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From 9–5 Drone to Bangkok Fitness King: @Darrenliufitness No-BS Journey · Babes, how did you get here

• 0:00
  I've been in Thailand for eight years, eight years of my life.
• 0:02
  I can't even start to explain what this country means.
• 0:06
  So when you took that tour and you were here for a week at that time,
• 0:10
  did you already have a feeling that perhaps you could live here?
• 0:13
  Not at all. It's so much different than living.
• 0:16
  Can you talk to me about that, the difference between coming here
• 0:19
  and to visit versus coming here to live?
• 0:20
  If you walk through the same street,
• 0:22
  that's when you feel the warmth of time.
• 0:24
  If you're overwhelmed and nice,
• 0:26
  that they make you feel like if you're a good person,
• 0:28
  you're not that good.
• 0:29
  You walk around Thailand like you feel so much more.
• 0:32
  So that feeling is very important to me,
• 0:34
  feeling at home, feeling like I'm safe.
• 0:36
  I'm just walking the streets at 2 a.m.
• 0:38
  And that's great feeling for me.
• 0:40
  And so you won't experience that just by traveling.
• 0:43
  You should all day drenched and sweat
• 0:45
  because you don't know how to motorbike around
• 0:47
  and you're just taking taxis and waiting for traffic all day.
• 0:49
  And so I think let me hear you get to know yourself
• 0:52
  and make sure you don't feel down.
• 0:54
  Okay.
• 0:55
  Today I am speaking with Darren Liu from Canada.
• 0:59
  He is an online fitness coach
• 1:01
  to celebs and professionals here in Bangkok.
• 1:04
  He's also the founder of Genius Bar.
• 1:06
  He is known for his noble shit approach,
• 1:09
  sustainable weight loss strategies.
• 1:11
  And I am super excited for today's conversation.
• 1:13
  All about food, fitness and fatherhood.
• 1:16
  But babes, how did you get here?
• 1:18
  That was an amazing intro.
• 1:20
  Thank you.
• 1:21
  You're an amazing customer.
• 1:22
  Thank you very much.
• 1:23
  How did I get here?
• 1:25
  Oh, shoot.
• 1:26
  I guess it started with,
• 1:29
  I guess we'll talk about straight out of university.
• 1:31
  Okay.
• 1:32
  I was just living the conveyor belt life,
• 1:35
  you know, doing what everybody else is doing.
• 1:37
  Is this Toronto?
• 1:38
  This is Toronto.
• 1:39
  Sorry.
• 1:40
  Get a job, save up for retirement,
• 1:41
  have a family, vote law.
• 1:43
  And so I did that after university.
• 1:45
  I just jumped from career to career.
• 1:47
  First one, I tried to sell insurance.
• 1:49
  Okay.
• 1:50
  And then I tried to sell large format printing.
• 1:52
  I was just trying to make a salary.
• 1:53
  Right.
• 1:54
  Because everybody else has a 9 to 5.
• 1:56
  So that's just what you're going to do.
• 1:59
  I guess 10 years flew by, never felt fulfilled.
• 2:03
  Mm-hmm.
• 2:04
  You know, nothing really excited me.
• 2:06
  But this was just how life was supposed to be.
• 2:08
  I thought I was meant to be a great employee.
• 2:11
  Because I was, I was a great team player.
• 2:13
  And I was like, this is just what I'm going to do for the rest of my life.
• 2:18
  And then my last job before I moved to Bangkok.
• 2:22
  I did an Asia tour.
• 2:23
  And I met all my clients in Asia.
• 2:25
  Okay.
• 2:26
  Yeah.
• 2:27
  And then one of the stops was Bangkok.
• 2:28
  And I met one of my clients.
• 2:30
  We didn't even talk much.
• 2:31
  But apparently he liked my energy.
• 2:33
  Okay.
• 2:34
  He liked my personality.
• 2:35
  And so when I flew back to Toronto, he messaged me.
• 2:37
  He's like, hey, there's an opening.
• 2:38
  I'm doing a tech startup.
• 2:40
  I want you to join my team.
• 2:41
  So he poached you.
• 2:42
  Yeah.
• 2:43
  I was like, me being a media buyer.
• 2:46
  Internet advertisement.
• 2:47
  Like, I don't know shit about that.
• 2:49
  I know how to manage your account.
• 2:50
  Sure.
• 2:51
  You know, because I'm a people person.
• 2:52
  Right.
• 2:53
  But I sat in my chair in my office for 15 minutes.
• 2:56
  I said, you know what?
• 2:57
  Fuck it.
• 2:58
  I need to see the world.
• 2:59
  And if this is the opportunity right now, let me do it.
• 3:02
  So I asked my mom super close with my parents.
• 3:04
  I lived with them for 30 years.
• 3:06
  So they're like my best friends.
• 3:08
  So I asked for her blessing.
• 3:09
  She said,
• 3:10
  Babes, if you ever wished that parenting came with a manual.
• 3:13
  This is it.
• 3:14
  The CEO parenting bundle brings together all three of my courses.
• 3:18
  Parent like a CEO, feed like a CEO, and managing tensions like a CEO.
• 3:23
  It's everything you need to build a calm, confident home.
• 3:27
  One that runs on love and leadership.
• 3:29
  We focus specifically from pregnancy up to age five.
• 3:32
  You will learn how to pair it with purpose, feed your family with ease,
• 3:36
  and manage meltdowns without losing your mind.
• 3:40
  Think of it as your full reset for your routines, your mindset, and your peace.
• 3:45
  So if you're ready to lead your family like a CEO,
• 3:48
  grab the bundle, save a little coin, and start today.
• 3:51
  Because the home you want isn't a dream, it is a decision.
• 3:55
  Like she was kind of sad.
• 3:56
  She'll let me go I can see, but she believed in me.
• 3:59
  Are you an owner child?
• 4:00
  I'm the middle of three boys.
• 4:02
  Okay.
• 4:03
  Yeah, so my other two brothers, they're successful in their own way.
• 4:06
  But you know, they're doing that just working full time with a family.
• 4:11
  Sure.
• 4:12
  I'm considered the black sheep of my family because I've always been the one to ask questions
• 4:16
  and like, do shit that's out of the realm of the norm.
• 4:19
  Sure.
• 4:20
  So this move was in line with, I guess, my belief about life.
• 4:24
  Sure.
• 4:25
  And so I took the risk, I told my mom, three years mom,
• 4:28
  if I don't make anything of myself, I'll move right back.
• 4:31
  Okay.
• 4:32
  You know, get a job, whatever, start a family.
• 4:34
  Yeah.
• 4:35
  But in my mind, I knew I wasn't going to come back.
• 4:37
  Okay.
• 4:38
  So it's like, if I come here, I'm going to do my best to make something of myself.
• 4:43
  And how long ago was that?
• 4:45
  Eight years ago.
• 4:46
  Okay.
• 4:47
  So I've been in town for eight years.
• 4:48
  Eight years.
• 4:49
  Best eight years of my life.
• 4:50
  Really?
• 4:51
  Yeah.
• 4:52
  I can't even start to explain what this country means to me now.
• 4:56
  So before you moved into that position, when you had come here, it was just for a week or?
• 5:01
  I had, it was for a job.
• 5:03
  Oh, for that.
• 5:04
  For the tour.
• 5:05
  Yeah.
• 5:06
  Yeah.
• 5:07
  So you took that tour and you were here for a week at that time.
• 5:10
  Did you already have a feeling that perhaps you could live here?
• 5:13
  Not at all.
• 5:14
  Okay.
• 5:15
  Because when most people visit Thailand, they're partying.
• 5:17
  Right.
• 5:18
  You know, they're doing all the touristy shifts.
• 5:19
  Sure.
• 5:20
  It's so much different than living here.
• 5:21
  You're living.
• 5:22
  Can you talk to me about that, the difference between coming here to visit versus coming here?
• 5:26
  Yeah.
• 5:27
  Like, when you go to the same coffee shop every day, when you walk through the same street,
• 5:32
  that's when you feel the warmth of Thai people.
• 5:35
  Okay.
• 5:36
  They are overwhelmingly nice that they make you feel like if you're a good person, you're not that good.
• 5:41
  When you walk around Thailand, like, you feel so much warmth.
• 5:44
  Okay.
• 5:45
  So that feeling is very important to me, feeling at home, feeling like I'm safe.
• 5:49
  I've never had to look over my shoulder once in Thailand, just walking the streets at 2 a.m.
• 5:53
  Yes.
• 5:54
  And that's great feeling for me.
• 5:56
  And so you won't experience that just by traveling here.
• 5:59
  Right.
• 6:00
  Because when you travel here, you probably have your itineraries probably like half an hour, half hour.
• 6:04
  Right.
• 6:05
  You're doing shit all day.
• 6:06
  You're drenched in sweat because you don't know how to motorbike around.
• 6:08
  And you're just taking taxis and waiting in traffic all day.
• 6:11
  Right.
• 6:12
  So I think living here, you get to engulf yourself in the community and feel that warmth.
• 6:17
  Okay.
• 6:18
  And you don't feel when you travel.
• 6:19
  And how long were you with this start-up?
• 6:21
  Two years.
• 6:22
  Okay.
• 6:23
  Yeah.
• 6:24
  So I tried my best.
• 6:25
  I tried my best.
• 6:26
  It fell through.
• 6:27
  And then I was like, okay, I need to figure out a way to stay here.
• 6:30
  Okay.
• 6:31
  I love this country.
• 6:32
  And my wife knew at the time.
• 6:33
  I wanted to stay here, but she did.
• 6:35
  Were you already married?
• 6:37
  Around the not yet.
• 6:38
  Okay.
• 6:39
  But she wanted to give me something to keep me in Bangkok.
• 6:43
  Okay.
• 6:44
  So we were just sitting in bed before we go to sleep.
• 6:46
  She's like, hey, Darren, why don't we open up a bone broth cafe?
• 6:50
  I was like, what?
• 6:51
  Okay.
• 6:52
  I was like, we're in Thailand.
• 6:53
  It's the hottest country in the planet.
• 6:54
  We're going to serve hot bone broth.
• 6:56
  She's like, yeah, I've seen it like in North America.
• 6:58
  Right.
• 6:59
  It's popping off.
• 7:00
  All right.
• 7:01
  Let's try two people with no FMB experience.
• 7:04
  No entrepreneurship experience.
• 7:06
  Right.
• 7:07
  Just on a limb, just like, fuck it.
• 7:09
  Let's do it.
• 7:10
  Yeah.
• 7:11
  So we just started off genius bar.
• 7:13
  We started off as bone broth only.
• 7:15
  Okay.
• 7:16
  So you have this company.
• 7:17
  I mean, this is super intriguing to me, by the way,
• 7:19
  because I also got into hospitality with zero experience.
• 7:22
  And I tell people all the time, you only understand hospitality
• 7:26
  if you have been in hospitality.
• 7:28
  But I mean, I'm partly jealous because at least it was the two of you.
• 7:31
  But I'm still like, you have this conversation in bed.
• 7:34
  And then you're like, cool, let's bring like, let's make it happen in real life.
• 7:38
  And how much does it cost roughly to do that?
• 7:41
  Is it hard to start business here in Thailand?
• 7:44
  Is it hard?
• 7:46
  I feel like it's easier than in North America.
• 7:48
  I feel like in North America, you have to jump through a lot of hoops.
• 7:50
  A lot of like paperwork and things like that.
• 7:55
  I'm lucky because my wife's mom owns a business already.
• 7:58
  So she kind of like knows the laws and stuff.
• 8:01
  Yes.
• 8:02
  But it was really just my wife and I.
