Craig Robinson is an actor, comedian and musician. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about his new animated film THE BAD GUYS where he voices Mr. Shark. Craig discusses how he paved his own way in Hollywood, his Pizza Hut commercials and what he would order on his pizza, playing Darryl Philbin on “The Office”, how he took his career into his own hands after moving to Hollywood, being a teacher before making it as an actor/comedian and more!

So much of this movie is the idea of being scared of something that you don’t really understand. There’s a wolf, a snake, a tarantula! But Craig, what scares you?

“Hmmm, questions. I am a Scorpio, can’t get too deep.”

Is it because you don’t know the answer or you can’t reveal too much?

“It’s the revealing, I gotta keep it mysterious man.”

I just heard the interview you did with Dax Shepheard where you say you don’t do podcasts.

“The name of my podcast is This is why I don’t do podcasts if I ever create one.”

One of the best things about doing an animated film is that you can wear anything while recording. What is Craig Robinson’s recording attire?

“A t-shirt, shorts and flip flops, easy. The flip flops feel like I am at the beach. The beach has the ocean, and the ocean has the shark, boom!”

You are on TV a lot with The Office and Pizza Hut commercials. What would Mr. Shark order if he would order a pizza?

“Oh easy. It would be a meat lovers with no onions.”

Where do you feel it all began where you took control of your own career?

“When I got to Hollywood, I think there was a time where I decided to approach everything like with rhythm and music. That might have been a turn, I think there was a time of figuring out where you have to care without caring. So you have an audition, you prepare for it, you cannot care about the result, you just have to live it. If you care, you will drive yourself crazy.”

How long did it take you to realize that you were just going to be you without caring?

“I think I just got there, I had no choice. So I came from comedy doing stand-up, well it’s stand-up but I am sitting down and playing the keyboard. I could separate myself and do what I do, I don’t know how to be anything else.”

So I know you used to be a teacher. Do any of your old students ever reach out?

“Yeah they will sometimes reach out randomly sometimes. They will hit me on Instagram like ‘Mr Robinson, you are such an inspiration, thank you.’ And I say the same thing to every one of them ‘I’m not your teacher anymore, please don’t contact me!’ I’m kidding! It’s really nice of them to reach out to me, a lot of them have families now.”

Is there a crossover between doing music and voice over?

“Everything is music to me. When I am trying to memorize something, I try to put it in a song.”

Featured image: NBC

On this episode of Insight, the tables have turned and I am on the other side of the mic as a guest on Travis Chappell’s podcast called “Figuring It Out”. I talk about growing up in Pickering, Ontario, Canada and how I fell in love with broadcasting at 4-years old. I also talks about why I decided to study Communication Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, how I landed my first radio job, my favorite interview moments, what I’ve learned from my parents and much more!

Growing up in Canada:

“So I grew up just outside of Toronto. I’m Canadian from a town called Pickering, which is just outside of Ontario. It has a population of about 92,000. I have an older sister and my parents are the greatest example of companionship, friendship and love. They are celebrating their 47th wedding anniversary this year, so I grew up in a family filled with love. I felt like I had endless possibilities and I could do whatever I wanted. I played a lot of sports growing up, tee ball was the first one, and of course if you grow up in Canada you have to play hockey. In elementary school the only sports were track and field, cross country, volleyball and basketball, and I did them all. When I got into high school I played baseball there and got onto the wrestling team too, sports was always big in my life. I remember being 4 years old and I was given a Fisher price tape recorder radio with a microphone attached to it. So I would pretend to be a radio broadcaster at 4 years old, so I would record little tapes of the announcer, that was my first memory of it. I remember being so passionate about it and drawn into it, I love the idea of presenting to people.”

On discovering the passion in high school:

“In high school I was the vice president of the student council, mostly because they got to do the morning announcements. Every morning I would say ‘Good morning Pine Ridge!’ like Good Morning Vietnam. We also had communication studies in our high school where we would make TV every week. We had a TV studio in my highschool and we would rotate through all of the different roles, that was where I learned what communication studies was. So when it was time to pick a major in college, communication studies was fun. Let’s do that. It was a major long shot to be on TV, but you are 17 or 18 years old and picking your college major, which is crazy.”

On knowing this was the career:

“So I was pretty dead set on giving it my best shot on being on TV. I had an epiphany in my final year of college. Now college is a lot of fun, you meet a lot of people and experience a lot of new things, beer is one. I was living with 4 of my best friends and we were going to graduate 7 months from then. I remember thinking that when I graduate, that’s it, I have to work for the rest of my life, and you realize this at 21. At that moment I made it so I would never hate my job. I saw too many people hate Sunday because Monday was next. I was so aware that you work for half of the time that you are awake, you spend more time with your colleagues than you do with your partner. But here’s the thing, people spend more time putting the work into dating than they do in their job. So at that exact moment I had an epiphany and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I reached out to every radio station in town and said that I wanted to do this and see how it’s done. One radio station said sure, come on out.”

On getting my foot in the door:

“So I asked to volunteer, and the radio station said I could be part of the street team and hand out the flyers. This other radio station said that they don’t take volunteers but offered me a job! They said it only pays $8 an hour, but it was $8 an hour more than I thought I was going to make. I was a board operator for all of these talk shows, that was how I got started. Fast forward to graduation and I knew I needed a job. I reached out to a load of TV stations, nobody got back to me. I found this one station that was 60 miles from my hometown, really small. So I said that I would be there for spring break, could I come and talk about an internship? This was a total lie, I was not going there. But I scoured the internet for the general manager’s email address, and he responded and said sure. He looked at my resume and took a chance on me as an intern. My first day was following a reporter and doing everything, shooting, writing and all of it. Two weeks later I get given a story and I ask who I was following, they say I am following Terry but it is my story. I am writing it, shooting it and I would be on the news. From then on I was a free reporter on TV, but by the way I was still working at a pet store back home to pay for the gas to drive the 60 miles.”

On career progression:

“So the internship ended up turning into a job. When I went to the general manager’s office and said thank you for the opportunity, but I can’t afford to do this. He said ‘Ah I’ve been meaning to talk to you Chris. You won’t be an intern anymore. We don’t have a position now, but we have created one for you, welcome to the team!’ It went from 0 to about $14 an hour back in 2005, certainly paid for my gas. I was reporting on the stories, and with local news it can be a bit of a stretch as to what is news. I remember being pitched the story about a cat that lives in a retirement home, and that’s the story! Also there was a story about a new stop sign. I was thinking this was great, but at 22 I didn’t want to be a news reporter or anchor. So I was submitting this to every TV station I could find, and after work I would take the camera and fake report on the bigger stories. I would set up the camera in a field and would say ‘Rocky Balboa hits cinemas this weekend and I am talking to Sylvester Stallone…’ And no I’m not talking to him, but we would shoot it like we were. I was applying for all these things and no one was taking me seriously. I submitted my stuff for this company in Vancouver and didn’t hear anything, but the name of the person hiring was on the application.”

Seizing opportunities:

“I called the TV station and asked for her by name. They put me through and I left a voicemail, she left me an email and said they would let me know. Her direct phoneline was in the signature so I would be calling her in a few days! Sure enough, I called her a few days later and said I would be in Vancouver next week, again a total lie! I flew out there and got the job and this is where things started happening for me.”

On improving my game:

“It was the transitions and becoming more comfortable on camera. I think that now in 2022 we are more comfortable on camera because we are taking selfies. You have the adjustment of ‘Oh that’s what I look and sound like?’ I think it takes 2 or 3 years to get used to that broadcasting version of yourself. That amped up and best version of yourself, that takes a bit of time to go this is me.”

Advice for aspiring broadcasters:

“I think it’s just getting the reps in and just do it. Joe Rogan is on like episode 1,700, no one is looking back at episode 16 or episode 416. People will just put out 3 episodes, look at the numbers and think it’s a waste of time. It’s about the research, the recording, the editing… If all of that isn’t fun for you, then it might be time for something else. I think it’s important to figure out why you are getting into this. If it’s for a hobby or for money, it’s two completely different paths. I took my interviews and put them on YouTube as a digital library. Someone said to me ‘You’re making money from those right?’ I’m like what? Then someone showed me how to make money from YouTube ads and I was making some money from it. I was fortunate where this wasn’t my only source of income, but some videos were getting more views on YouTube than they were on TV.”

On the shift to YouTube:

“It took a while for the shift to happen. With the network, it was so early that they didn’t really know about the YouTube videos. In 2018 I hit 100,000 subscribers and that was where it really hit some momentum. I felt like I was onto something with 20% of my time, so what was it like with 80% of my time.”

On building relationships:

“I think it comes down to what value you are going to give. It’s obvious what The Rock or John Cena are giving you, but what are you giving them? When I got on the Fast 9 interviews, and I got 12 minutes instead of 4, they realized that a lot of people that watch my stuff are wrestling fans. John Cena has a lot of fans that are still wrestling fans, this is a no brainer.”

On what I have figured out [and what I don’t]:

“I think I am still figuring it out every day! I have personally figured out more about who I was more than I did when I was 18, but I am still figuring it out. My self awareness has grown a ton, but that’s something that comes with time. I am very goal driven, I say that vague goals get vague results, so I look at how I can get there and reverse engineer. There has been a lot of picking up my life and moving it, so while the surroundings change, I am still the same. I am in a relationship with the greatest person I have ever met, Rachel is amazing! This is the right time with the right person, I am figuring out a lot of adult things there. But in all of that, I am comfortable with making the commitment of this person is great. If I can keep showing up then we can keep showing up together.”

Sabby Piscitelli (@sabatinop24) is a professional wrestler known for his time in WWE & NXT as Tino Sabbatelli. He also played 6 seasons in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about behind released from WWE during 2020 then re-hired then released again, what Triple H told him about his character, the praise he received from the late Scott Hall, the match he had on AEW Dark, the rumors that he leaked AEW spoilers, how he made the transition from the NFL to being signed by WWE, being part of a tag team with Riddick Moss, how he met his girlfriend Mandy Rose, what his workout routine looks like and much more!

From the transition from NFL to WWE:

“That is where there was the struggle. I was playing in front of 80,000 people, I had banners and my jersey was the number 2 seller in 2009 for Tampa Bay. I went from 80,000 to setting up rings in the PC for around 100 people. [Chris mentions the salary change from NFL athlete to PC recruit] I am glad that you mentioned that because I had to adjust myself in a humbling way. I was all in, I told Triple H that I was all in, I knew I had to start at the bottom. So I went to the PC and I did whatever they asked me to. I didn’t know how to wrestle, so I learned how to wrestle. Then I had to set up rings and be in locker rooms with cockroaches, and I am used to being escorted to my car. But I’m like OK, just stay the course. But for me, I bought in and dedicated my life to it. I get going and I don’t know what to expect. I develop this character that is me but just turned way up to a person that you wish you could be. So I started getting booed out of arenas, so I’m like this is good.”

“Fast forward a bit and Triple H approaches me. He said ‘Listen Tino, you look like a million bucks, talk like a million bucks and carry yourself like a million bucks. But I really want your wrestling to be a million bucks. When you are a package like Tino, if you can’t wrestle then it will expose you and you can’t be the star that you really are.’ I took that personally and I really honed in, and that craft is hard! It’s not something you can just teach overnight, there are so many aspects. It really wasn’t easy, if you are an explosive athlete, it is the opposite in the ring. You are moving fast, but you have to act like you are not moving fast. So I said to Triple H ‘OK I’m up for the challenge.’ He says ‘I’m going to team you up with Riddick Moss, he is good at what you need to work on and you are good at what Riddick Moss needs to work on.’ I’m like perfect, let’s team us up. It was another alpha presence, so we were butting heads at first, but for me I was grateful. He taught me so much about tagging, psychology and how the pace of a match goes. I knew we didn’t really want to do it at first, but as my career came, it really really helped.”

“Fast forward 3 years and I came to this realization. I was 35 and I gave everything that I had to WWE, so I wanted to sit down with Triple H and ask what was the plan. So I sat down with Triple H for 45 minutes in Atlanta, and I will never forget it. He said ‘Listen Tino, I see you as a huge star. We just want the timing to be right with you because of the background and what you have accomplished. With your background we want to make sure that all the stars align and the timing is right.’ So I bought into this. He then said ‘This is what we are going to do. We are going to break you up on TV with Riddick Moss, here we go.’ That happens and I am in 3 main events.” 

“I was against Alistair Black for the belt, Velveteen Dream and somebody else. I was catching my pace and was feeling comfortable. So I had the match with Alistair Black for the belt and Terry Taylor was there. At that time he pulls me aside and said it was the best match he had seen me work. Then I said ‘I am going to tell Triple H personally about it.’ This was a Friday night and I was excited. I had the Saturday off and I get a phone call at about 11am. It’s from Terry and he says ‘Tito, you want to work the main event tonight against Velveteen?’ I’m like absolutely, perfect. So I get in my car and I drive over to Tampa somewhere. Long story short, he goes to dropkick me and gets me right in my pec. His foot tore my pec, freak accident, if he did it 1,000 more times he wouldn’t have done it again. I’m about to get my singles debut and I tore my pec.”

