Jon Orlando: Mastering Poker Psychology, Emotions & Key Life Lessons

Ever wondered if poker is really just a game of luck? Or how you can turn challenges into opportunities for growth?

In today's (long) & heartwarming episode, I get to sit down with the incredible Jon Orlando and explore the electrifying world of high-stakes poker tournaments and unravel how it's a serious game of skill and mental agility, not just luck.

We dissect the subtle art of emotional regulation and Jon gets candid about his personal journey, sharing an emotional story about caring for a parent with dementia. We're tackling personal fears head-on, reflecting on our evolving communication styles, personal struggles and our individual paths of growth. We're also talking about achieving virality and making an impact, even for those not in the limelight.

But it's not all heavy; Jon brings his background in stand-up comedy to the table, we explore the importance of taking risks and asking for what you want in life, and not to forget, the true essence of money, discussing how selflessness and kindness are essential in our journey to empowerment.

Jon Orlando isn't just a voice in the podcasting world; he's a character with a unique sense of humor and a dynamic personality. As the host of Action Junkeez and the visionary behind the Podcast Junkeez expansion, World Series of Poker player, and entrepreneur, Jon brings a wealth of experience and authenticity and a whole lot of energy to each episode and in each of his relationship in real life.

Buckle up as Jon Orlando and I unravel the complexities of life, from the poker table to personal empowerment. It's a conversation that's sure to resonate with anyone seeking to grow, change, and live life to its fullest!

Key Takeaways:
Women often face unique challenges in society and need support to overcome them.
Financial literacy and independence are crucial for women to have control over their own lives.
Healthy relationships are built on mutual respect and shared values.
Taking chances and embracing new experiences can lead to personal growth and fulfillment.

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Transcript

[TRANSCRIPT]

0:00:00 - (Tawni Nguyen): You were on tournament?

0:00:01 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah.

0:00:02 - (Tawni Nguyen): World Series poker. Yeah, I had to look that up.

0:00:05 - (Jon Orlando): Really? Oh, wsop, you didn't know?

0:00:07 - (Tawni Nguyen): You were like, what are you doing, WSOP? And I'm like, WSOP?

0:00:10 - (Jon Orlando): That's funny. Google. I figured asian, you'd know, but no, sorry. Is that stereotype? No. Good. I'm getting canceled now. Yeah, my brother and I ran into the store and I ended up getting a hold of my brother's gun and I shot the clerk because he had just killed my brother. And he literally said what you said, only he said 1 minute. He's like, I was a good guy my whole life and I was bad for 1 minute of my life. You just said five, right? It's like same thing.

0:00:37 - (Jon Orlando): And he's like, and now I'm in here for the rest of my life. It's like. It's really crazy when you think about how just things can change, good or bad, in the blink of an eye. We all just owe each other from page one. And some will pay it back and some won't. Don't worry about it. Just give. Don't worry about receiving. And you will end up receiving way more.

0:01:01 - (Tawni Nguyen): Hey, welcome to the frugal podcast. I'm your host, Tawni Wynn. So today I'm super excited. I finally get here.

0:01:08 - (Jon Orlando): I'm here. I know I canceled on you. Was it last month?

0:01:13 - (Tawni Nguyen): I'm used to fine.

0:01:14 - (Jon Orlando): I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It wasn't my fault. I've been dealing with mom for the last. Dementia is just awful. Awful. So I finally put mom in a home. Sounds terrible, but it's much better. It's good for her.

0:01:27 - (Tawni Nguyen): I came from the hospice industry when I was teens, wanting to connect with old people.

0:01:32 - (Jon Orlando): Okay.

0:01:33 - (Tawni Nguyen): So I kind of love that field like understanding. There's just so much wisdom out of old people. When I was a bartender, like, a lot of my clients are all old and retired. I just have a special connection with the elders, I guess.

0:01:50 - (Jon Orlando): That's cool. I think you have a special connection with everyone, though. You're one of those people that just lights up a room and you feel like you've known you forever. Yeah.

0:02:00 - (Tawni Nguyen): Why? Thanks, John. It's true.

0:02:02 - (Jon Orlando): No, that's free. It's all true. It's all. Yeah.

0:02:05 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. Right before this, we were talking about robbing banks.

0:02:08 - (Jon Orlando): Yes. What a segue. Robbing banks to helping old people. Which, if you rob banks, you can help old people.

0:02:14 - (Tawni Nguyen): We're so well rounded.

0:02:15 - (Jon Orlando): Yes, we are. It's the thought that counts.

0:02:17 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. No, but thanks for joining. I know that the last time we touched base, you were on tournament.

0:02:22 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah.

0:02:23 - (Tawni Nguyen): World Series poker. Yeah, I had to look that up.

0:02:25 - (Jon Orlando): Really? Oh, WSOp. You were like, what are you doing, WSOp?

0:02:29 - (Tawni Nguyen): And I'm like, WSOp?

0:02:31 - (Jon Orlando): That's funny.

0:02:32 - (Tawni Nguyen): Google.

0:02:32 - (Jon Orlando): I figured asian, you'd know, but no. Sorry, is that stereotype? No. Good. I'm getting canceled now. Yeah.

0:02:39 - (Tawni Nguyen): Why is that? Is it because a lot of.

0:02:41 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, yeah.

0:02:42 - (Tawni Nguyen): Or is it the good at mathing?

0:02:43 - (Jon Orlando): Both.

0:02:44 - (Tawni Nguyen): Because I don't think I've spent any of those.

0:02:46 - (Jon Orlando): No, you didn't get that. The good at math gene.

0:02:48 - (Tawni Nguyen): Just good enough to manage my own money and real estate, but not good enough to count cars because my memory is like a fucking goldfish.

0:02:56 - (Jon Orlando): Right.

0:02:57 - (Tawni Nguyen): It's so obvious because when I lie, I've been told I look like super constipated.

0:03:03 - (Jon Orlando): Really?

0:03:03 - (Tawni Nguyen): So when I'm trying to manipulate an answer, I'll just not breathe.

0:03:08 - (Jon Orlando): We're going to have to have you at a poker game just so we can see if we can figure out if you're lying or not.

0:03:12 - (Tawni Nguyen): Is she holding a fart or is she lying?

0:03:14 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, what's going on here? Yeah, I like that.

0:03:17 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. How do you manage your emotions and your physical being? Because poker, when I start looking it up, it's like a body language game, right?

0:03:26 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, for sure. Well, yesterday I wasn't very good at managing anything. Yeah, I went out way too early in a tournament yesterday. But it's fun. Poker is really frustrating because it takes a lot of skill, but there's a ton of luck. Most true poker players, I don't consider myself a pro by any means, but most of the pros, they won't admit how much luck is a factor in poker. And it's definitely a ton of luck. I mean, you obviously have to be good. You have to be able to manage your chip stack, and like you said, you have to keep your emotions in check.

0:04:05 - (Jon Orlando): But you also have to get really lucky to win a tournament because you're going through this summer. I played in well. The main event is 10,000 people. I mean, that's crazy. And the tournaments that I did really well in over the summer, the one that I won 38,000 in one event was a $10,000 buy in, and 643 people played in that. I kid you not. I mean, I don't know the exact number, but if I had to guess, out of 643 people, 600 of them were straight up savage pros.

0:04:44 - (Jon Orlando): That's all they do for a living, is play poker, specifically tournaments. And so when I got to my table, it was like nine people at a table. This one guy sat down, Ben Lamb, he was like the 2013 player of the year, I think, or maybe 2016 player of the year. He sat down at my table and he said hello to every single person by first name at my table except for me because I was the only non pro. So he sat down, he's like, hey, jack, hey, Mike, hey, steve, hey, Sam, and looked at me and he just said, what's up? And then he's, you know, whatever. And I'm just like, oh, my God, I'm doomed.

0:05:22 - (Jon Orlando): I'm doomed. Like, how am I going to get through? They all know each other, which means they're all really. Yeah. But somehow I managed to be the chip, um, which is kind of meaningless, but it's kind of cool for bragging rights for a minute. But I was chip leader from, literally from like eleven in the morning until midnight. So when they post, who's in the lead, the chip stack wise, it's John Orlando. And then like, phil Ivy, who's like a legendary poker player, Phil Helmuth, another legendary poker player, and all these other people underneath me. And I was on top and then the wheels fell off around 01:00 a.m.

0:06:01 - (Jon Orlando): And I ended up in 35th, which was still great. It was a nice little payday, but first place for that was 800,000. I mean, I basically already spent that money when I was in chip leader from eleven till midnight. Let's say I pretty much thought, oh, I'm going to win this thing. I really did. Yeah. But didn't work out.

0:06:23 - (Tawni Nguyen): What's defined as a pro?

0:06:26 - (Jon Orlando): Well, I don't know if there's really a technical. I mean, I would imagine it's just that's all you do for a living is play. It's really hard to do, though, because.

0:06:35 - (Tawni Nguyen): The hobby and everything else.

0:06:37 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, it's really hard to. Even the pros don't win all the tournaments, so it's a very difficult thing to do. Like I said, you got to get really lucky and it's tough, but there's.

0:06:51 - (Tawni Nguyen): You been playing?

0:06:53 - (Jon Orlando): I've been playing since high school, which is a long time ago, but I mean, like, seriously playing, I would say, like the last like eight to ten years.

0:07:02 - (Tawni Nguyen): What are some interesting things that you've run across, like with meeting all these.

0:07:06 - (Jon Orlando): People that are professional, they're all degenerates.

0:07:09 - (Tawni Nguyen): Shut the fuck up.

0:07:13 - (Jon Orlando): They're all really smart. A lot of these poker players, they're super analytical, way more than I am. That's probably why I don't win the tournaments. Yeah. Their attention to detail. I've got a couple guys that kind of unofficially coach me, like some pros, like my budy Jeff Madsen. And sometimes he'll ask me, how did it go? What was the hand that you went out on? And I'll tell him what I had, and then he'll say, what was the betting?

0:07:39 - (Jon Orlando): How did it all unfold? I honestly can't even remember. And it's from, like seven minutes ago. And I drive him crazy because he's like, how do you not know?

0:07:47 - (Tawni Nguyen): I blocked.

0:07:48 - (Jon Orlando): Who raised. Who did this? Who did that? What was their chipstack? I'm always like, I can't remember. Don't remember.

0:07:55 - (Tawni Nguyen): Brain is like a surveillance camera.

0:07:56 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, it is. Yeah. I think they have, like, photographic memories, and they're able to process numbers and.

0:08:03 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, yeah. Because that's crazy because I just assume you're at the podcast studio all the time.

0:08:08 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. And I'm actually rarely there. Yeah. It's like, you have a better chance to see Haley's comet than you do at me at the studio.

0:08:17 - (Tawni Nguyen): And it's so wild because just by meeting you, you kind of don't know what people do. Right? Like, your hobies, your interests, and all of these things. How do you find balance all that? How do you wake up one day? It's like, this is what I want to do for fun. Have a podcast, distribute.

0:08:34 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. Well, I mean, the is funny. So my quick background, I did stand up comedy for ten years, from the time I was like 22 to 32, 31. And I used to open for. I used to work in town a lot here in Vegas. I used to open for, like, tom Jones and Paul Anka. And obviously my dad is Tony Orlando singers. He was also in the movie. That's my boy, if you ever saw that with Adam Sandler, my dad's in that movie. So I started by opening for him, and then it just led to all these other guys as an opening act for ten years. Then I owned a PR firm in LA for ten years.

0:09:08 - (Jon Orlando): We worked with models, athletes, alcohol brands, casinos, energy drinks. Then I was in the tech space for, like, five years, but it wasn't really my thing.

0:09:18 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, you don't look like a tech.

0:09:19 - (Jon Orlando): No tech, bro. And then I kind of missed in 2017. I was like, felt like I was starting over in life, whatever. I was like, what am I going to do? And I didn't necessarily want to go back to stand up because I wasn't really funny. So that's a problem. If you're trying to be a comedian, you need to be funny. It's really the number one thing on the list. It's the only thing on the list.

0:09:43 - (Tawni Nguyen): Only qualification.

0:09:43 - (Jon Orlando): The only thing you need to be. And so that wasn't working for me. But I thought podcasting seemed like that could be kind of a fun thing. And you don't need anyone to tell you, okay, you can be a podcaster. Right. All you need is to get the equipment and the microphones and a place to do it. And we are a podcaster. Right.

0:10:02 - (Tawni Nguyen): Your own approval.

0:10:03 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. So when I started doing action junkies, that was in 2017. And then I kind of knew that I wanted to try to expand, like the junkies name. So I'm action junkies, but I knew back in 2017 that someday there'd be sports junkies, car junkies, movie junkies, yoga junkies, everything junkies. And right now, I think we've got maybe nine shows. We've got fitness junkies, political junkies, Vegas junkies, bizarre junkies, gridiron junkies, the football show. I know I probably missed some. And whoever hosts the show that I missed is going to send me a message when they see this.

0:10:38 - (Tawni Nguyen): What the fuck?

0:10:38 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. But, yeah, that's the goal right now, is to get maybe 50 different shows up and running that we own. And then we've got the studio here in Vegas. We just opened one in Boca Raton, Florida, opening one in Dallas, and hopefully all over. Yeah.

0:10:54 - (Tawni Nguyen): How many are you looking to expand to in the next few years?

0:10:56 - (Jon Orlando): I want to try to open like 50 to 100 of these in the next three years. Studios just in, every name a city. Nashville, La, Toronto, Vancouver, Dubai. I want to be everywhere. It's a great business model and I really believe everyone. It's funny, when I was at the tech company, we were a mobile app development company, is what we did. And my pitch to people, this is back in 2010, as I would say, I met with all the casinos here. I remember I met with the hard rock in Vegas, which is now virgin.

