Small Lake City
Small Talk, Big City
Join host Erik Nilsson as he interviews the entrepreneurs, creators, and builders making Salt Lake City the best place it can be. Covering topics such as business, politics, art, food, and more you will get to know the amazing people behind the scenes investing their time and money to improve the place we call home.
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Small Lake City
Vault Episode 3: Cameron & Ying Nance - Part 1
What happens when a comic book-loving Utah kid meets the daughter of a prominent Thai family? Something magical, as it turns out.
Cameron and Ying Nance's story reads like the plot of a Netflix original – he was a Dragon Ball Z enthusiast from Salt Lake City who found himself teaching English to one of Thailand's most revered Buddhist monks. She was the youngest child in a family of Thai pop stars and celebrities. Their paths crossed at a temple ceremony, where the monk eerily predicted their future marriage during only their second meeting.
But this episode goes deeper than their romantic journey. Cameron shares profound wisdom learned during his time living at a Thai temple, including life-changing meditation practices that helped him overcome anxiety by learning to stay present. "People who are depressed are living in the past too much," the monk told him. "You're unhappy because you think about the future too much, which causes anxiety."
Meanwhile, Ying reveals her entrepreneurial spirit that emerged despite an uncle's discouraging words that she was "good at many things, but not specifically anything." She proved him wrong by successfully building a business importing Chicago's Garrett Popcorn to Thailand while still in college, making $10,000 without significant startup capital.
Their journey weaves through Cameron's unexpected stint as a Thai TV star (complete with a shaved head), cultural differences, family expectations, and ultimately to Salt Lake City, where they've built two thriving businesses – Chubby Baker Donuts and Bespoke Custom Clothing.
Ready to be inspired? Listen now to discover how this unlikely pair found each other across cultures and continents to create something beautiful together in the heart of Utah.
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What is up everybody and welcome back to another episode of the Small Lake City Podcast. I'm your host, eric Nilsson, and this is episode three of the Vault series, where I go back and revisit some of my favorite episodes from early on in Small Lake City, and this episode is no exception. So this is part one with Cameron and Ying Nance. Ying, as you may know, is the founder of the cult classic donut shop. Chubby Baker and her husband, cam founded his own custom suit business called Bespoke Suits. Not only are they amazing entrepreneurs, but their story of how they met, dated and ended up in Salt Lake is nothing short of amazing and inspiring. So I'm excited for you to listen to this one. Sit back, buckle up, and it's going to be a great episode.
Speaker 2:Enjoy. So super excited today to have two of my really good friends on the podcast, cam and Ying Nance. When I was originally thinking about the podcast and thinking about a lot of the cool stories that I know of, theirs was one of the first that came to mind. Not only are they making I mean a huge impact in Salt Lake in such an entrepreneurial way, but just the heart of their story of finding themselves here is both inspiring, heartwarming and endearing. So super excited to have them here and tell their story and all the fun stuff that they're working on. So welcome guys, excited to have you here, hi.
Speaker 3:Hey, thanks for having us and thank you for the kind words. Wee, phil, and the coffee, and the coffee, yes.
Speaker 2:Most. Hey, thanks for having us and thank you for the kind words, weeville, and the coffee. Yes, most importantly, the coffee. We're actually sitting in their home, new home in Draper, utah. They're starting to build their budding family and you go from a one-bedroom townhome and start to expect your second, and that's when time and space become more and more valuable and sleep becomes more and more valuable. Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:When she started walking. We're like this place is not good enough for another one.
Speaker 4:And also like we need places for my family to come visit, so that old house was not an option.
Speaker 2:And now we got something better.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 2:So, for those who don't know, cam and Ying, ying um, and we'll get into the fun details of everything. But they have started their own two businesses here in Utah uh, chubby Baker Donuts and Bespoke um suits or what it was. Uh, bespoke custom clothing, bespoke custom clothing. So Chubby Baker and Bespoke custom clothing, um, very inspiring stories in their own. But then you put it all together and it's, I mean, almost movie-esque. Uh, I might buy the rights to it at some point to make my own, uh, hbo limited special or netflix store, but, uh, but we'll. Yeah, we can settle out the details later. We don't have to go through that right now. For sure, you've got, you've got exclusive rights. Definitely, I'll get done in writing after, don't you worry. Um, so cool.
Speaker 2:So, as always, we always love to know how our guests got to Utah and found it themselves. And we'll kind of go in chronological order to help tell the story a little bit better and start with the Cam side of things and start to bring in Ying when she starts to come into the story. But she can also add her point of view throughout it all of how it became such a momentous experience for her in moving here. So, cam, so I mean, obviously you're born and raised in Salt Lake, but I mean, what part of the Valley are you from? What did life look like? Any hobbies, activities that you participated in?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I grew up in Mill Creek. I was in Highland Boundaries but everyone in my neighborhood went to Olympus High so I transferred to that district just because that's where all my friends were going. It was great. Growing up in Salt Lake was awesome. I had a great childhood, great friends, great neighborhood, great community. As far as activities, I mean, I played basketball my sophomore year at Olympus and then football my sophomore and senior year. But like I didn't start or anything like that, I just kind of I enjoyed playing and it was did it largely for the social life.
Speaker 2:Um so, how many siblings did you grow up with?
Speaker 3:I'm the oldest of four. I have two little sisters and one little brother.
Speaker 2:Were you pretty close with them or you're mostly hanging out with friends? What does that look like Growing up? Yeah, brother, were you pretty close with them? Were you mostly hanging out with friends? What did that look like?
Speaker 3:Growing up. Yeah, we were always pretty close, honestly, with my little brother. He's the youngest and we're like eight years apart and we didn't get close until he hit high school just because there was such an age gap. But with my two sisters, yeah, we've been close our whole life. I mean, we see my little sister Helene All the time, like every other day almost. I work out with her husband every morning. So, yeah, siblings were great. Parents were together up until I was like 25. So I grew up in a two-parent household, which is, you know, statistically speaking, a huge impact just having that and you know, great neighborhood.
Speaker 2:And then, uh, yeah, and obviously I know, I know, knowing you better than most, I know that, um, comic books, marvel, that was a big part of your life. Dragon Ball, you have all of your collections still, probably boxes on boxes, probably a whole corner of a garage.
Speaker 3:I'll show you my office that I'm working on downstairs. Yeah, I got a lot of cool stuff.
Speaker 2:Love that as Ying shakes her head.
Speaker 3:Yeah, when we moved into our I've got like a lot of Dragon Ball Z figurines and she's like you cannot have these in the house.
Speaker 2:So I put them all in my office, but she let me have two in our bedroom because, like I'll be looking at me every night just frieza glaring at you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's probably vegeta, if I know. Okay, well, that guy. No again, yep g is the best. So yeah, I'm a huge comic book nerd. Um, dragon ball z. I love to draw um like, yeah, I mean as far as like the and as far as the lore goes, as far as comic books, star wars, like. I kind of know the ins and outs of a lot of that stuff. I get kind of obsessive about nerd nerddom and and hobbies that I enjoy.
Speaker 2:Um, and I always respect that. That's something, because I don't know. There's always one thing that kind of rubs me wrong in growing up in the and I've seen it in lots of friends but it's like they have this picture of who they need to be as an adult and it's like, oh well, I'm in my thirties now or I have kids now, so I can't do this, this or this. But in reality, like I'm the same person to an extent that I was when I was a kid, teenager, twenties, thirties. At least some of those same things I love are still today. Like there's so many things I nerd out about from like I mean video games, I mean anime and all those those fun things.
Speaker 3:And well, dude, one of the best parts about being an adult is I can afford all the stuff I wanted when I was younger. Like I've got. I've been purchasing like graded Pokemon cards, hallie, yeah, saving up for a for a first edition shadowless Charizardizard. I told her the price and she's like are you kidding me? So it's like almost another house. Yeah, exactly. So I've been buying just like the little bit less expensive ones. Um, yeah, it's just fun because, like, like, you don't have to give that stuff up and it sucks when people are like oh yeah, I left that go.
