1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,680 Hey there, thanks for joining me for another episode of YKJ in Bloom. 2 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:15,380 My name is Tracy Martins and today I have one of my best friends, Jake from Instagram's 3 00:00:15,380 --> 00:00:16,380 Made in YKG. 4 00:00:16,380 --> 00:00:17,380 Hello, I'm Jake from YKG. 5 00:00:17,380 --> 00:00:18,380 Look at, how are you? 6 00:00:18,380 --> 00:00:19,380 Look everywhere. 7 00:00:19,380 --> 00:00:22,000 I'm so happy we're finally doing this. 8 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:23,000 It's about time. 9 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:24,000 It's been a while. 10 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:26,080 We were going to do it a long time ago and then- 11 00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:27,080 Life. 12 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:28,080 Life. 13 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:33,160 And things coming up in Windsor, Essex and it's just kept us busy. 14 00:00:33,160 --> 00:00:34,760 Yeah, of course. 15 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:40,720 And just so you guys know, this is almost our one year anniversary of knowing each other. 16 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:42,680 Should we address the elephant in the room real quick? 17 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:43,680 Okay. 18 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:44,680 Yeah, it's just you. 19 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:45,680 That's it. 20 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:47,680 I am the elephant in the room. 21 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:48,680 Yeah. 22 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:49,680 And- 23 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:50,680 You're not my grandma. 24 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:51,680 No, no. 25 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:53,960 What's the story behind that? 26 00:00:53,960 --> 00:01:01,400 We were at the Mom Expo last year at Kubota Club and we were getting some kind of weird 27 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:05,120 looks with him because there's a little bit of an age difference. 28 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:11,440 So he started telling everybody that I was his mom and then I said, well, we should really 29 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:15,640 mess with people and walk back around holding hands. 30 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:20,400 But then he didn't want to call me mom because it was disrespectful to his mom. 31 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:21,400 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 32 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:23,360 I kind of had to do a separation there. 33 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:25,120 I had to become grandma. 34 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:28,360 And the sad thing is, is even his mom calls me grandma. 35 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:29,360 Yeah. 36 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:32,360 So we were at Salute for the first influencer event we went to. 37 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:33,440 Kathleen organized it. 38 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:37,120 It was like this food thing where we're meeting up with a whole bunch of creators. 39 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:42,760 But you didn't want to go because you hadn't shown your faith. 40 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:44,960 Had we done the downtown market yet? 41 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:51,040 I had one face video on Instagram at that point and it was a very half a second clip. 42 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:53,000 If you watched it, you would have missed it. 43 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,520 I was going through some of the ones from the very beginning where you just had your 44 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:58,080 logo as your face. 45 00:01:58,080 --> 00:01:59,080 Yes. 46 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:00,520 All my stuff from before is archived. 47 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:01,520 Thank God. 48 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:03,160 So you can see it. 49 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:06,920 But the Salute LaSalle thing was where the whole grandma thing started. 50 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:08,400 Yeah, for sure. 51 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,800 Because everybody was asking like, oh, what's everybody do? 52 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:13,600 And like, what's your page on Instagram? 53 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:14,880 Like let's follow each other or whatever. 54 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:17,760 And I was like, actually, I don't have an Instagram. 55 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:19,840 I'm just with my grandma for some free food. 56 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:20,840 Right. 57 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:21,840 And it just kind of spread. 58 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:26,520 So after that event, people just an earshot heard like, oh, that's my grandma and whatever. 59 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:27,800 And they're like, oh, that's cool. 60 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:28,800 So then it just spread. 61 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:31,760 And like now everybody thinks that we can't escape it. 62 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:34,400 Well, it is funny. 63 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:35,400 It's hilarious. 64 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:38,080 I don't mind it whatsoever because it's endearing. 65 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:40,360 And I mean, in a loving way. 66 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:41,360 I know. 67 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:44,040 The sad part is, is that some people believe it. 68 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:45,040 Of course. 69 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:46,320 It's like, come on. 70 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:50,920 Do I look old enough to have a 26, 27 year old grandson? 71 00:02:50,920 --> 00:02:52,880 No comment, but yeah. 72 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:53,880 Piss off. 73 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:57,600 I'm trying to not use potty mouth today. 74 00:02:57,600 --> 00:02:59,440 Oh, is John going to edit swear? 75 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:00,440 No. 76 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:01,440 No, he's going to leave it all in. 77 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:02,440 We're going now. 78 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:03,440 Well, fuck you then. 79 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:04,440 It's us. 80 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:05,440 People know. 81 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:06,440 Yeah. 82 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:07,440 People know. 83 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:08,440 I think they expect it. 84 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:09,440 Yeah. 85 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:10,440 Okay. 86 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:16,080 So since we've kind of got a little bit of us out of the way, how long have you had the 87 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:17,920 MadeomyQG? 88 00:03:17,920 --> 00:03:18,920 The page? 89 00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:25,640 So I made the account in 2020 and I didn't really touch it until 2022, something like 90 00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:26,640 that. 91 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:31,000 It was late December, 2022, where I posted my first thing and it was just a Canva thing 92 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:35,320 with a logo and like a stupid description that was like, Hey, I'm supporting local. 