Latest / Cocktails and Corporate Chaos / Claret Wine and Celebrity Mishaps
Transcript
- Shawn: literally woke up that morning and it was my job to be their handler. Shannon: Ever had a workday so wild you literally couldn't make it up? Welcome to Cocktails and Corporate Chaos. I'm Shannon. Haidee Griswold: And I'm Heidi, and we're bringing you the messy, hilarious workplace stories that usually require a double margarita to process. Shannon: So pour yourself something strong because the chaos is about to begin. Haidee Griswold: All stories on our podcast are true, but names may be changed or conveniently omitted to protect the innocent, the guilty, and ourselves from corporate HR emails. Haidee: Alright, Shannon, before we dive into this week's episode, we have been getting a lot of fan questions about your story and Quinn's story, I should be specific. So Shannon: I've only had one of these, so I'm excited to hear from you what you've been hearing as you run our social media side. Haidee: So first off, the question has been why didn't the background check turn up Quinn's prison time? Shannon: Well, to not I guess I only know one side of this because as the hiring manager, you go to hire somebody, HR and or whatever other teams all take care of the background check, and then as the hiring manager you just get the okay to like proceed with hiring. I have no insight into what actually happens in the background. And so by the time it got to me, it was okay to hire. And what I have later found out is that in Washington state there is a law where after a certain number of years a felon, if they have not re committed something, are basically supposed to be allowed to rehab back into society. And so I am unclear because I was removed from all of the really shitty meetings that went to the higher ups at the company about this case. So there's also a Washington Fair Chance Act, which took place in 2018, which protects job applicants and employees with criminal records so they may fairly compete for job opportunities. so I think that yes, either there was some miss in the background, obviously, of what the HR process normally was. We also hired this person right before Christmas. And so I don't know if there was something fast tracked to just like everybody's going on vacation. We need to get this applicant through. They were already a contractor. Like, let's just push this through. I have no idea. Haidee: I love that. If you're a convicted felon, just go ahead and apply right before the holidays. That's your time to get in. Shannon: Yeah. but good question. I don't know all Haidee: Huh. Shannon: the details because I was no longer the hiring manager when we went to fire him and do the actual investigation. Haidee: Fair. The other question, there's there were three questions. The second question, which is the resounding most popular one, we've had a ton of questions on this across all of our channels, which was, What did Quinn do? Why did he go to prison in the first place? Shannon: So it was identity theft. And he spent greater than a couple years in jail for. Haidee: that greater than identity theft, okay. White collar crime. Shannon: Speaking of identity, I am trying to protect Quinns in my answers. Haidee: We do say that our podcast protects the innocent and the guilty. So there you go. Shannon: Nailed it. Haidee: And the last question, which is probably one of my favorites that came in was what was Quinn's drink of choice when you did drink with him? Because they want to know what an ex convict is like to drink at a happy hour. Shannon: that's a wonderful question, but I never got to drink with him. The happy hour that was hosted that I had to take over where I saw you and we talked about in the episode would have been my first opportunity to have some drinks with him. And so I Haidee: No man. Shannon: don't know the answer to this still. Haidee: Missed opportunity. I wonder if I had just gotten out of prison, it'd probably be like good wine. Shannon: he didn't just get out of prison when he started working for me. Haidee: Fair. In my mind it's like he went from toilet wine to Shannon: Yeah. Haidee: real wine. Like what did you go from? Shannon: I feel like I would go for the hard shit for sure. Haidee: fair. I feel like you'd want to taste something good. Shannon: I'm making up for years lost. Haidee: I just assume toilet wine tastes like a really crappy vodka. Shannon: Well listeners, I hope that that gave you a little more insight. We are trying to answer as many questions as we can without being really specific, but maybe one day we'll be able to dive even more into this. Haidee: Keep the questions and the comments coming. They are hilarious. Shannon: And back to today's episode. Haidee: I am in a closet and Shannon is in a bathroom. So Shawn: Ha ha ha. Haidee: we've we don't have the setup that you have. Shawn: I'm not selling feet picks. You don't want any of this. You don't want any of these farmers' feet. Haidee: It's always feet. I love that's hilarious. When everybody thinks OnlyFans, they always think feet. I I love it. Shawn: Yeah. It it's it's very weird when it kinda comes to stuff like that too. Haidee: Just know that I'm never sober for these. That's an important it's really more for you to know that Shannon Shawn: I don't blame ya. Haidee: and I are always regardless of time, we are never sober. Shawn: Ha ha ha. Haidee: Our guest today has not only witnessed corporate chaos, he's probably even captured some of it on camera. As a true creative talent, he has