0:00 What do you want to do? That's where I'm at. I don't know. I put a gun in your face right now. So, I'm going to kill you if you don't tell me what you want to do. I like this game. I might die if you tell me that. Too many things. ████ man. That's You're already dead. Yeah, I am. I don't even have an answer for you. I didn't even realize this until recently where I was thinking like, oh, you know, I um I'm like winning in in business or like whatever. I'm doing things. I just turned my company around when we were like dying for the last 3 years. Felt great, but like I was telling my wife like I was like even if I get first place in this, it doesn't feel like I want anything. I don't care. Like I'm doing work. Maybe the best example is like when you told your story
0:51 about Nike, like you're you're in this place and you're you're around this thing, you're doing well. People are like, "Wow, you're with Nike, right?" And you're but you're like, "That's not me. That's not what I want to do." Mhm. I think I've gone so far off my path and my original mission that I had just no longer matters to me. So, when we started doing comedy and and when we started doing uh YouTube, it was like, yo, let's um revolutionize Asian-American comedy and carve something out in our space. And we did that. And I think maybe around 2016 to 17, we we we put a good stamp. And then after that, every everything became kind of like um this is fun to do with the guys, and I like the lifestyle around it. And even like my business in Hawaii, we I like the lifestyle around it, but
1:42 there's really no heart at this moment where even if I crushed it, I don't feel like I crushed it. It just doesn't matter. You're not passionate about what you're doing. Exactly. I I'm doing things and then people are like, "Hey, good job." And I'm like, "I don't care." So I'm It's so funny you say that cuz that's where I'm at right now. Yeah. Cuz like like the last thing I was consulting on, it was like I it was like I was working for this tactical company and they're like, "Oh, yeah. We we do these bulletproof backpacks for kids, which is so sad." Yeah. Yeah, that is super sad. What a concept. There's a market for it. That's crazy. Huge market. So it'll stop a n it'll stop like a 224 or a 9 mil round cuz that's most you know active shooters will come in and
2:33 that's basically what they're going to shoot. You could put a sappy plate in the back. Right. It's just like a little it's like a soft armor plate. That's so crazy. And you can hold it up and and if a kid's running it'll get shot in the back and it'll kill him. And um but as I was working on that they go I'm a really good idea you're making I go I call them gravy seals. Gravy seals. What does that mean? Gravy seals are people who are super into tactical, but they're like not you that they actually serve. Oh, I see. I see. So, they're gravy seals, right? Yeah. Yeah. That's hilarious. Seal. There's a lot of those. What? So many. He was like gravy seals. They're going to try and be the um they're they're trying to be like Rambo or they're trying to be they're like they're behind their thing and they're like I'm like dude just the guy who's overweight. Talk to him. Get him get him prepared. But
3:25 you're talking to the you're talking to Navy Seals and you're a gravy seal. Like those guys have seen it all. Like I I have really gnarly friends who are not to be trifled with. Like you know they they've seen it, right? And so talking to them, they they don't want to hear it. They know that you don't know. So my point being was is they had this bulletproof backpack and I'm like, "Well, how are you marketing it?" And and I just said, "Do this." So I I told them what to do. They went from selling eight backpacks a week to 80 backpacks a day. Wow. ████ That's hell. So I'm like I'm like tell like a mom could do it this way. if their kids are in the car, they can there's an active shooting or somebody's by, they can put it against the window so they don't get bullets coming through the windows. Think about how you tell stories. So, what's interesting for me with you, Joe, is you're a very good storyteller, but
4:15 it seems like you you've um wrote a bunch of short stories and you haven't really dug into writing a novel. Nailed it. I think there's like a masterpiece that I want to work on. don't even know what the story is. But so when I look at that like so right now it's like all this stuff I was working on and it was like I got called up from one of my friends, "Dude, we want to bring you on blah blah blah. We need we want you to run the whole West Coast division of this company." I'm like, "Okay, blah blah blah." And then and then the terrorist happened. Oh, we can't hire you. I'm like, "All right, whatever." And then I have another friend who does um REDI ready first aid kits. They're awesome. Unbelievable. um let's do that, you know, terrace like with the guy, my friend really really his name is Josh Walker. He has a company called 1620 and they do um all
5:06 Americanmade workware and um he has a thing called Baron helmets. They're snowboard helmets and uh ebike helmets, but the biggest market for ebikes is on the West Coast and so but everything's getting screwed by tariffs. But then I looked at I'm like with American traditional was like I just want to do something that that creates a movement, right? So if you're looking at what you're doing, it's like how do you create something that it's like you have all this success, what are you going to do that's going to platform other people to see them have success? I think that's where you have to look. Yeah. I think what I miss and what we had is we had a vision for a movement, a cultural movement. Then there was a lot