• 8:04
  Like first we just trying to find a space for it.
• 8:07
  It was a beautiful space we got.
• 8:09
  And her strategy was great because we knew a lot of crypto guys.
• 8:13
  Okay.
• 8:14
  We have a lot of money.
• 8:15
  And they live like in Tonglao.
• 8:16
  Okay.
• 8:17
  And in this one condo that most of them stay at,
• 8:20
  she's like, there's a little mall under the condo.
• 8:23
  Let's just get there.
• 8:24
  Let's just get there.
• 8:25
  Okay.
• 8:26
  So these guys will come to our restaurant and they did.
• 8:28
  And we're like great friends with them now.
• 8:30
  Right.
• 8:31
  We have a great circle of really successful entrepreneurs and nomads.
• 8:35
  Right.
• 8:36
  And so like we didn't know what we were doing but somehow my wife had some intuition.
• 8:39
  Amazing.
• 8:40
  Yeah.
• 8:41
  So genius bars still there.
• 8:43
  Okay.
• 8:44
  We upgraded to having more food.
• 8:45
  Okay.
• 8:46
  It's really high quality Thai street food dish.
• 8:48
  Okay.
• 8:49
  Yeah.
• 8:50
  So is that aligned with your fitness philosophy?
• 8:53
  As in, is the food very clean, very healthy?
• 8:55
  Yeah.
• 8:56
  100%.
• 8:57
  I eat there twice a day.
• 8:58
  Okay.
• 8:59
  Luckily for me.
• 9:00
  Yes.
• 9:01
  But it's to show people that you don't have to sacrifice taste.
• 9:05
  Okay.
• 9:06
  For high quality nutritious meals.
• 9:08
  Right.
• 9:09
  Like when people think Thai food like, oh, it's so oily and unhealthy.
• 9:13
  Not really.
• 9:14
  Like a cup of power is like beef stir fry with rice and an egg,
• 9:19
  which is like pretty damn nutritious.
• 9:20
  I don't think of Thai food as unhealthy.
• 9:22
  Right.
• 9:23
  Right.
• 9:24
  At all.
• 9:25
  That's good.
• 9:26
  But some people do because they think automatically fried stuff equals unhealthy.
• 9:29
  Yes.
• 9:30
  There's definitely a stigma.
• 9:31
  Whereas I guess in my life, I only really started thinking about food and health when I had kids.
• 9:36
  Right.
• 9:37
  Like before that, I just ate whatever I wanted to eat.
• 9:39
  And to be honest, everyone is all like, oh, how do you keep so thin?
• 9:42
  It's stress.
• 9:43
  Stress keeps me thin.
• 9:44
  If I was a stress eater, they would have a problem.
• 9:47
  Right.
• 9:48
  But for me, it was always when I'm eating, I want to make sure I'm really enjoying what I'm eating.
• 9:52
  And I'm lucky that my threshold for like dessert, babe, I never want like a crisp or like biscuits
• 10:00
  from a shelf.
• 10:01
  It doesn't do it for me.
• 10:02
  So I don't, people think, oh, you're so disciplined.
• 10:04
  I don't like it.
• 10:05
  Right.
• 10:06
  However, you give me some sort of pity say that's been made with all of the butter, all of the sugar.
• 10:12
  I'm there.
• 10:13
  And so I think I'm lucky that my like threshold for what I want to eat is quite high.
• 10:19
  And therefore I don't have to like fight temptation.
• 10:22
  So when I hear about things being fried, I'm like, as long as the oil is good, I'm done.
• 10:28
  But I do think you're right.
• 10:29
  People do think fried and they automatically think unhealthy.
• 10:33
  Yeah.
• 10:34
  And I used to be there.
• 10:35
  I used to be in this echo chamber of like restricting foods, you know, seed oils or the worst for you.
• 10:39
  But if you dive more into the research, which I have, I've changed my stance a lot.
• 10:43
  Oh, really?
• 10:44
  So you're okay with seed oils?
• 10:45
  Yes.
• 10:46
  Actually, most of the research actually says that it's health promoting.
• 10:50
  Really?
• 10:51
  Yes.
• 10:52
  It's crazy to hear, I know.
• 10:54
  But everything we base our arguments on should be based on human control trials.
• 10:59
  Sure.
• 11:00
  So if we look at the human control studies, they all show actually positive effects.
• 11:05
  Really?
• 11:06
  It's just that when people keep telling the story of like how it's processed.
• 11:09
  Yeah.
• 11:10
  I'm one of those people.
• 11:11
  Like my kids only have avocado oil, olive oil and butter.
• 11:15
  Those are quality, those are quality fats.
• 11:17
  So you're like, I could just be giving them rate seed and it's fine.
• 11:21
  Yes, I think so.
• 11:22
  Really?
• 11:23
  I think where the issue is if you're like stir frying and you're using some rapeseed oil.
• 11:28
  Sure.
• 11:29
  Like that's not going to be harmful.
• 11:30
  Okay.
• 11:31
  If you're going to make the Arnold's and you're eating the oil that's constantly reused.
• 11:34
  Okay.
• 11:35
  That's trans fats is the harmful.
• 11:37
  Okay.
• 11:38
  That you really need that you need to avoid or at least limit a lot.
• 11:42
  Sure.
• 11:43
  I feel like selfishly I'm just going into like your food philosophy.
• 11:46
  Really?
• 11:47
  It's fine.
• 11:48
  Yeah.
• 11:49
  I'm not saying fry your foods all the time.
• 11:50
  Sure.
• 11:51
  It makes foods also very calorie dense.
• 11:53
  Right.
• 11:54
  Right.
• 11:55
  So if you're eating more calories over time, you're going to gain fat.
• 11:57
  You're into content calories, right?
• 11:58
  I am.
• 11:59
  Yeah.
• 12:00
  And people think, oh, it's so obsessive, right?
• 12:03
  To me, it's like I like gamifying my food so that I can have the ability to manipulate my body
• 12:10
  and energy levels any way I want.
• 12:12
  Okay.
• 12:13
  That comes from food awareness.
• 12:14
  Okay.
• 12:15
  Um, when, if you ask like nine out of ten of our clients, when they say like, what's the best behavior change that you went through in our program that helped you lose 20 pounds with that?
• 12:25
  So that they're like, you guys taught me how to track my food.
• 12:27
  Really?
• 12:28
  I'm finally aware of what I'm putting in my body so I can make smarter choices.
• 12:32
  That doesn't mean I need to eliminate food.
• 12:34
  Sure.
• 12:35
  That means I learn how to incorporate this cookie into my total.
• 12:37
  Sure.
• 12:38
  So I can enjoy life, not be miserable, but feel guilt and still get great results.
• 12:43
  I mean, it makes sense when you put, I have a friend who used to write in his notebook when he was being really like,
• 12:49
  and we were filming a cooking show together, and so every time he'd take out his notebook from under the thing,
• 12:56
  and he's like writing the thing that we've just tasted.
• 12:59
  I'm like, boss man.
• 13:00
  So I mean, I respect the discipline, and I get it.
• 13:03
  I guess I, and I love maths, you know.
• 13:05
  But the idea of me being that good, I'm probably, I'm probably just too rogue.
• 13:10
  That's fine.
• 13:11
  Everybody has different goals.
• 13:12
  Yeah.
• 13:13
  So like if you had a goal, you're like, Darren, I want to lose body fat and build muscle.
• 13:19
  Yes.
• 13:20
  Yeah, that comes down to math and science, so I will give you the amount, stick to it for a month.
• 13:25
  It will work.
• 13:26
  You're going to get there.
• 13:27
  And if you have an emergency cc section, you have twins, and then you have like a kangaroo flabby poach,
• 13:32
  this is completely selfish, just asking for a friend.
• 13:35
  Can you ever get rid of the flabby kangaroo poach, or do you just have to accept that your body has changed?
• 13:42
  I think it depends on every person.
• 13:44
  Okay.
• 13:45
  Some people get surgery.
• 13:46
  Right.
• 13:47
  All right, my cousin, who's actually, my cousin is black.
• 13:51
  Okay.
• 13:52
  His mother is black.
• 13:53
  Okay.
• 13:54
  So when I tell people we're cousins, and he lives in Bangkok, I moved him here.
• 13:59
  Really?
• 14:00
  So that it could give him an opportunity to, he wasn't happy.
• 14:03
  He was depressed in Toronto.
• 14:05
  Okay.
• 14:06
  Now he's one of my coaches in my business.
• 14:07
  A league.
• 14:08
  He lost 60 pounds.
• 14:09
  And he looks totally different.
• 14:11
  He's living a brand new life just by getting in shape.
• 14:13
  Sure.
• 14:14
  And so he has a lot of sag.
• 14:15
  Okay.
• 14:16
  He grew up as the fat kid.
• 14:17
  Okay.
• 14:18
  And Shelby kid also.
• 14:19
  Yeah.
• 14:20
  So he's on the fence like, do I get up?
• 14:21
  Do I get operations?
• 14:22
  Right.
• 14:23
  Or do I just keep losing fat to see if it actually goes away?
• 14:26
  Okay.
• 14:27
  And the jury's still out?
• 14:28
  Is the jury still out?
• 14:29
  As to whether he's going to?
• 14:30
  Yeah, he doesn't know yet.
• 14:31
  Okay.
• 14:32
  But see, like I, I've thought about this.
• 14:35
  I'm anti-surgery for me personally.
• 14:38
  Yeah.
• 14:39
  And moreso from the perspective of when I raise my kids,
• 14:41
  I really just want them to love themselves.
• 14:43
  And I feel like I become a bit hypocritical.
• 14:45
  If I'm like babe, love yourself exactly as you are.
• 14:47
  By the way, I just when I've got like everything trimmed and talks.
• 14:51
  But then I'm also like, we really nice for it to just not be there.
• 14:55
  Like the, yeah.
• 14:56
  It's tough.
• 14:57
  It is.
• 14:58
  It's tough.
• 14:59
  I'm happy to be.
• 15:01
  I'm lucky to be not happy to deal with that.
• 15:03
  But we've had a lot of clients who lost a shits on our weight.
• 15:07
  And they do get it tough.
• 15:08
  Yeah.
• 15:09
  And you know, because your fat cells, they don't disappear.
• 15:12
  They just shrink.
• 15:13
  Okay.
• 15:14
  That's why if you gain a lot of weight, you gain more fat cells.
• 15:17
  Yeah.
• 15:18
  Because they never really go away.
• 15:19
  They just shrink.
• 15:20
  Understood.
• 15:21
  That's why that's what I'm saying.
• 15:22
  And for or not to, you know, be too overly fat.
• 15:25
  Yeah.
• 15:26
  That's like the number one marker of poor health is being over fat.
• 15:29
  Sure.
• 15:30
  So we go from opening up the genius bar first, bone broth.
• 15:35
  Then how do we get into fitness?
• 15:37
  Are you into fitness at this point?
• 15:39
  I've worked out since universities.
• 15:41
  Okay.
• 15:42
  And I play basketball on my life.
• 15:43
  Okay.
• 15:44
  So it's been incorporated.
• 15:45
  But I feel like, again, being the black sheep my family and leading my Chinese basketball team
• 15:53
  in Toronto, I always felt like I'm a leader somehow.
• 15:56
  So I was like, how can I lead people?
• 15:57
  How can I help more people at scale?
• 16:00
  And so I followed this guy named Dan Goal.
• 16:03
  He's a huge fitness guy online, huge on Twitter at the time.
• 16:07
  And I was like, I want to do exactly what he's doing.
• 16:09
  Oh.
• 16:10
  So I DMed him cold.
