Brett Qualters : Creator of the Insomniac VIP Skydeck | Chaos Controlled Podcast 206 - Chaos Controlled Podcast

Episode Transcript
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(00:05):
Welcome to the chaos. So for this aspect, what up
everybody, and welcome back to the chaos.
I'm your host, Mikey Tailman along some my cohost.
Danny J Gomez We're jumping right in with this one.
We're very excited. Today we have an executive
producer, director and one of myvery good friends, Miss Brett

(00:27):
Cuotos. Hi.
Guys, thank you for having me. Thank you.
For being on. Thank you.
Thank you. I've been looking forward to
this one because me and Brett goback and man, if anybody has
like crazy stories like she's writing a book.
That eventually, eventually she's got.
She's got all the This woman hasmore crazy stories than most
people, but also an incredible background as well.
So let's just kind. Of feel like a bit of an

(00:48):
oversell, but it's okay. You're writing okay, So what
have you have you thought of your opening?
Yeah, I I kind of do have like the entire memoir sort of like
mapped out and sort of like how I plan on presenting it.
I just haven't actually like satdown to write the stories, which
now kind of feels silly in hindsight because I'm starting
to forget a lot of the stories. So I feel like probably should

(01:09):
have been writing it as I went, but it's okay.
It's going to happen eventually.I.
Started thinking about it. I have like my in my notes
section. I just have book and like any
idea oh. I have like whole like all my
chapters, like outlines, like little gimicky things that like
how I want to do it. I just haven't actually sat down
to write it yet. Yeah, no.
Like I have like 1/2 of a chapter done.

(01:30):
I got, I got the no, I got the first draft of my book done.
But every time I'm like, I want to redo this part, then I want
to do this part, and then I redothe whole thing.
Like I've redone the first drafttwice already.
Look at us going from blacking out on a nightly to writing
books. Look at us.
Who would have thought? Yeah, not me.
That's adulting for you, right? So let's get to the beginning of

(01:51):
your memoirs, though. So just give us a little bit
about where you started and how you've got this elusive career
that you don't give yourself enough credit for.
Thank you I guess. It started originally back when
I used to throw parties in high school when my mom went out of
town. So that's right.
I love high. School parties, so we all.
Got her in Star cuz I threw somewild.

(02:11):
Ones that's where I actually started in this whole event
planning party throwing world, cuz I used to have a lot more
fun throwing the parties than actually as it kind of has
carried through. Attending the parties, I I much
prefer throwing parties. So I was always sober at my own
parties and just making sure everyone else had enough
alcohol, boos, whatever. And just I started there, I

(02:34):
guess from there, when I went tocollege, I actually originally
wanted to go in the theater. I wanted to be a director and
quickly realized that that was not the path that was going to
make a lot of sense. I guess in the end, I just got
really good. I just.
Like knew I was really good at throwing parties and tell.
Us a high school party like thatyou threw that you that's

(02:56):
memorable because we we love to hear those stories.
What's your. Project X story.
It's oh God, I guess the most memorable one is.
It was, I guess it was my senioryear of high school and my mom
was out of town. She went away a lot for
business. And we, my girlfriends and I at
the time, we had some of my guy friends.
I used to have this like really tight click of guy friends.

(03:18):
We're in college. And my friend John was like, oh,
I'm going to invite my fraternity.
I was like, sure, definitely nota good idea to invite a Boston
fraternity to your house in the suburbs.
So definitely had the cops called on us.
Definitely. I mean, it was, it was bad.
And I remember cleaning up the party, but the funniest thing

(03:38):
about the party was actually howI got caught.
Because I dealt with the cops and my neighbors and I talked to
them and I was like, okay, please don't tell my mom.
Please don't tell my mom. I made all my friends stay and,
like, clean up the house. But what I did not think through
was that I actually had put all of the beer cans in the
recycling bin instead of actually getting rid of the
evidence. And so my mom came home and I

(04:00):
got the whole Brett Marie, get in here.
So, you know, you get to know what?
Name. Oh, you know what's bad?
Get the middle name. How many recycling bins did you
have? The fiddle?
I didn't remember, she just said.
She's in her neighbors cans as well.
She just said, do you want to tell me why there's hundreds of
beer cans in the recycling? Bin somebody else put them
there, She got no proof. And I was just like, no, I'm

(04:21):
caught. I didn't even try.
I was just like, all right, I mean, it was fine.
I think I got grounded for like 2 weeks or something, but it was
just really comical that that. Was the stupid thing that that's
how I got caught. And I knew better.
You like get rid of the evidencetake it to the trash dump down
the street. But I don't know.
I guess I just got frazzled because we had so many people.
I didn't have a big house and itwasn't like a big, like I

(04:44):
didn't, you know, we just, it wasn't like a huge place and we
had like so many kids show up because of the whole fraternity
thing. So that that's where I just got
a little out of control. So.
I threw one party in my high school days and that was all I
needed. Because people like a small town
in New Orleans. Chalmette, If anybody knows
Chalmette, we're Shammatians. We we have a, you know, track

(05:08):
record anyways. Everybody thinks we wear like
shrimp boots and and. Walk.
Around with suspenders And so they got wind of my party.
Did you? Of course, man.
You know I have that in my closet for have to wear.
Yeah. So we threw the party and like
just people from different parishes just started showing up
because it it's small towns and like.

(05:28):
Where he gets out. So like I had a small
two-bedroom house, 3 bedroom house that we lived in and a
single story and like there's like 1000 people in the front
backyard. Oh.
I didn't have 1000 so. You.
That's. I mean, you know, I'm probably
overstating. That.
That's like. That's what.
It felt like like 50 people, but.
Next, you know, like someone is falling through the through the

(05:49):
front window. Get in a fight.
My dad's lasagna is on the floorin the in the kitchen.
My sister's on the table. 5 footnothing with a with a steak Oh.
My gosh. Get the out of here.
Yeah, did anything get set on fire?
No fires. OK, that's good because I could
go. My friend boom box.
Somebody dropped beer on it and.So I had, I got, I've we threw a

(06:12):
lot of parties at my mother's house.
Well, I got grinded for a whole summer once because somebody got
too wasted and vomited all over her brand new rug and brand new
sectional sofa that she bought that got delivered that morning.
The whole summer, huh? Oh yeah, she was livid.
Yeah. So I guess we all got into
parties for every reason. That's how I started.

(06:33):
So where to go next? I guess that's funny because my
career was just so not linear inthe traditional sense.
And I guess when I left school Ididn't really actually know what
I wanted to do. Long story short, because I
won't drive this out too much, Iended up down in Miami.
With an X of mine at the time, and I had like walked into one

(06:53):
of those like fancy restaurants on Ocean Drive.
A lot of the jobs that I've gotten have really just been me
like randomly walking in and talking myself into a job.
And I started at this place in Miami as the event director for
this restaurant, so it was like a fine dining.
So that's really where I started.
Again, no clue what I was doing,no idea what was going on.

