244: Ear to Help & The Master Appears (with Eric Edelstein)

Summary

We're Here to Help

Episode 244: “Ear to Help & The Master Appears” (with Eric Edelstein)

Original Air Date: December 29, 2025
Hosts: Jake Johnson & Gareth Reynolds
Guest: Eric Edelstein

Episode Overview

This episode goes deep (and sometimes a bit too far) into the weird world of ear cleaning and the existential crossroads of a martial arts master. As always, Jake, Gareth, and guest Eric Edelstein take listener calls and offer support, advice, and wild business pitches—regardless of their professional qualifications.

The show centers on two calls:

1. Jackie, a Physician Assistant who cleans ears and wonders how to respond to clients finding the experience a little too pleasurable—and considers making it an official "ear spa" side business.
2. Will, a 6th-degree black belt in Taekwondo torn between pushing for true mastery or stepping back from his lifelong practice.

The hallmark wit and warmth is present, with plenty of side-bits, quote-worthy one-liners, and gentle ribbing among long-time friends.

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Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. New Year’s Plans & Reflections

Timestamps: 00:44 – 07:30

• Jake and Gareth catch up about upcoming New Year’s celebrations: Gareth is performing stand-up in Pottstown, PA, while Jake is heading to a family-friendly Vegas trip, full of somewhat questionable kid-appropriate activities (e.g., zip-lining, magician shows, “circus delay”).
• Quick detour about odd family vacations (Alaska, Arctic Circle), featuring Jake’s delight in sketchy situations that nearly terrify his family.

“We were in the Arctic Circle. Fire, dude." – Jake Johnson (03:37)

2. Introducing the Guest: Eric Edelstein

Timestamps: 04:42 – 07:37

• Eric is formally welcomed, praised as an “onion” character—“no deeper understanding…than the day I met him,” according to Jake.

“Nobody is a better example of being an onion than Eric. …I don’t have any deeper of understanding than I did on day one.” – Jake Johnson (05:07)

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Call #1: Jackie the Ear-Cleaner & The Birth of the “Ear Spa”

Timestamps: 09:30 – 48:49

The Situation

• Jackie, a 34-year-old PA from Southern California, calls in with questions about patient boundaries and possible entrepreneurial opportunity.
• She describes her daily job cleaning ears—some patients find it so satisfying that they start making… unexpected noises.

“Some people who, clearly, really enjoy the ear cleaning process. Like, a lot. Like, a little too much, if you know what I mean.” – Jackie (12:56)

• The team quickly latches onto the idea of the ear as an erogenous zone (“widely known as a potent erogenous zone” – Jackie, 13:39), and Gareth and Jake riff on how she should respond—alternating between concern, comic discomfort, and entrepreneurial excitement.

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “Is earwax buildup something?” – Jake (11:18)
• “Do you want to do a telehealth appointment?” – Jackie, teasing Jake’s curiosity (11:41)
• “It’s like the pimple popping, there’s something…” – Jackie, on why people love seeing what comes out of their ears (17:44)
• After Gareth does an explicit moan:
  “That was just so you could do that?” – Jake, exasperated (14:39)

The Dilemma

• Jackie asks: How should I handle clients’ overenthusiastic reactions? Is there a professional way to respond to what may be borderline inappropriate pleasure from a medical procedure?
• She also floats the idea of a side business: “ear spa” with massages, hot towels, etc.

Brainstorming the Ear Spa Business

• Discussion morphs from “how do I set boundaries” into aggressively workshopping her potential new side hustle.
• Key idea: a soothing, spa-like in-home ear-cleaning and massage service, with options like hot towels, ear hair removal, soothing music, and a menu of services.

“What if you almost did, like, ear spa, where… hot towel on the ear… ear massage… happy earning is the wax removal.” – Gareth (24:36)

• Name suggestions: “Ear to Help” (Gareth), which is apparently available as a domain!
• Pricing and logistics are discussed. Eric offers advice based on his wife’s dog-grooming business: “If you can do this out of your house, cancel Christmas and I’m in.” (32:06)

Resolutions & Next Steps

• Jackie likes the idea of a hybrid business, both in-home and mobile for those unable to travel.
• The group even offers practical help: “We could maybe hook you up with [Squarespace]… We could talk about this in our ads.” – Jake (35:07)

Professional Boundary Advice

• On the original question—how to respond in the office? “Here, we gotta keep it a little bit [professional], but there’s a different service that you could have for that.” – Jake (43:54)
• Solution: Hand out a card with the ear spa website, redirecting anyone who seems a little too into the in-office experience to a more appropriate setting.
• “We have a great segue from the office to the ear spa with ear to help.com.” – Jackie (47:48)

Hilarious Detours & Notable Bits

• Gross ear-wax show-and-tell (18:01–18:56): “Is that an ear-waxed battery?!” – Gareth
• Eric and Gareth riff on being her first clients, with Eric vowing to suppress any groaning.
• Security: “If you want to stop them groaning, we’ll hire Eric; he can go there with his illegal switchblade and just flick it open.” – Gareth (43:10)

---

Call #2: Will the Taekwondo Crossroads (“The Master Appears”)

Timestamps: 48:54 – 74:22

The Situation

• Will, 33, from Lancaster, PA, is a 6th degree black belt in Taekwondo, wrestling with whether to continue, take a break, or push to the next “Master” level (requires 6 more years).
• Context: Has taught, competed internationally, mentors, but is disconnected from his master and “lineage.”

Key Discussion Points

• Will feels a responsibility to the next generation, but the time, energy, and next steps weigh on him.
• Feels pressure from elders in the community (“a local master asked: ‘William, what season of your practice are you in?’” – 54:43)
• Concerns about burnout, life balance, and whether to formally retire or pause.

Advice & Debates

• Jake argues for endurance: “You’re at mile 21, just finish the race. And once you get that master… you don’t have to become a grandmaster.” (61:35)
• Eric (and Gareth) argue a voluntary break: “Maybe part of becoming a master is taking that break first to figure out other things in life… the break will be crucial…” (60:44)
• The 6-year timeline to Master status is a surprise for Jake (“Oh, six more years? That changes my pitch.” – 64:09)

Community Solution

• The group proposes sending out a “bat signal” to the podcast community—maybe there are future Taekwondo students in Will’s area who want a teacher, which could reignite his passion.

“Let’s see if fate can get involved here, because I think if you started teaching somebody, it would fire you up again.” – Jake (68:10)

Philosophical Notes & Fun Facts

• “When the student is ready, the master will appear. That’s the smartest thing I ever just said.” – Eric (67:43)
• Willie Nelson is a Taekwondo master (64:14), Elvis was a fifth-degree black belt (72:33).
• Eric sidetracks with an anecdote about almost becoming a Japanese TV star as a kid, but chose “normal life” instead and rediscovered acting on his own terms. Message: Take a break to find your passion.

Wrap-up

• Will is open to the community outreach idea: “See if there’s anybody out there you want to just teach as your love letter to Taekwondo…” – Jake (71:32)
• Everyone agrees: no snap decisions, let the process play out, and be wary of questionable local “masters” named after the hosts.

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Notable Quotes

• “Nobody is a better example of being an onion than Eric. …I don’t have any deeper of understanding than I did on day one.” – Jake Johnson (05:07)
• “Some people who, clearly, really enjoy the ear cleaning process. Like, a lot. Like, a little too much, if you know what I mean.” – Jackie (12:56)
• “Do you want to do a telehealth appointment or maybe…” – Jackie teasing Jake (11:41)
• “If you can do this out of your house, cancel Christmas and I’m in. Not a bit. I’m coming over. I will pay.” – Eric Edelstein (32:06)
• “When the student is ready, the master will appear. That’s the smartest thing I ever just said.” – Eric Edelstein (67:43)
• “You’re at mile 21, just finish the race. And once you get that master… you don’t have to become a grandmaster.” – Jake Johnson (61:35)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-----------------------------------------------|------------------| | New Year’s Plans | 00:44 – 07:30 | | Eric Edelstein’s Onion Status | 04:42 – 07:37 | | Jackie’s Call: Ear Cleaning & Ear Spa | 09:30 – 48:49 | | Gross Earwax Show-and-Tell | 18:01 – 18:56 | | “Ear to Help” Spa Discussion | 24:36 – 44:05 | | Will’s Call: Taekwondo Crossroads | 48:54 – 74:22 | | Mastery vs. Taking a Break Debate | 60:44 – 66:57 | | Community Outreach Solution | 68:10 – 73:09 |

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Episode Tone & Style

• Conversational, playfully irreverent, and honest. The hosts riff constantly: jokes undercut seriousness, but empathy and actual advice are always present.
• Unabashedly personal: stories about family, personal failures, weird work experiences all populate the advice.
• Warm and collaborative: Even detours and bits lead to genuine solutions (“Let’s see if fate can get involved…”).

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Summary Takeaway

This episode perfectly encapsulates the unique “almost qualified” advice style of We're Here to Help: through banter, bits, and unlikely business pitches, real support and ideas are delivered—with just enough friendliness, humility, and absurdity to make you feel like you’re hanging out in the world’s most entertaining group chat.

For listeners:

• If you’ve ever had a question about professional boundaries or starting a left-field spa, this one is for you.
• If you’re at a crossroads between mastery and moving on, the gang will give you options, validation, and maybe a weird anecdote about Elvis or Japanese TV.

And if you need an ear cleaning… well, Jackie’s about to start taking appointments.

Transcript

[Announcer]

Hey, we're heredos. The Steve Berg 2026 calendar is here. Well, almost. It will be available for order on December 3rd at 12:00pm Eastern Standard Time. We are doing a limited run of 500 calendars, so get yours while you can. All orders will ship December 9th, just in time for the holidays. Visit www.heretohelpod.com.

[Will]

2222.

[Jake Johnson]

And we are back.

[Gareth Reynolds]

We can pick it up.

[Jake Johnson]

Okay.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Hi, Jake.

[Jake Johnson]

Hey, Gareth. To my last episode that we are doing before New Year's. You got one with the great Colton Dunn on Wednesday.

