The Faith That Changed My Future... | Read Choi | DSH #2039

Summary

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Digital Social Hour Episode #2039

Title: The Faith That Changed My Future... | Read Choi
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Read Choi
Air Date: July 2, 2026

Episode Overview

In this heartfelt and unfiltered conversation, Sean Kelly sits down with viral content creator and rising actor Read Choi to explore his multicultural upbringing, career as a creator, and the faith journey that dramatically changed his future. The episode delves into the personal and professional struggles of navigating fame, balancing identity, and seeking purpose beyond algorithms and social pressure. Read opens up about finding faith at his lowest, how loss shaped his worldview, and why humility and mentorship matter. This episode is a blend of humor, vulnerability, and bold takes on modern culture, making it relatable and thought-provoking for listeners from all backgrounds.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Double-Edged Sword of Social Media (00:00–03:38)

• Both Sean and Read discuss the rapid growth (over 100 million monthly views) they’ve experienced.
• Sean notes, “It's very easy to develop ego… I've seen it destroy a lot of creators.” [00:00]
• Read describes the pressure and pace: “I think being grounded is very important, especially in our space.” [00:00]
• The impact of AI on creative jobs is discussed, with both hosts feeling the tension between cost efficiency and cutting human jobs.
  • Notable quote: “It's nuts in just like a year. How much more convenient. Yeah, cheaper. That's unfortunate… as a business owner, sometimes you got to make tough choices.” (Sean, [01:37])
  • Read brings up his shift from hands-on editing to leveraging AI and hiring specialized help.

Navigating Identity and Belonging (03:38–09:30)

• The challenges of growing up mixed race (Sean: half Irish, half Chinese; Read: Korean American), and wrestling with cultural identity:
  • Sean: “I would get bullied more for being Chinese, so I kind of suppressed that side of me… now I do embrace my Asian side.” [04:43]
  • Read: “If someone attacks me for something…I double down on because, like, screw them, you own it.” [05:44]
• Fight vs. flight coping mechanisms—Read embraced his “weird kid” side, Sean mostly tried to blend in, learning painful lessons about authenticity and friendship.
  • Read’s story: “She was like, do you want to be a cool kid or a weird? And for some reason… I was like, I want to be a weird kid. So I went there.” [06:28–07:47]
• The lingering impact and fleeting importance of high school social hierarchies:
  • Sean: "You think everything’s so important. And then as soon as you graduate… it’s totally over." [11:16]

The Value (and Limits) of Education (12:00–16:22)

• Discussion on public vs. private schooling, the pressures of Asian/immigrant parenting, and the changing value of college in the era of the internet and creator economy:
  • Read: “I want them to go to public school until high school…there’s something healthy about it.” [12:00–12:44]
  • On college, Sean admits, “I was purposely failing classes to rebel… I thought that was me getting the one up on her.” [14:15]
  • Read excelled thanks to scholarships and mentorship, reflecting, “I was just kind of getting paid to learn and read.” [14:53–15:04]
• AI’s effect on academic work: “There’s no creativity anymore. That’s one downside of the AI.” (Sean, [16:52])

Mentorship, Self-Discovery, and Breakout Success (17:36–20:55)

• Read credits mentors, not parents, for his pivotal growth: “I was desperate for tutelage because I knew how behind I was…so I asked them and they were very willing to teach.” [18:00]
• His accidental leap into acting: started as a social media creator, went viral with educational/cultural content, received unexpected acting opportunities including a lead role with Darman.
  • “I had never acted before…but when [the Darman video] got uploaded, it went number one on YouTube for that day…God opening doors one after another.” (Read, [18:23–19:05])
• Discussion of how casting now increasingly prioritizes social followings over pure acting talent.
  • Read: “If it comes down to it, the person with a bigger following will get the role.” [20:27]
  • Sean: “Over talent? That’s crazy to me.” [20:33]

Success, Luck, and Staying Grounded (21:04–22:46)

• The role of luck and preparation in viral/social success:
  • “Luck is a combination of preparation and opportunity.” (Read, [21:31])
• Discussion of investing in crypto and financial lessons from the creator world.

