From Broke to Rich to Broke to Influential Podcaster | Sean Kelly

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Rubin Report Episode: From Broke to Rich to Broke to Influential Podcaster | Sean Kelly
Release Date: May 8, 2025
Host: Dave Rubin

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1. Introduction to Sean Kelly

In this compelling episode of The Rubin Report, host Dave Rubin sits down with Sean Kelly, an influential podcaster who has navigated a tumultuous journey from financial struggles to significant success in the podcasting realm. Sean shares his transformative experiences, shedding light on his ventures, setbacks, and ultimate rise as a prominent voice in America today.

2. Early Life and Personal Struggles

Sean's story begins with profound personal challenges. He opens up about a near-death experience at 21, which served as a pivotal wake-up call.

Sean Kelly [00:00]: "I almost died at 21 years old. Had an ambulance come to my house. I was thinking about, like, wow, am I really gonna die right now? And that was like a wake-up call for me."

Growing up, Sean dealt with significant trauma, including bullying and his parents' divorce. As an only child who was tall, skinny, and half-Asian, he faced social isolation and academic pressures.

Sean Kelly [03:03]: "I was 140 pounds, 6 foot 5 in high school, so super skinny. Got no girls, so I was bullied for that."

These early experiences shaped Sean into the introverted and shy individual he was, prompting him to use podcasting as a form of therapy and self-expression.

3. Venturing into Business During the Pandemic

Sean's entrepreneurial spirit was ignited during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognizing the urgent demand for personal protective equipment (PPE), he launched PPE of America, a company that sold masks, gowns, and gloves.

Sean Kelly [04:18]: "I sold masks and gowns and gloves. I sold $15 million of that over cold email."

He emphasizes the importance of having reliable suppliers and leveraging cold emailing to secure contracts, notably with major manufacturers like 3M.

Sean Kelly [24:06]: "I had a contract with 3M. They make masks."

Despite challenges like supply shortages and order delays, Sean managed to generate substantial revenue, equipping him with invaluable business skills.

4. Financial Ups and Downs: Crypto and Sports Cards

After his initial success, Sean ventured into the volatile world of cryptocurrency, particularly meme coins. This risky investment strategy led to significant financial losses, wiping out his earnings from PPE sales.

Sean Kelly [23:19]: "I invested all of it back into meme coins and lost pretty much all of it."

Not stopping there, Sean also developed an addiction to sports card collecting, investing heavily in rookie and rare cards with the hope of high returns. This passion project further depleted his finances.

Sean Kelly [26:42]: "I was ripping packs that were like, a thousand bucks, just casually, for fun. Jesus. It was a bad addiction."

By the time Sean relocated to Las Vegas, he had exhausted his savings, spending nearly all his money on rent and realizing the precariousness of his financial situation.

Sean Kelly [31:07]: "I spent all on rent. And then I'm like, babe, you're a trooper for sticking with me, first of all."

5. Rebuilding Through Podcasting

Broke but undeterred, Sean returned to his roots in social media, leveraging his accumulated skills to revitalize his podcasting career. Initially, his first podcast, Business All Stars, failed to gain traction. Learning from these setbacks, he patiently built his network and refined his approach over five years.

Sean Kelly [08:04]: "My first five episodes, 10 episodes. So bad, like God awful. I cringe watching them."

Two years prior to this episode, Sean relaunched his podcast with a more strategic approach, focusing on quality guests and utilizing his extensive Instagram following to amplify his reach. This effort paid off, resulting in over a million subscribers and media virality.

Sean Kelly [09:05]: "By then I built more followers, had access to better guests on the show, and then I was able to figure out how to, like, go viral."

6. Podcasting Style and Interview Techniques

Sean attributes his podcasting success to his open-minded and non-confrontational interviewing style. He emphasizes the importance of giving guests the floor to express their viewpoints, regardless of how unconventional or controversial they may be.

Sean Kelly [13:50]: "My goal is not to debate them. I just want to give them the floor to share their side of stuff."

Despite sometimes encountering bizarre topics—such as guests discussing drinking urine or channeling aliens—Sean remains present and engaged, balancing note-taking with active listening.

Sean Kelly [14:04]: "I'm interested in it. I'm also playing. I'm a numbers guy, so I interview a bunch of different topics and perspectives."

Sean also discusses how his ADHD and autism influence his interviewing process, allowing him to multitask effectively but requiring conscious effort to remain fully present.

Sean Kelly [14:22]: "So I have ADHD, so that's part of the reason. But also I don't want to forget anything that they brought up earlier because I like swinging it back later in the episode."

7. Relocation to Las Vegas and Personal Life

Sean's move from Los Angeles to Las Vegas was necessitated by personal and financial strains during the pandemic. Living in Vegas, he faced initial hardships, including staying at the MGM with his two dogs while searching for stable housing.

Sean Kelly [19:07]: "I was in Woodland Hills. Yeah. My car got broken into."

Eventually, he settled into Vegas, finding success in the local podcasting scene and hosting major networking events during high-profile events like F1 races and the Cannes Film Festival.

Sean Kelly [32:10]: "So I'm here tonight summer conferences are, we've just had 3000 people last year. For Miami, we'll have about 1500 people tonight."

On a personal note, Sean shares his plans to marry in October and his aspirations to expand his podcast internationally, reflecting his growth both professionally and personally.

Sean Kelly [36:30]: "I'm getting married on October 17th."

8. Future Aspirations and Legacy

Looking ahead, Sean aims to solidify his podcasting achievements by pursuing a Guinness World Record for the most podcast episodes. He also expresses a desire to take his podcast global, interviewing international figures and expanding his reach beyond the United States.