[Gareth Reynolds]

He does it all. We love him New Year.

[Jake Johnson]

Love him New Year's. What are you doing for New Year's?

[Gareth Reynolds]

I'm actually doing a show in Pottstown, Pennsylvania at a place called Soul Joel's, which is a real interesting little venue, but so I got a lot of shows I'm doing. It's like he started. He converted like a country club into a comedy club and. And other stuff. But it's like a restaurant and big name comedians are like, I love going here.

[Jake Johnson]

How come?

[Gareth Reynolds]

So just because he treats you really well. It's kind of nice. It's a little more upscale. Pottstown. Even the people of Pottstown. It's one of those towns where they don't mind you on Pottstown, as far as a city goes, that's fun, but it's a diamond in the rough sort of situation.

[Jake Johnson]

Okay, so you're excited about it?

[Gareth Reynolds]

I am. It came in last minute and I am. I'm excited about it. But. But you know, it's different when you do stand up for New Year's and watch people experience New Year's versus experience New Year's. But yeah, that's work. But yeah, that's what I'm doing. And I'm doing a run of shows out that area. But what are you doing?

[Jake Johnson]

Going to Vegas with the family.

[Gareth Reynolds]

And you're going back to the Venetian?

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah, I'm going back to the Venetian. I'm going to Vegas. They. I want to see what Vegas is like with kids. I've never done it. They've never been.

[Gareth Reynolds]

What do you have. What time does New Year's start with kids?

[Jake Johnson]

Then we're doing midnight. We're doing the whole thing.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, wait, you're. Wait, but what are the kid activities you're doing?

[Jake Johnson]

So the kid activities, I mean, they got. I. I'll kind of be able to report after, but it's a bunch of stuff. Zip lining. They have an indoor.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

Amusement park.

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

You've got like, shows. I was like, oh, yeah, we'll go see if magician. We're going to see circus delay show on water, where I'm like, stuff I would never do. But I'm like, yeah. We were looking at what to do. We're like, it's got to be near la. We could go here. I'm like, it's Las Vegas. It's so easy to get to. Everybody's saying, no one's going to Vegas. I'm like, great, Perfect time to go.

[Gareth Reynolds]

And then you. Do you have the kids, they stay up for midnight at this point?

[Jake Johnson]

Oh, yeah, yeah, we did. Last year, we were in San Francisco in Chinatown, watching fireworks. Watching street fireworks, which was fun, just walking around. The guys who sell it, they would walk outside and I'd be like, watch this guy. He pops him off. We would all yell, happy New Year. Awesome. Street fireworks.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Jake Johnson, planning versus this year. Feels a little more like the wife had some influence.

[Jake Johnson]

Gareth. It's all been me the last couple years. The trips are getting weird, brother. We were in the Arctic Circle. Fire, dude.

[Gareth Reynolds]

What'S this guy?

[Jake Johnson]

When we were in Alaska, in the Arctic Circle, we went to a guy's house, and he was giving us a tour of the stuff he's killed. There were flies buzzing around in the house. It smelled like dead animals. And there was a. He was walking around, there was a huge rifle behind him. And my daughter said to me, she leaned in and she goes, in all my nightmares of being kidnapped, it would always be, they take me to a place like this. And I go, you're exactly right. And to me, in my head, I went, I hope you're having a wonderful family vacation.

[Gareth Reynolds]

But you are. You're heaven, though. You're like, it's gamey in here. Look at all these heads.

[Jake Johnson]

Too much gamey. Too much. It's scared.

[Gareth Reynolds]

But you weren't scared straight. You're still. You still have a chimp head behind you.

[Jake Johnson]

If you're born so crooked, you can never be squ.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Scared straight.

[Jake Johnson]

That's the problem.

[Eric Edelstein]

Merch.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Merch. Book title. Autobiography.

[Jake Johnson]

So today's episode, we got a fun one. We have everybody's favorite, Eric J. Adelstein.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's just magic. Now you brought Eric into this. It feels validating, I'm sure, to bring. I mean, I feel it. To bring Eric to our fans and have them get it. Find. Yes.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yes.

[Jake Johnson]

Well, I. What I really think of Eric is. And I've said this to you guys, a lot of, you know, he's. Nobody. Is a better example of being an onion than Eric. You just keep. You know. I've known him and hung out intimately with Eric since 2004. Really? Without breaks. I don't have any deeper of understanding that I did on day one when I met him. We were in 1545 North Los Palmas, which was a. Used to be an hourly, like, sex hotel. And when I moved in, my roommate Brian Farrell said, you know the guy Eric from downstairs, he's been asking about you. And then one day, that's weird. There's a knock on the door and Eric is leaning on the door frame covering everything. I open the door and he goes, hey, man, he's a new guy. And I go, yeah. And he goes, you want to drive around in my convertible? I want it on a game show and take some pills and eat hamburgers. And I go, yeah, I think so. Got in his car, we took some sort of a downer, drove an hour. Now eat hamburgers to eat a hamburger at like the most medium hamburger joint I'd ever been to.

[Gareth Reynolds]

This is the best brother.

[Jake Johnson]

And that's what he was like, wow, man. I'm like, man, this is a step above a Hardee's Jack. And I was like, it took us an hour and a half. And he's like, fries are endless. I'm like, they should be. They're not good.

[Gareth Reynolds]

They're compensating.

[Jake Johnson]

But if they give you more, that means the quality is not great.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That's right. The fancy restaurant. There's like three little things in the.

[Jake Johnson]

Middle because they're so good.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Because they're so good. They're morsels. You're talking about a guy who's endlessly throwing potatoes at a problem merch.

[Jake Johnson]

But he comes on today. It's a great show as always. It's a fun one. We appreciate you guys all following with us. We wish you all a happy new year. Everybody. Be safe. If you're. Where are you going to be again? What State, Gareth?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Pottstown, Pennsylvania. You can go to GarethReynolds.com that'll be in Kansas City right after that. If you want to check those make them up shows a couple days later.

[Jake Johnson]

From Pennsylvania to Kansas City.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's not great. It's hard. It's hard. I'm flying.

[Jake Johnson]

My.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, you're flying.

[Will]

Okay, good.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, it makes a lot more sense.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's all a little last minute.

[Jake Johnson]

That works, really.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Thank you to everybody who's listening this year. Share the show for sure. Talk about the show, but we're very excited also.

[Jake Johnson]

We have very exciting news coming very soon.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yes. There we go.

[Eric Edelstein]

Enjoy the show.

[Gareth Reynolds]

And in that case, without further ado.

[Jake Johnson]

This episode of We're Here to Help is brought to you by the great Rocket Money. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I've told you before, I've saved money on a Packers radio station I didn't realize I was still paying for. There was a weather app that I was using to track a hurricane that was hitting California on my drive a year and a half ago. And I was paid. They did the thing where they go, hey, seven days for free. And I went, oh, that's great. Then I avoided the hurricane two years later, well, guess what? Still paying for that hurricane info. Okay, I'm not saying I'm a victim, but, you know, I am a victim.

[Jake Johnson]

I started using Rocket Money, and I found that I was paying for a subscription to when I directed my movie. I got something where I could see different images of different DPS and things that they shot. You know, something like $9 a month. And I got it, and I looked at the photos and I pretended to be a genius, and I looked at the world differently, and I thought, how would I shoot? What do I see?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Wow.

[Jake Johnson]

Jakey Scorsese over here has a vision. And then, like a true bozo, I didn't cancel it. That was three years of spending without looking at it. That's real life. That happens.

[Gareth Reynolds]

So on one dashboard, you're going to be able to see your checkings, your savings, your loans, your investments, all that. So it gives you a very clear view of your financial picture. So let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. [e-mail] Help. That's Rocket Money.com Help. RocketMoney.com Help.

[Eric Edelstein]

Hello. Hello.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Hi. How are you?

[Jackie]

I'm excited to be here. I'm sorry, you guys.

[Gareth Reynolds]

What's your name?

[Jackie]

I'm gonna go with Jackie.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Hi, Jackie and Jackie, where are you hypothetically calling from?

[Jackie]

Southern California.

[Gareth Reynolds]

How beautiful. And how old are you? Air quoting Jackie.

[Jackie]

34 years old.

[Gareth Reynolds]

34. So, Cal. Fake name. Jackie. Excited to have you here, Jake. You want to know the sign? You care.

[Jake Johnson]

You're running things, baby.

[Gareth Reynolds]

All right, Jackie, let's just get into it. We're excited. You've got enthusiasm. Let's not dim your light. What is going on? What can we help you with? I'll be honest. We're on fire today, so.

[Jackie]

Oh, my gosh. Well, good. We've got a weird one for you guys.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay. All right, let's party. What's up?

[Jackie]

Okay, so I'll start off by setting the scene a little bit, because I think the context will really help. It's an issue I have at work because I work at a medical office. I'm a pa, which is physician assistant. I see patients every day. My specialty is ent, so ear, nose, throat. So obviously very glamorous. Lots of mucus, pus, and of course, because of earwax. But, yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

Quick question for you. Quick question. Hey, Jackie, quick medical question.

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

If you're not great at hearing, if somebody's like, not great, should they just get their ears cleaned out?

[Jackie]

It depends. But, yeah, I'm not sure, like, if it's an issue, it's not good at hearing or just not listening. So that's always an issue.

[Jake Johnson]

But, like, is earwax build up something?

[Jackie]

No, you're right. You're right. Yeah. It can. Can block your hearing for sure. That's why I see tons of people for that.

[Jake Johnson]

And how. Does. What's the process? How do you get that cleaned out?

[Jackie]

Yeah, that's part of my call, so. Because I. Oh, okay.

[Gareth Reynolds]

She's in SoCal.

[Jake Johnson]

Sorry, sorry.

[Gareth Reynolds]

She wants. Jake, this is us trying to get your ears clean.

[Jake Johnson]

I'm just interested.

[Jackie]

Do you want to do a telehealth appointment or maybe.

[Jake Johnson]

I don't know.

