00:00:00
[Music]
00:00:01
Kiwis love a
00:00:03
thirst. Like Finn, we're making
00:00:07
[Music]
00:00:11
waves. Generate switch online today.
00:00:21
Sean Yra, broke boy taco. Welcome to my
00:00:23
podcast. Thank you. Uh you said you're
00:00:26
nervous. A little nervous. Why? Why is
00:00:28
that? I don't know. So, I'm not I I I'm
00:00:30
usually like either on the phone in an
00:00:33
interview or if I'm getting an
00:00:34
interview, I'm just kind of like talking
00:00:36
and hanging out. It's it's it's not
00:00:38
really like we'll put you in the hot
00:00:39
seat and then drill you some questions,
00:00:41
but I'm ready. I'm down. Is this your
00:00:44
first long film podcast interview? I
00:00:46
think so. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I've done
00:00:48
a couple things like on radio and stuff,
00:00:50
you know, at Rock FM and stuff like
00:00:52
that, but um that's that's like, you
00:00:55
know, more just they don't have like the
00:00:58
hard-hitting questions, you know what I
00:00:59
mean? They're just like, "So, what did
00:01:00
you do yesterday?" You know? So, I
00:01:02
cooked [ __ ] tacos. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:01:04
Yeah. I cooked tacos, man. Yeah. Yeah.
00:01:06
Yeah. Well, it's it's great to meet you
00:01:08
in real life. Like, I've seen I've seen
00:01:09
your social media stuff. I I thought you
00:01:11
had gold teeth. You got braces now.
00:01:13
Yeah. Yeah. So, you know what's funny?
00:01:15
I'm such a like redneck that I had
00:01:19
horrible crooked teeth my whole life,
00:01:21
but I was like, I want gold teeth and
00:01:23
just had them put gold teeth on my
00:01:25
crooked teeth, which everybody was like,
00:01:27
what's going on there? Just get braces,
00:01:29
dude. You know, so I I was like, ah,
00:01:31
yeah, true. So, I spent a little more
00:01:33
money and got braces because I've always
00:01:35
wanted straight teeth. That was actually
00:01:36
one of my dreams like as a kid because
00:01:39
all of my all of my friends and stuff in
00:01:41
school had braces. So, I was like, I
00:01:43
want braces. But got him when I was 35.
00:01:46
Oh, better late than never. Yeah,
00:01:48
exactly. Um, yeah, we'll get into the
00:01:50
whole uh Sean story, including the early
00:01:52
years in Kentucky, which is uh the
00:01:54
tattoo at the at the top of your form.
00:01:56
Yeah, Kentucky. So, is it Kentucky? And
00:01:58
is that barbed wire either side of it?
00:02:00
What's the significance of that? I got a
00:02:01
lot of barb wire. I got barb wire on my
00:02:03
arm here. Um, yeah, I got it on my
00:02:07
knuckles. There's just a lot of barb
00:02:09
wire where I come from, man. you know,
00:02:11
it's just uh there's not a lot of a lot
00:02:13
in Kentucky. There's there's grass cows,
00:02:16
barbwire, you know what I mean? So, oh,
00:02:19
come on. That's unfair. There's um uh
00:02:21
one of my idols, Muhammad Ali. He's from
00:02:23
He's from Louisville. He's from uh
00:02:25
Louisville, which is where you you're
00:02:26
from. That's where I'm from. Yeah. Um
00:02:27
the Cardinals. Yeah. Yeah. The the the
00:02:30
baseball bat, the Louisville, Louisville
00:02:32
Slugger. Yeah. Louisville Slugger.
00:02:35
Kentucky Fried. Kentucky Fried Chicken.
00:02:37
The Colonel Colonel Sanders. And barbed
00:02:39
wire. And barbed wire. Don't forget Barb
00:02:41
wire that end. Yeah, there you go. So,
00:02:43
who is who is Sean Yabro?
00:02:46
Just a normal guy. Yeah. Uh, come from
00:02:49
like a, you know, real low class
00:02:52
lowerass family. U, real poor family
00:02:55
growing up. And, um, just a normal dude
00:02:58
with with a dream, I guess. and and I'm
00:03:01
one of those rare super super super
00:03:03
super rare examples of somebody who's
00:03:06
pretty much achieved their dream in life
00:03:08
and and pretty early 35 I think is when
00:03:11
I'd say I'd tick that box and obviously
00:03:14
you know I still got dreams and stuff
00:03:16
but um I'm just a normal dude yeah like
00:03:19
playing video games and hanging out.
00:03:22
Yeah. Yeah. one one as from what I know
00:03:23
about your story um one aspect that I
00:03:26
love about it is um the sobriety journey
00:03:29
and and just how exponentially better
00:03:32
your life has got uh since you've since
00:03:36
you've quit that. I've had so many so
00:03:37
many people on the podcast in that same
00:03:38
sort of position and no one has ever
00:03:41
said you know what since I gave up drugs
00:03:43
and booze my life got worse. No one at
00:03:46
all. So sober since um November 13,
00:03:49
2021. Yes, that's correct. Yeah. Um, was
00:03:53
was there a rock bottom moment or what
00:03:54
was the what was the turning point? What
00:03:56
was the last? No, not I mean I mean not
00:03:59
really, man. I mean, there was just, you
00:04:01
know, I'm one of those people that I can
00:04:04
stay away from from alcohol pretty much
00:04:07
all day long, real easy. But if I have a
00:04:09
sip, I'm off to the races. You know what
00:04:12
I mean? I'm not stopping. And I I don't
00:04:15
know why that is. It's maybe it's
00:04:17
genetic or something. I don't know. But
00:04:18
um I didn't even start drinking till I
00:04:21
was like 23, 24. It was pretty late in
00:04:24
life when I had my first sip of alcohol.
00:04:26
But I knew very early like, wow, I love
00:04:29
alcohol. This is awesome. You know,
00:04:33
taste or the feeling? Both. Both. I
00:04:36
mean, the taste of bourbon was tastes
00:04:38
like sweet honey to me. And the feeling
00:04:40
of it, I felt like I was on top of the
00:04:42
world, you know, Superman. I felt like a
00:04:44
different person. And I think maybe
00:04:45
that's the problem is that um whenever I
00:04:48
would drink, I would be I'm already
00:04:50
pretty like animated and and pretty
00:04:53
confident person. Um, but and I'm very
00:04:56
social already, but but whenever I used
00:04:58
to drink, I it would it would go up to
00:05:00
11, you know, and it would go overboard,
00:05:03
you know, to the point where I was
00:05:04
obnoxious and I was just yelling and
00:05:06
screaming and I was in people's faces
00:05:08
and, you know, it just I I just didn't
00:05:11
really Maybe it's cuz I didn't, you
00:05:12
know, grow up drinking and I didn't have
00:05:14
a good relationship with it or
00:05:16
something. I don't know. I just know
00:05:17
that it's not for me, you know. Um, but
00:05:21
I've always kind of struggled with it
00:05:23
and it got to the point where here it
00:05:26
was a combination of things. It wasn't
00:05:27
just one thing that made me quit
00:05:29
boozing. It was
00:05:31
like I had a conversation with my boss
00:05:36
who worked at Ralph's, which I'm sure
00:05:39
you know. His name is Mikey. And and he
00:05:42
was like, whenever this whole taco thing
00:05:44
started, he's the one who really pushed
00:05:46
me to like, you should you should cook
00:05:47
cook some tacos. cuz he asked me one day
00:05:49
like, "Do you know how to cook Mexican
00:05:50
food?" I said, "Yeah." And he was like,
00:05:52
"We'll show up tomorrow and cook us some
00:05:55
Mexican food." So, I did. And he was
00:05:57
like, "Bro, this is crazy. You got to
00:05:59
sell this. You got to sell this. We
00:06:00
don't have this here." And I was like,
00:06:01
"Really?" So, that was one thing I was
00:06:04
like, "Wow, maybe I need to lock in."
00:06:06
You know, and then my girl, you know, I
00:06:09
would I would drink and I would be happy
00:06:11
and then I would get angry and then I
00:06:13
would get sad and then I would just it
00:06:15
was just a roller coaster and my girl
00:06:17
was just like, "Dude, like this is so
00:06:20
dumb. You got to stop. This is
00:06:22
ridiculous. It's embarrassing. You know,
00:06:24
if I'm out in public with you, it's just
00:06:26
just stop it." So I was like, "All
00:06:28
right." Yeah. And I had, you know, for
00:06:31
years been like, "Yeah, I'm going to
00:06:32
quit. I'm going to quit." Well, it
00:06:33
happens to be I'm in a new country. I'm
00:06:36
in a brand new country. I can I can
00:06:38
reset everything. Nobody knows who I am.
00:06:40
I can just I can start over. And it
00:06:42
really felt like I could start over in
00:06:43
life. And and
00:06:45
um I just woke up one day and I just
00:06:49
said, "I'm not going to not going to
00:06:50
drink." And I just took it a day at a
00:06:53
time. I didn't go to AA or anything. I
00:06:55
just put all my focus in in obsessing
00:06:59
over tacos, I guess you could say. And
00:07:01
yeah, it seems like you almost replace
00:07:03
replaced one addiction with another one.
00:07:05
I did. Yeah. Yeah. I'm I'm one of them
00:07:08
people that like, you know, I love it's
00:07:11
hard for me to love, but when I do love,
00:07:12
I love hard. You know what I mean? So,
00:07:15
uh, I fell in love with tacos and and I
00:07:17
didn't really realize, I guess, the that
00:07:19
I had the recipe, I guess you could say.
00:07:22
I can I can see parallels. My
00:07:24
relationship with alcohol is uh is much
00:07:26
the same in that I can I can easily not
00:07:28
drink, but as soon as I drink, then I
00:07:30
start looking at my watch thinking,
00:07:31
"Well, the supermarket's going to shut
00:07:33
at 9:00. I need to like get there before
00:07:34
9 to Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um Yeah. So, in a
00:07:38
lot of ways, it's just easier not to
00:07:39
start than to Yeah. Yeah. So, what does
00:07:42
an average day look like now? Uh average
00:07:44
day is I'll probably generally wake up
00:07:47
around like 6:00 in the morning cuz my
00:07:50
cats won't shut up.
00:07:52
They just meow at my door non-stop. And
00:07:54
if they're my door shut, they jump all
00:07:56
over me and run literally run across my
00:07:59
face when I'm sleeping, which is cool.
00:08:02
Um, so yeah, I'll wake up at about 600.
00:08:04
I'll have a coffee and um jump on the
00:08:07
emails um you know packaging designs,
00:08:12
setting up uh you know social stuff,
00:08:16
events for the trailer, checking the
00:08:19
deputy schedule, make sure all the
00:08:21
employees are all good and nobody's
00:08:23
calling out sick. And then it's just a
00:08:26
lot of admin. Yeah, a lot of admin. And
00:08:28
then I'll and then once I get done with
00:08:30
all that or put a pause on all that, um
00:08:33
I'll run to the shop, ask around, make
00:08:35
sure everything's all good, have a
00:08:37
couple tastings. Um and yeah. So um yes.
00:08:43
So you've got the um the two stores in
00:08:45
the Oakland suburb of bit. Um a food
00:08:47
truck as well. Mhm. And uh just to time
00:08:51
stamp this chat, uh we're recording this
00:08:53
in midFebruary and it was just announced
00:08:54
yesterday that you've got a new store
00:08:56
coming in Burken Head in Oakland. Birkin
00:08:58
Head, man. The Empire. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:09:02
I'm excited. I mean, we're we're we're
00:09:04
looking at, you know, South Auckland.
00:09:06
South Auckland always shows up every
00:09:08
time I'm down there and they they're a
00:09:10
big supporter. So, I I got a lot of love
00:09:12
for South Auckland. Um especially like,
00:09:15
you know, Manorwa. I went to Manorwa for
00:09:18
the first time. Is that how you
00:09:19
pronounce it? Oh, you're asking the
00:09:21
wrong guy. Manuria. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
00:09:24
What what you said? I I went down there
00:09:26
and uh No, no, no, no. I'm not. He said
00:09:29
it, man. I'm not your tomato mentor. No,
00:09:32
it was nice though. It reminded me a lot
00:09:33
of home. So, um it it's just comforting
00:09:36
down there and sometimes when I'm
00:09:38
walking around pawn somebody, I feel
00:09:39
like a sore thumb, you know? I feel a
00:09:41
little out of place. But, um Yeah. In
00:09:42
what way? I just feel like everybody's
00:09:45
better than me. You know what I mean? I
00:09:47
just feel like u you know, it's one of
00:09:49
the reasons why I named it broke boy. I
00:09:50
just felt like, you know, I don't have a
00:09:53
lot of in common with people that live
00:09:57
in Ponmbbe, you know what I mean? And
00:09:59
and that's not a bad thing. I'm not
00:10:00
saying anything that's negative. I'm
00:10:02
just saying like I just uh I don't
00:10:04
relate to a lot of people with yachts
00:10:06
and [ __ ] you know? I just don't I don't
00:10:09
get it. And and I can't really It's hard
00:10:11
to have conversations with people like
00:10:12
that cuz a bit of a disconnect. But one
00:10:15
of your investors drives a McLaren.
00:10:17
Yeah. But he came he came from Yeah.
00:10:21
sort of similar position that I came
00:10:23
from. And maybe one day I'll have a
00:10:25
McLaren. But um Yeah. Do you want a
00:10:26
McLaren? No. No. I want like a 67
00:10:30
Mustang or something. You know what I
00:10:32
mean? Real American muscle. I feel like
00:10:35
um I'm from a little town called
00:10:37
Palmerston North, which is about Palmy
00:10:39
Palmy North P. Um and uh I've been in
00:10:43
Oakland for about 20 years. And yeah,
00:10:45
when when I moved to um Oakland, I I
00:10:47
lived in Ponmbbe and um I thought the
00:10:50
same thing. I thought everyone was
00:10:51
better than me. And then then you
00:10:52
realize it's a very non-judgmental
00:10:54
suburb. So I think a lot of the time
00:10:55
it's the stories. It's the stories that
00:10:57
you're telling yourself about you. It's
00:10:59
not necessarily how other people see
00:11:01
you.
00:11:02
Yeah. I mean that that's a good point. I
00:11:04
mean, I would I I maybe for you that
00:11:07
applies, but for me, a lot of people
00:11:10
look at me uh like I'm a gangbanger or
00:11:14
something, you know what I mean? Like
00:11:15
they're just like, "Jesus Christ, this
00:11:17
kid covered in tattoos and he's in his
00:11:19
sweatpants and, you know, gold and
00:11:22
stuff." But um like I was out in uh
00:11:25
Cumu, is that how you pronounce it? I'm
00:11:27
so bad. Um but I was there yesterday and
00:11:30
and me and David, shout out, shout out
00:11:33
David. David Aosana. Uh he's my
00:11:35
investor. We were we were there
00:11:37
yesterday talking to accountants. Shout
00:11:38
out my accountant, too. I love you, bro.
00:11:41
I love you. Take good care of me. You're
00:11:43
like a rep. No. Hey, I had a discussion
00:11:47
with them and they said, "When you're on
00:11:48
the podcast tomorrow, shout us out." Uh
00:11:51
and I said, "Okay, I'll shout you out.
00:11:52
My accountant and my investor." Um but
00:11:55
we were we me and David were outside and
00:11:57
and we were just talking like, "Oh,
00:11:59
yeah. So, like we'll meet up this day.
00:12:01
We'll meet up that day." And this this
00:12:02
this dude came by with like cowboy boots
00:12:04
and was like, "Hey, you guys don't be
00:12:07
talking near my building. Get over
00:12:08
there." Like, "Go talking to it." Just
00:12:09
out of nowhere. And we were just like,
00:12:11
"What's going on?" So, uh, it's just
00:12:14
kind of like, you know, I mean, I don't
00:12:17
blame him. I'm like covered in tattoos
00:12:18
and I'm gold and I got a hat on and I
00:12:20
look a little sketchy, but you know. But
00:12:22
you've also got braces which says this
00:12:24
guy's got an orthodontist. Yes. Shout
00:12:26
out to the orthodontist. Shout out. Big
00:12:28
shout out my orthodontist. Eden Eden
00:12:30
orthodontist. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, so
00:12:32
you're engaged now. So, your your
00:12:34
fiance, uh, Amy, so you met her in San
00:12:37
Francisco when you were when you were
00:12:39
living rough. Yeah. We'll get to that
00:12:40
part of the story. And then, so she she
00:12:42
her visa expired and so she was she was
00:12:45
an illegal an alien. Had to had to go
00:12:48
back to New Zealand and you followed her
00:12:49
back. Yeah. Yeah. So, we met we met um
00:12:53
we met on Tinder over there, but I
00:12:56
wasn't um I was I wasn't like kind of
00:12:59
bouncing around whenever I met her. That
00:13:02
was like a a bit earlier. Um but um you
00:13:05
know, I had a solid place to stay when I
00:13:07
met her, thank God, cuz you know, I
00:13:10
wouldn't be here pro most likely
00:13:12
wouldn't be here if I if I didn't. But
00:13:14
um So, so by the time you met her, you
00:13:17
were would you say you were a mess, but
00:13:18
not a hot mess?
