Natalie Lee is an American influencer with over 700,000 followers on Instagram. She shot to fame in the second season of Love Is Blind during her romance with Shayne Jansen, with her appearance on the reality TV show exposing her to 232 million Netflix subscribers. Though her engagement to Shayne ended in heartbreak, Natalie sagaciously parlayed her newfound fame into a lucrative career as a social media influencer and tripled her annual salary.
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Lee recently revealed (via Fortune) that she left her high powered job in the corporate world because she earns three times as much as an influencer. The Love Is Blind star explained how appearing on the show transformed her finances:
“After Love Is Blind premiered and our social media following went up, I did see a huge shift when it came to my yearly salary. I am making as a content creator three times my corporate salary. And so it made sense for me to pursue content creation full time I would say that 95% of my current income is from brand deals.”
Today, Lee commands a eye-popping $ 50,000 per brand deal. So far, she has partnered with Burt’s Bees, Lulu, SoFi, and Fidelity Investments. She earned $ 230,000 a year as a consulting manager before appearing on Love Is Blind, which puts her current annual earnings at a whopping $ 690,000.
She expounded on how the show has yielded dividends for her and former castmate Deepti Vempati:
“As influencers after the show aired, we both made over half a million dollars each.”
It’s probable that the 31-year-old has likely reached millionaire status, possibly several times over. The future-focused entrepreneur distributes her savings into a 401k, diversified index funds, a non-traditional Roth IRA, a high-yield savings account, and a money market account.
Natalie’s career as a podcaster
Today, Natalie dedicates herself to content creation on her social media channels. She has recently started co-hosting the weekly podcast Out of the Pods with fellow Love Is Blind season 2 star Deepti.
Natalie and Deepti share their unique insights on Love Is Blind as only insiders can. They’ve created 26 episodes discussing everything from episode recaps to body confidence to how they monetized their status as influencers.
The pair also interviews special guests, including Iyanna McNeely, Colleen Reed, and Giannina Gibelli. The podcast has amassed over 22,000 YouTube subscribers.
Natalie’s rise to fame on Love Is Blind
Fans expected Natalie and Shayne Jansen to wed on the Love Is Blind season 2 finale. However, an explosive argument on the eve of their wedding cast a shadow of doubt in her mind about her fiancé. Natalie was concerned that Shayne might be too emotionally immature to undertake marriage.
Despite her misgivings, Natalie walked down the aisle. She felt the pressure of friends and family who had gone to the trouble of flying into town for the wedding. The tension was heavy as they stood at the altar, and the officiant asked if Shayne would take Natalie as his spouse. He said, “I do, a thousand times over.” However, when asked the same question, Natalie responded, “I don’t.”
Her answer sent shockwaves through the Love Is Blind fandom and media. Though her wedding to Shayne was a fiasco, many fans understood her need to stay true to herself. Natalie’s rejection of Shayne was reality TV gold and solidified her status as one of the most unforgettable contestants on Love Is Blind.
Incredibly, Natalie and Shayne’s disasterous wedding was not quite the end of their romance.
Natalie’s post-Love Is Blind romance with Shayne
After the show, Natalie and Shayne started dating and exploring their romantic connection off-camera. They made an effort to work through their issues. However, another scandal was on the horizon when Shayne’s man-child ways came to light.
Natalie courted controversy when she revealed in an Instagram Story that she and Shayne were still a couple when he joined the cast of another dating show, Perfect Match. She called out his shady behavior:
“I knew about the new dating show back in Sept 2021 because Shayne and I were both approached to apply for it while we were in a relationship (casting didn’t know we were together at the time). We told each other we declined the opportunity, but I later found out he actually didn’t decline and started the casting process in Nov 2021 without my knowledge at the time, while we were still together.”
She confirmed that she and Shayne broke up in November 2021. She says he attempted to reconcile with her after Perfect Match ended, but she declined, focusing instead on her thriving business and nurturing her friendships with other Love Is Blind alumni.
Though she did not meet the man of her dreams of Love Is Blind, she gained an audience and the building blocks for pivoting to a new, more profitable career.
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