1 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:14,000 Hey guys, it's just Qua and I just thought I'd plug in my mic 2 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:16,400 and I'm always thinking these days. 3 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:23,440 And I tried to bring back Bates podcast with Yasmin who edits 4 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:28,680 our vlogs and she helps out with brand deals too, but it didn't 5 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:31,040 work out. And I think nothing is really 6 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:34,760 working out because I forgot something that I told myself a 7 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:37,600 long time ago. And it was a quote that I wrote 8 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:41,000 down for an essay that I was trying to get a scholarship for 9 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:43,440 because I was so broke that I couldn't pay for college. 10 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:47,160 I still never finished college because I couldn't afford it. 11 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:51,840 But that's not the point. I wrote down in a paper. 12 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:54,560 Failure to plan is planning to fail. 13 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:56,760 I'm pretty sure that's what I wrote down. 14 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:01,240 Or maybe I wrote down a goal without a deadline is just a 15 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:03,520 dream. It was one of those, but I think 16 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,080 it was the planning 1. And I think that's why the daily 17 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:11,920 vlogs did so well is because we had a deadline and it wasn't a 18 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:17,000 deadline where we had to post because we were going to lose a 19 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:18,280 brand deal or we're going to lose money. 20 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:20,960 There was nothing to lose. It was pure passion. 21 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:25,400 And I set the deadline for me and it was just fun. 22 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:28,360 It was it was something that I looked forward to even though it 23 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:31,400 was stressful and is very chaotic. 24 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:35,640 Trying to film a vlog and edit a storyline, put it all together 25 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:40,440 and post it and interact with everyone, our Internet family 26 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:42,960 and also take care of my real family in real life. 27 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:47,880 It was crazy. But I think because there was a 28 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:53,520 deadline for me, I could handle it everyday because I knew no 29 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:56,560 matter what had what I did, I had to make it happen. 30 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:01,120 And you know, a lot of people when they think about vloggers 31 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:04,240 and influencers, they think, oh, they do it just for the money. 32 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:09,320 But if you really think about it, we vlogged and posted a new 33 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:13,400 vlog for four years straight without missing a single day. 34 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:17,800 There are millionaires, and I'm sure even billionaires that do 35 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:23,080 what they do to earn them money. But no matter the amount of 36 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:26,920 money, if you don't love what you're doing, you're not going 37 00:02:26,920 --> 00:02:28,640 to do it every day for that long. 38 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,960 There has to be some passion to it or there has to be a meaning 39 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:37,160 behind why you want to do it. Some people, they go to work 40 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:41,080 every single day because they feel so strongly about showing 41 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:43,360 up to work, getting that paycheck, and taking care of 42 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:45,600 their family. I feel like taking care of their 43 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,840 family is the meaning behind going to work every single day. 44 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:51,800 But for us where could have been anything. 45 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:55,640 Luckily we had the most fun job in the entire world and I can't 46 00:02:55,640 --> 00:02:58,360 even call it a job whenever people say it's. 47 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:00,840 There's no way that that's a real job. 48 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,760 I agree. I agree because when we first 49 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:08,760 started vlogging and we got our first paycheck from Google which 50 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:12,080 was only $100, I couldn't believe it. 51 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:15,160 And even with our first brand deal I couldn't believe it. 52 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:16,400 I thought we were getting scammed. 53 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:22,240 So let me tell that story. It goes back to I think 2014 or 54 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,080 2015. I had just gotten my real estate 55 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:29,400 license because I dreamed of owning a home and raising a 56 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:30,840 family. One day, Karen was already 57 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:34,160 pregnant and we were living paycheck to paycheck. 58 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:38,320 We were behind paycheck to paycheck, actually, and Nani 59 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:41,840 moved in with us and that helped the load a little bit. 60 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:48,720 But Karen was at home every day and she decided to start a 61 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:54,080 YouTube channel because my hard drive was full of high school 62 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:57,280 videos and whatever, and the videos that she recorded herself 63 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:01,240 wouldn't fit on there. So she was uploading to YouTube 64 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:07,400 and I taught her how to edit, how to use my camera, and I was 65 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,120 going to work showing homes or trying to get clients. 