[Jackie]

Yeah, no. So essentially, because we're a specialty office, we're not. We're not doing, like, the flushing method with water. That's, like, what you'll see at the urgent care, maybe your primary care office. But we're talking, like, specialized instruments. I'm, like, 2 inches away from your face, sticking around for gold in there with, like, you know. Yeah. You know, intimate. Yeah, it's pretty intimate. We use. Sometimes we'll use, like, little curettes, we call them, or a little, like, forceps or suction, like a little vacuum. Very intimate. And yeah, you know, it's a pretty sensitive area.

[Jake Johnson]

I'm not. I'm not comfortable with this.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I like it.

[Jackie]

Yeah, some people really aren't.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yes, I want it done. I want it done. Because they just all of a sudden were like, don't use Q tips. And that's where they left us hanging.

[Jake Johnson]

Well, look, I want to have it head done.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, that's what I want.

[Jake Johnson]

I don't like a stranger in my ear two inches from my face.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I don't mind it.

[Jackie]

You're not alone in that.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, for the show. It Was for the show.

[Jake Johnson]

Back to you.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Wowee.

[Jackie]

Yeah. Well, anyway, yeah, so, like, there are some people who are really sensitive to it. They kind of come in, they freak out. You know, I get to know them, they start to feel more comfortable. I have regulars come in, so I'm not a stranger to everyone. And then there are some people who, like, clearly really enjoy the ear cleaning process. Like, a lot. Like, a little too much, if you.

[Eric Edelstein]

Know what I mean.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Keep going.

[Jake Johnson]

Oh, like pervy.

[Jackie]

I mean, like, the ear is a sensitive area. Like, in more ways than one. I don't know if you catch my drift.

[Eric Edelstein]

Are you.

[Jake Johnson]

Jackson, you gotta be clear here, because this is really weird stuff.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Erogenous zone, are you saying.

[Jackie]

Yeah, yeah, it is. It is. It is widely known as a. Like, a potent erogenous zone.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Is that right?

[Jake Johnson]

I. I thought the outside maybe, but I didn't think of the tool in the hole.

[Jackie]

Well, inside. That's why some people, like, love Q tipping their ears, you know, like, oh, it's perfect. I mean, it's just. It's like when you get a massage or something, like. And also, yes, it's erogenous. It's satisfying. And I will say, like, some people, like, they'll, like, make noises when I'll clean their ears.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay.

[Jackie]

It's such a weird call. Yeah, they'll, like, moan.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Like, some people even, like, like, are you talking. You don't have to do it, but are we talking like.

[Jake Johnson]

Oh, Gareth, stop.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Jake, I'm talking to Jackie for a minute. Chill out, dude. Jesus Christ. Like that.

[Jackie]

I mean, so it, like, all of.

[Jake Johnson]

That was just so you could do that? Of course. You know what a Mona's. I'm just trying to get. You're just trying to get a sound clip now?

[Gareth Reynolds]

What do you cut that talking about? We're gonna talk for three and a half hours today. You're like, he's got this sound clip up his sleeve.

[Jake Johnson]

Hey, stay, moan.

[Gareth Reynolds]

But I didn't want. But I didn't want. I was gonna ask Jackie to do it, but then I'm like, well, that's extra perfect.

[Jake Johnson]

Of course we don' to do it either.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It is just making sure that these are orgasm sounds.

[Jackie]

Well, it's more like.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Let her answer.

[Jackie]

I can say, like, it's. It's like, I'm not creeped out by it because it's like, usually, like, pretty sweet older men, they maybe are alone.

[Jake Johnson]

Like, they're not sweet.

[Eric Edelstein]

All right.

[Jake Johnson]

They're fake sweet.

[Gareth Reynolds]

How. Where's SoCal? Let's get a zip.

[Jackie]

Oh, Gosh, I. I don't know if I really want to share that.

[Jake Johnson]

Don't. Jackie, slow down. Gareth is getting weird.

[Gareth Reynolds]

So it's true.

[Jake Johnson]

Everybody take a minute. Yeah, Gareth, cool it.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You're right. You're absolutely right.

[Jake Johnson]

Something about her going and said, your ear. You're changing.

[Eric Edelstein]

Cool.

[Jake Johnson]

Gareth, cool it. You hear me?

[Gareth Reynolds]

I could hear. I could hear you better if she got involved.

[Jake Johnson]

Yep.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Having a little trouble here.

[Jake Johnson]

This is a professional show.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You're right. You're right.

[Jake Johnson]

She called in for help.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

Not for some older guy to creep out about the ear stuff. Okay, Jackie, the floor is yours.

[Gareth Reynolds]

The show's yours.

[Jackie]

Well, okay. So, yeah, I mean, some people are, like, pretty vocal. They'll say, like, oh, wow. Yeah, that feels good. Like, it's not. It's like, okay, I hear you. Like, it's better than the alternative, in my opinion, where people are like, oh, get away from me.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, that's kind of gross. I agree. Go ahead, Jackie.

[Jackie]

Yeah, but it's. Yeah, it's like I have this. Like, when they say that, I'm not sure exactly how to respond. I, like, it's like this moment, I'm really close to you. You're, like, telling me that it feels good, and I just usually kind of freeze.

[Eric Edelstein]

And.

[Jackie]

And the question, I guess, that I have is, like, what do I do? Like, do I take this and, like, do I use it? Do I ignore it? Like, how. Like, I feel like it's always awkward, but there might be a better way.

[Jake Johnson]

This is interesting.

[Gareth Reynolds]

So really the question is, how do you dissuade people from being vocal? Because it unnerves you a little bit, or how.

[Jake Johnson]

Respond to it.

[Jackie]

Yeah. How do I respond? Like, I'm not necessarily. Like, I'm not necessarily against them having a pleasant experience, and I'm not trying to be weird about it, but I also, like. I mean, like, the whole appointment's kind of weird. Like, people get their ears clean. They love seeing what comes out of their ears.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Like, it's true.

[Jackie]

That's pretty.

[Jake Johnson]

I would commonly.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's like the pimple popping. It's like, there's something.

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah.

[Jackie]

Everybody's like, disgusting photos.

[Announcer]

I don't know.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I don't really.

[Eric Edelstein]

Come on.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Do you want to see them? We're professionals. I think for work we have to. I, like, couldn't even look at them.

[Jackie]

When I was putting.

[Announcer]

Filing them.

[Jackie]

Come on.

[Announcer]

They're so nasty.

[Gareth Reynolds]

All right, so this is stuff that's come out of the ears of patients.

[Jackie]

All kinds of things. I sent a variety for you. Guys.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, yeah. It looks like dog teeth. Wowie. What is. Oh my God. It looks like a used cocoon.

[Jake Johnson]

What's going on with.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Why is your coffee so close? What is that a battery?

[Jackie]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Is that an ear waxed battery?

[Eric Edelstein]

Ew.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh my God.

[Jake Johnson]

Send me out.

[Eric Edelstein]

What is that?

[Gareth Reynolds]

What is that? Like a set of metal teeth that just looks like play doh.

[Eric Edelstein]

Blue.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That's blue.

[Jake Johnson]

That's a blue sperm next to it.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, Jake, you need to see a doctor. Oh my God. What is that? That looks like. Is that spider legs?

[Jackie]

Oh, one. Well, that one I think is a eyelash extension from some girls eyelashes. Somehow got in there. Crazy night? Not sure.

[Jake Johnson]

Okay, all right, so Jackie, we gotta get to the question here specifically. So there's. You're an ear nose throat specialist. Really close to the ears. Sometimes they moan and say they're enjoying it. And your question is, is how can you respond when you are in somebody's ear and they're like it?

[Jackie]

Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

The question is, what's an appropriate response?

[Jackie]

Yeah. Or like how. How do I respond in general? Like with this position I'm in, like, you know, I guess. Yeah, we can start with like a response in the moment or like in general? I don't know. Some. Sometimes I won. Like, is this an opportunity to expand on business? I don't know.

[Jake Johnson]

Go on.

[Eric Edelstein]

Whoa.

[Jackie]

Well, I guess, like, I don't know if you guys like have ever had a massage. Like it's sort of like that to people. I wonder. Like, is this. I don't know. I. My specific question when I emailed in was how do I respond these to these folks?

[Jake Johnson]

Hey, Jackie, you just said. Hold on. Yes, keep going. So, Jackie, are you looking how to turn this into a happy ending?

[Jackie]

No, no, no, no. I'm not looking for like an eargasm situation at all.

[Jake Johnson]

Sounded like you were building towards it.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Like the term.

[Jackie]

No, no, no. Yeah, I guess. I, I'm very Garrison.

[Jake Johnson]

No, Jackie, don't bail out on what you were just saying.

[Gareth Reynolds]

No, where are you?

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah, you start going and then you bounce around. We need you to say what you're thinking here. This is a no judgment zone. With judgment. Yep.

[Gareth Reynolds]

There's no judgment here, but from Jake, a lot right now, just a lot of jokes that are judging.

[Jackie]

My, my. When I was waiting for the call last, you know, a few days, I'm thinking like, oh, you know, this is sort of an opportunity. Like I could, I could think about like, you know, doing this outside the office. Like as far as ear cleanings go, like ear Spa kind of thing. Like, people like that sort of thing. And it's, like, interesting, you know, that could be a niche. But again, I'm not. I think let's. Maybe we'll circle back to that.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's a very. It's. It's tough to leave that behind. But. Okay, why don't we try to solve it and we'll see. But see, I thought you were against the sounds, but you're really just sort of not sure how to responding.

[Jake Johnson]

I mean, but she's also. Do I open up a side business where I leave?

[Gareth Reynolds]

You can't bring up side business and then have Jake leave to pollinate a different plant.

[Jake Johnson]

You're not wrong, Gareth. I mean, he's too big of a thing. If I'm driving in my car and I hear that, here's what I don't want to hear. Let's pitch jokes of what she could say in response. I'm thinking, this woman wants to open up a side business where she's leaning into the fact that these old guys are like, I like it when you're inside my ear and Jackie's going, I know I might get 150, but Jackie, is this. Walk me through just the plan, if it were real, what that would look like? Are you looking? You're just gonna go deeper in their ear? No, like, oh, that feels good. And you go, you like that? How about this tool?

