Travel, Marriage, and Content Creation: A Life Shared with Lamar & Vicktoria

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I was very, very young.

(00:01):
I had a lot of aggression.
It was, it was a turn on.
People in our culture have givenup on the idea of marriage.
I would say marriage.
I, I see marriage dying, to behonest.
I do.
Your kids may become contentcreators.
Oh yeah.
That's gonna be okay.
Yeah.
Like why did I want to do this?
Yeah.
And my parents are right.

(00:22):
Welcome to the Journey podcast.
Today is a very, very specialday because I have some of the
most important people in my lifewho I'll be interviewing today.
Not only my best friends, thegodparents to one of my
children, look people that Igenuinely do life with, probably
the, the, the couple that I'vetraveled the most with in my

(00:43):
lifetime.
And.
Without further ado, I'm soexcited for you guys to hear
their journey through life,through marriage, through just
travel, adventures, contentcreation, I mean, and so much
more.
They're not only my businesspartners, they're not only my
friends, but just people that Iconsider brother and sister.
And without further ado, let meintroduce you guys to the one

(01:05):
and only or the two and onlyLamar and Victoria Thompson.
Man, what's going on?
What's going on?
Where do we start?
Where do we start?
They, they actually flew in allthe way from New York City.
The last second.
Yeah, last second.
And as you guys always do, youguys always show love and it's
just been, uh, man, so amazingdoing a lot of life together.

(01:25):
We've traveled to someincredible places together, and
today we're coming on the showfor a particular reason.
So, uh, the cool thing about.
My friends is the fact that, uh,you guys are, uh, also like
investors in this creator'sconference.
Yeah.
You guys helped us put ittogether.
Last year we did our very firstcreator's conference, and we're
gonna be doing the second annualone this year in Tampa.

(01:45):
So excited.
Yeah.
And man, uh, there's, there's somuch that I can unpack here in
terms of, um, your journeys andeverything like that, but if you
guys don't mind, let's get.
Kick started with, uh, you guysjust sharing a little bit about
your personal stories and thenbasically how you met, how you
got together.
I was actually, I remember whenI first met, we were talking
about it last night.

(02:05):
I remember when I first metVicki and it was in Lamar's
parents' basement and years andyears ago during a blizzard.
And who would've thought yearslater we'd be here?
Right?
Yeah.
So let's get kickstarted.
We could go ladies first.
Vicki, if you don't mind, um, ifyou can just share a little bit
about, uh, your personal storyand, uh, yeah, we'll take it
from there.

(02:26):
Awesome.
Awesome.
So again, as Victoria Thompson,as Josh mentioned, and, um, I
got into the world of travelingfrom meeting my husband.
I've already been on onevacation before we met, and when
we went, we had so many memoriesand I love the fact that we were
able to capture them.
And when I look back on thosememories, like it just makes me
so happy.
It makes me smile because.
It's something that we can buildupon.
And what I love is that ourfuture, our kids, when they look

(02:47):
back at what we've done, thenthey're like, Hey, we can do it
too.
And it's only the beginning forlike, we've gone to so many, uh,
so many different places and Ikind of wanna pivot from
traveling a lot to showingpeople what we do while we
travel.
Mm-hmm.
And I feel like it has been likean honest struggle because we
have a backlog of content thatwe have to put out, we love to
put out.
And that's why I'm super excitedfor the Creators Conference
because we're gonna learn, learnso much like we did last year.

(03:09):
We were able to put forth, youknow, a lot of our memories to
share with the world and with.
Our family, so For sure.
For sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm really big on just sharingwhat we do and how we do it.
Nice, nice.
I love it.
Yeah.
Now, if you don't mind, take usback to like where you grew up,
like Oh yeah.
You know where exactly you grewup.
What was your upbringing likebefore even just embarking into.
Just what you do today, right?
So I was born and raised inBrooklyn, and then I moved out

(03:30):
to Far Rockaway, Queens when Iwas about maybe 11, 12 years
old.
I've been there ever since.
Um, and yeah, I, uh, went toschool in Rockaway and I went up
to college upstate to Cuca,which is like a college so close
to Canada.
I was like eight hours from NewYork and um, I had a good time
there and I'd say that, um, itbrought me, it kind of opened my
lens, like my eyes to kind ofwhat I really wanna see in life

(03:51):
and I really enjoy.
Landscapes.
I love the world.
I love looking at things outsideof what my eyes can see, which
actually, actually brought me tothe, to drone videography, which
is what I do now.
I recently got certified by theFAA to be a drone pilot.
Nice.
Which is super amazing.
So I'm kind of tr I want to usethat with our concept creation,
with our travels and capturemore of what we do from an
aerial perspective.

(04:11):
So I love it.
I love it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's kinda been my pivot.
So much in between, of course.
Mm-hmm.
But just long story short.
I like to be in the sky and flycapture for sure.
Now what I, what did you want tobe when you were like growing
up, but let's just say highschool.
I know you were a gamer.
You a hardcore gamer, A big Halofan.
I was a, oh my gosh, halo, gearsof War, call of Duty.
I was like, I was that girl thatwas stuck in her house.

(04:32):
Like I wasn't outside on thescene doing anything extra.
And I'm actually proud of thatbecause it kind of kept me in,
kind of saved me, right?
Mm-hmm.
Um, and yeah, I was into thatworld of gaming and um, I wanted
to get outside more and I feellike God.
Um, put me together with myhusband'cause we, we are just
always out doing what we love todo.
Um, but yeah, I really wanted tobe a dentist to be honest.
I wanted to be, um, a, a Aden,not a dentist, a hygienist.

(04:55):
Mm-hmm.
A dental hygienist because Ijust, something about the
gentrification, I just lovethat.
Um, so yeah, I wanted to dothat, but it wasn't my thing.
I actually went to school to bea dental.
Assistant, I was a dentalassistant for about four years
and then I realized I don'twanna take these x-rays anymore.
Yeah.
Like it was just too many x-raysand I think I kind of slacked
myself out of it and was like,Hey, there has to be more.
And you know, I really want todo something that will gimme

(05:16):
more time or freedom to myselfand.
That's amazing.
Wanna I wanna serve?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I love it.
Uh, did you expect to kind ofjust travel as much as you do
today?
Um, to be honest, it was a goal.
It was a dream of mine, but itwasn't, I wa it wasn't something
that I saw happening very soon.
Mm-hmm.
I was really wanting, wanted tobuild myself up as a woman and
just be prepared for my husband.

(05:37):
But yeah, I knew at one pointI'm like, Hey, I wanna see more
of the world.
After I took a trip, a cruise toBahamas with my best friends at
the time, I just knew like, Hey,I need to get outta New York.
Like to be confined by buildingsall the time.
Absolutely.
It's like, and, and luckily forme, I lived by the beach, so I
was spoiled in that sense.
But come on, like other beachescompared to New York beaches,
it's just not the same.
So definitely, yeah, I kind ofsaw that in my future for sure.

(05:58):
Absolutely.
And let's take it to Lamar.
So Lamar you, I mean, you guyscome from two different worlds
in a sense.
Yeah.
And I know you, you're afootball guy.
For those of you who don't know,Lamar and I actually played
football in college together.
So, uh, we both have a bigbackground in just the world of
football.
And you've even coached footballat the semi-pro level.

(06:18):
You've won a bunch ofchampionships as a coach even
and as a player.
Yep.
And uh, just.
Give us a little bit of thebackstory.
I know your story, but I knowfor a lot of our audience this
is uh, their very first timebeing exposed to you.
Many of our audience, theyprobably have seen you guys on
our social media posts becausewe do so much life together.
Yep, yep.
But they don't really know thebackstory of pretty much what it

(06:39):
is that you do or the world youcome from.
So I'm excited for a lot of ouraudience to be able to just hear
a little bit more about how yougot to where you are today.
Yeah.
So it's hard to pinpoint whereto start.
'cause I feel like in my life.
I had a lot of resets.
Mm-hmm.
Um, good, bad.
Um, but, so I guess I'll take itback to just how I grew up.

(07:00):
So I grew up in a reallytraditional Jamaican household,
and if you guys know anythingabout Jamaicans mm-hmm.
Um, you can imagine how toughthat was.
Mm-hmm.
Very strict, especially growingup.
They're so protective over theirchildren.
Yeah.
And.
Um, and growing up it was reallyfrustrating, right?
Mm-hmm.
And, but as I get older now, Iunderstood the things that they
taught me and, and that like notletting me go to that party.

(07:20):
When you are growing up and you,and you want to do all these
different types of things and,and you don't understand why
your parents would try to.
Stop you from doing certainthings.
Mm-hmm.
I was really frustrated growingup, and, and most people don't
know this, when I was veryyoung, I was a big bully.
Mm.
And people see me now and theysay, oh, Lamar, you, you're so
soft and you, you, like, youhave a certain personality that
people love.
But growing up I was a bullyman.