curated brand experiences for some of the biggest companies in the world and has the battle scars to prove it. I've been fortunate enough to work with him on what I still think and consider the coolest project that I've ever worked on. Welcome to the podcast, Sean. Shawn: Hello. Thank you for having me. Haidee: of course. Long overdue. First off, what are you drinking? Shawn: okay, so a friend of mine makes wine here in the Pacific Northwest. So he's my wine fairy. I just get a I just get Haidee: Ooh, that's a great friend to have. Wine fairy? Shannon: Yeah. Ooh. Shawn: a I just get a text when it's that time of the year, which is just how many cases do you want? Haidee: I need that. I have a salmon fairy, Shannon: Genius. Yes. Haidee: but I need a wine fairy. I have someone that's like, Hey, we're back from Alaska, do you want some salmon? But now I need to see what I can get for wine. Shawn: I I have I have stuff we can hook you up with that on that one. 'Cause there's in fact he just sent Haidee: Yes. Shawn: me the picture the other day that they were bottling and everything like that, the latest one. So that means the next round is coming. but it is a it's a red blend, it's a claret from Red Mountain. Yeah, so it's a it's a So Shannon: my god, I love clarets. Yeah, and Red Mountain. Yeah. There's Haidee: I love Red Mountain. I don't I think we have the official wine of cocktails and corporate chaos. Shannon: not a lot of them though, I feel like. Haidee: No. Shawn: There's not and and the the fun thing about it is they actually teach wine making at one of the colleges around here as well too. So they get all these amazing grapes that can't really be used from other places. And some from their own property. They're able to blend and do all this crazy really fun stuff with it. Shannon: Well, in the homemade vein, I had made a shrub out of pears and ginger this weekend for some different cocktails. And so today I'm having a mixture of that with bourbon and made a little fizz drink and it's really delicious. very fall like. I yeah, Haidee: I was gonna say follow y'all. Shawn: Yeah. Shannon: I'm into this the weather's starting to change, the leaves are changing, and so I'm here for fall time. Shawn: I love that. I love it. Shannon: What do you have, Hattie? Haidee: I did a lighter weight full version. I'm doing a Moscow mule with ginger beer and vodka. And of course I put mint in everything now. And I realized after I made it my ginger beer is almost two years expired. So if if Shannon: Ha ha ha ha. Shawn: no. Haidee: I don't make it through this episode, you might know why. Shawn: Ha ha ha ha. Haidee: But I wanted to do something. I was like, ooh, a Moscow mule sounds really good. And then I have PTA meetings after our happy hour. So I'm gonna show up real excited today. Shawn: It's it's it's perfect to be drinking before a PTA meeting, definitely. Haidee: I I'm usually drinking after them, so we'll see. Shannon: They'll be like, Why is that lady voting on everything and we don't need inputs on? Shawn: Yeah. Haidee: Luckily I'm already an extrovert and very vocal, so now I'll just be even happier and vocal and probably randomly clapping now that I know that's a thing. Shawn: Ha Shannon: well Sean, would love to know what is your hot take on unnecessary fire drills? Shawn: goodness, there's that is PTSD like you wouldn't believe. Shannon: Yeah. Haidee: I was waiting for you say I love them, give me more of them. Shannon: Ha ha ha. Shawn: I'm I'm a very good firefighter with a lot of those kind of things, but I will also be the person that will look at you deadpan in the face a lot of times and be like, this this could have been an email basically. why are we waiting to the last second to do this? This doesn't make any sense. You know, I get Shannon: Yep. Shawn: I get pretty animated about that kind of stuff because the logic of it for me is there's already enough things that can go wrong throughout the day. If you artificially add in more drama into the process and things like that, what is like you're just making things harder on yourself and usually everybody else around you. there's a lot of just headbanging on the wall of like, why are we doing this this way? Like it doesn't make any sense, you know? Shannon: It's true. I think, Haidee: I love them. Shannon: similar to your thoughts on it, I think that generally the person who's asking for it actually doesn't have as much impact and don't really think about what is happening by asking, you know, jump this high tomorrow. I need this information. And to me, I'm always like, We're not saving lives here. It's fine. This doesn't really matter if it is a Friday thing or a next week's thing. So let's all just like take a breath and Is this necessary? And I think I've learned that over time of more the willingness to ask some questions too to make sure it's actually a priority or make the person who's asking for it think a little bit more about what they're asking for to understand the prioritization or the resource intensity that it will take. Because otherwise it's like fuck you for making all these people spend their evening doing something for you that then tomorrow you changed your mind on anyways. Shawn: Yeah. I I have literally had to report on four alarm fires and been shot at in the line of journalism duty. And until you have to hit the deck. Right. Haidee: my gosh. So similar to meetings. Similar to corporate meetings, yes. Shannon: Whoa Shawn: W I I actually said this to an executive at one of the bigger companies that