From teen drama star to angel investor, Sophia Bush joins Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni for an unfiltered conversation about building wealth, walking away from toxic systems, and making purpose profitable.

In this episode of The Burnouts, Sophia reveals how a surprise $10,000 angel check into Uber kickstarted her investment journey—and how that single move led to millions. She opens up about the real economics of being a young actress, fighting for equal pay on One Tree Hill, and the dark side of working in Hollywood. Sophia also shares what it means to build power as a woman in business: launching inclusive salons, shaping the future of femtech, and helping fund America's first women-founded bank.

She breaks down the difference between angel investing and venture, gives practical advice for women who want to build wealth without gatekeeping, and explains why doing good and doing well should never be mutually exclusive.

Also: The best financial advice she’s ever received.

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🔍 CHAPTERS

1:20 – From aspiring heart surgeon to unexpected actress

6:45 – The economics of young Hollywood

13:00 – Building an inclusive salon in Detroit

17:20 – Investing in Uber with $10K

20:45 – The power of sweat equity

25:30 – Femtech, abortion access & why periods matter

30:15 – Talking money without shame

34:00 – The group chat every woman needs

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Subscribe to The Burnouts for bold, raw interviews with the thinkers, athletes, and founders redefining ambition. Hosted by Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni—former Stanford roommates turned startup co-founders—each episode dives into the unpolished truths of building a life and career that matters. This isn’t another founder podcast. It’s what building something in your 20s actually sounds like—unfiltered, in-progress, and a little bit chaotic.

Heiress, icon, mogul, mom—and the original influencer.

In this episode of The Burnouts, Paris Hilton gets real with Phoebe and Sophia about turning a catchphrase into a global brand, the pain behind her activism, and why being underestimated was her greatest advantage.

She opens up about creating the “dumb blonde” persona as a form of power, testifying before Congress as a survivor, and why she believes angel numbers (and small-town nerds) are the secret to everything. Plus: what it’s like running 30 businesses, parenting with purpose, and building 11:11 Media to bring it all together.

This isn’t the Paris Hilton you think you know.

Also: DJ paychecks, ADHD superpowers, and how to spot a fragile man.

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🔍 CHAPTERS

1:45 – Inventing the “Paris Hilton” character

5:00 – ADHD and the art of doing everything

9:40 – Playing dumb, trademarking “That’s Hot”

13:15 – From survivor to Capitol Hill

18:00 – Why she’d never date a guy from LA

20:45 – Paris' obsession with angel numbers

24:00 – Advice for building a brand

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Paris Hilton

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📲 Download the Phia app to start saving money: www.phia.com

Subscribe to The Burnouts for bold, raw interviews with the thinkers, athletes, and founders redefining ambition. Hosted by Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni—former Stanford roommates turned startup co-founders—each episode dives into the unpolished truths of building a life and career that matters. This isn’t another founder podcast. It’s what building something in your 20s actually sounds like—unfiltered, in-progress, and a little bit chaotic.

200,000 downloads. A tagline that finally made people “get it.” And a few hard lessons along the way.

In this episode of The Burnouts, co-founders Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni unpack the marketing experiments that helped Phia find traction—from trial reels and creator guides to AI-generated scripts and TikTok reach campaigns. They share what worked, what didn’t, and what they’re still learning about building a brand from scratch.

They also talk about the power of a clear metaphor (“Google Flights for fashion”), the pressure of launching on the same day as a major podcast appearance, and why community has been their most valuable asset.

Also: how Kris Jenner got involved...

📲 Download the Phia app to start saving money: www.phia.com

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🔍 CHAPTERS

2:00 – Launching Phia the same day as Call Her Daddy

6:20 – Trial Reels: our low-cost growth engine

8:45 – Our best-performing hook

11:15 – TikTok flops, LinkedIn wins, and why Substack matters

13:10 – The hack to community-building

15:00 – How we use AI to write scripts that work

17:30 – The SEO agency mistake we won’t make again

19:10 – The "special sauce" in a marketing hire

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Subscribe to The Burnouts for exclusive conversations with today’s top founders and culture-shaping entrepreneurs. Hosted by former Stanford roommates turned startup co-founders, Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, this isn’t just another founder podcast—it’s untold conversations and the unfiltered reality of what it takes to build your dream career in your 20s.