93 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:38,800 And then a couple of months after that, I never posted again after that. 94 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:42,960 And then it just kind of like, I think it was April in 2023 that it really started to 95 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,440 kind of pick up with the markets because it was my first time ever going to the downtown 96 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:47,440 farmers market. 97 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:52,720 I went to my first market at the WFCU center and then that's kind of when it all started. 98 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:54,720 But September is when it really started to pick up. 99 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:59,400 And that's kind of where I tell people I started with September because it's when I consistently 100 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:00,920 started uploading on it. 101 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:04,880 Because I know we've run into some people and they'll say, well, you've been around 102 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:07,760 forever and it's like, yeah. 103 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:12,440 The problem is, so I had the page for a while and the engagement was good on it, right? 104 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:17,080 Like I had a small following, but I had like a text list that would do giveaways for people 105 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:18,440 and stuff like that. 106 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:22,720 So people knew me from that and they were like, oh, it's the giveaway page or whatever. 107 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:26,480 So kind of branching out of that was a little bit of a struggle. 108 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:30,680 But then once I just started doing content with me and everybody just kind of like adjusted 109 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:33,080 to that and kind of forgot about all the other stuff. 110 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:39,480 Well, because that's how we met is you reached out to me for giveaway for concert tickets 111 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:40,480 for the casino tickets. 112 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:41,480 Yeah. 113 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:45,120 I saw your podcast and I was around the time where I was just sponsoring local giveaways 114 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:47,480 just for local businesses and stuff. 115 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:50,960 And I had access to a bunch of casino concert tickets that I never use. 116 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:52,480 Like I just don't like concerts. 117 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:57,280 So I just was like, how can I use this in a way that's beneficial to someone? 118 00:04:57,280 --> 00:04:59,680 Because I'm just going to waste them. 119 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:02,500 So basically what I did was just reach out to people and be like, hey, I've got these 120 00:05:02,500 --> 00:05:04,960 tickets like, you know, we'll make a post. 121 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:07,480 This is like follow your account, follow this guy's account. 122 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,800 You know, we'll do a pair of tickets or whatever. 123 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:12,800 And that's the same thing I did with you. 124 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:16,920 And then I ended up meeting you for the mom market, which was the first market we went 125 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:17,920 to, I think. 126 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:18,920 I think so. 127 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:19,920 Yeah. 128 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,160 We did the mom market and then we went to like the farmers market the next day. 129 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:23,160 And then. 130 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:24,160 Yeah. 131 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:29,600 And because I was looking through that and I think Shelby, my stepdaughter, I remember 132 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:30,600 this very well. 133 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:32,600 I saw that picture with the flowers. 134 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:34,280 I was dating a girl. 135 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:35,280 He's dating somebody. 136 00:05:35,280 --> 00:05:39,560 She was very upset because I said I was going to the downtown farmers market with Tracy, 137 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:45,520 my 65 year old grandma, and then the picture I posted on my Instagram page was her stepdaughter's 138 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:46,520 hands. 139 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:49,240 So my girlfriend at the time was like, oh, what the fuck's going on? 140 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:51,760 And I was like, I'm just with my grandma at the market. 141 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:53,040 Like she just brought some. 142 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:54,040 Those aren't her hands. 143 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:55,040 Yeah. 144 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:56,040 She just brought people with her. 145 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:59,200 But that wasn't even the most disastrous market with her. 146 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:04,320 So I'll take it as a blessing that that was all she said about the flowers. 147 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:06,400 Let's see here. 148 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:07,920 Let's find out about you. 149 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:08,920 Me? 150 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:09,920 Yeah. 151 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:10,920 Before we. 152 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:11,920 Yeah. 153 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:12,920 Tell me about you. 154 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:13,920 Okay. 155 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:14,920 About me. 156 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:15,920 What do you want? 157 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:16,920 Before me to YQG. 158 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:17,920 What do you want to know? 159 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:18,920 Okay. 160 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:20,360 Now I do know that you dropped out of school. 161 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:21,360 Yes. 162 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:22,360 Why? 163 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:23,360 Why do you know that? 164 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:24,760 Well, because you tell me things. 165 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:25,760 I'm grandma. 166 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:28,320 We should preface it that you do know a lot about me. 167 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:29,320 Yes. 168 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:31,640 So this going into this interview. 169 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:38,080 This was honestly was the hardest interview that I had to prepare for because there was 170 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:44,560 some interviews that I didn't really want to do because I wasn't familiar with the product, 171 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:46,560 their job. 172 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:49,880 You are the hardest because I know so much about you. 173 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:51,840 So it's like, okay, what do I ask? 174 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:52,920 Where do I start? 