“So I have the surgery and as I am out, I tell WWE I have an elbow problem, so let me get this sorted and I will be back at 100%. I go and get the surgery and it is supposed to be a 30 minute surgery. They get 8 pieces of bone fragment out, but the last one the tweezers snap and vanish. I was on the table for 5 and a half hours while they were digging around. They finally get it out, I wake up and they tell me what happened. They say it’s fine but I am like no something is wrong, I can’t feel my hand. Fast forward again 2 months later and my hand has no feeling and strength. I had to have a third surgery again in December, and they tell me it will be 3 months or 3 years, we can’t say. WWE stood behind me and paid for everything while I was on the shelf for 2 years. But I wanted to fight through and wanted to come back, because I felt like I was that next star. I remember Scott Hall pulled me aside one day and he said ‘Kid, you have a candid ability for people to hate you.’ Those were like the moments where I still wanted to chase this dream. Another was Dusty Rhodes, he said ‘Son, you’ve got the it.’ Those conversations kept me going through the hard times. I started this journey, let’s finish it. Triple H says that they want me back, so I started working my butt off and get through the physicals and get in shape. All of a sudden I get cleared in February 2020, but 2 weeks later, COVID hits. Vince McMahon says ‘Anyone who hasn’t been on TV is gone.’ So I get a phone call from Canyon Seaman. He’s like ‘I’m sorry we have to let you go.’ I’m like ‘Let me go? You just paid me for 2 years, I just got back.’ He’s like ‘It’s not my call, trust me.’ So they had me for 5 years and this is how they let me go? I was struggling. That being said, Canyon did text me every week saying they were going to get me back, but I didn’t believe it.”

On the one match he had in AEW:

“So then AEW comes into play, AEW calls me. Billy Gunn calls me and says ‘Sabby, show up to Jacksonville.’ They don’t tell me anything, I show up and I see my name on the board. I’m like wow, I have a match? I mean OK I will do it. So I had this match on AEW Dark, it was a tag team match, but they didn’t tell me anything. They didn’t offer me anything, it was a vague trip. But that same week coach Bloom texted me and said congratulations. I shot him a text back saying ‘Thank you but I didn’t sign anything.’ The next day Triple H reaches out to me. It’s funny, Canyon and coach Bloom was trying to set up the meeting with Triple H for 2 months, but because he is so busy, it would get pushed to the back burner. I was getting so offended, but I know they were pushing for it, but it was funny that he reached out when I appear on AEW. So he reaches out and we meet and he says ‘You know what? You’re the only person we are going to offer to bring back.’ I was honored and privileged, but I asked for one thing, an opportunity. Everybody was saying ‘Wait until Vince sees this.’ And ‘Wait until you get that push.’ But it never happened because of the surgeries and just bad timing. But here we go, they sign me and they bring me back. Triple H goes ‘Tino, come back to the PC, get the ring rust knocked off.’ So I come back to the PC late 2020 and I am in every main event of the house shows in the PC to rehearse. They had me against Ciampa, Thatcher, every skillset. I kept getting put off like ‘Oh next week…’ I started getting a bit upset because I came back for the opportunity. Then I hear ‘You are not right for NXT. We are going to put you on Raw or SmackDown. You don’t fit on this brand.’ I just want the opportunity. Again, this is the first time in my career I felt confident in the ring. I can call matches on the fly and wrestle anyone. Triple H told me I looked and talked like a million bucks, now I think I can wrestle anybody.” 

“All of a sudden we have a match, Jamie Noble and John Laurinaitis came, so did Prichard. They wanted to see promos and matches of their best talent. So I cut a promo and I am in the main event and I crush it. Jamie Noble pulls me aside and says ‘That promo, you can’t teach it. That confidence, you can’t teach it. Best promo of the day.’ I ask about the match and he says ‘I loved it, I am going to tell Vince.’ I’m like great we have someone on the inside, let’s go! I heard for years that I am a Vince guy, OK well put me in front of Vince. Two weeks later I get a phone call from Canyon and I get released again. I’m like hold on, I thought the phone call was that I would be going to Raw or to SmackDown. For 3 months they were saying I was going right up. Me and Canyon had a great relationship, and I could tell that he couldn’t tell me the reason. He was like ‘I am sorry, this is devastating to me.’ Then he hangs up on me. I’m like hold on, I didn’t have to come back, it was a man to man handshake, and now I am gone? I didn’t get an answer, that was what hurt me the most. I was in the main event for the right hand men for Vince McMahon, where is the disconnect. I lost the respect because I didn’t get a call or text from Triple H, I don’t respect that. He and numerous other people told me I had main event star level talent. But I don’t get a shot, nothing?”

On why the second release happened:

“Oh I know why it happened, but they are not allowed to publicly say. NXT is all different now, and Vince is in a fad all of a sudden. I think it’s a business plan but he wants young. I couldn’t wrap my head around that for 2 reasons. First, they all think that I am in my 20s, but is anyone built like me? If I am out of shape then fine but really? I had a conversation with John Laurinaitis, and at the end I wanted to ask him if I knew who I was. The conversation was so generic, like he was talking to a script. He told me personally that I couldn’t fathom. He couldn’t say age, but it was age. I think Vince saw the name Tino, been on NXT for 6 years and not a star? Then get him out.”

On a possible WWE return:

“The sad thing is, what I heard about the age thing is I say no. Personally I think if Vince saw me face to face then I hope so. But if I saw Vince face to face, I don’t know what I would say. This is just my opinion of being in the business for 5 or 6 years, I want to say this right. Personally I think that the character of Tino was a huge dropped opportunity for WWE. For me, it’s like how do I walk away from it all now? I fell in love and respect the business, I want to become great at the business. But they amped me up and never gave me a shot? If they gave me a shot and then I failed then OK, thank you. But I never got that or anything, and that’s what still beats me up.”

Would he return to AEW?

“So here’s the thing. I don’t know what happened or where it went wrong, this is the truth, that bridge was burned, and I don’t know how. Tony Khan knows me from football, and when WWE offered me that contract, I actually texted Billy Gunn about it. They [AEW] hadn’t offered me anything, Triple H was the one who offered me something. I sent a nice text to Billy Gunn to thank me for the opportunity and I thought it was all good. But when I got released again, someone reached out to AEW and said to Tony Khan ‘Tino is a free agent and he’s going to be a star.’ Tony said to him, and I am paraphrasing, but Tony is upset I went back to WWE. Then 3 months ago, Andrade approaches me and said that he wanted me to be in a group with him. Me and Andrade have always had a good relationship. But he texted me personally and we shot a vignette together. He wanted to bring a group like Evolution to AEW. We shot the video and spent the whole day in Miami. He texted me back and said ‘Tony Khan likes the idea but no Tino.’ I’m like what do you mean? I would love to sit and talk to Tony, he might have been upset that I had one match and then went back to WWE.”

On the rumors he was leaking AEW spoilers?

“Oh man I had to laugh. If anybody knows me, I don’t know where to begin with this. I am an internet dummy, I don’t know what a dirt sheet is, I am not on Twitter and I don’t use Instagram. So when someone tagged me and said ‘You hear what Chris Jericho said about you.’ What was it, NXT reject? At first I ignored it but people started to bring it up more and more, so I started to look into it. I’m like what is this dude talking about? For me to go on the internet and speak on something that I know nothing about? No disrespect, I don’t care about that much. When IMPACT called Terry Taylor asked me, I’m like I don’t know what a dirt sheet is. God honest truth, I don’t know what I would even say. Maybe that is why Tony Khan doesn’t like me that much.”

On his time in WWE:

“I was extremely grateful for the opportunity because I was going through a transitional phase in my life. I played 6 years in the NFL and was very grateful, but I was very bitter. I was just cut like that, I had started my last game on TV and had 8 tackles, but never played again, which was a mental struggle. But WWE came along and Canyon Ceman offered me the opportunity. I’m like really? OK. I was a casual fan, not a die hard, but he offered me this opportunity. They flew me out to Orlando for a try-out and they offered me the opportunity, which I thought about for about 3 months. I was extremely honored to be a professional athlete in a whole different industry. So I took it, moved to Orlando and I humbled myself, because you are starting right at the bottom. The tough thing about that is that you suck. You are not good at something when you start something new.”

On what he is doing now:

“That’s a great question. I have been chasing it for 20 years. I left home at 18 and went to Oregon State University. Then I was privileged to be drafted in the second round for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. At the end of that 6 year journey, I get approached by the WWE and have to live in Orlando for 5 years. Long story short I left home and for 2o years I was chasing the dream. Finally I have moved back to my dream home in South Florida, and I am just living day by day. I have some businesses and live under my means. This part of my life is just to enjoy life for a little bit. I just wanted to take a bit of time for myself.”

On not performing in front of a crowd:

“You know it’s funny, I am starting to get that itch again on what my next challenge is going to be. Right now, what satisfies that is golf. I am obsessed with getting good at golf and challenging myself. Pro athletes have this pressure to better themselves, so you have to compartmentalise it so it reduces the anxiety. But whatever comes next, I will attack it the same way that the NFL and WWE did. The itch came back when I was watching WrestleMania and I watched Mandy Rose. I am the biggest Mandy fan and that was the first weekend where I had to go for a run. I am so competitive and I know that Tino was in his prime.”

On how he met Mandy Rose:

“It was when she was doing the show Tough Enough. The first time I met Mandy, they were filming Tough Enough and they built a warehouse next to the PC. I saw them walking around and I’m like that girl is beautiful. I watched her go through the show and she got signed. Her personality and down to earth persona just drew me to her. She was such a genuine person, and at the time she was engaged and we were just friends. But they broke up and we just escalated from there.”

On what he is grateful for: 

“Mandy, my family and health.” 

Embedded images: Instagram

Featured image: WWE

Athena (@athenapalmer_fg) is a professional wrestler known for working under the name Ember Moon in WWE and NXT. She joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about her time in WWE and NXT, the frustrations she had during her last few months there, what’s next for her, if she is interested in going to AEW, her love of Dungeons and Dragons, her Twitch Stream, her cats, how she met her husband and fellow pro wrestler Matthew Palmer and much more!

On creative frustrations:

“Oh, yes. Ok we are going to talk about it. My last 4 months were just one of those moments where it wasn’t fun. It started with Shotzi being gone and Shotzi being drafted. I was sitting at home and I got a phone call. They said ‘Hey, we don’t want you to be upset, but Shotzi just got moved to SmackDown and will be debuting with Tegan Nox as a tag team.’ I was just sitting there and was like, I was playing D & D and I got this phone call. I was so happy for her, but then the tag team thing popped up. But we [me and Tegan] were the tag team, we were doing stuff and we had the merch. We finally got into our groove too, but they were like ‘Don’t worry, we have stuff for you.’ So I’m like ok, cool. I remember going to Hunter, and he was saying ‘I have no clue what is happening, we will figure it out together.’ That was like so much of what I needed at that time. No one really knew what was happening. Bayley had gotten injured and I knew that Shotzi and Tegan were doing try-out dark matches. But the problem here I had was that some of the newer writers who were from Raw and SmackDown were like ‘We had no idea you and Shotzi were a tag team.’ Just sitting there and a lot of WWE backstage is playing the game. [I said] ‘Well yeah, it’s cool. We were down here in NXT, it’s not like we were front and center page of WWE.com when we won the titles, but that’s fine!’ You have to eat the sh*t sandwich and smile with sh*t in your teeth a lot of times. It’s all about not making waves and being like it’s all ok. Me and Hunter and the head writer, we had come up with the idea of doing a heel turn for me. It’s new, it’s different and something I haven’t done before. We wanted to do a losing streak, at least that was my thought. There were all these new faces coming through, part of my job in NXT is to help new talent, I get that. I have been doing this for 17 years, I love this business, I don’t mind. So I’m like let me go on this losing streak, get frustrated and let me turn. I remember being told it’s a great idea, we do the first match and I am off tv for 4 weeks. I’m like ok, but they are like ‘It’s ok, we’ve got this.’ Then Hunter disappeared.”

“I was supposed to do a match with Sarray, but I ended up getting a rash on my arm, which was an allergic reaction to something. But they thought it was something else and they pulled me from the match. Ok, cool, whatever, we will keep trucking. Then 3 weeks later we are going to do this match, but then that gets pulled from tv. One of the head coaches just goes ‘Will you do me a favor and work 205 Live with Cora Jade? We really like her and it will be a fun match in the main event of 205 Live.’ I’m like ok, cool, that’s great. I’m never going to say no to having a match on tv regardless of where it is. Me and Cora go out there and have this banger of a match. They say they want me to go heel in this match, but to make it subtle. They turn me, but they don’t, and there was a lot of confusion of what was going to happen. And remember going online and people were like ‘Did Ember turn heel?’ And I don’t know if I did or not. Then I am off tv for 3 weeks and I have the match with Mandy [Rose] and they tell me ‘You need to dye your hair fire colored again and get the red contacts. You’re going back to the old Ember character, this is from Vince. You’re going to turn heel but as your old character and it’s the old music again.’ I’m like great! I go home, get my bottle of whiskey and I’m dying my hair. I have to hand dye it and it take an astronomical amount of time, it’s a minimum of 8 hours. During COVID my supplier shut down so I am trying to find the colors and it costs an astronomical amount. 2 weeks later I show up to tv and I am super motivated and happy. I remember we went to film a demo of the vibe that I wanted, come back and get the video ready. They then say ‘We have some bad news. Vince is pulling you off of tv indefinitely.’ I just kind of sat there and I was like, what did I do wrong? I have done everything you have asked me and have gone over and above. Even when they put me with Shotzi, everyone backstage knows I am not a tag team person and I hate tag teams, too many moving parts. It’s not that I hate tag team wrestling, there is just so much more to give and rely on 3 other people to make sure it all works in the ring. Me showing up to that tv and it’s 2am, I have done everything you have asked me to, branched out, gone above and beyond.”