that I've worked with and stuff. it was a one on one kind of meeting and I asked him, I was like, Have you been shot at? And they went I served in the Navy, yes. I was like, okay, so you understand that there is that kind of urgency, and then there's the kind of urgency that we're dealing with over here. these Shannon: Yeah. Not the same. Shawn: are not the same, right? Yeah. It's you know, and he kind of just like looked at me for a second, he was like, Shit, you're right. And I was like, Yeah. Just cause the CEO is asking for it does not mean it's necessarily right now kind of mentality. Like they'll be okay. They got eighteen other things to deal with right now. Haidee: I've come to the conclusion Shawn: So yeah. Haidee: though this is like imagine a reality show where it's like the Bachelorette or something and they're dating and two guys have to get in a fight over her, you know, that kind that's exactly what Shannon: Yeah. Haidee: unnecessary fire drills are in corporate life. You have to inject the drama to keep people interested in coming back. like something happens or like, we have to get this done immediately, I'm like, this is that part in the show where they're trying to create drama so that we all either form a common enemy over, you know, on the product team or whatever it might be. And I just once you start seeing it in that lens, all of a sudden I'm like, okay, this is just that forced drama. that they need in every episode. And it just Shannon: That's a perfect way to look at it. Haidee: I never take it as seriously anymore. And then I'm like, alright, we'll just see what happens. Watch what's Shannon: Tune in next week. Haidee: next. Shawn: Ha ha Haidee: All right, Sean, what compilation of chaos are you gonna be sharing with us today? What's your chaotic story? Shawn: I was working on a project. I'm I'm gonna keep this as vague as possible, but let's put it that Shannon: Perfect. Shawn: way. I was working on a very large project. And Heidi knows exactly which one I'm talking about and stuff like that with it. But Haidee: I bet Shanna does too. Shawn: we had a we had celebrity interactions, which if anybody's ever worked with celebrity handlers or anything like that, correct. If anybody's worked with any sorry Bingo. Shannon: Just that term in general. Yeah. Haidee: If you have a handler, you're high maintenance. Ask my four year old. Shawn: wait till they become a teenager. It it only gets better. Haidee: No, I'm not ready. I need more drinks. Shannon: Have another swig. Shawn: Yeah, you yeah. That's that's why I buy by the case these days. you know. Exactly. Yep. Shannon: Yeah Haidee: c that's why you have a whole wine dealer. Shawn: so the problem was not the celebrity. my job was to get to there were we were gonna do an interview with this celebrity. we were off campus, so to speak. we were gonna do an interview with this celebrity at a literal mansion at another part of town. And the host of said interview missed the car back at the other location. so I'm driving down the road and I'm supposed to be there ahead of time. Shannon: Do you have the address of the mansion or is this like a Sean, get in this car, you don't really know where you're going, and we're gonna drop you off somewhere? Shawn: I was actually driving at this time. So I I had been back and forth. Haidee: Did you have a bag over your head? Okay. Shawn: We had prepped it. We built a set there, the whole nine yards and and stuff like Shannon: Okay. Shawn: that so I was f pretty familiar with it. I was supposed to get there ahead of time to be the one to welcome in, prep them, show them where they're gonna do and and things like that. then the host was supposed to be in the car behind me. We were trying to caravan our way through here. and the host just I guess went to the bathroom, didn't tell anybody that they went to the bathroom. so the car left. Yeah, they didn't Haidee: 'cause they didn't have a handler. Shawn: have a handler. I get a text message from my producer I'm driving down the road, going, this person didn't make it. I can't find them. And Shannon: Yeah. Shawn: I just called them. They're literally leaving the bathroom back at the old location. You're fucking kidding me. They're supposed to be here. This celebrity costs us so many million dollars per hour thing, Haidee: Mm-hmm. Shannon: Per hour Dam goals. Shawn: You when you work with a celebrity, you have to they have a Haidee: Cold. Shawn: they have a set amount of time that they'll be on set. If they are union and things like that, there's only so much time they can be on set. And we had already been shooting with them most of the day. So this was sort of the wind down interview afterwards, things like that. And it was supposed to be, more relaxed and everything I literally pull a UI in the middle of a Texas highway. Shannon: You're like, I'll just drive through the median, it's fine. Shawn: I kinda did, yeah. and started driving back to the yes. Haidee: Unnecessary fire drill. Shawn: started driving back to the first location, I guess. I then get a phone call that said, never mind, he got in another car with somebody else. It's okay. The celebrity was several miles down the road ahead of me at this point, had no way of getting into the place or anything like that for it. Haidee: Cheese. Shawn: So my ass is doing a hundred and ten down the Texas highway. Trying to outrun Shannon: I like at least it's wide enough a Autobond type approach here. Haidee: With all the giant Shawn: The the Haidee: trucks everywhere, right? Shannon: