In May 2019, a year after I spoke at Bijan Williams’s 13-bedroom home in the Hollywood Hills, I lived in it for a month. No rent. I traded him articles, podcasts and speaking.

Quick answer

In May 2019 I lived for 30 days in a 13-bedroom Hollywood Hills mansion, next door to the FaZe House, that had been listed for rent at $29,500 a month. It was at the time Bijan Williams’s home, and I’d spoken there the year before. Bijan is a producer and choreographer. We traded: the house for a month, in exchange for a PR campaign of articles, podcast interviews and speaking engagements.

Key facts

PropertyAbout 11,000 to 12,000 square feet, 13 bedrooms, in the Hollywood Hills, next to the FaZe House
Whose homeBijan Williams, producer and choreographer
Rent it was listed at$29,500 a month before the stay, $30,900 after (Zillow rental history)
WhenMay 2019, 30 days
What I paidNo rent
What Bijan gotA PR campaign: articles, podcast interviews and speaking engagements
How I knew BijanI spoke at an event at the house in 2018 and met him at the first event there
My age21 when I spoke there, 22 when I lived there
How the stay was usedOur base for the month: the team, high-ticket clients, our mastermind, content

Watch on YouTube: The Hollywood Hills mansion stay

How did I end up living in a Hollywood Hills mansion?

Through a talk. In 2018 I spoke at an event at the house. I met Bijan at the first event held there. I was 21. The next day the house went on my dream board.

I didn’t grow up seeing houses like that, which makes it hard to picture wanting one. After that event, I could picture it.

I stayed in touch with Bijan and offered him a trade: I’d live in the house, and in return I’d get him PR and speaking engagements. In May 2019 he messaged me that his May had just opened up and asked if I wanted to do the month. I wrote back to ask exactly what he had in mind, and he reminded me of the trade I’d pitched. I was 22 when I moved in.

Who is Bijan Williams?

A producer, choreographer and artist developer. By 2019 he had run an entertainment company for about a decade, helping recording artists with their music, videos, album art and stage shows. In 2019 he was turning the Hollywood Hills house into an event and content space he called Legacy House Studios, hosting brand shoots and creator content.

What did I trade for the stay?

PR and speaking. On camera I described the deal like this:

“30 days of mansion access in exchange for a full media package.”

We ran it like any client campaign. I did his onboarding call in the house, and the work was articles, podcast interviews and speaking. As with every client, the details of his campaign stay between us.

How was the trade structured?

Simply. One side was 30 days in the house. The other side was a PR campaign. I paid no rent. I said it this way on camera:

“The kind of credibility that you can buy, but a win-win would be better.”

The structure only held because I treated Bijan as a client, not as a host doing me a favor. He went through the same onboarding as anyone who pays us. The house was the fee.

What was it like to live in the house for 30 days?

Like a workplace I didn’t own. I was clear about that at the time:

“Obviously it’s not my house, but it’s the house that I’m living at for 30 days.”

The team worked out of it with me, and the theater room was my office.

“It didn’t cost me a dollar of my own money, because I know leverage.”

We stayed in touch for years after.

What did we do in the house?

We worked. The house became our base for the month: high-ticket clients flew in, the media team shot content, and deals got closed by the pool. The theater room was my office.

It also gave us a venue. We needed one for our high-ticket mastermind, and instead of booking something, we held it at the house. As I said on camera:

“We needed a location for our high-ticket mastermind event. Most people would book a hotel, but we don’t think like most people.”

And on what the month turned into:

“We didn’t just work from a mansion, we transformed it into a hub of influence. High-ticket clients flying in, media team shooting content, deals being closed by the pool.”

Bijan’s own onboarding happened there too. The house was the office, the venue, the set and the client meeting room in the same month.

Was the house really worth $10 million?

That’s the number I used at the time. The public record doesn’t back it. Its listing agent marketed it as one of four side-by-side homes offered together for $50 million, but its tax assessment in 2019 was about $3.2 million, and Zillow’s estimate today is about $2.7 million. What the record does confirm is the rent: $29,500 a month before our stay and $30,900 after. That’s the number in the title.

