Latest / The Delicious Culture with Jon Francois / Love Is Blind Season 10 is Delicious w/ Jackie Dorman
Transcript
- 0:00Delicious, grab a plate and taste the delicious
- 0:01culture. I'm your host, John Francois. We are
- 0:04feasting on food, pop culture, lifestyle, love
- 0:07is blind season 10, all the good things with
- 0:09relationship expert, Jackie Dorman. Hi, Jackie.
- 0:14Hi, it's so great to be here. I'm excited. Yeah,
- 0:17isn't this great? So, so many things to talk
- 0:20about. Let's start with the three questions that
- 0:22anchor this podcast. First up, what is a delicious
- 0:26meal that you've had lately? Well, we just went
- 0:29out for my daughter's birthday to this spot only
- 0:32had like three tables inside and a very, very
- 0:35long waiting list. And so it tells you how good
- 0:37the food is, right? But they specialize in this
- 0:40smash burger that has this really spicy relish
- 0:43on it and this amazing focaccia. So I just had
- 0:47that on Monday night. So that's probably what's
- 0:49uppermost in my mind, especially the focaccia.
- 0:51It had this honey butter that had like this kick
- 0:56to it. And it was just, I mean, I could have
- 0:58eaten, I could have eaten a hundred pieces of
- 1:00it for sure. Oh my God, that sounds delicious.
- 1:03So Smashburger, what defines a Smashburger? Is
- 1:06it just like the size of the meat? Is it just
- 1:09like how many things you can pack onto a burger?
- 1:10Like what defines it? I think what defines it,
- 1:13not a culinary expert, friends, but that they're
- 1:15really thin patties. And so like Smashburger,
- 1:18so like the way they cook the meat, they like
- 1:20smash it down, make it really thin. It's like
- 1:22a really thin piece of beef. I think that that
- 1:25is probably what defines it. So there's two different,
- 1:29really thin patties, and then there's cheese,
- 1:31of course, and then this beautiful, amazing relish
- 1:34that they home -make there. And it was delicious.
- 1:37So I'm based in Vermont. You're based in Austin,
- 1:39Texas right now. Is that a burger that is specific
- 1:44to Austin? Is that something that you can get
- 1:45anywhere around the country, maybe? I think you
- 1:47can get it anywhere. I think smash burgers are
- 1:49everywhere. I think that they're something that
- 1:52people really love. But I've had them in different
- 1:55states. I travel a lot. So I know that there
- 1:57are other places besides here. But Austin really
- 2:00is the food tour. People are sleeping on Austin.
- 2:02Foodies, you would love Austin, Texas. We have
- 2:04everything and highly rated, highly rated culinary
- 2:09experiences here. Yeah, from what I know of Austin,
- 2:11I know the South by Southwest Festival. I know,
- 2:14of course, Joe Rogan has his podcast there. And
- 2:17I think I've heard a little bit about the food
- 2:19culture there. Why do you think people sleep
- 2:21on Austin so much? Because I think that people
- 2:23think So they think Texas food. So like whatever
- 2:26you think of when you think of Texas, like barbecue,
- 2:29what else would you think? Tex -Mex, of course,
- 2:32but we have everything here. We have some amazing
- 2:34Asian restaurants. We have French restaurants.
- 2:37Like I gained 30 pounds when I moved here. I've
- 2:40lived here for eight years and it's because we
- 2:42call it the food tour. My husband and I, we ate
- 2:44at all these different restaurants, different
- 2:46cuisines. Every time our friends come in town,
- 2:48they're like, hey, I heard about this one restaurant.
- 2:50Can we go? And so we're always eating out. these
- 2:53amazing places. Yeah. Yeah. Would you say the,
- 2:55the, the burger kind of cuisine like, but you
- 2:57just described, is that your favorite kind of
- 2:59cuisine or do you, do you have a, another preferred
- 3:01cuisine? I have some friends that are true foodies
- 3:04and I love dining with them because they make
- 3:06dining an experience. They're from Portugal and
- 3:08they're like, Jackie, this is the way that you
- 3:11eat. And we usually eat in different courses
- 3:13and I'm trying things I've never tried before,
- 3:15but I do like American food. It was my daughter's
- 3:18birthday. She loves American food. She loves
- 3:20burgers and that kind of thing. So that's definitely
- 3:23one of the things that we love, for sure. Love
- 3:26that. So something on a burger I've never had
- 3:28before. I think you said you had honey butter
- 3:30on this burger. No, that was on the focaccia
- 3:32that came on the side. It was like a honey butter,
- 3:35but it had like a spiciness to it. It was really
- 3:37interesting. I have no idea what a focaccia is.
- 3:40Can you explain that to me? It's like a, it's
- 3:42like a, it's bread. Focaccia is bread, but this,
- 3:44this focaccia was really, it was grilled and
- 3:46it was crispy. So it was crispy on the outside
- 3:49and really soft on the inside. I'm probably making
- 3:52everyone everyone knows what focaccia is is like
- 3:55drooling right now But it was perfectly done
- 3:58like in a skillet type of situation with this
- 4:00butter and it was amazing Okay, okay burger with
- 4:03a side of the focaccia bread that you mentioned
- 4:06I mean I know that you know bread in itself can
- 4:08be like sort of an appetizer before the main
- 4:10dish but Served like a side with the burger like
- 4:15it's a like it's fries that that's a new thing
- 4:18to me I've never heard of that before that sounds
- 4:20delicious Yeah, I don't think it was supposed
- 4:21to come together, but that's just what I ordered
- 4:23so So I ordered the bread and and then the burger
- 4:29came out pretty quickly So yeah, and yeah, it
- 4:31did have fries some garlic aioli fries. They
- 4:34were delicious as well But yeah, so that's just
- 4:38my recent. I mean, I'm eating great things I
- 4:40really am loving homemade popcorn at home and
- 4:42coconut oil with grass -fed butter right now
- 4:44That is a treat for me. So we've been making
- 4:47a lot of that but we do love to eat. I will tell
- 4:50you that. Oh my god. Homemade popcorn. Now I'm
- 4:54going to feel bad because I just buy the pre
- 4:57-made Oroville Redenbacher popcorn. Like my thing
- 5:00right now is... Okay. Okay. Okay. Tell me why
- 5:05that popcorn is wrong. Go ahead. Go ahead. Well,
- 5:07I've heard the news on the street is that that
- 5:10popcorn might have some chemicals in it that's
- 5:12not so good for you. But, you know, the old fashioned
- 5:14way, because I was a kid in the 80s. I was a
- 5:17teenager in the 90s. But in the 80s, when I was
- 5:19a kid making popcorn, you know, in the pot with
- 5:23the lid over the fire and constantly moving it,
- 5:27that was a thing of my childhood. And so I love
- 5:29making popcorn that way. I should say I love
- 5:32my husband making popcorn that way, and it's
- 5:36delicious. I usually have him do it. So, okay,
- 5:39if I get this correctly, like the kernel corn
- 5:44that I see in the grocery store that's made for
- 5:46homemade popcorn, you get that and then you add
- 5:48all your ingredients. I mean, how long does it
- 5:51take to make homemade - You cook it in coconut
- 5:52oil. So that's the oil that I cook it in, is
- 5:54coconut oil. And then you start hearing it pop.
- 5:57And as soon as you start hearing those first
- 5:59kernels pop, you got to keep moving it fast.
- 6:01You got to pay attention because it's going to
- 6:03pop really quick. You don't want it to burn because
- 6:04there's nothing worse than the smell and the
- 6:06taste of burnt popcorn, right? And so getting
- 6:08that off the burner, there's gonna be some kernels
- 6:10that are not all the way pop, that's fine. And
- 6:12then when it's still warm, getting that grass
- 6:14-fed butter and then sometimes some Italian seasoning
- 6:17on it is what I like to do. And it's delicious.
- 6:20That is a special popcorn experience. And the
- 6:23coconut oil, what is adding in the coconut oil
- 6:26do to the popcorn? I just, I mean, it's healthier.
- 6:29It's a healthier oil. We don't cook it at too
- 6:31high of a heat. And I just think that I like
- 6:34the taste. If you like the taste, the light taste
- 6:36of coconut, which I do, that's why. You could
- 6:40also probably do avocado oil. I wouldn't do olive
- 6:42oil, but you could do avocado oil. It's delicious.
- 6:45So, and how long does it take to make homemade
- 6:48popcorn compared to the pre -made popcorn that
- 6:51we know so well? I mean, you know, the pre -made
- 6:53is like three, three or four minutes in the microwave.
- 6:55And I think the homemade is probably only, it's
- 6:58probably less than 10. So it's worth it. Wow.
