Zach Webber: How To Win At Work Without Losing At Home

Husband, father, and content creator Zach Webber opens up about the career he never imagined he’d have. In fact, he says if you had told him years ago that social media would become his full-time job, he probably would’ve laughed.

In this conversation, we dive into:

* How he prioritizes his family while building a successful business.
* The unexpected story behind his viral 5 A.M. workout interview series.
* How he stays authentic despite millions of people watching.
* The values and principles that keep his family at the center of everything he does.

If you’ve ever wondered what it really takes to build a meaningful career without sacrificing the people who matter most, this episode is for you.


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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Tell me about the pivot that you made as far as being a content creator. What I'm doing now, if you'd have told me that that's what I was gonna be doing in 2015, I would have laughed in your face. No shot. I hated taking photos. I did not like being on social media. I didn't like posting things. I just did not care. Other my wife started doing it full-time in 2020. She lost her job due to COVID. My job was relatively secure in accounting. So we said, let's go for it. Let's see what we can make happen. And within a few months, she had replaced her income at the previous job. So we said, okay, this is serious. This could go somewhere. So we started to figure out other ways that I could get involved in the business. And one of those was being in some of her videos. I, you know, I essentially quit to be a stay-at-home dad for a number of months, which there's nothing wrong with, but I just didn't, I wasn't prepared for that to be the primary role when I just thought, okay, I'm gonna quit and help my wife with this. So we started a page and I threw up a few videos, and within six months of really taking it seriously, it took off to a point where I was like, okay, now this is my full-time job too. It's also humbling, you know, to think that I had it figured out and to now see where I am. It's like, oh, I couldn't have been more wrong. What a great thing to experience this early in life. I think it just took a lot of my wife beating me over the head until I until I got it.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

Even for me, like, even when I became a full-time content creator, I'm still embarrassed around other people to be like, oh wow, you know, Joy, you're so what do you do?

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Make videos on TikTok. It's not always comfortable, but I don't know of another business model that's scalable in this way in which it allows you to scale a business with just yourself. I feel like I found some ways to sort of flip what I valued because when I started my career, it's like go get a job, earn money, support your family, nine to five in the cubicle, that's what's valuable. I think my perspective now is like the only thing that's valuable is figuring out a way to support your family while maximizing time with them. Yeah, that's all I care about.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

Welcome back to the modern man. If you guys have been here before, thank you so much for coming back. If you are new here, this channel is all about talking about how we can level up and be a better version of ourselves, how to connect and build community while doing that. On today's episode, you'll find out how passionate our guest is about family, fitness, and fashion and what all of these things mean to him. I hope you guys are ready for an amazing episode and let's jump into it. I am genuinely excited about today's guest. When it comes to fitness, fashion, and family. This is someone who consistently inspires me in all of these areas. Watching his content, you can tell right away that this isn't for show that this is actually a lifestyle for him. I've known him for a short period of time, but already we've had some meaningful conversations. And one thing is very true is that this guy challenges all of us to be a better father and what it really means to be a family man and show up for the people in your life that you love. On top of that, he's incredibly fit, smart, and stylish. I would love to welcome today's guest, Zach Weber. Wow, man, what an introduction! That's awesome. I don't think I've ever been introduced that way.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02 3:07

I try to hype you up, man. That was great. Yeah, we make you feel good, you know, in the house of the being here.

SPEAKER_01 3:13

Good to be here. So, how are you feeling today? Great, great. I'm uh I'm excited. This is the first podcast I've ever done. So thank you for having me. Yeah, and I'm excited to get into it. Of course, bro. So I gotta know, did you do your 5 a.m. routine this morning? Not today. I didn't today, but my gym bag is packed. I'm going to the gym after this. After before I go home. Yeah. Really? So do you so sometimes do you shift and do the workout? Oh, yeah. Yeah. It just depends on my day and what I know I need to get done. If I know I'll have time during the day, I'll typically try and carve it in during lunch or something like that. But if I've got to get up early, I get up early. Okay. So it just depends.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

So it just depends on, and I actually I feel that a lot because if it's in if it's in your schedule to be able to kind of do it, you still it's still a non-negotiable.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

Yes. And I, yeah, I uh I I have a decent amount of flexibility. And so when I can work out later in the day, I prefer it because I feel like I have a better workout. I like or morning workouts are tough. Like your body's still asleep. I like I know if I have to do something hard, like a tough workout, it's just gonna be easier when my body's warm up, warmed up from the day. Yeah, I hate night workouts, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:19

But yeah, so I mean, but it's a good point in the morning. I think I feel a little bit more inspired, like, oh, like I needed that. It sets the rest of the day up.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

And there's nothing better than like having that done, and it's 6, 7 a.m. and you still have the whole day ahead of you and you don't have to think about it. And it's just like, bam, you had you started with productivity.

SPEAKER_02 4:38

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So since you've been doing, because I know you talked about it for a while. I've told you earlier I wanted to touch on this. How has it been interviewing your mom, your wife, and your brother and the for these the do 5 a.m.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

session? I'm loving it. And I I I've been creating content for a few years and it started in men's fashion, and that really happened because of a a series of events that led me to think, okay, I think there's a gap here that I could fill because it's something that interests me. But my real passions lie in my family life, building my my friendships and and relationships with my the people in my life and fitness. And I didn't really see an avenue to creating content or videos around that when I started. And over time, as it's developed, I've I kind of had this idea that I wanted to try out. And I fortunately I've only done it, done three videos, but they've turned out to be pretty good, and people seem to be enjoying them. They're much longer than videos I typically create on short form platforms. They're two, three minutes. Um, but they're going crazy. And and they've been so fun for me. I mean, it's I've I've I've sat down and thought of questions I want to ask my wife and my brother and my mom, people in my life who I care about and I want to hear their thoughts. And I see them often, you know, I see all of them every day or multiple times a week, but I don't have a dedicated hour to where I can just talk to them and ask them questions about their lives in that way. Um, you know, if I'm with my I'm with my wife all day and all we're doing is focusing on work and kids. And so to sit down and ask her, what's a secret hidden talent you have, or or what's something that surprises you about our relationship, those are fun things to do with someone that maybe you get into a routine with and don't force yourself to ask those questions. And so, in terms of my uh identity online and what I want to put out there, I think showing people how to interact or or have moments with their loved ones in those kind of ways where you're you're doing something healthy, you're doing something where you get dedicated time with them, and you can maybe have hard conversations or fun conversations or memorable conversations. It's been it's been so fun for me. And I I'm so I have I'm I'm one of five and I've only interviewed my my brother. So I have four more siblings or three more siblings and my dad. So I'm very excited because I'm I'm getting to prep all these fun conversations and have these discussions with them and then turn them into memories for other people to see and maybe be inspired by. But also, it feels like I'm making home videos that we're gonna get to look back on and you know in future years and enjoy. Yeah, it's been a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02 7:15

I I can tell, man, it's fun to be able to watch. Would you say that this has been able to deepen your connection with your family so far with them?

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Yeah, my mom and I finished uh our our workout and shooting the video, and we were like, oh my gosh, we need to take time to do this once a month, you know. Like I I genuinely, when we see we do see her once a week, and at least, and we're running around with my kids and she's talking with my wife, and we have people around, and and we might get to check in on how each other's weeks have been. And uh to just have dedicated time like that to talk through things and I don't know, discuss what's important to you, maybe talk through regrets or moments that you were proud of in your life. Like, I think that's insight that you don't always think to get from your parents. And you know, you spend less and less time with them as you age and they age. And I there's a statistic, I actually quoted it in a video, and it was something along the lines of like you spend 90% of the time with your parents before you turn 18. And so in your adulthood, that last 10% it decreases the amount of time that you get to see them into until they're gone. And we're so fortunate to live close to my parents and spend a lot of time with them. And so I think to the extent I can be intentional about uh maximizing time with them or or time with my siblings, um, it's just gonna bring more value in in the relationships that I have. And so it's you know, this is just one way that I'm so fortunate to I I this is my work, and I get to do this for work. I get to build the relationships with the people I love even stronger. So it's just a it's a very unique and special scenario. I'm I'm just fortunate to be able to do it.

SPEAKER_02 8:54

Yeah, I'm bro, honestly, I love it. And it truly is uh the intention that you have behind it is very obvious, and I think that it's also inspiring. Like the one that you did with your mom, I sent to my mom too because I wanted to share it with her because I really liked all the questions and it's deep. And what you just said about spending less time with them. It's like I my parents live, I'm from Augusta, so my parents live two hours away, and I do see them, you know, a few times a month. But it just like you said, it's like when they're there, it's only so much that we have time to talk about.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

Family, yeah, so much going on.

SPEAKER_02 9:29

Yeah, you can't really get deep into spending that time. And it honestly, I I there have been times where I feel bad where I'm like, man, I need to just spend some one-on-one time with my mom to be able to talk to talk to her, like you know, checking on her and talking about because this thing is you we have children and life is moving much faster after you start a family. And um, so I really liked all that that you talked about with the uh that you talked about with her. And um, I'm excited to see what what's the what's the order you think about you're gonna interview next with your family?