• 16:11
  I actually played basketball with him in Toronto, like 15, 20 years ago.
• 16:14
  Oh, okay.
• 16:15
  I said, yo bro, I love what you're doing.
• 16:18
  I want to do exactly what you're doing and help clients.
• 16:20
  You know, loose fat sustainably again.
• 16:22
  Sure.
• 16:23
  What is it going to take for you to mentor me?
• 16:26
  And he's like, reluctant, right?
• 16:27
  It's like, why should I give this guy the keys to the VIP?
• 16:30
  Sure.
• 16:31
  And he said, all right, $25,000 USD.
• 16:34
  Right?
• 16:35
  And at that time, I had $5,000 to my name.
• 16:38
  Right?
• 16:39
  So I was like, shit, that's a lot of money.
• 16:41
  I asked my mom, I'm like, mom, this is an opportunity for me.
• 16:43
  Really?
• 16:44
  Yeah, I'm like, can you lend me some money?
• 16:46
  I'm really passionate about this.
• 16:48
  I think I can make it work if I just work hard.
• 16:51
  And I didn't have a plan.
• 16:52
  Sure.
• 16:53
  I just knew I have to post twice a day every day for many years.
• 16:58
  And maybe something will happen.
• 16:59
  Hold on.
• 17:00
  I have so many questions, right?
• 17:01
  All right.
• 17:02
  Because when I hear coaches, a lot of people talk about investing
• 17:05
  in a business coach or a life coach or whatever.
• 17:07
  And I'm always like a little bit dubious.
• 17:09
  Not really.
• 17:10
  Maybe because I have no money.
• 17:11
  And then you've just come out and be like, yo, I believed in this guy
• 17:15
  that it was worth me giving him $25,000,
• 17:20
  and then without the plan.
• 17:22
  So my question is, when you thought about giving him the $25,000,
• 17:25
  what were your expectations or your hopes
• 17:28
  that were going to come out of that investment?
• 17:30
  Yeah.
• 17:31
  So the hope was, which he did deliver,
• 17:33
  is teach me the whole back end.
• 17:35
  How to take a client from A to Z.
• 17:37
  Okay.
• 17:38
  And then all the apps and the platforms behind it.
• 17:42
  Okay.
• 17:43
  Building a course on the back end.
• 17:44
  So he taught me the back end.
• 17:45
  Sure.
• 17:46
  But like nobody can do the work for you.
• 17:48
  Sure.
• 17:49
  So I knew that.
• 17:50
  And I was like, okay.
• 17:51
  And now I got the back end done.
• 17:52
  I know how to take a client from A to Z.
• 17:54
  Now, what do I need to do?
• 17:55
  Oh, I need to get more leads.
• 17:56
  Right.
• 17:57
  How do I get more leads?
• 17:58
  Oh, I need to start posting nutrition content.
• 18:01
  First of all, also big up momsie.
• 18:03
  For life.
• 18:04
  Yeah, big up.
• 18:05
  I always give my mom a shout out mom.
• 18:07
  Thank you for believing in me.
• 18:08
  Look at me now.
• 18:09
  I'm sitting with Miss University.
• 18:12
  Like that's so cool that she was like,
• 18:14
  this is what you need to do.
• 18:16
  And also, I always say to people,
• 18:18
  money for me isn't about like buying things, right?
• 18:21
  It's about this ability to really help your child.
• 18:25
  Because you can want to help.
• 18:26
  And I know we're going to get into fatherhood in a minute.
• 18:28
  But like, you can want to help your child.
• 18:30
  You can want to support them as much as, you know, your dreams
• 18:33
  and your heart's desire.
• 18:34
  But ultimately, to be able to be in that position,
• 18:37
  to be like, take this.
• 18:38
  Like, hold this.
• 18:39
  And also not to have pressure along with that.
• 18:42
  Because, and I go back to like me opening my first restaurant,
• 18:45
  I said to my dad, my dad gave me 75,000 pounds,
• 18:48
  which to open up a restaurant isn't even a lot of money in London, right?
• 18:51
  But he gives it to me.
• 18:53
  And I said to him, but what happens if I fail?
• 18:56
  And like, this is a shit show.
• 18:57
  Because I genuinely had no idea what I was doing.
• 18:59
  I've never worked in a restaurant.
• 19:00
  I just came from like a consumer.
• 19:02
  And I had this vision.
• 19:03
  I had a Pinterest board.
• 19:04
  It was like, that was it.
• 19:05
  And he literally looked to me and he said,
• 19:07
  if it doesn't work out, we figure out something else.
• 19:09
  And it was him not like, if the conversation was different
• 19:12
  as you need to make it, these are the targets.
• 19:15
  I want to see like a return block.
• 19:17
  Then I don't think I'd have ever done it.
• 19:19
  But like for him to be like,
• 19:21
  it's cool you tried.
• 19:22
  Then that gave me the confidence, like, okay, cool.
• 19:25
  I can try too, even though I have no idea what the hell I'm doing.
• 19:28
  And so it's funny because I say this whole load
• 19:30
  and then I shouldn't be as surprised about the 25k.
• 19:32
  But at the time, I just heard,
• 19:34
  you're giving them 25k.
• 19:36
  But you must have known deep within yourself at that point
• 19:39
  that you were going to make it happen.
• 19:41
  It's tough to say, it's like I'm a type of guy who doesn't,
• 19:47
  I don't have like a five year goal.
• 19:50
  I have a mentality, put your head down, do the work.
• 19:54
  Even if you have a good month, put your head down, do the work.
• 19:57
  If you have a bad month, put your hand into the work.
• 20:00
  And then you do that for many years
• 20:02
  and then a couple of reels pop off.
• 20:04
  You get 100,000 followers from one reel.
• 20:07
  Yes.
• 20:08
  It was a mobility follow along reel that I did during COVID.
• 20:11
  It took me 15 minutes to film, maybe 10 minutes to edit.
• 20:14
  Sure.
• 20:15
  I freaking blew up 100,000 followers.
• 20:17
  And that kind of shot me to a whole nother level.
• 20:21
  So you were posting twice a day.
• 20:23
  I think you said for like six years, you were posting twice a day.
• 20:26
  That is again another level of dedication that I think
• 20:29
  a lot of times people don't appreciate.
• 20:31
  I have such a love hate relationship with social media.
• 20:33
  I started taking it really seriously probably about 18 months ago
• 20:37
  because I was doing television shows
• 20:39
  that I thought were going to like help with the promotion of things.
• 20:43
  And then I'd go, and you're like doing property v.
• 20:46
  Like on proper channels, not like all something you're backyard, right?
• 20:49
  And nothing really happens after that.
• 20:51
  And I realized that I'd go to meetings with TV commissioners
• 20:54
  and they'd bring up my Instagram in the meeting
• 20:56
  and there was like less than 2000 followers.
• 20:58
  They're like, what are you doing?
• 20:59
  You know, you say you want to publish a cookbook.
• 21:01
  The first thing people are asking you is how many followers do you have?
• 21:03
  And so I had to kind of just change my thoughts
• 21:06
  which were I want to live in the know.
• 21:08
  Like I love real time, real conversation.
• 21:11
  And the idea of constantly like filming and recording things
• 21:13
  isn't like my comfort zone.
• 21:15
  I actually find it quite annoying.
• 21:16
  And also the idea that we're kind of living in a popularity contest
• 21:20
  also was weird to me.
• 21:22
  But then at the same time, I appreciated that if I wanted to achieve certain things
• 21:26
  and this was the way I needed to do it,
• 21:28
  then it's irrelevant how I feel, right?
• 21:30
  Like you just have to treat it like another part of your job.
• 21:33
  And I used to joke and say that my social media shift started 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
• 21:39
  because I don't have any gadgets around my kids.
• 21:42
  So I put them to bed at 7.
• 21:44
  Then 7 to 10.
• 21:45
  I was running my restaurant and studying for a law degree.
• 21:48
  So 10 to 2 was social media time.
• 21:50
  And the reason I bring that up is because another chef called me once.
• 21:53
  Like April, your followers that you're really doing the social media thing.
• 21:56
  I said, babes, it's like no joke out here, right?
• 21:59
  And the point is that they never took the advice.
• 22:02
  Like they never started posting regularly.
• 22:04
  And I think a lot of people, it's easy to look at you and see your account
• 22:08
  doing really well and see growth and not appreciate two times.
• 22:12
  Honestly, when I saw that, I called my brethren.
• 22:14
  I said, I'm complaining of 75,000 followers.
• 22:17
  Babes, I have work to do.
• 22:19
  I need to get up to this two time.
• 22:21
  I haven't got there yet.
• 22:22
  But I just want to say, I read it and I was deeply inspired by the fact that there is still more.
• 22:27
  Even when we think we're doing, it's really nice to be around someone.
• 22:31
  I'm not even around you.
• 22:32
  I read it on a piece of paper.
• 22:33
  But I felt the energy like, my girl, you need to step up.
• 22:36
  And I wonder if in Bangkok, is that a general energy because some places, for example, in London,
• 22:41
  I don't think people share as much of that go-getter energy, right?
• 22:46
  Like I lived in New York and that was a thing.
• 22:49
  If you said you wanted to do something, somebody, oh, I have a friend that you should speak to.
• 22:52
  And they're happy to make those links in a way that I don't think London does.
• 22:56
  And I'm wondering, living in Bangkok, do you feel like there's a bounce off energy?
• 23:00
  Like let's rise together?
• 23:01
  Or do you have to kind of find your own way?
• 23:04
  Good question.
• 23:06
  Personally, I do feel it's a bounce back energy.
• 23:10
  Because everybody here, especially living in like this area, all the nomads,
• 23:15
  everybody's a black sheep of their own family.
• 23:17
  And we all kind of congregated in this area.
• 23:19
  Everyone's just trying to make something of themselves.
• 23:21
  Sure.
• 23:22
  And so with my circle, I'm very blessed.
• 23:24
  But we always share ideas.
• 23:25
  We're always rooting for each other.
• 23:27
  And so there is this communal feel of like, if you win, everybody wins.
• 23:32
  Yeah.
• 23:33
  Right?
• 23:34
  I think the best way to stay poor is to believe that your success is why I can't be successful.
• 23:41
  Yes.
• 23:42
  The crappin' of our mentality, 100%.
• 23:44
  Yeah.
• 23:45
  So yeah, this circle that I'm in, and again, it started from where my wife kicked the location.
• 23:50
  Yes.
• 23:51
  And all these people that used to come to a restaurant, like they're always sharing,
• 23:55
  like even the best trades in crypto, but also other things.
• 23:58
  And now I'm the fitness guy of their group.
• 24:00
  Okay.
• 24:01
  And so I've established myself as that person.
• 24:04
  And so I feel really great that I can help these people who grind their ass off,
• 24:08
  but put their health in the backboarder and burn it.
• 24:10
  That I can help them with their fitness.
• 24:12
  So I'm also contributing to, I guess, that communal upgrade that we're trying to do together here.
• 24:19
  Do you think it's easier to position yourself and find a lane in Bangkok
• 24:23
  than it would have been perhaps in Canada?
• 24:27
  I think so.
• 24:28
  Yeah, I think so, because I feel like in Canada, there are not many people that would understand what I'm trying to do.
• 24:37
  Okay.
• 24:38
  I think if you do too many things off the path that everybody else is following,
• 24:44
  you're kind of like weird or like you're trying too hard.
• 24:47
  Okay.
• 24:48
  Yeah.
• 24:49
  Not that I ever felt that, but I just felt like you're less inclined to take more risks
• 24:54
  because everybody's just on this one line.
• 24:56
  Sure.