0:11:29 - (Jon Orlando): And I told the marketing guy there, I said, you will have an app. This hotel will have an app in the next twelve to 18 months. You just don't know it yet. This is what think back to 2010. Like, apps were really a new thing. And he thought I was crazy. I was absolutely right. And I say the same thing about podcasts, only now I say, if you have an Instagram or a TikTok page and you're active on it, you will most likely have your own podcast in the next twelve to 18 months.

0:11:59 - (Jon Orlando): You just may not know it yet.

0:12:00 - (Tawni Nguyen): But that's what you said to me.

0:12:02 - (Jon Orlando): I didn't say that to you. Right then, boom.

0:12:04 - (Tawni Nguyen): You're like, how do you not have your own podcast?

0:12:06 - (Jon Orlando): Here you are. Yeah.

0:12:07 - (Tawni Nguyen): Remember when I first met you? I'm like, this is my first time here. I've never been on a podcast.

0:12:11 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, you were on fire. You came on our 24 hours podcast. That was like the next day or a couple of days later, right?

0:12:18 - (Tawni Nguyen): We just met. You're like, hey, you want us?

0:12:20 - (Jon Orlando): I'm like, yeah, you were so good.

0:12:23 - (Tawni Nguyen): That was a good thing to existence like six months.

0:12:26 - (Jon Orlando): See, it's fun, right?

0:12:28 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, it is fun. I think it's one not even just like creative outlet, but it becomes more therapeutic.

0:12:33 - (Jon Orlando): Sure.

0:12:34 - (Tawni Nguyen): And it kind of just highlights. Like life is not just a fucking highlights reel to where you shoot talking head content or whatever, but people have real conversations about things. It's just about life. And you don't really have to just pick a thing and just talk about food or something. Like a real estate junkie.

0:12:52 - (Jon Orlando): It's coming.

0:12:53 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah.

0:12:54 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah.

0:12:54 - (Tawni Nguyen): Who's going to be your host for a real estate junkie?

0:12:56 - (Jon Orlando): Evan Bellman.

0:12:57 - (Tawni Nguyen): Evan Bellman?

0:12:58 - (Jon Orlando): Who is he? My realtor. But he's great. He's really great. But yeah, I mean, I think every category and then junkies. It's fun. Wait till you start making money with it. You're going to really be hooked. Or maybe you already are making some money.

0:13:16 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, no, that's something that I need to work on.

0:13:18 - (Jon Orlando): It just takes time. But you'll get there. You have it.

0:13:22 - (Tawni Nguyen): It's understanding the monetization that's not just doing it for money, but finding that first holistic dollars who's like, hey, I found what I love to do.

0:13:30 - (Jon Orlando): Right?

0:13:30 - (Tawni Nguyen): How do I create with it and also flow in the abundance of monetary currency with it? And first, everyone's like, just bring value first. Yeah, that's just how we always think. It's like, how can I be of service to someone? And how does this person or your energy or my energy or whatever message make an impact on at least one person? Have them just think differently. I think that was kind of basis of that stuckness, right? I was like, I don't know what I'm to going do with my life, man.

0:13:58 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. What did you do before this?

0:14:00 - (Tawni Nguyen): Hospitality.

0:14:01 - (Jon Orlando): Okay.

0:14:02 - (Tawni Nguyen): Did events, a lot of ass kissing. I bartended for ten years. So a lot of here in Vegas? No, in Orange county.

0:14:09 - (Jon Orlando): Okay.

0:14:10 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, totally different fields. I don't know. Now that I'm half in real estate and half, like, finding my space in the creative content world, I guess I love it. Don't know anything about it. So I feel like a fucking fish out of water.

0:14:22 - (Jon Orlando): No, what do you need to know?

0:14:24 - (Tawni Nguyen): And all of these things, I'm like, fuck it, I'm just going to do it.

0:14:26 - (Jon Orlando): Put it out, do it.

0:14:27 - (Tawni Nguyen): Dark mode. What have you been finding? Because you went through a lot of spaces and seasons of life too, and obviously no, tech is not for you. How did you transition through all of that stuff and how has it changed you as a person?

0:14:41 - (Jon Orlando): Tech? I just kind of fell into after the PR firm, so we had a really successful PR firm for ten years in LA. We worked with like, NFL hall of Famers and UFC fighters and big baseball players and tons of models, playmates. We also produced special events, so we threw events at the Playboy mansion seven times. Sundance Film Festival, Kentucky Derby, the Super bowl. We produced the best AM sports show. Super bowl.

0:15:06 - (Jon Orlando): Party back in, whenever. Maybe the Giants. Eli Manning beat the Patriots. Yeah, maybe, right? Patriots. Yeah. Yeah. I had to look at the guy on set. Sorry, validated me. Yes. But, yeah. So we had Chris rock perform at that event. It was like a $2 million budget event. So we were in the event space, which, it's tough. The sponsors are never happy. No one's ever happy. It's never good enough. Whatever it was you did, PR was kind of a thankless job. Like, you could get someone on the, I've gotten, I won't say a name, but I got a girl on the COVID of Maxim and she said, all you did for me this month was the COVID of Maxim. I mean, I don't even know what, I don't even know what to say to is the, what's the comeback other than go fuck yourself?

0:15:57 - (Jon Orlando): I don't even know what.

0:15:58 - (Tawni Nguyen): LA, sense of entitlement right there.

0:15:59 - (Jon Orlando): Seriously. I mean, it's just crazy. But anyway, if you remember, the economy tanked back in maybe seven, whatever that was, and we slowly kind of tanked with it. And by the time 2010, we downsized from the office to a smaller office to a home office. Like, I was renting a three bedroom apartment and using it as office space. And employees were coming over at like 09:00 a.m.

0:16:24 - (Tawni Nguyen): It's like you're running a bravo.

0:16:26 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, it was really weird. Yeah, it's funny you say that because we represented a lot of playmates and Maxim girls and stuff, and it's like the guard gate must have thought, what is going on? This guy's a pimp or something. Like, what is going on?

0:16:39 - (Tawni Nguyen): Kind of look like a pimp, right? Why didn't I call you over text? I'm like, you look like a fugitive.

0:16:43 - (Jon Orlando): A fugitive? Yeah, I do look like I'm on the run today.

0:16:48 - (Tawni Nguyen): Your outfit.

0:16:49 - (Jon Orlando): I had a crazy Morning. Can I just tell you about my morning? So I'm up really early. I get up at, like, you'll see when you get my age. I'm 53 now. When you get old, you feel like you're on the back nine of life, like, the last half of your life. You get up earlier because you're like, I just want to be up and be alive longer. Right?

0:17:09 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah.

0:17:09 - (Jon Orlando): So I'm up at, like, five or 06:00 no alarm every single day, no matter what. And I usually play chess on my phone like an old man. I know, whatever. For the first hour that I'm awake, so I sit. We have in our house, it's a two story house. It's not like a proper home theater, but it's got comfy chairs and stuff, a big giant flax, 86 inch tv, whatever. So I'm sitting in there, and we have two cats, and one of the cats is going bananas. She's running around like a lunatic, and it's not normally like her. And she knocked over, like, we had some picture frames that we haven't hung yet on the walls in theater, and she knocked one of them over. I'm like, what are you doing?

0:17:49 - (Jon Orlando): And then I saw she was playing with something, like, by the staircase. I'm like, what do you have? And I look, a fucking mouse was in the house. This little fucking cute little fucking mouse that she was trying to murder. I don't know how it got in, and I really don't know how it got to the second floor, which is a little alarming because the stairs are wood. Like, there's no way he could have gone up the stairs. He must have come from outside, in from the top. I don't even know.

0:18:12 - (Jon Orlando): Just as I realized what she was doing, she whacks him, knocks him over. So he hits the stairs, then falls between the stairs onto the floor. And I watched this mouse run under the couch as the cat runs down the stairs and tries to catch it. Couldn't catch it, and I ended up leaving the house. I had to go. Like, I sat there for an hour trying to figure out how can I get. It's a really big l shaped couch. It's too big. For me to move.

0:18:40 - (Jon Orlando): Vanessa, my girlfriend, was sleeping, so what the fuck am I going to do? The cat can't get under. Under the couch because it's too low. So there's just this mouse. So finally she woke up. When my girlfriend woke up, I was like, hey, I had a kind of a crazy morning. There's a mouse in the house somewhere. Let me know how it goes.

0:18:56 - (Tawni Nguyen): Good luck.

0:18:57 - (Jon Orlando): I don't know what's going on at home.

0:18:58 - (Tawni Nguyen): You throw her into, like, a fucking Hunger games thing, right?

0:19:01 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah.

0:19:02 - (Tawni Nguyen): What do they say? May the ods be in your bike.

0:19:07 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. It was such a good movie.

0:19:09 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. Love that movie talk, dude.

0:19:11 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. So there's a mouse in the house somewhere? Yeah. What do you do? I don't know why I shared that with you, but.

0:19:17 - (Tawni Nguyen): No, that's really funny, because all I envisioned the whole fucking time was, like, some Tom and Jerry shit.

0:19:22 - (Jon Orlando): It's literally. I mean, I was trying to make a video because I thought she'd get the mouse out, and then we'd see the kill, and I have it on video for the gram and TikTok and a million views. Right? And then people can say how I helped murder the mouse.

0:19:34 - (Tawni Nguyen): You woke up and played chess? Like, there's a fucking house.

0:19:36 - (Jon Orlando): But I literally was like, it's like Tom and episode. I literally said on the video, I'm like, it's like an episode of Tom and Jerry. But the mouse never showed up. So we had Tom, no, Jerry look like this guy.

0:19:47 - (Tawni Nguyen): That's all John, you're aging a bit. You're playing chess. You're seeing shit.

0:19:52 - (Jon Orlando): Would not think a mouse could get in. I don't know.

0:19:55 - (Tawni Nguyen): Black, white.

0:19:57 - (Jon Orlando): He was, like, black and tan.

0:20:00 - (Tawni Nguyen): He was cute.

0:20:01 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, he was cute. Yeah. I was thinking about things. I was like, I'll catch him when he comes out. I was like, how am I going to catch him? I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know what to do.

0:20:10 - (Tawni Nguyen): Oh, my God.

0:20:11 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah.

0:20:12 - (Tawni Nguyen): Because I see you obviously go to UFC shows, and I would think you would go to your first instinct as a dude, like, trying to catch it yourself with your bare hands.

0:20:22 - (Jon Orlando): No, I'm not that. It's weird. So, like, a month ago, I posted I was coming home from poker at encore. So I make a right on the spring mountains. I'm over by fashion show mall, and it's kind of drizzling out, and I'm in traffic, and I look on my dashboard, on inside the car. I wasn't sure if it was inside or not. It was a grasshopper. I fucking hate bugs. Like, I don't do bugs, especially bugs that hop or fly.

0:20:52 - (Jon Orlando): Not for me. So I'm like, is that inside the car or not? So I turn on the wipers to know and didn't move, and I was like, oh, fuck, it's inside the car. So I was on the phone with Vanessa. I'm like, hey, I got to go. There's a grasshopper in the car. I hang up with her, and I launched the video because I'm like, at least let's get something out of this. So I'm driving. So I'm like, I'm going to pull into the parking lot.

0:21:12 - (Jon Orlando): I'm videoing the grasshopper right on the dashboard, and I'm like, I pull in the parking lot. The second I put it in park, this motherfucker just flies, like, at me. I freak out. I jump out of the car. I'm like, I posted this on Instagram. I jump out of the car, and I'm like, what the fuck? How am I going to get this grasshopper out of here? I know I sound like a total fucking pussy, but I'm telling you, I love bugs, and it's weird.

0:21:36 - (Jon Orlando): Lizards, snakes, the mouse, no problem. But you put a spider, fucking roach, a grasshopper, praying mantis. If there's a praying mantis in my house, I'd put it up for sale. I'm not even kidding. I can't even deal with it. I can't even deal with it.

0:21:52 - (Tawni Nguyen): I know how to get him.

0:21:53 - (Jon Orlando): So I get out of the car, and I'm videoing it, and he's on the center console between the two front seats. And literally, as I'm like, oh, there he is. He fucking flies. You can see it on video. It's on my instagram. He flies towards me. I freak out. I start to backpedal, and I end up, like, falling down backwards. I landed so hard that the phone, the thumbnail on the video, it says, iPhone has detected a crash. Like, it literally thought, like, I was in a crash.

0:22:20 - (Jon Orlando): So I screenshot that, and I just had. It wasn't these, but I had the fucking Travis Scott Jordans on ruined. Ruined from input. Like, they got all scuffed and fucked up. Oh, it's traumatic. Traumatic. You're laughing at me. It was awful. But, yeah. So bugs, I don't do but a mouse. No big deal. He was cute. I wouldn't try to pick him up, just like you said, because he could bite you. Yeah, you have weird bitten, but disease. Yeah. We live, like, right up against the mountain in Summerlin and we've seen foxes.

0:22:57 - (Tawni Nguyen): Oh, yeah, a lot of coyotes.

0:22:58 - (Jon Orlando): Coyotes. But, like, a cute little fox, too. Bunnies and the big jackrabbits. We have all kinds of shit.

0:23:05 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, I was just thinking how you say you don't do bugs? Like, you know, the fear factor style. It'll be hilarious. We have, like, a bugs junkie.

0:23:13 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah.

0:23:13 - (Tawni Nguyen): And then put you in the fucking box.

0:23:15 - (Jon Orlando): I'm out. No, watch.

