My dad was a pastry chef. I always used to be
in the kitchen with him. Cooking was my passion.
Then I went to MasterChef. One of my students
that I used to live with, they threw me in MasterChef.
A visionary chef, entrepreneur, bringing Caribbean
flavors to the world. We got so many influences
around the world and there are so many countries
in the Caribbean Sea. Born and raised in Curaçao,
Justin moved to the Netherlands at 18 to study
hospitality. Later on, I was like, I want to
change my career. I want to do something different.
Then the cooking part was starting. Building
on that success, he founded Mondi Caribbean Cuisine
Restaurants. Now with locations in Amsterdam,
Bad Hoeverdorp... Rotterdam, and most recently,
Kira Dice. Kira Dice, yes, bro. When I started
with this concept, why not the Caribbean kitchen?
What is the problem with the Caribbean kitchen?
People, welcome to the Sunside Kingdom Show.
Once again, welcome. Thank you, bro. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Very nice introduction.
Thank you. Thank you. Very nice one. Good one.
You know a lot about me already and I don't even
know you. Let's dive into who is Justin today
and what keeps him busy today. I'm a dad. Yeah,
yeah. That's number one. Number one. How many
kids? I have two kids, and I'm very grateful
for them, but they live in the Netherlands. I
live here, and I fly between the Netherlands,
yeah, back and forward. And I'm still a chef,
more entrepreneur, but I still cook. You just
saw. I try to teach the young ones to know their
products, you know? It's very important to know
what you're doing. Yeah. And. I'm working on
Curacao right now. Yeah, man. That's what we're
doing. We're building something new, yeah. And
it's beautiful out here, man. Congratulations.
Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you, bro. Yeah,
this is a dream that makes it come true. Because,
you know, we are from the islands. And when you
are 16, your mother starts telling you, hey,
in two years, you need to go start preparing
your things. Because when you finish school,
you need to go to us. to do your own thing. Yeah.
And so in 2009, I went to Holland and not with
the intention to stay 16 years there. Yeah. Most
of us don't. But in the end, you're still there.
I'm still there. Yeah. And this was in 2020.
It was my first restaurant here in Curacao. Okay.
At the Madero Beach Club. Yeah. And that was
my first step back for real on the island. And
right now we make it big. Next level, next level.
And I see they're busy setting up an event out
here. It seems like there's lots of stuff. So
tell me more about... all that um happens at
this location because it's not just a restaurant
no right now no we're not just a restaurant yeah
we really wanted to do a nice beach over here
but we couldn't because the sea is very rough
over here and then you need to put breakers and
you don't want to break your island you know
um so we didn't we couldn't do that so we just
made like a new beach clip and it's something
very new for curacao because we have a lot of
beaches but And the concept of having a swimming
pool with sand and chilling and like in Bali
or other places in the world that have nice.
I think St. Martin also have a few beach clubs.
Yeah, yeah. We have a lot of them more on the
French side. We have one or two on the Dutch
side. On the Dutch side, yeah. Because you guys
have more beach on the Dutch side, right? Yeah,
yeah. You have more beach, yeah. But that's why.
we needed to do a swimming pool and i think it
was like a great concept to introduce to curacao
and we did it But you guys also host events here.
Yeah, we host events. What type of events are
they? First of all, we're a beach club. But you
can do a very good lunch. You can do your dinner
here. And a lot of places... Right now, a lot
of corporate places are asking us, hey, can we
do an event here? Because, you know, there's
a very windy place. It's not too hot. It's an
easy location to come. We have a lot of parking.
Yeah, because we're right here in Otro Bando.