Guests include Paris Hilton, Chelsea Handler, Kris Jenner, Karlie Kloss, and more visionaries defining the brands—and blueprints—of our time. Whether you’re dreaming big or building now, these are the conversations that will show you how it’s done (and what no one else tells you).

🔔 Subscribe now to get the blueprint for building your dream career

Olympic gold, Ivy League brains, supermodel looks—and still figuring it out.

In this episode of The Burnouts, Olympic gold medalist, model, and Stanford student Eileen Gu joins Phoebe and Sophia for an unfiltered conversation about ambition, identity, and what happens after you’ve seemingly “made it.”

Eileen opens up about her post-Olympic burnout, learning to sit with stillness after injury, and the pressure of being young, female, and hyper-visible on the world stage. From negotiating brand deals at 13 to being grilled about geopolitics at 18, she reflects on the emotional toll of public scrutiny—and the freedom of learning to define success on her own terms.

She also shares how fashion gave her a new language for femininity, what solo travel taught her about self-worth, and why she’ll never apologize for being “the nerd who does everyone’s homework.”

Also: the difference between a high-quality man and a fragile ego.

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CHAPTERS

2:10 – Post-Olympic depression is real

4:45 – How she accidentally went pro

6:55 – Negotiating for yourself, even if you're scared

10:40 – Walking Victoria’s Secret and staying true to your values

13:15 – Becoming a cultural bridge—not picking a side

17:35 – Why smart women scare fragile men

26:00 – Glorifying suffering is not a flex

28:55 – Nerd alert: physics made her a better skier

35:40 – Injury, identity, and learning to rest

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Eileen Gu

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📲 Download the Phia app to start saving money: www.phia.com

Subscribe to The Burnouts for bold, raw interviews with the thinkers, athletes, and founders redefining ambition. Hosted by Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni—former Stanford roommates turned startup co-founders—each episode dives into the unpolished truths of building a life and career that matters. This isn’t another founder podcast. It’s what building something in your 20s actually sounds like—unfiltered, in-progress, and a little bit chaotic.

What if your side hustle made you a millionaire—and taught millions of women how to become one too?

In this episode of The Burnouts, Vivian Tu (@YourRichBFF) joins Phoebe and Sophia to unpack the story behind her Wall Street-to-TikTok glow-up, the money myths that hold women back, and how she’s rewriting financial literacy for a new generation.

Vivian opens up about surviving workplace racism, being your office’s unofficial 401(k) whisperer, and building a media empire that started with one viral video—and became a New York Times bestselling book, a chart-topping podcast, and a full-time career.

She also shares the real talk behind her relationship: who paid more rent, how German cockroaches accidentally fast-tracked her move-in, and why every couple should go on “dessert walks.”

Also: the genius trick to automating your savings without even thinking about it.

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🔍 CHAPTERS
1:02 – Why dating gets harder when women get more successful
4:55 – How to actually budget (no spreadsheets, no shame)
8:00 – What to do with your first paycheck
13:50 – Getting pushed out of Wall Street—and finding a new path
18:20 – When to quit your job for your side hustle
30:55 – Talking about money in relationships (without making it weird)

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📖 Read Rich AF
🎧 Listen to Networth and Chill

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Subscribe to The Burnouts for exclusive interviews with the thinkers, founders, and creatives shaping culture and business today. As former Stanford roommates turned startup co-founders, Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni bring rare access and real curiosity to every guest—cutting through the noise to get to what actually matters. It’s not just another founder podcast. This is what building in your 20s really looks like—unscripted, in-progress, and surprisingly honest.

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What if heartbreak was the beginning of your empire?

In this episode of The Burnouts, entrepreneur and creative director Chriselle Lim sits down with Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni to unpack how she went from TikTok’s “rich mom” to co-owning Phlur, a $100M+ fragrance brand.

