Small Talk With Compa
Small Talk with Compa" is where it's at, with two bros from NYC chopping it up about the grind for happiness, the hustle for meaning, and the realness of our connections. We're dropping truths and getting deep into our journeys. Tune into STWC, where life's lessons and brotherhood meets another world full of hope and prosperity. It's all about keeping it 100, sharing the love, and staying true to the game of life.
Small Talk With Compa
Brooklyn Roots, Gang Life to Family Man
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Will opens up about his journey from Brooklyn gang life to becoming a family man and hospitality professional, sharing raw stories of transformation and redemption.
Season Finale Introduction
Speaker 1damn episode 10 , my brother .
Speaker 2This is it , season one I respect that we're wrapping it up it's been a good run .
Speaker 1Let's get it going , let's go yes , yes , yes . Indeed , this is uh episode number 10 of the first season of small talk with compa . My brother , how you feeling ?
Speaker 2man , man , I'm feeling good . Hey , shout out to all my hint out there , you know . Thank you , man , for all your support . Can't believe me , man ?
Speaker 1episode 10 episode number 10 I like that .
Speaker 2That's good right it's very good , good you know we're easing in .
Speaker 1We feel a little more flow now . Oh , absolutely .
Speaker 2Yeah , I feel so much comfortable . Yeah , so much of a learning experience .
Speaker 1Definitely . I mean , we've tried so much , like throughout this past 10 episodes , in terms of audio and finding the right place to sit and yada yada , but I think we're doing it now .
Speaker 2Less place to sit and yada yada , but I think we're doing it now . Lessons there's a lesson that we need to learn and we're doing it an episode at a time ?
Speaker 1yeah , for sure . And then , uh , season two . We don't have a date yet , but we have some surprises . Oh , man can't wait yeah , we're gonna have some , yeah , just some surprises yeah and we'll tease them throughout on our instagram and all the social media platforms that my compadre over here manages , yeah .
Speaker 2Great job , by the way , I try .
Speaker 1You're a good man . Thank you , I appreciate that All right . So we're going to get started . Last week we did so . Basically the last two episodes we were interviewing ourselves . You know this podcast is a conversation . In the future , we're going to bring fellow friends , entrepreneurs , business owners , et cetera , et cetera , family members to come chat with us , because that's what this podcast is about . And what better way to do it than with us two ? I did mine last week , last episode , and my compadre is doing it this week Exciting , can't wait .
Speaker 2I think that is a great way to kind of start off Well . It's a great way to finish off the season . And then , you know , jumping into season two and , like you said , you know we have so many surprises and so many people coming into the podcast . I don't want to , like you know , say a lot , but it should be a good ride .
Speaker 1Yeah , you know the numbers have been looking good . Yeah , we need a few more numbers to hit a certain target that we want to hit , but I think that should happen in the next couple of days or two , absolutely and please , you know , look out for our social media platforms .
Speaker 2We're going to be more engaged in throwing out a lot of content and making sure that you guys are pretty much informed of what's going on . Cool , cool , cool .
Speaker 1So let's just dive right into it . My brother , so this talk to me . I know that we've you've mentioned in the past , you've told us in the past you're from brooklyn , correct ? Shout out to brooklyn respect .
Speaker 2Yes uh , borough park , let's go .
Speaker 1I know we have we have , uh , brooklyn listeners out there . From what I've been told , which is , you know much , much love to y'all . Talk to me about your grow up , your childhood .
Speaker 2How was that ? Yeah , man , I mean just like every other Mexican family we grew up in the Bronx . I mean , maybe through single family , through single family , you know .
Speaker 1Wait , wait .
Speaker 2You grew up in the Bronx , not grew up , I started in the Bronx .
Speaker 1So you were born in the Bronx .
Speaker 2Yeah , no , born in Metropolitan Hospital which is in the city around 90th Street . Okay , all right , so I was born there but then moved to sorry , moved to the Bronx , and I was there for like nine years .
Speaker 1No wonder you're a Yankee fan .
Speaker 2I guess yeah , mostly because you know my grandparents used to take me to that park that was close to the Yankee Stadium . Oh yeah , yeah , Beautiful and then the tickets out there were kind of cheap .
Speaker 2And so my father used to also play soccer there , so it was easy for us to just go to the Yankee Stadium , nice . But growing up in the Bronx was really like a learning experience . A lot of things going on there , but I like the vibe . A lot of people out there just vibing , a lot of people out there just like vibing .
Speaker 1You know a lot of cultures . Mostly was puerto ricans , mexicans and yeah , um , I think that's about it . How was ? How was the uh like the uh , the communities amongst each ?
Speaker 2other , it was mostly hispanics . I mean , everybody kind of like look out for each other or at least for
Growing Up in the Bronx
Speaker 2their own kind of culture , people , um , but again , like everything else , like in every neighborhood , you have your bad . They kind of like look out for each other , or at least for their own kind of culture .
Speaker 1people , but again like everything else , like in every neighborhood , you have your bad apples Right .
Speaker 2So you know the Bronx was pretty hard to live in , Definitely , Especially at that time and there was a lot of criminal activity .
Speaker 1Yeah , was that like the 90s or mid 80s ? Late 80s ? Yeah , late 80s , yeah man .
Speaker 2I was there for like 80s how long From 1983 to like 1991 .
Speaker 1Oh , wow , you were there for a minute . Yeah Nice , yeah , cool .
Speaker 2And you know , like I said , for the most part , yeah , there were some bad apples , but I had a great time there . You know I used to like . You know , both of my parents used to work like a lot of hours , so there was a babysitter that lives downstairs where I used to live in .
Speaker 2And her name is Angie , shout out , by the way . She was great to me , great to like my family and just a great babysitter , which you know is hard to find because , you know , nowadays you just can't , you just don't know . Yeah , so I had a great experience there . That's kind of like where I was introduced to like the dominican um food because , like at an early age , I used to just like , like you know , dominican food . It was just amazing . Those um , those pastelitos were like beef and chicken , all that stuff , oh my god , it was just the best and just like mofongo yeah , no man , dominican .
Speaker 1Dominican , have some good food . Yeah , man , it's up there for me . I eat Dominican food a lot , and you know what ? Jumping off topic , yeah , go ahead . Just want to pay my respects , and my thoughts and prayers Go out to all our Dominican brothers and sisters . That suffered that tragedy In nightclub . Yeah , very sad .
Speaker 2Yeah . But , yeahican food is great . Yeah , man , it's amazing . I mean the , the food is great , the people are even greater . Yeah , and you know shout out to like all her family because they all were part of like my , my , my , my upbringing . Yeah , um , so growing up in the bronze was just as usual , you know . Uh , go to school , come back . You know to to usual , you know . Go to school , come back . You know to the household you know we had . I used to live in a building where , like two buildings were connected .
Speaker 2Was it loud , Very loud . You know , you had that typical , you know music loud as hell . They're barbecuing , and then you have like you know grown ass , man , you know dominoes . That's the way , man , that's the way it is .
Speaker 1It's the New York way , which I like . Amazing . I love it .
Speaker 2It was that vibe . You know you're playing downstairs and then every mom in the freaking building is calling out their sons to get up there to eat . And we're just like oh shit you know we had to like go and eat fast and then come out before the sun comes down . Fuck yeah . And then , you know , in the weekend I used to go to my father's practices and games . He used to play soccer and then that's kind of like how I got introduced to playing baseball .
Speaker 1Did you join a team ?
Speaker 2My grandfather put me in a baseball team I'm not sure if it was my grandfather or my dad , I'm not sure which one of the two and I played like , yeah , Little League .
