J.R.: [00:00:00] Hello, all of my lovely listeners out there. Welcome back to another episode of One Thousand Gurus, where we share the stories and life lessons from people of all walks of life.

I am your host, J.R. Yonocruz.

Today's guest is Andrew Tran, AKA Trandrew. Andrew is currently a financial services manager at a Fortune 100 company. Outside of work, he has a strong background in the performing arts. He grew up doing theater and even dabbled in stand-up comedy. At age 12, Andrew began breakdancing and is a founding member of Placebo Effect Crew.

He also previously served as executive director of Kaba Modern Legacy. Currently, he enjoys playing guitar during his free time And is looking forward to being a first-time parent later this year with his partner, Clarizcel.

This was another fantastic home run recording. Trandrew and I haven't really talked in about 12-ish years, but we stayed connected on social media.

I found out that we have a lot in common, particularly our mutual love of comedy, but I also appreciated his vulnerability and insight when he shared his journey about self-improvement and mental health.

We, of course, reminisced about our own journeys in dance, like on Kaba Modern, his biggest [00:01:00] influences growing up, his love of performance and theater, and then his career shift later to financial planning and financial services.

Also quick note, I had some issues with my audio for this recording, so apologies if the sound quality is not really good on this one. But hopefully it's not too distracting, as the episode was one of my favorites.

Overall, it was a great conversation. His vibes reminded me a lot of Arnel and Ramy, so check those ones out as well, those episodes.

They're also wise, introspective, and have a strong generosity of spirit that really make the conversation so special.

And hopefully we can have him back on the show for a part two. But until then, hope you guys enjoy this conversation with Andrew Tran.

 Hello, and welcome back to One Thousand Gurus. Trandrew, welcome to the show. 

Trandrew: Yay. Thanks for having me. Woo woo. Yeah. 

J.R.: Thanks for, thanks for jumping on, man. You'll hear in the final, I put post-production applause, so there's thousands of people cheering right now. 

Trandrew: You mean it's not real? 

J.R.: What? No. What are you, what are you talking about?

So many people. [00:02:00] They're l- We're, we're live streaming right

now. Yeah, so yeah, thanks for... You're joining from Vegas, right? Las Vegas, yep. Nice, nice. So I know we kind of briefly caught up, but, like how's Vegas treating you right now? 

Trandrew: Vegas has been very good to me minus the sun, but it's kind of a double-edged sword, right? We need that thing. Mm ... but it's been good, you know, just been settling in here the last year and a half now you know, here with my girlfriend.

You know, we got a baby on the way. I don't know why I paused. Why did I pause? We are, we are having a child soon. 

J.R.: For the audience, we was like, we're trying to figure out, do I bring it up? Does he bring it up naturally? And so there you go. You, you, you draw the, you drew the stick. 

Trandrew: I did it. 

J.R.: Well, congratu- congratulations.

I'm happy for you guys. 

Trandrew: Thank you. 

J.R.: It's always exciting. Are you excited to be a dad? 

Trandrew: I am excited to be a dad. You know, there's some natural anxiety that comes with it of making sure that I can [00:03:00] hold it all together, be, you know, good in, you know, the fathership role as a partner, and also holding it down for my town, you know, with my career and everything.

So it is a balancing act. And granted, I haven't even reached it yet. It's, it's still the pregnancy. Yeah. It's just something that I'm trying to mentally and, you know, physically prepare for. 

J.R.: Yeah, definitely. Do you guys have a due date? Is that, is that what they call it? 

Trandrew: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. So the due date is, it's like mid-November.

Okay. We're not given the exact date because we don't want people bothering us on the actual day. So 

J.R.: That's fair. That makes sense. 

Trandrew: But I'll, I'll tell you offline. 

J.R.: Yeah, for sure. For sure. Okay, cool. That's exciting. Cool. November baby, that's awesome.

Let's see. So I guess I'll go into my normal how I know you as my guest. So, we met through Kaba Modern. When I joined the team in 2010, you were already an alumni, and then we connected. We didn't really... You know, we would see each other at parties here and there, and I remember we connected, I [00:04:00] think it was like sometime after I graduated for, it was like a lunch or dinner or something like that.

Mm-hmm. And that was like the first time we really talked, which was awesome. My impression of you has always been you're one of our revered alumni, which is a, a thing in Kaba Modern where it's you know, you respect your elders, you respect your alumni. And so I was telling Ramy this, it's like, you know, 15 years has passed, but you're still my returner, and I still see you like that because that's just built into our experience, right?

Seems like you haven't changed. Very chill, very calm. You were very insightful the last time we talked, and now you live in Vegas. So I think that's like the, the long and short of it. Any clarifications on, on your end? 

Trandrew: No, no. I mean, you know, my impressions of you always were you were just a very stand-up individual, always pleasant to be around, super talented.

Like what can't J.R. do, you know? But yeah, no, I remember that lunch that we had. It was before we Legacy had rehearsal that day. Mm-hmm. And I think I was really hoping that you were gonna jump on board and be part of the team, you know? Oh. But you, you [00:05:00] definitely had, I think you, you really got in tune with your career and became very hyper-focused with that.

And so, a little bummed during that time because, you know, I, I always saw you on stage and always admired just how good you were. But, you know, how can you hate on somebody being focused on their career, you know? Like- Yeah ... if anything, I'm was just there to really just support you no matter what as a friend.

