I do, but it's far more difficult because we've really placed a massive weight on the working class through our economic system. And being the global reserve currency actually also contributed to that pain because we have to...
export all of our dollars, we have to artificially strengthen our currency, which weakens our industrial and working base. So all the things that my mother loved so much and coveted when she was young from America, well, we no longer make any of that. We don't have that productive capability anymore. And now our biggest export is just our debt, our bonds, and we financialized everything. So it's just crazy to think how much harder it is to achieve that dream. Whereas a couple of decades ago,
one American salary could afford a pretty nice American home. And that's what a lot of people just wanted, right? Something kind of simple and safe and nurturing of a family to be able to provide for kids so that they can thrive for their futures. And today it's just so much harder and we've really pulled into not only two teams but I think like two economic classes. It's really the haves and the have-nots and the have-nots are far bigger than the haves.
in terms of numbers and it's really sad to see. And so we need a fix, right? I mean, all of us can identify the fact that there is a problem and maybe we all define it differently and everyone's really great at sharing what the symptoms are. But what is the solution? And I think we really need to be solutions focused. We need to stop just complaining about the problems and do something. And that's why I love Bitcoin so much and Bitcoiners because it's solution focused. It's like let's all.
Natalie Brunell (26:14.21)
peacefully go onto this life raft and start rebuilding a new economic system that at its base layer is more fair and resistant to the type of corruption that we see so that we can create a better future for everyone involved including the generations that come after us. And so that's why Bitcoin to me is the embodiment of hope.
Brandon Gentile (26:36.175)
You-
again, we're talking about hope and, you know, deep rooted, you know, familial things and things of that nature. I do have a sense that you have taken to the macro side as well, and just kind of your arc of, of learning that side over the last few years, am I way off base to say that that's something that's kind of snuck up on you even where it's like, man, I really kind of like the macro side of things. And you, you can speak so well, waxing poetic about the macro and treasury bonds. I think that ever cross your like thing, you know,
like your brain like 10 years ago thinking I'm going to be knowing all about this someday.
Natalie Brunell (27:12.534)
Certainly not. I wish I could go back and actually study and maybe get a degree in economics, although the one I probably would have gotten is very Keynesian and central authority focused, right? But it does fascinate me so much. I'm really grateful that I believe that when preparation meets opportunity, that's luck. I don't know who said that originally, but I think my background of communication and media and being able to tell a story.
Brandon Gentile (27:21.777)
true.
Natalie Brunell (27:41.662)
has really helped the fact that I'm now very prepared for this moment in time where Bitcoin is very, very important for people to understand. And so maybe that's it's like lucky, right, that those two worlds are coming together for me. But I certainly did not know that I would love economics so much and every book that I read is pretty much like an economics book in some way, shape or form.
Brandon Gentile (28:02.393)
Yeah.
Brandon Gentile (28:06.941)
That's so funny. It really is. Like I like I've just I've
Natalie Brunell (28:08.578)
But I mean, when you really think about it, it's like that is the base layer of human activities, economics. It's me providing something for you. What I've learned about capitalism, I'll be honest with you, Brandon, I used to be one of the people who thought we need to tax the rich and the system is unfair and we needed to distribute because why do billionaires have that? They don't need that. We need to redistribute to the other people so that more people have opportunity.
I did not understand capitalism. I did not understand what it was really about at its core, which is savings and accumulating capital. It's not supposed to be just this system of credit where we issue IOUs to a limitless degree and everyone is basically chasing after paper promises that are worth nothing because they can just continue to issue more and more. I did not realize that. I thought capitalism was about greed and it's not. It's actually...
Capitalism is very selfless in the sense that you have to provide a good or service and create value for someone else and for the greater community for you to get anything in return. But we live in a system where you don't have to create anything. The producers, they just create more units and they benefit from them at the expense of everyone else who's working so hard to produce value. And so everything's flip-flopped and I think you really need to dig into some of this to really fully appreciate it.
Natalie Brunell (29:34.846)
like riled up that people are so political on one side or the other because at my core, I'm just like, they just don't understand. It's like they're placing the blame on the wrong thing and they're here up on like the surface and they need to go down to the sand because it's truly the economic issues that they're all complaining about and they don't realize it.
Brandon Gentile (29:59.413)
Yeah, well, I mean, I took the thoughts right out of my head. Yeah, and it makes me think of capitalism. You know, it's impossible to have capitalism when you're on a faulty monetary base, you know, you're building, like you said, sand, you know, like you just mentioned sand when you're building on a on sand, your house on sand. Good luck, you know, and it devolves.
Natalie Brunell (30:15.362)
Yeah. Credit is not capital. Credit is not money.
Brandon Gentile (30:19.821)
Is that yeah, so therefore not capitalism, like that's a plus b equals c, it's kind of right there. And it's like you said, and you said many times in just different interviews or interviewing other people, like how can it seems so absurd when you don't get it. But once you do see you see the wizard behind the curtain, it's obvious, you know, like, I don't know, I don't know how you square that circle. Like it's, it's so hard to and we've all gone through, like we just said, like, you have to go through this gauntlet almost.
and the ups and downs in order to get it. Like Bob Proctor is one of my favorite personal development men, women of all time. And he always would say like, I can't give you, or I can't put in your head what I have in my head. Cause I can't remember what it is now, but it's I can't give you what I have because you have too much of what you have in your head basically. And it's, you have to go through it. And a lot of times you experience things. I think that the education side.
and in helping to educate people is I know that's my mission. I'm sure it is yours, too. And I'm sure it's a lot of Bitcoiners where it's like you want to you see the bad things coming, the patterns, and you want to minimize the collateral damage. And that's you know, you know, you're going to go through some hard times. But can we hey, guys, can we minimize this a little bit? Like, I don't want all of us to get burned in the process. What do you have any like a piece or two of like advice, I guess, for people that, again, are going to be coming into this space here going forward like
whether they're producing content or they're thinking of starting a blog or a podcast or something like that where maybe some lessons you've learned or things you can, you know, advice or just have people say, Hey, just keep going. Anything like that at all to people who are just getting the space or thinking of firing something up.