(07:15):
I just talked myself into a job and then.
I was really the first program that I, I, my strength and and
Mike can attest to this is program development.
That's really what I I pride myself on and having these
positions where I go in and it hasn't existed before and then
creating something from nothing.So that's where I started in
Miami and Miami was kind of wild, didn't didn't love it,

(07:38):
still don't love it. I love it for like 5 days.
Yeah, living there was not superfun, I guess.
Well, okay, So it's kind of twofold.
I have been into the electronic music rave scene since I was
probably 18, so that had always kind of been more of a passion
of mine, to go to the raves and do do the club scene as a from a

(08:02):
guest perspective. And then at the same time with
the job I was kind of getting into production and events.
It just so happened that they didn't fully intersect until I
got to LA. So I I moved out to LA in 2010.
And was working at the time for a celebrity chef and was doing
again like, you know, I graduated to like Oscar parties,

(08:24):
movie premieres, blah blah blah.So nonchalantly like, yeah, I
ran. I ran the Oscars.
No. I didn't run the Oscars, just
Oscar parties. I walked in and told him I can
do this and they gave me the job.
And then I ran I. Ran the hell out of it.
Not downplaying. I mean, it was a great intro,
like doing the entertainment side of it and working in the,

(08:45):
you know, I did some really coolmovies.
Movie premieres and and got to work with some really fun
celebrities on that side of it But I I mean music has always
been my passion and so I guess the way that I kind of got into
the to the where I'm kind of like the last 10 years of my
career has has sort of developedhas been in this music festival

(09:08):
rave culture from a executive production side of things so.
My Insomniac, the way that I gotthe job at Insomniac was
probably the most like kind of LA story like it.
It's just, it just felt like oneof those LA things that like,
never would have happened if I was at home.

(09:29):
And this was sort of the moment that kind of changed everything
for me. So I was working for a
restaurant group and I had a my office was in Westwood and it
was like a Saturday night. I've been working.
I mean, you guys now working in the restaurant industry, you
just never get days off. You work a bazillion hours.
And it was Saturday, and I wasn't supposed to be in the

(09:50):
office working that day. And I was trying to get out of
the office. And it was like, 8:30 at night.
And I just wanted to go home. And I got a phone call from the
host, and that was like, hey, there's someone on line, one
that wants to talk about planning their rehearsal dinner.
And I was just like, fine, I'll take the call because I really
just wanted to go home. And so I take this call.

(10:12):
And I'm talking to this guy. We're just, you know, shooting
about what he wants to do for his rehearsal dinner, what kind
of food he likes. I don't know.
We we were just, you know, the normal client talk when I try to
put people at ease. So by the time we got to the,
you know, the point where I'm like, okay, give me your contact
info and I'll, I'll put a package together.
I'll send over pricing. And he gave me his name and it

(10:32):
was at Insomniac. And I was like, oh, I'm talking
to someone from Insomniac because I had known who
Insomniac was the entire time. That I had been out in LA
because at that time they reallywere the premier predominant,
you know, production company putting on these music
festivals. And I had been so heavily

(10:53):
involved in the the rave cultureat that point.
So I just literally blurted out I was like, oh, you work at
Insomniac still this at this time, don't really know who he
is or what his position is. And he's like, oh, yeah, do you
know us? And I just remember being like,
do I know you? I want to work for you.
And it turned out that he was the CEO of the company.

(11:19):
And we just started talking about music.
And I told him how much I love the company and that I had
always wanted to work for them. And so he was like, all right,
cool, send me your resume. I was like, OK, this, you know,
again, Lai was like, all right, sure, I'll send him my resume.
Whatever. I'll never talk to this guy
again. And I remember I went home and I
spent like 4 hours putting this e-mail together because I was

(11:39):
like, oh, this is my shot, this is my shot.
What do I do? And I was so nervous about what
I was sending to him because, you know, again, I didn't even
really know what he was looking for.
Send. A picture of you like a neon at
one of his parties. You know, looking back.
In a rave album, you. Probably should have, but I was
so worried about being professional and it wasn't until
much later that I realized, likeInsomniac was not even at that

(12:00):
level of professionalism at thatbecause.
They brought like the rave sceneto the.
Yeah, like the General. Yeah, it used to be like a very
mainstream you're. Right.
Yeah, 2010 was really when it went mainstream.
So I grew up on the East Coast, so I grew up going all the raves
in New York. I lived in London for a little
bit. I did all of my, like, die Hard
party days in like London, New York, Miami, like all the big

(12:22):
cities. And LA at that time wasn't
considered one of the main cities for the electronic music
scene. So it wasn't until about 2010
that it started to shift. And LA kind of became sort of
the main hub for for where the music was coming out of and
where the where these big eventswere being produced.
And Insomniac definitely had wassort of at the forefront of that

(12:42):
and that's why I knew who they were because I've always, I mean
Mike knows I I like stock the industry.
I know the trends. I know what's going on.
I know what you know what who's doing what, when and where.
And so I again set him my resumenot really expecting too much
out of it and. Went back and forth and he
actually like, responded. And I mean, it took a while, but

(13:04):
he finally calls me into the office and I like have this
meeting with like the CEO of Insomniac, like just talking
myself into a job. They didn't even have like an
actual position. He was just kind of like, all
right, what do you want to do? Like what do you need?
So I started out because my background at that time had come
from really like a food and beverage side of things.

(13:24):
And he was just kind of like, all right, we want to, you know,
we want to look to enhance the food and beverage program.
And it started with that and then it started with and I
actually was working who who Mike works with now with DLSI
started. David was like the first person
that I kind of paired up with and and he was kind of helping
me navigate this this scene. And I I had never really done

(13:44):
from the other side. I'd always gone as a guest and
then from like food and beveragethen they added VAP.
And then the best was the day that he called me in and he was
just like, So what do you know about bottle service And I.
So best and worst day. I was like, I mean, I don't
know. What do you want me to know
about it? Because I just didn't really

(14:06):
know where he was going with it.And, you know, at that time I
knew what it was, but I hadn't really.
I mean, I wasn't. I'm not like your typical, like,
bottle girl. Like I hadn't been going, like
when I go to the club, I was always GA like on the ground,
you know, in the front at the rave.
So, you know, I do what everyonedoes.
I lied and I was like, yeah, sure, no problem.