0:23:16 - (Tawni Nguyen): You freak out. Like, you against, like, the one fucking grasshopper.

0:23:19 - (Jon Orlando): We represented a girl that won 50 grand on fear factor.

0:23:24 - (Tawni Nguyen): Really?

0:23:25 - (Jon Orlando): Her name was Tammy Sheffield, and she had to eat, like, a bowl of, like, fucking maggots. I don't know how she did it. I couldn't do it. 50 grand is not enough. Would you do it?

0:23:35 - (Tawni Nguyen): No.

0:23:36 - (Jon Orlando): What's the number? 300,000.

0:23:39 - (Tawni Nguyen): Do you do it? Is it, like, alive? Like, is it moving?

0:23:42 - (Jon Orlando): Maggots. Three of them. How much for you to eat three maggots?

0:23:48 - (Tawni Nguyen): I'd do it for, like, just ten. X that. Half a mil. Three bugs. Not bad.

0:23:53 - (Jon Orlando): Half a million?

0:23:53 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah.

0:23:54 - (Jon Orlando): So if you do it for half a million, you do it for 400,000. If you do it for 400,000 dead bugs. If you do it for 400,000, you pretty much 350,000, because you're just lowering the fuck. But you would.

0:24:07 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah.

0:24:08 - (Jon Orlando): If you do it for 350. A quarter of a million dollars. 250,000 is a lot of money for three maggots. For three maggots. Right.

0:24:15 - (Tawni Nguyen): Really?

0:24:16 - (Jon Orlando): $100,000.

0:24:18 - (Tawni Nguyen): You're just going back to know I could get you.

0:24:20 - (Jon Orlando): I was going to take it all the way down to ten. Yeah.

0:24:22 - (Tawni Nguyen): You're going to think, what's the lowest?

0:24:24 - (Jon Orlando): I couldn't do it, though.

0:24:25 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. For a million dollars?

0:24:28 - (Jon Orlando): Fuck, yeah. For a million dollars, I'll shoot my own uncle dead. Just kidding. Yeah, man. I don't know. I don't even know if I. Honestly. You think I'm nuts? I don't know if I could eat a bowl of broccoli for $5,000.

0:24:47 - (Tawni Nguyen): Broccoli is delicious.

0:24:48 - (Jon Orlando): It's not. Do you put cheese on it, like, melt?

0:24:51 - (Tawni Nguyen): No, I just steamed broccoli and I.

0:24:53 - (Jon Orlando): Steamed broccoli is delicious. Yeah. We're so far apart. Yeah.

0:24:59 - (Tawni Nguyen): No, I mean, would you like broccoli cheddar soup? Because it's pretty much a bowl of cheese.

0:25:05 - (Jon Orlando): Just for free, like, for fun, as a meal, as a. Don't do. I hate veggies.

0:25:11 - (Tawni Nguyen): Oh, you hate veggies?

0:25:12 - (Jon Orlando): Hate veggies. Specifically broccoli. I go to Panda Express, and I'll get beef and broccoli, and I beg them, no broccoli. Sometimes I beg them, like, I'll pay you extra. Just pick out just the can't to do it. I'm like, I'll pay extra. I don't care. What are you, the. I don't want the broccoli.

0:25:30 - (Tawni Nguyen): That'd be good. We go to panic fresher together. I'll eat your broccoli.

0:25:32 - (Jon Orlando): Eat the broccoli. I'll eat the deal.

0:25:34 - (Tawni Nguyen): I'm happy with that.

0:25:34 - (Jon Orlando): All right, I'm in.

0:25:36 - (Tawni Nguyen): That's a good compromise.

0:25:36 - (Jon Orlando): We go to lunch. That's where we'll go. You eat the broccoli, I'll eat the beef.

0:25:41 - (Tawni Nguyen): What I have today, I had broccoli. John didn't give me any beef, but.

0:25:44 - (Jon Orlando): I'll throw you a couple pieces. Yeah, give me a couple of pieces of beef.

0:25:49 - (Tawni Nguyen): That's so funny. Yeah. When you have people on your, like, when you first started to now, what do you notice is the biggest change in you as a podcaster on how your communication styles and stuff has changed?

0:26:03 - (Jon Orlando): I don't know if it's changed that much just because I had such a background with being on the microphone, at least from stand up, and I grew up in showbiz. So certainly I'm not saying I haven't gotten better or I don't mean it like that, but I kind of feel like I'm still the same person from the beginning to now. Although, I mean, truth be told, sure. I hated the first three episodes, like, watching myself, and I was like, what are you doing?

0:26:33 - (Tawni Nguyen): I'm like, man, I sound like.

0:26:36 - (Jon Orlando): Well, yeah. You don't realize how in the beginning, you forget how many times you say or, you know, there you go. There's another um. But it's okay. Like, I know a lot of people edit those. Yeah, we don't at the studio. We just encourage people. Like, just do it as it.

0:26:54 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah.

0:26:55 - (Jon Orlando): And you police yourself. Learn to police yourself on ums.

0:26:59 - (Tawni Nguyen): And, you know, verbal fillers is a big thing.

0:27:01 - (Jon Orlando): And, like. And saying, like, yeah.

0:27:04 - (Tawni Nguyen): Before Sean pointed out, like, the first, I don't know, six, seven episodes, I listen with my eyes, but I also affirm it with my voice. So I'm always like, now I stop, and I just do it with the eyes, and I do it with the body. Right. Because with teaching communications, you can teach other people, but I couldn't teach myself until I started witnessing myself grow through these modalities that teach 18 year olds. I'm like, oh, my God.

0:27:31 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. It's like we use commas as, right. It's like, that's the comma for us. Or the pause. You could just pause.

0:27:38 - (Tawni Nguyen): You don't have to when it's quiet. Yeah, because they're like, why are you staring at me? I'm like, I don't have anything to say in this.

0:27:45 - (Jon Orlando): I got nothing. I'm just waiting. I'm just chilling. I'm on simmer, bro.

0:27:47 - (Tawni Nguyen): I'm being. I'm idling. I'm existing. What do you want me to do? There's a lot of people that are uncomfortable with silence that they just try to fill it. They're like, hey, so what do you think of this? I'm like, you don't need the small talk. We can just hang out. Yeah, we can just buy.

0:28:01 - (Jon Orlando): The one thing I've definitely learned from doing the podcast over the last seven years or whatever it's been something like that is. I'm not afraid in the beginning, I would base my guest off of what I felt we deserved, and that was a big mistake. Meaning, like, for example, I've known Dana White for nine years. I didn't ask him to be. It's funny. So I get him on the podcast last, like, October, we got to episode 198 of the podcast, and I came in and I told the guys, I'm like, I have an idea.

0:28:33 - (Jon Orlando): Episode 200, dana White. Everyone's like, yes. Can you get him? I'm like, yeah, I'm pretty confident I can get him. I see him all the time at the fights, and we had a really good relationship, but we don't hang out socially, or at least not at that point. We hadn't in eight years of knowing him, but gives me tickets to the fights, never says no. He's always so nice. He's one of the nicest guys in the world.

0:28:53 - (Jon Orlando): So I come to the. So it was literally like a year ago around right this time. So Dana White. Contender series runs from August to October. That's Tuesday night fights where guys are trying to fight their way into the UFC. Super exciting. So Tuesday comes, and we're on episode 198. So I tell the guys, when I go to the fight tonight, I'll talk to Dana. I'll ask him to be on the show. So I go to the fight, I see Dana. I'm like, hey, Dana, how you doing? We talk about the fights. I chicken out. I don't know. I just couldn't do it. I just chickened out.

0:29:22 - (Jon Orlando): I chickened out. Okay, so now we put up episode 199. And the guys are like, dude, when you go to the fight next Tuesday, you have got to ask Dana because we're on 199. Like, he's got to come in, do the show. This is it. I'm like, I got it. Don't worry, I got it. I go to the fight, I see Dana, we're talking shooting the shit. I don't know. I got a block, tawny. I don't know. I got a block. I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it. Couldn't ask him.

0:29:45 - (Jon Orlando): So now they're like, what are we going to do? We got to put up 200. I'm like, no, I have an idea. We're going to put up 199.1. And then the following week, I'm still not going to ask him. I'm telling you now. I'm not going to ask him because I purposely want to put out 199.2. Then I'm going to go to him and use comedy to get it. So, like, what? I'm like, you'll see. So we've got 199.2 is up. I go to the fight.

0:30:13 - (Jon Orlando): I say, dana, I got episode 200 of my podcast coming up next week. He's like, wow, congrats. I go, no, hold on. You're going to be the guest episode 200. And he's looking at me and I open up Spotify. I'm like, look, man, I was supposed to ask you this at episode 198, and I chickened out. So we put up 199, and I chickened out. And then the last two weeks, I chickened out. 189.1. 199.2. I said, dana, I will go to 199.199 if that's what it takes.

0:30:41 - (Jon Orlando): You will be the guest on episode 200.

0:30:44 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah.

0:30:45 - (Jon Orlando): He starts laughing. He's like, all right, I'm in. So he comes in the studio and I open up my opening line to my two co hosts. I say, guys, we started this five, six years ago. We dreamt of the day we would have Dana white on, and today is that day I couldn't even finish. And he says, whoa, whoa, whoa. You just asked me to do this for the first time a week ago. And he taught me meaning, had you asked me five years ago, I would have done it.

0:31:12 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah.

0:31:13 - (Jon Orlando): And I always looked at it like, I want to earn a set of stripes. I want to wait until we deserve it or wait till it's not, like, a waste of his time or wait till at least we're worthy. And that was a big mistake because obviously, if I would have had by the way you have Dana wan your show, the numbers were 40 times what our normal show does. Grant Cardone slid into my dms saying, hey, saw the podcast with Dana. Great job. Keep it up. And then we got grant on the show.

0:31:44 - (Jon Orlando): All these amazing things happened. Dana was kind enough to share it a couple of times on his, you know, it just taught me the lesson of don't put yourself in a box and think that you're not worthy. It's nice that you would do that, right? It's nice that I'm aware of not abusing a relationship with Dana or asking him to do a show that's new or whatever. But the flip side is you have to use the network of people that you have and you have to move yourself down the field. Who knows where I would be in my podcast life.

0:32:24 - (Jon Orlando): Had I had Dana on five years ago and this episode 100 or something, or episode ten even, and maybe again on episode 80, and then again, he would have been on three times by now, and who knows what that would have done and all the other cool things that that would have brought. So it's like, don't think that you're too small for anyone. Shoot the shot. Take a shot at it. Why not?

0:32:46 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, I think that was the biggest hesitation, too, because I'm like, who the fuck is going to want to talk to me?

0:32:52 - (Jon Orlando): But you'd be surprised.

0:32:53 - (Tawni Nguyen): People are, like, asking me, hey, can you interview me?

0:32:56 - (Jon Orlando): On what?

0:32:57 - (Tawni Nguyen): Really? Yeah.

0:32:59 - (Jon Orlando): I don't know if this has happened for you yet, but in the six or seven years I'm doing this, I can only think of one time where I asked someone, hey, would you like to be on my podcast? I can only think of literally one time where the answer was maybe how many people listen? Most people never ask me. Most people just. They probably look at the Instagram because usually I'm dming them, maybe they look at the Instagram, whatever, and they just make a decision based on how your social media looks.

0:33:29 - (Jon Orlando): I've literally never had anyone say, how many listeners do you have? I've only had one guy. I won't say his name, but I've only had one guy. And he's not famous. Oh, he's not even famous. He's known in the world that he's in.

0:33:43 - (Tawni Nguyen): Oh, you're being very big.

0:33:44 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, he's in the poker world, I'll say that. But not a big name. Not at all. It's just kind of surprising. I mean, I've had Bob Saget on, obviously, before he passed away. I've had Russell Peters, comedian. I've had tons of fighters. I've had Bruce Buffer. I mean, I've had tons of big names, good people. No one ever asks how many listen.

0:34:09 - (Tawni Nguyen): Wow.

0:34:10 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, they don't care. I think they get it. Most people get it now. It doesn't matter how many listen, because all you need is that one good moment, that one amazing clip that goes viral, and that can happen with anyone that you're talking to if the story is good enough.

0:34:30 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. Or that one message that actually just truly helps someone.

0:34:34 - (Jon Orlando): Right? Have you met Adam Claussen at our studio yet?

0:34:38 - (Tawni Nguyen): No.

0:34:38 - (Jon Orlando): So you need to have Adam on. So Adam's a perfect example of that. You could go viral with a non famous person or a non influencer even. Adam was sentenced to 213 years in prison. This guy, Adam Claussen, can you imagine? 213 years. I met him last year, maybe a year and a half ago at the welcome dinner for sheriff McMahill, our new sheriff here in Vegas. And Adam knew my friend, you know, David Colmeier. You were on his show. Okay, so David Colmeyer brings me to this welcome dinner up in summerlin at Queensland.

0:35:19 - (Tawni Nguyen): Because he was a cup, correct? Yeah.

0:35:20 - (Jon Orlando): And so this guy in a suit, tall, handsome guy, walks up to Dave, talks to him for two minutes. Dave introduced me. John, this is Adam. Adam, John. Adam walks away. And then Dave says, that guy just got out of prison. He was in for 20 years. I go, what guy? He goes, that guy you just met? I go, the guy in the suit? He's like, yeah. I said, 20 years? I said, oh, my God, he embezzled millions. And he says, no violent crime. I go, that guy you just introduced me to, he says, yeah. I'm like, he looks like a congressman, he looks like a CEO, but that guy's violent. He's like, well, he used to be.