Sean Kelly [21:07]: "I'm going for the world record."

Sean underscores the cyclical nature of success and failure in his life, emphasizing resilience and continuous growth as key to his ongoing journey.

Sean Kelly [22:50]: "Life's very cyclical. I made and lost all my money twice. So I've experienced like, being super broke and then also in between because I grew up middle class and then now being multimillionaire."

9. Conclusion

Sean Kelly's narrative is a testament to the resilience and adaptability required to navigate the unpredictable landscapes of business and personal growth. From the depths of financial hardship to the heights of podcasting influence, Sean's journey offers invaluable insights into leveraging one's passions, learning from failures, and continuously evolving to achieve sustained success.

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Notable Quotes:

• Sean Kelly [00:00]: "I almost died at 21 years old... that was like a wake-up call for me."
• Sean Kelly [08:40]: "The podcast is only two years old. A lot of the connections from the podcast I had for years before that."
• Sean Kelly [14:32]: "Sometimes I write too much, and I'm like, okay, I need to be more present."
• Sean Kelly [21:19]: "4,080 episodes of a podcast. Yeah, that's it."
• Sean Kelly [23:14]: "It was stupid. Yeah. I wouldn't do it again."

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Sean Kelly's candid and introspective discussion offers a unique glimpse into the challenges and triumphs of building a successful podcast from scratch. His emphasis on resilience, strategic networking, and authentic conversations provides listeners with both inspiration and practical insights into the world of media and entrepreneurship.

Transcript

[A]

I Almost died at 21 years old. Had an ambulance come to my house. I was thinking about, like, wow, am I really gonna die right now? And that was like a wake up call for me.

[B]

Let's go through the trends there. So you first make money. Now you're talking about college. Now you've got some money and then lose it or.

[A]

I made and lost all my money twice during the pandemic. I sold masks and gowns and gloves. I sold $15 million of that wow. Over cold email.

[B]

But so how do you do it? So, okay, so it's day one. You're like, all hell's breaking loose. Everyone want all this stuff.

[A]

So first you need the plug. You need a supplier. I was on a blurry zoom webcam camera, and I knew nothing about life. I was like, 21. And now we're getting, like, you know, 100 million views a month just on Instagram.

[B]

You do 50 interviews a month.

[A]

50 interviews a month? Yeah, we post one a day every single day. I got a brain scan, found out I had that autism, childhood trauma, and it was kind of like, dang, everyone.

[B]

Seems to want to be autistic now, and yet Bobby Kennedy wants to stop autism.

[A]

It's a new trend.

[B]

All right, Sean Kelly, you've already started a Rubin report. First off here, which is that you're wearing shorts, and I've never had a guest in shorts before. I dress down knowing you were going casual. But shorts, shorts. You've really taken this thing to a new level.

[A]

Well, we're in Florida. You know, it's hot, and I'm usually in shorts. Maybe khakis, but sweatpants if possible.

[B]

But shorts and the hoodie. That seems very Gen Z to me. It is like a confusion between you need your legs to be cool and yet your body up here. You didn't want to go with the T shirt.

[A]

I wanted my legs to be able to breathe, you know, get some fresh air down there.

[B]

I'm glad to have you here. I was just mentioning, like, your stuff I see constantly for some reason. You know, you just see certain people's stuff. You don't see some people, and you see some people's stuff. I see your stuff constantly on Instagram. I've done your show a bunch of times. We've gotten to know each other little bit. You do a similar show to what I do, and you once called me. What did you say? I was like. I was like one of the OGs, which.

[A]

You've been doing this a while.

[B]

It's the oldest I ever felt I was an og, but you're. You interview all sorts of people all over the map. You're doing this out of Vegas now. That's where we first met. But let's do a little backstory first. You're. You're a Jersey guy. You know, I'm a New York guy. So we have a little in common there. Tell me the. The Sean Kelly story. What gets you to be a big time podcaster?

[A]

Yeah, grew up super introverted, super shy. Got bullied a lot growing up. Only child, so didn't have any friends. And I think that's a big reason for why I started the show because just dealt with a lot of trauma. Wanted to have conversations and kind of like address all that, to be honest, because podcasting is like a form of therapy, you know, you get a lot off your chest. And throughout these conversations, I've had 1500 episodes now. I've just learned a lot about myself, a lot about the world, a lot about politics, which I never was into growing up. And it's just been a game changer, man.

[B]

What were you. What were you bullied about? I mean, were you. Were you.

[A]

All sorts of stuff.

[B]

Dorky, like what? I mean, tall, skinny? What?

[A]

Tall, skinny? For sure.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I was 140 pounds, 6 foot 5 in high school, so super skinny. Got no girls, so I was bullied for that. I'm also half Asian, and I didn't get the best grades, so I get bullied from the Asians.

[B]

Oh, that's interesting. You got. You got put down by the Asians because you weren't getting good grades.

[A]

Yeah, they wouldn't be friends with me because I wasn't getting a 4.0 GPA. You know, I didn't fit in with them. Their parents saw me as a disgrace. That's like an Asian thing. They're always comparing their kids with other Asian kids.

[B]

And did you. Did that make you want to just kind of, like, explore the world a little bit more as. As kind of the outsider?

[A]

Yeah, it kind of shut me down. Like, I went really silent. My parents also got divorced at a young age, so I was just really shy, really introverted, really nerdy, and how to do some soul searching.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Depression, too.

[B]

Yeah. And how did you. How did you deal with that stuff before you end up doing a podcast?

[A]

Yeah, Xanax did not help with that. And I'll say that. Got prescribed that, and it made it worse.