• 24:57
  But here it's like, oh, anything goes, dude.
• 24:59
  You're right.
• 25:00
  Anything you want, you just ask like, oh, do you know this person that can do build websites?
• 25:04
  Oh yeah, I got this guy here.
• 25:06
  Cool.
• 25:07
  It's like a resource for everything here.
• 25:09
  Right.
• 25:10
  So my potential in Bangkok, I feel, is like, super high.
• 25:14
  It's like unlimited with the people around me.
• 25:17
  And so with the restaurant, do you and your wife still run that together?
• 25:22
  She's, she's come off of it.
• 25:24
  Okay.
• 25:25
  It's really stressful for her.
• 25:26
  Okay.
• 25:27
  She hates when she reads customer complaints.
• 25:29
  Not that there's a lot, but when there's one, it's like it really hurts her because it's her baby.
• 25:33
  Right.
• 25:34
  So she's going to do her own thing.
• 25:36
  She's really into oral products like mouthwash and toothpaste.
• 25:39
  She really does a lot of research on that.
• 25:41
  Is that why you have good teeth?
• 25:42
  Do I have good teeth?
• 25:43
  I didn't.
• 25:44
  It is a line.
• 25:45
  That should help so much, really.
• 25:47
  Because when I look back at my videos, my didn't have in this line.
• 25:49
  Okay.
• 25:50
  Okay.
• 25:51
  Cool.
• 25:52
  Yeah.
• 25:53
  Yeah.
• 25:54
  If you want to structure your jaw a little bit and fix your smile into the lines, probably.
• 25:58
  It's funny as you say about jaw.
• 26:00
  I read that younger people are jaws aren't as defined anymore because we're eating so many ultra-process foods that are soft in texture.
• 26:09
  That back in the day, you were chewing and you were crunching things.
• 26:13
  And I was like, oh my god, best believe.
• 26:15
  I packed some extra crunchy carrots for my babies.
• 26:17
  I was like, we are giving you a jawline, babes.
• 26:20
  Makes sense.
• 26:21
  Actually, it makes sense.
• 26:22
  But it's so funny how our food and lifestyle is really changing us in a way that I think most people take for granted.
• 26:30
  I saw in one of your videos where you're saying that all food is good food.
• 26:35
  I think I said all food is food and there's no such thing as a good or bad food.
• 26:40
  Bad food.
• 26:41
  Thank you.
• 26:42
  Right.
• 26:43
  We really believe this?
• 26:44
  Yeah.
• 26:45
  There is no such thing as bad food.
• 26:47
  I absolutely believe that.
• 26:48
  Because, okay, what would you consider a bad food?
• 26:52
  So the way I think of this is probably good.
• 26:56
  Is that whilst I don't believe in demonizing food because I don't think that's particularly helpful.
• 27:01
  And one thing I would also say in terms of being online and talking about how I feed my kids,
• 27:07
  I first of all have zero nutritional knowledge.
• 27:11
  I literally come from a logical perspective.
• 27:14
  And this idea that we have picky eaters and we almost expect our children to be picky eaters.
• 27:19
  I think it's a little bit strange.
• 27:21
  Granted, I appreciate there are children with additional needs and they're out of the spectrum.
• 27:27
  But in terms of the norm, I think that we are really a product of our environment.
• 27:31
  And so if we start off eating veggies with our kids, I find it really hard to comprehend why your child wouldn't eat the vegetables.
• 27:38
  And every time I feed my kids, people are like, they're eating beetroot.
• 27:41
  But of course they are because I eat beetroot.
• 27:43
  So they eat beetroot.
• 27:44
  And we do live in a real type bubble.
• 27:46
  My kids don't go to daycare so it makes it easier because we don't have external.
• 27:50
  Their friend Lucy isn't like refusing broccoli in front of them.
• 27:54
  You know, so they still love the broccoli.
• 27:56
  And so when I think of how I feed my children, I do not equate a packet of biscuits to beetroot hummus.
• 28:04
  Of course not.
• 28:05
  For my child to eat beetroot hummus.
• 28:07
  So people like to come at me online all the time and tell me I'm abusing my children.
• 28:12
  And because they still don't eat any added refined sugar, they will, by the way, I'm just waiting.
• 28:18
  They think that I'm kind of saying this good food, bad food thing.
• 28:23
  And in my mind, I think of their eating along with their development.
• 28:27
  So for example, I never used to eat anything that they couldn't eat in front of them.
• 28:32
  When they turned about like three and a half four, granted it was me traveling a lot more with them by myself.
• 28:37
  I then had to explain to them, for example, I have a coffee, but it's work.
• 28:41
  Like I'm having a coffee and I'm an adult.
• 28:43
  So I can handle the caffeine.
• 28:45
  And I tell them boom, boom, boom, boom, with your heart, right?
• 28:48
  And like you make it explainable for them.
• 28:50
  Or they went to the dentist recently and the dentist goes, oh, how are they with the fizzy drinks?
• 28:55
  Like my kids don't drink fizzy drinks.
• 28:57
  She's like, no, okay, how are they with the sweets?
• 28:59
  Like, no, no, they don't have sweets.
• 29:01
  And she goes, oh, well, lo and behold, they're teeth are perfect, right?
• 29:04
  Because in the UK, like sweets and the culture of treats and stuff, it's a serious thing.
• 29:10
  And I think when you're a foreigner looking in on culture, you see things that perhaps you wouldn't see if that was just your norm.
• 29:17
  So when I see how much people eat bread and not good quality bread, I'm talking like supermarket city-ass bread, right?
• 29:23
  They're eating toast in the morning with jam.
• 29:26
  They're eating a sandwich for lunch and the proportion of bread to protein.
• 29:29
  I'm like, where's the meat, yo?
• 29:31
  And then for dinner, you're having like some pasta with some red sauce.
• 29:34
  You've had no protein today.
• 29:36
  And so in my mind, I'm like, we kind of need to think about food more from what are you feeding yourself to feed your body and grow your little child, for example.
• 29:49
  And if we thought about it that way, rather than, oh, my childhood, like favorite biscuit was a, I don't know, jammy dodger.
• 29:58
  Then because we've attached that, we've attached that emotion to that biscuit.
• 30:03
  And then we're trying to let our children relive our childhood in a positive way.
• 30:08
  But unfortunately, no one ever 10 minutes a child is having their tooth taken out at the hospital.
• 30:12
  So clearly something has gone wrong.
• 30:14
  So I do find this conversation really interesting about how we think of food.
• 30:18
  Yeah. I wanted to let you finish because I 100% agree with you.
• 30:22
  Okay.
• 30:23
  Yeah. For children and adults, I think it's different.
• 30:25
  Thank you.
• 30:26
  Yeah. So if it was up to me, my daughter would eat everything I'm eating.
• 30:31
  Okay.
• 30:32
  Right.
• 30:33
  Which for the most part she does, my wife is on board for most things.
• 30:36
  But I've tried to, before we had kids, I tried to inject my values into her.
• 30:42
  Sure.
• 30:43
  And it really, it wasn't the right way to eat, by example.
• 30:47
  It was like, I was in this very restrictive dieting mindset, by the way, like hardcore keto.
• 30:52
  Okay.
• 30:53
  Five years ago, very restrictive eating.
• 30:54
  That's very protein-led in keto.
• 30:56
  No, it's low carb-led.
• 30:57
  Okay.
• 30:58
  And only eat protein in fats.
• 30:59
  Okay.
• 31:00
  Right?
• 31:01
  Because you want to be in ketosis and that's the way to burn fat, which is absolutely not true.
• 31:04
  Okay. Cool.
• 31:05
  So at that time, I was, I was really preachy to my wife and it distanced us a lot.
• 31:10
  Yes.
• 31:11
  Now we're in a place, I'm a lot better.
• 31:13
  I'm more about balance.
• 31:14
  And so my wife is not going to eat, doesn't eat the same way as me in the house.
• 31:18
  She does have sweets.
• 31:20
  She does have snacks lying around.
• 31:22
  So like, I cannot prevent my baby from eating those once in a while.
• 31:26
  Sure.
• 31:27
  And it does bother me sometimes, admittedly.
• 31:30
  Like, yeah, like if she's going to eat snacks in between meals, she's not going to eat her whole meal.
• 31:35
  Sure.
• 31:36
  And that makes me feel some type of way.
• 31:37
  Sure.
• 31:38
  And I want her to eat proteins.
• 31:40
  She is becoming a picky eater.
• 31:42
  Okay.
• 31:43
  No matter how many vegetables and fruits that we put in front of her, she'll, she likes to choose these.
• 31:48
  Sure.
• 31:49
  Process sometimes.
• 31:50
  Plus grandma comes, grandma's, Thai grandma's, they're not really nutritionally knowledgeable either.
• 31:56
  Sure.
• 31:57
  They just eat conome, which is snacks.
• 31:58
  Okay.
• 31:59
  And dessert.
• 32:00
  Yes.
• 32:01
  And so like, yeah.
• 32:02
  And it's also long, right?
• 32:03
  Yeah.
• 32:04
  But I'm, I completely with you in terms of development.
• 32:07
  My wife's on board with making sure she eats enough protein.
• 32:10
  Cool.
• 32:11
  More vegetables, fruit, before, you know, the snacks.
• 32:16
  Sure.
• 32:17
  And so I'm in this internal battle, like trying to battle for me from like, being nitpicking,
• 32:22
  with being a more disciplinary dad.
• 32:24
  Yeah.
• 32:25
  Because I am the disciplinary dad in the house.
• 32:26
  Okay.
• 32:27
  I think if I wasn't there, I'll hold back this.
• 32:30
  She would just be eating whatever the fuck she wants.
• 32:33
  So, yeah, 100% agree with you.
• 32:35
  Cool.
• 32:36
  Well, I'm talking about good or bad foods for adults.
• 32:37
  Okay.
• 32:38
  Yeah.
• 32:39
  Adults is different because a lot of adults still have very unhealthy relationships with food.
• 32:43
  And this is the primary reason why they can't get in shape.
• 32:46
  Sure.
• 32:47
  Because they were strict that biscuit for three weeks.
• 32:50
  Yeah.
• 32:51
  Because, you know, they're being told that biscuits are bad for you.
• 32:54
  They're going to start.
• 32:55
  Sure.
• 32:56
  And all they think about is biscuits.
• 32:57
  It's the biscuit.
• 32:58
  And the employee brings in a fresh hot batch of biscuits.
• 33:00
  Cool.
• 33:01
  Yeah.
• 33:02
  Yeah.
• 33:03
  Okay.
• 33:04
  I'll just have two.
• 33:05
  Yes.
• 33:06
  And then maybe you sneak five in the bathroom.
• 33:07
  Sure.
• 33:08
  And then you feel bad.
• 33:09
  You feel guilt and shame.
• 33:10
  Mm-hmm.
• 33:11
  And then you restrict.
• 33:12
  Maybe you skipped dinner that night.
• 33:13
  Yeah.
• 33:14
  If you do two hours of cardio.
• 33:15
  And then you keep losing the same 10 pounds and gaining the same 10 pounds over again.
• 33:18
  Yeah.
• 33:19
  Because you're bingeing, restricting, bingeing, and restricting.
• 33:21
  So adults, I think, to stop calling foods good or bad and to look at the overall diet is better.
• 33:26
  So 10 to 20% of your diet can be processed food.
• 33:29
  Mm-hmm.
• 33:30
  And most of it's whole food.
• 33:31
  While you control calories, you can lose fat consistently without being miserable and without feeling guilt around food.
• 33:37
  Cool.
• 33:38
  Yeah.
• 33:39
  That makes complete sense to me.