Natalie Brunell (31:58.058)
Yeah, so many things. I mean, Bitcoin education is, I think, one of the most important things that any of us could be a part of because we can reach so many people and it really truly can empower the greatest amount of people in the most important way. I want to credit Jeff Booth for this advice because I really do believe in what he shared and that's you have to meet people where they are. Because I think that we-
all think we understand and we all sort of agree to things that none of us voted for, right? Like 2% inflation, what is that? Do we even think about it? Did we talk about inflation prior to the pandemic and the CPI going crazy? But yet it's been a reality that we've lived with that none of us, again, voted for or chose that has
Brandon Gentile (32:33.573)
Missed that one.
Natalie Brunell (32:41.234)
a tremendous amount of consequences. And yet people just, they don't understand. They accept the fact that things get more expensive in certain aspects of life and other things maybe get cheaper like your electronics. And so we need to question those things more and help people ask those questions. And I think that that's one of the greatest ways to start to orange pill someone is ask them those very questions. Like why are houses getting so much? Why is a house that's 150 years old more expensive now than when it was brand new? Right?
Well, that's interesting, right? And when it comes to creating content or just pursuing things like what you're doing, what I'm doing, it's just A, I think you need to believe in yourself. I think you need to take risks and try things because you learn through trial and you grow through trial and struggle and challenges. And learning is a very critical component to all of this. And also just, I would say…
It's so helpful when you can specialize in something. I didn't realize being a reporter, I was kind of a jack of all trades, but an expert in nothing until Bitcoin where I was like, oh, wow, this is really interesting and I'm going to go down to the sand and really learn everything I can about it. I never intended for it to be my career, but there's always a demand for specialization and for people who can communicate different specialties.
And so it ended up working tremendously to my advantage that I focused on one thing as opposed to maybe diluting myself into many different things, right? Or pursuing many things at the same time. So I really think that people should devise a plan, stick to that plan A, don't even look at a plan B, like really focus and specialize and learn as much as you can and surround yourself with the people that are better than you and smarter than you so that you can like learn and grow through osmosis as well.
Brandon Gentile (34:33.317)
Yeah, that's great advice. I was just I was thinking of again, like you, you went to pepper. Number one, how do you end up at Pepperdine, by the way, so telling stories, you made me think of this like telling stories, journalism, and it's so important because again, I think sales is telling stories. I mean, Jesus went around, what do you do? He told stories, you know, he told parables, he knew that was how humans learn best, you have to
sell through stories and just like, hey, 21 million, decentralization, yahoo, like logic doesn't work. That's not how this works. You justify logic later. So I think that you hit the nail on the head that you have to learn how to tell stories. And you over the last, not just couple years, but last decade plus have become very good at telling stories. But it leads me to, some of that upbringing, I guess in a way.
going to Pepperdine, going to school, talking about that really quick. How did you end up that far away? Cause that's in LA area, correct? And you were in Chicago. Like how did, how did that all work and how did that lead to journalism? And you got into Italian and stuff and you're speaking all these languages. Like what?
Natalie Brunell (35:26.369)
Yeah.
Natalie Brunell (35:35.475)
I know. My background is actually really random. Yeah. So, growing up, I knew I wanted to work within storytelling, like video storytelling because, frankly, we just watched a lot of it. We watched a ton of news and movies and television. And largely, that really helped my family learn English. It was to augment their English skills. So something was always on.
Brandon Gentile (35:56.855)
Mm.
Natalie Brunell (35:59.874)
And I think there were many points where I was kind of torn between the two worlds. I didn't know if I wanted to work in the fiction or the nonfiction world. Like I loved fairy tales and movies and sitcoms and things like that, but I also loved documentaries and news interviews. I loved like Barbara Walters and Oliver Sitdown. So, I loved that.
Frankly, I only looked at Los Angeles schools because I thought, well, if I want to work within the world of like visual storytelling, what is the capital of that? And I saw that being Los Angeles. And so I only looked at schools in that area and I did a summer school program at UCLA. I thought it was a little too big and Pepperdine was like just right and I liked that it was a religious school because I grew up in a family of faith.
So yeah, I mean, I just found myself there and ended up spending two of the years, four semesters in Italy. I created the Italian major at Pepperdine, super random. Thought I was going to become like an Italian show documentarian. Like Stanley Tucci basically had my dream job. But yeah, it's crazy. And I did not know anything about Bitcoin, unfortunately, back then.
Brandon Gentile (36:56.369)
Yeah. Wow. That's cool.
Brandon Gentile (37:09.349)
How do I come up with that?
Yeah. Well, that was just coming out. I mean, we're I'm trying to think we're the same age, basically. So that was yeah, we couldn't have really known about it at that time. I get it early on. Well, I guess that would have been was that early 2010s, I guess, or mid 2010s when you did that, though? The grad school? That was not sorry, that wasn't grad school. Yeah, that was undergrad.
