California Dreamin' w/ Stephen Cloobeck

Summary

The Ronan Levy Podcast: "California Dreamin' with Stephen Klubeck" – Detailed Summary

Release Date: April 4, 2025

In this compelling episode of The Ronan Levy Podcast, host Ronan Levy engages in a profound conversation with Steven Klubeck, an aspiring politician running for the governorship of California. The discussion delves into a myriad of topics ranging from personal anecdotes about parenting to intricate analyses of political leadership, governance, climate change, and immigration policies. Below is a comprehensive summary capturing the essence of their dialogue.

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1. Introduction and Personal Reflections

Ronan Levy opens the episode with a candid introduction of Steven Klubeck, highlighting his business background and transition into politics. Ronan expresses skepticism about the current political landscape but finds Steven's approach refreshing and potentially transformative.

• Ronan (00:19):
  "Contrary to what you may have been taught, money, success, and fame don’t make you happy, won’t make you healthy, and can’t give you peace inside."

Ronan appreciates Steven's commitment to integrity and efficiency, emphasizing the need for compassionate yet effective leadership in today's political climate.

• Ronan (00:56):
  "His focus is on integrity and compassion first, but with efficiency in mind."

---

2. Parenting and Personal Stories

The conversation kicks off with heartfelt stories about parenting. Steven shares his experiences raising three children, emphasizing honesty and toughness in instilling values.

• Steven Klubeck (00:00):
  "My middle son actually asked me 13 questions. He's like, before you do this, Dad, I need the answer to 13 questions."

Ronan relates by discussing his own challenges, such as discovering his inadequate dancing skills, highlighting the importance of vulnerability and trying new things despite failures.

• Ronan (02:04):
  "I've never been so embarrassed of my life in my life as how badly I danced."

---

3. Political Philosophy and Leadership

A significant portion of the dialogue centers on leadership styles, particularly contrasting Trump's and Steven's approaches.

• Steven Klubeck (15:06):
  "The Apprentice is divisive. Undercover Boss is inclusive."

Steven argues for a leadership style rooted in serving and listening, advocating for balance between toughness and compassion.

• Steven Klubeck (10:33):
  "Life is tough. Dude, get your helmet on."

Ronan explores the philosophical underpinnings of fostering resilience versus encouraging softness, leading to a mutual agreement on the necessity of balance.

• Ronan (10:01):
  "Why do we want tough people? Why is toughness an attribute we value over softness?"

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4. Climate Change and Government Policy

The discussion shifts to climate change, with Ronan presenting the challenge of it being a collective action problem. Steven emphasizes practical, technology-driven solutions while questioning the efficacy of California's limited impact on the global scale.

• Ronan (28:28):
  "It's a collective action problem."

• Steven Klubeck (29:33):
  "California is 0.06% of the world. If China does something else, what effect are we really having?"

Steven advocates for a balance between environmental initiatives and economic stability, stressing the importance of measurable outcomes and adaptability in policy-making.

• Steven Klubeck (35:32):
  "Don't bust the trust. You lie, you die."

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5. Immigration and Sanctuary Cities

Addressing immigration, Steven provides a nuanced perspective, distinguishing between asylum seekers, legal immigrants, and illegal immigrants. He critiques the blanket terminology often used and calls for a refined approach based on legal status and contributions to society.

• Steven Klubeck (65:15):
  "Immigration is the most wickedly misunderstood concept because the nomenclature is not even right."

He advocates for humane treatment, emphasizing that those who add value to society should be documented and integrated effectively, while those who violate laws face appropriate consequences.

• Steven Klubeck (70:11):
  "If you violate our laws, you get your day in court."

Ronan brings up public misconceptions driven by propaganda, to which Steven responds by advocating for education and transparent communication to inform policy and public opinion.

• Ronan (71:52):
  "If informed people are driving the agenda, how do you steer it in the right way?"

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6. Policy Priorities and Solutions

Steven outlines his top priorities for California, focusing on efficiency, economic growth, and reforming education and insurance systems.

• Steven Klubeck (57:43):
  "Command and control. Teaching, coaching, counseling."

He emphasizes reducing government bloat by eliminating redundant regulations and reports, fostering transparency, and ensuring legislators are in tune with the constituents' needs.

• Steven Klubeck (49:23):
  "How do you spend a dollar? What portion of that dollar and what value are you giving to those who gave you that dollar?"

Ronan and Steven discuss the importance of integrity in governance, with Steven asserting that politicians should act as stewards of public resources, not personal assets.

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7. Integrity and Trust in Leadership

A recurring theme is the paramount importance of integrity and maintaining public trust. Steven underscores that breaking trust leads to political and societal instability.

• Steven Klubeck (76:13):
  "Integrity. Don't bust the Trust."

Ronan concurs, highlighting how foundational trust is to effective leadership and societal harmony.

• Ronan (76:16):
  "That's a foundational thing that we forgot about a long, long time ago."

Steven's forthcoming book, "Facing Hard Truths: How Americans Can Get Real, Pull Together, and Turn Our Country Around," encapsulates these themes, advocating for honest conversations and practical solutions over polarized rhetoric.

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8. Conclusion and Final Thoughts

As the episode wraps up, Ronan reflects on the insightful discussion, appreciating Steven's commitment to pragmatic problem-solving and his willingness to face criticism from all sides.

• Steven Klubeck (78:16):
  "I'm getting bashed on both sides."

Ronan commends Steven's resilience and dedication to transforming California through integrity and effective leadership.

• Ronan (78:16):
  "I think it'd go a long, long way from where we are."

The episode concludes with Ronan encouraging listeners to engage with Steven's upcoming book and support his candidacy, emphasizing the need for authentic and balanced leadership in politics.

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Notable Quotes

• Steven Klubeck (10:33):
  "Life is tough. Dude, get your helmet on."

• Steven Klubeck (35:32):
  "Don't bust the trust. You lie, you die."

• Steven Klubeck (76:13):
  "Integrity. Don't bust the Trust."

• Ronan (00:19):
  "Contrary to what you may have been taught, money, success, and fame don’t make you happy..."

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Key Takeaways

• Balanced Leadership: Emphasizing the need for both compassion and efficiency in political leadership.
• Pragmatic Solutions: Advocating for data-driven and adaptable policies, especially concerning climate change and immigration.
• Integrity as Foundation: Highlighting the critical role of trust and honesty in governance.
• Economic Pragmatism: Stressing the importance of economic stability and responsible fiscal management over purely aspirational goals.
• Educated Public Discourse: Encouraging informed and respectful conversations to bridge political divides and foster societal progress.

This episode serves as a thought-provoking exploration of contemporary political challenges, offering listeners a clear-eyed perspective on governance and the values required to steer California towards a more prosperous and harmonious future.

Transcript

[Steven Klubeck]

I talked to each one of my children. I asked them, and they thought I was good at it. My middle son actually asked me 13 questions. He's like, before you do this, Dad, I need the answer to 13 questions. This is my law student kid. I answered all the questions, but my baby girl said, daddy, you're really good at this. Would you do this for me and my friends so we have a future?

[Ronan]

Hey, everyone. Ronan here. The conversation you're about to listen to is my first ever with a politician, or at least an aspiring politician. His name is Steven Klubeck, and he's running for governor of California. Not gonna lie, I've largely lost faith in politics and politicians. But as Steven points out, it wouldn't be fair to call him a politician. He's a businessman getting into politics because, and I'm using Jerry Garcia's words here, not Steven's, someone has to do something, and it's just pathetic. It has to be him. But in Steven's case, I don't think it would be pathetic. Actually, I think it could be great.

[Steven Klubeck]

Here's why.