Speaker 2:I'm like, why, like, why it's like made you joyful, yeah, exactly well, at least your mom didn't randomly give all your pokemon cards to the di. Did she do that? Yeah, I was like because, like you remember, when I mean like year or two ago, when pokemon cards like this whole resurgence just came back, I was like, all right, let's go find them. Look under my bed, where I knew they were in my old room, I was like they're not there. I'm like, hey mom, like where are they? She's like oh, it took them to the di. You didn't want them, right. I was like it's like that ultimate like a record scratch moment of like I'm like cool, I had my shiny charizard and my shiny blastoise, my shiny, so yeah so I bought a.
Speaker 3:I bought right before I left to my mission. I bought a like a, a high grade charizard card, and put it in my collection, and my little brother's friend stole it while I was on my mission. I came home and it was just missing. I was like, oh my gosh, brandon.
Speaker 4:So yeah, right, ying well, we don't know who stole it. You can't really say I know I know, we know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there's only one that knew I had it I love that.
Speaker 2:So, yes, let's talk about mission. So where, where did you go on your mission? What years was that between?
Speaker 3:I left on my mission 2000,. Uh, april 2008. Um, and I went to Thailand.
Speaker 2:What parts of Thailand were you in specifically?
Speaker 3:So the mission technically entail like includes um, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, but Laos and Myanmar aren't open to the missionaries, so it's just mainly Bangkok and then outside of like north and northeast of Bangkok. So Bangkok, obviously massive city, there's like 17 million people there A little bigger than Salt Lake A little bigger than Salt Lake, but the majority of the population I think there's 70 million in Thailand now the majority live outside of Bangkok, but it's just like that's that one hub and everything else is just kind of rural small city.
Speaker 2:I spent most of mine like in the rural part.
Speaker 3:Okay, and did you like that more than always? Oh yeah, absolutely it was. I don't know. I just felt kind of disconnected from everything. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like, especially compared to, like the childhood you had, like that's gotta be such a difference culture.
Speaker 3:Well, I got super lucky because growing up I was, I was pretty. I loved Asian culture, like um. So in Bangkok, there, there's the grand palace. It's like, uh, the palace, and it's right next to this really famous like temple, massive temple grounds, gorgeous gold plated. It was my bad, I didn't know where it was, um, in high school, but on my laptop it was my wallpaper for like two, three years. This is before your mission, before a mission. I didn't, I didn't even know where this was. I would just look up like Asian temples and I would like plot like a poster picture, teenage kids, great wall of China, um, and then also like the gold pavilion in kyoto, japan. I love that place, so I just loved it.
Speaker 3:I love, like my favorite, one of my favorite movies it's top three is the last samurai. I watched that so much in high school. Just like his adventure, like not finding himself in this in the states and all the issues, and then he goes to a simple life in like rural Japan and like I guess, like absorbs their values and then fights for it. Yeah, it's crazy, like I love, absolutely loved it.
Speaker 3:So, um, before I got my call, I just remember thinking I didn't want to go stateside or to Brazil, because that's where all my friends were going and it was Bangkok and I was like I don't even know where that is and I googled it I think google was a thing then, right, yeah, um, looked it up and then what popped up? Was that my background? I was like whoa, that's trippy. Yeah, so, um, and yeah, it was great two years there, um, and that that single decision led to like everything in my life now, like like literally everything that I'm doing, who I'm with, uh, further experiences is 100% because I made the decision and I almost didn't go. Um, the church has always been iffy with me, but I don't know. I'm glad I decided to go and it was one of the top, top two, three best decisions I've ever made.
Speaker 2:So, and it was one of the top two, three best decisions I've ever made. Got it. So you come back from your mission. You started working at Clearlink, if I remember right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2:And how long were you there?
Speaker 4:for before you decided to go back to school.
Speaker 2:Let's take a quick break. Hope you're enjoying the episode so far. One big announcement is that merchandise is live. Go head over to the website smalllakepodcom to check out the merchandise. We have great shirts, hats and sweatshirts. I went through a rigorous process to make sure I had the right person creating my merch and the right t-shirts and sweatshirts to do it. So go check it out. Go cop some gear and look great this season in your new small lake city merch.
Speaker 3:Um, I wouldn't. I started up at so this is a funny story. So I I got back and, um, at the end of my mission I was applying to every single BYU I could get into. I was just like full on drinking the Kool-Aid, like BYU is where I want to go. I'm going to go home and find a Mormon girl. I'm going to get married, start a family, right? Um, byu Provo rejected me, byu Hawaii rejected me and BYU Idaho let me in. And I was like, well, I'm not going to BYU Idaho.
Speaker 3:So, um, the other way to get to BYU was, uh, what was then called LDSBC, lds business college, and then you do your like two year degree there and you can transfer to BYU, pretty simple, like pretty easily.
Speaker 3:So signed up for classes and my, I had one day there and it turned me off so hard. So, like I think I had gone maybe a day and a half without shaving and I've got pretty thick facial hair and if I, if, like, even on my mission, like I had to tell my mission president like, hey, I have to shave every two days, cause if I shave every day, I get like tons of razor burn, right. So it was like the day before I was going to shave, like a teacher called me out for just, uh, distracting from the spirit of learning or something like that, like publicly in front of everyone, and I was like what the hell, what the hell is going on, yeah, and then they wouldn't take my photo for the id and I was yeah, because I because you didn't shave, I didn't have, yeah, I had didn't stubble like as much as as Eric has right now, maybe less.
Speaker 2:And just in comparison, this is a week.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like I have zero hair.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I was like, and so I dropped that day. I was like, not doing that, and I went to Slick instead. Nice, and yeah, worked at Clearlink full time while I went to classes at night. Nice, and then transferred to the u cool.
Speaker 2:So the? U is where I met cam. So we were both members of the sigma chi fraternity of pledge brothers, and I won't say the year because I don't want to date us, but, um, I mean that's where me and cam became, I mean really really good friends.
Speaker 2:We, we became close in pledge ship oh, totally yeah, because I remember at first I don't I'm sure I've told you about this before, but I remember seeing you and I was always like because you don't need to get a group of guys together, and there's always kind of this like almost like chest puffing and like you seem like whoa, who's this guy?
Speaker 2:And like what's going on. And I, because, like I, we were both returned missionaries, so we were a little bit older than everybody else, yeah, and I was like well, who guy? Like I know who, some of these other guys from before, but almost had this kind of like standoffishness which I in hindsight realized like that's a total me thing. And once I put that down and like got to know you as you was like oh yeah, like this guy's amazing, like we connected so so quickly, we had so much to bond over, especially going through this experience together, I mean, which led to us being, I mean, roommates in Foothill, roommates on Harrison. I mean it's just kind of funny to see how like that decision introduced me to like.
Speaker 3:So we've been friends for 12 years. Yeah, that's wild.
Speaker 2:I hate that. Yeah, just like. No, I don't hate that we've been friends for that long. But like when time starts coming into things it's creepy. Yeah, like time starts coming into things, it's creepy. Like when me and Tanner moved in together I was like staring. I was like wait a minute, we've been friends for 20 years. Like I remember going to middle school because like he went to Uinta, I went to Bonneville and like middle school's the first time we like kind of integrated those two and I was like I just like needed a minute to sit down and just like two decades okay.
Speaker 3:Also, everyone has been roommates with Tanner at one point.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I have told him about it. It's hilarious, good luck. And I was always I mean pre me moving into Tanner, like I was. I was like everybody got that experience and I didn't Push come to shove. I get that. Here you go, I kind of get it. He's gone all the time but he works down in working there.