Natalie Brunell (37:32.574)
No. When I was graduating into the great financial crisis, Bitcoin was essentially born.
Brandon Gentile (37:36.633)
Right. Yes. Yeah, so sorry, I was thinking of Northwestern was a little bit later on, correct? That was that's what was Yeah, that okay.
Natalie Brunell (37:43.018)
Yeah. That's when I decided that it was going to be news that I focused on. I did go back to school. I actually wouldn't recommend it. I'm proud that I have a master's of science in journalism, but it's not necessary. Honestly, everything, the more that you do, it's so great that people now, you don't even have to pay all these crazy degrees. You can literally learn everything online and you have a device that gives you more knowledge than kings and queens had centuries ago.
Don't feel pressure because I sometimes I'm like, I could have used that if I would have just put the money I spent on grad school into Bitcoin, I'd be in a different position.
Brandon Gentile (38:20.381)
Oh, boy.
I went on this like, again, I know this is like the whole crowd health thing and which is where I eventually ended up in essence, but like three, four years ago, I just like lost it one summer. And I was like, we're up north in Michigan, people go up north, which you're from Chicago. So you kind of, you know that this area and how people think. But anyways, we're up north and I was like listening to it was like four years ago, I'm listening to like Max and Stacey, and they're just going on and on about health insurance and all that stuff. And I'm like already was like starting to get really ticked off for like a year or two before that. And premiums were like,
Natalie Brunell (38:34.494)
Uh huh. Yeah.
Brandon Gentile (38:52.133)
400 bucks and that was like 600 bucks a month. And then it was like every year was going up. The deductible was like 10,000, 14,000. We're having more kids. I'm like, what is going on right now? And I'm like, I'm just getting rid of all this. Like I don't need it. We're young or healthy. And if something bad happens, I'll write a really sad story on a crowdfunding thing and I'll raise the money. Like I'm an entrepreneur, like I'll figure it out.
And so my parents are like, no, you can't do that. You can't like, you know, my mom's like freaking out. I'm like, it's OK. Like if I would have put this thousand dollars a month every month or last five years into Bitcoin, you know where I'd be. I own the damn insurance company. So just like, you know, same exact thought. What? Where did where did the Italian come in, though? So the dancing really briefly and the Italian, where did this where do these things come in the picture? Is it sports, music, art growing up? Is just the dancing like where does Italian and all this stuff come into play?
Natalie Brunell (39:39.392)
Ha ha!
Natalie Brunell (39:45.474)
I've never been asked this, but yeah. I grew up dancing. I was a ballerina and did all forms of dance. I was on my high school dance team and college dance team actually. Funny story about that, my moment of pride, I worked at a small station. My very first on-air job was in Palm Springs, California, and they had this annual charity there called Dancing with the Desert Stars.
which was like my favorite show at the time. And so they chose me as one of the contestants and I ended up winning. So that was fun. The Italian, that was actually a beautiful side story passion. It's still a passion of mine. I'm literally staring at a photo of Italy that's on the wall across from me. One of the reasons I loved Pepperdine is because…
almost everyone goes overseas their whole sophomore year. They are very encouraging of international experiences for growth and for better finding like your calling or vocation. That's another thing I loved about the school. Like everything from the very start was, what are you called to do that is of service that you can like help others? And how can you make the world a better place? Like literally first day orientation, it was like, what is your vocation? What is your calling? What has God called you to do?
Brandon Gentile (40:56.779)
That's cool.
Brandon Gentile (41:00.381)
Yeah.
Natalie Brunell (41:08.734)
I loved that. So sophomore year, literally all the students just disperse unless you're like a bio major or maybe you're in theater and you have to stay close by. But pretty much everyone I knew went overseas to one of nine programs. It was just by happenstance. I had studied French for like eight years, so I was full on thinking that I was going to go to their French program.
They had like a housing issue and that was the one program that shut down for my sophomore year until they worked out like another location that they were going to trade with or whatever. So I had to choose between like Germany, London, Italy, Shanghai, Heidelberg, Germany, a bunch of places. So I chose Italy and then I went there not knowing really anything and not knowing any Italian and I just I fell in love with.
culture and the history, which is so cool now with Bitcoin because I was in Florence where the Florin, right, the heart of the Renaissance, which was all based on the gold standard. I just love, I thought the architecture was so beautiful and the art, and it's all examples of that low time preference. What humans could create if they put their drive and ingenuity and spirit into works.
Brandon Gentile (42:10.075)
Yeah.
Natalie Brunell (42:28.318)
And I just loved it. I fell in love with it. I traveled all over Italy and now it's my favorite country to this day. It's like everyone tries to get me to go other places and I go and I'm like, I still love Italy the most.
Brandon Gentile (42:40.549)
Yeah, that's
Natalie Brunell (43:01.835)
Yeah.
Brandon Gentile (43:09.017)
I can't remember exactly what I was talking to you about or what we are talking about now, but the thing that was on my mind, it's been on my mind for a long time, is picking up your cross and laying down your life.