[Ronan]

For one, he comes from the hospitality industry, and if you listen to my conversation with Chip Conley from last year, it seem the world, and certainly politics, could use a whole lot more hospitality. Second, he's a businessman, but at least in terms of what he gives voice to, his focus is on integrity and compassion first, but with efficiency in mind. Truthfully, I think that's what the world needs right now, to be compassionate and efficient simultaneously. It's not an easy balance to strike, but I think it's what we need right now. It's certainly not the way it's happening in Washington this month, but it's the right goal. And finally, I think it could be great because his goal seems to be balance, and I just kind of like that. Bear in mind that I can't vote in California, so I don't have a dog in the race, and I haven't spoken to any other candidates. But I kind of like what I saw in Stephen. If you'd like to learn more about him and his views, Visit his website, stephenjklubeck.com Special shout out to California resident Jerry Simpson for adding some questions to this conversation.

[Steven Klubeck]

Enjoy. Whatever you want.

[Ronan]

All right?

[Steven Klubeck]

Okay.

[Ronan]

Sweet man. Well, I appreciate that, Steven. I am actually incredibly excited to have you on the podcast. In so many ways, you embody a lot of the themes that I like to explore on the show. Themes of success, of value, worth, sports, politics, philosophy. I really think this is going to be a great Conversation. Just doing my research. I did learn one thing about you this morning at 5am when I was waiting for my kids to wake up. And that thing is that neither of us dance very well. And I think we both learned the hard way. Well, you may have known this, but like my discovery of how poorly I dance was in law school when I got invited to join Law Follies, which is like a student talent show, and do a dance. And I was like, all right. I guess I had developed a reputation for being a guy willing to try anything. And I got up there, I saw a video of it and I've never been so embarrassed of my life in my life as how badly I danced. And I'm kudos to you for doing that on national television, by the way.

[Steven Klubeck]

That was. That was a shit show.

[Ronan]

Explain.

[Steven Klubeck]

Well, it's self explanatory. Go watch. It is for everyone to see forever. I mean, Undercover Boss episode. It was episode. Let's see. Season four. Episode four. Yeah. I did not expect to be doing that that day because they don't show you what you're doing. The show is totally unscripted. You have no idea what you're doing. It is reality as reality gets. There is nothing that happens on that show that you know isn't just as it is.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

And some of it becomes like unbelievable and they put you in very uncomfortable situations. But it's the real world.

[Ronan]

No. That's awesome. I've always thought after my next big exit financially, I'm going to take some time off and learn to dance and maybe try to learn how to sing. You ever feel inspired to do that?

[Steven Klubeck]

No and no.

[Ronan]

Okay.

[Steven Klubeck]

I, I stay in my lane. I mean, Ronan, how old are you, dude? Why?

[Unnamed Child]

Why?

[Ronan]

Neuroplasticity, man. Life is short. Let's explore.

[Steven Klubeck]

It's like somebody said, do you want to like, have you ever hang glided or do you want to parachute? I'm like, no, no, I don't want to do it. No. Why would I jump out of a perfectly good plane falling to the ground for the thrill of whether or not the parachute opens? I didn't know.

[Ronan]

Entirely fair perspective. I think I do it just because I'm curious. And honestly, like one of those things like dancing poorly and singing poorly has always been something like I've lamented. It's been my entire life. I've always wanted just to be good at that. And I suck so bad. So it's just one of those things.

[Steven Klubeck]

So what, what happens, you know, Ronald, what happens if you find out you just don't have the genetics. Because genetics, you know, it's XX and xy. I studied biology and bioscience.

[Ronan]

Did you know that?

[Steven Klubeck]

It doesn't change, pal. Yeah, there's nothing you could do about that. So what happens if you just don't have the vocal cords?

[Ronan]

At least I'll have given it a shot, right? At least I'll have it.

[Steven Klubeck]

Well, you know, I'm proud of you for trying.

[Ronan]

Thank you. I've spent my life trying to overcome my genetics from the age of like 15, when I was a aspiring basketball player. And then my Jewish genetics kicked in and I stopped growing up.

[Steven Klubeck]

I'll give you a story about that.

[Ronan]

All right.

[Steven Klubeck]

So, you know, I've got great children. Great children.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

One son, he has this gift of My father. My father could throw a football 65 yards.

[Unnamed Child]

Oh, wow.

[Steven Klubeck]

Really great athlete. You know, it skips a generation. So my. So my oldest son, he's got the arm. He's got that golden arm.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

But great quarterback. He didn't like to get hit, so I said, hey, look, pal, not for you. My middle son is sports. Not like my father was, okay playing Little League, but really got into basketball. Kids short, Jewish. And he's frustrated because the coach won't play him.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

And he's just into it, studying every NBA team, college teams, just into it. Like my father, they're into basketball. That's their thing. And he's shooting hoops. He even saves his money to buy a hoop at the house.

[Unnamed Child]

Wow.

[Steven Klubeck]

Because I used to reward the kids for doing chores, you know.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

And you know, you know how it is. The kids, you wake up, brush your teeth, you get, you know, and if you do something silly like fart at the dinner table, you're gonna get docked. You do it again, you get punitively docked. So I said, you know, to my second son, I'm like, look, pal, let me tell you something. You're really good academically. I know you love sports, I love your video games, but why don't you just work really hard and buy a team? Because you're. You're short, you're Jewish, and you suck.

[Ronan]

How old were you when you relayed that information to him? Or where was he? Sorry, not you.

[Steven Klubeck]

I. Look, I. I remember a strong father. A strong father. Not a helicopter father. You know, not everyone gets a first place trophy. It's first, second, third, and, you know, participation certificate, which I got a lot of. And so I never got into that woke crap. And I never was that. That helicopter father. And I just Told him he was probably like 11, 12. I guess a little harsh, but that's the way I grew up. Yeah, I mean, tough love. Yeah, it's just, it's honesty. It teaches grit at a young age. Look, the reason we have, in my opinion, a lot of soft young adults out there is because it was the parents fault. It wasn't theirs. Yeah, we, we, some of us did it to them. I just never prescribed to that.

[Unnamed Child]

Right.

[Steven Klubeck]

You know, we love our kids, we want them to be successful, we want them to aspire, but we did not do them any favors by making sure that we had great inflation. So everyone got an A. Come on. Everyone gets a first place trophy. That's bullshit. It does not work that well. And look, look what's happened, right? You have a generation that is soft, that doesn't get up early, stay late, go to work with a runny nose. I'm okay with, you know, you know, psychologists this and that to help out mental health days. Please work from home. No, come on.

[Ronan]

No fair. I get it. I mean, I certainly, I mean it begs a deeper philosophical question which is like the thing I'm trying to ingrain in my kids is like make them feel safe and also teach them grit. Like that is the, the fundamental thing of like overcoming adversity is one of the most important skills. But there's obviously, and I'm sure you tried to strike as well, it's the balance between making sure they feel supported and grit. But in the same token, and I understand your worldview because I subscribe to it, but I also play with the mental model, I was like, why do we want tough people? Why is tough an attribute that we want people resilient. Yes. Being able to pick up like life's going to throw curves, balls at you and curveballs at you and you want to be able to pick up and move with it. But tough people, why not soft people? Like, why don't we encourage soft people? Why is that a bad thing?

[Steven Klubeck]

How about being able to modulate between the two? Yeah, come on balance.

[Unnamed Child]

Yes.

[Steven Klubeck]

Look, if tough and soft, those are extremes, Ronan. Live within the hard center of being able to look. If you want sweet and soft, sometimes if you're getting extorted, you're going to be sweet and soft. Are you kidding me?

[Unnamed Child]

Yep.

[Steven Klubeck]

Life is tough. Dude, get put on your helmet.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah, yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

What I mean, you, if you want aspiration and work hard, you're going to have to fight for it.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

Okay. You're going to have to learn to command and control. So I Had another conversation with another child, and I'm like, look, you are who you hang around with, and, you know, you want to condone bad behavior of others and be associated with that. Great. I thought you're a leader. Leaders lead. They command and control. I said, do you want to be the star of the show? A part of the ensemble?