Faith Journey & Spiritual Resurgence (23:29–26:53)

• Read’s approach to public faith:
  • “I don’t want to be known as a Christian influencer…but an influencer that is Christian… I’m not trying to shove my faith on anybody’s throat.” [23:33]
  • Discussion of how inauthentic evangelism (“the guy with the megaphone”) is less effective than leading by example.
• Read opens up about losing his faith in college and returning after losing his grandparents:
  • “...I was praying to God, whom I didn’t believe in… you took all this away from me… And then God told me, how much more do I have to take away from you before you realize I’m the only thing that you had to begin with.” [24:43–25:31]
• Powerful moment as Read leads an on-air prayer for Sean and the audience:
  • “Father God, I just want to thank you for allowing us to come together and be able to share our experiences…” [26:14–26:53]

Finding Balance, Humility, and Endurance (28:06–31:04)

• Both hosts discuss how routine prayer, humility, and faith protect them from ego, burnout, and cancel culture.
  • Sean on the creator grind: "10 years in the social media space—that’s like 100 years… If you can make it to the 5-year mark, you’re kind of golden.” [28:44–28:55]
  • Read: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for my name’s sake.” [29:29]
  • Discussion of hardship, persecution, and growth through trials: “...whenever you face trials and tribulations… consider it pure joy. For you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” (Read, [30:14–30:38])
• Both share strategies for avoiding online negativity and “doom-scrolling,” limiting their exposure to toxic news while staying aware for their content.

Vision for the Future (32:49–end)

• Read’s focus is to use his online platform as leverage to pursue larger creative projects: “First goal is get acting to be as big as what I’m doing online and then see where the Lord takes me from there.” [32:55]
• Read’s contact info: “Reed Choi. R E A D C H O Y.” [33:13]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On choosing authenticity over fitting in:
  "I had a choice worrying about how I’m perceived or...what I feel… I want to be a weird kid."
  — Read Choi, [06:28]

• On losing faith and returning:
  “How much more do I have to take away from you before you realize I’m the only thing that you had to begin with.”
  — Read Choi (quoting his spiritual experience), [25:29]

• On the meaning of persecution in faith:
  “As Christians…when you become a Christian, you shouldn’t expect a cushy lifestyle because Christ…was the perfect person and they killed him…You should expect the hardship.”
  — Read Choi, [29:42]

• On humility and ego:
  "In our space, you know, it's very easy to develop ego. And you see these numbers going up and up...I've seen it destroy a lot of creators."
  — Sean Kelly, [00:00]

• On enduring the creator grind:
  "10 years in the social media space, that's like 100 years...If you can make it to the 5 year mark, you're kind of golden."
  — Sean Kelly, [28:44]

• On work, luck, and opportunity:
  “Luck is a combination of preparation and opportunity.”
  — Read Choi, [21:31]

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Segment Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------------|--------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00–03:38 | The pressures and growth of social media/AI's impact | | 03:38–09:30 | Multicultural identity and early life struggles | | 09:30–12:44 | Reflections on high school and the value of schooling | | 12:44–16:22 | College, rebellion, and parent expectations | | 17:36–20:55 | Mentorship, discovering acting, and social brand leverage | | 21:04–22:46 | Luck, viral moments, and navigating investment/crypto | | 23:29–26:53 | Philosophy on faith and a candid on-air prayer | | 28:06–31:04 | Staying humble, surviving cancel culture, and faith in hard times | | 32:49–End | The future, vision, and audience connection |

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Episode Tone & Takeaway

The conversation is lively, honest, and punctuated with humor, but turns deeply introspective when discussing faith, grief, and the search for belonging. Both host and guest eschew preachiness, instead emphasizing lived experience, openness, and humility. The message echoes that lasting creative success—and personal peace—is built on self-awareness, courage to be authentic, a willingness to learn, and trust in something bigger than oneself.

For those seeking encouragement and real talk about navigating today's noisy, high-pressure world, this episode offers both wisdom and comfort.

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Transcript

[A]

I think being grounded is very important, especially in our space. You know, it's very easy to develop ego. And you see these numbers going up and up, getting into the millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions. I've seen it destroy a lot of creators.

[B]

For some reason, I was hanging out with cool kids. All they were doing was, like, making beats with their pants, listen to music, but nobody was talking. It was so boring. And I look across the room and all the weird kids are just like, hanging out with one. They're being rowdy, they're playing Yu Gi. Oh, they're having a good time. I'd be like, that looks like a lot more fun. Let me go over there. As soon as I get up and start walking over to the cool kids, the cool girl of that group, like, grasped me by the wrist and like, where you going? Going to the weird kids. And she was like, do you want to be a cool kid or a weird? And I was like, I want to be.

[A]

Okay, guys, you got Reed on the show today. Look at this outfit right here. Cowboy hot shirt and the boots. I love it.

[B]

As my go to.

[A]

Is this for a movie role or you just wear this casually?

[B]

Yeah, it's casual.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah, I love them.

[A]

What's new with you? How's that been going? How's everything been doing?

[B]

Oh, it's going well. Yes. Started off the year great. Really blessed to have the opportunities that I have.

[A]

It's exciting. That's good, man. Yeah, I know it's crazy times we're in right now with AI taking jobs and you're especially in your space, right?

[B]

Not with actors. Not yet, but with a lot of the writing. I know a couple of my writer friends are a little worried.

[A]

Yeah, I know. Same with podcast space right now, actually. With AI. Yeah.

[B]

Seriously?