On being told to dress differently and what lead to a breaking point:

“When you care about wrestling and you care about this so much more, not just for yourself, but for everyone involved, it hurts so much more. For so many years I have not been about myself, I have been about the people and about the match. To be told that I have done nothing wrong, and I was taken off tv for doing nothing wrong, it hurt so bad. I remember being sat in a meeting and being told to dress sexy. I was like ‘[laughs] I cater to children! I am not about to wear fishnets and booty butt cheek shorts because we had a 2 hour meeting about how to dress like Mandy Rose. That’s not fair, not everyone is like Mandy. Mandy is a phenomenal person, but not everyone is Mandy Rose. I started to see this downslope when Hunter was gone, and for the first bit we didn’t know why Hunter was gone, we just knew he wasn’t there. It became where I got so angry. I did nothing wrong, I didn’t p*ss of Vince, but they take away Shotzi and I am off tv. They are like ‘Well not all is lost Ember. We still want you to come and help out the next generation and teach a class. Maybe do some PC lives, which is the student show in front of no fans.’ I’m just like ‘So you are taking me off tv and make me a coach?’ I just remember laughing and saying ‘If I have done nothing wrong then you can cancel all my flights. I’m not coming to help these people that do not care about what I do, they only care about that pay check that hits their bank account. They are not passionate like me.’ There is no benefit for me and when I have done nothing wrong and with my elbow and Achilles surgery given you the entire right side of my body! There was no reward and not even a thank you, and you want to make me a coach and take me off tv? I said to them ‘I am not coming up here to coach, I am not doing your PC shows. I was supposed to be here in NXT to be repackaged and be back on main roster within a year. You took Shotzi away from me, I have nothing to go off of. I am going home, cancel my flights and hotels. If you have no creative for me, I am not getting on that flight. I am not doing this anymore, or else I will snap, either at you or a talent.’ I also said that I need to approve the creative before I get on the flight. This is the first time that I have ever pulled this card. I remember thinking I just quit.”

On deciding not to re-sign with WWE and getting released shortly afterwards:

“So I knew that I wasn’t going to re-sign so I knew that my release was coming. My contract was up in April, and they had offered me a ton of money to stay at one time. It was 5 times what I was making at that time, this was life changing. Sometimes money can’t buy you happiness, and I know that sounds stupid to some people. I couldn’t believe what they were offering me. I was so unhappy, but some things you don’t do for money, you do for love. And this wasn’t fun for me, it was like a 9 to 5 job. For what we do every day, we risk our lives and no day is the same, so why do we feel this way?”

“They ended up releasing me 3 days later, which was kind of a swerve. I got a call from creative the same day, the same hour. As I am texting creative I saw my phone and I’m like ‘I think I am getting fired.’ So I am playing Far Cry 6, trying to sneak into the mansion and texting the writers. I get a call and I’m like ‘Here it is!’”

On the main roster call up:

“Right, and it’s a whole different staff. You are having to learn who the writers are for you and no one knows who you are. I remember my debut on the Raw after Mania and they were like ‘Alright. They might not pop kid. They might not know who you are, just don’t take offence to it.’ I’m like what?! My heart is then sinking. I think it’s because the people don’t really know who you are as a character or a person, and it’s sort of starting again when you get to Raw or SmackDown. They don’t know you are a werewolf, they just see this smiling and cheesy babyface. Or they can go like Kross and be this gladiator. Or you could be like Retribution who were not told their names until they were unmasked.”

On a possible move to AEW:

“It was literally up until maybe August or September that they were still trying. I remember saying that I would love to take the money, but you have given me no reason to stay. I remember that being my point of dispute with them. I wanted them to make me stay, but I was seeing everything going on in AEW and I’m like that looks fun! For a while we couldn’t talk about it, but how else do you expect us to outshine them. But I wasn’t watching them for film, I was watching them because I was envious. I remember I would text Dustin from time to time to see how he was and he would say ‘We are sure having fun over here.’ I see that Dustin! But how are you? Dustin was great and he always gave me great advice on my character. I’m there like this is f*cking Goldust taking an interest in my character. Just seeing how happy everyone was.”

On being initially rejected by WWE and eventually being signed:

[I got told] ‘You’re not pretty enough, you need to lose weight, you’re not what we are looking for, you’re too buff…’ All of these comments have been said in my previous try-outs, and then I finally got the yes. It meant so much more to me that I wasn’t going to be a Diva. I’m not a Diva, do I like putting on makeup and looking pretty? Well who doesn’t? But in like, when it comes to my aesthetic and the fans that I cater to, I don’t promote sexuality like that. I never have and I don’t think I ever will. I’ve never been that type of person. I am a nerd, so it meant so much more to be merited on my performance instead of my appearance.”

On wrestling on the indies and it being fun:

“Yeah it’s great to create without a filter. I am getting to do that and also get the support of backstage crew, the companies and the fans. I am getting support in front of the people that I thrive in front of. Athena was the villain, but it’s not hard to be the bad guy again. But I feel like the indie fans are more appreciative and understanding when they see you go through 20 chairs. I do stuff because I know it’s safe, but I feel like because I had another main event the next night, people underestimate me. But it’s fun and I think sometimes the chaos of making money and fighting for a spotlight, which you shouldn’t have to do, but wrestling should be fun for all of the parties involved.”

On meeting her husband Matthew Palmer:

“I met Matt in my second year of wrestling. I tell this story quite a lot because I used to be quite the asshole. Because I was the only girl for 200 miles, I felt like I had more to prove. We met at wrestling training, I remember me and Matt being the same size and height, so they would pair us together. Lance Archer was coaching at the time and it was this drill where he would hit me 3 times and I would hit him 3 times. I’m like well ok, this guy is new and so am I so I’m going to show him what’s up. I just blasted him on every shot, previous to this no one hit me back but he gave it back to me as hard as I hit him and then he drop kicked me in the face. I wasn’t expecting it and I got up ready to throw a punch but Lance was saying ‘That was great!’ So I’m like yeah good job! For the first few months I hated his guts.”

So how does this all change?

“It was on a road trip. In Texas everything is so far away so we would have 6 hour road trips. I drove stick, 6 hours on stick is not fun. So I rode with Matt and he was playing something in the car from a musical. No one really knew that I liked musicals at that time, but we would end up hanging out 5 or 10 minutes before the show and that would turn into him introducing me to Moulin Rouge for the first time, and it just went from there. He was my knight in shining armor. I don’t tell this part too often, I was wrestling this match in Fort Worth, and this one guy was just an asshole. He clotheslined me so hard that I dislocated my shoulder. He was actually out back saying ‘She’s a girl, I have to make sure she will make my stuff look good.’ I have done gymnastics for years, so these [shoulders] just go in and out now, that’s just what they do. They call it breaking, it’s a technique to make you more flexible. So my friend pops my shoulder back in, and I drive a stick shift, this is not working! Matt was on the show and he lived in Arlington, which is 10 minutes away. He offered to drive me home, which is an hour away, and asked if I want to come to his show in Austin. I live with my parents so I’m trying to not show the pain, but I said yes. I went to the show and he has a match against Masada. Amazing man, but hard hitting man. Matt goes up for the frog splash and points at me, but then he gets demolished! We started dating after that and it just turned into this whole thing.”

On Matt’s support:

“Matt has been my biggest supporter through all these years. Even before I got signed to WWE. I was getting ready to quit. I had wrestled everyone that I wanted to and done every match that I wanted to do, with the last one being a TLC match. So I’m like it’s been 10 years, maybe it’s time to throw in the towel. I had try-outs with IMPACT and WWE and no one wanted me. Matt was like you should give it one last go, but I had a solid desk job at that time. But Matt said ‘What if you try one more time?’ I ran into Paige who was like ‘You need to try-out again. I will help as much as I can.’ Matt has always been there for me at my toughest times and it’s amazing to have someone like that in my life.”

On what Ember is grateful for:

“My husband, my cats and my optimism.”       

Embedded images: Instagram

Featured image: Dallas Morning News

Michael Yo (@michaelyo) is a comedian and radio & television personality. He joins Chris Van Vliet at the Blue Wire Studios at Wynn Las Vegas to talk about his new comedy special “I Never Thought” and why he funded it himself, how he went from being a TV host to a stand-up comedian, his comedy inspirations, the advice the Kobe Bryant gave him, how his family feels about the jokes he tells about them, how appearing on Chelsea Handler’s TV show “Chelsea Lately” started his comedy career, his friendship with Joe Rogan and much more!

Your comedy special is blowing up. Congratulations!

“Thank you. It’s on YouTube and it is pretty amazing. YouTube can be a vicious place, especially with all the comments. I got over 400 comments and only one negative one, I read them all. The only negative comment I got was a lady who goes ‘I am just too tired to watch this!’ That’s not even negative! There is so much love there, man. I had experience with my last comedy special, but I didn’t own it. This one I did everything with my director Coach Taylor. The video clips have gone viral and people are loving it. In less than 2 weeks I got 23,000 followers. The social media game has changed the game, people are coming up to me to do stuff. I used to not be in that game of social media, but Facebook is making me money now through monetisation.”

Facebook has that share button. With YouTube you have to copy the link, but with Facebook all you have to do is click share.

“Right, and then it’s done. I have this tier plan where after a year I will put my special on Facebook, because I own it. I want to maximize each one and see how it will do. This will also be good research so I know how I can strategize.”   

What was the plan here? Because anyone can put something on YouTube and it can either get watched by thousands or not a lot.

“That was the scary thing. My last special went on Amazon, been out for 3 years and only has 160 comments, half of those I begged for! But with this one I had over 400 comments in less than 2 weeks. Also YouTube is a search engine, so the more comments you get, the higher up the rankings it goes and gets recommended. I didn’t pitch it to Netflix, I wanted it out there on March 17th, 2 years to the day after I got COVID. We shot it in February, so we didn’t have much time to turn it around. I shot it in like February 7th. I knew if somebody wanted it, they wouldn’t turn it around like that. YouTube for comedy right now is it.”

Was it Netflix before?

“I mean it still kind of is. I started promoting this thing and fans of whatever show I was on would hit me up and go ‘You are underselling your special.’ I can now say that with the feedback you will laugh within the first 5 seconds, it is so good! To see all the response from YouTube and Facebook, people are loving it and sharing it. This has changed my life in 2 weeks.”

The beauty about YouTube is that this will live on and grow.

“It’s a slow burn. Also with every special that I do, it’s a legacy piece for my family, they can show it to their kids when I am long gone. That’s why I wanted to own the footage too. 50 years after I am gone they may want to do a tribute piece and they will own it. The last special I shot, I didn’t see it until the finished product came out. With this one I can see every cut and I can feel the energy in the room.”

Logistically, what do you pay for?

“I pay for everything and I pay it out of pocket. But I was smart enough to have great friends who gave me great prices. I got the room for a great price, found an up and coming director who wanted their shot, and he shot it beautifully. If any comic is listening, shoot it where you will have a great weekend. I paid off the special in that weekend, I made $0 profit, but it was all paid for, and that is all you can ask.”

Everyone in the audience knows that they are there for the special?

“They all know. So we did 5 shows across Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Thursday was a practice show with no cameras. Friday and Saturday were 2 shows and they were all taped. The crew gets paid the same if they are there for half a day or the full day, so I taped it all. The fourth show on Saturday night was a clean version, because that will get more plays on the radio.”

You’ve been doing this for 11 years. How does it feel that people are now starting to notice you?

“Well this is what I wanted people to notice me for. If you are in entertainment news, which I was in, everyone knows me for that, there is no one new. But during the pandemic, I changed my social media to comedian, I am not a host comedian, it downplays it. Now it is I am comedian Michael You.”

Take this back 11 years. You are having a successful year as a host, what made you step on stage for the first time?

“I was on Chelsea Lately. There were loads of comedians around me and I wasn’t supposed to be funny, I was just supposed to defend the celebrity. I then became the celebrity ass kisser, which everyone would dog on me and make me bigger. I said on Twitter that I wanted to try stand up, which Chelsea saw and put up on the screen being like ‘You’re not that funny.’ So I went to the Miami Improv and I crushed it! So I wanted to be somewhere where I am comfortable. I had a huge radio show in Miami at the time, and I did 15 minutes because the crowd was so nice. They were fans of the radio show and just so supportive. The owner of the club was so nice and impressed that he asked me to open up for the Wayans brothers. My second night I am opening up for the Wayans!”