SPEAKER_01 10:00

Um, I so I've got I'm gonna I'm gonna work out and interview my youngest sister tomorrow, actually. Oh uh we're gonna get an early morning workout in. And she just graduated college. We're running a marathon together at the end of the year. She's gonna compete to try, she's gonna try and compete for Miss Olympia in in Las Vegas at the end of the year. Whoa, in November. She's a beast. Like of all of all of my siblings, she might be the most skilled and talented. She's she's she's awesome and she's a fitness nut. So it'll be fun to talk to her about what what she's looking forward to. She just graduated college, she's young, she's got a lot of her 20s ahead of her, so a lot of fun changes and and you know, some of that adulthood life coming up that I think she's she's gonna have some really cool things happening. So I'm I'm excited to talk to her. And again, it's one of those things I see her often, but I don't frequently have one-on-one time with her. So it's gonna be it'll be special. Dang, that that's so cool. So does fit is fitness always been a core value in you guys' family? Yes. I mean, my my it comes from my parents. My mom was uh she she was known in our neighborhood as the crazy rollerblade lady. So she would skate the neighborhood and skate the hills, and everybody in the neighborhood knew that that's who she was. And she still skates to this day. We did a we skated a marathon with her, my brother and I, in September last year.

SPEAKER_02 11:21

So y'all just do this, y'all just you said two marathons already. Your sister's doing one, and you said you skated with her in a marathon, and you said you and your sister are doing a marathon together.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

Yes, yeah. This is a re this is somewhat recent, but yeah, I've I've started to run marathons recently and and some of my family's gotten into it. But yeah, it was it was it started with a foundation truly from my mom when it it basically as soon as we could walk, she put us on skates. So we would go around our neighborhood. This would have been in as early as when we lived. We lived in Minnesota until I was six, and then in Tennessee, right outside of Memphis, from when I was six to nine, and then we lived in Georgia from from I was about nine years old until today. And in in Minnesota, when there were three of us, she would load us up in a it was called a burley. I don't know if you've ever seen those. It's like something you can put, it's like a stroller you can push, okay, or attach to a bike. Yeah, she'd load us up in that, or if we could skate, she'd throw our skates on and then take us around the neighborhood. And that's that's how that started. Um and I think it's just developed and morphed into something that that connects our family. We love to be active together. Um, all of my siblings enjoy working out. It's just uh, I you know, I I I guess it really stemmed from just my parents, and um it's just what we enjoy doing together now. It's a part of our life.

SPEAKER_02 12:42

Yeah, I know you talked about like how important like family and core values are to you guys. What would you say are the most important core values that you've learned from your mom and dad and how you're implementing them in your current family? Not current, I'm sorry, not to say current, but you're my current family, my my first family.

SPEAKER_01 13:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:02

Your uh your uh family now.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

That's a great question. Um my dad is one of ten, my mom is one of seven, so there was um already some some huge built-in community amongst their families and what we saw from an early age growing up about how important family was. Um simple things like every night family dinners. Um FaceTime. Yep, lots of FaceTime. I'm trying to think of some of the I like if I had to boil it down to just a few bullet points, it would it would be FaceTime, open communication, and not holding resentment. Like, you know, we like everybody in in a family argues or butts heads, and particularly my siblings and I as we were growing up. But what we learned from my parents and what we saw from them was if if there was a a spat or an argument, it was over and done with the minute after it happened. It was resolved and we're not holding on to it. And I think that's a huge reason why we are all still close as as close as we are as adults, because when we have disagreements, we're our parents taught us how to communicate through them and and come out on the other side either or either closer or more understanding of uh each other's perspectives. And I think that's something that we definitely want to instill in our daughters. Um that's not really a bullet point, but no, but that's a that's a big I think that's a big one because over over a long period of time, the likelihood of having instances where you're gonna uh argue and maybe not be able to get over the argument increase. And so to be able to learn how to navigate disagreements and communicate, it's it's probably the most important thing for how we want to set our family up for being close when maybe someday I'm a grandfather and I get to watch my kids raise kids or something. Like I want to be close with them and I think that's how we're how we're gonna do it.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

Yeah, I'm generally curious now. So, like, what in what ways did you see between them, like how they handled uh if you if you're willing to share, how did you see them handle disagreements? Because a lot of times, like I think that like I'll think back to when I was younger about you know, family disagreements with my parents and stuff like that. And I'll think about that, but it's actually, you know, it's actually kind of sometimes hard to think about that. But uh it sounds like you have some that are paramount that you remember that kind of shaped how you looked at things.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Yeah, I don't not necessarily I think it was more just daily life. If something came up, I you know, they they I think they did a good job. You know, you hear the old adage like don't argue in front of your kids, right? Yeah, and I think they did a very good job of that, but even still, you have disagreements with your spouse, right? And I and it was I I'm trying to think of a specific instance. Maybe if we were in the kitchen and they were, you know, it could be something as simple as uh, you know, who's on on pasta duty, right? And if it if it is like a you know, a brief argument, two minutes later they were hugging and kissing on each other and dancing to, you know, music. It just it was never something that festered. And I think that's really that it there's nothing specific, but that uh concept of just not letting not holding on to things that aren't important and and you know, trusting in each other that you're trying to do right by each other, that that I think that was really the takeaway for for me.

SPEAKER_02 16:18

I like that a lot, man. I think that you know, family values, it seems like it obviously for you to be one of five, and that's you know, six of you guys, and that's a big family, and both of your mom and dad both come from big families. I think to in order to for everybody to kind of build and move together as a unit, you kind of need a lot of communication in that aspect in order for you guys to grow in love together. I hope you guys are enjoying the episode so far. I just want to invite you to be able to join our Patreon community. In our Patreon community, you get bonus clips of things from the podcast to show that you may not get here on YouTube. You get visuals and bonus materials such as things how to grow on social media, how to do more with your money. You get the expertise level advice for a lot of our guests that we have on to be able to dive deeper into things that can bring you even more value in your life. If you guys are interested in that, make sure you hit the first link in the description. Are you the oldest? I'm the oldest. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

Oldest of five. Are you the only one that has kids? No, my sister. So it I'm I'm the oldest, and then my brother. So I'm 33, my brother's 31, and then my sister's 29, 26, 24, and my 29-year-old sister also has a daughter. Okay. She's incredible. Where I'm actually gonna go see her this weekend. I'm so excited. Okay, so your uncle Zach too. Nice, nice. Yep, became an uncle last August.

SPEAKER_02 17:40

Man, that's fantastic, bro.

SPEAKER_03 17:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:42

So if we could take it back a little bit, you know, actually, no, before I take it back a little bit, the biggest question, um, one of the ones that I that I wanted to ask you is tell me about the pivot that you made in your like your life, right? As far as like being a content creator, because this was, you know, this is something that your wife, your yourself, you never saw your life at all. And like you said, right before the camera turned on, you were like, Yeah, I still think it's crazy. And you you had to change your mindset of how you felt about it.

SPEAKER_01 18:14

I was I was thinking about it today, driving down here. Like, I can't believe that someone's asking me to be on a podcast to talk about my my content creation experience or journey or career. Um I wanna I want to be succinct, but also give enough detail and background on it. So let's just lay the the the groundwork of about who I am. Like I'm typical type A older brother, like on the straight and narrow. I didn't I I didn't do much in high school in terms of getting in trouble. I uh I accepted the first college that I got into. I went to GCSU in South Georgia and Milledgeville, yeah, got my accounting degree, got my master's, worked on my CPA and and got that while I was working at an accounting firm in Atlanta. And that that was between the years of maybe 2011 and 2017 when I started working there full time. All the while I was with my wife, Liz, who we we started dating in 2009 in high school. So as you can imagine, we went through uh uh every uh trial and tribulation that you can with uh uh uh someone that you start a relationship with when you're in your teenage years, right? We didn't have we didn't have any sense of identity, we didn't know who we were, we didn't know what we wanted to be. We knew that we loved each other from from an early, early age. Um, and we knew that we were we we trusted each other. And I I don't know what it was that uh that built that inherently between us, but uh over the years, Liz um my wife showed a lot of interest in social media. She went into mass communications and started a marketing job with a local clothing company and basically started and and uh single-handedly started their influencer communications and influencer um uh marketing team. So she was responsible for sourcing and negotiating with influencers way back when, like 2015, 2016, right? When it was when it was still relatively new. I mean, obviously it had been around, but the processes that she was going through were were kind of grassroots in terms of like, hey, we're gonna identify these local people, we're gonna pay them a hundred bucks to post or talk about our clothing. Right. Yeah. And and it was like photos at the time, right? So she understood what the business side of that looked like from a brand side. What did they need to see to know that they were gonna have payoff when they paid influencers? Um, fast forward a handful more years, she really had developed an interest in it herself, was posting content herself, and I could not stand it. I I hated taking photos for her or with her. I did not like being on social media, I didn't like posting things um primarily because yeah, I just it just was it just wasn't my thing. I don't even think I had an Instagram until well into college. Facebook? Yes, I had Facebook. I didn't use it. I think my Facebook profile is still something from like 2015. I just don't like I I just did not care. And and and quite frankly, I like I was over the top rude to Liz about it at times, being like, this is this is a dumb way to spend your time. This is I'm I'm dude, I'm I this is just like pure, pure honesty. It's it's true. I just I had a bad attitude about it and I like had my head in the sand. And then the accountant in me, of course, comes out. She started to show me what influencers were making. We had friends that uh they they influenced us heavily because they were into it. And they they they moved to New York and started doing it full time and were extremely successful. One thing led to another, my wife started doing it full time in 2020. 20. She lost her job due to COVID, which I know resonates with you because that's what caused you to start working on this full time. And she said she she lost her job and the same day said, I know what I want to do and I'm gonna go for this. And at that time, I had been with her long enough to know that I was like, okay, she's taking this seriously. Let's see what we can do. Um, and I my job was relatively secure in accounting. So we said, let's go for it, let's see what we can make happen. And within a few months, she had replaced her income at the previous job. So we said, okay, this is this is serious. This could go somewhere. And I worked in the background helping her for a couple of years until 2022. She had uh onboarded with an agency, the agency she's currently with, and things just took off. She was having a lot of success, she was making way more money than I was. And even in a job that I was relatively successful at, I'd worked at for five years and I enjoyed, but it wasn't my passion.