- 7:01So the Orville Rennbacher popcorn, I don't know
- 7:04if this is a bad thing, but usually it just takes
- 7:06a minute and a half in the microwave. I guess
- 7:07it depends on like the wattage. I think it depends
- 7:09on the wattage of the microwave, but like, yeah,
- 7:1210 minutes. That's not bad. 10 minutes for homemade
- 7:14popcorn. And for everything, prepping it, like
- 7:16putting the oil in the pan, melting the oil,
- 7:18putting the kernels in, putting the butter in
- 7:20at the end. I'd say, I'd say start to finish
- 7:22about 10 minutes. What is a delicious piece of
- 7:27pop culture that you've been consuming lately?
- 7:29This could be a TV show, movie, music, book,
- 7:32play, anything. And I know that we might talk
- 7:34about Love is Blind, and I definitely consumed
- 7:37that. It's part of my job to stay up on that.
- 7:40But I just literally binged over the last week.
- 7:43a new show called Age of Attraction. Have you
- 7:46heard this one? I've heard of it. Yeah. I've
- 7:48seen it shown up on the Netflix slides. Yeah.
- 7:52Tell me what the show is about. So it basically
- 7:54is strangers. Same as like, it's not blind, but
- 7:57you are blind on age. So you don't know you're
- 8:00not allowed to share your age. So strangers coming
- 8:02together, men and women, all different ages,
- 8:04a mix of all different ages of men and women.
- 8:06And then beginning to have these dates face to
- 8:09face in this controlled environment where you're
- 8:12getting to know you're seeing what you match
- 8:14on with people as far as personality and likes
- 8:16and dislikes and life experience. And then you're
- 8:19supposed to choose one of those people to go
- 8:21to this promise room with where you give each
- 8:23other a promise ring where you're going to, and
- 8:26you can decline, you can say yes or no to this
- 8:30pledge of promise. And then you go forward into
- 8:33that next stage of being a couple. And at that
- 8:36promise thing, after you decide yes or no, you
- 8:39tell your ages, right? during saying yes or no,
- 8:44you tell your ages. And then you go forward into
- 8:47the outside world of what does it look like to
- 8:50be a couple with this age difference. And some
- 8:53of these age differences were pretty shocking,
- 8:55both with the woman being older and the man being
- 8:57older. So we have like 30 age differences between
- 9:00a 27 year old girl and a 70 year old man, 60
- 9:04year old man, 60 and 27. And then we have a 55
- 9:09year old woman with a 32 year old. man, just
- 9:12a lot of really different May, December romance
- 9:15type of things. What's interesting is none of
- 9:17the couples picked anyone who was less than 10
- 9:20years in a 10 year window. And of course they
- 9:25could have because there are definitely people
- 9:27there that are more your peers, but they didn't
- 9:29gravitate towards each other. Is there a period
- 9:31like Love is Blind where these people don't see
- 9:33each other and they're speaking with each other
- 9:34or no? They see each other from the get go? They
- 9:37always see each other. They just don't know how
- 9:39old each other is. The thing that's missing,
- 9:41the thing that they're blind on is age. They
- 9:43don't know how old the people are. Now I'm a
- 9:46pretty good guess of age. And I will tell you,
- 9:49I think that women guess other women's ages really
- 9:52accurately, but what I saw from this experiment
- 9:55and I know this already because I'm a matchmaker
- 9:57and a dating coach that men are not a good gauge
- 10:00of women's ages and so a lot of times people
- 10:02say hey why is he talking to that woman that's
- 10:04too young for him a lot of times he may not know
- 10:07that that woman's as young as she is why is that
- 10:10guy talking to that woman that's so much older
- 10:12and a lot of times he might think she's 35 when
- 10:14she's really 50 I don't think men are as good
- 10:16a guessing age as women are hmm Um, I would imagine
- 10:21that if it was like, uh, you had mentioned like
- 10:24a really, it could be a really young woman and
- 10:27especially older man that it would be like very
- 10:29obvious to see, you know, okay, maybe you're
- 10:32like 75, 80 years old on the guy's side, something
- 10:35like that. But, uh, okay. So can you give me
- 10:38an example of like how far apart the guy is,
- 10:44or how wrong the guy is in guessing the age from
- 10:46the show? Like, what was, like, the most absurd
- 10:49example where the guy got it so completely wrong?
- 10:51I mean, in that example, he's 60. She ends up
- 10:54being 27. I think that he thought she was in
- 10:57her mid to later 30s. In his defense, she was
- 11:00really mature for her age, so she was carrying
- 11:02herself very maturely. And so, and they both
- 11:06were, you know, they were, you know, non -white
- 11:09people, so they were brown people, and a lot
- 11:11of times, you know, they were... saying funny,
- 11:13you know, little phrases in the show of, Hey,
- 11:16you know, we age better than other people do.
- 11:18And so that's why we can't tell each other's
- 11:20ages. But in one situation, I mean, the woman
- 11:24was very obviously I'm 51 years old. I knew that
- 11:27she was very obviously someone who's in her mid
- 11:29fifties. And this, this, the guy that shows her
- 11:33was in his twenties. And he thought that she
- 11:35was in her thirties. And I'm like, bro, come
- 11:38on, come on now. Come on. So would you say that
- 11:43men tend to judge women's age by their maturity
- 11:48and women tend to judge men's age by just looking
- 11:52at every facet of their physical appearance?
- 11:56Is that what we're aiming at? I think that women
- 11:59take in the entire picture. I think that we just
- 12:02have a better idea of nuance and we're more intuitive
- 12:07than men are. I think that men are looking at
- 12:10possibly the youthfulness of someone. the youthfulness
- 12:13of how they act and their personality. I think
- 12:16that that is what they're gauging more than they're
- 12:18gauging the actual lines on someone's face or
- 12:21the things that are dead giveaways. Like we always
- 12:25say, women, their face might look great, but
- 12:29their hands are gonna give away their age or
- 12:31their neck's gonna give away their age. But men
- 12:33don't know stuff like that. Women are the ones
- 12:35that know stuff like that. All right. Well, thank
- 12:38you. Age of Attraction. Yeah, I've seen it on
- 12:40Netflix and definitely have to put it in our
- 12:43queue. My wife and I's queue along with all the
- 12:45other dating shows that we've been watching.
- 12:47Love is Blind and Ultimatum and so on and so
- 12:50forth. I watched the Ultimatum as well. I feel
- 12:54like with Age of Attraction, it's going to be
- 12:56interesting to see how these people think they
- 12:58can overcome these huge age differences and stay
- 13:00together. Because of course, their families are
- 13:02not on board. Even worse than Love is Blind.
- 13:06met someone that I never saw before and got engaged
- 13:08to them. But at least, you know, we're more age
- 13:10appropriate. We're more peers in that experiment.
- 13:13In this experiment, we're talking about people
- 13:15that are old enough to be your mom or dad. Let's
- 13:19talk about the delicious events that has happened
- 13:22in your life lately. What positive thing has
- 13:25happened in your world, Jackie? I'm having so
- 13:28many delicious events. I have a new book coming
- 13:30out at the end of the month. So it's my third
- 13:33book. And I really feel like when you write a
- 13:35book, it's like kind of giving birth to a child.
- 13:38And so I have that coming up. And then my child,
- 13:41my son, who is our oldest child, he just turned
- 13:4430 in December. He is also the only one is not
- 13:47married and we are having the deliciousness of
- 13:51heading up to his wedding at the end of May.
- 13:54So we are in pre -wedding prep right now. We're
- 13:57really excited that he is getting married. Um,
- 14:01and who, you know, and the girl he's marrying
- 14:03and her family. And so it's just a beautiful
- 14:05time of family. Normally we travel a lot at this
- 14:08time of year for work, but we are staying close
- 14:10to home. Uh, just doing a lot of family stuff
- 14:14leading up to that. Now, what is the role of
- 14:17yourself as a mother in this? wedding planning
- 14:22of sorts, because I know that every parent can
- 14:25have their different experience with it. There's
- 14:28the parents that are hands off and they let their
- 14:31children do whatever they want that the parents
- 14:33that are like, I want to invite all these relatives
- 14:37and maybe you should, you know, have this setting
- 14:39over here and this table over there. Like, what
- 14:42kind of parent would you describe yourself and
- 14:44in your in your son's wedding as he's planning
- 14:46it? Well, the good news is, is that because it's
- 14:49my son, I don't have to plan any of it. So I
- 14:52love that. The rehearsal dinner is the only thing
- 14:54the groom's parents are responsible for as far
- 14:56as planning. Um, but he's marrying an only child.
- 14:59His wife, his fiance, wife to be is an only child
- 15:03and she is having a big wedding. Um, I have two
- 15:06daughters that are already married. And so of
- 15:08course we planned those weddings and, um, both
- 15:11my daughters pretty much knew what they wanted.
- 15:13And I just really helped, uh, along the way along.