[B]

In what way?

[A]

Because you become reliant on it. And then what happens is I ran out. So they don't Tell you this, when they prescribe you. I had a seizure.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

So I almost died at 21 years old. Yeah. Had an ambulance come to my house. I was thinking about, like, wow, am I really gonna die right now? And that was like a wake up call for me. So after that, I was a big stoner at the time. I stopped smoking weed, pretty much cut drinking. I was a big part drinker as well. And that's sort of where I, like, dive headfirst into business, I'd say from there.

[B]

Does that seem like. Were a lot of your friends doing that kind of stuff? I mean, I feel like you see more of that now. I was kind of a dork in high school too, but nobody was really drinking like that or doing drugs like that. At least where I was from where now you hear a lot of this. Like kids that are now in recovery that are 20. It seems crazy. Where usually it's like when they're 40 maybe or something.

[A]

Yeah, no, you're right. In college, it's just so easily accessible, you know, drinking, partying, weed, whatever. Drugs, psychedelics. I was doing a bit of those too. And yeah, it's easy to get persuaded. You have no guidance. You're just on your own. And I fell for it.

[B]

Yeah. What? So you get to Ruckers, I assume mostly this was eaten at the grease trucks that probably every week.

[A]

Those things are good, man. I kind of want one right now.

[B]

Oh, man. Those things I told you I did one week. I was. When I was doing standup, I would just take these odd jobs. And we were literally. I was working for a company, like a promotions company. We're handing out keychains on the campus. But basically for like six days in a row, I ate at those grease trucks. I gained like 40 po. Challenge.

[A]

Did you ever do the challenge?

[B]

Oh, God. What's the challenge?

[A]

You have to eat three and ten minutes.

[B]

That sounds. And you get posted on the. Yeah, we'll have the guys put up some pictures of what these things look like. But what was your go to do? You remember?

[A]

I got.

[B]

I mean, these are.

[A]

Chuck, I think it was called. It's been like 10 years.

[B]

And what is it? So it's like a cheesesteak with chicken fingers with French fries with tomato sauce. What else? What else?

[A]

Tomatoes, like bacon, I think just super unhealthy.

[B]

And did you ever do it? You did three.

[A]

I could barely finish one.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I don't know how people did that.

[B]

So you're at Rutgers, you're partying a bit, you're eating The. From the grease trucks. But you start becoming a businessman.

[A]

I start doing E commerce. Yeah. Dropshipping was hot at the time.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So that was my start. Using social.

[B]

What even got you into that? Like what was the idea?

[A]

Just. Yeah. Watching videos and looking for a way to make money. You know, I want to be able to afford alcohol and weed at the time and whatever.

[B]

Food. Yeah.

[A]

So just hustling.

[B]

I like how food came in third.

[A]

Food's important.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Food's important. So yeah, that was my start. And that's where I started Instagram. You know, I started taking it serious. Started figuring out how to grow followers, getting views and turning the views into money.

[B]

Yeah. And so were jerseys the first thing that you were selling or.

[A]

Yeah. Was it jerseys? So started with jerseys. You know, was doing decent there. For a college kid, you know, making 50k a year or whatever in college, that's a lot.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. That's great.

[A]

Right now. It's not what it. It's not the same with family and everything now.

[B]

Well, you're an adult now. Doesn't quite go as far.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, that was my start, man. And looking back, I still use a lot of the skills I learned back then. Right now.

[B]

Ye. Yeah.

[A]

Cold dming.

[B]

So you were just. It was just the grind, basically.

[A]

The grind. The ultimate grind. Working 12 hours a day. It's not sustainable. I burnt out.

[B]

Yeah. You know, but you made some money.

[A]

Made some money, made some connections.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Who I later was able to get on the podcast. So everything. Because I get asked a lot. How did you blow up so quick? The podcast is only two years old. A lot of the connections from the podcast I had for years before that.

[B]

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[A]

Yeah. So I did e commerce for a few years, then I started a podcast. Completely failed. It was called Business All Stars.

[B]

Oh, interesting.

[A]

Total flop. Like, yeah, it's hard to dig this.

[B]

Up, but it's actually a pretty good name.

[A]

Yeah, it's a good name, but it was just from the start, it wasn't a good idea because it was a virtual show. Those are hard to pull off. I was on a blurry zoom webcam camera, and I knew nothing about life. I was, like, 21.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So I'm not a good host.

[B]

Is this. This is Covid time, or this is right before.

[A]

Right before COVID So that flopped. So I'd got, like, 15 episodes in and gave up. So it's always in the back of my head to do it again one day. But I wanted to get more success, more connections. So the next five years, I just built up my network, built up some more capital, and retried it two years ago.

[B]

And then what was the. What was the secret?

[A]

By then I built more followers, had access to better guests on the show, and then I was able to figure out how to, like, go viral. And now we're getting, like, you know, 100 million views a month just on Instagram. So I think I cracked the formula there.

[B]

Yeah, well, you've definitely. It seems to me you've cracked something in, like, the type of people you have on. Because whenever, as I mentioned, you're. I don't know what the Instagram algorithm is doing, but you are in the thing of the. You're in the bucket of people that I see, and every time I see one of your videos, it might be about finance, but it literally might be about someone drinking their urine to heal themselves. And then, I don't know, give me, like, no, no. And then it might be UFOs, and then probably something even wackier than that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So it's like. Is that just because you like all these, like, crazy things?

[A]

I'm interested in it. I'm also playing. I'm a numbers guy, so I interview a bunch of different topics and perspectives, and I see what hits, and then I'll double down on it. So, like, the UFO stuff was hot. You know, we met through politics. That was hot six months ago. It's still pretty hot now, But I definitely milked that. But, yeah.