SPEAKER_03 22:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:57

Um, and in the fall of 2022, I quit at my accounting, I quit the accounting job and I started working with her full time. And that I would say was like the most pivotal six months for me because I totally lost my sense of identity in terms of who I was as a professional and who I was to my family, because we just had our daughter in the spring of 2022, and suddenly I'm not bringing in any income for the family. I don't necessarily have a defined role around what my work looks like. I'm helping Liz in spots where I can to either edit content for brands or help her come up with ideas. But she wasn't, she would, she would admit this. She wasn't a great delegator, and she had owned her process for so many years that she didn't really know what it was that she was willing to be hands-off on. And so we struggled because it just turned into, I, you know, I essentially quit to be a stay-at-home dad for a number of months, which there's nothing wrong with, but I just didn't, I wasn't prepared for that to be the primary role when I thought, okay, I'm gonna quit and help my wife with this. Um, and over a handful of months, we kind of realized like this isn't what I want. And there's nothing like I think there are a lot of people who do want that. And if they can do it, awesome. It just wasn't fulfilling me in every way that I wanted to be fulfilled. And so we started to figure out other ways that I could get involved in the business. And one of those was being in some of her videos. And as some of those videos took off, brands were reaching out specifically for some men's fashion stuff on her page. And she was like, Well, this is awesome. And we took on a few of them, but then we realized this isn't this is gonna start start to distort her branding because she was uh mom, lifestyle, women's fashion.

SPEAKER_00 24:44

Right.

SPEAKER_01 24:45

And then to just pepper in men's fashion was just gonna kind of convolute things. Yeah. So we started a page and I threw up a few videos and came up with a few more ideas, and and it and within six months of really taking it seriously, it took off to a point where it's like, okay, now this is my full-time job too. And it's been a whirlwind since then of um trial and error on the page, trying a bunch of different content ideas that have sort of landed at where we're at today with like lifestyle and some of these interview things that are even more like so recent within the last few weeks. Um, but it all stem it all stems stems from men's fashion. Yeah, that's how that's how it really got started. Bro, I know that's a very long-winded answer.

SPEAKER_02 25:26

No, that is it, that is an incredible answer, but a lot to unpack because there is there the the the the plot thickens, you know, as they say on social media, the plot is thickening a little bit because I I I want to back up because a very curious question that I have while you were telling me about it, right? Tell me about the transition, right? Because you made it very clear that you were in your role as far as being an accountant and you hated social media. Like, I think there's a difference when someone says, I don't like this, I hate it, I think it's stupid and not worth your uh not worth my time. And then you kind of still leaned into it. And so tell me about what was the conversation that you had to have with your wife to be like, all right, you know what? You're making money, you're doing this. I think it's time for me to leave my job and support you.

SPEAKER_01 26:25

Yeah, I think the the mindset shift for me around looking at it as a legitimate business and taking it seriously happened even before then, probably in like 2018, 2019, before she started doing it full time. We saw people around us that we were friends with having great success at it. And they would, I mean, they would make fun of me being like, What are you like you you still aren't taking this seriously? Look at what this can become. Liz should do it. That was like they were encouraging Liz to do it. And um by the time she started doing it full time, I was all in. I I had I had sort of had the mindset shift, and there was no distinct moment. It was conversation after conversation of us just having disagreements about um the authenticity of it, whether or not it's worth our time. Um is it something that we could actually turn into a full-fledged long-term business? You know, there were just a lot of questions, and there still are around what we're doing, but um I think it just took a lot of um my wife beating me over the head until I until I got it, you know. Sometimes we need that. Exactly. Yeah. And I think my like my takeaway from that and the way that I think I try to what like walk through life now is I like I sh I have strong opinions. I'm pretty stubborn, but I I try to be better about understanding other people's perspectives because that you never know what could be on the other side of it. Be like what I'm doing now, if I you'd have told me that that's what I was gonna be doing in 2015, I would have laughed in your face. No shot. And here I am. So I think who knows what I'm gonna be doing in 10 years, you know? I can't, I I can't make assumptions about that kind of stuff. So um it's been an awesome learning experience, but it it's it's just it's also humbling, you know, to to think that I had it figured out and to now see where I am. It's like, oh, I couldn't have been more wrong.

unknown 28:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:24

And I just think I it's what what a what a great thing to experience this early in life. Like now I can take that perspective into parenting, into the rest of my career, into other friendships that I build, and hopefully it'll serve me well.

SPEAKER_02 28:37

No, I think that's true, man. I think that it's uh it's I'm sure it even sounds like it, but I'm sure it's much harder than uh the process, than kind of like how it uh than what you're saying right now. Because I think the mental sweat, uh, the mental switch up of thinking something has to be this way for a while, and then all of a sudden it's like what you know and what you understand. Because, you know, for all intents and purposes, an accounting job is a very, like I would think a job that a lot of people would go into, and it's a safe, it's you know, knowledgeable. You you know, you know how to make it money, you know, you know how money works essentially. So that's a job that I would think is very admirable for a lot of people. And to leave that in it's so funny, man, that you said it because I asked uh we had a guest on um on our last episode that we shot, and he talked about you know, the similar things of you know, us as men, we have this I don't know if it's a bravado or it's just the gender roles inside of us, but it's like I really felt it when you said you you left your job to essentially support her. And man, I know mentally, like you said, when you you said for six months you lost your whole pretty much identity. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 29:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:54

I I just feel like that could that could be tough because even for me, like even when I became a full-time content creator, I didn't exactly I was still embarrassed to kind of like say it out loud to people when they asked, like, my wife is a doctor. So I'm like, I'm still embarrassed around other people to be like, oh wow, you know, Joy, you're a doctor.

SPEAKER_03 30:15

So what do you do? Yeah, yeah. I make videos on TikTok. I pick videos on TikTok.

SPEAKER_02 30:20

Yeah. And so I I I just know that like, did you have to go to like therapy? Did you kind of like pray about, talk to people about like I'm essentially a stay-at-home dad for a little while? Well, so yeah, well, and I don't want to put that label on, I just know you said it, but no, no.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

I mean, I I I I was um, I think it no, I probably should have gone to therapy, but it honestly, my my wife and I have such a great relationship that it was a lot of talking to her and just being really open about the way I was feeling, which is like, hey, I'm I'm struggling with my role in our work and with the family. Like, and and I thought for years, I would joke around with coworkers when I was at my accounting job. I'm gonna quit and work for my wife. Like, I I had no qualms or like self-righteousness around like working for my wife. I wanted to do it. Okay. When it came to actually doing it, I found that I wasn't fulfilled. It just what I wanted to, I wanted to be, I wanted ownership over more of my work. I wanted to be contributing in different ways. And I feel like I found some ways to sort of flip what I valued because when I started my career, it was like, go get a job, earn money, support your family, nine to five in the cubicle. That's what's valuable. I think my perspective now is like the only thing that's valuable is figuring out a way to support your family while maximizing time with them. Yeah. That's all I care about. And and not all of society cares about that. And so you'll be told you're wrong often in, you know, in the in in the comments. Oh, get a real job. Fine. But they still say that to you? Yeah, sometimes, but it's it's it's less and less so. I think it even even just two years ago is more common.

SPEAKER_03 32:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:07

Um, and I and I think just having the ability to switch that perspective from like, I'm gonna be the sole provider, I'm gonna, I'm gonna have the traditional W-2 job to I'm gonna take a risk and do something that isn't maybe as common or as accepted because it's right for me. I think that was just a a big turning point, even though it resulted in having to go through uh some time of of doubt with the decision that I'd made. Um, and ultimately, like we figured out what was gonna work. And that was like also me making my own videos and turning it into something that's kind of my own part of our business. Yeah. I don't know if that answers your question, but no, that was a that was definitely uh, it was it was a huge pivotal time for us, both in our marriage and in the in the business. Um and thank goodness we pushed through because I like I might not have I might have gone back to accounting, you know, I might have gone back to that job. But part of that decision too was just analyzing risk and thinking, okay, is it riskier for us to try and do this together and potentially fail? And then I have to go back to an accounting job that's probably always gonna be there, right? Like you can always go get a job in an accounting firm if you have some level of credentials. Or is it riskier to live life always wondering what would have happened if we had tried, but never actually taking the risk? And we deter we decided, okay, we don't want to be 60 going, man, what what if we had tried that? And now here we are a few years later being like, Thank God we tried it. It's it worked out so well, or at least it has so far. Yeah, right. So that's that's kind of the perspective we took with it when it came to like actually making the decision to do it.

SPEAKER_02 33:50

Yeah, and so since you you've been in content creation for how long have you had your own your accounts?

SPEAKER_01 33:58

August of 2023, I think is when I started it.

SPEAKER_02 34:01

Okay, so it's been almost three years. Yes, yeah, we're coming up on three years. Yep. Nice uh of you being a full-time content creator, and when you have since you've been a full-time content creator yourself, how have you looked at the scope of money, the business, how everything works, and you guys' relationship? And um, I I I would imagine that you probably have a newfound respect like for it, even more so as it deepens in your own with your own accounts. You mean like how do we look at the finances of the business or yeah? So the the whole scope of the business of content creating, like how has it changed uh for you since you've had your own uh own, I said essentially your business?