- 15:16with their friends and other women in our family.
- 15:19But this wedding. My son is, it's funny because
- 15:24we all laughed. It's funny that he would have
- 15:26the biggest wedding. So both of his sisters opted
- 15:28for small weddings. They didn't want to invite
- 15:29a lot of people, but his fiance is inviting over
- 15:33250 people to this wedding. So it's going to
- 15:35be the biggest wedding that any of us have ever
- 15:38even been to. And so it's going to be a fun time.
- 15:43So thankfully I don't have to do really anything
- 15:45except find my own dress and show up. Maybe this
- 15:49is a tradition that I'm not too aware of. So
- 15:51is it tradition that the parents play more of
- 15:56an active role in a daughter's wedding as opposed
- 15:58to a son's wedding? And okay, you're nodding
- 16:01your head. Why is that, if I may ask? I don't
- 16:03know why it is. I just know that traditionally
- 16:05in America, for most Americans, the bride's family
- 16:10is the one that throws the wedding. And the groom's
- 16:13family throws the rehearsal dinner, maybe helps
- 16:16pay for a honeymoon or something like that. But
- 16:20the, the wedding is usually the father of the
- 16:23bride, the mother of the bride. So I had two
- 16:25of those because I have two daughters. So, um,
- 16:28but once again, they both had really small weddings.
- 16:30And so my son is having this big 250 person wedding.
- 16:34Um, yeah. So I'm like, wow. Yeah, it's gonna,
- 16:38it's gonna be, it's gonna be fun. It's gonna
- 16:39be a fun time. And then they're going to go to
- 16:41Fiji. afterwards. So so excited for them. But
- 16:44yeah, I'm glad that I don't have to be involved
- 16:46in not just the the planning of that, but also
- 16:49the payday of that because that's gonna that's
- 16:51gonna be a big wedding. Oh, yeah, for sure. How
- 16:54is your son feeling about that giant wedding
- 16:56that his fiance is putting together? Is he okay
- 16:59with it? Is he kind of like, oh, man, maybe we
- 17:01could like, economize here and there? Like, how's
- 17:04he feeling? I think he's excited about it. His
- 17:08fiance has a lot of friends, and my son has always
- 17:11been kind of the nerd that was in his room drawing.
- 17:14He's an artist. He's a designer. And so that
- 17:17big, huge social circle has never been his thing.
- 17:20But he's very friendly, and he's become outgoing
- 17:23in later years. And so I think he's excited for
- 17:26it. But if he was the one planning a wedding,
- 17:28he probably would have had a small wedding, just
- 17:30like his sister's, I bet. Yeah, yeah. My wife
- 17:33and I, we had maybe less than 100 people, like
- 17:36about 80 or so people at our wedding. And I think
- 17:41originally the count was like 100, but as always,
- 17:44like there are certain people that cannot show
- 17:46up and that makes it a lot easier. But yeah,
- 17:50I mean, I think just the combination of like,
- 17:53we prefer... it as intimate of a wedding as possible.
- 17:56And also we don't have much money. Like it just
- 17:59both. Yeah. Those two things go together. Yeah.
- 18:02It works just wonderfully. And yeah. And for,
- 18:07for people, for certain people that wanted to
- 18:09invite like 25 guests, we just had to say, Ooh,
- 18:12yeah, maybe try one or two. I think that's catching
- 18:16on ever since COVID, I see because, you know,
- 18:19obviously I'm part of the wedding industry in
- 18:20the way of being a matchmaker and a relationship
- 18:22coach, people having smaller and smaller weddings.
- 18:25There are people that still have the huge weddings,
- 18:27but a lot of people even elope now or they have
- 18:29a courthouse wedding and then they have a party.
- 18:32Courthouse weddings are really popular right
- 18:33now where you dress up and you get a photographer
- 18:36and you get these beautiful courthouse pictures
- 18:38and then you have a reception even later, maybe
- 18:41even after the honeymoon. So people are doing
- 18:43things very differently than they used to do
- 18:45them. What kind of wedding did you have? I had
- 18:48a My original wedding we eloped sort of we had
- 18:53our our parents and our children because we're
- 18:55a blended family So we all had we had small children
- 18:57when we got married and so our small children
- 18:59and our parents were at our wedding it was in
- 19:01a little chapel in Amish country and then ten
- 19:04years later which was what we said we would do
- 19:06on our tenth and our tenth anniversary we had
- 19:09a vow renewal and we had a a bigger wedding of
- 19:12like 75, 80 people that we were really close
- 19:15to. But then I wore the dress and we did the
- 19:17whole thing. And now we're going to be married
- 19:19for 20 years. And so next year on our 20th, we
- 19:22were talking about doing another vow renewal,
- 19:24maybe with our kids, our grown kids and their
- 19:26spouses, possibly like in Hawaii or something.
- 19:30What do you think about vow renewals? Is that
- 19:34something that you strongly advise couples to
- 19:38do in order to like reignite an energy in the
- 19:42marriage that maybe gets lost after 10 or 20
- 19:45years? Like, how do you go about talking about
- 19:47a viral renewal process if a couple wanted to
- 19:50ask you whether they should do it or not? I mean,
- 19:52I think that it's something you could do every
- 19:53year. You don't have to have a party. You don't
- 19:55have to buy a special dress. But my husband and
- 19:57I have something we do at the end of every year
- 19:59called the state of our union. So if the country
- 20:02can have a state of the union, we can have a
- 20:04state of our union. And so we just get, you know,
- 20:07we get together and we go somewhere and we talk
- 20:10about you know, our relationship and what worked
- 20:12this year and what didn't and kind of where we
- 20:14are and where we want to go in the future. And
- 20:17I kind of think of that as a renewal, right?
- 20:19Just renewing our desire to continue to build
- 20:25and grow together, renewing our vows, so to speak,
- 20:30our love for each other and our commitment to
- 20:31one another. But as far as... inviting people
- 20:34or doing something formal, even if it's just
- 20:36the two of you. I don't think you have to do
- 20:37that every year, but I think it'd be fun to do
- 20:40it at landmark years. So possibly 10, 20, 30,
- 20:4550. I've been to a lot of them and I think they're
- 20:48very special, especially since a lot of people
- 20:51don't stay married nowadays. I think that it's
- 20:54right to celebrate marriage if you've been able
- 20:57to continue to grow together and not apart. I
- 21:02believe you have sparked, as a matchmaker, over
- 21:051 ,600 marriages. And what amount of those marriages
- 21:11are still around? What amounts maybe aren't lasting
- 21:16as long as you have mentioned? I know. I personally
- 21:19know about a dozen divorces. So I know about
- 21:22a dozen divorces. Most of those people divorced
- 21:24in the first year and a half, I would say. And
- 21:27to be fair, I think that most of those couples
- 21:29were people that were told that they might be
- 21:31rushing. and maybe they should slow down a bit
- 21:33and take some more time to get to know one another.
- 21:35And then I just found out today before I came
- 21:37on the podcast that one of my brides that got
- 21:39married in 23 actually passed away. So I just
- 21:42found out that she passed away. So about a dozen
- 21:45divorces and I know of at least one, I know of
- 21:49two, one groom and one bride, different marriages
- 21:53that have passed away untimely, very, very young.
- 21:58Wow. I mean, you can tell me as much or as little
- 22:05as you want, but was that passing, like, was
- 22:10it unexpected? Was it already, like, seen coming
- 22:13because they already had, like, this health issue
- 22:15for some time? No, they were both unexpected.
- 22:18So one was an accident and the other, both of
- 22:21them, I think, were pretty unexpected. So yeah,
- 22:25so, you know, you never, we never know. We never
- 22:27know what life's going to hold. And so I am a
- 22:30firm believer of, you know, let's get to the
- 22:33good part. Let's get to the good part. Why save
- 22:36the best things for later? I definitely believe
- 22:39in living in the moment and that doesn't mean
- 22:41being irresponsible, but it means understanding
- 22:44that life is a gift and it's called the present
- 22:47and making sure that you're not saving all the
- 22:49good stuff for the future. It's called the present
- 22:51for a reason because life Life is a gift every
- 22:54day and we should be enjoying it. Sorry, I don't
- 23:03mean to sound negative here. I'm just curious.
- 23:06But what is a common reason for marriages not
- 23:10lasting as long based on your experience? And
- 23:17actually to balance that out, what is a common
- 23:21reason you see the marriages, especially those
- 23:24that you have put together, being successful?
