Paris Hilton: How Playing DUMB Helped Me Build a BILLION Dollar Empire
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.
🕯️✨ USE CODE "BURNOUTS15" FOR 15% OFF YOUR ORDER ON THE LIMITED-EDITION PHLUR X THE BURNOUTS CANDLE ✨🕯️
🔍 CHAPTERS
0:00 - Intro
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
🔗 FOLLOW US
🔥 FOLLOW THE BURNOUTS
📲 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.
Available Results
Generated results are saved to the knowledge database for reuse and search.
Extract Knowledge
Pick what you want extracted first. Model, scope, and chapter options appear after a template is selected.