SPEAKER_01 34:43

I guess uh the way I would look at that is maybe I if you're looking at it purely from like a business model perspective, right? Like if you were to look at, oh, what what are the finances of a coffee shop? I'm trying to get into your finance brand. Yeah, yeah. Um I think, okay, so that's a good question. I think the way we look at it now and the and what we've kind of realized with it is I I don't know of another business model uh that's scalable in this way, in which if you continue with the same level of output, let's say you make five videos a week, two videos a week, but they're really good, and it can it can lead to growth on your platforms, you will also see growth in revenue. And so without changing your outputs or without changing your inputs, you can spend the same 40 hours a week making three, four however many videos. If you can turn those work hours into growth on the accounts, you can grow your revenue without uh hiring new people, adding infrastructure, having overhead. It allows you to scale a business with just yourself. And I don't think that's common. It's not common in in typical businesses that you would have to start up, right? Let's say you want to start a law firm, you want to open a ice cream shop, you've got to get equipment, you want to open a gym, you got to get equipment, you have to get a facility for it, you have to hire people to work it, you have to hire cleaners, like there's overhead associated with that. If you want to be a content creator, if you've got a phone, you can start, right? Right. And so if you find a way to improve and post consistently without upping the hours in, you can grow a business and have revenue without really adding any additional overhead. And so I think that's kind of our perspective is like, let's just keep improving and keep trying to grow because as we grow and the accounts have good engagement, we see better revenue. And it's only my wife and I right now.

SPEAKER_03 36:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:40

Um, ultimately, we'd love to do what you're doing, which is like hire teams for video editing and podcasting and building out other platforms. Um, right. That's kind of the like your way of diversifying your revenue in in this industry. But right now it's working for us, and we just continue to try and improve what we're doing.

SPEAKER_02 36:57

Bro, honestly, I'm honestly, I miss being like you guys. Like, I I do miss it because it's a lot less, it's it's trade-offs, right? Right. It's a balance. And so, like I was telling you about this when we were getting coffee, it's the way that you can do everything with your phone is like unbeatable. And you can do everything and get it done, but when you start adding more responsibilities, and for me, when more responsibilities started coming into my life, such as kids, wife, family, it's a lot more intensive. So it's like, you know, you know how it is. So it's like a brand reaches out to you on Thursday, you know, in the emails, your team is getting back to them. They're telling you by next Wednesday, hey, we need a concept. Then we need a concept by, you know, end a week. End of week. Turn it around, you know, turn it across over the weekend. Yeah, then your concept gets approved. It's like time to shoot, right? And it doesn't, because this is your job, it doesn't really matter what you have going on in your life, right? Because they need that content to be turned around ASAP. And I think for me, it's like that gets in the way sometimes if you guys have an outing planned or a trip or some of that stuff. And it honestly, it's like if you think thinking about all the stuff that you know you do around the house and what you have to get done, your friends, your community, your family. It for me, it's like, dang, how this is a lot to think about like I can't have even a conversation with you at coffee and knowing that I have to turn something in later that day. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 38:25

And they're probably texting you, like, hey, yeah, like checking in on this, checking in with your channel.

SPEAKER_02 38:30

Yeah. Yeah. And for me, it got very stressful because I'm a person where I like to really be present with the person I'm talking to at any point in time. And so it's hard to be present all the time as a content creator when you have to be kind of essentially in your email, in your in your phone in general. Yep. Yep. And that's kind of why I felt like, okay, there's a way that I need to invest the money back into my business and scale a little bit in order to get more than things done. And I got kind of really more bogged down. Uh I like the thing that you said about the more that you can post, the more you can increase your revenue. I've always thought that way. So I'm like, I wake up, my um actually my videographer and um my my two videogars, they both laugh at me because uh they they send me the Dave Chappelle emoji uh whenever I wake up in the morning because I'm like, I think I wake up thinking about videos, videos, yes, videos, videos, videos. Like like what like when when are we when are we getting the next video done? Yeah, but it's just like that's the form of what you can the output to get what you need back into the business, right? Essentially. So I'm glad you said that because that that it makes me feel like I'm I'm not a crazy person.

SPEAKER_01 39:38

Yeah, and there, well, and there are an endless number of ways to go about it because there are other people or brands out there that do it so differently than you do it or than how how I do it. And some of them are a single creator that have their hands on everything, and some of them have scaled up and don't even touch it other than being in the videos and then everything in between. And it all works if you find your thing that you want to talk about and are passionate about and can add value to in your on your space in the internet. Like one my one of my my my cousin who's one of my great friends, she started an account last year or on only around women's lacrosse. And it's like her and her husband are out there working on videos just to post about women's lacrosse, and they built a little niche just doing that. Like there's so many, it's if there's something that you care about and think you might want to talk about, it's an it's an amazing opportunity to pursue. It might not be for everybody because it is still hard work and you you have to be on camera, it's not always comfortable. You know, I you you did our intro and and and had to, you know, you say a line a couple times, and doing it by yourself is one thing. Doing it in front of other people is a whole other thing. And I think that takes years. I'm still working on developing my camera presence to be comfortable when I'm maybe interviewing someone during a workout or just shooting something in my home for a brand. It it takes uh a lot of practice, and it's like muscles that you don't necessarily flex all the time if you were an accountant for five years before that. So it's I'm I feel like I'm still just scratching the surface with like my abilities and quality, and I have so much left to improve on. And so it's it's just a great thing to pursue if it's something that you truly care about and and enjoy.

SPEAKER_02 41:23

Yeah, you are just scratching the surface, man. And I think the videos that you make, uh, what what I really love about what you do and where you're at is that the authenticity is like extremely high. And I think that that is it's the perfect time for social media right now because that's all people are looking for. Authenticity. How can I connect? And I think that you're doing something that hits everybody at home when it comes to family routines, dad. Um, and I think that that's a great place for you to continue to be. Obviously, bro, there's stuff that I always feel I I look back at so much content, I'm like, I didn't look as cool as this other guy when he did it, or I could have fixed my facial expressions. There, there's so much that goes into it, and there's always something to work on. I think that as long as we continue to do what we're doing, getting our reps out, it's it's gonna be better. When I what doing that right there, talking in front of the camera is a one skill, right? But talking in front of the camera in front of other people, that is a skill that I have learned to develop over the I would say the last three years because I've been put in situations where I had to. You know, I I would say the first time I've done anything even similar to this, I got this deal with uh with um for the Juneteenth in um BET. And they flew me to New York. Uh, this was in 2022. I went to New York and I was on a set with all these people, and a woman was interviewing me about tips for content creators for Walmart and BET. And I was like, I've never had to talk in front of a whole set before. You know, the dude's like, hey, can I cut your hair and line you up before? And I'm like, this is a lot. This is legit. Bro, I just make videos on my phone at this time.

SPEAKER_01 43:03

I had not gotten a camera yet. That's a that's a really interesting phenomenon. My I haven't done a lot of events like that where I like you get invited because of your social media presence to maybe go do something that's more traditional media. But my wife has done a number of them, and when she that's like her bread and butter. She loves to speak in front of people, she's very confident in front of a crowd. I'm so-so with it. I think if I if I feel prepared, I feel better about it. But she loves it and she's been around other content creators that are much bigger than we are, and and she'll come back and say, You won't believe how uncomfortable they are around other people. And it's a totally different skill set than putting your camera up and being extremely authentic or vulnerable by yourself versus maybe not even in front of cameras, just a room of people. It's a different, it's a different thing entirely. And I think I I for me, I think I've the way I've tried to focus on developing that is to build self confidence and be self assured because. Whether a camera's in front of you or not, I think it all happens in your head. If whether or not you're comfortable in the in a moment, it's it's just much harder when you know there's cameras on you to think, okay, I I still have to be natural. And then you start to think about everything you're doing. Right, like the Ricky Bobby. What do I do with my hands? You know, you just you you you suddenly forget that or you start to think about everything that you typically don't think about at all. Yeah. And it just stop it'll stop you up. And it's I still to this day am working on improving that.

SPEAKER_02 44:30

Yeah. And dude, that's so true. But like I truly, what I even I get inspired by creators like yourself is that the authenticity is really hard to do and remember, but sometimes it comes very natural. And I think that whatever you do with your mom, your brother, your, you know, your wife and those videos, try to it in that muscle, bringing that out, right? So a lot of times when I start doing these podcasts, um, I'm having different conversations that I kind of have to manufacture just a little bit with different people, right? And like even for you, I haven't had like a ton of conversations with you, but what I what I try to do, right, is uh because we live in a different place. So I went to school for mass communications like your wife. Yep. So I traditionally you're taught like it has to be like an ABC interview, it has to be that way. But before I started this media company, I was not a uh podcast consumer like that. I watched a few whenever my wife was watching them or anything like that, but it was more so like, oh, okay, this is cool, or I'll see some clips online. Right right now, people just want to hear from regular people because it's more so about community or you're going like how you said that your friend, uh your friends kind of helped you shape that perspective of like, hey bro, get what you're doing.

SPEAKER_03 45:53

Yeah, like content creating is cool.

SPEAKER_02 45:55

Yeah, and so you had that community to help build the confidence for your wife and for you to kind of get with the movement and what was going on and on the tail end. And I think like when I connect with something that you're saying, it's like blowing it up bigger because a lot of times you we can forget that this is a real moment. And people listening are going to feel like, okay, I go through this too. I thought that too, or I have a relative, and I think the important thing is perspective. It shapes perspective, and that's what we continue to build over and over again.