- 23:27So successful and non -successful, like what
- 23:29are the common reasons for those happening? Yeah,
- 23:31well, I should clarify that, you know, the 1600
- 23:33plus people that we have helped to, you know,
- 23:36meet, match and get married haven't all been
- 23:39personally handpicked and match made. Some of
- 23:41them have, but we have a program called Last
- 23:44Year Single where marriage minded people come,
- 23:45they meet each other, they get prepared for what
- 23:48it looks like to be in marriage while they're
- 23:50dating and meeting people. And so that's kind
- 23:52of the secret sauce of our success to help people
- 23:54do that hard work so that they can be clear on
- 23:58what not just that they want to get married,
- 23:59but what kind of person would they need to marry.
- 24:02And so I think that marriages that don't last
- 24:03long are marriages that are built on more of
- 24:06the sea of chemistry. So infatuation type stuff.
- 24:10And it's scientifically proven that infatuation
- 24:13will not and cannot last longer than 14 months.
- 24:16Meaning that within 14 months of knowing someone,
- 24:19the new is going to wear off. The rose colored
- 24:21glasses are going to come off and you're going
- 24:23to see some things that you don't like. You're
- 24:25going to see some things that are incompatible.
- 24:27Those butterfly feelings of Just excitement are
- 24:31going to wane, and you're going to be left with
- 24:33what's really there. And so people that base
- 24:36long -term commitments on short -term feelings,
- 24:39not a good idea. That's why we need to really
- 24:42be clear about what we want going forward and
- 24:44what we need long -term. And so the C's, the
- 24:47letter C's that are more important in me matchmaking
- 24:51or me even being a dating or relationship coach
- 24:53are the C's of compatibility, the C's of consistency,
- 24:57the C's of communication, the C's of character.
- 24:59There's so many C's that are more important than
- 25:01chemistry, but a lot of people want chemistry
- 25:03to drive the bus. in their romantic relationships.
- 25:07It's like, but I don't feel a spark. Well, the
- 25:10problem is, is that your nervous system sparks
- 25:12because of dysfunctional things, because you
- 25:14haven't healed it yet. And so we gotta deal with
- 25:17what you're attracted to and what your type is,
- 25:20especially if it's not healthy, before you go
- 25:22out there sparking with people and then running
- 25:24off and getting married. You know, I'm thinking
- 25:28about my... connection to a matchmaker like 10
- 25:32or 15 years ago. This was when I used to live
- 25:34in Connecticut. I currently live in Vermont.
- 25:36And this was like when I was like starting to
- 25:38get into the dating scene. There was this matchmaker
- 25:40that would hold these like speed dating and blind
- 25:43dating events. And I would take part in that.
- 25:48I mean, I found my wife through an online dating
- 25:50app. So that's completely different. But I guess
- 25:53I'm curious as to your backstory. Like how did
- 25:56you get into the matchmaking and relationship
- 25:57coach field? And also, what does your day -to
- 26:02-day look like? Someone tells me they work out
- 26:06at Home Depot. Okay. I have an idea what their
- 26:08day to day looks like, but someone tells me that
- 26:10they matchmake in their relationship coach. I'm
- 26:12like, huh, like what's, what's, what's that nine
- 26:15to five schedule looking like? I mean, it varies.
- 26:17It looks different, um, depending on what I have
- 26:19going on, but I got into this because I've always
- 26:22been good at it. I've always been good at it.
- 26:24I was the friend in school that you would give
- 26:27the note to that would go to your crush and try
- 26:29to hype you up and try to get them to like you
- 26:32and, you know, go, go. Go with you is what we
- 26:35used to say when I was in middle school and high
- 26:37school. You will go together. We never really
- 26:40specified where exactly, but we were gonna go
- 26:43steady, you know, together. And so I've always
- 26:46loved love. I helped 15 of my friends. So 15
- 26:49of my personal friends, I helped in their relationships
- 26:52and even match made them. So some of those people
- 26:55I actually match made and they married those
- 26:57people that I match made them with. So I've always
- 26:59known that I was good at this. And then pandemic
- 27:01is when I decided to do it. as not a hobby, but
- 27:05as a profession. So during pandemic, in fact,
- 27:08pandemic hadn't started yet. It was about to
- 27:10start, but none of us knew it. And my mom had
- 27:12just passed away. I was grieving. I was really
- 27:15dissatisfied. Like a lot of times when we're
- 27:17grieving, we'll take a deeper look at our life.
- 27:20When someone passes, we're reminded how short
- 27:22life is. And then we'll ask ourselves, am I doing
- 27:24what I really want to do with my life? You know,
- 27:27with however long I have on this earth? And so
- 27:29I was thinking those types of thoughts. And I
- 27:32just felt like... I had permission to do things
- 27:35that I really enjoyed to do. And one of those
- 27:37was this. And so I just put it out to my warm
- 27:40audience on Facebook. Hey, I'm going to be teaching
- 27:43this course. I'm going to call it married in
- 27:4412 months or less. If you're a single and you
- 27:47feel stuck in the area of relationships, you
- 27:49know, come join my free course. And it just exploded.
- 27:51And then a month later, we were all locked down
- 27:54in pandemic, even though we didn't know it was
- 27:55coming. And by October of that year, I was live
- 27:58on the radio on 350 stations as the love guru.
- 28:02And by January, of the next year, 21, I had my
- 28:05first wedding. So nine months later, I had my
- 28:09first wedding and then it's just snowballed from
- 28:11there. So typical day of my life looks like I
- 28:13get up, I'm married, I live in Austin, Texas.
- 28:16I get up in the morning and I try to do some
- 28:19form of healthy thing. Like, you know, go walk
- 28:22or workout. I don't always do it. I should, but
- 28:24I don't. And then I usually go straight to looking
- 28:28at my emails, responding to things. Right now
- 28:31I'm in a book launch, so a lot of my days look
- 28:33like podcast interviews. Tomorrow I have to travel
- 28:35to Dallas to be on a podcast, so sometimes traveling.
- 28:39Going to in person into interviews. I've been
- 28:42on the news a bunch of times just recently in
- 28:44the last month or so because of Valentine's Day
- 28:46and so media opportunities media interviews I
- 28:51do some high -level matchmaking still So I do
- 28:54higher level matchmaking with some of my personal
- 28:57clients. I have a huge program called Last Year
- 28:59Single that has, you know, that has served at
- 29:02least 10 ,000 singles in the last five years.
- 29:05And so managing that, managing my team, I have
- 29:07a whole team of coaches that work for me. And
- 29:10so I'm just a busy bee. What do you mean by high
- 29:12level matchmaking? What's that compared to regular
- 29:15matchmaking? So I, because I'm so busy right
- 29:18now and because really my desire right now is
- 29:21to get out that matchmaker mindset. I want everybody
- 29:25to be able to become their own matchmaker. So
- 29:27my new book is really heavy in the matchmaker
- 29:29mindset. Don't be out there as a single thinking
- 29:32like a burnout data. Think like a matchmaker
- 29:35in order to be able to kind of help matchmake
- 29:38yourself. And so helping people, because I can't
- 29:41help every single person. No matchmaker can help
- 29:43every single person, but I have a desire to help
- 29:45people. And so putting out that book is my way
- 29:48of doing that. So I'm focused on that. So I can't
- 29:51really be focused on a lot of personal matchmaking,
- 29:53but I still do take some private clients. They
- 29:56have to fit a very specific criteria. I have
- 29:59to really know that I can match make them without
- 30:02a lot of heavy lifting on my part. So we have
- 30:04a questionnaire, they fill it out. There's a
- 30:07very specific type of client that I'm looking
- 30:08for in this season, since I'm so busy. But I
- 30:12have lots of other dating coaches that work for
- 30:14me, relationship coaches that work for me. So
- 30:16if they can't work directly with me, they can
- 30:18work with someone else. And I do have an exciting
- 30:20announcement of some more matchmaking opportunities
- 30:23coming really soon in the summer through our
- 30:26program. If we can't do it anymore, we've found
- 30:30a way for more and more people to get access
- 30:32to matchmaking. I can't say what it is quite
- 30:35yet, but I will tell you. It is pretty cool.
- 30:40Specific type of client. I'm hung on those words.
- 30:46What would be the ideal clients that you could
- 30:49see yourself? They have to have done the work.
- 30:51They have to be really healthy. They have to
- 30:53be out of their own way, you know, as far as
- 30:55there's people that show up and they think that
- 30:57all they're missing is a matchmaker. I can't
- 30:59tell you how many people have been like, oh,
- 31:01you're a matchmaker, matchmake me, but they don't
- 31:03want to take a deeper look at why they're single,
- 31:05why they haven't met anyone already about their
- 31:08habits, about their schedules, about their capacity,
- 31:10about their margins. People say they want a relationship,
- 31:12but there's no room in their life for a relationship
- 31:14or to build. build a relationship. And so this
- 31:16questionnaire is very in depth about where they
- 31:18are, what kind of work they've done, how they've
- 31:20prepared for relationship and how relationship
- 31:23ready they are. And so you take all these questionnaires
- 31:27from all these clients and I would imagine that
- 31:31you spend a day maybe two like looking at all
- 31:34these questionnaires at once and just kind of
- 31:37you know, seeing what, which ones match and which
- 31:40don't. Is that, is that sort of the, the big
- 31:43day that you do? Because I mean, I'm just imagining
- 31:45that you're like Carrie Matheson from Homeland
- 31:48and you have this like giant board of like, all
- 31:51right, this terrace leads to that terrace. That's
- 31:53so funny that you should say that. Cause I used
- 31:55to have that. I used to have those boards back
- 31:58in 21, 22, 23, when I did a lot more matchmaking.
