Matt (17:35)
Yeah, I came back from a senior trip. You know, back then they had the senior trips for high school and I actually got kicked out of my mom's house. So about three weeks later I moved into my friend's house and his mom, when I got home from the senior trip, had the scale and a pound of weed laid out and I walk in. This is really pride swelling because it's not even my house. And I walk in and she's like, whose is this? And of course it's not my friend, so I have to own that which is really embarrassing. So of course I was asked to leave that house, which was embarrassing because all the moms liked me despite my hustle because, you know, I was nice to them and a good person. I just was making some poor choices. And so then now I had to make a decision. So my girlfriend, who I met at 15, her name was Monica, who I was married to for quite some time, we decided to move into an apartment in Huntington Beach, California. So we had a roommate because we couldn't afford it. So we got a two bedroom and it was like back then it was like $750 a month, I remember, for rent. And even that was a lot to us, you know, because now I have a real job. So I had to go get a job at the John Wayne Airport at 6 to 2. I worked there stocking the gift shops and magazines and candies and stuff. And then from there I would drive straight to Irvine, California and work for Mossy Mill clothing company from 2:30 to 10. So I have these 80 hour weeks and on the weekends I would just go blow all my money gambling through bookies and racetracks because I love gambling at the time. Oh yeah. So, but small, you know, because you know, I had just enough to pay rent and eat and get gas. But yet I used to make more money two, three years ago when I was running a poker ring and taking sports bets and all this stuff. But I had no money so I couldn't like take sports bets. And it wasn't really my thing because I didn't have that, you know, I didn't have the surroundings to build a client base like I did in high school. And so at 18 I'm like, this is miserable. So we, I think we signed a six month lease and then within six months we find out that she's pregnant. So I'm like, okay, here I am 18, I can't even take care of myself. I'm not married. And I've been with this woman for three years. She's an amazing person, but I'm not ready to get married or raise a child. But she's very religious and her family is definitely not going to allow an abortion, which I totally respect, even though that in my mind that was the first instinct. Just because I couldn't even fend for myself. But I'm so glad we didn't because I have this amazing, beautiful girl that is now 30 years old. But the point is we made a decision. I said to her, I said, look, we got to move back in with my mom and we have to. I got to get a real job. I mean a real job, not these little petty minimum wage jobs. So my mom lost our house and she moved to Dana Point, California, in a mobile home park. Which is really pride swallowing because I viewed a mobile home park as white trash. And anyone who has a mobile home, that's not what I mean, but it's just how I viewed it. So I had to move into a mobile home park and my little brother was in one room, my mom was in the other. And so Monica and I slept on the couch. And here we are. I'm 18, she's having, she's pregnant. I don't have a job. So what do I do? I go to the local areas in Dana Point. It's kind of a affluent area in Orange county, and there's a restaurant opening. So I walk into this restaurant and the GM sits me down and do an interview. He says, okay, I'll give you an opportunity, but I can't hire you as a waiter because you have no experience. I'm like, well, what am I going to do? He says, you could be a busboy and work your way up. I'm like a busboy, okay, that's not what I came here for, but at least I have an opportunity to move up. So I take the job and then about three months go by and I'm out making or I'm outperforming the waiters by getting more tips than them. Because even though I'm not as a bus boy, as a busboy, because when I'd go to the tables, I would be the one who would direct traffic and conversation even though I wasn't bringing them their food. You know, I would make up for any little things I could find. Because what I've always tried to do, my family raised me to just be number one at whatever you do, it doesn't matter if you're, you know, sweeping the floors. My dad was very militant. You know, there wasn't a speck of the floors. We had to wash the floors. He'd come over and, you know, we'd have to do it again or whatnot. So I was raised properly in that regard. So when I was a busboy, I mean, I cleaned your table, I came over, I refilled your water, I made sure your chips and salsa were full. But more importantly, I would have conversation with everybody and just try to use my personality. And I started building relationships to the point where the customers would come in and ask to sit in my section. But I didn't have A section because a busboy kind of roams. So like. Well, he's not even a waiter. And they were literally asking for me, which was really flattering. So in this process I built a relationship with this couple and they were Indian and. But they spoke. Well, he spoke with a very strong British accent and he had a beautiful watch and she was very attractive and it just, you could feel the sense of these, these people have their shit together. So I ended up having good conversation. And about the third or fourth time they come in, his wife, she says to me, would you like a job opportunity? And I said, I would love one. I said. She goes, you don't even know what it is. I said, I don't care. I don't want to serve chips and salsa. So she said, why don't you come down for an interview? So I get my little beat up car and I drive because I end up selling my truck because I lost, you know, I was lost to bookies and I was broke. So we have this little hoopty car, we drive to Irvine, California and I had to go get a little tie at Marshalls because I didn't even have that. And I walk into this company, or I should say, I pull up and there's like Mercedes and Ferraris out front. And I'm just like. It just, it had this corporate feel. It's a beautiful building, right? Glass everywhere. And I walk through and as I walk through there's this glass of the floor of the company of what they're doing, and I don't know what they're doing. It's just young guys in thais that are just screaming, yelling, have headsets on. Just the feel of this. I mean, I literally got goosebumps just walking in there. So I go to this interview and he just belittles me for an hour and a half. The same guy who was so kind, who I thought I was going to meet to just have this great interview. His name was Mickey. He says to me, he's looking at my little cheap resume that, you know, you probably got on a little typewriter. And he says to me, let's see, you have a zero college experience. Okay, that's not good. You told me that you knocked up your girlfriend. Okay, you have zero experience in sales. Really? Okay, why should I hire you? And what, what's, why have you made all these poor choices already in your life? And he just hammered me, right? And I really didn't have many answers, but I was kind and I would just say, look, I'm young and I'M figuring my life out. So after the interview, I go home and I'm like, there's no way I got that job. They call me back and say, come back for another interview about a week later. So I drive down there and I'm like, oh, this is weird. I get in the interview, and about 20 minutes into it, he's just. Same thing. And I finally. I just stood up and I said, mickey, I need to tell you something. There's nobody here that's going to work harder than me. If you want to hire somebody who's from Harvard, go for it. They have a degree, they have all this education. But you just told me that this is a sales position. And last I checked, sales is about grind, determination and saying the right things, the right fluctuation and understanding the customer. These are things that I've already learned in life. I was the number one Orange county, you know? So I started defending myself.