Are you working on stuff constantly?

“Any observation or conversation I have, it goes in my head. I have never written down a joke, I just work on it on stage. My wife said something, this is not a joke, just something that happened. My wife loves the album Confession by Usher, which is about cheating. So I’m like why do women love the bachelor who hooks up with a bunch of different women and love stuff about being cheated on? Dudes don’t like that! It’s just those little things and make it into a big idea. It’s kind of like that door of ‘Women like this, men like that…’ All you need is 3 or 4 funny things.”

When people who don’t know you meet you, what ethnicity do they guess you are?

“Man, I could be anything! I could be Peurto Rican, Dominican, I go to Hawaii and they say welcome home! I’m not from there. This will blow you away, so this show I have coming up is about a mixed race family. 1967 was when interracial marraige was legal in America. Now I know why I didn’t see a lot of interracial families on tv, because it was illegal!”

Did you ever get told that you were going to be part of a project but it didn’t pan out?

“I was told that I was going to get this project the day before, going to sign the contract the next day. The network calls me back and they said they wanted a celebrity. They don’t want hosts anymore, they want a celebrity. At least I am conscious of it and I don’t fight it anymore. It is a trend, but there will never just be a host anymore. They are just not casting normal people anymore.”

It’s a wild profession. You get on stage and try to convince people that your thoughts are funny.

“And most of the audience will have had a crappy day so far. As I started doing standup, you realize that you are transferring all of your positive energy, but their negative energy is going somewhere too. Someone can come into the room and change the whole energy of the room. If this guy has a bad day, I got to make him laugh. I feel the energy process doesn’t happen if the comic is not that confident. But I now understand why people are so drained afterwards, you are absorbing everything.”

I end every interview talking about gratitude. What are 3 things in your life that you are grateful for right now?

“My wife, my kids and all the family around me.” 

Anthony Sarandrea (@anthonysarandrea) is an entrepreneur, speaker, philanthropist and the CEO of Pocket Your Dollars. And wow, what an episode… get ready to be inspired! Anthony joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about how to set and achieve your goals, how he got started as an entrepreneur, his morning routine, what he has learned working with people like Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuk and Les Brown, how he changed his mindset, the books he recommends the most and more!

We hear a lot of people say ‘Follow your passion.’ But I am curious, when did you find out that you are good at what you do?

“Well I started going door to door and selling solar hot water systems. I wasn’t great at that, I think it’s because I didn’t really believe in the product. Then I started working at Nike on the floor, there was no commission but I was a rockstar sales guy because I loved the product and what I was doing. That was the first time that it clicked for me. I then went on to interview for a W2 job, and the guy said ‘I have never done this before but I would like to hire you on the spot.’ Then I went to the training and mid way through the guy was asking me to answer the questions. At that point I am thinking maybe I should do this on my own.”

That’s a difficult bridge to cross. A lot of people listening will be too scared to dive into it.

“There is the concept of don’t quit your day job, and I get that. Some people are like ‘I have a family and 4 kids, but I’m going to quit my job because I have this Linkedin and Tinder hybrid idea…’ Hold on, that’s a lot of artificial pressure to that by creating the financial strains. I did pursue the W2 job but found periods of my day where there were gaps. Whether it was watching TV less, getting up earlier or working on Sundays, I found an extra 5 hours a week on top of my 40 hour a week job. From doing that, I was getting some traction and some success, and I was making enough to turn it into 10 hours a week, which would pay my bills. I can break even with this side hustle, so now I can go into it. This was an easy path to entrepreneurship, I got so busy that I hired my brother and my friends until I got to where I am today.”

The biggest excuse we hear is ‘I don’t have the time for this.’ But very few people actually do a time audit on their days. Do you mean writing down what your day consisted of?

“Exactly. At one point it got so dramatic that I had a notebook next to me and I would write down my day every 15 minutes. But I think time is the greatest resource we all have and a great equalizer, we all have the same time in the day. The excuse we tell ourselves is often not true. If you have kids, you have more humans to provide for, that is a bigger fuel. I have me and my girlfriend, that’s it. If you make it a negative, I can make it into an extreme positive.”

Also you will find that people will do the same thing as they did yesterday, which is the same thing as they did the day before and the week before.

“I couldn’t agree more. It’s patterns, repetitions and habits. When I heard it takes 21 days to build a habit, I loved that. If I don’t like something, it only takes 21 days to fix it.”

The 2 most important words in the English language are “I am” because it states what you are after that.

“Yeah and a lot of it is formed of our subconscious. I start to think about what I am and am not and figure out why I am that way. When you break it down to where it came from, you can start to change that and it can be easily changed.”

When you are starting out with something new, what does that look like for you?

“The most important thing is to get leverage. Let’s say on January 1st I want to lose weight. Life happens though and I can get caught out and dragged back into normal life. But getting the leverage on that goal and realizing what it looks like. For me, I said that I wanted to headline a major music festival by 2025, and I have never played an instrument. Then I started to look at the leverage and how much it would affect me and my family if I didn’t achieve this goal. My brother who is 21 will think he is limited and will get dramatic about it, and I will get into that space on purpose. Things like my kids will suffer if I don’t achieve this, fear sells and if I can instil there are consequences, that is when we can really see the results.”

People say that if you win the morning then you win the day. What does your morning routine look like?

“I take an ice bath every day because I want to do the hardest thing first. What email or call is going to be more challenging than that? But you can have a cold shower instead of the ice bath. I also think of 3 things that I am grateful for and think of 3 goals and how I will get to the other side of those goals.”

A lot of people hear about visualization, and this can be applied to anyone.

“How do we build confidence? We have reference points. If it’s something like ehadlinign a festival and you don’t have any reference points, how do we get them? It is through visualization. Spend time visualizing, because your brain doesn’t know what is real and what is not. The brain can create these worst case scenarios and will cause anxiety, but 99% of the time that won’t happen. If you have a speech and you think how bad it will be, why not think how great it will be? That will likely create a change in your confidence and your responses. It’s like when it’s the final kick of the game, you can see the kicker’s body language and be like ‘Yeah he is not kicking this!’ But on the other hand, you can see when they will.”

What books are you reading right now?

“I am reading Life Force by Tony Robbins, it’s a great book. It’s all focused on health and vitality, I am obsessed with the idea of exponential growth in healthcare. Another book I am revisiting is Psycho-Cybernetics, which talks about a plastic surgeon who would perform facial reconstructions. Some people’s lives changed for the better and some did not, and it’s all about how much the appearance made an effect.”

I end every interview talking about gratitude. What are 3 things in your life that you are grateful for right now?

“The time that we are alive and born, my health and my support system.”

Featured image: Disrupt magazine

Saen Higgins (@saen_higgins) is an author, speaker, coach, serial entrepreneur and philanthropist who has been in the Real Estate and Financial Services Industry for over three decades. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about how you can build generational wealth, what to look for in a real estate investment, how he has taught over half a million students to build wealth, his favorite books, the best lesson he has ever learned in life, how he started his first business and much more!

Let’s take it all the way back. What was the original plan when you were deciding what you wanted to do for a living?

“So for a living, it is similar to what I am doing. I invest in property taxes and property tax depots. My company sets up self managed retirement accounts too. Only in my experience the best way to manage that is to become the administrator. I knew that it would be disingenuous of me to teach people how to do that to the point where I was at a meeting and someone asked me ‘Are you going to keep teaching tax lanes.’ People laughed because that wasn’t what I was there for. I wanted to do that and share that information of financial independence. This is recession proof, inflation proof and presidential proof. In that design it was more about who I want to become.”

What do you think is the biggest mistake that people are making with money right now?

“The biggest mistake is not having a plan. Let’s take tax lanes as an example. The more time you plan the success of the business, the more successful the client is. I work with 40 to 60 clients personally, why are they more successful? Because I spend 10% teaching tax lanes and the rest teaching planning and execution. Let’s say you want to make $1 million, if you have never been on this trail, you will get lost. But if i said just do these 3 things and you will get results, and you do and it works, you know it is going in the right direction. When you go through those stages and you know what you are doing is right, your enthusiasm goes right through the ceiling.”

You talk about someone guiding you along the way. People feel like if they listen to a podcast it will be good enough. I think this idea of having someone guide you is a gamechanger.

“It is and it isn’t. I have never done anything successful without a guide. I have spent thousands of dollars on people to guide me on things like speaking. My guide told me to fly in and see the clients, I thought it was 12 to 15. But it was 364 people in a room, these were lawyers and doctors looking for things to do with their money. All I had was that I went to a Tony Robbins conference in 1992. I was told I was alright, but I needed some work. I found a book and contacted the author, and it just accelerated from there. Since then, if I know there is someone better than me, I will hire them and get better.”

This is the best and worst thing about YouTube is that there is so much information out there.

“It is interesting what you said earlier about this age of magic information where if I watch this YouTube video. But those that are younger, I love that Tony Robbins had people who said to him ‘I watched your infomercial 100 times.’ He said that he never had the heart to tell them that nothing changed in the infomercial. The information is the same, watching 100 times does not make you successful. It’s like the gym, when someone watches you do an exercise and they tweak it, you are then working it right and it hurts more.”

What is the go to book that you would recommend the most?

“Man there’s so many, I’ve got a whole living room full of them. I think some of my top books are biographies, but Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl is great. There is one thing in that book that is key, and that is you control your own outlook. For those who don’t know the book, Victor Frankl was in WW2 and in a concentration camp, and decided to write on the behaviours and actions of people. We don’t need to talk about the atrocities of what happened in the camps. But one of the things that he identified was that you can take away everything from someone, but you can’t take away their abilities to change and their attitude. It got to the point where he could figure out when the people in the camps were going to die. When there were rumours that the allies were coming on March 15th, and they didn’t, within 72 hours you knew that they weren’t going to make it. That to me is a strong book, just to get yourself around what is between your ears is the most important.”

Have you always had this mindset of controlling your destiny?

“I would say that I have. There was this old lady that lived next door to me. I used to go over and hang out with her, watch baseball and get groceries. One time she broke her hip and she had a walker, so I took the walker away from her and put it on the other side of the room, I think I was 7. I told her that she didn’t need the walker, and if she could believe that then she could walk to the walker. I am still convinced to this day that it was true, but she had to call my mom who then had a chat with me.”

With someone like yourself who has such a vast knowledge of the real estate market, what would you say to someone who is looking to buy a house right now?

“If you are looking to buy a house then buy it. If it’s for you, buy a house. When it comes to your house, I say that I don’t care about the market and the interest rates, buy it and pay it off as quickly as possible. For me, the deal is always made on the purchase.”

What if someone only has $5,000 and they can’t buy a house?

“I once bought a property for $7,000, it was rough. But somebody had passed, no heirs so there were no taxes to be paid. We had to clean out the property, didn’t go in the refrigerator because it had just been left. The property had a fair market value of $130,000. People are like ‘Oh that doesn’t happen every day, but it does.”

How are you finding the people to rehab it?

“It can be a challenge, but when I get my team we are good to go. I have always said it’s amazing what happens when you are out there. So I have never seen this property or the past few I have dealt with. Kaleb is the one who has the boots on the ground, he thought he was getting pranked. The property is hot, it’s in Savanna, this guy across the street comes over and asked if we bought this. He then said that he has a load of rental properties and made some phone calls. If you see a $7,000 property and it can go for $130,000, you’re going to go and look at it right?”

After 27 years, what drives you?

“It’s still fun. The teaching side of it is more challenging than ever, it’s new and I have to slow it down. I have done this for so long, so my thing is how do I get those people to the point of success. My motto is work like no one else for a year, and you will live like no one else for the rest of your life.”

I end every interview talking about gratitude. What are 3 things in your life that you are grateful for right now?

“My mom, health and what we have.”

Featured image: Today’s Premier Experts

“Hangman” Adam Page (@hangmanadampage) is a professional wrestler for All Elite Wrestling where he is the current AEW World Champion. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at the Squared Circle Expo 2 in Indianapolis to talk about the championship match he had with Adam Cole the night before, how similar he is to his character, the biggest thing that has changed since he became a father, why he prefers to keep his private life off of the internet, the matches in AEW that he is most proud of, his job as a teacher, how Being The Elite changed his career, his time in Ring of Honor, working with Jon Moxley, The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega and much more!

I like the blue stitches you got going on there.

“Yeah, a few people today thought I drew on my face with a marker. I’m like I know, it’s blue stitches, the doctor told me they would blend in.”

How many are there?

“I don’t know, I kind of lost count after 7 or 8.”

This is taking place the night after the Texas Death Match. Other than your chin, what is hurting right now?

“My knees. I picked up Cole for the Dead Eye off the apron through the table, but then as I was jumping it occurred to me that I didn’t have any kneepads. I’m like oh sh*t this is going to hurt so bad. Just that and weird little cuts when you take a shower, but my chin has been split wide open. You ever had someone kick you in the middle of a backflip?”