[A]

Yeah. Well, not. Not the actual hosts, but the job, the editing jobs, the scripting, coming up with questions, stuff like the behind the scenes job. Yes.

[B]

I. I use some AI editing tools and it's crazy how far it's gone, dude.

[A]

It's nuts in just like a year. Yeah. So how much more convenient? Yeah, cheaper. Way cheaper. That's unfortunately. Like, I hate to, you know, fire some people over it, but as a business owner, sometimes you got to make tough choice at.

[B]

But yeah, man.

[A]

So you do a lot of editing though?

[B]

Not anymore, but yeah. Like, I just hired a new editor. I had to fire one, but hired two new editors in the past couple of weeks. But still a lot of it is also just AI as well. So it's. It's It's a new role for you.

[A]

Yeah. I mean you're getting. How many views or a month are you getting? Especially on TikTok, you're getting a lot, Right.

[B]

Altogether we're probably low end, 80 million, but on average about 120 to 150.

[A]

Damn. I'm about the same.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Wow, that's crazy the fact that you're pulling that as just solar content creator. I have to leverage GAS and like a bunch of other social media creators to get those numbers.

[B]

No, I'm sure, I'm sure the grind is still the same in terms of like trying to figure out your topic ideas and.

[A]

Yeah, I still got to prep Feeding the machine. Yeah. Yeah. That's still crazy though. Was it pretty sudden growth or was it kind of.

[B]

Yeah, it was pretty. It was sudden at the beginning and then a gradual growth.

[A]

Okay. There was. Was there a specific video that just kind of pulled it and then you kind of maintained from there.

[B]

It was a couple of videos. Like at first I started off with, gosh, I think it was like Japanese, Korean educational content.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So I was like teaching about like the language but also the culture. And so that was like one of the first videos that popped off. And then I did a couple of challenge videos and skits and stuff like that. But I think like whenever I attack a new niche, I like go at it until it does well and then I move on to the next, you know.

[A]

And now it seems like the Christian stuff is really hot, right?

[B]

Christian video skits?

[A]

Yeah. Well, yeah, that seems to be just raking enthusiast. Yeah. God is great. It's pretty crazy, man. I've been dabbling with it, having on Christian creators, actually doing debates as well. Oh yeah?

[B]

Do you have faith? Are you.

[A]

I grew up Christian. I don't go to church anymore, but I still believe in God. Okay. Yes. So I don't know what to label it, but yeah, I just think with a lot of modern day church, it's kind of weird these days, you know what I mean? Yeah.

[B]

Do you align with any. Whether it be orthodox protest?

[A]

I'm not educated enough honestly to know the difference.

[B]

Yeah, but what does your faith look like?

[A]

Do you believe in God? Do you believe in like some sort of manifestation, SL prayer type of thing? Okay. Yeah. So I wouldn't know what to call it. I went through a weird atheist phase. I did too. Yeah. When I was in my college, high school. Same. Yeah. Yeah. I know you had a rough upbringing, so. Yeah, similar for me.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Asian households, man. Tough. What's your Ethnic background, Half Chinese, half

[B]

Irish, half Irish and half Chinese.

[A]

Okay. So I had an interesting world because my Irish father was typical alcoholic. You know, the Irish, they love to drink.

[B]

Well, do you feel more Irish or more Chinese?

[A]

I go back and forth with it, actually. Growing up, I would get bullied more for being Chinese, so I kind of suppressed that side of me, I would say, most of my childhood. Yeah. And then now I do embrace my Asian side a lot. You know, I'm not scared to admit it. So. I don't know. It was interesting growing up. Mixed, dude. Yeah. You can tell. Yeah, it was really interesting. It kind of had to fit in with two different circles. Yeah.

[B]

You know, as an Asian American,

[A]

every

[B]

Asian American will face that battle of, like, do you choose to be more. Do you choose the more Asian side or the more American side? And I bet that dichotomy is more apparent as a haba.

[A]

Yeah, for sure. What did you lean more towards as you were growing up?

[B]

To be honest, I kind of tripled down on both. I'm proud to be Korean, and I'm proud to be American. Okay. So I try to keep a good balance, you know?

[A]

Yeah. Did you have people attacking the Korean side when you were growing up?

[B]

Yeah, but it's one of those things. It's weird. Like, if someone attacks me for something that I, like, I double down on because, like, screw them, you own it.

[A]

Yeah. That's respect, man. I unfortunately took opposite approach.

[B]

I think, you know, it's this. It's just. I don't think one is right. It's just. It's a common response.

[A]

Those.

[B]

Those two are the fighter response. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

The fighter or flight? I just was like, you know, screw it.

[A]

I was always a flight. So you were more of a fight? Yeah, Yeah. I think that has to do with upbringing, maybe.

