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Louis Davis - How a Kiwi Dad got 2 Million Followers, Marriage, Fatherhood & Storytelling

August 18, 202401:35:41
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hey Louie welcome to my podcast thanks
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bro thanks for having me man I'm I'm so
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pleased you here like um yeah we finally
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made this happen we've been going
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backwards and forwards you actually
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messaged me saying oh if you came for a
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codo I'd be kid to come on and I was
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like honored yeah cuz I I listen
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to I Love The my favorite is the Eugene
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barryman I think that guy is like super
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inspirational that how laidback is and
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and um your episode of JJ is like might
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be the greatest New Zealand podcast of
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all time just that just the humanity of
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that episode you know like you what you
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guys exploring that just yeah a cry I
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laugh it's a it's just great even if you
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have no context even if you I grew up as
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a kid like your guys show is like a big
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part of like young adolesence you know
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and your crazy ideas but even if you
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have no context of what you guys wear to
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Media that's
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a that's a beautiful podcast bro that is
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the highest compliment that's really
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kind I'll just get that microphone a
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little
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bit yeah that's that's really kind um
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yeah yeah because we we're not married
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anymore like we we broke up a number of
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years ago I've got um I've got my ash
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now my girlfriend but I look how old are
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you I'm 30 30 yeah you see I'm old as
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[ __ ] compared to you I'm 51 now um and I
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I see you and I'm like [ __ ] this this
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this this kid cuz I call anyone 30 under
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a kid this kid's got his head screwed on
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the right way like you just have a like
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a good heart and a good moral compan and
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I don't know I I um I think I'm still
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I'm still learning and still growing as
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a person but I feel like where you
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already are and just who you are as a
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person is kind of who I want to be look
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at us trading compliments man just
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gessing each other things yeah yeah an
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hour hour and a half of just pissing at
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each other's Pockets no no I'm mean that
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because the way I've heard you speak
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about your wife um yeah you
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know I was going to say we'll get to
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that but maybe we'll just get to that
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now so so Ash your wife you you're like
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child with sweet teen teenage
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sweethearts yeah bro I was 15 um and I
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used to jump out my window to like go to
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this park in between our two houses and
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I'd convince her jump out her window and
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then hang out of me like all night and I
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just I was crazy about her like why oh I
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just I don't know I just she was funny
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she was like she was she was quick on
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her feet she was witty you know she was
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I just loved everything about her and
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like we would stay up all night hang out
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in this park and like I Ash would go
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home and like her mom let her make her
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own choice if she was going to go to
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school not and my parents made me go to
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school I had to be dead to not go to
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school and so I would stay out all night
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and I'd get into bed at like 6:00 in the
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morning as the sun is rising and then my
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mom would come in like 7 730 say get up
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hurry up we're going and then I'd go to
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school I'd come home and I'd do the same
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thing the next night yeah like how often
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I know like so like so often yeah it's
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it's crazy that I don't know this is
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that
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you're completely clear of mind I was
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like not sleeping but but this is this
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is the difference between you and you
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and me it's like um I had I I had that
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sort of feeling about um girls at the
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same age but then you know you'd have
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sex or whatever and the novelty had wear
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off and then you get bored and you know
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[ __ ] up the relationship or you know or
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break up with them and move on to the
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next thing but you you've just got this
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um I don't know well I always very clear
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that our relationship went through like
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crazy crazy like Teenage distruct that
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happened like all the way up until I was
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at University you know breaking up all
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the time you know like I don't want to
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want to live yeah no it's not this
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perfect story you know I thought it was
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like you locked her in at 15 and that
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was it no no but that that that I think
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is like like being with a with someone
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right is that it's a it's an active
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choice and some days you know all our
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relationships we make active choices to
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be in those relationships and and I
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think about that with my wife still
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today I like just because we're married
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we' married a long time doesn't mean
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we'll always be married you know it's a
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it's an active choice to like love my Ms
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and some days it's harder to say that
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than others and yeah but no we went de T
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I don't want to be with you that stuff
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thirst like even go be with someone else
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like when I went away to University my
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wife lived in Chicago for two years like
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and there was heaps of times we like nah
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did you when when she was living in the
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states for two years did you see other
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people like did you yeah we've we've had
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time apart not together not going to
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work so she's not the only person you've
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ever had sex with no not we've live
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we've lived life yeah we've lived our
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life the um oh Ru ruining the
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illusion I always got to be real
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straight up about because because people
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people think that it's that's that or or
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nothing you know it's the movie or it's
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not you know but no it's a it's an
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active choice to to love my wife and be
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with my wife we've been through terrible
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stuff terrible stuff together and uh
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that is that's the reality of life
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though isn't it that's that's the
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reality that's what all our relationship
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all our family all the people we loved
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have have hurt us and we've hurt them
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and
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I'm just like real honest about that cuz
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yeah I often get howed up on a pedestal
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cuz I'm this platform about this like
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loving father and loving husband you
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know and Flawless yeah yeah and and and
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I have to cuz this story like won't go
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far like all these things I said because
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people want to believe in the fairy tale
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right so it's like no matter how much I
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hop on about and I'll keep talking about
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it so that people don't expect their
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relationships to be a walk in the park
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and if it's not a walk in the park you
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know then I mustn't be with the right
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person that's not the case you know if
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you're the right person you're probably
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going to fight like heaps you know
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you're probably going to butt heads
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heaps and um yeah that's me and my wife
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have done a lot of head butting well
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thanks for sharing that I I feel like
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that's um that honesty is um it's even
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better than like a Netflix love story
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you know what I mean yeah um because
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yeah that's the reality of Life [ __ ]
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gets hard yeah um you but you you got
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her name tattoed on you when you were
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like 16 yeah no I I have I had her put
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into my M when I was 16 and I man that's
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amazing that you found that I um yeah
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and she thought that was a bit creepy
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actually we actually we actually broke
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up we actually broke up not long after
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that actually and um yeah it's um how
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but even if even if we didn't stay
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together after that it would have been
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beautiful cuz you know it would have
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been she's a part of my story now m is
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is our story of our life right so the I
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would have been okay with that right you
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know yeah I told her I was going to
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marry her when I was 16 you know did you
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know you don't you're just like a you're
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just a like a teenager that's talking
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[ __ ] like about how you feel at that
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time and and when you're a teenager all
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those emotions are so so big he that
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your first break up is so big it's the
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end of the world you the first time you
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fall in love it's so big like it
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swallows you up and it's I don't know I