SPEAKER_01 46:30

I love that this is a real moment. I feel like that's the hard part to nail when you're on cameras. Like you just you just have to do what you would normally do because it's just a real you're just just documenting what you're what you're doing. It's very easy with the like these videos I've done with my wife, my brother, and my mom, I know them so well. And they're and well, my my brother and my wife are very comfortable on camera already. But even with my mom, it's just your brother's so funny.

SPEAKER_02 46:55

Yeah, he's he's so funny.

SPEAKER_01 46:57

Yeah, he is. I'm I I I always joke it like I'm the I'm the most boring and least talented sibling of all my family. Like they're like they're all so unique and have such awesome skill sets. And I I wish that like if I could just use my platform to put them on camera, uh that would be that would be the best. So be the most comfortable, yeah. They're they're they're awesome. But I think of a couple reasons that that kind of format works is like one, I know them. So I'm excited to try doing some of those videos with people I maybe I don't know as well or that aren't comfortable on camera. And two, you're we work out for an hour, hour and a half filming and all that. And by five minutes in, you kind of forget that you're mic'd up and have a camera on and you're sweating or you're thinking, like, I got I got to get through this push-up or whatever. And then you forget that the camera's there, and that's when you get the real moments because it's just you're just there doing whatever you'd normally do with the person that you know you'd hang out with. So it's uh I that's why I think it works. I think it's unique in that way. I was just having this conversation with my wife about like just how I love how easy it is to get right to like the authentic moments, which is so difficult to do in short form content. It is you only got so long, it's nearly impossible, right? It's just a I feel like I've been working to try and get there for three years, and I'm finally starting to see like a path forward where it's like, okay, I see where this could turn into something big, you know. So, you know, one day at a time.

SPEAKER_02 48:20

But when you were doing the fashion content though, I think that I did see glimpses of your authenticity because I think for me, what I viewed is I was like, oh, he has a little bit of quirkiness to him. Like, you know, like I remember like one time you did a video where you like were dropping the pants and you were like, you're like, you should do this, or you'll wake up and you'll like do something with your hair. I think that those things are actually wildly relatable. And I think it kind of it's funny. Um, my my parents used to always say this uh growing up about me. They would say um that that I have a a talent for um being unassuming and kind of letting people's guards down. And I think that doing things like that in videos kind of like lets the lets the guard down the viewer a little bit that and they forget that I'm actually watching a video. Yeah. That's why I think Yap videos are so popular now.

SPEAKER_01 49:13

It works, right? Like people just want to feel like they're a part of the conversation, like as if the camera isn't there. Right. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and I it's funny, I look back at some of those older videos, like the fashion videos, and I've I've always told people when I'm talking about creating these videos, I want to look at a video from six months ago and be like, oh my God, what was I doing? Like so cringy or that's terrible. Because I feel like I've improved. And if I don't feel that way about old videos, then I'm not doing something, I'm doing something wrong, right? But there are there are definitely spots in maybe a year or two ago where I could go look at a video and be like, oh, I was very comfortable that day doing what I was doing, and it comes off on the camera. And it's not even necessarily something that you could put your finger on or define as like this is what you said, or this is how you said it. Maybe someone who's an experienced actor or direct, like someone who knows what they're looking for. I don't. And so sometimes I just it comes out naturally and sometimes it doesn't. And it might just be did I have an espresso shot before I I shot that video, you know? So it it it's uh it's just it's constantly. I'm trying to constantly tap into whatever that is to feel comfortable and and be authentic and be relatable and bring value and be entertaining. It's it's you know, there's a lot of elements to it, and then to do it in 30, 60 seconds, you know. Crazy hard. Yeah. That's why I love I think this is so cool that you're doing this stuff because long form content is uh so rich. Like you have so there's so it's so robust. You can talk about so much and you can get deep and you can really uh understand how someone works, and you just can't in one video at least do that on social media. Yeah, it's at least not typically. That's probably a general general statement, right?

SPEAKER_02 50:54

Some people can do it really well, but it's hard, but um, I think that that's why like I wanted to do this, and it um it just it's more meaningful. But um, I want to transition to something I've been um really curious to ask you as well. Is you are a super, it seems like disciplined guy. Like you you've all like you do the 5 a.m. routines with your family, you wake up early, you you put a gym in your house to make sure you still get your workouts through the different stages of your daughters being born. Were you always a disciplined guy like that? Or is this something that you kind of like learned along the way?

SPEAKER_01 51:34

I think it's been a development, like different life phases call for different things. Um, I've always naturally like I you know, I like I when I was in college, I didn't skip classes, it just wasn't what I did. I like I I think I've just been like a rule follower. And naturally, if you're a rule follower, you kind of have some built-in discipline. I don't it it wasn't a conscious thing for a long time. And then I think once once we had kids, I think I started to realize like the way I spend my time really matters. Like there's a lot of free time there when you when it's just like you and your wife, or you're just in college and you've got classes and not a whole lot of other responsibilities. And and then when you have kids and you know that like an hour away from your family is a sacrifice instead of like, oh, you know, my wife's if we you know, we did we if I didn't have kids, my wife would be at home in the evenings and I go, Oh, I'll go to the gym for a couple hours. Like, I it doesn't matter when I go, she's doing her own thing, and we have all our whole weekend to do whatever the heck we want. Now it's like if I don't work out till after work, I'm asking my wife to watch the kids for an hour or two. I'm away from them, so I don't get an evening with them. And then when I come home, they're down to bed and I didn't see them all day. So you just have to pick your spots a little bit more strategically as as those new life responsibilities come up. So I think for me, when it became like a real conscious thing was when we had kids. Um the first one, yes, yeah, yeah. When we had our first when we had our daughter in in 2022. But even before then, I just think I I had uh built-in discipline because of the things that I enjoy, right? Like uh fitness, um, eating healthy, like those are things that have always just been a part of who I was because of my parents. And some of it I think is just subconscious, it's just how I was raised. So I don't think about it as much as maybe other people might have to. Like, I think someone who like my mom would my mom would bring apples and bell peppers to like our football practices, and and coaches would laugh at her and be like, no one's gonna eat that, and then they'd all be gone at the end of the practice. But like that was my mom, she was only putting healthy foods in front of us, and so when I grew up and started buying my own foods, it's like I didn't even have to think that's what my life was. So very blessed in that way from like a health standpoint, yeah. And I think uh other people probably look at that and think, oh, he's disciplined, but really it's I'm just a byproduct of what my family life was when I grew up. My parents were they just instilled that in us, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:07

And so, in terms with like, do you personally, and I'm and just from your opinion, right? Do you feel like every guy should be should have some type of level of discipline for them, right? Like, let's say there's a there's a there's a guy listening to this right now, and he's uh a new family man, or you know, he's a new father or whatever, and he just feels like I just I can't, I'm it's too much to be able to work out and do all that stuff, man. I I see some of you, I see some guys do it on Instagram, but like what do you tell that guy that's like, man, this is just hard?

SPEAKER_01 54:45

Well, um I think like I said, I was I was fortunate to have some built-in discipline because of the way I was raised. But if I had maybe poor discipline, right? I'm staying up too late, I'm not, I'm not getting I'm not getting enough sleep, I'm not working out, I'm not eating right, I think I would probably start with like really, really small habits that that you can stack day in and day out. So like something as simple. I've made videos on this, like something as simple as making your bed, right? And I'm this isn't my idea. This I this isn't an original thought, but something as simple as making your bed and you do that for a month, and then you stack that with brushing your teeth, and then you stack it with you know, the night before you lay your workout shoes out and you get up and you run. And and over time, it it will take 10 years, 15 years. Like I've like I've been lifting for 20 years of my life now, right? Like it didn't, it won't happen overnight. It can't. So you have to just uh build on really, really small daily changes, like so minute and and probably monotonous, and they probably won't feel like anything's changing for a really long time. I think that's the real answer. Like it's not gonna be six months to a six-pack, it's not gonna be you're gonna, you know, lose 10 pounds in 10 days. You have to, you just have to dedicate yourself to like individual daily choices that then turn into things you don't think about. So I wake up in the morning, I make my bed and I don't think about it. I I I get my workout in daily and I don't I don't think about it, you know, other than coordinating it with my wife to make sure we're both getting time. Right. Yeah, I think that's that would be where I would start if I if I felt like I didn't have that under control. Um the other thing that I will say, it is much harder if you're not a content creator. Like I have so much flexibility in when I do my work. So if I work an eight-hour day, four hours of that might be after my kids are down and I'm at my computer at night. I don't have work calls to be on, I don't have to physically be in an office. If you have a different, more demanding time constraint on your day, you have to commute an hour into work, you have to sit in an office for eight, nine, 10 hours, and then you have to drive home, which I have done, it's gonna be harder. Like I got up at five in the morning every single day for two years when I was working at my at the accounting firm because I I needed I knew that for my mental sanity, I had to get some level of physical activity in before I sat at a desk for 10 hours. And so that was a much harder time to stick to my fitness and health goals because I had a different lifestyle that was required of me because of my work. So everybody's life is different, and figuring out how you can fit in the things that you think are important to you is just gonna be it's gonna be a different story for everybody. But starting with small things is probably that would be my number one recommendation if if someone was just at like base like base level, I need to I need to make some changes, I would say start small and and and and set goals and then and then figure out ways to track those goals, however that however that needs to look for you.

SPEAKER_03 57:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 57:51

I would say that all that is a hundred and fifty percent right, uh, as far as like still getting the workout in in the morning. I feel the same way. Like even today, um, I was like debating, I was like, man, I do really want to uh work out before this podcast, but I was like, should I? But I'm I'm so glad I did because it it it sets the tone for the day and makes you feel a whole lot better. Yep. Um, so you I know you talked about like how your family pretty much set up a healthy lifestyle for you, but would would you say that a lot of guys really need, especially as uh being the husband and father, need to be like need to be healthy? Like how important do you think is health?