Yeah, we're right. We are a city beach. So that's
the first... also beach like in the middle of
the city and Otra Banda is the new upcoming place
and Punda Petramay they're building a lot they
already build a lot but on this side of the island
there's nothing happening right now but it's
right now the upcoming place so we started with
this project I think three years ago yeah And
so we do beach club, restaurant and a lot of
events, corporate events. And we have our own
events like our Caribbean Night 25+. It's an
old school R &B concept from us. It was just
last Saturday. Yeah, I saw. We have it in Amsterdam
once a month and it's packed. Wait, wait. That's
the one in Sky Bar. I've been there. I've been
there. I got a bit too tipsy over there. Bro,
if you... You know what it is? If I go out, I
go to 25+. For me, it's one of the best parties
because I don't want to go to a clip anymore.
But if I go there and we can sing along and all
the old school music and 25 plus people. It's
a grown vibe. It's a grown vibe. And you could
listen to the music you want to listen to. The
new school is also good. Some of it. this is
our time when we grew up you know what i mean
it's like the same way your mom say like yeah
oh do you know this song you were very small
when she was cleaning the house you know my mom
every time she cleaned the house she put like
the music on so i know all the music from the
80s the 70s yeah yeah and yeah if you put them
on i will sing because i know them all so um
yeah there's we have 25 plus caribbean night
And we are introducing right now our brunches.
The Latin brunch is coming. So we do our own
events. 5th of April. We have Dope. You know,
Shermanology. One of the famous Caribbean DJs.
He's from Curacao. he stands for the caribbean
also so true we are caribbean and five february
so we try to do a lot of um um different things
yeah to stay close to our um oh sorry close to
your roots yeah close to your roots and for for
me as entrepreneur it's very important that we
can do everything together yeah With people from
the community, you know for me is that very important
like in the Netherlands I always did like all
my the most of them my kitchen team and just
were front of house were from Curacao and Mundi
also Yeah, so you need to empower each other.
That's always my motto to try to do more with
People from the Caribbean. And even in the brief
little, because I came over last night to just
check the place out, do a reconnaissance. And
I could see it already. Like with the staff and
very friendly greeting. check in on you and and
and you could see it immediately like like that
caribbean vibe and and and the culture is definitely
present if you are the best caribbean kitchen
in town you need to have it right so so you mentioned
your mom now multiple times so let's let's go
all the way back to a little justin so growing
up in curacao yeah um what was that like i think
um growing up in curacao or growing up on an
island it's very different than growing up in
uh in the netherlands or growing up in europe
of like places like it's cold you know and i
think i had the best um childhood childhood like
you know i see my kids growing up i try to give
them the best childhood yeah but it's very different
when they are here because i try to come with
So they come like three, four times a year. Oh,
wow. Yeah, because my mom lives here, you know,
and it's her grandma and my sister lives here.
So I'm the only one. in the netherlands yeah
um so i try to come often so they can also integrate
yourself with curacao like this is also my home
yeah so every time we go on vacation i ask them
hey where do you want to go um should we do this
time somewhere else no i want to go okay so they
come in two weeks they come out also they're
gonna come yeah so they're already preparing
everything and they are waiting to how old are
they seven and six oh perfect age Yeah, so they
are everyday ape that whenever we're coming,
we start counting, you know what I mean? Because
they are excited to come back. To Curacao. Yeah.
And the way, like, I see him walking without
shoes, like, in his under, how do you say that?
Yeah, yeah. Real island style. Yeah. Just the
freedom. Yeah, that's freedom. Catching Lagadishi,
you know what I'm saying? Lagadishi is lizard?
The small iguanas. Ah, yeah, yeah. And every
day he asks me, let's go to fish, I want to go
to the boat. Yeah. You obviously went to school
here, so. What was the school time like? Because
how did growing up here sort of influence the
chef in you to want to emerge? Yeah, you know,
I always cooked at home. Like on Saturday, it's
like my mom is working and we cook at home. And
I was always the guy that goes in the kitchen
and fix it, you know? Yeah. And my dad was a
pastry chef. And we had a few pastry places here.
And I always used to be in the kitchen with him,
you know, working or doing my thing. And I first
started at Front of House because I never did
like a chef school or something. I just like
how to deduct, they say in Dutch. How to deduct?