[B]

Do you find you enjoy one more than the other. Like.

[A]

Yeah, I'm kind of bored of the business stuff. You can only talk about making money so much. I like the, the health stuff, the spiritual stuff. Politics is interesting.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, I have on both sides, which is very interesting.

[B]

Yeah. You had a woman on not too long. Didn't she visit some aliens or some aliens visit? Oh, she had like some aliens came into her during the show and then she spoke to you as the alien. That was, that was. Can you pull that off right now?

[A]

No. So let me say this though, because this has never happened. You've been to my Vegas studio. I filmed 500 episodes there.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The TV screens when she was channeling behind her were going off and on.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

The lights were going off and on. We've replaced everything. Like we stopped the episode, replaced all the wires. My producer came in, all right. Then still going off and on after. And I filmed six episodes right after her the same day. No issues. So I don't know.

[B]

So you're saying it's the aliens?

[A]

I'm saying something. I don't know if it's aliens. I don't know if it's a spirit. Do you believe in any of that stuff?

[B]

I don't. I would always say I believe what Carl Sagan said, which is extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. But like I'm not. You know, I saw a ghost once when I was a. Yeah, about 10 years ago for sure. I was at my buddy's house late night, about 3am he had an old. Oh, in Jersey. He had an old Jersey house, probably built in the 1920s. It had sort of a haunted feeling to it. And in the middle of the night, I swear on my life, I woke up and at the end of the bed his girlfriend had her vanity, you know, where she would do her makeup with the mirror. And I looked in the mirror and I saw an old woman, like a very old woman, 90 year old woman, combing her hair with a big paddle brush. I remember it. Combing her hair. Hair like this. And then she. When she turned her head and looked in the mirror and we locked eyes, she disappeared. And my dog who was sleeping on the floor jumped into my bed and was barking like crazy. So what do I do with that?

[A]

So that must have messed you up because you were a non believer prior, right?

[B]

I mean I didn't believe in. I didn't not believe or believe, you know, I enjoyed Ghostbusters, but damn. But those type of things. So it's. Well, what does that make you think? I Mean, so did you walk out of that being like, man, she fried my systems, There must be something here.

[A]

I walked out like saying there's something with energy. Like, you know, how you meet certain people, you can tell if they have good or bad intentions.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I think there's like an energetic component with, with life that we just don't know about.

[B]

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[A]

She drinks her own pure blood and she drinks the guy's jizz.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because she doesn't want the energy if. Because it's energy that's coming out of you. So she wants that back.

[A]

Sexual life force.

[B]

Yeah. And you're, you're usually, I think, very open to all these things. You kind of with them and just.

[A]

Yeah, my goal is not to debate them.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I just want to give them the floor to share their side of stuff. You know, sometimes it's hard not to fight back a little bit or laugh. Even the channeling one. It was hard not to laugh. I'm not going to lie. But I try to be open minded.

[B]

You do something interesting when you're interviewing, which is that you're taking notes the whole time and yet you're also very present. Which is why I said to you after we sat down the first time, I was like, you actually are a great Interviewer. Because a lot of interviewers, they ask the question and then they're gone, basically. And then they know when you're wrapping up the sentence and they come back. What's your reasoning for taking the notes the whole time?

[A]

So I have adhd, so that's part of the reason. But also I don't want to forget anything that they brought up earlier because I like swinging it back later in the episode. But you're right, though. It's a balance. You can't be too caught up in one or the other.

[B]

Yeah. Do you find that that can be tricky at times?

[A]

Sometimes, yeah. Sometimes I write too much, and I'm like, okay, I need to be more present. Because it's hard to do both.

[B]

Right. Cause I was. The first time I saw you do it, I was kind of thinking, like, all right, is he doing this for, like, YouTube purposes to know when to put the tags in? And I was like, if that's the case, that seems a little crazy, but. So how do you work with the ADHD as it pertains to all this?

[A]

Well, I just found out it. I got a brain scan, found out I had that autism, childhood trauma, and it was kind of like, dang, I'm just so used to all this. I didn't even know I was working with this. But now I just treat it as a superpower. A lot of the top entrepreneurs and CEOs have ADHD or autism or both.

[B]

Everyone seems to want to be autistic now, and yet Bobby Kennedy wants to stop autism.

[A]

It's a new trend. People are trying to keep it.

[B]

What do you make of that? Well, what is that? Just partly like a generation that grew up, or now two generations that grew up staring at screens all the time. So the social. That a huge portion of it, let's say, is just that social conditioning is just very different and interact. What do you think?

[A]

That's definitely part of it. I think diet's part of it. We're eating way unhealthier. So now there's babies just being born with it, you know? Yeah. Cali's like one out of 20 now. Something crazy like that.

[B]

Yeah. We just saw. I think it's one out of. Was it one out of 20? We just read it was either one of 32, I think, or something. Yeah.

[A]

Nuts.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because when I was in school, I was probably, like, one of the only ones that had it. I went to a school of 3,000 people. Maybe. Maybe five of us had it. I don't know.

[B]

Right.

[A]

It's probably Harder to diagnose back then too, but.

[B]

Right. They also say that the diagnosis has widened so like more things now fit into that bucket or something like that.

[A]

I could see that. But yeah, my generation, it's. We're awkward, man. I'm gonna be honest. We're just on our phones. Like when I go to restaurants, I see people just on their phone.