0:35:57 - (Jon Orlando): From the time he was 18 to 24, this guy, Adam Claussen, committed a ton of armed robberies. This was back in Pennsylvania. He'd like, rob like, an underground illegal casino, knowing they had a bunch of money or a dispensary or things like that. And he ends up getting caught when he was 24 years old. And they throw the book at him. 213 years. But he did all the right things when he was incarcerated.

0:36:24 - (Jon Orlando): And he got involved in this program called, like, the compassionate release program. I'll let him tell a story to you. But the bottom line is he served 20 of a 213 year sentence. He's an amazing person. He's got incredible stories. And he changed the way I look at. I used to say like if you do a home invasion of some old people or a family or like, fuck you, we don't need you. Lock them up, throw the key. Those people don't change. That's what I used to think until I met Adam Clawson. And I've realized like I've been wrong my whole life of like you can't put a stereotype. You can't put people in a box like that and just say because you did. X means y.

0:37:06 - (Jon Orlando): It doesn't mean that for know people can change, they can make themselves better and they can learn a lesson. And Adam is that guy. Yeah, I'll introduce him. You'd have a nice conversation with him, but I had him on the show and the clips got hundreds of thousands of views.

0:37:22 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, that's so crazy because people attach the action to the person as like an identity or something.

0:37:27 - (Jon Orlando): For sure.

0:37:28 - (Tawni Nguyen): It's like you are this because you.

0:37:29 - (Jon Orlando): Did x, Y and z for sure.

0:37:31 - (Tawni Nguyen): You are that thing, that feeling or whatever that you are left with.

0:37:35 - (Jon Orlando): Right?

0:37:35 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. And I really do like that because I do believe in second chances for people coming from California. I've been seeing a lot of people are sending me all these homeless and all that stuff. You're like, yeah, you do all your philanthropy and all this stuff. Your states are going to turn to a communist state. I'm like, whatever, I'm out. And you came from LA too. And you see that problem and you, it's crazy. Be a part of the solution or you don't want to be a part of the problem anymore.

0:37:59 - (Jon Orlando): Right.

0:37:59 - (Tawni Nguyen): It's just people saying like we need change, we need this. And I'm like, fuck you. My tax dollars weren't going anywhere. And that whole entire state is so different.

0:38:09 - (Jon Orlando): It's unbelievable.

0:38:10 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah.

0:38:10 - (Jon Orlando): Every day I feel like I'm watching a video of a bunch of guys walking into like Gucci store or whatever in Beverly Hills or wherever.

0:38:17 - (Tawni Nguyen): Robin.

0:38:18 - (Jon Orlando): And just robbing know same thing in. I mean, it's just nuts. I mean, I'm sure it happens everywhere and we just see know. But maybe it doesn't happen everywhere. I mean, I don't know if it happens in know it happens in Arizona.

0:38:29 - (Tawni Nguyen): Everyone's carrying there so it's like a real fucking western movie or. Yeah, yeah. And I think that's really powerful that you even allow yourself to acknowledge that he changed the perspective of how you look at life and how you view people. Because not a lot of people can identify with the fact that someone can change.

0:38:50 - (Jon Orlando): Right.

0:38:50 - (Tawni Nguyen): Because originally, like how you're saying, like, oh, everyone's a degenerate or whatever.

0:38:53 - (Jon Orlando): But, yeah, I just figured a leopard doesn't change the spots, right? Yeah, but they do.

0:38:58 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. What's your take on that? How has that perspective shift changed how you contribute or your output into the world?

0:39:07 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. You talk to enough people on podcasts, and you start hearing everyone's life story, and you just realize, like, everyone's path is different. Life's tough, man. Even for people that you don't think it's tough for, they struggle with something no one gets off free. That's why people like Robin Williams commit suicide. Or what's his name from Lincoln Park?

0:39:38 - (Tawni Nguyen): Chester.

0:39:38 - (Jon Orlando): Chester, right. People that you think, yeah, he's great. I mean, how could it be so wrong? What could be so bad? But you just never know what someone's going through. I had a buddy last year. He committed suicide. This guy's company was making $12 million a month. I get it. Money doesn't solve everything. But it's, like, still in my head. I can't get, like, how did it not solve that? How could it be so bad if you conquered such a.

0:40:09 - (Jon Orlando): Do you know what it is to make $12 million a month?

0:40:12 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah.

0:40:13 - (Jon Orlando): 12 million in a lifetime metric is amazing. 1 million in a lifetime is amazing.

0:40:17 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. It's a goal that most people want to have. Right.

0:40:21 - (Jon Orlando): And to think that that guy had, I don't even know, 200, 300 employees, and it wasn't enough. Something was missing in his life, and he had two kids. To go to that degree of just finality, it really makes you appreciate what you do have. Or, like, with my mom, it's like dementia. It's like a bitch. My mom was so funny, so witty, so smart. She worked for Elvis back in the day. She was friends with Dean. Like, my mom has crazy stories, and I never put her on the podcast.

0:40:56 - (Jon Orlando): I'm so regretful that I didn't do that because now she's not even capable of the conversation. But it's like, it would have been so much fun when I first started. What was I thinking? I should have just had my mom on just for the fuck of it. Even though it's off brand or not, it doesn't make sense for action junkies, but who cares? I should have sat and done it. But, yeah, it just really makes you. When you hear, like, an Adam Clawson story, and then you just think, that guy got locked up for 20 years. I mean, think about all that you've done the last 20 years of your life, and his was just in a cell, like asking permission to eat pee, whatever, right?

0:41:32 - (Jon Orlando): Obviously he did things that he deserved to be there. But when you think about what that is for someone's life, and then how that affected all of his family members, it's like, it doesn't just affect him, right? There was a mother and a father that had to go without a son. There's so many dynamics to what your actions can do to others. You have to remember it's not just you with whatever you do in life.

0:41:58 - (Tawni Nguyen): I think I saw someone post something about this guy that went to prison, and his lesson that I found really impactful for me. He was just like. He lost his ways in five minutes, because he was just like. From the moment that he was at a bar to someone disrespecting him, and he pulled out a gun or something like that. He lost 20 years with his kids, his wife, his family. And just like you said, his actions of not being in control of his emotions in five minutes, that's how you get punished.

0:42:25 - (Tawni Nguyen): They take away the time that you have, which is our most valuable asset. It's not even the money. Like, take all that money, I don't go, fuck.

0:42:31 - (Jon Orlando): It's so interesting that you say that. My dad, back in the 70s, when my dad was like, super famous in the. He went and performed at a prison and he was talking to some of the inmates, and the one guy had a similar story to exactly what you just said. This guy was in there for life, for murder. And my dad was like, do you mind talking about it? My dad was fascinated because he seemed like such a nice guy. And he said, tony, I was at a gas station and I was pumping gas, and I didn't know my brother was going in to rob the store. I had no idea.

0:43:06 - (Jon Orlando): My brother goes in to rob the store and the clerk ended up shooting my brother. And I ran into the store and I ended up getting a hold of my brother's gun, and I shot the clerk because he had just killed my brother. And he literally said what you said. He said, 1 minute. He's like, I was a good guy my whole life, and I was bad for 1 minute of my life. You just said five, right? It's like same thing.

0:43:29 - (Jon Orlando): And he's like, and now I'm in here for the rest of my life. It's like, it's really crazy when you think about how just things can change, good or bad, in the blink of an eye.

0:43:38 - (Tawni Nguyen): Intentional or not, too, right? Because you don't just intentionally want to kill someone.

0:43:42 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. Like these kids. Did you see these kids that just ran over the vegas cop? He was riding his bike. You see this? It was yesterday. It was all over social media yesterday. It's two guys in a Car, Lily, driving down. I don't know what highway they were on. This guy, a former cop, or he was either a former cop or a current cop, I'm not positive, was riding his bike on, like, the shoulder. And they're literally one. The passenger is videoing it, and the driver goes, you ready? He's like, yeah, do it. And they literally, on video, just drive right into this cop. The cop goes up and over, and it killed him senseless.

0:44:19 - (Jon Orlando): So senseless. And these two kids ruins this guy's life, obviously, all his family, all his friends and their own, assuming they're going to get caught. I don't know if they've gotten caught yet. They will get caught. I mean, I would imagine, but it's like, for what?

0:44:36 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, because a lot of things that we've been saying kind of put things into perspective. Because I just visited my girlfriend, who her brother also just committed suicide, like, a few months back, and we grew up, and she was like, there was no signs or anything. I'm like, yeah, suicidal depression is not fake. Like, it's not something that people talk about enough.

0:44:55 - (Jon Orlando): Right.

0:44:55 - (Tawni Nguyen): That's why it's kind of an awareness for a reason, because you really don't know what the hell goes on.

0:44:59 - (Jon Orlando): And people, even the happiest, we have.

0:45:02 - (Tawni Nguyen): It bad at times. Right. But you actually don't know what people's sense of fulfillment drives them, what kind of void they have to face, which is the demons, all of that. Because I feel like we all go through that, and our ego wants us to feel like we have it the worst. But when you hear certain stories like that, how people's life changes in, like, a minute. I'm too soft for prison. I'm be a fucking mop in prison.

0:45:26 - (Jon Orlando): Well, you're not going to be a mop in prison. I'm not going to tell you what you would be in prison. Come on. You'd be, like, the most popular inmate. You'd be wiped up real quick enough.

0:45:36 - (Tawni Nguyen): Not the way I want to be wiped.

0:45:38 - (Jon Orlando): No.

0:45:40 - (Tawni Nguyen): Oh, my God.

0:45:41 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, you need to stay out of prison. Don't go to prison. Thank you.

0:45:45 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, let's keep me out of prison.

0:45:46 - (Jon Orlando): Not a good spot for you.

0:45:47 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, no, I like my life. I love my life.

0:45:50 - (Jon Orlando): Have you ever been arrested?

0:45:53 - (Tawni Nguyen): When I was 16. Yes.

0:45:55 - (Jon Orlando): I like how you wanted to qualify it. You didn't want to just say yes. You wanted to make it clear you were young and dumb.

0:46:00 - (Tawni Nguyen): I was young and dumb, okay. Yeah.

0:46:02 - (Jon Orlando): What'd you do?

0:46:03 - (Tawni Nguyen): Some shoplifting. Really dumb shit. Just got some cuffs thrown on me.

0:46:06 - (Jon Orlando): Okay.

0:46:07 - (Tawni Nguyen): I did some really funny stuff that was on my records. So when I was trying to get a CCW in California, really? They looked me up. I didn't know the statue of limitation went that long, because I thought it was five years.

0:46:17 - (Jon Orlando): Right.

0:46:18 - (Tawni Nguyen): Oh, and can you tell us this citation for a misdemeanor in 2012? I'm like, what? Yeah, it was a public nudity citation.

0:46:27 - (Jon Orlando): Really? Mardi Gras? Like flashing people or something?

0:46:31 - (Tawni Nguyen): No, I wish it was something that fun. But in Orange county, there's these coffee shops, right? You wear a bikini and work. Okay, so it's just bikini heels, whatever. I just walk around the beach like that? Yeah, just like that. And there was a raid because it's actually gambling rings.

0:46:45 - (Jon Orlando): Oh.

0:46:45 - (Tawni Nguyen): So I used to work in those when I was, like, 1819, right when I dropped out of college, I'm like, what's the fastest way, besides selling drugs, that I can make cash fast. And that's what I did. And then I got caught or whatever, because I didn't know that one that I worked at at the time was, like, this huge gambling.

0:47:00 - (Jon Orlando): Really?

0:47:01 - (Tawni Nguyen): And I want to say, like, human trafficking. Like, all these weird shit that was happening. The fucking cops came in, like, pinned us through the wall and gave me a citation. I went to court, and I had to explain to the judge, I wasn't naked. I was like, I was wearing a bikini. Like, the other girls were, like, topless because there's, like, different pay grades.

0:47:20 - (Jon Orlando): So you were like, guilty by association.

0:47:22 - (Tawni Nguyen): So I'm like, dude, I'm the lowest fucking paid person there because I'm wearing a bikini. All these girls had their paces, and they're naked, they're bottomless. Whatever. They're full nudes. Like, they get paid 50, $60 an hour. And at the time, in 2010, that's a lot of money. Part over for a girl, not a stripper. Yeah, right? And, yeah, so I had to try to explain that while I was trying to get a fucking gun from California, they're like, can you explain this? I'm like, funny story, funny story. What had happened was.

0:47:50 - (Jon Orlando): Oh, my God.

0:47:51 - (Tawni Nguyen): So I wish I had a funny, wild story. I'm like, no, I was just trying to make money, man. And I got a public nudity ticket.

0:47:57 - (Jon Orlando): Slapped on my wrist, and that's on your record forever.

0:48:00 - (Tawni Nguyen): And now I had to go to probation, and I had to just admit being guilty or some shit. So they just throw me on probation. And during those months, I'm like, that means I can't do anything stupid for six months, right?

0:48:12 - (Jon Orlando): Counting the days when you can do something stupid, just in case. Nice to be able to know you can do something stupid and you're not really going to fuck yourself up.

0:48:19 - (Tawni Nguyen): And all my friends back then, they were all trapping and all of these things that are super illegal. Paid tons of money, and I'm like, I can't do anything because I don't want to go to actual prison.

0:48:30 - (Jon Orlando): Too. Funny.

0:48:30 - (Tawni Nguyen): So that's, like, my one funny story of the one cool thing that I did in my 20s. Have you ever been arrested?

0:48:39 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, same stupid shit. I got arrested for failure to appear from a tinted windows ticket. I got a tinted windows ticket in, like, 2003 in LA. Took the tint off the. So, in LA here, you could have your windows tinted because of the heat and stuff. But in LA, you can only have the rear windows 85% max or something, right? Yeah, but you can't do the driver's side or the front. But I did. So I took the tint off, but I guess you still have to go to the sheriff station and have them sign off.