5:56 of heart and getting that going. I'm going to stop you right now cuz you still have it. And what you have, I don't care what you do in life. I don't care what it is. Eventually, it becomes work and eventually it becomes your job. I've been married 35 years. People ask me what my success is in marriage is. I always have to wake up and want to put more tracks on the roller coaster cuz it's super easy to get bored. And so you're you're going, "Oh, it's this, that, and the other." You still have it. You're just you're just bored with it. And you and once you're bored with it, it's like if I took it away from you right now, 6 months later, you'd be like, "Damn, dude. I wish I had that." Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. It becomes work. Any band? Like, why do bands break up? Why? What? because like, oh, I don't want to tour with those guys anymore. I
6:46 want to do my way. I want to write my own song. Every Why there's so many freshman bands is because when they have huge success, they go, I want to be like Metallica. Well, nobody wants to. They already have Metallica. Yeah. They don't want you to hear your band be Metallica. So, you have to figure out how you guys are going to put fresh tracks on the track cuz it's like, sure, it's it's you're doing it all at the same time. It's just like you get bored. Mhm. And once you get bored, that's not that's not on you. Yeah. That's on every that's like sitting down and going, "Okay, how do we freshen this up? What do we do this different?" And like I think this was you originally, Bart, when you you changed the studio and everyone got bummed. Oh, when we moved the Jake over there. Yeah. Remember that? He called me up like, "Dude, we changed it. Everyone's bummed." Yeah. Like everyone's super bummed out. And I'm like, cuz people don't like change. Mhm.
7:38 I've been married 35 years. I've lived in 10 different houses. Mhm. Cuz my wife I'm like, "Oh my gosh, how much equity do we have? We're selling this thing." She like, "Dude, are you serious?" That's him. Yeah. I I don't care how much money I've made and everything else, the most money I've ever made is selling houses. Cuz it's like real estate. Real estate. It's like, and but I don't want to go buy a bunch of houses. So, it's like I I make my house the way I want my house to be and then I sell it and build something new. M but it's still who I am. Yeah. So you have you have to like it it's that's why people get divorced. Mhm. That's why people struggle is because it's like oh this that and the other. It's like where's like we all love certain things because they're awesome. Like people forget that
8:29 Johnny Cash So Johnny Cash's granddaughter worked for me at my record level forever. hit and call. Amazing human. And I was super je je je je je je je je je je je je je je je je je je je je jealous cuz Jordy got a pair of Johnny Cash's cowboy boots and I didn't but um she made her grandfather's documentary at one point before Rick Rubin sat down with Johnny Cash and made that record. Johnny Cash was playing like tiny little clubs, right? Cuz everyone had forgot and then they went, "Oh shoot, this is Johnny Cash." And he was like before he died he was gigantic again, right? Mhm. You have to look at it and go, just because you're bored with it, that's on you. Mhm. What up, guys? Come join our Patreon cuz there's hundreds of videos dating back to 2019. Support the channel's growth and new ideas and tap
9:19 into the closer community by joining our Discord. Come chat with me inside and then you can say funny things to me and get the opportunity to suggest new video ideas. Come join our Patreon. Thank you. link is in the description box below. Is this what you want it to be? Or do you have another level where it can go? Right. It's like where can it why why aren't you guys the Joe Rogan in the Asian community? Or maybe you are and I don't know. That's true. Cuz I I think one time um I was like, man, Trump should be on our show too, but at that time I don't think we were that big. So it's like, what does that matter? Why is why is why why is that unattainable? We got Tulsi. But that's but it my point being is like you got Tulsi and then you
10:09 do you have Tulsi's phone number? Bart does. You go to Tulsi and you go, "Hey, this what did I say when I first got here?" Like people trip out that I know Bart, right? They're like, "Dude, how how are you plugged into the Asian?" Because it's a tight-knit community, right? One of the things is like with hardworking gentlemen, the first thing I said I want, we got to get Marco. And I go, why go Asians have tight hair. Asians have tight hair. Am I wrong? Asians have good Yeah. Good hair, good hair. Genetics. Good hair. They have good hair, right? Mexicans got good hair. Most like we got lots of hair. And it's like the hardest market to crack is that community. So if you look at it, who are the most right