Speaker 3:But it's, it is very funny for anyone who doesn't know tanner, too is, uh, one of the best people we know oh, yeah, a really good friend one of my yeah, my best friend right now in my life, for sure, yeah he's. He's been there for us, he's been there for so many people. Yeah and uh. Yeah, he's a cancer survivor fought through. It was positive the entire time, like, oh man, makes me emotionally been thinking about it but yeah, he's he's a good, we're happy, we're lucky to have him with us.
Speaker 2:So Totally and like that. I mean those college years is when everything kind of came together for us and kind of created this, this friend group, that we were going through colleges Again. It was like these return missionaries, but also finding a lot of ourselves, because I mean mission, we've come home, we think we know who we are, and then we start to grow and progress in our 20s and all of a sudden we find out who we actually are, passions and our hobbies and what drives us, and so I kind of want to go from. College was cool and that is when Cam started his first suiting business. True, gentleman, talk to me how that came to be. A lot of it is with your connection to Thailand and your mission that came to be.
Speaker 3:A lot of it is with your connection to Thailand and your mission.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so two years after I got home from my mission, um, a buddy of mine went to Thailand for for a couple of weeks just to go back and vacation it. Uh, we stayed with a member there whose daughter was like the middleman or the person who runs fabric and coordinates orders and everything for another custom suit shop, um in Salt Lake. And uh, the owners of that had been missionaries a couple of years before me and they were starting to do that and I was like you know, I was making decent money at clear Lincoln. I was just like I I I'd made a couple of suits for myself. I got measurements from some friends at the time, uh, got some orders for them. And then when we were at this at our friend's house there that's where we were staying in Bangkok she had piles of fabric books and I was like, can I take some of those? I bet you I could like sell suits on the side. It was merely just like a hobby to fund me being able to purchase more suits, you know.
Speaker 2:So I'm all about passions paying for themselves.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so it was. I mean it was, I mean it was super early, like I had just is it? Yeah? Rushed Sigma Chi when I was like taking this year's. I got back from Thailand a few months later I rushed and people asked me what I do and I just started telling them I own a suit business. I hadn't registered anything, I'd sold like four suits ever, you know. So I was like pitching this to the Bowman's and everyone just like trying to be a salesman and um after rush, like prior to, um, like after getting into stuff, and then you have uh like formals, you know, people just started like, like you know, jeremy Peterson PD, like all these guys were like hey this.
Speaker 2:And then someone would be like oh, I just got a suit from cam. Be like well, what do you mean? You got a suit from cam, I want to get a suit from cam. And all of a sudden you just look around like these formals, and you just see everybody in these customs. It was kind of cool, like in hindsight I didn't appreciate it before it was. But everybody's in these like a custom fit, like really nice suits compared to like you go to other ones and just see people in there. I I mean J crew, h&m, banana Republic suits and you're like there's a very stark difference. I do remember that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so the, and during that time, like, I completely used that as like, okay, I'm not great at this yet, so my, my upcharge was like 50 bucks, like I was not like making money on this, but it was like funding it, and then if I had alterations, I just made sure I didn't go into the red with it, um, and then eventually what would happen is like the guys would refer their parents, you know, um, so I'd, I'd make a suit for someone's dad or someone else's wedding, and then it just started to to grow a little bit. So a lot of issues. I mean, again, custom suiting is not easy, like like body logistics, yeah, but, um, because of sigma chi, and just like everyone was just, yeah, cool, 300 bucks, let's do it, you know so, especially compared to like anything else they would get anywhere else.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like, why wouldn't you yeah?
Speaker 3:so and then I, uh I partnered up uh, another member of Sigma Chi and we started a, started a brand that um had some differences of. We didn't work very well together, so we decided to separate Um and I he just like bought my ownership of the company and I was like you know what, maybe I'm done with suiting, I was just going to focus on, focus on my degree for a bit, and that was like you know what, maybe I'm done with suiting, I'm just going to focus on, focus on my degree for a bit. And that was like mainly my time in Sigma Chi. Like I sold suits on the side a little bit, but I was focusing on like having a good time.
Speaker 2:Oh, totally Like, which if anybody ever asked me, which they probably would never is like what should I do in college? Like, be present, make friends, enjoy. Yeah, because I mean, even though I'm thinking today of, like, the people who took college super seriously are in very little, very difference in place of where the other people who just enjoyed it and the people who thought what they were studying was so serious are usually doing something completely different. Yeah, and so enjoy the journey. Don't take anything. I mean, that's kind of life in general. Don't take anything too seriously. Yeah, you're going to end up dead regardless For sure. So cool.
Speaker 2:So you're going to school, you're doing all this and then. So I want to like, so this is when Ying starts to come more into the picture. Not yet Right. Yeah, okay, so we're going to get there. So let's talk about the first time you go back to Thailand for an extended period of time. All the monk, and I don't know the details of it. I want you to explain it better. So you get this opportunity walk us through how you got this and how you ended up back in Thailand.
Speaker 3:Okay, so this is a little bit of a preface before I rush SIG, because I rushed SIG pretty late, like 23, 24, 23 years old, right, which is, in college terms, a late time to rush Some do it older, but it's usually like 18 to 20 years old.
Speaker 2:It also isn't like completely weird in utah, because it's just because it's part of the dynamic. Exactly. If you go anywhere else to be like, what the hell are you doing? But here it's fine yeah.
Speaker 3:So, um, what happened is I got home from my mission and all of all of my like really close friends from high school they got married quick.
Speaker 3:So I was without friends and I was just hanging out with people at clearlink and I never was like close to anyone. But through someone that I served my mission with was really good friends with someone in Sigma Chi and introduced me to them. It was like Dag, brandon Bean, a lot of these guys and like, hey, you should rush, hey, you should rush. I'm like I don't know, like it sounds like something I want to do, but I'm old, you know. And then on the day of rush, I wasn't going and my phone just started blowing up Like where the hell are you Get your ass here? And I was like, okay, so I'll go check it out. And I went up and I liked the guys I met, because during rush you meet everyone in the house. You know, I remember meeting Tanner Bowman and just be like, yay, there's a lot of good guys here. So um decided to rush.
Speaker 3:Now, prior to, um, my return to Thailand, I found myself in a similar situation. I was wrapping up my junior year. Um, garrett was engaged, you were with Jasmine. I think Parker was dating someone, or he was just not present in our apartment, tanner was. Tanner was like all of my friends were in relationships, engaged or married. True, and I found myself like not hanging out with anyone because I was single and I was like what the? So I just finished my last final.
Speaker 3:I get back to the place on Harrison street and open up my laptop, scrolling through Facebook, and a guy served my mission with had a post from like two weeks before, and he's like hey, I work for this company that does tech work for this. Uh, this company that teaches English, um, through like video calls. Uh, worldwide big, mostly in China, and they're looking to expand to Thailand. And they have like a Thai partner and, in order to get in the good graces of the Royal family, to get accepted as a foreign business into the country, uh, they're looking for a like an English tutor who's willing to go and live in Thailand. And I was like, hey, man, what's this about this? That sounds kind of interesting.
Speaker 3:And he gave me a call. He's like hey, they're pretty deep into the interview process Just letting you know, but, uh, I'll put your name in and maybe you'll, maybe we'll get a phone call. So I got a phone call, I think the next day, and they just, and that turned another interview, another interview, another interview. And then I got on the call, I think, with the vp of the company and he's like we want to send you, can you leave in two weeks? You know, I've got a car payment, I've got, you know, the rent, all that stuff, and I was like, yes, like absolutely I'll figure it out.
Speaker 3:so I figured out someone to pay for half. So my sister I was like I will like you just pay for half. So my sister I was like I will like you just pay for half of the car payment and I'll let you drive it, just like, absolutely. So she did that, and then I was able to find someone to take over the remainder of my lease and I just moved to Thailand. So it turns out the guy that I was teaching English to is a really um famous monk in town. Who, how would you compare his fame to someone here? Like I feel like everyone in Thailand knows who he is.