(07:41):
Mm-hmm.
And, and I think a lot of thatanger came from just like not
being able to do what I want.
Like I couldn't, when I wasyoung, I wanted to play
football.
I wanted to.
Karate, my parents wouldn't letme do it.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and that, and eventually Iplayed football and I think
that's why I excelled at it.
'cause I, I had always a lot ofaggression.
Mm-hmm.
And not saying I was a bad kidforever.
Right.
Yeah.
But I, I, I, I, growing up, itjust, when I was very, very

(08:01):
young, I had a lot of aggressionFor sure.
Um, and I was able to get thatout in middle school when I
really started playing football.
From there, that's where Ireally reset.
Right.
I got taught hard really becauseat first I thought I was gonna
come out there and be asuperstar.
Mm-hmm.
And life taught me real quicklythat listen, you may be the man
at home, but when you got on onthis football field, you're
nothing.

(08:21):
That's right.
And I didn't start for the firsttwo years and I was like, why
did I want to do this?
Yeah.
And my parents were right.
I always had to dream aboutgoing to the NFL and everything
like that.
Of course.
Again, if you know anythingabout Jamaicans, they're like,
what do you mean they want me tobe a doctor, lawyer, or
something like that.
Mm-hmm.
And I was like, no, I'm gonna bea football player.
Mm.
I got humbled real quick.
I played throughout, all,throughout, um, my life and
through semipro.
But um, that was my first bigrealization of life is kind

(08:44):
like, listen.
You may think you have a planfor your life, but this is, this
is, this is, you get humbledreal quick.
Yeah.
And I was forced to changeperspectives.
I was like, okay, maybe I'm notgonna be in the NFL, but I'm
gonna be the best damn footballplayer I can possibly be.
For sure.
And that was a pivotal moment inmy life because I took it
seriously to the point where Ilistened to my coaches.
And I, and I got life coachingfrom football and it toned down

(09:06):
my aggression.
Yeah.
A lot.
For sure, for sure.
And I turned it to somebody.
It was funny for being super, Imean, when I say a bully, I
mean, I was beating kids up inthe yard.
Mm-hmm.
Like people would see me comingand run away.
And it was honestly, honestly,mostly'cause of my younger
brother.
Yeah.
'cause I, I was very protectiveover my younger brother and he,
he used to get bullied a lot,right?
Mm-hmm.
Because people used to think, hewas kind of like, you know, I,
he's probably watching this likea nerd.

(09:27):
Yeah.
So he used to get bullied.
I was like, nah, you're notbullying my brother.
Yeah.
But then growing up.
I realized I couldn't continueto be that way and football
taught me to, to hone in thataggression and, and use it for
on the field.
I love it.
Um, yeah, man, and, and, andthat's like the first pivotal
moment in my life.
Um, if I'm really bringing itback.
I don't even know if you've evenheard that story.
Mm-hmm.
Of me really bringing it back towhere that in the foundation for

(09:49):
the rest of my life.
Yeah.
No, that's amazing.
That's amazing.
I'm curious with you guys like.
Did you know that you would bemarried at a younger age?
Like when did, what did, whatwas your vision for family life,
for like when you were growingup?
I remember thinking as a kid, Iwanted to have a big family,
five kids and married.
And then at one point in time itwas like, all right, let me just

(10:10):
wait till my dirties.
And uh, Kia and I, we just endedup getting married a lot sooner
than expected and just kind oflike having kids write from the
beginning.
And one of the things that Iwanted to do with this podcast
was.
Just kind of give people hope inmarriage as well, because I know
a lot of people in our culturehave given up on the idea of
marriage.
Mm-hmm.
And we've kind of been at war,right.

(10:31):
The masculine and feminine for alot of years.
Yeah.
I, I love the fact that you guysare, are married, but you're
taking like your own path at thesame time.
Yeah.
Like Key.
And I started having childrenreally young and you guys are
now considering it at, at alater stage and mm-hmm.
Um, but you've had the abilityto do all this incredible travel
and do all these amazing thingstogether.

(10:52):
And, um, I'm curious as to whatwas the vision when you were
like.
First starting out, like, didyou expect to get married and
kind of take this path?
What, what, what, what did youguys both have in mind?
Yeah.
Um, for me, it's so funnybecause right before we came on
this trip, I have a, uh, inschool you used to, like, on my
senior year, we, uh, did thiswhole, um, you had to write out

(11:14):
a, uh, what your life was gonnabe like in X amount of years.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
And I was reading through it andI was like, wow.
I, and I said to myself while Iwas 30, I was gonna have a kid.
Mm-hmm.
I was gonna have a house, I wasgonna be married.
And the only thing that reallycame out of that from when I'm
going back on it now, was reallyjust.
Having be married.
Yeah.
I still, we still don't havekids.
Mm-hmm.
And we still, um, and we don'thave a house yet.

(11:35):
Yeah.
We have a three bedroom condo.
Mm-hmm.
But we don't have a house yet.
So I, when I was younger, Ireally thought that I was gonna
be living mm-hmm.
In a big house.
Yep.
Bunch of kids running around.
Um, but life changed.
Yeah.
Especially depending on who youmeet.
Yeah.
Right.
And I met, uh, Vicki, you know,at a point in my life where I
just wanted to just enjoy theperson I was with.
Mm-hmm.
Because I didn't have that formany years.
Yeah.
Just enjoying life withsomebody.
Yep.
And that's what we went to allaround the world.

(11:57):
That's all we did.
Yeah.
Travel, travel, travel in.
The other thing is people in ourfamily, and even you said it
like, listen, don't have kidsuntil you're ready.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
Like you just get all the funout now.
'cause when you have kids, yourlife's completely changed.
Absolutely.
And I think we honestly listenedto that advice.
Yeah.
Um, to the point where it's likenow, like there's nothing,
there's, we've done so much,it'll be silly now not to.

(12:18):
Fill out our course.
Second part of the dream ishaving kids and stuff like that.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
No, it's beautiful because the,the good thing is like, I think
we have so much pressure as asociety, like, oh, you have to
have kids at this age.
Mm-hmm.
And you have to go about it inthis way.
Get the house with the whitepicket fence and all of that,
and American Dream.
But the American dream hasevolved.
Yeah.
It's definitely not the same.
Yeah.

(12:38):
It's it's not the same as itused to be during our parents'
time.
So what about you, Vicki?
What was like your vision forthat?
Uh, honestly, I'd say before Imet Lamoi I was a little
different.
Like, I, I wasn't really big onmarriage or even pursuing,'cause
I was, I was a tomboy.
I didn't even really see thatfor myself when I was really
young.
Um, and before we met, I wassingle for about five years.
So I knew that what whoever Iwas gonna date.

(13:00):
Was gonna be my husband.
Like I wanted it to leadsomewhere.
And the cool thing is that wewould, when we got serious in
our dating, we definitely knewwe had, we wanted a future
together.
Like from our very first date,we've never separated like every
tan, every chance we had withfree time, we spent it together.
And I knew this was goingsomewhere and I.
I wasn't, we never really, Inever pressured ourselves to
have kids.
I didn't wanna put them in that,make that like our main goal as

(13:23):
our, as a couple.
But I wanted to, for us toevolve and learn ourselves and
learn each other as we grewtogether.
Um, my, you know, my parents,they're like, you know, we're
the kids, they were just excitedfor kids, but they were big on
marriage first.
Mm-hmm.
And that was a big thing for me.
Like, I didn't want to, um,become a mom without being a
wife first.
And once I became a wife, I'mlike, okay, now I'm a wife.
Like what now?
Like.
But there were just so manyother things we wanted to do,

(13:43):
and I, to be honest, thinkingback on it, I feel like we could
have done a lot, even if we didhave kids a couple years ago.
You know, I don't, I don't, Idon't have any regrets.
But I would say I would love, Iwould've loved to be an, a
younger mom.
Yeah.
To be honest.
Mm-hmm.
Um, I do feel like it does takeaway from years going with, with
our kids.
Yeah.
For, you know, let's just letjust be honest about that.
Mm-hmm.
But yeah, I just knew it wasgonna go where it needed to go,
and I knew that, you know, wewere gonna be guided in the

(14:05):
right direction becauseAbsolutely.
Our love was real and we, wehave similar goals.
Yeah, sure.
Um, and as far as like our, youknow, moving to a house and
things like that, I know that'sdefinitely in our future, but it
has to be.
Right.
Of course.
You know, we don't wanna berushed or pressured by society,
like you mentioned earlier,because.
A lot of these pressures aregiving, you know, marriage a bad
rep.
A lot of people, they don'twanna get married.
They just wanna be, you know,they have that individual
individualistic mindset wherethey're like, well, it's just

(14:26):
about me pleasing myself anddoing what I wanna do.
But when you have someone elsethat's like, by your side,
you're a rock.
Mm-hmm.
It's like, you know what?
No matter what comes.
You know, in your way, whateverobstacles might come about, you
know that you have that support.
Yeah, definitely.
And it's just, to me, that'sjust worth more than everything.
Like I'm just so happy just tobe married.
Mm-hmm.
And just to have my, my person,my rock, my everything.
Absolutely.
That.
I know that once we have kids,once we we're gonna still

(14:47):
travel, we're gonna still dowhatever we want because.
We have like similar goals asfar as as, yeah, definitely.
Yeah.
What would you say is the, thehardest part about marriage in
particular?
And I know you, you, you guysstill have your fair share
because obviously when kids comeinto the equation Yeah, yeah.
That's its own fair share ofchallenges, right?
But in terms of like your path,um, so far, what would you say

(15:07):
is like the most challengingpart?
Wow.
There are definitely a lot ofchallenging, challenging parts.
It's like a constant battle, youknow?
'cause you're grow, you're as aperson, you're growing, you're
evolving, you're, you're noteven the same person that he
married or he.
He was, you know, when you guysrecording or dating, you know,
so it's like keeping up with whoyour husband or who your wife is
becoming and just still having,you know, maintaining the
attraction.