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was just talking [ __ ] yeah that is so
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true I I feel like a lot of um you know
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as we know the mental health stats and
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New Zealand are atrocious and uh you
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know the suicide rates are terrible and
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I reckon a lot of young people it's
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probably their life probably spirals out
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of control after a breakup because you
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just don't have the emotional capacity
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to sort of deal with it yeah process it
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when I was um when I was 16 I I I lost
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MIM make tractor in that way um other
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stuff but but stuff compounded and um
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this is my first experience like of
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someone around me obviously being like
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losing their life that way but but that
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story which plays out out over and over
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and over again particularly with like
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young men you know
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heartbroken um and then have no way to
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process that emotion no belief that it
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could be better no belief that I could
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be loved again or I could like Risk
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being hurt like this again and um it's
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real sad yeah it's bloody tough um yeah
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I lost um a m of mine the same way sort
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of mid 40s as well and um he was I saw a
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lot of myself in in him like he was a
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fun guy he was always the first to
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suggest you know you grab a box of beers
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and get amongst it um and and when this
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happened to Daryl I thought oh [ __ ] okay
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if if he could if this could happen to
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him uh where he thinks this is the best
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option then it could happen to me as
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well and it made me sort of like
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prioritized my mental health a bit more
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how's yours
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been uh um it looks looks good on Tik
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Tok yeah no looks good I think I think
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overall um I um have great support
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systems um I have great systems for
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managing my well-being um and F that's a
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tough question cuz cuz I want I want to
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say I'm good but I I know that my mental
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health is an active work in
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progress um probably the thing that the
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thing that um affects me the most is
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that I am a person that tells stories to
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millions of people every day and short
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stories some deep some
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meaningless and that everyone because
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I'm a Storyteller you would have
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experienced parts of this when you're a
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Storyteller to the world everyone thinks
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they have an they get to have an opinion
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about your story um the way you acted
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the way you didn't act how they would
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have and people just get to take like
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free shots at you you know people can
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just say whatever they want without
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without consequence without like you're
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never going to retell it cuz it's not a
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fair conversation for you to you know
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have a conversation with the one Heckler
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out there and millions of people you
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know so it's so that part's hard and
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then um yeah we're living in a time
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where people tell you what you should
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and shouldn't do if you have millions of
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followers like what's your
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responsibility to do and not do and um
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yeah I get smashed for that part of me
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understands that and then but doesn't
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change the fact that it's like heavy
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yeah yeah it's hard he like Yeah you
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mentioned at the beginning listen to the
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Eugene Beerman podcast he's got some
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strong strong take on your social
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media he's he can beat the [ __ ] out of
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someone so that's probably his take
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which is like if you were here you
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wouldn't say that yeah you come at me
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bro yeah whereas if someone said that to
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me in person I would still be hurt and
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then I would try and reason with them to
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know about yeah yeah it's funny that the
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social media comments it's funny yeah
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because I can um I can have days where
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I'm feeling [ __ ] bulletproof and I
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can read a mean comment and I'll just
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laugh and swipe up to the next thing
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then there's other days where if you're
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in the wrong frame of mind it really
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[ __ ] hurts and if you get if they
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just basically back up something you're
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already worried about and then they they
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get you at the wrong time yeah it can
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really have um have an impact and I'm
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like yeah I'm I'm I'm mature enough to
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like handle it so someone that's that's
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younger that doesn't have the same skill
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set like it's um it's a rough it's a
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rough playground um I had a a kid asked
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me that wanted to make videos but she
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was like I don't think I can handle like
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all the comments and stuff and I was
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like yeah that's that's pretty fair
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um like if and and I think there will be
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lots of people as the creative industry
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continues to grow where people do stuff
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like what we do um where they kids just
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won't do it
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purely because of the fear of um what
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people might say whereas that wouldn't
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happen with anyone else's dreaming no
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one people like wouldn't be at all black
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not because they're scared of what
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people would say they might be scared
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you know because it's too hard or they
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give up along the way or they think it's
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not realistic but not because their fear
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is what people will say about the
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pursuit of their dream you know and
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that's that's will stop people with
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social media yeah um yeah finale
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yeah a it's a rough play there's a
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there's a I hate to quote TI but he he
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he said this thing in the interview
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which I actively look this clip up again
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but it's like um it's if you live for
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the cheers you'll die for the booze and
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like um that's why I think so many cont
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creators just read no comments respond
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to no DMS read no comments it's just
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blank you can't say anything that will
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lift me you can't say anything that will
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put me down and there's heaps of us that
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operate that way and so there can be
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something you can be getting like flamed
00:12:14
for something but you might not actually
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know for quite a while because you
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actually aren't reading anything and the
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audience think like how could you not
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respond to this or like you know someone
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makes a video about you and then you're
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like but you actually don't look it up
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you don't watch it you don't read the
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comment so you actually it is possible
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actually
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don't read coms yeah yeah um and I
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suppose um you get more experienced at
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that but if you're um yeah if you're not
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experienced it that the first time it
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happens it's like um you cannot help but
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read the comments right yeah it's like a
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like a a weird addiction like you know
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it's bad for you but you're going to do
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it anyway yeah I get somewhere between
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10 to 20,000 comments a day so like yeah
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so if you imagine I don't know if you
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got sent 10 to 20,000 letters just one
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time you probably wouldn't read them all
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and then you you give up and then if
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they showed up again the next day if you
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had 10 to 20,000 letter shop you'd read
00:13:03
you read less and less till you read no
00:13:04
letters till you're like Harry Potter
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and the floss Stone just having them
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they're just there but you're not you
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know yeah so you must have your all your
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notifications silenced yeah no no not
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you can't even text me yeah can't like
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it'll be when I want to go on and read
00:13:18
my DMs and well you know in our world
00:13:20
DMS you have to read DMS but now
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Instagram like they basically filter it
00:13:25
all so you can read um it has a pretty
00:13:28
good assumption for that where it's
00:13:30
going to put the DMS you probably want
00:13:32
to read and then just other people right
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yeah right the I I had so many questions
00:13:38
about content creation which people
00:13:39
wanted me to um put to you first of all
00:13:41
I just want to want to focus on your
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story for a little bit so um yeah so
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you're from Northland um you made Ash
00:13:47
you sort of you it's a great love story
00:13:51
obviously UPS ups and downs of Teenage
00:13:52
Love then you go to WTO University yeah
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yeah good you're thorough with job yeah
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went to w i studed Communications and I
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I had this crazy lecturer yeah Professor
00:14:02
David McGee yeah yeah he's just he's
00:14:04
just retired um and he used to dance and
00:14:07
lecture theaters you know he used to
00:14:09
like point at people and like youd have
00:14:11
to stand up and that give out money and
00:14:13
like give out like like food and stuff
00:14:15
like one time one there was like there
00:14:17
was like 200 people in the class but
00:14:19
maybe like 50 only 50 people showed up
00:14:20
one day so he's like come on I'll buy
00:14:22
you all the coffee and took the whole
00:14:23
lecture down like he just he just he was
00:14:27