66 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:14,840 It's been so long, but eventually Karen was uploading 67 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:18,560 videos and one day I remember coming home and she said, hey, 68 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,839 people are commenting on the videos and I didn't know what 69 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:24,280 YouTube was. Karen didn't really know either, 70 00:04:24,280 --> 00:04:26,080 but she started like learning as she went. 71 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:29,360 I thought YouTube was a place where you look up how to fix 72 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:33,280 your car or watching cats or people falling funny videos. 73 00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:36,440 I didn't know or didn't even think about people building a 74 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:39,040 community. You know what's weird about that 75 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:43,280 is I watched Jenna Marbles back then because my friends watched 76 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,360 and I didn't know that she was making money. 77 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:49,160 I thought she was just putting out videos because it was it was 78 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:52,560 making her laugh as well. I never thought about people 79 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:55,720 commenting and building a community and even getting paid. 80 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,720 But Karen tells me that people are commenting and I was like, 81 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:01,440 what? Why are people commenting on the 82 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:03,120 videos? I 'cause I thought she was just 83 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:05,240 making videos for herself. Maybe she was. 84 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:09,880 But I picked up the camera and I said, why are you commenting? 85 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:13,720 Like, what is going on? And I suppose that put that in 86 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:15,480 your video. So she did. 87 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:18,480 And I remember after that video was posted, people commented 88 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:21,080 back. They said, oh, I'm in Germany 89 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:23,240 and I'm watching because I thought it's very interesting 90 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,240 that you go to work and you're in real estate and you guys live 91 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,000 in an apartment and I just want to see where this goes. 92 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,280 And then someone else was like, I'm from Australia. 93 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:34,080 Someone else is like, I'm from wherever. 94 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,960 And I thought it was so cool that people all over the world, 95 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:42,800 we're tuning in and a conversation could be had. 96 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:45,080 I was like, wow, Karen, that's so cool, keep doing that. 97 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:49,200 That's awesome. And I went back to work and I 98 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:53,520 remember coming home again one night and we got AI remember it 99 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:55,680 was like a an envelope from Google. 100 00:05:56,400 --> 00:06:00,000 And you got to remember we were like behind paycheck to 101 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:01,760 paycheck. So whenever we had a little bit 102 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:04,920 extra money after paying our phone bill and rent, because 103 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:08,880 that's all we had in the water and electricity and Wi-Fi we we 104 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:11,080 have, we would have like maybe $10 sometimes. 105 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:13,800 We weren't saving back then because we didn't have enough to 106 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:16,120 save. So we would splurge and we would 107 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:22,480 get McDonald's or pizza. But yeah, I think McDonald's was 108 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,480 our choice whenever Karen was vlogging because I would get the 109 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,760 hot and spicy or the Mcchicken and Karen would get the same. 110 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:32,000 And we dip it in the Buffalo sauce and the sauce consistency 111 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:35,760 is so perfect. With the Mcchicken, I just 112 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:37,240 paused the mic because I had to sneeze. 113 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:40,720 I wonder if a podcast has ever sneezed in everyone's ears. 114 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:46,160 That must be so bad. But yeah, I remember Karen had 115 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,760 the envelope from Google and we opened it and it was $100. 116 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:53,560 And to us back then, that was a lot of money. 117 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:57,360 I was like, this is so random. Like, why did Google just send 118 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:00,080 us 100 bucks that that's going to pay for our phone bill and 119 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:00,840 more? We're going to have. 120 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:02,440 We're going to get so much McDonald's tonight. 121 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:05,440 It's going to be crazy. And we looked it up. 122 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,200 We actually Googled why Google sent $100 to us. 123 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,840 And one of the reasons was if you posted a video to YouTube, 124 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,200 they place ads on it and you can earn money. 125 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:18,480 We didn't know that back then. I think Karen enabled something 126 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:21,240 because it asked her if she wanted to monetize the channel. 127 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,400 And I don't think she knew what monetize meant. 128 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:26,680 Like that word. Karen's vocabulary isn't that 129 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:29,080 great. She's very smart, but her 130 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:32,360 vocabulary is not her strongest, her strongest subject. 