- 32:01Now I've built such an extensive community. We
- 32:04have 25 meetup groups all over the country and
- 32:06in Canada. These are places where our students
- 32:09and our alumni, where our clients meet up in
- 32:11person. We have leaders that run those single
- 32:14city, call them single city groups in those other
- 32:17cities and states and even countries. And so
- 32:20we have an extensive community. I believe, and
- 32:23this is one of my taglines, that somebody knows
- 32:25somebody who knows somebody who knows your person,
- 32:28right? In fact, somebody right now is having
- 32:30lunch with their future spouse. And I believe
- 32:32in six degrees of separation. I think that science
- 32:35has been proven for the listeners that don't
- 32:37know what that is. It just says that we're all
- 32:39six people away from knowing everyone in this
- 32:41eight plus billion person world. The problem
- 32:44is, is that that science came out when I think
- 32:46there was only six billion people in the world.
- 32:48So I believe that we're even closer than six
- 32:51degrees of separation. You might be more like
- 32:52five or four from knowing everyone. And so really
- 32:56understanding that and understanding how connected
- 32:59you are and leveraging those connections is how
- 33:02I matchmake. Because when I play back the tapes
- 33:04on all of my matches, they're together, they're
- 33:07matched, they're in love, they're getting married,
- 33:09they're already married now. When we play back
- 33:11the tapes and they get to know each other deeper
- 33:13and deeper and deeper, start to share more and
- 33:16more and more life stories, they realize that
- 33:18they've crossed paths many times. They realize...
- 33:21that they had a friend in common during college.
- 33:23They realized that the brother of a cousin worked
- 33:27at the same place as a sister. There's just all
- 33:29kinds of touch points where there's similarities
- 33:31where they could have met before they did, but
- 33:34they just didn't. And one of the reasons why
- 33:36they didn't, because I think we're missing the
- 33:38village. And so what I do and everything that
- 33:41I do is to bring back the village, to bring back
- 33:44the community -based matchmaking of the old days,
- 33:47because outsourcing your love life to an algorithm
- 33:50is okay if you see it as a tool and not as your
- 33:54matchmaker, because a lot of people do meet on
- 33:57apps. But once again, we can really be helping
- 34:00so many more people meet that are not having
- 34:02success with technology if we will bring back
- 34:05this kind of mindset. And I call it the matchmaker
- 34:07mindset. So you've watched all of Love is Blind
- 34:10season. You and your wife, you met on an app,
- 34:11but do you guys have anything in common? Did
- 34:13you guys find out that there's any touch points
- 34:15between the two of you? Like what we had in common
- 34:17when we first met? Like, did you find out that
- 34:20you had any spaces in common or places in common
- 34:23or people in common? Like, if you thought through
- 34:26your life, was there any place where you're like,
- 34:28man, we could have met, but we just didn't. Ooh,
- 34:31that is a very good question. Well, I mean, well,
- 34:35Vermont, where we live, it's, it's a state, but
- 34:37it's basically known as one big, small town.
- 34:41And I remember at the time I lived in a town
- 34:44called Linenville and she lived in a town called
- 34:46Island Pond before we both eventually got our
- 34:48house here in Richford. And, uh, I had mentioned
- 34:51like, Oh, I live in Linenville and she was saying
- 34:53like, Oh yeah, yeah, I've gone there all the
- 34:55time to eat with friends at restaurants and stuff
- 34:58like that. So yeah, yes. You guys probably cross
- 35:01paths, you know? You probably cross paths. My
- 35:05husband's my neighbor. My husband was my neighbor.
- 35:08That's how I met him. I don't know if I said
- 35:10that or not. But he moved in next door to me.
- 35:12We both had gone through divorces. We had small
- 35:14children. He moved in next door. Very funny things
- 35:18ensued, but we ended up dating and getting married.
- 35:21And after we were married, we were moving into
- 35:25a new place that was bigger for all of us. And
- 35:27he had a VCR tape. That's how old the story is.
- 35:29And he popped it in. He's like, babe, come here.
- 35:31I want you to see this. It's so funny. And I
- 35:33come over and I'm watching this. And I'm like,
- 35:35wait a minute. I've seen this before. His, the
- 35:39old staff that he used to work on at this, at
- 35:41this, you know, big organization, they had pranked
- 35:44him and they had done this. You remember the
- 35:46movie, the show punked with Ashton Kutcher? Yeah,
- 35:49of course. Show on MTV. Okay. So they had done
- 35:51a version of this. They had punked their staff
- 35:53members by like setting up these scenarios where
- 35:56they think that something's happening that's
- 35:58not. And then they're like, oh, hey, you got
- 36:00punked. And so they filmed this and they, and
- 36:02I was watching it with him and I was like, I've
- 36:04seen this before. And he's like, what? And I
- 36:06was like, wait a second. I said, they showed
- 36:09this at an outside festival that I went to a
- 36:12few years ago. And he goes, yeah, they showed
- 36:14it at this big picnic that, you know, that our
- 36:17organization had for the public. They showed
- 36:19it on a Jumbotron. I said, I was there. I was
- 36:21at that picnic and I saw this and I even asked
- 36:25my friend that had invited me because she worked
- 36:27at this organization. I said, Hey, I said, who
- 36:29is that guy that they're that they're like tricking
- 36:31and pranking in this video? And she, she told
- 36:33me who he was. I didn't remember, but I did say.
- 36:36I said, and she's like, why? And I said, because
- 36:39I know him from somewhere. Like, I feel like
- 36:41I either went to school with him or we worked
- 36:44together. I just couldn't place him. Well, he
- 36:46ended up being my future neighbor and becoming
- 36:48my husband. This is the kind of stuff that you
- 36:52can't get on Love is Blind. You just kind of
- 36:54like fill out an application and you meet people
- 36:57just by voice through these separate pods. And,
- 37:01but no, I mean, you know, just that old school,
- 37:03like, oh, we, you know, we're next door neighbors,
- 37:06but we could have been, you know, meeting years
- 37:08earlier at this prank video thing. I fell drawn
- 37:12to him when he was on a Jumbotron and then I
- 37:14ended up meeting him later and marrying him.
- 37:17And so, but speaking of Love is Blind, I feel
- 37:19like the casting, you tell me, I don't know if
- 37:21your wife and you guys are real fans of the show,
- 37:24but from the first season to now, it feels like
- 37:28they're purposely, and I made a reel about this
- 37:30on Instagram, purposely casting. the men that
- 37:34women complain about. Like the ones that are
- 37:36not ready. It's like, are they purposely trying
- 37:40to find, you know, rage bait? What are we doing?
- 37:43Yeah, to get a reaction out of people, to get
- 37:45people talking online, you have a great point.
- 37:49Yeah, no, I've certainly seen some examples of
- 37:52toxic masculinity in there, you know, whether
- 37:55they're truly not ready or they just want to
- 37:59sleep with as many women as possible. Or in Alex's
- 38:02case, they're just arrogantly confident about
- 38:04everything and don't want to show vulnerability.
- 38:08Like, what were your thoughts? So did you watch
- 38:10the entire season 10? I did. Yeah. I watched
- 38:13the entire season. And then of course just saw
- 38:16the reunion show when it came out. What was it
- 38:18last week or the week before? And yeah, I just,
- 38:21you know, obviously those pod dates are five
- 38:24to six hours long for someone who knows how TV
- 38:27production works. I used to work in television.
- 38:29So we're only seeing like five minutes of a five
- 38:31hour pod date and the producers are only showing
- 38:34us what they want us to see. And so obviously
- 38:36there was lots of stuff that was happening that
- 38:38we weren't seeing. And the one healthy couple,
- 38:40you know, Vic and Christine, they weren't a lot
- 38:42of screen time because they are healthy. They
- 38:45kind of knew what they were looking for. So this
- 38:47experiment worked for them. I'm so glad they
- 38:48found each other. And of course they're happily
- 38:50married and that's exciting. But I was really
- 38:52surprised. Were you surprised at the reunion
- 38:54show to see all the happily married couples?