just amazing he was obviously passionate
00:14:29
about teaching marketing but he like oh
00:14:32
he he was just the man and he gave us
00:14:33
all an A+ on our assignment and he's
00:14:36
like well you don't have to worry about
00:14:37
the grade you got three weeks go out
00:14:40
there take something that you love and
00:14:42
convince someone else to pay for it and
00:14:44
I just started making videos of my mate
00:14:46
about being a student it's like the
00:14:47
opposite story I tell now we just we
00:14:49
getting [ __ ] up throwing parties like
00:14:51
just living as stupid students and this
00:14:54
is like the launch of Snapchat you know
00:14:56
this is like the introduction of social
00:14:57
media and so we're just just like
00:14:59
telling big stories to our local area
00:15:01
it's Hamilton and it wasn't long before
00:15:04
you know we had more followers than our
00:15:05
University more than any business and we
00:15:08
had the biggest voice in terms of
00:15:09
student culture and U what were what
00:15:11
were you doing can you remember the sort
00:15:12
of content you were yeah we're making
00:15:14
like Vlogs about parties we'd organize
00:15:16
we'd like we'd like um put thousands of
00:15:19
students in one place and and then like
00:15:22
we' get the keg sponsored and then like
00:15:24
we we just do dumb stuff make you know
00:15:27
make videos about it like I
00:15:30
remember at that time we had so much
00:15:33
like real world like like clout and
00:15:35
traction with our with our community
00:15:37
which was students but we hadn't figured
00:15:39
out how to connect it up to make money
00:15:40
which is the original assignment and um
00:15:44
and so we we were like talking to Brands
00:15:46
and stuff trying to pitch them and they
00:15:48
were
00:15:50
um um like the why would we give you
00:15:53
that money they didn't see the value at
00:15:55
that time and and I remember there was a
00:15:57
brand um and we
00:15:59
we said to them like well how much are
00:16:01
you going to spend on like posters and
00:16:03
bus stops this year and they said the
00:16:04
money like okay what if you just gave
00:16:06
that to us and we managed to convince
00:16:08
them to give them the money it's like
00:16:09
our first like brand de at that time you
00:16:11
know so this is like pre it yeah yeah it
00:16:14
doesn't exist like they don't see the
00:16:15
value in that they still like want to
00:16:17
like um yeah do a billboard or that kind
00:16:19
of stuff yeah that's where they want to
00:16:20
spend their their marketing budget so
00:16:22
what so your Snapchat what else Snapchat
00:16:24
Snapchat Facebook yeah Facebook was big
00:16:27
for us to Facebook was like a young
00:16:28
person's out at that time you know we
00:16:30
was this when Myspace and bbo were on
00:16:32
the way out they was gone wasone yeah
00:16:35
and we and we make videos like every day
00:16:37
or like we make memes like memes used to
00:16:39
perform really well at that time yeah so
00:16:41
did you always have um like a Content
00:16:43
brain or do you think it's something
00:16:44
that yeah I think I just I always been
00:16:47
fascinated with storytelling you know
00:16:49
how do you move someone in their heart
00:16:51
you know how do you make them laugh you
00:16:53
know how does just your words like this
00:16:55
is like the art you know that you've
00:16:56
mastered your career is like story you
00:16:59
know like and all the different kinds of
00:17:00
it I'm not I'm not like a snob for what
00:17:03
a powerful story can be sometimes
00:17:04
sometimes just be stupid you know but
00:17:06
it's the I just have been fascinated by
00:17:09
that and I've always got a kick out of
00:17:10
and social media lets you get feedback
00:17:11
straight away like you come up with an
00:17:13
idea you execute the idea um and then
00:17:17
that's magic right when you have an idea
00:17:19
and then you share it with the world and
00:17:20
the world goes you know that's a great
00:17:22
idea when it hits and the algorithm
00:17:24
likes it yeah yeah yeah well and however
00:17:26
you share that whatever your median for
00:17:28
like
00:17:29
yeah and I've just I've always been like
00:17:30
I'm still like that like I like make
00:17:32
memes still in like group chats with
00:17:34
mates like I like I just get a kick out
00:17:36
I just love it like just the way that I
00:17:37
observe life our conversations our
00:17:40
relationships yeah okay so so you start
00:17:42
that when you're like as part of your
00:17:44
assignment um you waste the assignment
00:17:46
clearly you do well but then you keep it
00:17:48
upright and you end up making enough
00:17:49
money to sort of like pay for you and
00:17:51
Ash to go through University yeah well
00:17:53
me no me and my mate who I was making
00:17:55
videos with uh he didn't he didn't use
00:17:58
the money to pay
00:17:59
University I won know he used it to have
00:18:01
a [ __ ] great
00:18:03
time most the out yeah but he was on a
00:18:07
full scholarship so I guess that's maybe
00:18:09
why he lived at yeah he sunk at at out
00:18:11
back um so but me that was how P my
00:18:15
whole way to University yeah at one
00:18:17
point we were um I want to shout out to
00:18:21
the lawrenson group cuz you you guys
00:18:23
basically invented influencer Marketing
00:18:24
in New Zealand but they they just paid
00:18:27
us a a salary to just only drink in
00:18:29
their bars and we were earning a wage
00:18:32
every week to to just like only go to
00:18:35
their bars and only and just like make
00:18:38
their make the Outback make B one one
00:18:40
like make those the cultural bars that
00:18:42
were to new first year new students
00:18:45
current students to to appear as the bar
00:18:47
of choice yeah and that that was all we
00:18:50
had to do was we did like crazy things
00:18:53
for like just to gain traction
00:18:57
outrageous stuff and it was just to and
00:19:00
we were just making videos in a time
00:19:01
when that industry didn't exist now it's
00:19:04
just there's hundreds of people that so
00:19:06
forward thinking
00:19:08
he well I I think we just we just
00:19:10
enjoyed it and like I said I led I loved
00:19:12
making videos but it's so funny because
00:19:14
it's like it's completely not what my
00:19:15
story is now and every now and again you
00:19:18
know someone will mention that when they
00:19:20
come up to me in the street it's not
00:19:21
it's not about what my story oh yeah I
00:19:23
remember you from two kids and and it's
00:19:25
like it's a big from what so two kids at
00:19:27
University that was the name of my blog
00:19:29
and and um I scrubbed it all from the
00:19:31
internet when I when I graduated from
00:19:33
University cuz I got to the ends of
00:19:35
University and I proposed to Ash and my
00:19:37
21st and it was so cool but I but I
00:19:41
think I lost courage like I lost faith
00:19:43
that that could I could build a life
00:19:44
from there and and it's one of the
00:19:46
biggest regrets like of of my life is
00:19:48
not having the courage to to do what I
00:19:51
wanted to do like the only example of
00:19:54
commercial success of what me and Jules
00:19:55
were was maybe like maybe like been like
00:19:59
like that kind of like that kind of
00:20:02
toned down version of what we were for
00:20:04
mainstream and so like I just lost faith
00:20:07
and so I I went and got like a normal
00:20:08
job you know at a university working at
00:20:10
a university and scrubbed all the stuff
00:20:12
from the internet and had to watch my
00:20:14
peers at that time who were starting out
00:20:16
continue and I like admire them so much
00:20:19
they had more cage like Jimmy Jackson
00:20:21
and so at the same time you know teral
00:20:23
coug boys like they they had the courage
00:20:25
that I didn't to like still work another
00:20:27
job but like pursue your passion and
00:20:29
that's such a silly way of thinking
00:20:30
which is like because I can't do this as
00:20:32
a job I I will not continue cuz you know
00:20:36
like if I play guitar and I wasn't going
00:20:38
to be rocks I'd probably still play
00:20:39
guitar right 100% but why why didn't you
00:20:42
because it seemed like you on to
00:20:43
something good so it seems really weird
00:20:44
to me that you graduate and then then
00:20:46
you go to Wellington to manage some
00:20:47
student accommodation right yeah yeah
00:20:49
yeah that what I went to do and it it
00:20:51
was it was simply like like thinking in
00:20:54
terms like the nucleus like path of life
00:20:56
which is I need a job I'm getting
00:20:57
married I need a job job you know so
00:20:59
that we can have stable income and stuff
00:21:01
and and it's not even that Ash like
00:21:03
required that of me Ash would have been
00:21:05
down for an adventure you know to go
00:21:06
struggle through something or figure
00:21:08
something out but I yeah I just didn't
00:21:10
have the courage and and I whenever I
00:21:13
like get to share my story particular of
00:21:15
young people and they they they ask like
00:21:17
I always highlight that part because
00:21:20
it's
00:21:22
like cuz I at one point gave up and so
00:21:25
it was like the promise to if you give
00:21:29
up on whatever you want to
00:21:31
do it's over but as long as you
00:21:35
continue the promise of it being
00:21:37
possible is it's always possible you
00:21:40
know it might it might even never happen
00:21:42
but it's always possible but it's
00:21:44
definitely not possible if you give up
00:21:46
and I gave up and so this dream just
00:21:48
stops and then I lose all this time but
00:21:51
years
00:21:52
later um this app hits called Tik Tok
00:21:56
and I just I don't know why but it I
00:21:58
feel safe cuz it's like a new app maybe
00:22:01
and I just start making videos and it
00:22:03
all comes back you know the love of The
00:22:04
Craft you know all the things I
00:22:06
understood about content and virality
00:22:08
and stuff it all comes back it all
00:22:09
applies and it it grows into the monster
00:22:12
it is now you know yeah so okay so so
00:22:15
you're in Wellington in this um this
00:22:17
this job I was going to say a shitty job
00:22:19
but I loved it I actually loved it yeah
00:22:21
but but you you're there and you've got
00:22:22
a Content brain how are you how are you
00:22:24
I used it at work like we we had the
00:22:25
sickest social media for our Halls like
00:22:28
they video yeah like I shot like a I
00:22:30
shot like a whole C dime with me like
00:22:32
like and just made like a series like I
00:22:34
would just like make my work day around
00:22:36
like making videos and not and like cuz
00:22:38
I was just responsible for residential
00:22:40
life like shooting experience so I just
00:22:41
made heaps of content yeah um but like
00:22:45
they were like in my industry they were
00:22:46
amazed like I go to conferences on the
00:22:48
other side of the world like to like
00:22:49
present my content cuz I was like can't
00:22:51
believe this like they like making all
00:22:53
this inside of a hole but it's just that
00:22:54
I was shaping my job to basically be a
00:22:56
social media manager for for my why
00:23:00
didn't you keep just doing stuff for
00:23:01
social media and did did you get sort of
00:23:03
fomo or jealousy when you saw like you
00:23:05
know Jimmy Jackson or Johnny Tek or
00:23:08
Willie WRA or whoever else see them
00:23:11
growing their followings and you like
00:23:12
it's it was more like
00:23:15
um like I admired their courage like I
00:23:18
admired that they kept going you know
00:23:20
that's and what they have achieved is
00:23:22
cuz they you know they've been in this
00:23:23
game like jimm me like 10 yeah 10 12
00:23:26
years you know and so
00:23:29
yeah it's just it's just a like a it's
00:23:32
literally just losing faith like not
00:23:34
believing and I it's again it's so
00:23:37
stupid cuz people don't do this with
00:23:38
other creative Pursuits you know if it
00:23:40
if it why would you stop your creative
00:23:43
Pursuit if it doesn't make money that's
00:23:44
so stupid and now if all of this goes
00:23:47
away I I've promised myself that if all
00:23:50
of this goes away I'll still protect my
00:23:51
love of Storytelling and if I make no
00:23:54
money if you know if no one cares if no
00:23:56
one watches it I'll still make videos if
00:23:58
this goes away this time and I'm not
00:23:59
going to make that mistake twice yeah
00:24:02
yeah well I think um you I was going to
00:24:04
ask later on like um you know what what
00:24:07
you where where is it going to leave you
00:24:09
when your kids go through the phase you
00:24:10
know kids have that phase where they're
00:24:12
no longer queued anymore it's like oh
00:24:14
[ __ ] get those annoying kids off I guess
00:24:17
yeah cuz current current yeah cuz
00:24:18
currently my story is about my family
00:24:20
right about my life and your kids are
00:24:22
ignorable yeah it's with my children
00:24:23
it's with my family and like the that's
00:24:27
the story that means the most right now
00:24:28
I'm not saying that one day I won't care
00:24:29
about my family but the kind of my my
00:24:33
mission at the moment is to tell a story
00:24:37
of a father that looks like
00:24:39
me that loves his kids loves his wife
00:24:42
loves his family and like that story
00:24:45
becomes so big like so huge that it it
00:24:48
washes over like any stereotype about
00:24:50
dads that look like me what what do you
00:24:52
mean when you say dads that look like me
00:24:53
cuz the
00:24:55
the like I made of mine who's like um um
00:24:59
he's a comedian Joe Damon he was
00:25:00
recently staying with me and he was
00:25:01
telling me about him going to a really
00:25:04
famous New Zealand drama school to watch
00:25:05
their production and he and he it was
00:25:09
still about domestic violence like you
00:25:11
know heart upbringing sexual abuse and
00:25:13
and then running away from the hard life
00:25:15
that is the the story not just in like
00:25:19
fiction like that's what that's what but
00:25:21
that's what they fun for New Zealand TV
00:25:22
shows movies and stuff it's the the
00:25:24
aggressor the warrior the gang member
00:25:26
the athlete like that's the Brown father
00:25:28
like that's what we get to be we get to
00:25:30
be we get to be a version of Jak Damas
00:25:33
or it's like or if it's not that it's
00:25:36
like the Adolescent version It's the boy
00:25:38
you know it's the and that's that's the
00:25:40
story that people know around the world
00:25:43
you know and um my mission of my story
00:25:48
is for it to be like one that looks like
00:25:50
me you know Silly affectionate a bit
00:25:53
cringy you know just I just love my
00:25:55
family and I want you to see that you
00:25:56
know we do 200 million views a month our
00:25:59
our my goal is that story is so big that
00:26:02
just washes over there and so if you
00:26:05
know something about Mali because of
00:26:08
content you can assume you live on the
00:26:09
other side this is what you
00:26:10
know
00:26:13
um yeah and and one day that will look
00:26:16
different one day that maybe it'll be so
00:26:19
normal and there'll be other you know
00:26:21
dads that look like me they make this
00:26:22
content it won't be the special n that
00:26:24
people find fascinating watch yeah one
00:26:26
day it'll just be super normal and
00:26:28
boring it is funny that it's a n like
00:26:32
you know you're getting all this kudos
00:26:33
for just being like a St Home D that
00:26:35
loves your kids yeah and what I hope one
00:26:37
day you know it's not that interesting
00:26:39
and it goes and then I'll tell stories
00:26:41
about something else M you know yeah
00:26:44
well that's the impression I get soz I
00:26:45
was going to I was I was wondering about
00:26:47
that but after you explain the story
00:26:48
about the um university thing I suppose
00:26:51
whatever stories you're telling is
00:26:52
reflection of where you're at in your
00:26:53
own life yeah and but you can tell
00:26:55
stories about anything and they mean for
00:26:57
like I've been making that videos about
00:26:58
my running and like it's real funny to
00:27:01
me that the most watched New Zealand
00:27:03
Vlogs are like Riley I don't know if
00:27:04
you've seen Riley's videos Riley and me
00:27:07
who are like slow as Runners We complain
00:27:09
the whole Vlog you know there's like we
00:27:12
give no like helpful advice nothing
00:27:14
encouraging but it's just like like it's
00:27:16
the story of a seven minute K Runner who
00:27:19
just like has the worst self talk ever
00:27:21
and it's like people like love it right
00:27:23
so like you can it applies to whatever
00:27:27
like whatever in life like I made videos
00:27:29
about like being a real average spear
00:27:31
fisherman and Diving and like fishing
00:27:33
with my cousins like stuff that I would
00:27:34
do anyway people like love it you know
00:27:36
you can you can tell stories about
00:27:38
whatever just my I think my core mission
00:27:41
is about my family which has like it's
00:27:44
ethical um like questions to like
00:27:47
explore with the people that you know
00:27:51
that I care what they think you know
00:27:52
that I you know where I take my money
00:27:55
from cuz the criticism of family content