131 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:36,920 But I told her, I said, Karen, it's those videos that you post 132 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:38,800 on YouTube, you're earning money. 133 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:41,120 Keep doing it, keep it up. She's like, OK. 134 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,920 And that's when we learned what monetizing YouTube was. 135 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:47,400 And it was just insane. So it just came by chance. 136 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:49,800 And then Karen asked me if I wanted to take the camera to 137 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:52,840 work one day, which was I think I was going shopping for the 138 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:54,520 restaurant. So I went to Restaurant Depot 139 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:56,800 and I showed like what a big freezer looks like. 140 00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:01,320 And it was very random. And, and then another time I 141 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:05,440 remember I had an open house for a house I was selling in Winter 142 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:07,920 Garden and it was my friend's mom's house. 143 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,280 And it was really nice. And I baked cookies so buyers 144 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:13,760 would come in and smell fresh cookies when they came. 145 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,120 And so I vlogged that and I thought that was super 146 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:19,720 interesting and so did the audience and we just grew. 147 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:26,240 And then eventually we met Oscar and Kira and they came to 148 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:27,920 Playlist Live. I don't know if you guys 149 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:32,360 remember that, but I don't know what happened. 150 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:36,120 Our channel just snowballed and we started earning more and more 151 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:38,320 money. And I remember, I remember one 152 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:45,040 day I came home after closing a house and I earned $7000 and I 153 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:48,360 came home excited. I walked in the front door, 154 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:50,720 Karen was in the kitchen. I said Karen, I just closed and 155 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:55,280 I got $7000. She goes, YouTube just sent us 156 00:08:55,280 --> 00:09:00,520 $3000 and we were both in the kitchen just like, what did we 157 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:02,440 just earn 5 figures in one month? 158 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:05,080 And we were jumping up and down. We're like, Oh my gosh, we're 159 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:07,080 going to make it. Everything's going to be good. 160 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:10,200 And that was that was the beginning of that. 161 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,800 That was before any brand deals. So believe me when I say I 162 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:15,600 couldn't believe that this was a job. 163 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:19,720 And so our first brand deal, I'll tell that story. 164 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:25,240 I remember it was Mazeta. the IT was, it's like a pasta sauce, 165 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:28,640 Mazzetta pasta sauce. They emailed us and said, hey, 166 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:32,080 will you show our product for one minute in your video and 167 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:34,640 we'll pay you. I think it was like $300. 168 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:37,640 And I was like, what? They want to pay us $300.00 for 169 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:39,160 one minute? Like that's insane. 170 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:41,560 There's no way. And I didn't believe it. 171 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:44,360 And Karen's like, well, let's just let's just respond back and 172 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:46,000 see what they say. And I was like, OK, yeah, let's 173 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,000 do it. And it was like, I think that 174 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:51,360 brand, I think brands back then, they didn't really know how to 175 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:54,080 work with influencer as well as well. 176 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:57,160 So it was like it looked like a scam. 177 00:09:57,160 --> 00:09:58,280 But I was like, you know what, let's do it. 178 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:00,880 It doesn't hurt. So we went out and we did what 179 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:03,480 they asked us to do. We bought the pasta sauce and we 180 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,920 made, and we got ciabatta bread and we made like a little pizza. 181 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,040 And we said, hey, if you want to buy pasta sauce, check out 182 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:12,880 Mazetta. And we posted it and we posted 183 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:16,360 the link in our description. And then they sent us $300. 184 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:18,480 And I was like, what is going on? 185 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:22,880 Like, how is this real? So believe me, it's like if you, 186 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:26,200 if you ever become an influencer and that's what you want to do 187 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:29,280 and you make it to a point where you can turn it into a living, 188 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:33,640 it's like to me, it's like hitting the jackpot because 189 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:35,760 you're just doing what you love. You're creating content, you're 190 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:38,960 being creative and you're having fun and you're just going out 191 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:43,400 getting paid. And it has its perks. 