Yeah. Shawn: I was in a I was one of one of the b a bigger SUV thing, 'cause of course that's all you can get Haidee: Nice. Shawn: when you rent a car in Texas. Absolutely. Haidee: 'Cause everything's bigger. Shawn: so I eventually whip back in front of them by about a millisecond before they Haidee: Wow. Shawn: I'm calling the thing 'cause it's a gated kind of thing So I'm like calling ahead of time to get to open the gate So like just in case they get there, they're not waiting outside and stuff. I come into Haidee: Yeah. Shawn: a screeching halt in front of this location, with about Shannon: At least you put the car in park before you got out 'cause it could've ended disastrously if you're get there, run out of your car and then be like, shit It's it's in the house Haidee: gosh. Then you hit a celebrity with your car. Shawn: Which w Absolutely. Yeah. It was it was crazy, we had been parking all of the production vehicles was kind of on the side. which was by the pool. I literally got out of the SUV, climbed up on the hood, jumped over the because I didn't have time for them to open the locks on the things. Haidee: MacGyver style. Shawn: Jumped over the gate, to get into the pool, ran through the whole pool area, into the house, around the corner, and then opened it up. I'm hustling and I'm I'm a big guy. For those, you know, you can't see me. I'm a big dude. so I'm like sitting there like and then open the door. Hey, how's it going? Welcome in. It's good to see you again. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know. Absol yeah. Yeah. Shannon: And is the celebrity yeah, so sweaty, but is the celebrity a nice person or sort of a kind of off putting, I don't really want to engage with you anyways? Shawn: They use the word incredible. I if I was taking shots, how many times they use the word incredible? I would have been drunk within the first Haidee: To describe themselves or to describe the experience they were having. Shawn: They were bless them, they were trying to describe the experience, but like you could tell it was going way over their heads and things like that with it. Yeah, and they were just like, hey, I'm Shannon: Mm mm technical meeting non technical at all. Shawn: just here, I'm getting paid, I appreciate it, you know. Yeah. Haidee: Yeah. Classic Shannon: Give me that millions. Haidee: celebrity doing a corporate sponsorship. Yep. Shawn: Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. And they were the second celebrity that we had worked with. The first celebrity loved the fact that I had a beard, and compared me to James Harden from the Houston Rockets. Yeah. Turns out that particular celebrity Haidee: Specific. Okay. Yeah. Shannon: Compliment. Shawn: has a thing for dudes with beards. I let my wife know she officially had competition at that point. Like, you know. Yeah. So Haidee: Hey, all right. So you got their number. You're like, I'm married, but I'll add you to my short list. Shannon: So did you mm yeah? Like you did you meet a Shawn: texted home, have a sugar mama. Congratulations. Shannon: Or there's a pantry back here. Haidee: Ha Shawn: Yeah, exactly. So yeah, it's it was just one of those kind of weird scenarios of like, you talked about the forced fire drills and unnecessary fire drills. That was one of them. you know you're important, tell somebody that you're gonna go to the bathroom. Haidee: Yeah. Shannon: was there anything wild in the celebrities contract that you guys had to provide? Shawn: this particular place that we were shooting at, backed up to a private runway. So we had to correct. Shannon: a ha like a airplane runway? Yeah, okay. Shawn: so we had to make sure that their jet was primed and ready to go two houses down basically. and that's how they came to and fro and stuff it was okay, pilot comes over the comms, where do you want me to park it? I don't know. Where where do where do Shannon: I don't know where the airplanes get burned. Shawn: El airplanes get parked on a on a private runway? I I Shannon: Ha ha ha. Shawn: I it was one of those Yeah, I'm like, I I Haidee: Spot A one. Shawn: don't this is out of my price range. I just work here. it was the first time Shannon: Take your pick. Shawn: in the entire project that I literally was just like, I just work here. I don't know. Haidee: Ha ha Shawn: so yeah it was just it was so kind of crazy. They were really nice though. The other celebrity that we had, their actual handlers they decided while the other celebrity was there was to go to the bathroom. They got lost. supposedly. No Shannon: Because the mansion was so big. Shawn: no no, this was on a this was on a protected military base. Shannon: Hmm. Shawn: I show up three men with sixteens show up about twenty minutes later after they've been gone. do these guys belong to you? And I went, Fuck. Yeah, they do. Shannon: Yeah. Haidee: They wandered off again. Shawn: Yeah, and they were like, they were wandering around so we had to bring back I'm like, Well, I'm glad you didn't arrest them Shannon: Yeah, probably not a place to just wander, but we've all worked at corporate places where even just a random not celebrity has to have a guest pass and follow you around like you're their handler. And the amount of times that I've had to walk over to the bathroom area with a random person who's just there for a meeting is like, this is so awkward. Shawn: Ha ha ha. Shannon: that's my awkwardness of being a handler. I can't imagine the shit that a celebrity handler actually sees. Shawn: it's really wild now that