[Gareth Reynolds]

No.

[Jackie]

I guess, like, I guess it's sort of been on my mind for a while to do at home ear cleanings for these people who have a really hard time coming into the office.

[Jake Johnson]

Would you ever do it in a hotel?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Why do they have a hard time coming into the office?

[Jackie]

Oh, they're old. They need rides. They can't drive.

[Jake Johnson]

Oh, understood.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay.

[Jake Johnson]

I mean, at home, care is great.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Or if you were mobile as well, that's another option, but okay.

[Jackie]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. What's the hotel? Oh, yes.

[Jake Johnson]

No, not me, Jackie. Well, well, well.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Johnson.

[Jake Johnson]

I'm trying.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Who's the weirdo now?

[Jake Johnson]

I'm trying to get a sense of what this business is and what you're pitching, because sometimes you'll make it seem like you're pitching a regular thing. But the origins of this call was you go inside these old men's ears and they like it, and you're really close and you think, maybe there's something more. So this isn't. Could I be a mobile business? Of course you could. But you're thinking, these old creeps like this, and I don't mind it. I mean, Jack, if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. But look, there's a lot of smoke coming from this cabin, and I'm going, I think there's a fire in there, Jackie.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Look, my partner's saying there's either a fire or a new pope. Which is it?

[Jackie]

Okay. Okay. Yeah, great question. I guess I. I am very open to all directions of which this will go to. Shutting it down is one thing that I think would just sort of be a good in office scenario and. And not, you know, making it too weird because it's, you know, professional setting.

[Jake Johnson]

But you. You might be open to creating an unprofessional.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Let's. Let's.

[Jake Johnson]

In the ear cleaning zone.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Let's get to the professional shutdown after we pitch on this, maybe. Because what I'm thinking is, what if you almost sort of did, like, ear spa, where it's like, you could put a hot towel on the ear, you could, like, get the hair off the earth, you could give a little bit of an ear massage. And then the coup de grace, the, dare I say, happy earning, is the wax removal, full cleaning.

[Jackie]

Oh, okay. Yeah. The hair thing is really on point.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Also an ear massage, though.

[Jake Johnson]

You know, Jackie, we could get on Squarespace and create a website for you.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Now, we are talking where it's.

[Jake Johnson]

You are an ear specialist, but you do special care. So if someone's moaning in the office, you could say, if interested, you should check out my website.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I think there's something you might like more.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah, like, I can continue doing this here, but I do offer another service and they go, ha.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I could give you another service. I think you might like my side biz.

[Jake Johnson]

Okay, I'll take it. So, one thing, but if you had something where you had a little card that they could leave with the card, then they could go privately, look at the website and go like, it's a whole cleaning. It's an ear massage. It's soothing music. It's at the comfort of my home. It's 20 minutes on each ear and.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Then the wax and then you.

[Jake Johnson]

It's like 30 minutes on. It's full ear care.

[Gareth Reynolds]

This is pretty good.

[Jake Johnson]

Where you go, like, you know what? I'm willing to spend cash. I want to just lay on my side and have that woman do a bunch of weird stuff to my ears.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Like, manicure for your ear.

[Jackie]

Oh, yeah, Yeah, I like that. I mean, I. I guess I haven't really thought about it in that way because that's. I mean, I'd have to get. I have to, like, kind of learn those things, those spa type things. But yeah, I feel like that there's a whole. I could have like a whole menu of options.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I bet you if you got like, there's those. I think they have like little towel steamers at spas. If you got like a little thing where you steam a towel, you start on like an ear, you put a steam towel on it, you put on some nice music, you have some infused smells in the room, then you go to a massage, you give it a massage, then you start putting some lotion on it. When you further massage, then you do the other ear, same thing. And then at the very end, you just like do your wax removal shit and your cleaning. I mean, that's an hour. I'm a comedian. That's a full set list.

[Jake Johnson]

But Jackie, is this something you want to do?

[Gareth Reynolds]

I think I want to do it.

[Jake Johnson]

You're becoming.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I'm falling in love with it.

[Jake Johnson]

This is a full.

[Gareth Reynolds]

This is a side hustle.

[Jackie]

Yeah. Well, the thing is, yeah, like I am. I'm starting to think about going more part time in my office and I've been thinking about, you know, things that are a little more family friendly for family planning and like scheduling. Doing my own schedule. So it has sort of been something like that that I've been thinking about as far as like at home stuff. But this is like definitely a whole new level. But I like it. I mean, because it does sort of incorporate all aspects of the ear cleaning and the enjoyment of it. So I'm. I wonder if I really would like, I could. I definitely could try.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You know, you could call your business ear to help.

[Jake Johnson]

Don't call it that.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Come on.

[Jake Johnson]

No. Now can we pitch? Hey, Natalie, is this what you thought this call was going to be?

[Gareth Reynolds]

No.

[Jackie]

Sorry. Natalie, what did you think this is?

[Gareth Reynolds]

This is a good direction.

[Jake Johnson]

What did you think accomplished?

[Gareth Reynolds]

They were going to be like, you know, this one was a real stumper.

[Jackie]

Eric's here.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Eric.

[Jake Johnson]

I said I had to definitely send Eric the thing. Let's get Eric on.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay.

[Jake Johnson]

Hey, Jackie, Eric's going to join in.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay.

[Jake Johnson]

What's up, King Eric.

[Eric Edelstein]

How you doing, buddy?

[Jake Johnson]

So we got something that I asked Natalie to send. We need your help on this one.

[Eric Edelstein]

Please.

[Jake Johnson]

Jackie, will you give Eric the quick setup?

[Jackie]

Oh, boy. Okay. Hi, Eric.

[Eric Edelstein]

Hi, Jackie. Good to meet you. I'm here to help.

[Jackie]

Nice to meet you. I'm so excited that you're here. So. Okay. So.

[Jake Johnson]

Such a victim. Old switchblade.

[Gareth Reynolds]

We brought up the switchblade.

[Jake Johnson]

Do you have it?

[Will]

I have It.

[Eric Edelstein]

I brought it for you, buddy.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I might order one.

[Jake Johnson]

All right.

[Eric Edelstein]

Sorry, Jackie. Go ahead.

[Jackie]

It's all right. So I am an ear, nose, and throat physician assistant. I see patients for all sorts of issues, but I do mostly ear cleanings. And some people really love it, some people don't, but the people who really love it, you know, we started at first talking initially about how they'll make, like, groaning noises. Sometimes I'll lean into it, like, oh, wow, that feels good. Oh, yeah. That sort of thing.

[Eric Edelstein]

Okay.

[Jackie]

And at first I was thinking, like, okay, in my office, this is getting a little weird. Like, how do I respond? What's my response?

[Eric Edelstein]

But.

[Jackie]

But we sort of started, yeah, talking a little bit more about, like, you know, I'm not necessarily opposed to just having this be, like, an opportunity. And, you know, I was starting to think about doing at home ear cleanings for people who have a hard time getting into the office. And so then, yeah, the whole, like, ear spa was pitched with, like, a full ear massage, hot towel kind of experience, kind of that. That's what we've been talking about. Is that clear watching?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yes.

[Eric Edelstein]

Let me sign up to be your first client, and I won't grow in and make noises. This is not a.

[Jake Johnson]

You will. You will make noises and you will groan.

[Eric Edelstein]

No, no, no. I can hold it in. Trust me. Trust me. I have discipline in unlikely places, friends. I will absolutely not. A bit go to your spa if it's located out of town.

[Jake Johnson]

SoCal, I'm not paying for you to go.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I'll go with you. I'll go with you.

[Eric Edelstein]

I'm legit in. I'll pay for it.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I'm in.

[Eric Edelstein]

I'll pay for it. Now do the noises bug you out? Does that freak you out? Is that part of why you called?

[Jackie]

Well, yeah, because at first it's like, oh, like, this is just not. I don't know what to say. I don't know what to do here in this office. Like, it's just very. An unprofessional setting. But then I'm like, also, these guys are like, a lot of times, like, maybe lonely old men, widows. I'm like, ah, whatever. It is what it is. And so I'm like, I'm not necessarily totally opposed to it. I just feel like I didn't. I wanted to be open anything here.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Here's. I think the bottom line. She either wants less noise in the office or more noise outside of the office. For profit.

[Jake Johnson]

Yes.

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah. I mean, I'm the perfect person to talk to because my wife Started an empire grooming dogs in our old house from the garage. And Jess run a grooming. If you don't know, and let me just say like that there, it's a challenge moving it out of the house because once you start renting a place, paying payroll taxes, dealing with all this other stuff, it gets a lot more expensive. Our profit margins when we were out of a garage, when we had Andy Garcia and Tom Sandoval coming over, were ridiculous. So if you can do this out of your house, cancel Christmas and I'm in. Not a bit. I'm coming over. I will pay. I won't charge. Jake can't get water out of a rock.

[Jake Johnson]

Why would I pay for you to get your ears?

[Eric Edelstein]

Because it's for the pod, Jake. Because it's for the pod, my friend.

[Jake Johnson]

It's not for the pod.

[Eric Edelstein]

Well, I need my ears cleaned. I want them cleaned. I'm a former tinnitus sufferer. I'm absolutely in. You're dead.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Tinnitus.

[Eric Edelstein]

I had tinnitus and then I got it cleared from a Neil Young concert. He played a guitar chord. I get made fun of for this, but it actually really happened. Yeah, I used to have really bad.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Tinnitus and then a Neil Young cord.

[Eric Edelstein]

Got rid of it in Bakersfield, California. Yeah, this is not a bit. It really, truly did.

[Gareth Reynolds]

What year?

[Eric Edelstein]

Oh, this is probably 2017. 2018.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Thank you.