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

Your choice, child. It's your brand. It was a woman. A girl.

[Ronan]

My baby girl.

[Steven Klubeck]

No.

[Ronan]

Interesting girl.

[Steven Klubeck]

I said, do you want to be a leader or part of the ensemble?

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

Now, some would say, oh, my God, you just put a knife through her heart.

[Ronan]

Right?

[Steven Klubeck]

No, I'm real. But look, I. I was. I was. I was a dad that raised the kids following. I said, look, you kids do drugs, two things are going to happen. Two things can happen. Mark my words. Number one, you're gonna die and I'm going to jail. And they go, why? I go, it's really simple. Because I'm gonna kill you and I'm gonna go to jail the rest of my life for doing it. So don't do it.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

And, you know, I was a little caustic in the house when I did it, but my wife didn't prescribe to that at that time. But you know what? Look, that's tough love. Don't. Don't do it. Sometimes. What's wrong with the daddy or a mommy saying no?

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

The kid says, why? I don't owe you an explanation.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

No, it's as simple as that. That's tough love.

[Unnamed Child]

Yep.

[Steven Klubeck]

So how old are your kids right now?

[Ronan]

Almost nine and six.

[Steven Klubeck]

When you're at that, you're. You're at that. I'm telling you that you're at that age, Ronan. I have experienced this. And, you know, look, everyone said another concept is, I'm having my first kid. What's it like? I'm like, I don't. I can't. You look, I can't tell you. Can't tell you. You've had kids. All I can tell you is this. It'll be the greatest day of your life. And you're going to feel things you've never felt before. And I cannot explain it to you because you have to experience it yourself. It's individual. Look, we're all. We're all made up of cells that are unique upon themselves. I mean, there's not one size fits all. It's okay to do you, but it's. It. It's. And be individualistic. As long as you have integrity, you know, have integrity. And if you make a mistake Raise your hand. That's okay. That's balance.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

So you can be tough but compassionate.

[Unnamed Child]

Yep.

[Steven Klubeck]

So we're difference in age, you and I, although you look older than me, I don't know what's. You're weathering the storm of young kids right now. It'll come back. You know what will happen. You'll find your youth again.

[Ronan]

I sure hope so.

[Steven Klubeck]

When the kids go to college and it's just a great experience, it goes by quick.

[Unnamed Child]

Yep.

[Ronan]

100%. Definitely go by fast.

[Steven Klubeck]

So what do you want to talk about today?

[Ronan]

All right, I got lots of things to talk about. You hit two. Two topics. I got a whole. I'm going to ask you, like, the political questions, because I'm super curious about that, but I'm just interested in all your thoughts on some interesting questions, and you hit on two of them. So let's start with extortion, which is where we started the conversation before I hit record, being like, what are your thoughts on what's going on with the world and Don Trump right now, sitting in Canada, totally feeling extorted, totally feeling abused by a person who's in power, who's exercising that power, you know, pretty ruthlessly. I understand the logic of it, even though I think it's based on incorrect calculations. What are your views on what's happening?

[Steven Klubeck]

Well, look, his style. His style. I'll give you the perspective. Look, we both come from business. We both come from the hospitality world. We both come from reality TV world. He doing Apprentice, me doing Undercover Boss.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

Look at the styles of those two shows. You know, the market difference between the two shows. He's in charge.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

It's all. It's all about him. He fires people. He pits people against each other. Allah throws the bomb on the bar and then comes back, cleans up, and makes it all bright and shiny after he's created carnage. What does Undercover Boss do? You serve, you learn, you listen. You strategically and tactically make decisions. You raise your hand if you've made mistakes, and you make everyone feel good while you're doing it.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

So you see the despair. They're different, but it's both. Reality tv. How was he trained? He was trained by Roy Cohn. He worked under McCarthy. They were taught to be divisive. Okay.

[Unnamed Child]

Yep.

[Steven Klubeck]

So the Apprentice is divisive. Undercover Boss is inclusive. The Apprentice likes to be served. Undercover Box likes to serve. Do you see the difference?

[Ronan]

I fundamentally see the difference. That's a great explanation.

[Steven Klubeck]

So the reason I do this, because it came to me in a Conversation I had with some folks, and they're going, like I was saying, people say you have a lot of similarities, that, you know, you guys both have bravado. You guys are like larger than life in a room. You both came from the same business, allegedly. Well, he licensed his product. I don't know if he really operated. I did everything soup to nuts. I got into the weeds. I have no problem with efficiency. I have no problem. And I agree with balance sheet income statement. I agree with following the law. But the laws are for all of us, not just some of us. You've got to walk the talk. So it's how you do it. Philosophies can be somewhat similar with regard to efficiency because we always want an efficient system. I'm not for heavy regulation. I like to deregulate. Regulation's good to keep bad actors out, but not inhibit good business from doing good business. Okay, I was in regulated businesses. That's fine. I liked regulation, but not too much. Regulation and laws on laws that are silly that, you know, if you have values, stick to your values, always respect the people your customer, always have responsibility to your customer and show them results, equal or greater. Right. That's what we're trying to get to, a balanced approach. He's just bombing the bar. And, you know, reality TV with sensationalism. You can have sensationalism too, Ronan, by doing nice things, unexpected, unexpected gifts of kindness where they don't ex. And you, you can take the incoming. So somebody who wants a trophy all the time to be in the center of the stage and walk down the red carpet, or somebody who sits in the back of a theater and claps for their team because they've aspired to greatness and, you know, you had something to do with their success, their aspiration. And you're just as happy sitting in the back of the room clapping for your team while they're getting the trophy. Do you see the difference?

[Ronan]

Of course.

[Steven Klubeck]

And so there's that middle ground. There's the next level that we can all get to, as you know, United nations, working together. Oh, I could be tougher than nails, dude. You're not going to extort me. I never get extorted. And I'll never let you get extorted, Ronan, because you're on my team and I'm there to protect you. So you want a fighter. I'm a fighter. I'll go nose to nose with the best. I am not afraid of anybody. But different way of showing it. I don't have to be center stage. You don't want to fight me because it's not a threat when I say it. It's a promise. He threatens. I promise. Do you understand?

[Ronan]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

Yeah. You have to understand that his style and philosophy is to intimidate. You're the President of the United States. You don't have to say anymore. You don't even have to open your mouth. You are the President of the United States. Just act like it. Be a little diplomatic.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

Like with Zelensky, and we saw that shit show go down on tv, and everyone around the world goes, what the fuck? Is this really happening? And we're all, like, getting ready to find the next shelter because he could have spiraled into that, that these kind of little incidents could create world wars upon themselves. If you think of unintended consequences. And all of a sudden, what. What just happened? This is the President of the United States, the leader of the free world, threatening allies, threatening democracy at its finest. What are our neighbors and our allies thinking right now? They're just going to go, oh, shit, we got to take care of ourselves now. What happened to our dearest and oldest friend? Well, I can tell you, Ronan, we're still here. We love you in Canada. We love you in Mexico. We love you in Europe. Okay. We're just going through silly times with somebody that is not representative of the greater whole of how we'd like to represent ourselves, because, you know, we're good people.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

And we love you. And it's just. It makes no sense. But we're all trying to navigate this.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Ronan]

Let me ask you a couple of questions. So I actually watched the Follow the Zielinski thing, and actually, my respect in terms of his strategy actually totally leveled up, because one of the things he's been going on about for a while is that NATO partners are not spending enough on defense. Right. You know us.

[Steven Klubeck]

Everyone's got every. Everyone's got to pay their fair share. And that is not right.

