WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.220 My dad was a pastry chef. I always used to be 00:00:02.220 --> 00:00:04.099 in the kitchen with him. Cooking was my passion. 00:00:04.259 --> 00:00:06.120 Then I went to MasterChef. One of my students 00:00:06.120 --> 00:00:08.759 that I used to live with, they threw me in MasterChef. 00:00:12.830 --> 00:00:15.789 A visionary chef, entrepreneur, bringing Caribbean 00:00:15.789 --> 00:00:18.730 flavors to the world. We got so many influences 00:00:18.730 --> 00:00:21.109 around the world and there are so many countries 00:00:21.109 --> 00:00:23.789 in the Caribbean Sea. Born and raised in Curaçao, 00:00:23.989 --> 00:00:26.670 Justin moved to the Netherlands at 18 to study 00:00:26.670 --> 00:00:29.510 hospitality. Later on, I was like, I want to 00:00:29.510 --> 00:00:31.250 change my career. I want to do something different. 00:00:31.410 --> 00:00:34.009 Then the cooking part was starting. Building 00:00:34.009 --> 00:00:37.530 on that success, he founded Mondi Caribbean Cuisine 00:00:37.530 --> 00:00:40.530 Restaurants. Now with locations in Amsterdam, 00:00:40.829 --> 00:00:43.700 Bad Hoeverdorp... Rotterdam, and most recently, 00:00:43.880 --> 00:00:47.079 Kira Dice. Kira Dice, yes, bro. When I started 00:00:47.079 --> 00:00:49.500 with this concept, why not the Caribbean kitchen? 00:00:49.659 --> 00:00:51.479 What is the problem with the Caribbean kitchen? 00:00:55.439 --> 00:01:01.840 People, welcome to the Sunside Kingdom Show. 00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:05.540 Once again, welcome. Thank you, bro. Thank you. 00:01:05.540 --> 00:01:07.859 Thank you. Thank you. Very nice introduction. 00:01:08.219 --> 00:01:10.659 Thank you. Thank you. Very nice one. Good one. 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:12.900 You know a lot about me already and I don't even 00:01:12.900 --> 00:01:17.060 know you. Let's dive into who is Justin today 00:01:17.060 --> 00:01:23.829 and what keeps him busy today. I'm a dad. Yeah, 00:01:23.930 --> 00:01:27.370 yeah. That's number one. Number one. How many 00:01:27.370 --> 00:01:29.750 kids? I have two kids, and I'm very grateful 00:01:29.750 --> 00:01:31.650 for them, but they live in the Netherlands. I 00:01:31.650 --> 00:01:33.989 live here, and I fly between the Netherlands, 00:01:34.049 --> 00:01:37.510 yeah, back and forward. And I'm still a chef, 00:01:37.549 --> 00:01:40.370 more entrepreneur, but I still cook. You just 00:01:40.370 --> 00:01:45.290 saw. I try to teach the young ones to know their 00:01:45.290 --> 00:01:47.530 products, you know? It's very important to know 00:01:47.530 --> 00:01:51.959 what you're doing. Yeah. And. I'm working on 00:01:51.959 --> 00:01:53.959 Curacao right now. Yeah, man. That's what we're 00:01:53.959 --> 00:01:56.799 doing. We're building something new, yeah. And 00:01:56.799 --> 00:01:58.939 it's beautiful out here, man. Congratulations. 00:01:59.540 --> 00:02:02.000 Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you, bro. Yeah, 00:02:02.040 --> 00:02:06.959 this is a dream that makes it come true. Because, 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:10.939 you know, we are from the islands. And when you 00:02:10.939 --> 00:02:13.840 are 16, your mother starts telling you, hey, 00:02:14.039 --> 00:02:17.060 in two years, you need to go start preparing 00:02:17.060 --> 00:02:18.819 your things. Because when you finish school, 00:02:18.939 --> 00:02:21.840 you need to go to us. to do your own thing. Yeah. 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:26.900 And so in 2009, I went to Holland and not with 00:02:26.900 --> 00:02:29.599 the intention to stay 16 years there. Yeah. Most 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:34.759 of us don't. But in the end, you're still there. 00:02:34.860 --> 00:02:39.580 I'm still there. Yeah. And this was in 2020. 00:02:44.699 --> 00:02:48.479 It was my first restaurant here in Curacao. Okay. 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:52.169 At the Madero Beach Club. Yeah. And that was 00:02:52.169 --> 00:02:58.889 my first step back for real on the island. And 00:02:58.889 --> 00:03:04.009 right now we make it big. Next level, next level. 00:03:04.449 --> 00:03:07.009 And I see they're busy setting up an event out 00:03:07.009 --> 00:03:10.189 here. It seems like there's lots of stuff. So 00:03:10.189 --> 00:03:14.360 tell me more about... all that um happens at 00:03:14.360 --> 00:03:17.060 this location because it's not just a restaurant 00:03:17.060 --> 00:03:20.000 no right now no we're not just a restaurant yeah 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:22.319 we really wanted to do a nice beach over here 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:25.319 but we couldn't because the sea is very rough 00:03:25.319 --> 00:03:28.379 over here and then you need to put breakers and 00:03:28.379 --> 00:03:30.740 you don't want to break your island you know 00:03:30.740 --> 00:03:33.680 um so we didn't we couldn't do that so we just 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:35.379 made like a new beach clip and it's something 00:03:35.379 --> 00:03:37.479 very new for curacao because we have a lot of 00:03:37.479 --> 00:03:41.280 beaches but And the concept of having a swimming 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:44.039 pool with sand and chilling and like in Bali 00:03:44.039 --> 00:03:46.340 or other places in the world that have nice. 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:48.379 I think St. Martin also have a few beach clubs. 00:03:48.539 --> 00:03:51.479 Yeah, yeah. We have a lot of them more on the 00:03:51.479 --> 00:03:53.419 French side. We have one or two on the Dutch 00:03:53.419 --> 00:03:56.219 side. On the Dutch side, yeah. Because you guys 00:03:56.219 --> 00:04:02.020 have more beach on the Dutch side, right? Yeah, 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:05.099 yeah. You have more beach, yeah. But that's why. 00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:08.060 we needed to do a swimming pool and i think it 00:04:08.060 --> 00:04:10.699 was like a great concept to introduce to curacao 00:04:10.699 --> 00:04:18.800 and we did it But you guys also host events here. 00:04:18.839 --> 00:04:20.680 Yeah, we host events. What type of events are 00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:23.480 they? First of all, we're a beach club. But you 00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:25.459 can do a very good lunch. You can do your dinner 00:04:25.459 --> 00:04:28.379 here. And a lot of places... Right now, a lot 00:04:28.379 --> 00:04:31.339 of corporate places are asking us, hey, can we 00:04:31.339 --> 00:04:32.980 do an event here? Because, you know, there's 00:04:32.980 --> 00:04:36.319 a very windy place. It's not too hot. It's an 00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:38.579 easy location to come. We have a lot of parking. 00:04:38.860 --> 00:04:41.160 Yeah, because we're right here in Otro Bando. 