00:27:57
creat cuz there's more and more of us
00:27:59
like around the world it's the American
00:28:00
ones that get the big criticism but the
00:28:02
criticism is like the ethics of you know
00:28:05
making content with children you know
00:28:06
because children don't um you know they
00:28:09
don't know what they're in you know
00:28:10
they're a part of our life but I guess
00:28:12
my world view is that we do everything
00:28:14
in community anyway you know our our
00:28:17
parents make choices anyway that affect
00:28:20
us you know what they do and don't do
00:28:22
you know like if I was something else if
00:28:24
I was a job that took me away from my
00:28:26
kids all the time to work they would
00:28:27
have effect on my kids you know if
00:28:30
I um whatever choice we make if I if I
00:28:35
if I'm if I was a certain religion my
00:28:37
kids are going to be that religion you
00:28:39
know all the choices we make where we
00:28:41
lead our kids you know they affect our
00:28:44
kids yeah I get some friends with kids
00:28:45
and they um they do that thing where
00:28:47
they put like an emoji over the kids
00:28:48
face on Instagram and they're like well
00:28:50
my kids haven't consented to being on
00:28:51
I'm like but your kids also haven't
00:28:53
consented for you to change their nap
00:28:55
but or tell their stories like like
00:28:58
media people that that um that conceal
00:29:00
the because I I understand that choice
00:29:02
you know but also like you know they
00:29:03
don't consent to anything that you you
00:29:05
share their whole life it's stories it's
00:29:06
media that exists in the world so it's
00:29:08
like there just you just have to make
00:29:10
you the choice I think for me like if
00:29:13
say my child was cuz my child my
00:29:16
children have become public figures by
00:29:18
extension of the mission that the story
00:29:20
I want to tell about M fatherhood but um
00:29:24
say my children were public figures in
00:29:26
the traditionality like they were Disney
00:29:28
actors or they were like you know just
00:29:29
in like baby ads or whatever you know
00:29:33
the I would hand my children over to
00:29:37
other people other places that have to
00:29:39
keep them safe and those big beasts you
00:29:42
know they roll on it's not whether a kid
00:29:44
you know it's ready or doesn't want to
00:29:45
or whatever whereas in my in my world um
00:29:50
I'm responsible for the safety of my
00:29:52
child and you know no one you know I
00:29:54
don't show up to a set I don't you know
00:29:56
don't have a director or anything like
00:29:57
that it's it's my you know my children
00:30:00
get to be with me um safe with me yeah
00:30:03
yeah I I I don't even know your kids
00:30:05
from a a bar soap I've actually just met
00:30:07
you but I think they'll love it like uh
00:30:10
I think it's one of those things it's
00:30:11
like a time capsu they'll grow up and
00:30:13
they've got these amazing videos of
00:30:15
they're all they're happy in it and
00:30:17
there's so much so much ARA there right
00:30:20
and if they and if they're not you know
00:30:21
and if I if I made the wrong choice like
00:30:23
I'll apologize you know and I'll try and
00:30:25
make that right with myid kids and I'll
00:30:27
explain my reason at that time you and
00:30:29
take back all the toys that they got
00:30:30
sent for being
00:30:31
influencers yeah well I pay my kids so
00:30:34
you know they'll have all their money
00:30:36
yeah one that you know like so it's the
00:30:39
um yeah if if I got it wrong you know
00:30:42
I'll apologize and I'll try and make
00:30:44
that right with my kids and um yeah I'll
00:30:47
face that when we face it so this um
00:30:49
yeah I mean your parents I was talking
00:30:51
to someone about this the other day
00:30:53
parents oh TW T Blakey I had her in here
00:30:55
the other day and you know she had a
00:30:57
interesting relationship with her mom
00:30:59
and she you know her mom sort of [ __ ]
00:31:00
her up a bird and then she's like but
00:31:02
you know what I've I think I've done a
00:31:04
great job with my son but he probably
00:31:05
thinks I've [ __ ] him up it's like you
00:31:08
know we we all grow up with a to a
00:31:11
certain size chip on your shoulder about
00:31:12
how you've been raised and uh yeah it
00:31:14
just happens but so but so you're one of
00:31:17
New Zealand's top content creators but
00:31:18
when when you left um Wellington and you
00:31:21
jobed down there to move back up to the
00:31:22
far north this wasn't your intention a
00:31:24
you just wanted to go go back home and
00:31:28
well yeah I wanted to come home I wanted
00:31:30
to be home by my family I wanted I
00:31:31
wanted my kids to grow up around the
00:31:33
people that loved me and looked after me
00:31:34
I wanted their life like I hated growing
00:31:37
up in the north when I got to my teenage
00:31:38
years because we had no phone reception
00:31:40
you know I didn't have my I didn't have
00:31:42
my mates you know and I I wanted to be
00:31:44
in a city or whatever but as I got older
00:31:46
I was like man this is the dream this is
00:31:47
where you want to be so my kids can hate
00:31:49
it no oh um I just wanted to be home
00:31:52
with my kids so that I could share them
00:31:54
with my family cuz in the mildy context
00:31:56
you know kids in All Families but I'm
00:31:57
going to just focus on the one that I
00:31:59
understand which is kids belong to more
00:32:01
than just me you know they're not just
00:32:02
raised by me they're raised by
00:32:03
grandparents they're raised by aunties
00:32:04
and uncles you know they're raised by
00:32:06
the collective of cousins that they
00:32:07
belong to and that's what that's what I
00:32:09
wanted for my my children and and like
00:32:12
at that time when I was touching up
00:32:14
decision that um we we had savings and
00:32:17
we also like content was like a like a
00:32:20
full-time income at that time so it was
00:32:22
just like um so was a fairly safe move
00:32:24
yeah yeah well it's never safe and
00:32:26
content cuz it could all end any moment
00:32:29
but um but I just walked into my boss
00:32:31
and I was like I'm I don't really want
00:32:33
to come here 5 days a week anymore I'm
00:32:35
going to go home be with my family I'll
00:32:38
figure out what comes next and she was
00:32:39
like that's so dumb you know got kids
00:32:42
she's just Brazilian woman that's real
00:32:44
intense I love her but um I was like I'm
00:32:46
going to just go live at the beach and
00:32:48
do what I love make videos hang out with
00:32:49
my family and we'll see where it leads
00:32:51
me and then like it's kind of logical
00:32:54
afterwards but if the only thing you do
00:32:56
is hang out with your family make videos
00:32:57
like you'll get better at hanging out
00:33:00
with your family and making videos yeah
00:33:04
I love that yeah so um yeah so your
00:33:07
daughters anakiwa and kanoa um have you
00:33:10
are you having any more have you had a
00:33:12
victom me yeah when does this podcast
00:33:14
come out oh oh sh probably a couple of
00:33:16
months we're recording this on the 15th
00:33:18
of June all right if this comes out in a
00:33:20
couple months I'm having another baby
00:33:22
right now I just we just found out I'm
00:33:23
having another baby amazing have you had
00:33:26
a scan no the SC ends next like next
00:33:28
week or in two weeks bro yeah then it
00:33:31
then it's yeah yeah as long as you don't
00:33:33
accidentally announce to the world
00:33:35
that's a great podcast this just
00:33:36
uploading
00:33:38
now oh wow when this comes out we would
00:33:41
have just announced it and yeah it'll be
00:33:44
everyone will be excited we're excited
00:33:46
yeah wa planned unplanned or just un
00:33:48
planned it feels very different unplan
00:33:49
it feels um yeah feel shocked and um
00:33:56
yeah we we actually like confirmed our
00:33:58
decision to like we're going to leave
00:34:01
the place that we live in and go live
00:34:02
cuz my parents are like an hour away
00:34:04
like their actual house that they live
00:34:05
in so we're going to go live at next
00:34:07
door to my parents live in papaer oh
00:34:10
this is amazing so the kids can um just
00:34:12
run they'll live like 300 M away from
00:34:16
grandp yeah um wow this is cool yeah
00:34:20
yeah it's so cool and is is um the
00:34:22
female Jean strong in your family like
00:34:24
are you thinking it's going to be
00:34:25
another daughter yeah I think it is I
00:34:27
think it's going be another we also I
00:34:28
also have heaps of twins and my first
00:34:30
cousin so that's real strong in my
00:34:31
family and so it's quite it's I have
00:34:34
this weird feeling that it's a twin they
00:34:36
were having twins which would be quite
00:34:38
overwhelming yeah if they are twins
00:34:40
great for the content yeah be intense it
00:34:43
it' be intense yeah um are are you are
00:34:46
you nervous cuz you had a a rough birth
00:34:48
with Canoa right yeah yeah so tell us
00:34:51
about that when Caro was born born at
00:34:53
home which was like real amazing like
00:34:55
with all our family around us it was so
00:34:57
cool and then she she just kept spewing
00:35:00
like continuously and she was only a few
00:35:02
hours old until she was rushed to the
00:35:04
hospital they put in a chopper and flow
00:35:06
into Starship and basically all her tons
00:35:10
were blocked like she was born just
00:35:13
basically it's not it wasn't open and so
00:35:17
um and yeah she almost died and when she
00:35:20
was like 2 days old they opened up a
00:35:22
whole poku operated on her and she saved
00:35:26
she they saved her life um definitely
00:35:30
one of the hardest things we've ever
00:35:31
been through like in our life like
00:35:34
almost losing our child that we got to
00:35:36
hold and love you know I'm not a person
00:35:38
that feels like this real strong
00:35:40
attachment to the baby in the puu the
00:35:42
baby that isn't here I don't feel the
00:35:44
strong
00:35:44
attachment yeah to the heartbeat sound
00:35:47
or anything but I got to hold her you
00:35:49
know I got to like say I love you and
00:35:51
then then we'll face possibility cuz I I
00:35:54
never had that thought that that one of
00:35:56
my children from me yeah never had that
00:35:59
thought at all ever with even with our
00:36:01
older child and then and then we spent
00:36:05
two weeks of like like is our child
00:36:08
going to live which was like so
00:36:11
[ __ ] and
00:36:15
um yeah all those stuff there that like
00:36:20
they were absolutely unreal like I I'll
00:36:24
drive past like nurses striking and like
00:36:26
give them a honk but like I won't like
00:36:28
think about how hard their career is but
00:36:31
after that experience like how amazing
00:36:34
you know the St nurses and doctors and
00:36:36
stuff were like they made the worst
00:36:39
experience you can go through as a
00:36:40
parent like as good as it possibly could
00:36:42
be yeah even stuff like when your
00:36:45
child's going to die you don't think
00:36:47
about where you leave your car and had
00:36:48
like $800 something something where I
00:36:50
left my car right in the car park like
00:36:52
just it's just ticking up Wilson's Car
00:36:55
Park [ __ ] Wilson I say that if wison
00:36:59
ever wanted to R [ __ ]
00:37:02
you it's outrageous the um that car park
00:37:06
next to Star it's outrageous it's so
00:37:09
expensive The Compassion they oh Wilson
00:37:12
is the worst gang in New Zealand all
00:37:13
those people that were comenting on that
00:37:15
episode you did with the game member
00:37:17
redirect all that time you got to
00:37:19
Wilson's carart [ __ ] Wilson's
00:37:21
Car yeah the gangs should get out of the
00:37:23
myth train get into parking parking is
00:37:26
where it's at they just stting people
00:37:28
whose babies are dying they're like oh
00:37:30
we can get this guy he's not thinking
00:37:32
about where he's leaving his car let's
00:37:33
run it up run it up right
00:37:35
now um the they the nurse the nurse at
00:37:40
Starship snuck out um snuck our car out
00:37:43
at night with like a sta Park in the
00:37:45
middle of the night like did that you
00:37:47
know they don't have to do that on your
00:37:49
on your dinner break or the they were
00:37:52
amazing and um I'm thinking about I'm
00:37:55
thinking about um how I can and repay
00:37:58
that I want to do something for Starship
00:38:01
with with the voice that I have I've got
00:38:03
to do something real cool with the w the
00:38:05
West P resue Chopper this year and um
00:38:08
that felt real good I'm so I want to do
00:38:10
something for Starship cuz I don't I
00:38:12
don't think I lend my platform to any
00:38:15
like cause like that other than that
00:38:19
that one I talked about earlier but yeah
00:38:21
um so I want to do something for
00:38:23
Starship that's cool that deser it's
00:38:26
that's something I never really thought
00:38:27
about um about nurses but it's like um
00:38:29
as well as nursing um you're also like
00:38:32
um you're counseling and managing the
00:38:34
expectations of you know um people that
00:38:37
are on the you know the most stressed
00:38:39
out State imaginable yeah that place n
00:38:43
hospital is an intense place he like
00:38:45
there was there was a couple next to us
00:38:47
that that lost their baby while we were
00:38:49
there they got told they going to turn
00:38:52
the thing off that keeps baby alive and
00:38:55
um they have this room there where
00:38:56
families can come say goodbye to the to
00:38:59
their and I'll never forget the sound of
00:39:02
that the whale of a whole family saying
00:39:05
goodbye to their baby that they loved
00:39:07
but they didn't get to know you know
00:39:09
like just oh this the like the scream
00:39:12
like the sound of that for hours like
00:39:14
coming out of that
00:39:17
um yeah like babies babies are something
00:39:21
that that everyone loves it that
00:39:25
everyone yeah yeah that that defense
00:39:27
yeah and they they they never yeah they
00:39:30
never heard anyone you know they've
00:39:32
never done anything wrong in this world
00:39:34
they were just born a certain way and um
00:39:38
they just loved that's the only feeling
00:39:39
people have for babies and so when that
00:39:42
is taken from them
00:39:45
man yeah I understand why people are
00:39:47
atheist I understand why people um why
00:39:50
that's the worst tragedy that people go
00:39:52
through which is losing a child wonder
00:39:55
why I wonder yeah I understand
00:39:59
why yeah that's just the that's just the
00:40:02
worst thing in the
00:40:04
world thanks for sharing that I'm sure
00:40:06
it's not easy yeah um so also you and
00:40:11
you and Ash went on the the rescue
00:40:12
chopper you have to drive down Ash was
00:40:14
yeah I was um like breaking every road
00:40:17
rule in the in the world like driving
00:40:19
from Northland to down here um yeah
00:40:24
that's that's so blurry that trip who
00:40:27
who are you with you by myself I in the
00:40:29
car don't even know what I grabbed I
00:40:31
think I didn't even come with clothes I
00:40:33
think I just got in the
00:40:35
car um and I remember my wife made me
00:40:38
stop she Rings me you promised me that
00:40:40
you'll stop and I said no and we had
00:40:41
this argument because everything's so
00:40:43
intense time you promised me that you'll
00:40:44
stop on the
00:40:45
way cuz it's like not super fast like 3
00:40:48
hours and she made me stop and walk with
00:40:52
and I'm like and I just stop and I L get
00:40:55
out of the car like and get back in the
00:40:57
car just to fulfill my promise to my
00:40:59
wife and
00:41:02
then
00:41:04
yeah but that doesn't
00:41:08
feel when I think back on that that
00:41:10
doesn't feel like this big pain anymore
00:41:13
because it all worked out um yeah you
00:41:15
had a happy ending yeah yeah but I feel
00:41:19
this m in my heart for people who they
00:41:23
go through everything we went through
00:41:24
all that pain and then it ends badly as
00:41:26
well
00:41:28
um so I want to do something
00:41:31
um I want to do something and I will
00:41:33
figure out what their thing is yeah oh
00:41:36
good on you oh that's cool um yeah it's
00:41:38
a good platform you've built um and like
00:41:41
how um using it for good it's kind of
00:41:43
selfish in a way cuz it makes you feel
00:41:45
good it's helping other people but also
00:41:48
it's good for your own soul yeah there
00:41:51
that this um I'm going to get some of
00:41:52
these details wrong but she's like a
00:41:54
teenage girl that didn't like School
00:41:55
dropped out of school and started the
00:41:57
loaded peanut butter company and um
00:42:00
better butter and uh if anyone wants to
00:42:02
look it up but she just like she wrote
00:42:04
to me like explained her situation and
00:42:06
said I'd love for you to try she sent me
00:42:07
this peanut butter I was when you make
00:42:10
content people send you stuff all the
00:42:12
time so you you just get used to saying
00:42:13
no cuz like it's never free they always
00:42:16
want something for I just say no to
00:42:18
everything but I I was moved by his
00:42:20
story and I like I made this video the
00:42:24
video has like four million views of me