And, and that was, you know, just even my journey of getting rid of basically firing myself from my real estate firm, real estate investing and raising money and doing all those things you thought you had to do at the top of the stack in the fiat world, you're on the Titanic and it's going down. You don't know it. But you're like, Hey, is the best thing I can do and rearrange as many deck chairs as I can. And then you just realize, like, man, I gotta get in that lifeboat. Like this is
I'm being
Brandon Gentile (44:03.641)
you know, following like you said, that calling, that's why like you just said with Pepperdine, like what's your calling? Like, what are you called to do? What is God calling you to do truly? And and in doing the right thing, you know, making the moral decisions and, and just following that plan and being because that's going to have you the most fulfilled, at least, you know, in my opinion, it's going to have you the most fulfilled. So where you called to be and that's where for me, it just became like, I have to go do something else. I can't keep doing it's not fair to
any of you people because I'm not in it like I should be. It's not fair to me. It's not fair to my family. So anyway, that's I really resonate with that too, because that's just a thing that's been in my head for a number of years now. And in really trying to humble yourself, lower your ego, raise your humility. And it, which is Bitcoin in a way too, right? It's, it's, it's not an IQ test. It's a humility test. And I think that's the really big thing. So anyway, you can touch on any of that, but it's, I think that it's you.
Natalie Brunell (44:41.643)
Yeah.
Natalie Brunell (44:50.518)
Yeah.
Brandon Gentile (44:59.825)
the all that stuff, it all kind of plays together. Like, I don't know how many people know you had, you started the podcast when you're at the end of your fiat job, career stories, which you know, led into what you're doing now. And that started what was like three, four years ago in 2021, I believe, correct. And you
Natalie Brunell (45:16.782)
I started a – yeah, I started Career Stories which was like the original podcast in 2018. Yeah. Just for fun.
Brandon Gentile (45:20.657)
That was 2018, right? Yeah. And then it led into obviously what we, many of us know now is coin stories, right? And it became something else. Or I shouldn't say that's still there. So people can go find that. Um, but you have coin stories now, which is, is the thing in, in talking Bitcoin, which is incredible. And if anyone has been to your site, it's amazing, by the way. So whoever's doing your site, I think I saw at the bottom who does it. I can't remember a name, what's on my head, but amazing site. Love your site. Yeah, it's beautiful.
Natalie Brunell (45:41.219)
Thank you.
Natalie Brunell (45:45.678)
Thank you. Yeah, Heather. Yeah, no, it's really crazy how, again, technology, media, information has decentralized and it really has transformed so many people's lives and jobs. I really do equate this time period in Bitcoin when people are still very unfamiliar and a little bit wary about it to those early days of the internet when we had no idea how much it would impact.
everything that we do, how we communicate, the type of jobs that we do. And so not to be afraid of it, not to push away from disruptive technology, but to really embrace it and to learn as much as you can about it because it will really be to your advantage. And my industry itself changed so much because of technology over the 10 years that I worked in it.
from when I was aspiring to work in news, when it was like the golden era of television and everyone sat down at five or six o'clock to watch and they knew their local news people and all that and there was so much money in advertising because there were only a few channels and there were only a few avenues to get that information breaking apart and splintering into all these websites and Twitter and social journalists and people having their own channels and YouTube. I mean, it's crazy the evolution that happened.
And for me, I always loved long form interviews because I just think you learn a lot and you get more context that sometimes is very necessary to the crux of the story. And my job was all about brevity. It was, which is to my advantage in some ways today, right? Like you gotta like sum it up really fast, but I would spend like eight hours a day, nine hours a day or a whole week or month working on something that was 90 seconds long or two minutes long.
Like two and a half minutes is an eternity in television. Like if you get that much time, that's a lot. And so my life was all about shortening things and cutting stuff out, leaving things out. And I really liked long form. So I think I needed to have that outlet. So I did the first podcast, which was Career Stories. And it was really just like origin stories of people within different industries, how they achieved success, what…
Natalie Brunell (47:58.178)
challenges they overcame. I've always been someone who loves rags to riches stories, like someone who came from absolutely nothing and achieved so much. How the heck did they do it? I love those stories. That was the origination of career stories, which then turned into coin stories because I took that and I was like, I'm just going to do a season and interview the Bitcoiners about this very topic and see where they all came from. Now, it's been my job for the last two years.
almost two years, almost three years actually.
Brandon Gentile (48:31.989)
Yeah, it's incredible. Did you know I can I know you've talked about before, but you didn't know really anyone in the space, right? Like you went to Bitcoin 2021, I think, right. And just kind of went into the VIP or the back and we're just like, hey, you started asking people, can I interview you? Like, how did you know anyone in the space when you came in?
Natalie Brunell (48:49.426)
Yeah. So, yeah. So, I'll clarify that. So, first of all, because I was a reporter, I literally had to go every day knocking on doors asking people on their worst day, by the way. I mean, when a tragedy just happened, like, hey, will you talk to me? And not only talk to me, but like with a camera in your face. So, I have no shame. Like I will ask anyone to talk to me. I will ask and I'm not shy because you can't be shy. You can't be shy.
Brandon Gentile (49:13.509)
That's the old world in you. That's the Eastern European in you. Ha ha ha.
Natalie Brunell (49:18.09)
You cannot be shy as a journalist. You'll get nowhere. No one will talk to you. I got a media pass for the Bitcoin conference because some of the people who I messaged who were the public figures that everyone's familiar with who have been on my show, some of them responded and I was super excited. They said, yes, I'll come on your show, but a lot of them absolutely did not respond to me. I said to myself, well…
I'm probably better at doing this in person. I think that they'll see that I'm genuine. I just want to learn more. So I'm just going to buy a ticket or try to get a media pass and try to meet them in person and just ask them in person. And so I did. I got a media pass. Thank you, Bitcoin conference. And I asked Safenine to come on my show and Michael Saylor and I met Preston that first. I met so many people and they ended up on my show and it ended up.
working out very well. I'm very grateful to be doing what I'm doing. But yeah, people, I think, don't take enough chances. And sometimes people are very afraid and they're in their own head. We're all our worst enemy and worst critic. And no one is thinking about you as much as you think that they're thinking about you. We all compare ourselves, especially with social media. It's like, oh no, but he, but she, who? Nobody cares about you. They're all worried about themselves. So if you want something, just go for it and be nice about it. I mean, people
Brandon Gentile (50:34.589)
So true.