00:13:20
Yeah, I'd say so. You're ready to grow
00:13:22
up. Yeah, I'd say so. Yeah, I had
00:13:24
started doing real well, but then what
00:13:27
had happened was is that we had met and
00:13:29
she was like she was like, "Dude, we I
00:13:31
only got like six months to be here, so
00:13:33
I'm not looking for a relationship." And
00:13:35
I was like, "It's all good." You know,
00:13:36
I'm not looking for one either. You
00:13:37
know, we'll just hang out and party and
00:13:38
blah blah blah. And then we we actually
00:13:41
started I guess they that's what they
00:13:43
say, right? You like you're not looking
00:13:45
for love. It just kind of happens.
00:13:47
Creeps up on you. it creeps up on you
00:13:49
when you're not looking for it, you
00:13:51
know. And then that's what happened to
00:13:52
us. And um we were like, damn, you know,
00:13:55
she's got to leave. And then I was like,
00:13:57
I don't feel like doing long distance.
00:13:58
And she was like, I don't, you know, I'm
00:14:00
in college. I can't do it. And then we
00:14:02
ended up doing long distance for like a
00:14:03
year. And then I think that was a real
00:14:06
rough period in my life where I was just
00:14:08
I I was head over heels in love with
00:14:10
this girl, but I couldn't be with her.
00:14:11
And I didn't really know anybody in SF
00:14:15
other than the people that I drank with
00:14:16
and did drugs with. So I was just kind
00:14:19
of bouncing around and, you know, had
00:14:22
even more of a reason to to booze all
00:14:24
day and lonely and sad and felt sorry
00:14:26
for myself. So that was real bad. And I
00:14:29
I think that period is when when it got
00:14:31
probably the worst for me.
00:14:33
Um but sure enough she got a visa to
00:14:37
come back to New Zeal to to San Fran and
00:14:40
uh we moved in together and then you
00:14:42
know we started um really making a plan
00:14:46
for our future. Yeah. So what were you
00:14:48
doing for work at the time in San Fran?
00:14:49
Were you like a kitchen hand? I was bar
00:14:51
I was bartending. Yeah. I was I was in
00:14:53
and out of restaurants. Um, I would, you
00:14:56
know, I knew I had been there at that
00:14:58
time for a good amount of time. So, I
00:15:01
knew everybody pretty much everybody in
00:15:04
the the industry in the Mission
00:15:06
District. So, I would I would bounce
00:15:08
around, you know, my buddy would call
00:15:09
me, hey bro, what are you doing tonight?
00:15:10
I need help over here. Yep. Yep. I got
00:15:12
you. And then, you know, so the next day
00:15:14
somebody would call me, hey man, you
00:15:15
want to bartend here tonight? Yep. Sure.
00:15:17
No problem. Because if you bartend in
00:15:19
SF, it's like a career. you know, you
00:15:21
get paid like you get paid a base a base
00:15:24
hourly rate of like, you know, 12 bucks
00:15:27
an hour or something, but you also get
00:15:29
like 300 bucks a day cash. So, it's like
00:15:32
you can make a lot of money bartending
00:15:34
while while whenever you're in the
00:15:36
kitchen cooking, you make like 15 an
00:15:38
hour and that's it. You know what I
00:15:40
mean? So, I was just like that wasn't
00:15:41
cutting it for me. And then, funny
00:15:43
enough, whenever I moved here, I was
00:15:45
like, "Oh, I could just bartend here and
00:15:46
then bartending here is not an option."
00:15:48
It's the opposite. It's like you can
00:15:50
actually make some money if you're
00:15:51
chefing, but you can't do it if you're
00:15:52
bartending. So, I stopped bartending.
00:15:55
Oh, yeah. There's no tipping here
00:15:56
whatsoever. Yeah. Nope. Nope. Nope. But
00:15:59
what I mean, I don't really believe in
00:16:00
tipping, but you know, it is what it is.
00:16:03
Yeah. So, so you moved to New Zealand uh
00:16:05
with Amy and um Yeah. What's your first
00:16:07
job? Where do you begin? What What year
00:16:10
is this, by the way? When do you move?
00:16:11
This is 2021, right? Yeah. This is
00:16:13
February 2021. See, a lot's happened
00:16:15
very quickly. Yeah. Oh my god, man.
00:16:17
What? I wake up and I'm just like,
00:16:19
didn't I just get here? What? How do
00:16:21
people like know my name that I don't
00:16:23
know who they are? Um, but yeah, a lot's
00:16:26
happened. A lot's happened real quick. I
00:16:27
mean, drastic change. I mean, if you
00:16:29
would have told me when I moved here,
00:16:31
like I would be here right now. I would
00:16:33
have probably got angry at you and been
00:16:35
like, "Stop making fun of me." You know
00:16:37
what I mean? But, um, yeah, you just
00:16:39
didn't allow yourself to dream that big.
00:16:42
I just think it's just unrealistic, man.
00:16:44
It just doesn't make any sense. It's
00:16:46
like it it's it's weird. It's it's
00:16:49
almost like I woke up one day and
00:16:52
everything had changed. And I know when
00:16:54
that point was and I'll I'll talk to you
00:16:56
about that point later, but
00:16:58
um yeah, I got here in 2021 and then um
00:17:01
I was looking for a job. I got a job at
00:17:04
uh this place called I think it's called
00:17:07
Sweat Shop Brew Kitchen or something. I
00:17:09
don't know what it's called. And um I
00:17:12
was only there for a couple weeks before
00:17:13
me and the head chef really got into it.
00:17:14
And then um I walked out in the middle
00:17:17
of a shift. I got into it like a like a
00:17:19
like a fight. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Pretty
00:17:21
heavy. Yeah. He started Oh, yeah.
00:17:24
Shifts. Shifts are angry. It was It was
00:17:25
embarrassing, too, because I was living
00:17:27
with my my girls uh parents at the time.
00:17:30
We were staying with them at the time
00:17:31
until we could find our own apartment
00:17:33
cuz we just moved here. And it was real
00:17:34
embarrassing, too, because I had to go
00:17:36
home to them and be like, "Yeah, I don't
00:17:38
have a job anymore. I just walked out."
00:17:40
And they were like, "What?" And mind
00:17:42
you, this is the first time that they're
00:17:44
really like getting familiar with me,
00:17:46
like real personal with me. So they're
00:17:48
just like they're pro they're probably
00:17:50
like Jesus Christ, what is it? Who is
00:17:51
this guy? You know what I mean? And I'm
00:17:54
just like, [ __ ] like But yeah. No, the
00:17:57
the head chef over there, we were we
00:17:59
were in real big trouble. We were real
00:18:01
busy and it was only me and him. And uh
00:18:03
he was just barking orders at me. He he
00:18:06
was asking, you know, I had dropped
00:18:08
something before I was supposed to drop
00:18:10
like the chicken and he was like, he's
00:18:13
like, "What the hell's the matter with
00:18:14
you? Didn't is there something [ __ ]
00:18:16
wrong with you?" And I was just like,
00:18:17
"Bro, what?" And he was just barking at
00:18:20
me and I I was re I was furious, man.
00:18:23
And I was just like, "Okay, just get
00:18:26
done with the orders. Get done with all
00:18:28
these tickets and then you can talk
00:18:30
about it." So, I got done with all the
00:18:31
tickets about 30 minutes later and I
00:18:33
looked at them. I said, 'W we got any
00:18:35
more tickets? He goes, "Nope." I go,
00:18:37
"Cool. I'm [ __ ] out of here." And he
00:18:40
goes, "What? What are you talking about?
00:18:42
What's going on?" And I go I go, "Bro,
00:18:43
you you you're real lucky. Like, you're
00:18:46
real lucky. Don't ever talk to me like
00:18:47
that ever. And you're real lucky that
00:18:50
I'm just [ __ ] getting out of here."
00:18:51
You know what I mean? Because um where
00:18:54
I'm from, you just don't you you don't
00:18:56
be disrespectful. And being
00:18:58
disrespectful is one of the worst things
00:19:00
to me. It's just everybody's all the
00:19:02
same, man. don't I I would never say
00:19:03
that type of stuff to him. What the [ __ ]
00:19:05
is wrong with you? You know, like are
00:19:06
you stupid? He said [ __ ] like that to
00:19:08
me. You know what I mean? And um I just
00:19:11
don't I I just grab my knives and go
00:19:13
have a great one, bro. And I just walked
00:19:15
out. And obviously that was a real hard
00:19:17
decision to make, especially when I just
00:19:19
moved to a new country. And um you know,
00:19:23
that was my only line of income, but you
00:19:26
got to do what you got to do sometimes.
00:19:28
And and then what? Uh just another job
00:19:30
in hospital. Yeah. I was looking around
00:19:32
for maybe two more weeks and uh a buddy
00:19:35
uh had had sent me some ad that was on
00:19:39
Instagram and um it was for this place
00:19:42
called Ralph's and it was like kind of a
00:19:45
divey burger joint in Dominion Road and
00:19:48
I was like, "Oh, this looks tight." And
00:19:49
I could tell the guy the guy that was
00:19:51
like the owner or whatever, he was like
00:19:54
had a bunch of tattoos. I'm like, "Oh,
00:19:56
me and this guy will get along real
00:19:57
well." So I just hit him up. I said,
00:19:58
"Hey, bro. What kind of hours you
00:20:00
looking for?" He said like 20 hours a
00:20:02
week. I was like, "Perfect, bro."
00:20:03
Because, you know, I didn't want to work
00:20:04
to death. I just want to um I'm in a new
00:20:08
place. I want to look around, but I want
00:20:09
to earn some money while I'm doing it,
00:20:10
you know. So, I I went there and
00:20:13
um chopped it up with him for a little
00:20:16
bit and and he hired me and uh the rest
00:20:18
is history. You said So, Ross is like a
00:20:20
burger place, right? Yeah. It's a burger
00:20:21
joint and it's a little bit dive like a
00:20:23
dive bar. A lot of people go there just
00:20:25
for a burger and fries and a beer. Yeah.
00:20:27
Yeah.
00:20:29
Yeah. So, um, like, yeah, why Mexican
00:20:32
food? Like, I mean, because that's what
00:20:34
the specialty is. Obviously, it's in the
00:20:35
name Broke Boy Taco. But, I mean, you
00:20:36
could have you could have done anything.
00:20:37
Could have been Broke Boy Burger. I
00:20:38
could I could have done anything. I
00:20:40
mean, I mean, you know, it's funny, bro,
00:20:43
because I was never like in love with
00:20:46
food. Uh, even though I was a chef for
00:20:48
like 15 years, I was never like, I'll
00:20:50
live and breathe food. Never. You know
00:20:53
what I mean? I just did it because I
00:20:54
seemed to be good at it and it made me
00:20:56
some money. You know what I mean? Um,
00:20:59
but I guess I didn't realize just how
00:21:03
much I loved Mexican food and and how
00:21:07
important Mexican food was to me until I
00:21:09
got here and I couldn't find it. You
00:21:11
know what I mean? I couldn't I mean, it
00:21:12
was it Mexican food was here, but it not
00:21:15
not the type of stuff that I really
00:21:17
gravitate towards. Yeah, bro. Oh, this
00:21:19
is probably before your time in New
00:21:20
Zealand, but um New Zealanders were very
00:21:22
very excited when Taco Bell came here.
00:21:24
Oh, yes. Maybe 2018, 2019.
00:21:28
like there were lines outside for a
00:21:29
while. I don't know, maybe it's the the
00:21:30
pop culture reference cuz we've, you
00:21:32
know, we've seen it in movies and
00:21:33
whatnot, but Yeah, that makes sense.
00:21:35
It's not It's not great Mexican food
00:21:37
though, is it? Taco Bell. No, it's very,
00:21:39
you know, Taco Bell is Taco Bell at all.
00:21:42
I've had it here. It tastes the same in
00:21:44
America. You know, it's one of them
00:21:45
things that you you'll eat when you're
00:21:47
like hammered, you know what I mean? But
00:21:50
it's not like, "Wow, I really want some
00:21:51
Mexican food, so I'm going to go to Taco
00:21:53
Bell." But um but yeah, I could I
00:21:55
couldn't really find it here. and I
00:21:57
could find instances of it and I was
00:22:00
like this is way this could be way
00:22:02
better and um I was in a new place that
00:22:05
I wasn't familiar with and I definitely
00:22:08
didn't relate to a lot of the people
00:22:10
that I was meeting and uh I just wanted
00:22:13
like some comfort, you know what I mean?
00:22:14
And and to me Mexican food was like very
00:22:17
comforting, you know? So um
00:22:21
yeah, I I didn't even it all of this
00:22:24
stuff happened. it fell into my lap
00:22:26
almost. I didn't move here and was like,
00:22:28
I'm going to create a taco empire. You
00:22:31
know, I I just moved here for love
00:22:34
because, you know, I love my fiance very
00:22:37
very much. She's changed my life and um
00:22:41
I'm just so glad that this has happened
00:22:42
so I can change her life and and and our
00:22:45
family's lives. [ __ ] Yeah. She must be
00:22:47
so she must be so proud of of you
00:22:49
because you like she um she swat right.
00:22:51
Yeah, she um she took a gamble on you
00:22:53
and um like she obviously saw like the
00:22:57
Sean that's sitting in front of me now
00:22:58
like she obviously knew that potential
00:23:00
was there. She saw it in you and it's
00:23:01
just taken a while for you to I suppose
00:23:03
realize it or become that person. It's
00:23:05
it's really cool. Well, she's I I've
00:23:08
asked her that, you know, because I if
00:23:10
you can imagine, you know, when she she
00:23:12
met me, I was bouncing around in between
00:23:15
jobs, you know, I was just drinking and
00:23:17
partying and blasting music and and and
00:23:20
really just living daytoday. And that
00:23:23
was always my motto, you know, cuz cuz
00:23:25
where I'm from, you know, there's a lot
00:23:27
of people that aren't alive or they're
00:23:29
in prison or, you know, you you you live
00:23:33
a very short life where I'm from. So you
00:23:35
just you the the name of the game is
00:23:36
just to be happy and and and try to
00:23:39
enjoy it as much as you can and that's
00:23:41
really who she who she met and and maybe
00:23:45
that was uh there was there was
00:23:48
something intriguing about that. But but
00:23:51
she always told me, you know, she tells
00:23:52
me now like, "Oh yeah, I always knew
00:23:54
that that you would
00:23:56
be somebody real big and and uh I always
00:24:00
saw that in you." And I was always like,
00:24:02
"Really?" And she's like, "Yeah." So,
00:24:04
um, yeah, it's it's rad. It's so
00:24:07
special. So, you So, you're at Ralph's.
00:24:10
Um, then you buy a hot plate from like
00:24:11
Brisco or Kmart or somewhere. Yeah.
00:24:14
Yeah. I went on Trade Me. Trade me. So,
00:24:16
so what h what happened was is I made
00:24:18
him some tacos. And he goes, "Uh, bro,
00:24:22
you got to quit your job. You got to
00:24:23
you, you know, you got to make these
00:24:25
tacos all the time now." And I go, "Bro,
00:24:26
how am I going to do that? I don't have
00:24:28
anything. I don't have a place to cook
00:24:29
it. I don't know what where to start."
00:24:32
And he was like, "You can cook here."
00:24:35
And I was like, "For real?" And he was
00:24:36
like, "Yeah, so we're closed on Sundays.