Speaker 1Ah , oh , nice , nice , yeah , yeah , yeah , Nice . Did you guys win any championships ? No , we were horrible Really . It was fun , though I still remember yeah .
Speaker 2I don't remember like the game and the actual , like the whole entire , like you know , experience , but there's like clips that I remember when I called my first ball , like I was in center field and I saw the ball coming to me yeah , honestly , I didn't know what the hell I was doing .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2The only thing I did was that I knew that ball was going to go over me .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2And so I had the speed to try to get it and all I did was just jump and just like , did you make the catch ? Pray , hell , marry , and I caught it . Hell yeah , that was one of my highlights . That's awesome . That was one of my highlights .
Speaker 1So , uh , when did you move to brooklyn , and and why ?
Speaker 2I think we moved to brooklyn because , again , you know , this is when I was nine years old so I don't have the whole info , but you know , with everything , with the conversation that I had with my mother was that they moved because they had a better opportunity in Brooklyn . You know , they had a bigger apartment , nice , bigger space and they felt like , you know , getting out of the Bronx would be a better lifestyle for me .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2That's what my mom told me . So , we went to Brooklyn . Yeah , that's what my mom told me . So we went to Brooklyn and we were also going to be closer to my mother's side of the family .
Speaker 1Because all of them were over there and your mother's side of the family is from .
Speaker 2Chinatla From Chinatla Chinatla Puebla .
Speaker 1Shout out baby Word you already know Definitely Nice . And then do you have any core memories from brooklyn that you really can remember ? The brooklyn bridge ?
Speaker 2yeah , I said the first time that we went to brooklyn , my dad's like took me out to the brooklyn bridge and he um kind of showed me , like the , the skyscraper the skyscraper yeah and I fell in love with that bridge man for some reason .
Speaker 1It was just a nice day that bridge , I agree , man , that bridge . Every time I drive through it it's really iconic man .
Speaker 2It really is .
Speaker 1It's a beautiful bridge .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1Dozens and thousands of people walk to that bridge on a daily basis . Yeah , man .
Speaker 2That bridge is amazing . Jumping off topic , man , I took my wife . That was our first date .
Speaker 1Really wife .
Speaker 2Uh , that was our first date , really yeah , we walked to the brooklyn bridge and I took her to juniors after ah , I worked in juniors really , yeah , that's awesome .
Speaker 1That's one of my first jobs .
Speaker 2That's crazy , yeah yeah , we got some , like some chocolate cake . I got some coffee and uh you didn't get their cheesecake .
Speaker 1I got the cheesecake strawberry strawberry , that's the way to do it or the strawberry shortcake that's right for those of y'all wait a minute .
Speaker 2I think that's what I got the shortcake , yeah , because they were out of the cheesecake . We were that late .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , those of y'all out there . Make sure y'all go to juniors and try the cheesecake although it's a little sweeter now , but definitely the strawberry shortcake for real phenomenal phenomenal man uh , so then you moved to brooklyn , correct ? I moved to brooklyn um again you know , for it , just it , just better up better opportunity , opportunity For the family , for the family , very cool .
Speaker 2And that's when I met my other side of the family , my , my cousins . We were a lot , yeah , and they were kind of Like the same , we were in the same age , okay .
Speaker 2So it was really good for me , because I don't , I wasn't , you know , at that time I was the only child , so I didn't have any brothers and sisters you know , so for me it was more , like you know , it felt like I had like a brother figure , beautiful , and then I had also a mother cousin which was like two years younger than me I could be that kind of like yeah , brother , figure to him yeah it was great , you know , shout out to them , you know , they , they . Uh , we were really close yeah , you also .
Speaker 1You also have brother than brother . A brother too . Right , you weren't an only child growing up . No , no .
Speaker 2After that , yeah , Well , after we went to Brooklyn a few years after . You know , my brother was born in 94 .
Speaker 1Oh , so he's from Brooklyn .
Speaker 2Oh yeah , he's definitely from Brooklyn , brooklyn , brooklyn .
Speaker 1Okay , nice , very nice .
Speaker 2Actually , no , he was born in the city , but he was raised in Brooklyn .
Speaker 1Okay , so he was never in the Bronx .
Speaker 2Yeah , the Brooklyn , brooklyn , my sister . She was born in Lincoln Hospital , nice , nice , she's Brooklyn , brooklyn .
Speaker 1Beautiful .
Speaker 2So then , Where'd you go to school ? I went to . I first started in IS 230 In In Brooklyn . It's around . It's around Borough Park .
Speaker 1Oh , yeah , okay .
Speaker 2For people in Brooklyn that know it's about . It's in Albemarle Road , I believe .
Speaker 1In Cortelio .
Speaker 2Yeah , but I only I kind of was there Only for two years . Yeah , because then I moved to junior high school .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2Shit , I think it was IS88 .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Moving to Brooklyn & School Life
Speaker 2That was Matt Hood .
Speaker 1I was going to ask were you a rebel ? Were you a shy boy , or were you more of like outgoing kind of getting along with everybody ? Shy boy Were you Very ?
Speaker 2shy , you didn't get a . I was kind of like a loner in the beginning .
Speaker 1Yeah , in both schools . Yeah , yeah .
Speaker 2Okay , it yeah , yeah , okay , it was just that . You know , I was very insecure about myself okay , why is ? That . Uh well , people that don't know me , I was born with like um , so like I'm a right side , I don't had any hat in the year yeah and so it was just like , uh , partial , got it uh , through the years , you know , I went to a plastic surgery and I got you know a couple of things going there to kind of look like it , but for the most part , yeah .
Speaker 2So insecurity was a really big factor for me growing up in school and yeah , I didn't have a lot of friends until in junior high school . You know , I met my first friend , which was his name was Jose . I think he was like Puerto Rican . No , I think he was Honduran . I got to get back at you on that . But , you know , jose , he was kind of like my first friend , kind of protecting me , and , like you know , people used to bully me .
Speaker 2And he was always kind of like encouraging . He was actually one of the first people that kind of made me like believe in myself . You know , because you don't feel like you're incapable of like fighting back yeah so he was kind of like the first influence for me to kind of say hey yo jose , yeah , jose , jose fernandez jose man , he's still my boy , you know nice .
Speaker 2Um , yeah , man , I remember . One time I'll tell you a story I was walking , um , I was walking back home from school and these couple of kids , oh , older than me , I think they were in high school At the time , you know they robbed my chain . I had like a chain , you know , it was my father's chain .
Speaker 1So it wasn't even like mine .
Speaker 2Bacabala yeah , I just took it Because I wanted to look cool . You know what I ?
Speaker 1mean yeah .
Speaker 2And back in those , back in those days , you know , people that had chains were like oh , you know this guy , you know whatever , but I just wanted to do it for the fashion and they took it . And I remember , you know , telling Jose , you know , like , hey , man , they took my chain and I was just like scared to go home because I felt like I would have to tell my dad .
Speaker 1Still like in that time , yeah , I mean you took it . Did you ask permission ? No , you didn't right , of course you were scared .
Speaker 2Anyway , jose , man out of nowhere was like yo , we're going , yo , we went around like the neighborhood and we actually spotted them , you know , and he called the cops and we were actually with the cops and he spotted the guys that took the chain and , believe it or not , you know we got it back .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2From the cops Nice , because those guys were , I think they took their shirts off Because I kind of like explained what shirts they had on .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2But they were smart enough to take it off . They had a tank top on , but I really knew it was their faces and we pointed at them and the cops were kind enough to get the chain back . But it was uh , it was a really uh . The experience was pretty bad because I was so scared when they robbed me yeah , I thought they were gonna really kick my ass , yeah , but I was lucky , yeah yeah I mean those , those .