Natalie Brunell (50:38.638)
tend to want to help people who are nice and genuine and like they're not trying to get something from you. I hope that serves as an inspiration to people because there's someone out there probably watching listening. They want to do something and it's like you're holding yourself back. No one else is.
Brandon Gentile (50:55.813)
Yeah, that's a great point. That's such a great point. Like you said, everyone's focused on themselves. That's just human nature, right? So it's like just getting out of your own way. I love that. I know we're...
Natalie Brunell (51:02.326)
Yeah. And if some people are not nice or don't want to talk, that's okay too. You wish them well and maybe someday that'll change. Like, that's okay.
Brandon Gentile (51:09.501)
There's your answer. Yeah, exactly. There's your answer. Don't need to be around him anymore. Like that's, yeah, so well said. I know we're getting towards wrapping here soon. What, I got a couple things for you. So you just had Andy Sheckman on another day, by the way. And he's, I love Andy Sheckman. He's just awesome. Like, I don't know what it is about him, but like I just love him. And I saw him like a year ago on Kiyosaki Show or something like that. It was the first time I'd ever seen him. And...
Natalie Brunell (51:25.719)
Hehehe
Natalie Brunell (51:32.173)
Yeah.
Natalie Brunell (51:36.385)
Yeah!
Brandon Gentile (51:37.741)
Yeah, he's just he's amazing. Such like a down to earth person and a really cool show you guys had the other day about him. Again, like the orange pill, right? Like you can see the wheels turning, you can see things moving and happening, like again, a sign of humility. That's someone I respect from like, okay, I respect for this guy. Very cool. So he, he said something that I think is really interesting. And I think he boiled it down to really this fight that we're having that everyone's having, you know, in a way, especially like gold bugs in
Natalie Brunell (51:48.028)
Yeah. Yep.
Natalie Brunell (51:52.718)
Totally.
Brandon Gentile (52:05.693)
Bitcoiners and things of that nature like a George Gammon kind of similar to this in a well with like him and Jeff Booth Going back and forth but like where George thinks that you know society is not going to change like Bitcoin is not going to change People enough to do what you're saying Jeff. I agree with everything else, but an Annie Sheckman says hey, I think that It's the decentralization of money the centralized powers aren't going to accept that so my question to you is Aren't we the 99%?
Isn't politics downstream from culture? Don't these people have to do what we say? Coming back kind of full circle to like us educating people, minimizing collateral damage. Isn't it up to us to keep educating people in this human system, which Bitcoin is, it's a human system to keep educating, to show people there is a different way and force people to change. That's really, I mean, are we too idealistic? Are we are we just not cynical enough, Natalie? Like, I don't know. You know, like, what are your thoughts on this? I think those two kind of distillations are really the crux of like the
the arguments between a lot of these big factions of people.
Natalie Brunell (53:07.222)
Yeah, I mean, we do have the numbers on our side, the working class of the world as opposed to the elites as some people refer to them. I think that I've said this on Fox News at one point, this is a bottom-up phenomenon. This is the way that money should be. It's emerging from a free market, the freest market that I see in any industry. And it is really amazing that it does empower people. So-
so incredibly through property rights, through the ability to save for the future. Anywhere in the world, I mean the largest addressable market of any asset in the whole world, anyone can purchase a fraction of a Bitcoin. You can't just be in a developing nation and purchase a share of Apple stock or a fraction of a Manhattan skyscraper, but you can get a couple of Satoshis or start to earn them through work and through productivity.
It's incredibly inspiring and I believe in the human spirit. I believe in us moving toward the things and the technologies that serve us and make us more productive. And so I do believe that the power lies with us. And just in the same way, again, sort of like we touched on the early days of the internet before, the internet, I guess, there were forces of control that were resistant to the internet and to encryption and we've seen that. And that wasn't very long ago.
But open source technology ended up winning. The people ended up winning. And now this decentralized force is used by billions of people around the world who are able to communicate and send information and create businesses that are interconnected. And I think that the monetary protocol, the Bitcoin network will do very similar things and empower people globally.
and nation states will have to embrace it as opposed to resist it or they will fall behind and they will be at a disadvantage. I think that the power structures are maybe apprehensive about Bitcoin because it threatens their monopoly over issuing money and threatens their monopoly over capital. The internet is non-rivalrous as opposed to Bitcoin.
Natalie Brunell (55:19.822)
money is rivalrous and there is a lot of competition and who issues it and who controls it, monitors it, who's the intermediary. But I still just believe in open source technology and the will of the people and the majority using this and therefore it will win through adoption and growth alone.
Brandon Gentile (55:41.145)
who have you not interviewed yet that you want to interview?
Natalie Brunell (55:47.318)
Oh, there are so many people. Towards the top of the list is Thomas Sowell. He's a brilliant economist and author. I love his writings and I've seen so many interviews and I would just love, love to sit down with him. Felix Zuloff I would like to sit down with for the macro side. I would love to interview Joe Rogan and Elon Musk and Arnold Schwarzenegger. I feel like Arnold is like so ripe for orange pilling, but maybe we'll get there soon.