0:49:14 - (Jon Orlando): So I didn't do that. So I paid the ticket, got the tint removed, but I never went to the sheriff station. I didn't realize that I had to do that. And, like, four years later, I pulled into a gas station, and I opened the door to get out, and I see the lights flashing out of the corner of my eye, and I hear, get out of the car. Get on the ground now. And I was with an employee. It was her first day working with me, and I was bringing her to. It was Nighttime.

0:49:42 - (Jon Orlando): So this is back when we had the pr firm. So we worked with a guy named Maurice Green, who was fastest man in the world at the time, olympic gold medalist sprinter in the 100 meters. And we were going to Johnny Gill's birthday party. You knew Johnny Gill is God. You're too young. Famous singer. He was in the band new edition with group new edition with Bobby Brown back in the day. Anyway, we're going to Johnny Gill's birthday party at the lucky strike bowling alley on Hollywood and Highland. In LA?

0:50:07 - (Jon Orlando): In Hollywood. And so I'm in the gas station, literally right next door to this bowling alley. I was just going to fill up the tank. And so I remember I turning to her and go, oh, God, something's about to go down. Like the cops are looking for someone here. So I'm literally looking out the windshield. I'm like, who's he talking to? And he's like, in the black mercedes. Get out of the car. Get on the ground now.

0:50:30 - (Jon Orlando): And I was like, me? And he's like, yeah, you. I'm like, oh, shit. So he's like, put your hands up. I'm like, I put my hands up. He goes, get on your knees. I'm on my knees. He's like, face the car. I'm like, I am facing the car. He's like, your car. I'm like, oh, okay. So I fucking shimmy around. And by the time I facing my car, I guess his partner had already come up on me. I didn't even realize it. He's like, john Orlando.

0:50:52 - (Jon Orlando): I'm like this. He says, john Orlando? I go, yeah. He grabs my arm, puts it behind my back, the other one behind my back. And he goes, you're under arrest. And I go, for what? He's like, there's a warrant out for your arrest. And I go, impossible. There's no way. Like for what? He's like, I don't know. And he says, do you have your id, your license on you? I said, yeah, it's in the car in the center console, my wallet.

0:51:17 - (Jon Orlando): So he's like, first I go, yeah, it's in my left front pocket. So he's like, can I get it? And I go, yeah. And he goes, he's like, there's nothing in your pocket? I'm like, oh, sorry. I was nervous. It's in the console in the car. Do I have permission? I go, yeah. So he goes to get it. There's nothing there. He's like, it's not there. I'm like, fuck. I'm like, I'm sorry. It's in the trunk, in my inside jacket pocket. Sorry, you got me all fucked up. Opens up the trunk. There's no jacket. I'm like, oh, my God. I forgot I had the jacket on. I flew in from New York that day. So I'm like, I flew in from New York. I had a jacket on.

0:51:51 - (Jon Orlando): I went straight to bowling, and I hate jackets. They bug me. So I took the jacket off, I forgot my wallet was in it. It's on my bed at home. He's like, so you have no idea. I said, well, I have a stack of business cards in the ashtray. And he goes, a business card is not a form of id. I said, well, wait a minute. I said, you're the one that told me who I was. Remember you walked up to me, you said, john Orlando. I said, yeah. So if there was a time to lie, wouldn't it have been then John Orlando? Nope.

0:52:19 - (Tawni Nguyen): Smith.

0:52:19 - (Jon Orlando): Nice try.

0:52:20 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah.

0:52:21 - (Jon Orlando): So anyway, he puts me in the cop car, and I'm like, what did I do? And he gets on the computer, and he's looking it up, and he says, it looks like you had an FTA back in March of three. And I said, I don't know what FTA is. He goes, failure to appear. I said, oh, for what? He goes, looks like, did you get a tinted windows ticket? I'm like, oh, yeah. I start laughing. I'm like, yeah, but I took the tinted. I'm like, there. You could see the car three years later, no tint.

0:52:47 - (Jon Orlando): And so I was like, can I go? And he's like, no, you're going to jail tonight. And I go, what? You're going to take me to jail? And they took me to jail.

0:52:56 - (Tawni Nguyen): What the fuck?

0:52:57 - (Jon Orlando): 4 hours I did hard time. 4 hours? Yeah, 4 hours.

0:53:01 - (Tawni Nguyen): Damn hard time you serve right there.

0:53:03 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, but it wasn't fun. 4 hours felt like forever. I can't even imagine. People do something just horrible and they get three years. And you're like, only three years? And I agree, they probably did deserve more base, whatever. But three years is a long time. Yeah, it's a long time. Be locked up. 4 hours wasn't fun. I don't know how long you were in handcuffs and locked up, but not long. No.

0:53:26 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, I didn't have my mom.

0:53:28 - (Jon Orlando): They just did to scare you, basically.

0:53:30 - (Tawni Nguyen): God, 16.

0:53:31 - (Jon Orlando): Okay. Criminal.

0:53:34 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. I think I had, like, a weird klepto phase because all the girls in high school were doing this. I just wanted to fit in, right. But I'm like, I have the money to buy it. Why don't I just fucking do it? So I was like, am I doing it for the thrill?

0:53:45 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah.

0:53:46 - (Tawni Nguyen): And I didn't really feel like a thrill of it anyways. I felt more fucking, like, meltdown than.

0:53:50 - (Jon Orlando): I had a period where I did it for the thrill.

0:53:52 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. So I was trying to figure out.

0:53:54 - (Jon Orlando): Razor blades for the thrill and just. Principal. Yeah, they shouldn't be $38 for razor blades. Fuck you. I'm taking them, though. No good. Shouldn't admit that.

0:54:05 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yes. I was trying to figure out. I'm like, why was I stealing? I'm like, I could afford the stuff, right? I thought it was for the thorough. Lindsay Lohan had that Duelan nothing.

0:54:15 - (Jon Orlando): Lindsay Lohan was like, shocking. Not Lindsay Lohan. No, not herself. No shit. I'll have to dm you. Do you know what I'm talking about?

0:54:26 - (Tawni Nguyen): No.

0:54:27 - (Jon Orlando): Oh, well, podcast gone sour.

0:54:30 - (Tawni Nguyen): Matt's having a brain fart.

0:54:32 - (Jon Orlando): I could picture Winona Ryder, Renowna Ryder. Do you even know who that is?

0:54:36 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah.

0:54:37 - (Jon Orlando): Okay.

0:54:37 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. So that's so funny that. Yeah, it's like the things that you do for thrills, like what action junkies came about.

0:54:45 - (Jon Orlando): Well, it's funny. Yeah. So this is the biggest thing I've learned from doing the show. I'm not an action junkie. I don't know why I named it that. I'm not. I won't skydive, I won't bungee jump. I won't ride a motorcycle.

0:54:59 - (Tawni Nguyen): You almost died off grasshopper hiking.

0:55:01 - (Jon Orlando): I'm afraid of grasshoppers. I mean, how badass of an action junkie can I possibly be? I'm afraid of bugs. Okay. Yeah. I'm not an action junkie. I don't know what I was thinking. I thought I was. I'm not. Yeah.

0:55:14 - (Tawni Nguyen): So why that name?

0:55:16 - (Jon Orlando): So the action term for me was gambling. So with gambling, they'll say like, oh, I like the action of gambling. So it was more of a gambling term for me than like an actual. I'm not a thrill seeker. I'll drive a fast car, but I'm not getting on a motorcycle. No fucking chance.

0:55:34 - (Tawni Nguyen): You're like, I have Boundaries.

0:55:36 - (Jon Orlando): Dang. Yeah. No way. I'm not getting a motorcycle. I won't fly in a helicopter. I'm not afraid to fly. I'll fly in a plane.

0:55:44 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah.

0:55:45 - (Jon Orlando): I won't go in that little bullshit plane.

0:55:47 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. And the little chicken coop shit.

0:55:49 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, I'm not doing that.

0:55:50 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, well, that's so funny. I'm learning so much about you.

0:55:53 - (Jon Orlando): I'm boring, actually. I should host boring junkies. Yeah, melatonin junkies, serotonin junkie, whatever. It is boring.

0:56:05 - (Tawni Nguyen): I always thought it was just about, like, action take, because a lot of people, I think they attach the guests to the name of the podcast. A lot of time is not. Or it is, right? So it's kind of hard. They're like, oh, I don't know if I've touched on fit and frugal. I'm like, no, that's just my thing. It doesn't have to be thing. It's my thing.

0:56:24 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, that's funny. You bring that up. When you do ask people to be on, do they ask you, what's the topic? I get so many people that ask that, and I'm always like, nothing. It's just casual chat. Yeah, but what's the topic? I'm like, there's no topic.

0:56:37 - (Tawni Nguyen): I try to ask now in this series of what do you love talking about? Because a lot of people that I've had in the first 20 or some, they're like, oh, I would have loved to talk about this. I'm like, then tell me.

0:56:48 - (Jon Orlando): Communicate.

0:56:49 - (Tawni Nguyen): Like, tell me.

0:56:50 - (Jon Orlando): You've already done 20.

0:56:51 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, I think this is 1920, right?

0:56:53 - (Jon Orlando): Good for you.

0:56:53 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, it's good. I'm working on past that first hump of when people quit. Like, I ain't going to be a little bitch. I'm not going to quit.

0:57:01 - (Jon Orlando): No, don't quit. Yeah, this is what you do. Can't quit.

0:57:04 - (Tawni Nguyen): And, yeah, so I thought it was funny how people are like, oh, do I talk about fitness? Do I talk about what? And I'm like, well, I choose you for a different reason. It's just a vibe. And I think it brings a different light because I don't want 20 people talking about the exact same thing. That's so fucking boring.

0:57:18 - (Jon Orlando): Right?

0:57:18 - (Tawni Nguyen): I don't need to sit here and listen to 20 guys talk about how they eat 200 grams of protein. Like, fuck you, dude.

0:57:23 - (Jon Orlando): Right?

0:57:24 - (Tawni Nguyen): I'll ask you off camera, have you.

0:57:25 - (Jon Orlando): Been on sex, lies, and lawyers? It's a podcast at our studio, the attorney that David Colmeyer works with Sam Hadari, on his show, and I booked the guests for that show. We need to have you on there. You'd be great. When I booked the guests for that show, they're always like, so, sex, what's the sex part? And then what's the lies part for the, like. No, no, it's just the name of the catchy. It just sounded catchy. Like, you don't have to talk about sex, lies, or lawyers if you don't want to. I don't care what you talk about. Just go pick a lawyer's brain for an hour and it's going to be free. Do it that way.

0:57:57 - (Tawni Nguyen): I think Lana and I are going to swap next.

0:58:00 - (Jon Orlando): Oh, good.

0:58:01 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. But I'm starting a different series just for girls because I want to do darker stuff.

0:58:05 - (Jon Orlando): Okay.

0:58:06 - (Tawni Nguyen): So it's going to be like confessions of blah, blah, blah. Going to talk about her story. I have a friend that's going to talk about her rape survival story. I want to have meaningful content in terms of the things that people don't want to talk about. And I feel like if I can contribute to their world, giving them that space to hold, space for them to share that story, I think it's more important for me if that's my calling in life, might as well do it and be of that service to that person, right?

0:58:33 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, it's great.

0:58:35 - (Tawni Nguyen): And me and Lana, I went on Leslie's, and Lana was like, dude, we're a fucking riot together. I'm like, I don't know if three of us should be out in public together, dude. Like, one of us is going to get arrested or end up on a roof somewhere.

0:58:45 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. There's a new show at our studio called Stripped, and a stripper does it, and it's fantastic. Like, her stories and her name's Whitney Nunes, and just really interesting stories. And just hearing it from that perspective is really cool. And how the different stages. Like, she did it out of necessity. Her husband died, and so she had a kid, and she need money ASAP. Kind of like what you were saying, how can I make money fast? And that made sense for her.

0:59:19 - (Jon Orlando): And just seeing again, it goes back to everyone's struggle. You never know what someone's going through. We do what we have to do.

0:59:30 - (Tawni Nguyen): And it's more, I feel, like, empowering to actually understand the reasoning behind the choices because it helps you connect with humanity better, for sure. Not just for money, because a lot of people do things for money that probably not proud of. Like, I've been there. I bartending for ten years. Like, the shit I went through as a bartender. That's why I wanted to give myself the platform to go through that healing with certain women that also went through that same journey that traumatized them.

0:59:54 - (Tawni Nguyen): And it's the shit that we have to go through to become who we are. Now that I'm in my 30s, I'm like, I have a voice that I never used because I was so conditioned to be this other person that I thought I had to be to become successful. I'm like, I wasn't fucking successful. Like, all that fucking money meant nothing to me, right? I still feel like shit. I don't want to wake up. And it's just like, once you take yourself to that emotional rock bottom, just want to do something that actually have value. Like, I wake up excited. I'm like, I get to talk to fun people today, and they're my friends. And what you said, right?

1:00:26 - (Tawni Nguyen): I used to feel really not shy, but, like, I don't know if I can ask this person or whatever, but it's really unlearning those really negative patterns that I had in my behaviors of, like, oh, I don't know if they're close enough for me to ask or whatever. Right. But you never know. Like, strangers have been a lot more easier to me.

1:00:48 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah.

1:00:49 - (Tawni Nguyen): Than my friends. Yeah. Like, the best life that I've had now in the last year, it's mostly from strangers. None of my friends and family really support what I'm doing.