particular celebrity was way nicer. interview got done. It was like, okay, I'm gonna let my hair down. Can I get some slippers? Alright, so what we doing? and and my producers Haidee: She's like, where's the party at? Shawn: it w is exactly that. It was my producer we had a bunch of Shannon: Where's my bag of weed? It was in the contract. Haidee: Yeah. I want my Coke now. Shawn: Because we had been using this place and basically working and living out of it for several weeks leading into this project, we had alcohol and things like that there and we were like, What you want? And she's like, Psh, let's start doing shots and I'm like Okay. I look over to her agent and her agent's just looking at me like Well, and I'm like, okay, cool, let's do it. Shannon: Have fun. Haidee: What are you waiting for? I like how you look look at the agent for approval. Shawn: I was looking at the people in charge because I don't want to get this woman in trouble, with anything Haidee: Fair, yeah. Shawn: like that with it nah, she was totally fine. It was fantastic. We just sat there and drink shots and told stories the rest of the night. It was fantastic. Shannon: That sounds super Haidee: Nice. Shannon: fun. Did you guys rent the mansion then or it was somebody's house that you guys knew? Shawn: It was somebody's it was somebody else's house. we did rent it. but the house had an airplane hangar attached to it. so you go out these like double doors and that's just a giant airplane hanger. and it housed like stunt planes and all that kind of stuff with it Shannon: For what? Whoa. Shawn: and all. and it had a bar outside in the airplane hangar too. So yeah, they rented it to us for an undisclosed amount, but it was insane how much they rented it for. How how easy it was to get and how nice they were about letting us just use it and work through it and everything like that with it. Shannon: So I'm gonna guess you didn't rent it on Airbnb because I feel like on Airbnb listings Shawn: Absolutely not. Haidee: Yeah, that feels like Shannon: it's like no parties, no filming, Haidee: Yeah. Shannon: no blah blah blah. Shawn: Yep. Yeah. No, this one Haidee: Do not get drunk and drive the planes. Shawn: They had moved the planes out for us, which means they had to have a pilot come in and actually fly the plane to a different hangar somewhere else in the world. and so so we just had this big airplane hangar to work w with you know, for a set and stuff like that. And so, yeah, our producer found that. Shannon: I like how this is just their normal life. Haidee: Yes. And you know how so many people Shawn: They were they're like a billionaire kind of thing and it's just it's it's insane that kind of life. I I could never imagine it. Haidee: Yeah. Well and even this, my parents still to this day think all I do at work is just answer emails. And so explaining I mean I also respond to Slack messages, okay? Shannon: Are they wrong? Shawn: Ha ha ha. Haidee: And sit on Zoom calls. But it's just so funny they would never grok these types of experiences that happen because they think that nothing exciting happens. Shawn: To this day go ahead, go ahead. Shannon: Well you got as I say, you you have to leave your home office or whatever though to get these experiences, which then it's like, Haidee: Fair. Shannon: I guess I'll put my real pants on and get on a plane and go on a business trip. Right, right, right. Haidee: They're called hard pants, okay? When I have to Shawn: Yep. Haidee: when I have to zip up the jeans. Shawn: It it's always just so kind of weird 'cause it's I spend a lot of time on set in in different parts of the world all the different places you can think of very bougie kind of places And every stereotype that you can think of about Hollywood and and the industry probably have seen some capacity of that working And i I kinda look at it sometimes and I go I this isn't real life, right? there's things Shannon: Yeah. Shawn: that exist outside of this whole little world and stuff. Okay, okay. No? Got it. Okay. moving along Haidee: You're too grounded in reality. Shawn: Everybody knows each other and it's Hollywood and everybody's got slang and things like that for it and all and I'm like, yeah, I I wanna sell this device product thing. Can we take a picture of that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Can can you hold the Shannon: Ha ha ha. Haidee: You're like, hey, I'm not a Nepo baby, so I'm here to work. Shawn: remote slightly more to the left? No, no, your other left. No, no. Yeah, angle Haidee: Ha ha ha. Shawn: it up a little bit more so I can see the logo. Yeah, I don't wanna Shannon: Ha ha ha. Shawn: have to do that in post. Yeah, logo. Yeah, yeah, no, no, other way, other way. god. Can we get the dog in here? Can we get the dog it's the dog's easier. Can we get the dog in here? yeah, the dog's been the easiest ones to work with. Haidee: Dogs easier. I will say I have I that doesn't surprise me. I will also say I've had limited experience working with celebrities again in a marketing capacity for corporations. I am always so surprised at how little they know about technology. Like to your point, even using a remote for a TV is hard for them. Like we did something Shawn: Yes. Haidee: for a previous role where I was in the exact same scenario. They had to hold a remote, point, and use it, and they struggled. We had to do seven takes on using a remote, pointing at a TV, and selecting some content. Seven takes. Shannon: Totally. Haidee: Yeah. Shawn: You know, Haidee: wild, 'cause we've