192 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:47,720 But you know, privacy is also something that you have to worry 193 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:49,160 about. That's something that we had to 194 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:52,640 deal with 'cause people were showing up to our house, which 195 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:57,440 is really the mainly reason why we moved, because my first 196 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:01,280 house, I wanted to stay in there for 10 years. 197 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:06,760 That was my plan. We had two babies and no, we had 198 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:09,960 Jackson. We brought Landon home, our 199 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:13,160 second baby, into this house, to our first house. 200 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:17,320 And my plan was to stay here for 10 years and then move us onto a 201 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:19,040 lake once we saved up enough money. 202 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:23,640 But you know, things change and people were showing up to our 203 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:26,920 house and Karen did not feel safe and it really made her mad 204 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:28,600 because this is where our babies sleep. 205 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:34,520 So I remember I think I was trying to show someone at Lake 206 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:39,520 House and I found the house that we're living in now and I told 207 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:43,200 Karen which was the biggest mistake ever. 208 00:11:43,560 --> 00:11:48,480 I said if I, if we had enough money to move and it had been 10 209 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:50,800 years, like if this house was available. 210 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:53,880 Well, I think we had lived in the house, I think like 4 years 211 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:55,240 at that point. So we were supposed to stay 212 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:58,280 there another six years. So I showed her the house. 213 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:01,200 I said in six years, if this house is available, this is the 214 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:02,600 house I would want to move us in. 215 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:09,120 If you don't know Karen, she is the most impatient person in the 216 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:11,280 world. It's a good thing. 217 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:15,040 Well, OK, it's a blessing and a curse. 218 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,440 Because the blessing part is she's so impatient. 219 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:21,840 If she wants something done, she will find a way to do it. 220 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:23,520 She will find a way to get it done. 221 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:28,600 Like, she's very ambitious and she will find a way to succeed. 222 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:32,880 But also, I showed her this house and the cursed part of it 223 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:37,080 is she said, let's go see it. And I said, no, we have to wait 224 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:39,360 six years. Maybe a family will move in and 225 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:41,480 then they'll move out or there'll be a house like this 226 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,720 and we'll look for another one when the time comes. 227 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:49,280 But she fell in love with the pictures and she said, I have to 228 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:50,880 go see it. We have to go. 229 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:54,320 So I don't know. I love seeing houses because it 230 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:55,920 was my dream to buy a house like this. 231 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:57,840 And so I said, OK, fine, let's go see it. 232 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:02,040 And we pull up to the driveway. It's a very long driveway. 233 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:06,800 It's in a gated neighborhood and it's in an area where literally 234 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:11,160 the perfect area. My dream, if in my dreams this 235 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:14,280 is the house and somehow I found it in real life. 236 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:19,680 We pull up to the driveway. It's beautiful outside, wooden 237 00:13:19,680 --> 00:13:24,240 beams, tile roof, paver driveway, 3 car garage. 238 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:27,400 It was just like, what did I did? 239 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:31,840 I just manifest this like way too early, but so we walk up to 240 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,760 the front door, big wooden front door, beautiful. 241 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:39,720 We open the front door and as soon as you walk in, there's 242 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:44,640 huge, there's a huge sliding glass door and the view is 243 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:50,760 incredible. It's the pool, it's elevated and 244 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:53,800 it's the lake and you see the blue skies and you see the 245 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:57,800 bamboo on the left. And it's just, it's just the 246 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:02,800 perfect view. And that was when that was when 247 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,720 I knew I was like, oh, we're screwed if I love it this much. 248 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:10,040 I looked over at Karen and she's already looking at me. 249 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:13,800 Her hands are below her chin, googly eyes. 250 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:18,200 She said, I love it. She started taking pictures and 251 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:21,880 she made an album in her phone called home, and that's where 252 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:28,680 all the pictures lived. And so and so, yeah, the rest 253 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:32,120 was history. We bought the house and we moved 254 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:36,440 in six years too early. And I feel like it was, it was 255 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:40,400 like, I mean, at the time, if you're in our personal lives, 256 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:43,480 then you'll know the situation that we were in shortly after 257 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:47,480 that was very not good. But we found a way around it and 258 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:52,440 we made it work. And yeah, everything was fine 259 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:55,880 and dandy. We were, we were doing OK again 260 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:57,360 and we were living in our dream house. 