1:00:59 - (Jon Orlando): Really.

1:01:00 - (Tawni Nguyen): They don't know what I'm doing.

1:01:01 - (Jon Orlando): Why?

1:01:02 - (Tawni Nguyen): I just don't think it's explained well in my culture of, like, this is what I'm doing now versus. Got it. The whole college dropout thing. Why'd you drop out of college? Why'd you get a college degree? Not even use it. And it's that whole stigma that has to be removed from our identity as. What do they think women.

1:01:19 - (Jon Orlando): What do they think you're doing now?

1:01:20 - (Tawni Nguyen): My mom knows I do real estate investing.

1:01:22 - (Jon Orlando): Okay.

1:01:22 - (Tawni Nguyen): I can't really explain a podcast without sounding like I'm doing porn. Right. Because then sometimes she'll call me. I'm like, I'm filming. She's like, what? I'm like, hey, I'm filming today. I'll call you back in, like, 6 hours. She's like, what? So it's just a lot of identities that you have to shed and kind of unlearning part of who you are and part of who I really am. Always a journey. Right. So when I meet people like yourself that I just feel like they're get away, then. Get it.

1:01:52 - (Jon Orlando): Oh, my God. Yeah, it's a small one. I can. I won't freak out over that one.

1:01:55 - (Tawni Nguyen): Swallow it.

1:01:56 - (Jon Orlando): Don't. Yeah, don't do it. That's happened. That's brutal.

1:01:59 - (Tawni Nguyen): Swallowed a bug?

1:02:00 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. By mistake.

1:02:01 - (Tawni Nguyen): On purpose?

1:02:02 - (Jon Orlando): No, of course not.

1:02:03 - (Tawni Nguyen): Did the bug call you back?

1:02:05 - (Jon Orlando): No. I think I was at a dodger game, and I was like, a home run. I was screaming. I was fucking nat. Flew into my mouth and instantly shut me up. Ruin the home run.

1:02:12 - (Tawni Nguyen): Swallow. Bug. You're fucking master terrible. That's kind of what I found myself aligning to in the past. I don't know, six months that I really gave it my all and really field my self belief and give me the self validation that I always seeks from other people. All these approval and all of these things. I'm like, I might be going somewhere with this. I might not. But I just don't want to die with regret, like, bringing it back to working with the hospice. And I talk to a lot of old people, hey, what are your regrets and stuff? They're like, do everything that you want to do because you don't want to wake up in this bed, like, in the hospice. They're dying.

1:02:49 - (Tawni Nguyen): They know this is their last bit of life, and you just don't want to be me. And I have so many regrets not spending time with my family. That's the number one thing. Or not being who I know I'm capable of because I stuck to, like, a traditional role, and I'miserable all my life just to be an engineer, just to be whatever their role was, just the level of success. They're like, trust me, you can make six figures, seven figures, eight figures, but if you're laying on your deathbed filled with regrets, that's the life that, you know, be terrible.

1:03:16 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah.

1:03:17 - (Tawni Nguyen): And those are some of the lessons that I've learned at 16, but I didn't really utilize because I'm like, fuck this. I'm just going to party and drink all day and fucking do coke all weekend and just yolo and have no really sense of purpose or anything. Yeah. So I think that was.

1:03:35 - (Jon Orlando): I can't picture you like that.

1:03:37 - (Tawni Nguyen): Really?

1:03:38 - (Jon Orlando): No, I really can't. I get that you've got a lot of personality and stuff, but I can't picture you just, like, completely off the rails. But you were at one point.

1:03:49 - (Tawni Nguyen): At one point, yeah. Try to get my back life together, too, but I think the alcohol addiction really helped tide me down.

1:03:57 - (Jon Orlando): Sure.

1:03:57 - (Tawni Nguyen): Those identities, and I think that's just something that I've had to let go of.

1:04:01 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, I'm lucky I never had that. I never had drug or alcohol addiction. Yeah, that would be rough shaking that.

1:04:09 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. I think nine months is just trying to stay sober. And I think in the last three months, I finally accepted it's not just for health reasons, but this is who I am. I never should have drank that much. And I worked on that healing, that trauma, and all of these things that started in childhood. I started drinking, like, really young.

1:04:27 - (Jon Orlando): Really? What's young?

1:04:29 - (Tawni Nguyen): 1213.

1:04:30 - (Jon Orlando): Oh, wow.

1:04:30 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, that's really young. When I first found drugs and alcohol.

1:04:33 - (Jon Orlando): Really?

1:04:34 - (Tawni Nguyen): That was middle school.

1:04:36 - (Jon Orlando): Wow.

1:04:37 - (Tawni Nguyen): I went through some shit coming here at ten years old, and it was just me and my mom, immigrant mom, dirt poor, fled Virginia. We were going to get trafficked and, like, really? Yeah. So leaving everything behind. I was never attached to money or anything, so it's like, growing up, I didn't really have a good relationship with. It was just a thing. Right. Do in exchange for life.

1:05:00 - (Jon Orlando): Right.

1:05:01 - (Tawni Nguyen): Up until now that I understand the true value of being alive and all of these things that you tie yourself to, so it's been a journey, man. It's like, people are like, oh, you can't have that bad of trauma. I'm not saying mine's bad. I'm just saying it was bad for me. Right. Being an only child, that's a lot.

1:05:21 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, just. That's a lot.

1:05:23 - (Tawni Nguyen): Reparenting. Yeah. Like, holding my mom's trauma and all of these other asian culture things that we have to carry with us, too. So that's the platform that I wanted to give myself and have other people share their story.

1:05:39 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah.

1:05:40 - (Tawni Nguyen): Especially for women. It's just they get a little too sassy. Then it's like, oh, like, you're a bitch.

1:05:50 - (Jon Orlando): Being a woman seems hard. No, it does. There's so many things that I think when you're a guy, you don't really think about. Whenever I see just a woman in the Smith's parking lot at, like, I feel like you guys have to be switched on more than we. Right. Like, just because you never, you know, if a guy walks up to me at the gas pump and he's for ask for spare change, it doesn't really trigger anything for me.

1:06:23 - (Jon Orlando): I'm not nervous, but when I think of, like, God, that guy's going to go and ask a girl, I always think of if it's my mom or Vanessa. Vanessa is the pint size warrior. She's like 411 and a half.

1:06:36 - (Tawni Nguyen): Pint size warrior.

1:06:39 - (Jon Orlando): It's a different. You guys have to have your guard up all the time.

1:06:42 - (Tawni Nguyen): That's why a lot of men are so in their masculine. Because we're always in defense mode and always trying to protect ourselves. Like, when did I have my CCW, 2016 or something like that? They're like, what's a woman got to carry a gun for? I'm like, you don't know where I work. I work in dive bars. I work events. I carry thousands of dollars of cash every night, and sometimes I go to the ATM alone. I've been followed home. I've been sexually, whatever, touched and just groped. And all of these things that are very micro like, microaggressive behaviors that built on over years that you become hardened over.

1:07:18 - (Tawni Nguyen): Right. So you weren't really allowed to be soft because once you're soft, you're vulnerable, and that's how the devil's going to get you. So that's kind of how I learned to unwire from all of that stuff, too. It's like your choices and the health of your relationship changes because of you. So that's what I'm hearing, right? It's just like, yeah.

1:07:40 - (Jon Orlando): How often do you go shoot? Like, do you go to the range a lot?

1:07:43 - (Tawni Nguyen): No, not as much as I would like to. Part of being frugal. I'm like, it's just a really expensive hobby.

1:07:49 - (Jon Orlando): I know. Yeah. But don't look at it like a hobby. I mean, you definitely want to make sure you're comfortable with my gun and I clean it. That's good.

1:07:59 - (Tawni Nguyen): I'm happy with it. I don't live where I used to live. I don't have the lifestyle that I used to have. So I'm not in the same amount of fear right now that.

1:08:10 - (Jon Orlando): Sure. But even in your car, I mean, someone can follow you. You do carry, though, right?

1:08:16 - (Tawni Nguyen): Depends on the day part. I rotate sometimes an s. Sometimes. Mostly it's pepper spray.

1:08:23 - (Jon Orlando): That pepper spray. Keep that fucking gun on you at all times.

1:08:25 - (Tawni Nguyen): What are you doing? What are you doing?

1:08:28 - (Jon Orlando): Keep that gun.

1:08:28 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. So it's just that. That I think once people hear other women's story and how we're so fear written all the time, you shouldn't be living like that.

1:08:39 - (Jon Orlando): It's a game changer, right? When, you know, like, when you go to bed at night, if you heard some crazy sound of glass breaking or someone breaking into your house at 03:00 in the morning, the difference of being at the mercy of 911 to, hopefully someone's going to come, which it's never going to be. It's going to be too late no matter what, versus fuck around and find out, right?

1:09:00 - (Tawni Nguyen): And in California, you couldn't fuck around and find out because if you shoot someone on your property.

1:09:04 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, they make it so, I think. But just knowing at least I have something. But you also have to remember, just having the gun doesn't mean you're automatically going to win this exchange, whatever it is, you have to be aware of that. But just knowing I have the ultimate level setter, right?

1:09:23 - (Tawni Nguyen): You can control your destiny, right? Yeah, but just like you said, glass breaking, too. Why I grew up more paranoid. It's because I've been burglarized so many times as a kid, too.

1:09:33 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, that's going to be fun.

1:09:34 - (Tawni Nguyen): When I lived on my own, when I lived with my parents, it doesn't really matter. So that sense of safety was something that I always tried to control. So I understand that growing up, I'm like, oh, this is why I'm wired to be really. People call it paranoid. I'm like, no, I just like to know. Switched off my surrender. This is why I'm sitting here, right? And not in that chair.

1:09:52 - (Jon Orlando): Me here. Great.

1:09:53 - (Tawni Nguyen): Put you here because you can be the shield.

1:09:55 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. Today carry day, at least so at least I have a shot here.

1:10:04 - (Tawni Nguyen): Aligning with people that kind of understanding that path of creating an intentional life on how I want to live on my own terms, create my own safety. It's kind of hard for a lot of women that can't.

1:10:15 - (Jon Orlando): Right.

1:10:16 - (Tawni Nguyen): Circumstantial thing. They stay in toxic relationships for financial means.

1:10:19 - (Jon Orlando): It's terrible.

1:10:20 - (Tawni Nguyen): Kids and all of these things that we can create, but we can't because we're stuck.

1:10:26 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah.

1:10:26 - (Tawni Nguyen): I don't want to create that generational thing with.

1:10:29 - (Jon Orlando): I've helped, sadly, I've helped countless female friends over the last 20 years get out of abusive relationships because these guys know exactly what they're doing. They get you to quit your job, they will eventually get you to separate from your friends and not be as social and then become completely dependent on the guy for money. And even like, you should sell your car. You don't need a car. We should just have one car. I'm always with you, you know what I mean? They will systematically do things. Yeah.

1:11:01 - (Jon Orlando): There are straight up predators controlling men that will. They're abusive and they know how to win that exchange because they know if you quit your job and you rely on me for money and I take away your car, but they do it in a way that it's like, don't you rather just save them? Let's get rid of the car. Let's just save money for a year. You don't need a car payment. We're always together. You can take my car, whatever you want. A car. You know what I mean?

1:11:28 - (Jon Orlando): They'll sell you a life plan. That just sounds good. But you don't realize you're getting manipulated into giving up all of your freedoms so that now you're relying on him and then you can't leave. Or so you think you can't leave.

1:11:41 - (Tawni Nguyen): I think that's what they call grooming, right? Like narcissists.

1:11:43 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, they do that.

1:11:45 - (Tawni Nguyen): They groom this person to be this person. Dependency or dependency or whatever you want to call it.

1:11:50 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. I mean, they know if you don't have a job, you don't have any money, you don't have any transportation. And I slowly get you. Like, they'll even strip you from your friends because they'll pick on your girlfriends. She's no good for you. She's a little slutty. She's this one. This one's a user. Whatever it is. And they literally. You must have some girlfriends that, like, when they're in a relationship, they're totally different. Right. A lot of times it's because they're getting controlled by the guy.

1:12:16 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. Their boyfriends won't let them hang out with me.

1:12:18 - (Jon Orlando): Right.

1:12:18 - (Tawni Nguyen): Who are you with? Why? Sonny, why are you grabbing dinner? You should be home. I'm like, yeah. Seen her in, like, six months, but all right. Yeah. Because I'm going to take her and sell her at the.

1:12:27 - (Jon Orlando): It's terrible. And then they feel stuck. It's so overwhelming and scary to leave and start over and, like, how would I do it? And they're like, paralyzed. They can't move, they can't get out.

1:12:42 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. And these are like the pimps that.

1:12:44 - (Jon Orlando): Not even just pimps. I mean, abusive boyfriends. I just mean, he's an alcoholic or he's just jealous and controlling or whatever it is. And they know how to manipulate the girl so that they basically just follow orders. Holy sad. It's really sad.

1:13:03 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. Another really good topic that we can touch on on the other series, too. I think that's a really important.

1:13:09 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, for sure.

1:13:10 - (Tawni Nguyen): Highlight healthy relationships and these things that women are tied to. Just mostly financial means.

1:13:17 - (Jon Orlando): Right.

1:13:18 - (Tawni Nguyen): So financial literacy for women, so important because I think traditionally you're just raised to be dependent on a man.

1:13:25 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah.

1:13:26 - (Tawni Nguyen): It's nice to be taken care of, don't get me wrong. But there's still.

1:13:29 - (Jon Orlando): You got to have your own stuff happening, too. Yeah.

1:13:31 - (Tawni Nguyen): Autonomy is important.