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah. So I would love to come in. I have a question for you. I actually just did this. I spray the nozzle in the shower in my ears to kind of clean it and it feels amazing. I wouldn't say I groan, but it's definitely a satisfying feeling. Is that okay? I've been doing it for years.

[Jackie]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, as long as you don't have, you know, history of eardrum perforation or like narrow narrowing ear canals.

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah, I have incredible ears, incredible hearing. I hear things. I'll be focused on one conversation and listen to somebody else in case they're talking about.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I think that's happening right now.

[Eric Edelstein]

Oh, it's totally right now.

[Jake Johnson]

But you'll never hear the original conversation.

[Eric Edelstein]

I have point guard ears. Okay. I'm constantly nice character actor. Trust me, I do. It's part of my Boolean basic. Good. So where. Where?

[Jake Johnson]

Thanks for coming in.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Thanks for calling the show, Eric.

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah, thank you. You help me. I was bored. Where's your office located? When can I come in? Nothing's a bit.

[Jake Johnson]

I know.

[Eric Edelstein]

Okay, so I'm coming in.

[Jake Johnson]

She's not offering that.

[Eric Edelstein]

Yes, well, yes, she wants to we're midwife.

[Jake Johnson]

Are you looking for a client? You want Eric to come in? How much do you charge? He'll pay you to clean his ears. Well, I guess that's where it could.

[Gareth Reynolds]

But hold on, Jake, he could be a test client for the new business model.

[Eric Edelstein]

Exactly. Thank you, Garrett.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That's not what you were pitching Eric.

[Eric Edelstein]

No.

[Jake Johnson]

Jackie, is this something you're interested in?

[Jackie]

Yeah, absolutely. I think it would be a great launch point for sure.

[Jake Johnson]

And then Eric can come on and discuss the process of it. Maybe we can hook you up with Squarespace and start a website and that could be part of our Squarespace, who just bought a bunch more ads. They want to keep partnering, so we got to find something to link in with them. We could maybe hook you up with one. You would have to build the site. Yeah, but it could be in our ads. We could talk about this. So, Jackie.

[Jackie]

Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

Does this.

[Eric Edelstein]

Solve the problem? I just came in here and solved the problem in like record time. In like under nine minutes. I came in, helped a bunch of people. I'm client number one.

[Jake Johnson]

But Jackie, is this something you actually want? Is this why you called in? Then Gareth and Eric will come to your house and you'll. And we will get you a 10 discount on the Squarespace website for you to clean ears out of your home. And Eric is a switchblade that he keeps opening.

[Gareth Reynolds]

He's also arm. Jackie, just so you know, Eric's coming over to your house with an illegal.

[Jake Johnson]

Jackie, is this why you call this show?

[Jackie]

Not exactly, but I'm pretty excited about where we've landed, so I say successful call.

[Gareth Reynolds]

All in all, may I say one thing very quickly?

[Jackie]

He's not buying it.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Earto help.com is available.

[Jackie]

Oh, wow.

[Eric Edelstein]

Are you kidding? That's. I'm proud to know you.

[Jake Johnson]

Now let me ask you a question, Jackie, just so we can set rates. Would you be really uncomfortable doing it out of your house? So that Eric's advice about just run a grooming makes sense.

[Jackie]

Yes, I have. Yes, I have a space that I could do it. I think it would be maybe a hybrid though, because I still like the idea of kind of helping people who can't leave their home.

[Jake Johnson]

Okay, so you could go to them or they could come to you. It's a little bit more if you go to them and for an hour. What do you think of fair prices for this? Because insurance doesn't cover this.

[Jackie]

No.

[Jake Johnson]

So Eric, for real, if you were gonna go and the service is this. You go, she cleans your ears, massages your ears and then in the end, cleans everything out of it.

[Eric Edelstein]

Oh, she's massaging the ears, too.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Hot towels.

[Eric Edelstein]

Oh, that's why the people are. That's why the old guys are groaning.

[Jake Johnson]

Hot towels.

[Eric Edelstein]

They're widowers.

[Gareth Reynolds]

No, this is the new business.

[Jake Johnson]

This is gonna be the new service.

[Eric Edelstein]

Okay. Okay.

[Jake Johnson]

Hot towel clean. Massage at the end, deep clean out.

[Eric Edelstein]

I won't pay a dollar more than 90 bucks Canadian, so you would do.

[Jake Johnson]

90 bucks for that?

[Eric Edelstein]

No, I don't. Whatever the going rate is, I'm happy to pay.

[Jake Johnson]

We're creating a gold. We're creating gold.

[Eric Edelstein]

Let's look online and see what people charge. What do you charge right now at this office for that service?

[Jackie]

For just. We just do ear cleanings. And sometimes I'll also, like, trim the hair. There's a lot of hair that's in the way, sister.

[Eric Edelstein]

I need it.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That would be like, Eric's ears look like a fake eyelash fell in them.

[Eric Edelstein]

No, it's for every hair I lose on the top of my head. Is any of my ears in my upper back? I'm such a believer. I don't know why God has done this to me.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Go to a Neil Young concert. See if they can get you rid of that.

[Eric Edelstein]

Trust me, I don't help that. No, no. It added more air.

[Jake Johnson]

Jackie, what do you think a fair rate is for something like.

[Jackie]

Yeah, it is. It is, actually. You kind of nailed it. It's like, for, like, coming into the office for a cash price.

[Jake Johnson]

Okay.

[Jackie]

Just the air cleaning, so. Yeah, maybe like a little higher. Like, maybe 100. Be like, more like paying for a massage. Plus, you're getting, like, some medical treatment.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay, so, so we've got.

[Jake Johnson]

Natalie brought up a website that's a very fair price. If this is something that you want, we could connect you with Eric after. And then Garrett.

[Eric Edelstein]

Garrett's coming too. We're gonna have. We're gonna make a day of it. This is overdue grand.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I, I don't know about the scouts.

[Jake Johnson]

Gareth is going to bail, and so he's.

[Eric Edelstein]

No, he's not. He's. He's a calming force in this whole podcast process. He really is. He's midwife me through a lot. I'm going to put the top down, drive up the coast, meet him. Alba Seafood. We're going to get our ears cleaned. We're going to have a long, meaningful hug and call it a day.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I, I, I, I. Listen, I think it's going to happen. I really do.

[Eric Edelstein]

I believe it's going to Happen.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I think we could film some of it. We could get some footage of what the business model is. But I'm not kidding outside of any bit. I really do think this is a very viable business.

[Jackie]

Thank you.

[Will]

I.

[Jackie]

Thanks for the idea. And I think, yeah, I think we.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Can make sure over there. Babs, you're not on board with this.

[Jackie]

Hello?

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah, Jake, I'm honestly thrown that this is where this call has gone to. This has been as weird of a call. I think it started off, Natalie, what did you think the premise was going to be when this one started?

[Gareth Reynolds]

How to get men to stop groaning.

[Announcer]

When she's cleaning their ears?

[Jake Johnson]

So did I.

[Gareth Reynolds]

But then she brought. She started alluding to her side.

[Jake Johnson]

Now she's got hustle. Two men going to her house keeps opening a switch.

[Gareth Reynolds]

We will talk about this. Look, obviously we're going to talk about the switch plate.

[Jake Johnson]

And all of a sudden Gareth is a midw walking Eric through the podcast world. What the fuck are you saying?

[Eric Edelstein]

Oh, let's let the wild hedgehog out and be confused when he acts like a hedgehog. I mean, the second you sent me that email King, you knew what you were getting. You knew what you were getting.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You can't have buyer's remorse, Jake.

[Eric Edelstein]

No, I'm gonna buy you now. Keep it in your head for the entire time I'm involved. You broke it. You bought it, buddy.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I would.

[Eric Edelstein]

Here I sit. It ain't that different from your father selling used car.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay, I. I think we've got a.

[Jake Johnson]

How is the solution you guys are gonna go?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Because I'll answer your question. First of all, I do think there she's saying that there, it's like a pleasurable experience.

[Jake Johnson]

Yes.

[Gareth Reynolds]

So I think if you were to market this as like, hey, you like part of this? I'm gonna give you like a whole day of an hour of ear spa treatment.

[Jake Johnson]

That's true.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I think people would go for that. I also think if she. I think the prices we're talking about, for her to just remove the wax so cheap, it's just kind of like it's a little bit of filler is what it is. But I also think if you really do, I. I think when people get like. We're saying the ears is kind of an erogenous zone. We're not talking anything creepy, but we're saying if you give a light massage in there, that'll feel good. Put a hot towel on it. And then I do think it's also a great thing for us to do with Squarespace as Well, and so then.

[Jake Johnson]

Jackie, I guess the original call, the answer that is, is when old men moan, you say, you seem to like this. You might like. And then what's the name of the website? Gareth Hear help. So if they're moaning, going, you know, I've had a lot of customers who really enjoy the process of getting their ears cleaned. And apart from it being beneficial, it can be enjoying, enjoyable. So what I've done is I've created another business. Earto help dot com. Please check it out. And if you're interested, I do a whole full day of basically an ear spa.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's the shift from medical to therapeutic.

[Jake Johnson]

And it's saying while they're groaning in there, this isn't the place for those sounds. But though that place is in my other business, because what you can't be doing is be sitting in there moaning and groaning. That's not what this place is for. Or this is ear, nose, throat specialist.

[Gareth Reynolds]

If you want to go with your original pitch, how do you stop them groaning? We'll hire Eric. He can go there with his illegal switchblade, stand in the corner, and every time some guy makes a groan, he just fix it open.

[Eric Edelstein]

Done. I'll do it for 40 bucks a session.

[Jake Johnson]

Gareth will be there.

[Eric Edelstein]

He's midwifeing me there. He is a force of guided life. Yep. A beacon.

[Jackie]

A beacon that works. Though, actually, the. The segue is actually kind of perfect. Like, hey, look, okay, we're. Yeah, like, I understand. This is. Yeah, this is something that is enjoyable. A lot of people feel that way, and then it's kind of a perfect opportunity to.

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah, but you can also say, but here, we. We gotta kind of keep it a little bit.

