Jana Kramer Says Being Social Media Influencer 'Pays the Bills,' Calls It a 'Sad Reality'

During Wednesday's episode of her Whine Down podcast, the One Tree Hill alum revealed that posting ads and working with brands on social media "pays the bills," saying that she makes more money influencing than she does from her other jobs, which include acting and singing.

"The sad reality is it's a big part of what I do," Kramer, 40, admitted to her husband Allan Russell, who was weighing in on her job as an influencer. "Unfortunately, that is what pays the bills the most -- is promoting products and doing Instagram influencing, which is something that I never thought that I would ever rely on that for income, but it is."

"It's what ultimately pays for a lot of things more than anything else that comes in. It's just the the reality with it. I've embraced it."

Kramer -- who has over two million followers on Instagram -- recalled a disagreement she had with her husband about her influencing despite it not being her "dream" job.

"I think we had a point where we were going through something and, you know, you're like, 'I'm not living my dream,'" she said. "I remember I was in the middle of doing a Reel for a product ... '[I said] 'Do you think this is my dream?' And it wasn't even me getting angry towards you, it was more [like], This isn't fun for me either."

"But I do this because it, A, supports my kids. It gives me a chance to be able to be flexible and be somewhat of a stay-at-home mom,'" continued Kramer, who shares son Roman with Russell, and daughter Jolie, 8, and son Jace, 5, with ex-husband Mike Caussin. "And, like, [be] present. And not be in the grind of being out touring all the time and being away."

"It's not like I enjoy doing it. It takes a lot of time," she added.

Kramer said that it's difficult to talk to people who don't "understand that world" of being an influencer.

"You don't realize how much time actually goes into it," she explained. "[They] just think, 'Oh, you're promoting a product.' Because on Instagram, it just looks like it took 30 to 90 seconds because that's all the film was."

"It's actually so much more because you want it to look good, and you put the detail into it, and then it truly becomes a job." she continued. "And it took up your morning, and you realize how much work actually goes in[to] it."

Russell -- a Scottish former soccer player -- discussed how he was tasked with promoting a product on social media, but didn't have a "process" like his wife.

"It still takes up hours, and the energy of things," Kramer said.