[B]

I don't know. Upbringing in nature versus nurture. Is it who I am or is it who my parents were? I don't really know.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. I was a flight. Like, I got yelled at a lot, and I would just flee to my room. In school, I was the quiet kid.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. I was. I was. I was a good mix of both. But I think, like, I remember when I was in middle school, I was hanging out for some reason, I was hanging out with cool kids. Oh, yeah. And I was like, what? How the hell did this happen? Right. And all they were doing was, like, making beats with their pens, listening to music, but nobody was talking. It was so boring. And I look across the room, and all the weird kids are Just like hanging out with one, they're being rowdy, they're playing Yu Gi. Oh, they're having a good time. And I feel like that looks like a lot more fun. Let me go over there and like a movie. I'm not, I'm not joking. As soon as I get up and start walking over to the cool kids, the cool girl of that group that grasped me by the wrist and like, where you go, go to the weird kids, she was like, do you want to be a cool kid or a weird? And. And for some reason at that young age, I understood there was a significance in that moment. And I was like, I had a choice worrying about how I'm perceived or how I the truth of what I feel. And I was like, I want to be a weird kid. So I went there and that choice kind of butterfly effect made me lean towards being more of letting my gut make the decisions, rather how I'm worried about I'm perceived. How I'm perceived.

[A]

Wow, that story is so relatable. I think everyone watching this can relate to that because we all want to fit in with the popular kids, the whole kids.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I had sacrificed a lot to infiltrate that group and I was never fully part of it.

[B]

Right.

[A]

You know, I mean, even when I was in it, they were just using me for my house to throw parties. Yeah. Using me for cannabis. At the time. They weren't actually my friends. You know, I had literal holes punched in my walls, you know, for the party. Yeah. They didn't give a about them. You know, I mean, they were just using my core mom's house.

[B]

Well, I found myself in high school in the same way I moved over from. So I grew up in Georgia to New York and then New York to California, but I was born in California. So I came back to California and I, I really didn't stick in, fit in. And then I was with the like the Korean fob group. But again, I never, they, I was never really one of them. I was kind of like an extra, you know, and I allowed that behavior because I was so afraid of being alone until senior year or I kind of had this wake up call and I was like, you know what? I'm not going to be the side character to my own life anymore. And if you guys don't feel like I have to be here, like if you guys don't want me to be here, if you don't feel like it's necessary for me to be here, I won't be. And that was one of the more liberating experiences of my.

[A]

So you said that to the whole group?

[B]

Pretty much. I just left. Yeah. And then there was one guy that. And you wanted to be friends with me. And so we. It was just me and him. And he's been my friend. He's my longest friend.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Wow. Yeah. I look back at my early days. I'm only friends with one person from high school myself. Yeah. Pretty crazy.

[B]

Did you go to your high school?

[C]

No.

[A]

It's this year. Okay. I'm 28. I kind of regret not going. Honestly. Yeah.

[B]

I went.

[A]

It was kind of weird. I was always weird.

[B]

That was kind of weird. And I think you'll have the same experience because I'm assuming you are probably the most well known or out of my school.

[A]

Yeah. Right. Yeah.

[B]

And so they probably know what you do. A safe.

[A]

I've had a majority part of it.

[B]

Right. And there are some of them where I forgot what it was called, but like living the glory days or something, you know, like they never left high school.

[A]

Keaton High School.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. And that was kind of sad to see.

[A]

That is sad to see. There's still people from my town that still live there. Yeah. And there's no. Really. I grew up in a town where you kind of leave.

[C]

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[A]

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[C]

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[A]

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[C]

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[A]

Check out the link below. It sound like a town that you spend your whole life in. Yeah. You know, you never even heard of it. So to see them still there, living with their parents at 28. Yeah. It's a little unfortunate. Yeah.

[B]

And then they're like, hey, remember in senior year, like, no, I don't at all.

[A]

This bad log.

[B]

I kind of have a life.

[A]

Yeah. It's crazy how you. When you're in high school, you think everything's so important. Yeah.

[B]

And then as soon as you graduate I mean, like, either that day or the next day, you're like, oh, it's totally over.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

There's nothing linking to me anymore.

[A]

And now it's gotta look forward. We get so brainwashed. I feel like, like, grades are so important. Who you're dating is so important. Who you're friends with, all of it doesn't matter, you know, the day you graduate. Yeah.

[B]

I mean, high school is okay, but it's not something. Other factors, like, oh, man, I wish I could.

[A]

Nah, I'm not sending my kids to

[B]

check if we do that.

[A]

Or I'm not sending my kids to public school. I know that, though. Really? At all. Like, I'll give them the. Maybe I'll give them the choice. Maybe.

[B]

See, the thought that I have in mind is I want them to go to public school until high school, and then high school, they go private because I want them to be normally adjusted.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Like, I see that. I don't know if you've that. Not that there's anything wrong with people that are homeschooled or go to private their entire life, but they don't relate. They're not as relatable. They don't have the soldier.