[Jackie]

Yeah.

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

You can't really make those sounds here because of what this place is. But no part of me is offended by it, but there's a different service that you could have for that.

[Jackie]

Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

But here, this is more, you know, procedural. It's more of a medical place that's more of like a spa environment. So these guys might go, I was just using it for the spa. I don't need my ears cleaned once a month. I do this for enjoyment rather than come here. I'll just go to Jackie's place.

[Jackie]

Yeah.

[Eric Edelstein]

I would also like to offer a free voiceover for this business with Squarespace. Can you hear the sound of a better future even if you can't ear to help will get you there regardless.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Jake.

[Jake Johnson]

That's okay.

[Eric Edelstein]

Thanks. It's there, it's there, it's there.

[Jake Johnson]

We have it Just.

[Eric Edelstein]

We're spitballing here. Not everybody.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Safe space. Safe space.

[Jake Johnson]

It would just. When you hit the website that just plays.

[Eric Edelstein]

No, I'll do ads for her, man. I'm fully aboard. I'm cheap. I'm shockingly affordable. I'm underrated.

[Jake Johnson]

Okay, what would the ads be that.

[Gareth Reynolds]

He just did one.

[Eric Edelstein]

Gareth and I getting our ears clean then. Gareth and I like walking on the beach. Scallops. Yeah. I don't know why I'm down going through Topanga.

[Jake Johnson]

Why is it all about the eating scallops?

[Eric Edelstein]

Why is the top part of it. It's the whole thing. She's an hour north of la. It's all part of it. Go to Topanga. Drive by Neil Young's old house.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I don't want to. First of all, I don't want to eat seafood. Stock Neil Young with the top. Let's just.

[Eric Edelstein]

That's what you think. That's what you think.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Okay, you're right.

[Eric Edelstein]

Right. We're acknowledging our problems and moving forward.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Midwife, me.

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah. John Wooden, Pyramid of success.

[Jake Johnson]

So, Jackie, what are you gonna do?

[Jackie]

Oh, wow. I. Yeah, I'm going to. I'll just. I'm going to discuss it with my husband, make sure he's cool.

[Gareth Reynolds]

We'll be talking to you real soon.

[Jake Johnson]

About playing a. Eric, your thoughts?

[Eric Edelstein]

I didn't know the husband was involved. Okay. I mean, if you have a guy's over in the home now moaning, he should probably be at home. When we had problem clients with Jess, I'd maybe hang around, you know, we'll.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Get him a switchblade.

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah. Viper Tech, Florida. It's legal.

[Jackie]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

Not where Eric lives.

[Eric Edelstein]

No, but the shipping is. I don't believe it is a legal gray area. No, it's legal for them to ship it. It's not legal for me to open, but that's a whole other Oprah.

[Jake Johnson]

Okay.

[Jackie]

I feel like the switchblade needs to be far away from the ear process.

[Eric Edelstein]

It is. I promise. I did it earlier. That was just a bit. It's just a bit in this box.

[Jake Johnson]

Yelled earlier. Nothing's a bit.

[Eric Edelstein]

The switchblade in the ear was a bit. I value my ears. I need to hear. I'm a remarkable listener.

[Jackie]

Eric, actually, can I ask you a question?

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah, please, ask me a question. Thank you.

[Jackie]

Okay. Do you have any cats or dogs?

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah, I have two dogs.

[Jackie]

You ever let them lick your ears?

[Eric Edelstein]

No, because I am a little bit of a germaphobe and I do know about dog bacteria, so. And both of my dogs really Want to lick the big guy so I don't let him anywhere near the ears or the nose. And my wife also hates it, but our one dog, that's like, her love language, and it calms her. So I'll, like, let her. Let her lick my leg or my arm.

[Jake Johnson]

All right, Jackie, thanks so much for the.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Jackie, we'll. We'll reach out with a booking.

[Jake Johnson]

I don't know what we'll reach out with at the end of this.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Well, Jackie, are you happy?

[Jackie]

I am. I'm. I'm extremely happy, I think.

[Gareth Reynolds]

There we go.

[Jackie]

This is a great place to land. Thank you guys so much for helping.

[Jake Johnson]

Before we go, Jackie, where did we land?

[Jackie]

Okay. Well, I think we landed with just a great segue from the office to the ear spa. With year to year tohelp.com, i think we should build out the website.

[Jake Johnson]

Okay.

[Jackie]

Figure out a space in the house and also maybe get a. A little mobile unit as well to go.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Here's what we'll do. Here's what we'll leave it. Jake, this is.

[Jake Johnson]

We can. Yeah, let's hook her up with Squarespace. Is that what you're going to say?

[Gareth Reynolds]

I was going to say, let's hook her up. I'll even sidebar with her. I think we. I could do. I could prepare the day for Eric with her a little bit for the experience, and we can go from there. We'll present you with the highlight, and.

[Jake Johnson]

We could say film all of it. Put all of it on Patreon.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yes, yes. I'll sidebar with Jackie.

[Jake Johnson]

All right, Jackie.

[Gareth Reynolds]

All right, Jackie.

[Eric Edelstein]

Great to meet you, Jackie. Grip my ear.

[Gareth Reynolds]

See you real soon.

[Jackie]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

If you're having old men come to your house. Yeah.

[Jackie]

Oh, yeah. Good call. Good call. Thank you. Yep.

[Jake Johnson]

Okay.

[Jackie]

All right, Goodbye.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Take care, Jackie.

[Eric Edelstein]

You're welcome. Hi. You're on. We're here to help with Jake Johnson and Gareth Reynolds and Eric Edelstein. How can we help you today?

[Will]

Oh, this is awesome. Thank you, guys. My name is will. I'm 33, calling from Lancaster Penns. That's the usual thing, I think. I've been practicing a martial art known as taekwondo since I was seven years old.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Stop. Go ahead. Well, I respect the fight through buddy.

[Eric Edelstein]

Jake. How long did you last in jiu jitsu?

[Jake Johnson]

Two years.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Go ahead. Well, keep it going, guys. Yeah.

[Will]

I'm 33, ripe young, fresh little age of mine, and I'm hitting my midlife crisis with this. I'm ready to retire, I think, but I really don't know how to Deal with it. This is something that I love doing. It's like if I could, probably the only thing I do. But as my fellow practitioner might respect, it's not easy.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Hold on, Jake. Will, who are you talking to? You. When you say fellow practitioner. The guy who's got a Jake did.

[Eric Edelstein]

It for two years. What belt do you have, my friend?

[Will]

I am a 6 degree black belt in a style that has 9. 9 degrees.

[Eric Edelstein]

Oh my gosh. And Jake, what belt did you end up getting?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Why Jake got a Jake belt.

[Eric Edelstein]

You're gonna call that a fellow practitioner of a 6 degree black belt and we have a white belt. But please do continue, Will, just so.

[Jake Johnson]

You know, two different dojos.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, but you still have a white belt.

[Jake Johnson]

Started over.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, with a dummy.

[Eric Edelstein]

So if I started today, I would.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Get a white belt.

[Eric Edelstein]

White belt. Okay, sorry. Continue, friend.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Go ahead. Will.

[Will]

Depending on the school, sometimes you show up and you get no belt for a little bit.

[Jake Johnson]

But when you get a white belt.

[Eric Edelstein]

I'd have to go to the Big and Tall store.

[Jake Johnson]

Well, go on. So pretty cool you're 6 degree black taekwondo, but you're thinking of retiring. Tell us why you retire.

[Will]

Well, I've done a little bit of it all. I've competed internationally. I've got a gold medal. It was a wonderful experience. I've been an instructor. I've had a number of students. I've taught at a couple different schools.

[Jake Johnson]

Cool.

[Will]

It just happens to find me at this moment in life where I don't have access to any of that. My master lives about an hour and a half away. There's some schools locally, but you know, J Cord, now you know, but they're not my style.

[Jake Johnson]

Dude, your master's far away. My master is far away. The real reason.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Jake, you did it near Trader Joe's.

[Jake Johnson]

Jared and Eric won't get this, but.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You locked your keys out of your car after practice.

[Jake Johnson]

That was exhausting.

[Gareth Reynolds]

You had to drink from a hose.

[Jake Johnson]

It was so hard. But Will, this isn't about.

[Eric Edelstein]

It is. We're still. We still haven't nailed down who Jake's master is yet.

[Jake Johnson]

Well, like Will, a true practitioner never says their master's name because he doesn't know it.

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Talking about.

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah, yeah. 200 yards of his house where Pasadena police gets called again, the only.

[Jake Johnson]

The only black belt who's afraid of a white belt. All right, so. Well, I'm getting this, brother.

[Eric Edelstein]

Probably not. You're.

[Jake Johnson]

You're thinking of what? You're thinking of quitting Taekwond or just taking a break. 33 is young for a midlife crisis, my brother. You're talking to guys getting close to 50. We're at the age of it. Eric has a switchblade. Garrett permed his hair earlier this year.

[Will]

We are Garrett. Like that.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Thank you.

[Jake Johnson]

You're 33, Will.

[Will]

Yeah.

[Eric Edelstein]

But when did you start doing Taekwondo, Will?

[Will]

As a boy, seven years old?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yep.

[Eric Edelstein]

Okay, but does that makes sense? Then? This is, what, 24 years of doing this without a break? Yeah. Yeah, that's what it is. I mean, I think off the bat, the first thing is take a break, see how you feel, and down the road, and then it might call you, you might miss it. But I think, man, you. You're a goddamn gold medalist, 6 degree black belt. You're due for a Taekwondo break to see what the rest of the world kind of looks like and take that pressure off yourself.

[Will]

I like that. I. I have done a couple of different stints in other arts. Never the great art of jiu jitsu. Sorry, my brother, but, you know, Jake has some others like that.

[Jake Johnson]

But so, Will, what is. What is the specific question we could help you with? Because it's a heck of a setup, man. Brother to brother, I get is really.