175 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:55,840 Even when we were trying to like put notes out of like, oh, what people want to know 176 00:06:55,840 --> 00:06:56,840 about me. 177 00:06:56,840 --> 00:07:00,320 You were like, oh, sometimes I talk to people about something and they're like, oh, I didn't 178 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:01,320 know that. 179 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:03,480 And it's like, oh, cause it's like, he told me that. 180 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:04,480 But like, exactly. 181 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:05,480 Yeah. 182 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:10,560 And I mean, you are super, super close with Nina and it's like, really? 183 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:11,560 Surprise. 184 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:12,560 You didn't know? 185 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:14,920 I just have surprises everywhere. 186 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:18,060 So yeah, I mean, I dropped out of high school at the time. 187 00:07:18,060 --> 00:07:19,060 Very sad. 188 00:07:19,060 --> 00:07:22,880 I was taking care of my stepdad at the time that was dying of bone cancer. 189 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:23,880 That was kind of rough. 190 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:26,840 So I ended up leaving school and I never went back. 191 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:34,040 So basically I lived in my room for four or five years playing video games and I made 192 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:35,520 a living playing video games. 193 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:40,520 I basically kind of started an online business where you could sell the online currency of 194 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:41,520 the game. 195 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:43,880 And I just kind of built my love for business over that. 196 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:49,720 And that's how I kind of got started with just business and finance and just doing something. 197 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:50,720 Right. 198 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:54,000 Because before that, like it was like school and home and being depressed. 199 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,480 And then all of a sudden it was like, wow, I can actually make money doing stuff online 200 00:07:57,480 --> 00:07:58,480 and whatever. 201 00:07:58,480 --> 00:07:59,480 Right. 202 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:02,960 The problem is my social anxiety at the time got so bad that like I couldn't leave the 203 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:03,960 house. 204 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:05,280 I couldn't have anybody in the eyes. 205 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:08,640 My mom would try to take me to restaurants and I couldn't order my own food. 206 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:12,820 You know, so she was thinking like, what's the place where there's something going on 207 00:08:12,820 --> 00:08:13,820 all the time? 208 00:08:13,820 --> 00:08:17,120 Like it doesn't matter if it's in the middle of the night and I need like some type of 209 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:18,680 like stimulation or whatever. 210 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:19,680 Yeah. 211 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:22,320 And the only place she could think of was the casino because it's just open all night. 212 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:24,920 Like, you know, if I needed it out of the house or whatever, because I used to go for 213 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:28,200 like walks at nighttime and just kind of disappear. 214 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:31,760 And she goes, well, anytime you feel like that, let's just go to the casino and we'll 215 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:36,080 like go grab food, grab coffee, just walk around, whatever. 216 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:41,360 That turned into a whole other story where, you know, I started going out first. 217 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:43,200 We went on my 19th birthday, basically. 218 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,520 It was like fresh, you know, being able to go. 219 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:51,000 We ended up going for dinner, I would say probably twice a week there. 220 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:54,680 We'd go for coffee there probably every day just to like, you know, do something and get 221 00:08:54,680 --> 00:08:55,680 me out of the house. 222 00:08:55,680 --> 00:08:56,680 Yeah. 223 00:08:56,680 --> 00:08:58,520 And then it kind of became my home. 224 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:03,280 I did have savings at the time from the money that I was making online and I had nothing 225 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:04,280 to do with it. 226 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:09,040 Like I had no concept of what money was because like I, you know, lived at my mom's house. 227 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:11,960 Like I had no responsibilities, right? 228 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:14,680 So I didn't really know the value of money at that time. 229 00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:16,680 What 19 year old really does. 230 00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:17,680 Exactly. 231 00:09:17,680 --> 00:09:18,680 Yeah. 232 00:09:18,680 --> 00:09:20,680 But more so like I was so isolated at that point. 233 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:25,340 It was like I had this number in a PayPal account, but I had no clue what it like did. 234 00:09:25,340 --> 00:09:26,720 You know what I mean? 235 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:31,160 Coming back, I'm like, holy shit, like how I was like so, you know, out of it. 236 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:32,160 Right. 237 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:35,720 But at the time, like, you know, going to the casino every day, I kind of started gambling 238 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:39,960 here and there, tables, slots, just kind of whatever, just to waste time. 239 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:40,960 It was a good time waster. 240 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:44,520 And that's the one thing that I liked about that place is just you could literally make 241 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:46,360 a day disappear if you wanted to. 242 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:47,360 Right. 243 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:52,080 That day turned into making three, four years disappear, which was, you know, fine. 244 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:54,160 And you really did live at the casino. 245 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:55,160 I did. 246 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:56,160 Yeah. 247 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:59,320 I get asked a lot because I kind of throw it out randomly in conversation sometimes. 248 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:00,880 And people think you're just exaggerating. 249 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:01,880 Oh, yeah. 250 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:02,880 Oh, yeah. 251 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:04,080 He was just there a lot. 252 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:06,080 He literally lived there. 253 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:07,080 Yeah. 254 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:08,320 I basically stayed there six days a week. 255 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:12,840 I would go home to my mom's house like one day out of the week just to do laundry and 256 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:15,080 catch up and whatever and head back. 257 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:18,920 You know, and it's something I brush over because it's like something I tried deeply 258 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:22,640 to just kind of like leave in the past and like kind of move on from that. 259 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:25,520 But it's still an interesting part of my story. 