How to deduct. Like, it's like a passion. Yeah.
Cooking was my passion. I did only the hotel
school in the Netherlands. And then I did economics.
I studied for economics. And later on, I was
like, I don't want to be in front of house anymore.
I want to change my career. I want to do something
different. And then the cooking part was starting
getting more and more and more. So then I went
to MasterChef. One of my students that I used
to live with, they drove me in MasterChef. And
I was like, well, what the f*** are you doing?
And then I went to the first round, second round.
Because you have a few rounds before you can
start with a program. Oh, okay, yeah. They're
like 250 people. Yeah. So they really want to
get the best of the best to go on the show. Yeah,
to go on the show. So I was one of them from
the 16th. So from the 250 to the 16th, and then
it started. And when I went out of the show,
I was like, I think I love cooking. Yeah. And
I used to work my whole life in restaurants because,
yeah, that's the only thing. As a student. Yeah,
as a student. But I have only passion. I have
passion for, what's it called? Yeah, so the hospitality.
Yeah, I have passion for the hospitality. I like
good food. I like good wine. I like to serve
people so they have a good time. So, yeah. And
I'm born in that. Yeah. In this world, you know?
Yeah. So then I started cooking. I asked my chef,
like, hey, I don't want to be in front of house
anymore. Don't you need someone to help you in
the kitchen? So from that day on, it started
growing and growing and growing. Yeah, nice.
So it was a crazy road. A very strange road because
I never expected that I'm going to be a chef.
Yeah. Because I took this job very seriously.
So I started cooking, what I told you already,
very young. I was doing in Curacao also caterings
and beside my job. I was doing cooking where
I used to live in the Netherlands, cooking for
the people there and selling food and put some
barbecues. Like, hey, there's a Caribbean barbecue
on Saturday. Do you guys come? 25 euros, you
know, something like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So technically you was doing it all the while,
but you didn't think you were doing it. Something
like that. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So and
then when I finished with MasterChef, I was like.
Why should I do something that I don't like to
try to run away from my passion? Because you're
trying to run away from something. So why do
you think that you didn't choose for your passion
any earlier? I think there's a few reasons because
being a chef in that time, it's nothing. super
great or something you know what I'm saying it's
so so so our culture yeah our culture you know
what I'm saying yeah so when I was finished with
the hospitality school I I was like okay I want
to do something that I don't have to work anymore
in the hospitality so what can I do as best and
accounting i'm very good in you know in numbers
and numbers yeah um so you study economics and
yeah and so that that was the easiest thing for
me yeah you know so you went into accountancy
yeah i did uh accountancy yeah so but that was
the easiest thing i was like i don't want to
i don't want to have i went first i did facility
management i was one week there i was like hell
no hell no So then I was like, okay, my girlfriend,
my, my baby mom, baby mom. Um, she, she was like,
Hey dude, don't you think this is something for
you? It was like, okay, you know, fuck it. I'm
just going to try it. And if it goes, it goes.
And I finished my study in four years. The one
in one row. Boom. Yeah. And in the mid and between
that just opened already. So I was studying and
having, so yeah this was a crazy roller coaster
like so so you did the hospitality like mbo and
then you did like economics high b .o yeah so
later on the i had just i started 5 may i just
took my contract for just it was 2017. on 10
may 2017 my girlfriend told me i'm pregnant i'm
pregnant happy birthday and it was her birthday
so i was like happy birthday my love and she
was like congratulations my love i was like yay
no i was i was very happy yeah yeah but the timing
was perfect so of course was the timing perfect
you know what i'm saying so i was like okay i
need to do school i need to finish my school
i need to do one more one more year so scripts
and everything i need to um i'm becoming a dad
next year and just this opening yeah so I went
to my mentor. So your mentor at school? At school,
yeah. She was a very, very beautiful soul or
lady, a person, you know, because she was understanding
me. And she saw my growth from, like, coming
from the hospitality school in the first year
and then MasterChef. Oh, you did MasterChef while
you were doing HBO? MasterChef was 2016. Yeah,
it was my first year, yes. Yeah, so you were
in half a year. Yeah. Look at yourself. Yeah,
of course, amigo. So, yeah, so. She saw my grow
and then just opened and I was like, okay listen
to me I have a few things that they need to discuss
with you. Yeah, just as open. I need to do my
script see And I'm gonna be dead. Yeah How are
you gonna do this? I was like if you help me
just talk with cool Yeah, so they can help me
if I can do my script see like during my work
period because I'm working I'm doing the number.