00:24:38
We'll open up on Sundays. You know, me
00:24:40
and Shel will come in and and uh we'll
00:24:43
help you and anything you earn, you can
00:24:45
keep." And I was like, "For real?" And
00:24:47
he was like, "Yeah, bro." So, um, I did
00:24:50
that and and the first first time I did
00:24:52
it, I think 40 people came and then the
00:24:55
second week I did it, I think 80 people
00:24:57
came. Mhm. And then next thing you know,
00:25:01
um, my boss is talking to me. He's like,
00:25:03
"You should you should quit and you
00:25:05
should do this full-time." And I was
00:25:06
like, "Really? You think so?" He's like,
00:25:08
"Yeah." So that's what I did. And I
00:25:10
bought a hot plate on
00:25:11
TradeMe. And um I I toted it around to
00:25:14
different restaurants and I just said,
00:25:16
"Hey, bro, are you are you open on
00:25:17
Sunday?" And and they would go, "Nope."
00:25:20
And I'd go, "Well, listen. I've got a
00:25:21
bit of a following on Instagram and I
00:25:23
cook food. Let me bring my hot plate
00:25:25
here. I'll cook food and I'll give you
00:25:27
10% of whatever I make. Why not? You
00:25:30
know, and they go, "Okay." And that's
00:25:31
how I started doing it. Yeah.
00:25:36
That seems like a big call. Did you meet
00:25:37
meet much resistance? Like a lot of
00:25:39
people saying no before.
00:25:41
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There were some some
00:25:43
people that was like, "I don't know who
00:25:44
you are." You know what I mean? You're
00:25:46
just some kid with a hot plate. You know
00:25:48
what I mean? Post Malone looking
00:25:50
[ __ ] Yeah. Everybody would say
00:25:52
that. Yeah. And and they just be like,
00:25:53
"No, get away from me." which is tight.
00:25:56
You know, I would probably be like,
00:25:57
"Dude, get away." But, uh, yeah, some a
00:26:01
couple of them said yes. And then, um,
00:26:02
once a couple of them said yes,
00:26:05
um, you know, I just started making
00:26:07
videos about what I'm doing, you know, I
00:26:11
just wanted people to see what I'm
00:26:12
doing. And is that sort of how the word
00:26:13
spread just through through social
00:26:15
media, just building that community on
00:26:16
social? 100%. Yeah. I'm intrigued about
00:26:19
the like the the steps you took because
00:26:20
um I feel like at the point where we're
00:26:22
sitting down now um you you've already
00:26:24
built something special, but I feel like
00:26:26
it's just at the beginning stage of what
00:26:29
Brokeboy Taco could potentially be. So
00:26:31
I'm intrigued about these these early
00:26:32
steps that have happened in the first
00:26:33
few years. So there's the hot plate
00:26:35
thing and going to restaurants. Then
00:26:36
when does the food truck come along? Uh
00:26:38
the food truck doesn't come along until
00:26:42
uh December of last year. So quite a
00:26:44
long ways after I got my food. Uh oh.
00:26:48
Last last year as in December 2023.
00:26:50
2024. 20 December 2024. Four months ago
00:26:53
was when I got my food truck. Shut up.
00:26:56
Yeah. So I had my my restaurant before I
00:26:59
got my food truck. The only reason we
00:27:01
got a food truck is to do private events
00:27:02
and cuz everybody's always hitting me up
00:27:04
going, "Hey, do you cater for weddings
00:27:06
and do you can you do this?" And I'm
00:27:07
just going, "I don't know how to do
00:27:08
that. I don't have a food truck truck or
00:27:10
a trailer, you know. All I had was like
00:27:12
a little ta a little plastic table from
00:27:14
Bunnings and then my $200 food hot pot
00:27:17
hot plate and that's the only way I
00:27:18
could cater to weddings. And I was like
00:27:20
that's not very appropriate. So um we
00:27:22
built a food truck. Yeah. But a a less a
00:27:26
less driven person would be happy with
00:27:28
just doing the Bunnings table and the
00:27:30
hot plate, you know, get get enough cash
00:27:33
working the weekend to get you through
00:27:34
the week. So yeah, where did that drive
00:27:37
come from to take it to the next level?
00:27:39
Well, I just uh I guess I've always been
00:27:42
kind of larger than life is is what
00:27:44
people have told me. You know what I
00:27:45
mean? I've
00:27:46
always, you know, I just do whatever. I
00:27:48
I've always done what I wanted. And and
00:27:51
I my dream isn't to just have one shop.
00:27:56
That's not my dream. and and um you know
00:28:00
I I always wanted a food truck that said
00:28:03
broke boy taco on it and it had a you
00:28:06
know it was covered in gold and it was
00:28:08
just lights up and I just always wanted
00:28:10
one so I just wanted to make one. Yeah,
00:28:14
man. That's so inspiring. Well, I went
00:28:16
to um I I went into Brokeboy Taco for
00:28:18
the first time on the weekend. I've been
00:28:19
past it with the intention of going in
00:28:21
many times before, but not a not a huge
00:28:23
fan of lines. Yeah, sure. Which uh me
00:28:26
you understand? Um but I went Yeah. So
00:28:28
I've got um yeah so many observations
00:28:30
and and questions about it. First of
00:28:32
all, yeah, the origin of the name.
00:28:34
Pretty self-explanatory just how you
00:28:35
felt. Yeah. I mean, broke boy. Uh yeah.
00:28:38
So whenever I knew that I had like I
00:28:41
I've got something to sell, a real yummy
00:28:43
taco. Um I was like, "Oh, I should make
00:28:46
an
00:28:47
Instagram," which was inspired my my
00:28:50
Instagram was inspired by my buddy. I
00:28:53
don't think I've ever said this before,
00:28:54
but he's uh his name is Cam. He owns a
00:28:57
Baby Gburg Burger. And I saw how good he
00:29:00
was doing. And
00:29:02
um I named it uh so I was going to name
00:29:06
it Taco instead of Tacos, you know what
00:29:09
I mean? Because he he his was Baby G
00:29:11
Burger. And I was like, "Oh, mine should
00:29:12
be something something taco, but what
00:29:14
should that be?" And he was and uh I had
00:29:18
I had talked to a couple of friends of
00:29:19
mine and I was like they were like,
00:29:20
"What do you think?" I'm like I'm like,
00:29:22
"Oh, I was thinking like Hot Boy, like
00:29:24
Hot Boy Taco." Because like, you know,
00:29:26
the Hot Boys was my favorite rap group
00:29:28
growing up, you know? And they were
00:29:30
like, "No, I don't I don't know about
00:29:32
that." And I was like, and then a buddy
00:29:33
of mine was like, "Name it Rich Boy Taco
00:29:35
cuz cuz you'll get rich off it." And I
00:29:37
was like I was like, "No, man. I can't
00:29:39
relate to that." I was like, "I can
00:29:40
relate more to being like a broke boy
00:29:41
than anything." And he was like, "Then
00:29:43
name it broke Taco." And I was like And
00:29:45
then I I I looked on on the Instagram
00:29:47
and I I typed it in the username
00:29:49
Brokeboy Taco and it said available. I
00:29:51
just There you go. Now you got the chain
00:29:54
and now I got the chain. Yeah. So, um,
00:29:57
why red and white? So, that's the first
00:29:59
thing that strikes me about your store.
00:30:00
You go in there, it's very clean, very
00:30:01
crisp looking white, um, with little red
00:30:05
trimming and red aprons on the stuff and
00:30:07
gold. We've got gold like around uh the
00:30:10
frames and stuff. Well, gold just
00:30:12
because I um it's opposite of of of what
00:30:16
being broke is, right? It's like uh if
00:30:18
you if you got gold it you you probably
00:30:20
got some money. So um for me like you
00:30:25
know I don't know I've never gold to me
00:30:28
always seemed like the most unobtainable
00:30:30
thing. So um that's another thing that I
00:30:33
just became obsessed with is right like
00:30:35
an aspiration sort of. Yeah. I mean the
00:30:37
people that I looked up to growing up
00:30:39
they weren't wearing suits and ties.
00:30:41
They were the people that I was looking
00:30:44
up to growing up was wearing gold chains
00:30:47
and gold teeth and those are the people
00:30:49
that was doing real well in my
00:30:50
neighborhood. So, I aspired to be like
00:30:52
that. So, that's why uh you know I wear
00:30:55
gold chains and stuff now because that's
00:30:57
that's what I saw when I was a kid.
00:30:59
That's what success was when I was a
00:31:01
kid. But um red and white because I I've
00:31:06
done a lot of, you know, a lot of like
00:31:10
obsessing over fast food in general. I
00:31:13
think fast food is it's one of those
00:31:15
weird things like that taps into the
00:31:18
human condition of like, you know, draws
00:31:20
you in and and it kind
00:31:22
of you don't realize what what it's
00:31:25
doing. You know what I mean? Like just
00:31:27
just the color combinations and stuff
00:31:28
like that. you don't really realize it's
00:31:30
like making you hungry. It's making you
00:31:32
stay there. Like I always have been real
00:31:34
fascinated by that. But but I guess the
00:31:36
short is I I've always liked red. Red
00:31:40
has been my favorite color. You know,
00:31:41
I'm from Louisville, which Louisville
00:31:43
Cardinals, uh you know, um they're red
00:31:47
and and the Louisville basketball team,
00:31:50
jerseys are red. Like you know, it's
00:31:52
just been red is like what you see when
00:31:56
you're in Louisville. You just see red.
00:31:58
So, I've always been I've always really
00:31:59
[ __ ] with red. Yeah. Yeah. Because I
00:32:03
feel like
00:32:03
um you're just a guy that's making this
00:32:06
[ __ ] up as you go along, but I feel like
00:32:07
um you know, marketing students years
00:32:09
from now might be studying the things
00:32:11
that you've done and you're potentially
00:32:13
overthinking it, whereas you've just
00:32:14
like done what feels right. I think
00:32:16
that's instinct is important. I think
00:32:18
that's what's important. Um and you
00:32:21
don't like you don't want to be corny.
00:32:23
You just want to be authentic and and
00:32:25
you want to keep, you know, keep it a
00:32:26
buck. If it's if it's good food, it's
00:32:29
good food. You know, I don't I don't
00:32:31
need to, you know, do all this other
00:32:34
crazy [ __ ] and just I want to draw you
00:32:36
in so you can try the food. The hardest
00:32:38
part about having a a restaurant is
00:32:41
bringing the customers in. It's real
00:32:43
easy to make good food, but but to get
00:32:45
people there and to get people eating it
00:32:47
is the tough part. If you can do that,
00:32:48
you win the lotto. Yeah. And and why?
00:32:51
Um, so the drinks you have, it's um
00:32:54
Coca-Cola, which I'm a big I love Coke
00:32:56
Zero. I probably drink more Coke than
00:32:58
Donald Trump. Yeah, there you go. So you
00:33:00
have Coke, frozen margaritas, and a beer
00:33:04
option. Beer, a broke boy beer option.
00:33:06
Um, but why? And and another thing that
00:33:09
struck me about the Coke, it was three
00:33:10
bucks a can, which is really Most cafes
00:33:12
you go to around Oakland, it's like $7
00:33:14
for a bougie glass bottle. Why Why only
00:33:17
Coke? Uh why not why not other Coke
00:33:20
range like Sprite Fanta?
00:33:24
Well, it's real simple, right?
00:33:27
Um Coke is my favorite drink. And
00:33:31
um I'm the part of Broke Boy, part of my
00:33:36
brand and and what I really enjoy and
00:33:38
what I think makes it unique is is that
00:33:40
I only serve one option. I serve period.
00:33:43
You know, if you want a chicken taco or
00:33:45
you want a veggie taco, I don't have
00:33:47
that. you. There's a taco shop up the
00:33:49
road. Perfect. No problem. Um if you
00:33:51
want a fish taco, hit up Tacos. Great.
00:33:54
Great. Amazing. Best fish tacos in
00:33:56
Auckland. Um and support local. But if
00:34:00
if you do want a beef taco, you should
00:34:03
probably always come to me because I I
00:34:05
do it the best. It's it's all I do. And
00:34:08
and it's it's my stamp. I stamp that.
00:34:10
You know what I mean? It's the same with
00:34:12
with with uh Coca-Cola. I only offer one
00:34:16
option because I think that's the best.
00:34:18
It might not You might not have the same
00:34:19
opinion, but I think that I think a Coke
00:34:21
Zero is the best drink. I think uh you
00:34:24
know, a margarita, we only offer one
00:34:26
frozen margarita. We don't offer like a
00:34:28
strawberry one and a mango one. We only
00:34:30
offer the classic lime because I think
00:34:31
that's the best one. You know, one thing
00:34:33
that always drove me nuts about going to
00:34:36
restaurants that people have recommended
00:34:37
me is I get the menu and it's got 20,
00:34:39
30, 40 things on it. I don't know where
00:34:41
to look. I just want somebody to tell me
00:34:44
what the best is so I can eat it. That's
00:34:46
it. You you would suffer anxiety at the
00:34:48
Cheesecake Factory, right? Yeah. I That
00:34:51
menu is like a 100 pages long. It looks
00:34:53
like I'm looking at like alien
00:34:55
transcript. I just just I just want to
00:34:58
maybe two three options would be
00:35:00
perfect, bro. And um I think that's what
00:35:02
people should do. And that's why I only
00:35:04
offer one beer. I don't offer, you know,
00:35:06
Corona or Pacificico. Uh, I offer wine
00:35:09
because it if you want a beer, get the
00:35:11
beer. Um, you also Coke fits into your
00:35:14
your color scheme. You back to red being
00:35:16
your favorite color, but what um but the
00:35:18
the Coke's not even visible. Like surely
00:35:20
you could get money from Coca-Cola to
00:35:22
have a fridge on display or some Coke
00:35:24
signage or whatever, but you've you've
00:35:27
Why have you turned that down? Um,
00:35:29
aesthetics. Yeah, I think it's important
00:35:32
the way the way that a place looks. I
00:35:35
think it's important. I I I I want it to
00:35:38
be It's funny, man, because everybody's
00:35:40
always like, "You got all this You got
00:35:42
all this money in the budget to make.
00:35:43
Like, why don't we do this? Why don't we
00:35:44
put gold here, and why don't we put like
00:35:47
this over here, and we could put the
00:35:48
Cokes on over here." I think less is
00:35:51
more. I'm I'm a real
00:35:54
real uh I really do. I'm a big believer
00:35:57
in less is more. If everything else
00:36:00
could be just white and wood, it that
00:36:04
that would be perfect because when I
00:36:06
when I hand you the food or when when
00:36:08
you get your food, your eyes shouldn't
00:36:10
be focused on well the Coke machine and
00:36:12
the the you know, your eyes should be
00:36:14
focused on the food. That everything
00:36:17
everything all the way down to the the
00:36:20
the paper on the plate being like bright
00:36:24
yellow. I've thought about that a
00:36:25
million times. And um you know whenever
00:36:29
this is a good this is a good segue into
00:36:30
this. Whenever I was wanting to start up
00:36:34
my own thing, it's big in uh LA and and
00:36:38
California. If you go somewhere that's
00:36:40
kind of like made by mom and pops, they
00:36:42
they hand you the food in yellow wax
00:36:45
paper and they do that because the
00:36:47
yellow wax paper is the cheapest, right?
00:36:50
So to me that was really important. Um
00:36:53
getting it in yellow wax paper. I don't
00:36:55
know why, but it just it if I got if I
00:36:57
had food in yellow wax paper, I was
00:36:58
like, "Oh, this is like homemade. This
00:37:00
is that's that's what it did to me. It
00:37:02
made me think of it before I even
00:37:03
figured it out." But I could get white
00:37:06
wax paper from Gilmore for 30 bucks. But
00:37:09
or I could order yellow wax paper from
00:37:12
America and it was
00:37:14
$600.