Speaker 2:Like and while you're thinking about that, yeah, Like the Dalai.
Speaker 4:Lama of Thailand.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Well, cause I remember it was after you got back and we went to get Thai food at that place on 8th South, like right by Liberty Park. Yeah, and you I mean, as we always happen when we went anywhere Thai related like you start talking to them. And I could tell that you were starting to talk to them about when you were back in Thailand and the monk and like I saw their like just kind of demeanor change and one of them ran back and came back with a picture of him and was like you like all like, and people just kept coming forward.
Speaker 3:I was like, so Pad Thai coming, or is it none? I think it was at Chinon. Yeah, he's. Yeah, he's very famous. Yeah, and um, I get there and he's extremely busy, so he wants to learn English, but, like, the time that I have to like teach him English was like so small. So what he? When I met with him, he's like, look, I don't have a lot of time. What I want you to do is I want you to teach my, like my temple ground staff how to um speak English, or at least help them to be better at it, because we get a lot of foreign visitors.
Speaker 3:So, he, he, he's got this beautiful temple grounds called right, shouldn't the one in Chiang Rai? It's like the most northern province of the country. It's absolutely beautiful, mountainous terrain, jungle. It's nice and cool, except in april, but it's like super hot there in april. But, um, and it's absolutely beautiful there, massive temple grounds, got, he has, he owns farmland surrounded that he brings like people, like more rural people in the area that need work. He come and teaches them how to farm for free so they can go get jobs at farms, like in the province. Oh, cool, right, so, um, he does a lot of stuff like that. He, he, uh, a lot of the money that gets donated to him, he, he gives back you know hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships, like just a really good, influential person, right.
Speaker 2:So and you just happened to like Facebook posts like, oh, I'm going to go teach English, but I don't know who it's to or why. And then all of a sudden you're like and two weeks later.
Speaker 3:So at this point, okay, I guess I'm not going to teach him, I'm going to teach the staff, right? So for the first like week or two, like I never really talked to him. I was just like meeting his staff, getting close with them. And one day I was out with the Chow Na the like the farmers, and I was helping and I was like what are you guys doing? They're like I'm planting strawberries. I'm like can I help? I had nothing to do, right. So he in his like van that transports him from the airport back and forth he saw me in the field like planting strawberries, like harvesting, like working in the field.
Speaker 3:He's like, what is that white guy doing in the field?
Speaker 2:and so he called especially if you're like what are you six, four, six, yeah, so the six two guy in Thailand working in a field I'm pretty sure you stuck out.
Speaker 3:I had like the Asian Raiden hat on and everything Like I was yeah, so he calls for me into like the.
Speaker 3:There's this building that's a mute, that's an art museum for local artists that he likes to promote. And so I go in there and I and I talk to him. He's like what are you doing out there? And I was just like, well, you told me to teach your staff english. Like I thought I there's no one else, there was no one here. And he's like, so you just like went out, like it's like, do all white people do this? And I was like I don't know, like that's just what I'm doing. Then he looks at me for like 10 seconds without saying a word and goes do you want to go to India? I was like like he's just like by India. My, I was like like what, what do you mean? Go to India, do you want to go to?
Speaker 2:he's like, he's like me, I'm a little busy teaching English to some of the people in the farm.
Speaker 3:Well, I was like I don't have any money, like literally like I had no money, like the company that sent me there was paying me a thousand bucks a month and that was going to, um, my car payment, and like just saving up so I could go to school. When I got back in for the next semester. So, um, he, he's like no, no, don't worry about, we'll pay for it. Do you want to go? Don't, I'm not asking you, can you go? I'm like, do you want to? And I was like yes, I want to go to india. He's like, okay, give me your passport. And I like, go get my passport. He hands it to his like monk assistant and he's like he'll take care of it. He'll go to the embassy. You might need to fly to bangkok tomorrow. We'll pay for your ticket. I was like what is happening?
Speaker 3:So then, two weeks later, I'm in india and I spent a ton of time with him, just like chatting with him, teaching him english. And then we started to get really close. Cool um, every morning with him, just like chatting with him, teaching him English. And then we started to get really close, cool Um, every morning with him we'd practice English, and then he started teaching me, um, so here I'm just going to unload with content. You can choose what to what to keep.
Speaker 3:So he, one day I'm teaching him English and he's or like we're practicing English, like talking about breakfast terms or something like that, or he, he'd come with he was he could get by in English for sure, if you speak slow, like he can get by. He just wanted to like know better grammar nuances. Anyway, we are, um, we're just going through a normal morning routine before the visitors start to arrive at his, at his temple, and, um, he's just staring at me. I'm asking him questions. He's not responding. He's just like looking like deep into my eyes, right, and I was like what's up Me lie by, like did I say something wrong? Or whatever. He goes, yeah, he goes. He's like Rubaiwa Cameron yeah, he goes. He's like, which means like.
Speaker 4:Do you know why you're unhappy, do you?
Speaker 3:know why you're not happy right now. And I was like what? I'm hungry Seriously, bitch, you can't eat until the monks are finished eating. But anyway, a lot of cool rules that you figure out and like new vocabulary and type met a lot. I'll get to that in a sec. So, um he he, I was like no, why am I like? Why am I not happy? You know I wouldn't consider myself unhappy at the time, but was I bursting with joy at the time?
Speaker 2:No, and, of course, if there's this famous monk in front of you, he's like do you know why you're not happy? The last thing you're going to be is like no, go away, don't like you know, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3:So he's like. He's like people who are depressed are living in the past too much. Yes, and I was like, okay, he goes, you're not depressed, but let me tell you about it. I was like, okay, I don't feel depressed, and he goes.
Speaker 3:People who are depressed are spending all of their time with their thoughts in the past. If it's focusing on something negative, they're reliving the worst parts of their life over and over again, or they're focusing on better times that are better than now. And how could the best times of your life in the past compete with the mundane of today? He's like that's not you. You don't struggle with the past. He's like you're unhappy because you think about the future too much, which causes anxiety. Yeah, exactly so. And I was like, all right, I'm getting chills saying it. I'm like he's like, okay, I'm like all right, he's like you're too worried about things that 90% of them won't happen, and the 10% that will happen you can't prevent. Now I'm getting chills, yeah, so I was like all right, this makes sense to me. And he goes what you need to do is just learn how to be in the present. Yes, and the best way to do that is what I teach, is a way of meditation, and I want you to, and for $59.99 a month, you choose.
Speaker 2:I'm just kidding.
Speaker 3:And he, yeah, and he's like, do you want to learn? I'm like, sure I'll learn, let's go. And so he taught me how to meditate and at first it was tough but it became part of my morning routine. I'd wake up, I'd run like three miles around the perimeter of the temple grounds, I'd shower, I'd go teach him and then I'd meditate and I started 15 minutes but I was getting to two hours in the morning, just straight, no thoughts. I love that. I was so zenned out. My hair was long, I had a man bun I was wearing like I don't know I was so zen, right it was. It was really cool. But it taught me how to and I think it's stuck with me because I I've never struggled with. Luckily I've never had any issues with depression, but like when I'm feeling anxious, I know how to ground myself again, even though I don't meditate.
Speaker 2:Those are great tools to have like because whatever happens in life, there's always going to be periods of high anxiety or even, like I mean, bouts of depression. Think about the past and like, being able to have those tools is there and like. So, when you were saying I want to interject really quick, good, I remember when I was in my 20s, mid-20s and I was going to therapy, for I mean, like I mean I was in and out of therapy and big fan of it. But I remember I heard my therapist say the same thing, because they're like I can tell because, like in my family history, we have a lot of anxiety and depression and they said the like listen, like you get depressed and you think so much about the past and you fixate on it and your anxiety is thinking about the future.
