Welcome to E!'s Tales From the Top, our series on women who are leaders in their fields and masters of their craft. Spanning industries and experiences, these powerhouse women answer all the questions you've ever had about how they got to where they are today—and what they overcame to get there. Read along as they bring their resumés to life.
For Bre Tiesi, it's not personal. It's just business.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, the model knew early on in life that she was going to have to put her emotions aside if she wanted to be successful. "The hustle is a different level here," Tiesi told E! News. "So you just gotta make it. How bad do you want it? Is your ego, your emotions and your feelings more important than your success? Because mine wasn't."
Making it meant slowly building an empire of her own, adding investor, businesswoman, fitness influencer and real estate agent to a stacked resume that also included time almost a decade ago on the MTV series Wild 'n Out—which is where she meet Nick Cannon. In January, the "on-and-off" pair announced they were expecting a baby boy, Tiesi's first and Cannon's eighth child.
Now, Tiesi is preparing for motherhood and how it may change her usually unemotional approach toward business.
"I think now it's going to be a little bit different having my little one, but we'll see," the 31-year-old said. "You can play with the big boys when you're not emotional and it takes all of that out. I definitely saw a huge transition in in my career when I did take out the emotional."
While Tiesi first found success as a model when she was a teenager, it wasn't a job she considered a viable option. Rather, she initially thought she would be a surgical technician—which is fitting, considering the precision with which she's carved out her career. She recently launched her fitness series Elevate with Brie on OFTV and worked as NBA star Ben Simmons' real estate agent when he purchased a $17.5 million home in Beverly Hills.
Tiesi shared that it was her divorce from Johnny Manziel, which was finalized in 2021, that inspired her to finally lean in to her real estate career after first getting her license several years ago.
"After the divorce, I really dove in and I have all these amazing clients with double-digit homes," she explained. "It got wild and it got really fun and I was like, 'Okay, I love this.' I love the whole process. I love the negotiations, the interior design and just the luxury in the houses. And, of course, just the investment side and really learning the difference in the business and having your own assets. It was just all so intriguing to me."
Like she said, she was born to hustle.
Tiesi revealed for E! News' Tales From the Top how she manages her jam-packed schedule and shared her plans to chronicle her postpartum fitness journey:
E! News: Tell us about your first job.
Brie Tiesi: My first-ever job, I actually worked at a summer camp-type thing, lifeguarding and the whole thing. I think I might've done it two summers in a row actually. I think I was 14.
E! News: How did you get into modeling?
BT: I literally fell into modeling. I had never in a million years even considered or thought about it. I actually started dating somebody and he was in the industry. He had a show at the time, him and his family, and I was 16, and his mom was like, 'You should model.' I was like, 'Oh, I don't know. I think I actually want to be a surgical technician.' And she's like, 'No! There's not enough money in that.' So she kind of introduced me to everything and then, my first modeling job, I became the spokesmodel of Rockstar Energy for two years. I just dove in and then from there it just kept rolling and carried on.
E!: Did you have a vision when you started out of where you wanted to go with your career?
BT: No, I had no idea. I was raised, you know, you go to school, you got a degree, blah, blah, blah. [Modeling] was just so unorthodox for our family. I didn't even really know what the potential was or where you could take that. And the more I was around them, I saw so much and then obviously I was like, 'Okay, I want to do as much as I can, I want to get bigger contracts.' But back then it was so different, social media wasn't the same. There weren't the same opportunities. You had to go in to a go-see and have your portfolio and pitch yourself. It was a whole different world. It was harder to find jobs than it is now.
E! News: And how did modeling get you involved with Wild 'N Out?
BT: So that was another thing I fell into. I had a bunch of friends and they were all going to Wild 'N Out to watch the show. And Dave Osokow, we call him the celebrity babysitter. He's like everyone's best friend and I knew him from the club days. He was like, 'I want to introduce you to Nick and take you to the show.' I had never been to something like that and I went to the show that night and then met Nick. Maybe a year or so later, I started at Wild 'N Out, so I actually didn't start right away.
E! News: Fitness is also a big part of your personal brand. Have you always been passionate about movement?