Speaker 1I've definitely experienced a few of those where somebody tried to take something from you , especially at least for me . I had a one encounter when I was in early junior high and try to take a chain that my mom got me . No , but they hit me . It was me , and I mentioned in the previous episode a baseball player , a teammate of mine . They jumped us , they beat the shit out of us . Yeah , heavy Telling you man Anyway , but you know that's part of the teenage life .
Speaker 1You know that's what we kind of , at least here in New York . We grow up with seeing all that stuff , or at least go through it at some point in your life .
Speaker 2For real . Yeah , I was a shot boy . I was like that type of like . You know I get picked on , yeah .
Speaker 1And were you into ? Obviously you were into any movies or music as you were growing up .
Speaker 2No none of that . I didn't have no music influences or any like things of that nature . My thing was baseball , my thing was like athleticism , that's awesome . I love it . I used to love sports . I used to play anything , If you know , if I didn't know it , I'll learn it .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2So I know how to play basketball , baseball , like all the kind of sports , I guess , because for the most part , my cousins were there and we were able to , like you know , share those moments . Sure , so you know we had already a team , like we were a lot of cousins , so we were just like you know , we were able to play . We used to go to the elementary school that I just mentioned and we used to play baseball all the time .
Speaker 1It didn't matter , we used to play baseball with like metal bats and like the blue ball .
Speaker 2Remember we should play handball ? Yeah , we don't care . But you know , now that's awesome . But now you think about it like yo , why we became better hitters is because , like , the ball was really small . Yeah , you couldn't see it . You couldn't see it so it was like , you know , we , we had nothing to play with , you know um so it was a fun time , but yeah for me it was a sports yeah , that's it um ever run into any trouble growing up a lot like was this after junior high into high school ?
Speaker 1or or talk to me about that . How was that it ?
Speaker 2all started in high school in high school .
Speaker 1Yeah , man , first year we start in high school .
Speaker 2It always starts in high school , the first year I mean I was doing pretty good , um , but then , you know , bad influences came about . Uh , you know , you know , at that time the gang life was really like proactive there in brooklyn , especially right .
Speaker 2The mexican gang members were definitely heavy out there they were really heavy out there and you know , I just felt like , you know , at the time you know my household we were going to a lot of like like trouble . You know , my parents were like getting a divorce or they just got separated . My mother mother had to like work long hours , so I was , you know , we just had like my brother and he was like a year or two , so it was like it was really hard because I had to be kind of like the man of the house in a sense .
Speaker 2And my mother was just like depending on me , but at the same time , like I was . You know , at that age you're looking for like someone to like you know .
Speaker 1To guide you in the shit , to guide me in the shit , man , nobody was doing that .
Speaker 2Not that my dad wasn't doing it , but my dad had to work , right .
Speaker 1You know what I mean . So you were more of that guy to your siblings , right yeah , to my siblings man so , but without even noticing , you know what I mean .
Speaker 2It wasn't just happened , bro . Just things , you gotta do it . But at the same time I was looking for that love and I got it from the gang , you know .
Speaker 2I mean I got it from , you know , from from being in the uh , in that type of life , because what people see in gangs and with you know and obviously with respect I do understand you know it's all negative . Obviously , you know you , you do things that you shouldn't be doing , it it's a lot of criminal activity . But what you don't see is the unity , you know , the brotherhood , the constant , you know reminder that you know we're here for you . Yeah , that you know that thing where you think that you know that you are seeking in a family , yeah , I seek to there A lot of youth , as we've seen and grown up through it like that's where they go to , at least in our neighborhoods .
Speaker 1They kind of get pulled .
Speaker 2You know , you're here .
Speaker 1We're here for you .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1You know you're , you're our family now . But that's how that's how kind get you . That's how they get you they see things , they see .
Speaker 2Oh , this guy's , you know , needs us , you know or sometimes you know , we recruited things , we recruited people like , just like getting picked on yeah like yo , man , if you're with us , you won't get picked . Ain't gonna happen again some jail shit , I'm telling you but that's how it was .
Speaker 1No , I know it was for me . It was like that .
Speaker 2It was like yo , and then obviously it was easier for me because my cousin was in it . Yeah , so my cousin was like yo , you down , like my cousin never was the point , was never telling me to come in , mm-hmm . But he was always saying like if you're going to do this , you know you're going to do it because you want to , not because . I'm you know bringing you into this , and I did it .
Speaker 1And and I and I did it . And um , go ahead . No , I'm , yeah , I went in . Did you ever did you feel like that ? You know how they ? They preach at their family and they're gonna stick with you . Yeah , for the , for whatever yeah did you feel that from them though ?
Speaker 2absolutely . Yeah , I felt , I felt . I felt it in the beginning , yeah , and then , obviously , um , towards the , because through the years , you know , you become a family because you had experienced things together . Yeah , not all is positive . Right , a lot of it is negative . A lot of it is negative . We lost people , sort of like you lose a family member .
Speaker 2You know , we did things that we should have not done , but it had to be done Right . But we did things that we should have not done , but it had to be done right . Um , we , we , but we did it together and we help each other when we needed to . Yeah , so I think all that comes to play . We're like , hey , this is like I got your bag you got my bag .
Speaker 2Yeah , now can you look at him in the eye and it's like , hey , do I give my life for you ? Let's be honest , I don't think so , right , right . It's not like a lot of times they won't probably do it . I won't look at my friend . Hey , do I give my life For you ? Let's be honest , I don't think so , right , right .
Speaker 1I mean a lot of times they won't probably do it .
Speaker 2I won't look at my friend in the eye and be like , hey , I'm going to like I give my life to you if something were to happen . Right , it has to be somebody really special , right . But I will say it to my daughter Right , I will give my life for my daughter .
Speaker 1Oh , for sure you understand what I'm saying . 100% , it's a difference , right ? Yeah , it's otro pedo , but you got other people that really do it . And when did you so ? What kind of trouble did you run into ?
Speaker 2you said there were so many activities .
Speaker 1Did you ever get arrested ?
Speaker 2or I got arrested for
Gang Life & Teenage Struggles
Speaker 2Just got arrested . Oh yeah , well , I got arrested , yeah , but I'll tell you , I'll share your story , One that really kind of like Put me in a position when , like hey , you gotta really think about what you're doing . And that was just High school days , um and and this is not me being arrested , this is me just . You know , I feel like someone loves me upstairs , you know what I mean . So it was a story about someone that we actually you know what .
Speaker 1You don't have to share . I don't have to share . Yeah , this is really deep , yeah , yeah , yeah , it was really deep .
Speaker 2And it's like . It's kind of like you know we can move on . Yeah , for sure . Yeah , my bad about that , but yeah , I got arrested . Yeah , yeah .
Speaker 1Okay , this is all during your teenage life Teenage- years , yeah , teenage life .
Speaker 2Were you unemployed during the teenage life ? Oh , no , no , no , I was always cutting . What was your first job , jesus ? My first job was after high school and I was , I think , 18 years old . My first job was Foot Locker , right there .
Speaker 1Oh , okay .
Speaker 2In Stanway Street .
Speaker 1Oh , yeah , astoria , nice , that was your Yep .
Speaker 2Because the manager used to go to my father's restaurant Okay , my father's , where he used to work .
Speaker 1Okay , so I met you obviously later on in life , correct ? Did you move to Astoria as an adult or were you still a teenager with your family ?
Speaker 2No , so my father used to work in Queens , but we still live in Brooklynlyn still live in brooklyn yeah , so I used to make that trip , got it , you know um , but then eventually we moved into queens yeah um , and that was on my adult years already yeah but I , I was still kind of like living with my father and my mother because , again , we still had two siblings . Now here , my sister's already born yeah . And my father was kind of like struggling and so like I was already working .