• 33:40
  Yeah.
• 33:41
  I'm glad that we had this conversation.
• 33:42
  But I'm with you with the children development.
• 33:43
  I would love in the perfect world that my daughter ate only whole foods.
• 33:47
  Cool.
• 33:48
  But in our environment, it's just tough for you to roll with the punches.
• 33:51
  Yeah.
• 33:52
  100%.
• 33:53
  In terms of, before we get to fatherhood, because I'm very excited to talk to you about this,
• 33:56
  you met your wife here in Bangkok.
• 33:59
  Tinder.
• 34:00
  You met her on Tinder.
• 34:01
  Tinder success story.
• 34:02
  So I have another Tinder success story that I spoke to someone about.
• 34:06
  And he's from the States.
• 34:08
  And someone told him when he was here, he was here just having a little midlife crisis.
• 34:12
  And a German guy tells him to go on Tinder.
• 34:15
  And he's like, yo, I'm grown.
• 34:16
  I'm not going on Tinder.
• 34:17
  Like, I'm a big man.
• 34:18
  And he's like, no, no.
• 34:19
  Tinder in Bangkok is not like Tinder in the States.
• 34:22
  And now you're telling me this, too, that you are a Tinder success story.
• 34:25
  Yeah.
• 34:26
  It was two people looking for, like, friends.
• 34:31
  Really?
• 34:32
  I mean, if it came to something else, and there was like, yeah, sexual activity involved.
• 34:36
  Cool.
• 34:37
  But like, for this, for my wife, like, I really loved our first date.
• 34:41
  It was like just a casual coffee date.
• 34:44
  And then we saw each other many times.
• 34:46
  And it was very casual, just like, friendship first.
• 34:48
  And then it became something.
• 34:50
  And this is shortly after you started with the start.
• 34:52
  Two months after moving to Bangkok.
• 34:55
  So I was on the fence, like, do I commit to this girl?
• 35:00
  Do I, you know, live that fun Bangkok life that everybody's talking about and trying to run a train.
• 35:07
  But I think I made the right choice.
• 35:09
  I made the right choice.
• 35:10
  Oh, that's amazing.
• 35:11
  Do you think from other people, because I appreciate you got in there quick and fast, and the rest is done.
• 35:16
  But do you think dating in Bangkok is difficult because people are on the like high life fantasy lifestyle?
• 35:23
  Or is it like, you're easy to find people too?
• 35:27
  Yeah, I always say I think I would hate to date in this era.
• 35:30
  Okay.
• 35:31
  Yeah, because there's too many options, and there's too much accessibility to people.
• 35:36
  Well, you can, you can master somebody on 10 different platforms.
• 35:40
  Sure.
• 35:41
  And the pretty girls are getting flooded with DMs.
• 35:43
  Right.
• 35:44
  If you DM a girl, you're just another guy trying to get in, right?
• 35:49
  But I think, what was the question?
• 35:54
  If it's hard to date for serious relationship potentially in Bangkok.
• 36:00
  Yeah, definitely.
• 36:01
  Yeah, definitely harder.
• 36:02
  Again, for guys, there's just too many options.
• 36:05
  But not all guys are out there partying.
• 36:07
  Sure.
• 36:08
  Some guys are trying to build a business that's focusing on their health.
• 36:10
  So where do you find these guys?
• 36:12
  Probably in the gym.
• 36:13
  Probably at a coffee shop.
• 36:15
  Sure.
• 36:16
  If I were single, I would probably approach or talk to people in the fitness community.
• 36:21
  Sure.
• 36:22
  Rarely a Reddit club.
• 36:24
  Okay.
• 36:25
  Yeah.
• 36:26
  Not that every girl at club is not quality, but the chances are delivered.
• 36:31
  No, for sure.
• 36:32
  For sure.
• 36:33
  When you came to Bangkok to live, was there anything that really struck you culturally that you weren't expecting?
• 36:42
  I think it still comes down to the warmth of people.
• 36:53
  You don't experience that much anywhere else in the world.
• 36:56
  They haven't been to Jamaica.
• 36:58
  Oh, yeah.
• 36:59
  Probably Jamaica too.
• 37:00
  How do you feel?
• 37:01
  Sorry.
• 37:02
  To ask you the same question.
• 37:05
  How long have you been here so far?
• 37:07
  This is my fourth trip here this year, but I've never lived here beyond.
• 37:11
  I've never stayed here beyond a month.
• 37:13
  Do you feel warmth, though?
• 37:14
  100%.
• 37:15
  And I was really taken aback by it in the sense that so as a black person when you travel, one of the things that you think about, I think,
• 37:22
  not that I'm trying to speak for the entire black race, but you do wonder how are you going to be received?
• 37:27
  And previously I'd spent quite a lot of time in Vietnam.
• 37:31
  And what I found quite interesting is that I was there in August and people were dressed like head to toe covered.
• 37:37
  And it was super hot.
• 37:38
  And I was like, what the hell is going on?
• 37:39
  Why is everybody dressed like this?
• 37:40
  And they said to me, you know, one of the worst things you could say to Vietnamese ladies, oh, you have beautiful dark skin, right?
• 37:45
  And so there's this idea that you're trying to stay as light as possible.
• 37:48
  Again, it's more complex than just black and white.
• 37:51
  It's what job do you have?
• 37:52
  Are you like working outside in fields versus, you know, an office corporate job?
• 37:56
  So I appreciate there's a lot of dynamics going on, but I realized that although they had this internal judgment,
• 38:03
  that judgment didn't necessarily extend to me because I'm clearly not Vietnamese, right?
• 38:08
  So there's an appreciation that you're already othered.
• 38:10
  So our like internal rules of how we judge class and race and these types of things don't necessarily extend to you as someone who's just with your cute kids.
• 38:20
  And my kids are at United Colors of Benetun.
• 38:22
  So I do think that change is how we're received as well.
• 38:25
  One twin is blonde and the other has really dark Asian hair.
• 38:29
  So there's a lot going on.
• 38:31
  Natural blonde hair.
• 38:32
  Yes.
• 38:33
  People asked if I'd dyed her hair blonde.
• 38:34
  Well, that's great.
• 38:35
  And she has like more light brown hazyly eyes, but they're very mixed.
• 38:41
  So I think that that also impacts how we're received.
• 38:46
  However, when I came to Thailand, I appreciated the warmth.
• 38:50
  I'm probably still on tourist level warmth, you know, but it definitely struck me.
• 38:55
  It struck me that you try to tip people and they don't want it yet.
• 38:59
  You're going to go and find hair clips to put in my baby's hair.
• 39:02
  And for me, if you are kind and loving to my children, baby, this game over, I'm like, you can take everything.
• 39:08
  Because I really want my girls to live in a culture that loves them.
• 39:13
  Because I grew up in Jamaica thinking I could be anything, honestly.
• 39:18
  And someone asked me at Bloomberg's head office in London.
• 39:22
  And he's a venture capitalist.
• 39:24
  Soot is like tailored to the tea.
• 39:26
  More money than I could ever afford on just like he's the cookoff link.
• 39:30
  And he said to me, how are you so confident?
• 39:33
  And I hadn't really thought about it, right?
• 39:35
  Because you just are who you are.
• 39:37
  And I realized it was growing up in Jamaica where everybody acknowledged me.
• 39:42
  Everybody saw me played with me and just made me feel amazing.
• 39:47
  And I look at how people are raised in London, for example, where my kids used to wave and block kisses all the time.
• 39:53
  And people would ignore them.
• 39:54
  And I doubt that you could really be as confident growing up in an environment that kind of ignored you,
• 40:01
  whilst you're growing up.
• 40:02
  And so what I love about Thailand is that there is a true love for children, right?
• 40:07
  And I think that you have to be a better person having grown up with strangers just loving on you for no reason.
• 40:13
  That's a great point.
• 40:14
  Yeah.
• 40:15
  Because my daughter is going to have the biggest ego.
• 40:19
  And she's so cute.
• 40:21
  Exactly.
• 40:22
  But everybody tells her.
• 40:24
  And she's getting so sassy now.
• 40:27
  I love it.
• 40:28
  So I bought her hair extensions that are colored.
• 40:31
  Yes.
• 40:32
  She's like, she's in a rush.
• 40:33
  She's two and a half.
• 40:34
  We love it.
• 40:35
  Daddy, so why am I?
• 40:36
  Am I beautiful?
• 40:37
  No.
• 40:38
  Yeah.
• 40:39
  Everybody on the street just showers her in compliments, which I love.
• 40:42
  But sooner or later, I'll sit down with her and be like, you know, your heart is beautiful.
• 40:48
  And your hair.
• 40:49
  It's not just your outside look.
• 40:51
  It's like, you know, what's inside.
• 40:54
  Sure.
• 40:55
  That's my job later on.
• 40:57
  Sure.
• 40:58
  Yeah.
• 40:59
  That's so sweet.
• 41:00
  But in terms of raising children here, when you came, did you always, and started to get settled?
• 41:05
  I appreciate in the beginning, there's a lot of moving pieces.
• 41:07
  But, you know, when you met your wife and you start thinking about families, did you always feel that Bangkok could be the place to raise your kids?
• 41:15
  Yes, definitely.
• 41:17
  Again, the warmth, the opportunities, meaning like any activity you want to do.
• 41:23
  You got everything in Bangkok.
• 41:24
  Sure.
• 41:25
  Also something that really surprised me about Bangkok is from the outside, you know, looks like a third world country.
• 41:31
  Inside, you go to the malls, they're like small mini cities, right?
• 41:36
  They are robust.
• 41:38
  It's much more developed than I ever expected it to be.
• 41:42
  But yeah, so much opportunity.
• 41:44
  Great schools, great education here.
• 41:46
  I have a lot of friends who are teachers.
• 41:48
  Okay.
• 41:49
  They really rave about the school system.
• 41:52
  And again, safety.
• 41:54
  Safety is a big part of, I think, raising children.
• 41:56
  Yes.
• 41:57
  Right.
• 41:58
  And so, yeah, I never thought, moving here, never thought I would have children initially.
• 42:04
  Okay.
• 42:05
  I was good either or.
• 42:06
  I know I knew I would be a great dad, but you know.
• 42:10
  Why?
• 42:12
  Because of how much love I was raised with with my parents.
• 42:18
  Because, yeah, I'm so blessed like we were showered with love.
• 42:23
  My dad doesn't speak much, but he just let by example.
• 42:26
  He just didn't say anything, did the chores, cook for us, picked us up wherever we wanted.
• 42:31
  And my mom was more of the, you know, taking us to church every Sunday, teaching us to love each other.
• 42:38
  So I knew I would exhibit the same qualities to my offspring.
• 42:43
  And I think it shows a lot now.
• 42:46
  So I never had any doubt that I would actually be a good dad.
• 42:49
  But damn, you learned so damn much.
• 42:51
  Like the amount of lessons I've learned in the last two and a half years, raising a kid,
• 42:56
  surpasses anything I've ever learned in school or other relationships.
• 43:00
  Like your kids will teach you so much.
• 43:03
  Yeah.
• 43:04
  What's one of the best things that your daughter's taught you?
• 43:09
  Slow down.
• 43:11
  Right.
• 43:12
  I never push my daughter to move faster.
• 43:15
  My kids do not know what rushing means.
• 43:18
  That's why my mom was so hard.
• 43:20
  Because again, I overthink.
• 43:23
  Not in a negative way, but it allows me to truly constantly keep myself in check
• 43:28
  and analyze what I like and don't like.
• 43:31
  And so if I see things that I don't like, it's not about the person I don't even know you.
• 43:35
  But it just allows me to know my own feelings.