[B]

So what do you do to balance that? Because I. I get what you mean. Like you're talking about you take the notes for a reason. But you are very present also. And as I said, you're a good interviewer, which to me that means you can pay attention.

[A]

Well, I do research, so you have to have some level of research and confidence prior to the episode. Some people come in empty handed. So at least I have a one shooter. At least I do. And I think with the reps you get better over time. My first five episodes, 10 episodes. So bad, like God awful. I cringe watching them.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Did you have anyone that you really loved on one of those that kills you now to like go back?

[A]

No. So I was strategic with that. I didn't start off with the biggest names purposefully because I wanted to ac if I can make random people go viral, but also just develop my skills because I was a huge introvert and I sucked socially for years.

[B]

You know, how's it been meeting people that you, that you really like and admire and you know, whether that turns out to be good or bad or indifferent because obviously I've had all sorts of versions of that.

[A]

Of course I don't get super starstruck usually. I've been nervous like a couple times. Grant Cardone, I was a little nervous for because that was the first conference I ever went to and he has.

[B]

Sat in that very chair.

[A]

Oh yeah. Shout out to Grant. Yeah, yeah. One of my most viral guests. And then Tate, I was a little nervous for Tate just because I've seen a lot of him online beforehand and it's easy to form it opinion of someone when you just see their content non stop.

[B]

Yeah. Do you get hate? Really? I feel like you're. I feel like you kind of duck it somehow.

[A]

Usually not. I get called like broccoli head or like some dumb stuff like that. Nothing crazy. Like you.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

You got some hate, my man.

[B]

We'll get you, we'll get you some hate today. We'll get you a little. Yeah, but you get a little ambient.

[A]

You know, you engage in debates.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So the hate is going to come no matter what.

[B]

It's just, it's just part of the game. I hate to tell you, but one day it will come for you, no matter. And it's going to be on something that you think is the most innocuous. You're going to be like some lady wants to bathe yourself in urine. And for some reason, that'll be the thing. And then the hate. The hate will begin. So, okay, so you're doing the show for a while. It really takes off. How'd you end up in Vegas? A Jersey guy. How do you end up in Vegas?

[A]

That was not planned. But growing up in Jersey, I always wanted to move to la, to make it in social media. Be like an influencer or whatever. That was like the dream. And then LA just sucked, man. Like I was there during.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. So Covid. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And it was brutal. That was probably the most depressed I've ever been. My car.

[B]

What part of town were you in?

[A]

I was in Woodland Hills.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. My car got broken into. Like I didn't feel safe. Every time I walked my dog, I was getting stalked. It was just weird, dude.

[B]

Yeah, I was in Encino, so. Right. Right by over there. And it was. It's a damn shame too, huh?

[A]

Lasted five months.

[B]

Oh, so you were there only during COVID So you never saw Pre Covid la? Because Pre Covid. LA was great. There were still some problems, but it was great for all the reasons. LA used to be Great Covid, man. Just day one.

[A]

Sucked the life out of it.

[B]

Yeah. So you decide, okay, I'm going to get out of here. That can't be an easy decision.

[A]

It wasn't easy. Had to break the lease early. Luckily the. I mean, not luckily, but the car got broken into at the apartment, so I used that.

[B]

Luckily only someone from LA would say.

[A]

So I got out, drove to Vegas. Wasn't planned. Stayed at the MGM for a month looking for a house. Because at that time everyone was fleeing Vegas. I mean, fleeing la.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Fleeing Cali. So couldn't find a house for a month. So I was with my two dogs in the mgm.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah, that was rough. And then.

[B]

Had you been to Vegas before? Because it's funny, now that you're. I think of you as a Vegas guy.

[A]

Like, I went once for a conference, but no, I wouldn't count that. So eventually got a house. The problem was, since I'm so young and my credit sucked. This was four years ago. They wanted six months deposit. That was all the money I had in my bank account. At the time, I was broke.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So I Put that down and then just figured it out and made it work.

[B]

Wow. A little stressful.

[A]

Super stressful, yeah.

[B]

Tax day may have passed, but for millions of Americans, the real trouble is just beginning. If you miss the April 15 deadline or still owe back taxes, the IRS is ramping up enforcement. Every day you wait only makes things worse. The good news, there's still time for Tax Network USA to help self employed or a business owner with messy books. Tax Network USA quickly organizes your finances and gets you back on track, even post deadline. A free consultation can help you act now to avoid penalties, threatening letters and levies. So call 1-800-958-1000 or visit tnusa.com Dave Let TaxNetwork USA help. And now Vegas has really changed. I mean, even in these last couple, there's a podcast scene out there. It feels like a lot of the refugees from la, a lot of them came here, obviously, in Tennessee and Texas, but a lot of them went to Vegas. What's the. What's the general vibe in Vegas these days?

[A]

It's good, man. Yeah, you got some good pods. The Hodge twins, Iced coffee hour, Myself, few others. Great conferences. Every week there's a conference, so it's easy to get guests. We're booked till July. 50 episodes a month and.

[B]

Yeah, you're doing 50 episodes a month. You do 50 interviews a month.

[A]

50 interviews a month? Yeah, we post one a day. Day every single day.

[B]

That is.

[A]

I don't miss a day. So part of the reason is I'm going for the world record. And also, I just have fun, man, interviewing people for a living. I'm sure you can relate. It's super fun.

[B]

Well, when you sit down with someone, you like that? Yeah, it's good. Every now. And you get one. You get one and you're like, wow, whatever.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But wait, what's the record?

[A]

What's the record, according to Guinness World records books, is 4,080 at the moment.

[B]

4,080 episodes. Episodes in a year.

[A]

So no total.

[B]

4,080 total episodes of a podcast.