Looking here at the title [which was in Page’s lap during the interview] I can see blood. Is that your blood?

“I don’t know. I mean it has been cleaned up a few times, this is probably just from yesterday. It is probably my blood because I was the only one that picked it up.”

When you first started wrestling for AEW, what did you think your first, second and third years would look like?

“I don’t know, I never really looked at it that way. I always knew my personal and professional goal was to win this championship and that was it. Week to week it was figuring out what I have to do to get there. Whether it was that first All Out or 3 years later, I didn’t know how long it would take but we got there.”

How much of you is Adam Page?

“All of it. All of me is the character. It’s very weird and difficult to do, but it is also cathartic like this is sh*tty but this is me. I have never been a perfect person, but I just put it out there.”

There has to be something you keep close to the vest?

“Oh yeah, probably a few things. I am not any different with my family, but I don’t talk about my family a lot. There needs to be something in my life that is not public, because if it is, you start to lose who you are. I at least try to keep my personal life private.”

How much has becoming a dad changed you?

“A lot, I am sleeping a lot less. Now it is not so bad, sleep is going good now the baby is getting sleep. Your goals shift a little and your attitude towards life in general shifts.”

Is this something you always wanted to do?

“This interview? [laughs] I went through some other things, in 3rd grade I wanted to be the guy who makes the Pokemon games. Then I got into wrestling, I also wanted to be a magician and a clown in the circus. I wanted to be a filmmaker, never really a teacher, but I did it.”

Going back, what was the first step when you realized that you can do wrestling for a living? 

“Kind of working with Ring of Honor. When I started out with ROH I was not making a living from it, and that took a while. I was teaching during the week and wrestling on the weekends, but the money started to add up. Once I knew I was joining Bullet Club and I was going to start touring with New Japan, I kind of knew then. I wasn’t making enough for a living, but my deal would be up at the end of the year. If I am going to Japan, I will get some sort of a salary and make a living. This was in April or May of that year. So I wrapped up the school year and would tell them I would be done. Thank God for the salary or I would have been done.”

The kids must have thought that you were so cool.

“No they didn’t, they thought I was lame. I would intro the first day of class and have a presentation. I would say that I am also a wrestler and shop a clip of me being hit with the chair. Then I would put it out there and answer a bunch of questions. Once I did all that, it was like ‘Oh alright, he seems normal.’ And that was it.”

This idea of betting on yourself, that’s a big move.

“I guess so, but that’s life. You look at the circumstances and realize that this is going to happen for better or for worse. Thankfully it has worked out so well for me, one of these days I will make a gamble and it’s wrong.”

What was your reaction when you took your first bump?

“It hurt. I mean you know it hurts but you see guys bumping and then they get up. And I am 14 at the time too so I am just skin and bones.”

I feel like you started to really get over on Being The Elite?

“Yeah that was probably one of the biggest things to happen to me positively in my career, not in wrestling but with Being The Elite. I got to dick around with my friends and we did the story of me getting kidnapped by WWE and doing the whole ‘Where’s Hangman?’ Hunter at Ring of Honor didn’t know what was going on, we filled him in and we did the whole bit on the pay-per-view where I was duct taped and it got over huge. That was one of the first things I did that I was having so much fun! This was like I knew what I wanted to do.”

The ultimate nod is that it is All Elite Wrestling because of Being The Elite.

“It’s pretty great that thousands of people are watching because of some silly YouTube show. It’s pretty great.”

A lot of fans might have been upset that you didn’t win the championship earlier.

“Well they stuck with me and I thank them for that. I didn’t stick with me for a while, and they did.”

Who has been the mentor for you in your career?

“I don’t know, I don’t really think I have had a mentor. I would say that I looked up to The Young Bucks while I was in Japan. So I learned a lot from them in some ways and from Kenny Omega, but I have never really had a mentor in wrestling.”

Which AEW match are you the most proud of?

“Probably the 60 minutes with Bryan. Mostly because I wrestled for 60 minutes, I thought I might die. 60 minutes is a long time to do anything, I thought I might perish but got through it. But then there is also the match with Kenny against The Bucks and winning the title, those are the 3.”

I end every interview talking about gratitude. What are 3 things in your life that you are grateful for?

“My family, wrestling and that time that Surge came back.”

Featured image: Sports Illustrated

Embedded images: Instagram

Dave Schmulenson is better known as The Schmo (@theschmo312). He is a sports journalist, interviewer and host of the podcast “The Triple C and Schmo Show”. He joins Chris Van Vliet inside the Blue Wire Studios at Wynn Las Vegas to talk about how he got started as a sports interviewer, what he learned from conversations with people like UFC President Dana White, Logan Paul, Mike Tyson, Colby Covington and other sports stars, how he came up with his character “The Schmo”, how he feels about comparisons to Nardwuar, who his dream interview is and much more!

This will be the first time that a lot of people will be hearing you as David. A lot of people only know you as The Schmo.

“So I grew up in Chicago in the 1990’s, I am a 90’s child. My favorite sport was basketball and my childhood idol was Michael Jordan. I think he is the greatest athlete of all time. When I relaized the dream of being a basketball player died in high school, the next best thing would be talking about sport.”

You created this character. Where did this begin and how many different versions have there been?

“I would say that the original version of the Schmo always lives on but I have adapted it. If you don’t adapt then you die and change is inevitable. So I am a goof, I was always the class clown and made jokes. What you see is an extension of myself, but I can get away with crazier things when I put the glasses on. I grew up doing impressions, I do Borat and I do Austin Powers. Me and my roommates were goofing around in Los Angeles, I put on the glasses and a jacket and one thing lead to another. The idea of the character began with things like that in 2015.” 

Did you ever fear that people would not take you seriously?

“At that point I had stopped caring about that. No one would take David Schmulenson seriously. I wanted to go the traditional broadcasting route, I dropped off tapes after graduating and would not hear anything back. When I moved to California in 2012, the NFL Network and Fox Sports were starting up. I would do whatever I could to get my foot in the door, which I think a lot of people are afraid to do. I think an accumulation of many factors lead me to create a character to mock the system and say look, if you don’t want to give  David Schmulenson a chance then I will do it in character.”  

Who was your first interview as The Schmo?

“I believe it was with Rick Neuheisel. I met him on a Southwest Airline flight and I had the glasses. So I am on the flight and I told him what I was doing, I was doing The Schmo thing while being on USA Today. I went to his living room and that was the first one. But the first guest on The Schmo and The Pro was Jerry Hairston Jr.”

Did you ever think about going into stand-up?

“I think that I would be doing myself a disservice if I did not do stand-up. At some point I will do stand-up as The Schmo, it is 100% on the cards.”

Who is on the bucket list of interviews for you now?

“Michael Jordan is number one. The only UFC fighter I have not interviewed is Conor McGregor.”

Why hasn’t this happened yet?

“I have my conspiracy theories but it will happen someday. It took me a long time to interview Khabib but it happened, he did have to retire first. Everything in life is timing, a lot of things haven’t happened on my time, but you have to be patient.”

These last 2 years have been strange for interviews. I say if you do a Zoom interview then you don’t meet them. What do you think about that?

“If you meet someone that you have done a Zoom interview with then it is like you have met and talked to them before. Ironically this happened to me in Dallas recently. The Venezuelan Vixen [Julianna Pena], she and I have done Zoom interviews before but I have never interviewed her in-person until last weekend. We have had the familiarity, but it has to count for something.”

A lot of interviews are asking questions to get a headline. You are just asking as a fan and out of curiosity.

“For sure. And I think that with that, the headlines will come. The other journalists and sites take the video and spread the word and the sport grows. But asking the right questions? I’m not too worried about it.”

So let’s say you are about to interview me. How does the pre-interview conversation go?

“Great question. I try to keep it as short as possible because I don’t want to give it away. When the glasses are on, I am in character, when they are not then I am not. All I say is ‘When I put these on I am the Schmo and you are the pro. Are you ready to go?’ I want to say as little as possible, because I want to catch them off guard and get the ebay out of them. If they want to talk after the interview then cool.”

People only see the tip of the iceberg with you. What is the rest of the iceberg?

“I am really good at business and brand marketing. A lot of people can call themselves a social media expert, but if you can start something from scratch and you believe in yourself and do whatever it takes, that is what it is all about. I love to wake up every day, watch sports and make people laugh.”

Have you seen many Schmo imitators?

“Oh all the time. Also Helen [David’s wife] laughs at me all the time, but there are a lot of journalists doing what I am doing. If you are copying someone though, you are 2 steps behind who you are copying.”

What would you say has been your greatest Schmoment?

“Mike Tyson is up there along with playing basketball with Floyd Mayweather. When I met Goldberg for the first time and he grabbed my neck and said ‘You’re next!’ It was like my childhood came to life.”

What advice would you give to someone who is trying to get into this?

“You have to be able to take a step sideways or step backwards to move forward. No event is too small, find out where the closest regional scene is and do it for free. I have struggled so many times to make money, but if you love this then you will find a way.”

I end every interview talking about gratitude. What are 3 things in your life that you are grateful for right now?

“Good health, my inner circle and for good human beings.”

Featured image: The Scrap

Brian Cage (@briancage) is a professional wrestler known for his time in Lucha Underground and IMPACT Wrestling and is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling and Ring of Honor. He joins Chris Van Vliet at the Blue Wire Studios at Wynn Las Vegas to talk about his recent debut at Ring Of Honor’s Super Card of Honor, when we will see him on AEW television again, what his typical workout looks like, his Redcon1 supplement stack, signing a developmental deal with WWE in 2008 and why they released him, losing his Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship to Tessa Blanchard and much more!

Most people look at you and think that you are a bodybuilder, how close do you think you could be to stepping on stage?

“You know, that almost happened this past week. My wife did it recently and she is crushing it! So we were like well let’s go and do a show together. Originally, we were prepping and she got pregnant, so we had to cancel that. Years later, she finally did it and did great and wanted to do it again. I got the itch out of nowhere when I was training in a gym over WrestleMania weekend in 2017. I just got nostalgic about it and was like well why not? But then I pulled my hamstring so it didn’t happen. 5 weeks with no training legs and no cardio is a long time.”

So what is the biggest downfall of being this big all the time?

“People online will ask you for extremely detailed fitness advice and expect a one word answer. They will ask like ‘Hey, how do I look like you?’ And they expect me to just say something like ‘Drink honey.’ It’s awesome that they are serious about it, but face to face you know who is serious and who is just looking for the answer that they want to hear. But they hear that you gotta work hard and are like ‘No how do I do it fast and simple?’ It’s like learning a foreign language. You have to work at it and if you take time off, you lose it.”

Are your meals clean every day?

“Not as clean as they used to be. I felt like because I ate so clean for so long that it was not as much of a shock because I had to make less of a change. But I am more free to loosen up the diet a bit, it’s mainly sweets. If it’s a baked good you can’t get anywhere, I’m like man that looks good. But if I have a big match coming up I’m like no, not today. It’s pretty much steak, eggs, rice, oats and protein shakes. I’m also taking multivitamins. I don’t eat as much vegetables because they go bad instantly, and if they go bad then the meal goes bad.”

So you post these throwback photos where you look like you could be in a boyband. When did the shift to The Machine start?

“I graduated high school at 150 lbs and it took me forever to get to that picture, which was about 200 lbs. I made my debut in wrestling at over 200, but it was a sloppy 200. I looked great in a shirt but not out of it. To build up to the size I am, it took me about 10 years. It was mostly through wrestling, I am not a bodybuilder trying to wrestle, I am a wrestler who happens to like bodybuilding. I competed and did 5 shows throughout my wrestling career. I wrestled every weekend, then on Sunday get up, do cardio and hit legs.”

We saw you at Ring of Honor recently so I’m guessing it won’t be long before we see you back on AEW?

“Right, I feel like you are correct. I know there are a lot of rumours regarding ROH and what’s next. There’s stuff that I know and stuff that I don’t. Hopefully we will be doing both at the same time, and I will be a part of both. I will never say no to work, I love this business and having amazing matches. If I’m taking an indie booking, I want an awesome and fun match. I don’t want to feel like I should have stayed at home, I want to be stoked.”

Well I imagine it’s cool when kids see you in real life.

“You never know what kid will be seeing you for the first and maybe only time. I hate cancelling, it’s a small thing in your life but it’s a big thing for them. Whenever you meet a fan and see how much you have touched them, it is still shocking. It is cool to see that magic happen.”

Who did you want to line up to see?

“In wrestling it was Shawn Michaels. I also waited forever to get Triple H’s book signed, but he had to cancel. I was waiting in the parking lot for this book to get signed, he wasn’t even there. I never got to see Shawn either, but I would have loved to. We were pretty broke growing up, so we didn’t do anything. I went to my first wrestling event in high school, but I knew since I was 10 years old that I wanted to do this.”

We all have that first benchmark where we are serious about our dream, what was yours?