261 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:00,720 Karen furnished it every, everything was good. 262 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:03,960 We were still on YouTube, We were making money on Instagram. 263 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:06,280 Karen found out Snapchat earned money too. 264 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:08,760 And she had fun doing that 'cause she has so many pictures 265 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:11,080 and videos that she takes everyday and that was an outlet 266 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:14,560 for her to just dump it all. Whereas on Instagram you make 267 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:19,720 like a cutesy post where like a story, a couple stories where as 268 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:23,400 Snapchat you just dump everything and it paid. 269 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:25,080 So I mean like we're still making a living. 270 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:27,320 I think I was still selling real estate when we first moved in 271 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:32,800 here and life was good. Life was really good, man. 272 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:37,040 In my personal life, like me personally, I was so happy at 273 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:40,800 one point. I was so happy right before we 274 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:46,600 opened the restaurants and you got to let me finish, but right 275 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,600 before we open the restaurants. I love the restaurants. 276 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:52,320 But so let me tell you my life right before it. 277 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:56,720 We had four boys. No, no, no. 278 00:15:56,720 --> 00:15:59,680 We had three boys. And Karen was pregnant with 279 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:03,160 Hanson. I I, I was living in my dream 280 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:05,160 house, found a way to make it work. 281 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:10,080 I had my dream car, the Nissan GTR. 282 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:11,920 That was my dream attainable car. 283 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:14,680 I said if I ever win the lottery, this is the car I'm 284 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:16,800 going to buy. And the reason why I bought that 285 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:22,160 car is because I was so lost in the sauce back in 2015, sixteen, 286 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:26,760 1718, where I did not look in our bank account at all. 287 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:29,760 I've, I think I looked at it maybe like two or three times. 288 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:33,840 And I'm not lying, Karen, Karen looked at it everyday and I did 289 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:37,120 not spend any money. I think Karen spent it because, 290 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:38,720 I mean, we, we grew up without a lot of money. 291 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:42,840 So she deserves to spend it. But she would do this thing with 292 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:45,960 me where she would say, how much do you think is in our account? 293 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:48,920 And I remember at the beginning I'd be like, I don't know, like 294 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:53,440 10,000, She's like more and I'm like 15. 295 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:56,360 And then she'd be like, oh, 20,000 and I'm like what? 296 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:59,000 That's crazy. And then as time went on, it's 297 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:00,200 like, how much do you think's in our account? 298 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:05,280 And then it was like 50,000. She'd be like more 60, no 70, no 299 00:17:05,319 --> 00:17:08,359 80, no. Then it'd be like 120. 300 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:10,280 It's like, what? Are you kidding me? 301 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:12,160 It was crazy. Like we were building up like a 302 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,520 savings like crazy. And then like 3 years later, 303 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:18,839 the, the highest, oh, I don't want to say what number it got 304 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:21,440 to whenever I guessed it, but it got to a point where my 305 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:25,640 accountant called me back in 2000, I think 17 and said, hey, 306 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:29,400 do you like paying the IRS or do you like having things? 307 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:31,840 I said, I don't know, I don't mind doing either. 308 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:34,240 Like it is what it is. Like, 'cause I knew taxes was a 309 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:36,280 thing. He said, listen, you're on the 310 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:38,520 Internet. I 'cause he, he manages a couple 311 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:41,680 of other influencers and, and actually actual celebrities, 312 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:44,040 like not just influencers, he's like, do you like cars? 313 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:47,240 So, yeah, I love cars. So why don't you go buy a car, 314 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:49,120 show it on Instagram and YouTube? 315 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:52,200 I was like, OK, like, what kind of car can I get? 316 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:54,880 And I'm, I'm, I remember this conversation because I got 317 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:56,160 excited. I was like, Oh my gosh, I've 318 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:57,640 always dreamed of owning this car. 319 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:01,880 But like I never, I, I had kids and I had actually, our house 320 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:04,840 was paid off at that point. Our, our dream house, We paid it 321 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:06,800 off within a year. That's how much YouTube was 322 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:09,520 paying in real estate. I was closing on so many 323 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:13,360 properties and YouTube was paying a lot and so I I never 324 00:18:13,360 --> 00:18:15,840 thought about buying myself a car because I was so locked in. 325 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:18,240 And so he says, what kind of car do you like? 326 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:20,280 I said, I've always liked the Nissan GTR. 327 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:21,840 And then he says, how much is that? 328 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:25,480 I said, I don't know, probably about like 80 to 100. 