[Will]

You know, one line, should I retire? But the caveat being at 6 degree black belt in my style, the next rank is master. 7th degree black belt is master. 8th degree black belt is master. 9th degree is grandmaster.

[Jake Johnson]

Oh, you're so close to being a Master.

[Will]

That aside, I mean, that's cool. I would. But the big thing for me is I feel a very big sense of responsibility for this next stage if I go forward. I got a call. Here's an example. I got a call about three weeks ago from a master, a local master.

[Jake Johnson]

Yep.

[Will]

And she asked me, william, what season of your practice are you in?

[Jake Johnson]

Yeah, all the time.

[Gareth Reynolds]

No, you've never. No one's ever called you with a question anywhere near this, William.

[Jake Johnson]

Keep going.

[Gareth Reynolds]

No one's ever called you with that cold.

[Will]

Will, wasn't it. What season do you plan to quit, New girl or.

[Jake Johnson]

Save the jokes to the pro?

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah, my bad. No, Will, you call in? I forgot you have master energy already. Yeah, I think he does there for a bit. So.

[Will]

So she calls me and she says, what you. What season you in? Because there's an era of these masters, you know, who trained me.

[Eric Edelstein]

Yep.

[Will]

Who themselves are about Jake's age, you know, late late 50s and their early 60s.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Right.

[Will]

And they're looking to take the shots I can get. Right.

[Gareth Reynolds]

They're looking.

[Jake Johnson]

I respect You. I respect you as a practitioner.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah, he's okay. This is sad. Jake, keep going.

[Eric Edelstein]

Will he respect you like I respect somebody I watch at a concert from the side? What?

[Jake Johnson]

They're basically dead. You're expecting somebody who's dead on stage.

[Eric Edelstein]

Kettle, how's it feeling? Sorry. Continue.

[Jake Johnson]

100 year old man be.

[Eric Edelstein]

Sorry.

[Jake Johnson]

Continue.

[Will]

All good. I'm gonna put a sorry counter on the episode to see how many times you guys apologize, please.

[Eric Edelstein]

And everybody drink.

[Will]

So they're looking for the next generation. And when I do with. With my style, with my master, there's a. There's always a physical test. It's two, three hours long. Lots of different things, but there's always a written test as well. We have to know knowledge and the history of our art, the history of our. Our lineage and things like that. And all our forms have names and there's tons of knowledge.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Nobody's asking you to. You don't get these calls.

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah, you scratching your face there shows you not been through this.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Go ahead. Well written test.

[Eric Edelstein]

I got the hell.

[Jake Johnson]

Well, you think this is 10th grade.

[Eric Edelstein]

This is water. It's just geometry. I float that.

[Jake Johnson]

I'll tell you what they didn't do in World War I when they were gonna in the middle going, I gotta take a written test. No Jiu jitsu.

[Gareth Reynolds]

This is war. I'm drinking from a stranger's hose in Los Feliz because I like my.

[Jake Johnson]

Out of my car.

[Eric Edelstein]

Please. Please.

[Jake Johnson]

So, Will, what is.

[Eric Edelstein]

I got spaghetti sauce on my white belt.

[Gareth Reynolds]

This is dog eat dog.

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

So, Will, what is the question?

[Will]

Yep. Yep.

[Eric Edelstein]

What season do you think you're in, Will?

[Gareth Reynolds]

What?

[Eric Edelstein]

What season are you in? Because I'm thinking it's the middle of autumn for you, and you're at this spiritual crossroads. And also part of it, you might have this resistance because you're that close to being a master. And sometimes when you get really close to finishing something, that's when the resistance really kicks in. You know what I mean?

[Will]

Wow, Eric, it's a pleasure to meet you, but. Damn.

[Eric Edelstein]

Well, yeah, I've been there. I've been there. I just.

[Jake Johnson]

When have you been close to being a master?

[Will]

You asked me a couple times though. It's definitely the. Should I retire? Or maybe it's not opening my school tomorrow, but, like, do I need to bear this responsibility?

[Jake Johnson]

Yes. This close to being forward and being an instructor. Yeah. Well, here's the real thing. You've been doing this since you're 12 years old. You're right at the finish line. Don't quit now. You're about to be a master. Now. After that, if you want to teach or not teach after becoming a master, then take some time to decide what you want to do with it.

[Eric Edelstein]

But maybe part of becoming a master is truly learning what you want. Yeah, but pushing. Maybe part of being a master is taking that break first to figure out other things in life and then you truly know.

[Jake Johnson]

That's interesting.

[Eric Edelstein]

A short break. I will say this. I wouldn't do the quick digression. Yeah, I don't even think I've told you this, Jake. When I was a kid, I did a lot of child acting. And I started acting professionally. And then I got offered a professional TV show in Japan to teach Japanese. And I was going to play a basketball player, but every time I ate, I'd get real big and the buttons would start popping off my shirt. What? For real? For real, Buddy.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Phenomenal.

[Jake Johnson]

You are such a man of man mystery.

[Eric Edelstein]

I know, I know, Buddy. And I have exceptions. At the Portland Civic Auditorium, kids would get busted to see me act. I was Jimmy Fargo until fourth grade, nothing. And I. I was going to have to leave school a ton to shoot this professional show teaching kids Japanese. And I. And it was real money. And I went to my. And the more I thought about every time I eat, my buttons pop off. I hate this. And I went to my parents and I said, I, I just don't want to do this. I'd rather just go to school, play basketball. I don't want to act anymore. And I'm so grateful to my parents because they said, you know what? Don't turn the job down. Do what you want to do. And later, my senior year in college, I did a play and caught the bug. And I realized I want to act and that's what I want to do with my life. And I did it on my own terms. And I realized because I took a break, this is what I truly love. So I can uniquely say, if you take a break, that will give you a lot of answers, whether this is the calling in your life or not. Because basically right now you're wrapped into something that you chose or maybe nudged to by a parent at age 7, so it doesn't totally feel like your own thing. So to take just a little bit of a break, either you realize, I don't love this, I had a great run, or it gives you a hell of a lot of an insight as a master, which I think you'll eventually end up doing. But the break will be crucial for this whole process. It's like the boost, really kind of clear the.

[Will]

Clear the carburetor.

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah, clear the carburetor. Figure out, and Jake is right. You're right there. Why stop now? But I think then you're on a path that you're unsure of, pushing forward, and you're going to doubt it every day. If you actually take a break and it might disappoint the other masters around you and stuff like that, you're truly going to know. Maybe it's a short break. Maybe it's, you know, maybe it's six weeks of doing nothing, eating a bunch of Cheetos, watching who's the boss, and you're like, this ain't it. But you will know if this is truly your path or not.

[Jake Johnson]

Could you imagine how successful Eric would be right now if he took that show in Japan and didn't take a break and ate some Cheetos and watched who's the Boss? You imagine this kid in Japan. Oh, he'd be an international star right now. He would be the most successful guy we've ever met. That he would be internationally.

[Gareth Reynolds]

So what's your pushback, then?

[Jake Johnson]

Your pushback is. Is you're right there. Put your head down and finish what you started. When you become a master, you do not have to open up a school or do anything. You could just be a quiet master who moved away. But when people, as an old man, when you look back to your Taekwondo journey that started at 7, you finished what you started, you became a master at something, and it was hard as hell. And at the end of the marathon, your knees hurt and you didn't know if you wanted to keep running. But you're at mile 21, just finish the race, and once you get that master and you're at that set, you don't have to become a grandmaster. That's another thing. But put your head down and grind a little bit and finish what you started.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Will, who inspires you in the world of Taekwondo? Is there someone who you look to, aside from Jake?

[Jake Johnson]

Obviously, he's master.

[Will]

Oh, yeah, definitely Jake. Unfortunately, I moved away. I wish I could blame somebody else, but it was me. It all started because of my dad, my brother. You know, they were the folks that kind of got me going and interested in it as a kid. My dad did it in the 60s, 70s, and, you know, it was those old stories that were practically myths of people breaking stuff and kicking people out of cars and all that junk. But, you know, in recent years, the real big thing has been I took on a Friend. You know, in Covid, everybody had their pods, right? And so a buddy was like this close with us and hanging all the time and he's like, oh, I've always loved you. Tech one does like, oh, we got nothing else to do. I'll teach you. And that, that's been one of my biggest motivations in recent years. But for the last year or so our schedules have aligned and I was teaching him for free. I always told him of like, like, hey, I'll do this. I love this. I want to give this story to you, I want to give this ability to you. I want to teach you, train you, but you have to come to me like, this is, I'm doing this for free and I want this to be available to you, but you've got to make the time available. You got to show up. And we haven't been able to connect in a minute. So that's like part of where like literally my last line of my email in was like, guys, do I need some gas in the tank or do I park the car? Because Right.

[Jake Johnson]

Well, here's a question I am missing that. What do you need to do to.

[Eric Edelstein]

Get the.

[Jake Johnson]

Next degree on that black belt?

[Will]

At least six years of training.

[Jake Johnson]

Oh, six more years.

[Will]

Yeah, yeah. I tested for my sixth degree last year so it would be 20, 30 before I'd be eligible.

[Jake Johnson]

Oh, that changes my pitch.

[Eric Edelstein]

That's a long, you know who's a taekwondo master?

[Jake Johnson]

That's a long time.

[Gareth Reynolds]

That's a long time.

[Eric Edelstein]

That's a long. A lot of, a lot of people don't know as a taekwondo master, Willie Nelson, as much as I want to say he's the canary in the coal mine for smoking weed over booze and why he's still going age 92. Willie does taekwondo and he still does it and that's really one of his keys as much as the medical weed.

[Jake Johnson]

So what do you, what do you think in terms of this call or is that just a random fact?

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah, it's an important random fact.

[Jake Johnson]

But what does that to do with Will, in your opinion, should he keep going because of Willie Nelson?

[Eric Edelstein]

No, I think the six years changes thing and I even saw a few Jake and I love that that you're adaptable and open. It's a lot.

[Jake Johnson]

I thought it was going to be a.

[Eric Edelstein]

What's wrong with this with the 6 week break for the kid?