[A]

And there's something.

[B]

Miss.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. I know you're up.

[B]

And so whether it be elementary or up to middle school. But I want them to at least be around.

[A]

Don't you think they could get that from sports and extracurriculars, though?

[B]

No, there's good ways around it, but I think just being in a public school, being able to experience that, there's something healthy about it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because you're so exposed to everything.

[A]

You do get exposed to good, bad, all sorts of stuff. Yeah. And you do have to make choices on your own, which I like. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. I don't know. We'll see how it is by then. There's a growing shift right now towards not going to college, stuff like that.

[B]

So I'm here. Yeah.

[A]

You know, we're making a living without any. I don't know if you went to college, but I dropped out and we're doing all right. You know, that's a growing movement, though.

[B]

Yeah. Especially as technology makes the idea of going to a place to learn a little more outdated.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, because everything you want to learn is on the Internet. But there's also something lost in being surrounded by your peers and being able to speak your ideas and have those ideas being attacked so that you can defend them.

[A]

Yeah, right. Yeah. There's a value in both. Yeah. Yeah. It reminds me of Charlie Kirk, what you're saying. He was like the face of that. Right.

[B]

I think, like the idea of like the public university might die, but I don't think the Ivy Leagues are gonna go anywhere.

[C]

Really?

[B]

Yeah. Okay.

[A]

Because of the value of the community and the people there. Yeah.

[B]

I mean, most universities, the real. Every college has more knowledge than any person can possibly consume. And so the real value choice you're making when you're choosing to go to university is the pedigree of the university you're driving to. The Harvard, you know, Yale, Princeton, stuff like that.

[A]

Was that a big push by your Korean parents to get into a really good college? 100%, yeah. Same with my mom. Yeah. It was like a disgrace to her that I went to Rutgers, the stage school in Jersey. Really? Yeah. I think she was very disappointed that I couldn't get into, but I was rebelling, man. Like I was purposely failing classes to rebel against her. You know, I went through a weird phase like where I thought that was me getting the one up on her.

[B]

Would you ever want to go back? I was like, you finish it?

[A]

No. Okay. No. I did not have a good time there. I just partied all the time. Was depressed, trying to get weighed. Doing dumb stuff. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. What was your experience like?

[B]

To be honest, I like university.

[A]

Really?

[B]

It was, it was a good time because I was just kind of. Honestly, I was just kind of getting paid to learn and read and you were getting.

[A]

Oh, you were on a scholarship.

[B]

Yeah, I had a free ride and that. Yeah.

[A]

In that case, could shift my perspective maybe a little bit. You know, I wasn't paying anything crazy. But these Ivy leagues are like 60, 70, 80K now, right? Yeah.

[B]

Pretty expensive. And to be honest, I think it's. You probably didn't enjoy the experience because you weren't like going all in to being a student. But I think if you went on all in to being a student, just trying to. Just being hungry to be as good at the best that you can, I think you would enjoy it a lot more.

[A]

You're not wrong. I was skipping class. I was not taking it seriously at all. Yeah, yeah. It's very easy, I think when you get given all that freedom at 18, 19 to take advantage of it. Yeah.

[B]

And it's. It's a hard ask for to ask an 18 year old to all of a sudden, hey, grow up, choose your schedules, develop your own work ethic. I was just quote unquote lucky to have the experiences that I did.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

To Be able to kind of grow up a little more quickly than my peers.

[A]

Well, getting a full ride as an Asian, I know that wasn't easy, so well done. You must have had like a 4.3 or something.

[B]

I did all the scholarship essays. Oh, the essays, yeah.

[A]

Okay, so you had to write. So there's like.

[B]

So you can get one free ride or you can do a bunch of scholarships to add up to the free ride.

[C]

So.

[B]

So I did a, A mix of both.

[A]

Wow. This was before AI. So you actually had to write.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I actually. That's a great question. I wonder how prominent just AI writing is.

[A]

Oh, it's everywhere. Yeah, I see teachers talk about it all the time. Essays now there's like websites where you import the essay and it tells you what percentage are plagiarized because it's such a common thing now.

[B]

Yeah, there's.

[A]

There's no creativity anymore. That's the one downside of the AI.

[B]

I guess that sucks. Cuz writing, man, I don't. I wouldn't know where I would be if I couldn't write.

[A]

That's. That's why I wonder. With Hollywood and with movies, is AI actually going to replace these writers? Will it get good enough to do that? Will it get creative enough? Because that human element's hard to teach

[B]

in a. Yeah, I don't. That's above my pay rate. I don't know.

[A]

Yeah, but there's a whole strike about it. But yeah, who knows?