• 43:37
  And I think we naturally rush.
• 43:40
  Right.
• 43:41
  Like at least in the UK, the states like this kind of western culture is a very rushing thing
• 43:46
  to the point where my daughter was trying to put the hotel key in the door.
• 43:50
  And she wasn't getting frustrated.
• 43:52
  And all the adults in the room were getting frustrated because I just need to go in.
• 43:56
  I'm like, it's cool.
• 43:57
  We're not rushing to go inside.
• 43:59
  The fact that she's not getting frustrated to me is a great thing.
• 44:02
  Because she still wants to persevere and keep trying.
• 44:05
  And eventually after the 50 second time, baby got it done.
• 44:08
  Right.
• 44:09
  And I realized that we've created this kind of slow-moving, slow-paced approach that really works
• 44:17
  and you realize how negative rushing could be.
• 44:20
  Again, because they don't go to daycare, I never have to wake you up to rush to go to daycare.
• 44:25
  Although I would not mind a line.
• 44:27
  They don't understand lying in either.
• 44:29
  They wake up on the dot all the time.
• 44:31
  But I only speak French to my kids.
• 44:33
  And I'm not French.
• 44:34
  Right.
• 44:35
  So I study French to speak French to them.
• 44:37
  But the reason that's relevant is because that automatically slows me down.
• 44:40
  Right.
• 44:41
  Because I have to translate everything.
• 44:43
  And at the time, I just wanted my kids to be bilingual.
• 44:46
  But I realize how me having to process the words and make them into a foreign language
• 44:51
  means that I can't ever say anything off the cuff or say anything that's really negative.
• 44:57
  First of all, I probably don't have the vocab.
• 44:59
  And secondly, because of the speed at which I'm processing, it means that I'm more intentional with my words
• 45:06
  in a way that I think is a really good thing.
• 45:09
  And I always say my kids have yet to have a tantrum.
• 45:11
  Talk to them.
• 45:12
  Maybe they'll have late teenage ones.
• 45:13
  But I do think a part of that is allowing the pace to be like a lot slower.
• 45:19
  Yeah.
• 45:20
  I feel you.
• 45:21
  What was the look on your daughter's face after she figured out the law?
• 45:26
  She was very happy.
• 45:27
  Right.
• 45:28
  And she loves being able to have the opportunity to do.
• 45:32
  And they don't know it yet.
• 45:34
  But if you're like, come on, come on, you just do it yourself.
• 45:36
  Yes.
• 45:37
  You just ruined the lesson.
• 45:38
  Oh, 100%.
• 45:39
  And I saw this interview.
• 45:40
  This lady said that confidence comes from competence.
• 45:43
  And when in a world where we're constantly doing everything for our children,
• 45:47
  they don't get to build that like internal confidence.
• 45:50
  And I was like, oh my god.
• 45:51
  First of all, I love an eliteration.
• 45:52
  And secondly, that makes so much sense.
• 45:55
  What do you think is the hardest thing about being a dad?
• 45:58
  Figuring out your new priorities.
• 46:03
  And it's for me, I'm a builder.
• 46:06
  I need to build things.
• 46:08
  I've built everything from scratch, like from IKEA, IKEA, like growing up.
• 46:12
  So I love building stuff.
• 46:14
  So now that I'm trying to build my business and scale it up,
• 46:18
  I always have this decision to make while I'm working.
• 46:22
  Because I look at the camera, like the CCTV from my house.
• 46:25
  It's like, I want to just go home and spend time with her.
• 46:29
  But I also need to build my business.
• 46:31
  Yes.
• 46:32
  And so I'm always at a crossroads.
• 46:34
  And eight times at a time, I would choose just to go home and play with her.
• 46:41
  It's tough.
• 46:42
  It's a tough decision because I guess you forego making a little bit more money.
• 46:47
  But the trade-off is so worth it.
• 46:50
  Because you only have so many years where she wants you to be around.
• 46:55
  Yes.
• 46:56
  And she thinks you're the coolest dude in the world.
• 46:59
  So that balance is a challenge to me.
• 47:03
  But I don't regret any of the time I spend with her.
• 47:06
  And it almost looks like from the outside that I'm a stay-at-home dad.
• 47:10
  That I'm the one that's like, you know, with her like 24-7.
• 47:14
  So actually I have three businesses that I need to run.
• 47:17
  Sure.
• 47:18
  But I'm lucky that I've built my business before I had a baby where it's quite sustainable,
• 47:22
  where I don't need to be, you know, hands on all the time.
• 47:25
  Sure.
• 47:26
  So again, God gave me this great blessing of this timeline of my life,
• 47:31
  where it all worked out, where I could spend more time with my family.
• 47:35
  So I guess the biggest challenge is like the choice between,
• 47:38
  do I work on my business or do I spend time?
• 47:42
  Because then it's also stressful when you're, when I'm with my child.
• 47:45
  I think about my business.
• 47:46
  Yes.
• 47:47
  It's like, there's so much work I need to do about trying to be present with her, right?
• 47:51
  Yes.
• 47:52
  And then maybe your stress comes off with her and it's like,
• 47:54
  that's the challenge in my opinion.
• 47:56
  But it's a great challenge.
• 47:57
  Sure.
• 47:58
  It's like developing my character as well as a dad.
• 48:01
  Do you think that your wife is Thai?
• 48:03
  Yes.
• 48:04
  All her family is here?
• 48:06
  Yes.
• 48:07
  Like maybe in like Chonbari.
• 48:08
  Sure.
• 48:09
  Are there anything that is difficult or not necessarily challenging,
• 48:13
  but different in the way that you kind of run your family life because you're not Thai?
• 48:19
  Yeah.
• 48:20
  A lot.
• 48:21
  Oh really?
• 48:22
  Yeah.
• 48:23
  I mean, in I think in Thai culture, there's not much structure.
• 48:28
  Okay.
• 48:29
  Like meals wise and like fitness is not really intertwined in their lives.
• 48:34
  Okay.
• 48:35
  And so I think that is a huge difference.
• 48:37
  So I'm trying to balance myself in terms of that.
• 48:41
  Other than that, no, I don't, that's the only thing.
• 48:48
  It's probably like the structure of meals.
• 48:50
  Yeah.
• 48:51
  And they just like, they just live minute by minute.
• 48:54
  Sure.
• 48:55
  But if that's what it feels like to me.
• 48:56
  Yeah.
• 48:57
  And so, yeah, I have to again, I have to be the disciplinary dad there.
• 49:01
  And make sure that she's eating well when we're traveling to visit the family.
• 49:06
  Sure.
• 49:07
  And she's going to be, you know, just munching on durian chips.
• 49:10
  Okay.
• 49:11
  Which are mom, by the way, in my daughter loves durian chips.
• 49:15
  But yeah.
• 49:16
  And you speak Thai.
• 49:18
  I have a tutor I'm learning.
• 49:19
  Oh really?
• 49:20
  I procrastinate so much, but I love this country so much that I feel like I'm indebted to it that I should learn the Thai language too.
• 49:30
  Like when I go to the sauna and there's like old men in there, I want to know what they're talking about.
• 49:35
  Like I want to hear their stories because they're probably so interesting.
• 49:38
  Yeah.
• 49:39
  And I feel like I'm missing out on so much.
• 49:41
  And so, yeah, I have one like four days a week.
• 49:44
  Okay.
• 49:45
  And your daughter speaks both Thai and English.
• 49:47
  Yeah.
• 49:48
  Okay.
• 49:49
  She's great at both.
• 49:50
  Isn't it amazing how like children just switch?
• 49:53
  Dude, a two and a half.
• 49:54
  She'll say things in Thai.
• 49:55
  I don't know.
• 49:56
  It's deep.
• 49:57
  I like babe, like what's that in English?
• 49:59
  And she'll tell me what it is in English.
• 50:01
  Yes.
• 50:02
  I was like, yeah.
• 50:03
  It's so weird.
• 50:04
  So my kids, their first language is French, which again people try and like figure out.
• 50:08
  I'm like, don't try and figure it out.
• 50:09
  So you're trying to, they're like, oh, they're dad's French.
• 50:11
  No, babe.
• 50:12
  No one else in this thing is French.
• 50:13
  Like it's just random.
• 50:15
  But what is so interesting is, and I love it for them, they will never need to like pause to translate.
• 50:21
  They will literally talk to you in English, turn to me in French and not skip a beat.
• 50:25
  And I'm just like adults are actually the problem in the world because these kids are just so fluid.
• 50:31
  And so much to like learn from also them not caring about making a mistake, you know.
• 50:36
  And then it's like, okay, cool.
• 50:37
  That was wrong.
• 50:38
  And I'll just put it in right the next time, whereas I feel like a part of us having challenges with languages.
• 50:44
  I say us as adults is that we don't want to say it wrong.
• 50:48
  Or you don't want to sound awkward or whatever.
• 50:51
  And I think one I have no choice because I've committed to this line.
• 50:55
  But also seeing that they don't care makes me realize it doesn't matter.
• 50:59
  Like it doesn't matter if you say it wrong and they love to correct me.
• 51:03
  Which again, I love for them in terms of like allowing them to know you can always put me in check too.
• 51:08
  Just respectfully, you don't have to make it look so bad.
• 51:11
  But the language I find like, and I think I'm pretty good at languages, but all I've got down here is,
• 51:17
  is thank you.
• 51:18
  Hello, I think yesterday I learned goodbye.
• 51:20
  But yeah, I find, I imagine that learning the language means that you also get to experience the country in a very different way.
• 51:27
  Yeah.
• 51:28
  And like you get to ease drop, you drop too.
• 51:30
  Like they talk about me.
• 51:32
  I finally, I probably know if they're talking about me or not.
• 51:35
  Oh man.
• 51:36
  But do you think there are any major misconceptions about living in Bangkok?
• 51:41
  I feel like everyone's trying to live here now.
• 51:43
  Yeah, for a good reason.
• 51:45
  I'm trying to not hype enough so much, but you'll stay home once too packed here already.
• 51:50
  The traffic here is mental.
• 51:52
  It's insane.
• 51:53
  I've never seen traffic like this.
• 51:55
  Yeah, you'll learn how to navigate it.
• 51:57
  Okay.
• 51:58
  Are you okay riding on the back of a motorbike?
• 51:59
  No.
• 52:00
  Okay.
• 52:01
  So you'll have a hard time.
• 52:02
  Yeah.
• 52:03
  Yeah.
• 52:04
  What was the question?
• 52:06
  I was thinking, are there any major misconceptions?
• 52:08
  All misconceptions.
• 52:09
  Yeah.
• 52:10
  Yeah.
• 52:11
  Yeah.
• 52:12
  That Thailand is all about girls, partying, and drugs.
• 52:15
  Okay.
• 52:16
  Right?
• 52:17
  Because when most guys particularly go to Thailand, like their girlfriends, like, yeah, I know a job too.
• 52:24
  But it's not all that.
• 52:26
  Whatever life you choose to live, I feel like Bangkok is the real land of opportunity.
• 52:33
  Like you can do anything you want.
• 52:36
  And you have all the resources at hand.
• 52:39
  So I think that's a big misconception.
• 52:41
  Also that, you know, it's a support third world country.
• 52:44
  Okay.
• 52:45
  But you go to the malls.
• 52:46
  It's like, dude.
• 52:47
  Yeah.
• 52:48
  It's insane.
• 52:49
  It's like the craziest, most developed mall culture I've ever seen.
• 52:52
  Maybe in next to like China or something.
• 52:55
  Sure.
• 52:56
  But yeah, two misconceptions.
• 52:57
  I wish people knew that Thailand was a lot more wholesome than just partying and raves.