(14:27):
Because at that point they had. Someone from a nightclub in like
Vegas was doing it and was like you know and and Mike can attest
you when you bring in and no disrespect to the clubs but
doing bottle service at the festival is so different than
doing it in the nightclubs and the and the guys in the clubs
kind of struggle with the transition of going outside like

(14:47):
there four walls in the and and having everything.
Workers. It's a brick and mortar, so like
when we go to the nightclub every night.
We know that, you know, we're working, we go to the service
station, we know where everything is.
But when we do the festival, we actually have to build the
service station and make sure it's operational.
So if you know the minimal spot.Yeah, and it's it's a lot harder

(15:08):
to do at the festival because only are you building it.
But like so many more things cango wrong at a festival that
they, you know, again, with a lot of these club guys are just
used to having it in there, you know?
And it's the same. They're doing it every night and
every night it's the same thing and.
You know, we were at the festival.
You know, I can't tell you many times we lost power, we lost
Wi-Fi. You know, this gets moved like

(15:29):
your deck changes. Like, you know, we've had decks
shrink where we've sold a number.
You know, like there's all thesedifferent things that come up
and you have to really be able to to to roll with it and think
on the fly and fix problems. And now that you don't have to
do that in nightclubs too, it's just it's in a much different
atmosphere. More controlled than yeah.
More controlled and so in the festival a lot of the club guys
kind of struggled making that transition.

(15:51):
When we would we would work withdifferent nightlife institutions
to come in and like whatever. When I when I first started and
Mike knows like when I first started it was just me.
Like I was literally doing everything.
I was running check in. I was like managing the deck.
I was like doing the cash outs at the end of the night like I
didn't it it was like a department that they.
Had wanted to grow but hadn't really like put any resources

(16:15):
behind it. So again, I'm in this role now
with this essentially dream job like wanting to work for
Insomniac, you know for a long time and basically just being
like, OK, here you go and like how to just, I mean, I just had
to figure it out and I spent thefirst like three or four years
literally just swinging the whole thing and like working

(16:35):
like a maniac because I was running the VAPI, was running
the bottle service. I was doing the food and
beverage then they were like, oh, here, we'll just add
sponsorships onto your plate as well.
And then, so then I got the sponsorship and then, you know,
it was just they kept adding stuff.
And it was, at the time it was still a really small company.
And that this was before Live Nation had come in as kind of
like part owners. So it was just a it was, it was,

(16:57):
yeah, it grew super fast and it was still just like a real like
startup mentality when I was there And it was just a bunch of
dudes that like, you know, we'rethrowing a party essentially.
So. I was trying to come in and make
this like legitimate side of thebusiness for them, it's.
Just like when you were recycling those beer cans.
I mean, exactly. So it was just, it was, it was a

(17:19):
struggle. It was hard.
It was really hard for the firstcouple years.
And I worked around the clock and I worked nonstop.
And, you know, I was combating some other things too because I
was a female. Running VAP and bottle service,
which you guys know traditionally that is always a
male role. Like there is, I don't really

(17:40):
even think I could name many nightclubs off the top of my
head that has a female as like the main director and you know
like overseeing the whole operation.
So I had a I was tackling not only like not having the
resources to like figure out howto like run this on my own, I
was also then dealing with you know, being a female on top of

(18:01):
it. And trying to to really make
sure that I was able to basically be more respected and
and and looked at seriously because it it does become a lot
harder as a woman to be taken seriously because I had to.
I mean, I had to. I mean we had, you know every

(18:22):
show in every city. We were partnering with
different nightclubs. And so I had to always deal with
these guys. And and Mike knows, I, you know,
promoters are still like, the bane of my existence.
Oh man, we. Would.
We would go places and like dealwith the promoters and they
would come talk to me and like we want to do.
And like they wouldn't even likesome of them wouldn't even
acknowledge her. Yeah, but come up give me a hint

(18:42):
like shake my hand wouldn't evenacknowledge her.
And they're like, hey, we want to do, I'm like, you got to get
her approval. Like, what do you mean?
I was like she's the boss and they would be so taken back And
then she look and I'm like, yeah, I'm like.
Yeah, no, I mean it happened. It happened a lot.
I mean it happened all the time.Andrew did it.
You did it. I mean, the good thing is, you
know, when I finally brought Andrew and Mike onto the team, I
felt super lucky because they understood sort of what the

(19:06):
struggle was as a female in thisparticular part of the industry
and they really had my back. And same with Johnny.
Johnny was my production partnerwho who did all the the design.
And so Johnny and I really kind of like ran things together.
And. Six of us in this little.
Family. Yeah, it was it.
It definitely became a family really quickly, A super
dysfunctional one, like most most families are, but a family

(19:28):
nonetheless. But I was lucky that I had these
guys, you know, kind of advocating on my behalf when we
did go into these situations where, you know, 90% of the time
they look right past me and go right to Mike or go right to
Johnny, I mean, even when we gota different CEO that came on
board, I don't know, like five years later.

(19:48):
I mean there were so many times he called me and Johnny in the
meetings and just you know, rapid fire to Johnny and
Johnny's like I don't know whereyou're asking me.
This is nothing like talk to her.
She's the one in charge and you know that was just kind of a
daily occurrence. So you know I felt lucky that I
had the guys support and they were always kind of redirecting
the attention and and getting people to you know like they

(20:11):
they respected me and they backed me and and I was always
grateful for that because it was, it was a definite.
Additional layer on top of all the other stress that that I was
dealing with in the position that I was in SO.
How was it dealing with all thatstress?
Because like we know was we controlling the chaos industry
and what most people that are inour festival world is very

(20:33):
niche. Like she's saying the added
layers like there is so much stress.
So like how did all of how did you deal with all that And there
was a lot of things that you hadovercome.
I mean, not. Well, I mean, it was definitely.
I was doing right, right. We think it's well at the time.
I feel great now. Yeah, I think that you know what
I what I was really, I've been. I'm struggling with two things.

(20:54):
One, I was struggling with sort of the the merger of something
that had been my passion since Iwas a kid that had essentially
like developed this real, like core part of my personality,
this rave culture, this rave community dancing.
You know, I have this favorite DJ that I've been, you know, a
fan of for 25 years and have seen him over 100 times all

(21:17):
around the world. And through this job ended up
becoming like friendly with him and I'm friends with his wife.
And like all these weird things were shifting, where this scene
that I like grew up in was now all of a sudden becoming my
work. And that's a really weird shift
that I hadn't really put a lot of thought into once I started
working in the music industry because I thought.

(21:39):
That again, merging your passionwith your work.
In theory, it's like what everyone wants, like you want to
be passionate about what you do.And I was, but then it it
changed what that meant, what changed what the passion was,
because now I just looked at it as work.
So it was a really, I was going to like a really weird kind of
trying to reconcile that for a while.
And then of course just, I mean the stress of trying to build

(22:04):
these departments. And so the other part that I was
doing is that not only was I building it on the back end and
doing the financials and doing the budget and doing the POS and
doing the the bar and menus, I was also the only one up for a
while doing all the client stuff.
So I was one of like a very few handful of people and and Mike
knows this that can actually do both the client and the

(22:26):
operations. It's usually like someone is 1
or the other. And there's not a lot of people
that can that can do both. And it's not like I'm saying,
oh, I'm just like wonderful human.
It's just it's different skill sets.
And I just had come out of, you know, working in the restaurant
in the event world, dealing withclients law that I just knew how
to deal with these types of clients.