260 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:28,360 So I like to try to mention that to people when it's relevant. 261 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:32,840 I would never brush over that because that's what brought you out of your shell and that's 262 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:33,840 where you are now. 263 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:34,840 Absolutely. 264 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:35,840 That's why I don't regret it at all. 265 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:40,560 I do look back and I'm thinking like there's so many other things I could have been doing, 266 00:10:40,560 --> 00:10:44,080 but in the headspace I was at the time, there's nothing I would have been doing other than 267 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:47,160 that except for sitting in my room doing nothing and rotting away. 268 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:48,160 Right. 269 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:51,880 Playing video games and looking at a growing PayPal account that probably had more money 270 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:53,400 than mine. 271 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:58,840 At the time, even gambling high limit at the casino all the time, I didn't realize that 272 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:02,520 that wasn't normal because I just went into it. 273 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:04,960 Fresh 19 year old, I started off small. 274 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:06,640 I wasn't gambling too big. 275 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:07,640 Right. 276 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:12,240 And then I got kind of got involved with a group who was notorious for gambling big money. 277 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:13,640 And I would just kind of sit around and watch them. 278 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:15,280 I never participated for a while. 279 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:17,040 It was just, that was my social circle. 280 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:19,720 That was the people I went and hung out with. 281 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:22,120 And then you just kind of get sucked into it. 282 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:25,920 And then it was like, all of a sudden, you look back and you're like, oh, one hand of 283 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:29,160 blackjack is like a year salary for some people or whatever. 284 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:31,840 And it's just disgusting. 285 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:34,200 But at the time, I didn't realize that. 286 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:38,440 And that's what makes me so uncomfortable now is because I was just so disassociated 287 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:39,640 from everything. 288 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:45,840 And still to this day, I'm very numb to everything, especially regarding money or belongings, 289 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:46,840 that type of thing. 290 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:48,080 You even have first hand account of that. 291 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:49,640 We were at the casino and I won a jackpot. 292 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:53,400 I was just going to say that he's just sitting there hitting the button, hitting the button. 293 00:11:53,400 --> 00:12:01,960 And me and my husband were all excited because I won $100 and he's $6000 waiting for the 294 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:06,440 security escort to pass the cash in a big duffel bag. 295 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:09,160 I'm like literally shitting my pants. 296 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:10,920 And he's just like, OK. 297 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:12,600 So you know why I was frustrated? 298 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:16,580 I really wanted a coffee, but I couldn't leave because I wasn't going to have them just show 299 00:12:16,580 --> 00:12:18,480 up with a stack of money and I wasn't there. 300 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:20,320 Oh, you know, I was taking them running. 301 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:21,320 Oh, yeah, of course. 302 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:22,320 Yeah, yeah. 303 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:23,320 I give you what? 304 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:24,320 $10? 305 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:25,320 I bought you a coffee afterwards. 306 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:26,320 Yes. 307 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:27,320 It was a fair trade. 308 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:28,320 Yes. 309 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:29,320 He got $6000. 310 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:30,320 I got a coffee. 311 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:31,320 Were you honest? 312 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:32,320 Even? 313 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:37,560 Yeah, going back to the whole casino thing, it's something I try to brush over because 314 00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:40,040 it's not something I'm proud of. 315 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:44,640 It's a part of the story, but it's not something I'm actively telling people to participate 316 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:45,640 in. 317 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:49,640 And even you, like you can say like anytime we've been in the casino, I actively tell 318 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:51,480 you not to gamble. 319 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:56,040 Because it's like at my point with the whole living there or whatever, I never had someone 320 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:57,440 to tell me not to. 321 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:02,120 And I always had the influence of like, oh, it's just like, you know, better than you 322 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:03,440 being stuck in the thing. 323 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:06,160 And that's not my mom's thing or like anything like that. 324 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:09,520 It was just like they were happy that I was like living for the first time. 325 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:10,520 Right. 326 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:12,600 But I don't want my friends to go through that. 327 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:13,600 Right. 328 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,720 And even when we go to the casino, I'll be like, oh, we'll go for dinner, like, you 329 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:17,720 know, whatever. 330 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:18,720 And then we're leaving. 331 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:19,720 Right. 332 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:20,880 Because I'm just like, I don't want to get people sucked into it. 333 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:24,680 And that's why even I felt bad with the jackpots when you guys were there, because I was like, 334 00:13:24,680 --> 00:13:28,520 it gives you that weird excitement where you're like excited to see it and you kind of want 335 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:30,440 to play and like that type of thing. 336 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:35,960 Oh, I've hit I've hit 1400 once or twice, 400 here or there. 