[Jake Johnson]

Well, I mean he's had breaks, but.

[Eric Edelstein]

Like a real break to like truly kind of walk away for a second to figure out if this is why.

[Jake Johnson]

I'll tell you why. And will you tell me if I'm wrong on this? If you step away, and I'm. We're not talking about a six week break. You've had little breaks. You're talking about stepping away from the Taekwondo mindset if you step too far away. And Eric, we've talked about this, about acting and la and pushing. When you step away from the game, the game doesn't stop. So you step away from Taekwondo, you might, when you step back, you're not going to be where you're at right now. You're going to be steps behind and all of a sudden you might never be able to catch up again. And that might be fine. But I feel like when people step away from the game that they've always loved, there's a lot of justification, but they miss the game.

[Gareth Reynolds]

They do. But sometimes it's good to have that moment away, to let your brain breathe, do what you're talking about your body doing. I mean, there are a number of stories, even of people in our business who take a break off for a minute, come back refocused.

[Jake Johnson]

But a lot of people, it's fake taking a break. It'll be like Matthew McConaughey going like, Man, I didn't want to act anymore.

[Gareth Reynolds]

But there's also, there's also Chappelle. He walked away from $75 million.

[Jake Johnson]

Chappelle's a perfect example. When he came back, it was so.

[Will]

And he came back to 75 million more dollars.

[Jake Johnson]

That's exactly so. My thing with Will is if Will actually steps away, Taekwondo might fade. It's scary because right now it's fading. He's pushing to get people he can work. He's kind of at a spot where he's like, there's no one around me. I moved away from my master. I'm trying to get this buddy to do it with me, but he's not. It's fading. Do I fight to keep this going or do I let it go? And my thought is, is once you let it go, that shit's gone.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Do we need to find him a Taekwondo buddy in Lancaster?

[Jake Johnson]

That's where I would push.

[Will]

I mean, I do have some local connections. Okay, there is a local school and I'd be love, I'd love to reconnect. I, I trained with them for some years, but there was, it was pre covered, so I would like commute that direction and it's okay. Warner. So it was easy with the commute and stuff to like stop through. And I was teaching probably two, three times a class or two. But that, that master, like, I just don't have that connection right now.

[Jake Johnson]

You're in Lanker, Pennsylvania. Lancaster.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yep, yep.

[Jake Johnson]

So what if we just.

[Will]

If the next idea is a school for the Amish, I'm out.

[Jake Johnson]

No, let's do this. Let's do this.

[Eric Edelstein]

I don't hate it. There's also. When the student is ready, the master will appear. That's the smartest thing I ever just said.

[Jake Johnson]

You've said it a bunch.

[Eric Edelstein]

No, I said it the first time today.

[Jake Johnson]

You've said it about our training together.

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah, but it's there. It's true. I got a master for acting during the strike and this guy's helped me a ton. And I was ready and the master appeared.

[Jake Johnson]

Well, what if we left it up to the community for a little bit?

[Gareth Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Jake Johnson]

What if we. When this airs, we say if there's anybody near the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area who's even interested in Taekwondo, that we've got somebody. If you go to him and train in your garage or in a park, whatever you want, Will. But if nobody is interested, you don't really have connections and your master's fading. Then we slowly let it fade away. But let's see if fate can get involved here, because I think if you started teaching somebody, it would fire you up again. But I don't think we actually quit right now. I think we throw it out into the universe and see if somebody in this community is interested and see if we can find you a little fucking Karate Kid and build this thing up.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I think that's right.

[Jake Johnson]

Someone's a parent. They have a little seven year old. They want to take that little kid to Japan. They wanted to eat on tv and what are you, pop.

[Gareth Reynolds]

No, no, no.

[Jake Johnson]

It maybe put that kid in a Taekwondo.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Eric, it is the one.

[Eric Edelstein]

I never told you. This is why I never should have told you today. I was being vulnerable.

[Jake Johnson]

What did I do wrong?

[Eric Edelstein]

Well, buttons popping off.

[Gareth Reynolds]

But Eric, it is the most delicious detail of the whole thing that you would eat and your buttons would pop up.

[Eric Edelstein]

No, I know it. Why you want to do it?

[Jake Johnson]

English in Japan. Crazy with Japan.

[Eric Edelstein]

I love Japan.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I would take that job now.

[Eric Edelstein]

I should have done it. Yeah, I'd be huge right now. I would have been available on a minute's notice to do a podcast on a Monday afternoon, literally. What are you doing, Eric? I'm here. If I took that job well, If I took that job well, man, I'd be sweating off money. Okay?

[Jake Johnson]

Right now in a hot Tub in Tokyo.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Oh, but, but will get in your ear.

[Eric Edelstein]

I would be getting ready at self tape to play another killer.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Are you kidding?

[Eric Edelstein]

I'd be running shit.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Will, the times are different. You have, we have access to a community. Let's see what happens. Let's see what rolls in. And maybe there's a way to feel inspired from something like that. But again, the beauty is while you do have to make a decision, you don't have to make it in the next 10 days. So let's give it a minute.

[Will]

Right.

[Jake Johnson]

So I would do this right now.

[Gareth Reynolds]

No, we're not saying quit. Yeah but we're just saying pause for a minute.

[Jake Johnson]

So Whale, what do you think you're gonna do?

[Will]

I, I, I want, I like this idea of maybe the bat signal or something and getting some attention and seeing what's available because, you know, I, I actually had a knee injury a few years back and, and one of my primary motivators for rehabbing that, working on that was Taekwondo and being able to do the kicks and all the spins and the jumps and stuff. And, and so I put every work in.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Someone who's really good does. Go ahead, keep going.

[Eric Edelstein]

Will.

[Will]

I put the work in. Right. I've got, I've got everything. I've got everything I need to do it except the school, you know, and people. And I don't really want to run a school necessarily. Like I have a lot of trouble and like philosophical issues with like paying for. So my dream is, you know, to retire and have a school that's got free tuition. Right. But I've got, got, you know, 20, 30 more years of a career before I can be thinking about that retirement aspect.

[Jake Johnson]

So, so maybe we see if there's anybody out there that you want to just teach as your love letter to Taekwondo, knowing at a certain point you might have a school. But I'll tell you what would be better about that free school is if it was taught by a master.

[Gareth Reynolds]

It's true, it's not wrong.

[Jake Johnson]

And it might take you six years of training while teaching people in the community. This is a big future. Go would be a great retirement. But what I wouldn't love is from that free school is he was almost a master, but then he quit. And what would did you pitch Eric? Eat Doritos and watch TV or watch who's the boss?

[Eric Edelstein]

Just to figure out who you are, just to see if you miss it or not.

[Gareth Reynolds]

I, I think this is right. I think, let's see. And just will be wary if you get an email from someone named Make Monson or something like that from helpfulpodgmail.com saying he's local. And Eddie shows up.

[Jake Johnson]

Do zooms willing to teach my moves too?

[Eric Edelstein]

Yeah. All looking for Master Elvis Presley. Ended up being a fifth degree black belt. And he did another level of the belt every time he gave his master a car. Here you go, Kang. Google Kang. This is all very I I. I just got you new Lincoln Continental. It's a funny coincidence you're now a fourth degree black belt ceremony.

[Jake Johnson]

What kind of car you like.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Make wants to know.

[Eric Edelstein]

This is the beginning of the end. In five weeks Jake's gonna be a black belt or hold it over all. Don't enable this. I'm begging you, Will. So I'm trying to keep this at bay so much.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Please.

[Jake Johnson]

We are gonna send the bat signal out Anybody. What big cities are near you Will.

[Eric Edelstein]

You got Philadelphia 70 miles away.

[Jake Johnson]

Okay, so you're right near Philly.

[Will]

Been here.

[Eric Edelstein]

I love Philly. Yeah, Philly's awesome.

[Jake Johnson]

Where don't you love?

[Eric Edelstein]

I'm not saying it.

[Jake Johnson]

Why?

[Eric Edelstein]

Because it alienates people.

[Jake Johnson]

You won't be honest.

[Eric Edelstein]

No. No.

[Will]

It sounds like he's against aliens now.

[Eric Edelstein]

I found a I love most everywhere. I found a couple cities recently I did not fall in love with. Nope. Not you.

[Jake Johnson]

Won't be the real you.

[Eric Edelstein]

Nope.

[Will]

What if he gets a job offer to go teach English in one of those cities?

[Jake Johnson]

He's not gonna do that.

[Eric Edelstein]

He's gonna do that if I get an offer to act. Will you nailed it. See, Will. You know what that is right there? Master energy. Will. You intuited and just threw it away from him. Trying to air you down. He had me locked down like a district attorney.

[Jake Johnson]

Goodbye.

[Gareth Reynolds]

We'll reach out. Will.

[Eric Edelstein]

Love you.

[Will]

Awesome. Thank you guys.

[Eric Edelstein]

The teachers were ready. The Master appeared today. Will. And it was you.

[Will]

All.

[Jake Johnson]

We're Here to Help is hosted by Jake Johnson and Gareth Reynolds. If you'd like to be on the show, please email us your question@ Helpful Pod Gmail.com. and if you want to watch video episodes of We're Here to Help, you can go to our [e-mail] hereto help pod to see our entire catalog.

[Eric Edelstein]

We're Here to Help is produced by.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Rabbit Grim Productions Executive producer Rob Hollis, Jeff Porter and Natalie Hollis.

[Eric Edelstein]

Associate producer Jesse Thurston.

[Will]

Editing, mix and master by Chris Faller.

[Gareth Reynolds]

Theme song by Oliver Raleigh. The COVID artwork is by James Fosdike. Animations by Andrew Strelecki. And if you'd like to see Gareth do Stand up on the road. Go to garethreynolds.com Remember, all the advice given on We're Here to Help is for entertainment purposes only, and all listeners should be adults and make their own decisions.

[Announcer]

All video episodes of season one are available now on Patreon, and season two video episodes will be available every Monday starting January 20th. Go to patreon.com heretohelpod.