Why would someone trade a month in his house for press?

Because everyone wants something they don’t have, including people who already have a lot. As I put it on camera:

“Everyone wants something that they don’t have. The ultra wealthy are no exception.”

And on how you find the deal:

“You have to have something that the owner wants, obviously. And the next thing you have to do is you have to figure out who the actual owner is.”

A media presence was something he didn’t have yet.

How do you make a barter like this worth it for the other side?

By thinking about the stay from the other person’s side before you think about your own. Once I knew the house was possible, my next question was what I’d do with the month, and what Bijan would get out of it:

“I had to maximize what I’m gonna do while I’m here, and how does it benefit the owner.”

For Bijan, the benefit was the campaign. For us, it was a month of work, content and client time in the house. Both sides had to come out ahead.

The press itself isn’t the end of it either. What someone does with it afterward is what changes things for them:

“Most people think that you just need to get articles and publications to actually do this type of stuff, but that’s not the case. What you do after it is what actually matters.”

Was this the only barter like it?

No. We’ve traded content for stays before, including a six-bedroom villa in Washington and a property partnership in Lake Como. This was the biggest, and the only stay paid for with PR.

What would I do differently?

Check the number before I say it. On camera I called the house a $10 million mansion, and I believed it. The public record doesn’t support that figure, and the rent, which was real and checkable, made the point on its own. If you tell this kind of story, lead with what the record confirms.

What does this barter teach?

Four things, all from this one.

  1. Find what’s missing. He had the house. He didn’t have the press.
  2. Go to the person who can say yes. The deal only works with whoever controls the house.
  3. Deliver like it’s paid. We ran his campaign on the same schedule as any client’s.
  4. Lead with what you can prove. The rent was on record. The $10 million wasn’t.

FAQ

Did Ulyses Osuna live in a Hollywood Hills mansion?

Yes. In May 2019 he lived for 30 days in Bijan Williams’s 13-bedroom Hollywood Hills home in exchange for a PR campaign of articles, podcast interviews and speaking engagements.

How much would the mansion have cost to rent?

It had been listed for rent at $29,500 a month before the stay and $30,900 a month after, according to Zillow’s rental history.

What did Bijan Williams get?

A PR campaign from Influencer Press: articles, podcast interviews and speaking engagements. The specifics stay private, as they do for every client.

Was the mansion worth $10 million?

Not by the public record. Its 2019 tax assessment was about $3.2 million and Zillow’s current estimate is about $2.7 million, though its listing agent marketed it as one of four homes offered together for $50 million.

How did he meet Bijan Williams?

He spoke at an event at the house in 2018 and met Bijan at the first event held there, a year before the stay.

Who is Bijan Williams?

A producer, choreographer and artist developer who, in 2019, was turning his Hollywood Hills home into an event and content space called Legacy House Studios.

Can you trade PR services for a place to stay?

In this case, yes. Ulyses Osuna traded a PR campaign for 30 days in a Hollywood Hills home that had been listed for rent at $29,500 a month. It worked because the person whose home it was wanted a media presence he didn’t have yet, and the campaign was run like any paid client’s.

How did the barter with Bijan Williams start?

Ulyses offered Bijan a trade after speaking at the house in 2018: live in the house in exchange for PR and speaking engagements. In May 2019 Bijan messaged him that his May had opened up, and they did the month.

Did Ulyses pay anything for the stay?

No rent. The stay was paid for with a PR campaign for Bijan Williams.

What did Ulyses do with the house for 30 days?

He used it as Influencer Press’s base for the month. High-ticket clients flew in, the team shot content, the company held its high-ticket mastermind there, and Bijan’s own onboarding call took place in the house.

How old was Ulyses Osuna when he lived in the mansion?

  1. He was 21 when he first spoke at the house in 2018.

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About the author

Ulyses Osuna founded Influencer Press at 19 and has run it for nearly a decade, placing founders and creators in major outlets, on TV, on podcasts and on Times Square billboards. He has appeared on The Dr. Phil Podcast, been a panelist on Nasdaq TradeTalks, and spoke at Harvard Kennedy School in 2026. More: about, methodology, transparency.

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