337 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:39,640 So I mean, and that was just when me and John would go for walks. 338 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:45,320 I was like, oh, let's go and get a coffee at the Starbucks at the time at the casino. 339 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:50,520 But I mean, I wouldn't I wouldn't gloss over it or even feel bad about it because, yeah, 340 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:56,000 we've all done sticky things back in our 19 year old time frame. 341 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:58,280 And, you know, things we're not proud of. 342 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:00,840 But at the end of the day, it got you out of your room. 343 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:01,840 Yeah. 344 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:05,400 And it gave you a little bit of life. 345 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:06,400 Yeah. 346 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:11,240 And it did afford you some savings to figure out what you wanted to do. 347 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:14,040 So it's not like you lost your. 348 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:15,040 Yeah. 349 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:16,120 You lost everything. 350 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:20,760 Even to this day, like the reason where I am right now is because of that whole experience. 351 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:21,760 Exactly. 352 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:25,640 So like the first the first like main job I ever got was because of a connection I made 353 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:29,200 there in the high limit room where they were like, hey, we need someone like I was like, 354 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:30,480 I have no clue what I'm doing. 355 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:34,560 Like I'm just some kid, you know, plays way too much money at tables and goes, hey, that's 356 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:36,560 OK, I trust you, like, you know, whatever. 357 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:38,800 And that was how I got my first like big job. 358 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:39,800 Right. 359 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:40,800 And then it was that reference. 360 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:45,100 Like I ended up getting laid off from that job, you know, at the beginning of the pandemic. 361 00:14:45,100 --> 00:14:48,600 But that was the one that got me to where I am now and where I'm going next. 362 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:53,360 And you know, it was just it kind of all spiraled and like dominoed from like the start of just, 363 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:55,920 I don't know, connections and networking. 364 00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:59,620 That's the next thing is, OK, you dropped out. 365 00:14:59,620 --> 00:15:05,360 You took care of your family and ended up with the agoraphobia and the social anxiety 366 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:06,360 and that. 367 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:09,340 And then you went and lived at the casino. 368 00:15:09,340 --> 00:15:11,400 What happened when the pandemic hit? 369 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:12,400 That was rough. 370 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:13,400 Yeah. 371 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:17,360 And that almost this is going to get depressing. 372 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:22,560 That was almost the end for me because I went back to the worst place in my life was just 373 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:24,360 being lonely in my house again. 374 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:25,360 Right. 375 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:28,840 And I think the memories of just being in that house to begin with and like being so 376 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:30,520 sad in the same room. 377 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:33,800 It was like when I got kicked out of the hotel, I was literally in the buffet when they let 378 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:37,400 me know, hey, like you got to leave the hotel at I think it was like six o'clock in the 379 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:38,400 morning. 380 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:39,400 You have to be out at six. 381 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:41,400 And I'm like, where am I going? 382 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:45,160 You know, so I was like, OK, back to my mom's house, you know. 383 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:49,900 And then it was straight back into the room that had so many dark memories of like trying 384 00:15:49,900 --> 00:15:51,640 to just get through the day. 385 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:52,640 Right. 386 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:55,360 So it's like when the pandemic hit, like I was just looking for anything to kind of 387 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:56,600 distract myself. 388 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:57,800 Right. 389 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:01,560 And I ended up making an Instagram page that wasn't made in like you, G. It was like a 390 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:03,040 fashion page or something. 391 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:04,880 I was just trying fashion page. 392 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:05,880 I'm not. 393 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:06,880 Yeah. 394 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:11,760 I was just clinging on to like anything I could to try to like find a passion because 395 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:16,480 up until that point, like my whole personality was, oh, he's the casino guy. 396 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:20,920 There was no other substance to my personality besides, oh, he's just like the high roller 397 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:23,080 that everybody knows and like waves to. 398 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:24,080 Right. 399 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:28,040 And nobody kind of knew like, you know, anything else more about me. 400 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:29,040 And neither did I. 401 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:30,040 Right. 402 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:31,760 And that's what I struggled with at the beginning of the pandemic, because I was like, I don't 403 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:33,360 know who I am. 404 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:38,400 Like because for three, almost four years before that, I was just the guy who, you know, 405 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:40,000 went and played tables and that was it. 406 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:41,480 Like that was my whole life. 407 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:44,360 Like I did nothing but gamble for those years. 408 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:46,120 And like I did work remotely at the time. 409 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:47,120 Right. 410 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:50,560 It was such a small fraction of like what I was doing at the time that it was literally 411 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:51,560 just that. 412 00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:52,560 Right. 413 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:55,320 I didn't have any more passions or like finding hobbies. 414 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:59,240 Like I didn't go to school, obviously, so I didn't play sports or like anything like 415 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:00,240 that. 416 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:01,240 Right. 