Brandon Gentile (55:52.442)
Oh, excuse me.
Brandon Gentile (56:14.237)
Thank you.
Natalie Brunell (56:16.766)
I think it's really important for us to branch out and to bridge this gap with people who are very influential who I think they get it. They get that there's a problem and they're able to identify some of the issues, but they just need a little bit of extra help at connecting the dots to Bitcoin. Yeah, there are a lot of people on the list. We'll see. Some of them don't respond to me, but that's okay. I'll keep trying. We'll see what happens.
Brandon Gentile (56:44.825)
Yeah, that's so cool. That's same. I couldn't agree more. I think that like, I know I've reached out to just some like, you know, women, we were talking this earlier, we checked to some women. So like, there's a lot of big, you know, influencers, I guess, like, I can't stand the word influencer, but I don't know what else to call them. Yeah, I know, such a fiat term, like we got to think of like a Bitcoin or term for it.
Natalie Brunell (57:01.738)
Me neither. And when people call me that, I cringe. I'm like, no, no.
Brandon Gentile (57:11.493)
I, you know, there's like a lot of women, there's a lot of people like on Twitter that have really big followings that, you know, have a voice in the, in the political, you know, like you said, they, they're kind of in between, they're very ripe for orange pilling and they're like libertarian, you know, I think it's like what the red head of libertarian, right? There's some really big, you know, accounts out there, people that are really, they're right there. And it's like, man, I would love to interview some of those people, like these people that are on the fence and their audiences, obviously, like just outside of Bitcoin, probably.
But you just can imagine how many people would be drawn in to like, oh wait, like what? Like, so I think that that's like, I feel like that like this year, next year, I think those conversations, like you said, whether it's you or me or whoever, like I think those are gonna really start happening more. And I think it's gonna be really cool to see. So I love that you said that. Would.
Natalie Brunell (57:42.158)
totally.
Natalie Brunell (57:55.822)
Yeah. I mean, actually, I'm going to be sharing in the next couple of weeks an interview with Nikki Glaser who she has a massive following. She's a comedian who's based here. I was curious her takes on Bitcoin and this whole space because she has very openly talked about money and talked about what she thinks is wrong in the system and inflation and prices going crazy and the majority of people not being able to keep up with that, including aspiring comedians like …
that she can relate to, younger versions of herself. I just think it's important to have those conversations. I could tell that I piqued her curiosity and now she wants to learn more because I essentially let her know that all of the problems that she just so easily identified, Bitcoin is trying to fix and Bitcoin was sort of designed to fix. That made her very like, oh, I want to learn more. Those are the little, we got to keep…
planting those seeds all over the place, because they will grow.
Brandon Gentile (58:56.805)
have to have to do you in a couple more quick things here. What did you again, did you think I mean, even a couple of years ago when you started doing this, did you think you would become the queen bee, the queen Bitcoin of the queen, the host of Bitcoin? I mean, you're all over the place. I mean, you're everywhere. And we're lucky to have you. Just you're so well-spoken, fortunately, and so smart that in, you know, like you said, preparation.
Meeting opportunity is luck. And I'm a big believer in that too. Like there's no such thing as like luck per se, right? Or like, karma, I don't believe in that. It's just preparation meeting opportunity, being in the right place, following your calling, picking up your cross laying down your life, right? All these things. And did you ever in your wildest dreams again, like two three years ago, see in I know you kind of probably saw yourself in a sense of like, hey, I'm gonna keep working my ass off, I'm gonna get better at what I do. But you ever sit back and be like, oh, this is like, this is wild. Like, do you ever like have that moment? Or like,
Like, what am I doing? Every week, it's like you're somewhere else doing something else and you're like, what is going on? You had to have to be moments like that.
Natalie Brunell (59:59.294)
It has been a crazy journey. I'm beyond grateful. I don't know if you saw that clip of the Nvidia CEO speaking recently to I think it was like Stanford grads, but he said that you should have low expectations and that struggle is actually one of the most important things to building character and to finding success. And I really agree with that. I believe that you should have low expectations, but very high standards.
I always knew one thing and that was that I was willing to do anything to be financially secure and not repeat sort of the childhood scarcity that I experienced when it came to money. I wanted to be able to help my parents and help my future children. And the thing that is so crazy about this system when I finally learned about it is it's like no matter how hard you work, this is why so many people are frustrated and have lost hope.
that goalpost keeps moving and keeps getting further and further away. And so again, I was one of those people who I had worked so hard and I knew I was capable of getting to like the national level and excelling in journalism and I worked really hard to do that and I focused really hard. But even when I got to national, I wasn't making enough money to afford what I would consider to be sort of that comfortable middle class life.
And I was like, why was there something wrong with this, right? Like there's something wrong with this system. And so I'm so grateful that Bitcoin sort of represented this rebirth in my own career and belief that the future could be so bright and beautiful because I was starting to look at it as one of, of a lack of hope and opportunity and thinking that I was always going to be treading water and maybe never afford a house. And Bitcoin has made me believe that I will be able to.
not only produce and generate and accumulate wealth, but also preserve it and then hopefully hand it over to my children someday. And I understand why so many young people, they're like, I can't afford to have kids because I was starting to wonder that as well. And that's like, if everyone just stopped having kids, we wouldn't have no more world, right? I love the fact that now I can think about the future and not worry and stress and have so much anxiety about it. And so
Natalie Brunell (01:02:21.534)
I'm so grateful there's not a day that goes by that I'm not grateful and that I don't feel a great sense of responsibility to keep working super, super hard because there are still so many people who haven't heard this message or who haven't heard it in a way that communicates to them in order to take action. And that's all I want to do. I just want to help people understand. I want to do good by people. I do believe in the law of attraction and karma and all that. If you put goodness out, you will get it back.