00:42:25
eating the peanut but and like and she
00:42:27
like has employees now and she like has
00:42:29
like like commercially license and sales
00:42:31
this like it's a full-time job she has
00:42:32
like a premise and stuff she sells it
00:42:34
it's like that feels good when it's like
00:42:36
I didn't get anything out of this oh I
00:42:38
got I got two JS of peanut butter but
00:42:40
it's like it was a teenage girl that
00:42:42
didn't fit inside school which resonated
00:42:44
with me and then um I got to use what I
00:42:48
have to make a difference I'm not
00:42:50
claiming that all of her success comes
00:42:52
from me I think she would have cracked
00:42:53
it eventually but I got to speed it up a
00:42:54
bit yeah yeah you gave her that
00:42:57
exponential sort of growth um yeah
00:43:00
anyone that sends you something that's
00:43:01
what they're hoping for right yeah and
00:43:03
you I just say no one one of my real
00:43:05
good mates ter he's a similar
00:43:07
predicament to me like we do the same
00:43:10
job and um he he some advice he doesn't
00:43:14
remember giving me this advice I was
00:43:15
just talking to him about this morning
00:43:16
but he was like just just say no to
00:43:18
allia you know just and let's just
00:43:21
basically what I do except that whiter
00:43:23
chocolate bar they they extort they take
00:43:25
me to the cleaning but they get a free
00:43:26
post just for me to know what the
00:43:27
chocolate bar is early like I just it's
00:43:29
just the product just that good that I
00:43:31
have it said like take me off the pi
00:43:34
yeah wh it's expensive too it's like
00:43:38
almost twice the price of CAD bre but
00:43:40
damn you wh I don't e any other
00:43:42
chocolate yeah it's kind of like when
00:43:43
you when you go to flash peanut butter
00:43:46
or Flash ice cream like you never go
00:43:47
back to shitty peanut butter and shitty
00:43:49
ice cream right like you never I like
00:43:51
the shitty stuff sanitarium or EO what
00:43:55
no no I'm all about it like people that
00:43:57
are into pcks or whatever I'm like no
00:43:58
you keep that give me crunchy eater or
00:44:01
sanitarium eer sanitarium social media
00:44:03
marke if you're watching this you need
00:44:05
to get you get a sponsor on the podcast
00:44:07
cuz there's no I don't know anyone else
00:44:09
that's eating
00:44:10
that I'm not mad at you guys show me
00:44:14
some love give me a deal [ __ ] this guy
00:44:17
um oh I I forgot about the um the KFC
00:44:20
thing I'm pretty sure I would have
00:44:21
messaged you at the time yeah I I think
00:44:23
I was on your gu show yeah maybe yeah or
00:44:26
I was on a different AG so this when did
00:44:28
you get married what year did you an
00:44:29
asked to get
00:44:30
married we've been married eight n years
00:44:34
yeah yeah I we're married on white Tangy
00:44:35
day so I never forget the anniversary
00:44:36
yeah white white Tangy day um yeah so
00:44:39
you were getting married at um the
00:44:41
stadium up there yeah yeah we married
00:44:44
huge norn tiny fire fan and we had our
00:44:46
reception at the stadium but we got
00:44:47
married at my parents place and then we
00:44:50
um for those people out there that have
00:44:53
got married you know that it's a long
00:44:54
day and you're real hungry and we made
00:44:56
the stupid decision to take some photos
00:44:58
here some photos there so we're like
00:44:59
driving around and we driving past KFC
00:45:01
and this is my content bra yo wait stop
00:45:03
stop stop stop we get out arrange
00:45:05
everyone just take this photo we get
00:45:08
back in the car and I just upload it
00:45:10
like I just without asking Ash Ash was
00:45:13
so angry we actually had a fight on our
00:45:14
wedding day about that oh I've heard you
00:45:16
say this in another podcast really
00:45:18
really or you just s of no no she was
00:45:20
not happy about that at all pay a lot of
00:45:22
money to have a photographer and a
00:45:24
videographer and stuff and I uploaded a
00:45:25
photo we also had a very small mildy
00:45:27
wedding of about 150 people you know
00:45:30
there was 500 people yeah there 500
00:45:32
people at my parents wedding you know so
00:45:34
like small W yeah and
00:45:37
um yeah and then it just goes crazy like
00:45:41
Edge like all the new radio stations
00:45:43
like New Zealand media like hitting us
00:45:45
up by Monday it's like in American Media
00:45:48
like we did American TV interviews and
00:45:50
like New York Times and all that kind of
00:45:52
stuff and uh why do you why do you think
00:45:54
it resonated so much from it's just a
00:45:57
silly story like it's just a it's just
00:45:59
like a silly story
00:46:01
that like it's like it was the start of
00:46:04
the clickbait era you know like that's
00:46:06
like going to get people that judge you
00:46:08
like for being cheap it's going to be
00:46:09
people that think that's cute you know
00:46:10
that people be arguing and Bing com it's
00:46:12
the start of that wave which is like
00:46:15
news
00:46:16
outlets posting content that just gets
00:46:18
engagement you know it's like reporting
00:46:21
non- news like it's news it's the start
00:46:22
of that
00:46:23
time funny yeah it's it's like
00:46:27
there's like just to like this is made
00:46:31
up but probably there's probably more
00:46:33
than 300 less than 500 news articles
00:46:35
about that like from proper proper
00:46:38
Source about their thing whereas like
00:46:41
it's like like I told 200 million views
00:46:43
a month and I'll maybe get like one news
00:46:46
article about me every month or two you
00:46:48
know [ __ ] so it's like it's just it's
00:46:51
just a weird thing that gain traction
00:46:53
inside Legacy Media I don't know why but
00:46:55
it it blew up big time and you you guys
00:46:58
um KFC paid for your honeymoon yeah they
00:47:00
they flew us to Kentucky got to go
00:47:02
around the Main Place met the big dog of
00:47:04
KFC in the world and he's actually Kiwi
00:47:06
from Wellington which is crazy yeah yeah
00:47:08
not Colonel Sanders anymore yeah no but
00:47:11
it yeah it was it was so cool and then
00:47:15
they gave us free KFC for a year which
00:47:17
like [ __ ] my body up and like what what
00:47:20
what is that mean you're allowed to go
00:47:21
there and get like one no I was just
00:47:23
like unlimited yeah like I like I looked
00:47:26
over like 20 hung over mates there once
00:47:28
and I don't even remember how much it
00:47:30
was but they just bring him buckets and
00:47:31
buckets and buckets they must have been
00:47:32
pleased with that year was that this
00:47:34
guy's taking the piss give a brown guy
00:47:37
fre KFC for a year we could run the same
00:47:41
campaign and give it to 20
00:47:43
people [ __ ] so so they so they paid for
00:47:46
a trip to the states yeah yeah well do
00:47:48
you think about how much that story got
00:47:49
you know yeah they didn't have to though
00:47:51
right I know I don't feel ungrateful but
00:47:53
I understand content so I understand the
00:47:55
value of like now you know how brands do
00:47:58
that stuff all the time like a story
00:48:00
will happen they jump all over like
00:48:01
we'll send you this or we buy you this
00:48:03
you know like that happens all the time
00:48:05
this is that this is the start of that a
00:48:07
Brand's going that if they respond
00:48:09
appropriately to to real world things
00:48:12
that happen they'll they'll build real
00:48:13
strong Rapport the public that was an
00:48:15
example of that yeah yeah you your Tik
00:48:18
tok's mass of a so um yeah 1.9 million
00:48:21
followers on where are they where are
00:48:23
they from how many new zealanders uh
00:48:25
about 400,000 New Zealand which is
00:48:26
pretty crazy it's like 10% of the
00:48:28
country it's like it's like isn't that
00:48:29
bigger than one news like their nightly
00:48:31
viewership so it's pretty it's pretty
00:48:33
crazy yeah and you and your top T to Tik
00:48:35
Tok the one that you've got pinned at
00:48:37
the top is 97 million views yeah yeah
00:48:39
yeah most watch video of last year in
00:48:41
austral Asia and it didn't win video of
00:48:43
the year at the Tik Tok Awards I'm off
00:48:44
it is that a thing Tik Tok Awards is it
00:48:47
yeah I'm off it did you go to the
00:48:50
ceremony no no the who what what one
00:48:54
what one oh like Fitzroy garage it's
00:48:56
like five boys having it's like them
00:48:59
having a party in their garage and
00:49:00
they're like doing haircuts and then
00:49:01
it's like it seems like dirty and like I
00:49:03
don't know it's like it's real hard to
00:49:05
explain it is real hard to explain an
00:49:07
internet video to someone now say like
00:49:09
it doesn't make any sense so for context
00:49:11
the most watched social media video in
00:49:13
A's last year if you didn't know is a
00:49:14
video of me and my daughter eating a
00:49:16
Kinder um that Series has over half a
00:49:19
billion views of us eating kers so it's
00:49:22
yeah why do why do you think that's
00:49:23
connected so much cuz the sea urchin is
00:49:25
so ugly it's so ugly and like kids are
00:49:27
very fussy eaters and then and then it's
00:49:30
like the also that thing of our overall
00:49:34
story which is like big tattooed Brown
00:49:37
dead with like very soft and loving with
00:49:40
his daugh like people like they like
00:49:43
like a tough guy yeah yeah very soft you
00:49:45
know loving with his daughter and um
00:49:49
yeah with my with my mates that that
00:49:52
make content we've like studied that
00:49:54
video and picked things out and found
00:49:55
what you replicate what you yeah oh
00:49:59
really so like we do this with all
00:50:01
videos we study videos at perform well
00:50:03
and then you replicate the things that
00:50:04
you the data points that you think were
00:50:07
successful and um
00:50:10
you he's on another level cuz he's that
00:50:12
employees people to do that but but
00:50:14
content creators that are successful
00:50:16
usually it's because they think about
00:50:18
videos they think about storytelling
00:50:19
they think about the edit they they are
00:50:21
very critical of things that perform
00:50:23
well and don't well and they learn from
00:50:24
that there are stories of that people
00:50:26
just upload
00:50:27
but content creators that have millions
00:50:29
of followers it's a very small club in Z
00:50:32
and they all think about performance
00:50:34
they study analytics they talk with
00:50:36
other content creators about the edits
00:50:37
and stuff they they send edits back and
00:50:39
forth with other content creators before
00:50:40
they upload and say what do you think
00:50:41
about this not Swap this do this what
00:50:43
about this sound you know yeah [ __ ]
00:50:46
that's intense cuz the currency that we
00:50:49
trade you know we trade storytelling
00:50:51
right so so so doing it really really
00:50:54
well um like because we care about it
00:50:57
you know have you ever talked to like a
00:50:59
person that plays guitar and how they're
00:51:01
always fluffing around like like you
00:51:03
know like stuff that no one would notice
00:51:04
you know like tuning the guitar and like
00:51:06
how stuff sounds it's the details of our
00:51:08
craft like anyone you know you must do
00:51:10
it when you observe someone interviewing
00:51:12
like why did they say that and then they
00:51:13
shouldn't have done that you like you
00:51:16
understand the craft so it's like that
00:51:18
for people that make videos what what
00:51:20
did you learn from from that video
00:51:22
because to me it just looks really
00:51:23
authentic and genuine and yeah doesn't
00:51:26
look like a lot of thoughts gone into it
00:51:28
it's that's how it's meant to look yeah
00:51:30
so even stuff like bringing down the
00:51:33
quality of the camera so like so it was
00:51:35
shot in 4k but we I I bought it down in
00:51:37
quality cuz 4K makes it look like it was
00:51:39
professionally shot and you don't want
00:51:41
that you want it to feel like they just
00:51:42
sitting next to me on the table um
00:51:46
there's an I think there's an element of
00:51:48
is this is this dangerous what is that
00:51:50
like and then and then go oh and then
00:51:52
worried for the child and then oh wait
00:51:55
she actually loves it that's amazing
00:51:57
look she's eating what is that and then
00:51:58
it's like oh there's their mom this is
00:52:00
their family she's feeding it to her mom
00:52:02
like they all eat this what is it you
00:52:03
know it's the it's the storyboard those
00:52:05
different emotions that people go
00:52:07
through um that keep it watching and
00:52:09
watch time is everything for the
00:52:11
performance of a video so if someone can
00:52:13
if someone watches a 2 minute 40 video
00:52:17
on a on an app Tik Tok or Instagram like
00:52:19
cuz our teaching span sucks those
00:52:21
algorithms go this video must be amazing
00:52:24
if people watch a 2-minute 40 video cuz
00:52:26
yeah attention sucks so then then it
00:52:28
gets pushed and pushed and pushed and
00:52:30
pushed
00:52:31
um yeah it's boring talking about the
00:52:35
you upload a video you upload a video
00:52:36
and it gets shown to say 100 people and
00:52:39
it assesses those 100 people how they're
00:52:41
engaged right I'm making that number up
00:52:42
but it shows to 100 people it assesses
00:52:46
their engagement how long do they watch
00:52:47
it for you know did they like did they
00:52:49
send it to someone you know what what
00:52:50
response to list it and then it takes
00:52:52
that to assess will we will we send that
00:52:54
to a thousand more people or 10 th000
00:52:56
more people and in the next ring it'll
00:52:58
perform the same assessment it'll assess
00:52:59
them and it'll go okay and then it'll
00:53:01
put you into the next ring put next ring
00:53:03
and then somewhere along there depending
00:53:04
on how good or bad the video it'll just
00:53:05
kind of
00:53:07
stop unreal because everyone talks about
00:53:10
how the um the algorithms on Tik Tok is
00:53:12
the most faest yeah yeah definitely the
00:53:14
most what does that mean uh that you
00:53:16
could you could post a video now of one
00:53:18
follower and it can get a million views
00:53:20
if it's a great video it's just that
00:53:21
it's just like that um follower having
00:53:25
followers doesn't really mean anything
00:53:26
Tik Tok because if you post a bad video
00:53:28
no's they're not going to push it even
00:53:30
to people that have click follow yeah
00:53:32
and Instagram is becoming more fair but
00:53:35
Instagram used to be you have to have
00:53:37
the followers to for them to see your
00:53:39
content but that's changed cuz people
00:53:41
would like Spotify people don't want to
00:53:44
find the content people don't want to
00:53:46
find music people like want to be given
00:53:49
it you know so people want Spotify to
00:53:51
tell them what to listen to you know
00:53:53
people want YouTube to serve them what
00:53:54
videos they going to watch you know it's
00:53:55
like
00:53:57
um like back in down people used to
00:53:58
flick TV on they just will watch what's
00:54:01
on they people want that experience
00:54:03
back want to make decisions you're
00:54:05
you're a deep thinker at the stuff
00:54:07
aren't you there's way more to you than
00:54:08
what I I just thought you were like a
00:54:10
like a
00:54:11
lad living his be life looking after the
00:54:14
kids filming at the videos videos is
00:54:16
definitely my passion storytelling is
00:54:18
definitely my passion yeah well I don't
00:54:20
know so much went into that um lots of
00:54:22
failing goes into it I upload Heats
00:54:23
videos at G uh and you're just like
00:54:27
learning that train different things
00:54:29
like where you just like explore
00:54:30
something new you know like okay what
00:54:33
happens if I don't voice over while I'm
00:54:35
underwater what if I just like let them
00:54:37
hear the sound of the sea you know and
00:54:39
just see it is they boring you know as
00:54:40
interesting people like most people
00:54:42
don't know what Under the Sea looks like
00:54:43
do they they know from media so is that
00:54:45
enough for them you know that's what you
00:54:47
explore and try out you know all those
00:54:49
you do that every day of 20 different
00:54:51
things you know yeah so what does an
00:54:53
average day look like it's it's how do
00:54:56
you sort of compartmentalize it so you
00:54:58
you I don't yeah like you probably don't
00:55:00
like once upon a time you know when you
00:55:02
like trying to pump out segments every
00:55:04
day on the radio you probably just think
00:55:05
you're hyper analyzing your life and
00:55:07
everything that's happened around you
00:55:08
and then just thinking of segments and
00:55:09
it's the same principle for making
00:55:11
videos like unfortunately you're always
00:55:14
thinking about storytelling so you're
00:55:16
thinking about oh that's funny that's
00:55:17
interesting like mean that happens all
00:55:18
the time have a huge argument with my
00:55:20
wife and she'll see me going she like
00:55:22
what are you doing soor just writing
00:55:23
that that's down that's quite
00:55:24
interesting yeah yday we had this
00:55:28
