TV Journalist Trae Bodge Says There’s Wisdom in Rejection—You Just Have to Listen
You've likely seen Trae Bodge online or on TV bearing a giant smile and offering money-saving tips. The self-described "smart shopping expert" has graced household name platforms from The Today Show and Good Morning America, offering her wisdom to help us save on our daily purchases.
Trae's infectious and relatable, and she has a presence on camera. You'd be forgiven for thinking she's had her eye on her on-air role her entire life. But in truth, Trae, who is also a media coach, discovered and built her niche in a winding way. As she tells Nada below, her current "dream job" came from an evolution peppered with grit, frustration, and unexpected lessons.
“It was a journey. I was at Three Custom Color, a brand I founded with two friends. I hit a wall there, professionally, after 15 years of running the business. I loved it, but I also felt I had more to do—and more to learn and offer. I thought that I would end up at a large beauty brand owned by Estee Lauder or L'Oreal, and I would be in marketing or PR or product development. Everyone I met with was kind, lovely, and happy to sit down with me, but they could not figure out where to put me. I kept getting a lot of that door-being-shut-in-my-face and in the nicest way. [They were saying] 'We don't see you as being in the lab making product, and we don't see you as being a publicist. You're really more in front of the house.' And it was super frustrating for me, I'll be the first to admit.
But as I went on that journey, I started writing budget living content for several websites. Friends of mine were editors at these websites, and they were kind enough to give me a shot. I felt, Oh, I love this! I loved finding the coolest running sneakers under $100 or learning about a new app that helps you save money. I began to have a lovely enthusiasm about this area, which I didn't know was a thing. So I kept plugging away and going on those interviews and being frustrated.
Then I started thinking, Maybe these people taking the time to meet with me are telling me something valuable. That's an important lesson to learn: We're not the only people in control of our path. If people are telling you the same thing over and over, it might be good to stop talking and listen for a second.
I started pursuing the budget-friendly living idea more aggressively. RetailMeNot, one of the larger coupon sites, was looking for writers. That freelance gig fell into my lap. Then I started seeing they were doing some media, and I thought, Wait a second, I'm media trained. I've done QVC. I've done the news from my own brand. So I put myself out there and said, 'If you need help, I'm happy to throw my hat in the ring.' It turned out they were looking for a spokesperson. That was my first real foray into this budget-living career. I worked for them for about three and a half years and learned so much.
“ If people are telling you the same thing over and over, it might be good to stop talking and listen for a second.”
It was great for me to get in with a company that was growing quickly and had big budgets, PR teams, and all sorts of things that I didn't know anything about at the time. But then they had a pretty big layoff, and I was part of that. But by that point, I thought, This is something I can do myself.
So that's where the smart shopping expert career as it is now began. And I've been on my own ever since.”
We pulled this from Nada’s original conversation with Trae and lightly edited and condensed it for clarity. To listen to the full conversation with Trae, head to the Liberty Road Podcast.