And I really believe that the world could be so beautiful and prosperous with so much more cooperation if we fix the money and Bitcoin is the best fix that I see out there.
Brandon Gentile (01:03:00.985)
Yeah, it really is. I think of and I just want and I tear up every single time watching Tomer's video generational wealth that he and Matt Hornick did and swan put together. It's just it's incredible. And it's just you how can you not think that, you know, as you go into it and just watch that. And that's the vision I think we all see. All right, last thing before we do a quick word association game to wrap up here. But you have been in so many of these. I think you're one of the most
Natalie Brunell (01:03:08.203)
Oh yeah.
Natalie Brunell (01:03:12.518)
Yeah.
Brandon Gentile (01:03:28.837)
featured people in Bitcoin Trading Card. So how did this, first off, what did you collect as a kid? I know like every kid always has like the thing that I hoard. What was it?
Natalie Brunell (01:03:34.798)
I have no scarcity, what do you mean?
Natalie Brunell (01:03:40.189)
Is it? There's no scarcity in the Natalie card? Darn it.
Brandon Gentile (01:03:45.105)
What do you mean? No, there's there. This is 52 or 500. Let's go. No, no, I'm saying that you've been featured multiple times in Bitcoin trading cards. And so you've been unconfiscated. All the cards these but what did you collect as a kid? Do you collect? I guess it could have been cars dolls. What did you hoard as a kid? Was there anything like that you collected?
Natalie Brunell (01:03:49.355)
That's a lot. Okay, well.
Natalie Brunell (01:03:56.288)
Well, that's nice.
Natalie Brunell (01:04:11.022)
I did have like a pet rock collection or like stone collection at one point, but no. I actually still collect something to this day. I collect, yes, I have a few of them right over there. I collect the book The Little Prince in every language.
Brandon Gentile (01:04:18.684)
Really?
Brandon Gentile (01:04:28.197)
Really? Please explain.
Natalie Brunell (01:04:29.786)
So, I have like a big one that's kind of like a pop-up. I have a French one, a Portuguese, Italian, Lithuanian, Spanish. Yeah. So, I love the book The Little Prince. I love the message behind it and I love the author. So, yeah. Got to find all the languages.
Brandon Gentile (01:04:49.161)
That's awesome. Is that just something from like childhood, like growing up? Is that why, or is that like early on? Yeah. So cool.
Natalie Brunell (01:04:55.21)
Yeah. It's like a childhood, but very popular in France. It originated in France. And it's just like a very positive message about hope and just kind of the young innocent spirit of childhood that I hope we all could maintain because, I mean, even to your earlier points about people in this space or adjacent to it who look at Bitcoin as like, oh, this could never work because of course the-
people will resist it. Well, we're really in control of that and you create the world that you live in. You create the future that you put out by your actions and your attitude. And so yeah, if you say it's never going to happen, it won't happen for you, but I believe in building what we want to see. So I have total hope and faith in the future.
Brandon Gentile (01:05:24.676)
We're the people.
Brandon Gentile (01:05:43.781)
I love it. All right, last thing here, little word association. We got a dozen or two words. So it can be one word answer. It can be whatever comes to your head. And I will go through them and quick as long as you want, I guess, I'm gonna go through them here. Character.
Natalie Brunell (01:06:04.594)
You have to have struggle to build character.
Brandon Gentile (01:06:08.508)
Italy.
Natalie Brunell (01:06:12.994)
Love, passion, the best country in the world.
Brandon Gentile (01:06:18.986)
Oh man, Bitcoin conferences.
Natalie Brunell (01:06:23.158)
Really fun and hopefully more women soon.
Brandon Gentile (01:06:28.849)
They're coming. Dancing.
Natalie Brunell (01:06:32.974)
Freeing just feels so good to just let loose.
Brandon Gentile (01:06:38.813)
Speaking of women, women in Bitcoin.
Natalie Brunell (01:06:41.794)
There will be more and more and more. The next big class, I think, of adoption will be the millennial women, and I hope to be a part of it.
Brandon Gentile (01:06:51.025)
That's so cool. Men in Bitcoin.
Natalie Brunell (01:06:55.026)
My brothers. I have so many great big brothers. I have like a lot of big brothers that I love and I love my own big brother who's not really a Bitcoiner, but I love my Bitcoin bros.
Brandon Gentile (01:07:07.141)
That's awesome. You will be eventually. Politics.
Natalie Brunell (01:07:13.122)
There's too much of it. It's too divisive. I like a political Bitcoin.
Brandon Gentile (01:07:18.993)
Federal Reserve.
Natalie Brunell (01:07:23.039)
It has too much power. We really need to decentralize the power of money.
Brandon Gentile (01:07:30.137)
Toshi Nakamoto.
Natalie Brunell (01:07:32.15)
Brilliant genius would love to interview him or meet him.
Brandon Gentile (01:07:38.318)
Oh man, proof of work.
Natalie Brunell (01:07:41.602)
Brilliant, genius, absolutely needed, energy is truth.
Brandon Gentile (01:07:47.553)
Legacy Media.
Natalie Brunell (01:07:50.978)
facing greater competition from us in the decentralized world and needs to be held to account.
Brandon Gentile (01:07:59.825)
journalism.