You know what? I mean, you can help me we can
arrange something. Yeah So, I couldn't... I finished
my school in 2018. Oh, nice, man. Nice. Yeah,
in 2018, I finished my school. And once, I was
like, okay, listen. I don't want to pay that
debt. Because, you know, a lot of students of
ours, they have the high loan and shit. So, I
told them, I don't want to do that. So, please,
how are we going to fix this? The first time,
I just needed to make an exam from hours. It's
like five, six hours exam. Yeah. You need to
do it. So the first time I failed, then you need
to pay to do it again. Oh, shit. And I was like,
okay, Justin, this time, I took three days off
to do that. And then I finished school. And then
I was like, okay, next. So it seems like there's
a bit of a trend of doing a lot of big things
simultaneously. Of course. And everything you
know up front. That's the most... How do you
mean everything you know up front? It looks like
you know everything up front. Oh, yeah, yeah,
yeah. Of course. Oh, you need to stay to finish
school. Yes. You're opening a new restaurant.
Yes, of course. Also, in doing that, oh, you're
the new best kitchen in town. Whoa, thank you.
Yeah. But then, you know, the restaurant once
was so busy, just was so busy. I was working
seven days, like seven days, every day. And so
I woke up in the morning. I woke up in the morning.
I really want to give the mother of my kids props
because she did everything, you know, because
I wasn't at home. Because, yeah, we have two
babies. One needs to bring food on the table
and the other one needs food. So it was a very,
very, very... It was a heavy time for us. It
put a lot of pressure on our relationship, yeah.
Because you try to understand each other. And
normally, if you are a dad, or you just became
a dad, you go in the process with your baby mom.
Like, you need to be more patient. You need to
understand her. You know, women get all those
hormones. You know what I'm saying? And I was
totally not in touch with her feelings, you know,
because I had another priority. I was not looking
after the kid, you know? Well, they say the business
is also a baby. That's why we had two babies.
You had three babies. You had two real babies.
And then you had the business baby. Yeah, man.
So it was a very heavy time, you know. But we
did it. And that's something when I look after
everything. Because a year later was my first
vacation. Since 2017 when we opened. My first
vacation was in 2000. What's this? No, it was
not a vacation. It was a workcation? It was a
workcation. Which company? Oh, Corendon was it?
Corendon asked me to come. Yeah. For a TV program
or something? No? I can't remember very well.
No? I needed to cook here. So I asked them, okay,
I can come, but only on one reason, if my wife
and my firstborn can come. So we were here, and
then we knew we were going to get a new one.
So the second one came and killed a dice. I was
like, no. You know? But we did it again. We did
it again. So we have two kids, one boy and one
girl. Oh, nice. So the boy is first? The boy
is first, the boy is seventh, and my daughter
is going to be sixth right now. Okay, nice. So
that was a very happy time. But we did it. We
made it. We're still here. We still breathe.
Yeah, man. Yeah, and then the other roller coaster.
Just, no, just was doing very good as the first
Caribbean kitchen in town doing. So where was
that, in Rotterdam or Amsterdam? Yeah, that was
in Rotterdam. My first restaurant was in Rotterdam.
My second one was here in Curacao. Then in COVID
we started. But we have already Mundi in Amsterdam.