00:37:16
So that yellow wax paper was that
00:37:18
important to me when I when I was trying
00:37:20
to figure this out that I said I'll
00:37:22
spend a bunch of money on that because
00:37:24
it's important to me that it that my
00:37:26
tacos are served on yellow wax paper for
00:37:28
that reason. There's just things like
00:37:29
that that that people were like what are
00:37:32
you talking about, you know, and I was
00:37:34
like tr just trust me. It's it's real
00:37:36
important that this, you know, I want it
00:37:38
to be if you're if you're walking up the
00:37:39
road with a plate and it's got a yellow
00:37:41
piece of paper on it, everybody knows
00:37:43
what that is without even seeing what's
00:37:45
on the plate. Oh, that's broke boy. He
00:37:46
must have broke boy, you know? That's
00:37:49
important to me. As you've got further
00:37:51
along the the journey, has it has it
00:37:53
Yeah. And there's I suppose there's more
00:37:55
people offering their opinions and
00:37:56
stuff. Has it been has it been um
00:37:59
has it been harder to you stick to stick
00:38:01
to your vision and stick to know what's
00:38:03
right or Of course. Yeah, as I get
00:38:05
bigger and and um you know, when I
00:38:08
originally started, I was I was cooking
00:38:10
uh veggie tacos and mushroom tacos and
00:38:13
chicken tacos. And that was because
00:38:14
people had told me, "Yeah, we really,
00:38:17
you know, I I would love a mushroom
00:38:18
taco." And I would go, "Okay, you know,
00:38:20
without really thinking about it." And
00:38:21
one day I woke up and I just I just go,
00:38:23
"Man, I'm sick of it. I I don't care
00:38:25
about veggie tacos. I don't care about
00:38:28
chicken tacos. All I care about and all
00:38:30
I can think about is bira. That's all I
00:38:33
can think about." And I told my girl,
00:38:35
"I'm only going to do one thing. I'm
00:38:37
only going to do beria." And she was
00:38:38
like, "Don't do that. Like, you're not
00:38:40
going to have any customers anymore.
00:38:42
You're going to alienate people. People
00:38:43
are going to be upset, pissed off." And
00:38:45
I go, "Yeah, I don't care." And then I
00:38:47
talk to other people about it, people
00:38:49
that were in the industry. And they go,
00:38:50
"Yeah, you shouldn't do that." Every
00:38:52
single person I talk to goes, "No, you
00:38:54
should not only serve one thing. That's
00:38:56
stupid." And I go I go, "Well, I I don't
00:38:58
care. I I'm only going to serve one
00:39:00
thing because that's I just that's what
00:39:04
it should be. You should you should
00:39:05
serve what you care about. It shouldn't
00:39:07
be just to make money. It should be
00:39:09
because it's art. You know what I mean?
00:39:12
It's there's nothing better to me than
00:39:14
seeing somebody eat my food and like
00:39:17
smile about it and enjoy it. There's
00:39:19
nothing there's no better feeling, you
00:39:22
know? Um and and that's real important
00:39:23
to me. So yeah, it's crazy though. So
00:39:26
what you've done is sort of it defies
00:39:28
common sense but it's worked. Yeah. It's
00:39:30
worked way better than what you Yeah. So
00:39:32
um Yeah. So you wouldn't be prepared to
00:39:34
like do a a coriander free version for
00:39:36
people like me. Oh yeah. Yeah. People
00:39:38
look you can get for a long time I was
00:39:41
like nope no you it has to have
00:39:42
coriander. It has to have onion. I've
00:39:44
always said that. But but now you can
00:39:46
for sure because I'm running a business
00:39:48
and all that. You can for sure get no
00:39:50
coriander or no onion. You just have to
00:39:52
tell them when you order. And do you
00:39:54
have goals
00:39:55
now? Are you just sort of still
00:39:57
following your nose or have you got like
00:39:58
a fiveyear plan, 10 year plan? I mean,
00:40:00
we got we we've talked about all that,
00:40:02
you know what I mean? But I don't know.
00:40:04
I don't know how
00:40:06
to plan in five years, you know what I
00:40:09
mean? I grew I grew up just doing it day
00:40:10
by day. But we'll see. I mean,
00:40:13
obviously, we've got some sort of plan.
00:40:15
You know, we we just want to open as
00:40:17
many broke boy tacos as we can. And I
00:40:19
want to share the my love of beer with
00:40:24
all of New Zealand. And um I just want
00:40:27
to make good food and hopefully people
00:40:29
think it tastes good and that's it. And
00:40:31
and and what are the what are the
00:40:32
options on the table? I I don't know if
00:40:34
you're this far along or not. Like will
00:40:35
you own all the stores? Will you
00:40:37
franchise them out? No. Yeah. So we'll
00:40:39
do both. Yeah. Yeah, we'll do both. So,
00:40:41
we'll have some stores that are owned by
00:40:42
the business. And then, um, you know, in
00:40:45
the future, I've got I've had a lot of
00:40:46
people message me, people from Japan,
00:40:49
people from Germany, people from
00:40:51
America, everywhere be like, "Can we
00:40:54
franchise?" Uh, which is crazy as hell.
00:40:57
Um, so, but but we're going to do that.
00:41:00
I don't know if we're going to be in
00:41:01
Germany, you know what I mean? But, uh,
00:41:04
yeah, we'll definitely we'll definitely
00:41:06
tap into that. Um, I would love for for
00:41:08
some people to to to to make some some
00:41:12
people successful. Um, that would be a
00:41:14
great feeling, you know what I mean?
00:41:17
Yeah, cuz I I put on Instagram that
00:41:18
you're coming in for a chat and asked if
00:41:20
anyone had any questions. And um, to be
00:41:22
honest, there was very little useful
00:41:23
stuff there. It was mainly just people
00:41:25
saying, "Ask him when he's coming to
00:41:27
place name here, Wellington, Hamilton,
00:41:29
Christ Church." Um, which is a it's a
00:41:32
lot of pressure, but you know, as
00:41:33
Israelis says, pressure is a privilege.
00:41:36
Yeah. Yeah, I would agree with him.
00:41:39
Yeah. So, how how did that partnership
00:41:41
come about with the Adisagnas? Um, yeah.
00:41:44
So, it originally started uh as Izzy and
00:41:50
David showed up to one of my popups and
00:41:54
I immediately ran up and got a picture
00:41:55
with Izzy. I was like, "No way." And
00:41:58
that night, um, I swear to God, I'm not
00:42:01
even tripping. I could not sleep. I was
00:42:04
laying in bed and I was talking to my
00:42:05
girl and I was like I was like, "Do you
00:42:07
realize like he wouldn't have just like
00:42:10
been walking around and been like, "Oh,
00:42:12
let me come in here. He follows me or he
00:42:14
knows about me and he must have showed
00:42:17
up because I was there." Like, "Do you
00:42:19
realize that?" And she was like, "Yes."
00:42:20
Like, "Shut up. It's fine." And I was
00:42:23
just tripping. I was like, "Oh my god."
00:42:25
Like Israeli showed up. And then um he
00:42:28
showed up a couple months later to my
00:42:30
new one and um he was he was just
00:42:35
standing in line and then he started
00:42:38
showing up more and more and then I just
00:42:39
go he he would show up early and be like
00:42:41
hey bro can I just get like this this
00:42:43
and that and so I can leave so I don't
00:42:45
have to stand and I was like bro why
00:42:47
don't you just like DM me on Instagram
00:42:49
and uh just tell me what you want but so
00:42:52
by the time you get here it's already
00:42:53
ready to go you know and he goes he goes
00:42:56
just give me a phone and then he put his
00:42:58
number in my phone and I was tripping
00:42:59
and I was like, "What? What are you
00:43:01
doing, dude?" And and then um yeah, he
00:43:05
uh he texted me
00:43:07
and he just put in some orders whenever
00:43:10
I opened my shop or actually before that
00:43:12
he had texted me one day and was like,
00:43:14
"Hey, bro. Do you want to come over to
00:43:16
my house and watch UFC with me?" I was
00:43:17
like, "What?" I was like, "Hell yeah,
00:43:21
yes I do." As a matter of fact. So, uh,
00:43:24
I showed up and I adapted him up. What's
00:43:26
up, man? You know, I was sweating and
00:43:28
stuff and then I I met all his his his
00:43:31
friends and stuff and I was like, "Hey,
00:43:33
bro." Like shaking and [ __ ] Hey, man.
00:43:34
How are you, sir? And, uh, yeah, it was
00:43:36
cool. We just I I just watched UFC with
00:43:38
him and chopped it up with him. He's he
00:43:40
he's just like a normal dude, too, you
00:43:42
know. Um, but David um ended up showing
00:43:46
up one day to my restaurant and this is
00:43:50
Izzy's brother. This is Izzy's brother.
00:43:52
Yeah. Big big shout out to David, man. I
00:43:54
think without David, I don't know if we
00:43:56
would be doing this, but um he showed up
00:43:59
and he was just like, "Bro, like you're
00:44:01
killing it. Like, you know, what's going
00:44:03
on? What's your plans?" And I told him
00:44:06
like, "Well, my dream is to have a bunch
00:44:07
of them, bro. Bunch. Like, when you're
00:44:10
driving around, um you can just see a
00:44:12
big a big sign, you know, like Burger
00:44:14
King sign, but it's it's broke boy sign.
00:44:16
Like, that's my dream." And he was like,
00:44:18
he was like, "Word, well, would you be
00:44:20
interested in like an investor?" And I
00:44:22
was like, I was like, "Yeah, bro." I had
00:44:24
had a couple investors, a couple bankers
00:44:26
and stuff approach me and [ __ ] before,
00:44:28
but I was always just like, "Nah, man. I
00:44:30
don't like, you know, I don't I I I was
00:44:33
scared of that because I don't want
00:44:34
somebody coming in and being like, "No,
00:44:36
you got to do this now. You got to put a
00:44:37
chicken one on and you got to do this
00:44:39
and you can't say this." I was just not
00:44:41
interested, you know, and um but they
00:44:44
they came on and we shared a vision and
00:44:46
and they really understood my vision and
00:44:49
they were like, "Bro, you you're going
00:44:51
to do this. You're going to kill it and
00:44:52
and you will achieve your dreams." And I
00:44:54
was like, "You think so?" And they're
00:44:56
like, "Bro, yes, we can back you. We can
00:44:58
back you. Trust me." And we talked and
00:45:00
then we came to some we came to an
00:45:01
agreement or whatever. And um yeah,
00:45:04
dapped him up and and shook hands and
00:45:06
and it's almost like I felt like I was
00:45:08
like part of their family, man. and and
00:45:11
you know the OSAnas all of their family
00:45:14
such sweet people man just the nicest
00:45:15
people on the planet and and people I
00:45:17
can really relate to you know they they
00:45:19
came from maybe a rougher upbringing
00:45:22
than most and and um they they got to
00:45:24
where they're at and they're that's the
00:45:26
dream and and that's what I want to be.
00:45:29
You know I I aspire to be that. So um
00:45:33
you know I really respect them and and
00:45:35
and their whole family and just it just
00:45:38
felt amazing. M yeah. So, yeah. So, so
00:45:41
I'm I'm intrigued about this stuff
00:45:42
because um yeah, the studio that we're
00:45:44
sitting in now and the office next door
00:45:47
um that's a business that um I've just
00:45:49
started like five 6 months ago and
00:45:51
there's been some people that have
00:45:52
offered to invest and buy in and we've
00:45:54
turned it down to up until this point
00:45:56
because it's like I I haven't actually
00:45:58
built anything worth value, you know
00:46:00
what I mean? And it sort of terrifies me
00:46:02
a bit. So, what was the expectation from
00:46:04
the Addisonas and and you know in terms
00:46:07
of um a return on their investment? Um,
00:46:09
well, they they weren't really focused
00:46:11
as much on that as much as they were
00:46:15
like, you know, David kept it he keep it
00:46:17
real with me. He just said, "Look, bro,
00:46:19
if we were coming into this for money,
00:46:23
we
00:46:23
would, you know, invest in property
00:46:26
again or or we would we would go
00:46:28
somewhere else with our portfolio. We're
00:46:30
not in this because we want millions of
00:46:33
dollars." like we we're in it
00:46:35
because we see your vision and we don't
00:46:40
think that it's something like this has
00:46:42
happened before in New Zealand. You
00:46:44
know, there's never been some like
00:46:46
famous chef in New Zealand like, you
00:46:48
know what I mean, that's came from the
00:46:50
middle of nowhere and just started
00:46:52
cooking. Like I'm a white guy from
00:46:54
Kentucky cooking Mexican food in New
00:46:56
Zealand. Do you know what I mean? Like
00:46:58
it doesn't make any sense. And um I
00:47:01
think that's why a lot of people I just
00:47:03
have a crazy story and I've got a good
00:47:04
product to back it and they were just
00:47:06
like, you know, we're in it because we
00:47:09
believe in you, you know, and we want to
00:47:12
help you. Yeah. And I think it's just
00:47:13
the um the organicness and the
00:47:15
authenticness of the story. Like every
00:47:17
every brand that grows wants a
00:47:19
backstory. They they want that story
00:47:20
like oh I started with a hot plate and
00:47:22
you know a lot of the time it feels kind
00:47:24
of disingenous but but this is this is
00:47:27
actually how this happened. Yeah. So,
00:47:28
what's been the um the the biggest
00:47:30
business lesson so far? Like anything
00:47:32
that springs to mind? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:47:35
So, um I bought this Ivario. Um what's
00:47:38
that? It's a it's a big giant pressure
00:47:41
cooker essentially and I paid cash for
00:47:45
it and it was expensive as hell. It was
00:47:46
like 60 grand. And um I was like, "So,
00:47:50
the plan is is we can cook we can
00:47:52
constantly turn over every hour and a
00:47:54
half we can turn over like a 100 liters
00:47:56
of beer." Doom doom. so we can keep up
00:47:59
with production and we can we can stop
00:48:01
selling out. Well, it doesn't exactly go
00:48:05
like that because when you cook all
00:48:07
that, you have to cool it down rapidly,
00:48:09
which you have to have some sort of
00:48:11
station for. And then once you cool it
00:48:13
down rapidly, you have to have a bunch
00:48:15
of fridge space to to cool to do it. And
00:48:17
then once you reheat it, you have to get
00:48:19
these 100 liter pots and reheat it. It's
00:48:21
it's not just as easy as you just cook
00:48:24
more. You know what I mean? and and now
00:48:27
we've kind of pivoted in a way where
00:48:30
we're going
00:48:31
to cook everything somewhere else. So,
00:48:35
uh whenever we do open more shops,
00:48:37
there's a central place where I can walk
00:48:39
in and I can taste it before it goes
00:48:41
out. So, I don't have to go to all these
00:48:43
other shops and taste. Okay. Well, well,
00:48:45
Greg made it today. What does Greg's
00:48:47
taste like? Well, what does David's
00:48:48
taste like? It's all cooked at the same
00:48:51
place by one person. And um that's how
00:48:53
we really do quality control cuz one of
00:48:56
the problems we've had recently is is
00:48:58
consistency cuz sometimes you know we
00:49:02
guillo peppers is real big um a real big
00:49:07
item ingredient in the recipe and
00:49:09
sometimes our supplier would be out of
00:49:11
it. So we would sub that for a different
00:49:14
pepper and it would taste completely
00:49:15
different. You know it's stuff like
00:49:17
that. And and if if you know Matt made
00:49:21
it one day, it would taste different
00:49:23
from how Alec made it for some reason,
00:49:25
even though they were using the same
00:49:27
recipe. So this this way we can all cook
00:49:31
cook it all in one place. We can vacuum
00:49:34
seal it and then we can ship it to the
00:49:36
new locations and all they got to do is
00:49:38
open the bays and heat heat it up and
00:49:40
then it's good to go. Right. Right
00:49:42
there. So you really have to scale
00:49:44
everything up and that's how that's what
00:49:45
I'm learning about business. It's not
00:49:47
just as easy as just showing up and
00:49:49
cooking it, you know? Yeah. There's no
00:49:51
way to fasttrack those lessons though.
00:49:53
You have to sort of live them. Yeah. I
00:49:55
mean, somebody can tell it to you,
00:49:56
right? But but you you can either take
00:49:58
their opinion like like it's gospel or
00:50:01
you can take it with a grain of salt. Um
00:50:04
or you can go, well, hold on a minute.
00:50:06
Let me test that. And which is probably
00:50:08
the best thing to do because if you
00:50:10
don't, you'll never know. So, you got to
00:50:12
learn these hard lessons. Yeah. Yeah.
00:50:15
It's really good to hear about that. um
00:50:16
quality control in regards to the taste
00:50:18
because you you can have all the hype in
00:50:20
the world, but if it tastes like [ __ ]
00:50:21
people aren't coming back. People know
00:50:23
people know if it's if if you know, you
00:50:26
paint a picture on the internet and then
00:50:29
you you see it in person and it looks
00:50:31
completely different, people won't give
00:50:32
a [ __ ] you know. And uh it's important
00:50:35
to me that that that um it is my recipe
00:50:38
and and it's the same and it tastes the
00:50:41
same and it's very consistent and it's
00:50:42
served the way it's supposed to serve.