(22:47):
So I was just doing so much and it was really hard for me to
keep up. And I mean, I definitely didn't
have a life. I didn't sleep.
I don't know, eight years and. That'll suck the love of it out
of anything that. You're doing, yeah.
And I think that's kind of ultimate ultimately what ended

(23:09):
up happening towards the end of it.
And again you know Mike knows hehe's been there with me through
a lot of the really tough times.I went through a lot of really
low points and I went through a lot of times when.
So I never. I was not.
I'm not. I'm not a big drinker, but I did
start leaning on other substances to like keep me
awake, put me to sleep like it was.

(23:31):
It was just constant, like up and down, up and down, up and
down to try to juggle the demands of the job and the
demands of of the actual festival.
I think what I learned over timeis that like innately I'm I'm an
introvert and I I feel much morecomfortable in an introverted
kind of environment. And I had this job that was like

(23:53):
the exact opposite. In every possible way.
And having to be this extrovert and be on all the time was
really hard and really draining.And that is why I had to lean on
some, you know, outside substances to try to keep me
awake or take off the edge of anxiety or whatever.
It was just it, you know, it was, it was, it was a mess for a
while. When people like get to know our

(24:14):
group because like we we were onthe road 200 and 52160 days all
over and this is the time where like we had a networks, we were
out of the club every night, we're dinners every night.
People actually got to know us and they're like, wait a minute,
yell, don't like like, no, She wants to stay home and read her
books. I want to stay home and do
poetry and meditate. Andrew wants to go search for
Ross. Johnny wants to play Dungeons
and Dragons. Irons wants it like none of us

(24:35):
wanted to speak to an individual, but we were the most
popular like whenever city we went to because we were the VIP,
we were like the most popular people that came to the city.
Like we got royal treatment. Everywhere and it and that also,
you know, pissed a lot of peoplein the company off.
At certain levels as well because we we were actually, I

(24:55):
mean we were just, we were I would say my my 2 superpowers as
a as a boss or as a whatever. You know, producer is the
program development piece, whichI'm good at and I love.
I do know how to take something from nothing and really build it
into something that matters. And I'm really good at finding
like I I mean, I basically got to handpick this team.

(25:18):
Every single person on this team, Mike, Myron, Andrew,
Michelle, Gia McKenna, I mean I I brought them all in and it was
a really unique opportunity thatI, I probably will never come
across again that I was actuallyable to handpick and build a
team from from the ground up andthat was.
We all blame Brett for all of our.
Problems. Yeah, I'm glad.

(25:38):
I'm glad you actually said that because that's one of the.
I had two questions about what it was like developing the
bottle program because. Festivals didn't have that
before, right? You created like a whole new
thing that you kind of, I think you kind of bypassed a little
bit because it's probably just old news to you like the sky
deck, right? You you created that.
So maybe speak on that. And also I wanted to speak on

(25:58):
the the qualities that this young man right here came
brought to the picture that you were like, I want him, I.
Was the final piece of the puzzle, too.
Yeah. No, McKenna was after you, but
you were the right, right. So for the sky deck piece, you
were. Alright, well to speak to the
mic part first, it was funny because Mike was still came in

(26:19):
in in early days. I don't what year did we start
working together. 15. Was it 1515 or 16?
I was going to say so. I met Mike at Sundance.
So every so we all also have this other famous Sundance, the
famous Sundance. She has to goes with me, her and
Myron too, yeah. If you missed those catch season
one, we'll have to. Plug the episode that Myron
Batson talked about. Sundance, Sundance Sundance.

(26:41):
Sundance was always a hot mess, but we all also.
Great hot mess. What a great hot mess.
We had a lot of fun. I I have more of a like love
hate with Sundance but. Recording Sundance is going on.
Right now. Right now.
Yeah. It's yeah, Everyone was at the
towel party last night. I'm like, no, don't miss that
actually. But we all worked for this other

(27:02):
woman, Kim, who who was another one in the industry that like,
again, we all like it's it. It ends up becoming a really
small, as you both know. It ends up becoming a really
small industry once you're like,in it and everyone knows
everyone. And Kim, who brought you in?
Did Stu bring you in? Stu brought you in Okay.
So Stu had brought Mike in. No.
You were bartending? Yeah, he was bartending

(27:25):
Sundance. And my role at Sundance, I was
always I, she always put me in charge of the the Chase Sapphire
Lounge. So I was always running like.
So The Who he worked with, like they had different, like Acura
Lounge, not whatever, like all the different lounges at
Sundance. And I was always on Chase.
And Mike was bartending at Chase.
And I don't know I just we just hit it off to start.

(27:47):
Hey and I just I I'm just good at like East Coast.
Yeah like I'm that's the other funny part is like the whole
team is actually East Coast. It's like really funny like Mike
Johnny are you know. Yeah, I feel.
Like there's a work ethic like the East Coast.
And like, I'm from New Orleans, like service industries are
life, you know? And it's something you can't

(28:08):
teach that when you come to LA you're like going on here with
the service. Like.
I I'm baffled how some of the TSA is.
I'm like, how are you? This is so easy.
Even like going to a restaurant,I'm like.
I think it was also too that like what I was really good at
doing is when putting our team together and I think it is an
East Coast thing, is you have tobe like really snarky and

(28:29):
sarcastic to like work in our group because we're just, we
just, we're just awful doing. Shots.
Like all day and I mean it's part of just how we deal with
the stress and like because we're together 24/7.
But it it is just that kind of like I don't know like that East
Coast mentality like it's it's it's very different than than
what it's like out here in LA. And it I didn't even like I

(28:50):
wasn't intentionally like pulling East Coast people.
It just ended up working out that way.
But I think with Mike I think I just I saw how good he was.
I I mean I I was able to see himwith the guests.
See him again, just like end of the night.
I needed someone at that point in time because the the program
was growing really fast and I was not in a position anymore

(29:12):
where I could, you know, run, check in, run the deck, do the
VAP, do like I just, I was looking for more help and I
don't even remember how I brought it up to you.
You asked. Me about running the bar you're
like, hey. I want to.
Spend in New York, I'll fly you out.
I need somebody to run the bar program.
No. That was not the first one.
Yeah, cuz that I I threw. Yeah man, I hated you.