[B]

Maybe it'll be just as good. But I don't know if it could

[A]

be better be hard, man, because we have these lived experiences being really hard at teaching AI what we meant there, man. But that's cool, man. I guess your parents were effective, you know. Sounds like you did well growing up.

[B]

Honestly, I was kind of behind until I was around 17 and then I had a wake up call and then it wasn't my parents, but it was like mentors that I had around me that were able to guide me to the right path. I was very lucky. Oh, interesting.

[A]

So you had mentors at that, at that age, you know, that's pretty young, I feel like, to, to have a mentor with that.

[B]

But I was also desperate for tutelage because I knew how behind I was and I didn't know how to get to where I want to be. And so I looked at the people around me that were doing better than me and so I asked them and they were very, very willing to teach.

[A]

Wow. And then how do you go from this amazing student in great grades Grade school to acting.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[A]

Because that's a whole different world.

[B]

Yeah. Acting I also kind of just fell into. So I was already doing social media, and then about a year and a half ago, I get an offer to do Darman, and it was for the lead role, and I've never acted before, and it sounded pretty fun. And so, yeah, why don't I do it? And it was like, a weak shoot. And then when it got uploaded, it went number one on YouTube for that day. And that really opened a lot of doors. And to be honest, it was just like God opening doors one after another and then planting in my mind, like, acting is something that you could. You should pursue.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

And once that happened, then I started

[A]

angel saying, so you had no acting experience, but you were getting views on social media, so you got invited onto Dharma.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Then that blew up. And then you've got opportunities.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Funny enough, it was like, there was this one video. I'm an English major, so I love Shakespeare, and I wanted to make Shakespeare more consumable for the average viewer. And so I might have been wearing this exact. But I was doing Hamlet's soliloquy to to be or not to be, but with a silent accent. And that went well. And a bunch of producers and directors saw it. And, like, I got in contact with a lot of people in the industry just through that one video. Wow. And that story, it replicates itself with other videos throughout.

[A]

That's interesting, man. Yeah. I do see that in ACT when it comes to movies now, they do care about the personal brand. And when hiring me doctors, that gives you sort of an edge, right?

[B]

100%. I was in this casting director's workshop, and either she brought it up or asked. I asked her directly. But sometimes the studios will literally say, okay, for this role, we want someone with a following of x, y, and z, 100,000, blah, blah, blah. And if it comes down to it, the person with a bigger phone will get the role.

[A]

Hey. Over talent? That's crazy to me. Yeah. But that's where we're at now. That's where it's moving. Because they know they will bring viewership

[B]

because it's harder to stand out now. And so they're trying to rig the deck as much as they could, you know?

[A]

Yeah. Because the world's changed. It's not like movies. It's, like, streaming now. Right.

[B]

And.

[A]

And.

[B]

And independent projects like Marketplace Film, you know, is number one.

[A]

Really? Yeah. I've heard he's a YouTuber, right?

[B]

Yeah. Iron Lung.

[A]

He.

[B]

He Self produced, directed and acted in that movie.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

He might not have directed, but he was in it and he produced it for sure. He owns 100% of it. And yeah, it was the number one buck subs this weekend.

[A]

That's impressive, man. I mean, I'm addicted to beast games right now. Oh, yeah, You've been watching that? I started from a YouTuber, now it's the number one show on Amazon. Yeah, it's crazy, right? Crazy. I mean, just giving out $10 million.

[B]

So you and I, we're.

[A]

We're doing the right thing. Yeah, we're. Right place, right time to say right. I think luck is involved in success to a certain degree.

[B]

Oh, there's no doubt.

[A]

You watch any billionaire talk about it, they're like, yeah, got kind of lucky here. And he owned parts of my life. Yeah.

[B]

What do they say luck is? Combination of preparation and opportunity.

[A]

So I agree with that. Yeah. Because you still gotta be ready. Yeah. You don't just like, wake up, become a millionaire unless you invest in bitcoin.

[B]

The dip. Did you buy the dip?

[A]

I did. And I'm down so bad right now. Yeah. I don't even wanna. It's in the seven figure range. Not good. And everyone told me to sell a few months ago.

[B]

And I'm stubborn or, I mean, huddle.

[A]

Yeah. It's not like I. I'm pressed for it. Did you buy the dip, though? I did. Smart, man. You waited for it or you kind of just.

[B]

Oh, no, I've always just buying a little bit. But then once that did happen, I put in a lot more.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. Certain athletes, certain actors get part of their salary in bitcoin.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yeah. Who would Beckham Jr. A lot of NFL guys, NBA guys.

[B]

A Bitcoin?

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. Interesting, right? Yeah. What do you think about that? Smart.

[B]

It's a little risky. I. I guess it depends on the percentage.