[Ronan]

Exactly. Now, look, what happened right after that thing was Zelensky, Europe is now spending a fortune on defense. I'm like, holy shit, man. You just actually checkmated Europe to following its NATO commitments without ever having to threaten Europe directly. And I'm like, oh, that actually may have been. If that was his intent, that was genius. Excuse my language, but my question for you is put. Put two hats on. Put your hat on. As Zelinsky in that moment, what would you have done differently if you were Zelinsky? And similarly, from the lens of Trudeau in Canada, what would you be doing in these Circumstances in response to what's happening.

[Steven Klubeck]

Well, look, if I was Zelensky, he got bad advice and didn't read the room. Yeah, because you always have to know your audience. I pride myself on that. Knowing your audience. Ronan, if I was going in to make a settlement, are you the buyer or the seller? Who are you? All right. The buyer can do whatever the buyer wants. The seller, he was trying to sell something. So are you giving or getting? Same thing. You understand?

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

Okay. So Zelenskyy was getting out of it, trying to get out of a jam. So he should have, for the first time, put on a suit and tie, knowing that the President of the United States likes strong, well dressed, appropriately dressed for the moment, actions.

[Ronan]

Right.

[Steven Klubeck]

And you play the part. He did not play the part. And if he's a comedian, actor, whatever, he failed miserably of playing the part. You just do what Stamer and Macron did. Go in there and kiss his ass. Who cares? But you resolve the situation and you meet in the middle and get it done. Zelensky blew it.

[Unnamed Child]

Yep.

[Steven Klubeck]

Okay. But at the same token. Yeah. Don't bait the guy into a live on air reality TV performance. You take that behind closed doors. Those conversations have happened for decades and decades between folks. I've had plenty of knockdown, drag out discussions with my executives or even when I was running tourism in the United States.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

And created Brand usa. I've dealt with other ministers of tourism throughout the United States. We'd always have discussions behind closed doors. We never do it in public. We can agree to disagree, and that's okay. Okay. And you push it forward until situations are ripe to settle. So it was just. I can debate with you right now. Both sides were wrong. And it spiraled out of control. And it didn't show the best and brightest of what humanity has in the world.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

This is now how we handle ourselves. You and I can disagree on something, but we do it behind closed doors. We say, oh, you know what if we're in the middle of a room with other people? Let's go take this off to the side.

[Ronan]

Sure.

[Steven Klubeck]

So does that make sense?

[Ronan]

100.

[Steven Klubeck]

It goes back to your. Your. What you were saying before. How are you going to raise your kids? How are you going to explain to them? Sometimes you're going to have difficult conversations with people. Tough. You're gonna have to hold your line and explain why sometimes. And explain it more. But you do it off camera.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

And then show them also. Empathy, love, humanity. Please. Thank you. Acts of kindness, graciousness, efficiency. With our federal government today, it's bloated. The state of California is bloated. It's ridiculous.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

There's regulations upon regulations. There's full time employees that are just that do nothing, push paper. For what purpose? To protect. What does it really protect? California values. Because that's what it's about. I grew up here. California values. That's what we have to protect. California values. So there's a balance. I would love for the climate to be perfect, but at what cost? What's the return on investment? What are we really doing? And why would we have a mandate at a certain date to do something? Why don't we just aspire to it and pivot along the way with better information and be efficient the whole time? Constantly recalculating. Constantly. Every day, every minute we have all this beautiful technology, but it's all about results. What results are we getting? And if we make a mistake, raise our hand and say, you know what? Hey, we made a mistake. Pivot. All right, we tried. Don't keep doing the same thing over and over again. What's that called? And expecting a different result.

[Ronan]

I believe Einstein, Einstein said that was insanity. The definition of there you go.

[Steven Klubeck]

Well, I think we're at that point now where he's actually. President Trump is trying to explain that. And I think the essence of why people are so bad as hell, because they see it, they're just. Their scripting and comms is sometimes vile and toxic. And I think there's a better way, Ronan, where you can have both and get to an even better place because we don't have to go through the anxiety, the anxiety which we all feel of these throw a grenade in the bar moments where everyone just like starts to convulse. And it takes days. And those days that we all have these, this anxiety is. It's actually costly. Right?

[Ronan]

For sure.

[Steven Klubeck]

Because we're unproductive. We're doing negative things where we become reactive and it's this tit for tat. Let's rise above that. There's a better place.

[Ronan]

I agree. I don't want to go too far down the climate change conversation, but I think one of the biggest challenges around climate change is it's a collective action problem. And, and I've had this conversation in Canada because we have a carbon tax and all that kind of stuff. And a lot of my friends who are thoughtful people are like, the carbon tax is terrible. And I'm like, why? And like, well, it makes everything more expensive. It's essentially creating inflation. And you Know, we're a small contributor to climate change relative to other countries. So what are we doing? And that's a fair point. And then my response always is. But sometimes you've got to lead with principle over practicality because if no one takes the ball and run with it, no one's going to. And the first mover is always going to suffer something because it's a collective action problem. So how do you deal with the collective action problem, at least as pertains to climate change?

[Steven Klubeck]

Well, I've met with hundreds and hundreds of people over the last 16 months, you know, in my analysis of whether or not I was going to run for governor of California.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

And I've studied EV mandates and I understand climate. California is the greatest state in the United States. Truly. With all due respect to Canada. Canada's cool. But you know, we got it all here. Not gonna argue, you know, you can't, you can't ski and surf in the same day. So we can. And we've got a multi diverse cultural environment. We've got every ecosystem and we'd like to make the climate better for our children. Okay, Climate change means we screwed it up. Negative. I'm all into words now. Let's make the climate better. Let's start from there. How do we make the climate better? Because then it's positive.

[Unnamed Child]

Right.

[Steven Klubeck]

So how do we do that for our children? Well, we've got to use technology and be participatory based on the science that we've seen. And what is the return on investment for that? Okay, what's that return on investment? What are we getting for it? What pain are we suffering to do that? And always modulating that. Because if we put something in place, does it really work? Do the people want it? First of all, ask the customers, do they really want it? Aren't we a democracy? So the fundamentals of democracy are to talk to the people. So many times we elect people and they come in with what the mandate is or of the moment, and then they forget to keep talking to the people. They think they're now in control. They're not. They're stewards of the people's capital, the customer. It's not their money, it's not their mandate. They're there to do the job of the customer delivering equal or greater value. Okay, so then you get into the value proposition. Are you watching the numbers? Okay, Are you watching the numbers? Do they make sense? So California for the United states were what, 5% of the world in population? Right. Maybe 6.

[Ronan]

Something along those lines.

[Steven Klubeck]

Yeah, California is 11 12% of the United States. So California would be 0.06% of the world. So if we do something in California and if China does something else, do we really have a true effect on what's going on around this great planet? If we don't control what's going on in China and India and Russia, big populations, what effect are we really having? And so we're spending all this money with what kind of movement on the planet?

[Ronan]

I get the logic.

[Steven Klubeck]

Well, no, no, no. Logic. Don't. Don't fail me on logic. Don't. Don't just be a woke ass person trying to believe in fairy dust. I'm not trying to believe in a Tinkerbells and Tinkerbells. Because we'd like to do it. Don't get me wrong, I love all these things, but at what cost and what progress? And where can we. We only have a certain amount of dollars, right? Where do we invest those dollars? Do you want to spend it on aspiration? Do you want to spend it on just making the world a utopia? Where's the balance? And it's okay if we pivot and change as we move forward? As long as we move forward. So explain this to me.

[Ronan]

I'll explain it.

[Steven Klubeck]

Explain it. I mean, I mean we, we're on the verge of AI now, which is massively intensive for energy. Where are we getting all the energy from? Where?

[Ronan]

Some of it's coming from Canada. But that's not the point of the conversation.

[Steven Klubeck]

Part of the United States. Yeah, of course.