417 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:05,520 And the only like hobby I had was video games, which I used as kind of like a depression 418 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:09,240 crutch for so many years that I didn't want to go back to that in the pandemic. 419 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:12,960 And I think there was a very small period at the beginning of the pandemic where I started 420 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:15,180 playing video games again. 421 00:17:15,180 --> 00:17:18,040 And then I realized that it was like putting me back in that weird place. 422 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:23,720 I'm like, I'm just using this as a distraction and I'm going to like crumble, you know? 423 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:27,180 So I ended up bringing two books, actually. 424 00:17:27,180 --> 00:17:30,080 So I ended up making a fashion page on Instagram. 425 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:35,580 And it was just I wasn't necessarily interested in fashion, but I was so I was around a lot 426 00:17:35,580 --> 00:17:38,720 of luxury fashion, luxury watches. 427 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:40,360 Like I was just mesmerized by that. 428 00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:44,040 Like I remember the first time someone showed me it was a Jacob and Co watch. 429 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:46,920 And it was like, I think they said like a million dollars or something. 430 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:47,920 And it was this cool. 431 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:48,920 It's an Astronomia. 432 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:52,520 It's like this big round dome thing. 433 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:54,720 It's the craziest thing ever. 434 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:58,560 It's got like gems in it and it's an earth that kind of revolves around. 435 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:01,640 And there's a big like diamond that kind of circles. 436 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:05,700 And it was my first time that I was like, holy shit, like this is, you know, whatever. 437 00:18:05,700 --> 00:18:10,880 So at the time, like the little hype fashion was really in where people were wearing Louis 438 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:15,200 Vuitton and all this fancy stuff and flexing on Instagram and whatever. 439 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:18,160 Because at the beginning of the pandemic, I was like, OK, well, I don't have a gambling 440 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:20,720 addiction now because the casino is closed. 441 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:23,560 So maybe I can get into like clothes or whatever. 442 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:29,120 Turns out I just like wearing stupid crocs and I'm not really much of like a fashion 443 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:30,120 person. 444 00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:31,800 I don't have style, you know. 445 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:32,800 Same here. 446 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:36,840 But I had a personal Instagram at the time where I did post casino pictures here and 447 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:41,380 there, but it was mostly just for like, you know, friends until I made that fashion page. 448 00:18:41,380 --> 00:18:44,960 And then I just started randomly adding people for some reason. 449 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:45,960 And I came across this person. 450 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:48,240 He did like magazine type of things. 451 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:49,980 He's an artist, he's a photographer. 452 00:18:49,980 --> 00:18:52,840 He writes poetry, that type of stuff. 453 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:57,320 And that was actually kind of what started my whole local support journey. 454 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:00,320 This artist isn't local. 455 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:01,320 Can I grab it? 456 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:02,320 Oh, yeah. 457 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:03,320 Yeah, just grab here. 458 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:04,320 Yeah. 459 00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:05,320 Yeah. 460 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:10,520 So these were the magazines that I found through making a fashion Instagram. 461 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:12,000 So this was the first one I bought. 462 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:13,000 Right. 463 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:14,000 And I haven't seen these yet. 464 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:18,240 No, I brought this was a surprise and I've never told anybody about this. 465 00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:21,620 But I keep these books on my desk. 466 00:19:21,620 --> 00:19:24,720 And it's just a nice reminder of like how I got started with this. 467 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:25,720 Right. 468 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:32,320 So I remember seeing this person on Instagram who they make little magazines with their 469 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:36,960 photography and then they'll do, you know, poetry and stories. 470 00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:40,000 Oh, those are pretty. 471 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:41,000 Yeah. 472 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,280 So you can see there's like. 473 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:47,920 So this was the first one I ever bought. 474 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:53,160 And the thank you letter is kind of what started this whole thing. 475 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:59,360 Jake, thank you for supporting independent. 476 00:19:59,360 --> 00:20:03,520 It says, Jake, thank you for supporting independent art and giving me a chance to connect with 477 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:04,520 you, Emmett. 478 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:05,520 That's so sweet. 479 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:11,280 So just seeing that, like I want to say this was fifteen dollars. 480 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:13,440 It was just something on Instagram. 481 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:16,360 The guy was saying he made a couple. 482 00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:19,360 I think he said something about maybe they weren't selling or something like that. 483 00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:22,320 And I was like, I'll buy one, you know, because I liked his pictures he posted on Instagram 484 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:23,320 at the time. 485 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:26,600 And I was like, what's the worst that can happen at fifteen dollars? 486 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:29,960 And then just having the note in the back, it was like that little personal touch that 487 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:34,280 like local businesses talk about all the time where it's like they do a handwriting or whatever. 488 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:38,400 And it actually matters because this is literally what set this whole thing off was just this 489 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:41,880 little stupid note that said thanks for letting me connect with you. 490 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:44,840 I want to say this was in twenty nineteen that I bought this one. 491 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:49,840 So before the Made in YQG page, which I made in twenty twenty, this one was from twenty 492 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:51,080 twenty, I believe. 