Speaker 1Okay .
Speaker 2And so I was just like helping and providing you know , and so like that's kind of like the way my life was . Yeah , you know what I mean . It was just that you know . It was me , my mom , my dad , yeah .
Speaker 1I actually got a story about us , about us .
Speaker 2Really .
Speaker 1I think you know about it , I think I mentioned it to you . So Will has a cousin . You have a cousin , correct ?
Speaker 2You have a lot of cousins .
Speaker 1And my cousin were actually dating way back when .
Speaker 2I don't want to say any names .
Speaker 1I'll tell you later and but the point is , I had a cousin that was dating your cousin and then we ended up being friends with each other , which is crazy , crazy . Another crazy thing .
Speaker 2Is that I knew your wife Before ?
Speaker 1you even met her Right Like .
Speaker 2I was , really I was friends with his , with Michael Madery , from like , from way back .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2And then you know , you know , dania came to the picture Maybe like two years after . That's crazy , it's crazy . And I didn't even know until I think because , like me and Michael , madari always had like that brother and sister relationship , so like when she was like having a boyfriend , like she never kind of like mentioned it to us until like later .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2I think she kind of wanted to just make sure that you guys , like you , were the one , and then I was that one baby . Yeah , and it was funny because in the beginning we didn't like each other .
Speaker 1They hated me they all hated me . The 45 fam hated me . I don't know why I don't know why , either schoolero , schoolero , anyway we're jumping out . So teenage life obviously you get into some dilemma yeah , deep nothing crazy .
Speaker 2nothing major , nothing major man , it was just that gang life man it was just like you know stupid things , you know vibery gangs that obviously we were just making , just making noise . We were making noise , I was just like going out there , I used to like rob people , like that was bad . I used to like you know anything , that anyone , if anybody that we didn't know used to be in our block .
Speaker 1You were gonna get stopped automatically , yeah , and that was well . I remember like in , because I remember your , your , I know your neighborhood , yeah , and and I know there's turfs obviously there's , there's a gang in like bushwick . There's a gang in like sunset . There's a gang there's another in in um in fifth ave , correct ? This is all . This is all in brooklyn , yeah , um , so I could see how that can get very um rocky if you guys encounter each other .
Speaker 2Yeah man , I mean , it was really bad , and you were you ever in any bras ?
Speaker 1a lot of bras , a lot of bras , sure they used to chase me machetes and stuff .
Speaker 2We should chase them . Yeah , you know , was it was it always ?
Speaker 1uh ? I'm always curious to know . Is it always with mexicans , with mexicans beefing , or did you ever like have any beef with ? Like with uh , with black ? Black people , african-american people ? Good question or or dominicans or puerto ricans , because you know they were they had their own squad too .
Speaker 2Unfortunately , it was mexicans , yeah , but you know what ? When it came to like other cultures , other yeah yeah , we had that too as well . It was more of a bonding there , because it wasn't like we're finding mexicans versus mexican . It was more like hey , we're finding a different crowd , so it's like yo , we gotta stick together yeah but with um . But when it came to mexicans , yeah , it was unfortunate . It was an unfortunate thing Because , at the end of the day , you know , we're paisas .
Speaker 1Yeah , I know it was stupid . The reason I ask that is because throughout well , growing up , that's all I saw was just people like Mexicans with Mexicans .
Speaker 2For no reason .
Speaker 1And it's not just Mexicans , it's also like blacks and blacks , dominicans , dominicans .
Speaker 2There was no reason why there was hate there . It was just because you were in the other .
Speaker 1Rival gang . Yeah , that's something that started .
Speaker 2Years ago that other people did that we .
Speaker 1Doesn't even involve you .
Speaker 2We just inherited it . Unbelievable , it was stupid .
Speaker 1That's crazy .
Speaker 2I know , to this day I still I still love my brothers .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , for sure . You know what I mean my brothers out there there .
Speaker 2You know , I know they're still probably there , they're , they're evolved like . I don't know how the gang life is , but I still get connected with the , with my , with my brothers , that that I've been there for the when I was , you know , with that gang yeah and you know they , you know we . We live and learn and we grew up , we're adults now yeah and we and we understand you know .
Speaker 2So I'm pretty sure a lot of them will agree with me like , hey , it was stupid , but the end of the day , you know , if I would have not got , if I would not join , I would have not met them , right , which is like stupid , right ?
Speaker 1just think about it but you know um , okay , so you mentioned , now we're adults yeah , we're adults now , when did you ? When did you ? You like , snap out of it . You're like fuck , okay , I gotta stop this fucking gang . Shit life yeah uh , now I'm an adult , now I gotta provide . Now I gotta help my family , help my mom when did that come about ?
Speaker 2well , believe it or not , I I quit the gang out of my own . Just me , okay .
Speaker 1Just because I felt like if I don't snap out of this , I'm gonna die yeah , you know me , did you by you saying you got , you got out of the gang , right ? You know how they say sometimes you gotta get jumped out or you gotta do something stupid to get out yeah did that . Did that come your way or not ? So much , thank the lord . No , it didn't , thank god .
Speaker 2I was hoping you said that we had a leader there . Uh , there was a close friend of mine now and he , he , he , let me go just like that yeah you know and shout out to him he you know , he definitely put . He's told me , yo respect that and we still got your back .
Speaker 1Right , you know . So the reason I ask that
Finding New Brotherhood in Queens
Speaker 1is because a lot of gangs they don't let that , they don't let that roll , they don't let that roll man , blood in blood out , yeah , literally , yeah , nah .
Speaker 2We didn't live that like that .
Speaker 1So you know , that's respect .
Speaker 2Told him straight up , you know it wasn't like I , you know , hit it um and he was just like yeah , no doubt you know , I left , my cousin left , everyone left , yeah , and it's like everybody yeah , went their own way .
Speaker 1Went their own way , we're tired of that life .
Speaker 2Yeah , that's that's how I left , but it wasn't something that I snapped out of it . You know , like I still , even when I moved to Queens , I still had that mentality , right , that gang , you know mentality . You know I snapped out of it . Actually when I got out of it , right you know , and it was the day , you know , when I got stabbed on Christmas Eve . Yeah , that's when I realized , like what the hell am I I doing with my life ? You know , over nothing , over my boy's girl was cheating on him . I found out , you got upset and I got upset and I riled it up .
Speaker 1You know for no reason .
Speaker 2It was just like really an anger thing .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2And so , like I got stabbed , for it , yeah , and I realized , like yo , what am I doing with my life ? Why am I ? When you're getting stabbed on Christmas Eve , something's wrong with you .
Speaker 1Yeah , you know what I mean that's wild . That's wild .
Speaker 2And then my family to come on Christmas Day and crying in my bed and just thinking that I might die .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2That was like yo . It's like God telling me if you don't snap out of it bro you're going to yeah , get your shit together , get your shit together .
Speaker 1And that's when I you mentioned Like you were angry About your boy yeah . The situation with your boy . Did you ever have any Angry management issues ? Were you angry Growing up ? Yeah Angry , I was angry .
Speaker 2At like Now .
Speaker 1I'm backtracking now but go ahead but it's true , yeah . It was angry In there .
Speaker 2I don't know from where it could be a lot . You know what .
Speaker 1I mean yeah .
Speaker 2It could be something triggered from way back .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2So there was a lot of anger management there , but I don't know how I hit it . Yeah .
Speaker 1Do you wish you could have seeked some help in terms of like professionally , like therapy and stuff ?
Speaker 2If I want to be realistic in the way my life was , no you couldn't , you couldn't Because you've got to understand that , like my dad used to work every day .