00:50:44
serving the taco the tortillas are super
00:50:47
crispy the way they should be all
00:50:49
everything we do one thing if it's not
00:50:51
perfect I'm not serving it you know has
00:50:54
this whole journey been like really
00:50:56
really good for your you know
00:50:58
self-esteem self-worth self-belief not
00:51:00
really because I've always
00:51:02
been I've always been cocky and I've
00:51:05
always been like you know
00:51:07
like I' I've always hyped myself up and
00:51:10
really believed in myself and and um I
00:51:13
don't know I've just always felt Like
00:51:14
that's that's one reason why I'm not in
00:51:16
Kentucky. I'm not still in Kentucky.
00:51:18
Even though 90% of people from Kentucky
00:51:20
stay there, it's because growing up
00:51:22
there, I always felt like I there's
00:51:24
something more. It's got to be something
00:51:26
more than than just living in a trailer
00:51:28
with, you know, having five kids when I
00:51:30
was 18. And, you know, there's something
00:51:32
more. So, um, I've always believed that
00:51:36
deep down that I would be, you know, I
00:51:40
guess somebody. Yeah. Cool. Cool. What's
00:51:43
the best and worst things about owning
00:51:45
your own successful
00:51:46
business? Dealing with dealing with
00:51:48
unreliable staff. Is that uh No, I don't
00:51:51
think that's the worst thing. No, I
00:51:54
would
00:51:55
say I mean, everybody thinks I'm balling
00:51:58
out of control, man. Everybody thinks
00:51:59
I'm a [ __ ] millionaire. Uh I would
00:52:02
say the worst part is that you're that I
00:52:05
work non-stop every single second of the
00:52:07
day. Um but I just get paid like a
00:52:10
regular employee. You know what I mean?
00:52:12
I just, you know, you just give yourself
00:52:14
a salary. I just give myself a salary. I
00:52:16
don't see bonuses. I don't take anything
00:52:17
from the business. I Everything every
00:52:20
profit that we make um gets put back in
00:52:23
the business, you know, because I I've
00:52:25
got big big dreams and I want to blow it
00:52:27
up. Um so yeah, I mean I don't have any
00:52:31
assets. I don't have a house. I don't I
00:52:34
have a car that I bought when I was 35.
00:52:37
A 2000 BMW. Yes. Yes. I bought it.
00:52:40
purchase price. Six grand. Six Six
00:52:43
grand. Yes. I got you. My first my first
00:52:45
car I've ever owned when I was 35. Uh
00:52:49
and that's the only asset I have. But um
00:52:51
you know I and I'm happy with that. I've
00:52:54
I've lived my whole life like this, so I
00:52:56
ain't tripping. But um it's funny when
00:52:58
everybody thinks uh you know, oh my god,
00:53:00
you're so successful. You know, you must
00:53:02
have this and that. I ain't got nothing,
00:53:03
you know, and I'm fine with that. Oh,
00:53:05
you you do though, but it's tied up in a
00:53:06
business. Yeah. I I guess you could look
00:53:09
at it like that. like you're building
00:53:10
you're building um you like a very good
00:53:12
asset base. Yeah. I've got I've got
00:53:13
Yeah. Yeah. I I mean I own a obviously a
00:53:16
lot of shares in the company, but this
00:53:18
is the first time that I've ever done
00:53:19
anything like this. So, uh everybody
00:53:21
that I've talked to, you know, this is
00:53:24
the worst time in history to own a
00:53:27
restaurant. It's the worst time in
00:53:29
history. Um and so obviously it's a bit
00:53:33
of a risk, but um I I I always back
00:53:36
myself. I always believe in myself. So
00:53:38
is what it is. Yeah. Percentage wise,
00:53:40
how much has been luck and how much has
00:53:42
been hard work?
00:53:45
That's a great question. That's a great
00:53:47
question because I've worked hard all my
00:53:49
life and seen nothing. You know what I
00:53:51
mean? So So I think
00:53:53
uh I'd say luck. I'd say I'd say I'd say
00:53:58
it takes a lot of luck. Yeah. It's a
00:54:00
roll of the dice. I really feel like
00:54:02
I've won the lottery. And um but then
00:54:05
again, I'm I'm I work 16 hours every
00:54:08
single day, but you know, there's a lot
00:54:10
of people that work more than me and
00:54:12
they make, you know, 10 bucks a day. So,
00:54:17
uh yeah, I don't know what it is. I
00:54:20
don't I don't know why this has
00:54:21
happened. Yeah. So, what would your sell
00:54:25
price be? I know you're not motivated by
00:54:26
money, but say some investment banker
00:54:28
came along with a with a checkbook. I
00:54:31
don't know why no one's got a checkbook
00:54:32
anymore, but you know what I mean. Or a
00:54:33
briefcase of money. What would it be?
00:54:35
Someone says, "We love we love what
00:54:37
you've done. We want to scale it up. We
00:54:38
want the whole brand." Um, yeah. What
00:54:41
would it be? 5 mil, 10 mil? Oh, hell no.
00:54:43
Yeah. I don't know. You must have
00:54:45
thought about this. Of course. I think
00:54:46
about it all the time, right? Because
00:54:48
I'm like, you know, I live in a
00:54:49
one-bedroom apartment. I was like, dang,
00:54:51
what would I get? That's a good
00:54:54
question, man. I I I would probably say
00:54:57
like see what's funny is I'll tell you a
00:54:59
number and then but then somebody comes
00:55:02
along with a little bit less than that
00:55:04
and shows it to me and I'd pro maybe I'd
00:55:06
go okay you know so I I don't really
00:55:08
know. I think like maybe 20 20 amps.
00:55:13
Give me 20 amps and we're good.
00:55:15
Manifested baby a
00:55:18
wow that's cool. I Yeah. I don't know.
00:55:21
Yeah, I feel like um yeah, if push came
00:55:22
to shove, even if someone came with 20
00:55:24
m, maybe maybe you'd realize it's your
00:55:26
baby and it's not about the money. No,
00:55:29
no, I take a 20. You could start again,
00:55:31
right? Something else. Yeah, we'll do
00:55:32
something else. Yeah. You know what's
00:55:34
funny, man? It's is cuz I'm from
00:55:36
Kentucky and I really grew up on like um
00:55:39
I really grew up on like mac and cheese,
00:55:42
cornbread, collard greens, you know, and
00:55:44
I know how to make all that. I know how
00:55:46
to make it all, you know, and I love
00:55:48
wearing overalls with no shirt on, you
00:55:51
know what I mean? Uh, so I'm real
00:55:53
redneck with it. And I make some
00:55:56
catfish. I make some catfish and collard
00:55:58
greens. But, uh, I just happen to be
00:56:01
doing tacos because it tastes real yum.
00:56:04
I mean, I love the I love them and I'm
00:56:06
still obsessed over them. Oh my god. If
00:56:08
you got into mac and cheese. Yeah, I
00:56:10
make good mac and cheese. I make some
00:56:12
good mac and cheese. Um yeah, we'll get
00:56:15
into your childhood in a second, but
00:56:16
would you what would you what would your
00:56:18
your mom, she's no longer around, what
00:56:19
would she make of all this? Oh yeah,
00:56:21
man. Uh she'd be tripping. Yeah, she'd
00:56:25
be tripping. Yeah, that's one of the
00:56:27
that that's that's one thing that that
00:56:29
uh you know keeps me keeps me up at
00:56:32
night, I guess, is that is that uh Yeah.
00:56:34
My mom will never know. She'll never
00:56:36
know I made it.
00:56:40
Yeah. So, so your early years is So, um
00:56:42
I haven't heard much about your dad. Do
00:56:44
you have a relationship with your dad or
00:56:45
not so much? Uh no, not really. No, he
00:56:48
No, he passed away pretty early on.
00:56:51
Yeah. And and your mom, she so she she
00:56:53
battled with that um like drugs and
00:56:56
prescription drugs. Yeah. Alcohol. No.
00:57:00
No. She never drank. I never saw her I
00:57:02
never saw her drink a day in her life.
00:57:04
Right. And she was the she was the But
00:57:05
she and she told you not to drink and
00:57:07
that's the reason you didn't drink until
00:57:08
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She told me not to
00:57:11
drink and and
00:57:12
uh yeah, it's
00:57:15
uh yeah, a bit of
00:57:17
a bit of a touchy subject to be honest,
00:57:20
but yeah, I kept I kept that promise
00:57:22
with her. I never drank.
00:57:24
Um until she had passed away, she said,
00:57:27
"As long as I'm alive, I don't want to
00:57:28
see you drink, you know." Yeah. And that
00:57:31
So that was in 2010 and she was 40 44
00:57:34
years old, which [ __ ] so young to die.
00:57:36
She was 44, man. How old were you? How
00:57:38
old you in 2010? I don't know. Like 22.
00:57:42
21 22. Yeah. Something like that. Yeah.
00:57:45
Yeah. Yeah.
00:57:47
Yeah. She She We We had her funeral just
00:57:50
I think it was either on my birthday or
00:57:52
a couple days before my birthday. I
00:57:55
remember cuz I made a [ __ ] joke at
00:57:57
her funeral and I was like, I want my
00:57:59
birthday's coming up. I want a PS4 or
00:58:01
some stupid [ __ ] And everybody was
00:58:03
laughing. But that's how my mom was,
00:58:05
man. My mom would my mom in in in
00:58:08
tragedy she she would make jokes and
00:58:10
laugh and and it was real important that
00:58:12
uh you know we stay positive and you
00:58:15
know we grew up she she she was working
00:58:18
you know she worked at Subway and and
00:58:21
she worked you know she sold a bunch of
00:58:23
clothes on eBay. We would go to uh we
00:58:26
would wake up every morning at Saturday
00:58:28
morning at like 9:00 a.m. and run to
00:58:30
them uh garage sales and yard sales and
00:58:33
we would find stuff and she would sell
00:58:34
it on eBay and that's how we made ends
00:58:37
meet. But um yeah, she she got in a car
00:58:41
crash when she was
00:58:44
younger. I'm not sure which age, maybe
00:58:46
19, 20 or something. and she uh hurt her
00:58:49
back and then the doctor prescribed her
00:58:52
I think Oxycottton or something and she
00:58:54
got addicted to him
00:58:55
apparently you know. Is that what they
00:58:58
um Yeah. I don't mean to be offensive in
00:59:01
any is is that is that what they call um
00:59:03
hillbilly heroin? Probably. Yeah. Hell
00:59:05
yeah. Right. Um and she was she was um
00:59:08
prescribed like 300 pills a month or
00:59:11
something. I read. Yeah. At the end at
00:59:12
the end there she was you know Yeah. She
00:59:15
she was she was getting prescribed. I
00:59:16
didn't know any of this. I didn't know
00:59:18
any of this until it was too late. Um
00:59:22
because I was just off doing my own
00:59:24
thing, you know? I had I didn't want to
00:59:26
be around my house a lot because it was
00:59:31
there wasn't a lot of good, you know
00:59:33
what I mean? So, I would be out in the
00:59:34
streets. I would be hanging out with
00:59:35
people and then I would come home at
00:59:37
like 910 p.m. when I was a teenager,
00:59:40
even when I was 12. When I was 12 years
00:59:42
old, man, I was running around smoking
00:59:43
cigarettes and getting in fights and
00:59:45
just being buck wild. And um I just
00:59:48
didn't want to be at home. Home was real
00:59:50
depressing to me, man. We didn't have
00:59:52
any food. Who was there? Who was where?
00:59:54
At home. At home. Just your mom. Oh,
00:59:56
yeah. My mom, my stepdad, uh my sister.
01:00:00
Yeah. My little brother. Uh but I just
01:00:03
didn't want like that's why I, you know,
01:00:07
I call my sister sometimes and I'm just
01:00:09
like, you know, I ask her questions. I'm
01:00:10
like, did this happen and did this where
01:00:12
was you at? because I just I was never
01:00:15
around, you know? I was never around. It
01:00:17
was real hurtful to see some of the [ __ ]
01:00:21
uh at my house. So, uh I didn't want to
01:00:22
be around. I wanted to be out. The
01:00:24
streets were better. The streets were
01:00:26
better. It was easier for me to run
01:00:27
around in the streets and make my own
01:00:29
meals and and you know, steal donuts
01:00:31
from from [ __ ] Kroger to eat than it
01:00:35
was to to be at home. It just was
01:00:38
easier.
01:00:41
Oh, man. That sucks. Yeah. Yeah. I mean,
01:00:44
I thought it was normal. I'm a kid, you
01:00:46
know what I mean? So, I thought it was
01:00:47
normal to have that type of lifestyle
01:00:49
because that's the only one I knew. So,
01:00:50
I was just like, "Oh, everybody must be
01:00:52
doing this." You know what I mean? And I
01:00:53
didn't really realize it until I grew up
01:00:56
that I was like, "Oh, damn. Some of the
01:00:57
some of the [ __ ] I saw growing up as a
01:00:59
kid was probably not not a lot of people
01:01:02
saw [ __ ] like that, but is what it is."
01:01:06
Yeah. How do you like you're at that age
01:01:08
age and stage of life now where I I
01:01:10
don't know maybe maybe you'll become a
01:01:12
father and have kids of your own. So
01:01:14
yeah, how do you feel when you reflect
01:01:16
on your childhood now? Like does it make
01:01:18
you feel sad or uh Yeah, man. It makes
01:01:20
me hella sad, bro. Yeah, it makes me
01:01:22
hella sad. You know, sometimes when I
01:01:24
was getting sober, bro, I had
01:01:26
to, you know, everybody's got demons,
01:01:29
you know what I mean? And uh obviously
01:01:31
with drugs and alcohol, I think one of
01:01:33
the things that people do is they try to
01:01:36
self-medicate and and get through all
01:01:38
that [ __ ] they went through um with that
01:01:41
because drugs and alcohol make you
01:01:43
happy, make you feel good. And whenever
01:01:44
you don't have that um you really have
01:01:48
to um confront those things head on and
01:01:51
you have to deal with them head on. And
01:01:54
yeah, a lot of a lot of a lot of days,
01:01:56
man, I would wake I would I would wake
01:01:58
up in the middle of the night having
01:02:00
nightmares over and over and over and
01:02:02
then I would, you know, catch myself
01:02:04
just brushing my teeth or something and
01:02:06
just [ __ ] start crying for no reason
01:02:08
and and just thinking about some of this
01:02:09
[ __ ] Yeah, pretty messed up. But, um,
01:02:13
you know, you have to get to a point
01:02:15
where you have to kind of like be like,
01:02:17
you know, you are not you are not your
01:02:18
past. You know what I'm saying? You you
01:02:20
are that stuff doesn't have to control
01:02:22
you. and and
01:02:24
and you didn't have much to say in the
01:02:27
matter. You know, you get you get dealt
01:02:29
these cards and you got to play them and
01:02:32
it is what it is. There's there's people
01:02:34
out there that had it worse off than me.
01:02:35
A lot of people had it worse off than
01:02:37
me. So, uh you know, just be happy to
01:02:40
where you are and and that you made it
01:02:42
and and uh
01:02:45
that's it. Yeah. You What did you What
01:02:47
did you dream of being when you were
01:02:48
little?
01:02:50
I dreamt of being alive when I was a
01:02:52
kid, man.
01:02:54
Straight up. I dreamt of having braces
01:02:57
one day because that seemed really
01:02:59
unobtainable. My mom would always go,
01:03:01
"Well, my mom would tell me, she would
01:03:03
go, braces are like
01:03:06
$1,000. At what point in life are we
01:03:08
going to have
01:03:09
$1,000 to spare?" And I was like, "Yeah,
01:03:12
true." You know, true. We'll always need
01:03:15
a thousand bucks. we'll need it for rent
01:03:17
or we'll need it for food or we'll need
01:03:18
it, you know, for gas. So, I was like,
01:03:22
it was a dream of mine, a real dream of
01:03:24
mine to have straight teeth, you know
01:03:26
what I mean? Um, and you know, when I
01:03:29
was young, when I was 13, 14, 15, I
01:03:31
would always be like I would I would
01:03:33
literally think about like what would it
01:03:35
be like being 30 years old? And I would
01:03:37
always be like, I'm not going to make it
01:03:38
to 30. 30 is old, bro. 30 is old where
01:03:41
I'm from. Seriously, I would say that.
