Passion Pod

This week we travelled to Los Angeles, CA to hang out with Grammy award winning songwriter Dave Yaden. He welcomed me into his home with him and his son Wolfgang to talk about life, music, business minds, and a whole lot more. Dave is certainly a performer and a genuine character of a man, but in the best possible way. Tune in and find out why people call him a Techno Viking, and Cowboy Jedi, and so much more. He also drops some serious gems of knowledge that you’re gunna wanna hear.

Maestro Harrell and I couldn’t have had much more of a different upbringing which made this conversation incredibly interesting and enjoyable for me. Maestro has been in the public eye virtually his entire life. His parents had him taking piano lessons as a toddler, and he already had a major role on the tv show “Guys like us” at the age of 7. He’s originally from Chicago, but due to his early success in entertainment he’s been flying all over the world his whole life. He’s arguably known most as the character “Randy” from his years working on the hit tv show “The Wire”, but he’s a hell of a lot more than that. Just check out his Wikipedia page to find his very long list of credentials including putting out several rap albums, producing others work, making music for commercials, and designing clothing. Despite having such a different lifestyle, we really connected and this is one of my favorite episodes I’ve done so far. Maestro is such a down to earth, open minded, and kind individual. Give this a listen now. You can thank me later.

This week we welcomed a budding star to the show. Sawyer Brice is currently a student at UWEC right here in my home town, yet he is already making big moves and has worked with a ton of big names in the music industry. I meet people once in a while that I can just tell are going to blow up. Sawyer is one of those people. His journey is gunna be fun to watch.

I spent the first week of May staying in penthouse in Hollywood. Over 5 days I was able to record 9 episodes of season 6. The last one I recorded was with Myles. I didn't have plans to interview him. I didn't even know who he was until I arrived. Myles Hass is a very interesting entrepreneur. It was his place that I was crashing at. Remember that movie "Magic Mike"? Yeah, they stole that name from Myles's company Magic Men. Myles is originally from Detroit, and built himself an empire. For the last handful of years Myles and his "Magic Men" have been traveling the world as the biggest ladies night the world has ever seen. Then the pandemic hit. Nothing can stop this guy. Seriously, I can honestly say that I sat with him and watched him spend 12 or more hours a day working on his computer learning and building a new branch of his business. Around the same time I started my show, Myles started his own called the "Stripped Down" podcast. If you haven't heard of it yet, you will. Go check it out after you listen to this.

Johnny Rapp aka "J Rapp" is a humble, caring, successful, and incredibly interesting human. Some might refer to him as a social media genius, but I'd call him a helper of people. J Rapp found a love, interest, and home in the social media world growing up. His perspective is like none I've ever heard. To him, the idea of being able to be anyone or anything through a simple profile was extremely enticing. He built and managed accounts with millions of followers while still in high school. The really interesting thing to me is, that he did all of this without anyone really knowing who he was. He never wanted the notoriety or attention personally. Of course, this incredibly useful skill he developed eventually had him working behind the scenes with all kinds of super wealthy and famous individuals, but he still prefers to be in the background. In fact, his company J Rapp Media is much more focused on helping the little guy these days. This is one of my favorite episodes to date. We became instant friends recording this. You can expect to see more collab works in the future. Meet my friend J Rapp.

Kym Kral is a so called funny lady. I had to go find out for myself. We met up in Hollywood, but she's just a transplant like so many others in that city. Kym has the best vibes which made this conversation one of my favorites I've ever done. Her journey from cheesy dating shows, to stand up comedy, to starting her podcast, to writing her first book is one you're gunna want to hear.

Markus Shields has travelled the world as a backup dancer and choreographer for countless big acts. I’ve obviously seen backup dancers on t.v. before, but I never really put much thought into how someone even goes down that path. Markus shares his story of growing up in the Midwest, finding his calling, and carving out an unlikely path. He even shares his new passion for creating music with us which he discovered during the pandemic. It’s never too late to try new things.

David Cannava grew up in Colorado Springs, but has lived in L.A. for about 8 years already. David is a drummer, artist, entrepreneur, director, and all around creative. You can find a ton of his music on youtube under his stage name "Mad in the Hat" drums. Since the pandemic however, he has transitioned towards a different career. Along with some others, David is the owner of Create This L.A. studio. It would probably easier for you to understand what it is if ya go check them out on Instagram. They recently did a music video for Maroon 5, so you can expect it to be pretty cool. Hard work always pay off. This is all the proof ya need.

Stefano Langone popped onto the scene as a contestant on season 10 of American Idol. Many of us are aware that tv shows never really tell the real story. Tune in and hear his story a bit more in his words. His career is a bit of a roller coaster of ups and downs. We were super lucky to have caught Stefano when we did. A few months prior he had lost his voice, had career saving surgery, and had to be completely silent for several months. On the mend, with his voice better than ever, he agreed to record this conversation.

This week we travelled to Hollywood California to meet with one of the world’s premier personal chefs. Chef Andre Sickinger hails from Sydney Australia and has lived and cooked all over the world for everyone including celebs like Jessica Simpson, Eddie Murphy, Robert Downy JR., royalty, and the elite. Tune in to hear stories from growing up, becoming a chef, traveling the world, meeting incredible people, and living the “James Bond” lifestyle. This one is a bit longer, but still not nearly long enough. Enjoy.