SPEAKER_01 58:30

I mean, I you know, I don't know that I'm the expert to speak on this, but I think there's enough information out there.

SPEAKER_02 58:35

Your perspective, I want to make sure I say this. I think that like I think that like if you ask me, right, what I think, I'll say yes, absolutely. Like, I think the biggest thing is you can't expect your kid to be healthy or be good at a sport if you didn't build, if you're not doing it yourself. Um, so I mean, I that's why I'm asking, like, you are, I think I personally think you are an expert to talk about this. I think because you're doing it.

SPEAKER_01 59:00

Well, so let's I'll I'll say where I get my where my where it lies for me or like where what what the basis is for my decision to do what I can to be healthy and hold myself accountable to a a relatively high standard in terms of health and fitness and accountability for my family. I like it could everything from your fertility rates if you want to start a family to your level of energy when you do have a family for taking care of them to your mental focus, it I think it all comes back to uh how you treat your body, right? Are you getting enough sleep? Are you eating and and drinking right? You know, are you exercising? And it doesn't have to be, you don't have to go run marathons. Like, are you walking a few miles a day? It's it can be very base level, but those those decisions have compounding effects on I think how you can uh like how how good of a uh father and husband and friend or son or or daughter, you know, or wife you can be. If you're taking care of yourself, you're more well equipped to take care of other people. And I know, like I my I know that what I'm doing, or maybe even more importantly, what my wife is doing in terms of taking care of her herself, exercising, eating right. Our daughters see that and they are learning through seeing what my wife is doing more than what we could tell them to do. So mom's going to the gym. Oh, like mom, mom works out. They say you're walking in the in the garage on the treadmill. They see you're eating a healthy meal, talking about eating high protein, getting enough nutrition. I mean, that's gonna pay dividends for our daughters, knowing knowing how it affected me when I was a kid, it will lay the groundwork for them to hopefully lead healthy, positive lifestyles. So, yes, I think it's extremely important. That's yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:52

Absolutely. And I I I love that you you said that and you talked about her in in that sense because what they do see matters, just like it mattered to you, it matters to them. They see the communication, they see the healthy lifestyle, it all compounds over time for them. How important is your 5 a.m. routine to you? Because you talk so much about it, um, but like there's so many there, there's so many things. You know, everybody says, you know, they talk about the five to nine, and then, you know, obviously there's the, you know, the five, you know, the 5 a.m. or the 6 a.m. before the world wakes up. Um for me, uh, I learned about that early. I started waking up around that early, way before um we had kids, before I was married, because I I worked for Tesla. And so I was like trying to make sure that I was like, man, I want to make sure I'm in shape. I would go to the gym, I would try to meal prep all my food before I had to be at work at nine. Yep. And so I realized that, you know, I was heavily into uh Manosphere content.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:56

And it was like, you gotta get it before the guy over there.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:01

You know, you you need to get it before the rest of the world wakes up or wakes up or whatever. And I think for me, um, that's where I started to learn. Okay, I was like, if I want to be better, I need to get up earlier. If I want to be able to get a leg up in whatever it is I'm trying to make happen and in life for myself, I gotta get up early. And so I watched your video on YouTube where you talked about your morning routine. You posted it like eight months ago.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:25

Oh my gosh, yeah. I shot that with my brother. Yeah, I loved, I loved making that. I wish that I I I should spend more time doing stuff like that because I I think it's it's one of those things it's like it was a little bit longer. And so it's just you get to talk about a little bit more and tell people a little bit more about who you are when it's a long form like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:43

Yeah, I enjoyed it. It was like uh five, five minutes long, and I and I enjoyed it. Uh it made me actually it made me think more about like since like morning routines seems like they're very paramount important to you. What's the perfect morning routine look like if you had it your way?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:01

I think so. I will say, like, I I pick my spots. There are times where I'm doing that daily, and there are times where I might only do it a few times a week. And and for example, when I was working at the accounting firm that I worked at, I would beat traffic, I'd get down to the office. There was a gym near there, I would work out, I'd go in. Um and and it worked for me during that time. But I think an ideal morning for me would be getting a workout in before the family's up, fueling, which for me is is hydration, electrolytes, creatine, and then peanut butter banana honey. Peanut butter, banana, yeah, on sourdough, one of my go-to's, especially before a workout. Yeah. Okay. And then um after that, probably some family time before work starts. So we typically start our work day around 8:30 or 9, and the girls will get up anytime between 7 and 7:30. So time with my wife. We love rarely do we get it, but we love to have some like early morning coffee time where we just sit. But we got to do it last week when we shot our video and I did the workout interview with Liz. We had 30 minutes to just sit in the kitchen and and drink coffee before the kids got up. Peaceful. And that kind of yeah, exactly. It's what a way to start your morning with you know space and time to just kind of think. What time was this? Uh, it was like right around just before seven. Yeah. Yeah. When we when we like were sitting together, just hanging out. And then, you know, from there, from there my workday would start. So the yeah, I would say timing-wise, anytime between five and six to get up, work out before seven, you know, done by seven, and then use that the remainder of that time before the kids get up to you know, clean up, prep breakfast, and then have some family time. And and again, like I'm I'm running a marathon at the end of the year, and I know that when I have those programmed workouts that I have to get done, I will start, I will start to do that daily because I will get up early and get it done so that I don't have to think about where else I can squeeze it into my schedule for the remainder of the day. And I know for me, like if I were to, if I could plot it out on a, on a, on a chart statistically, the earlier in the morning my workout happens, the higher likelihood of it happening. Like if I wake up and that's the first thing I do, 100% chance it happens. But if I go, well, I'll get it done by for lunch, or I'll do it right after work, or I'm gonna do it after the girls are down, you know, each decision point after that throughout the day, the chance of it actually happens, happening drops. Yeah. So when I when I know that I have to get workouts done because I'm trying to achieve a particular goal, I'll I'll work to get those done earlier in the day. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:42

I I I 150% agree with that one because even on the weekends, I'm trying to like get some extra cardio or get like a weekend.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:50

Weekends are tough for sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:51

Yeah. I'll try to like my time, I'll try to do nap time and I'll try to go to the gym up the stairs. Yep. And like I said, it it on the front end, the day is a A little bit tough, like we're going to breakfast, we're walking around.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:03

Weekend, you want to hang out, go to the farmer's market, have breakfast with the family.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:07

By 2 p.m., I just want a time to be able to just think to myself. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:12

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And I will say too, one thing that I've learned only recently, maybe in the last four years, is I find that I'm much more on top of my workout schedule, particularly getting it done in the morning when I'm following uh like programming, whether it's for a marathon training program or a lifting program. Like if I have something I know I need to get done on the schedule, I'm much more likely to follow through with it. And usually that'll happen earlier in the day because I go, I gotta get that done today. So I'm just gonna knock it out. What's your program right now? I would say maintenance. I'm not following anything right now, which is part of the reason that I'm not up every day doing the workouts, is because I'm I'm trying to hit maybe 20, 25 miles a week running. Um, which it I it it that would have been like impossible for me two or three years ago, but I've been really consistent with running in the last several years. And so I've built that up and then lift a few times a week to just have like just maintain strength. Three, four, I'd say three, three times a week. Okay, yeah. And I I follow a program called Wendler 531. It's a I I don't know how popular it is, but my buddy and I found it, and it's from an old guy out of West Side Barbell um who had had developed this strength training plan that basically helps you to make sure you're not overworking while also still building strength. So it's purely strength-based. It's not like you're putting on size or body sculpting or bodybuilding or anything like that. But I'll follow that along with like some running specific lifts or motions to just keep my body healthy as I'm as I'm running. Come July, maybe June, I'll start my marathon prep because I'm running, I'll run in September. So that'll be like heavier mileage, more specific running workouts. Right now I'm just running whatever uh doing whatever I feel like to hit my miles. So and which one would you say you love more? Running or lifting? Oh, I I I love lifting and I hate running, but for some reason I still enjoy running. I I don't know if that makes sense. No, it makes perfect. I think when I when I lift and I'm like only focusing on lifting, my body feels great. I feel strong, I feel like I'm building. When I'm running, I feel like I'm tearing my body apart. You know, it's it's so hard on my body. And I think that's probably because I I didn't run for so long. Like I've only started running consistently in the last few years. So lifting is something that my body's used to. Running, I'm still trying to get used to. Um, I enjoy them both equally, though. That's the that's the real answer.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:41

Yeah, no, I I get it. That it it made sense to me because I do run. And it's a like you said, I feel the exact same way when it comes to like lifting weights. I feel strong, I feel like I'm building muscle. You know, I love when I PR or I'm getting like new goals, and um, like you, you know, you just you feel strong. There's a lot of you know different movements that you can do, you know that you're building, you know, when I do the I'm my RDLs are better, you know. I know my movement, and for me, I'm weird. So I'm like, every time I pick up the groceries or picking, I'm I'm like bending off, I'm like, yes, no pain.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:15

Yes, yeah. I'm feeling something like going through picking up your kids. My my buddy and I joke because he and I have been lifting together since college, and we'll like pick our kids up or do something or move in a certain way, and we'll be like, Thank God we lift. Like what you know, it's it makes just living day-to-day life easier. Yeah, so that's yeah, it does.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:33