learned everything corporate. People assume that means it's not fun anymore, but whoa, is it still wild. Shawn: The wildest place you can ever go is to a librarian's convention in the Midwest. Shannon: I'm sorry, what? Haidee: Really? Shawn: Go to go to a librarian's convention in the Midwest. It's like girls gone wild. Haidee: my gosh. Shannon, I feel like we need to go on location with the podcast. All Shannon: Heidi, let's go. This Yes. Shawn: Ha ha ha. Haidee: right, listeners, if you're a librarian and you're attending, let us know. Shawn: C tell tell me I'm wrong, I'm just saying it's you know I worked I worked Shannon: We'll go confirm. Shawn: in the school of library and information Haidee: Yeah. Shawn: science at one point in time out of college. Haidee: I'm so intrigued. I would have never guessed that. But the more you think about it, yeah, I could see this going a little crazy. Shawn: at one of the conventions that I was working this one was here in town, but it is famously known for the chocolate pudding wrestling matches in the hotel rooms and things Shannon: Well Shawn: like that with it. Haidee: and hotels. Those are so messy. Shawn: yeah. Shannon: Whoa. Does Shawn: Yeah. Shannon: that a librarian convention or book some kind of book convention, I guess? Shawn: They were they were librarians. Haidee: Banned book convention, obviously. Shannon: Wow. Shawn: No, it was well, it was it was for like it was part Rinfair, part nerdfest kind of thing. And so yeah, it was yeah. Haidee: Ooh. So is chocolate pudding historically accurate for Rinfair? Shawn: I think they were trying to simulate mud as easy as they could with it within the thing. Correct. Yeah. Haidee: fair. Okay. Sure. Human jousting in chocolate pudding. Got it. Shannon: Were there drugs involved? Shawn: I don't there had to be. I know it's plenty Shannon: Yeah. Shawn: of ale and things like that with it. We get invited to come up and thinking that it was just gonna be a hang kind of thing. It was in a suite, at the hotel and stuff like that. W Shannon: What a weird thing to walk in on if that's all you thought it was. Haidee: Yeah. Shawn: Yeah. I have not I have not one eighty quicker. Haidee: Ha ha ha Shannon: Yeah. Shawn: out of a room than when I locked in there and that was going on and was like, Nope, Alex, I'm outta here, brother. We're done. like that. This is what's actually happening in this okay, got it. Shannon: Ha ha ha Shawn: Alright, just but make sure the baseline is there, you know. So Haidee: I feel like it's been a while since I've been surpr like floored surprised like that. And I think part of it is just, you know, the corporate life is numb to me in so many ways. But I need another like awe-shattering moment where you walk in, open a door, or see somebody do something, and you just think, holy hell, and close that door and walk away. Shawn: Yeah. You know what? This doesn't surprise me anymore. You know Haidee: Sure. Ex you've reached the acceptance stage as well. Shawn: I I think so. Yeah, I think that's really what it's come down to. Shannon: Well, that's exactly why we decided to make a podcast, because Heidi and I would Haidee: Yeah. Shannon: share these random stories with each other or things people would tell us. And it was just like, wait a second, there's so many of these that are so good to share. And I think for the most part, we're all not early enough in our careers anymore to give a fuck to be able to share them. We'll Shawn: Ha ha ha ha. Shannon: do it in an anonymous way as much as possible, but like There's just so many hilarious stories and I feel like we can all reminisce on this holy hell or fuck moment that Shawn: yeah. Shannon: n when Haidee: Yeah. Shannon: somebody else tells you the story, then you're like, my god, I forgot about this time when because we've seen so much shit since then. Shawn: yeah. yeah. Haidee: Okay, it's now time for our last call around. I'm gonna pepper you with some questions. Give me the first reaction or first response that comes to your mind. So when you know you're gonna end up working with a celebrity, what drink do you have first? Shawn: We have a we have a saying around our production team It's always give me a shot in a beer. Always something to get Shannon: Ooh. Shawn: started with and like that. Always a shot in a beer to get started. Haidee: to get started. So whether Shannon: And what Haidee: it's positive or negative, it's just shot in a beer. Shawn: Yep. If it's positive, it's like we're gonna have a happy beer, kinda thing. If it's negative, we're like, god, give me the stout. Yes. Yeah. Haidee: so it's whether or not you're crying into it is what makes it a happy Okay. I like that. What would you do, Shannon? Shannon: And any particular kind of shot or just whatever's available? Shawn: I'm drinking wine today I do the three W's a lot when I'm out. It's either wine, it's either whiskey or water I I can and will Shannon: I'm into that. Shawn: drink other things if it's handed to me and stuff like that, but those are the three things I know the best. And so that way I c know what I can stick to and I don't have end up with some weird cucumber drink or something like that in my hand. Haidee: Whoa. Some of us like a refreshing cucumber drink at the spa, okay? And by spa I mean the morning at my house. Cucumber's a morning beverage, you know. Shawn: Fair, fair. Shannon: I like the idea of the shot, even though I'm not a big shots person, but it's like I don't have time to consume a whole bunch of things and have to go to