00:04:41.160 --> 00:04:43.839 Yeah, we're right. We are a city beach. So that's 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:47.060 the first... also beach like in the middle of 00:04:47.060 --> 00:04:49.839 the city and Otra Banda is the new upcoming place 00:04:49.839 --> 00:04:51.939 and Punda Petramay they're building a lot they 00:04:51.939 --> 00:04:54.740 already build a lot but on this side of the island 00:04:54.740 --> 00:04:57.560 there's nothing happening right now but it's 00:04:57.560 --> 00:05:01.079 right now the upcoming place so we started with 00:05:01.079 --> 00:05:04.569 this project I think three years ago yeah And 00:05:04.569 --> 00:05:07.569 so we do beach club, restaurant and a lot of 00:05:07.569 --> 00:05:09.810 events, corporate events. And we have our own 00:05:09.810 --> 00:05:13.470 events like our Caribbean Night 25+. It's an 00:05:13.470 --> 00:05:16.449 old school R &B concept from us. It was just 00:05:16.449 --> 00:05:20.430 last Saturday. Yeah, I saw. We have it in Amsterdam 00:05:20.430 --> 00:05:23.350 once a month and it's packed. Wait, wait. That's 00:05:23.350 --> 00:05:27.790 the one in Sky Bar. I've been there. I've been 00:05:27.790 --> 00:05:31.029 there. I got a bit too tipsy over there. Bro, 00:05:31.769 --> 00:05:36.029 if you... You know what it is? If I go out, I 00:05:36.029 --> 00:05:39.129 go to 25+. For me, it's one of the best parties 00:05:39.129 --> 00:05:42.069 because I don't want to go to a clip anymore. 00:05:42.269 --> 00:05:44.449 But if I go there and we can sing along and all 00:05:44.449 --> 00:05:47.430 the old school music and 25 plus people. It's 00:05:47.430 --> 00:05:50.569 a grown vibe. It's a grown vibe. And you could 00:05:50.569 --> 00:05:54.329 listen to the music you want to listen to. The 00:05:54.329 --> 00:05:58.060 new school is also good. Some of it. this is 00:05:58.060 --> 00:06:00.579 our time when we grew up you know what i mean 00:06:00.579 --> 00:06:02.759 it's like the same way your mom say like yeah 00:06:02.759 --> 00:06:05.459 oh do you know this song you were very small 00:06:05.459 --> 00:06:07.699 when she was cleaning the house you know my mom 00:06:07.699 --> 00:06:09.240 every time she cleaned the house she put like 00:06:09.240 --> 00:06:12.180 the music on so i know all the music from the 00:06:12.180 --> 00:06:15.680 80s the 70s yeah yeah and yeah if you put them 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:20.519 on i will sing because i know them all so um 00:06:20.519 --> 00:06:24.240 yeah there's we have 25 plus caribbean night 00:06:25.339 --> 00:06:28.259 And we are introducing right now our brunches. 00:06:28.259 --> 00:06:30.759 The Latin brunch is coming. So we do our own 00:06:30.759 --> 00:06:34.639 events. 5th of April. We have Dope. You know, 00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:38.579 Shermanology. One of the famous Caribbean DJs. 00:06:38.579 --> 00:06:41.939 He's from Curacao. he stands for the caribbean 00:06:41.939 --> 00:06:46.579 also so true we are caribbean and five february 00:06:46.579 --> 00:06:49.639 so we try to do a lot of um um different things 00:06:49.639 --> 00:06:52.959 yeah to stay close to our um oh sorry close to 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:56.079 your roots yeah close to your roots and for for 00:06:56.079 --> 00:06:59.199 me as entrepreneur it's very important that we 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:03.420 can do everything together yeah With people from 00:07:03.420 --> 00:07:05.339 the community, you know for me is that very important 00:07:05.339 --> 00:07:07.480 like in the Netherlands I always did like all 00:07:07.480 --> 00:07:09.800 my the most of them my kitchen team and just 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:13.560 were front of house were from Curacao and Mundi 00:07:13.560 --> 00:07:16.879 also Yeah, so you need to empower each other. 00:07:16.939 --> 00:07:19.480 That's always my motto to try to do more with 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:23.939 People from the Caribbean. And even in the brief 00:07:23.939 --> 00:07:26.199 little, because I came over last night to just 00:07:26.199 --> 00:07:30.500 check the place out, do a reconnaissance. And 00:07:30.500 --> 00:07:33.779 I could see it already. Like with the staff and 00:07:33.779 --> 00:07:39.490 very friendly greeting. check in on you and and 00:07:39.490 --> 00:07:41.689 and you could see it immediately like like that 00:07:41.689 --> 00:07:44.529 caribbean vibe and and and the culture is definitely 00:07:44.529 --> 00:07:46.670 present if you are the best caribbean kitchen 00:07:46.670 --> 00:07:51.730 in town you need to have it right so so you mentioned 00:07:51.730 --> 00:07:54.149 your mom now multiple times so let's let's go 00:07:54.149 --> 00:07:57.990 all the way back to a little justin so growing 00:07:57.990 --> 00:08:02.420 up in curacao yeah um what was that like i think 00:08:02.420 --> 00:08:06.300 um growing up in curacao or growing up on an 00:08:06.300 --> 00:08:10.759 island it's very different than growing up in 00:08:10.759 --> 00:08:13.220 uh in the netherlands or growing up in europe 00:08:13.220 --> 00:08:15.839 of like places like it's cold you know and i 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:21.000 think i had the best um childhood childhood like 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:24.519 you know i see my kids growing up i try to give 00:08:24.519 --> 00:08:27.120 them the best childhood yeah but it's very different 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:29.360 when they are here because i try to come with 00:08:30.060 --> 00:08:33.399 So they come like three, four times a year. Oh, 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:35.840 wow. Yeah, because my mom lives here, you know, 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:38.179 and it's her grandma and my sister lives here. 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:40.549 So I'm the only one. in the netherlands yeah 00:08:40.549 --> 00:08:44.889 um so i try to come often so they can also integrate 00:08:44.889 --> 00:08:47.710 yourself with curacao like this is also my home 00:08:47.710 --> 00:08:50.649 yeah so every time we go on vacation i ask them 00:08:50.649 --> 00:08:53.210 hey where do you want to go um should we do this 00:08:53.210 --> 00:08:58.370 time somewhere else no i want to go okay so they 00:08:58.370 --> 00:09:00.590 come in two weeks they come out also they're 00:09:00.590 --> 00:09:02.669 gonna come yeah so they're already preparing 00:09:02.669 --> 00:09:05.549 everything and they are waiting to how old are 00:09:05.549 --> 00:09:11.149 they seven and six oh perfect age Yeah, so they 00:09:11.149 --> 00:09:14.009 are everyday ape that whenever we're coming, 00:09:14.230 --> 00:09:16.929 we start counting, you know what I mean? Because 00:09:16.929 --> 00:09:20.419 they are excited to come back. To Curacao. Yeah. 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:23.779 And the way, like, I see him walking without 00:09:23.779 --> 00:09:26.960 shoes, like, in his under, how do you say that? 00:09:27.059 --> 00:09:31.580 Yeah, yeah. Real island style. Yeah. Just the 00:09:31.580 --> 00:09:35.299 freedom. Yeah, that's freedom. Catching Lagadishi, 00:09:35.500 --> 00:09:37.399 you know what I'm saying? Lagadishi is lizard? 00:09:37.399 --> 00:09:39.379 The small iguanas. Ah, yeah, yeah. And every 00:09:39.379 --> 00:09:41.639 day he asks me, let's go to fish, I want to go 00:09:41.639 --> 00:09:44.639 to the boat. Yeah. You obviously went to school 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:48.559 here, so. What was the school time like? Because 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:53.100 how did growing up here sort of influence the 00:09:53.100 --> 00:09:56.379 chef in you to want to emerge? Yeah, you know, 00:09:56.460 --> 00:10:00.659 I always cooked at home. Like on Saturday, it's 00:10:00.659 --> 00:10:02.940 like my mom is working and we cook at home. And 00:10:02.940 --> 00:10:05.639 I was always the guy that goes in the kitchen 00:10:05.639 --> 00:10:08.659 and fix it, you know? Yeah. And my dad was a 00:10:08.659 --> 00:10:11.899 pastry chef. And we had a few pastry places here. 00:10:12.039 --> 00:10:14.600 And I always used to be in the kitchen with him, 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:19.700 you know, working or doing my thing. And I first 00:10:19.700 --> 00:10:21.779 started at Front of House because I never did 00:10:21.779 --> 00:10:24.559 like a chef school or something. I just like 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:28.240 how to deduct, they say in Dutch. How to deduct? 