(29:32):
Oh my God, did you hate? Me.
Let's hear about that. I hate you, she gave.
Me A. So they're like, hey, we have
this client that we're bringing in was.
Super high maintenance. Super needy, but didn't really
give me much about what I was getting myself into and.
I felt it was better that way soyou couldn't back out.
So all of a sudden. It's like, here's 20 wristbands.
A party bus is going to pick youup, get on the bus, like and

(29:55):
what else? Like, don't worry about it when
you get here. We're going on there.
So literally, I was handling this group of 20 people and like
very, very sweet people. And the show, that venue we were
at, we couldn't actually run thebar like the venue was still
doing the bar, but I wanted Miketo come in and just like test
him on. A couple of things happened that
weekend where I ended up pretty much on a deck by myself, not

(30:19):
knowing what. The.
Doing because I never managed before taking care of the
biggest client and the deck there was these two clients.
They had like a gang war. Literally they're like in the
middle. All this happened and I
survived. And Johnny who I just met for
the first time was like, yeah, he can, he can.
And then after that, like, you want to stay.
I'm like, hey, what's going on this?
Is cool. And then I put you on New York.
Yeah. Yeah, and like cuz we were, this

(30:40):
is when we were working nightclubs and the pay was
starting to go to. So we were I was in create maybe
making 100 bucks a night maybe 2250 was Barton and maybe 200
bucks. So now I got a couple of grand
for a show. I'm like oh okay I'm deadline
for this And then it just started to it took me a little
bit to to I was I was welcomed at first by some and some other

(31:02):
people Andrew was not very happyI was there so like it's there
was a lot of little figuring everybody out but after like 6-7
months we all kind of. I mean, and that was the thing
it did take everyone because everyone because I had
handpicked everyone there. There was always a sort of like,
it felt like a battle of like who was in the top position for
me where the reality was everyone just had a very

(31:24):
different role, like Myron was running VIP, Mike was coming in
to head up operations and Andrewwas actually on the client side
doing sales. So everyone had like their,
their place. But there was definitely a lot
of it it it took a minute for. Allstar team to.
Get A and The funny thing, me and Andrew are the only two.
Me and Andrew are the only two left.
That's. Me and and 1st me and him did

(31:45):
not get along. We didn't like each other and
now I talked to the guy 6 out ofseven days out of the week.
He's one of my closest friends on top of my partner.
Yeah and and it was, you know itit took a long time to, I mean
it it was definitely like a slowdevelopment of building the team
and then once we built the team then it was like another kind
of. Period of like all having to

(32:06):
figure out how to work with eachother.
And I, you know again the joke was that, I mean I was basically
mom. Like the whole joke was was
everyone. It was like a mom, mommy, mom,
mommy, mom, mom, mom. Like every day it was I'm like,
OK, one at a time please. It's so cool because in season
one I've heard I kept hearing about this mom character and
like finally like season 2 that to have can I get a hog?

(32:31):
Of course, of course. The funny thing is now that I'm
in this position, like, there are times where where me and her
would butt heads a lot because Ijust, I was frustrated, felt
away. She had frustrations that I
wasn't seeing. So now that I'm in that
position, like, I call her like and I'll be like, yo, she's
like, no, I get it. We're the only two people in the
world who really understand it. And she's the only person I can

(32:52):
call when I'm really stressing because there's so much on our
plate that people didn't get. And like, I think, I think when
I first took it back, I called like, yo, I'm really sorry for
all the. He gave you, He did.
He apologized, which I was very happy about because he did put
me through a lot of. So I I went through a lot of all
of them. All of them, I definitely.
Had that work in LA and and where we worked at the time we

(33:13):
were we, we were stuck up like we had like a sometimes ego
phase. When I go yeah, we had the ego.
I mean, it's hard because I. If you look at like who I am,
like I am the last person on theplanet that should be running
bottle service, like it's just not like, it's just like not who
I am and all of a sudden I'm in this position that was also

(33:34):
weird for me because I I am not like it just, I told you like
I'm a rave kid. Like I love being in the GA but
then all of a sudden I'm thrown into this role where now all of
a sudden, like everyone in Hollywood is like blowing me up
wanting guess list this, guess I'm like, Oh my God, like it was
a lot for me. Like I didn't enjoy it.
And I've got like a Mike and an Andrew and a Myron who had, who

(33:56):
had been a little bit more engulfed in this world a little
bit longer than I had. And you know all of a sudden
I'm, I I have to you know, I know all these promoters.
I know all these I know and you know and I just, I I hated it.
Like it was just you know, but they were you know so there was
a period when they you know it it.

(34:17):
Being in the position we were in, there was definitely a sort
of inflated ego that came alongside it because at the time
everyone's like, oh, you work for Insomniac, oh, you work for
Insomniac. It was literally like one of my
favorite Myron stories was when we were me and Myron and Andrew
were in London and we were doingEDCUK for the first time.
We were helping them fix their VAP and we were.

(34:40):
I forget what club we were at, but what kind of everyone forgot
is that Insomniac is big in the US.
So Myron and Andrew thought theywere just gonna roll up to this
door at like one of these, like,top clubs in London and be like
I worked for Insomniac and they were just gonna like open the,
you know, the Velvet room. Be like, please, come on.
In did work if we were, if we were in Vegas or something like
that. And we because it works.

(35:01):
Especially like if EDC Vegas was, it was in, was in June.
So if we were there in April or May, oh, anywhere we went, we
dropped that card. We were golden, yeah.
But we're in the UK, where nobody gives.
Nobody gave a flying. And he, they literally walked up
and I'm like, God, I was like, guys, this is not gonna work.
It's not gonna work. They don't know who we are.
They don't know who we are over here.

(35:21):
They're like, it's fine, it's fine.
And like go up to the, the bouncer at this club, like we
work for Insomniac and the guy just literally, like, looked at
them. And then like looked away.
Like didn't even acknowledge that I was like I told you guys,
this is not going to work yet. Deflating.
Just so deflating to the ego. But it was good.
They needed it. I I was the one that's like you
all need your egos check like weneed to put this.

(35:43):
You're literally mom back there.Like, I was literally mom and it
the whole time, like put it in check.
Like this is not like let's not keep pulling this card to get
it, you know? And it just, it didn't work.
There we were, you know, while Iwas at Insomniac, we were
starting to build the international presence.
But the EDCUK show was like 2017, it was still like early,
early on with the global expansion.

(36:05):
And so the other great part about the position that I ended
up being in is because they started to realize like you, you
need VAP and bottle service likeat every festival like it's it's
it, it became a huge revenue stream for them.
It also you know bringing in theclients how that we were
bringing in. And there weren't many people at
the company because when we did the shows abroad, we always had

(36:27):
a production partner abroad because they had to deal with,
you know, the government, the politics, the permitting of that
particular place we would go. So I was one of maybe like 5 or
6 people in the whole company that was really doing these
international shows and really being on the ground as the
global presence started to buildbecause at that time, Alter was

(36:49):
way more recognized worldwide. Than EDC was.
So that's why it was, I mean it was still pretty funny to watch
them walk up and have it not work and just get rejected by
this bouncer at the at the UK club.
But again it was, it was always kind of, you know, as as the

(37:10):
global presence grew it started to work in more and more places.
But. Did he go back there for Part 2?
Did he go back to that club for part?
I'm getting in this bitch. I'm getting in now.
You know who I am now. I think at that time, because I
like, I don't like doing a lot of things, but there's certain
things that I I am good at and Ihad ended up like, like I'm I

(37:33):
always say I should have been like a CIA, like work for the
CAA with my investigative skills.
So I had like somehow gone online, figured out who the
event person at the club was like, found her information,
like reached out to her direct told her we were.
And like through all of this, then she was like, oh, why don't
you guys come in? That's a dot night.
So like, I, I'd worked it out and got us in like another back

(37:55):
way that, you know, But I mean, it requires that like whole
outreach, like it's a lot of work.
So we did eventually get back in, but it was still just pretty
funny, right? Right.
I mean, we had, we could sit here for hours with the the
funny story. I mean, our road trip from
Atlanta, the road trip in Atlanta was in wild.