(15:28):
Just maintaining the intimacy.
Sometimes I feel like it couldget to the point where you feel
like roommates, you know whatI'm saying?
Mm-hmm.
Because you're just in aroutine, you're, everything's on
like autopilot.
Yep.
And it is very, very challengingto go back to, hey.
Cut out all the noise, cut outeverything that we, that we
think is more important than us,and focus on what really got us
together in the first place.
For sure.
And just bring that back, keepthat fire burning.
I think that's very challenging.

(15:49):
Mm-hmm.
And it's very distractingenvironment that we're all in.
Like we're on our phones all thetime, we're doing this, we're
trying to work on our business.
We got work, we havefriendships, we have family
ships, all these differentthings.
And you kind of lose sight ofthat one person that you are
ordained to be with.
And I think that's one of thechallenging parts that Yeah,
definitely.
I noticed.
Yeah, definitely.
I agree.
No.
A hundred percent.
I think I'm gonna take adifferent spin.
'cause I'm gonna keep it real.
Yeah, right.

(16:09):
Absolutely.
Let's go.
Absolutely.
Um, and, and just, just for me,and, and you know, this, where
we have a alpha mentality.
Mm-hmm.
We, we need to be in control.
We know, we think we know what'sbest for our family and, and we
really take that on a true man'sman.
Right.
And sometimes I find myselfbeing, I don't wanna say not
aggressive, but like, it's like,listen, it's this way and this
is, I don't gotta explain why Igotta be this way.

(16:30):
Just know, I know.
What you don't know.
Yeah.
And, and this is how we're gonnago about it and not taking a
step back and listen and like,listen, would I talk to someone
that way if they were myemployee?
Yeah.
Probably not, because I know therepercussions of doing that now.
They're gonna feel like theycan't come to me and tell me of
course, what's really going on.
Right?
Mm-hmm.
So I, I learned a lot to, to,and it's still a struggle, as

(16:51):
you know.
Mm-hmm.
It's a struggle to take a stepback, like, all right.
Think about what you're gonnasay before you say it.
Yeah.
Um, and, and that is huge inmarriage.
It's communication.
But when you, when you peel,peel it back, how are you
talking to your spouse?
Yeah.
Right.
Or when you, when you, when yousay certain things, words
matter.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, Jerry AOV taught us, um,before I, I used to work at
Hertz Rental card and we gottrained by him.

(17:12):
We got certified Mm.
Um, in, in the sales field, um,by Jerry Ako.
And one of his things and alwaysstuck with me, if I remember
nothing else, is that wordsmatter and that curiosity.
Through life, not just saleswith, with your friendship, your
relationship, um, even one wordthat you say could, can make a
difference.
So I battle every single day andsometimes I just wanna let
loose.
Yeah.
And, and, and sometimes I do.

(17:33):
Mm-hmm.
But, but after you, and I thinkthis, what's, what's, what good
about us is we, we may befrustrated for a little while,
right.
But we, we figure it out.
Like we're not gonna stay madall day.
Yeah.
Like, that's very rare whenwe're mad for, for, for days.
Mm-hmm.
That's very rare.
I mean, and it'll be somethingstupid.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
So the, the, the biggest thing,the struggle for us is just
keeping that holistic co uh,course communication Of course.

(17:54):
And, and, and not beingaggressive.
'cause I don't want to be, it isnever gonna be that way, but
we've seen toxic relationships.
Absolutely.
They're always arguing.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
And when we have kids, thatcan't happen.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Which, when you really go backto it.
We learned that from just being,just us not having kids.
Mm-hmm.
So maybe if we would've had kidsyounger, we wouldn't have, we'd
be so focused on them that wewouldn't realize like, wait,

(18:14):
this is not Okay.
Very true point.
So hopefully now that's a goodpoint.
We have kids, we can be, youknow, with that, that whole,
yeah.
You know, we had years togetheralready, like not, not arguing
petty arguments.
Of course, of course.
Yeah.
No, it's so true.
It's so true.
What would you say is the aspectof marriage that you love the
most?
Oh, that I love the most.
Mm-hmm.
Just, man, I try to think theother day what it was like being

(18:38):
by myself.
Mm.
Like not having that one person.
Mm-hmm.
And I remember, and I broughtmyself back to that moment.
Like, I was meditated on thatmoment, just like in bed.
I meditate.
It's weird.
I meditate a lot.
I, I don't do traditionalmeditation.
Mm-hmm.
Where you sit up and youbreathe.
I meditate like this, handsacross my chest and just when my
eyes closed at night.
Because I'm able to visualizemore, right?
Mm-hmm.
And, um, it's, this is monthsago and I still remember that I

(18:59):
was remembering that timebringing me back to like, man,
if I didn't have, and this isafter like we got into a
disagreement.
Mm-hmm.
I'm like, man, she really pissedme off.
And I just, like, I sat down andI was like, let me think back to
the time I didn't have anybodyto, to like just sleep next to
Yeah.
And that time was very lonely.
Mm-hmm.
And, and it's uncertainty inthat time.
Mm-hmm.
And that.
Is worse.

(19:20):
Yeah.
And that, that, that's worsethan having an argument with
your spouse.
Mm.
Um, so I think the best part ofmarriage to answer your question
is just knowing that that isyour person.
Yeah.
Sure.
Like you're gonna go throughlife together and, and you're
not gonna, like, divorce is thelast thing that's gonna come
out.
Your, your, your mouth.
Yeah.
Like, we are not, that's not,that's never, that's not in our
cards.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
Mm-hmm.
That's never that, that's likewe are gonna be together for a
lifetime.

(19:40):
And understanding that andrealizing if that's the, your
path that you want to takemm-hmm.
That you're gonna make it work.
Yeah, for sure.
And that shit, at the end of theday, you could be mad, but.
Hey, babe.
You hungry?
No, that's always That'll do it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'll do it.
Like, Hey babe, um, you want meto pick you up something?
Yep, yep.
Little gifts here and there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We always bring it back togetherfor sure.
And you don't understand howimportant that is because.
Life can get lonely.

(20:01):
Yeah.
Very lonely.
So good.
So true.
Yeah, so true.
Absolutely.
Now, um, in terms of advice,like what, what advice would you
give a, a young person who'seven considering getting married
or, or wants to get married?
What would be some practicaladvice before we jump into a lot
of like, you know, the traveland lifestyle stuff, I
definitely wanted to, uh, haveyou guys offer some insight.

(20:23):
To that.
I think that's a great questionand I think that's, um, a topic
that a lot of, a lot of us needto talk about.
You know, married versus amarried couples.
Um, I have a lot of friends andI, you know, I hear their
journey, what they're goingthrough and.
My advice to them, like myadvice would be to anyone,
everyone listening to thispodcast, especially the ladies,
is to really, really understandyour value and keep that in
mind, like with every decisionthat you make.
Because I do feel that, um, youknow, as, as the, with the

(20:46):
dating culture these days, Ifeel like we, everyone's looking
for everything at the same time.
And it's like, you're really,you seem to slow down and just
be patient.
Yeah.
You know, be patient andunderstand your value and don't
just give out what you have sofreely.
Mm-hmm.
I know what I'm talking about.
Right?
Yep.
Yep.
I feel like that's verydetrimental.
It brings forth, you know.
Single mother, um, singlemother, family, you know, brings
forth a lot of things that oursociety just doesn't need.

(21:07):
And I think we need to reallyjust sit down, you know, have
that conversation like, Hey, weare valuable and we need to act
as such.
Mm-hmm.
I feel like I'm not seeing thatas much in, you know, with the
music, the culture, a lot ofthese different things.
Its, it's.
Disheartening to see where we'regoing as a society to be real.
And I feel like we need thesetype of conversations, mentors,
people who are married, peoplewho've gone through, you know,
the dating phase so that ourgenerations don't have to go

(21:27):
through what we went through, orwe can at least help them
navigate it.
So my advice to the ladies, tothe men even is to just take
your time.
Don't rush into it.
Don't be pressured by societalnorms to just know that the one
out there that's gonna love youfor you is there.
You don't need to share so muchof yourself to just get that
five second feeling of, um,euphoria just to kind of.
You know, very true.
Have everything go downhill justfrom that one decision.

(21:49):
Yeah.
So I would say definitely takeyour time and very be mindful of
who you're dealing with, howyou're dealing with them, and
just have a goal.
Mm-hmm.
But you know, a lot ofrelationships don't really have
many goals these days.
Course, course unfor, of course.
Yeah.
No, it's so true with the goal,like it, I always tell couples
that it's good to have a unifiedNorth star.
Like what's, what's your unifiedvision?
Not just your individual goals,but your, yeah.