Speaker 1You couldn't afford it and we couldn't afford it and we didn't even know what the hell that was . Yeah , you know what I mean .
Speaker 2Yeah , you know when you're in the hood . Man , you've got to live by all means chameleon .
Speaker 2You know you have to . I always I don't know what I was . I felt like I always live a double life , like I . When you and I understood this at a younger age , when I used to have my siblings , I used to react differently . I was more of a loving brother , loving son and helping my mother out and things of that nature . That was my mentality . But when I went to the , to the gang different human you gotta like change it you gotta change your look .
Speaker 1You gotta squat up .
Speaker 2Yeah , I I don't know if Someone taught me this , but it was like you gotta put that poker face on For sure . Even when you know you were scared In my heart . I was scared as hell and I wanted to cry yeah .
Speaker 1But if I , if I show that it's over you a bitch , it's is done yeah .
Speaker 2And I couldn't do that Right , right , right , so it was like that double life man .
Speaker 1That's crazy . Okay , so you're out of the gang .
Speaker 2Oh yeah .
Speaker 1You're out of the gang and you're in your 20s now , I'm assuming .
Speaker 2I'm in my 20s , still lay on my parents , so don't judge me , that's fine Any challenges bro Any challenges . Challenges that . That's just that I was just lost . I didn't know what the hell I was doing . I was coming back from my injury and my life was like hell . My mother was telling me , like yo , my mother used to have this word yo that is like stuck to me to this day what Yo my my mother loves it so much Shout out to I love you .
Speaker 2She's coming , wakes me up from out of my bed , yeah , and just kind of looks at me and goes ubicate yo , Ubicate cabrón Ubicate cabrón . Like la verdad lo estás cagando .
Speaker 1Ponte pilas , hijo , yo ubicate .
Speaker 2God bless her man , that word man and yo God bless her man . All those slaps in my head , man . You know I snapped out of it , but yeah , I was lost man , I didn't know what the hell to do . I was just really , really in a bad place . And then I remember going to Queens and we went to the restaurant and I met your sister-in-law there Well . I already had known her your sister-in-law Carmen . Okay , yeah , sorry , we met her name , but my bad she has many names .
Speaker 2anyway , I met her there and Cause she was really she was working there and she was like Really close with my father , and my father actually told me hey , listen , I have somebody over there that wants to like meet you . I think that you guys Will get along . She's going to the . You know that's rough , you know Time in her life as well . That's what my dad said , but I don't know if it was true , but anyway I went there , we're talking , she was mad cool and that's kind of like how I met , you know , your wife .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2And everybody else , I know the whole crew and long story short , I mentioned that I needed a job and I think you know I think I don't know if Carmen was there or maybe , um , your wife was there , anybody was there , but they heard it . I think it got to you . Yeah , you know what I mean . So eventually , something happened that it got to the point where we met and that's how , uh , it started you know what ?
Speaker 1that this conversation is another episode that we should yeah , hey , we'll talk about .
Speaker 2Yeah , we talk about it , but I know I know how you hated me unbelievable . Well , in the beginning I know I mean , I mean I'll be real . The reason why we just hated you was because it was like hey man , like who ?
Speaker 1the hell is this ? We didn't know who you were . Yeah , so , like everybody , I'm a nice guy , yeah .
Speaker 2Like everybody Like . If we don't know you , then we were just going to say we're going to talk shit , I , I see that .
Speaker 1Yeah , that is what it is . Okay . So then you moved to Queens . You're getting together , and then you meet a group of friends , correct , right ?
Speaker 2Which we had mentioned .
Speaker 1We called each other the 45 fam .
Speaker 2I met these friends through my cousin . I remember who was the first one that you met .
Speaker 1I guess you don't have the same name Danny Danny Danny . His name is I wasn't . I remember who was the first one that you met . I guess you don't have to say his name Danny Danny Danny .
Speaker 2His name is Danny I won't say his last name , but Danny was the first person I met .
Speaker 1What up , Danny ?
Speaker 2What up , danny ? So I went to Queens because my father said hey , listen , they're looking for you in Brooklyn . So a lot of things going on know backtracking to what you know with the criminal activity . There was a situation where you know the police was involved and they were questioning me or something and I just had to move me mother I know .
Speaker 2So I moved and I was there for a couple of um couple of months , just like just with my aunt , and in those couple of months I was able to meet my father's side of the family and they were really so nice to me and they were really , you know , wanted to have this relationship with me and I really I I totally loved him for that . But that's how I met my cousin .
Speaker 2And then , when I met my cousin , my cousin had some friends yeah and then in those in that relationship there was a guy , well , danny , that I mentioned . He used to come to the house because he used to , um , connect with my god brother , so it's connected also with my godbrother , so it's connected also with my godbrother because my godbrother is also kind of part of the family , okay , and they were kind of like a little clique and they came in . One time they went to go see Franklin , which is my other cousin , shout out to Franklin .
Speaker 2He loves our podcast . He's always bugging me that he wants to .
Speaker 1We'll bring him on . He wants to come to the season .
Speaker 2Two baby coming up too , is a little surprise there . Anyway . So he , we , I met danny funny guy . I mean , this guy is funny just by looking at him now , not to disrespect , but just the way he his uh , his mannerisms and his uh pitches , and he's just the way he's a good human being .
Speaker 1He's a good human being . I love danny to death man . Anyway , he , uh , he's a met fan deep down below . He's the one that made it . D Skipper Anyway carry on , carry on right and then so he , I met him .
Speaker 2Then I met , well , I already knew my godbrother and then , within my godbrother , I already knew one of my closest friends also that I have . I won't mention names , but you know him , you know , you know . I call him by let's , let's go by their tags , el Oso .
Speaker 2You already know who he is . He's definitely something that you know , someone that I grew up with and admire . And then that's how it started . And then you know everyone came along , and then you know the reason why we call ourselves the 45 fan was because we used to play in this street , right 45th . Street 45th Street . Yeah , and that school . I forgot what school is it . I forgot what school is it . I forgot .
Speaker 1I know what it is , but it was in that park . Yeah , in the back , right In the back . Yeah , is that where we used to play soccer ?
Speaker 2Yeah , in .
Speaker 1The night With the drinking beers , drinking beers and all that .
Speaker 2Very nice , yeah , man , and I fell in love with them in a sense . Even though they were younger than me , but they play sports . I just got out of that gang life and I was just like yo . Well , it's a different scenery . It's like you mentioned .
Speaker 1It's like when you mentioned it earlier , you were , you know , you were in the Bronx , you were playing sports , you were doing a lot of team activity Correct yeah . And then come now in your mid-20s , I'm assuming , Somewhere you meet these guys that are you know they're hella cool .
Speaker 2I should say 20 already I was 20 okay , they're hella cool .
Speaker 1They like to just hang out , not really do anything crazy , but like play sports yeah and they were young man , I'm telling you . The youngest around were 14 yeah , so it's a different environment , so I'm sure you liked it .
Speaker 2I liked it you liked it and they looked at me like an older brother . So it was like you know . I kind of felt like obligated to my responsibility .
Speaker 1Yeah , I remember , because I remember playing soccer , as we mentioned in that back school , and you used to drive us all the time .
Speaker 2You had that minivan , minivan , yeah , my dad's minivan , that green minivan . Was it a Nissan ?
Speaker 1No , it was a Mercury or some shit wasn't it .
Speaker 2Nah yes , yeah .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , yeah . So that's those good times , Good times Great times , man , great times .
Speaker 2And then that's how we met , like you know , dj Bless , dj Bless , and we started promoting ourselves .
Speaker 1We started promoting him , you know as a DJ .
Speaker 2So that was kind of like my music influence , I guess .
