Was it at least a good reason why they canceled?

Yeah, just time constraints.

You know, everything we do, everybody's volunteer.

Right.

So for the Voodoo Chef Foundation, we're raising money to send kids to culinary school and trying to keep them here in the local community.

I've been teaching for 30 years.

We've got kids all over the country working.

How much are the general admission tickets if people want to show up tonight?

Before we start, let's, uh, remind everybody where you're from, what, uh, what you're... what pays the bills, what markets you're in currently, and then we'll dive into a deep conversation about how to kind of create opportunities in some of these challenging markets right now.

Cool.

I operate in Marathon, Florida as a contractor, property manager, and realtor.

Uh, a background, a kind of quick summary of how I ended up there.

Uh, I used to be a superintendent for a commercial contractor in Denver, Colorado, and I quit that job to flip houses, which I did full time for, uh, about 10 years.

Uh, that, that was a real rewarding deal, and as I started making money from my house flips, I wanted to invest that in short-term rental properties, which is how I ran across Vadisi, because I wanted help doing that the right way.

And, uh, I looked at a lot of different markets, decided I really wanted to put money into Marathon, and, uh, that's where I got started.

What are some of the, what are some of the differences or the big challenges? Do you feel like it's kinda different all across the board, or do you think there are some key parts of that process that are, that are, uh, like, different and that you need to focus on?

So what was it like originally when you stepped in? Like, what was your early days like? Was it a lot of physical conditioning or what were they having you do?

yeah it was half and half um you know we would do some amateur wrestling to warm up and and at that point in wrestling you know they still wanted you to have like kind of this real background and i had no exposure to that you know in case someone started taking liberties with you you know so you would know some things and how to protect yourself and because the wrestling was still very much like that then and uh you do that you'd like it was upstairs above this apartment and like if Which is crazy.

And we'd run the stairs and we'd do crunches and Hindu squats and all kinds of stuff just for conditioning and warming up and stuff.

And they wouldn't even let you get in the ring.

You had to learn to lock up and do chain wrestling on the floor and earn to get in the ring.

It was a big deal.

But I can remember just...

So when exactly did you end up working for TNA or maybe there was another company that you might end up working for first? Where did you find your big

five to seven years old that sounds like heaven right there even it was yeah up to like 13 probably that sounds great honestly but now i wonder so who were some of your favorites from that time

that era.

I mean, I love Macho Man.

Just like was obsessed with him.

I think I always like enjoyed Hulk because of the position he was in.

He was the big star and the champion.

So when you're a little kid, that's, you know, always part of it.

Okay, so what was it like originally when you stepped in? What was your early days like? Was it a lot of physical conditions?

got

a very distinct... story about it i i'm not going to use his name because i don't want to get him in any trouble but a buddy of mine has a band here in in nashville um and they tour all over north america they're bigger in the united states because rock and roll music is still alive and well over there um really cool rock band he had just released a new album him and his band and i i think he I can't remember what label.

It's a big label.

I want to say it was Sony he was under.

They can come after me.

I don't care.

But we basically were doing this vignette for Violent by Design, and I went to Eric Tompkins and said, this song for this thing that we're doing would be perfect.

But to EY, all that aside, what is your favorite theme that you've used over time? And that could be either based on like, ah, my musical taste is this, or you know what? This one was just so perfect for what we were doing that there's nothing else that I would have chosen for it.

And I have spoken with Kurt Angle, Matt Cardona and Mike Chioda all about who were all part of those big cutbacks on the same day as you um just kind of really fascinating because I know what it did for me at that time and how my life is now and and looking back as we're in this kind of normal world now it's really interesting to reflect back on that how how was if you can take me back to that day when you got the news how was that for you at the time yeah

I mean To say I was excited about it would be a lie.

Like it's the truth is it was very disappointing.

I'd spent, you know, over half of my natural life on this planet striving to get to that position.

Everything I had done since I was 16 basically was curated and designed by to allow me to work there.

Every single thing I did, the jobs I took, the people I talked to, uh, the shows I wrestled on, the things that I did that I thought that they would like, you know, and, and, uh, everything was designed around working there.

And then I had made it certainly didn't go as planned.

So I'll just ask you one question, which is, of all of the incredible and eclectic guests that you've had on that show, because it has been pretty fascinating who you've had on, what's been the most surreal moment for you, or maybe the episode that stands out for you as your favourite, if you can pick one?