Speaker 2:And the best way to battle that is to be as present as you can in the moment.
Speaker 2:And there's nothing that forces you to be present than meditation, because it literally is sitting still in the moment, focusing on breathing, focusing on calming your brain, because your brain's usually processing all that anxiety and all those thoughts and bringing you back to that.
Speaker 2:So I love that there's because obviously, like with mental health and getting to a place of peace. There's a lot of schools of thought you can have, I mean even like with you in Asian culture and literally sitting across from a Buddhist monk, but a lot of the principles remain the same, yeah, and so I love that you were able to find that and find that peace, because even like knowing you before then, um, I mean I wouldn't look at you and be like cam you're depressed, cam you're like have high anxiety, but I wouldn't. I knew that you could be a better person and that there were inner battles and a lot of just I mean storms, storms in your head, and so I love that that experience not only kind of set the foundation for the rest of your life but also gave you so much peace to help tackle that was to come.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I think a lot of it was just I've always had lofty goals and, and I still do. It's just I can't help but point to the future. But what I found is like I like to write down my goals of what I want in the future and then I think about what do I have to do now? And then that kind of like grounds me back to today. Yeah, and whether or not it happens, I'm okay with like there's a, there's an element of acceptance, because it's like you can't control a lot of it.
Speaker 3:And another part of this is it doesn't have to be buddhist meditation, it could be prayer, it can be Islam. I mean, it can like you can. There are techniques to get yourself in the present in a lot of different ways. I just found that what I learned with him was really effective for me, really effective. So, um, I definitely gained way more from that little adventure than uh, than than he did, cause he's just so busy, like his English got better, but yeah, he, he's just a really generous, generous person, so, um. So he started teaching meditation. We kept getting closer and closer and just talking about things. He talked about his issues with Buddhism in Thailand and how he wanted to change it and affect the world. What his goals were like a lot of really about things. He talked about his issues with Buddhism in Thailand and how he wanted to change it and affect the world. What his goals were like a lot of really cool things and being with him so often like people in Thailand started to take notice. Like the rumors about us in Thailand are hilarious.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, yeah, you want to tell them about that. Oh yeah, let's hear it.
Speaker 3:So, because he there is a group of people in Thailand that do not like this monk. Yeah, like just like anyone, like there's a. There's a. There's a subset of any group that doesn't like any person. True.
Speaker 4:And so for some reason, he thinks that the monk is gay, like they think that the monk is gay, and so there would be like pictures of Cameron and the monk and it was like a weird angle but it looks like the monk is touching Cameron's knee and so they were like making fun that like Cameron's, like you know, the gay couple with the monk there's a legit rumor that people think that him and I are TMZ Thailand spreading rumors.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly so, um, that was always fun, but anyway started to take notice.
Speaker 2:I started meeting some really cool, important people like some of those, some like uh, what are some of those people, would you say?
Speaker 3:just, uh, like people high up. So thailand right now is run by the military, so I met I never met the prime minister, but I met like his like right hands you know what I mean like like his second hands, the head of the military police, and like a lot of celebrities, like a couple of celebrities Thai celebrities got married at Rai Chintawan and they have foreign fans and so I would translate for, like the person running the wedding Cool, you know so little things like that. Cool, you know so little things like that. Um, there's also big events that happen at his, at his temple grounds, and TV their TV stations would come. So I'm, this is going somewhere. This is kind of like how I met Ying and then how I kept Okay, so this is when you met the first.
Speaker 2:Okay, because I couldn't remember if it was this or the next one. But yeah, keep going, so TV would come.
Speaker 3:So I've started meeting people high up in, like the big television stations. Just because I was with him, they're like who is this guy? And then they'd come up and like who are you? Like this is interesting, this is interesting, like you know, um, a talent, yeah, and then when I, and every once in a while, like the monk, would take a few days off and he'd like go down to Bangkok, go see your friends in Bangkok, right, and so I'd meet up with people that I had met, it was really fun, so one of the so. And then also he started taking me to different countries with him, because he has followers kind of all over the world, and he'll set up events and then his followers will come see him in the places where he need. And it was really beneficial for him that I was there, because I, would you know, put on headphones and have a mic and everyone who didn't speak Thai put on headphones. I translate.
Speaker 2:So what are some of these places you went to, or some of the highlights?
Speaker 3:So I went to Japan. That was my favorite. Haven't been back since, but we will go soon. I'll tag along for that one. It's the best dude. Unreal, like, surreal, like just so many wallpapers on my computer.
Speaker 2:You're just slowly checking off your like high school wallpaper.
Speaker 3:Seriously, I just remember in Kyoto we walked up and I turned the corner and I saw the gold pavilion, which is this beautiful gold building next to a like a little pond during cherry blossom season. Like I was just like, how am I here? Yeah, like, pinch me, like, and I'm not paying for any of it.
Speaker 3:Even better you know I was just like this is. It was why it was crazy. It was so surreal. Yeah. So, um, and I'm Myanmar, laos, so I got into me. I don't know if I can.
Speaker 3:Anyway, I got into Myanmar without a passport, so it's the only country I've been to that I don't have proof of it, fbi, we've got them. Yeah. So we got to the border and I was like I forgot my passport and the monk's, like doesn't matter. And he went and talked to people at the border and just let me through. So, myanmar, laos, cambodia, japan. And then, near the end of my stay, he invited me to go to Europe for three months with him and I didn't go and I'll get to that in just a sec. But when I got back from Japan, there was a big event at the temple grounds where they were ordaining a bunch of novice monks, like 300 or something like that. Tv was there, celebrities were there, big events. So Ying, my beautiful wife, her family is very famous in Thailand. Um, she's the youngest of five and her four older brothers are pop stars and two of them are movie stars.
Speaker 2:So, um, I don't know why my brain just like when you say that just goes to just like BTS, that you see them, and I guess I've like seen pictures of her brother. So it kind of is more or less true, but yeah, totally.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's it, dude, Like seriously like golf and Mike.
Speaker 4:In their times.
Speaker 3:In their time and they're doing a reunion tour in December, which is why we're going back. But give me a T-shirt. So we, so, uh, we where was I at, so my mom forced me to this event, I usually don't like to go up north.
Speaker 2:She's not a religious person I mean, I am buddhist, so let's pause here for a second. So so I love that now you get to come in, because you're an amazing person and I love hearing from cam, but I love hearing from both of you too, so give us a picture of like what your life is like at this point. Like, what are you doing? Where are you spending your time?
Speaker 4:So I just barely graduated um school, and it was in 2015. I think college or high school. Sorry, it was college.
Speaker 2:Okay, and what did you study there?
Speaker 4:I was in arts faculty and it's like language and culture, because that's the only one that I can get in.
Speaker 2:At Jula, though, yeah, but it's like a like.
Speaker 4:It's a really good like school. And then I was kind of working with my dad a little and he owns like a leather company, handbags and stuff like that. But it wasn't serious, Very successful, it wasn't anything serious just because you know I'm the daughter of the owner, so it's like you can go anywhere you want. But yeah, back then I wasn't doing anything much, Just being like a young girl kind of kind of.
Speaker 2:And then just having your little hot girl summer moment. Do you had a boyfriend?
Speaker 4:I don't have a boyfriend, but it was just something. I was someone, I was involved with gotcha, and so my mom loves forcing me to buddhist events, especially with this event, which is like 200 novice monk, which will give you such good karma like you have to go have to go, yeah.
Speaker 4:So, and you have to meet this monk. He's so famous, it's so hard to meet him, we have to go. So I was like, okay, I'm just gonna go. So I went there. And then once we got there, um, we talked to the monk and then he called Cameron in to come and take care of us and, like, showed us around. I met him and I was like, oh, cute boy.
Speaker 3:She did not treat me like this. She was so in me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so games are the same games in any language and country.