Okay, yeah. Just Mundi. then Curacao, then Skybar,
then New West, and right now this one. And right
now we are building a new one. Can you mention
any of that? Yeah, of course. So where is the
new one going to be? So the new one we're going
to build in Yantil. It's an old place, and we're
going to renovate everything, so we just throw
the pool out this week. so you're also going
to put a pool there and everything it's going
to be a beach club okay a new beach club but
an italian one okay so we want to um do more
concepts and not only the caribbean kitchen but
we're gonna do like um we're gonna do a italian
kitchen and with a few influences of the caribbean
okay yeah so we have um Like a jerk chicken pizza.
Oh, interesting. You know, things like that.
Yeah. But I try to, you know, Italians don't
like you to f*** with their kitchen. True, true.
So, for all the Italian, I really, really like
your kitchen. I have a lot of respect for you
guys. And I think the fusion is very nice. Like,
one of my best dishes was a ravioli I made with
stobap and truffle. Yeah. With a Parmesan foam,
it's like amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing.
So can you get that here? I think in six months
we have it on the menu over there. Okay, okay,
okay. So that's when I'll be back. Yeah, yeah.
But that's why I was thinking, you know, I think
because I like the Italian kitchen very a lot.
It's a very simple. simple kitchen but with nice
flavors and they come being everything so good
and I was thinking I if I we put this together
yeah we have a new explosion for sure so that's
gonna be the Monday Italian yeah so let's let's
continue on that Caribbean trend how would you
say your Caribbean influences has helped to shape
your career You know what it is Like I always
say if you look at a Suriname kitchen mm -hmm
in every corner in the Netherlands You can eat
the broodje kapkerry or chasu or you know, and
I like also the roti, you know Yeah, it's amazing
and a Lot of Dutch people they go a lot to Curacao.
Yeah, right. Yeah, so when i started with this
concept i was like why why not the caribbean
kitchen what is the problem with the caribbean
kitchen does anybody know the caribbean kitchen
yeah um a lot of people think that the caribbean
kitchen is um the triptipan or something like
that but we have so many things in our kitchen
yeah we got so many influences around the world
because look We are on an island. We have Venezuela.
We have Colombia. We have Trinidad and Tobago.
You guys have the French side. We have the African
roots. We have the Indian roots. It's one huge
fusion. So our kitchen is very big. We have Peru
on the other side. We have Brazil there. You
have so many influences and there are so many
countries and the Caribbean Sea. Yeah, so Why
not we can cook everything we can do so a lot
of techniques comes from the Caribbean, you know
your French French is the French way of cooking
and the friend and I Don't know if I can say
this but You know, no, but the French they did
a lot of good work. They put the base From sauces
and techniques, they did it. But if you come
on this side of the world, you will see that
we have also a lot of techniques. Stewing, ceviches,
you know. We have so many with fish. We do a
lot with the French side don't have those. We
have more fish than Europe, you know what I'm
saying? So we got so more things that we can
do. with the sea and we just throw a line over
here and We just take a tuna. Yeah, and we make
sashimi and we do this and we do that. So We
have so many influences. Oh I'm to come back
on your question. Yeah, but that was the reason
we have so many things that we can do and I never
saw the Caribbean kitchen in the Netherlands.
Yeah on the elevated way. So I started with just
cooking four or five courses, only Caribbean
kitchen. So to twist our local food to an upper
scale, you know, that was my concept. That's
where I started from. And what you see is they're
like, a lot of people, they came once to Curacao,
their daughter lives in Curacao, my dad. was
once in Curacao or I grew up in Curacao or, you
know, I have a good friend, you know, some type
of connection with the island. And it was a boom
because there are so many people that lives in
the Netherlands that have a connection with our
islands, not only Curacao, but St. Martin, Bonaire,
Aruba, Saba, St. Eustatius, you know. So it was
also like a time machine for them. Yeah, I can
imagine. You know, they come. I remember having
like the little mini pastiches and things. Yeah,
you know what I mean? So it was like a time machine.