arum it goes down real bad yesterday we
00:55:31
had this argument we're driving down to
00:55:32
Orland and I'm like all right what do
00:55:34
what do you want to eat we can get
00:55:36
anything that's on the way there's about
00:55:37
100 food stamps on the way but she wants
00:55:40
this very specific Korean spring roll on
00:55:42
the NorthShore which is not on the way
00:55:44
this is like Peak trap or and I'm just
00:55:45
like like that's interesting but we have
00:55:48
this whole argument and and like I lean
00:55:50
over in the car and I just say like can
00:55:51
you just write that on my notes she
00:55:53
knows where the notes is where I write
00:55:54
this idea down my notes just full like
00:55:56
random like ideas like that it's um yeah
00:56:00
F that's funny yeah it was like when
00:56:02
when JJ and I were Mar doing the show
00:56:04
together it was like that you're just
00:56:05
constantly mining um yeah your partner's
00:56:08
life and the lives of your friends for
00:56:10
Content did you find that when you felt
00:56:12
like you didn't have an idea and you
00:56:13
were just and you were just trying to
00:56:16
just just okay just [ __ ] think of
00:56:18
something it never came but if you just
00:56:19
surrendered and went and lived your life
00:56:21
it would come yeah 100% yeah if you just
00:56:23
went out like went to dinner or
00:56:25
something it would just come the idea
00:56:27
right 100% and there was um we had an
00:56:28
Australian boss Ryan who um he had the
00:56:31
saying which which I really liked he's
00:56:33
like there's nothing wrong with adding
00:56:34
GST to a story yeah yeah and my family
00:56:36
is called the grandma GST cuz my grandma
00:56:38
just like always always just adds crazy
00:56:41
details that people die like in her GST
00:56:43
like it's like more than
00:56:46
GST like 100% yeah n n never let the
00:56:49
truth get in the way of a good story
00:56:51
yeah yeah that's another way of framing
00:56:52
it yeah well well I think for me in my
00:56:54
context I think the idea is the most
00:56:57
important thing so so like the idea that
00:57:00
you should listen to your wife might be
00:57:03
the important idea like like like listen
00:57:07
to how she feels that might be the
00:57:09
important idea that I want to share in a
00:57:10
video but the truth of it doesn't
00:57:13
especially now that I make skits like
00:57:14
it's like lots of skits instead of like
00:57:16
my actual life which used to be became
00:57:18
taxing so I started making skits cuz
00:57:20
it's like they fictitious
00:57:22
scenarios um the idea I think is more
00:57:25
important than it being like really
00:57:26
truthful and accurate how do you know
00:57:29
how do you know when the content's
00:57:29
getting in the way of your relationship
00:57:31
like you're taking it too fast probably
00:57:33
in my relationship it probably always is
00:57:35
but like if you're married to someone
00:57:37
that's really passionate about someone
00:57:38
it probably does get an way like how
00:57:40
many partners like hate golf you know
00:57:44
because of like how that passion for
00:57:46
that person you know like it it does get
00:57:48
in the way that you do make a concession
00:57:50
when someone is passionate about their
00:57:52
career or their their hobby
00:57:55
or or like something harmful you know
00:57:57
like gambling or whatever you know it is
00:58:00
it does get in the way and it's just
00:58:01
like for us uh it's it's like continuous
00:58:05
comms therapy and
00:58:09
um uh yeah that's it do you do do you
00:58:12
guys do like couples therapy couples and
00:58:14
individual right as an ongoing they they
00:58:17
that's close to more Wilson's type money
00:58:18
man they fleecing yeah it's like how
00:58:22
much like 300 an hour yeah fo see this
00:58:25
isn't it's like but if we if my if my
00:58:27
partner in life my favorite person the
00:58:29
person I love the most in the world has
00:58:31
been forced into being also my business
00:58:34
partner cuz the content becomes business
00:58:36
you know we need help cuz cuz I've
00:58:39
thrust our marriage into this work life
00:58:42
environment where no matter what the
00:58:45
story goes on and so I've thrust our
00:58:48
life into the situation and while we're
00:58:51
good you know like while I still love
00:58:53
you while I still want to spend the rest
00:58:55
of my life with you I should fight for
00:58:57
our marriage you know which is like
00:59:00
let's do it now let's do it
00:59:04
while you know and and and I haven't
00:59:08
been in therapy when I I can't imagine
00:59:11
what it's like being in therapy when you
00:59:12
like hate the other person or you you've
00:59:14
been cheated on you don't want to be
00:59:15
with them or whatever right but it is to
00:59:19
I would encourage more parents or more
00:59:21
couples sorry who uh who to it's
00:59:25
obviously very expensive and very hard
00:59:27
so that's probably why people don't do
00:59:28
it but if it is
00:59:30
possible um to do therapy like like just
00:59:35
just because yeah sounded so douchy
00:59:39
saying it because I I didn't I didn't
00:59:41
acknowledge that the barrier is money
00:59:43
it's just like so [ __ ] expensive is
00:59:45
prohibit for a lot of a lot of people if
00:59:47
you clip that that's got to be in there
00:59:49
that part cuz people go like do you just
00:59:50
say just just get through with me just
00:59:52
because that even if there no yeah no CL
00:59:56
that one there's no way you collab in
00:59:58
that one um yeah but even even people
01:00:02
that do have the financial means to do
01:00:04
it probably I think that's really
01:00:06
forward thinking like to go to C's
01:00:08
therapy when you're not in trouble
01:00:10
because people think it as a as a crisis
01:00:12
sort of situation that's when you go but
01:00:15
they they that role has been required
01:00:18
because we don't have an a boss we don't
01:00:20
have employees like we don't have like
01:00:22
but we our relationship is more than it
01:00:25
should be we shouldn't we should be more
01:00:27
than just like you know partners
01:00:30
co-parents and flatmates like
01:00:33
unfortunately we're now business
01:00:35
partners yeah you commercializing
01:00:36
creative collaborators you know um whose
01:00:39
idea was it to go to therapy together um
01:00:43
probably both of us we me and my wife
01:00:44
have real good comments and we also have
01:00:46
individual therapy so like the table's
01:00:48
set for that um yeah how often how often
01:00:52
do you go try to go once a month yeah
01:00:55
it's should be more um it's just that
01:00:57
real expensive [ __ ] see you're so onto
01:00:59
it day like I I think I went to therapy
01:01:01
for the first time when I was maybe like
01:01:02
47 48 when when I sort of reached like a
01:01:05
crisis in my life I didn't think think
01:01:08
to go with in my late 20s when things
01:01:09
were good it was the last thing on my
01:01:12
mind yeah a made of mine suggested I go
01:01:15
a therapy in preparation for um my first
01:01:19
child which is that you might think
01:01:21
you're all good but even if you just
01:01:24
looked at it as a commitment to your
01:01:26
your wife to your future
01:01:28
child um so that you can be the best
01:01:31
possible partner and um Dad that you can
01:01:34
be so I showed up like I'm sweet like
01:01:38
what a waste of time why am I doing this
01:01:41
and then just they just cracked it open
01:01:43
you know yeah are you quite good at um
01:01:46
at being you know vulnerable and you
01:01:49
having hard
01:01:54
conversations I I think that because I
01:01:57
think that I am that probably means that
01:01:58
I'm not and what I mean by that is
01:02:00
people that usually claim to be like
01:02:04
okay with being vulnerable it's just
01:02:05
they just have a higher threshold
01:02:06
they're not really being vulnerable you
01:02:08
know they like to share or or or just
01:02:11
naturally and overshare yeah yeah and
01:02:13
and vulnerable actually just looks like
01:02:14
something else for them you know so um
01:02:17
but I think I have I have a real good
01:02:19
toolkit for communicating how I feel
01:02:22
because of my parents so like I had two
01:02:24
parents that loved each other and I and
01:02:27
I one of the most important things that
01:02:30
my dad ever did for me who's like my
01:02:32
dad's my hero is that my dad just loved
01:02:35
my mom my whole life and I just watched
01:02:38
that I just watched someone just love
01:02:39
the [ __ ] out of my
01:02:41
mom and
01:02:44
I and when you have that you like you
01:02:48
learn you learn what it is to honor
01:02:50
someone to be committed to someone to
01:02:52
watch my parents fight and then resolve
01:02:54
things then explain to me like why I'm
01:02:57
mad and then like and then I watched
01:02:59
them move forward you know you know I
01:03:02
had I had parents that let me feel the
01:03:04
way that I wanted to feel that I wasn't
01:03:06
a kid that had to be quiet or not take
01:03:08
up space or you know my my parents took
01:03:11
an interest in me and how I felt about
01:03:14
stuff and so I grew up with this like
01:03:17
uncommon confidence that it mattered how
01:03:19
I felt and I could say how I felt and I
01:03:22
became a communicator because of that
01:03:24
from my parents wow they started get
01:03:26
yeah yeah yeah parents they still still
01:03:29
love each other man what what about
01:03:30
Ash's parents um n Ash's parents have
01:03:34
together but Ash is um Ash is so there's
01:03:37
been a lot like um Ash's mom is amazing
01:03:42
like she's so cool she's been really my
01:03:44
mom since I was 15 you know she's been
01:03:46
like more than more years than that she
01:03:48
hasn't been in my life she has been so I
01:03:50
call her mom she but my
01:03:52
mom um but something that has been like
01:03:56
cause strain for us is we've run into
01:03:58
these things where I I just assume they
01:04:00
are that way um
01:04:06
because um I this is this is the example
01:04:09
that I had this is what I watched and
01:04:11
then Ash is creating or has an idea of
01:04:15
fatherhood that's based on like not an
01:04:18
example you know not something so
01:04:21
um what am I trying to say and I also
01:04:24
have empathy for a a lot of what what my
01:04:27
wife observes could be quite triggering
01:04:30
you know how do you mean because she is
01:04:33
in real time watching a father love his
01:04:37
daughter no matter what you know she's
01:04:39
watching a father you know be there for
01:04:43
all the moments like do the things that
01:04:45
she didn't have let like her story to
01:04:48
tell us I can't I can't really go into
01:04:50
that but okay it's
01:04:52
um yeah I I have a lot of empathy with
01:04:55
my with my um
01:04:58
wife that how that could feel like
01:05:01
watching that like um because of how
01:05:06
strong I feel about my children how like
01:05:09
the things I say and portray to the
01:05:11
world and the way I act um is saying
01:05:14
that no matter what you know I'll love
01:05:16
my kids be there for my kids and then
01:05:18
it's saying like but but you didn't have
01:05:21
that and that how you know how that
01:05:23
dialogue could happen with yourself yeah
01:05:25
I there Eminem talks about like why he
01:05:28
why he has never connected with his dad
01:05:30
I I don't know if you've ever seen this
01:05:32
but he he talks about like I don't I
01:05:34
don't need to know I just I can't relate
01:05:36
to him I can't understand you know if I
01:05:40
had no money if I had if I wasn't em I
01:05:42
had nothing in this so I would find my
01:05:43
children you know I would go to the ends
01:05:45
of the world ends of the Earth for my
01:05:47
children you know just I can't relate to
01:05:50
that man at all I have nothing to say to
01:05:52
him I have nothing from him or nothing
01:05:54
from him and like this I Reon they would
01:05:56
that yeah how could you be so cold oh
01:05:58
like how could you yeah how could you
01:06:00
have a kid and I I I mean I don't have
01:06:02
my own kids like I um I had a tumor
01:06:05
taken out um JJ and I went through
01:06:07
rounds and rounds of IVF so I I haven't
01:06:10
been lucky enough to have my own family
01:06:11
but it's like I just can't fathom or
01:06:14
understand that how you know even if
01:06:16
it's like an accidental pregnancy or a
01:06:18
one night stand or whatever like how can
01:06:20
you turn your back on a [ __ ] c yeah
01:06:22
it's crazy it's the just the ultimate
01:06:25
Tong or the ultimate privilege for some
01:06:27
people it's the only thing they want in
01:06:29
this whole world is to be a parent and
01:06:32
then for some people it means nothing or
01:06:36
they just don't have the capacity
01:06:38
capability Clarity of mind or
01:06:42
just
01:06:43
yeah yeah your your your content like it
01:06:46
makes me it makes me happy but then
01:06:47
other times uh like it bums me out it's
01:06:50
like oh [ __ ] I think I'd love to be a
01:06:52
girl dead more than anything yeah I
01:06:54
think I think about this
01:06:57
um I think about
01:07:00
um I I often when I tell a positive
01:07:04
story I often think about how this might
01:07:08
um affect someone
01:07:12
um yeah who would feel like a sense of
01:07:15
loss or mourn something or you can't
01:07:18
though yeah you just can't you can't you
01:07:21
can't live your whole life worrying
01:07:23
about whose toes you're going to step on
01:07:26
not even like step on toes I
01:07:29
just yeah I think about that yeah well
01:07:33
it seems like you got a great a great
01:07:35
marriage but it's it is nice to hear
01:07:36
that um like it's not just like
01:07:38
naturally great and you have to work
01:07:40
it's hard people you know there people
01:07:42
that say that it's easy I never believe
01:07:43
them Al it's the people that say that
01:07:45
getting tattoos don't hurt like so I
01:07:47
just they're just lying like they're
01:07:49
just like they're either lying or they
01:07:50
got a little tattoo or they they like
01:07:53
they have a marriage that's like surface
01:07:54
you know like marriage is so hard and um
01:07:58
that's not a new take but it's but we
01:08:03
are at a we are at a time where I think
01:08:06
we think marriage is the thing you do
01:08:09
when you found the perfect person at
01:08:11
some point in your life um and I think
01:08:15
it's you I actually don't recommend
01:08:17
marriage to anyone it's ironic cuz I'm a
01:08:19
married but um I think yeah it's
01:08:23
whatever relationship you're in it's
01:08:24
just an active
01:08:26
Choice active choice is the best
01:08:27
description I've got yeah yeah that's
01:08:29
what one thing I realize as someone that
01:08:31
um has had a failed marriage it's like
01:08:33
um you know once you get married you got
01:08:36
to work like a [ __ ] to keep that
01:08:38
thing keep that thing well JJ doesn't
01:08:40
describe it as a failed marriage you
01:08:41
makes that point yeah that's true no but
01:08:43
when you when you get married you know
01:08:45
it feels like anything less than than
01:08:47
being together until one person dies is
01:08:48
a fail true that's just how how it you
01:08:52
guys have like a Hall of Fame example of
01:08:54
how of like breaking that was like man
01:08:57
and that's like I think very few people
01:09:01
could replicate the way you guys have
01:09:02
part way well thank you well I mean the
01:09:05
the way um yeah the way that she's
01:09:09
um um like treated me post our breakup
01:09:12
it's like I feel probably more loyal to
01:09:14
her than than what I did even when we
01:09:16
were married like she's just had my back
01:09:19
um through thick and thin and I and in
01:09:22
turn I feel exactly the same way like I
01:09:24
you know [ __ ] I'd take a bullet for her
01:09:27
if I if I um have have you know like
01:09:30
death through say a terminal illness so
01:09:32
one where you get to say goodbye to
01:09:33
people in hospital or whatever she's
01:09:36
100% one of the people I'd want to be
01:09:37
there in that room you know when I take
01:09:40
my last breath that's amazing that yeah
01:09:44
that story your guys story man you got
01:09:47
to make sure you take the T on the
01:09:49
bottle that up you know you got to you
01:09:52
got to preserve that as two of the most
01:09:55
important storytellers in the history of
01:09:57
New Media you got to make sure you
01:09:58
capture that properly joint book joint
01:10:02
joint book no one page each you just
01:10:04
like go on off one page no no more books
01:10:06
if you open a book deal turn it down it
01:10:08
would be the the worst hourly rate you
01:10:10
ever make in your life how yeah how how
01:10:13
do you um how do you make your money as
01:10:14
a content creator because I I look
01:10:16
through your stuff and most of it's just
01:10:17
like you you and the kids or you goofing
01:10:20
around there's not not sort of obvious
01:10:22
you know what I mean like you go to say
01:10:24
Simone Anderson's page and there's
01:10:26
there's like a lot of you very obvious
01:10:28
and I'm not having got some I've had on
01:10:30
the podcast and she's [ __ ] great and
01:10:31
I love
01:10:32
itust she yeah but there's a lot of
01:10:34
obvious deals but yours it's is is it