01:03:44
Yeah. I would be like, "Hell no, 30,
01:03:45
that's a old man." And uh yeah,
01:03:50
just that that's I never really was
01:03:53
like, "Oh, maybe one day I'll be a
01:03:54
millionaire." You know what I mean? In
01:03:56
New Zealand. In [ __ ] New Zealand. I
01:03:58
didn't even know where New Zealand was.
01:04:00
Whenever I met my girl and she was like,
01:04:03
"Oh yeah, I'm from New Zealand." I was
01:04:05
like I was like, "Oh yeah, hell yeah. I
01:04:08
I always wanted to go to Europe. Hell
01:04:09
yeah." And she was in Europe. She was
01:04:11
like, "What the [ __ ] are you talking
01:04:13
about?
01:04:14
Well, that's like most Americans though,
01:04:16
e most Americans don't do a lot of
01:04:18
travel. No, I Yeah, most Americans don't
01:04:21
don't know where [ __ ] Wyoming is. You
01:04:23
know what I mean? So, it is what it is.
01:04:25
So, yeah. So, you didn't um Yeah, you
01:04:27
didn't drink until your mom start Why
01:04:29
Why did you start drinking? Was it to
01:04:31
like to cope with the passing of your
01:04:33
mom or what? No, I don't think so. It's
01:04:34
just that it was something that I'd
01:04:36
never done before and I uh I I was
01:04:38
obviously a chef and a cook and everyone
01:04:41
around me drank and and I was always
01:04:44
like, "Nah, I don't want to drink. I'm
01:04:46
not." It made me feel cool that I was
01:04:48
the only one that wouldn't drink. And
01:04:50
then I was just like I was just hanging
01:04:52
out one night and and somebody was like,
01:04:54
"Bro, you want a beer?" And I was just
01:04:55
like, "Yeah, I'll take a beer." Yeah.
01:04:57
Just want a beer. Just wanted to see
01:04:59
what what all the fuss was about, I
01:05:02
guess. Yeah. And and what sort of um
01:05:04
what was your drug of choice? What were
01:05:06
you uh coke? Yeah. Hell yeah. Uh I mean
01:05:10
pretty much Yeah. pills. I would crush
01:05:13
up pills and snort them and [ __ ] I mean
01:05:16
just anything that make you feel good,
01:05:18
man. Anything that makes you feel good.
01:05:20
I I I I smoked weed when I was like I
01:05:23
started smoking weed when I think I was
01:05:25
12. And then I smoked weed from 12 till
01:05:28
like maybe 20.
01:05:32
And I never really really liked weed. It
01:05:35
always made me like I don't I don't know
01:05:37
if you it made me nervous, but it
01:05:39
definitely made me like anxiety. Like it
01:05:42
would just I would I would just be like,
01:05:43
"Oh, why am I [ __ ] smoking this
01:05:45
shit?" Paranoia. Yeah. It would just
01:05:47
make me paranoid and make me like I
01:05:49
don't want to talk to anyone. It would
01:05:51
do the opposite of what it did for some
01:05:52
people. Um you know, there's a lot like
01:05:56
like Bob Marley and [ __ ] He smokes and
01:05:57
he's chill and just wants to talk and
01:05:59
hang out. I mean, it didn't make it did
01:06:01
not make me want to do that. It made me
01:06:03
want to [ __ ] just be like, "Leave me
01:06:04
alone, man." You know, I'm in the I'm in
01:06:06
the corner looking around and it just
01:06:08
made me paranoid. I never But but
01:06:11
anything that was an upper Anything that
01:06:13
was an upper and made me move and want
01:06:14
to dance and party like Yeah, it made me
01:06:17
feel good. Yes. It's a bit of an
01:06:19
escapism from your reality, I guess. But
01:06:21
then the on the flip on the downside,
01:06:23
then you you know, you're depressed as
01:06:26
[ __ ] the next morning. Yeah. Yeah.
01:06:28
You're actually worse than where you
01:06:29
were in the in the start. It's like a
01:06:31
cycle that keeps on going. Yeah. I call
01:06:33
it borrowing happiness from tomorrow.
01:06:35
Yeah, that's a good one. That's what I
01:06:37
would do. Um, so you moved from Kentucky
01:06:40
to San Francisco for love. So
01:06:43
was was it a a girl in San Francisco or
01:06:45
a girl? There was a there was a girl in
01:06:48
SF. Yeah, there was a girl in SF. I
01:06:51
mean, I moved there. That's a big move,
01:06:52
eh? What is it like a four hour flight?
01:06:54
Five hour flight. Yeah, it's like a
01:06:55
four- hour flight. Yeah, I had been
01:06:57
there a couple times. Um, I mean,
01:07:00
really, I just wanted to I wasn't doing
01:07:02
nothing in Kentucky. There's nothing to
01:07:04
do there. There's nowhere to work, you
01:07:07
know what I mean? I was working at
01:07:08
Walmart. I was cash register at Walmart,
01:07:11
you know what I mean? And it was
01:07:12
depressing as hell. And then before
01:07:14
that, I was making like eight bucks an
01:07:15
hour in 2010. And then before that I was
01:07:19
working at I was like building like
01:07:21
wooden doors in a door factory like
01:07:24
pressing the machine and
01:07:27
yeah I wasn't doing much and and I just
01:07:29
wanted to do something and uh yeah San
01:07:33
Francisco was a play but it seems like
01:07:35
it wasn't great there though for seven
01:07:37
years seven years on and off you were
01:07:38
like couch surfing or sleeping rough
01:07:42
living rough. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, so,
01:07:45
uh, yeah, I had moved there. I move I
01:07:46
moved in with this chick and then, uh,
01:07:49
she ended up cheating on me and I ended
01:07:51
up dipping and, uh, I was working at
01:07:55
Whole Foods at the time. And then this
01:07:58
dude, uh, at at Whole Foods, who I
01:08:01
worked with, I was I was like, "Hey,
01:08:02
bro, like like do you mind like letting
01:08:04
me sleep on your couch just for like a
01:08:06
couple months before I save up some
01:08:07
money and and get my own apartment?" And
01:08:10
uh, he was like he was like, "Oh, yeah,
01:08:12
hell yeah." So he was he was like, "Oh,
01:08:14
I'll just charge you 600 bucks a month
01:08:16
for sleeping on the couch or whatever."
01:08:17
I was like, "That's chill. That's chill,
01:08:19
bro. I'll take it. I'll take it." So,
01:08:22
uh, I ended up doing that for like a
01:08:24
couple years just because it was like,
01:08:26
"Why would I, you know what I mean? This
01:08:28
is this is fine. I mean, I don't need
01:08:30
anything really." So, and then we got
01:08:33
evicted or because we would just drink
01:08:35
and and act up and go nuts. So, we got
01:08:38
they got evicted from there. And once
01:08:40
they got evicted from there, I was
01:08:42
homeless for like 3 months. And and a
01:08:45
buddy of mine who was also like sleeping
01:08:48
rough in and out, there was this hotel
01:08:50
in North Beach that uh you can they
01:08:55
charge by the day like, you know, 2530
01:08:57
bucks a day. But everyone in there is
01:08:59
junkies. Everyone in there is junkies.
01:09:01
And it's like a communal bathroom on one
01:09:04
floor and then like the shower you got
01:09:07
to wear slippers or or you got to wear
01:09:09
like you know what do you call them?
01:09:12
Jandles. Jandles. You got you got to
01:09:13
wear jandals up in there like you're in
01:09:15
jail and all that. And um yeah man it
01:09:18
was just uh we slept there some some
01:09:21
days some days I you know would drink so
01:09:24
much that I wouldn't even remember where
01:09:25
I'm at and I would sleep on the ground
01:09:27
or I would sleep on the bench. You know
01:09:30
what I mean? Um but yeah, brief brief
01:09:33
moments of that. People sometimes people
01:09:34
ask me they're like, "Oh my god, you
01:09:36
were homeless for years." And I'm like,
01:09:36
"No, no, no, no, no." You know, I I
01:09:39
experienced brief brief moments of that.
01:09:41
But um I mean in in the sense where you
01:09:43
say, "I don't have a home to go to." I
01:09:45
guess you could say that. For sure.
01:09:47
Yeah.
01:09:49
Yeah. What are your observations of how
01:09:50
people treated you during during that
01:09:52
time? Like were people mostly kind to
01:09:53
you or did people sort of look down upon
01:09:55
you? People didn't give a [ __ ] Yeah.
01:09:57
People don't give a [ __ ] There's so
01:09:58
many homeless people in SF, bro. And and
01:10:02
every single everybody's battling to to
01:10:06
get that buck, you know what I mean? And
01:10:08
and and and San Francisco's open drug
01:10:10
laws and [ __ ] People just walking
01:10:13
around smoking bubbles and and smoking
01:10:16
crack, you know? It it is what it is.
01:10:18
And nobody care. Cops don't care, you
01:10:20
know? So So that's that's how people
01:10:22
see. Um it's it's weird as hell. San
01:10:26
Francisco is the one place that that you
01:10:28
can have a $2 million
01:10:31
house and then walk outside and on your
01:10:35
front porch somebody's smoking crack and
01:10:37
there's not, you know what I mean? It's
01:10:38
just like what the [ __ ] what's going on
01:10:39
here? But um there's just a big giant
01:10:42
divide, man. A big big divide of of
01:10:45
wealth and and um nobody seems to give a
01:10:48
[ __ ] Is what it is. Yeah. I I don't
01:10:50
know if this is um I think I read this
01:10:51
somewhere, but I don't know if this is
01:10:52
true or it may actually may have been in
01:10:53
a Malcolm Gladwell book. Um, but when
01:10:55
Rudy Giuliani was mayor of New York and
01:10:57
there was a massive homeless problem
01:10:59
there, I don't think he gave a lot of
01:11:01
the homeless people in New York like a
01:11:02
one-way a one-way ticket to San Fran. I
01:11:04
bet. I bet. So, like transferred the
01:11:06
problem from one side of the states to
01:11:08
the other. That's what they do. That's
01:11:09
what they do, man. All of them. You
01:11:11
know, winters are a bit kinder in San
01:11:14
Fran if you're going to be sleeping
01:11:15
rough, I guess. Yeah. There's Well, the
01:11:17
the thing about it is is there's a lot
01:11:18
of programs a lot of programs in San
01:11:21
Francisco and in California that that
01:11:23
help people with uh with with assistance
01:11:26
and government aid and and and they're
01:11:28
real lenient about, you know, food
01:11:30
stamps and all that. So, so it's uh it
01:11:33
it's very very liberal and and there's a
01:11:37
lot of people that that get help, but
01:11:38
the obviously the bad thing is that
01:11:41
people tend to take advantage of that
01:11:43
type of [ __ ] Yeah. So, so it was during
01:11:46
this sort of time that you were um
01:11:47
swiped on Tinder and you met uh Lisa,
01:11:50
the your New Zealand girlfriend, Amy.
01:11:53
Amy, sorry. Yeah, Amy. Yeah. And
01:11:56
um Yeah. Yeah. Have you reflected on
01:11:59
that time with her? Like like what did
01:12:00
she see in you? Yeah. I don't know. I'm
01:12:03
handsome, attractive, you know. No. Uh
01:12:07
you she she must have seen um Yeah.
01:12:10
Yeah, like we we sort of touched upon
01:12:11
this earlier, like some some potential
01:12:12
in you that you hadn't yet seen in
01:12:14
yourself. Yeah, probably like long-term
01:12:16
potential. Probably. I mean, beyond
01:12:18
those devilish good looks. Yeah, true.
01:12:21
Uh yeah, I don't know. I was I was, you
01:12:24
know, and I still am madly in love with
01:12:26
her, you know? Um uh I don't think I'd
01:12:29
ever met somebody from New Zealand
01:12:31
either, you know what I mean? And and uh
01:12:34
she just seemed from another planet to
01:12:36
me. And I think
01:12:38
uh she was just so kind, you know. I I
01:12:42
don't think I've met anyone as kind and
01:12:44
and as caring and as genuine, you know,
01:12:47
and and she didn't care that I didn't
01:12:49
have a bunch of money and and she didn't
01:12:51
care that, you know, I didn't have a car
01:12:54
and I was driving around and and she
01:12:56
genuinely didn't care. She she just
01:13:00
loved me and and cared about me for for
01:13:03
the person that I am. And um I don't
01:13:06
think I'd ever in my life met somebody
01:13:08
like that.
01:13:10
Um she swears up and down, oh I've
01:13:12
always I always know I've always known
01:13:14
you. This is this isn't anything
01:13:16
surprising to me. I always known, you
01:13:18
know, and then I have to believe her,
01:13:22
you know. You do do you think in some
01:13:24
ways she sort of like filled the the the
01:13:26
void in you that was missing from
01:13:28
family? Yeah. 100%. I had nobody, you
01:13:32
know, I didn't know anybody. Um, all of
01:13:36
my friends were people I just got into
01:13:37
trouble with and um, you know, indulged
01:13:42
with. I didn't nobody I didn't have any
01:13:44
family in California. You know, I never
01:13:47
really got along with my family. I
01:13:48
didn't see eye to eye with my family.
01:13:50
I've always really felt like pretty
01:13:52
alone, you know what I mean? And not not
01:13:54
in a sad or depressing way, but just
01:13:56
just I've just always felt like I've
01:13:58
been on my own my whole life. and and
01:14:00
she's the one person that that I'd met
01:14:03
um that I didn't I I did I swear to God
01:14:06
I really didn't feel alone no more.
01:14:08
Yeah. It's weird.
01:14:11
That's so cool.
01:14:13
Yeah. Does she know this stuff or will
01:14:15
she just be hearing this for the first
01:14:17
time? She has no idea. She thinks I just
01:14:19
think she's hot.
01:14:22
She has no idea this on the podcast.
01:14:23
This is this is really powerful stuff.
01:14:25
So what so you meet her and um at that
01:14:28
point you thought New Zealand was part
01:14:29
of Europe. Um yeah you what were the um
01:14:31
what were the your big surprises and
01:14:34
first impressions when you got here.
01:14:35
Were you were you alarmed at how low the
01:14:36
water level is in the toilet? No, I
01:14:39
wasn't alarmed by that. It's very high
01:14:41
in the States, isn't it? Yeah, it's very
01:14:42
high. No, actually I was alarmed by
01:14:44
that. I swear to God I was. I was like,
01:14:46
"What the?" And and I still have a a
01:14:49
chip on my shoulder about that. I'm
01:14:50
like, "Fill it up, man. Fill up the
01:14:52
bowl." But what about um uh when you go
01:14:55
to the mall here and you use the toilet,
01:14:57
it's nice to not have a crack in the
01:14:58
door. That is not Well, no, I kind of
01:15:01
like it. I like a little company every
01:15:02
now and then. Just an eyeball peering
01:15:05
in. Yeah. See what's going on out there.
01:15:07
For anyone that hasn't been to the
01:15:08
States. Yeah. There's massive massive
01:15:10
like cracks in the door of the L. Yeah.
01:15:13
But also pros and cons. They also have
01:15:14
the um the toilet seat covers in the
01:15:16
States that they dispense quite
01:15:17
liberally. Yep. Yep. The water levels
01:15:19
are nice and good. Um, what about slang?
01:15:22
New Zealand slang. Like, did you find it
01:15:25
hard to get your head around that?
01:15:28
Um, yeah. I mean, the all blacks was a
01:15:30
weird one. I was like, you you call them
01:15:32
the what?
01:15:34
Excuse me. I don't think I can say that.
01:15:37
Um, yeah. A little different from
01:15:39
America. Yeah. But, uh, no. Yeah. Like I
01:15:43
I just said it right there. No. Yeah.
01:15:45
I'll be saying to I I always say like
01:15:47
I'll be talking on the phone with my
01:15:48
brother and I'll be like, "Oh, it's
01:15:50
pretty cold over there." Hey. And he'll
01:15:51
be like, "Hey, are you Canadian now?"
01:15:54
And I'm like, "Oh, [ __ ] Sorry." But uh
01:15:57
yeah. No, I [ __ ] with the slang. I [ __ ]
01:16:00
with the slang. Yeah. Um what are um Oh,
01:16:03
yeah. What about the exchange rate when
01:16:04
you got here? You must have felt rich.