329 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,400 Sorry, yeah, go buy that. I was like, what Are you sure? 330 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:30,040 He's like, yeah, go buy it. So, OK. 331 00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:33,440 And I found a car. I found the perfect one. 332 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:37,600 And it was in West Palm and I and I, I was gonna buy it, but I 333 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:39,240 chickened out. So what Karen did? 334 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:41,200 Karen's very impatient. She's like, you deserve it. 335 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:43,440 If he tells us to get it, we're gonna get it. 336 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:47,320 She drove down to West Palm, picked up the GTR and brought it 337 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:49,640 back home. I, I, I didn't wanna buy it for 338 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:51,920 myself so bad that I was like, no, I'm not gonna go get it. 339 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:56,880 So she left and she went to to go buy it for me and drove it 340 00:18:56,880 --> 00:18:58,160 up. And that's how I had the GTR. 341 00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:02,480 And so that was that. And then eventually after moving 342 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:06,000 into the dream house and we figured everything out, I bought 343 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:13,160 the Porsche GT3, which is the ultimate, ultimate dream car for 344 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:17,200 me. Like the ultimate because it's 345 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:20,160 not flashy, it's not some Lamborghini, it's not some 346 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:23,480 Ferrari where it's just people are like, wow, that's a nice 347 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:27,360 expensive car. It's a very low key driver's 348 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:29,960 car. It you bring it to the track, 349 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:33,000 you have fun with it as you have a lot of headspace 'cause you 350 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:34,360 have to wear a helmet on the track. 351 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:40,120 It grips to the, to the road and it's just a great, great, great 352 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:42,480 car. Like it's very practical and I 353 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:44,160 just love it. I love it so much. 354 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:48,880 It's a manual GT3. And so you just feel in I, I, I 355 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:51,080 can talk about this forever. And I know you guys probably 356 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:56,360 don't care about cars, but so I had the GTR, the GT3 and the 357 00:19:56,360 --> 00:20:00,440 Raptor, which is my dream truck. And so we were living in the 358 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:02,480 dream every everything was great. 359 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:06,640 And we were investing in real estate and then the market went 360 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:09,040 crazy and real estate got way too expensive. 361 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:13,440 And so I was trying to think of what else we could do with our 362 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:17,560 money. And if I could go back in time, 363 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:21,200 I would slap myself because, well, actually not for this. 364 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:25,040 I I've always dreamed of having an ice cream spot in front of 365 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:28,280 this fountain. And at the time there was a 366 00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:31,240 boutique store there, but I had insider information that the 367 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:35,440 boutique store is leaving and it would be available if I wanted 368 00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:37,320 to do it. So I said, yeah, let's do it. 369 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:41,440 And Karen says that she doesn't, she didn't say this, but she's 370 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,880 not on this podcast, but she did say this. 371 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:48,440 And I, I remember her saying this because I remember feeling 372 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:50,600 so gutted. She's, she's like really an ice 373 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:54,080 cream shop. No, that's not gonna do well. 374 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:56,920 Like we don't need to do that. Why don't we do like hot pot or 375 00:20:56,920 --> 00:20:59,360 something? And then so I got in touch with 376 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:02,280 my cousin or actually my cousin got in touch with me and said, 377 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:03,720 hey, the space next door is available. 378 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:05,760 It was like a whole thing. And then that's how we partnered 379 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:09,120 with our other partner for the hot pot, which is a headache. 380 00:21:09,120 --> 00:21:11,720 If I could go back in time, I would slap myself and I'll tell 381 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:13,880 Karen to slap herself and be like, we're not opening a hot 382 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:15,240 pot restaurant. We're just gonna open an ice 383 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:19,880 cream shop because today we would be $1,000,000 richer still 384 00:21:20,360 --> 00:21:23,960 because that's how much we invested in the hot pot and we 385 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:26,800 would be killing it because you guys support the, you guys in 386 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:28,760 our community support the ice cream shop so much. 387 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:33,400 It's amazing. So the ice cream is doing well. 388 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:36,680 The hot pot, you guys probably know the story like I think 389 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:39,320 we've talked about on the podcast and our Instagram, on 390 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:41,760 YouTube. We've had issues with it because 391 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:45,600 I, I don't want to get into it again, but we've had issues it. 392 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:48,320 It might have been a blessing though, because I've always 393 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:52,320 talked about how much better pho is than ramen. 