[A]

Of a podcast. Yeah, that's it.

[B]

I've got. I probably have that.

[A]

Oh, really?

[B]

Well, if I do a show five days a week, I've been doing this for.

[A]

You might have to submit.

[B]

Yeah. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Hold on. Somebody's gonna crunch the numbers on this. Am I a Guinness record holder for that? I'll challenge you on that. All right, we're gonna race to that.

[A]

So I got a new opponent.

[B]

4080. That's it. Even someone like Corolla who's doing a five day a week show for ten years? I mean.

[A]

Yeah, I wonder what the quality.

[B]

Well, that would get you to. To. That would get you to about 4, 000 shows, right. I wonder. What is it, an hour each?

[A]

Yeah. I wonder if there's a time limit or something. I'd have to look more into it, but that's. That's something.

[B]

So that's a star for you.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Guinness record.

[A]

I'm very competitive. I've always wanted a Guinness. As a kid, I used to read them, you know, the shiny books. Yeah, I used to.

[B]

What impressed you the most? Far this fingernail one. What was. Oh, that. Yeah, yeah, I remember that picture. Yeah, Back then, like that chick with the. Oh, no, there was one with the guy too, right?

[A]

I remember the chick.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

That was crazy.

[B]

Yeah. And that eyeball.

[A]

One eyeball popping out of the head. No, see that one.

[B]

What's the record on that? Biggest eyeball popping out of the head.

[A]

Pop it out, but not where it falls out. It's like barely hanging on.

[B]

I lived across the street from a guy who had a glass eye and he used to take it out and. Oh, yeah, play with it.

[A]

Is that Charleston White?

[B]

Yeah. No, Darren something used to play with his eye, you know.

[A]

That's wild.

[B]

All right, well, you're obviously digging the podcast. You're getting all these business people there. It's going well. How do you feel about, like. Like the other side of success? I mean, you talked about the struggle part and all that. That's got to be.

[A]

Yeah, life's very cyclical. I made and lost all my money twice. So I've experienced like, being super broke and then also in between because I grew up middle class and then now being, you know, multimillionaire.

[B]

Yeah. So how'd. Wait. Go through the. Go through the trends there. So you first make money, now you're talking about college, now you've got some money and then lose it or.

[A]

So college. I made six figures. And how did I lose all that?

[B]

If you can't remember, you were having a good day.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. I think it was crypto. Ye. Yeah, it was crypto the first time.

[B]

Oh, wow. So were you just getting into shitcoins?

[A]

Shit coins. Meme coins. Altcoins got wrecked.

[B]

In retrospect, do you realize, like, you must look back and be like, wow, that was all nonsense.

[A]

It was stupid. Yeah. I wouldn't do it again. Yeah, yeah. So that. That sucked because I. I actually made a lot at first, and that's the problem. With meme coins, you could get lucky and think you're amazing.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So I actually made millions at first. I think maybe 1 or 2 million. And then I invested all of it back into meme coins and lost pretty much all of it.

[B]

So you lose all that? This is pre Vegas.

[A]

Yes, pre Vegas.

[B]

Okay, now, now. So then when do you start making money again?

[A]

During the pandemic.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I sold masks and gowns and gloves. I sold $15 million of that.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Over cold email.

[B]

Wow. So, wait, tell me about that.

[A]

I know.

[B]

Crazy.

[A]

So that's how I learned how to cold email, which is a good way of getting guests. But I would email these hospitals and government organizations sold $5 million of PPE to, like, the state of Connecticut.

[B]

But so how do you do it? So, okay, so it's day one. You're like, all hell is breaking loose. Everyone wants all this stuff.

[A]

So first you need the plug. You need a supplier.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So you gotta lock that down. I had a contract with 3M. They make masks.

[B]

Yeah, of course. And how did you get a contract with 3M?

[A]

1 of my mentors at the time had a good relationship, and he worked out a deal where we would get 10 cents for every mask we sold. And we had a signed contract with them.

[B]

Right. And even despite the fact that there were shortages and everything else and you're just some random kid.

[A]

Well, that was a whole other issue, was the shortages and the delays. So a lot of the orders went through, but it would take six months to get them. And then some clients ended up canceling.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But we eventually got paid out down the road on some of them.

[B]

So somehow you create. So. And okay, so you create this. You get contract, in essence. And then how are you selling? How did you sell that many of them? I mean, I know everyone wanted them, but, like, what world are you entering to?

[A]

So I had the. I would. I had a whole system, so I had these Google News alerts. So you can set this up. PPE shortage, hospitals, struggling PPE equipment. And as soon as you see an article that has those words in it, you'll get an email. So let's say this hospital, like, we sold to NYU Hospital, nyu. There was an article about how they were low on masks. I would get an email instantly, and then I would find whoever was in procurement at the hospital on an email database and then email or call them.

[B]

Were you kind of blown away that there weren't other people doing this or that 3M wasn't doing it directly, or that some guy using Temu something wasn't figuring this out.

[A]

There probably was. It was all about timing and connections and what the. The hardest deal was the first one to close. But then what? As we had more and more clients, we could say, oh, we just sold to these guys, to these guys, to this hospital, and it got easier.

[B]

Right. What was the name of that company?

[A]

I think it was. There's a few articles about this. PPE of America, though. Yeah. PPE of America.

[B]

You nailed it with the branding on that one. Wow. So you made 15 million bucks in revenue, right?

[A]

I didn't make that much because, like I said, a lot of the orders got canceled. But the skills I learned from that, you know, priceless.

[B]

Okay, so now you got some skills, you got some money again. How'd you lose that money?