11:02 now racially oppressed people in the United States in the Asian community? Why? Cuz you're educated. You come from strong families. You have a great work worth it work ethic. You are entrepreneurial. And you you don't deserve a handout. Yeah. And when we get attacked, the news doesn't cover us because it it's not a good story. Well, Connors get attacked all the time, right? But do you know why they don't say anything? My dad when I get in trouble with the police, my dad would be like, "Why are the police talking to you?" Not like it was like, "Why are the cops talking to you?" Mhm. What did you do wrong? Yeah. It's like the police should never talk to you. You should be tight. Right. So, if you look at that, there's a statement that you can make and there's things that you guys could be doing that where it goes back to it's
11:54 like we do all these cool things, but we're not getting any love, right? You're not getting any love because it's like, oh, well, they they're smart or they're this or they're that or they have this they're they get all they get all the breaks and they're they get these I mean, who gets wedged out of colleges more than anybody right now? Asian community. Yep. And we're here to prove them all wrong that we're bad at math. We're ████ stupid. No, I'm just kidding. Well, you think about it. It's like there's an old movie called The Wanderers. Do you guys remember the movie The Wanders? Watch it. So hilarious. But anyone who was Asian? Everyone knows karate in that movie? Yeah. But it was the Wanderers. And there there was a gang called the Wongs. They was like, "Don't f with the Wongs. They can kill you in different ways." Like my granddaughter has a joke. She goes, "Grandpa, what do ninjas drink?" And I'm always she's
12:45 [Laughter] like what? So you you have to look at like how are you like it goes back to like Blink 182. Yeah. I had the disaster with Blink 182. Wasn't a disaster. It made us a multi-million dollar business. But then it was going to backfire. What do I do? Do I go I need to find the next Blink 182? No. I needed to pivot. I needed to go, okay, I'm going to do Essence of Surf. Okay, now I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna pivot this way. That's work. Yeah. How do you ch the the most important? Like every morning I wake up and I go, how do I how do I challenge myself? Yeah. That's the hard part. Yep. Cuz it gets it gets easy. Like you get mailbox money. But what's at a certain point, does anyone in this room have FU money? Well, I don't think so. I threw it all
13:36 away. [Laughter] You never had FU money, did I? No. No, not like that. Not like that. So, that's my soapbox moment to you. Yeah. Mhm. No, thank you. It's It's It's very true, but I It's one of those things where it's like it's right under your nose. Jack Johnson, perfect example. He said, "I'm not going to do this. I'm going to go back. I'm going to make my" and he did it once he got discovered. He He does it on his own. He can do whatever he wants. Right. Joe Rogan was doing that for fun. Mhm. like all these people who are doing stuff. It's like obviously if you're going to do it for money, don't do it. Yeah. No longevity. Well, it's just it's just money. Money can't fix it. So Fieldy corn, his dad got cancer. Biggest band in the
14:26 world. Corn got all the money in the world. My dad's not going to die. I can pay for him to be fixed. Guess what? didn't save his dad's life. No, it saved his dad life. His dad accepting Christ before he died and field is like, "Dang, dude. Right." It's like you have to look at like if I was just listening to on um the Sean Ryan, the Tim Tibo podcast, dude, that Tim Tibo is a gangster. He's a man. He's gnarly, dude. Like I was blown away. Like he's trying to stop like the childh predators and stuff. Yeah. But see, but like one of the things he had said which blew my mind is like when people go, "Oh, I don't want to know about it. I don't want to see that." He goes, "It makes me think of my daughter." He goes, "Well, who's thinking about that girl? Who's thinking about those
15:17 kids?" Right? So you everything that I try to do now is to make sure that it has impact cuz impact's where we're worth way more money than anything in the world. like Steve Cavalero's documentary is dropping and he was like he was just in New York signing all these skateboards and he's Steve he's bones brigade right he's the guy and he's like dude I'm really excited he goes he goes because my my documentary ends on my spiritual walk and he goes every time I try to share with Stacy Godisman Heisman Heisman like they don't want to know and it's like what what would you do right now that you could think of that has nothing to do with money but has impact. I just want to pay my bills. I think that's what's ████ my head up. It's really
16:08 like I got what did I say when I died? Yeah. Was there was anything there? No, you there's no no nothing was with you. So you got that reset. So So it's like so pay your bills. What what do your bills look like? And if whatever your bills look like, what do you need? Like it's like when I said no one needs a new clothing company. They want a new story. What's your new story? M what's the story that makes jokes? What's my story? And how do I get people to believe in my story? That's what gets exciting. You know what I mean? Yeah, for sure. Okay, more questions. That That is a good lunch. I'll tell you that. The best lunch we've had in a while. I
16:59 guess.
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