394 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:57,400 And for some reason we opened a hot pot restaurant when we we 395 00:21:57,400 --> 00:21:58,960 should've. If we were going to open any 396 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:01,680 restaurant, we should've opened a pho restaurant. 397 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:06,800 But it worked out because after all this chaos and mess, I met 398 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,160 the owner of Pho Bar Vietnamese Kitchen. 399 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:16,800 The the original location is in Davies, Florida, and he has a 400 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:20,520 few other places, but he just opened one up in Orlando like 401 00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:23,440 downtown area Mills and Colonial, which is about like 402 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:28,640 20-30 minutes away from us. And I meant his name's Unman. 403 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:34,040 And he is incredible. Like if there's ever a perfect 404 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:37,960 entrepreneur, I feel like he's the one because I feel like an 405 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:41,560 entrepreneur is someone who builds things no matter what 406 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:44,360 happens. It it like I, I, I, I saw this 407 00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:46,960 picture one time. An entrepreneur is someone who 408 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:49,600 jumps off a Cliff and builds a plane on the way down. 409 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:53,520 He seems to find a way to make it work no matter what. 410 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:57,200 And I'm seeing that now because we're doing the conversion of 411 00:22:57,200 --> 00:22:59,400 our hot pot restaurant to a pho restaurant. 412 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:02,000 And I thought it was going to be so simple. 413 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:04,200 I thought we were just going to say, all right, let's change the 414 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:09,080 tables out, change a few things, decorate and open as well. 415 00:23:09,360 --> 00:23:13,200 But there has been challenges after challenges, things that I 416 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:16,720 would never would have seen. And he's handled it perfectly, 417 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:19,680 like Florida State, almost as if this is cake wait for him. 418 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,080 And it probably is because this is my first restaurant and he's 419 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:25,640 had, I think that he's at like 11 restaurants now. 420 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:29,440 So he knows what he's doing, which is exactly who I need. 421 00:23:30,360 --> 00:23:33,800 And the food at Pho Bar is amazing. 422 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:37,400 Like obviously the Pho's gotta be the best of the best ever 423 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:40,160 because it's a pho restaurant. But not even just talking about 424 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:42,600 that. The appetizers, the wings, the 425 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:46,200 rice dishes, and just like the creative items on the menu, 426 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:49,200 they're all amazing. So when we open, I hope you guys 427 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:53,520 come and I hope we turn this curse into a blessing and we 428 00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:57,560 enjoy pho together. And I can tell you all the nitty 429 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:00,840 gritty details of how we got to where we are now. 430 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:03,280 So that's why I'm saying it. It might have been a blessing. 431 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:05,280 Like maybe everything worked out the way it was supposed to work 432 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:09,920 out because I don't know. Now we're gonna actually open a 433 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,920 photo restaurant. And we would have never met on 434 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:15,800 men without, I guess, going through what I went through. 435 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:19,720 So if I was gonna ever open a photo restaurant, it would it 436 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:22,240 would have to be with him. Like, after what I've seen it, 437 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:29,800 he's he's amazing. So yeah, I mean, I'm excited for 438 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:31,880 the restaurant. I'm excited for it because now 439 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:36,480 there's direction and I feel like there's passion now, which 440 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:39,920 is what brings me back to what I first started with. 441 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:45,400 Now that there's something that I know I love that I wanna be at 442 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:50,960 everyday, I think, I think there will be consistency and not 443 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:53,240 consistency just in the restaurant. 444 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:56,840 I feel like I'll have a presence on social media again. 445 00:24:56,840 --> 00:24:59,600 Because if you look at my Instagram and on YouTube, a lot 446 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:02,560 of people were, well, a lot of the audience, not people, but 447 00:25:03,120 --> 00:25:06,600 they were asking why I've disappeared and where I've been. 448 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:10,960 But I've just felt hopeless at one point. 449 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:15,000 Like, especially whenever I thought we were just gonna shut 450 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:16,480 down and walk away from everything. 451 00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:21,880 And I remember sitting in my car in the parking lot, like, I 452 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:23,720 cannot believe I did this to my family. 