[Ronan]

I completely understand exactly where you're coming from. And the thing I struggle with, and I don't think you're. I'm not, I'm not suggesting that I disagree with what you're saying. I am suggesting though what I struggle with is if someone doesn't take a principled position from. Integrity of. This is important for the future of everybody on the planet. And even though we don't have the impact of India or China, someone's got to do the right thing. Right. Integrity is part of your platform, which I respect. But part of the message that I'm hearing and it's, it's woven in is like return on investment is more important than taking the properly principled position. And I struggle with this. I don't know the answer, but. Well, that's what I struggle with.

[Steven Klubeck]

Well, let me ask a question. Would you rather have a living wage for everybody so they can survive and bridge their future growth as long as they get up early and stay late, work hard Go to work with runny nose, you know, grit. Show up for work. No free lunch. Don't get me wrong, no free lunch. But make sure that people can afford eggs, bread, milk, cheese, gas. And at the same time, they're not mutually exclusive. Work on a better climate, environment.

[Unnamed Child]

Yes.

[Steven Klubeck]

Okay. So don't put all your eggs into one basket where you're just this social warrior making the climate better and spending. You know, there's a balance of those resources is what I'm saying.

[Unnamed Child]

Yes. Yep.

[Steven Klubeck]

So we're saying the same thing. Okay. Because you got to balance this. If you always have integrity and we have trust. So I have the saying, don't bust the trust. You lie, you die. Okay. We just don't do that. But we can acknowledge success and failure, Right?

[Unnamed Child]

Yep.

[Steven Klubeck]

So you've got these competing situations. You always have competing situations because money is not forever.

[Unnamed Child]

Yep.

[Steven Klubeck]

You know, it's not. It's limited. So you have a dollar. How are you going to spend the dollar? How do you spend it? What portion of that dollar and what value are you giving to those who gave you that dollar? It goes back to consumer philosophy. Okay. It's not an open mandate to, like, be free spending. And that's the problem. Democrats have never signed the front of a check. They've never come out of their pocket for payroll. You do that once or twice and you have a different perspective in life for sure. All right? You got to balance your checkbook. You got to come out, you got to make payroll when you don't have it. Okay. That'll pucker you up a little bit. You learn life lessons. So I come to this with these experiences. I'm just coming to you with experience. These aren't philosophical mandates based on academia. I would say to professors, have you ever signed the front of a check? I know you're spouting all this nonsense. Have you ever signed the front of a check? And I'd sit with other students and I. That was my throwing a bomb in the classroom.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

When you sign the front of the check, then I'll start to believe you.

[Unnamed Child]

Sure.

[Steven Klubeck]

Don't. You don't just philosophically talk to me about fairy dust and what you think when you've experienced it and you have risk factors in your life that are unknown and you step in potholes and you gotta, like, figure out how to navigate that pothole where you don't break your ankle or fall on your face. Then we could talk.

[Ronan]

Listen, I think that's the beautiful answer. I think too few politicians come forward and say, you know, climate and addressing that is important to us. At the same time, we have competing interests in ensuring that, as you say, people can make a living wage. We've got to find the balance. You know, no one knows what the balance is. And so having that, you know, design philosophy, test, learn, pivot, evolve, test, learn, pivot, evolve is, is probably the right thing and you just don't hear it very often. So it is, it is pretty refreshing to hear.

[Steven Klubeck]

I'm not a politician. Ronan businessman that understands legislation, regulation and adjudication. I happen to have done all of these different buckets. Yeah, four different buckets. That's a skill set not many people have. So look, I've been a regulator and I've sat on the opposite side of regulators. I've sat on both sides of the table. So I have perspective that not many have. I've been subject to legislation and I've had legislation written in many states, countries. So I've operated around the world, different cultures and one must be thoughtful to other cultures. It's not what just we believe in America or in Canada, it's what we can collectively believe as nations. You know, because if you come to the table with no hate and you come to the table where you never want a hostile environment, then you should always not be afraid of getting sued for standing up for those two principles. It goes to campus riots, you don't do it and then you have these people who have allowed it to happen and I'm like, what is wrong with you people? Just make sure there's no hate, no hostile environment. You're going to get sued either way. So have the brass balls to stand up and provide no hate and not a non hostile environment, period. As soon as somebody picks up anything, a tennis racket, a pipe, it's over. But you have freedom of speech. Just be thoughtful with each other, be thoughtful.

[Ronan]

I appreciate that. On those lines, what inspired you to run for governor? I'd love to hear that story. I had a friend and a guest on Laura Gassner Otting who was very active in the Clinton campaign and we were talking about politics and she's like, most good people would never run for politics. I mean, there's a lot of reasons, but in this day and age, in particular the 24 hour news cycles, cameras everywhere in your face, the litigation that you go through as well as your family is a huge cost that most people aren't willing to take on rightfully. So, so what, why did you decide to buck that trend?

[Steven Klubeck]

Well, look, I, I've served in appointed Positions, many appointed positions. Federally, I created the tourism program in the United States. Brand usa, the worldwide enterprise. Dealt with Senate, the House, the Homeland Security, customs and borders. We enabled global entry to be put forth, the State Department. We fixed visa policy in Brazil and China. I was able to accomplish a lot of great things that's still in existence almost 15 years later with a good return on invested capital, no taxpayer dollars. I've done that statewide, I've done it local as an activist. I changed the name of an airport in Las Vegas. Seven months they tried. I did it seven years they tried. I did it in three months. And I, I come at problem solving because I have these, you know, cross fertilized approaches. Ronan.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

Of getting to the solution with business pragmatic thinking. So it's not like I have to have meetings on meetings, committees upon committees. And if I don't know the answer, I'll go find the greatest answer because I know so many people. I'm actually good at this. So I came, you know, I grew up in California and I came back home and I'm interviewing everyone that's, that's running for office.

[Unnamed Child]

Okay.

[Steven Klubeck]

And I'm like, this is the best we got. I'm like, you're kidding me, right? This is what my, the, the greatest state in the United States has evolved to or devolved to. Now I understand why we have all these problems because we have band aids on Band Aids on band aids in California and stuff of being able to rip the band aid off and fix the problem. Because the people that have been elected to office are just title jumpers. That's that like their line of work, right? They don't come with any front of check signing experience. They don't anticipate unintended consequences because there's been nobody that has jumped into this foray. And I think it's because of the media, the harsh media. Well, I don't care. I mean I've done reality tv. I'm a self made guy and I started with negative $20 million. My father unfortunately went bankrupt and I had to bail his ass out. I never told anyone while I was alive. It's my best friend and I took care of him and I'm free from it. Any pandering. So I interviewed everyone. I said, this is best we got. I said, I let me really study the state again. Last time I really studied the state was fifth grade. Fifth grade was California history at that time when they talked civics, you know.

[Ronan]

Sure.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

And I've worked up and down the state And I enjoyed it as a child going to summer camps and from Northern California, Central California, Southern California, because, you know, we're a multi regional state.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

I mean we got the north, we got the Bay Area, we got the Central Valley and we got the South. We were like really different component parts. It's fascinating. It's great. And I started to study the state's budget because I'm reading about these deficits and the lack of collection on EDD workers, comp fraud and the squandering of homeless dollars. So I, I brought my political folks in to really analyze it with me because I like doing my homework, due diligence before I, you know, get into something. I was fascinated. Just want to see what is wrong here.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