Speaker 1Yeah , just helping the DJ , which was gonna lead me to my next question . So I know again . When we met , we promoted a dance like a party together in where the hell ?
Speaker 2was it somewhere ? I think it was in Northern Boulevard , right , was it in Northern Boulevard ? Yeah , like a 103rd or 108th , was it ?
Speaker 1I think so oh okay , it wasn't in a AmeriMix oh , you're right , because there was one that I don't know . There was two , but one was like super packed .
Speaker 2Oh no , that was in um like super , and then it got really bad at the end yeah , and it was fucking .
Speaker 1No , that was that was increased .
Speaker 2Boulevard queen's bully . Yeah , oh yeah okay , okay .
Speaker 1My question is like what ? What led you guys like you know , because I would be , I was a part of that too , but what led us to like , what led you to get this promoting going ?
Speaker 2my boy . Yeah , armando , I have mad love for him , you know . Shout out to armando dj bless yeah , I mean no need to shout his name , he , he puts his name out there .
Speaker 1Yeah , um , but he uh he just a lot who's got a nice restaurant in dc , by the way , correct ? Yeah ?
Speaker 2nice restaurant in dc . Man go go , uh go visit him .
Speaker 1What is it carlitos way ? Uh , no , it was um no , it was uh .
Speaker 2Well , we'll mention it later .
Speaker 1Yeah um , but he's doing well , good friend .
Speaker 2Well , he's a family man um uh-huh yeah , it was all for him . Yeah , you know , because he , you know , he was a type of dude man , religious type of guy , always a friend , always a brother , always helping out the like the fellow man . And so , like you know , when you have that type of guy , always a friend , always a brother , always helping out the like the fellow man , and so , like you know , when you have that type of person like that , you know you , it's easy for you to help them .
Speaker 2So you know I could do this for free , so it was more like you know what you need . And then , yeah , so we started promoting . We were like so we were a lot of us , we started hanging out flyers , was put him on um the walls and the walls everywhere , and we just really wanted him to blow up . We felt like , you know , like everybody else if he blows up , then we blow up right .
Speaker 1I remember that because I remember you guys putting me on and then at the end of the night , I remember you guys giving me 200 bucks that night . I'm like yo , these guys , I appreciate these guys .
Speaker 2We just wanted to just like these guys .
Speaker 1I appreciate these guys yeah .
Speaker 2We just wanted to , just like you know , it was fun , you know . It was fun promoting , we promoted and we I had a good time we used to how you call it have a good time and see the girls . And you know I mean , come on , who doesn't want that ? Right Simpler times , simpler times Anyway .
Speaker 1That's what I get thrown Was like the golden age . Golden age 06 , right or 07 , something like that . Forget about it . Damn we old , Damn we old . We're going to skip a little bit . Yeah , yeah , go ahead , we're going to jump into parenthood .
Speaker 2Parenthood Ooh .
Speaker 1Parenthood and the meeting of your wife .
Speaker 2Yeah , still kicking my ass , I'm sure .
Speaker 1So I'm sure . So tell us
Love Story in Acapulco
Speaker 1a little bit Of how you guys met , and don't get this wrong 2009 I still remember that year . Where .
Speaker 2In Acapulco . Ah , acapulco , ponce boy . Yeah , 2009 , we had Me and my boy . We were planning Just a guy vacation . You know it was that year when the hangover came out . Ah , so we wanted to do that For us . Yeah , before Guy vacation . You know it was that year when the hangover came out . Ah , so we wanna do that For us .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2Before we're gonna Fucking wallow and just that's amazing . That's what we wanna do In Mexico . That's all we wanted to do . I love Mexico . So we went to Mexico and yo , we started with a bang . I remember like Yo , we , we started drinking , going , you know .
Speaker 2Going to parties , parties getting fucked up , getting fucked up , waking up at 12 one o'clock in the afternoon to do it again , again , yeah , um , but with all that , right , uh . So so a couple of the guys that I was with you know are from the same pueblo , okay , and our families know each other . So we all went there because there was actually a big party that was going to happen , a wedding , and we were going to be part of it and we're supposed to be the biggest wedding in turcingo , and blah , blah , blah , blah , blah , and we were just like yo fuck it , let's go there , get some free fucking liquor .
Speaker 1Some food , some liquor .
Speaker 2You know the typical .
Speaker 1It's like a three-hour , four-hour drive from Acapulco .
Speaker 2Well , we weren't in Acapulco For a couple days . We were to the family , yada yada . Go to some parties , cause at that time also , you know , tocino have parties like Every freaking day . Anyway , we got there Trying to move a little fast Because it's a long story . So I go to that party and you know that's kind of like when I first saw my wife . You know just , you know just from a distance .
Speaker 1Te sueñe .
Speaker 2Yeah , I saw her and you know , I just you know what they say . You know , love at first sight , that's what it was , no .
Speaker 1It was just like damn , oh you heard that Comadre .
Speaker 2No , it was like gorgeous at first sight . Like yo , she was just beautiful man .
Speaker 1Amazing .
Speaker 2It was just like want her . Yeah , exactly , you know , it was because I was like oh man , so nice .
Speaker 1So you guys met in acapulco . Yeah , we met in acapulco because my cousin .
Speaker 2So this was a thing I told my cousin hey , listen , we're gonna go to acapulco just to guys out , just to like um . And then we come back and all of a sudden my cousin's like , oh , can we go ? I was like yeah , I was kind of like yeah , not really , I'm trying to just all the guys . But she kind of like just ran with it and told her cousin , she told the banda till the girls and then that's the whole story .
Speaker 2So instead of us being four of us , it ended up being like 25 of us . Let's go . We're like . A whole fucking crew went to Acapulco Classic Mexican party . It's amazing , one of the best times of my life . Awesome . We went to Acapulco , we went on a yacht , we started drinking , we had a party , we had a get-on .
Speaker 1We had food .
Speaker 2We had the beach and freaking . They used to throw bubbles in the air and we were just like wilding out . It was a great time and that's how I met my wife . My wife was just like that loud , crazy , but also fun to be with .
Speaker 1So it was crazy it's gonna be my husband . Yeah , nice type of thing . So you met your wife in Acapulco . That's amazing . Yeah , you know you guys have been together for a long time . How ?
Speaker 2many years .
Speaker 1Almost 15 , I think Nice .
Speaker 2It's beautiful .
Speaker 1Congratulations , thank you . You guys become parents .
Speaker 2Yes , we became parents just right after 2009 . It went so fast , okay .
Speaker 1Take me through that your first thoughts of when you found out you were going to be a dad .
Speaker 2So , believe it or not , I wanted to be a dad . Okay , I told , or not , I wanted to be a dad . Okay , you know , I told her that . You know , I want to be a father . I think that . I think I was an illusion . I think I creeped her out , probably she's like what the fuck ?
Speaker 1what bye , I'll see you later .
Speaker 2I gotta go , but I think , I don't know , she just always kept coming back nice um , and yeah , I really wanted a , a kid I don't know why . I don't know why . It could be a lot of reasons , but anyway , yeah , when she told me she was pregnant , it's like I really knew it . Nice , you know what I mean . It wasn't a surprise .
Speaker 1Well , no , I don't , but I could imagine .
Speaker 2Yeah , I mean like the answer is not surprising , right , I felt that she was going to be pregnant and when she did , I was happy , I was in joy . I picked her up , I was happy , we were crying
Fatherhood & Family Life
Speaker 2, we were excited , we were scared . All those emotions in one Boom Nice , yeah , but it was good times .
Speaker 1Nice . I remember Challenging parts about being a dad . Oh , you haven't gone through anything . No , no , no .