00:10:28.440 --> 00:10:32.139 How to deduct. Like, it's like a passion. Yeah. 00:10:32.830 --> 00:10:35.629 Cooking was my passion. I did only the hotel 00:10:35.629 --> 00:10:37.929 school in the Netherlands. And then I did economics. 00:10:38.149 --> 00:10:42.350 I studied for economics. And later on, I was 00:10:42.350 --> 00:10:44.129 like, I don't want to be in front of house anymore. 00:10:44.309 --> 00:10:45.970 I want to change my career. I want to do something 00:10:45.970 --> 00:10:48.490 different. And then the cooking part was starting 00:10:48.490 --> 00:10:53.149 getting more and more and more. So then I went 00:10:53.149 --> 00:10:55.149 to MasterChef. One of my students that I used 00:10:55.149 --> 00:10:57.450 to live with, they drove me in MasterChef. And 00:10:57.450 --> 00:10:58.750 I was like, well, what the f*** are you doing? 00:10:58.870 --> 00:11:01.649 And then I went to the first round, second round. 00:11:02.460 --> 00:11:04.519 Because you have a few rounds before you can 00:11:04.519 --> 00:11:08.559 start with a program. Oh, okay, yeah. They're 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:11.820 like 250 people. Yeah. So they really want to 00:11:11.820 --> 00:11:14.580 get the best of the best to go on the show. Yeah, 00:11:14.600 --> 00:11:19.580 to go on the show. So I was one of them from 00:11:19.580 --> 00:11:23.220 the 16th. So from the 250 to the 16th, and then 00:11:23.220 --> 00:11:26.690 it started. And when I went out of the show, 00:11:26.850 --> 00:11:29.690 I was like, I think I love cooking. Yeah. And 00:11:29.690 --> 00:11:32.230 I used to work my whole life in restaurants because, 00:11:32.269 --> 00:11:35.009 yeah, that's the only thing. As a student. Yeah, 00:11:35.029 --> 00:11:37.370 as a student. But I have only passion. I have 00:11:37.370 --> 00:11:42.210 passion for, what's it called? Yeah, so the hospitality. 00:11:42.490 --> 00:11:44.309 Yeah, I have passion for the hospitality. I like 00:11:44.309 --> 00:11:46.190 good food. I like good wine. I like to serve 00:11:46.190 --> 00:11:49.870 people so they have a good time. So, yeah. And 00:11:49.870 --> 00:11:53.330 I'm born in that. Yeah. In this world, you know? 00:11:53.450 --> 00:11:57.539 Yeah. So then I started cooking. I asked my chef, 00:11:57.620 --> 00:11:59.159 like, hey, I don't want to be in front of house 00:11:59.159 --> 00:12:01.179 anymore. Don't you need someone to help you in 00:12:01.179 --> 00:12:04.659 the kitchen? So from that day on, it started 00:12:04.659 --> 00:12:07.320 growing and growing and growing. Yeah, nice. 00:12:07.820 --> 00:12:12.399 So it was a crazy road. A very strange road because 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:15.019 I never expected that I'm going to be a chef. 00:12:15.179 --> 00:12:17.639 Yeah. Because I took this job very seriously. 00:12:17.639 --> 00:12:20.620 So I started cooking, what I told you already, 00:12:20.759 --> 00:12:24.100 very young. I was doing in Curacao also caterings 00:12:24.100 --> 00:12:28.210 and beside my job. I was doing cooking where 00:12:28.210 --> 00:12:30.809 I used to live in the Netherlands, cooking for 00:12:30.809 --> 00:12:33.710 the people there and selling food and put some 00:12:33.710 --> 00:12:35.610 barbecues. Like, hey, there's a Caribbean barbecue 00:12:35.610 --> 00:12:37.990 on Saturday. Do you guys come? 25 euros, you 00:12:37.990 --> 00:12:38.870 know, something like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:12:39.009 --> 00:12:41.230 So technically you was doing it all the while, 00:12:41.330 --> 00:12:43.950 but you didn't think you were doing it. Something 00:12:43.950 --> 00:12:47.950 like that. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So and 00:12:47.950 --> 00:12:52.769 then when I finished with MasterChef, I was like. 00:12:53.580 --> 00:12:58.440 Why should I do something that I don't like to 00:12:58.440 --> 00:13:01.919 try to run away from my passion? Because you're 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:05.080 trying to run away from something. So why do 00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:08.580 you think that you didn't choose for your passion 00:13:08.580 --> 00:13:12.399 any earlier? I think there's a few reasons because 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:17.299 being a chef in that time, it's nothing. super 00:13:17.299 --> 00:13:19.580 great or something you know what I'm saying it's 00:13:19.580 --> 00:13:24.600 so so so our culture yeah our culture you know 00:13:24.600 --> 00:13:27.860 what I'm saying yeah so when I was finished with 00:13:27.860 --> 00:13:32.440 the hospitality school I I was like okay I want 00:13:32.440 --> 00:13:36.200 to do something that I don't have to work anymore 00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:41.179 in the hospitality so what can I do as best and 00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:44.679 accounting i'm very good in you know in numbers 00:13:44.679 --> 00:13:49.840 and numbers yeah um so you study economics and 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:52.039 yeah and so that that was the easiest thing for 00:13:52.039 --> 00:13:55.539 me yeah you know so you went into accountancy 00:13:55.539 --> 00:13:59.440 yeah i did uh accountancy yeah so but that was 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:01.279 the easiest thing i was like i don't want to 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:04.440 i don't want to have i went first i did facility 00:14:04.440 --> 00:14:08.100 management i was one week there i was like hell 00:14:08.100 --> 00:14:18.559 no hell no So then I was like, okay, my girlfriend, 00:14:18.779 --> 00:14:25.779 my, my baby mom, baby mom. Um, she, she was like, 00:14:25.779 --> 00:14:27.480 Hey dude, don't you think this is something for 00:14:27.480 --> 00:14:29.740 you? It was like, okay, you know, fuck it. I'm 00:14:29.740 --> 00:14:31.700 just going to try it. And if it goes, it goes. 00:14:31.799 --> 00:14:33.779 And I finished my study in four years. The one 00:14:33.779 --> 00:14:36.980 in one row. Boom. Yeah. And in the mid and between 00:14:36.980 --> 00:14:39.419 that just opened already. So I was studying and 00:14:39.419 --> 00:14:42.860 having, so yeah this was a crazy roller coaster 00:14:42.860 --> 00:14:49.259 like so so you did the hospitality like mbo and 00:14:49.259 --> 00:14:51.480 then you did like economics high b .o yeah so 00:14:51.480 --> 00:14:57.580 later on the i had just i started 5 may i just 00:14:57.580 --> 00:15:03.179 took my contract for just it was 2017. on 10 00:15:03.179 --> 00:15:08.320 may 2017 my girlfriend told me i'm pregnant i'm 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:11.279 pregnant happy birthday and it was her birthday 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:15.639 so i was like happy birthday my love and she 00:15:15.639 --> 00:15:21.220 was like congratulations my love i was like yay 00:15:21.220 --> 00:15:26.460 no i was i was very happy yeah yeah but the timing 00:15:26.460 --> 00:15:30.440 was perfect so of course was the timing perfect 00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:34.269 you know what i'm saying so i was like okay i 00:15:34.269 --> 00:15:36.049 need to do school i need to finish my school 00:15:36.049 --> 00:15:38.429 i need to do one more one more