• 53:03
  And then also doing all the tourist shit.
• 53:07
  It's like, yeah, it's fun and tiring.
• 53:09
  But there's so much other deep culture of this.
• 53:12
  What should we be doing when you want to get beyond the like tick boxing exercises?
• 53:16
  Yeah.
• 53:17
  What should we be doing?
• 53:18
  Like coffee shops in small little areas.
• 53:21
  Like go to each.
• 53:22
  Maybe stay one or two days in each.
• 53:25
  Like area.
• 53:26
  You can go to satan.
• 53:27
  Okay.
• 53:28
  You can go across the river or near the river.
• 53:30
  You go to more upscale like Tom Law.
• 53:32
  That's what I would recommend to my friends.
• 53:34
  Cool.
• 53:35
  And the food is like top in the world.
• 53:39
  In terms of the distance and you being far away from home,
• 53:42
  I can feel how much you love Bangkok.
• 53:44
  Are there ever moments where you're like, damn,
• 53:46
  my mom's not down the road because you also speak of so much love with your parents.
• 53:50
  And I wonder how you balance that.
• 53:52
  Especially when you become a dad.
• 53:53
  Like for me, I don't have a mother in my life.
• 53:55
  So I didn't have like this or what my mother do thing.
• 53:58
  But I was definitely blessed that my sister and my dad were in my space at that time.
• 54:02
  And I just wondered how being so far away has kind of changed your journey.
• 54:09
  I can understand how my mom feels a little bit now when she let me go.
• 54:13
  Now that I have one, it's like, dude, like your own child that you've lived with,
• 54:18
  that you've raised and fed shelter for 30 years.
• 54:21
  She just goes off on their own, but that's one thing that I can feel.
• 54:27
  Yeah, second thing is my parents are aging, obviously.
• 54:30
  I'm lucky that they listen to my advice.
• 54:32
  Okay.
• 54:33
  They're walking like 10,000 steps a day, putting more protein on the plate.
• 54:36
  My mom lost like 25 pounds just by listening to me.
• 54:39
  Yeah, she did track her food.
• 54:41
  She went to the gym three times a week.
• 54:43
  Yeah, she's doing a lot.
• 54:45
  My dad, on the other hand, I want to be there with him to kind of push him to train a little bit.
• 54:49
  Sure.
• 54:50
  Because I can tell he's becoming a little bit frail.
• 54:52
  Okay.
• 54:53
  And I know how much he loves his grandchildren.
• 54:55
  And I'm like, Dad, like if you really want to be there for Sia for 20 more years,
• 55:01
  like three hours of uncomfortable shit in the gym is really going to go a long way.
• 55:05
  But he's like, you know, pass it.
• 55:07
  Okay, you know, okay.
• 55:09
  So that is something that I miss and that I wish I was there for is to kind of just like care for my parents.
• 55:16
  But, you know, they have two boys there too.
• 55:19
  We talk pretty often and I know they're listening to me.
• 55:23
  And so, yeah, it's a tough thing to think about your parents aging.
• 55:28
  But, you know, you got to make tough choices.
• 55:31
  And they're seeing me grow here and they're super happy for me and they don't want me to come back.
• 55:37
  Because they see how much I've grown.
• 55:39
  Right?
• 55:40
  They're like, yeah, don't come back.
• 55:42
  You're fucking, you know, doing a lot of stuff there, meeting a lot of people.
• 55:45
  You're becoming like something out there.
• 55:48
  So like just run free.
• 55:50
  And again, I'm so excited to instill this into my daughter as well.
• 55:55
  That confidence that she can literally do anything that happens.
• 55:58
  She has my support to do that.
• 56:00
  Yeah, whatever it is.
• 56:02
  I used to like growing up.
• 56:05
  I was like, I'm going to have a baby boy.
• 56:07
  I'm going to train that little boy to be the best basketball player.
• 56:10
  To be super athletic.
• 56:12
  My daughter is so damn girly.
• 56:15
  Like she loves putting on like play makeup and like doing her hair.
• 56:19
  I was like, yeah, whatever you want to do.
• 56:22
  I'll support you as long as you have confidence.
• 56:24
  Sure.
• 56:25
  If you want to be, you know, make up TikTok influencer, I guess.
• 56:32
  At least you can tell her the discipline, babe.
• 56:34
  Twice a day.
• 56:35
  Keep it moving.
• 56:36
  Yeah.
• 56:37
  As long as you learn that and you don't give up and you follow your dream.
• 56:39
  Yeah.
• 56:40
  I'll support you.
• 56:41
  Yeah.
• 56:42
  Because that's the best way they will learn, right?
• 56:43
  Sure.
• 56:44
  I thought I was a dumbass my whole life because I got really bad grades in school.
• 56:47
  Okay.
• 56:48
  It's because I didn't like learning the way they taught me.
• 56:50
  Sure.
• 56:51
  Memorize copy paste.
• 56:53
  Yeah.
• 56:54
  Formulas.
• 56:55
  I didn't learn.
• 56:56
  So I really thought I was dumb growing up until I started like, oh basketball.
• 57:00
  I got really good at basketball.
• 57:02
  I know how to put the steps in to develop as a better basketball player.
• 57:05
  I know what's work is required.
• 57:07
  How many hours required to get here?
• 57:10
  So yeah, building this business.
• 57:12
  I learned a lot from basketball.
• 57:14
  Okay.
• 57:15
  Yeah.
• 57:16
  Like just growing up.
• 57:17
  Do you think that you're disciplined because I get the counting, you know,
• 57:19
  and the fact that you like formulas and understanding where you want to get to,
• 57:23
  what exactly it takes to get there?
• 57:25
  Do you think that that helps a lot in your style of parenting?
• 57:28
  Because I feel like retrospectively that my team at my restaurant,
• 57:32
  they were like my children for a lot of the part of my life, right?
• 57:36
  And I felt that I had got all of this practice in getting the best out of my team
• 57:42
  because they weren't with me for the money I couldn't compete with like the big boys and salaries.
• 57:46
  So I needed to make sure that we had a culture that they wanted to like stay in.
• 57:50
  Like one of my chefs was with me for about six and a half years, you know,
• 57:53
  and just coming last weekend.
• 57:55
  I feel like that was practice that I didn't even know I was getting,
• 57:59
  but know that I have children.
• 58:01
  I've realized where similar strategies, right?
• 58:04
  Like you can't just go and shout at your team.
• 58:06
  That makes no sense.
• 58:07
  They're not going to come and want to work for you in the same way that I wouldn't advise
• 58:10
  that parents just shout at their kids because you're not necessarily going to get the best out of them.
• 58:14
  And I just wondered if the discipline that you have clearly applied to sport
• 58:18
  and then later on to business has that influenced your style of parenting?
• 58:24
  Yes, I think in the sense of managing my emotions.
• 58:28
  Okay.
• 58:29
  Definitely.
• 58:30
  Yeah.
• 58:31
  Because again, you cannot be emotional about the work.
• 58:33
  Yes.
• 58:34
  You don't feel like doing your social media.
• 58:37
  Sure.
• 58:38
  You don't.
• 58:39
  I hate it.
• 58:40
  But you know that nobody cares.
• 58:42
  Yeah.
• 58:43
  Nobody cares how you feel about the real world.
• 58:45
  Really nobody cares.
• 58:46
  I have a shirt that I printed.
• 58:47
  There's no one cares.
• 58:48
  Literally.
• 58:49
  It's really on-brand.
• 58:50
  I tell all my clients that.
• 58:52
  Like you don't feel like going to the gym today.
• 58:54
  Are you injured?
• 58:55
  No.
• 58:56
  Like are you tired?
• 58:57
  A little bit?
• 58:58
  Yeah.
• 58:59
  Like nobody cares.
• 59:00
  The person that cares the least is version 2.0 of you one year from now.
• 59:03
  That person requires you to do the work today even though you don't feel like it.
• 59:06
  Yes.
• 59:07
  And so with my daughter, yeah.
• 59:10
  Like when she has a tantrum.
• 59:12
  Which are not many.
• 59:13
  But actually, I actually like when she has tantrums because it's a challenge for me.
• 59:18
  Okay.
• 59:19
  The challenge is how calm can I stay in this very stressful situation?
• 59:24
  Yes.
• 59:25
  That's my challenge.
• 59:26
  Because if I'm calm, you cannot reason with a child when they have a tantrum.
• 59:30
  Words do not process.
• 59:32
  Instructions are not processed.
• 59:33
  She's just, you know, in golf with emotions.
• 59:36
  Yes.
• 59:37
  So the best thing you can do as a parent is just like sit there calmly.
• 59:40
  And just like hold her hands, just like let her cry when she's ready to give you a hug.
• 59:46
  It doesn't happen for 40 minutes.
• 59:48
  But you just have to stay calm.
• 59:49
  That's a challenge.
• 59:50
  And so basketball taught me that the gym and lifting heavy weights has taught me that.
• 59:56
  The grind of trying to build a business has taught me to not manage to manage my emotions.
• 1:00:03
  Yeah, that definitely is a translation into how I parent now for sure.
• 1:00:08
  Do you think the discipline also helps you live in a foreign country?
• 1:00:13
  Because I think sometimes and I had to catch even myself.
• 1:00:17
  Like you go back home and something is different, right?
• 1:00:20
  Like it works differently to wherever the hell you've been.
• 1:00:23
  And my first reaction is always like, why is it working?
• 1:00:26
  Why is it taking this long or whatever it is?
• 1:00:29
  And my second thought is actually like this is how it is supposed to be here.
• 1:00:34
  And you're bringing your foreign mentality back home.
• 1:00:38
  And you're the problem, right?
• 1:00:40
  And I have to have this dialogue with actually live where you are, you know?
• 1:00:44
  And I wonder if you have any of those moments here in Bangkok?
• 1:00:48
  Yeah, I love that.
• 1:00:50
  I'm going to get that tattooed actually.
• 1:00:52
  I-I-W-I-I.
• 1:00:54
  Can you guess what that is?
• 1:00:55
  I-I-W-I-I.
• 1:00:58
  Are Roman numerals?
• 1:01:01
  No, no, it's acronym.
• 1:01:03
  So there is a phrase.
• 1:01:05
  Tell me.
• 1:01:06
  It is what it is.
• 1:01:07
  It is what it is.
• 1:01:08
  It is what it is.
• 1:01:09
  I'm working on mine.
• 1:01:10
  I do not have it.
• 1:01:11
  It is what it is.
• 1:01:12
  That's fine.
• 1:01:13
  It's so-and honestly, I believe in it.
• 1:01:14
  Like as a concept, I'm with you babes.
• 1:01:16
  But in real life, I find it so hard sometimes to just...
• 1:01:20
  Of course.
• 1:01:21
  Yeah.
• 1:01:22
  It is what it is.
• 1:01:23
  It is what it is.
• 1:01:24
  It is what it is.
• 1:01:25
  Yeah.
• 1:01:26
  Yeah, so I love that.
• 1:01:27
  So...
• 1:01:28
  Yeah.
• 1:01:29
  You have a pretty, it is what it is.
• 1:01:30
  Energy.
• 1:01:31
  I'm working on mine.
• 1:01:32
  I do not have it.
• 1:01:33
  It is what it is.
• 1:01:34
  That's fine.
• 1:01:35
  So just...
• 1:01:36
  Of course.
• 1:01:37
  Yeah.
• 1:01:38
  I will teach you that.
• 1:01:39
  Yeah.
• 1:01:40
  It is a vice, a vice.
• 1:01:41
  Don't worry about it.
• 1:01:42
  Like, things will figure themselves out.