- 38:56I mean, there's quite a few of them. Yeah. Oh
- 38:58my God. I think there was like, they said like
- 39:00150 people or so were in the audience from like
- 39:03all the 10 seasons of Love is Blind. But yeah,
- 39:07they're trying to always do something different
- 39:09for the reunion show last year. They had it outside
- 39:12and they had musical performers and they had
- 39:14a basketball competition with Chris Paul. And
- 39:16this year was like, Hey, every happily married
- 39:18couple from the past 10 seasons. Um, and you,
- 39:23yeah, it's basically a game of like, wow, I've
- 39:26totally forgot you existed until now. And, uh,
- 39:29that was great. Some of them weren't even there.
- 39:32They weren't the person that they picked in the
- 39:34pods, but they're part of what's become that,
- 39:36you know, that community or universe. Like, do
- 39:39you like the bachelor nation? Now it's the love
- 39:41is blind nation. And they're finding each other,
- 39:44even though they weren't even part of each other's
- 39:45season, because all these people hang out together,
- 39:47they have parties, they invite each other. And
- 39:49so that's bringing back exactly what I'm talking
- 39:51about is bringing back the village. You know,
- 39:53the more that we can get in community and like
- 39:55-minded community, the better chance we have
- 39:57of meeting someone who's really aligned with
- 39:59us for a long -term commitment. Right, right.
- 40:01What are your thoughts about the couples that
- 40:03we've seen? So we already know that Christine
- 40:05and Vic, they were perfect. They were, as Christine
- 40:07said in the reunion, a little bit too boring.
- 40:09for reality TV. So, you know, there was there
- 40:14was probably a reason that they had their vacation
- 40:15separate from everybody else. You know, the show
- 40:18kind of knew that, oh, they're going all the
- 40:20way and that's going to be good. What did you
- 40:22think about Brie and Connor? Well, what's interesting
- 40:25about Brie and Connor is that I actually made
- 40:27some predictions about the couples that came
- 40:30out of the pods and were in Mexico. And all my
- 40:33predictions ended up being correct, which is
- 40:34really interesting. But I predicted that they
- 40:37would break up. They wouldn't make it to wedding
- 40:39day. And I was surprised at the reunion to hear
- 40:42they're back together. But I actually saw a podcast
- 40:44that she did right after the reunion where they're
- 40:47struggling again. So I really don't think they're
- 40:49a match. I think they'd like to be a match. I
- 40:51think that they're both good people. And I think
- 40:53that they both really truly want to have a connection
- 40:55with someone. But I just think that they're very
- 40:58fundamentally different in their energy and what
- 41:02they want out of life. She's very type A. She's
- 41:05very driven. He's very laid back. He's very unbi...
- 41:08And I just really don't think that those two
- 41:10type of people do well because what will happen
- 41:13eventually, she's young now, but what will happen
- 41:15eventually is she'll start driving him, pushing
- 41:17him or mothering him. Even though a more laid
- 41:20back personality in a woman probably would do
- 41:23just fine with him. So it's about compatibility.
- 41:25Once again, the sea of compatibility. I don't
- 41:27know if you noticed, but we saw a lot of, and
- 41:29I don't think the producers did this on purpose
- 41:32because this would be very methodical of them.
- 41:34And I don't think that it's about methodology.
- 41:36I think it's about. scandal when they're producing.
- 41:40Um, but I do think that we had a lot of very
- 41:43interesting attachment style dyads. Are you familiar
- 41:46with attachment style? What is that? No, no,
- 41:49tell me. So there's insecure attachment styles,
- 41:51like anxious and avoidant. And then there's a,
- 41:53there's secure attachment style. So people who,
- 41:56they don't have any problem being vulnerable.
- 41:58They don't have any problem bonding with another
- 42:00person, um, being, you know, having intimacy
- 42:03as far as into me see communicating. And then
- 42:06anxious people tend to overdo it. They're like,
- 42:08pick me people. They just, at any cost, they
- 42:11just want you to love them and they don't want
- 42:12you to leave them. They have fear of abandonment.
- 42:15And then there's avoidant people who feel fear
- 42:17of control or being controlled. Alex is a perfect
- 42:20example of someone who is an avoidant person.
- 42:23Like you see that he was never gonna let anyone
- 42:25see him sweat. He was never gonna be vulnerable.
- 42:28As soon as things came out of the sexual sphere
- 42:31with his partner and wanted to go into... the,
- 42:35with Ashley and wanted to go into the more emotional,
- 42:38he couldn't meet her there because he was closed
- 42:40off in that. It's like, okay, I'm fine if we're
- 42:42going to be F buddies. I'm fine if we're going
- 42:44to have this surface relationship, but if you
- 42:47want to dig deep into my soul, if you want to
- 42:49know me, then it's goodbye. Yeah. I mean, yeah.
- 42:54I mean, I could, my wife like really, really
- 42:58hates the type of person that Alex is. And like,
- 43:00and you're talking about rage made. I mean, she,
- 43:02Alex is that person that, that, that could get
- 43:04you raging. Um, but yeah, I mean, for it to see
- 43:07him go from, Oh my God, Ashley's the hottest
- 43:10person ever. Can't wait to have sex with her.
- 43:12And then as you had mentioned, you know, once,
- 43:15you know, she tries to dig deep and get to know
- 43:17him more. And he just becomes like, yeah, no,
- 43:19I'm fine. Everything's cool. And he's. always
- 43:21using sports metaphors for some reason. And he
- 43:24was trying to put on, he was trying to put on
- 43:26a rehearsed performance for Ashley's dad at that
- 43:28dinner. Like that was, that was almost creepy.
- 43:31Actually the two of them together, I was like,
- 43:33actually you might've picked someone kind of
- 43:35like your dad. I'm not really sure here what's
- 43:37happening. You know, he, um, you know, it's classic
- 43:40avoidant. avoid an attachment withdrawal. So
- 43:43as soon as things get emotional, you saw him
- 43:46withdrawing, you saw, and this is what always
- 43:48happens. They'll withdraw and they'll blame it
- 43:50on compatibility or chemistry. You're not really
- 43:55my type. I didn't really have feelings like that
- 43:57for you in the first place, kind of thing. And
- 44:00then the anxious attacher in the... There's a
- 44:03lot of people that had different attachment styles
- 44:05that were not secure, but the biggest example
- 44:08of anxious attachment on this season was... Devante
- 44:13and I was going to say, yeah, because Brittany,
- 44:16she like pre bought the wedding dress and it
- 44:20seemed like she was trying very hard to make
- 44:23it work with Devante. Yeah. Yeah. Devante clearly
- 44:26wasn't ready. He was pretty distant, like Alex,
- 44:29not really into any physical intimacy at all
- 44:32with Brittany. So yeah, talk more about that.
- 44:35Well, you know, and it always comes off as the
- 44:37anxious attacher being super delulu, right? She's
- 44:40just like, we're gonna be married, we're gonna
- 44:42have kids, you know, he's over here like, like,
- 44:44do you even know you're here? Did they roofie
- 44:46you? Like, are you even alive? What's going on?
- 44:49Because he was very shut down. So this is the
- 44:52classic anxious avoidant dyad. So the anxious
- 44:56attacher and the avoidant attacher, they like.
- 44:58They, you know, opposites attract, but they don't
- 45:00cohabitate. So they definitely attracted in the
- 45:03pods with the things that they were saying, because
- 45:05people that can't access their emotions, they're
- 45:08attracted to people that are emotional. They're
- 45:10attracted to that as long as it doesn't get too
- 45:13serious and they don't have to actually access
- 45:15their own emotions. So I could see why he was
- 45:17attracted to what she was talking about in the
- 45:19pods. But as soon as they're together in real
- 45:21life, it's an immediate disconnect. Like he just
- 45:25checks out. He's like a deer in the headlights.
- 45:27But he says, I don't know if you saw at the reunion,
- 45:29he said to, you know, to be fair, I just, I don't
- 45:31do conflict well, I avoid conflict. And, you
- 45:35know, she wanted all these things. She was telling
- 45:37me that this was what was going to be. I just
- 45:39didn't wanna, I just didn't wanna like hurt her.
- 45:42It's like, bro, clarity is kindness, clarity
- 45:45is kindness. Literally. What did you think about
- 45:49Brittany's dad dressing Devonte down? Did you
- 45:53think that it was not a good idea for him to
- 45:55have that speech about how Devonte needs to be
- 45:56better? I mean, I think that I can see why he
- 46:01wanted to do it. And it's kind of like, it's
- 46:03defending his daughter's honor in a way. But
- 46:06you can also see that whoever marries Brittany
- 46:10has kind of a high... there's a high watermark
- 46:13of the kind of man that she's gonna need to be
- 46:15with. And so, and I hope she finds it, because
- 46:18that's my hometown. That's where I come from
- 46:19originally, Columbus, Ohio. That's where me and
- 46:21my husband met. That's where we used to live.