year so scripts 00:15:38.429 --> 00:15:43.570 and everything i need to um i'm becoming a dad 00:15:43.570 --> 00:15:51.710 next year and just this opening yeah so I went 00:15:51.710 --> 00:15:55.590 to my mentor. So your mentor at school? At school, 00:15:55.750 --> 00:16:01.990 yeah. She was a very, very beautiful soul or 00:16:01.990 --> 00:16:04.590 lady, a person, you know, because she was understanding 00:16:04.590 --> 00:16:07.950 me. And she saw my growth from, like, coming 00:16:07.950 --> 00:16:10.629 from the hospitality school in the first year 00:16:10.629 --> 00:16:14.309 and then MasterChef. Oh, you did MasterChef while 00:16:14.309 --> 00:16:19.019 you were doing HBO? MasterChef was 2016. Yeah, 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:20.679 it was my first year, yes. Yeah, so you were 00:16:20.679 --> 00:16:30.259 in half a year. Yeah. Look at yourself. Yeah, 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:38.610 of course, amigo. So, yeah, so. She saw my grow 00:16:38.610 --> 00:16:41.809 and then just opened and I was like, okay listen 00:16:41.809 --> 00:16:43.909 to me I have a few things that they need to discuss 00:16:43.909 --> 00:16:46.289 with you. Yeah, just as open. I need to do my 00:16:46.289 --> 00:16:51.889 script see And I'm gonna be dead. Yeah How are 00:16:51.889 --> 00:16:54.389 you gonna do this? I was like if you help me 00:16:54.389 --> 00:16:57.070 just talk with cool Yeah, so they can help me 00:16:57.070 --> 00:17:00.470 if I can do my script see like during my work 00:17:00.470 --> 00:17:02.529 period because I'm working I'm doing the number. 00:17:02.610 --> 00:17:04.650 You know what? I mean, you can help me we can 00:17:04.650 --> 00:17:08.619 arrange something. Yeah So, I couldn't... I finished 00:17:08.619 --> 00:17:19.380 my school in 2018. Oh, nice, man. Nice. Yeah, 00:17:19.380 --> 00:17:21.940 in 2018, I finished my school. And once, I was 00:17:21.940 --> 00:17:24.039 like, okay, listen. I don't want to pay that 00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:27.279 debt. Because, you know, a lot of students of 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:30.539 ours, they have the high loan and shit. So, I 00:17:30.539 --> 00:17:32.980 told them, I don't want to do that. So, please, 00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:36.819 how are we going to fix this? The first time, 00:17:36.900 --> 00:17:41.099 I just needed to make an exam from hours. It's 00:17:41.099 --> 00:17:46.240 like five, six hours exam. Yeah. You need to 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:50.059 do it. So the first time I failed, then you need 00:17:50.059 --> 00:17:52.339 to pay to do it again. Oh, shit. And I was like, 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:55.619 okay, Justin, this time, I took three days off 00:17:55.619 --> 00:17:59.380 to do that. And then I finished school. And then 00:17:59.380 --> 00:18:06.599 I was like, okay, next. So it seems like there's 00:18:06.599 --> 00:18:10.339 a bit of a trend of doing a lot of big things 00:18:10.339 --> 00:18:14.859 simultaneously. Of course. And everything you 00:18:14.859 --> 00:18:19.319 know up front. That's the most... How do you 00:18:19.319 --> 00:18:22.380 mean everything you know up front? It looks like 00:18:22.380 --> 00:18:24.240 you know everything up front. Oh, yeah, yeah, 00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:26.140 yeah. Of course. Oh, you need to stay to finish 00:18:26.140 --> 00:18:27.900 school. Yes. You're opening a new restaurant. 00:18:27.980 --> 00:18:30.420 Yes, of course. Also, in doing that, oh, you're 00:18:30.420 --> 00:18:33.180 the new best kitchen in town. Whoa, thank you. 00:18:33.460 --> 00:18:35.619 Yeah. But then, you know, the restaurant once 00:18:35.619 --> 00:18:38.880 was so busy, just was so busy. I was working 00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:44.660 seven days, like seven days, every day. And so 00:18:44.660 --> 00:18:48.109 I woke up in the morning. I woke up in the morning. 00:18:48.269 --> 00:18:51.750 I really want to give the mother of my kids props 00:18:51.750 --> 00:18:54.549 because she did everything, you know, because 00:18:54.549 --> 00:18:57.190 I wasn't at home. Because, yeah, we have two 00:18:57.190 --> 00:19:01.549 babies. One needs to bring food on the table 00:19:01.549 --> 00:19:05.670 and the other one needs food. So it was a very, 00:19:05.750 --> 00:19:09.450 very, very... It was a heavy time for us. It 00:19:09.450 --> 00:19:12.210 put a lot of pressure on our relationship, yeah. 00:19:13.180 --> 00:19:15.539 Because you try to understand each other. And 00:19:15.539 --> 00:19:19.920 normally, if you are a dad, or you just became 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:24.019 a dad, you go in the process with your baby mom. 00:19:24.119 --> 00:19:27.339 Like, you need to be more patient. You need to 00:19:27.339 --> 00:19:29.799 understand her. You know, women get all those 00:19:29.799 --> 00:19:33.200 hormones. You know what I'm saying? And I was 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:35.980 totally not in touch with her feelings, you know, 00:19:35.980 --> 00:19:38.839 because I had another priority. I was not looking 00:19:38.839 --> 00:19:41.180 after the kid, you know? Well, they say the business 00:19:41.180 --> 00:19:44.220 is also a baby. That's why we had two babies. 00:19:44.420 --> 00:19:49.880 You had three babies. You had two real babies. 00:19:50.220 --> 00:19:52.559 And then you had the business baby. Yeah, man. 00:19:52.819 --> 00:19:56.859 So it was a very heavy time, you know. But we 00:19:56.859 --> 00:20:01.259 did it. And that's something when I look after 00:20:01.259 --> 00:20:06.559 everything. Because a year later was my first 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:12.660 vacation. Since 2017 when we opened. My first 00:20:12.660 --> 00:20:22.039 vacation was in 2000. What's this? No, it was 00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:25.160 not a vacation. It was a workcation? It was a 00:20:25.160 --> 00:20:29.680 workcation. Which company? Oh, Corendon was it? 00:20:29.720 --> 00:20:33.900 Corendon asked me to come. Yeah. For a TV program 00:20:33.900 --> 00:20:38.220 or something? No? I can't remember very well. 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:42.089 No? I needed to cook here. So I asked them, okay, 00:20:42.150 --> 00:20:45.029 I can come, but only on one reason, if my wife 00:20:45.029 --> 00:20:55.349 and my firstborn can come. So we were here, and 00:20:55.349 --> 00:20:58.650 then we knew we were going to get a new one. 00:21:00.869 --> 00:21:06.170 So the second one came and killed a dice. I was 00:21:06.170 --> 00:21:13.700 like, no. You know? But we did it again. We did 00:21:13.700 --> 00:21:16.440 it again. So we have two kids, one boy and one 00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:20.119 girl. Oh, nice. So the boy is first? The boy 00:21:20.119 --> 00:21:21.880 is first, the boy is seventh, and my daughter 00:21:21.880 --> 00:21:24.559 is going to be sixth right now. Okay, nice. So 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:27.839 that was a very happy time. But we did it. We 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:30.019 made it. We're still here. We still breathe. 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:36.259 Yeah, man. Yeah, and then the other roller coaster. 00:21:37.590 --> 00:21:41.569 Just, no, just was doing very good as the first 00:21:41.569 --> 00:21:46.569 Caribbean kitchen in town doing. So where was 00:21:46.569 --> 00:21:47.950 that, in Rotterdam or Amsterdam? Yeah, that was 00:21:47.950 --> 00:21:51.089 in Rotterdam. My first restaurant was in Rotterdam. 