And I think that was the greatest success for
doing this for people in the Netherlands, you
know? Yeah, yeah. Awesome, man. So if we tap
into mentors. Mentors. So persons that helped
you along the way, persons that you could go
to for advice. You actually mentioned your mentor
from school earlier. But let's say in the business
aspect of things, in the chef and hospitality
aspects, were there any mentors? They don't even
have to be, let's say, persons that you're really
connected to physically. It could also be maybe
persons that you followed online to get the inspiration
from and sort of the guidance on how to navigate.
Because something like this has never really
been done to my knowledge. setting up a Caribbean
cuisine kitchen in the Netherlands and then eventually
bringing it back home as well. Yeah, you know,
I had a few mentors and, like, there was a chef.
I used to work for him. All my friends worked
for him. We were working in the spool, you know.
How do you say that? Say it in Dutch. Okay, in
the spool kamer, you know, where you spool the
plates. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Dishwasher. I also
did that. we did like and we used to work there
and this is a guy that I always mention in all
my podcasts because this guy he gave me everything
that he could All the knowledge. He has a very
big restaurant. All my caterings that I had,
he was like, take it for free. I really want
to see you growing, you know? And if I didn't
know something, he always will be there. If I
need to call him at one o 'clock in the evening
or at night or in the morning, it doesn't matter.
Still today, when I call him, he was always open
for me. And I really need to give him his props
and a big thank you to Marcel Beierling from
The Machinist in Rotterdam. I don't know how
to explain sometimes how thankful I am to this
man to see the potential in me and give me the
trust to do what I wanted to do. Because that
actually brings me to another question of how
important are relationships? So, like, those
business relationships, how important are those
for the development of your... You know also
what it is? Like, those type of relationships
are a very important connection. Networking is
the most important thing. Yeah. I think. And,
like, a type of guy like this guy, like, my dad
passed away when I was very young. Oh, shit.
Sorry to hear that. And I don't know that he
was, like, my figure, but he was helping me with
everything, like, You know? Yeah. Like a bit
of a dad figure. Yeah, man. And that was very
nice because, you know, I'm a f***ing guy from
Curacao. We're just working in a dishwashing
here and try to get my money to live my student
life in the Netherlands. You know what I'm saying?
And he took us, all of these friends, and we
are still good with him. And he just came last
summer. He was here also with all of us. And
yeah, this guy, you know, I'm so thankful for
this guy. For me, having a good business partner,
my business partner right now is also a very
good mentor. He's the owner of Corendon and we
do a lot of things together. But if you need
to look at his journey, it's a crazy journey.
It's like from a guy selling shawarma in Harlem
and owns right now, I don't know, 10 hotels,
50 planes. I don't know what he owns, but one
of the biggest companies in Europe in the airline
business. So everything can start, everything
can come if there's a consistency, belief, and
do it. Just do it. You have nothing to lose.
What do you have to lose? Exactly. My dad always
told me, there's one thing you can lose in your
life. That's your life. That's it. And if you
lose everything, you start all over again. And
if you lose it again, you start all over again.
There's going to come a day that you're not going
to lose again. Yeah. Yeah, you keep failing until
you can't fail no more because then you'll succeed.
Yeah. Yeah. So that's why I also believe in never
quit. Yeah. You know? I see you with the Jordan
and the Chicago shirt on. Yeah. Representing
the six rings. Representing, yeah, man, bro,
yeah. But that's really my motto, you know. We
don't stop. There's no other option. Yeah, and
based on everything that I've seen and heard,
I would say that you're definitely living in
your purpose. But what do you believe is your
purpose on this earth? This is a very good question
because, you know, for me what's very important
and what I want to really give people is, like,
first of all, love, you know. Let's love each
other more. You know, give love. If you give,
and it doesn't matter what it is, you can...
receive, you know what I mean? And I think love
for me is very important. And try to like help
people understand like who the f*** I am, you
know? Why? Because a lot of people are so also
the social media and They are so distractive
from the world and who is me. And I think that
is one of the biggest issues that we have right
now. True. And I really try to give them something
like be the best of yourself. Focus on yourself.