And all I saw was legislators that like to just create laws, to create laws, make work, not thinking about unintended consequences. Leadership that hasn't coached, counseled and trained with experience. The red carpet, they love that red carpet. But there's no execution, there's no accountability and there's no enforcement. Why? Because they've never signed the front of a check. But how can you run a country, California, a country, and not know your numbers? How could you not know where billions of dollars, tens of billion dollars have gone in fraud, and not collect it? Because you don't enforce it. But how come you don't know your numbers if you don't know your numbers? You're not equipped to be the CEO of the job if you don't know your balance sheet and income statement. And then how could you be so tone deaf with regard to what the customers of California want? We just saw this in Proposition 36, which is crime, the crime bill, because they had a proposition prior to that. Proposition 47 allowed $950 to be stolen. And it's a free for all. In my book, Ronan, you don't steal. What happens if you stole as a child anything? What would happen? You'd be afraid of the police or your father? Yep, my father more than the police, you know, because I'd probably, you know, be in the corner protecting myself from being body slammed. You don't do that. And the people spoke 70% enough. We want law and order. Prop 737 didn't go far enough because 36 didn't go far enough. It we don't, we don't steal at zero in my book. And we've got to know our numbers. And the political backbone of California also forgot about the respect of the people, their responsibility to the people. It's not their money. Because I was talking to legislators, they think it's their money, it's not their money. And they forgot about the results that they've got to show. Results. The laws don't have a return on investment, return on invested capital. On each law, the law should have measurable impacts. Are they working or not? And then you got to look at them all the time in historical significance and day to day. You write a new law, what's the benchmark you're going to put on it to measure it? You're just going to create a law. Laws create regulations. Regulations create full time employees and you bloat your government. No, it needs an enema. The system, it needs to be cleansed. But thoughtfully, not the Doge way, which is just scorched earth. Do it with compassion, please. You know, if you need to downsize, then let's help people find a job somewhere else. All right? And do it with love.

[Ronan]

Also, know what you're downsizing instead of just letting go. Whole departments where you don't understand.

[Steven Klubeck]

How about ask questions first? Yeah, I go into a company because I fix the most broken of companies. And you go into each department. And I've done this both in public service and in private world. I've done it on both sides. Okay, so I've got that government experience and I walk into the department, I'm like, tell me about your department. What do you do? What reports do you do every month? Look at the reports. How many full time employees does it take to do this report and how many hours? Where does this report go? And if I heard, we don't know where it goes or we don't know why we do it, or we were just told to do it when we were hired. Well, then I started asking more questions and then I look at the report and I go, well, I'm the chairman and CEO and I don't need this report. I rip it up and say to the people, you know, look, you guys don't have to do this report anymore. We're going to tell upper management this report's gone because it's silly. I'm not going to fire you. Can you use your time thoughtfully? Think about how can you? So we can, you know, make a return on our investment with the time that you have because you have all this free time now. That's another way of handling it, right?

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

So it's styles thoughts are similar. Efficiency, the way in which you handle people, you can get to the same result. But I think you can do it a little sweeter with Some compassion. But it goes back to that hard middle. You know, I would say we're populists. We're populists.

[Ronan]

So what do you mean by that? Can you expand on that?

[Steven Klubeck]

Populism is basically consumer centric thinking. What are the customers of California thinking about? All I'm trying to do, everybody in California to me as I've gone through this journey and announced, is a customer. How do I. So I've got to listen to my customers first. And I found that a lot of the legislators in the past, they didn't even talk. Call their call on their best customers. Yeah, they didn't even call on their best customers. And when the customers were calling, they never returned the call from the unions, farm workers, to the CEO of Chevron. Same answer. Never talk to the governor. Tried. They don't want to talk to us. How can you not talk to your best customer? So in populism, you always listen and talk to your best customers, but you talk to all your customers at the same time, too. And you poll to see where their mindset is and deliver to them equal or greater value. How simple is this? And you do it with love and you do it with inclusivity. You don't need dei. DEI is discipline, education and integrity. That's that, that's that balance.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

And you end up with the United Nations, a multicultural situation. You don't see when people say, you know, the DEI or affirmative action. If you just let the systems operate normally with inclusivity, you end up with the best result without saying it. Why mandate it?

[Unnamed Child]

Right.

[Steven Klubeck]

Let it evolve.

[Unnamed Child]

Yep.

[Steven Klubeck]

Argue the point with me. Argue it.

[Ronan]

I don't have a great argument. I do understand the underpinnings of diversity, equity and inclusion. You know, much like climate claim climate change excuse, the intentions are good. But to a point you raised earlier, which is one that very much speaks to me, it's, you know, what are the results? How do you get there and make sure it's done effectively? Right. And so the ends are good, but the means are important. And the means of, I think how DEI got implemented were not good. And we're seeing the outcome of it. But the ambition of trying to create an inclusive society where people who had, you know, historic disadvantages get some sort of ability to participate on an equal level makes a lot of sense to me. That's how you get there.

[Steven Klubeck]

Well, but you got to show up.

[Ronan]

Of course.

[Steven Klubeck]

Yeah. I'm not giving you free lunch.

[Unnamed Child]

Nope.

[Steven Klubeck]

I, I mean, teach your kids to read, man. Don't just throw it off on others. We're parents. It's our responsibility, too, to participate. Education does not start and stop at school. It continues when the kids get home and Saturdays and Sundays. So this is, I think, how you grew up. And I grew up with some, you know, an evolution of hard truths in life. And some parents just abdicated that responsibility and they want to blame a system. Don't blame the system. You are the system. When people say, well, you know, this politician's bad, that politician's bad. We did it. And you say, we? Yeah, because if you allowed it to happen, then you did it, too. Don't throw rocks. You didn't fight hard enough on the other side, or you stayed home, or you just armchair quarterback bitched and complained and you didn't participate financially or vocally or put in the hard work to change your future. We all have the right to change our future. And if you want to have, like we said, the same old problems, keep voting for the same old things and expecting a different result. You're insane. You're insane. Okay, so why am I doing this? I'm telling you why. Because my. My friends who've aspired to great things, and I was with somebody yesterday, and they. They said, you know, you've done all these great things, Stephen. You got the best life. We. We want to be what you've done. Why are you doing this? First off, I talked to each one of my children. I asked them, and they thought I was good at it. My middle son actually asked me 13 questions. He's like, before you do this, dad, I need the answer to 13 questions. This is my law student kid. I answered all the questions. They all thought the following, but my baby girl said, daddy, you're really good at this. Would you do this for me and my friends? So we have a few future. Yeah. And I say to my other friends, the reason I'm doing this. Because you won't. Because you don't have the brass balls to do this. I'll go take the incoming shots. I'll def. You know, absorb them. I'll deal with it. I'm good. And I don't need the trophy. So I'm coming in selflessly. Doing this selflessly. I don't care. I have no future ambitions other than to fix this great state, because I know what to do. And I can take the car keys. Day one, without training wheels. I don't need to be drained. Yeah, I know what to do. I feel comfortable and confident. I'm not afraid. I don't pander. You will he'll hear unvarnished hard truths from me all the time. As you have seen in this little dialogue we've had. I'm well read, I've studied. But if I don't know, I'll find the best answer. And if I make a mistake, I'm going to raise my hand because that's integrity. That's what it's about. And I'm not a politician. Politicians would never do this. They're scripted. I'm unscripted.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Ronan]

I asked Justin Trudeau once before he was elected prime minister because he gave an answer to a question that I could tell was just, you know, a prpuff response. And so I asked him. I'm like, the question you just asked was very hard. Have you ever answered I don't know, to a question like that? Because that's the honest answer. And he's like, yes, I did that once. And he's like, I got ripped, ripped to shreds by the media for it and I won't do it again. And I'm like, all right, I guess that's a fair answer. You know what?

[Steven Klubeck]

That's a, that's a wimpy ass response because the media ripped me to shreds.

[Unnamed Child]

Yep. Yeah.

[Ronan]

It's a political response.

[Steven Klubeck]

Gross set of balls.

[Ronan]

Fair enough.

[Steven Klubeck]

You know, I. No, and I say that respectfully. That is a political response. That's not real life. How can you know everything? Of course I don't. I don't. Well, we're always learning. We're evolving. That's real.

[Unnamed Child]

Yep. Yep.