(22:10):
Collective goals that you share.
Like what's, what's the visionfor your family?
What's the vision in terms ofwhere you wanna live, how you
wanna live, those types ofthings.
It's important.
Important.
It's important, yeah.
To, to, to, um, build on thatthough.
I also think it's important tohave individual goals because
Yeah, you have to keep growing.
I think you mentioned it before,you gotta kind of keep up with
your spouse.
Like she's doing drone and Idon't know anything about being

(22:30):
a drone pilot.
Mm-hmm.
Um, but I'm trying to keep up.
I'm watching her, you know, I'meven playing with the drone a
little bit.
And her starting her ownbusiness is fascinating and it
also brings you closer, likehaving seen her do something
else besides what she's doingalready.
Mm-hmm.
Just having want more outtalife.
Even though she, she does, we,we travel all the time.
We do.
You would think that people lookat her and say, oh, you have the

(22:50):
perfect life.
And she, we hear it all thetime.
You guys are so happy and thisand that.
We are very happy.
But it's just at that stagewhere she has really nothing
that she really wants.
She wants to.
Build and, and that'sattractive.
Yeah.
Right.
So I think it's important tohave your own goals even with
me.
Absolutely.
You know, I, I have, I have ahigh paying job.
I'm, I'm fine, I'm good, I don'tneed anything else, but then I
wanna do production and contentcreation and stuff like that.

(23:11):
So, um, to advice on marriagewould, I would just spend it a
little bit, um, and say, makesure you have your individual
goals Yeah.
As well.
Yeah.
You need to come together andhave a combined goal, but if.
It's attractive when your, whenyour spouse has something else
going on that mm-hmm.
You know nothing about and theycan teach you about it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There's something special aboutthat.
That's so good.
Yeah.
I love that.
Last question on marriage ismarriage dead?

(23:34):
He and I did an episodespecifically that was the title
of the episode is Marriage DeadGo One, and we just kind of.
Spoke a little bit and, and wentdown the rabbit hole with that.
But what, what are your views?
Do you feel like marriage isdead or the concept of marriage?
Do you feel like it's evolved?
I know a lot of people havedifferent ways.
Some people just believe inpartnership, right?
Yeah.
Like, or common law.

(23:54):
There's just so many ways to goabout it, but what, what are
your views?
I would say marriage.
I, I see marriage dying, to behonest.
I do from, um, just fromconversations that I've had with
close people or friends of mineor.
You know, I feel like there's astigma on marriage that you lose
your freedom.
Like you lose your sense ofyourself.
Like you have to become someonefor this person, but it's like,
no, you have your goals.
Like, like Lamar was justsaying, you have your own goals

(24:14):
that you're working towards,plus the goals together.
It's just a beautiful thing.
And, um, I, I wanna say it'sdying, but I feel like it's
never gonna die.
Mm-hmm.
You know, it's dying, but it'llcome right back like this.
And I feel like it takes.
These type of conversations.
It takes like you need to have amarried friend or too Yeah.
You know, to at least see howit's, like you said, it's a lot
going on.
It's not perfect, but it's justoverall it's a beautiful thing.

(24:34):
It's the purpose.
The purpose of life.
Right.
Of course.
Why, why do it all alone whenyou and your little cat you can
give, nibble it all year, likeforever rest of your life?
Like, no, there's just so much.
It's just, to me, it's such abeautiful thing, especially when
I'm out with, out with othercouples, especially married
couples.
It's like, wow, like we'rereally doing this.
This is hard.
Mm-hmm.
Like dating is hard.
Like I know what the dating poolis a swamp right now.
I get it.
Oh yeah.
And it's making people not wannadate.

(24:55):
They don't wanna get married,they just wanna have their
options open forever.
But.
The age is not gonna stop.
We have to be mindful of ourtime on this earth, and I feel
like it's just a beautiful thingto show what the beauty of
marriage is.
And I like that, you know,that's what we're doing.
So, yeah.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Yeah, we've seen more goodstories about it.
Such a good answer.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
No.
As far as marriage being dead,it's funny because I feel like

(25:16):
every little girl grows up and,and they have an idea of what
they want for their, for theirwedding and their marriage and
everything like that.
And I think that with socialmedia and you see, like, you,
you like, it's like.
It's not how it was before yourmarriage and, and you know this
very well, it's like aproduction.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
And I think they fantasize aboutthat day.
Yeah.
They, they fantasize about likehaving all their friends and

(25:37):
family one big party and, and,and having like.
Behind the scenes captured and,and they're so focused on, on
the fairytale, on, on thefairytale story that that's what
kind of draws them to getmarried.
Like, we need to get married,not because it's good for us or
that we're ready, we wanna getmarried because I, I, I have
this vision in my head and Iwant to fulfill this fantasy in
my head.
And I think at leads to a lot ofpeople getting married too

(25:58):
early.
And that's why it's the divorcerates are so high.
Yeah.
Right.
'cause they don't really knowwhy they got married in the
first place.
Yeah, for sure.
I mean, why, why marriageslasting one or two years?
That's crazy to me.
Yeah, exactly.
One or two years.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like to, Vicki said before, taketime and understand and know
that person.
Mm-hmm.
Like that you could, this wholefantasy that you have in your
head about marriage, it's, yes,it's, listen, if you're gonna
spend all that money, make itthe way you want it.

(26:19):
But don't lose sight of what youreally got married for.
And a lot of people don't reallyuncover that.
They don't have theconversations.
So true.
Yeah, so true.
Uh, whenever, whenever I getasked this, I, I usually answer
that.
I don't think marriage isnecessarily dead.
I think what's dead is.
Or are people who are willing toput it, put the work in
necessary to sustain a marriage.

(26:40):
That's true.
It's a lot of work.
And if, if there's any one wordthat I had to use to describe
marriage, I would say work.
Yeah.
It's, it's not just thefairytale, it's, it's work you
and you have to be willing.
You tell?
Well, both people have to bewilling to put in the work
necessary, and it's challenging.
It's a challenge.
Yeah.
I tell people all the time,like, it's probably one of the
most difficult things that I'veever had to do, but it's, it's

(27:02):
worth it.
It, it really, really is.
If you can get it right, it'sabsolutely worth it, but I think
we need to set realisticexpectations for the next
generation.
Like, Hey, agreed.
This is what it actually lookslike.
That fairytale bullshit is justYeah.
Yeah.
It's good.
It's not reality.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And stick to also like, um, uh,there's, there's like certain

(27:22):
things where you can't get over.
Mm-hmm.
When you, and I told some peoplecome to me for marriage advice
at work, and they say, listen,what?
Like before they get married,they're like, they ask me for
advice.
I'm like, listen, I don't knowyour relationship, but there are
four things that you, four orfive things you have to agree
on.
Finances is number one.
Mm-hmm.
You need to have that openconversation.
Of course.
You know, understand who's indebt, who's not in debt, how

(27:42):
much money you have in the bank.
That has to be number one.
You'd be surprised how manypeople don't know how much money
their partner has before theyget married.
Yeah.
That's crazy.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
Mm-hmm.
That's true.
Um, number two is religion.
If, if you're not, you have to,you can't, one person can't be
the one to say, let's go tochurch.
And you don't really wanna go tochurch.
Yeah.
Yeah.
'cause you don't believe in God.
Absolutely.
All right.
So that, that, that's thebiggest thing.
Um, another one.

(28:03):
Um, what was another one?
Uh, um.
I think we talked about thisyesterday.
Um, your signif, uh, your, uh,spouse or not your spouse, your
spouse's, um.
Come on.
Uh, uh, parents.
Yeah.
Yeah.
In-laws in-law, inlaws in-laws.
If you have a toxic in-law,you'd be surprised Oh yeah.
That, that can lead todivorcing.
Oh yeah.
Sure.
Big time.
And then the last thing waskids.

(28:24):
Yeah.
Agree if you're gonna have kidsmm-hmm.
Or if you're not gonna havekids, and how many you're gonna
have, if you can't agree ofthose four things.
Mm-hmm.
I don't think it's gonna workout.
'cause it's like you're, you're,you're at the point, unless you
could change the person's mindmm-hmm.
But you shouldn't go intomarriage like, okay, maybe we'll
have kids.
Mm-hmm.
Imagine if you were married toKia, right.
Um, you guys are married andthen you wanted kids and she

(28:46):
wasn't really sure, but youstill got married anyway.
And then now you're at the pointwhere you really want kids and
you're like, yeah, I don't knowif I want kids.
Yeah.
Oh, that would lead down.
Of course, of course.
That's very common.
Common.
That's, yeah.
And that would lead to divorce,like almost.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Immediately.
Mm-hmm.
So true.
So true.
I think one of the things thatmakes you guys work is the fact
that you guys have a lot of funtogether.
Yeah.
A lot of fun.
So you're very big.