[A]

Like, I wouldn't ask 100 of my salary. Yeah, some do 100, some do 50, some do like 10. I know Odell. Odell Beckham Jr. When he got his payment in 2021, Bitcoin was at a lot. It was at close to a hundred thousand or something.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So he's out a lot. But it is what it is, man. It's crypto. People are worried about the dollar, gold, silver, skyrocketing. Yeah. You. You into like business stuff, investment stuff like that, or you kind of just focus on other things? Yeah, I'm, I'm.

[B]

I'm into it for sure. Like, I remember I got the YouTube recap I didn't even know it. But, like, my number one search.

[A]

Or like the iced coffee. Oh, that's a good one. I'm number one thing. I dare. I didn't even know I watched it that much.

[B]

Apparently I was number one thing.

[A]

Shout out to Graham and Jock Vegas neighbors with me.

[B]

Oh, that's true, that's true.

[A]

You should get on there, actually. That'd be a good bug for you.

[B]

Really? Because I'm not really a finance guy. I don't know what value I'd bring to.

[A]

Well, they branched off. They do a lot of politics now and business, but what do they want?

[B]

Talk about Christianity and.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. So that's your main focus right now, Christianity stuff?

[B]

Oh, no, no, it's my main focus is, like I say, I don't want to be known as a. A Christian influencer or an actor, but an actor or an influencer that is Christian, you know, that is open about their faith. But I'm not trying to shove my faith on anybody's throat because there aren't. I don't think you convert anybody by being a Bible thumb thumber. I think you convert people by your actions.

[A]

Agreed. Your character. Yeah. That's why the guys on the megaphone on the sidewalks never get to me. Right. But a conversation like this, I can wait.

[B]

I've never met anybody that's been converted because someone shoved the Bible down there.

[A]

Right. You know, it usually turns them up to it 100%. I would say it does more harm than good, honestly. Yeah. Now you had a resurgence, right. Because were you always Christian or you said you were?

[B]

Most of my life, but I was an atheist.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then it came back to my faith at around 24.

[A]

Okay, so you were atheist all of college.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And high school.

[B]

Latter half of high school. Wow. So if he is agnostic.

[A]

Okay. Yeah, that's what I was. So a good amount of years. Six to eight years. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. And then what was that moment at

[B]

24 you said, right, I lost my grandparents. Oh, God. And there. There's this quote by Carl you. Most people don't find God because they don't look low enough. That was low enough for me.

[A]

Whoa.

[B]

And I talked about a lot of the roads, but I remember I was kind of praying to God, whom I didn't believe in at that point, but I was like, you took all this away from me and how much more do you need to take from me? Like, what? When will it be enough? And then God told me, how much more do I have to take away from you before you realize I'm the only thing that you had to begin with. Well, now, once I heard that, I was like, okay, Roger that. And then I slowly started submitting and giving up everything to God.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Holy crap.

[A]

So you were very close with your grandparents?

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, I didn't have a good relationship with my parents, but the reason why I am, I believe, you know, normal, is because my grandparents gave me the unconditional love that really parents should have. Interesting.

[A]

Wow, that's deep. Thanks for being so open about nothing. That's crazy. Yeah. I want to start reading the Bible again, honestly. You should. Yeah. It's been a while. I used to go to church every Sunday. I used to pray almost every day, actually, and I just sort of got away with. Away from it.

[B]

You want to pray right now? Let's do it.

[A]

Okay. How you doing online? Like this?

[B]

Yeah. Let's see. Father God, I just want to thank you for allowing us to come together and be able to share our experiences with one another, fellowship with one another. I pray that you would bless this conversation and allow us to encounter you, Lord, and that your holy spirit will guide this conversation and be with both of us. Bless us both physically, spiritually, financially, emotionally, everything in between. And please help the others in this room. And may we all be able to work together to provide value to whoever is watching this video. All these things. I pray in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

[A]

Thanks for that. Yeah. You fry every day.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's important. Part of your routine.

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, I remember. I forgot who was saying it. It was a. A British spokesperson, but he was talking about the importance of the British royal family and how America sort of lost the point of it. Because it's important that even though the British Royal family doesn't have any political significance, the Prime Minister is held accountable to the symbolic representation of its government through the Royal family. And so the person with the most power, the Prime Minister, still has to hold themselves accountable with something. And so that higher power that we. That because we live a life of very much, you can quote it as being the masters of our destiny. But the fact that I'm. I, on a daily or nightly basis, kneel and pray and submit myself to God. It humbles myself and keeps me grounded.

[A]

I do like that mental part of it. I think being grounded is very important,

[B]

especially in today's day and age, where the individual is so pedestalized.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Humility and kneeling can go along.

[A]

Yeah. Especially in our space, you know, it's very easy to develop ego. And you see these numbers going up and up, getting into the millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions. I've seen it destroy a lot of creators.

[B]

Oh, yeah?

[A]

Yeah. Because I've been in the social media space for 10 years now.