Speaker 2There's a lot of uh , you're like no , wait , wait , wait , let me , let me challenge you to being a father . Let me take a minute . You know your time , you know you have to give them your time you got to give them your time , yeah , and I'm not going to be here talking and saying that I was perfect .
Speaker 1I wasn't right , you're not .
Speaker 2You're not because you're yeah I'm still learning , but you know with , with uh , with my second child , you know with my first and second . You know it was a little difficult for me because you know you want to give them the time , but you also got to be a provider .
Speaker 1Right .
Speaker 2And you also got to be there for them and make sure that you know they get everything they need for school , for um , food , anything , all the essentials right . So it was very difficult , man , the beginning , to kind of really understand what a father really is , um .
Speaker 2But you know , it was a blessing because at the same time , because my kids kind of like changed me you know , my son changed me in a sense where you know , know , it's always good to like , listen and observe and talk to them , communication , and then with my daughter , it's that love .
Speaker 1Yeah , you know that love Father-daughter connection .
Speaker 2Father-daughter connection , it's like no other man Fathers out there that know what I'm talking about . When you first see it , when you first see your daughter . It's over , it's over .
Speaker 1Take everything from me , you have everything from me . Yeah , you know , whatever you want .
Speaker 2Whatever you want , you got it . You got my heart , you got everything .
Speaker 1Daddy's little girl , that's it . Beautiful . It's a different story . One lesson that you can teach your children that you did in the past . What would that lesson be ? Or any .
Speaker 2Don't ever stop dreaming .
Speaker 1Beautiful .
Speaker 2Don't ever stop dreaming and don't ever , ever stop , you know , not going for your , for your passion . Go for your passion .
Speaker 1Chase the dream .
Speaker 2Yeah , chase the dream , chase your passion . Don't Don't be mediocre , don't be like the other . Rest and oh , I gotta become a doctor or an accountant , or this . And that no man . You , whatever you like , whatever you love to do , chase it . And oh , I gotta become a doctor or an accountant , or this and that , no man , you , whatever you like , whatever you love to do , chase it and don't let anybody Say anything different . Because If , if you do that , if you project Other people's fears .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2Then you know you lost . So it's all about Chasing your passion , yeah .
Speaker 1Nice , that's what I always tell my kids . Beautiful , shout out to them . By the way , I haven't seen them in a while .
Speaker 2Yeah , man , all the one is like working hard , you know , kind of like , in a sense resembling me in a sense , in a sense like you don't know what the hell I'm doing , but he doesn't give up . Yeah , it's going to go to a nice prestige school here in Queens Frank Sinatra , nice so to pursue her passion , which is like acting and arts . That's beautiful .
Speaker 1I can't wait for that . Yeah , good stuff , awesome . So now we're going to jump into the workforce .
Speaker 2Yes .
Speaker 1Hospitality is what industry that we are in , my friend we work in hospitality , obviously Correct . Do you love hospitality
Finding Purpose in Hospitality
Speaker 1? And if you do , when did you fall in love with it ?
Speaker 2I love it , I love it with all my heart . I think that it didn't first start like that . You know , I fucking hated it .
Speaker 1Honestly .
Speaker 2It was a love and hate relationship , but in the beginning , yeah , I used to hate it . I used to be like what the hell you know ? To be very transparent , it was just one year thing and then I was going to go and that's it . Pursue other things , but within that , when I first started loving the hospitality has to be when I went to Tabla .
Speaker 1And I remember when I went to Tabla .
Speaker 2You know big out game changer , game changer there , man , it's like just the company usa g and uh and all that you know there was just . You know really really people that you know really care about um showing people a good time .
Speaker 1Good time and also the staff and the staff man especially the staff that's when I started to like , really learn the business .
Speaker 2I started to really focus and , like I always tell everybody that's going to come into this building , I mean , to this industry you're going to become , you're going to be in this industry for the long run . You got to learn how to love it , because if you don't , then I wouldn't recommend you this in this industry yeah that's how I learned to love it .
Speaker 2You know I got a big shout out to uh miss tracy wilson . That was really one , one of my biggest influence because she really taught me the fundamentals part of the uh of the industry . But then there's other people out there that you know made me learn a lot about the hospitality and the love of the industry . So big shout out to her .
Speaker 1But yeah , what , what is your uh ? Do you find like , do you find it rewarding for you ?
Speaker 2absolutely besides like , obviously , like making money , obviously you oh yes , very rewarding , very wanting to see , to change one person's experience is for me . I did my job , you know for to to have someone come into the restaurant , expect . You know they come to the restaurant with a high expectation , so you got to make sure that you up to that level . But I think if you put that personal touch , you know what I mean and you give them that hospitality that they need , that they deserve , but with like , with that's , with that element of realness , man , that's all you guys , man , that , when you , when you change a person's experience and like the way they are and I mean the way they , they felt like they were gonna expect to have service , and then they , you turn it to a whole different direction . It's a , it's mind-boggling , and that's how you start bringing those regulars to come into the restaurant and start kind of knowing your name .
Speaker 2And yeah , I love building relationships . This is why I love this industry , because you talk to people , you network and you build relationships .
Speaker 1You build relationships for sure , for sure . If you could give advice to somebody that wants to join our industry but doesn't because of the long hours or whatever , field manager back of the house , front of the house , what advice would you give to them ? If they don't want to , if they want to , if they want to but they don't ?
Speaker 2want to , but they don't want to . Yeah , you've got to be very straightforward with them . You know , and you've got to tell them how it is . So my piece of advice for them is like you have to learn how to love the game .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2You've how to love the industry , you have to have passion for it . If you don't have passion for it , then it's not for you , and as many times as you want to go into the business , you're going to fail Because at the end there's long hours , very long hours , very long hours . Understand that you're going to be with your work , family more than your own family . That's a fact . All right , and family .
Speaker 2That's a fact , all right , and you're going to have to understand that , and you're going to have to understand that there's going to be tears , there's going to be moments where you're not yourself , there's going to be moments where you're going to be pissed off , and then you're going to want to walk out . You're going to walk out , but if you love the game and you love the industry , you're going to come back .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , yeah , very nice , very nice . Oh , all right , so we'll keep that topic rather short . Yeah , do you have any guilty pleasures or Guilty ?
Speaker 2pleasures .
Speaker 1Yeah , or a drink that you will never give up .
Speaker 2A drink that I'll never give up .
Speaker 1Or food , either or .
Speaker 2Well , my guilty pleasure , like food-wise , is lasagna . Man , you'll never give up lasagna . Everybody that knows me knows I love lasagna . I am the human form , I'm the human Garfield . So if you put lasagna , on my table . I am going to eat it .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2But don't put it . If you really want that lasagna , just put it . Get it out of my sight because I will destroy it .
Speaker 1I will crush that lasagna and I'll do it in your face , if you let me , if you can have dinner . You asked me this in the previous episode as well . If you can have dinner with three people , dead or alive , who would it be ?
Speaker 2Three people dead or alive Dinner .
Speaker 1Dinner Delicious dinner At Per Se .
Speaker 2At Per .
Speaker 1Se or French Laundry , anywhere , just naming names .
Speaker 2If I would have had like celebrities , or just anybody .
Speaker 1Anybody . Celebrities family .
Speaker 2Well , I'll put you this I'll put one celebrity , one personal and then one like random , I guess . Okay , when it comes to celebrity , I would love to sit with my idol . I want to sit with Danny Meyer , I want to sit down with him , and I will sit down with him and eat dinner with him , just because I want to learn his mind frame , how he looks at the business , even though I read the book . But just to sit down with him and just to kind of see how he sees things Come on the Shake Shack is revolutionary . So I would say with him , that's a celebrity type of person . Personal man with my wife . You know what , believe it or not , me and my wife , we haven't gone to dinner on an expensive restaurant for so long , so many years . So I would love to sit down with her and like just forget that we have children for just two hours and just you know , have a nice glass of wine and just enjoy life .