1:13:34 - (Jon Orlando): It's healthy.

1:13:35 - (Tawni Nguyen): It's healthy, yeah. Because two people that come together with the same creative mind, that want the same growth, the same wealth, can still do different things, just aligned in the same values for life.

1:13:47 - (Jon Orlando): Right.

1:13:48 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. That got me thinking, man.

1:13:50 - (Jon Orlando): Right. Yeah.

1:13:52 - (Tawni Nguyen): We went through some wild.

1:13:53 - (Jon Orlando): I know.

1:13:53 - (Tawni Nguyen): It's always a roller coaster with you, right? Shawn's just laughing at us.

1:14:02 - (Jon Orlando): He says keep.

1:14:04 - (Tawni Nguyen): You know? So when you go through all of those life changes with your friends, like your girlfriends. Right. How do they turn their life around from that?

1:14:12 - (Jon Orlando): Some don't, sadly, because remember when I had the PR firm we handled at one point, maybe at our peak, I don't even know, let's call it 50 models or actresses. And it's amazing how many become reliant. I can't tell you how many restraining orders I've personally driven a girl down on. Police station files, a restraining order, and I've gone to serve it myself. I couldn't even tell you how many times.

1:14:38 - (Jon Orlando): 1520 times over ten years when we had the PR firm, they get with some of these guys and they're just controlling, jealous and controlling.

1:14:50 - (Tawni Nguyen): What's the craziest backlash of any of these guys that you've had to deal with?

1:14:57 - (Jon Orlando): I won't say her name on camera, but a super famous girl's ex boyfriend was dating a girl that we were doing pr for. Well, I actually shouldn't even say that. We never even started doing pr for her because he called the meeting. So we were really good at back in the day, like when you had like Maxim Stuff magazine and FHM and then Playboy, like those four, but obviously the first three, no nudity, we handled those kind of girls, and we would get those kind of girls, like on the COVID or featured inside or on the maximum calendar. I can't tell you how many girls I've gotten in the maximum calendar or on the COVID of the maximum calendar over the years.

1:15:39 - (Jon Orlando): Again, this is back from like 2001 to 2010. And this one guy in particular, he was a talent manager, and he dated a really famous girl, broke up with her, and then was dating this girl that wanted us to represent her. And so she comes in and meets with us and she's like, my boyfriend's going to pay for the bill. Da da da da da. This is like monthly retainer, like 2000, $3,000 a month. At that time, he called me separately and he said, so what are you going to charge? And I think it was 2500. And he literally said to me, I'm going to pay you 5000.

1:16:14 - (Jon Orlando): So he's going to double it. I'm going to pay you double, but I don't want you to get her most of those things you said, meaning I get you to movie premieres, I get you on red carpets at like charity events and all this stuff. He didn't want her mingling with people. So he's basically like saying, I'm going to pay you double, but I want you to be shitty at your job.

1:16:34 - (Tawni Nguyen): Oh, fuck.

1:16:35 - (Jon Orlando): Send her. Get her just enough so that she feels like something's happening. But that whole, like, you making her the next so and so, don't worry.

1:16:45 - (Tawni Nguyen): About that and all that.

1:16:46 - (Jon Orlando): Don't need all like, throw her a little something here and know. And literally, we were in his office in Hollywood, me and my partner, and Geo, Geo was my partner, the pr firm, okay? And I was like, are you serious right now? No, I'm not going to do that. First of all, I take pride in what I do as being a job, so I'm not going to not do my job well to make you happy because you're jealous? No, I'm not. The right fit. So we didn't do it.

1:17:16 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. Did you take the money?

1:17:17 - (Jon Orlando): No. I'm saying we didn't. No.

1:17:19 - (Tawni Nguyen): At all?

1:17:19 - (Jon Orlando): No. So I had to tell her, hey, we've actually just got too many clients right now. It's bad timing as a client, before she ever started.

1:17:28 - (Tawni Nguyen): My God.

1:17:29 - (Jon Orlando): Okay.

1:17:30 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah.

1:17:30 - (Jon Orlando): Two weeks later, she calls me up crying. I remember as a place you lived in LA, or did you go to Hollywood a lot or at any point? The sunset room. Do you remember the sunset room? Sunset and Ivar. It was like a hotspot restaurant, and then it turned into, like a club after dinner. And I remember it was Geo's birthday, so it was like January 13, and it was a rainy night, and we're there. I haven't fought it. And she keeps calling me and calling and calling. So finally I'm in the club. It's too loud, so don't mind. I just send it to voicemail. So I answer the phone. She's crying and hysterical. She's like, he beat me up.

1:18:01 - (Jon Orlando): And I was like, you got to be kidding. I'm like, where are you right now? And wherever she was, I said, jump in a cab. I'll pay for it. When you get here, come to the sunset room. So she says, okay. So I call the police and say, hey, I've got a client. She's got domestic violence, blah, blah, blah. So the police come because I wanted her to file a report. So she gets there and she's hysterical. And lapd sent me two female cops, which was. I didn't ask for that. But it was actually great because they probably figured that made sense, right? Or maybe it was coincidence. I don't know.

1:18:35 - (Jon Orlando): I remember sitting in the back of the police car, and they were like, you have to press charges and we'll get you a temporary restraining order. It was a Friday night, so the judge, normally you wouldn't see the judge till Monday, but we're going to get an emergency temporary restraining order so that you blah, blah, blah. And so they were like, do you have anyone that can serve it? And I was like, I'll fucking serve it.

1:18:57 - (Jon Orlando): So I remember she stayed at gio's house that night. And then the following morning, she called me, and she was like, hey, don't serve it. I'm going to go back. And I was like, are you out of your mind? Do not go back to him. That's crazy. No, don't do this. Stay strong. And then he kept calling her. And I remember I took the phone out of her hand, and I just went off on this guy, like, you, motherfucker.

1:19:27 - (Jon Orlando): Who are you to fucking punch a girl? Like, literally punched her. So I told him, I was like, dude, I'm coming down to your house, and I'm going to serve you this restraining order, and we're going to be done with this. He's like, I'm not going to be at home, whatever. Going back and forth. And then she was hysterical, and she talked me out of doing it. And then she went back.

1:19:52 - (Tawni Nguyen): She's like, I love him.

1:19:53 - (Jon Orlando): Change and all that went back to him. And then eventually she got away from him, but I think she did maybe another year.

1:20:02 - (Tawni Nguyen): Was he loaded?

1:20:04 - (Jon Orlando): He had money. Yeah.

1:20:06 - (Tawni Nguyen): So she stayed for the money.

1:20:08 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah.

1:20:10 - (Tawni Nguyen): Such a sad.

1:20:10 - (Jon Orlando): When I hear sad story to watch it happen. And it's so common.

1:20:14 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah.

1:20:15 - (Jon Orlando): So common.

1:20:16 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, I know.

1:20:18 - (Jon Orlando): I feel like now there's more strong women, though. Now I feel like maybe social media just amplifies that they exist, but I feel like there's more and more women, like, standing up for themselves since the metoo movement and all that stuff. A lot of that, I think is bullshit. A lot of it, I think it went a little too far.

1:20:37 - (Tawni Nguyen): Outrage there.

1:20:38 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. And I just think as a guy now you're demonized for shooting your shot. Harassment. And there's this new term, like, unwanted sexual advance that's kind of fucked up. I get it. But we don't know till we know. You know what I mean? You can't. In the workplace or whatever, a guy works with a bunch of girls, whatever. And there's one that he's attracted to, and he shoots his shot. He's not a bad person for trying to ask someone on a date, but to turn that into an unwanted advance, like, come on.

1:21:12 - (Tawni Nguyen): Unless he randomly whips out his dick in the hallway.

1:21:14 - (Jon Orlando): Right.

1:21:14 - (Tawni Nguyen): Like, suck on this.

1:21:16 - (Jon Orlando): Or if he does it and you say, hey, I'm not interested, and he keeps at it. Okay, but first time, come on, give me a break.

1:21:27 - (Tawni Nguyen): The dating pool is so.

1:21:29 - (Jon Orlando): I would hate to be single now. How would you do it? It'd be scary, right?

1:21:33 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. How are people dating when.

1:21:35 - (Jon Orlando): How do they do it?

1:21:36 - (Tawni Nguyen): All these fucking stories.

1:21:37 - (Jon Orlando): And you'd be afraid, right?

1:21:38 - (Tawni Nguyen): You're just like, I'm just going to chill in my happy relationship. Good luck out there.

1:21:42 - (Jon Orlando): Right. Does a guy pick a girl up for a date anymore or. No. Which I get.

1:21:48 - (Tawni Nguyen): Give him your real address.

1:21:49 - (Jon Orlando): You wouldn't want that now. I agree. But when I think of how it was when I was like, you can't court a girl leaning on up. You'd go to the girl's house, pick her up. Now I don't even think you'd even think to ask her for her. You know? Better.

1:22:02 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah.

1:22:02 - (Jon Orlando): She's not going to give you your address. It's actually crazy when you think about.

1:22:06 - (Tawni Nguyen): It because I would never give anyone my address.

1:22:08 - (Jon Orlando): Right.

1:22:08 - (Tawni Nguyen): Like, I barely want to take Ubers.

1:22:10 - (Jon Orlando): Right. That's the other thing. Going back to things that we take for granted. To get into an Uber has to be scary. Like, at night for a girl.

1:22:18 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. If I'm at an event and someone else drove. That's why I always drive, because I control my time and I love controlling. When I'm able to leave, once my battery runs out, the night's over. Time it is. I'm like. I don't even say bye. I just like, goodbye, that shit. I just dip to the bathroom, I pee, and I get the fuck out.

1:22:36 - (Jon Orlando): Right? Yeah. When sometimes Vanessa, for work, she has to go to these outings at the nightclubs she works at wet Republic in the day. Know, sometimes they have to go to, like, omni on a Wednesday night or whatever. And if she wants to drink, usually I'll just bring her there and I'll just play poker because obviously I like to play poker. So it's a good free pass to play rather than her taking an Uber. Because it's just like, it's not worth it. It's too dangerous.

1:23:03 - (Jon Orlando): If I know she's coming home in an Uber at 03:00 in the morning, I'm not going to fucking sleep. I'm going to be fucking panicked about Uber. What's the big deal?

1:23:11 - (Tawni Nguyen): I know some boyfriends have, like, strippers who they come pick up their.

1:23:14 - (Jon Orlando): Right. It's the way it should be.

1:23:15 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, that should be.

1:23:16 - (Jon Orlando): You got to do it.

1:23:18 - (Tawni Nguyen): They drive, but the driving thing, I guess I would not feel mentally safe at 04:00 in the morning.

1:23:23 - (Jon Orlando): Right?

1:23:24 - (Tawni Nguyen): It's different for a guy. So. Yeah, you did say you take that safety thing for granted. Because a lot of girls looking behind.

1:23:32 - (Jon Orlando): Our shoulders and girls that park in parking garages drives me nuts in this city that. Well, valet is not really free everywhere like, it used to be out here. Valet used to be free everywhere. Caesars everywhere. Now they charge. Now I think the stations, casinos, it's still free. Like red rock or something. But, man, it's worth it. Just valet that bitch. Don't fucking end up in a parking garage, in an elevator.

1:23:55 - (Jon Orlando): It's not worth it. You're playing with fire for no reason.

1:24:00 - (Tawni Nguyen): Seeing that as a man that live in Vegas, the shit that we have to go through just to feel secured in a. Yeah. Yeah, I think that'd be fun. Just me and she. Does she bartend or cocktail bottle service? Yeah. Like, I love hospitality girls. So many fucking, like, yeah, I've heard.

1:24:20 - (Jon Orlando): Some crazy stories from what goes on over there. Nothing like crazy bad. Just like, even just the money. The amount of money that some guys have that's that disposable that they could just fire off. Fifty k. Eighty k. One hundred k. To have ten friends drink at a dayclub is amazing to me.

1:24:40 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. And for us, we're like, fuck, we got to work for that shit, dude.

1:24:43 - (Jon Orlando): This is no big deal to them. Yeah, it's wild.

1:24:47 - (Tawni Nguyen): I wonder what their lifestyle is like, because you would say, like, what do you do that you can wake up on a Saturday and blow 80k before.

1:24:55 - (Jon Orlando): Dinner for just 6 hours fucking around. Yeah. They had a guy. I don't know what he does for a living. They had a guy come in. This is, like, in 2019. He came in at 05:00 they close at 06:00 p.m. Wet Republic. He came in 05:00 on a Saturday. I think he spent $1.2 million in an hour. He literally was like, I'll take all the alcohol. And started just giving it to people at the club. I'll take all the alcohol.

1:25:26 - (Jon Orlando): Whatever you got, I'll buy.

1:25:28 - (Tawni Nguyen): So he's paying, like, for everyone's tabs?

1:25:30 - (Jon Orlando): Pretty much paid for everybody.

1:25:32 - (Tawni Nguyen): I mean, that's a good humanitarian move.

1:25:34 - (Jon Orlando): Sure, but like a million dollars. Here's the funny thing. With a guy like that, obviously his money, do whatever you want. But if I pitched that exact guy and I didn't know him, the exact guy. Hey, I want to open a bunch of these podcast studios. I want to open 20 of them that I own myself all over the country, and we've got this podcast wherever I need a million dollars, he would turn me down. Probably wouldn't even think twice about it. Yeah, he would turn me down, but he would then later that same day, go to wet republic or any club and spend a million bucks in an hour.

1:26:10 - (Tawni Nguyen): Because it's so crazy now that you see how people spend money. Yeah, right. Because like you said, an angel investor is what I'm hearing, that you want to invest in your business like a passive investor versus someone that just decides to be fucking Robin Hood of the day.