- 46:23And so she's a great girl and she just needs
- 46:27to, she definitely needs to work on the idea
- 46:31that she doesn't have to settle. You saw her
- 46:33settling. She's like, okay, Devonte, I know that
- 46:35you're not emotional, but I can work with that.
- 46:37I know you're never gonna tell me that I'm pretty.
- 46:39Okay, I've gotten over that. Okay, that's fine.
- 46:41Like she just kept bargaining anything that I
- 46:45have to do to keep you, I'm going to do it. And
- 46:47there's so many people out there that do that.
- 46:49And it's always a bad idea because it never works
- 46:51out. Brie really dressing down Connor's frat
- 47:01guy -ness, his man cave, like, you know, the
- 47:05keg and everything like that at his place. I
- 47:08thought it was like just very condescending.
- 47:11Do you agree or do you feel like, no, I mean,
- 47:14that's Brie doesn't want that kind of frat guy
- 47:16lifestyle and that's okay for her to speak that.
- 47:19Like, yeah, there just were a lot of moments
- 47:21where I just felt bad for Connor because... Brie
- 47:24was just making him feel like shit for being
- 47:26the stereotypical bachelor guy. Yeah, I think
- 47:28that first of all I think that we forgot because
- 47:31they all of them look a little bit older I think
- 47:33in my opinion than they are but these people
- 47:35are like 30 31 years old You know, they're not
- 47:38they're not 38. They're not 40 years old. Okay,
- 47:42and so I get it There's a transition between
- 47:45adolescence and adulthood and a lot of these
- 47:48guys seem to be in that transition Jordan was
- 47:50in that transition dude had curb furniture His
- 47:53house looked like he had furnished it with things
- 47:55that other people had thrown out on the curb.
- 47:57Right? So typical Flophouse, frat house feel.
- 48:02Connor, to be fair, had more video games than
- 48:04an arcade. He had a whole room for gaming. He
- 48:06had all these consoles, all these joysticks.
- 48:09And I think it was kind of shocking to her because
- 48:11you can tell once again that she's a go -getter.
- 48:13She's a type A girl. You go to her apartment,
- 48:15it's perfect. Everything just like Jess, the
- 48:18doctor Jess, they have their life together. And
- 48:21I think this is where women in real time, in
- 48:23real life are having a hard time, especially
- 48:25millennials. like their male peers, their male
- 48:28counterparts are not growing up. They want to
- 48:32meet and marry and have a family. Their baby
- 48:35clocks are ticking. And these guys are stuck
- 48:37in what we call Peter Pan syndrome, like perpetual
- 48:41adolescence. And it really, I see it a lot in
- 48:44my practice. I see it a lot in what I do. And
- 48:46it really is a real thing. Is that a reflection
- 48:49of just the real world that like women really
- 48:54don't have much choice beyond these guys that
- 48:57are like refusing to grow up? Or is it just more
- 48:59of a reflection of the show trying to create
- 49:02that dramatic dynamic that will entice viewers.
- 49:06Once again I think that the show kind of accidentally
- 49:09or on purpose showed what's really happening
- 49:12out in the dating streets right now. Instead
- 49:15of showing us what could be they showed us what
- 49:17is and I think that that was the rage bait because
- 49:19people are like show us something else we need
- 49:21to have hope. We need to have hope that there's
- 49:23something better and there are good guys in the
- 49:25world and there are guys that have their stuff
- 49:27together and that they're maturing and you know
- 49:30I call it the three M's they're mature masculine
- 49:32and marriage minded but they're a lot of guys
- 49:35like the Jordans and the Devantes and the Alexes
- 49:39and the Connors of the world, not all like the
- 49:42Vicks of the world. And so I think what I personally
- 49:45believe that what has caused it is an empowering
- 49:48of women that simultaneously cause a disempowering
- 49:52of men. I think somewhere along the line, we're
- 49:54like, oh, women are oppressed. We need to empower
- 49:57them. We need to pour into them. We need to give
- 50:00them, you know, opportunities and we need to
- 50:02help them kind of woman up and be all that they
- 50:04can be. They can be anything they want. But I
- 50:07think at the same time, we disempower the boys
- 50:09because like, okay, you've had your time. We're
- 50:11not talking to you right now. We're talking to
- 50:13women. And I think that's happened. It's gone
- 50:15on for too long now. So we have an entire generation
- 50:18of men that have grown up. not knowing what they're
- 50:20supposed to do when it comes to women. Do women
- 50:23want them to pay the check? Do they want them
- 50:24to open the door? Do they want them to help?
- 50:26Do they want them to this? Because they don't
- 50:28know anymore. And I really see that especially
- 50:30in the middle and older millennials. They're
- 50:33just like, what do we do? What did you want us
- 50:35to do? Because you said one thing and you meant
- 50:39another. And I think that that's where we're
- 50:41kind of stuck. So we need to redefine what it
- 50:43looks like. for us to come together because women
- 50:46are now saying they want princess treatment.
- 50:48They want to be a princess passenger. Have you
- 50:50seen this whole thing? So women are like, I want
- 50:52to be a princess passenger. I want to be a passenger
- 50:54princess and I want my man. I don't want him
- 50:56to think. I want to just be able to go to the
- 50:58airport and he has the passports and he has all
- 51:01the things and I'm just here snacking. I'm just
- 51:03eating snacks and he's doing all the other stuff.
- 51:06That has not been true of just the last 20 years
- 51:10of women. So I think it's a new thing where women
- 51:14are like, you know what? I think we bossed too
- 51:16hard. And now, now we want the other thing. The
- 51:20pendulum is swinging to the other side. Right.
- 51:23What did Amber want? So Jordan and Amber, they,
- 51:28uh, they, we, we saw their wedding, but at the
- 51:30reunion, we saw that their marriage only lasted
- 51:33four months. And I. Yes, Jordan probably has
- 51:39a lot of growing up to do, but otherwise he seemed
- 51:41to be a very sweet, funny, charismatic guy. And
- 51:45Amber seemed to have this deep mistrust of him
- 51:48based on her past relationships with men. I think
- 51:51Jordan made it clear that It was more so the
- 51:53commitment with Amber that he was skeptical about,
- 51:55not so much the relationship with the daughter.
- 51:57He seemed to be okay with the relationship with
- 51:58the daughter. So what were your thoughts on that
- 52:02relationship? To be fair, I think he was only
- 52:05around the daughter like three times. So it's
- 52:06easy to be okay with a kid when you never have
- 52:08ever really seen them. So I think that both,
- 52:12I think that they were like the worst match because
- 52:14she hasn't done her hard work. So she's had these
- 52:19horrible relationships with men. She's definitely
- 52:21very scarred and very wounded still from those
- 52:24things. And then you have Jordan, who's just
- 52:26like a big golden retriever. So he picks her
- 52:28in the pod because he actually feels sympathy
- 52:31for her. She's telling her story. And you see
- 52:33this in Chris. Chris comes into the bar and he's
- 52:36drunk and he's acting crazy. And he's like...
- 52:39To Amber, he said, yeah, all of us guys thought
- 52:42you were crazy, all except Jordan. Jordan felt
- 52:45sorry for you. And we knew that Jordan was the
- 52:47guy that could handle you, but the rest of us
- 52:49were like, whoa. She's unhinged. And so he's
- 52:53saying this in his little drunken tirade. And
- 52:55she's just like, but you can see that that probably
- 52:57was true. Because all of these people date each
- 53:00other on the first, when they first get in the
- 53:02pods, they all have to go on dates with everybody.
- 53:05And I think that you saw how she was oversharing
- 53:07in the pods, TMI, she was being not just vulnerable,
- 53:11she was kind of airing her dirty laundry, right?
- 53:14And no one else was really interested in that
- 53:16energy except for Jordan, who once again, he's
- 53:19the therapy dog. He's like the human version
- 53:20of a therapy dog. So he's like... Oh, yeah. Yeah.
- 53:24Okay. I can see that. Yeah. So he starts feeling
- 53:26an emotional connection for her because his posture
- 53:29as a man probably is going to be someone who
- 53:32wants to help heal or fix, but he's still immature
- 53:35in that, right? because he really hasn't had
- 53:38a lot of good relationships yet for himself.
- 53:40So I think that's why he said yes. I predicted
- 53:43that they would get married, by the way. I said
- 53:44they will get married and they will not, and
- 53:47they will not make it. Like I knew that they
- 53:48were going to say yes at the altar, but afterwards
- 53:51they're going to break up because you can even
- 53:53see it on his face during the ceremony. He doesn't
- 53:56want to hurt her anymore because she's already
- 53:57been hurt by too many people. He doesn't want
- 54:00to marry her. He doesn't think that he can handle
- 54:02a wife and a ready -made family. He doesn't want
- 54:04to move out to the burbs. He doesn't want any
- 54:07of that, but he also doesn't want to hurt her.