(29:07):
I mean, you were just out inColumbia living your best life
and I'm, I'm like, you know, Kiaand I were living by Carious.
Lead through you guys justwatching from afar, like, man,
you know, you, you guys are ourcouples goals for a lot of
people Yeah.
In, in this generation.
And it's beautiful.
And, and then, you know, key andI bring a different element to
it because we obviously startedour our kids journey a lot

(29:28):
earlier.
Yeah.
So you, but you have these twodifferent paths, right?
Yeah.
Amazing.
And the amazing thing about itis that we also got to do a lot
of life collectively, right?
Yes.
Two different.
L uh, styles of marriage in asense.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
And, um, but at the same time,it's like we all pretty much
were unified through travel,lifestyle, things like that.

(29:50):
So, um, I'm, I'm curious to kindof go down, uh, this rabbit hole
of, of what travel looked likeand lifestyle and fun in the
marriage for you guys and Yeah.
And how did you kind of set thatas, as the norm?
Mm-hmm.
You know, for, for yourrelationship.
Yeah.
Um, man.
It was like that from day one.

(30:11):
Mm.
Yeah.
We, we, we, I was part coming,before I met her, I was in a
lifestyle travel company.
Mm-hmm.
So it was just my life already.
I was traveling before I metVicki.
Um, and she wasn't reallytraveling and I introduced her
to that life and she got hooked.
She got bit by the travel bugand I Oh, that's right.
Great.
I was like, this is great.
She wants to travel.
I said, this is the one man.
Yeah.

(30:31):
Whatever.
We gonna, it didn't matter whatwe were doing.
For sure.
She was like, yeah, I'm, I'mwith it.
Let's go.
Yep.
Yeah.
Um, and I think that's where itstarted, man.
Just, just I,'cause I alreadyhad that lifestyle and it just,
that's another reason why we gotmarried.
I mean, it was just like, you'dbe surprised some people, you
would think that a lot of peoplewant to travel.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
I mean, we know people that saidthey don't want to travel.
Mm-hmm.
They don't want to go anywhereelse.
They want to stay where they'reat'cause they're comfortable
where they are.

(30:52):
And, um, just.
And the frequency I wastraveling might be a lot.
I mean, we were traveling, man,six times a year.
Oh my gosh.
Oh, oh.
Sometimes more.
We did like nine trips a year.
I remember.
Yeah, yeah.
Nine trips a year.
Who, not, not a lot of peopleare willing to do that, right?
Or would, you know, be they,they're like, listen, let me get
a break.
Yeah.
Um, but she, she would like fitright into my lifestyle.
So from day one, it was likethat.
Yeah, absolutely.

(31:12):
Absolutely.
That was it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What was that like for you,Vicki?
Like just to go into this worldwhere now, like you're all over
the place, you're traveling andmeeting people and everything
like that and Yeah, and it wasphenomenal.
It was phenomenal because it, itshowed me that he had a, a
wider, like his brain was like.
He had a wider view of life andit showed me like, okay, he
doesn't like to stay in onespace in one place.

(31:34):
And it was, it was a turn on.
Mm-hmm.
I, I'll be real, like, I waslike, wow, you know, especially
the chaos of packing andpreparing for a trip even that
we went through together.
Like, I loved it.
I love like, okay, what we gonnawear?
What we gonna buy?
What do we need for this trip?
It was just.
It just gave me so much more tolook forward to.
Sure.
And now we're in a differentcountry, right?
Mm-hmm.
We're like, what do we do?
We, he wants to do this, wantsto do that, but we always have
the same goals.

(31:54):
One, we gotta check out thefood.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
Y already know food is very big.
We need, like, where do we gofor the best food out here?
You know?
And we wanna do like, where canwe see the best landscapes?
Where can we go to experiencethe culture?
Like where can we wanna get inthe nitty gritty of the city or,
or the town, wherever we're at.
Gritty of the city.
And I love that because somepeople like have different
travel styles.
Some people like, Hey, I wantedto chill.
Mm-hmm Hmm.
I just wanna chill, wanna relaxWhen a peaceful.

(32:15):
But what we do that I love isthat we incorporate the
chilling.
But we also, Hey, we're gonnaget out and do an adventure like
in Columbia.
We did really go on that trip,babe.
Like we planned it.
Well, yeah.
Like we, we reserved ourrestaurants before we even flew
out.
Mm.
And we had to, we, yes.
Well, I chose them and hereserved that.
Right.
Because I was on TikTok.
I'm like, okay, where are wegoing to Columbia?
Where we gonna go?
And she, she, she did, she did.

(32:36):
You couldn't even certainrestaurants you can't even get
into unless you reserve it weeksin advance.
I'm like, oh, this is that flyshit.
Because we like fly shit.
Yep, yep.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
And we love that luxurious feel.
And that's another thing that Ilove is that.
We don't have any, like, like hesaid, we do have boundaries.
What we, what we're willing tospend budgeting, things like
that.
But we make it work because weknow the experience.
We're never gonna look back andregret of like, dang course we

(32:56):
should never spent that money onthat.
That's right.
Like, no, no.
That's right.
Hundred percent.
I look through my photos andvideos, I'm like, oh, this was
amazing.
I'm mesmerized.
Yeah.
And uh, that's why I kind ofwant, I wanna show more of that
to the world because I feel likeI'm keeping it to myself.
Mm-hmm.
Like my own little, yeah.
Yeah.
So true.
Yeah.
But I definitely wanna show moreof it because I want to empower
other people and let them knowlike, Hey, you might not think
you could afford it, but getconnected.

(33:17):
Yeah.
You'll find a way to make itwork and go to where you wanna
go, because as you're, as we getolder, we just lose our flare in
a sense.
Mm-hmm.
And we, you know, the body'sgonna do what it does.
Of course, you gotta take careof your body.
But I would say as you're young,as you have the age and the
capacity, even with kids, makeit work.
Yeah.
Bring your loved one along.
Mm-hmm.
And just, you know, enjoy.
Yeah.
So much of this world, we gottasee.
That's, it's so true.
And I, I'm glad that you broughtthat up because Lamar and I, we

(33:37):
always talk about how.
You know, you never regret themoney you spend.
No.
And we've, we've burned throughsome money tr no expense.
Spare some, yeah.
Before we even had money, man,we were burning through some,
some credit card maxed out.
Oh yeah, absolutely.
But credit, I, I try to, I tryto stress to people all the time
that it's like.
Even if you go in debt, likeyou're not gonna regret.

(33:59):
I don't regret a do I, I can'teven tell you.
Like, I don't count any of it.
I don't, I don't regret it.
Yeah.
Like, and it's, it's, it's weirdbecause on one side of the
spectrum, it's like, yeah, as acouple you, you gotta budget and
you gotta keep your finances.
Mm-hmm.
You gotta be responsible andkeep your finances tight and all
of that.
But then.
On the flip side, you also havepeople who have a different

(34:22):
philosophy with life and they'rejust like, well, I'm gonna live
my life and spend my money onexperiences.
Yeah.
Out here.
And who's to say which path isbetter?
That's true.
Right?
That's true.
And you can't really judgeeither path.
But one thing that I can tellyou from personal experience, I
have no regrets.
Yeah.
Spending all that money ontravel, but neither.
Yeah.
No, a hundred percent.
No expense.
Be.

(34:42):
And that leads into contentcreation, right?
Mm-hmm.
Because now, like, yes, we don'twanna keep the, the content to
ourself, but like, and it,here's the one thing too.
It, it's almost like.
You go on vacation as a contentcreator, you wanna have a good
time, but it's like another job.
Yeah.
In a sense.
Exactly.
But you have to love that.
Yeah.
And like she said, we want toshare that with the world.
And we have, man, we haveterabytes.
Yeah.
Worth the footage.

(35:02):
Yeah.
We gotta release.
Absolutely.
I can't wait.
We're gonna go on like a, likewe could have enough content
literally, yeah.
To last to the rest of the year.
Yeah, for sure.
The backlog is backlogged.
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
And I'm glad you brought upcontent creation, because that
was gonna be a lot of what wespoke about here today.
As you guys know, like we'reprepping for the Creator
conference.
Oh yeah.
Mm-hmm.
And it's interesting because weall started out as content

(35:25):
creators, like in travel.
It's a fact.
Yeah.
And it was in travel andlifestyle and back in those
days, people weren't reallytraveling as much as they are
today.
So it's interesting because.
It, it was like we were goingall around the world and I
think, uh, a lot of people werejust really inspired because you
weren't really seeing too manypeople like us or who look like
us, who were out there in China.
Dubai.
Egypt, exactly.

(35:46):
Yeah, exactly.
So, and that was in like 2010.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Man, we old and you know, wewere talking about this
yesterday.
I know, right?
Uh, we were talking about thisyesterday and I'm like, man, I
wish we had all the, the dronesand all of this fancy equipment
and production equipment that wehave today.
And we didn't even have reelsback then.
I know.

(36:06):
And to think that that is true,most of the content was really
just still shots.
Yeah.
Or maybe just some short video.
Right.
Yeah.
And I'm, I'm, I'm, I wanna knowa little bit about what you guys
are excited about when it comesto content creation.
Mm-hmm.
And what do you see in the worldof content creation and, and
what excites you about it justmoving forward long term.