But on the other hand, of running, it's like it's a hate-love relationship, but kind of like I think you said at the beginning when we first started talking, it's something that you know you should do, and it's like, ugh, I don't want to get up and run three or four miles. I don't want to run five miles, and then once you do it, you're like, I'm so glad I did that. And I, you know, it during it's cool. Sometimes I hate it, it just depends on the day. Yeah, but you're at the end of the day, you're still glad you got it done. Like, you know, I've but I try to do now every time I make it a habit every time before I lift, I run a mile. I just start start off going getting me up, get a mile in, and I'll do some uh mobility, I'll stretch, and then I'll get into my lift. And I did this terrible workout a couple weeks ago where I started off and I ran 1.5, I ran a mile and a half, and then um did mobility, I lifted, and then I ran 1.5 afterwards. So basically three miles and I lift it. Like a like a little Murph workout. Yes, it was a lot on my body, but at the end of the day, you know, I felt really good.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:35

I we are the gym that I go to is a mile and a half from our house. And so I've a few times a week, that's my my workout. I'll run to the gym, workout, and then run home. And I I love I love doing that because it's like you're hitting, you know, hitting both in one workout. It's yeah, it's fun. What are the supplements you're taking like every every morning now? Every day I'll do electrolytes and creatine, and then depending on how I'm feeling or what honestly, what's in the house, colostrum, sometimes protein, like whey protein and smoothies, or or or I really I love those, like uh, you know, like the core power shakes or like the milk, like those. I love those. Um, but but every single day, creatine and electrolytes. So on dates that you don't live where you're taking creatine? Yeah, every day. Yeah, at least, usually 10 grams a day. Okay. I'm big on creatine. I'm I like everybody I talk to me about creatine, man, because I don't take any creature. I haven't taken creatine since I was probably like 18 years old. So here's uh the in in high school, right? It was like, oh, it's gonna bulk you up, you're gonna retain water weight, you're gonna feel bloated, yada yada, yada. And but it'll like make you stronger.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:47

The studies that are coming out now are showing it that it's the most studied supplement uh in the in the health supplement market, right? More than whey protein. And what we're finding, what people are finding, and I'm not, I'm not, I'm no expert on this, this is me just regurgitating stuff that I've seen. Um for elderly and even children, they're finding exceedingly or increased benefits from uh taking more than like the typical five grams a day for cognitive function, muscle function, particularly in like older people, like my parents, I'm encouraging them to take it because if you're like they have some studies on people who are like 60 and older, and it's huge for muscle mass retention. And then there's a direct correlation between muscle mass and longevity because it helps you not fall, and there is so it can just be a really great uh tool for for for you. And there aren't, I mean, I think the like the bloating stuff and some of the the things around like the negative side effects are are are from older, maybe less uh relevant studies than than some of the stuff that people are finding with it now. But I I love it and I use it, I use it every day. And even on days that you don't necessarily do a workout, it's true, it's still important to take. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think what I think the benefits come from taking it consistently over a period of time. It's not like it's gonna help you on that day with that workout. It's something that you have to be using for uh several weeks and then consistently before you see the benefits, right? Right. Yeah. Okay. And you got a particular brand, you know. Uh any I would say anything that is a creatine monohydrate base, which is a there there are a few other versions of creatine, but creatine monohydrate is the one that is highly studied and it take it in a powder form, sometimes the gummy forms, it's just they have other stuff in it that you don't need. Um and uh brand wise, I would say just find something that's third-party tested. As long as it's pure creatine monohydrate, you're you're good. They're they're brand, they're affordable brands on Amazon for it. So it's easy to find.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:54

I'm uh I've been hearing about it for a while, and I feel like I may have to try it. I feel like I want to add something in. I don't because I don't take any supplements. I have yeah, I don't all I do is my vitamins in the morning. I think I've recently, like when I was training for high rocks, I started taking like beetroots um just to give me a little bit of extra like blood flow um when I was um training. But I uh I don't take anything, but I've played with the thought of like, okay, what can I implement into my light routines that will help with a lot more energy in the morning? Because you know, the older we get, is like for some reason I I I'm I'm smashing down that coffee. Yeah. And and and I'm like, I do not need to always be drinking so much coffee, but you know, I'm like, what else can I get naturally from supplements to give me more energy?

SPEAKER_01 1:14:40

I'm a huge proponent of creatine. And I've seen I've seen doctors talk about how it can help with a like energy and cognitive ability in significant ways. So I I I take it, I think it works, you know. It's like I only have anecdotal evidence for myself, but I I I like it. Other than that, supplements-wise, I think I just try and get everything else from Whole Foods, typically. I could probably get more protein if I took like had a protein shake every day or something like that. But lots of chicken, lots of beef, yeah, steak. You know, love a steak restaurant, yes, yeah, for sure, man. My go-to, my go-to recently has been the Kirkland prime cuts. They have they'll come in like a four-pack. Yeah. And I'll I'll grill those up, eat on them for a couple days. That's right. That's my go-to. Yeah, because oh yeah, you're the chef in the house. Oh, yeah, I love to cook.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:28

Yep. Yeah, see. You might need to do it. You you know what's uh another just idea if you decide to do. Um, oh, I'm switching subject, but I took your I took your advice. I posted a video today. Um, I put my I put the couch together.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:42

I actually meant to ask you because in the video you had paneling like this in the background. Yeah, where did you get that? Uh Amazon. Okay. Do you like it? Is it it help it helps with soundproofing? Yes. I'm thinking about using a paneling like that for my gym in the garage to kind of help with soundproofing if I'm ever shooting in there. Yeah. And also aesthetically, I think. Aesthetically, yeah. Okay, I'm gonna I'll have to check it out on Amazon.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:02

Yeah, if you I can send you the link because it actually has uh it says on the link it talks about soundproof. So in between each of the the things, these things right here. It's like felt foam, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So it does uh sound absorbent. Okay, when we first moved in there, it was like a lot of I noticed it was like a lot of echoing echo, even when you're mic'd up, it'll yeah, yeah. But when we started putting stuff in there, and then when I I noticed when I put those things in there, the the audio sounds a whole lot better.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:29

Okay, cool. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:30

I'll have to have you make sure you send that link.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:32

Yeah, the couch looked dope though.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:33

Yeah, yeah. I appreciate that, man. You saw at the end, I put on the anime.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:36

Yeah, but I sound like I know, yeah, yeah, I saw that.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:39

So I was like, you know, I'm I'm taking the ideas, you know.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:42

I know it's huge for like the niche of people who enjoy it because I I've never really consumed anime, it's not my thing, but I've seen videos where people like will comment, like, oh, I love it, or that they have something to say about specifically someone maybe playing a video game or watching a show that's anime, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:58

Yeah, I feel I'm still a little bit weird about the whole ASMR home video stuff. I mean, I'ma do it, but like it's still for me, it's like, did y'all really like that? It's foreign, right? It's it's feels different.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:10

Yeah. I yeah, I I I still go through that. I mean, I'm just like these these long form, long form, two, three minute videos that I've posted with with my family members is like nothing I've done on on social media before. So it's like when I'm prepping them and editing them, I'm like, does this need to be way shorter? Do I need to edit it differently? Is it right? And I think uh it's so important to like uh tease those types of things out and try things, even if they fail. And I've had a lot of video ideas flop, and it's like, well, that that you're still learning from it. So you know, maybe maybe you find something that works or you find something that doesn't, but at least you went down that path and figured it out.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:52

And like you said, over time it it'll build and you'll figure out things. I think perspective, like I could tell you, you know, about those videos. I know exactly why they're doing well, and they're and they're insanely engaging and they you know promote a lot of connectivity. I think like obviously everybody likes the ASMR thing and then the the D like you're really big into the DIY projects. Um, and like you you're a handyman. I was why like when I was going deep on your page and I was watching um your videos, and I was like, um, I was like, man, he's such a handyman, but God didn't bless me with that talent.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:26

It's it's such a it's such a labor, man. Like some of those, it I I always I always dread making videos like that because I might take an hour to shoot a workout video with my family and then a few hours to edit. Doing like I just did my daughter's bedroom. I spent two or three full days in there wallpapering and doing decor with my wife and stuff. And it's like it's such a heavy lift for like one video. Yes, but it's fun and and people like to see it, and it can be resourceful or give somebody inspiration. Yeah, but they're very they're definitely different than than the format for some of the other videos that I do. They're they're still enjoyable, but they take a lot more time. They do, bro. That couch, that couch took me way longer than the five seconds you cut together.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:11

Yeah, and so well, because then when I see like people like you and y'all you do it, it's good to know you spent two days. But I know if you spent two days, I would have probably spent two weeks. Oh my gosh, yeah. Because just to put that together, bro, I'm look, nobody judge me. I be looking at that direction sheet longer than I should. I move very, I move very slow with it. I fit when they say circle, this part goes to this part. I'm like, are you sure this screw right here? My videographer's laughing at me the whole time. He's like, he's like, man, you know, he just got in there and started helping me at one point. Even worse when you got someone else like waiting on you, right? Yeah, so I'm just like, uh, but you know, the more you do it, I did feel a little bit accomplished when I um when I finished it. And then, you know, I love the couch in there, of course. Yeah, then there's other times where I'm like, I'll call our handy man. I'm like, hey man, put this up.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:59