[B]

Oh, really?

[A]

Yeah. I've seen a lot of people come for you. Yeah, a lot of people come and go because 10 years in the social media space, that's like 100 years. And you know what I mean?

[B]

Like the, you know, you know, like for a restaurant, the big hurdle is like being open for like three years or something. Yeah. For content creators is five years. I. If you can make it to the five year mark, you're kind of golden.

[A]

You chilling, you know, I mean, I agree. Yeah. Not a lot of people can make it to 5 years.

[B]

I just hit my 5 years.

[A]

Congrats. I was very happy. Congrats. That's a long time. People are watching this. Like what, five years and nothing but, you know, it's social media. It's different. Yeah, it's different because you got to deal with the hate. You know, we got evil eye on us. Whatever you want to call it, Ickers. Cancel culture. I've been canceled a couple times. I hear you. Yeah. I get labeled for platforming controversial people, so I take some heat for that. Yeah. It's an interesting thing to navigate, you know, balancing the pri. Privacy as well. It's been an issue.

[B]

Yeah. The Bible helps with that as well. Blessed are those who are persecuted for my name's sake.

[A]

What does that mean,

[B]

persecuted?

[A]

Or just like that whole sentence? Like, can you explore biblically speaking?

[B]

It's the idea that as Christians, when you become a Christian, you shouldn't expect a cushy lifestyle because Christ being our representation, you know, he was the perfect person and they killed him for, you know, as being a representative of Christ. You should expect the hardship. You should expect the persecution that's supposed to come because you are not of this world and the world will hate you.

[A]

Answer, Stan. I didn't know that. So Christians should naturally expect some hardship is basically.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Huh? Yeah.

[B]

Like, like in James, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials and tribulations of any kind, consider it pure joy. Pure joy. For you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. You know, it's, it's, it's supposed to be even welcomed because it is through our suffering that we get to empathize and relate to our Lord.

[A]

Wow, that must have really helped you when you were navigating some dark times 100%. Yeah. Because when I was navigating dark times as an atheist, oh my God. It was tough, you know, not having any sort of guidance and being an only child, not having a lot of friends. It was tough. They almost ruined me for sure. Yeah.

[B]

All by the enemy's design.

[A]

Oh yeah, we could get cute with that one, man.

[C]

I don't.

[A]

I don't want to get too political. I know you're. You don't really dive into politics, right? Not really. Yeah. The files. It's just mad crazy world. I would. If I'll say it's not, I'll say that. Yeah. I try not to get too caught up in it because you could get too crazy.

[B]

Dark world for sure.

[A]

Yeah. And they want you like going crazy, right? Yeah. I feel like a lot of programming and they want you to think a certain way and all that stuff. Yeah. How you kind of stay in your. In your own zone though. Do you doom scroll?

[B]

Do you know I'm spectacularly ignorant And I have friends that are informed. I'll literally ask them, hey, what's going on? And then they'll tell me. I was like, that's no.

[A]

Plus, you haven't even seen all the file stuff yet.

[B]

I've heard of it.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

But I'm not trying to look at it.

[A]

That's so impressive, dude, because it's everywhere. It is. I love that you don't know about it. Yeah, yeah.

[C]

It's literally.

[A]

I can. So you don't scroll at all?

[B]

Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Never while Instagram, Sometimes TikTok. I do.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Yeah. Because that's where I feel like all the trending stuff is.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And so just to keep, you know, my finger on the pulse.

[A]

Yeah. TikTok's good for trends. Finding guests for me. Steam. What? Spiral. YouTube is my go to though. Yeah. Because you can kind of curate your feed.

[B]

Interesting. More so than like, huh, Interesting.

[A]

Tick tock. I mean if you're scrolling on the for you page, you don't know what's going to come up.

[B]

That's true. And with YouTube, I'm not going to scroll.

[A]

No, there's a. I'm sorry.

[B]

It's more purpose driven.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

This is exactly what I want to see. That makes sense.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

But what is your name, by the way? Raph, this is my editor, producer. Gotcha. Yeah. And we got a Leah, right? Yeah, Leah back there. Yeah. I got the team, man. Growing. Growing. It's cool to see me helping people out. Yes. They're all growing together. Yeah. And it sounds like we're on similar, similar journeys right now.

[B]

I hope so.

[A]

Yeah. Where do you want to take this, man?

[B]

I want to keep building the machine that I have so that I have leverage to do the projects that I want to do. And first goal is get acting to be as big as what I'm doing online and then see where the Lord takes me from there

[A]

where people find you and keep up with you, man.

[B]

Reed Choi. R E A D C H O

[A]

Y Check them out, guys. We'll link the TikTok below. See you next time.

[C]

Thanks for watching. All the way to the end, guys. Please hit like and subscribe. It helps us grow the show and helps us get bigger guests. Thank you so much.