(36:29):
Hmm.
I'd say I, well, the mostexciting part for me when it
comes to content creation andwhat we put together, what we
travel, even like what we do ona daily is having that, it's
like a magazine mm-hmm.
That can have for our childrenin the future, our family in the
future.
Like, Hey, what, what was my momdoing back in?
Yeah.
So 2022, when you know, youlook, they like, dang, she did
this, she did that.
Like, I really wanna inspire notonly our offspring and theirs,

(36:50):
but just everyone else.
Like, Hey, this is some like.
And I know I, I, I loveeducational content.
Mm-hmm.
So many different types ofcontent you can put out there,
like you already know.
But when you used to see someonedoing something, like you say
like on, uh, where were we?
We are, we were in Columbia.
We had like a, a privatebungalow looking overlooking the
sea, and it was just peace,calm.
Like, you get a little dosage ofthat peace and calm and makes
you like, dang, I wanna gothere, or somewhere like that.

(37:11):
Mm-hmm.
So I, I see it being.
Uh, as way more influential thanit is now.
And I see it being moreattainable for people who seem
like they can't really affordAbsolutely.
Travel.
Absolutely.
Like, yo, there's a way you cando it.
And I think we sh I do wannahave more, um, I wanna get more
personal with followers, peoplewho engage because I, they might
not know what to do, how to getthere.
Mm-hmm.
You know, and I think withconcept creation, we'll be able
to connect with them on a deeperlevel and kind of help them with

(37:33):
finding, you know, trips orfinding where to go, things like
that.
And just kind of expanding fromthere.
Of course.
And not just, not just, oh, lookat me, look at me, but hey, let
me help you.
Yep.
Do what I can do so we can do ittogether.
Absolutely.
You know, collaborate.
So I, I feel like collaborationis really, really big and it's,
it's really gonna, um, it'sgonna show itself through the
next for sure.
Couple years.
I agree.
Yeah.
It's a whole new industry thatopened up, man.
I mean, we, and we didn'trealize it at the time when we

(37:53):
were really doing it.
Mm-hmm.
We were open and, and it, it's,it's so crazy right now that.
Your kids may become contentcreators, it's gonna be okay.
Yeah, absolutely.
Right now it's still kind ofweird, but it's becoming
unacceptable that that's afull-time career.
Yeah.
I mean, people make a lot ofmoney.
It's a whole industry.
Absolute.
And big companies are reallystarting to reach out to smaller
companies to uh, to, to, tocreate their content.

(38:14):
Yeah.
Right.
For sure.
And that's what got me into myproduction company.
That's why I opened that up.
So I was a content creator formany years, travel on the pro
traveler on Instagram.
Mm-hmm.
And I started this business'cause I seen, and this is
during COVID, I seen a void inthe market where.
People had a lot of products andthey were really business
minded, but they didn't know howto market their product.
Mm-hmm.
It was really, or if they did,it was very basic.

(38:35):
Yeah.
They had no idea if they had a,it was saying baseball cap.
So whatever they were selling atthe time, they didn't know how
to market it properly.
Yeah.
Um, and at that, and it happeneda lot during COVID'cause you've
seen a lot virtually.
Yeah.
And I was like, man, what if Icould create.
Stuff for these companies.
'cause these, these are smallmom and pop companies.
Yep.
They don't have 10, 20, 30 grandto spend on a production.

(38:55):
True.
Right.
But if I set up an at homestudio, buy some simple
equipment and have the visionfor them to create something for
them, why not?
Mm-hmm.
And that's what really startedmy journey.
I, we, we did it first when wepivoted from, from.
Um, the company that me and youpartnered with before to another
company that had products, I didit.
That's how I experimented.
I experimented a lot with thatand I got a lot of love.
I love that.

(39:16):
And I didn't realize that thisis something that they were
missing a big, a big companylike that.
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
A billion dollar company didn'thave a way to market their
products in a cinematic way.
Of course.
Of course.
Right.
And I, and after that I wentdown the rabbit hole.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And now I absolutely, I do, youknow, cinematography mostly
behind products and, and stufflike that.
Yeah.
And I love it.

(39:36):
I'm undercutting the, the bigproduction company.
Definitely I'm able to, I'mdoing it on a smaller scale, but
that's all you need for, for,for social media.
Yeah, absolutely.
To, to, to your point where Ithink content creation could, I
mean, it's, it's the, the, thelittle guy is no longer the
little guy.
The little guy could become thebig guy.
Yeah.
'cause they're gonna get reachedout by the.
The Coca-Cola, the Pepsi, youknow, those big companies that

(39:57):
don't, they, they have amarketing budget, but now I'm
part of that market marketingbudget.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Very true.
So it's, it's, it's, it's, it'sgreat, man.
Yeah.
It's great.
Yeah, absolutely.
And I know entrepreneurship hasobviously been a big part of all
of our journeys, and we triedall kinds of stuff over the
years.
Job shipping.
Oh yeah.
Everything.
I mean, Forex trading, I mean,you name it, like shoveling
snow.
Oh, yeah.

(40:18):
All kinds of stuff.
So, uh, and, and it's, it'simportant.
I feel like.
To even, even if you work a job,because most people who are
tuning into this have jobs,right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
And what, what would you say isthe importance of still having
like a dream?
Like Vicki, you obviously arenow embarking on drones and
doing production when it comesto that and content creation and

(40:40):
you know, you're building out anentire like, production business
from scratch.
And then we also have DreamNation media.
So for those of you who don'tknow, um, I mean.
Some, sometimes your closestfriends could be your very first
investors.
And, and I think it is importantto be very mindful of the types
of friends that, that you havein your life.
Right.
And I think the beautiful thingabout all of us is we all have

(41:01):
our own different paths.
Yeah.
And, but we also have thingsthat we're unified in things
that we believe in, like thecreators conference.
Mm-hmm.
And I, I love that.
And what, what would you say forthose who are, uh, working jobs
and maybe they want.
To embark on some form ofentrepreneurship, how do you
recommend they go about it?
Because obviously.
You also don't have to gofull-time.

(41:22):
No.
You can very well work full-timeon your job, part-time on your
business.
Mm-hmm.
And that's cool.
Yeah.
And And I also don't recommendfor everyone to go full-time
with like just entrepreneurshipin general.
It's not for everybody.
Exactly.
But I love what you guys have.
You know, you have your ownrespective paths.
You don't feel the pressure tohave to go all in on something.

(41:43):
Mm-hmm.
But you still take the time tonurture your.
Your dreams on the side.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So I'm, I'm just curious, likewhat, what, what advice would
you give someone who's just kindof working a job but they
haven't really found theirthing?
Yeah.
I's go ahead, go for it.
Um, so, um, that's a greatquestion because I often was,
was wondering that this, when Iwas kind of getting into it at
first,'cause I didn't reallyknow where I wanted to go.
I'm like, what I've read Irealized though, is with concept

(42:05):
creation, it can go in anydirection.
Like you can find things youlove and be passionate about and
things you kind of don't like.
So like I've seen people wherethey have their phone propped up
while they're at work.
Right.
Literally recording themselvesdoing the job that they hate
doing.
Yeah.
And that alone will inspireother people.
Like, dang, I hate my job too.
You know?
And then they just watching eachother.
You could build a following offof like, whatever.
It's crazy.
You see, I see people followeach other off of like

(42:26):
foolishness, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then people follow eachother off of things that they
can learn from them.
But I feel whatever you'realready doing, you can just prop
a camera.
You know, set it some more, evenif you're doing podcasts, some
type of audio, whatever, likeyou can use your daily, your
daily life as it's true, yourcontent, because it is content.
They say everything is content.
Yeah.
It's like everything is, andsomeone will be interested in

(42:46):
it.
Yeah.
You'll, you'll be surprised.
And I, I kind of kick myself inthe, in the back too, because
sometimes I'm like, oh, no one'sgonna be interested in this, so
I won't post it.
Mm-hmm.
And I'll just, it'll just sit inthe backlog.
Dang.
What if it inspired, what, whatwould inspire someone or what if
you know, it would had a greaterimpact?
And that constant battle in yourhead mm-hmm.
Is gonna keep you farther fromyour goals of becoming
entrepreneurship.
You will be at that nine to fivelonger than you wanna be because

(43:08):
of that fear.
Of course.
So, um, yeah.
From my experience, I'd say tryto kick that fear and just know
that, hey, just post it.
I have Kia's voice in my head.
She'd be like, just post a domrael.
And I'm like, girl, especiallywhen you work so hard on, on
content.
So just.
Pop a camera up, you know, andjust, just be more confident in
what you're doing.
Mm-hmm.
And just know someone willappreciate it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
And just start there.
I'd say, yeah, I agree.
I definitely agree with that.