the bathroom a lot. So a shot of whiskey sounds great. Shawn: It's just enough to kinda kick start ya. Just get ya going, Haidee: I like that Yeah. It's a Shannon: Yeah. Haidee: good way to start and it could go to your point, either way, positive or negative, but you're ready. Just warms you up a little bit. Shannon: Or you could also do a shot in a coffee. Shawn: Yes. If it's if it's way late at night Haidee: Uppers and downers, classic. Shawn: thing, it will be. Yeah. Shannon: Ha ha ha. Haidee: I like how the espresso martini has really made uppers and downers popular. Alright, what's the weirdest thing you've ever seen on a celebrity's writer? Shawn: Okay. working at the radio station that I did. I was exposed to a ton of bands and during their heyday I worked with Stone Temple Pilots. at the height of Scott Haidee: Good trip. Shawn: using certain illicit drugs that he unfortunately later passed away from. he literally woke up that morning and it was my job to be their handler. and I didn't know any better at the time. Full circle, yeah. I I didn't Shannon: Full circle. Shawn: know any any way better. Again, I was the marketing bitch. It was okay, go make sure that band is happy. So it was me and a guy that was older than me, that was twenty one, at the time, he was supposed to be like my adult in the room to kind of between the two us we could make the group happy and stuff like that. F the rest of Stone Temple Pilots, all clean, all wonderful people, really, really nice Scott asked me no less than four times if he could go get a jet ski. he wanted to swim with the dolphins. then he learned that the owner of the radio station, because it was an independent owned radio station at the time. He had a Corvette, a drop top Corvette sitting out in the parking lot. He wanted to go take that for a spin. Shannon: no. Haidee: Jeez. I'll have what he's having. Shawn: it took Yeah. so then fast forward through the rest of the day. So I I hung out with the guitar player, from Son Temple Pilots, learning their songs and stuff like that directly from the source. Their tour manager, and I know understand why, their tour manager was a complete nutter bitch. even for Hollywood standards. Yeah, had to be. Haidee: Had to be. Shawn: I get it now. They're headlining this this particular festival. She grabs me by the collar on the way out and taking me out there. I'm standing side stage with her, kinda making sure everything's going correctly during their set and stuff like that. So Scott Wyland comes over and they're going over time, which is not something you can do in the the city that I was in, 'cause it's an outdoor festival and they're very particular about noise He comes over and he's like, It's time for Encore, but we don't have time rips I mean literally all of his clothes off. Shannon: Did he have tearaway pants on? Shawn: No. No, he had just skinny jeans on. Haidee: The sheer wow, you Shannon: Ha ha ha. Haidee: can rip skinny jeans off? man, he was on something strong. Shawn: He d yeah, yeah. He was, I think, yeah. And then he looks at me, he's like, You give me that behind you and I turn around and it's just an American flag and I went Haidee: Ha ha ha Shawn: He's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, gimme that. Meanwhile, he's full frontal in front of me, by the way. And I'm going here. And like threw it at him. I'm like, all right, here you go. Kind of thing. Wraps himself in the American flag and goes out there and plays the encore completely buttass naked. Shannon: What? Haidee: Memorable show. Shannon: That's a great story. Haidee: What corporate habit did you swear you'd never bring into your own business but then brought it anyways? If you say leadership principles, I'm gonna slap you through the camera. Shawn: No, I do actually bring in doc writing. so that I mean i you know anybody to Shannon: two pager and six pager doc writing or Shawn: a degree I don't I don't keep to the tight to the tightness of it quite the same way. the the the whole thing of, you know, write drunk, edit sober kind of thing works even when you haven't been bingo. Haidee: Or podcast drunk edit sober. Shannon and I's case. Shannon: Well, Heidi, back in the day when we worked together, we definitely did some right drunk edit sober. Haidee: Or maybe just Shawn: Absolutely. Haidee: all of it drunk. You know, you you do what you have to to get by. I didn't need an unnecessary fire drill. Shawn: Absolutely. Haidee: same vein, what's your least favorite corporate buzzword? Shawn: Circle back. Haidee: Mine too Shannon: That's Heidi's, yep. Shawn: we'll circle back on this kind Haidee: yes Shawn: of thing. Shannon: Okay, why do you hate it? Shawn: Because if you're if you wanna circle b a lot of times it's they're just being pissy about it and they don't wanna have the fight right then and there. So then they wanna have the fight with you over because they disagree with you over email. So then there's a paper trail and it's like, No, you're gonna be wrong either in email or you're gonna be wrong right now 'cause I promise I'm one of those pe I know I've talked a lot in in our time together. Haidee: This is Shawn: I don't speak up in most meetings until I know what I'm talking about, kind of thing. I just Shannon: Yeah. Shawn: I've I've I've open mouth insert foot too many times in my career. So, you know, the whole circle back kind of thing is just like, all right, why are we kicking the can down the road? Like let's just hash it out right now Haidee: I hate it too. I agree with you. It's