Do what you like. And it doesn't matter what
you do. If you are the best cleaner or you're
also a millionaire. be the best in what you do
that's it and go for your passion and do what
makes you happy and spend your money if you want
because when you die it was gonna keep it the
government or your family and they're gonna have
also uh problems about the money that you left
so true yeah what what why you know live your
best life yes but because it's my ticket it's
not yours yeah yeah you know what i mean so That's
my vision. That's how I live. I do what I want.
I try to travel. I love my kids. I love people
around me. I try to give a lot of love and helping
people around. If I can help you, why not? It
doesn't cost me anything. Maybe a little bit
of time. Well, I can attest to that because even
how we were managed to get this arranged, if
you didn't have that type of mindset, this wouldn't
have happened now. So thanks for that, bro. So
let's continue with the advice and let's go back
to 18 -year -old Justin. Yeah. Right? So how
old are you now? 30. 34. 34. Okay, so if I'm
40, I turned 40 this year. God damn it, bro.
I can't even give you that one. Wow, I thought
you was. The grays are hiding. I'm gray. I'm
gray, too. But the black don't crack, you know?
The black don't crack. Bang. So let's tap back
to an 18 -year -old Justin and where he was in
his mind and his head. With all your experience
and knowledge and wisdom today, what advice would
you give 18 -year -old Justin? I think... How
can I explain this good? Care less about other
people. Yeah. Is it less about their opinions
about other people's opinions? Yeah. You know
what I mean? Yeah. You know what I'm saying,
right? Because people always have an opinion
about anything. It doesn't matter what you do,
if it's good or bad or... Yeah. You know? And
a lot of people... project their emotions or
their feelings to someone else. Their insecurities
onto someone else. And that's the biggest problem.
Yeah. From young people right now. And I recognize
it right now, you know, all over the world. Also
the Instagram and the social media. And our time,
we already had it. Yeah. But it's a bit worse
now. And there's a lot of people that change
their lifestyle because... opinions of their
mom their dad their family the family pressures
and it's not about people like the most of the
time the the biggest problems come from from
from families from close yes you know like in
in curacao it's like it's a doctor lawyer or
that's it you know what i mean yeah i think i
think that was would be my best advice yeah yeah
so care care don't give a do what a you want
about other people's opinions yeah because you
know what it is how many people in the world
can tell you the same story and they made it
yeah no do one of all of them it's always a different
version you know what i mean it's always a different
version but um yeah i'm a guitarist yeah i want
to play guitar the whole day yeah but you cannot
make money with that it's not a good day Right
now he's playing for Juan Izguerra. I'm just
saying something. You know what I mean? Oh, that's
my son. No, f*** off. You know what I'm saying?
Yeah. When I used to tell you everyday mom I
wanted to play the guitar, I was like, no, go
to school. You need to do this. You need to do
that. Go to be a lawyer, be this, be that. And
right now it's my son. Yeah, yeah. You know what
I mean? But that's true. That is, those are facts,
you know? Yeah, yeah. 100%. So start to believe
more in yourself and do what the f*** you want.
Right now, I'm gaming. You know, people are earning...
Young kids are making millions with gaming. Parents
live on the kids, you know? Like... That's true.
Stop gaming, stop gaming. And right now, I'm
gonna f*** up gaming, okay? Yeah, yeah. Go to
work back. Yeah, but... This is it, bro. This
is how it is. We live in a whole different world
now. Yeah, it was like a kid, I don't know, like
a young lady earning 10 million. She's like 11,
12, a YouTuber. She is a YouTuber. Yeah. And
like my son, he likes fishing, so he also follows
a guy on YouTube. And like millions of views
and things. And my son knows everything about
fishing and this and that. And right now he has
also a tablet, you know, so it's like, hey, there's
my dad. Look at him. He was like, what the fuck
are you doing, bro? I was like, no, I'm an influencer.