(43:28):
I, I'll piggyback off of that.
Um, so.
One of the best advice I've evergotten was be very good at your
job.
Like no matter what you are, youcould be a mailman, you could be
a project manager like I am.
You could be a, a renter caragent like I was, but I was the
very best Yep.
Renter car agent.
I was a very best projectmanager.
Right.
So that's so good.
I think doing, being really goodat what you are already'cause

(43:49):
you could learn so much.
Yeah.
Right.
And, and, and be a leader,right?
Yeah.
Entrepreneurship is hard.
Yeah.
You think your nine to five ishard entrepreneurship?
Is that times 10?
Yeah, absolutely.
Now I get a little bit of that'cause I, I, I do project
manager for a, a big company.
Um, and it's, it's, it's likehaving another, I I, I own a
business multimillion dollars amonth mm-hmm.

(44:10):
In business.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and it's a lot, right.
But I, I get a lot of thatentrepreneur, like if, if I.
Going back,'cause I started atHertz first.
If I wasn't one of the leadersat Hertz and understand and get,
and like really get, I was inthe business, right?
Mm-hmm.
I was one of the leaders leavingHertz.
'cause I wanted to knoweverything about business of
course.
'cause I knew I wasn't gonna dothis forever.
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Right.
And now that, that transferredover to what I'm doing now.

(44:30):
Yep.
Taking ownership over, you know,um, my project manager mm-hmm.
Business.
Um, and that transferred to myproduction company.
Yeah.
'cause and, and listen, I knowit's hard, but I'm like, if I
could do it at work at a highlevel, I could do it here.
Mm-hmm.
And a lot of people don't everget to that point where they're
working extremely hard at theirjob.
Yep.
Because it's gonna do the, it'sgonna be the same thing.
And you may think passion willbe, will get you through the

(44:51):
hard times.
Yep.
Because whatever you are, like,oh, listen, I'm, uh, I, I love,
uh, photography.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
If that photography businessgets super busy and you get
stressed, how are you gonnahandle that stress?
Yeah.
So true.
Right?
You can love taking photos, butyou may not like sending out
invoices.
Yep.
You may not like getting theteam together to That's true
structuring, you know, uh, callsheets and all this stuff.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That goes into having aproduction.

(45:12):
You may not like lighting.
Yeah, exactly.
And you're like, damn, all Iwanna do is take photos.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Or the risk associated and therisk of money that goes behind
that.
Right.
So I would recommend to, likeyou said, don't quit your job.
But go really hard at your job.
Yeah.
And use those skills in yourbusiness part-time.
Yep.
To where it's like, listen, if Idon't leave my job, I'm never
gonna scale this up.
There's, there there's a point.

(45:33):
Exactly.
Yeah.
There, there's, there's adefined point where it's like.
Listen, I'm getting a lot ofclients now.
I can leave my job.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it's now holding your backjob is actually holding you back
instead of helping you.
For sure, for sure.
No, it's such really, reallygood advice.
And I know we're getting readyto bring the plan in for a
landing, but, yep.
Um, I had a few more questionsand one of them, like you
mentioned, just business ingeneral and we also went to
school for the same degree.
We, we studied internationalbusiness, right?

(45:55):
Yep.
So a lot of the foundation waskind of laid with that, you
know, Vicki, I know you had wentto school as well and, and, um,
but is, do you feel like.
It's necessary, whether it's youjust trying school for one year
to see if it's for you, or goingin a two year program, four year
program, or just even getting a,a certification.
You can get a CER certified inAI these days, right?

(46:16):
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
What, what do you feel like is,is the best approach, because
you mentioned working a reallygood job, but.
You probably wouldn't havegotten your foot in the door if
you didn't have some type ofdegree.
True.
Right.
But then if you go theentrepreneurial path, there may
not be no need for a degreewhatsoever, and you're actually
wasting time and resourcespursuing, uh, a college

(46:36):
education.
What, what are your views onthat as we get ready to wrap up
here?
Yeah.
Oh, oh yeah.
Okay.
Um, I'd say definitely try itout first.
Try out schooling, you know, um,I'm not gonna say it's not for
everyone'cause you can stilllearn a lot from, you know,
having, being taught by aprofessional or you know, a
teacher.
But, um, I would say use your,use the internet as your, that
could be your teacher.

(46:56):
You have ai.
You can ask that AI anyquestion, you know, it'll break
it down for you from however,whatever you wanna learn,
whatever you wanna get into.
Um, I would, I wouldn'tdowngrade school a hundred
percent, but when you think ofschooling, you think of.
The loans.
Think of what you're spendingto, and not the, not to mention
the time you're spending tolearn something and then you
might end up pivoting to a wholedifferent direction, you know?
Yeah.
So it's very, it's veryimportant to leave your options

(47:17):
open and not just kind of spreadyourself out just a little bit.
Mm-hmm.
Just to figure out where youwanna go.
You can go to school and stillbe an entrepreneur.
That's right.
But just be mindful of like,Hey, I might as well outta this
with all this debt, but I'llhave a degree.
There are people with degrees,there're Starbucks, baristas.
Yeah.
You know, and they're justsitting there like they, they
get international arts degreesor um, degrees of different type
of studies, which is like.
Not even necessary.
Yeah.
You know, so it's, it's a verychallenging thing to kind of,

(47:39):
it's something to really sit andthink about and just realize
what you really wanna do, whereyou'll feel fulfilled doing it.
I agree.
'cause it's very hard to findpeople who are fulfilled in what
they do on daily.
I, I definitely agree with that.
Absolutely.
I agree with that.
Yeah.
Like, so your children are luckybecause you and your, your wife
are entrepreneurial and you'regonna pass that on to your, to
your, uh, to your kids.
So I've seen a lot of successfor kids who don't go to college

(48:01):
or end up not going to college.
Their entrepreneurial parentshave put this in their mind.
Like, listen, you don't have togo to college.
Yeah.
Because I'm gonna teach you away to avoid college if you want
to.
Yep.
But if you don't have theupbringing, if you don't have
the background, if you don'thave the backbone, college may
be the only way.
Yeah.
And you can't teach that.
You can't teachentrepreneurship.

(48:21):
If, if you don't have it, andyou weren't taught it from when
you were young mm-hmm.
The time to learn is not goinginto college.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
You, you, you're gonna waste somany years.
But what I will say though is ifyou're on the fence of what you
wanna study.
In school.
Take your time.
You don't have to go to collegeright after high school.
That's the, that's the worstadvice I've ever heard.
Mm.
You go like, you, you have topick your major right then and

(48:41):
there.
You don't have to, you couldtake a year off and figure out
what you wanna do that travelthe world.
Yeah.
Right.
Exactly.
Just make sure you have a plan.
Yep.
Right.
You have to have a plan.
So I, if it's not, if entrepreentrepreneurship is not, uh,
embedded into you at a youngage, just don't go into it right
after, don't go into collegeright afterwards because you may
go down a rabbit hole whereyou're on all this debt.
You got this degree that you'renever gonna use.

(49:03):
And it's the worst thing in theworld.
I know people right now thathave lawyers, lawyer degrees,
and they can't find a job.
It's so true.
And they spent, I mean, they'relike$300,000 in debt.
Yeah, yeah.
Right.
So, so true.
So true.
I, I would definitely recommend.
Yeah.
I mean, I share the samesentiments as you guys.
I think that it's worth it.
I think what we have to put moreof a emphasis on the, the, the
network that you build, therelationships you build, because

(49:25):
Yes.
Think about it.
My first investors for DreamNation Media College guys.
Yeah.
Guys I went to school with,worked really good careers and I
was able to go and, and pulltogether all of the, the network
and the resources and, and thatwent a long way.
A lot of my best friends todayare from college.
Yeah.
So there's a lot of value thatyou get outside of just the
piece of paper.
I never used the paper.

(49:46):
True, but I got so much valuehow to research, how to write
papers, how to articulatemyself, and I spoke very
different before going intocollege.
Same.
So all, all of that stuff mostcertainly helped, you know, so,
um, as we get ready to wrap uphere, so we got the Creators
conference, and you ain't, youdon't need no college to be no
creator, right?

(50:06):
You got a phone and we have.
We have lots of phenomenalcreators from all around the
world.
And what I love abouteverything, like, it's
interesting how the dots kind ofcame together, right?
Like we helped build this traveland lifestyle company and we
understand how live events workand things like that.
Mm-hmm.
And we've also done a lot ofcontent creation over the years,

(50:26):
and now we get to create aplatform for a lot of creators.
Mm-hmm.
Whether they're just nowstarting out or they're looking
to scale their, their brands orbusinesses and, and, mm-hmm.
For me, it's very rewarding tobe able to be at the cutting
edge of what's happening rightnow.
Yes.
In the world of not onlyentrepreneurship, but just
culture, right?
Mm-hmm.

(50:47):
Yeah.
Uh, if, I mean, what, what wouldyou say in terms of like.
What's exciting about just theCreator's Conference and why,
why would you even recommend forpeople to be a part of it at
some shape or form?
We have our Creators awards, bythe way, happening.
Uh, it's gonna be the firstweekend of October, um, out here
in Tampa.
And the, the, the, that Friday'sgonna be the Creator's Award.

(51:08):
So we also acknowledging,recognizing a lot of talent,
which is amazing.
And then.
On that Saturday, we'll be doingthe actual, you know, panels and
keynote speeches, live podcastexperiences, and then we'll be
wrapping up with the Fun Cultureday.
But for you guys, like, why evenbe a part of it?
It's not even in New York.
You kind of have to fly out heremultiple times this year.