(38:15):
The Atlanta festival was wild. Well, you got.
To. Yeah.
I have a very bad time in Mexico.
Mexico, we had some wild. So I mean, we definitely had
like a lot of ridiculous, ridiculous.
Mexico was always one that we would come back with.
Like, I don't even know how all of us got out of Mexico in one
piece. Multiple years you got arrested

(38:37):
in Mexico. Right.
I got arrested. I broke my arm.
You broke your arm. We got a colon.
We got really sick. The first time I brought down
there. Now again, I didn't think
anything of it is bringing because this was before the
Mexican team had because like their show was still kind of new
and so we were down there like literally helping them with like
POS systems. So has all of these iPads like

(38:59):
in his backpack like he's going to help like use for like the
POS system in VIP not really thinking anything.
But you know it's Mexico, he's he's got all these electronics.
Instantly pulled him. The second he gets off the plane
and goes through, they pull him into the room and I'm like,
where did he go? And everyone's like, I don't

(39:19):
know, I'm freaking out because I'm like, Oh my God, where did
he go? They literally just took him.
And I'm calling the the, the show, the executive producer of
the Mexico show. And I'm like, these are, I'm
like, what am I supposed to do? Where did he go?
What's happening? And he's like, oh, it'll be
fine, it'll be fine. I'm like, I don't know where he
is. Like, we can't leave the
airport. And so, I mean, it ended up
being like a whole thing. And like, you know, it's a.

(39:41):
Good thing they found out, because then two years later, it
happened to me. The only time that I remember
being like, panicked is we had like the president's son came
once and there was like issues with like, because obviously we
had metal detectors down there and we don't allow, like we
don't allow guns to be carried on to the shows, but they had to
have it for protection. I mean, there was like just all

(40:01):
this like wild stuff of of like trying to figure out like how to
navigate these people. And not like have it be this
like giant show on the deck so that was that was a good
learning learning curve for all of us was.
It like introducing the deck style concept to to all these
people who are. Did you get a lot of those high

(40:23):
end clients at festivals before or was the deck something that
attracted them after? It OK.
So no, the deck is definitely, it was definitely kind of
happening happening simultaneously like when I first
came on board they had done. Some version of like a table
service like not in the scale that we were doing it.
They had like outsourced all of it.

(40:43):
It didn't work. You know they've done something
in Vegas before and it it wasn'treally like at the caliber that
they wanted it. So there were, there were
clients that like like wanted tocome and have this experience.
And so kind of like simultaneously as like I'm
feeling increase and talking to people I'm starting to like
figure out how to build this, this program and this experience

(41:04):
for them. And a lot of the stuff that we
did, you know we really did do it before anyone else did it.
Like our whole front of house experience was something that
like a conceptualized like I don't even remember how long
ago, but and we really were the only team that was like
providing these kind of like essentially once in a lifetime

(41:25):
experience for these clients. So the growth kind of like.
As we got more clients, we were able to kind of like shift and
like figure out what we needed. Like I think that was the best
thing about our team is that we were able to kind of like pivot
and figure out like we were constantly talking about like
what didn't work, what didn't work, how do we fix it, how do
we fix it. So it was kind of like a
simultaneous growth of the program and the clientele.

(41:49):
Like people try to do the front of house.
The only time it's successful iswhen we have gone to other
festivals with clients. Now when we run in from the
house, like in a BC Vegas, it used to be just one.
Now we're running four. So like we've expanded this
operation. So like, she laid this
foundation for all the shit we kept on doing it, doing it,
doing it. And then as she kind of passed
it to me, it's like, OK, cool, now we got it to a science.

(42:12):
How do we expand it? So she like little, Yeah.
I got to expand it all. And then now even the people
like Chris and Lindsay and Mizuki, who are now kind of I'm
passing on to them, they're evenfigure out how now to take it to
another level. So it's been really cool to
watch. From an infancy Brett had it as
a baby I had as a toddler and now they have it kind of growing
up. Now, so cool.
Literally. Like the mother tree, all your
little branches are all over theworld now.

(42:34):
I I I will say that like it was a really it it was an
interesting for me like looking back at it it was a great
experience because it definitelygave me a I mean they're all
like essentially my best friendsnow and we we are friends.
We got to that point where like everyone knows you have like
you're I used to call it trauma bonding because we'd go through
these like experiences. Like all around the world that

(42:56):
we're literally like traumatizing.
Yeah, trauma bonding. But we were able for me it was
great that like coming out of itand separating myself from it.
That we were able to like like grow the friendship past just
like the work relationship or the trauma bonding and like now
like they're actually like my family and and so I I have a lot
of pride in the in in what I wasable to build and sort of like

(43:20):
what the opportunities were thatwe're kind of.
Allowed out of this experience that I was you know, able to
build like doing shows in China,doing shows in Japan, doing
shows in Mexico, doing shows in Europe, like really traveling
and and kind of seeing this culture that I grew up in like
expanding worldwide, but at the same time, you know, by the time

(43:44):
I hit the last. The insomniac show, like I had
been, I was just so burnt out, like I was just a miserable,
horrible human being and I was just like, I cannot do this
anymore. Like I needed, I needed out and
I was so mentally exhausted. I was so mentally drained.
I was just not in a good place. So it was kind of this duality

(44:06):
of like having it be like both the best and like worst
experience simultaneously, whichis like a really weird thing to
say. But that's really how it felt.
And I knew that when I when I made the decision to leave,
which was like one of the hardest things to walk away
from, it was so hard for me to walk away from.
And it honestly took me like probably like a year and a half
to actually do it. I mean, we've all said we were

(44:28):
quitting after every single show, but only.
For me, like, for me, it's it took me like almost two years
to, like, actually be able to, like, be like, all right, I'm
walking away from this. And I did.
I mean, I walked away from it without a job.
I was just like, I'm done. I'm over it, Peace out.
I, like, quit. And I, I, like, didn't have
anything lined up. And then, you know, hindsight,

(44:50):
that was a very risky move to just walk away and not have
anything. What's?
The timeline on that, so you gotLA 2010 right and then?
I got to LA 2010. I did my first insomniac show in
2013 and then I did my last showin 2019 and.
Yeah. So then, I mean it was like

(45:11):
literally like right before the whole COVID debacle.
But I, yeah, I, I would say thatlike if I like do the math based
on all the international shows, like I've done like over 100
festivals in that timeline, well.
From everything you did an insomniac though, because, I
mean, this woman was talking about all that, but she, we can
do a full other episode on what she's done the last couple of