I was like, okay. Doing your thing, bro. So one
of my observations is obviously. the the the
fact that you build a business in the netherlands
yeah and i don't think that was originally the
plan that you had when you went there so it just
kind of evolved and now you you started building
businesses back in curacao so actually your experience
wisdom knowledge etc you you gained overseas
and you've been bringing it back so i see it
as sort of a blueprint because There's not many
of us that have made that journey. So whether
they build businesses overseas and start those
businesses back here. What has been the biggest
challenges in doing that? And what's the secret
to make it successful? Look, first, I see this
question and a lot of questions. Look, I never
expected. that um i will be back so soon yeah
so that's again life yeah and sometimes you need
to it jump yeah you know what i mean yeah because
opportunities comes yeah and they come sometimes
one time yep and when it comes you need to take
them you only get one shot you'll get multiple
shots but that one sometimes at that opportunity
you need to do it so And I took it. But I'm always...
I take shots. And if it goes, it goes. If it
don't go, let's go. We go further. That's how
we do. Coming back to dad's advice. You only
lose one thing and that's life. So... Go. You
know what I mean? And... So the opportunity came
to do it here. And there was a lot of obstacles.
And a lot of... Politics. A lot of things. You
know, I really want to thank Mariska and Kiana,
my partners. We did it all together. You know
what I mean? And when you are a proper team and
we trust each other in our blueprint. A bit more
in the mic. Like Kiana and Mariska, we did this
all together. We are a very nice team and we
have so many trust in each other so we can build
on each other, you know? So if you can do this
together, you can walk. So this is also, I think,
my advantage. Yeah. That the team is solid. Yeah,
we can go through everything So if tomorrow you
call me a we have something in Dubai and we have
enough to go we go Yeah, you know what I mean?
So there was I Don't know why you know, there
was not like obstacles like things. I don't know
I can name them obstacles. Of course, there are
things that are always challenges. More challenges.
There's no problem. It's always a challenge.
If you cannot think of solutions, then it stops
again. Then you shouldn't be in business. Because
there's a lot of things that happen here. We
are still here and we are open. So there was
a solution for every problem that came. So that's
it. For everything that comes, there's a solution.
For every challenge, there's a solution to be
found. For everything that comes, no matter what
it is. And if it's big or small, also if it's
a big problem, we make it a small problem. Right?
Yeah. Awesome, man. Justin, I would like to thank
you very, very much for your time, taking the
time out. It was a very fast podcast. Yeah, yeah,
yeah. Well, we're trying to keep it within the
time frame. And I know that everything is starting
to get busy and you got to be managing the event
tonight and everything. No worries, no worries.
But I think this is a nice podcast because you
see people walking, you see a little bit of background
in the music. background in the music or music
in the background it was a very busy day for
me also today but i really want to thank you
the cocktail hitting a little bit i didn't only
one shot one slug okay okay let's let's okay
let's do let's do at least one pros bro i really
want to thank you for everything i think it really
was a nice podcast um thank you for your time
thank you for being here You ate yesterday a
burger. Was it good? It was good. It was douchey.
Yeah? Yeah. Do we want to eat something? Oh,
for sure. I'm going to fix something for you,
okay? Awesome. Whenever, next time you're here
in Curacao, you're always welcome. Everybody
that's looking at the podcast, come to Money
Beach Club. Yeah, so where can they find you?
Oh, yeah. Okay, look here. We're going to put
the link here, you know. You can find us here.
I'm going to send you all the information. Everybody
is welcome. I'm on the Beach Club Curacao. We're
going to put all the information down here. And
for those in Holland, there's multiple restaurants
that they can also visit. In Holland, you can
go to Amsterdam South, New West, or Skybar. You
guys are more than welcome. Follow us, Mondi
Amsterdam. Follow Monte Caribbean. Follow Justin
Eaton for all the nice events. Awesome. Thank
you. Thanks, bro.