BT: I've always loved fitness. My dad was an MMA fighter and grew up in the gym and my mom is a nutritionist and has that whole side. That's just always been such a huge part of my life that I didn't even realize how lucky I was to grow up with. People would always ask me, 'How do you have abs? How do you have this?' And I was like, 'Wow, people really don't know.' I want to share this. I want to give as much information as I can and support anyone that wants to come on this adventure because it's life-changing, honestly. It's definitely a big thing in my life that I love. I work out every day. And I worked out through my whole pregnancy.
E! News: How did you have to adapt your fitness routine as an expecting mom?
BT: I love to go hard in the gym and nobody wants to work out with me! My trainers will push me to the brink and I'm obsessed. So it was very hard for me because I felt almost lazy, like I wasn't really working out even though I was spending the hour. But the later I got in my pregnancy, I started feeling it. It was very different, but I just took out any real heavy weights. I never really went above 20 pounds for toning and did more light cardio and just light overall body, but no more boxing, no more spin. No more hard-core stuff, even Pilates, because they do a lot of core.
E! News: You have shared some of your workouts that you've done while you've been pregnant. Do you have any plans to share your post-partum fitness journey?
BT: Absolutely, I think that's a huge thing. And I think obviously it's different for whichever way you give birth. [Having a] C-section is a lot more downtime and that's such a huge abdomen surgery and people just downplay it. It's a lot. I applaud all these women. It takes a minimum of two months to be able to even really function, to use your core nonetheless, and start training again. My best friend just went through one and I would say it took a good six months to really get back to the gym. I am dying to get back. I just feel like it's such a huge part of my daily routine that's missing. It changes the way you sleep. It changes everything. I hope I have enough energy!
E! News: You partnered with OFTV for Elevate With Brie. What is your mission for your series?
BT: It's definitely all about elevating your life, whether it's fitness, your boss mentality, taking your power back—just all of the things as a woman. These workouts were supposed to be more empowering than intimidating and encouraging women to try things. I hear all the time, 'I don't know how to hit, I don't want a box.' Or it's more of an ego thing. So Elevate was more of just elevating your overall outlook and giving you the tools to branch out and do those things.
E! News: What would you tell someone who is new to fitness and might be intimidated to start?
BT: I feel like everything from there comes from your ego, right? Because at the end of the day, it's like, 'Are people looking at me? Do I look dumb?' No, anyone that's in the gym is working on themselves and they're honestly paying attention to what they're doing. I feel like in the fitness community, everybody's so supportive and there's no reason to feel like that at all. Everyone's usually very helpful too, like on techniques to make sure you don't hurt yourself. But practice makes perfect. You may throw a little wonky in the beginning, but you'll adapt and everyone progresses and then you're happy that you put the time in.
E!: Along with modeling and fitness, you are also a real estate agent. Why did you also add that to your resume?
BT: I try to dabble in everything! I just wanted to branch out and really build my portfolio and I was like, 'I want to be the plug.' So I basically became the plug for everything, whether you wanted to get a house rental or you wanted to get a jet, you needed a car service, needed security, whatever you need, I made sure that I could supply that. And that's what kind of took up my value and built my relationships in an organic, healthy, trustworthy way.
E! News: You have so much going on, how do you balance all of your commitments?
BT: Honestly, I'm not a one-man team. If I didn't have my assistant I would die! But I'm dedicated and I have a structure. I would say routine is the biggest thing I ever had instilled in me really young. I actually have a really hard time coming out of my routine. You just put everything on the schedule and I write out a lot of lists and prioritize. I just keep loading stuff on. Now I gotta load on baby!
E! News: Do you have a plan for after the baby's arrival?
BT: I'm taking the first three months off. I definitely gave myself that. I want to bond and adapt and kind of figure out what that's going to be since I am a new mom. I don't know this world, which is so intriguing and exciting, but also scary. And of course I do have my baby expert, Nick, so the support there. But just got to get in and figure it out for myself and then I'll add work in and I'll make it work.
E!: Do you feel a bit of relief knowing that you're going through this with somebody like Nick, who has experience?
BT: Of course. I feel like you get the upper hand that way. I get a little bit of a head start and I have my family and I have the most amazing women around me and support. So I'm not nervous about that at all. It's more of, now I'm going to prioritize a little bit differently.
E! News: If you could give your younger self a piece of advice, what would it be?
BT: Just follow your gut. Trust your instincts and go with that.
This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.