(45:32):
years because she's been like Emily.
Brett is Emily in Paris. She has now lived.
She lived in central pay for a couple of years, then she was in
Saudi Arabia for this whole pastyear.
So she took everything there andnow has done it on an even
crazier scale. I I've definitely taken the the
skill set that I sort of honed in on over the years and have
now again like I love working inmusic and the experience I just

(45:57):
had with this opportunity in Saudi Arabia, where it like
Saudi Arabia now is like really like launching this this music
scene. With all of the the kind of the
cultural shift that the country is going through and being
involved in the music scene on that level, like made me feel
like it was like the early days of Insomniac where it's like

(46:18):
that excitement of like what we're doing matters, like this
music matters. These experience matter.
People need a place to go to be able to just shut off for a
night. I mean, and that was ultimately
what was the driving force for me doing.
Doing these shows was that we were creating experiences that
still to this day some of our biggest clients tell me how much

(46:40):
like I had impacted their life or how much our team had
impacted their life or how much the experience had impact.
I mean, I I got invited to like weddings for like like some of
the VIP guests. Like I've gone wedding invites
because they met at the show. And like, I mean just like all
these crazy kind of personalizedexperiences, which was what was
prompting me to do this in the first place.

(47:01):
So going back to Saudi Arabia and being around a crowd that
had like newly sort of discovered this scene and
watching these people sort of experience this music culture
for the first time in the capacity that they are was
really probably the most sort oflike rejuvenating kind of
messaging for me in the last couple months of like, Oh yeah,

(47:22):
This is why I did it. This is why I went through what
I went through. So how So that's super recent
and what it what it how did you end up there in the first place?
And why is the culture like that, that now, just now is the
music, the music scene? So I started when I left
Insomniac, I got a job offer in New York.
I've been moving around. Mike knows I've been like in and

(47:43):
out for the last three years, like moving around.
Emily embarrassed. And so I had actually like moved
to New York right before COVID, working with this production
company out of New York. That's awesome.
And I love them and. It brought me into to EP this
like very specific project that was going to put me in New York
for like 6 to 8 months. I got out to New York and then

(48:04):
obviously like I literally got out to New York like February
12th. So like a month later the whole
world shuts down and then the project was cancelled.
Obviously I came back to LA, butthe company just, I mean they're
great, they just kind of like. Constantly checked in on me like
once events started to come backbecause obviously for like the

(48:26):
first year of COVID, like we were all like we like wanted to
kill myself. Like literally because it was so
hard to go from 100 miles an hour to having absolutely
nothing. And I've only ever like really
learned how to operate at 100 miles an hour.
So, but this company had always kind of once events came back,
just started checking in on me and they had reached out to me a

(48:47):
year before. To ask me about the Saudi Arabia
gig. But at that time, like Mike
said, I had already committed toa job that had moved me to the
South of France. So I passed on it.
Then when they reached out to methis year to just be like, hey,
we, we have no idea where in theworld you are or if you're even
free. But we have this other like like
the Saudi Arabia sort of programlike had expanded and we have

(49:10):
this other role that we'd reallylove for you to take on.
And at that time, I was looking to get out of the South of
France anyway because that experience didn't.
It wasn't quite Emily in Paris in the, in the traditional sense
of all, you know, fun and games.But I was looking to get out of
that position anyway and and sort of pivot.

(49:32):
And so the timing just worked out really well And so this
company brought me on board. And so to answer your other part
of that question, the reason that it's such an important kind
of cultural movement right now is that Saudi Arabia up until
like 2000, I think 16 or 2017, Idon't don't know the exact date.
Has never been allowed to have live events.
So they've only within the last five years women can drive,

(49:56):
which I know sounds insane but women can drive and they've they
are really kind of shifting to this.
Like I mean you guys probably you probably all read about the
whole thing with the golf and you know they're really trying
to bring this entertainment component and a big piece of
this kind of cultural shift thatthere it's it's called the 2030
vision. Is that they're bringing all

(50:17):
these musical, they they want todo all these these events, these
music events. So a lot of the people in Saudi
Arabia, for whatever reason, youknow, it was a very underground
scene for a bit. Now it's the first time that
they can actually do this out inthe open and dance.
And the the coolest thing for mewas like being at the event
because there's so many rules inSaudi Arabia, like, you know,

(50:38):
like I had to wear, I couldn't show my shoulders or my knees
and you know, there's there's all kinds of like different.
You know, and being being gay inSaudi Arabia is still like,
punishable by death. Like there's still like crazy,
crazy, like inhumane kind of laws happening.
But when you're in the, in the context of our event, there's a,
you know, kind of like an unspoken agreement with the
government that, like, people want, like they want this to

(50:59):
succeed. So we were actually able to see
in the event like for the first time, like girls could wear
whatever they want and they weren't going to get in trouble.
Like people could be, you know, more.
Wouldn't say necessarily like, openly gay, but they could be
more themselves, we'll just say,And no one's going to bother
them. And so being able to, like, be
on their ground, to, like, witness that firsthand was

(51:21):
pretty incredible. Yeah, I could just.
I just feel people just being happy and like feeling free,
like almost like a. Sense of freedom it was.
Yeah, like feeling free. Feeling like themselves for the
first time ever. Yeah, no, it was it was pretty
incredible. So I feel super lucky to have
had that opportunity and to be apart of it.
In a small way. Some of the videos you showed

(51:42):
me, like Bruno Mars's performance was incredible.
The stage they had like you gotta send us some of the videos
so we can put up during the showlike it's it was incredible.
It looks so cool. Yeah, I mean they're definitely
putting some good money into it and putting the production
behind it and and you know, they're bringing in these
artists that also for the artists it's a big deal because
they've never performed there and so there's a lot of really

(52:03):
you know and. And it does.
You know, I'm not discrediting that.
It does come with a lot of kind of controversy around it because
a lot of people are still very outspoken in terms of a lot of
the inhumane elements to what's still happening there.
But the way that I kind of look at it is that in order to to
make change, you have to start somewhere, and this is a start

(52:26):
for them. And so it's not going to change
overnight, but at least. I was there to witness, like,
what the impact of this change is actually having for the
people that are there that want the change.
So. And that's what you do.
Yeah, That is why I do what I do.
So, so, yeah, so that's where I'm at.
House parties and beer cans to to fucking Saudi Arabia and.

(52:49):
Literally like central pay like.Building a cultural movement.
Yeah, like it's. Freaking awesome, man.
Crazy. And even through all the ups and
downs, she still was able to pull all that.
I mean, I I appreciate the fan of this woman.
She. Is.
Thank you. Huge in in my life, so.
I mean. Huge and many others as well.
Well, thank you. That means a lot.
And I will say that the best thing for me this time around is

(53:10):
that because I had gone through this sort of like essentially
like a like a career nervous breakdown and had gotten so
burnt out and was so like just angry and unhappy that coming
back into it this time around, Iwas able to like look at it with
a totally different view. And really be able to appreciate
what I was doing and not be so, like, tightly wrapped up in it

(53:32):
that I didn't have any fun. Because that was the number one
thing that I regretted working at Insomniac is that I I don't
feel like I ever gave myself a chance to have fun.
And so I I do regret those moments of being like, oh, I'm
super proud of what we've done, but I don't actually get to
enjoy it because I'm, you know? Too worried that, you know we've
got one kid overdosing on the ground here.
There's a fight breaking out at check in, you know the like.