Speaker 3:I'm eating breakfast with the staff in the back of this building that he's Rupkag. What is that in?
Speaker 4:English, Just like you know, for guests.
Speaker 3:So he'll sit in a room and people will come in one by one where they chance to meet him. He was just doing that, so her and her mom came and then he's like, hey, go get Cameron.
Speaker 2:Why he knows what he's doing. He's like listen, cam pretty girl.
Speaker 4:Like the third, like the second time we met. He said something really like weird.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we'll get to that. Yeah, we'll get to that.
Speaker 4:So Cameron got there and he started speaking Thai and I was like, oh, you speak Thai. And then Cameron was like, oh, your English is really good. And so I looked at him with a side eye, kind of rolled my eyes, and I was like, yeah, and in my head I thought you think Thai people can't speak English.
Speaker 3:I was like I've met so many Thai people and they cannot speak English like you can Do.
Speaker 4:You think you ride buffles.
Speaker 2:He's like. You're absolutely right. Your English is amazing. I've experienced all of this.
Speaker 4:Yeah. So yeah, do you want?
Speaker 3:to tell them how you got your accent.
Speaker 4:Well, I go to American school and and what, what show? Oh, and I watch Gossip Girls.
Speaker 3:So Axe, yeah, and she would copy Blair.
Speaker 2:I was going to ask if you were a Blair fan. Yeah, so I speak another language and the way I speak Spanish is very different than the way I speak English and almost like my personality is different. Your personality changes. Yeah, and it's always interesting because if I could go back, I would almost be like all right now, who am I gonna emulate? Because I speak very mexican spanish but like to be able to be like learning english, being like british no american, no this, oh blair, blair yeah, let's do this because it's like lively right, I am blair like no, it's not.
Speaker 3:Like yeah, yeah so, um, so, you meet there. She rolls her eyes at me and I'm like oh, attitude doesn't scare him and so I I'm walking around her and her mom, showing her the temple grounds, explaining things, and they do not anything. Is your mom like no, no, I am a dick. What we're not like, you're a dick what deck. What a temple boy. I am not an eligible bachelor, for her daughter Got it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and also like he's white, so he's not an eligible son-in-law.
Speaker 2:Multiple boxes not checked for what would be considered eligible.
Speaker 3:Not Chinese background, not from an extremely wealthy family.
Speaker 4:Just not what she.
Speaker 2:She's just enjoying the tour with the temple boy of this famous monk, yeah.
Speaker 4:And also like he's not Buddhist. My mom was like why are you not converted yet?
Speaker 3:Yeah, that was a common question, so I'd never like have considered myself Buddhist. We don't need to get into why. But she's just like what are you? I was like I don't know, I think I'm like more culturally Christian, I've got a lot of Christian values, and she goes, what do Christians believe? And I kind of explained it and she's just like you can't be forgiven of sin. You know, she would just like I'm like yeah, my mom is my mom.
Speaker 3:Yeah, she's very straightforward. I'm like, okay, that's fine, convert you right now. It's just answering your questions. But yeah, she she's not giving me the time of day and the event starts and there's a ton of people there and it's like a religious place is not a really good place to flirt. So, especially when you're the like guy who's right next and like doing the events with the person who runs the place, what's it called the deck? Wall, yeah the deck, what the deck what?
Speaker 4:yeah kid temple it was kind of hard because like, yeah, it was under the temple and like my mom's there and everything, my brother's there, my grandma's there, and I'm just like, okay, how do I, how do I do this?
Speaker 2:yeah, so the next day it's like mission impossible of flirting religious place. Family's all there.
Speaker 4:Multi-generational always like right next to me, like there's no way. And there's this one time we were just sitting in the back of like a golf cart, just the two of us, and my mom was doing something, and so we were just like chatting and to the point where I was like, so do you have a facebook?
Speaker 3:not on. It wasn't on the golf cart, though. It was in the forest with all the rubber trees and everyone was piling out. The event was over and I was just sitting on this like turquoise chair and I was sitting there too and then you come over it's like so do you have a facebook or something? No, we were chatting.
Speaker 4:Oh, we were. Um, we were like kind of okay, have you been to bangkok? Blah blah. And then I was like, well, if you come to Bangkok, you should hit me up. Do you have a Facebook?
Speaker 2:Yes, Ying the power move he would make a move and I was in. I'm sure, cam, you're in a position where you can't oh, I made plenty of moves after that were Well, I mean, like in that situation you probably weren't in a place where you're like, hey, like what's your whatsapp? Or like you know, like something that in most places would be, but because of all of these other dynamics, you're like, yeah, probably not gonna work. So, yeah, I wasn't at sigma chi.
Speaker 4:Yes, I couldn't just like make a move, you know so he is that I grew up super shy and the time that I met him was the time that I was trying to change myself. It's the time that I feel like I need to start being the first one to make moves, to like make things happen. So I made a move by asking for his Facebook. Maybe we could meet up in Bangkok, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Very innocent too. Like you could meet up and do whatever, like it's nothing romantic.
Speaker 3:So I went onto her Facebook and started liking all of her pictures of her in a bikini. So there was, so there was no mistake. So there was no mistake that I was interested, right?
Speaker 1:I love that so much.
Speaker 3:So why don't you tell them what you would do? So when I was there, I did have opportunity to. I mean, a flight round trip from Chiang Rai to Bangkok at the time was like 60, 30 bucks, if you like. Bought it four days in advance, 60 bucks day of yeah Right, it was cheap.
Speaker 4:So after that time we met, I went up again to the temple.
Speaker 3:Why.
Speaker 4:In July To like yeah, Well, there was a chance because my brother was going up there to for like a small event, and so I was like you know what, I'll go with you.
Speaker 2:I'll go with you, brother.
Speaker 3:There's no other ulterior motive and I had told the staff. The head of the staff, vrung. Yeah, if she shows up, let me know. I'm like anytime she shows up, let me know. Right, and she showed up.
Speaker 4:And they let you know. That's where the weird thing the monk said was because we were sitting right next to him and he said you two should get married no, he said.
Speaker 3:He said you two are, so he's.
Speaker 4:He's sitting there and you guys were donating his lunch or something yeah, we were donating lunch and we also, uh, donate like a big bell for the that's right yeah, that's right, it's still there family name yeah, it's still there.
Speaker 2:Family name yeah, it's still there.
Speaker 3:I'm thinking like Liberty Bell, like like bell bell, yeah, but it's like a Buddhist bell, Okay, right, and it's beautiful, absolutely beautiful. So um and then um. Also Mike was.
Speaker 4:Mike is my brother.
Speaker 3:Was asking was asking to be a monk with him, or accepting an invitation, or something like that.
Speaker 4:Something along that line, yeah.
Speaker 3:So I'm along that line. Yeah, so I'm, I'm at again. I am with this monk like almost 24, like all day, right. So I'm just like helping with this event and I'm just sitting there, um, and then he's giving a talk to her family and then all of a sudden just says that ying and I are going to get married in the future and we like looking at each other which is like this is what, like the second time I have met and like obviously cam by now is obviously interested, ying is interested, but to have someone be like you're going to get married and her mom was like my mom wasn't there.
Speaker 2:No, no. What did Mike say? Did he hear this?
Speaker 4:He didn't hear this, he didn't care.
Speaker 3:He's got other things going on. Yeah, he's super busy. So, and then another cool thing we in one of the what's a sala? What is that? Tamasapah, what was that? I don't know? It's like a building on the grounds where everyone was eating lunch. And who took the photo of you?
Speaker 4:One of my brother's friend, who was there as well, took a photo of us like sitting and just like like we're sitting next to each other and we're chatting.