From the ashes of burnout and divorce, Chriselle rebuilt her life—and helped reshape how fragrance is built, branded, and sold. She shares the story behind Missing Person (the perfume with a 250K waitlist that changed everything) and how reinvention became her real superpower.

Also: the bamboo tree metaphor that will stick with you forever.

📲 Download the Phia app to start saving → www.join.phia.com

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About The Burnouts

As former Stanford roommates turned startup founders, Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni are building more than a business—they’re building a bold new conversation. The Burnouts dives into the chaos of creation, covering everything from personal reinvention and product meltdowns to friendship, finances, and fear. With top guests like Kris Jenner, Danielle Guizio, and Whitney Wolfe Herd, this is your behind-the-scenes playbook for building on your own terms.

What if your first investment was a $400 tax refund and a tape measure? In this episode of The Burnouts, fashion founder Danielle Guizio sits down with Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni to talk about turning side hustles into global brands, learning leadership the hard way, and why your iPhone might be your most powerful marketing tool.

Danielle opens up about recovering from surgery, walking garbage bags of orders to USPS, and getting duped on TikTok. She shares the strategy behind her $2M Black Friday breakthrough, why she still fits every sample herself, and how she built a viral fashion empire with no design experience, no car, and no connections—just a deep belief that she could figure it out.

Also: negotiating in Chinatown at 13, selling out with zero ads, and what she really looks for in a résumé (hint: it’s not your school).

Chapters
1:10 – $400, no car, and a dream

5:45 – Getting duped and going viral anyway

10:12 – Negotiation school and hiring red flags

13:48 – Why she still works the retail floor

16:00 – Instagram as your magazine

21:35 – How she got Kylie Jenner and Dua Lipa in her clothes

24:18 – What she actually looks for in a hire

28:55 – Advice for every girl with a side hustle

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Subscribe for more raw, unfiltered convos with iconic leaders, founders, and disruptors who are building what’s next (and burning down what’s not).

📲 Download the Phia app to start saving money at www.join.phia.com

About The Burnouts
As former Stanford roommates turned startup founders, Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni are building more than a business—they’re building a bold new conversation. The Burnouts dives into the chaos of creation, covering everything from VC pitches and product meltdowns to friendship, finance, and fear. With top guests like Danielle Guizio, Kris Jenner, and Whitney Wolfe Herd, this is your behind-the-scenes playbook for building on your own terms.

What if the next billion-dollar startup isn’t built by 1,000 employees—but by 30, powered by AI? In this episode of The Burnouts, Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd sits down with Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni to talk about building lean, trusting your gut, burning out, and why she believes AI will totally reshape how companies scale.

Whitney opens up about hiring mistakes that nearly broke Bumble, the myth of hustle culture, why listening to “grown-ups in suits” set her back, and how legacy tech is holding companies hostage. She shares her evolved vision for Bumble, her personal burnout recovery, and why she now swears by smaller teams, smarter tech, and protecting your energy like it’s cash.

Also: surprise-and-delight growth hacks, ego death, and what she really thinks about ROI-driven marketing.

Chapters
1:02 – She built Bumble. But at what cost?
5:11 – Why hiring “adults in suits” backfired
8:42 – Scaling smart: fewer people, better results
13:08 – AI, apps, and the future of building
16:30 – Burnout, ego death, and coming back stronger
22:14 – Bumble’s early growth hacks (inflatable bees, anyone?)
27:49 – Friendship-first is the next dating revolution
30:45 – Mentorship, motherhood & knowing when to say no

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Subscribe for more raw, unfiltered convos with iconic women and disruptors who are building what’s next—and burning down what’s not.

Download the Phia app to start saving money at www.join.phia.com

About The Burnouts
As former Stanford roommates and now business partners, Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni share their experience as startup founders and the chaos of building something new—covering everything from pitching VCs to maintaining friendships, decoding financial literacy, and finding power in female-driven storytelling. With candid conversations and top guests (like Kris Jenner and Sara Blakely), The Burnouts is your go-to for smart, hilarious, and sometimes chaotic advice on how to build your career on your own terms.