(51:30):
And, uh, why, why invest in it?
Mm-hmm.
Why be a part of it?
Why even take a chance on, onthis next journey with Creators
conference and just contentcreation in general?
Yeah.
I mean, there's been many pointsin my life where I regretted
because I didn't hop on it soonenough.
Mm.
Biggest thing was one.
One of the biggest things incollege is Facebook.
Yeah.

(51:51):
I think you even told me toinvest in Facebook and I never
did.
I never invested in Facebook,and at the point where I learned
about stocks and it was toolate.
Yeah.
But now I would say too late.
It's never too late.
But I could've caught it earlyfor sure.
And I could be a very wealthyman right now if I would've
invested my little money intoFacebook.
One of my biggest regrets, and Itold myself.
This is not just, this one thingis not just, it just, I, ever

(52:12):
since then I've learned that I'mnever gonna have to face regret
ever again.
Mm.
And right now we are in aspecial place in the world where
people.
Content creation is a thing andI don't wanna miss the boat.
And that's why I invested andthat's why we, I'm partnering
with you in this media companybecause I see the vision.
Absolutely.
I see where, where it's gonnago, and I don't wanna miss the
boat.
Yeah.
So if anything else, I'm notmissing the boat, I'm gonna be

(52:34):
on that damn boat for sure.
I'm gonna be a investor in theboat.
That's right.
Right.
And I'm gonna make sure that tomake this event as successful as
possible.
Mm-hmm.
To your point, we haveexperience.
With, with live events.
Yeah.
We know what it takes to run alive event.
Mm-hmm.
And why can't we do thatourselves?
Yeah, yeah.
Right.
Absolutely.
And its something that peopleare looking for and they don't
know how to do themselves.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
So true.
So true.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
What about you, Vicki?
Uh, I'm looking forward to theknowledge that I know the panel

(52:56):
is gonna give.
And, because I remember the lastyear we had people that came
where we're like, you know,how'd you learn about us?
Yeah.
Oh, we found your guys online.
Wow, there's so many people outthere who were just looking for
a community of other creators.
Mm-hmm.
Because like, I just have thisvision where like, you know, a
lot of creators have differentindustries, different things
that they're marketing orthey're sharing with the world,
but imagine all them together inthe same place.
Mm-hmm.
Everyone with their different,you know, niches.

(53:17):
It's just such a beautifulthing.
It's where powerful we can, it'spowerful.
Yeah.
Not only are we learning fromeach other, but we're also.
Promoting each other like, Hey,you know, absolutely.
You check it out.
You, you could do a quick reel,a quick video with someone you
just met, promote them on yourpage.
It's, it goes such a long wayfor just by us connecting for,
yeah.
And I'm really looking forwardto not only just the knowledge
from the panel, but also justthe fun.
Like it's gonna be a vibe.
Oh yeah.
You know that the Creatorsconference.

(53:37):
Oh, absolutely.
It's gonna be just.
Just tremendously, like, just somuch better than what it was
last year.
I know it will.
And I know that it's gonna keepgetting better going forward for
sure.
And I just, we just gonna, youknow, rock out with our network
and continue to network, soYeah, for sure.
Be a option.
So work and play.
Work and play.
Yeah, that's right.
Work.
Work.
Like a captain party, like apirate.
That's it.
Oh yeah.
We know how to party.
Yes, we should.

(53:57):
That's for another podcast.
Yeah, man, we are gonna have, wehave so many episodes.
Like it is just crazy.
That's the, the how fast thistime went is just mind boggling
to me.
I know you're getting ready tokick us out.
Yeah.
Camera's dying.
But yeah, exactly.
But it's, it's crazy how fasttime flew and there's so much,
we can talk about so many jokesover the years and I just wanna,
like, from the bottom of myheart, even just thank you guys.
Like you guys have always, uh,believed in things that we were

(54:20):
a part of, whether theysucceeded or they failed or they
made it or they didn't.
And for you guys to still be onthis journey with us is a true
testament to not only yourloyalty, but just your, your
friendship in general.
I, I would not want to live in aworld that didn't have you guys
in it.
No, I appreciate it, bro.
I, I just appreciate you guysbeing like aunts and uncles to

(54:41):
my kids.
Mm-hmm.
And for them to also have strongrole models to, to follow.
And I'm, I'm just so grateful.
Like we've had the opportunityto travel with our parents
together.
We just got back from Cape TownSouth African Zimbabwe because
mom was there.
Uh, Kia's mom was there, andjust so many beautiful memories
that we've had over the years.

(55:02):
The, the good ones, the, thesavage ones.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, because we cango way down the rabbit hole with
that as well, but it is, it'sjust been such a, a rewarding
life.
Doing life with just beautifulpeople.
And I thank you guys and, and Iwouldn't be here shooting the
Journey podcast the way we do itif it wasn't even for you guys.
So thank you.

(55:23):
And, uh, any departing words.
So if this were the last podcastepisode, God forbid, knock on
wood, but let's just say it was,and you had to leave some advice
for the world and, uh, whatwould that advice be?
And also to close out, where canour audience.
Find you guys okay.
Yeah, then sure.
So, uh, my parting words wouldsay would be to be open.

(55:44):
Be open to your friends, yourfamily, like be able, be open to
networking and be open to yourown self because I feel we, we
can lock in a lot of our talentsjust by feeling that it might
not be useful to every anyoneelse, but just do it.
Just content creation.
Just where it's going.
I'm telling you, like you weresaying earlier, we don't want,
we don't wanna miss the boat.
We wanna draw the boat.
Definitely.
Okay.
Get up on this boat because Iknow we can help each other to

(56:05):
help each other elevate to manydifferent levels.
And it's, it takes connection.
So everyone listening, watching,please just believe in yourself,
believe in the people who loveyou, and know that you're gonna
leave something good for thepeople that come after you.
And, hey, life is short, right?
That's right.
So we have to just make the bestof it and just show ourselves,
get out of the, get outta thedim light.
Get outta the shadows.
Let us see your, your work.

(56:25):
Let us see your love.
Let us see you and just knowthat someone will appreciate it,
I promise you.
Absolutely.
So good.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And Ill see you at the Creativesconference as well that see you
shine.
Yes, yes.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
So this was my last podcastepisode.
I would say get to creativesconference.
That's number one.
A hundred percent.
Definitely Tampa, Floridalocation coming soon.
Um, but what I'll also say iskind of similar to what Vicki

(56:46):
was saying, because we're at ashift in the world.
I don't know if, if everyoneknows what's really going on
mm-hmm.
And we see it.
We see a shift in the way peopledo business, the way people
market themselves, the way just,you see what's happening with
podcasting.
Yeah.
I mean, you're, you're, you canliterally build an entire
business off of just a podcast.
Yeah.
Not talking about videoproduction or filmmaking, just a

(57:07):
podcast.
Very true.
Right.
Find out where you fit in inthis world shift.
Is it podcasting?
Is it filmmaking?
Yep.
Is it creating reels?
Is it marketing?
Is it ai?
That's right.
If you're not, you will get leftbehind.
And what's happening now?
We went to an event, A BNH Auto,uh, A-V-B-N-H photo event in New
York Expo.
And you've seen some people thatwere probably twice my age.

(57:31):
Mm-hmm.
I mean 80 years old.
Wow.
Running businesses, 70 yearsold, 60 years old, running
businesses, and they're in.
There's a lot of differentbreakout sessions and they were
in the content creation one'cause they don't know what's
going on.
They don't want, they, it's,they're finally starting to wake
up.
Mm.
They have a mama and pop storeand they're like, listen, I
gotta get on social media.
Yeah.
I don't know how to do it.
Yeah.
Lemme get some insight from this30-year-old, 20-year-old person.

(57:51):
That's right.
Isn't that crazy?
Yeah.
If you don't see, our world isshifting to now the younger
people or the teachers,definitely.
I don't know.
I don't know what you're lookingat.
So definitely.
Jump on the boat.
I agree.
Yeah, I agree.
And I mean, we could drop themic right there.
I mean, so such good.
Good advice.
Thank you so much, guys.
Really appreciate it.
And they'll be back, I canassure you that we'll be doing a
lot more episodes.
Yeah.
Ain't the last one that, thatwas just hypothetical guys.

(58:12):
Exactly, exactly.
Hypothetical.
So, um, I'm looking forward todoing a lot more episodes with,
with you guys and I'm just so,uh, grateful that we were able
to.
Get this first one kickstartedwith the Creators conference.
And thank you guys for evenflying and making the sacrifice
with your time.
Of course.
Yeah.
And looking forward to havingsome more fun.
So we're actually about to go tothe venue right after this, one
of the venues we have in mind.
And, uh, we're so excited foryou guys to just, you know, see

(58:35):
a little bit more about what wegot cooking up over these next
few weeks.
So there you have it.
Guys, thank you so much fortuning in.
Make sure you like, comment,share, tag, follow my wonderful
friends on social media andwe'll be seeing you on the next
episode.
Take care later.
Peace.

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