01:16:05
You must have felt cashed up from Bro, I
01:16:07
came here with nothing. I came here with
01:16:09
nothing. My girl had all the money. I
01:16:11
came here with nothing. Uh yeah. I
01:16:13
suppose if you're transferring nothing
01:16:14
to nothing, it still equals nothing. Um,
01:16:18
what about um the tipping thing? Did
01:16:20
Yeah, you tipping is massive massive
01:16:22
part of the US culture. Yeah, big time.
01:16:24
Um, yeah. What did you think about that
01:16:26
when you came here, especially being
01:16:27
with your background in hospitality?
01:16:30
Uh, I loved it to be honest
01:16:34
because just pay people a normal wage,
01:16:36
man. You ain't got to be tipping and and
01:16:38
it's not up to the person. It's not up
01:16:40
to the person to to split the
01:16:41
difference. If you hire somebody, pay
01:16:44
them a wage. You know, it doesn't I
01:16:47
don't I still don't understand tipping.
01:16:48
I know. I I I I know. I looked it up and
01:16:51
apparently it was in the prohibition
01:16:54
days they they introduced tipping to be
01:16:57
able to I don't [ __ ] know. I'm not
01:17:00
going to just [ __ ] I don't know.
01:17:02
Yeah. I don't get it. Yeah. Yeah. I
01:17:04
don't I don't get it either because it's
01:17:05
not like the meals are particularly
01:17:06
cheap in the States. So, you're paying a
01:17:08
normal normal price for a meal and then
01:17:10
it's like someone's someone's taking
01:17:12
that money and not paying the staff what
01:17:13
they're worth. Yeah. Well, they're
01:17:15
paying them like $2 an hour, a dollar an
01:17:17
hour, which is like I guess federally
01:17:20
that came into play during prohibition.
01:17:21
So, or or or some Great Depression or
01:17:24
something so people could hire people,
01:17:26
but it's like this isn't the [ __ ] 30s
01:17:28
no more. You know what I mean? What What
01:17:30
about um things things that um New
01:17:32
Zealand does better and worse than the
01:17:34
States?
01:17:35
uh
01:17:37
better.
01:17:40
Um I mean I that's a that's a really I
01:17:44
know that there's a lot that you guys do
01:17:46
better, but that's such a like putting
01:17:47
me on the spot. Um
01:17:51
yeah, I don't know. Everybody I just
01:17:52
know everybody's nicer here, man.
01:17:54
Everybody's so damn sweet. Even the like
01:17:57
scary gangsters, you know, that are got
01:18:00
ts all over their face and [ __ ] are
01:18:01
super [ __ ] nice people, you know what
01:18:04
I mean? Um, and then and then in
01:18:06
America, the the the [ __ ] guy with
01:18:08
the suit on is a [ __ ] [ __ ] Do you
01:18:10
know what I mean? It's just it just
01:18:12
doesn't make any sense. Um, but but
01:18:14
yeah, everybody's real sweet here and
01:18:16
and everybody is just I feel like
01:18:18
everybody's just real happy to be a
01:18:21
Kiwi. You know, in America, you got
01:18:23
people that are like extremists on both
01:18:26
ends that are like, I'm [ __ ] American
01:18:27
and you can't tell me otherwise, and if
01:18:29
you're if you don't like the Fifth
01:18:30
Amendment, get [ __ ] out of my country.
01:18:32
And then there's people that are like, I
01:18:34
hate it here. I don't want to be
01:18:35
American. Like, everybody just really
01:18:37
seems to
01:18:38
be real real uh prideful to be to be a
01:18:42
Kiwi. And and uh it's [ __ ] rad
01:18:44
because it's a great place with great
01:18:46
people and then uh I don't ever ever
01:18:49
ever want to leave. Oh, we don't want
01:18:51
you to leave either. Yeah, apparently.
01:18:52
Which is good. Thank you. Yeah, we give
01:18:54
you permission to leave to set up that
01:18:55
store in Germany or Yeah. Um what about
01:18:58
your siblings? Have they Have they been
01:18:59
over to see what you've created here? My
01:19:01
little brother. I flew my little brother
01:19:03
out. My little brother. He uh in the
01:19:05
broke boy private plane. No. Hell no.
01:19:08
No. It was his first time flying ever.
01:19:11
It was his first time flying ever. And
01:19:13
um I I was real proud of him. He's he's
01:19:15
got real uh he he's autistic. He's
01:19:17
pretty deep on the spectrum autistic.
01:19:19
And you know, he walks everywhere on his
01:19:21
tiptoes and you know, he won't look you
01:19:23
in the eye when he's talking to you, but
01:19:24
but he's a a sweet sweet kid. And um it
01:19:28
was real real awesome to see him. It's
01:19:31
kind of weird because I, you know, I'm
01:19:33
not close with any of my family really.
01:19:36
I mean,
01:19:37
um, and that's probably because of the
01:19:40
way that we was raised or whatever, but
01:19:42
um, I still try to keep in touch and and
01:19:44
talk to them on the phone every now and
01:19:46
then and and um, they're obviously real
01:19:49
happy for for me and and uh, they think
01:19:52
it's crazy what's happening. Yeah, they
01:19:54
think it's crazy. It is crazy, but it's
01:19:56
welld deserved. Oh, what about um um a
01:19:59
thing called tall poppy syndrome? Have
01:20:00
you heard of tall poppy syndrome? Are
01:20:01
you familiar with that? Is it is that a
01:20:04
is that a thing in the states? It might
01:20:05
have a different name. I think I've
01:20:06
heard it in the states called like crabs
01:20:07
in a barrel or crabs in a bucket. I
01:20:09
heard it in the States called uh being a
01:20:11
[ __ ] hater. You know what I mean?
01:20:13
People are haters. No. Uh yeah. Look,
01:20:17
everybody just wants it to happen to
01:20:18
them. I get it. You know, I would I
01:20:20
would be back when I was flipping
01:20:22
burgers or or or making seven bucks an
01:20:24
hour. I'd see somebody be like, "Oh my
01:20:25
god, I can't believe I'm you know," and
01:20:27
I'd be like, "Man, [ __ ] that dude, man."
01:20:29
man. Like, damn. I get it. But, um, I
01:20:34
think
01:20:34
everybody everybody wants to be success.
01:20:37
We all want the same things in life,
01:20:38
man. We just want we just we just want
01:20:40
to find love. We want to be loved. We
01:20:42
want to be happy. And um we don't want
01:20:46
to have to worry about bills and and
01:20:47
worry about having to eat if we're
01:20:50
hungry. And and we just want to take
01:20:53
care of our families. And we all want
01:20:54
the same thing. So, um, that whole tall
01:20:57
poppy syndrome, I don't think I've ever
01:20:59
I've never been a victim of it. I know
01:21:01
other people in New Zealand have said,
01:21:03
you know, like, you know, everybody
01:21:06
tries to chop each other down. And I I
01:21:09
haven't been a victim of that. People
01:21:11
are always like, "Bro, people tell me,
01:21:14
they're like, bro, do you realize how
01:21:15
famous you are?" And I'm like, "No, I'm
01:21:17
just I just make videos and I make
01:21:19
food." I mean, maybe maybe I don't get
01:21:21
it because I I do it before anybody else
01:21:23
can do it. You know, nobody's more
01:21:24
shocked. Nobody's more shocked than me
01:21:26
about what's going on. Will you ever
01:21:29
become a resident? Do you I got my
01:21:31
permanent residency. Really? I got my
01:21:33
permanent resi. I'm a Kiwi. Yes, sir.
01:21:35
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I'm so excited. What
01:21:38
does you have to do to get that? You
01:21:39
have to sit a test or
01:21:41
No, I think for the citizenship, I think
01:21:43
you might have to do a test, which I'm
01:21:45
down for, and I will ace it when it
01:21:48
happens. But for the residency, I think
01:21:50
you just have there's some criteria you
01:21:52
got to meet and and obviously I'm uh I'm
01:21:55
a big I think I'm a big pillar in the
01:21:57
community and um um I just want
01:21:59
everybody to be successful and and
01:22:01
everybody to be happy and treat each
01:22:02
other with respect and uh uh you know
01:22:05
cuz we all in this together. We all in
01:22:07
this together. If one person saying,
01:22:09
"Oh, well I don't like you because of
01:22:10
this, that, and the other," that's
01:22:11
nonsense, man. We all we all Kiwi. We
01:22:13
all in this together. Yeah. And everyone
01:22:16
can succeed. And that's um that's sort
01:22:18
of the the opposite of um tall puppy
01:22:20
syndrome. Like tall puppy syndrome is
01:22:21
like I'm not succeeding so I don't want
01:22:23
that person. There's enough to go room
01:22:26
at the table. Yeah. There's plenty of
01:22:27
room at the table. Um is there anything
01:22:30
you you you know you miss about drugs or
01:22:32
alcohol or are you scared of relapsing
01:22:34
or not at all now? It's so far in the
01:22:36
rear view now. You know what they say is
01:22:38
they they say never um say that you're
01:22:42
never going to do it again. They say
01:22:44
take it a day day by day. Um because
01:22:47
when you say I'll never drink again or
01:22:48
I'll never do this again. It seems
01:22:50
almost like a unachievable task. It
01:22:52
seems like a mountain you got to climb.
01:22:55
Um but when you do it, you just wake up
01:22:58
one morning and you say, "I'm not going
01:22:59
to drink today." It's a lot easier to
01:23:01
do. And then before you know it, you've
01:23:03
got three and a half years where you
01:23:05
haven't touched it. Um I don't I don't
01:23:09
know if I'll drink again. I don't know.
01:23:11
May maybe I will, you know. I don't
01:23:13
know. Robin Williams went 22 years I
01:23:17
believe of no alcohol and then one day
01:23:19
he was in shooting a movie in Alaska and
01:23:23
just went into a bar and just said I'm
01:23:25
going to have a drink today and had a
01:23:26
drink and then sure enough he went on a
01:23:28
bender again for a month and then
01:23:30
realized well it doesn't matter how long
01:23:33
I go without it I'm still the same old
01:23:35
me. Um I don't know if I'll drink again.
01:23:38
Maybe one day I'll maybe one day I will.
01:23:40
But
01:23:41
um you know I I think even even though
01:23:45
you just sort of white knuckled this and
01:23:46
did this on your own um I feel like what
01:23:48
you were saying is sort of like what
01:23:49
what they what they teach people in AA
01:23:52
like just one day at a time. Yeah. You
01:23:53
know you have people that like well you
01:23:55
know what what about my my son's not
01:23:58
even born yet. But what about my son's
01:23:59
21st? Am I not allowed to be there? So
01:24:01
what about like there's there's one
01:24:02
thing because me and my fiance uh what
01:24:04
about our wedding? You know what I mean?
01:24:07
Are we gonna be able to have a drink
01:24:08
together at our wedding? Um, probably
01:24:11
not. Keep it real. But, um, it's just
01:24:15
how important that that that tradition
01:24:17
and all that [ __ ] is to you. It's not
01:24:19
it's not very important to me. The the
01:24:21
reason why I drink is not because it's
01:24:22
an event. The reason I I drink is
01:24:25
because uh um, you know, I want to feel
01:24:30
different than what I currently feel.
01:24:32
Yeah. Yeah. There's This is like some
01:24:35
quote I saw on Instagram. It's like
01:24:36
people drink to escape the life they've
01:24:38
got where the the dream should be to
01:24:39
create a life that you don't want to
01:24:40
escape from, which I feel like is
01:24:41
exactly what you've done. You know
01:24:42
what's another great quote? What's that?
01:24:45
Is
01:24:46
um sobriety has given me all the things
01:24:50
that alcohol has promised me.
01:24:54
And I think that's that's a real big
01:24:55
one, bro. Is that
01:24:58
um without being sober, there's no way I
01:25:01
would have done all this. I would have
01:25:02
woke up one day and gone, I'm never
01:25:04
going to be [ __ ] I this is stupid. This
01:25:07
is embarrassing. Why am I even trying?
01:25:09
And I would have cracked open another
01:25:10
gym beam and just went nuts, you know.
01:25:13
Um but it really is about being focused.
01:25:18
My whole life, bro, from since I can
01:25:20
remember, 12 years old onward, I've
01:25:22
been, you know, either smoking weed or
01:25:24
I've been drinking or I've been doing
01:25:26
something where my brain cloud clouding
01:25:28
my brain. Like, I can finally use my
01:25:32
brain and um you know, I'm a lot smarter
01:25:35
than I thought I was apparently.
01:25:40
Yeah. What would you What would your
01:25:41
message be for anyone that's um
01:25:42
listening to this or watching this now
01:25:43
with um addiction issues of their own?
01:25:48
Uh yeah, you can do it. It's not
01:25:50
impossible. It's not impossible. You
01:25:53
know, when I when I was one of the one
01:25:55
of the last memories I have of really
01:25:57
going on a bender is uh I had a seizure,
01:26:01
which I' I'm not I've never had a
01:26:02
seizure in my life. I've never done any
01:26:05
of that. You feel almost like hopeless
01:26:07
when you wake up the next day and you're
01:26:09
shaking and you need another drink. It's
01:26:10
like, how is this ever going to end? But
01:26:13
it it it can end. And everything can get
01:26:18
better for real. Yeah. Yeah. And in
01:26:22
quite a quick period of time as well.
01:26:24
Very fast. Yeah. Very fast. Um I saw a
01:26:27
quote from you which I really really
01:26:28
liked. Uh we are all humans. We're all
01:26:30
dealing with a lot of [ __ ] The way I
01:26:32
fixed mine is with tacos, which is a
01:26:34
cute quote. But um and you were so right
01:26:36
with that quote. What what's the [ __ ]
01:26:37
you're dealing with now?
01:26:39
Um, the [ __ ] I'm dealing with
01:26:41
now is just
01:26:44
um how to not [ __ ] it up. I guess that's
01:26:47
that's kind of what stresses me out. Um,
01:26:50
is is just to make the right correct
01:26:52
decisions. I've never had any money in
01:26:56
my life and I've
01:26:57
never been a very responsible person and
01:27:01
um I have to learn now how not to [ __ ]
01:27:04
it up. Well, I reckon that's a fairly
01:27:06
safe bet. But you you're held now 30 38
01:27:09
38. So you've got enough you've got
01:27:12
enough data now to know that if you
01:27:14
follow your instincts, it's it's going
01:27:16
to end up all right. You figure it out.
01:27:18
Yeah. So I reckon if you you follow your
01:27:19
instincts, you're not going to you're
01:27:20
not going to [ __ ] it up. It's worked
01:27:22
well for you so far. Um got a couple of
01:27:25
just easy ones to finish with. Um what
01:27:28
would you say your best qualities are?
01:27:32
Um my best qualities I'm I'm very blunt.
01:27:35
Yeah. Yeah, say it how it is. Um, a lot
01:27:38
of people, you see, you say it's a best
01:27:40
a best quality. A lot of other people
01:27:41
around you might be like, "That's one of
01:27:43
your worst qualities." Some of my
01:27:44
employees are like, "Jesus Christ, this
01:27:45
guy's an asshole." Um, no, I think I
01:27:48
think it is a good quality, man. I think
01:27:49
I think some people are a bit too timid
01:27:52
and um, you know, like they they they
01:27:55
really want to say how they feel or or
01:27:59
they really need something done, but
01:28:00
they instead they're like, "Hey, maybe
01:28:02
we should maybe try to do this." and
01:28:05
just we don't have a lot of time, you
01:28:08
know what I mean? We don't have a lot of
01:28:09
time. Just just say how you feel, get it
01:28:12
done, and and just be yourself. And um I
01:28:15
always be myself. Um you know, there's
01:28:17
there's a stigma in what I do, which is,
01:28:20
you know, I'm not a [ __ ] idiot. I'm a
01:28:22
white person making Mexican food. And
01:28:24
there's a lot of people that have
01:28:26
approached me and tried to call me
01:28:28
culture vulture or this, that, and the
01:28:30
other. Um, look, I've spent a lot of
01:28:33
time a lot of time um, hang in Mexi with
01:28:38
Mexican culture and and Mexi, all my
01:28:41
Mexican homeboys in in California. And I
01:28:44
don't got anything to prove to to to
01:28:46
anybody on that type of [ __ ] I don't
01:28:48
care. You know, everybody's got their
01:28:50
opinions. Not everybody's going to like
01:28:51
you no matter what you do or what you
01:28:53
say. Not everyone's going to like you,
01:28:55
no matter how you dress, you know what I
01:28:57
mean? So, um, it is what it is. just
01:28:58
just be yourself and and uh yeah enjoy
01:29:02
life. Yeah. I'd say that right there is
01:29:04
um that's an example of tall poppy. Oh
01:29:07
yeah. Yeah. You get to that point where
01:29:08
you're successful enough that people are
01:29:10
going to come at you. Call you a culture
01:29:12
vulture. I mean people people Mexican
01:29:14
restaurants around Oakland that don't
01:29:15
have Mexican people working. Yeah. True.