[Ronan]

In advance of this conversation, I reached out to my friends who live in California to get questions they wanted asked, answered. So I have a couple of them for you. We've, we've covered off a couple of them already, so I'll skip those. But the first one is, what do you think the role of a state government is? And do you think, what do you think the top priorities of state government are? Maybe top three in your mind.

[Steven Klubeck]

Command and control. Teaching, coaching, counseling. When I say that, collaboration, explaining unintended consequences, really getting everyone in state government to realize it's not legislators money, it's the people's money. And being in touch with the customers of California because the legislature's out of touch, because there's no command and control. It's red carpet and they're trying to pivot now, but how much tougher it's going to get. California is not affordable. It's not livable, it's not workable, it's closed for business. So how are you going to handle it? What are you going to do? Don't have meetings on meetings. Make some moves. Act like a country. Offense, not defense. Resistance. We don't resist against the federal government. We're a country upon ourselves. We need each other. Start acting like it. Act like the adult in the room.

[Ronan]

That's fair. Are there any sort of specific policy? I mean, it sounds like efficiency is the number one thing in your mind is like, how do we get good value for what we're doing already? Are there any other things that you identify as top agenda items?

[Steven Klubeck]

Well, look, we certainly haven't talked about the great exports we have in our state. When I ran tourism in the United States, you know, tourism for the United States was number three export the United States had. And there's no capex required. Things are already built. So what do we have in California? We've got travel and tourism, not in any order. Agriculture and entertainment. These are three great exports we have. We need to crow about it. Enhance them with tax incentives. And we need to really just focus on that. Okay. Insurance is a big component part of the state's future. How do people, you know, get insurance? And how does that all work itself out? Affordability, the impediments of regulation, on building. Okay, how do we figure that out? And there are solutions. I have solutions for these things. And then of course, you know, we've got the education's top of list. California used to be the best of education, now it's the worst. It's over regulated. Then the results speak for themselves. They suck. All of these things. And these are balances between, you know, union, quality of life. These are hard truths that people just need to. To. To acknowledge. And we need a fighter in Sacramento. A fighter. A fighter that listens to the customers, that works with the customers. Okay. And tells hard truths. Not a panderer, title jumper and somebody who's actually done it. That comes without any baggage, any political baggage, I would argue. So. People have overwhelmingly said they want affordable, livable and workable 100%. And they want a fighter. But you got to listen, which we haven't done. And you got to work with people to resolve these issues. And you need results. So that goes against with electing what we have today, because we don't have that.

[Unnamed Child]

Yep.

[Steven Klubeck]

So you want to continue to elect those people who have not, who have put us in this predicament. You're going to get that silly result. Insanity. Your choice. Your choice. I'm just telling you the hard truths. Your choice. You want to do it to yourself again, Be my guest. I got nothing to win or lose here other than to selflessly help roll up my sleeves and help.

[Ronan]

When you talked about insurance, we're talking about health insurance or kind of general.

[Steven Klubeck]

All types of insurance. I mean, look, I'm a worldwide businessman. I've dealt with a population of healthcare in my company. I've dealt with property liability and casualty, every form, auto insurance. I mean, I can talk on getting to the weeds with you. Look, I'm not a politician, so I can talk about, you know, high level. And I get into the weeds with you if you want. It's very complicated. But I get in the weeds if you want, because I've done it, right? I've got the experience. I fixed the most broken of companies. You know, companies that were destined for the junkyard and made them world class. And you got to roll up your sleeves and do it, Ronan.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

So you tell me other politicians that have done that, they haven't. They don't have the experience. And at some juncture, look, even in a company's lifetime, there are people that are suited to fix and revitalize, rebrand, and then they operate and then they go into static mode because they can continue on. I can't work running tourism in the United States anymore. You know why? Because I created it. I fixed it. Created it, fixed it, grew it. The standard operating procedures are in place and it operates perfectly with others now that are better suited to caretake it.

[Unnamed Child]

Right.

[Steven Klubeck]

I'm not a caretaker. I'm a disruptor. I fix the most broken. I roll up my sleeves, I take the incoming shots. I make hard decisions based on fact. I make sure that we have stability in place. And I'm willing to try the most difficult.

[Ronan]

Appreciate that. I mean, we don't have time, but I would love to get into weeds on some of this stuff because I watch all politicians saying, we're gonna fix this, we're gonna do this. And then, you know, they're full of. That's why I'm like, how? Like that's the question. It's like, okay, how?

[Steven Klubeck]

Well, because look, you know that's. That's a scripted sound bite.

[Unnamed Child]

Yep.

[Steven Klubeck]

The real, the real me was how are you gonna do it?

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

Oh, you don't know.

[Unnamed Child]

Right.

[Steven Klubeck]

Because you've never done it. And we, we as customers, voters get sucked into that. But we forget. We forget. They make us forget.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

And we, we're in this death spiral sometimes or this just echo chamber of nonsense. Where are the results? Show me the results.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

And we become complacent. We like to talk about it and bitch about it, but what are we doing about it? So it's our fault.

[Unnamed Child]

Yep, I got it.

[Ronan]

Let's talk about sanctuary states and cities. I mean, my question actually is I'd rather not talk about it because it seems like so many people are misinformed about what's actually happening. But let's look at it from just, like, a philosophical perspective. What's your view on sanctuary states and cities? Good idea, bad idea.

[Steven Klubeck]

Be specific. What about sanctuary cities? You want to talk about? You want to get into the weeds? Let's get in the weeds.

[Ronan]

Let's go to the weeds.

[Steven Klubeck]

I was head of tourism in the United States. I understand immigration is the most wickedly understood concept because the nomenclature is not even right.

[Unnamed Child]

Okay.

[Steven Klubeck]

I spoke with the head of homeland Security, the last. The last secretary, and I said to Mr. Mayorkas, I'm like, would you get your nomenclature right? I mean, you're totally off message. People say illegal aliens.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

Oh, I love that one. When they. Oh, illegal aliens. I go, what are you talking about? Is everyone an illegal alien? You don't even understand the different buckets of immigration. We have a concept called asylum in the United States. Okay. It's been around for a long time.

[Unnamed Child]

Yep.

[Steven Klubeck]

All right. Matter of fact, my grandparents came in on an asylum way back when.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

My grandparents and I've talked to some ultra. Right. Maga. You know, cultish folks that everyone's an illegally. And I'm like, let me. Let me ask you a question. I'm just guessing. You came into this country in the late 70s, early 80s. Where'd you come from? Iran. Oh, Persia. Okay. You and your parents, right? Yeah, we. The shah, we ex. We came. And so you. You were an illegal alien then too, right? Or did you come in under asylum? Asylum. Oh, so you agree with me now that asylum's okay? I said, did you ever violate a law while you were here, as you begot your. Your green card and then your citizenship? Green card is lpr. Longtime permanent resident.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

Then you apply for citizenship. No. Okay, good. So if somebody did come in on asylum and violated our law, they get their day in court. And if it was really, it was a bad offense or they violated our laws, then they were here as a privilege and we should probably boot them. If the court says to boot them. We agree with that? Yes. Good. We agree then. We have people that have been here a long time that are undocumented. They're still in process because our immigration system Is like really messed up right now and has been for decades. Well, that congressionally needs to be fixed. And it almost was with 80% kind of sentiment to get it, you know, in a better place than it was. We have people that have been here 3, 5, 10, 12, 15 years that have never violated any laws that add to our GDP that are paying into Social Security and Medicare. Why don't we just document them right now? We can't because we don't have enough judges and lawyers to do it. But if we can make wave a magic wand, why wouldn't we just make them citizens now? Because they're adding to society and they're really good Americans and they're sitting in, in purgatory. Why we make it so tough. Oh, we can agree to that too. Then we got what I call fence jumpers. People who have not filled in the paperwork properly, come here by jumping the fence. They're illegal, so they're good. They broke a law right there. Day in court. Bye bye. You don't even worthy of coming in. So when you're here on privilege, we all have to follow the laws. You violate the law, you get your day in court. And if you violated the law and such an offense, that's not good. You lose your privilege. Bye bye. Bye bye. And then you have others with regard to education, we educate all these young adults from all over the world in our schools on a visa. We got visa programs, visas to work in the fields, visa to work in businesses, visas to get educated. And then you know what we do after they work hard in our great United States and they don't violate the laws, we send them back. Now how silly is that when they're adding to our gdp? So immigration law in totality needs a revision. And we almost got there, but Donald Trump wanted to kill it because he wanted to make that a political statement. But we were moving forward to a better solution. So you understand how complicated this is now.