[A]

So that time I got obsessed with sports cards. Do you collect sports cards?

[B]

I used to when I was a kid. I got a pretty great collection up there.

[A]

So, yeah.

[B]

What were you going for?

[A]

Rookie cards, like Zion Williamson, John Moran, stuff like that. I bought a lot of Luca Donkic, a lot of NBA cards, mainly.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I just got way too excited. I was ripping packs that were like, a thousand bucks, just casually, for fun. Jesus. It was a bad addiction.

[B]

That sounds like. Almost like a. Like from a comedy movie. Like, the guy who gets rich and then has an addiction to baseball cards or basketball cards. Like, it was.

[A]

It was not healthy.

[B]

Right. So what did you think? What did you think, like, you're opening up the packs. Was it just, like, getting off on, like, I can blow $1,000 on the pack, or was it like, oh, I'm going to find the gem, I'm going to find the garter.

[A]

You're going for the chase. So, like, yeah, most people lose money when they open packs, but sometimes you'll get, like, a really rare card and it'll just 100x what you invested in the pack.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So I was chasing that, and I never got it.

[B]

I got a Pete Rose 1973 MVP Topps card upstairs somewhere. Can we Google that? Let's see how much that's Pete Rose. 73. No, he was MVP in 73. That card's gotta be worth a couple.

[A]

Hundred, depending on the condition.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, no, it's pretty. It's pretty solid. Pretty.

[A]

You might have some. Some expensive cards up there.

[B]

I've got a great. I'll show you my basketball collection. I mean, I've got great. It's my stuff from before, you know, mine's from the Jordan years, but I have a Jordan rookie up there. Or something.

[A]

Yeah. So social media brought sports cards back and Pokemon cards back. Cuz now people just for a living, open them on on lives. I don't know if you've seen this. It's called card breaking. And I got a buddy that does tens of millions of dollars a year in revenue just doing that for people.

[B]

All he's doing is opening their stuff and basically going through it and being like this is, this is, this is good.

[A]

Like so what happens is they pay him to open it and then ship it to them.

[B]

But why wouldn't they open it themselves? Oh, because they just want their stuff to be on his show.

[A]

Yeah, they want the experience and there's watching. So they'll pay 30% over what the product costs.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

To open it on live.

[B]

Wow. And then they hope obviously they're going to get some all. So, so what's like a. So when you opened one of these, what were you looking for? Like what's the card you were like.

[A]

What was I was looking for?

[B]

Like a gold standard.

[A]

Yeah. Like a Zion Williamson or a John Moran rookie. But like a specific variation, like a one of one or like a one out of 25. Some of them are autographed or jersey number or whatever.

[B]

Right. And when did you realize, realize, boy, this is a bit of a problem.

[A]

Too late. I ran out of money.

[B]

Like how, how much did you possibly spend on opening six figures? So you spent a couple, probably a couple hundred grand or something like that on opening these cards? Are you just dumping the rest of them? What do you even.

[A]

Yeah, most of them are worthless. I was also buying. They call them raw cards. So these are cards that are not graded yet by psa. I would buy those on ebay, send them to a grading company and hope it got a 10 or a 9 out of 10.

[B]

And wait, what is that? A grading company?

[A]

So you could grade the sports cards? Yeah, and it's basically on the condition of the card. And if it's a 10 out of 10, it's worth way more than just the raw card.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So what I was doing was I was buying the raw cards and then sending them to get graded and.

[B]

But what do you mean the raw card?

[A]

It's just the regular card. Yeah, people call them raw, but so say you have a sports card that's considered a raw card because it's not graded.

[B]

Oh, I got it, I got it. So. And then you get it graded and then maybe it's worth more somehow at that point.

[A]

And then that didn't work out as well as I thought as well. So I was just losing on multiple streams. In the sports card industry, could your.

[B]

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[A]

What are the main differences between Ivermectin and Phenobenazole?

[B]

These are two anti pathogens used to.

[A]

Treat parasitic infections and other similar types of conditions.

[B]

They are used quite often in the.

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

I mean tens of maybe 10, 20k. Because I spent the six months of rent. My rent was 4, 500amonth times six. So that's. Yeah, 25k. That was everything I had when I moved to Vegas and I spent it all on rent. And then I'm like, babe, you're a trooper for sticking with me, first of all.

[B]

But also, what did she think?

[A]

What did she get?

[B]

And you're engaged now, right?

[A]

Yeah, she was pissed, obviously.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And she told me from the start this is an unhealthy obsession. And she's always been right about everything about business and people. And I always, whenever I don't listen to her.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Ends up terribly.

[B]

Okay, so it ends up terribly. You open up the last pack. Now you're basically broke. Then what did you do?

[A]

Just did some social media hustling, man. Went back to my roots, figured out how to get views. I think the pod started probably. Yeah, like a year and a half after that. So just locked in and now all in on the podcast and content and events.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. So tell me more about. So you're here this weekend in Miami for F1?

[A]

Yeah, yeah. So I host the biggest networking events during F1, so in Vegas, we just had 3000 people last year. For Miami, we'll have about 1500 people tonight. And how I monetize it is I just have sponsors set up, like tables and. And booths. The tickets are free. I don't charge people. And people just come and network and hang out and then sponsors cover everything.

[B]

Who do you feel is your. Or do you feel that you have competition? I. I have this weird thing where I don't think I'm in competition with anyone. I just think if I'm doing good work.

[A]

Work. Yeah.

[B]

Then. Then it's fine. I'm not that worried. Sort of like, I'm sure I am in competition in some way with someone, but I'm just not worried about it. Like, to me, if I do good, it'll. It'll kind of present itself. Do you see yourself in competition with anyone? Is it different maybe on the business side than on the podcast side?