Speaker 3:And I have a nervous habit when I'm nervous, I pick my calluses on my same from working out and in this photo, like I'm just picking a land, pick an oil, yeah, but like the eye contact that we have in the photo is just like it's something yeah for sure so. So every time I go to bangkok I hit her up and she would either ignore me, not come, or, in the rare time when she would come hang out with me, she would bring a friend or two I would.
Speaker 4:I'd never not come, but I would always bring to me why was that? It's easier to get out fair and also it's like why, like, why would you want to go and like have something more, when he's not here, he's in america? Yeah like there's totally, I just wanted to go yeah there's no chance. And yeah, and also one more thing is that because of how close he is with the monk and how like my brothers are famous, I just don't want to be like the talk you didn't want to end up because the next thing on tmz thailand
Speaker 2:the gay monk is now interested in Mike and Golf's sister.
Speaker 4:Yeah, like we don't know if he's going to talk or anything, so like it's better to just you know date someone who doesn't know anyone.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, so nothing really like we were Snapchat friends Snapchat, I don't know if that's still big, but yeah, no-transcript. Um, I got to a point where I just started to feel like I needed to do something with my life, like the part of my life where school partying adventure I had checked off so many boxes that I was like I feel like it's time for me to get to work. I want to, I want to accomplish something now. And I felt like if I went to Europe for three months with this monk all expenses paid, seeing you know, england, france, spain like and he stays at, like his followers donate enough to make sure he's stays in very comfortable places and I felt like, like, like, um, I felt like if I accepted that I was signing up long-term, yeah Right. And I was like, well, I could stay here for another three months, but after Europe I come back, I'm going to want to go home and I can't just go to Europe and then peace. Yeah, like I can't do there now or you're in for the long haul. I'm in now and I'm here for a few years at least is what I was thinking.
Speaker 3:So I was like, I went up and I was like thank you so much for your offer. And I told him how I felt, um, but I want to go home and accomplish something. And he gave me his blessing. He's like, absolutely, you always have a home here, which is something he says every time we go see him. Um, he's like, right, chintawan is your home. So anytime you need to like ground yourself and come home, it's always here. So word got out that I was leaving and, uh, I don't have a manager or anything, or a cell phone or anything like that. I may have my cell phone, but I don't have a tie number or anything. Um, so, uh, some ex an executive at a TV station in Bangkok heard I was leaving and contacted a member of the staff, one of the leaders of the staff at the temple, and asked her to ask me if I could meet with them in Bangkok before I leave. And I was like what, for? She's like I have no idea.
Speaker 3:Okay, so I go meet with them and they come out and with an English speaker and I start speaking Thai and the executive's like Whoa your Thai is really good, like okay, cool, well, we have a, a treatment like prescript, but as an idea for a show and it's about a white guy from New York who becomes a monk and would you be interested in playing that role? And I was like I've never acted before, I've never had any aspirations for acting before. Sure, like let's do it. Yeah. And they're like, okay, well, it's still in the early stages, it may not happen, but if it moves forward and if you know every like if we can get funded and like there's an interest for the premise, um, no-transcript, this is. And then this.
Speaker 3:And I moved back in with my mom and then Tanner got cancer, so he moved in with, he moved back home, and then I moved in with Scott and while I was living with Scott, I got contacted to do the TV show. Like we're going to start, like in in a few months, like you in, and so we negotiated terms and I went and started a TV show and while I was there before I shaved my head. So first they flew me out to New York to film all the, all the scenes of my character there. And that was my first time in New York and I was like I'll be back here. I love this city so that that like planted the New York seat in my head, new York seat in my head. And so then the TV station flew me out, they put room and board, and and is this in Bangkok?
Speaker 2:or was it?
Speaker 3:It was in Bangkok, yeah, so we filmed some of it at the temple grounds that I stayed with, um, cause once one. One thing that they did is, uh, to help get funding. Is the monk that I taught actually helped with the story idea? Yeah, so once it started to get picked up, he got involved and a lot of it was filmed there, um, but most of it was in Bangkok or just outside of Bangkok. So my schedule was on, let's see. So Monday morning they'd pick I'd have like a team pick me up at around 4 30 AM, yeah, and then we drive out to where we were filming that day and we would get there coffee, breakfast, everything, do a run through script, reading all that stuff, make sure everyone was on the same page, and then we'd start filming until about seven, 8 PM at at night. Well, that's a long day, long day, um, and that would be monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday four days in a row of this. So it was like 60 hours in four days yeah, 4, 30 to 8, 30 every day.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's really brutal, so not easy work, believe it or not. So, and then on friday evening I would get the scripts of the scenes that we would be shooting for monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, the next week so, and the scripts were all in thai, no english.
Speaker 2:My thai started to get really good it's gonna say because, like, if anybody's ever learned a language like, especially like from my perspective of mission, like you learn that vocabulary really well, like I could talk religion with anybody very fluently. But then it's like oh hey, you want to talk about manufacturing.
Speaker 2:Take me a sec you have to ask a lot of words, but then a lot of vocab you have to learn so it's like now you have like your mission vocabulary, you have your like your monk vocabulary and kind of all that which expanded a ton, and now it's like pop culture vocabulary of you like your monk vocabulary and kind of evolved out which expanded a ton, and now it's like pop culture vocabulary. So I'm sure it's just at this point I mean as good as native almost.
Speaker 3:And, um, the monk that I played, uh, Steve, like Steve monk speak in a higher language. So there was a ton of vocab I had to learn. So I would spend Friday evening, all day Saturday and a little bit of Sunday. It was like my, okay, I've done enough, but I would just like memorize my lines and practice like all day, Cause I did not want to show up on set and and and slow things down, Right? So, um, I did that and then on, like when I would have downtime and whatnot, I would hit up Ying, and anytime she'd come see me for lunch or coffee or something, she'd bring a friend and I was just like man always a friend.
Speaker 3:Yeah, she'd always bring a friend. So um did the TV show and, uh, after the TV show, work gets crazy, cause then you're doing a ton of interviews and morning TV shows like talk shows and stuff and like going around. Um, and then that was finished and then the show aired and I moved back to the U? S again.
Speaker 2:And the thing I like. So it was always interesting too, cause, like back in Utah, I mean, we knew this was all happening and he'd send us pictures and we'd like the show would go live and we'd go to Scott's apartment and we'd watch it and like, none of us speak Thai. So we're just kind of like trying to piece together the plot based on what we're seeing and keep in mind, like, so up until this point, cam had, I mean, long hair when he was in Thailand. He, I mean, it was always just by nature, he kind of always has been, and we turn it on and all of a sudden he is like shaved bick bald. Yeah, eyebrows, eyebrows, shaved bald. So like what did he get himself into? But like also just like watching this and giggling and trying to figure it all out.
Speaker 3:So I was so scared, my hair wasn't going to grow back. I would like look in the mirror like, oh, is it gone?
Speaker 2:forever like look in the?
Speaker 3:mirror like, oh, is it gone forever? What have I done? Yeah, speaking of anxiety, seriously talk about, uh, it was crazy. So, um, I took that money and I moved home and my intent was to finish school. I'd why I still have one semester left. I never finished classic and so I was like you know what? That was fun. Maybe I should start the suit thing again.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know so I've again, because, like you had this experience in thailand where, like you found I mean probably oversimplified, but you found yourself, you found more grounding, um had all these experiences that you knew you wanted to check off. Those are done and now you have this kind of like itch to scratch, of like okay, now it's time to build my life, build my, my empire. And now you're like all right, let's go back to the suit thing and see what we can do.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Cause I knew I enjoyed it. I and I felt I don't know, I felt like maybe I'll do this, let's try it. So I put, I took the money that I got from, uh, the TV show, which was more money than I've ever had in my life, but still like it wasn't like life changing in that sense, Like oh, I'm but gave you a little bit of freedom in life to make a couple of decisions, yeah.