00:21:51.150 --> 00:21:59.410 My second one was here in Curacao. Then in COVID 00:21:59.410 --> 00:22:02.369 we started. But we have already Mundi in Amsterdam. 00:22:02.789 --> 00:22:08.259 Okay, yeah. Just Mundi. then Curacao, then Skybar, 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:14.960 then New West, and right now this one. And right 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:19.539 now we are building a new one. Can you mention 00:22:19.539 --> 00:22:22.759 any of that? Yeah, of course. So where is the 00:22:22.759 --> 00:22:24.539 new one going to be? So the new one we're going 00:22:24.539 --> 00:22:28.900 to build in Yantil. It's an old place, and we're 00:22:28.900 --> 00:22:31.400 going to renovate everything, so we just throw 00:22:31.400 --> 00:22:34.279 the pool out this week. so you're also going 00:22:34.279 --> 00:22:35.759 to put a pool there and everything it's going 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:39.000 to be a beach club okay a new beach club but 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:42.900 an italian one okay so we want to um do more 00:22:42.900 --> 00:22:45.859 concepts and not only the caribbean kitchen but 00:22:45.859 --> 00:22:49.880 we're gonna do like um we're gonna do a italian 00:22:49.880 --> 00:22:53.700 kitchen and with a few influences of the caribbean 00:22:53.700 --> 00:22:58.109 okay yeah so we have um Like a jerk chicken pizza. 00:22:58.430 --> 00:23:00.269 Oh, interesting. You know, things like that. 00:23:00.450 --> 00:23:02.910 Yeah. But I try to, you know, Italians don't 00:23:02.910 --> 00:23:05.170 like you to f*** with their kitchen. True, true. 00:23:09.630 --> 00:23:13.450 So, for all the Italian, I really, really like 00:23:13.450 --> 00:23:15.329 your kitchen. I have a lot of respect for you 00:23:15.329 --> 00:23:20.569 guys. And I think the fusion is very nice. Like, 00:23:20.630 --> 00:23:24.529 one of my best dishes was a ravioli I made with 00:23:24.529 --> 00:23:27.880 stobap and truffle. Yeah. With a Parmesan foam, 00:23:28.099 --> 00:23:31.000 it's like amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing. 00:23:31.240 --> 00:23:34.859 So can you get that here? I think in six months 00:23:34.859 --> 00:23:36.299 we have it on the menu over there. Okay, okay, 00:23:36.299 --> 00:23:38.940 okay. So that's when I'll be back. Yeah, yeah. 00:23:39.140 --> 00:23:42.079 But that's why I was thinking, you know, I think 00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:45.779 because I like the Italian kitchen very a lot. 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:51.160 It's a very simple. simple kitchen but with nice 00:23:51.160 --> 00:23:54.599 flavors and they come being everything so good 00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:57.539 and I was thinking I if I we put this together 00:23:57.539 --> 00:24:00.519 yeah we have a new explosion for sure so that's 00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:06.960 gonna be the Monday Italian yeah so let's let's 00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:09.500 continue on that Caribbean trend how would you 00:24:09.500 --> 00:24:15.460 say your Caribbean influences has helped to shape 00:24:15.460 --> 00:24:22.960 your career You know what it is Like I always 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:25.799 say if you look at a Suriname kitchen mm -hmm 00:24:25.799 --> 00:24:29.039 in every corner in the Netherlands You can eat 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:32.480 the broodje kapkerry or chasu or you know, and 00:24:32.480 --> 00:24:36.680 I like also the roti, you know Yeah, it's amazing 00:24:36.680 --> 00:24:44.039 and a Lot of Dutch people they go a lot to Curacao. 00:24:44.180 --> 00:24:48.319 Yeah, right. Yeah, so when i started with this 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:52.640 concept i was like why why not the caribbean 00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:54.559 kitchen what is the problem with the caribbean 00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:56.640 kitchen does anybody know the caribbean kitchen 00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:59.960 yeah um a lot of people think that the caribbean 00:24:59.960 --> 00:25:05.319 kitchen is um the triptipan or something like 00:25:05.319 --> 00:25:08.980 that but we have so many things in our kitchen 00:25:08.980 --> 00:25:12.940 yeah we got so many influences around the world 00:25:12.940 --> 00:25:16.789 because look We are on an island. We have Venezuela. 00:25:17.049 --> 00:25:20.289 We have Colombia. We have Trinidad and Tobago. 00:25:20.509 --> 00:25:24.190 You guys have the French side. We have the African 00:25:24.190 --> 00:25:29.430 roots. We have the Indian roots. It's one huge 00:25:29.430 --> 00:25:35.450 fusion. So our kitchen is very big. We have Peru 00:25:35.450 --> 00:25:39.789 on the other side. We have Brazil there. You 00:25:39.789 --> 00:25:42.950 have so many influences and there are so many 00:25:42.950 --> 00:25:46.089 countries and the Caribbean Sea. Yeah, so Why 00:25:46.089 --> 00:25:49.750 not we can cook everything we can do so a lot 00:25:49.750 --> 00:25:52.549 of techniques comes from the Caribbean, you know 00:25:52.549 --> 00:25:55.230 your French French is the French way of cooking 00:25:55.230 --> 00:25:59.230 and the friend and I Don't know if I can say 00:25:59.230 --> 00:26:03.430 this but You know, no, but the French they did 00:26:03.430 --> 00:26:07.789 a lot of good work. They put the base From sauces 00:26:07.789 --> 00:26:11.210 and techniques, they did it. But if you come 00:26:11.210 --> 00:26:16.170 on this side of the world, you will see that 00:26:16.170 --> 00:26:22.630 we have also a lot of techniques. Stewing, ceviches, 00:26:22.690 --> 00:26:27.089 you know. We have so many with fish. We do a 00:26:27.089 --> 00:26:30.109 lot with the French side don't have those. We 00:26:30.109 --> 00:26:32.329 have more fish than Europe, you know what I'm 00:26:32.329 --> 00:26:34.930 saying? So we got so more things that we can 00:26:34.930 --> 00:26:38.190 do. with the sea and we just throw a line over 00:26:38.190 --> 00:26:41.730 here and We just take a tuna. Yeah, and we make 00:26:41.730 --> 00:26:44.490 sashimi and we do this and we do that. So We 00:26:44.490 --> 00:26:49.170 have so many influences. Oh I'm to come back 00:26:49.170 --> 00:26:51.789 on your question. Yeah, but that was the reason 00:26:51.789 --> 00:26:55.089 we have so many things that we can do and I never 00:26:55.089 --> 00:26:56.529 saw the Caribbean kitchen in the Netherlands. 00:26:56.630 --> 00:26:59.230 Yeah on the elevated way. So I started with just 00:26:59.880 --> 00:27:03.039 cooking four or five courses, only Caribbean 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:08.599 kitchen. So to twist our local food to an upper 00:27:08.599 --> 00:27:10.779 scale, you know, that was my concept. That's 00:27:10.779 --> 00:27:13.500 where I started from. And what you see is they're 00:27:13.500 --> 00:27:16.900 like, a lot of people, they came once to Curacao, 00:27:17.099 --> 00:27:20.680 their daughter lives in Curacao, my dad. was 00:27:20.680 --> 00:27:25.380 once in Curacao or I grew up in Curacao or, you 00:27:25.380 --> 00:27:27.640 know, I have a good friend, you know, some type 00:27:27.640 --> 00:27:30.460 of connection with the island. And it was a boom 00:27:30.460 --> 00:27:33.980 because there are so many people that lives in 00:27:33.980 --> 00:27:35.819 the Netherlands that have a connection with our 00:27:35.819 --> 00:27:38.720 islands, not only Curacao, but St. Martin, Bonaire, 00:27:38.779 --> 00:27:43.720 Aruba, Saba, St. Eustatius, you know. So it was 00:27:43.720 --> 00:27:46.920 also like a time machine for them. Yeah, I can 00:27:46.920 --> 00:27:50.269 imagine. You know, they come. I remember having 00:27:50.269 --> 00:27:52.690 like the little mini pastiches and things. Yeah, 00:27:52.690 --> 00:27:54.730 you know what I mean? So it was like a time machine. 