1:26:29 - (Jon Orlando): It's weird. It's weird how some people just. But I guess if you got the money, just do whatever the fuck you want. I guess so.

1:26:38 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. No, I kind of really enjoy that, actually. That's a really good story. What would you do with 1.2 mil in an hour? If I was to hand you, I.

1:26:51 - (Jon Orlando): Wouldn'T be on bottles of alcohol. It's like, just crazy. It's so crazy. I can even drink it like it's for other people. Spraying it, champagne spray, blowing money. Just blowing money. Wouldn't you rather. I don't know. Just because what I would say I would rather do with it doesn't mean he doesn't do that, too. Right, but wouldn't you rather just get more of a thrill, just go into Denny's and order fucking pancakes and give the waitress 30 grand and then go, you know what I mean? And just start giving away that fucking million in random acts of kindness? But again, he might do that, too. I don't know. I don't even know the guy.

1:27:32 - (Jon Orlando): I never met him. I don't even know what he looks like. I don't know his name. I just know that there was a guy that did this. But, man, I would have so much fun doing that. I pulled up. You're starting to see more and more homeless guys at the freeway exits now, right? And I was on my way to play poker. Whenever I'm on my way or coming back from the casino, I usually try to tip super nice or do something because I just feel like it's good karma for the.

1:27:58 - (Jon Orlando): Hasn't worked lately in the poker tournaments.

1:28:00 - (Tawni Nguyen): But sooner or later you get.

1:28:02 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. And I was getting on the freeway at 215 in rainbow, and I was at the light, and there was a guy there, and he had a sign said, veteran, whatever. And maybe he is, maybe he isn't. I don't fucking know. But I rolled him, I went up, I gave him $20, and he took. And then he looked at it, and just the look on his face, he was so happy because he probably figured it was a dollar. And just the look on his face, it's so worth it. You feel so good.

1:28:29 - (Jon Orlando): You know what I mean? It's $20. It's not a big deal for me, but for him, it's a better meal. It's better. Whatever it is. It's a lot less like a week of living for something, right? Yeah. Wouldn't you rather do that with the million bucks? But again, maybe that guy does that, too. I don't know.

1:28:47 - (Tawni Nguyen): I'd rather share what we think on how he's spending his money in an. It's probably a slice of his life or we don't want to think that someone's having a miserable time and that's the only time they can fill the void.

1:29:00 - (Jon Orlando): Right.

1:29:00 - (Tawni Nguyen): Is to have absolute control of arbitrary thing, which is in a bank account.

1:29:05 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah.

1:29:06 - (Tawni Nguyen): Because it's not real money unless you're physically touching it. And money to me is just a number.

1:29:11 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. And like, that same guy. And again, maybe he does all these things, so I don't know. But that same guy certainly has five close friends that if you gave $200,000 to, you'd change their fucking lives, man. And you'd see it rather than just fucking it off on Grey Goose. Like, what are you doing? But again, maybe he does that thing. Maybe he does that too. And I don't even know, maybe that guy's. All his friends are balling or whatever. I don't know. But just seems like we can be.

1:29:42 - (Tawni Nguyen): Friends with this guy.

1:29:43 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. Right? I know. I wish I hang up. I know. Yeah.

1:29:47 - (Tawni Nguyen): Fuck, dude. Hate that place.

1:29:49 - (Jon Orlando): Need a friend like that, right?

1:29:50 - (Tawni Nguyen): Never been to a dayclub.

1:29:52 - (Jon Orlando): No.

1:29:52 - (Tawni Nguyen): No. It's so my.

1:29:55 - (Jon Orlando): It's not my thing.

1:29:57 - (Tawni Nguyen): That's not the Vegas lifestyle that.

1:29:59 - (Jon Orlando): I'm not a big club guy to begin with. Really. I like the music, but I don't like the whole.

1:30:05 - (Tawni Nguyen): I like that. The detail. It's usually when I'm deep in bed already. I'm in bed by nine. So for me to physically get ready at 09:00 to get club by, like, 1130. Yeah, it just doesn't make sense for me.

1:30:19 - (Jon Orlando): Do you like EdM?

1:30:20 - (Tawni Nguyen): I love Edm.

1:30:21 - (Jon Orlando): Okay, so were you a dead mouse fan back in the day? Yes. Okay, so it was probably one of my favorite djs ever, right? So I come to Vegas. This is, like, in 2014 or something, and he's at Hawkison, and I hate clubs. And I'm by myself, literally by myself, because I used to come to Vegas a lot to gamble. This is when I lived in LA. So I come to Vegas, I go to Hawkison. I have budies that work there. So I'm all, like, hooked, know, whatever.

1:30:46 - (Jon Orlando): So I'm there to hawk us on. And I was a partner, and this is when I was at the tech company. So we had launched a streaming platform called Hang with. It was Instagram live before Instagram Live. Hang with your favorite celebrity. I went there because I was like, oh, I'll have dead mouse on hang with. It'll be cool. I'll get lots of views and everything, right? So I get there and I didn't know that the DJ doesn't go on till ten.

1:31:16 - (Jon Orlando): I mean, till midnight, right? So I'm there at ten and I'm there for like two fucking hours. And I'm like, oh, my God, he's not going to. And then dead mouse came late that night. So it's like 02:00 so it was closer to one. Closer to one, yeah. And they started bringing the lights down and you could just tell. And they had the helmet, right? So they had those hanging from the ceiling, like smaller versions of it. The lights were dim and it was like. And I was like, oh, dead mouse is coming. I said on the screen, like, dead mouse. I'm in Hakistan. So I'm fucking. I'm on hang with and I'm waiting and I'm like, I see the DJ, but where is he? Like, he's not there yet.

1:31:53 - (Jon Orlando): And then nothing would happen. And then like five minutes to go by and they dim the lights again. And then it would be like dead mouse. And the little helmets were all lit up, but he's not there. Finally I asked the cocktail server, I'm like, hey, where the fuck is dead mouse? Is he coming? And she's like, what do you mean? He's been on for 45 minutes. I'm like, where? She's like, that's him right there.

1:32:13 - (Jon Orlando): The one fucking time this motherfucker doesn't take to the stage with the helmet. He just had this thing. It was when he was dating that cat van what's her name, all the tattoos. Cat something.

1:32:27 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, I don't know what you're talking about.

1:32:28 - (Jon Orlando): Anyway, he just had like a t shirt that said like, mouse loves cat or something like that. No fucking helmet. I felt cheated. I was like, wait, I came here for dead mouse in the fucking helmet.

1:32:41 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah.

1:32:41 - (Jon Orlando): And this is the time. No helmet.

1:32:43 - (Tawni Nguyen): And he's up there like ten minutes.

1:32:45 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, I'm up there and I'm literally broadcasting like an idiot on hang with. I'm like, I don't know where he is. He's on the video and I don't even know. It fucked up because a lot of.

1:32:55 - (Tawni Nguyen): People like marshmallow and all stuff. Like, if you see them in real life, you wouldn't even know it. We don't know who the fuck the anonymity of these djs are. And if you're not really in nightlife, besides, if it's like yes or something, I wouldn't even know half these people, right?

1:33:09 - (Jon Orlando): Like, what they look. Yeah, yeah, with dead mouse. Now I know what he looks like, but.

1:33:15 - (Tawni Nguyen): Oh, my God, that's so funny. Is there any philosophies that you want.

1:33:21 - (Jon Orlando): To leave shit today know, I don't know, man.

1:33:27 - (Tawni Nguyen): I think we have so much in us.

1:33:31 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. I just try to be nice to people. Like you said at the top of the show, you said, bring value. Right? And I've been doing that my whole life with people. I always say it. I have framed it up. You know, Travis at my studio, my partner runs the studio. The smart one at the studio, other not. As opposed to me, the one that actually. The one that works done and not me. Yeah. I always say to him, I've been what I call putting, making deposits into people my whole life, and I rarely look to take a withdrawal from someone.

1:34:09 - (Jon Orlando): I'm always making deposits into the people bank. Just doing nice things, dot, connecting for them, hooking them up with whatever it is that I have, whatever my network has, whether it's an introduction or reservations at the tough restaurant or something here in town, or tickets to fights or tickets to baseball games, or whatever it is that I get access to some pretty cool shit. And if people ask me, you don't even have to be one of my main people. Like, if you ask me, and I like you, even if I hardly know you, I'll usually try to do whatever you're asking me to do. I can't always do it, but I've been selfless when it comes to that long before I know Gary. That's a big mantra for Gary Vee, and I'm a huge Gary Vee fan. But when I've heard him talking about bring value and all that, and don't expect anything in return, that spoke to me, because it's like, dude, you just summed up my whole life for the last at least 30 years of, let's say, being in the working world or whatever.

1:35:08 - (Jon Orlando): That's just how I roll. I just always try to do things for people. I think so many people are hung up on what is in it for me, and I get why they're wired that way, because they're trying to advance themselves. But they don't realize you will advance way quicker if you're not wired. What's in it for me? If you're more like, how can I help you? As trivial as that sounds, or cliche as that sounds, you will do better in life.

1:35:38 - (Jon Orlando): If you're coming from the angle of, like, what can I do for you? Right? Like, think of during the show, I did it, right? I'm like, I need to hook you up with Adam Clawson. I need to do. It's just. It's just my nature. It's just in my nature. I don't want anything in fucking return from you. I don't need can. It's just how I am now. If Sean asked me for something, the answer is no. But that's different.

1:36:02 - (Jon Orlando): No, I'm just kidding. But I think if more people were wired like that, they would see the benefits and they'd move themselves down the field a hell of a lot quicker than being transactional with people. And like, you do something for me. I was on the phone with someone the other day, and he was like, I said, oh, are you going to go to the fight next week? And he was like, well, maybe. I usually like for them to ask me for a favor, and then I ask them.

1:36:29 - (Jon Orlando): I didn't say anything to him. I'm like, I get why he's wired that way, but no, because he's like, I don't want to owe them. No, don't look at it like that. Don't look at it like we all just owe each other from page one. And some will pay it back and some won't. Don't worry about. Just. Just give. Don't worry about receiving. And you will end up receiving way more. I get burned sometimes. There's people that I'm like, jesus Christ, man. I'm like, always doing for you. Don't ever fucking. I can't even get you to, like, the fucking podcast and share the podcast post, right?

1:37:07 - (Jon Orlando): But that's probably, they're so overwhelmed with their life or whatever's going on that it's a simple ask that I have, but they're so in it, or feel buried in whatever's going on in their life. They're in survival mode. You got to remember that sometimes, too. People aren't doing what you would hope that they would do. They might really be fucking up completely upside down, and they don't want to tell you that. Or you don't realize that that's the.

1:37:36 - (Tawni Nguyen): True connection, that some people can't be vulnerable with one another, too.

1:37:40 - (Jon Orlando): It's hard, right? It's hard to say, I need help, or it's hard to say I'm buried. Especially now with social media. We live in such a society where it's like fake until you make, you know, it's like you're seeing everyone's best representation of you fucking almost got eaten by a grasshopper. I mean, yeah, I mean, these were dark times for me. These were tough. Normally I wouldn't share know, but I want people to see my struggle. I want them to realize, like it's not all fucking Rosie. Being John Orlando. I got to deal with fucking the grasshopper invasion in my fucking know.

1:38:11 - (Jon Orlando): This is tough to be me. Walk a mile in my fucking shoes. Try walking backwards, defending yourself as the grasshopper's coming at you. Fuck up the Travis Scott's. You don't even know my struggle. You don't even know what it is to be me.

1:38:24 - (Tawni Nguyen): Fucking favorite. You're like almost died.

1:38:27 - (Jon Orlando): It's awful. Sweating.

1:38:28 - (Tawni Nguyen): It's fucking terrible.

1:38:30 - (Jon Orlando): Cut up the palms on the fall.

1:38:32 - (Tawni Nguyen): Can I introduce you to my therapist? I'm still suffering from this semitic experience.

1:38:36 - (Jon Orlando): Terrible. I need to work it out on the couch a little. Nat in here keeps fucking with me.

1:38:41 - (Tawni Nguyen): They just know.

1:38:42 - (Jon Orlando): I'm thinking, did you set me up? I'm almost thinking you knew you set me up.

1:38:45 - (Tawni Nguyen): A bunch of things to blackmail you. Yeah, we'll see, man.

1:38:49 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah. The fuck is going on here?

1:38:51 - (Tawni Nguyen): He's crazy. Thanks for coming today.

1:38:53 - (Jon Orlando): Thank you.

1:38:54 - (Tawni Nguyen): I appreciate you so much. It's so funny. We never planned shit. It's just kind of like good to whatever we bring.

1:39:01 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah.

1:39:01 - (Tawni Nguyen): So, yeah, I really like your message. Because doing something kind for someone doesn't cost a thing. And the second is just always be yourself so you don't have to live with resentment and road with regrets and have all these things that you're going to struggle with either way. Yeah, well, that's it for us today. Hopefully you got some valuable insights or please follow Jon. He's hilarious. If you want to get his attacks.

1:39:24 - (Jon Orlando): Up from the grasshopper, definitely be another.

1:39:26 - (Tawni Nguyen): Where do we find you? Action junkeez?

1:39:28 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, action junkeez. Action Juneez podcast. It's on Spotify.

1:39:33 - (Tawni Nguyen): Everything.

1:39:34 - (Jon Orlando): Yeah, everything forum. Check it out.

1:39:35 - (Tawni Nguyen): Well, it's me, Tawnisaurus, on IG. Stay fit, stay frugal. Peace.