01:10:36
stealthily put in there no it's you oh
01:10:40
so I guess without going into Simone
01:10:43
Anderson we'll just generalize in
01:10:45
classic Instagram is I Define her is
01:10:47
that a lot of their life is like gifted
01:10:51
you know there definitely paid work in
01:10:52
there so it's like it probably feels
01:10:54
like on those pages that everything's
01:10:56
add but in new Ze you have to disclose
01:10:58
like if you if you were given this you
01:11:01
would have to reference that technically
01:11:03
by the letter of law every time it's in
01:11:05
it you have to include somewhere that
01:11:07
you were you were given that so oh you
01:11:09
don't just have to do it the first time
01:11:10
forever if it if it's if you're if
01:11:13
you're creating the impression yeah it's
01:11:16
like if you if you got paid by in New
01:11:18
Zealand to go on holiday you every
01:11:21
single thing on the trip that you shared
01:11:22
about the trip you would have to yeah so
01:11:25
it's like it's that's the letter of the
01:11:26
law there's no there's no like L cases
01:11:29
of being enforced but that's why it can
01:11:30
feel like that sometimes with people's
01:11:32
pages but if you but for me um oh I
01:11:37
guess cuz I have uh so like the brand
01:11:39
deals that I do take they just slide
01:11:42
really easily into my life you know
01:11:44
they're brands that are a part of my
01:11:45
life and so I guess it does feel natural
01:11:48
and that's why like I do get ads that
01:11:51
hundreds of thousands even millions of
01:11:52
views which is like great for the
01:11:54
company and like cuz that's what they're
01:11:55
hoping for like when they pay for it but
01:11:57
a content creator makes money in three
01:11:59
ways surely someone else to talk about
01:12:00
on the podcast this might be boring but
01:12:02
like the first in Zealand the most
01:12:03
common way a New Zealand content creator
01:12:05
make money is brand deals um so they
01:12:08
have a sponsored brand deal they get
01:12:10
paid to make a video incorporating the
01:12:11
product appre straight forward the
01:12:13
second is that they make it from ad
01:12:15
Revenue which is generated from the app
01:12:17
so your YouTube they run ads against
01:12:19
your YouTube video um do you run ads
01:12:22
against this on YouTube yeah yeah like
01:12:24
like that yeah thing yeah but the the
01:12:26
sort of views I'm getting it's
01:12:28
[ __ ] I might make a couple of dollars
01:12:30
off this one no get a um can of Coke um
01:12:35
the you so AdSense but the good thing
01:12:38
about um like a video is you can you can
01:12:41
repurpose a video to to like Snapchat
01:12:44
page has the highest payer of all short
01:12:46
form content you know you can monetize
01:12:48
on Facebook you know you can monetize
01:12:51
YouTube shorts now and stuff like that
01:12:52
so so the ad sense of the algorithm
01:12:55
places on it and then thirdly is money
01:12:57
straight from your audience so people
01:13:00
support causes you know people live
01:13:02
streamers all of their income come
01:13:04
straight from the audience some of the
01:13:05
highest earning content creators in New
01:13:06
Zealand are live streamers um cuz you
01:13:09
know like they convince a thousand
01:13:12
people to give them 100 bucks a year you
01:13:14
know they could probably leave it's not
01:13:16
that hard for a live stream two a week
01:13:18
as well it's not much for them you know
01:13:20
there's live streamers that make 10
01:13:21
grand a day you know so it's like they
01:13:25
um live streaming for people can be
01:13:28
lifechanging yeah I had a Gil here um
01:13:31
this week who's um like one of New
01:13:33
Zealand's biggest um only fans creators
01:13:35
and it's basically just swimwear stuff
01:13:37
like she's not doing porn or nudes or
01:13:39
anything and she's making like 40K a
01:13:40
month yeah it's crazy M crazy they're
01:13:43
real smart too F crazy they like I we
01:13:47
had a guest speaker once and when I was
01:13:49
working at the university only fans
01:13:51
created they understand their business
01:13:53
inside and out it's amazing M so
01:13:57
um yeah in a good year like what do you
01:14:00
make like a good celery yeah I make like
01:14:02
a I make like a real good living you
01:14:04
know my wife doesn't have to work and
01:14:06
she does her own brand deals now um I
01:14:08
live a good life like a a great life and
01:14:11
it um but it it'll go away right like
01:14:13
you make you know live a real good life
01:14:17
while I'm relevant one day I'm might
01:14:19
won't be relevant you know so it's not
01:14:20
like you know most careers where your
01:14:22
earning just goes up you know and you g
01:14:24
g more responsible inside that
01:14:26
profession it might continue to go up
01:14:28
but yeah yeah why wouldn't it why why
01:14:31
why do you I mean it's a good it's a
01:14:32
good attitude to to think it it may not
01:14:34
always be there but I mean yeah there
01:14:37
was the University stuff and now you're
01:14:39
doing the as long as as long as you
01:14:42
continue to make videos I can almost
01:14:43
pretty much guarantee that you'll
01:14:45
continue to be a content creator but I
01:14:46
think um who knows it might I might just
01:14:50
um get bored of it or no I don't think
01:14:53
that will be I think it'll just be the
01:14:55
time will pass you know like you can
01:14:57
only be like the flavor of the month for
01:15:00
so long you know like it's like that if
01:15:02
you you know if you're a broadcaster you
01:15:05
know if you're a book writer you know
01:15:07
you can you get you get your time and um
01:15:11
I'm like a realist about that and then
01:15:12
I'll just live in the North grow food
01:15:16
fish like I'll be sweet by then live
01:15:18
enough Sola that would be all good I if
01:15:22
if I didn't make any money I'll still
01:15:23
make videos but I'll just like
01:15:25
yeah live in the North and hang out with
01:15:28
my kids how good homeschooling them yeah
01:15:30
how good oh yeah I did want to ask you
01:15:33
um I've got a bunch of questions from on
01:15:35
Instagram that people want to know um
01:15:36
sort of Tik Tok related but um I want to
01:15:39
know like give given the the content you
01:15:42
put out you know like as a a guy who
01:15:44
[ __ ] loves his wife and a guy who's a
01:15:46
great dad with his kids do you you get
01:15:48
any check slide into your DMs trying
01:15:50
to I there's definitely again I say I
01:15:53
don't read the comments dur the D but
01:15:55
they definitely when it was the time I
01:15:57
read comments I think there's people I
01:16:00
think it's more that they're longing for
01:16:02
that it's not maybe it's not
01:16:03
specifically about me but it's described
01:16:06
like it's B but it's more I think that
01:16:08
they're longing for look at me
01:16:09
deflecting it's it's it's more that like
01:16:12
it's more that yeah they they want to be
01:16:14
loved listen to by the part they want
01:16:16
you know a dead a partner that shows up
01:16:18
for their kids and it's more that I
01:16:20
think yeah more so it does haveen yeah
01:16:23
more no not not really
01:16:25
yeah
01:16:26
yeah
01:16:28
unbelievable that's tast yeah the logic
01:16:31
the logic maybe is
01:16:33
like married man that loves his wife
01:16:37
like maybe they just think I'm in love
01:16:38
with I'd be good at being married I
01:16:41
don't I don't yeah that's a weird I
01:16:43
don't know the logic okay um what are
01:16:46
some of the biggest challenges you've
01:16:47
faced as a Tik Tok wait on that on that
01:16:49
question before on something I'm like
01:16:52
real careful about which like all
01:16:54
content creator eventually have to think
01:16:56
about is I have to be so careful that
01:16:58
everything that I do and say would could
01:17:01
as crystal clear and could not be
01:17:02
misinterpret so like you're never going
01:17:04
to catch me just like liking people's
01:17:06
videos photos I'm not just going to
01:17:08
respond it's very hard to get me to
01:17:10
respond to a DM like I'm I'm going to do
01:17:12
nothing that could be
01:17:15
confused as disrespectful to my wife and
01:17:18
I I and I'm like I'm so careful that
01:17:20
like how I interact you know down here
01:17:23
in Oakland with the Illuminati when I'm
01:17:25
hanging out
01:17:26
with this with all the big bad wolves
01:17:29
down here you know and all the
01:17:30
Temptation I'm very careful that nothing
01:17:33
that I do say could be interpreted as
01:17:35
disrespectful to her yeah
01:17:38
wow like to to what extent so you're
01:17:40
going to the Warriors game tonight if
01:17:41
someone comes up for a selfie you would
01:17:43
you wouldn't put your arm around yeah I
01:17:45
think I think like that yeah cuz I just
01:17:47
think I I think it's kind of sad in a
01:17:50
way because you know you're you're a big
01:17:51
titty beer I I think specific about her
01:17:56
and then and then that just informs me
01:17:58
not because I have like a jealous wife
01:17:59
or anything if anything she doesn't she
01:18:01
doesn't care enough no um the just level
01:18:04
of respect yeah just that more and
01:18:07
that's part of my brand too hey is it um
01:18:10
yeah my part of my brand is like that I
01:18:13
I hav't C out before like making Tik
01:18:14
toks and stuff like dancing Tik toks
01:18:16
like with people like misinterpret that
01:18:19
yeah yeah I like um I made of mine um JZ
01:18:24
Thon we met dancing Tik Tok and like the
01:18:26
if I don't know if you've seen on Tik
01:18:27
Tok but the top search is always at the
01:18:29
top of the comments and at the top the
01:18:31
the top um comment was Louis Davis
01:18:35
divorce inter like moves fast yeah like
01:18:38
the the top search searches people
01:18:40
searching for videos about my divorce so
01:18:42
it's like yeah unbelievable so some
01:18:46
people are sort of like waiting for you
01:18:47
to fail or I don't no I don't know just
01:18:50
just the internet you know things get
01:18:51
Ming well oh it's it's a it's a good way
01:18:54
to live though um yeah you're just
01:18:56
living with the utmost sort of Integrity
01:18:58
yeah yeah yeah that's cool she must yeah
01:19:00
I don't have skeletons you know you're
01:19:02
not going to fine you know well you just
01:19:04
I mean if if this is who you're
01:19:05
portraying you can't you just can't
01:19:06
break character some you can the there
01:19:09
people that portray something that's not
01:19:10
who they are but I I I take Serious
01:19:13
being who I am in the story that yeah
01:19:15
well authenticity is key I think isn't
01:19:16
it all right let's get to some of these
01:19:18
questions uh are these fast like am I
01:19:21
like am I just like okay no no as long
01:19:23
as you want really enjoyed um just the
01:19:26
the pace and the tempo of this this
01:19:28
conversation like I I don't know I
01:19:29
expected more more energy but you're
01:19:31
like you're um I'm surprised at how L
01:19:34
back voice sing I'm Stone yeah are you
01:19:39
not
01:19:42
today occasionally or you no no not not
01:19:46
um I don't know it's this thing that
01:19:47
once I had children on the way that's
01:19:49
just weird like maybe conservative value
01:19:52
which is like really yeah I don't drink
01:19:54
yeah
01:19:55
yeah yeah you at the Warriors tonight we
01:19:57
have a couple of beers or no you just
01:19:58
you're not how are you been a
01:19:59
non-drinker I have I have not had any
01:20:02
alcohol in a year but like I haven't I
01:20:04
haven't had anything recreational the
01:20:07
other stuff and yeah since like started
01:20:10
thinking about having kids wow so you
01:20:12
got no no sort of vices or anything
01:20:13
really
01:20:14
no wow that's cool you have been
01:20:16
reevaluating me I think of
01:20:20
my have you got a yeah yeah we every
01:20:24
yeah everyone in this world is addicted
01:20:26
to their phone yeah unfortunately oh
01:20:28
yeah I would hate to see you actually I
01:20:30
was going to say my screen time is 8
01:20:31
hours a day right oh mine's probably
01:20:33
just as bad but the thing is you a lot
01:20:36
of yours is like productive time like
01:20:37
you know I think of it as all productive
01:20:39
time people think yeah but if you're
01:20:41
having a zombie scroll though I also
01:20:42
don't sleep I also don't sleep much so
01:20:45
it's like yeah don't why are you
01:20:48
thinking about content or what are you
01:20:50
yeah you just stay late editing cuz it's
01:20:53
after my kids go to bed and then like
01:20:55
what do you edit on your phone or have
01:20:56
you got on my phone CU i
01:21:00
i Phone feels like you can do it in an
01:21:02
around stuff whereas like laptop
01:21:05
computer you got a set up you know it
01:21:07
feels like separate so like I often do
01:21:09
stuff on my phone yeah yeah okay what
01:21:12
are some of the biggest challenges
01:21:14
you've faced as a Tik Tok content
01:21:15
creator not really um not really haven't
01:21:19
faced any it's just the that I have to
01:21:21
think of videos every day which which
01:21:23
like 80% % of the time is a joy and 20%
01:21:27
of the time is the discipline of it yeah
01:21:30
what's been the most rewarding aspect of
01:21:32
being a Tik Tock
01:21:33
influencer that what I don't I don't
01:21:35
think I have any influence over anyone
01:21:38
um I'm proudly a Tik tocker but I am
01:21:41
what has been the most rewarding part is
01:21:43
that I get to spend as much time my
01:21:45
children as I want is that like you uh
01:21:48
wake up and I spend my day doing the
01:21:49
things that I love and that that's not a
01:21:52
privilege that everyone gets to enjoy
01:21:54
millions of people it took literally to
01:21:56
give one family that but I'm thankful
01:21:58
for that and yeah I get to wake up and
01:22:00
do whatever I want every day and I'm so
01:22:03
thankful for that [ __ ] that is so cool
01:22:05
that's everyone's dream really isn't it
01:22:07
yeah yeah and you're doing it people
01:22:09
unfortunately don't get the chance to
01:22:10
figure that out and cuz life has lots of
01:22:13
pressure so I'm real thankful that I got
01:22:15
got to at least know one Min is cuz the
01:22:18
yeah the life that um like most of us
01:22:20
lead it just makes no sense say like
01:22:22
work your ass off for 48 weeks of the
01:22:24
year to have four weeks and you leave
01:22:25
and yeah yeah I'm lucky that I like
01:22:28
don't like want stuff you know I don't
01:22:30
you know I don't you know if you're not
01:22:33
if you're listening to this I'm wearing
01:22:34
Crocs and I'm real like underdressed um
01:22:37
but the uh the Crocs have got a lot of
01:22:39
those um what are those badges C the
01:22:41
jbits they got a lot of jibit high spe
01:22:44
Crocs yeah I wear um Crocs everywhere
01:22:47
all the time I've never had the Crocs
01:22:48
still lift your legs up so they can be
01:22:50
seen on
01:22:51
camera oh look at all the look at all
01:22:54
the G what are they giblets
01:22:58
JS
01:23:00
um how do you decide which brands or
01:23:02
creators to collaborate with just my
01:23:04
mates people that I want to hang out of
01:23:06
this creators last night I was staying
01:23:08
at a Creator's house um yeah cuz it's
01:23:12
like we and we were just like watching
01:23:13
short videos we were like editing a
01:23:15
video together like handing it back and
01:23:17
forth like doing the edits to get it's
01:23:19
so fun hanging out with someone that
01:23:21
understands the crap who's that Terell
01:23:23
um he's a
01:23:25
yeah know he's been around for a long
01:23:26
time has millions of followers that's so
01:23:28
cool that you got like this little
01:23:30
Community or this network we're Lo like
01:23:32
we we're super lonely and we don't have
01:23:33
colleagues we have peers so when we get
01:23:35
to hang out with other creators like
01:23:36
tonight at the Warriors game where I'll
01:23:37
be there'll be like other creators and
01:23:39
when you get to see each other and talk
01:23:41
to each other and talk about cuz it like
01:23:45
it's like our Union basically so when we
01:23:46
hang out we can talk about Brands and we
01:23:48
talk about what we're working on and
01:23:49
what's changing and what's going on and
01:23:52
like it's yeah it's um
01:23:55
um yeah mates for creators I'm not going
01:23:58
to enjoy meeting up someone I don't know
01:24:00
to make videos with it's going to be
01:24:02
like work which the secret is for it to
01:24:04
not feel like that and then for Brands
01:24:07
it's just got to be in in your life yeah
01:24:09
and I and um the also and who I won't
01:24:13
work with is is I think it might
01:24:19
um like I won't do like gambling like I
01:24:22
won't do alcohol I had a chance to a
01:24:25
custom Vape flavor do that you know yeah
01:24:29
um yeah I
01:24:31
I not part of yeah real the real easy
01:24:35
ones but alcohol I feel like is is a
01:24:37
sneaky dog like that slips in there but
01:24:39
for me no yeah yeah well it wouldn't be
01:24:42
I mean we talked before about um
01:24:44
authenticity and staying in character if
01:24:46
you're if you're non Drinker then yeah
01:24:48
yeah yeah true yeah but I like I like
01:24:50
beer like maybe the 0% but just nah just
01:24:54
the
01:24:55