493 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:54,240 And I got another handwritten letter from it. 494 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:58,480 So I want to show a couple of pictures from this one because you can kind of see how his 495 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:00,600 artwork evolved over time. 496 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:02,160 Oh, that's nice. 497 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:08,240 There is this very, very long page that meant a lot to me at the time. 498 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:09,440 This. 499 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:14,480 I'm not reading the whole thing, but I will take a picture of it and put it on my Instagram 500 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:19,600 story because just reading this was very securing for me at the time. 501 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,200 And it was just something I needed to hear in the pandemic. 502 00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:26,600 And it was really thoughtful and life changing, which kind of prompted me to buy his second 503 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:32,880 book when he put it out, which was more of like a photography type of magazine. 504 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:39,440 There was less writing in this one, but his vision was to go for more of like. 505 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:41,560 It's called Late Bloomer for Stress. 506 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:46,520 So he basically wanted to make something where it was like peaceful images, you know. 507 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:47,520 And those are pretty. 508 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:48,520 Yeah. 509 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:49,520 I mean, there's a bunch of them. 510 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:52,720 I don't know if the camera can see them all, but they're very nice. 511 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:58,680 Anyways, I got this other handwritten letter and this time it was more than two sentences. 512 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:02,280 So this was a little bit later than I expected. 513 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:07,540 So this one got shipped out in May 30th of 2021. 514 00:22:07,540 --> 00:22:09,320 So still during the pandemic. 515 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:13,320 So it says, Jake, man, thanks so much for constantly supporting my work. 516 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:17,780 It makes me feel less alone to know that my weird pixels carry meaning for someone other 517 00:22:17,780 --> 00:22:19,200 than just myself. 518 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:24,520 It's also encouraging this fucking handwriting. 519 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:26,020 It's artists and doctors. 520 00:22:26,020 --> 00:22:27,020 It's artists and doctors. 521 00:22:27,020 --> 00:22:30,360 They have handwriting that's very special. 522 00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:33,560 Listen, I'm going to try so hard to read this weird picture. 523 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:36,560 It was carry more meaning for someone other than just myself. 524 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:37,560 It's also encouraging. 525 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:41,120 I just really wanted to say thank you for supporting a stranger. 526 00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:46,760 Life has been so fucked up, not just Corona and 2020 and 2021 chaos, but probably since 527 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:48,880 the beginning of time. 528 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:52,720 Life itself is a struggle against meaninglessness and nonexistence. 529 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:55,920 This used to terrify me, but I see now that it's liberating. 530 00:22:55,920 --> 00:23:00,760 There's no rules, no truths, no meaning except what we build for ourselves. 531 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:06,360 It may be a fool's errand, but I endeavor a special love and hope even while the world 532 00:23:06,360 --> 00:23:08,160 around us is in flames. 533 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:11,880 Somewhere else, love blossoms and flowers bloom. 534 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:12,880 That's very nice. 535 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:13,880 Yes. 536 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:19,560 That was the thing that made me start supporting more local artists. 537 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:25,200 Just even ordering this online and seeing it show up to my house really gave me an idea 538 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,840 of the small impact of just supporting people. 539 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:34,520 It was the first time ever supporting an artist, buying anything online from anybody, just 540 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:39,480 having that note and that reassurance in the pandemic that we're all in this together, 541 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:43,840 everything's on fire, but sometimes things bloom elsewhere. 542 00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:44,840 Like your tea and bloom. 543 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:45,840 There you go. 544 00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:54,120 But the thing is, is like we'll go to markets and different events and people get so excited 545 00:23:54,120 --> 00:24:01,640 that we took the time to go out and see them and support them and maybe throw stuff up 546 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:04,080 on Instagram and buy stuff. 547 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:08,080 They're what is making our community what it is today. 548 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:12,800 They don't realize how much that they mean to us as well. 549 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:17,000 This is probably the heaviest you're ever going to see me and him. 550 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:20,860 This is the most serious I've ever been in my life, but I did want to share this only 551 00:24:20,860 --> 00:24:25,760 for the reason that it is the reason why I started my whole local support journey. 552 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:29,840 If that letter never came to me, if these magazines never came to me, I probably wouldn't 553 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:31,200 have even cared about local. 554 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:36,860 Honestly, it's just not something that ever interested me, but it's less of the value 555 00:24:36,860 --> 00:24:43,440 of the actual item itself and more of the aspect of the creation behind it and the people 556 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:46,520 behind it and the love exactly. 557 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:51,560 Sure, I can buy something similar at a big chain store for a quarter of the price or 558 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:57,760 whatever, but it's that special touch to it that adds so much value. 559 00:24:57,760 --> 00:24:58,760 It's true. 560 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:04,880 I do want to mention though, during the pandemic, after the letter that I got, I randomly started 561 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:11,840 commissioning local artists to draw things and people on Reddit who I've never interacted 562 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:14,160 with them, they were just posting commissions. 563 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:19,560 This started a spiral of me just commissioning a bunch of people to do local art and weird 564 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:20,560 stuff. 565 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:24,480 I have a bunch of commissions in my attic in a box from local artists that probably 566 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:29,820 don't even know that it was me at the time and a Google Drive full of pictures. 567 00:25:29,820 --> 00:25:31,360 I only had selfies at the time. 568 00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:35,240 It was just weird pictures of me in the casino in a mirror or whatever. 