- 54:09That was the mistake. Wow. And lastly, because
- 54:11I know we're limited on time here, Jessica and
- 54:14Chris, I think I'm still trying to process the
- 54:17transformation of Chris, because from my memory
- 54:20in the pods, Chris seemed to be fine. And then
- 54:23he just got turned into the villain before you
- 54:28know it. Going from making Jessica feel like
- 54:31she's a beautiful, wanted person to... when,
- 54:34you know, all the couples are meeting up at this
- 54:36place and Chris is of course drunk off his ass
- 54:39and saying to anybody who will listen that, you
- 54:42know, Jessica, she's okay, she's fine, but I'm
- 54:46looking for someone who does Pilates, like just
- 54:49stuff that didn't make sense because Jessica's
- 54:50a beautiful, wonderful, charismatic person. So
- 54:54what do you make of that? Like, why did Chris
- 54:58go from... okay to just oh you're a dick and
- 55:03then the reunion he's watching back and he's
- 55:05just like I don't know who that was I'm completely
- 55:07sorry I was expecting him to fight back but um
- 55:11why did he exhibit that villainous behavior Well,
- 55:15I think alcohol played into it. I'm from Columbus,
- 55:20Ohio. I'm from Columbus, Ohio. And so I have
- 55:22friends that have run into Kavon. Remember Kavon
- 55:24who couldn't make a decision? He couldn't choose
- 55:27because he wasn't wired to be able to say, I
- 55:30love you and propose to someone. He couldn't
- 55:32make a decision because it just wasn't the right
- 55:34thing for him. When they cast this show, they're
- 55:37casting personalities that can do this really
- 55:39fast. But he just wasn't able to do it. And he
- 55:42said to the person that I ran into, he said,
- 55:44you You have to keep in mind that they're giving
- 55:46us huge quantities of alcohol. He said, we're
- 55:48sitting in these pods for five to six hours and
- 55:51all we're doing is drinking. He said, you drink
- 55:53way more than you normally would drink. He said,
- 55:55and some people get really vivacious when they're
- 55:57drinking and some people get really shut down
- 55:59and quiet. He said, that's kind of his personality
- 56:01when he's drinking. So that's why he seems really
- 56:04low key and kind of confused because there's
- 56:06a lot of alcohol at play. And Chris, when he
- 56:09is wilding out and even crashing out, he is really
- 56:12intoxicated. brings out the worst in people.
- 56:15There's no self -control. There's no filter.
- 56:18I do think you tell on yourself about a lot of
- 56:20the way that you really do feel though. Chris
- 56:22at the reunion, I think that he probably talked
- 56:25to a PR person or someone that told him, hey,
- 56:28this is television. This could kind of haunt
- 56:30you for the rest of your life. You better go
- 56:33in there and try to. you know, do some damage
- 56:37control. I think he probably wanted to say a
- 56:39lot of things, but he was biting his tongue because
- 56:41of the damage control aspect of it. I think it
- 56:44was interesting though that Jessica already has
- 56:45a new man. And once again, from the same communities,
- 56:48from the Love is Blind community, he seemed super
- 56:51serious about her. I did notice, I did notice
- 56:53that Emma was really surprised that Mike had
- 56:56a new woman already. She was there too. And I
- 56:59don't think, I think that she looked like she
- 57:01was dressed and ready for her and Mike to kind
- 57:03of maybe pick up where they left off. You know,
- 57:05for him to be like, Oh, I haven't seen you. You
- 57:07look so pretty. You know, let's talk. But he
- 57:10had a man, he had a woman. So, um. And I promise,
- 57:14that's actually the last couple that I wanted
- 57:16to talk about, Mike and Emma. I wanted to get
- 57:18your thoughts about that because that wrapped
- 57:20up in a way I didn't expect because the whole
- 57:22thing with Mike and Emma, I found them both to
- 57:24be great people, but clearly Mike wanted kids.
- 57:27Emma was very skeptical about it. It seemed like
- 57:29there were some points where Mike was pressuring
- 57:31her to go in that direction. And then at the
- 57:35altar, you would think, oh, Emma would be the
- 57:37one to say no, but Mike is like, no, I'm going
- 57:40to be the one to say no, because you don't want
- 57:42kids. I cannot have that. Emma was about to,
- 57:45I think she already said yes at the altar, didn't
- 57:47she? Yeah. And then, uh, yeah, we mentioned at
- 57:50the reunion, you had mentioned that she, you
- 57:52know, dressed up, ready to go, uh, and, and maybe
- 57:54wanting to see if things work with Mike, but
- 57:56Mike has already moved on with somebody else.
- 57:59What did you make of that? Because that, I thought
- 58:01it was going to be very much Mike is yes, he's
- 58:05clouded and not thinking clearly. And Emma is
- 58:08a no, but to see it twisted like that, it was
- 58:11like really interesting, you know? Yeah. Well,
- 58:13you know, um, this is, you know, maybe an unpopular
- 58:15opinion, but I'm just going to say this, that
- 58:17people. This show has been around for over 10
- 58:19seasons, okay? And so we already know what it
- 58:23looks like at the end. And so all the people
- 58:24on this show know what it looks like at the end.
- 58:27They know the reunion show. They know that there's
- 58:29a couple arcs that you can take. You can take
- 58:32the victim arc. You can take the villain arc
- 58:34like Chris did. Or you can take the, I'm just
- 58:36doing what any of you would do the relatable
- 58:39arc, right? Like I'm choosing myself. We weren't
- 58:42compatible. And that's what Mike chose. I don't
- 58:45believe that he didn't marry her. because she
- 58:47wasn't sure on children. I think he used it as
- 58:49an excuse not to marry her. So he didn't look
- 58:51like a douchebag. I do. I think that he did not
- 58:54want to marry her. I think that he loved it that
- 58:57she wasn't willing to just be like, yes, I'll
- 59:00have your babies. Because he was able to use
- 59:02that as an out. As an out, well, you know, she
- 59:05wasn't really sure. And I just couldn't make
- 59:06this decision because I know that that's what
- 59:08I want. I think that that is what he did. And
- 59:11I think that he was never after being in person
- 59:14and after being in relationship, I don't think.
- 59:15he ever really wanted to marry her. Why is that?
- 59:21Was it because of her arm? Was it something in
- 59:24her personality? No, I don't think it had anything
- 59:26to do with that. I think it was more personality
- 59:28and compatibility. I think that their personalities
- 59:30weren't compatible. It made it, remember we're
- 59:32hours and hours of footage and only certain things
- 59:34are making it into the editing, but it made it
- 59:37into the editing several times that he didn't
- 59:39like the way that she lived. Like they lived
- 59:41together. He didn't like the way that she lived.
- 59:43She was super messy and she just thought it was
- 59:46funny. And I think he thought she was really
- 59:47immature. in a lot of ways. And even though his
- 59:49parents, his family seemed really nice, and I
- 59:51don't think that they're mean people, I don't
- 59:53think that they like the match at all. And I
- 59:55think that he comes from a very influential family
- 59:58that they were like, yeah, this is not the right
- 59:59girl for you. Yeah, I mean, because Mike comes,
- 1:00:01I was telling my wife, Tony, as we were watching,
- 1:00:03he comes from this big Italian family and, you
- 1:00:06know, Italians, they have big families, they're
- 1:00:08Catholic, they're very much about like, let's
- 1:00:10have a family with like 10 kids and, and let's
- 1:00:13all have, you know, be merry at the dinner table.
- 1:00:15So this was a great conversation. I know we have
- 1:00:19to go here, but before we do, like, for anybody
- 1:00:22that wants to look more into your matchmaking
- 1:00:25and relationship coaching, how can they follow
- 1:00:27you on socials? Is there a website you want to
- 1:00:29promote as well? Like, give us everything. So
- 1:00:31I'm super easy to find, just two places, JackieDorman
- 1:00:33.com and JackieDormanOfficial on Instagram. So
- 1:00:36that's how you can find me. I'm, I'm bad on Facebook
- 1:00:39as well, but I really don't hang out anywhere
- 1:00:41besides Instagram. And then my website has everything
- 1:00:44you need. Love that. And the delicious culture,
- 1:00:46follow us wherever you get your podcasts, the
- 1:00:48delicious culture at gmail .com. If you have
- 1:00:51any questions, concerns, comments, feedback about
- 1:00:53this episode at the delicious culture on Instagram,
- 1:00:56TikTok, YouTube, subscribe, comment, like, share,
- 1:00:59love it. We would appreciate it. And Jackie,
- 1:01:02again, thank you so much. Appreciate your time.
- 1:01:05Yeah, of course. For those of you listening and
- 1:01:07watching, let's deliciousness ring.