00:27:54.809 --> 00:27:58.950 And I think that was the greatest success for 00:27:58.950 --> 00:28:04.109 doing this for people in the Netherlands, you 00:28:04.109 --> 00:28:10.269 know? Yeah, yeah. Awesome, man. So if we tap 00:28:10.269 --> 00:28:19.140 into mentors. Mentors. So persons that helped 00:28:19.140 --> 00:28:22.140 you along the way, persons that you could go 00:28:22.140 --> 00:28:25.279 to for advice. You actually mentioned your mentor 00:28:25.279 --> 00:28:29.480 from school earlier. But let's say in the business 00:28:29.480 --> 00:28:31.900 aspect of things, in the chef and hospitality 00:28:31.900 --> 00:28:35.539 aspects, were there any mentors? They don't even 00:28:35.539 --> 00:28:37.619 have to be, let's say, persons that you're really 00:28:37.619 --> 00:28:39.779 connected to physically. It could also be maybe 00:28:39.779 --> 00:28:43.279 persons that you followed online to get the inspiration 00:28:43.279 --> 00:28:46.039 from and sort of the guidance on how to navigate. 00:28:46.240 --> 00:28:48.599 Because something like this has never really 00:28:48.599 --> 00:28:52.599 been done to my knowledge. setting up a Caribbean 00:28:52.599 --> 00:28:55.400 cuisine kitchen in the Netherlands and then eventually 00:28:55.400 --> 00:28:59.039 bringing it back home as well. Yeah, you know, 00:28:59.079 --> 00:29:04.220 I had a few mentors and, like, there was a chef. 00:29:04.420 --> 00:29:06.339 I used to work for him. All my friends worked 00:29:06.339 --> 00:29:10.559 for him. We were working in the spool, you know. 00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:14.420 How do you say that? Say it in Dutch. Okay, in 00:29:14.420 --> 00:29:15.900 the spool kamer, you know, where you spool the 00:29:15.900 --> 00:29:20.019 plates. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Dishwasher. I also 00:29:20.019 --> 00:29:26.279 did that. we did like and we used to work there 00:29:26.279 --> 00:29:30.019 and this is a guy that I always mention in all 00:29:30.019 --> 00:29:33.180 my podcasts because this guy he gave me everything 00:29:33.180 --> 00:29:36.849 that he could All the knowledge. He has a very 00:29:36.849 --> 00:29:39.069 big restaurant. All my caterings that I had, 00:29:39.250 --> 00:29:41.170 he was like, take it for free. I really want 00:29:41.170 --> 00:29:43.769 to see you growing, you know? And if I didn't 00:29:43.769 --> 00:29:46.410 know something, he always will be there. If I 00:29:46.410 --> 00:29:48.109 need to call him at one o 'clock in the evening 00:29:48.109 --> 00:29:51.589 or at night or in the morning, it doesn't matter. 00:29:52.150 --> 00:29:56.910 Still today, when I call him, he was always open 00:29:56.910 --> 00:30:01.450 for me. And I really need to give him his props 00:30:01.450 --> 00:30:03.529 and a big thank you to Marcel Beierling from 00:30:03.529 --> 00:30:08.089 The Machinist in Rotterdam. I don't know how 00:30:08.089 --> 00:30:11.589 to explain sometimes how thankful I am to this 00:30:11.589 --> 00:30:14.349 man to see the potential in me and give me the 00:30:14.349 --> 00:30:18.569 trust to do what I wanted to do. Because that 00:30:18.569 --> 00:30:22.450 actually brings me to another question of how 00:30:22.450 --> 00:30:26.779 important are relationships? So, like, those 00:30:26.779 --> 00:30:30.039 business relationships, how important are those 00:30:30.039 --> 00:30:31.319 for the development of your... You know also 00:30:31.319 --> 00:30:36.000 what it is? Like, those type of relationships 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:38.299 are a very important connection. Networking is 00:30:38.299 --> 00:30:41.619 the most important thing. Yeah. I think. And, 00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:44.380 like, a type of guy like this guy, like, my dad 00:30:44.380 --> 00:30:46.559 passed away when I was very young. Oh, shit. 00:30:46.619 --> 00:30:50.759 Sorry to hear that. And I don't know that he 00:30:50.759 --> 00:30:54.420 was, like, my figure, but he was helping me with 00:30:54.420 --> 00:30:58.759 everything, like, You know? Yeah. Like a bit 00:30:58.759 --> 00:31:00.980 of a dad figure. Yeah, man. And that was very 00:31:00.980 --> 00:31:04.279 nice because, you know, I'm a f***ing guy from 00:31:04.279 --> 00:31:06.839 Curacao. We're just working in a dishwashing 00:31:06.839 --> 00:31:09.680 here and try to get my money to live my student 00:31:09.680 --> 00:31:11.420 life in the Netherlands. You know what I'm saying? 00:31:11.460 --> 00:31:14.140 And he took us, all of these friends, and we 00:31:14.140 --> 00:31:17.700 are still good with him. And he just came last 00:31:17.700 --> 00:31:20.079 summer. He was here also with all of us. And 00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:23.019 yeah, this guy, you know, I'm so thankful for 00:31:23.019 --> 00:31:31.940 this guy. For me, having a good business partner, 00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:35.420 my business partner right now is also a very 00:31:35.420 --> 00:31:37.859 good mentor. He's the owner of Corendon and we 00:31:37.859 --> 00:31:40.559 do a lot of things together. But if you need 00:31:40.559 --> 00:31:44.259 to look at his journey, it's a crazy journey. 00:31:44.500 --> 00:31:47.640 It's like from a guy selling shawarma in Harlem 00:31:47.640 --> 00:31:50.599 and owns right now, I don't know, 10 hotels, 00:31:50.839 --> 00:31:55.200 50 planes. I don't know what he owns, but one 00:31:55.200 --> 00:31:58.420 of the biggest companies in Europe in the airline 00:31:58.420 --> 00:32:01.779 business. So everything can start, everything 00:32:01.779 --> 00:32:05.740 can come if there's a consistency, belief, and 00:32:05.740 --> 00:32:11.660 do it. Just do it. You have nothing to lose. 00:32:11.779 --> 00:32:13.859 What do you have to lose? Exactly. My dad always 00:32:13.859 --> 00:32:15.619 told me, there's one thing you can lose in your 00:32:15.619 --> 00:32:21.390 life. That's your life. That's it. And if you 00:32:21.390 --> 00:32:23.369 lose everything, you start all over again. And 00:32:23.369 --> 00:32:25.130 if you lose it again, you start all over again. 00:32:26.750 --> 00:32:28.569 There's going to come a day that you're not going 00:32:28.569 --> 00:32:31.250 to lose again. Yeah. Yeah, you keep failing until 00:32:31.250 --> 00:32:33.410 you can't fail no more because then you'll succeed. 