569 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:38,320 I would just send these to people and just be like, hey, can you draw this or whatever? 570 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:40,760 Just tell me how much and whatever. 571 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:45,480 I have probably hundreds of just commissions from artists and it was all because of this. 572 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:50,200 It was just like, I just wanted to help people in the pandemic where people were all struggling 573 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:54,160 and I just wanted to find that one thing to try to help people. 574 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:57,640 It was around the same time, like I said, that I was just discovering the value of money 575 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:03,760 and I was like, $10 at a local business means so much. 576 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:08,800 That could be the difference between putting food on the table for that night to some people. 577 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:15,200 Whereas from before, I just wouldn't even think about it and I would waste way more 578 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:17,040 than that in 10 minutes. 579 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:18,040 You know what I mean? 580 00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:25,560 That's why I think the pandemic was very transformative for Windsor and Essex County, the way we think, 581 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:30,320 the way we see things, the way we create things. 582 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:37,680 It's really changed and like you said, the artists and the markets and the makers and 583 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:40,880 that's why we do what we do. 584 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:44,040 Our zero dollar an hour plus benefits jobs. 585 00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:45,040 You're making zero? 586 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:48,380 I'm in the negatives for this job. 587 00:26:48,380 --> 00:26:51,640 I like to support too, like my little sign behind me. 588 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:52,640 Of course, and your little trinkets. 589 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:57,000 And the thing that you gave me and a few things. 590 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:04,320 So I got some of these on a market that almost ended my last relationship. 591 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:08,560 It ended for different reasons, but this was a contributing factor probably. 592 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:10,840 Jake loves going to markets. 593 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:12,880 I love going to markets. 594 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:17,040 You have bins of stuff and he won't give me any more. 595 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:21,380 Yeah, well, I decorated your whole house. 596 00:27:21,380 --> 00:27:25,240 My first market I ever went to was the WFCU Center Market. 597 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:28,480 Whatchamacallers Miranda, you've interviewed her on your show before. 598 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:29,760 I just saw her on Instagram. 599 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:33,280 We did a giveaway at some point for like a bandana or a collar or something like that. 600 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:37,060 And that was just what I was doing on Instagram at the time was just sponsoring giveaways. 601 00:27:37,060 --> 00:27:40,200 So I ended up going to the market because she posted on Instagram and was like, hey, 602 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:41,200 I'll be here. 603 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:42,200 And I was like, oh, that'd be so fun. 604 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:45,480 Like, you know, I told my girlfriend, I was like, let's go, you know, we'll just go see 605 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:46,480 people. 606 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:47,480 I saw that picture. 607 00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:51,880 And you had your logo on your face and you were holding up bags of stuff. 608 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:54,720 I was looking at that last night. 609 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:56,240 You creeped my profile before this. 610 00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:57,240 So you know what you're talking about. 611 00:27:57,240 --> 00:27:58,240 I did. 612 00:27:58,240 --> 00:27:59,240 I was going through it. 613 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:01,880 And then a lot of your one, two, three. 614 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:02,880 Oh, yeah. 615 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:07,200 It's like, oh, it's like a progression of us too, because I'm in a lot of it. 616 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:09,240 And that's why I like archiving them like that. 617 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:10,240 Right. 618 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:12,040 Because some people archive it as like, oh, this is food. 619 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:13,040 This is whatever. 620 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:14,040 And this is whatever. 621 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:18,040 Yeah, but if you keep it in order and people can just watch through, you can just kind 622 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:20,000 of see like the growth of the whole page. 623 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:21,000 Right. 624 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:24,760 Because you can go back to when I first started and like at first when I started the page, 625 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:27,400 I was like, OK, I'm going to go up to everybody, introduce myself. 626 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:28,960 Hey, I'm made in YQG. 627 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:30,280 I want to take pictures of your booth. 628 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:31,280 Like I want to post you on Instagram. 629 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:33,040 I thought you were going to say boobs. 630 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:37,600 I was going to. 631 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:40,200 But that's what I wanted to do was just go to this market. 632 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:43,040 Like I saw Miranda was there and I was going to go up to everybody. 633 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:44,640 Hey, can I take a picture of your booth? 634 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:46,440 Like, you know, let me share it on Instagram. 635 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:48,180 This is what I'm trying to do, whatever. 636 00:28:48,180 --> 00:28:53,000 And it's given so many opportunities to do amazing things in the community, like charity 637 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:54,120 work and stuff like that. 638 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:58,320 And I'm just so grateful for, you know, the progression of everything. 639 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:01,640 And all the friends we've made over the last couple of years. 640 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:05,480 I'm fine without you, but the rest of them are good. 641 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:09,800 And this is a good stopping point for part one of my interview with Jake from Made in 642 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:10,800 YQG. 643 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:11,800 Tune in. 644 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,640 In a few days, we will have part two. 645 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:20,160 We will talk about Jake's charity work and we'll catch up on some more shenanigans. 646 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:42,520 You guys have a great day and thank you for joining me for YQG in Blue.