[Unnamed Child]

Oh, yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

But there are solutions as we've just gone over into the. You want to dive into the weeds? I've got solutions. And they're very thoughtful and pragmatic. It's really simple. Don't violate our laws, add value. So we're kicking out students that come to our country right now because we educate them on an educational visa. Why aren't we keeping them for five to 10 years so they add to our GDP? No, we send them back to their country and we just let them get educated here. And we're hurting our educational system because we're taking Spots because we're selling them to the highest bidder to fix their broken educational system with regard to the retail rates that they're paying. Right. Because they owe pay retail and then we boot them. Now, does that make economic sense? No. So, I mean, these are really, really complex situations, but they're solvable. And the only way you could talk about them is if you've been around it and know it. And unfortunately, the general public doesn't know the specificity of all the, this little detail that we're just kind of going into now. Right.

[Ronan]

Yes. And, and that's like, again, one of the things I struggle with, which is I heard your point earlier. Hear about treat the people like your customer, you know, honor what they want. But then I come back to. But a lot of people are uninformed on these issues and make decisions based on political propaganda instinct, you know, misleading information. I mean, Jerry, the person who submitted these questions to me, his question about sanctuary states, you know, was about, you know, illegal immigration and crime. And when you look into the statistics, it's like illegal immigration and crime are not associated.

[Steven Klubeck]

Yes.

[Ronan]

There's going to be certain illegal immigrants who commit crimes and that seems extra bad because for whatever reason they don't have right to be in the US but it's actually not a big problem. But people perceive it as a big problem because it's been blown up, at least based on what I've read in terms of the statistics. And so it's like, okay, well, if informed people or uninformed people are the ones driving the agenda, how do you as governor steer the agenda in the right way? Because the general populace is not informed on these subjects.

[Steven Klubeck]

Talking like I'm talking now and just telling hard truths.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

Because I come with my homework being done.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

I'm not giving you sound bites of scripted communication.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

And I'm willing to blow back on anybody that gets in my face with these crazy ass. Everyone's an illegal immigrant. That's. There are. It's so complicated. And I'll get into the complexity like we just did. Right?

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

And people walk away going, oh, I didn't know that. So how do we change the narrative? Yeah, let's get the nomenclature right first. Let's get it right first. And look, if you do come here, whether you're an asylum seeker or an illegal alien, or here on provisional status, provisional. A license to be here. And you violate our laws. And mind you, if you jump the fence, you violated the first law. You jumped the fence, you didn't follow the rules. So double shame on you, but don't violate our laws. You're here on privilege. Be a good boy or girl. Add value. Tell the truth. And if you don't, there's penalties. Don't do it. I hope that answers your question.

[Ronan]

It does, it does. I got it.

[Steven Klubeck]

I, I mean, I, I mean, should there be safe harbor for people? Safe harbor. I mean, look, and don't treat people with disrespect when you boot them. Give them like a humane level of treatment. I mean, you murder somebody, don't get me going, you're gone. I mean, you get your day in court, but. Yeah, you know, but if you steal a loaf of bread, help somebody out. Yeah, but teach them how to fish.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

So they add value. But at the same time, don't come to our country and expect freebies. No free health care, no vouchers, no free living, you know? No. If you want to come here and add value to the United States of America, great. We're not the breadbasket of the world, and that's entropy. The second law of thermodynamics. Water always falls to its lowest place. So whoever's giving out the most freebies is going to have in the. The most difficult time with people taking the freebies.

[Ronan]

Especially when you got nice weather, too.

[Steven Klubeck]

Yeah. When you're advertising, you're advertising nice weather and free lunch. Where are you gonna go?

[Ronan]

Yeah, fair.

[Steven Klubeck]

You know what I mean? So that is a self inflicted wound. And look, if, if the California budgetary system was such that we had just oodles of. Oodles of dollars, but we're seizing money. I mean, we're, we're financially not in a good place. We're not in the business of philanthropy right now. We don't have the money. Take care of family first. You always take care of family first. And same thing in the United States. Take care of family first. Before we solve the world's needs. Take care of family first. So you got that balance all over the place. It goes back to the original conversation. Balance, balance, Yeah.

[Ronan]

I could keep this conversation going on for a long, long time, but I want to respect your time because you've got other things on your agenda, I'm sure. So I do have one final question, which is. Yeah, sure, you got a book coming out. You've hit that theme a lot. Facing Hard Truths, How Americans Can Get Real, Pull Together and Turn Our country around, coming out on April 8th. What's the number one hard truth you want everyone to know?

[Steven Klubeck]

Integrity. Don't bust the Trust.

[Ronan]

Don't bust the trust. It's a good one. You know, listen, I think that's probably one of those foundational things that we forgot about a long, long time ago.

[Steven Klubeck]

Respect. We had a beautiful conversation.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

We respected each other because I believe we have a responsibility to each other. Okay. And again, hard truths that we just have to stop. The he said, she said, the vitriolic. Let's just go bash the other side. No, let's cut through it. Let's try to get to where we can have civil conversations that are inclusive, and that's the essence of this book. Hard truths. These are hard truths, and people like to avoid hard truths. Let's get our nomenclature set first. So we're not talking past each other. You and I had a beautiful conversation. We're on the same page.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

There are very few things, and if there were issues that you didn't understand or I didn't understand, we asked each other nicely. What do you mean by that?

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

Because there's nuance in life and experience. That's the way I grew up. You could talk about anything. No one was ever afraid or ashamed or embarrassed. But you had an understanding of trust, integrity. That's why I said that's the most important thing.

[Ronan]

Appreciate that. Listen, Stephen, I've really appreciated this conversation. And what I'm taking away from it is, you know, more politicians, if they just. And I'm calling you a politician because you're running for a political position, but don't take offense in it otherwise, because I heard your point that you're a business person first. Just come in with a willingness to learn, do hard work and figure it out. I think it'd go a long, long way from. From where we are. And so I really appreciate your perspective.

[Steven Klubeck]

Thank you. And, Ronan, again, the reason I'm doing it, because my dear friends won't. They don't have the brass balls to do it. Look, it's hard work. I'm getting up early, I'm staying up late, and I know I'm doing the right thing because I got both sides beating me up. And literally, I. Literally, I'm getting bashed on both sides. So I. There's a there, there.

[Unnamed Child]

Yep.

[Steven Klubeck]

So how many people are willing to get bashed on? Usually one side bashes you. I'm getting bashed on both sides.

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

So there's a there, there, right?

[Unnamed Child]

Yeah.

[Steven Klubeck]

Got to just suck it up, have the grit. Suck it up. I don't know. I think it'll work. And there'll be a better. Well, I'll be in a better place.

[Ronan]

For it, I think. So when is the election? Was the gubernatorial election?

[Steven Klubeck]

June 2nd of 2026.

[Ronan]

Okay, so we got some time. You got some time to spread the word.

[Steven Klubeck]

A lot of. Yeah, I mean, spread the word. A lot of great conversations to come, but hopefully people have had enough. Yeah. As we say in California, pasta. Pasta is enough in Spanish.

[Unnamed Child]

Got it.

[Ronan]

Awesome. Stephen, I'm gonna hit stop record right now. Thank you so much for your time.