00:32:33.710 --> 00:32:38.769 Yeah. Yeah. So that's why I also believe in never 00:32:38.769 --> 00:32:42.769 quit. Yeah. You know? I see you with the Jordan 00:32:42.769 --> 00:32:48.920 and the Chicago shirt on. Yeah. Representing 00:32:48.920 --> 00:32:51.000 the six rings. Representing, yeah, man, bro, 00:32:51.099 --> 00:32:57.000 yeah. But that's really my motto, you know. We 00:32:57.000 --> 00:33:01.000 don't stop. There's no other option. Yeah, and 00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:04.339 based on everything that I've seen and heard, 00:33:04.500 --> 00:33:08.299 I would say that you're definitely living in 00:33:08.299 --> 00:33:12.579 your purpose. But what do you believe is your 00:33:12.579 --> 00:33:17.839 purpose on this earth? This is a very good question 00:33:17.839 --> 00:33:26.019 because, you know, for me what's very important 00:33:26.019 --> 00:33:31.720 and what I want to really give people is, like, 00:33:31.859 --> 00:33:35.920 first of all, love, you know. Let's love each 00:33:35.920 --> 00:33:38.920 other more. You know, give love. If you give, 00:33:39.779 --> 00:33:42.440 and it doesn't matter what it is, you can... 00:33:42.829 --> 00:33:45.210 receive, you know what I mean? And I think love 00:33:45.210 --> 00:33:58.430 for me is very important. And try to like help 00:33:58.430 --> 00:34:03.789 people understand like who the f*** I am, you 00:34:03.789 --> 00:34:07.650 know? Why? Because a lot of people are so also 00:34:07.650 --> 00:34:11.860 the social media and They are so distractive 00:34:11.860 --> 00:34:15.659 from the world and who is me. And I think that 00:34:15.659 --> 00:34:17.840 is one of the biggest issues that we have right 00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:22.280 now. True. And I really try to give them something 00:34:22.280 --> 00:34:24.659 like be the best of yourself. Focus on yourself. 00:34:25.019 --> 00:34:27.820 Do what you like. And it doesn't matter what 00:34:27.820 --> 00:34:32.880 you do. If you are the best cleaner or you're 00:34:32.880 --> 00:34:36.500 also a millionaire. be the best in what you do 00:34:36.500 --> 00:34:39.280 that's it and go for your passion and do what 00:34:39.280 --> 00:34:41.599 makes you happy and spend your money if you want 00:34:41.599 --> 00:34:44.280 because when you die it was gonna keep it the 00:34:44.280 --> 00:34:46.639 government or your family and they're gonna have 00:34:46.639 --> 00:34:49.840 also uh problems about the money that you left 00:34:49.840 --> 00:34:54.760 so true yeah what what why you know live your 00:34:54.760 --> 00:34:57.599 best life yes but because it's my ticket it's 00:34:57.599 --> 00:35:04.809 not yours yeah yeah you know what i mean so That's 00:35:04.809 --> 00:35:07.710 my vision. That's how I live. I do what I want. 00:35:08.670 --> 00:35:11.409 I try to travel. I love my kids. I love people 00:35:11.409 --> 00:35:14.769 around me. I try to give a lot of love and helping 00:35:14.769 --> 00:35:19.050 people around. If I can help you, why not? It 00:35:19.050 --> 00:35:21.230 doesn't cost me anything. Maybe a little bit 00:35:21.230 --> 00:35:25.699 of time. Well, I can attest to that because even 00:35:25.699 --> 00:35:28.599 how we were managed to get this arranged, if 00:35:28.599 --> 00:35:31.260 you didn't have that type of mindset, this wouldn't 00:35:31.260 --> 00:35:37.099 have happened now. So thanks for that, bro. So 00:35:37.099 --> 00:35:42.679 let's continue with the advice and let's go back 00:35:42.679 --> 00:35:45.980 to 18 -year -old Justin. Yeah. Right? So how 00:35:45.980 --> 00:35:50.820 old are you now? 30. 34. 34. Okay, so if I'm 00:35:50.820 --> 00:35:56.199 40, I turned 40 this year. God damn it, bro. 00:35:56.639 --> 00:36:00.239 I can't even give you that one. Wow, I thought 00:36:00.239 --> 00:36:02.820 you was. The grays are hiding. I'm gray. I'm 00:36:02.820 --> 00:36:06.420 gray, too. But the black don't crack, you know? 00:36:06.480 --> 00:36:12.659 The black don't crack. Bang. So let's tap back 00:36:12.659 --> 00:36:15.760 to an 18 -year -old Justin and where he was in 00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:19.030 his mind and his head. With all your experience 00:36:19.030 --> 00:36:23.889 and knowledge and wisdom today, what advice would 00:36:23.889 --> 00:36:40.250 you give 18 -year -old Justin? I think... How 00:36:40.250 --> 00:36:42.429 can I explain this good? Care less about other 00:36:42.429 --> 00:36:48.360 people. Yeah. Is it less about their opinions 00:36:48.360 --> 00:36:52.659 about other people's opinions? Yeah. You know 00:36:52.659 --> 00:36:54.139 what I mean? Yeah. You know what I'm saying, 00:36:54.199 --> 00:36:59.380 right? Because people always have an opinion 00:36:59.380 --> 00:37:03.239 about anything. It doesn't matter what you do, 00:37:03.280 --> 00:37:08.480 if it's good or bad or... Yeah. You know? And 00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:12.750 a lot of people... project their emotions or 00:37:12.750 --> 00:37:15.889 their feelings to someone else. Their insecurities 00:37:15.889 --> 00:37:18.570 onto someone else. And that's the biggest problem. 00:37:18.730 --> 00:37:23.409 Yeah. From young people right now. And I recognize 00:37:23.409 --> 00:37:26.250 it right now, you know, all over the world. Also 00:37:26.250 --> 00:37:28.909 the Instagram and the social media. And our time, 00:37:28.989 --> 00:37:32.269 we already had it. Yeah. But it's a bit worse 00:37:32.269 --> 00:37:33.809 now. And there's a lot of people that change 00:37:33.809 --> 00:37:37.630 their lifestyle because... opinions of their 00:37:37.630 --> 00:37:40.230 mom their dad their family the family pressures 00:37:40.230 --> 00:37:42.710 and it's not about people like the most of the 00:37:42.710 --> 00:37:45.510 time the the biggest problems come from from 00:37:45.510 --> 00:37:48.289 from families from close yes you know like in 00:37:48.289 --> 00:37:50.929 in curacao it's like it's a doctor lawyer or 00:37:50.929 --> 00:37:56.269 that's it you know what i mean yeah i think i 00:37:56.269 --> 00:38:00.829 think that was would be my best advice yeah yeah 00:38:00.829 --> 00:38:05.570 so care care don't give a do what a you want 00:38:05.570 --> 00:38:08.570 about other people's opinions yeah because you 00:38:08.570 --> 00:38:12.449 know what it is how many people in the world 00:38:12.449 --> 00:38:15.030 can tell you the same story and they made it 00:38:15.030 --> 00:38:21.050 yeah no do one of all of them it's always a different 00:38:21.050 --> 00:38:22.969 version you know what i mean it's always a different 00:38:22.969 --> 00:38:27.949 version but um yeah i'm a guitarist yeah i want 00:38:27.949 --> 00:38:29.969 to play guitar the whole day yeah but you cannot 00:38:29.969 --> 00:38:32.300 make money with that it's not a good day Right 00:38:32.300 --> 00:38:34.719 now he's playing for Juan Izguerra. I'm just 00:38:34.719 --> 00:38:36.480 saying something. You know what I mean? Oh, that's 00:38:36.480 --> 00:38:38.860 my son. No, f*** off. You know what I'm saying? 00:38:39.360 --> 00:38:41.460 Yeah. When I used to tell you everyday mom I 00:38:41.460 --> 00:38:42.900 wanted to play the guitar, I was like, no, go 00:38:42.900 --> 00:38:44.260 to school. You need to do this. You need to do 00:38:44.260 --> 00:38:46.300 that. Go to be a lawyer, be this, be that. And 00:38:46.300 --> 00:38:48.699 right now it's my son. Yeah, yeah. You know what 00:38:48.699 --> 00:38:53.840 I mean? But that's true. That is, those are facts, 00:38:54.000 --> 00:38:57.019 you know? Yeah, yeah. 100%. So start to believe 00:38:57.019 --> 00:38:58.800 more in yourself and do what the f*** you want. 00:38:59.779 --> 00:39:02.500 Right now, I'm gaming. You know, people are earning... 00:39:02.500 --> 00:39:07.480 Young kids are making millions with gaming. Parents 00:39:07.480 --> 00:39:13.980 live on the kids, you know? Like... That's true. 00:39:14.099 --> 00:39:16.579 Stop gaming, stop gaming. And right now, I'm 00:39:16.579 --> 00:39:19.559 gonna f*** up gaming, okay? Yeah, yeah. Go to 00:39:19.559 --> 00:39:23.550 work back. Yeah, but... This is it, bro. This 00:39:23.550 --> 00:39:25.590 is how it is. We live in a whole different world 00:39:25.590 --> 00:39:27.670 now. Yeah, it was like a kid, I don't know, like 00:39:27.670 --> 00:39:31.369 a young lady earning 10 million. She's like 11, 00:39:31.469 --> 00:39:34.929 12, a YouTuber. She is a YouTuber. Yeah. And 00:39:34.929 --> 00:39:37.929 like my son, he likes fishing, so he also follows 00:39:37.929 --> 00:39:41.889 a guy on YouTube. And like millions of views 00:39:41.889 --> 00:39:44.630 and things. And my son knows everything about 00:39:44.630 --> 00:39:48.010 fishing and this and that. And right now he has 00:39:48.010 --> 00:39:50.369 also a tablet, you know, so it's like, hey, there's 00:39:50.369 --> 00:39:54.690 my dad. Look at him. He was like, what the fuck 00:39:54.690 --> 00:39:58.210 are you doing, bro? I was like, no, I'm an influencer. 