01:29:17
Hey, true. Yeah. Yeah. Bet. Yeah. I mean
01:29:19
people been coming at me like my whole
01:29:20
life though. People I've been I've been
01:29:22
fighting my whole life. People been
01:29:24
hating on me my whole life. So I guess I
01:29:26
guess it's just I don't see it as
01:29:28
specifically tall Poppy. I just see
01:29:30
people as people people as haters, you
01:29:32
know. It is what it is. Yeah. Keep it
01:29:34
pushing. What's your most toxic trait?
01:29:37
My most toxic trait or if your fiance
01:29:41
was here, what would she say? Oh my god.
01:29:44
She'd be like, "This [ __ ] never
01:29:46
does the
01:29:47
dishes. He leaves his damn underwear on
01:29:49
the floor." Yeah.
01:29:51
Uh
01:29:54
probably. Yeah, probably that I'm a bit
01:29:56
messy, man. Yeah, I grew up the the way
01:29:59
that I grew up, I just take pop my shirt
01:30:00
off and chuck it on the floor and my
01:30:02
girls just drives her nuts.
01:30:04
Um, I play a lot of video games, man. I
01:30:08
get I'm I'm one of them people that if I
01:30:09
sit down and start playing video games
01:30:11
like online and stuff, I just won't get
01:30:12
I'll just behind my headset like what'
01:30:15
you say? And my girl will be like,
01:30:17
"Yeah, so we got dinner plans tonight."
01:30:19
And I'd be like, "Huh?" And she'll be
01:30:20
like, "Ah, never mind." You know,
01:30:22
probably that. It's funny that you're
01:30:24
messy at home e because um yeah your
01:30:26
your restaurant it's so pristine
01:30:28
extremely spotless. Yeah. And that's on
01:30:30
purpose because um I'm a real big
01:30:33
believer in
01:30:34
um you
01:30:36
know if if you walk up and the first
01:30:40
thing you see is the outside glass and
01:30:43
that's clean, that's really really
01:30:45
clean, that's a big indicator that the
01:30:47
inside of the restaurant is probably
01:30:49
clean. Um, and you want to eat at a
01:30:53
clean place. It It must be must be
01:30:55
spotless. That's why everything is
01:30:56
white. It'll It'll show you. Well, if I
01:30:58
went there on Saturday and your aunties
01:31:00
were on the floor, I probably wouldn't
01:31:02
want to want to eat that. Don't get a
01:31:04
plate. Uh, when when was the last time
01:31:06
you cried?
01:31:07
Uh, that's a good question, man. Are you
01:31:10
an emotional guy on? Not so much. Not so
01:31:12
much, man. No, no, not so much. I
01:31:16
uh yeah I mean I don't want to say like
01:31:21
I'm I'm like a very bitter person or an
01:31:23
angry person, you know, but there is a
01:31:26
lot about uh you know the way that I
01:31:30
grew up and and the things the
01:31:32
tragedies, you know, I I I feel like I I
01:31:34
I had a life of
01:31:37
tragedy, you know, and
01:31:39
um there's a lot of [ __ ] that I'm angry
01:31:41
about and and bitter about, but
01:31:44
Um, just like everybody else, I guess.
01:31:46
Just like everybody else, you know. I
01:31:48
feel
01:31:49
like like maybe I I never I never had
01:31:52
like a fair shake at life, you know? But
01:31:55
but there there ain't nothing I can say
01:31:56
about it now. You know what I mean?
01:31:58
There's nothing I can say about it now
01:32:00
because I've I' I've overcame that and
01:32:02
and I've I've reaped the rewards tfold
01:32:05
now. You know, I'm probably I would ar
01:32:09
say arguably the
01:32:11
most influential chef in New Zealand,
01:32:14
maybe. You know what I mean? Like
01:32:16
actually, I'm not just saying that. So,
01:32:20
um, you can't you can't change your
01:32:22
past. Like Dana White always says like,
01:32:25
"I never look at my past. I never look
01:32:28
at my past because what's the point? You
01:32:30
always should look in the future and the
01:32:31
in the present and the future because
01:32:33
what's the point of looking at the past?
01:32:34
You can't change it. There ain't nothing
01:32:35
you can do about it. Yeah. The best
01:32:37
thing you can do with it is use it as
01:32:38
information to fuel the future. I use it
01:32:40
as fuel. You know, I I I I wake up and I
01:32:43
and I go that much harder because I know
01:32:45
I will never ever ever have a chance
01:32:47
like this again. And I was never granted
01:32:49
a chance. But the one chance I do get, I
01:32:51
will never I will I won't [ __ ] it up. Is
01:32:54
there a mistake that you wish? Yeah.
01:32:56
Speaking of the past, any mistake that
01:32:58
you wish you could go back and correct?
01:33:01
I mean, everything brought me here. Hey,
01:33:03
it's a rough one because everything
01:33:05
brought me here. Yeah, that's the thing.
01:33:06
So, if you change one thing, it's a
01:33:08
butterfly effect. You seen that movie?
01:33:11
Ashton Coocher. Was it Ashton Coocher
01:33:13
movie? Yeah, man. It's a crazy movie.
01:33:16
Uh, yeah. Hell yeah. Shout out Ashton
01:33:18
Coocher, too. Uh,
01:33:22
Sliding Doors is Have you seen Sliding
01:33:23
Doors? I've never seen Sliding Doors.
01:33:25
It's the same sort of thing. A sliding
01:33:26
doors moment. Yeah. I don't think I
01:33:28
don't think so, man. I I don't think so.
01:33:29
There's a there's I think you have to
01:33:32
learn these horrible heartbreaking
01:33:34
moments. You have to go through them um
01:33:37
to be able
01:33:39
to do what you currently are doing. You
01:33:41
know, like people like my girl asked me
01:33:43
like, "How are you not stressed out
01:33:44
non-stop by all these, you know,
01:33:46
meetings and and all this money that's
01:33:49
being funneled into it and you're
01:33:50
responsible for 20 different employees
01:33:52
and you how how is that not stress you
01:33:54
out?" And I said, "Because I've been
01:33:55
through worse [ __ ] I've been through
01:33:57
way worse [ __ ] than this, you know, so
01:33:59
this ain't nothing. Yeah. Oh, and yeah,
01:34:02
as I mentioned earlier, quote from Izzy,
01:34:04
pressure is a privilege. Pressure
01:34:05
creates diamonds. Yeah. Yeah. Um, who's
01:34:08
your biggest inspiration?
01:34:13
Um, probably my mom. Yeah. Yep. Yeah.
01:34:17
Yeah. I would have loved, you know,
01:34:19
that's that's another thing that that
01:34:21
sometimes I think probably one probably
01:34:23
last time I cried was was because, you
01:34:26
know, some days, man, I don't want to
01:34:27
get too [ __ ] sentimental and
01:34:29
emotional. I But but some of these days,
01:34:32
man, I just I just want to pick up the
01:34:34
phone and call my mom and just be like,
01:34:36
"Man, I can't. Mom, you won't believe
01:34:37
what happened today, you know?" But I'll
01:34:40
never have the chance to do that. I'll
01:34:41
never do that. Um,
01:34:44
and it is what it is. But, um, that's
01:34:48
one of them things, man, is is that, uh,
01:34:51
yeah, my mom was a big inspiration. My
01:34:52
mom was a lot like me. She was real
01:34:54
funny and and outgoing and, uh, yeah, my
01:34:58
uncle my uncle Richard, he he always be
01:35:00
like, "You, man, you're so much like
01:35:01
your mom. You just like spitting image
01:35:03
at her." And exact exactly the same uh,
01:35:06
personality and everything. And I know
01:35:08
my mom would trip out if she saw me.
01:35:10
you. But my mom would always tell me
01:35:13
like, you know, you're going to be
01:35:15
something. I know you're going to be
01:35:16
something one day. You got this. Like,
01:35:18
you got this. So, it would be [ __ ]
01:35:21
dope if I could show her like, I [ __ ]
01:35:22
told you so. You know, like you was
01:35:24
right. But, uh, yeah. One day, one day
01:35:28
I'll see her again. And Yeah. Yeah. Do
01:35:30
you believe in um do you believe in an
01:35:31
afterlife? Like, or do do you have
01:35:33
moments where you feel like she's like
01:35:34
watching over you or feeling presence?
01:35:36
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like and maybe
01:35:38
maybe not her as a physical being or
01:35:40
whatever, but
01:35:41
um yeah,
01:35:44
I feel like everything is connected. You
01:35:46
know what I mean? I'm not very spiritual
01:35:48
or or religious or any of that, bro. I
01:35:51
just I just think everybody, you know,
01:35:54
we're all human beings. We all go
01:35:57
through the same emotions and and
01:35:59
everybody like tragedy and heartbreak
01:36:02
happens to everyone in life, you know.
01:36:04
Um, and I think it's real important that
01:36:06
that everybody should remember that
01:36:08
whenever we're barking at each other
01:36:10
about politics or any of that [ __ ]
01:36:12
Yeah. It's like that quote from yours
01:36:13
that I read out earlier. We're all
01:36:15
human. We're all dealing with a lot of
01:36:16
[ __ ] You just don't know. You don't
01:36:17
know what [ __ ] anyone's dealing with.
01:36:19
Hell no. And sometimes people ain't
01:36:20
dealing with [ __ ] Sometimes people
01:36:22
don't deal with stuff for years and they
01:36:24
just balling out driving Corvettes.
01:36:26
Cool. But but but you know, some
01:36:29
sometimes people do deal with deal with
01:36:31
[ __ ] Yeah. You know what I mean? We,
01:36:33
like I said, we all want the same things
01:36:34
in life, you know what I mean? Yeah. I
01:36:37
just noticed your tattoo on your left um
01:36:39
on your left hand. Who's who's Hank? It
01:36:40
says, "Long live Hank." Uh yeah. Yeah.
01:36:42
That's uh one of my real real good
01:36:44
friends in uh in middle school. Uh Hank
01:36:48
Stevens. Shout out Hank Stevens. He he
01:36:49
he passed away when he was, I think,
01:36:53
27. He uh died in a motorcycle accident.
01:36:58
Yeah. A lot of people I know died. A lot
01:37:01
of people like my my high school
01:37:05
sweetheart Cheyenne Lawless. She she
01:37:07
died when she was 20, I think 28, 27,
01:37:10
26. Um, a lot of friends from school,
01:37:14
heroin overdoses or killed themselves or
01:37:17
whatnot. Uh, yeah, where I'm from, it's
01:37:20
not it's not all [ __ ] you know,
01:37:22
Skittles and rainbows. M um that's why I
01:37:25
put Kentucky on my forehead cuz it's a
01:37:27
always remind myself where I came from
01:37:29
and uh just
01:37:31
how you know I made it out and uh
01:37:35
um yeah won the lottery I guess you
01:37:37
could say. I really did.
01:37:40
Are you proud of yourself? Very proud of
01:37:42
myself. Yeah. Have you always been able
01:37:43
to say that or no? Not hell no. Nope.
01:37:47
I've always
01:37:48
been you know I've always when I was
01:37:51
younger yada yada I was always cocky.
01:37:53
You know what I'm saying? And I knew I
01:37:54
was good-looking, all that. I was
01:37:56
good-looking when I was younger, but um
01:37:59
I was never proud of myself, man. I was
01:38:01
always ashamed of myself. I was always
01:38:02
the poorest kid in school and
01:38:05
uh you know, I didn't have a family.
01:38:07
people people's parents would come and
01:38:08
pick them up and I'd be walking home
01:38:11
from school and [ __ ] and
01:38:14
uh yeah, I was I I was always ashamed of
01:38:17
where I lived and it was always dirty
01:38:19
and you know, my mom was always nodding
01:38:22
off on the couch and yeah, I I was never
01:38:26
proud or happy uh when I was younger.
01:38:31
But now I am. Yeah. Hell yeah. Yeah. And
01:38:34
so you should be. So you should be. And
01:38:36
um yeah, yeah, your mom would be
01:38:38
immensely proud too. And just your um
01:38:40
the way you speak about her, you speak
01:38:42
about her with so much love and it would
01:38:43
be very very easy for you to have like a
01:38:44
chip on your shoulder or feel
01:38:46
indifferent about her or you know be
01:38:48
being be mad about how you were raised,
01:38:50
but yeah, when you speak about her, I
01:38:52
can tell there's nothing but love. Yeah.
01:38:54
I mean, she was she was real young when
01:38:55
when she had us. And
01:38:57
uh I don't think my mom I I I think that
01:39:02
she just
01:39:04
did did the best she can. You know what
01:39:06
I mean? She she didn't have all the
01:39:07
answers. And and us when you when you're
01:39:09
kids, you look at your mom and your dad
01:39:11
and you think that they got the all the
01:39:12
answers. She didn't have all the damn
01:39:13
answers, man. She was just trying to
01:39:16
feed us.
01:39:18
You know what I mean? There there's one
01:39:19
instance of of we pulled up to Long John
01:39:22
Silvers and uh she got two like a pack
01:39:27
of Hush puppies or something that was
01:39:28
like a dollar was a box of hush puppies
01:39:30
like this which is just what's just like
01:39:32
a deep fried like a cornbread ball
01:39:35
something we eat a lot and uh she gave
01:39:38
it to she g she gave there was like
01:39:40
three of them she gave me one for me and
01:39:41
one for my sister and one for my brother
01:39:43
and then I was like I remember eating it
01:39:45
being like why why aren't you eating mom
01:39:46
and she was like well we don't have
01:39:48
enough for me to eat and you guys should
01:39:50
eat it. And I I I ate half of it and
01:39:52
gave the other half to my mom and my mom
01:39:54
started crying and gave me a hug. Like
01:39:56
that's one of them moments as a kid I
01:39:58
was like six maybe seven years old that
01:40:01
um that just seemed normal to me. You
01:40:03
know what I mean? That seemed normal to
01:40:05
me and thinking about it when I'm older
01:40:07
is extremely sad. You know what I mean?
01:40:10
But uh
01:40:12
what it is sad like you're almost at the
01:40:14
age now that your mom was when she
01:40:15
passed. Like there's only like six years
01:40:17
difference. Yeah.
01:40:19
It's crazy. This has been um this has
01:40:21
been a great chat. You were you were
01:40:22
nervous when when you came in. How's it
01:40:24
been? Has it been okay? Yeah. No, it has
01:40:27
been good. Yeah. No, it horrible. Is it
01:40:31
nice? Is it nice to reflect on on on the
01:40:34
the journey? Yeah, it's therapeutic,
01:40:36
man. Yeah, it it is because like I said,
01:40:39
all I do all I do from from from wake up
01:40:41
to to sleep is think about tacos and
01:40:45
That's all I do, man. Just think about
01:40:47
tacos and think about the business and
01:40:49
and don't screw it up and oh, maybe you
01:40:51
know,
01:40:54
it's good. And we're recording this chat
01:40:56
on a Oh, well, I was going to say it's
01:40:58
taco Tuesday, but I suppose it's for you
01:40:59
it's taco Monday, taco taco Wednesday,
01:41:02
taco Wednesday, taco Thursday. Yeah.
01:41:05
Hey, it's been really really nice to
01:41:06
meet and connect. Um, thank you, sir.
01:41:08
And uh yeah, I I I I just can't wait to
01:41:11
see where the the brand goes cuz um
01:41:13
you're on to an absolute winner and um
01:41:15
I'm just looking forward to, you know,
01:41:17
see you get all the success and growth
01:41:19
that that you deserve. A thank you.
01:41:21
Means a lot. Thank you, sir. Cheers,
01:41:22
Sean. Thank you.