[A]

Not directly, but there's shows I definitely admire and I look up to and I, you know, respect.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But I don't get envious or jealous. That's where you can go down dangerous paths when you're comparing yourself so much.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

To people or other businesses. But definitely respect and admire some shows.

[B]

Yeah. What. What else do want to do with the podcast? Like, do you just want to. You want to get that Guinness Book and then just keep rolling with that, or is it just that you want to build out other verticals with it, or.

[A]

Yeah, there's two routes and I'm sure you struggle with this too. Like, a lot of people are asking me, can you help me start your show? So you could go the network route, but that seems expensive and stressful, so I don't know if I want to do that. Or you could just go all in on your show. So I think I'm leaning towards just sticking with me for now.

[B]

Yeah. We should talk a little bit after.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Off camera, there's some things brewing.

[A]

Doing that's exciting. Yeah. But no, I just wanna. I wanna do more international stuff. We're going to cans next week.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

F1 Monaco and Cannes Film Festival. Because I've done a lot of interviews domestically. I want to start taking it abroad.

[B]

What do you. What do you find your friends, like, that you grew up with are doing? Because, you know, the other meme is not only oh, they're everyone's sort of autistic or weird or. Or introverted or all that. But like that they're all struggling, don't have jobs. They like, like, like. Do you find that, like, are you in some sense, are you like a hero to your friends now because you're doing it your way and they're somewhat lost? Is that.

[A]

I only have one left. If we're being honest. The 10 year reunion is this year. So it's gonna be interesting.

[B]

But you should go. It was one of the best nights of my life.

[A]

Oh, yeah?

[B]

Yeah. It really. That was kind of before social media, like really blew up. So, like, we had no idea who we were bumping into again. Where. Now it's like taking the luster off of it because you see everybody all the time.

[A]

Yeah. But either way, you should go. I think I'll go. It's important for me to see everyone again, you know, forgive everyone and move on.

[B]

All the people who called you broccoli head. Was it broccoli head?

[A]

That was more recent back then. It was like twig or whatever. Or tomato face.

[B]

Tomato face.

[A]

So I'd get red when I drank.

[B]

Asian flush.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Tomato face. And Yeah. I don't like to hold resentment to people.

[B]

Right, so you would go. So you would go back to actually put down whatever needed to be put down, whatever was left in you.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

I mean, that's. That's pretty healthy.

[A]

I think so. Right? Yeah, some people just.

[B]

Yeah. And by the way, you will also find one of the fun things of going to a reunion is like the guy that you hated the most for whatever reason or one of the guys that bullied you. Yeah. You will see his life did not work out. And then you'll see people that were like the dorks that maybe you weren't that nice to.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

They've become superstars. Like, you just have no idea. That's why it's worth going to.

[A]

What did people think you would actually up. I got. I got voted most likely to, like, fail. Like. Yeah.

[B]

Did you really? Yeah, that, that kind of. That'll. That'll saddle you.

[A]

Everyone on my lunch table said you'd be dead or in prison in five years, so.

[B]

So you basically had a very low bar and you've really gone high.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

My friends, everyone thought if I look at my high school reunion, everyone thought I was going to host the Tonight Show. That's. Everyone said, you're going to host the Tonight Show. You're going to host the Tonight Show. Host the Night show. Now I don't do that, but clearly I did something.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That was going in that direction.

[A]

So you had the opposite experience of me.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You had support.

[B]

It was weird. Well, I guess I was still at the early part of my career at that point when I. For my 10 year reunion. But like, I was definitely doing something that I wanted to do and it was going up. So, yeah, it was cool to be there for that purpose. But that's like a weird ego thing, you know, it's more just about just seeing people that you've. You've totally forgot. You know, there's going to be some girl that you sat next to in fourth grade that you haven't thought of in 15 years and suddenly she'll remember you and you're like, yeah, you remember what we did in art class?

[A]

You know, I think I'm one of the first in my class to get married because east coast usually wait a bit longer.

[B]

How old are you again?

[A]

28.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And you're, you're like, I. I feel like last time we spoke, you're like ready to have kids and just like, I want kids. Get going on.

[A]

Yeah, I definitely want kids.

[B]

Yeah. When are you getting married?

[A]

October. This year? Yeah. October 17th.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

What is your, what does your girlfriend do?

[A]

She helps with the pod. She's gardening at home. She's really good at cooking and baking and she's. She's wonderful.

[B]

How do you garden in Vegas? That can't. I know that can't be easy. That's. That' business right there.

[A]

That's a good question.

[B]

Yeah. Did she just dig in the what arid dry.

[A]

We found the one shade spot in our whole house.

[B]

She's good. Yeah. Broccoli. Is she doing broccoli?

[A]

Yeah, broccoli, jalapenos, lettuce, tomatoes, onions. I'm pretty excited. Yeah, we just started a few weeks ago.

[B]

Are we going to shoot some hoops now?

[A]

We are.

[B]

Yeah. You got. So what, what, what skill level? Like, what do I have to prepare myself for here knowing that I just went through this acl, blown out knee, busted up, stem cell situation.

[A]

I'll say this, I think you got me beat on threes.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I think midis and layups. I got you beat, but we'll see.

[B]

All right. How tall are you again?

[A]

Six. Six. I might dunk on you too.

[B]

Joey, I'm gonna need you out there. Maybe take out his legs. It's been an absolute pleasure, man.

[A]

Thanks for having me, man.

[B]

Thanks.

[A]

Boom.