“My first match was against Chris Kanyon. It was one of the greatest moments of my life. He was so great and helped me out so much. That dude was so influential and such a good dude. He gave so much to wrestling and would excel so much more if he was around today. Definitely he is not talked about as much as he should.”

So what’s the next thing where people were like you are actually doing this?

“I remember getting my first extra spots. People said ‘Oh that’s cool, but if you don’t get signed then it’s over right?’ It doesn’t work like that! Kanyon helped me get into Deep South and I was there uncontracted. My mom hoped that would I get signed or stop, but they moved to Florida and I moved back home. I got signed eventually and it was great, but then when I got released she asked if I was going to stop.”

A lot of people would think that you ticked all the boxes back then. What was the reason WWE gave you when they released you?

“Well, I was waiting on a raise, I was due for one. I was told I would be getting a call and going on the road. I missed the call from the office, but I am stoked and I call them back. They say ‘Hey Brian how’s things going?’ I’m like things are good and I’m trying to play it cool. They then say that they are coming to terms with my release. I’m not trying to be a smartass here but I legitimately asked if they had the right number. It didn’t even cross my mind. They gave me the reason that I am a little bit too indie and I need to get some more experience. So I have to go to the indies to get more experience and not be so indie? Hmm, ok that makes sense!”

So you go to TNA, did WWE ever call you back?

“They did call to say that they were going to do Tough Enough and bring me back for it, but then they took me off of the list. They invited me down and wanted me on NXT, but then they changed their minds again. I asked what happened and they said ‘You are average at best and we are no longer interested.’ They sent that in a text and I was so heated. I kept it as professional as I could, there was a lot I wanted to say. I got back to them saying we might work together again in the future. But actually, that was when my desire to go back to them went away. My life professionally and personally excelled when I let go of that. They reached out to me several times and people would reach out to them about me. They talked to me a lot of times about try-outs and it never happened. When it finally happened I turned them down because I had just signed with AAA and Lucha Underground. They were shocked that I didn’t want it, and that felt kind of good. There was some small talk, but it never really went anywhere. I ultimately wanted to go to AEW because there were so many people I wanted to work with there. If I stayed at IMPACT, I feel like my ceiling would have been capped.”

Do people still mention that you put Tessa over?

“There are people who try to mention it. First of all, they act like it was the only time, I beat Tessa all the time. They act like it was dominant, but she got a lucky roll up. But I get it, it’s an easy go to. But I think she is hands down the greatest in the female division of all of wrestling. I have had intergender matches before, that gives you better experience and standpoint of it. But that girl is really good!”

But you had no problem wrestling her and some people did.

“I get it, I’m not the biggest fan of intergender wrestling. But at the same time, I am excited about the challenge of it. With my stature and my size, it is more lopsided, but I want to show that I can work with anyone.”

I remember at Double or Nothing in Las Vegas that you were meant to be on that show.

“I was so stoked because it was a well kept secret, which is very rare. I was IMPACT World Champion at the time, and they had the issue with it. They had the most to gain from it and they [AEW] were going to really let me shine. They wanted me in the Battle Royale and no one was going to beat me. But because IMPACT got word they canned it. I got to make my debut a year later, but it was in front of no people.”

I imagine you got a lot of offers along with AEW.

“Several companies were interested and gave me verbal offers, nothing physical. I tore my bicep before Hard To Kill and was supposed to have a match with RVD, which was also supposed to be my last match. I decided I was going to sign with AEW, but IMPACT was going to offer me another contract in-person for me to look over. I get there and they are trying to figure out how they can work around it. I get back from my match with RVD and it was so weird and so quiet in the back. What’s going on? I look at my phone and it’s all ‘Brian Cage signs with AEW.’ At that time I hadn’t signed with AEW and they said they will email me a contract later. I am injured at this time, so I am damaged goods. If IMPACT wants to sign me then cool. But now IMPACT thinks I have signed with AEW, maybe they don’t want to sign me and maybe AEW don’t want to sign me. I was furious. Tony Khan said they still wanted me here and I am super thankful for how he handled it.”

I end every interview talking about gratitude. What are 3 things in your life that you are grateful for?

“My family, the gym and that we are signing the papers on a new house.”

Molly Bloom (@immollybloom) is an inspirational keynote speaker, entrepreneur, podcaster and bestselling author of Molly’s Game. She is best known for her memoir, Molly’s Game, which was adapted into an award-winning film of the same name by Aaron Sorkin. Bloom’s memoir chronicles her journey from college student to LA waitress to building and operating the largest and most notorious private poker game in the world. Her games featured hundreds of millions of dollars and players like Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, A-Rod, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. She joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about her amazing story, becoming a mother for the first time, how she built up her poker game in Los Angeles and New York, what she learned from it, the importance of resilience, her new podcast about Olympic scandals called “Torched” and much more!

I’m so curious, when you go to a party, how do you describe yourself?

“It’s like my least favorite question. It is so difficult to sum up and it’s hard to explain. I guess it depends on how in-depth we get into the conversation. If someone on an aeroplane asks ‘What do you do?’ I say I am a writer, because that was the last big thing that I did. I try to not go back into it because there is a lot to go into.”

Do you ask them if they have heard of Aaron Sorkin?

“Well it is such a convenient thing to say ‘Have you seen the movie Molly’s Game?’ But there is really no way to pull that off without sounding like a jerk. That is the efficient answer but I have not really found a way to say it without being pretentious.”

A lot of our life is about identity. For you, your early life was about being an athlete.

“Yeah that was my early identity. But then it turned into going to law school, and then it turned into running a poker game. But there were people that I was around where that [running a poker game] couldn’t be the answer. I would say that I was an events planner to my boyfriend’s family. But it would be nice if I could have a simple answer to these questions, but that is not the way that it has gone.”

Do you ever think about what life would be like if you didn’t get injured on the ski slopes?

“I try not to but it is unavoidable because it is the question that I get asked the most. ‘What would you do differently if you could?’ I get asked that almost every single time I am on stage. It is an impossible question.”

Everyone has a what-if moment? What was the dream when you decided to move to LA?

“Mine was so simple. I literally wanted to take a year off before law school and I wanted to be warm! When you are skiing, you spend your whole life freezing your butt off, I just wanted to go somewhere where it is warm all year.”

Going back to that first poker game, what did you think this would all become?

“So I knew that my boss was out with celebrities and billionaires, I had the sense that they would be a big deal. But I had no idea who was going to walk into the room and how that was going to feel. I went home and googled things like ‘What do poker players listen to? What do they eat?’ I had no idea that Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire were going to be playing there. Beyond that there were politicians that were household names and other people that just have so much influence on the world. I had that moment of being mortified and out of my depth. But as the night went on, I was fascinated. It is a dream to be a fly on the wall in these rooms and have this kind of access. I have always been curious to learn about these things, having that access was so compelling.”

So taking this back, you were a server. You say in your book that you were a bad server but good at reading people?

“Oh gosh I was the worst server that my boss had ever seen. I got fired.”

How did that springboard into poker?

“My boss took pity on me and took me on as an executive assistant. I started working for them and he said that I would serve drinks at his poker game. I didn’t think it would change my life but it did. As it went on and I worked more poker games, I saw it as an incredible opportunity to network and to build this relationship and learn about entrepreneurship from the mouth of the masters. I was just intrigued and to be honest primed for a rebellion. I put everything into skiing and school, but it didn’t seem like it had gone anywhere. My brothers were doing big things and I was ready for a non-conventional path. I had given up my social life and was in the library on Saturday nights doing my homework. Seeing people betting $100,000 on a hand, it was very compelling.”

At what point did you start to realize that what you were doing was not necessarily above board?

“The first indication was that I had my money at one of the banks in Beverly Hills. One day they said that they are going to close my account, told me to empty it and that I am not allowed to come back.”

Where did that come from?

“It was a small town and I was depositing these cheques saying poker account. I guess they thought that I would be a liability to them. I had attorneys and I thought I was walking that line, but after that moment there was an indication that this was not above par.”

How long were you running these games from the very beginning to the very end?

“It was 8 or 9 years.”

I imagine when you do it for that long then you presume it is fine.

“Right. And you see people running the games at their own house, you just think that it is fine, it’s a poker game.”

Was it a huge surprise when it all came to a screeching halt?

“Yes and no. I was running the games in LA and then expanded to New York. I was then contacted by a family from the mob, and it made it clear where this was heading. The feds seized my assets and my account was -$9 million. I had been assaulted, threated and had a gun in my mouth when I refused to do business with the mob. In 2011 I just went away and the feds took all of my property. They said unless I could prove I was making it legally then they could keep it. I wasn’t making it illegally, but I wasn’t a target for the investigation. So I went away and for 2 years I tried to put my life back together. I finally moved back to LA and 7 days after I got arrested by 17 FBI agents holding guns. They then handed me a piece of paper saying ‘The United States of America vs. Molly Bloom.’

How much of a percentage of the movie would you say is in line with what happened?

“I would say 95%. I am shocked at how much Aaron actually stuck to the real events. Aaron made us all smarter and funnier than we are in real life, and some parts he did take creative liberties with. But the stories about the events and the players are all how it went down.”

What made you decide to write a book that ultimately would p*ss a lot of people off?

“My life was ruined. So I got arrested, but what the feds wanted was for me to be a confidential informant. They wanted me to wear a wire and to listen in on the politicians and the people from Wall St. I didn’t feel that was something that I could do and feel right about it. I felt like I made the choices, and I had to deal with that. Everyone thought that i was going to prison, but I had this great attorney who advised me on what to do during that year. I did community service and I went to rehab, drugs were a part of my story. We played it right and I didn’t have to go to jail. But there I was, 35 years old, no network and millions in debt. What do I do? I had to take control of the narrative and get my life back. Otherwise I am living in the mountains with my mom and my grandma, and that’s not an option.”

So how did Aaron Sorkin agree to make the movie?

“I had this shortlist of people who could make this work. Aaron was at the top of the list because he is my favorite writer. I relentlessly tried to get a meeting with him and watched all of his movies to see what would resonate with him. When you meet with someone, you can either resonate with someone or not. But he loved the story and decided to write it, direct it and make it his own.”

How did your life change when the movie came out?

“[before] I felt like I would walk into a room and people would whisper [about me]. Then it would be like ‘Oh my gosh that movie is great. It really paints you in a different picture.’ I then had a lot of opportunities come my way like being able to speak about hope and redemption. All these things I had been through now became this platform to share these inspirational messages.”

What was behind the decision to name Player X as Player X?

“Player X is a composite of multiple players. Aaron and I have no desire in taking anyone down or making them look terrible. This is a movie.”

I end every interview talking about gratitude. What are 3 things in your life that you are grateful for?

“My little girl, for you Chris and for my mom.”  

Featured image: NPR

Derek Frazier (@thederekfrazier) is a television personality known for appearing on Big Brother 23 where he was the runner up. He is also the son of legendary boxer “Smokin’ Joe” Frazier. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about the lessons he learned growing up as the son of a legend, his match with Muhammad Ali, what he learned from being on Big Brother, what’s next for him, the time he boxed against his dad, who he would want to face in a celebrity boxing match and much more!

When you have a last name as famous as yours, how do you step out of that shadow and become your own man?

“So being Smokin’ Joe’s son and being the youngest, it is a legacy with a lot of pressure. But growing up, I knew I wanted to make a name for myself. My dad knew I liked entertainment, I get my sense of humour from him and my loudness from my mother. When you put that together, you are going to have a good time. I remember being like ‘Dad I want to be on TV.’ He would try to find ways for me to get onto commercials or ways to like learn the business. But once I got older, I was like I have to be on TV. I did a casting call one time and did MTV Made, most embarrassing thing! Guess what I was made into.”

Was it a boxer by any chance?

“Yes! So I got made into a boxer and it was just, I looked a hot ass mess. I had a tongue ring and was a 19 year old mess. But I did that because it was my way of branching out. I remember years passed and I had to find my niche. Then my father passed and I was like well I have to make a name for myself. From the ground up I have been trying to work, so I put in this casting tape and tried out for Big Brother. Randomly I got the call, low and behold, here is Big D on the screen and I am a star overnight.”

How did being on Big Brother change everything?

“Of course when you are on Big Brother you are in a vacuum so you don’t know what is going on back home. Being in the house, I remember being like ok, all I can do is play this game and lie and manipulate my way to the end and pray that nothing has changed at home. But when I came home, this is a lot. I got ‘Yo Big D I love you!’ But then ‘Hey Big D f*ck you!’ But it was definitely a quick change, but I think being Smokin’ Joe’s son helped me in the limelight and how to approach and understand people. Having those parents definitely helped me in that limelight.”

I imagine when you are on the game there are people that hate you. Then when you get home it’s like ‘Wait, I thought everyone liked me.’

“I really thought that I was doing so well. But I am from Philly, so blunt, no filter and a gay black man, we just say whatever. I got home and my roommates were like ‘We will wait until you get home, there is a lot to tell you.’ People see what you say onscreen, just take that and run with it. There were things that people were shell shocked about, wanted me to apologise about. I never expected it, but because the cameras are on 24 hours a day, people see me at my worst. They are watching you and listening to everything. Even if you are joking or if you are sad, you come home and I thought I was joking. It was definitely an adjustment, but I was happy that my roommates helped me to adjust.”