like we'll fight about this later. And in my mind, I'm like, no, we're dueling it now. I've already got my pistol, I'm walking in the other direction. I I have to take care of things. I'm like this in my personal life too. If I'm upset about something, I have to address it immediately. I can't let it stew or fester. And so that whole circle back thing just it feels like someone just wants to defer. Shawn: I've always thought that when you come into especially pitch meetings or creative reviews everybody needs walk up music. kinda like kinda like you're a professional wrestler Shannon: Yes. Haidee: Hmm. Shawn: or something like that, or like coming Haidee: Yeah. Shawn: up to bat kind of thing. Like you need some walk up music in between. I've got it depends Haidee: What would be your walk up song? I feel like you've thought about it. Shannon: This is amazing. Shawn: it depends on depends on different ones. the San Francisco Symphony Orchestras plus Metallica called Mine is Human. And it starts this boom boom boom boom boom kind of thing, and so it's like very ominous Haidee: I think I know what you're talking about. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shawn: kind of piece to it. and then it breaks down to like a crazy writ. I wanna set the tone. Yeah. Haidee: So you wanna set a scene when you come up. okay. Shannon: Yeah. He's there to break some shit. Haidee: this has been awesome. Thank you so much, Sean. Shawn: Thank you. I appreciate y'all having me on. Haidee: I love that Sean shared a story that he worked with celebrities because he's done so much of that. And I mean, I know he has a treasure trove. He's probably so nervous about pissing off any celebrities because he still works with several. But wow. Like they are very one, like the diva side, and then two the ones that are just completely Tekanept. And I like that he's got some good ones, but there's there's some wild stories there. Shannon: Yeah, I think it's one of those things that I generally don't think about a contract involved in hiring a celebrity and what are the specifics in it like dressing room or prep room or whatever has to have these jelly beans and this kind of candy and this kind of drink some insight into the behind the scenes of w how working with celebrities actually works is quite fun. Haidee: Well, and it's also just weird. I was watching a commercial the other day for Salesforce and Matthew McConaughey is like refers to himself Shannon: What? Haidee: as the brand advisor for them. And I just thought, how does this pair together? Like, where is Matthew McConaughey calling up like cold outreach calls for sales? Like that just I don't get how these pairings are created. And I've seen behind the scenes working on this project with Sean and then a couple others, I've seen how they find them. And it's really just who's interesting and who do they think there's a I can't remember what it's like a potential score. Well that Shannon: Aura around, basically, yeah. Haidee: and it's a potential score of who do they think is going to be really popular in the next twelve to eighteen months, because then you get them a little bit cheaper. But if you can figure out like they're getting traction now, but they're not quite on top. They're not an A lister yet, so who can we get? So they either have new music coming out or new movies coming out, but they look at that potential score to try to get someone a little bit cheaper that will then blow up. Shannon: This is reminding me of that I completely forgot until now. were working on a product launch kind of like a fit bit in your shoe, let's say. And When I joined the team they'd already been kinda working on it and there were conversations that David Beckham was really interested in it and I was so what the fuck does David Beckham have any interest in this? And like never really think about also how celebrities have their own, side hustles and whatever other stuff. And you don't meet with the celebrity, you meet with their brand people or agency, whatever. Haidee: Their team Shannon: and so then we became kind of friends with this person who was David Beckham's I'll say handler, which is not the right term, but how they do all the deals for them and stuff. They were genuinely really, really nice. But they'd be like, Okay, so we went back and we told David about this and he's interested in this and that and wants to know more about this thing and one of the next steps was supposed to be to go actually meet with him in London, which I like, This is fucking cool and then the project got killed. So I was like Yeah. Haidee: Once it became real, then they're like, wait a minute, this is too expensive. Shannon: Yeah, that Haidee: But you make a good point. Like celebrity side hustles are such a thing. Everybody's coming out with their own alcohol, their own, what is it, like makeup brands. What else are they doing? I just feel like every time I turn the TV on there's something else. Shannon: well, cheers to surviving another dumpster fire of corporate chaos. Stay bold, stay unfiltered, and be the marketing bitch. If you want to hear more stories, follow and subscribe to Cocktails and Corporate Chaos wherever you get your podcasts. Haidee: Next time on Cocktails and Corporate Chaos, we are diving into a lunch break story that took workplace wellness way too far. What happens when a helpful coworker tries to snap a cute photo of a friend taking a car nap? only to walk into a full on HR violation. Hit follow so you don't miss it and we'll see you next time.