Passion Pod

Caitlin and I were connected by our mutual friend Max Menacher almost a year ago but had trouble getting our schedules to line up until now. Thankfully on my last recording trip to Hollywood we were able to get together for this interview. Caitlin's parents both worked in the entertainment industry, but that doesn't mean that anything was handed to her. She actually grew up in Pennsylvania before moving to California for college and to pursue her aspirations as a model/actor. She's come a long way since then to say the least. Tune in and hear how she built her career from modeling to writing, acting, tv hosting, producing, and so much more. Believe me, she's a lot more than just a pretty face.

Our mutual friend Ashwin Jacob introduced me to Greg a while back so I was stoked to finally make this interview happen last time that I was recording in Los Angeles. Greg and I kicked it for a good while that night. He offered me food and even let me crash on the couch. I have a huge appreciation for people that are genuine and want to help others simply out of kindness. Needless to say this turned out to be one of my favorite interviews. Greg grew up in Boston before eventually taking a chance on an opportunity to move out to California years ago. From cleaning dorm rooms to charting the billboards, his story is an inspiring one. Before the pandemic he was traveling all over the world performing. As I man at high risk, everything had to shutdown and change. What has he been up to since? I guess you’ll have to tune in to find out…

I reached out to alumni @markusshields before my last trip out to Los Angeles to see if he had any cool friends that might be down to hop on the show as a guest. He really came through for me and made two introductions for me including introducing me to the lovely Mikaila Murphy aka @mikailadancer . Mikaila grew up in the midwest, but eventually found her way out to Los Angeles to pursue her dance career. She started dancing at the age of 3, and has built a massive following of over 12 million followers on TikTok for a reason. It's obvious if you just check out her accounts. I feel like a lot of people come across as pretty fake on social media, but that really isn't what works and isn't how she has built her career. What is makes Mikaila so cool is how relatable and honest she is. Her videos are technically impressive, but also just really fun to watch. Her personality in real life was exactly what you would think after following her. She's bubbly, friendly, and smarter than I think most people give her credit for. She has an extremely bright future and I'm happy to shine a little more light on her journey so far.

This week I walked a couple of blocks to my friend Steve Hampton's new storefront that is opening soon. Steve has built up his own businesses since he was young. Social media pages, youtube channels, you name it. This past year Steve was finally able to take his business full time. While he has done the vast majority of his sales online so far, he rented a strorefront close to my shop to finally start helping people face to face. Not only did we record this episode there, but I also painted a 1- foot tall mural that you are gunna want to see once his doors officially open. There are a ton of CBD retailers these days, but Steve stands out as one of the best. His sleep gummies are the reason that I wake up ready to take on my days. Along with this episode we are releasing collaborative tinctures of 1000mg Delta 8 for you all to try. I'm super proud of how far this man has come since we met and I'm stoked to be able to share his story with you.

This week I welcomed some slithery little friends into my home. This week's episode features a local python breeder. Justin started out by rescuing and rehoming reptiles, but originally stayed away from snakes entirely. In fact, he was terrified of them from a young age until a friend brought one over and convinced him to hold it. The next day Justin ordered his first snake and has been hooked ever since. I'm not sure how well I would sleep with 40 plus snakes in my home.

This week I met up with Javan, a rapper and skateboarder originally from the east coast. His music had just started to really pop off right before the pandemic hit. When challenges pop up, usually different opportunities open up as well if you look for them. Javan took advantage of the time and decided to move out to Los Angeles to pursue his music career and has already established himself in the scene. He’s part of an up and coming group called Deathproof full of other music artists and skateboarders. Expect to see their names more and more in the coming years. Fresh off his most recent tour, he’s ready to make his mark on the world. His journey is gunna be a fun one to follow.

This week we travelled to Hollywood California to meet with someone everyone has seen, but might not yet know. Courtney started gymnastics at the age of 3. By 7 she was already in competitions. As the years went by and the dream of the olympics started to disappear, it was time to figure out a direction. She became a cheerleader and started applying to Ivy League schools. Despite a 4.0, she didn’t get accepted to any of them. Instead she attended college in Hawaii and started doing work in promotions. When a video of her twerking at a party went viral online, she realized that there were actually competitions for that. Naturally, her competitive spirits led her in that unique direction. Fast forward to today, and she now lives in Hollywood working as a dancer in music videos, a social media influenced, and teaches twerk classes all over the country. Don’t worry, we’ll tell the whole story behind her being featured in one of the most watched music videos of all time too. This interview lined up by random chance and I didn’t know what to expect. Courtney is a sweetheart and an incredibly hardworking and highly intelligent individual. There is a lot more to her story than just the viral videos of her shaking her booty. Tune in and find out 🤙

This week we travelled to Hollywood, CA to meet up with a singer, dancer, songwriter, producer, designer, style king, and overall really cool human. James Barmore has sang for major artists like John Legend and Chance the Rapper, but has been putting most of his focus on making his own music over the last few years. While I've had some really established guests from the music world, James is really just getting starting. In fact, when I interviewed him he had just gotten off his overnight shift at his regular job and took a bus to meet with me. It's not all sunshine and roses when you're out there just trying to make it. With a voice and presence like his, it won't be long before he blows up. Just check out his brand new EP "Lavender".

This week we welcomed a local youtube sensation to the show. Sven Johnson is a 21 year old college student in my hometown that has blown up over the last couple of years. Partially in thanks to some help from his older brother Gus, who has an even larger youtube audience (3.4M) and currently lives in LA doing a lot of work with Comedy Central, Sven has already built a subscriber count of over 600k. After listening to this interview, you're going to want to subscribe as well. Some people just have something special about them, Sven is one of these rare breeds. Tune in and hear how he started, broke his mom's ceiling light for views, and set himself up for the epic adventure of life that is waiting for him when he graduates.

This week we travelled to Venice beach, CA to chat with professional skateboarder Blake Johnson. Blake is a California native, but has been living in Barcelona since before the pandemic started. I was pretty lucky to have caught him while he was back visiting for a few weeks. Tune in and hear about his skateboarding journey, his passion for food, and what it was like being in a foreign country while everything shut down.