Speaker 3:So I was like I'm going to take a good chunk of this money, I'm going to put it into Google advertising. And I started to get really busy. And then they hit me up. I got contacted again, the show got renewed for a second season and I was like all right, let's do it. So, negotiating, I was getting paid like triple what I got paid before and I was like is this going to turn into something? You know? And I get there and it was like a week before we started shooting and the, the yeah, the King of Thailand passed away, which, if you know anything about the Thai culture and the Royal family is, it's very revered, especially the ninth king. He, he was the king for what?
Speaker 2:70 years, something like that so it's almost like the queen of england dying, but tiger bigger, bigger it's like, yeah, it's like jesus dying dude.
Speaker 3:It was mourning in the streets like all television production, like tv shows were taken off and it every station was just tributes to him. 24, 7. Yeah, black and white, no color. Nobody's wearing anything but black Doing their day-to-day work. Wow, it was crazy. Like so everything got put on a hiatus and I saw bills at home. I saw the business I'm running at home, like I.
Speaker 3:You can't take a hiatus and I just started running out of money. I'm running at home, you can't take a hiatus, and I just started running out of money, so I stayed waiting for it and the TV station kept saying like no, it'll come back.
Speaker 2:Of course they're just like, yeah, just wait.
Speaker 3:Next week I'd been there for three months and I'm like I have $5,000 left in my name, Like I need to buy a ticket home, all this stuff. So I haven't, yeah, and like the company's not.
Speaker 2:And during this time where you're waiting for this to happen, are you seeing Ying at all or are you just mostly just?
Speaker 3:focused on the store. No, I'd given up on Ying at this point, so uh and so Ying like so during this time.
Speaker 2:So you had gone, so you graduated from school, working for your dad a little bit. And so, during this time, like what were you doing, um, in your own life?
Speaker 4:so I was trying to work with my dad but because of how the company is set up it is so hard to try to change them we've got a special guest um their youngest dot. Well, only daughter now, lizzie, who just woke up from a nap yep, trying to work with my dad still, but it was hard to change how the company was structured and with, like, older people and older workers they don't want to change yeah they don't want you to go in and change things.
Speaker 4:So so between those years that I met, cam was 2015 to 20, like 17, 18. It was just me trying to work with them but not working, and so I was traveling most of the time, to be honest, pretty much not doing anything productive.
Speaker 2:Yeah but fun stuff nonetheless. And is this like when you started posting some of your like travel stuff to youtube?
Speaker 4:no, not yet I didn't start youtube until I started dating him. He was the one who convinced me to start a youtube channel. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, he was the one who said like hey, like you have a lot of things that you want to share, like why didn't, why don't you start a youtube channel? Like people would watch your youtube channel. And I was like no, they won't. And like I can't speak in front of a camera, like I can't do that yeah, and it's.
Speaker 2:It's so funny. You say that because the like the gang I know now because I mean I watch your youtube videos and like subscribe. And it's funny now because if you watch those YouTube videos I would never guess that you're like I don't want to be on camera, I don't like this.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean, I'm not like. I'm a person who, like I don't like going on, like I don't like doing presentations in front of a lot of people. I get nervous if I'm on stage or anything like that. So it took me a while to get used to being on camera and talking to the camera alone.
Speaker 3:Well, tell them what your uncle.
Speaker 4:just a lot of the belittling and stuff, just because my uncle, who I don't know, I don't think if it's jealous or anything, that he's jealous of how my dad is successful and like my mom is having like a good life. So he likes to tell he said something to my mom that I heard and it was like your daughter is good at many things, but not specifically like anything. She's like a duck, like she can do a lot of things, but they're not like like she's not the best at anything.
Speaker 4:You're like thank you and I'm like is that true?
Speaker 2:And she like took that to heart. I mean, yeah, it's like an uncle, it's like family. I was like eight. That'll sit with you for a while.
Speaker 4:And he loves bragging about, like his daughters, how they get A's and stuff like that. And I've never been good at school Like I've never liked school. And I'm good at other things, like selling stuff online. Like when my brother was famous, I would go into my dad's um factory and like make bracelet and sell it to them like the fans yeah, and then sure they just bought it all yeah, like I'm good at like those stuff, but I'm not good at school.
Speaker 3:She's a really good entrepreneur. Talk about Garrett Popcorn.
Speaker 4:Oh. So I went to a show with my brother, like a TV show, and I won like a like a kind of like a price, and it was like three hundred dollars, and three hundred dollars was a lot for me back then and I was like, oh, what am I going to do with this money? So I went to get some popcorn and it was Garrett popcorn from Chicago and I was like, why is this thing so expensive? It's like 12 bucks for like a small box. And so I tasted it and I was like holy crap You're're like.
Speaker 2:It all makes sense now. Like what kind?
Speaker 4:of popcorn. Is this like I need this. So I was like maybe I can get it to come here and like sell it too. Like maybe I can like import it. So I started looking and we went to my family and I we went to Hong Kong so I got about like I used that money that I went to the show and got the price and spent all of it on popcorns and brought it back home from that trip and started an Instagram, started posting online, having my brothers hold it and, just like all his celebrities friend posted.
Speaker 4:I started taking orders. And then I know that I, like one of my friend, just started to like study abroad in Singapore, and so on the weekends I was like, hey, can you do me a favor, can you go to the mall? Can you get the manager's contact from Garrett popcorn? And she did. And so I reached out to her and I was like can I place an order from you and have you guys deliver it to my dad's shipping company? And they're like, yeah, sure. And so I didn't use any money to like like I only use that $300 to invest in it, but I would take orders from the customer and have them pay half first, so basically that half of the money would fund the order.
Speaker 4:And I was making like $10,000. Yeah, and so that time I was in college and it was to the point where I was like I don't care about college anymore.
Speaker 2:I care about exams. You can go make money selling popcorn.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I'm just going to sell popcorns. And yeah, I just started selling it to the point where I wanted to bring the franchise into Thailand. But the manager told me, like don't do it, it's not worth it. Like, once it's good, the company's going to come in and take over. Like don't do it, it's not worth it. Like, once it's good, the company's going to come in and take over. Like, just don't do, it Makes sense. So I was like, okay, fine, I guess I'm just gonna do it for fun. And then people started copying and doing the same stuff. So much like so many competitors.
Speaker 2:So it was always a good sign that you're doing something right.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it was good, a good sign, but also, like I was in my third year of college and I was like, okay, I need to, I need to finish this right. It was a really tight thing where you need, you need to finish college.
Speaker 3:so how much did you work?
Speaker 4:what do you mean?
Speaker 3:like, weren't you like up all day your dad's yeah?
Speaker 4:I was up all day, I was just you know not going not going yeah, I'm obsessed. I'm not like studying anymore, but I have good friends, so they would like help me study.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And I like passed, like at like 51%, like just barely passed, C's get degrees Like barely passing. I'm lucky that my parents are not super strict. Yeah, as long as you pass, you're fine.
Speaker 2:And you did.
Speaker 4:And I did.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 4:Yeah. And then when I met Cam, started dating him. That's when I actually grew up, yeah. So I am not proud of this, but I would say that I was a really spoiled kid, like during those three years after college. I would just go on trips. I would go to New York, I would go to Paris. I would just go on trips With daddy's credit card.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 4:With daddy's credit card and I mean, and I always thought that I will always have daddy's credit card.
Speaker 2:And like at this point in life you're like okay, like family's pretty successful, I can do all these fun things without too much work. I'll probably marry someone famous from Thailand and just kind of continue. This Is that kind of what you expected at that point.
Speaker 4:Yeah, like I would probably marry someone from a good family in Thailand and like things would be okay, like you don't have to worry about money, even though I know that my dad's company is kind of like struggling at that point. But I always thought he will figure it out. He's smart, he'll figure it out, no problem, and he works up he's 70.
Speaker 3:He still works like crazy yeah he's 70 right now.