Natalie Brunell (01:08:03.686)
necessary. It needs to be the watchdog and it hasn't been and it needs to not be so political.
Brandon Gentile (01:08:11.654)
Poland.
Natalie Brunell (01:08:14.862)
home, a place that has endured so much and is vibrant and I'm very proud to be from there.
Brandon Gentile (01:08:26.609)
That's By-Roll.
Natalie Brunell (01:08:29.314)
debt spiral, let's avoid it. Catastrophe, do not enter.
Brandon Gentile (01:08:33.565)
Thanks for watching!
Good one.
Brandon Gentile (01:08:40.078)
Integrity.
Natalie Brunell (01:08:42.338)
Critical, so important. I don't think it's worth living without integrity.
Brandon Gentile (01:08:50.909)
I love that.
Faith.
Natalie Brunell (01:08:56.236)
gives you hope for the future, gives you purpose.
Brandon Gentile (01:09:01.281)
Natalie or Natalia.
Natalie Brunell (01:09:05.038)
Whichever you prefer. My birth name is Natalia. So people can start going for that. It's so funny. I actually, when I moved here, this is a funny story. When I moved here, I was in Chicago where people have very thick Chicago accents and I used to actually as well. I had to take vocal coaching classes and everyone would say, Natalia, Natalia. And I was like...And that wasn't the American, like people said that's not the American name, it's Natalie. And so I changed it, but I kind of wish I didn't change it. So you can call me either.
Brandon Gentile (01:09:38.053)
I had to I don't know if it was an interview or it was I was talking a year or two ago and that came up. So I don't know. I just like had to ask and because that's something that I think that people will find cool and don't know. Yes, so cool. Sam Kellyanne.
Natalie Brunell (01:09:45.218)
Yeah, Natalia. My birth name's Natalia, yeah.
Brandon Gentile
Sam Callahan
Natalie Brunell (01:09:53.722)
my love, my partner, my Bitcoiner that I'm in a hodl for life.
Brandon Gentile (01:10:01.246)
Number of children.
Natalie Brunell (01:10:03.434)
As many as God will give me. I'm not as young as I wish I was to start that process, but that is okay. Age is just a number.
Brandon Gentile (01:10:11.865)
God's plan. God's plan.
Travel.
Natalie Brunell (01:10:18.466)
I love it so much. It immerses you and opens up your world to so many things and I always learn so much.
Brandon Gentile (01:10:25.861)
Values.
Natalie Brunell (01:10:29.138)
It's what you stand for. It's who you are. And I think we need a return to a sense of values and honor. We've lost a lot of that in society.
Brandon Gentile (01:10:43.133)
America.
Natalie Brunell (01:10:45.742)
Still the American dream. I really believe that we can revive it.
Brandon Gentile (01:10:52.141)
I do too. Hopefully that's. That's why I keep this back here. Of me of me playing on the US under-17 & 18 team. It's still there deep inside all of us.
Chicago….
Natalie Brunell (01:11:05.006)
I mean, I grew up there, too cold, but it's my hometown, so gotta love it.
Brandon Gentile (01:11:12.025)
LA.
Natalie Brunell (01:11:15.586)
I miss the sunshine, I really do. A beautiful city that has lost its way.
Brandon Gentile (01:11:25.439)
Creed or pump it up?
Natalie Brunell (01:11:29.436)
or pump it up, I don't understand the question.
Brandon Gentile (01:11:32.519)
Which song? If you had to choose one.
Natalie Brunell (01:11:34.071)
oh the song? oh!
Brandon Gentile (01:11:38.525)
higher, I guess I should say the song.
Natalie Brunell (01:11:40.678)
Okay, higher or pump it up.
I think pump it up.
Brandon Gentile (01:11:49.047)
Same, same.
Last two Bitcoin Trading Cards.
Natalie Brunell (01:11:55.118)
My favorite cards. I've collected my favorite figures, so I'm excited about it. I hope they're worth a lot of money someday.
Brandon Gentile (01:12:04.325)
Don't we all!
And Coin Stories.
Natalie Brunell (01:12:09.431)
My dream come true. I'm so grateful. I can't believe I get to do this for a living and it's all because of the people who watch and listen, so I can't thank them enough.
Brandon Gentile (01:12:19.537)
So cool. I'm going to finish this show with the question that you used to ask on career story interviews.
What would you tell your younger self?
Natalie Brunell (01:12:30.063)
Learn about money and believe in yourself more. I wish I studied money and I wish I believed in myself more, but luckily I somehow found my way to Bitcoin and to this work. Things work out better than you always worry about, so don't worry so much.
Brandon Gentile (01:12:50.429)
Well, I think I can speak for many people that I think you're doing fine. So we're like Bitcoin is like to have you. Bitcoin is lucky to have you. We all are.
So where can people find you?
Natalie Brunell (01:12:57.)
Thanks. Thank you.
Natalie Brunell (01:13:02.222)
The show is called Coin Stories on YouTube. I share episodes on X @NatBrunell. TalkingBitcoin.com is my website. Lots of fun projects in the works. So hopefully I'll be able to share more soon.
Brandon Gentile (01:13:14.129)
So cool. Thank you so much, Natalie, for spending time with me today.
Natalie Brunell (01:13:18.786)
Thank you.
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How money works,
How money affects your life,
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How money changed my life,
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How money you choose can destroy you or make you fabulously wealthy
How Bitcoin changes people by promoting virtues such as honesty, integrity, and cooperation.
How fiat changes people by promoting lawlessness, theft, and lying.