453 00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:29,520 I, I can't believe I maybe I was too ambitious and this was the 454 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:34,880 biggest failure I've I've ever had or I've ever done. 455 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:39,080 I remember sitting there just trying to wonder where it all 456 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:42,240 went wrong. But then I told myself, what, 457 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:43,640 what, what am I? What am I doing? 458 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:45,640 Like, the past is the past. It already happened. 459 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:48,800 I need to figure I I need to figure out a way to make it 460 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:52,720 work. And that was whenever I emailed 461 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,080 on men the well, I didn't know him then. 462 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:59,600 I just, I just went to fobar website and I emailed him and 463 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:02,640 then he he sent me an e-mail back said interesting, give me a 464 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:04,840 call. So that was whenever I called 465 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:09,560 him and yeah, we got to talking and we just hit it off like 466 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:12,560 right off the bat. And, and you know, what I love 467 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:18,320 is how straight up he was. He for him, he, he wasn't 468 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:20,320 interested in franchising out to anyone. 469 00:26:20,360 --> 00:26:23,120 He was interested in the person who's going to be running it. 470 00:26:23,120 --> 00:26:26,520 Do you actually love the food and do you love the culture? 471 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:31,320 And I, I love that. So he's all about it too. 472 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:33,320 He's all about people and helping other people. 473 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:37,080 And that's the kind of people that I want around me. 474 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:41,280 So I'm very happy and I'm very excited for the restaurant now. 475 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:46,240 I used to dread it and now, yeah, I look forward. 476 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:47,360 I look forward to going to there. 477 00:26:47,360 --> 00:26:49,400 Now we're almost there. We're almost there. 478 00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:54,160 I think a month out. It looks completely different 479 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:57,200 from how you guys remember if you guys saw pictures and videos 480 00:26:57,200 --> 00:26:58,560 or if you guys have even been there. 481 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:02,600 So I'm excited for everyone to come by today. 482 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:09,040 I am one GTR less, one GT3 less and my Raptor has a broken tail 483 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:12,080 light. It was, it was. 484 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:17,040 Oh my gosh. So the other day I was backing 485 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:21,560 out of my mom's driveway and I, there's this mailbox directly 486 00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:24,080 across from her driveway and I know it's there. 487 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:26,040 Everyone knows it's there because my family's hit it 488 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:27,400 before. But I know it's there. 489 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:31,920 And as I'm backing out, I hit the brakes and I hit the mailbox 490 00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:35,200 and it breaks my tail light and I'm like, am I good? 491 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:37,320 What is wrong with me? Maybe it was like a brain fart 492 00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:42,200 or something, but I drove home and as soon as I get out of the 493 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:45,080 car, I look at the tail light and I'm walking inside and I 494 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:49,000 notice a leak under the the the passenger side of my car. 495 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:51,320 So what is that? So I looked down and it's a 496 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:55,800 brake hose that's leaking. So it wasn't me that caused the, 497 00:27:56,040 --> 00:28:00,600 I guess collision the crash. It was, it was Ford because it 498 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:05,520 had a defected brake line, but they fixed the brake line and 499 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:09,920 they gave me an oil change and the works everything but my tail 500 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:13,200 light's still busted. So I'm so happy. 501 00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:19,080 And every day I go swimming with my kids, I work on the 502 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:22,400 restaurant. I'm going to start to vlog more. 503 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:25,440 And I started working out again 2 days ago. 504 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:29,520 I hadn't worked out since I think the restaurant opened and 505 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:34,120 I lost a lot of weight, and then I gained weight and I am on my 506 00:28:34,120 --> 00:28:37,400 way back to getting back into shape and I want to start 507 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:40,640 playing tennis again. And I feel like, I don't know. 508 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:44,360 I feel like something shifted. I feel like something shifted a 509 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:46,240 couple days ago, but I don't know what. 510 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:51,080 Yeah, I don't know. I don't know why I decided to 511 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:54,800 record this podcast, but maybe there'll be more. 512 00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:57,680 I don't know. But I just want to thank you 513 00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:00,840 guys for listening. Thank you for watching our 514 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:02,760 videos. Thanks for following me on 515 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:06,840 Instagram or and thanks for anyone who's been here since the 516 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:09,360 beginning of Bates. I just want to say thank you. 517 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:11,080 Bye.