Yep. Yep. And we I I'll I'll be the first to admit, we for some of those videos where we might do a room transformation and we and we paint a room or put up trim, we will hire out some of the work. Like I did all the wallpaper in my daughter's room, but I I've I've done trim and paint before, and I hired somebody to do it because I was like, I know I want to learn how to do the wallpaper because I've never done it and I know how long the trim and paint's gonna take me. I can I and I was like that that'll at least double the amount of time I'm gonna have to spend on this. So I only focus on the wallpaper. And we had somebody else come in and do the trim and paint. So it just depends. Yeah, but can't do it all right. And and the DIY stuff is you know, I won't ever I won't ever touch anything that's like electric or plumbing. It's always gonna be something that, like, oh, if I mess that up, I can pull it off or paint over it, right? It's not gonna be structural, it's not gonna be electric. Yeah. Um, but what about mounting, like mounting TVs up and stuff? I yo, yeah. I've I've mounted all our TVs. Yeah. The we we have a couple of those frame TVs that like mount flush. And it's it's pretty easy. It's like a couple, you just there's like a little template. That's it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:06

That's still not my domain. But you know what? Look, I look, I love that for you.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:10

Honestly, you probably are spending your time on on higher value things, right? Than like putting up a TV or painting a room.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:17

But it's so it, it's I feel like it's uh, I don't know why. It's it's one of those things that we talked about earlier. I feel like that's just like manhood. Like you I guess like maybe you uh you should be able to do stuff with your hands and get things done. Like my dad'll laugh, he's laughed at me before in the past. He's like, you need to be doing that yourself.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:35

Like one of my my my uncle is not handy at all, and he uh he used to tell me because we I would want to do I'd do stuff myself at at home or in college or whatever, and he'd say, My most my most valuable tool is my checkbook. He's like, I'm gonna pay somebody else to do that. Yes, and if hey, that's that's manhood too. If you're gonna pay somebody to do something, like good for you. Delegation, that's a skill. Exactly. You're like, my time is better spent on something else. That's all I'm saying. Exactly. Yep. I will say too, if somebody else uh paints a room or puts up a TV, I'm not gonna notice everything that's wrong with it. Yeah, but like when I walk into my daughter's room and I look at the wallpaper, I'm like looking at the walls, like that seam isn't touching, it's bubbling there. I need to go back and like fill in some glue with this one. Like, I notice all the spots where I messed up. That's a video. It could be, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:25

I think like because you said you're type A. I think if you make a video for all the people who are type A type people when it comes to like home or something like that, that would be like a pretty funny.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:35

It would be a good one to do. I I do some like procrastination purges where I'll just like uh accumulate a bunch of stuff around the house that I know I need to get done and shoot it all in one video. Yeah, I could be like, I gotta fix all these spots that I messed up in her on her wallpaper. Yeah, you should, bro. I gotta ask, bro. Um, can can can I can I can I can I do the 5 a.m.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:56

routine video with you?

SPEAKER_01 1:22:57

Yes, dude. Are you kidding me? Absolutely. I would love to. Like I'm I'm asking everybody I know to do them with me. I am I'm having so much fun shooting them. Yeah, and I want to turn it into something where I could get other content creators to come on and do it. So absolutely. So we'll we'll nail down a date before I leave today.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:13

Okay, cool. Because I it looks really cool. I done I'm low-key like I'm low, low-key kind of glazing about it. Like, like on the lowest, like I'm not I'm trying not to because I looked at all three of them and then I looked at them again. They're fun, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:26

It just it for something about it just works. And yeah, and I'm I'm I'm so excited to continue to try them out. Do that, do it with people that are are outside of my like circle because it's so easy for me to do it with my family members. They're comfortable with me, I'm comfortable with them. But I would I would love to do it with you. I have like I want to ask other content creators that I've been communicating with over the years to do it. I think it would even be fun to turn it into a series where like the opening I'm getting on a plane and traveling to you know New York City to do it with someone in New York or or like another, you know, road tripping. I'm gonna do it with my sister this weekend and she's in Chattanooga. So I'm like, maybe I'll open it where it's like I have to load up my kettlebells and drive to her house to like make her do the workout. That would be cool. So yes, 100%. We'll we'll we'll nail down a date and do it.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:11

I I'm excited. Yeah, I'm definitely excited for it because um I think it'd be a cool way, also, as I was gonna tell you to like kind of like promote the paw. And I mean, I know you don't do fashion stuff anymore, um, but I would like to do something like with you, like fashion related.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:25

I would love to. I I every now and then I'll get people uh DMing me saying, like, hey man, I've been around since the fashion stuff and I love what you're doing, but you think you'll do some fashion videos? Like, I want to see what you're wearing lately. And I just I've I feel like I've um I've moved so far away from it, it almost feels like I'm I'm afraid to go back to it. The way that I was afraid to start doing some of the lifestyle stuff. It's like, oh, I gotta, I gotta figure out how to flex that muscle again and get back into it. But I need to, I need to be better about just like peppering that kind of stuff into the content because I think people still enjoy it.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:57

Yeah. No, they do. I mean, I would, I'd still I'd still enjoy seeing it, just like how you told me seeing things other than always fashion and style is still interesting as well. Right. So right.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:07

And like, I mean, people follow you for for your fashion primarily, but you know if if they're interested in that, they're gonna be interested in all the other facets of your life and things that you're doing. So there's so there's just there's endless ideas, and I think it the most important thing is just finding something that like you really feel you have a million ideas on so that you can just continue to iterate on it and improve it and bring value, right? Right, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:30

Um, before you get out of here, bro, I'll try to always ask everybody uh just questions about ranking. So are you into movies or are you more of a TV show person? Oh, I saw I saw one, I saw you do one of these.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:43

I was like, that's fun. I hope we get to do that. Yeah, yeah. Um which which one are you more of? Movies or TV shows? Yeah. Maybe TV shows. I feel like I'm I'm moderate, I'm like pretty low knowledge on both, but let's go TV.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:56

Okay. For TV, rank your top five TV shows.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:02

Oh boy. Um, well, okay. We j my wife and I just finished Black Rabbit on Netflix. Have you watched that? Jason Bateman and Jude Law. Okay, I saw that. I saw it pop up. I saw it pop up. Oh I yeah, it I guess you'd categorize it as a thriller, and I'm like not the type of person that likes to be uncomfortable. Like, I hate horror movies and horror shows. Hate them. I can't, I don't like to be uncomfortable when I'm trying to be entertained. Yeah. And so, but this this show had me like on the edge of my seat at 11 at night. We couldn't stop watching, and and I'd go to bed like wired because it was so intense and uh unsettling, but it was so good. Is it horror? No, okay, no, uh, I don't want to spoil anything, but it's it's about two brothers, one of which owns a restaurant in New York, and they they deal with everything from substance abuse to mob affiliation to illegal um interactions in the restaurant, and they cannot get out of their own way, and it's incredible. Okay, it's incredible. That's a solid one I'm taking home with me. Um, that's like recent top. Um, I love like the office and parks and rec. I think I'll put those in in my top five. Um and I don't know where, like, I I I have to just say top five. I don't know which ones like number one, number two, but yeah, so that means we got two more. I want to say something like uh I mean Game of Thrones was up there for me when we were watching it. Did you ever do you ever watch it?

SPEAKER_02 1:27:31

I didn't, but when I met my wife, she was getting into it and watching it, and she was like binging it, and then she told and then she started House of Dragons and she told me about it.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:40

Yeah, yeah. We watched we watched Game of Thrones and we happened to get to watch it right as the last season was being released. So we we had like, you know, a lot of people started watching that way early on and had to wait season after season. We got to binge it in like a month. I think that was probably a top one. You got one more, one more. I'm gonna go with like a really weird deep cut. My brother and I loved watching Chuck. Did you ever watch that? Chuck. Chuck. Um, it's about a guy who like gets these weird super super spy abilities by like downloading something from a computer into his brain. It is the most odd show, and we loved it so much. And I've rewatched it like twice. One with one time with my brother and once with my wife. Really? Yeah. What is the song? I honestly don't even know. I don't know what streaming platform it would be on now. But Chuck, he look it up. Is it older? It's a little older, I would say like maybe like mid-2000s. Oh, into the yeah, um, or into maybe 2010s. Yeah, it's a yeah, it's about a guy that works at like a um, it's not a Best Buy, it's a it's a store, it's like a store like Best Buy, it's like a tech store, and they established their like espionage center in the basement. It's it's hilarious, it's like goofy and quirky, and yeah, I I loved it. Yeah, cool. I'm I have to take that one with me. Chuck Chuck Chuck. Chuck and Black Rabbit. That's the that's Black Rabbit was incredible. It's a it was it's a I think it's a limited series. It's one season, eight episodes. It was very, very well done. Okay. Oh my gosh, another one just popped into my head. Have you seen Severance? Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I love Severus. Yeah, I think maybe that might be an honorable mention that might actually even break into the top five.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:11

Yeah, no, Severance is a great show. I'm I'm still waiting on season three.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:15

Dang it, I keep thinking of more now.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:17

Anyways, I'll I'll I'll cut it off there. I'll cut it off there. Yeah, it's all good, man. Well, I appreciate you coming on, bro.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:24

Thanks for having me, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:25

I I learned a lot in this conversation, bro. Uh, I appreciate everything you shared, bro. Um, I appreciate you joining us, and we're gonna get them workouts in now.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:33

Yes, I'm I I can't wait. Look out for it, watch for it. We're gonna do it. Yep. Little 5 a.m. routine. We are. I will we'll go down to that track you sent me. We'll do it at the track.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:41

Bet.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:42

I'm down to do that.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:43

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm looking forward to it. Thank you guys so much for watching this episode. I hope you truly enjoyed it. And it was like a slice of life to kind of be able to learn about Zach's life, family values, and more. If you guys are new to the channel, make sure you leave us a like, subscribe. We would love for you to join our Patreon, our community, and learn more with us. Thank you so much for watching, and I will see you in the next episode.