So if I am going to go into the Big Brother house, what advice would you give me?

“So my first thing would be make sure you have plenty of outfits. Not outfits for eviction night, but just to be sitting around the house. You might look back and go ‘Damn I wore that shirt every other day!’ I wore black a lot, which the producers were tired of, but I’ve got to look skinny. Also just remember that things that you would say with your friends, people watching might not understand. Be yourself but a dark joke might be funny to your friends, but a million people watching might not think it is. Don’t forget to have fun too, leave your mark so that people remember you.”

Did you ever think about following a career in boxing?

“I was thinking about it, but my dad was like, no! My dad wanted me to focus on going to school and life. As he told me, being a boxer, you have to dedicate everything to boxing. There is no party life, no social life and no 9 to 5. You have to eat, sleep and breathe boxing every day. There’s the gym, running, watching videos, ice baths… It’s a lifestyle and you can get hurt. My dad was like you are not doing it. I used to train, workout and had a few amateur fights, but my dad didn’t want me in this lifestyle. It’s not like I didn’t know what I was doing, but I just needed a lot of work.”

What are some of the other lessons that he has instilled in you?

“I have learned so much on how to be humble and how to have respect for everyone. A lot of people are so disrespectful at times and don’t have love. My dad had such a big heart, he taught me how to be myself and how to hold myself professionally. I am so thankful for all of that, there are not a lot of people who instil that at a young age. When I wanted to have my ear pierced or have my pants hang off my butt, my dad was like ‘That’s not happening.’ These kind of things he has taught me will stay with me forever. He also taught me how to care for those around you, because they will be around you forever.”

What is your one go-to story about your dad?

“I would say my one go-to is there was a time where I told my dad ‘I’m going to kick your ass!’ I remember being like that and he was like ‘OK sure, we gonna go in the ring.’ We got in the ring, I had my hands up, threw one punch, and the rest was history. He knocked me out and told my mom that I fell down the stairs. I’m like OK, now I see why this man is dangerous. He didn’t hit me full force, but hard enough that I was out for the day.”

What could have possibly angered you enough to get in the ring with Smokin’ Joe’s Frazier?

“I think there was something I wanted and I didn’t get it. I was like ‘You never let me do anything, I’ll beat you up!’ I’m there thinking I am hot sh*t and can do what I want, but I learned my lesson real quick!”

I saw that Floyd Mayweather paid for your father’s funeral. I think that might surprise a lot of people?

“Floyd Mayweather, he is great, he always pays respect to the people that have been there since the beginning. The whole thing with the UFC fighter, I didn’t really get that. I wish he kept it in the boxing ring, because right now the sport is struggling. Boxing is something that should be around forever, and right now we don’t have the youth names to keep it going.”

Some of the biggest names in boxing right now are Jake and Logan Paul.

“That is a f*cking joke! I would love to f*ck them up, literally demolish them. To me it’s a joke in itself, I think that is because of social media. People don’t understand that someone could go on social media and call out someone, have no experience and then get out there in the ring. I understand the money and entertainment, but I like the old school feel of where it should be. I don’t mind celebrity boxing matches for charity, but a real match on pay-per-view, it should be the people who have put in the time to work their way up. So I don’t respect someone who has had 3 fights and then gets in the ring with a legend. No one is perfect in boxing, you are going to lose fights as well as win them. I have no respect for Jake or Logan, and that is coming from a Frazier.”

So what is your plan now?

“I really want to get back on tv. I want to do some of these competition shows, there are so many out there. Big Brother, I might want to do that again, but I want to wait until All Stars. I would love to do The Challenge on MTV, there hasn’t been a big guy on there in ages, I feel like that isn’t fair. I know other big guys that work out and can throw around 500lb deadlifts, sometimes it’s not all about endurance. If not, I would like to do Amazing Race with my best friend. I love hosting too, if I get a microphone, get ready for a good time. I’m 5 foot 11 and I am 330 lbs. I can run, sprint and hit. It’s been 3 weeks getting back into the gym just in case anybody calls me. You can be a big person, but you can be a good looking big person. I took off 9 months of working out, that first week kicked my ass, but now I am sprinting and I can go again.”

I end every interview talking about gratitude. What are 3 things in your life that you are grateful for?

“My mother, I can wake up every day and the support that I have.” 

Featured image: Enquirer

Johnny Gargano (@johnnygargano) is a professional wrestler known for his time in WWE and NXT. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Dallas, TX to talk about why he decided to let his WWE contract expire, becoming a father for the first time with his wife Candice LeRae, why they named their son Quill, what he learned from working with Triple H and Shawn Michaels, his thoughts on AEW, why he wants to retire at 40, his prediction for the Cleveland Browns 2022 season with Deshaun Watson and much more!

What is the most amount of sleep that you have had since becoming a father?

“Probably the 3 hour flight that I took from Orlando to Dallas that I took today. That’s the most continuous sleep I have had. Babies make a lot of noise!”

So the first time you bring your baby home are you like ‘This noise, is it a good noise or a bad noise?’

“Normally I would freak out. But luckily we have the internet and I’m like ok this is normal. If it was like the 1990’s, I can’t imagine my mom doing this with me making all these noises. At one point I was very gassy as a baby, I believe I made a face and my mom thought I was dying and rushed me to the hospital!”

How do you split up the duties?

“Well we don’t. Candice does a lot of the feeding because, well you know, she has the milk farm that the baby is eating from. I try to handle all of the diaper changing, I know. My dad, he is very proud of the fact that he never changed a single diaper. At this point, I can’t count how many I have changed. It can be every hour or every 15 minutes.” 

How does it feel being here on WrestleMania weekend? 

“I don’t even think about it that way, I have been so disconnected for so long. When I left NXT in December, I haven’t done anything wrestling related since then. This [WrestleCon] is my first foray back into this and it’s really fun. It’s fun to come here and during this period of my life I am going to be very picky and choosy about what I want to do and where I want to do it. But to show up and see so many people, I think like everyone in wrestling is at WrestleCon right now, it’s so weird.”

You recently did the interview with Renee where you explained everything. Now that it is out there and people have had a chance to digest it, how do you feel about it?  

“I feel very content [about leaving]. It was just a time period in my life where that chapter was closed as well as I could close it and end that story the right way and to get to thank people. I thanked people that don’t even work for the company anymore. I had no restraints, I just went out there and spoke from the heart, it was not scripted. To be able to do that, as I said in the Renee interview, that is an incredible amount of trust. That shows the relationship that I had and continue to have with the people in NXT where they trusted me to go out on live television with a live microphone. I could have said ‘I am signing with this place.’ and slammed down the microphone. I could have literally done anything. But I have way too much respect for everyone in that building and for that company. But now I just want to go and do my own thing, make my own choices and see what is out there. You get a rare time to let your deal run out, a lot of people don’t get that opportunity they are just signed for years and years. I knew my deal was coming up and I just wanted to have this time to reassess things.”

You really had that rare opportunity, especially with everything going on in the last 2 years with COVID and everything. You have really bet on yourself.

“Yeah and it’s on a t-shirt too!”

At what point did you realize that things had changed for you and you thought that maybe you weren’t going to renew your contract?

“I think the last year I kind of knew that. I had accomplished everything that I had wanted to in NXT. That’s not to say I couldn’t have gone to Raw or SmackDown and done other things. I just knew that I didn’t want to re-sign, but there was always that option of maybe I do want to re-sign. I had made my mind up but there was always that 1% chance that I could, so there was a 99% chance that I wouldn’t re-sign. But I feel like when Candice got pregnant, that was when that 1% went away. I don’t want anyone to be in charge of my time during the time period where I am with Quill. I don’t want to be sitting at home and have a Connecticut number call me and say ‘You need to be at this show.’ Or ‘You need to be at this appearance.’ I just wanted to have a clean slate, leave and either come back in the future or go elsewhere.”

A lot of people would go ‘I have a baby on the way. I need to be in the most secure place possible.’

“Right, and that is where the whole betting on yourself thing comes from. I am kind of just hoping that this time period where not only from a physical standpoint but a mental one where I can step away from wrestling and get a refresh and be out of that bubble. I don’t want to say learn to love it again, because I have always loved it, but to reignite that passion to a maximum amount. And I also want to be in the best possible place for Quill and for Candice.”

Do you think about what you want to do after wrestling?

“It’s hard. Obviously the name Johnny Garagno in wrestling will always be beneficial money-wise. People will want to pay to see me wrestle, meet me, learn from me. In reality I have a job for life. I could go back to WWE and be a producer, be a coach, train people. [Chris asks if the WWE door is still open] I mean I hope so and I assume so, I have a great relationship with everyone there. But I have said that I want to wrestle until I am 40, and that is only 6 years away. So I only have 5 years to maximise whatever I want to do in this.” 

Since you didn’t win the WWE Championship, is winning the NXT Championship that big moment for you?

“For me during that time, yes, that was my goal. My ultimate goal and the moment I could dream of. But being from Cleveland, we are built to be underdogs, so I am looking for that next mountain to climb. I feel like I am constantly doubted and looked down upon, and I get that it’s a Cleveland mindset. If someone tells me ‘If you go to Raw or SmackDown then you will fail.’ I feel like I can do this or that. If I believe in myself and bet on myself, but is that what I want? I don’t know.”

What do you feel like was the moment where WWE went ‘We can really do something with this guy in NXT?’

“I feel like my match with Andrade at TakeOver Philadelphia, which was the first time that I main evented a TakeOver. I feel like that match was the one that solidified them of like wow! Seeing the reaction, the praise, that was what got them. But what got them there was that me and Tommaso vs. The Revival was very, everyone loved those tag team matches. I felt like that opportunity came when me and Andrade did an opening match on a house show in San Antonio. It was right before WarGames in Texas, and Hunter was there. I looked at Andrade and I said ‘hey man, let’s just go out there tonight and go nuts and kill it!’ Of course Andrade is always game, I love working him, he is one of the best in the world. But we went out there and we tore it down, and I feel like Hunter watching that match live he was like ‘wait a minute.’ I had hired a nutritionist and looked shredded, and you kind of need both. You need to look a certain way and act a certain way, it all got to that perfect storm that lead to TakeOver Philadelphia.”

I am so curious as to the moment where you and Candice first had an interaction.

“My dates are all wonky, but I think the first time that we interacted was 2013? 2014 maybe? We interacted at PWG All Star weekend, I think that was my PWG debut. Me and her cousin started talking because I think she had a Samsung phone. I kind of slyly chatting up her cousin so I could get in there. Candice had an iPhone and thought that was better and I’m like ‘No it’s not.’ Then I tell her about the show Catfish, which she had never heard of, so I find her on Facebook and send her a link to a Catfish episode. The other play I did, we were on Facebook messenger and she said ‘Why don’t you text me, here is my number.’ I sent her my number back and said to text me, I sent the first Facebook message, it was her turn.”

What was the first date?

“So it was in Illinois, we were working for a promotion called Dream Wave. We snuck away and we went to a Subway of the hotel. We are there eating, look out the window and we see our friend Trent and he is coming to Subway. He comes in and he realizes what he is walking into, but it is too late then.”

You are known for your wrestling gear designs. Which one was your favorite?

“The Iron Man one will always have a special place in my heart because that was where I won the title at TakeOver New York. The Spider-Man/Venom gear and the Wolverine gear are also ones that I like.”

What do you think is the biggest thing you have learned from working with Triple H?

“I mean Triple H has a tireless work ethic. He and Shawn are great at the small details and seeing the big picture in itself. It was so good to pick Shawn and Hunter’s brain about things. Hunter was great at making home stretches mean so much more. I mean look at that match with Andrade, we had it going a certain way and he was like ‘How about this?’ and he made it 10 times better. I am so lucky to have a rolodex of great minds in my back pocket.”

Everyone online assumes that you are going to AEW, but are you just keeping your options open?

“Definitely, I am keeping my options 100% open. I watch everything, you can watch my YouTube video where me and Candice are watching AEW, NXT and Elimination Chamber while in the waiting room. I just love wrestling and want everyone to be successful. But right now, I don’t know where I fit in the wrestling landscape. I feel like the landscape changes on a weekly basis, you don’t know what will happen next. A new company can pop up, someone new can be in charge, it literally changes on a weekly basis. I feel like I am in a pretty good position where I can sit outside of the bubble and view everything. Because right now, I don’t know where I fit in.”

Take us behind the scenes when you got called up to Raw. It felt really rushed and there wasn’t really a plan.

“It was [rushed] and it wasn’t [planned], not that I know of. I told the story on Renee’s podcast, but I was in Cleveland when I got the call that I would be on Raw the next night. I had to call Tommaso to run by my apartment to pick up my suit and my gear, I literally had to fly from Cleveland to Lafayette, Louisiana. So I didn’t know what was going on, and I know you have to be ready for everything, but I feel like I work better when I have a plan. That was why I worked so much better in NXT, I can commit to the long term stories. I feel like wrestling is best when you plant that flag and commit to how you are going to get there with the long term story. It just feels like there was no long term goal in place. But for me in that time period, I felt like there was more I could give to NXT. To have that match with Adam Cole over NXT weekend, that was the goal. I like my chapters to have a clean ending and have closure. Until I get that, I wasn’t able to fully commit.”

