Nicole: I was working with a natural holistic nutritionist and never thought about the cost 

Reema: Yeah, why weren’t you thinking about the cost at all? 

Nicole: I was just desperate to feel better. It’s sold as a cure all, and you just want to believe that,

Reema:  So what was your financial state  like? 

Nicole: It was bad *laughs*

Reema: I’m Reema Khrais, host of Marketplace’s This is Uncomfortable…and I’m very happy to say that we are back with all new episodes, about life and how money messes with it. 

This season, we explore industries that promise revolution, from alternative medicine and stem cell therapy….

Doris: It was going to be my Christmas miracle, you know, that I was going to be able to see better

Reema: yea it is sold as this magical thing 

Doris: yeah it is. Our lawyer calls it snake oil salesmen *laughing* 

Reema: To industries like cosmetics and fast fashion…. 

Reema: Like how much were you spending on clothes?

Lakyn: I was spending, like, all my tips.  I was definitely spending like 200 dollars a week.

Haein: Oh, I will say about a 300 a month. You know, like five bucks here, 10 bucks here.

Reema: Mm hmm.

Haein: It really adds up, right?

Reema: And we’re not just looking at how much money we’re pouring into these things, we dig deeper into our motivations, into why we make the spending choices we do.  

Bryan: I need to buy the right clothes to make sure I fit in. Patagonia is just kind of like proxy for kind of like middle to upper middle class status, right?  

Elise:  their professional success is so tied into whether they look good and meet conventional standards of beauty.

Haein: and I thought that if I can get this surgery, my my my entire life will automatically change, everything will be so perfect.

Reema: Mm. In what way, exactly?

Haein: I thought that people will love me more.

Reema: So we’re exploring the industries that drain our wallets in the name of self-optimization….but what about our jobs? There’s so much pressure to make our work a cornerstone of our identity, as a way of reaching our fullest potential…but what happens when it doesn’t work out that way? 

Kashy: well, who do you want to be? Are you a journalist, or are you this singer songwriter on the other side of the world, you know?

Jamal: My dad, when we sit around the dining table, he said, “Jamal, I really wish if you one day would be a doctor.” Yeah. Yeah.  And the next day, you know, because if he had like a hard time with his car, “I wish you one day you will be a big mechanic,”  

Lindsey: She asked the attorney how she could fire me without it looking like discrimination. 

Reema: Wow. Like weight discrimination.

Lindsey: Yeah.  

Reema: In our upcoming season, we’ve got stories about fighting discrimination in the workplace, the high cost of trying to become a pop star and how frustrating it can be to support a loved one who gets sucked into a bunk medical scam…

Brittany: She thinks that I’m ignorant, that I’m just not enlightened.

Reema: And would that get annoying though? 

Nicole and Brittany: Absolutely! Absolutely! [laughter]

Reema:And I’m also going to take a beat to share what’s been going on in my life lately…

Reema: So I know this is a little silly to ask you, but can you introduce yourself just so we have it? 

Jamal: I’m Jamal Khrais, I’m the father of Reema. [laughter]

Reema: This is Uncomfortable is back on February 1st, new episodes out every Thursday. I’ll catch y’all then.