May
01:24:57
no if I was a kid now like I I had when
01:25:00
I was growing up like most of my mates
01:25:03
smoked so I tried smoking CU I wanted to
01:25:04
fit in and I just hated it I think if I
01:25:06
was growing up now I'd be a vapor like
01:25:09
that's so yum like a watermelon flavor
01:25:12
Vape what is this it's amazing so
01:25:15
dangerous G um what skills or qualities
01:25:18
do you think are essential for someone
01:25:20
to be successful on Tik Tok you you love
01:25:23
making videos you like if if me and you
01:25:27
if you cloned me you know and you cloned
01:25:30
all of my skills and knowledge and
01:25:32
understanding of content but one of me
01:25:35
loves it and one of me um is doing it as
01:25:39
a job for money like the person who
01:25:41
loves it you can't beat them you can't
01:25:43
beat someone that would do it for free
01:25:45
you can't beat someone that's passionate
01:25:46
about it like you just won't they'll
01:25:49
they'll be doing it when your motivation
01:25:51
Runs Out they'll be doing it when you
01:25:52
need a break you know cuz they love it
01:25:55
and if you love it and you're passionate
01:25:57
about it and you're consistent it you'll
01:26:00
yeah you'll succeed but what happens in
01:26:02
with a lot of creators is they get
01:26:04
50,000 followers they get 100,000
01:26:05
followers and they start figuring out
01:26:06
trying to figure out how to make money
01:26:08
which you probably can but that's when
01:26:10
that's the beginning of the
01:26:12
end you should wait as long as possible
01:26:14
to try and make money right cuz because
01:26:17
the longer you can make it just about
01:26:19
the love of making
01:26:20
videos it'll just translate in the
01:26:23
content that it'll be it'll better it'll
01:26:24
be funnier it'll be deeper it'll be more
01:26:27
consistent and um those opportunities
01:26:30
will come but people that switch that
01:26:33
focus of theirs to like how do I make
01:26:35
money mean just they they're moving
01:26:37
their eyes away from like what do I love
01:26:38
what am I passionate about cuz that
01:26:40
that's what that's what resonates with
01:26:42
the audience yes life is about money but
01:26:45
if you can just work your normal job for
01:26:47
3 4 years but still make videos every
01:26:49
day you should do that you you'll you'll
01:26:51
build something way better in terms of
01:26:53
your community or your audience here I
01:26:55
think this has probably been the biggest
01:26:57
surprise for me today just how much
01:26:58
thought you put into it yeah yes are you
01:27:00
familiar with um the 10,000 hour Theory
01:27:02
Malcolm gladwell's 10,000 hour is that
01:27:04
to master something yeah yeah yeah yeah
01:27:06
10,000 hours of you would have done your
01:27:08
10,000 hours yeah and then I I'm willing
01:27:11
to do 10,000 on like something within
01:27:14
the niche I'm willing to do 10,000 on
01:27:16
like learning to make YouTube goals I'm
01:27:18
willing to do 10,000 on um interviews
01:27:22
like um like everything within the world
01:27:24
content um I'm willing to fail publicly
01:27:27
which is what was required of us and
01:27:29
then learn yeah cuz I love
01:27:32
it have you got quite a good
01:27:33
relationship with failure yeah well um
01:27:37
that's what happens every day you know
01:27:39
make videos that don't hit you know when
01:27:40
you've had well the mostow I had again I
01:27:44
had the most watched video of last year
01:27:45
so it's like every video I post is not
01:27:47
my Best by that by those metrics right
01:27:50
so like that's I just have to accept you
01:27:52
know that I'm just going to keep chasing
01:27:54
it cuz I know that I'll have a I'll have
01:27:57
bigger and better I know that will that
01:28:00
will come because because I show up
01:28:02
every day and the promise is that if I
01:28:04
show up every day for my Pursuit that
01:28:07
the possibility of it happening always
01:28:09
remains is that is that the goal every
01:28:11
day is that what you strive for every
01:28:12
day or you post some stuff and you know
01:28:14
it's not going to be well sometimes it
01:28:16
happens and it goes goes crazy but um
01:28:19
the goal every day is to tell stories
01:28:22
that I care about sometimes I don't care
01:28:24
about them that much um and sometimes I
01:28:27
care about them a lot and that's the
01:28:29
goal and that that's what resonates with
01:28:31
people cuz it's just like a hobby like
01:28:33
it might people might not be able to
01:28:35
understand listening to this why I feel
01:28:37
that way about it but just sub it for
01:28:38
whatever your thing is you know like
01:28:40
what if like like a Runners just love it
01:28:44
you can't get a runner to shut up about
01:28:45
running you start talking about running
01:28:47
and and like that makes no sense to some
01:28:50
people you know but but like when I
01:28:52
listen to that I understand just like
01:28:54
that someone has a passion whatever that
01:28:56
is and it's just a translate this is my
01:28:58
oh yeah yeah you you specifically
01:29:00
messaged me saying oh I I want you to
01:29:02
talk about my running like we haven't we
01:29:05
haven't really talk about Itor you're
01:29:07
you're um you're doing really well
01:29:08
though like I saw a Tik Tok you did
01:29:10
where you're going for a 15K run and it
01:29:11
was um it was good ran Queen I ran in
01:29:14
the Queenstown F yeah are you yeah yeah
01:29:17
yeah I'm excited oh [ __ ] yeah I'm real
01:29:19
excited have you done a half yet yeah
01:29:21
I've done a half ran that distance a few
01:29:23
times um and it's running I don't know
01:29:27
if you know this but running is probably
01:29:28
the closest stimulus you can have to
01:29:30
diving the breathing is the same like
01:29:34
how you're trying to feel during that
01:29:35
that's work you know that strain but not
01:29:39
not hard running but like easy running
01:29:41
is like similar to to diving like how
01:29:45
you're trying to be relaxed as possible
01:29:47
the breathing similar you know um and so
01:29:51
like if all the days I can't die I run
01:29:54
yeah I love it like it's it's out of it
01:29:56
um when did you when did you start um
01:29:59
I've run since I was a teenager but I I
01:30:02
just enjoy running like I'm not I'm not
01:30:05
like
01:30:06
um like um trying to improve I'm not
01:30:10
like like I still just eat whatever I
01:30:12
want like live my life how I want but I
01:30:14
just enjoy the practice of like having
01:30:16
that time to run so it's like um I think
01:30:20
of great videos while I'm running I like
01:30:22
ring people I haven't rang the ages
01:30:24
while I'm running like I just I really I
01:30:26
really enjoy the mindfulness of it yeah
01:30:29
you talked about that e oh yeah the
01:30:31
medit meditative effect of that it's
01:30:34
crazy and the the mental health benefits
01:30:36
which is probably something I never
01:30:37
really thought too much about until like
01:30:38
the last few years well one of your
01:30:40
strategies you probably had prior to
01:30:42
like um you know some of the tools you
01:30:45
have now for like managing your mental
01:30:47
like excise completely you some sort of
01:30:51
movement every day yeah yeah yeah yeah I
01:30:53
I yeah I I love it I can't emphasize the
01:30:56
importance of that yeah like there's um
01:30:58
yeah the physical benefits that everyone
01:31:00
knows about yeah but the mental health
01:31:01
benefits so you even on a day where you
01:31:03
feel like [ __ ] and you don't feel like
01:31:05
getting out there you always feel like a
01:31:06
million dollars as soon as you finished
01:31:08
a run the and the less you feel like
01:31:10
doing it the better you feel once it's
01:31:13
done the more strain more strain you put
01:31:16
on yourself I reckon the more the bigger
01:31:17
the payoff is yeah yeah it's like doing
01:31:20
hard stuff um reverse drugs you know
01:31:23
that [ __ ] so you're going do a full
01:31:25
that's um that's awesome so what's
01:31:26
what's the longest training run you've
01:31:27
had so far in this block not very far
01:31:30
I'm I'm run a half in um I'm going to
01:31:34
run a half in I think it's four weeks
01:31:36
now not an event but that's what the
01:31:38
current block of training that leads up
01:31:40
to yeah so they're in 16 on Sunday yeah
01:31:44
um it's very slow it's like a plot I can
01:31:47
like probably have a yarn with you while
01:31:48
I'm running but um it's crack out I run
01:31:51
in like a real small I live in a small
01:31:53
Bay like 50 people and that they're all
01:31:55
retired and it's like I'm like the only
01:31:58
thing that happens on this street like
01:31:59
cuz I run this little 2K Loop cuz it's
01:32:01
quite unsafe to run in the hill so like
01:32:03
and they just like sit there and have
01:32:05
the C and they watch me run and
01:32:07
they how many more laps to go are you
01:32:10
are you sort of a big deal in your
01:32:11
community or like a this the only place
01:32:14
in the world where I'm still me so they
01:32:17
don't give a [ __ ] or they just don't
01:32:19
understand what you do yeah like you um
01:32:23
they yeah they just don't yeah and like
01:32:24
but now and it's out of it cuz every
01:32:27
time I leave my little like isolated Bay
01:32:30
it's like a reminder of how much my like
01:32:34
what I am in the world is changing and
01:32:35
like sometimes just rushes up and
01:32:37
punches you in the face like it went
01:32:38
from like occasionally getting
01:32:41
recognized a couple years ago to like
01:32:43
just like every store you know like
01:32:45
someone there be some sort of
01:32:47
interaction like that um even overseas
01:32:51
and stuff like that's out of it like
01:32:52
I've been traveling this year
01:32:54
it's like out of it other side of the
01:32:56
world like people stop you
01:33:01
um yeah awesome and and um people in
01:33:04
your your small home Community they they
01:33:06
they proud of you is there some Envy no
01:33:09
they just I've just treated exactly the
01:33:10
same the only time it comes up is when
01:33:14
I'm in a magazine and like and the lady
01:33:17
at the shop gets so excited and she'll
01:33:18
show me and like cuz it puts it in the
01:33:20
context of her world like her media
01:33:22
right like her lady at the little Dair
01:33:25
like like she um she like just so
01:33:28
excited to show me like I don't know
01:33:29
that I did the like yeah I love it it
01:33:33
puts it it puts it in like you know like
01:33:36
a real world perspective but they they
01:33:37
are and is like Magazine's probably got
01:33:39
a readership of like 30,000 or something
01:33:41
it's way less than the content you're
01:33:43
pumping out yeah that's um that's funny
01:33:47
yeah that's funny well man this has been
01:33:49
bloody great this has been a lot of fun
01:33:51
I've been um pleasantly surprised you're
01:33:53
way more than one I
01:33:54
expected I'm in that in the nicest
01:33:56
possible way um yeah I I mean I know
01:33:59
you're a good husband and a good father
01:34:01
but I don't think I realized um just
01:34:03
just how much of a brain is ticking back
01:34:05
there when it comes to the stuff you're
01:34:06
doing online it's been awesome I think
01:34:09
um yeah a lot of people will get a lot
01:34:12
out of this like in terms of content
01:34:14
creation it's like a master class on how
01:34:16
to do it I think U if if
01:34:20
anyone wants to tell stories and I think
01:34:23
like people people think of it as a
01:34:24
Young Person's thing but if anyone wants
01:34:26
to tell stories of the world even if you
01:34:28
just want to tell more people about your
01:34:29
business or you want to um you know
01:34:32
share your hobby for stamp collecting or
01:34:34
whatever like if you want to tell
01:34:35
stories and you want to get it out there
01:34:37
the world like you should just start
01:34:39
telling your stories it's only you and
01:34:40
your anxiety that holds you back from
01:34:43
stealing from telling your stories there
01:34:44
will be people that care about your
01:34:46
story there will be people that you know
01:34:49
that connect with you and so people
01:34:51
should just start anyone can do this
01:34:53
it's like not that hard you just have to
01:34:55
love what you do enough that you will
01:34:57
make videos forever and eventually fall
01:34:59
in love with learning about um the
01:35:02
performance of those videos yeah and if
01:35:04
your biggest fear is worrying about what
01:35:05
people think [ __ ] them people are
01:35:07
thinking about you way less than what
01:35:08
you
01:35:09
imagine
01:35:11
how yeah that's what I would say you
01:35:13
probably aren't going to believe me if
01:35:15
you're if you've heard me say just have
01:35:18
courage and if you're passionate about
01:35:19
something do it um but I thought I'd try
01:35:22
anyway and say
01:35:24
that what you have to say matters and if
01:35:26
you want to share it with the world
01:35:28
people will care I hope you have the
01:35:30
courage to do
01:35:32
so that's a good place to end it Louie
01:35:35
Davis husband father content creator I
01:35:38
appreciate it mate thank you

Podspun Insights

In this episode, Louie and his guest dive deep into the complexities of love, relationships, and the challenges of being a content creator in today's digital age. They share heartfelt stories about their pasts, including Louie's teenage romance and the ups and downs of marriage, emphasizing the importance of active choices in relationships. The conversation takes a poignant turn as they discuss mental health, the pressures of social media, and the emotional toll of public scrutiny. Louie reflects on the reality of parenting, the joys and challenges of raising children, and the impact of storytelling on his life. With humor and honesty, they explore the balance between personal life and public persona, ultimately encouraging listeners to embrace their own stories and passions. This episode is a rollercoaster of emotions, blending laughter with moments of vulnerability, making it a must-listen for anyone navigating the complexities of life and love in the modern world.

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 92
    Most heartwarming
  • 91
    Best overall
  • 90
    Most emotional
  • 90
    Most viral

Episode Highlights

  • Navigating Mental Health
    Discussing the importance of mental health and the impact of societal pressures.
    “People think that it's either that or nothing, you know?”
    @ 04m 39s
    August 18, 2024
  • Teenage Love Stories
    Reflecting on the intensity of teenage love and its impact on mental health.
    “Your first breakup is so big; it's the end of the world.”
    @ 06m 41s
    August 18, 2024
  • The Courage to Create
    Reflecting on lost opportunities and the importance of pursuing passion despite setbacks.
    “It's always possible, but definitely not if you give up.”
    @ 21m 44s
    August 18, 2024
  • Family First
    A commitment to raising children within a loving community and sharing their lives with family.
    “I just wanted to be home with my kids.”
    @ 31m 31s
    August 18, 2024
  • A Life-Saving Operation
    At just two days old, she underwent a life-saving operation after being born with blocked tonsils.
    “She almost died, but they saved her life.”
    @ 35m 26s
    August 18, 2024
  • A Unique Wedding Day Story
    A spontaneous KFC stop on their wedding day led to unexpected media attention.
    “We had a fight on our wedding day about that KFC photo.”
    @ 45m 13s
    August 18, 2024
  • The Importance of Ideas
    The idea is the most important thing in storytelling, even over truth.
    “The idea is the most important thing.”
    @ 56m 54s
    August 18, 2024
  • The Role of Therapy in Relationships
    Couples therapy can be beneficial even when things are good, not just in crises.
    “It’s just an active choice.”
    @ 01h 08m 26s
    August 18, 2024
  • Navigating Relationships and Content Creation
    Balancing personal relationships with content creation can be challenging but rewarding.
    “You have to work like a [ __ ] to keep that thing well.”
    @ 01h 08m 36s
    August 18, 2024
  • The Power of Live Streaming
    Live streaming can be lifechanging for content creators, allowing them to earn significant income.
    “Live streaming for people can be lifechanging.”
    @ 01h 13m 25s
    August 18, 2024
  • Living the Dream
    Being a content creator allows for a lifestyle where one can do what they love every day.
    “I get to wake up and do whatever I want every day.”
    @ 01h 21m 54s
    August 18, 2024
  • The Importance of Movement
    Physical activity has profound mental health benefits, even on tough days. "You always feel like a million dollars as soon as you finish a run."
    “You always feel like a million dollars as soon as you finish a run.”
    @ 01h 31m 05s
    August 18, 2024

Episode Quotes

Key Moments

  • Teenage Sweethearts02:03
  • Content Creation Journey13:45
  • Lost Courage19:46
  • Family Commitment31:31
  • Wedding Day Chaos45:01
  • Content Creation Insights53:25
  • Authenticity Matters1:25:41
  • Mindfulness Benefits1:30:26

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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