Do you still want that WrestleMania moment?

“Of course. I don’t know when or if that will come. I have said numerous times that I have a great relationship there, but what sacrifices am I going to have to make to make that happen. But I would hate to be on the road and miss Quill’s first word or walking for the first time. Me and Candice only plan to have one kid, so we only have one shot at this.”

Who came up with the name Quill?

“It was a Candice choice. On her phone she had a screenshot of a baby names website and she had the name Quill screenshotted in 2017. 5 years ago we decided on the name Quill. All we needed was the boy, and the boy came.”

What if he wants to be a wrestler?

“I believe that you should let the kid make their own choices. I will support Quill to the end of the world. If he loves wrestling, hates wrestling, wants to be a contractor or a firefighter. I support him 110%, it is his life, his choices, I am just his dad and I am going to back him whatever he does.”

I end every interview talking about gratitude. What are 3 things in your life that you are grateful for?

“Family, health and time.”

Embedded images: Instagram

Lolo Jones (@lolojones) is a 3-time, 2 sport Olympian and World Champion, social media influencer and reality show star. She joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about her podcast called “Gold Metal Loser”, her career as a hurdler in the Summer Olympic Games and as a bobsledder in the Winter Olympic Games, the lessons she has learned from defeat, what a typical day of training looks like, why she wrote her book called Over It: How to Face Life’s Hurdles with Grit, Hustle, and Grace and much more!

I love that post you put up the other day. You mentioned that Tom Brady has unretired and you feel great.

“Yeah you always feel good until you go out onto the track. Tom Brady feels great right now but wait until he gets onto the field and people start hitting him again. I love what Tom Brady is doing right now, because he gives me a perfect explanation of what I am going through right now. People are like ‘Oh are you retired?’ And I go ‘I am on the Tom Brady retirement plan.’ Once I say that, people back the f off and give me some space. So I could be retired tomorrow or I could make another push, who knows?”

I feel like you are still training your ass off though.

“I am but I am not posting so much, I am tired of the hate and tired of being forced into retirement. I’m kind of doing my own thing and seeing what my body can do. So I am not making any commitments for an Olympic push, the next Olympics is like 2 years away because of COVID. I’m just wanting to see if I can get back to hurdling injury free. But it’s a grind and a hustle and I love it. If I wasn’t retired, I could come home and eat a whole cake. But I am doing this track thing so I have to be still very diligent in my actions.”

I mean you have been living and eating like an athlete for pretty much your entire life.

“Yeah but bobsledding gave me a bit of a break because I had to actually gain weight. I was able to live a little more for that, I could eat cheeseburgers whenever I wanted to and eat pizza and not feel guilty about it. However, when it came to training I still had to train my ass off. When it came to competing in track and field it’s like being a wide receiver, being very light and agile. Then going to bobsled, it was like I was a line backer, I needed the muscle mass. It was just a different mentality.”

So can you walk us through a typical day of Olympic training?

“Most people assume that we wake up at the crack of dawn Rocky style and running the stairs. But today my training was at 11am, so I woke up around 9:45. Once I go to training, it is 2 to 3 hours of running and weights, and then take a break for lunch. I will then do some yoga or pilates after. It’s one hard workout a day and then a softer one later on.”

What does recovery look like?

“I am like a cat, I sleep a lot. This past weekend I just slept through it all and watched TV. It was amazing and it was glorious. I am a napper, how do people not take naps?”

So on competition day, what gets you up and ready to go?

“Competition day is different because sometimes you taper before a competition so you are well rested. Also you get paid for competition, who doesn’t get motivated by money? The practices are like homework, but the competition is like an exam. It makes all the hard work worth it if you win.”

At what point did you realize that you have the talent and this crazy work ethic and you could be the best in the world?

“You never really get to that point. I have broken records and have made summer and Olympic teams, but I still have doubts of if I am good enough. When anyone starts a dream, we all hinder ourselves by wondering if we have what it takes. I am telling you from me, from someone who has tasted every elite experience, you will always have those feelings. It’s just about overcoming it and not taking it for granted. Maybe other athletes are super confident, but I don’t know, I have made it through grit and not giving up and putting all my effort into this.”

You’re a podcaster now, congratulations on this! How did you come up with the title?

“So my podcast title is Gold Medal Loser, for people who don’t really know me, I was one hurdle away from winning the gold at the Olympics games. I hit the hurdle and it cost me everything. People have teased me on social media for it, but if I didn’t do that, maybe I wouldn’t have competed in both the summer and winter games. I have used that failure into extreme motivation for me, so I hope that others who have gone through failures can use this to inspire them. Every guest who I have had on loves the title.”

Do you look at 2008 Beijing as a failure or a bump in the road for everything that happened after that?

“I can look at it as both. I would have loved to not hit that hurdle, but if I won the gold medal then I would have been out of the games years ago. But because I hit that hurdle, it was fuel for the fire for so many years. An Olympic gold medal would be a huge honor, but being a summer and winter Olympian is badass. Only 11 people have done both, there are thousands who have just done one. I know how that sounds but there are thousands of people who have competed in the summer or winter Olympics, only 11 have done both. It’s a pretty cool stat, so if I’m inspiring the masses, I have a real life story.”

I love the theme of your podcast. What is the biggest lesson that you have learned from that failure?

“I don’t know. You know, I think I am still not over it. Sometimes I will be washing my dishes and I will be crying and be like no I am over it. I don’t know, honestly, not what I have learned but how tough I am. I can get teased from that for years, recently I put up a post and someone commented ‘I don’t want to train with her, she didn’t win the gold.’ 14 years and I am still getting this! It just showed me how strong I am to continue to deal with the nonsense. Life can not break you, instead you can use these things to show how tough you are and achieve great things from failures.”

When did the abuse first start happening?

“It wasn’t until later on. When it first happened I was America’s sweetheart, everyone loved me and had my back. But back in 2008, social media was not really a thing, I did not have Twitter at the Olympics. But in 2012, there was Twitter and Instagram, and I saw how people changed with social media. My comments became less positive and more negative, people realized that the more they were negative, the more they would get the likes and go viral. Most of my fans were cool, but there were some that were just trying to get into the spotlight. When I got 4th at the Olympics in 2012, people were furious. They were like ‘She should give her sponsorship money back.’ and ‘She’s a washout.’ I had spinal surgery the year before, but people are mad because I couldn’t win an Olympic medal. My teammates were frustrated that I got the publicity, but they were not active on their social media to get publicity.”

You can’t control what people say on social media but you can control how you react though.

“Yeah sometimes I let it slide, but if I am feeling feisty then, well you know. If you have a good comeback, you can shut a troll down, it just depends on my mood.”

When did you start getting noticed for reality shows?

“I think it was when I did Dancing With The Stars. I was the first one out, an 80 year old lady beat me! But I got a knack when I realized I could make more money on them than for the Olympics. There is no prize money for the Olympics, which is crazy as it’s a billion dollar corporation. They say it’s non-profit but there is, and the athletes get none of that. World Championships, if I win track and field it is $60,000 and bobsled is $10,000. That’s not a lot of money for a whole season of work, and the World Championships are every 2 years, so cut that prize money in half. When I saw how much I made on Dancing With The Stars, I’m like I can make this! When the pandemic hit I just tried to get on anything to survive.”

If someone wants to follow in your footsteps, what would you say?

“Don’t do it [laughs]. There is no money in it, pick a different sport. Learn to throw and catch a football, make it in the NFL and make millions. The practice squad alone makes $500,000 a year, track athletes do not make that. But seriously, my advice is that it will be a long road, don’t get too confident in victories or too hard on the losses.”

I end every interview talking about gratitude. What are 3 things in your life that you are grateful for right now?

“My health, my loan car because my current car is leaking coolant and my teammates.”   

Embedded images: Instagram

Featured image: New York Post

Stephen Petasky (@stephenpetasky) is the CEO and Founder of the Luxus Group. Prior to launching Luxus, Stephen spent 10 years as the president and owner of retail grocery stores, bringing years of experience and entrepreneurship to this new industry. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about what to look for when buying a vacation home, what makes a good Airbnb and a bad one, his favorite places to vacation and much more!

I’ve been looking into the real estate market, but right now the prices are like gas prices! Is now a good time to get started?

“That’s a great point. To be clear our business has multiple prongs from the vacation aspect. We develop inventory, we do some luxury Airbnb, we have a large co-ownership fund where investors pull together to buy property. People ask if there are good buys out there, but good is a relative term. Good is comparative to what you can achieve. So there are some good Airbnb’s, but the 2010 to 2019 cycle was where you could not mess up a buy. But now you have to be surgical, and people are now getting multiple bids for their property. It is not impossible though, and as the capital has accelerated, so has rental rates. The demand for renting safe havens outside of hotels and cruise ships has also accelerated, that is down to COVID. I think you can get good rates, but it’s the capital appreciation that will take longer.”

You have been doing this since 2007 when most people didn’t realize that this was a possibility. What got you interested in this?

“So Airbnb was founded in 2008 and didn’t really get its wings until about 2010 or 2011. We were in 2007 and we were not in the rental space at the time. My wife and I had our first son and we love travelling. We were committed to still doing it and we were not going to stop because we now have a child. We looked at our options, and hotels are ok, but not as romantic if there is a child sleeping in the same room as you. Renting homes had an inconsistency of the pool not looking right or you know, homes just didn’t look right. We looked at buying a second home, but we couldn’t afford it and didn’t like the restrictions. So then the idea came of what if we had 20 second homes that we could travel to at any given time. Obviously we needed $20 million, so we were very short! So then we thought well what if we brought a load of our friends in, which is not a new concept, but we are one of the few that have done it on this scale. We shared these homes with 18 friends and family and it just snowballed. Our friends told their friends and we built up a collection of vacation homes.”

So what do you look for when you look for a vacation home for Luxus?

“Just as a quick side note, Luxus is Latin for luxury, it is not a ripoff of Lexus. For us, when we are shopping, there are a couple of things. Firstly, there is the balance of capital appreciation or Airbnb rentals, and the second is how much we will enjoy it. Nothing against $250,000 properties, but we were looking at what type of vacation we would enjoy and would want to spend time in. So we looked for that balance of appreciation, could we rent it on the market and what felt good. Do we want to be by the beach, by a golf course or in the city? That weighted scale makes us want to pull the trigger.”

So you are saying it’s ok to spend more if it’s in a place that you would want to go vacationing?

“If it’s your first time and you are dipping your toe into this, pick something you want to stay in. You never know, one day there might be a global pandemic! Our clients actually got to move into these at that time. So pick something you love, worst case scenario if it doesn’t work, at least you can enjoy it.”

Can anybody work with you?

“From an investor perspective it used to be open, but it was very restrictive to Canada due to security. We don’t have any open funds right now, but we are spreading the word more. We have a YouTube channel to try and educate people more, and we are trying to open this up to impact more people’s lives.”

What’s on the YouTube channel?

“The YouTube channel is posting 20 minute snippets and provides people with free content on buying homes, selling them and everything in between. We are just dumping the free content out there. It’s called The Luxus Group on YouTube.”

What would you say is the biggest mistake that people make?

“I would say that the biggest mistake people make is buying on emotion and not having the proper diligence. A vacation home should be an emotional purchase, but if people don’t spend enough time doing their diligence, they will suffer. The real estate agent can say ‘Oh if you don’t but it today then it’s gone…’ Then you write this 7 figure cheque, and 2 days later you get buyers remorse. Fortunately I don’t have that, because even if I miss a deal, we always balance that scale. We check all the boxes and it really makes people more informed.”

With everything that you have done with your business, what do you think is the best advice that you have received?

“I would say, gosh there have been so many mentors, but be in it for the long game. It is hard to do things fast in the real estate game, so look for the long term gain. Any time I think I can make a quick buck, is it right for the long game? You don’t want to burn a bridge for a quick win. If you think about the 20 year plan, you will get there, just don’t sacrifice your integrity and ethics.”

How do you balance your professional and personal life?

“Success is relative too. Some days you feel successful, sometimes not. But with family, when you don’t feel successful because of the market or a situation, keeping family close helps. There is no perfect balance, but there is harmony in the imbalance. I can be stuck at work, but it can mean longer time away with the family in the long run. There is no ideal way to do it, but I think that kids are so smart. Keep them in the loop and they will understand.”

Some people listening to this have never travelled! Can you give us 3 destinations that this person needs to go to?

“Hawaii, you can’t go wrong there. I think any lake country right now, places like Idaho and Montana, anywhere where they are close to water but in the safety of the United States. Then I would probably say Vegas, it’s had a good run but now it is really coming into its own as a city, not just the nightlife.”

I end every interview talking about gratitude. What are 3 things in your life that you are grateful for right now?

“The people around me, our health and my family.”

Featured image: CIO Look