Speaker 2And then , lastly , mike Tyson .
Speaker 1Mike .
Speaker 2Tyson from Brooklyn , I would say with Mike Tyson , not because of his boxing .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2Man . The man had a life . Yeah , he did A life , and you know still has a life , Still has a life . But you know why I like to . I want to sit down with Mike Tyson because I want to learn how he persevered . The man was set up to lose .
Speaker 1All the time , all the time , everything Until now , until now , and the man is still Still going , still going .
Speaker 2Shout out to Mike . Mike . Yeah , iron Mike .
Speaker 1If you ever hear this , want to come on the podcast Please ? We would love to have you . We would love to have you . All right , I think that's all I got , brother .
Speaker 2Really , you did great . Thank you , man . I appreciate it . It was fun to get into you . Good conversation as always , we're going to do a .
Speaker 1En-part segment . Okay , it was not two-part questions , one more sports-related and the other one not so much .
Speaker 2All right , I'll try to answer as quickly as possible . Okay , that way it could be . You know , that's how it's supposed to be .
Speaker 1Yeah , en Caliente Ready , I almost got it . Go-to drink
Rapid-Fire Questions & Wrap-Up
Speaker 1Negroni , favorite dish to eat Lasagna , or lasagna , or cook lasagna . If you could move to a city in a heartbeat , which would it be ?
Speaker 2Italy . Oh yeah , no , no , I'm sorry , I want to go to Japan . Which city is there ?
Speaker 1Tokyo , tokyo , yeah , biggest biggest restaurant , pet peeve 86 . No , what's your biggest pet peeve ? In the restaurant my biggest pet peeve in the restaurant .
Speaker 2My biggest pet peeve is when they touch me in the back . Really , yeah , just stay behind .
Speaker 1Is there a what's in your Three things that's in your bucket list ?
Speaker 2Going to Japan . That's one Jumping out of a plane .
Speaker 1Oh wow , that's two .
Speaker 2And then three . I want to go visit Italy as well , just traveling , for me traveling copy .
Speaker 1One cuisine that you could eat forever . What would it be ? Italian food . Most embarrassing moment that happened to you on the floor .
Speaker 2I dropped 16 glasses champagne glasses in the strip house . Oh god , that was the worst yeah , I would have sent you home . Yeah , Mr Francesco did actually .
Speaker 1First concert you've ever been to Mana Ooh Mana , pero no puedo .
Speaker 2I think I fell in love with Mana . That day I went with my aunt Shout out to my aunt Lorena for giving me the opportunity to go to Mana , because I was actually going to say I actually said no to her .
Speaker 1I don't care , I don't care about music , and she was like I don't know you're going to like it .
Speaker 2And she took me con fuerzas and yo to that day .
Speaker 1God bless her . I fell in love with Mana . You should treat her after dinner .
Speaker 2I should I ? You wish you could have one skill cook . You don't know how to cook .
Speaker 1No , not like od no , okay , all right , now we're jumping into the sports . Go ahead . We know you're , we know your favorite team is , is the is the yankees by law . What's your favorite sport ? Baseball uh , best game you've ever been to . Oh , that's a good one .
Speaker 2You can say past . No , no , it was around the 80s . I'm not sure what year , but it was when Don Mattingly hit two home runs so watching Don Mattingly hit two home runs . Yeah , I think it was Kansas City . I'm not so sure it was the Yankees in Kansas City , Dude , at that time the Yankee Stadium was so empty . We were the worst team ever , Really . Yeah , and the Yankees ? Yeah . That's one of the days when we had Danny Tartable , Mack Noakes , Pat Kelly .
Speaker 1Yeah , I'm a real Yankee , by the way .
Speaker 2All-time favorite player . You know I'm going to get you here because you think you know , but you don't . My favorite baseball player to this day will always be Ken Griffey .
Speaker 1Jr . I love that man , Not Derek Jeter , even though Derek Jeter's like there .
Speaker 2but nah , I love the game of baseball because of Ken Griffey Jr .
Speaker 1Ken Griffey Jr . Copy . Would you rather hit a home run or pitch a perfect game ? Pitch a perfect game .
Speaker 2That's hard Iconic , yeah .
Speaker 1Yeah , hot dog or nachos .
Speaker 2Nachos .
Speaker 1If you could pick any position in the field , what would it be ? Center field , home run or game-saving catch .
Speaker 2Game-saving catch . Oh , very nice yeah yeah . Favorite stadium to visit , favorite stadium to visit Any sport . I didn't visit a lot of stadiums , honestly , but I do . Whoever you that I want to or that I've been already , that you've gone to , my wife's going to kill me for this , but I like Cedar Fields . It's pretty cool .
Speaker 1I'm not lying Favorite baseball movie . I feel the love of the game . Would you rather watch the game in the stands or in a luxury box ? In the stands , who was the last pitcher to pitch ?
Speaker 2a perfect game for the New York Yankees you know this . David Cohn no .
Speaker 1David Cohn . No , you had to Jorge Dominguez or something Dominguez .
Speaker 2Jorge Dominguez , wasn't that a no-hitter ?
Speaker 1No , it was a perfect game 2003 . I'm sorry , 2023 . Herman , I'm sorry 2023 .
Speaker 2Herman Herman , why did I not know that I would have lost a thousand dollars there .
Speaker 1You would have damn , I should have bet . I know anyway my will . Yes , that was great , thank you , man .
Speaker 2You did great . I appreciate it . It was a phenomenal , phenomenal interview .
Speaker 1You did great questions , man great encaliente too .
Speaker 2By the way , you actually put a lot .
Speaker 1I came prepared because the previous well , episode 8 I wasn't prepared . I felt a little shocked to myself .
Speaker 2I tried to answer as quickly as possible too . Yeah , that was great awesome thank you , no , thank you .
Speaker 1Thank you to everybody as well , listening who's gonna listen ? Who will listen , whether you're driving , cooking or whatever you're doing yeah . I mean , you know , we wanted to give you guys an opportunity to get to know us a little better , yeah , and there's plenty more yeah , of course , for sure , especially in the work field and other stuff too . Yeah , that we didn't share , but I think we shared enough .
Speaker 2I think we shared enough and obviously , as the seasons and years go by , you're going to get to know us a little better , um , but I think this is kind of the introduction moment and kind of leading us to season two , which is going to be some amazing , amazing season . I can't wait . We're gonna have a lot of surprises , a lot of things going on a lot of , a lot of stuff and you know what ?
Speaker 1hopefully we'll get some nice weather in in season two . Yeah , this is this weather is cold if you're in new york , you know , you know the vibes it's supposed to leave already , for the love of god we're in spring yeah , east is just around the corner oh my god , uh , but yeah , this , uh , this wraps about this . This about wraps up season one a small talk with compa my brother it's been a pleasure it's been a pleasure doing this with you .
Speaker 1It's been great . I'm excited for the next season . I can't wait . We're not gonna wait too long , we're just gonna get know . Hopefully the nice weather comes in and get some . Like I said , we have some surprises coming up .
Speaker 2We're going to get insituated . We got things that are moving and you know again , like my compadre said , we have the weather has to like has to get a little better , because yeah , you'll see why . Yeah , but yeah , I can't wait . It's awesome , awesome . So I guess that wraps it up . Yeah , it takes us out . I guess we should say thank you to the listeners as well . Thank you , guys , for embracing this journey , and we have a lot more coming up .
Speaker 1Like subscribe follow Respect , respect , respect , respect , respect . Thank you .