• 1:01:43
  Yeah.
• 1:01:44
  If they don't work out, what is the lesson in it?
• 1:01:45
  Yeah.
• 1:01:46
  Move on.
• 1:01:47
  Yeah.
• 1:01:48
  So it is what it is.
• 1:01:49
  Yeah.
• 1:01:50
  We need to channel that.
• 1:01:51
  We meaning I.
• 1:01:52
  We all do.
• 1:01:53
  We sure.
• 1:01:54
  You have quite calming energy anyway.
• 1:01:56
  So I'll definitely be like, I need to do the work on that one.
• 1:01:58
  Yeah.
• 1:01:59
  That comes from it is what it is.
• 1:02:00
  Yeah.
• 1:02:01
  People say I'm calm all the time.
• 1:02:02
  Yeah.
• 1:02:03
  Shit hits the fan.
• 1:02:05
  Shit hit the fan.
• 1:02:06
  What are you going to do about it?
• 1:02:07
  And what can you control?
• 1:02:08
  Yeah.
• 1:02:09
  If you can't control what happened in the past and you start thinking about it, you just figure out the solution.
• 1:02:13
  And it is what it is.
• 1:02:14
  Yeah.
• 1:02:15
  So it is what it is.
• 1:02:17
  It is what it is.
• 1:02:18
  No.
• 1:02:19
  Is there anything that you would want to say for someone who is considering a move?
• 1:02:22
  Not necessarily here, but just anywhere in the world.
• 1:02:24
  I feel like at this point in our lives so many people are thinking whether their current environment is really serving them.
• 1:02:31
  But I think also I take it for granted, like jumping on a plane.
• 1:02:35
  And my first flight I was six weeks, right?
• 1:02:37
  So I was born in the UK six weeks I'm in Jamaica and I've lived in a few countries.
• 1:02:41
  And I think it's only when I speak to other people that I realize not everybody has grown up where they think the world is accessible to them.
• 1:02:49
  And I can kind of take it for granted that people have an internal fear or just some sort of just trepidation.
• 1:02:56
  Maybe that doesn't make them take the big leap to go somewhere.
• 1:03:00
  And I just wondered what would you say it's that person who's thinking maybe I should move.
• 1:03:05
  The comfort zone is the deadliest place in the world, right?
• 1:03:09
  I guess my question would be what do you have to lose?
• 1:03:16
  And it's a real question like right down.
• 1:03:18
  Yeah.
• 1:03:19
  Like if you moved to abroad for six months, what do you have to lose?
• 1:03:24
  Yeah, maybe some money.
• 1:03:26
  Sure.
• 1:03:27
  Maybe a job opportunity that you probably don't even love.
• 1:03:31
  Your friends will not forget about you.
• 1:03:33
  Your family is not going to forget about you.
• 1:03:34
  If there's not that much to lose, what is there to gain?
• 1:03:38
  And it's hard for people to see what there is to gain.
• 1:03:40
  Until you've lived it.
• 1:03:41
  Yes.
• 1:03:42
  It's uncomfortable to be like, what if this happens?
• 1:03:44
  What if I don't make friends?
• 1:03:46
  You know, if I don't find my way, but like what if you do?
• 1:03:50
  What if you find new, amazing friends?
• 1:03:53
  What if you find your love of your life here?
• 1:03:56
  What if you experience a whole new culture that you've never really seen of the world before?
• 1:04:03
  And then taking that risk made you take other risks.
• 1:04:06
  Sure.
• 1:04:07
  Because what's the worst that can happen?
• 1:04:10
  That you end up in the same place you are now.
• 1:04:12
  Sure.
• 1:04:13
  That's literally the worst thing that can happen.
• 1:04:14
  That you just start.
• 1:04:15
  That you just go back to wherever you're at now.
• 1:04:17
  Yep.
• 1:04:18
  That you're at now is not fulfilling your heart.
• 1:04:21
  And you feel like there's something missing.
• 1:04:23
  Then what is there to lose?
• 1:04:25
  That's pretty much what I asked myself.
• 1:04:27
  In Canada?
• 1:04:28
  Like, I come back.
• 1:04:29
  My family's here.
• 1:04:30
  I can get a job.
• 1:04:32
  Like, I'm bright.
• 1:04:33
  I know people.
• 1:04:34
  So like, what's there to lose?
• 1:04:36
  And there's so much to gain.
• 1:04:38
  But I'm not saying it wasn't scary.
• 1:04:40
  It's just scary.
• 1:04:42
  But if you're ever at the crossroads and you're thinking about moving,
• 1:04:46
  there are two paths in life.
• 1:04:48
  April, there's the easy path.
• 1:04:51
  And there's the path that tells the better story.
• 1:04:54
  Always choose the one that will tell the better story.
• 1:04:56
  And that path is hard.
• 1:04:57
  Sure.
• 1:04:58
  There's no such thing as, you know, easy and great.
• 1:05:01
  Sure.
• 1:05:02
  Like, you have to choose one.
• 1:05:04
  And the great path is harder.
• 1:05:05
  But it will tell the best story when you're old.
• 1:05:07
  And you go back home and you tell all these freaking stories.
• 1:05:10
  Like, my stories are crazy.
• 1:05:12
  You know, it's in my friends' back home.
• 1:05:14
  And they're like, holy shit.
• 1:05:15
  Yeah, like, I need to move to Thailand.
• 1:05:18
  I've influenced a lot of people to move.
• 1:05:21
  Not to move, but to consider.
• 1:05:23
  Okay.
• 1:05:24
  And to actually visit here.
• 1:05:25
  And like, yeah, I want to live the life you're living there.
• 1:05:28
  Right.
• 1:05:29
  Can you tell me one crazy story that you've shared?
• 1:05:32
  Shit.
• 1:05:41
  I won't go too deep into this.
• 1:05:43
  Because it's not really a positive story.
• 1:05:47
  But, you know, in Asia, there's a lot of...
• 1:05:54
  There's a lot of black magic.
• 1:05:57
  Do you know anything about black magic?
• 1:05:59
  Like, Obia?
• 1:06:00
  Like, people casting spells.
• 1:06:02
  In Jamaica we say Obia.
• 1:06:03
  Obia.
• 1:06:04
  Yeah.
• 1:06:05
  Yeah.
• 1:06:06
  So there's actually a lot of that.
• 1:06:07
  Okay.
• 1:06:08
  Especially in the outskirts of Thailand.
• 1:06:09
  Like, Laos, Burma.
• 1:06:10
  Right.
• 1:06:12
  So, yeah.
• 1:06:13
  I'm not going to go too deep in it, but I've experienced something with black magic.
• 1:06:17
  Okay.
• 1:06:18
  I've never believed it.
• 1:06:19
  But now you do.
• 1:06:20
  But now I do.
• 1:06:21
  Okay.
• 1:06:22
  Because I've met, you know, a lot of people really high up.
• 1:06:25
  Sure.
• 1:06:26
  A lot of monks and really highly spiritual people.
• 1:06:28
  Yep.
• 1:06:29
  So, that's a crazy story that I would probably get into maybe on another podcast.
• 1:06:34
  Sure.
• 1:06:35
  But it's like...
• 1:06:36
  It's quite crazy.
• 1:06:37
  Cool.
• 1:06:38
  A traditional type of beliefs in like spirits and things like that.
• 1:06:43
  How are you a different person having moved to Bangkok?
• 1:06:48
  Wow.
• 1:06:49
  I am not the same person for sure.
• 1:06:53
  I am a person that has, I guess, broken out of a shell.
• 1:07:03
  And now I see the world as like unlimited potential.
• 1:07:10
  Moving to Bangkok, I gave myself permission to dream bigger.
• 1:07:16
  Right.
• 1:07:17
  Because once you give yourself permission to dream bigger, that's when things will start happening.
• 1:07:21
  Because you allow yourself to let the universe show you that you could really do anything.
• 1:07:25
  Sure.
• 1:07:26
  I never thought I would have 300,000 followers.
• 1:07:29
  Like, crazy, bro.
• 1:07:30
  You tell me a 10,000 followers?
• 1:07:32
  10,000 followers was like, hell yeah, mom.
• 1:07:35
  Like, my friends look like a 10,000 followers.
• 1:07:37
  Sure.
• 1:07:38
  Fucking crazy.
• 1:07:39
  100,000 followers.
• 1:07:40
  Oh my god.
• 1:07:41
  And then now it's just like, yeah, it's cool.
• 1:07:43
  Why not a million?
• 1:07:44
  Sure.
• 1:07:45
  Like, why not?
• 1:07:46
  Why not?
• 1:07:47
  Because now that I've given myself permission to dream big, this country, my network, the resources
• 1:07:57
  here, the warmth, I feel like I'm in this place where I can just catapult.
• 1:08:01
  Amazing.
• 1:08:02
  And I don't think I would have ever had that feeling in Canada.
• 1:08:06
  Because it's like, it's too weird.
• 1:08:08
  You're too like, what are you doing, bro?
• 1:08:10
  Like, trying too hard.
• 1:08:11
  Sure.
• 1:08:12
  But here it's like, yeah, like all my friends are saying like, fuck yeah.
• 1:08:15
  Keep going.
• 1:08:16
  Keep going.
• 1:08:17
  Yeah.
• 1:08:18
  And so, yeah, that's how I feel.
• 1:08:20
  It's really changed me.
• 1:08:21
  My last question is, if you're alive for the postcard, tell me what the picture would
• 1:08:26
  be.
• 1:08:27
  Well, he should.
• 1:08:29
  My life was a postcard.
• 1:08:31
  What picture would it be?
• 1:08:36
  Oh, the first thing that comes to mind, I don't even think of it.
• 1:08:41
  It's me running in the rain with my daughter in my arms.
• 1:08:49
  Because three days ago, it was raining.
• 1:08:51
  Yeah.
• 1:08:52
  And we didn't have an umbrella.
• 1:08:53
  We were shopping.
• 1:08:54
  It was pouring.
• 1:08:55
  And it's not.
• 1:08:56
  It's like 50 meters to my house.
• 1:08:58
  Sure.
• 1:08:59
  But it's pouring rain.
• 1:09:00
  She's like, daddy, I want to run in the rain.
• 1:09:03
  I was like, baby, we don't have an umbrella.
• 1:09:06
  And she just looked excited.
• 1:09:08
  I'm like, all right, we're going to run in the rain.
• 1:09:10
  Are you ready?
• 1:09:11
  And she's like, so excited.
• 1:09:13
  So I picked her up.
• 1:09:14
  I have a video.
• 1:09:15
  I can show you after it's so fun.
• 1:09:17
  And we're running.
• 1:09:18
  And she's like, fucking thrilled.
• 1:09:20
  Like, best time of her life.
• 1:09:22
  So it would be a picture of me running through the streets of Bangkok in the rain with my daughter.
• 1:09:27
  And the lesson for me was like, we really take a lot of things for granted.
• 1:09:32
  Like, what rain is to us, like, such an inconvenience to our child.
• 1:09:36
  It's like, it's like an amusement park.
• 1:09:38
  Yeah.
• 1:09:39
  And if you don't, it's free.
• 1:09:40
  You know, we don't need, they don't need much.
• 1:09:42
  Yeah.
• 1:09:43
  So, you know, I think we're all just children inside.
• 1:09:47
  And at some point of our lives, the adults told us to grow up.
• 1:09:52
  But like, I think, yeah, just appreciate the rain.
• 1:09:57
  And after this part, I will show you the video.
• 1:09:59
  It's super cute.
• 1:10:00
  That's amazing.
• 1:10:01
  Yeah.
• 1:10:02
  That's my picture.