(53:53):
There's just so much going on that I just never got to really
enjoy it. So being able to go back this
time and and and have a different kind of mental
approach and outlook really changed it and really made a a
big difference for me so. That's some great advice to
give, like everybody struggling,especially doing what we do,
even TV movies like. It's going to be a struggle, but

(54:15):
if you stay consistent, when youcan look at it from a different
perspective, it's a whole different ball game.
A whole different ball game and like just being able to
appreciate I I was never good atappreciating what I've you know,
what I've done. And and I think that it was
funny cuz I gave this advice to one of the younger girls that I
was working with in Saudi Arabia.
I was like, listen I was like the only advice I can give you

(54:35):
is like just take a second and you know enjoy it.
Like just be proud of what you've done.
Like stop, walk around look at what you've done and just.
Take a moment to be like, you know, I did this because that
really is what helps to kind of ground you and keep you focused
into like why you're killing yourself over it in the 1st
place, so. Did you want to talk about what

(54:57):
it was like being a woman in theindustry, going to Saudi Arabia
as a person in power? Yeah, that was sure.
I get asked that a lot. It's funny because.
My response is I was actually more worried about being
American than I was being a woman and and and it and it

(55:18):
sounds harsh but it it's the truth and the reason is
obviously there's a lot of tension between our two
countries and and Americans, no matter what they think.
I've done a lot of traveling. The verdict is out on how we're
perceived around the world so you have to be really careful
so. Central over here.

(55:39):
I would say that like I already kind of knew what to expect
being a woman. So it it didn't really like I
have now been to China, been to like, I mean I was in Japan and
again I was like one of the onlywomen.
It was funny. Japan was another one that I had
to like fight for the respect that when I first got there,
like I wasn't invited to the meetings.

(55:59):
I wasn't invited to the like executive dinners because it was
only men. I wasn't invited to the karaoke
nights. Like it was like the legitimate
like I was iced out because I was a woman and.
I started to, I'm very like adamant about when I go to a
different country about like learning about the culture and
especially in a business kind ofsense.
And once I started to really like put forth this, this like

(56:23):
sort of energy of trying to do things the Japanese way, I think
that they. The team on the ground for the
for the sky deck in Japan, because it was a very specific
team, you know, literally went from like ignoring me to like
they wouldn't even move a chair without my permission.
So it was, it was a really interesting cultural shift that
I kind of won them over and thatrespect.

(56:43):
And then once they kind of understood who I was in in my
position because everything in in Japan is about, you know,
like respect and your position and and where you are.
They like, like, I mean they're you know, bowing to me like
everything kind of shifted. I still wasn't invited to the
executive dinners but. I I kind of got over that
because that's again, that's just you can only change a
culture so much when you're in these places let.

(57:05):
You in the karaoke room this time or?
No, I didn't. We did our own serious there.
But as always, I like find a wayaround it because then I just go
like, you know, we would have our own like the, you know, like
when I was traveling abroad, I didn't get to bring the whole
team with me to every, every single event.
So I was there a lot of the times by myself navigating and
just kind of overseeing. On the ground team from whatever

(57:28):
country you're in. But so going to Saudi Arabia, I
had already like dealt with like, I mean and even here like
Mike knows I used to make I makeMike go ask XYZ club person
because they're not listening tome.
Like I had no ego with it because I just needed to get
something done. So Mike would go ask.
They would do it like they'd ignore me.
You know it was this. So I I had been kind of in this

(57:50):
world already of being very usedto being like I just need to get
it done. I don't care how to get it done.
So I'll send a guy to go. Ask another guy if that means
they're going to do it. And that's how I became the
front face of this guy. Not even kidding.
That's how I became the front face of this guy, Nick.
I mean, I I wasn't an idiot. Like, I wasn't naive to what was
actually happening. And I needed the operation to

(58:11):
run. So I just was like, fine, go
talk to this person. They're not listening to me.
And when I got to Saudi Arabia, I kind of already knew that that
was going to be, it was going tobe a similar kind of
infrastructure of like women in power.
There is still kind of a newer thing for them.
But I have to say like All in all, I did not have a bad
experience as a woman. I think there was one instance

(58:31):
where you know we had to do thisbig on the ground meeting for
like the police, the local government, like it was a big
like exterior OPS kind of meeting.
And that was the only meeting where they, the government
officials would not allow women into the meeting.
And our partner out there who was kind of like the, the
client, like the Saudi Arabia like production company was like

(58:53):
well. All like, it's all women that
are, like, in charge. And they were like, Nope, sorry.
So everyone's like, oh, aren't you upset?
I'm like, no, I don't care. I'm gonna sit in this meeting
anyway, You know, like, I just, you can.
I found ways around it. Does it annoy the hell out of me
at times? Yes, absolutely.
There's been a lot of times whenI've been really frustrated that

(59:16):
being a female has has, like, inherently worked against me.
But I think as I get older and as I've kind of moved on and as
I've kind of grown as like a I was just a person.
I just, it's just part of, it's just part of this world that I'm
in. And all I can do is what I've
been trying to do since day one is stand up for myself, stand up

(59:36):
for other women and you know, keep fighting against it the
best I can. I think you're doing a great job
of it. Thank you.
It's amazing. I mean, she's dropped some some
wisdom and I think a lot of females out there that are in
her position can, you know, definitely a role model look up
to and all the things she's beenthrough, you know, and like it's
been a great conversation. And I just got to say thank you
from the bottom of my heart for what you've done for me and our
little family. Without you, none of us exist.

(59:59):
I don't exist in this industry, which means my mental breakdowns
didn't. We shouldn't lead to this.
We wouldn't be here. Grateful for.
Mama, Mama in the house. No, but any last words before we
get out of here? It's amazing, the little things
that your your Pat that you did in the past, the little
creations that that you that youmade.

(01:00:19):
You just don't never know where they're going to go and like
what fruit they're going to bear, right?
It's it's amazing to hear that you created such something that
at the time was just something you know, that it was part of
your job that now the whole world recognizes as something
important to them. As a culture.
Thank you. It's cool.
Really awesome. So we hope you had a good time
on the show with us today. I did appreciate.

(01:00:39):
You being here so much, Thank. You so much for having me.
Thank you, everybody. We'll see you next time on A
Chaos Whoosh.

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Brett Qualters : Creator of the Insomniac VIP Skydeck | Chaos Controlled Podcast 206

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Brett Qualters : Creator of the Insomniac VIP Skydeck | Chaos Controlled Podcast 206