00:39:58.469 --> 00:40:07.409 I was like, okay. Doing your thing, bro. So one 00:40:07.409 --> 00:40:14.210 of my observations is obviously. the the the 00:40:14.210 --> 00:40:17.030 fact that you build a business in the netherlands 00:40:17.030 --> 00:40:20.849 yeah and i don't think that was originally the 00:40:20.849 --> 00:40:23.469 plan that you had when you went there so it just 00:40:23.469 --> 00:40:28.329 kind of evolved and now you you started building 00:40:28.329 --> 00:40:32.369 businesses back in curacao so actually your experience 00:40:32.369 --> 00:40:36.110 wisdom knowledge etc you you gained overseas 00:40:36.110 --> 00:40:38.809 and you've been bringing it back so i see it 00:40:38.809 --> 00:40:41.469 as sort of a blueprint because There's not many 00:40:41.469 --> 00:40:44.969 of us that have made that journey. So whether 00:40:44.969 --> 00:40:47.349 they build businesses overseas and start those 00:40:47.349 --> 00:40:51.550 businesses back here. What has been the biggest 00:40:51.550 --> 00:40:55.409 challenges in doing that? And what's the secret 00:40:55.409 --> 00:41:02.530 to make it successful? Look, first, I see this 00:41:02.530 --> 00:41:09.250 question and a lot of questions. Look, I never 00:41:09.250 --> 00:41:14.989 expected. that um i will be back so soon yeah 00:41:14.989 --> 00:41:17.989 so that's again life yeah and sometimes you need 00:41:17.989 --> 00:41:20.809 to it jump yeah you know what i mean yeah because 00:41:20.809 --> 00:41:23.110 opportunities comes yeah and they come sometimes 00:41:23.110 --> 00:41:25.369 one time yep and when it comes you need to take 00:41:25.369 --> 00:41:28.409 them you only get one shot you'll get multiple 00:41:28.409 --> 00:41:31.230 shots but that one sometimes at that opportunity 00:41:31.230 --> 00:41:37.690 you need to do it so And I took it. But I'm always... 00:41:37.690 --> 00:41:40.510 I take shots. And if it goes, it goes. If it 00:41:40.510 --> 00:41:43.130 don't go, let's go. We go further. That's how 00:41:43.130 --> 00:41:46.349 we do. Coming back to dad's advice. You only 00:41:46.349 --> 00:41:50.010 lose one thing and that's life. So... Go. You 00:41:50.010 --> 00:41:55.150 know what I mean? And... So the opportunity came 00:41:55.150 --> 00:41:57.349 to do it here. And there was a lot of obstacles. 00:41:59.030 --> 00:42:03.360 And a lot of... Politics. A lot of things. You 00:42:03.360 --> 00:42:05.380 know, I really want to thank Mariska and Kiana, 00:42:05.539 --> 00:42:08.900 my partners. We did it all together. You know 00:42:08.900 --> 00:42:11.320 what I mean? And when you are a proper team and 00:42:11.320 --> 00:42:14.940 we trust each other in our blueprint. A bit more 00:42:14.940 --> 00:42:20.119 in the mic. Like Kiana and Mariska, we did this 00:42:20.119 --> 00:42:22.480 all together. We are a very nice team and we 00:42:22.480 --> 00:42:25.039 have so many trust in each other so we can build 00:42:25.039 --> 00:42:28.000 on each other, you know? So if you can do this 00:42:28.000 --> 00:42:30.619 together, you can walk. So this is also, I think, 00:42:30.639 --> 00:42:35.150 my advantage. Yeah. That the team is solid. Yeah, 00:42:35.269 --> 00:42:38.710 we can go through everything So if tomorrow you 00:42:38.710 --> 00:42:41.369 call me a we have something in Dubai and we have 00:42:41.369 --> 00:42:43.690 enough to go we go Yeah, you know what I mean? 00:42:43.730 --> 00:42:49.409 So there was I Don't know why you know, there 00:42:49.409 --> 00:42:52.789 was not like obstacles like things. I don't know 00:42:53.559 --> 00:42:56.340 I can name them obstacles. Of course, there are 00:42:56.340 --> 00:42:58.960 things that are always challenges. More challenges. 00:43:00.539 --> 00:43:02.420 There's no problem. It's always a challenge. 00:43:02.719 --> 00:43:09.260 If you cannot think of solutions, then it stops 00:43:09.260 --> 00:43:13.900 again. Then you shouldn't be in business. Because 00:43:13.900 --> 00:43:18.349 there's a lot of things that happen here. We 00:43:18.349 --> 00:43:20.610 are still here and we are open. So there was 00:43:20.610 --> 00:43:24.230 a solution for every problem that came. So that's 00:43:24.230 --> 00:43:27.309 it. For everything that comes, there's a solution. 00:43:27.650 --> 00:43:30.309 For every challenge, there's a solution to be 00:43:30.309 --> 00:43:32.090 found. For everything that comes, no matter what 00:43:32.090 --> 00:43:35.269 it is. And if it's big or small, also if it's 00:43:35.269 --> 00:43:40.309 a big problem, we make it a small problem. Right? 00:43:40.630 --> 00:43:45.559 Yeah. Awesome, man. Justin, I would like to thank 00:43:45.559 --> 00:43:48.420 you very, very much for your time, taking the 00:43:48.420 --> 00:43:51.780 time out. It was a very fast podcast. Yeah, yeah, 00:43:51.780 --> 00:43:55.699 yeah. Well, we're trying to keep it within the 00:43:55.699 --> 00:43:58.780 time frame. And I know that everything is starting 00:43:58.780 --> 00:44:02.679 to get busy and you got to be managing the event 00:44:02.679 --> 00:44:05.079 tonight and everything. No worries, no worries. 00:44:05.260 --> 00:44:08.619 But I think this is a nice podcast because you 00:44:08.619 --> 00:44:10.760 see people walking, you see a little bit of background 00:44:10.760 --> 00:44:13.340 in the music. background in the music or music 00:44:13.340 --> 00:44:17.119 in the background it was a very busy day for 00:44:17.119 --> 00:44:19.280 me also today but i really want to thank you 00:44:19.280 --> 00:44:22.900 the cocktail hitting a little bit i didn't only 00:44:22.900 --> 00:44:27.679 one shot one slug okay okay let's let's okay 00:44:27.679 --> 00:44:30.639 let's do let's do at least one pros bro i really 00:44:30.639 --> 00:44:35.340 want to thank you for everything i think it really 00:44:35.340 --> 00:44:38.059 was a nice podcast um thank you for your time 00:44:38.059 --> 00:44:41.250 thank you for being here You ate yesterday a 00:44:41.250 --> 00:44:43.630 burger. Was it good? It was good. It was douchey. 00:44:43.769 --> 00:44:46.869 Yeah? Yeah. Do we want to eat something? Oh, 00:44:46.869 --> 00:44:48.489 for sure. I'm going to fix something for you, 00:44:48.489 --> 00:45:00.349 okay? Awesome. Whenever, next time you're here 00:45:00.349 --> 00:45:02.070 in Curacao, you're always welcome. Everybody 00:45:02.070 --> 00:45:03.929 that's looking at the podcast, come to Money 00:45:03.929 --> 00:45:07.110 Beach Club. Yeah, so where can they find you? 00:45:07.250 --> 00:45:11.429 Oh, yeah. Okay, look here. We're going to put 00:45:11.429 --> 00:45:14.289 the link here, you know. You can find us here. 00:45:16.710 --> 00:45:18.809 I'm going to send you all the information. Everybody 00:45:18.809 --> 00:45:21.429 is welcome. I'm on the Beach Club Curacao. We're 00:45:21.429 --> 00:45:24.730 going to put all the information down here. And 00:45:24.730 --> 00:45:26.969 for those in Holland, there's multiple restaurants 00:45:26.969 --> 00:45:29.309 that they can also visit. In Holland, you can 00:45:29.309 --> 00:45:33.170 go to Amsterdam South, New West, or Skybar. You 00:45:33.170 --> 00:45:36.610 guys are more than welcome. Follow us, Mondi 00:45:36.610 --> 00:45:40.329 Amsterdam. Follow Monte Caribbean. Follow Justin 00:45:40.329 --> 00:45:43.489 Eaton for all the nice events. Awesome. Thank 00:45:43.489 --> 00:45:44.469 you. Thanks, bro.