J.R.: Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate that. Do you remember when that was? Like, was that 2016, '17? 

Trandrew: I think it was either '14 

J.R.: or '15. Oh, '14, '15. Yeah. Okay, that was really soon then. Yeah, 'cause I, I did dance with the Legacy folks for a little bit, it was a lot of fun to dance with people who I've only ever briefly met, and obviously everyone's very talented, and so it was kind of a honor to be among those people.

I know we're gonna pretty much half catch up and just see what your life is like- ... since I, I only know what I see on social media.

Maybe I wanna jump around and start off with since we met through Kaba Modern, I'm curious what was your experience [00:06:00] like on Modern, and then maybe a little bit on Legacy and how things have changed over time, what your personal experience was?

'Cause of course, when we join, we see it from the lens of where we're at. So I'm just curious what your experience was like. 

Trandrew: Yeah. I mean, Modern, well, you know, like most people, I started off as a fan of watching Kaba Modern, just totally idolizing the people there. You know, one of my big, my big brother, one of my mentors of life, Alex Nguyen, was on the team in 2002, and I just followed them from there.

And so being on the team was very transformative. You know, first off, just being able to dance with legends, you know, Jal, Seo, Alex, Mikey, Len gosh, Roach, Rohel, Shar, all my returners and oldies. But just really good life experience as far as learning hard work being around amazing artists, obviously the social aspect, the partying, all that stuff.

Everything in summation was just really a transformative experience that I will never, [00:07:00] ever forget, of course. A lot of highs and lows, you know, a lot of highs and lows for, for various reasons, whether it just being, the lows of not having a good performance or people leaving the team or, the demise of a relationship, things like that.

Overall I just, I swear you could make a movie out of it, you know? It just has that strong imprint on your life like that. And something that I'll never, ever forget and something that I tre- cherish to this day. 

J.R.: Yeah.

I've-- What- 

Trandrew: Trying to- What years 

J.R.: were you on the team?

Trandrew: From when? So I'm, I'm the class of 2004. 

J.R.: Okay. And then you were on until, on Modern until when? 

Trandrew: 2006. So- Okay, 2006 ... and this is something that this is one of those things, and I saw the rapid fire questions. Something that I would redo is I would finish my year, my older year. Mm-hmm. I actually left in the middle of 2006, and even though, you know, everything worked out in the end, I still look back and think, you know, that's that's one thing that I definitely wish I, I, I stuck out and kinda just powered through.[00:08:00] 

J.R.: What were, what were the reasons why you left early? 

Trandrew: You know, there are a lot of personal reasons. I think the main thing was my own mental health was number one. Mm-hmm. I definitely was not taking care of myself as, you know, as best as I could. There were a lot of years there where I could have taken myself, taken care of myself better.

You know, there was an end of a relationship, and then there was also just friction between me and a couple of other individuals on the team. Okay. But, you know, digressing a little bit there's no one else's fault but my own in all that. I think if I took better care of myself and had a little bit more control over my emotions, I, I think I would've been able to finish things off strong.

J.R.: Yeah. Did you, did you go to UCI? 'Cause I know Commonwealth is like anyone could join. 

Trandrew: So I was one of the non-UCI students. Okay. I actually went to Cal State University, Long Beach. And you know what? They needed B-boys at the time, so, you know. Oh. I was, I was- Yeah, there you go ... one of the B-boys who who auditioned.

J.R.: So was it I'm trying to place it in time of your years. Were [00:09:00] you a first-year when you joined, or, like, what w- your age? 

Trandrew: Mm-hmm. So I was actually 17. I was a senior in high school- Oh ... when I, when I joined the team, and at the time- Right ... that was a record. That was, like, I was, quote-unquote, the youngest person.

I don't know what kind of record that is. Yeah, you were a baby. Yeah. I was the baby of the team. You know, later on somebody else beat my record. Karen Song became the youngest person- Oh, 

J.R.: right, 

Trandrew: right ... to ever join Modern. But yeah, I was, I was still a senior in high school when I had joined. 

J.R.: Hmm.

Interesting. That makes sense, and I I mean, I can make assumptions, but, you know, joining a college team like that in our college years, mental health and balancing life and relationships and those social dynamics, it makes sense how it can be difficult, especially in that sort of situation. So it makes sense how, you know, not all of us can make it as far as that we, as we, as far as we want, but there's a lot of other chall- like for, I was talking to my K10 class about this when they were on the show, but it's like, you know, we're still kids, and we're growing through everything, and so of course it's gonna be hard 'cause we're still figuring ourselves out, and we're not even fully adults yet [00:10:00] at that point.

And so- Yeah ... it makes sense why it was such a challenge, right? 

Trandrew: Absolutely, yeah. Everyone's still figuring it out together. Like, no one really knows exactly what they're doing, right? 

J.R.: Yeah, exactly. So then you left at, in 2006. So what about Legacy? What was that- Mm-hmm ... period, and what was your experience like?

Trandrew: So a- after I had left, you know, I, I did different projects and everything, and KM Legacy had a, kind of a resurgence in a way. It was kinda one of those periodic things where, oh, like, Legacy's actually doing PCN, you know? Mm-hmm. And so I jumped on stage for PCN and did some performances for a little while.

And it was really cool. Super cool, and then eventually, what years were those? I wanna say it was probably around, like, 2008, 2009,

'10, and then I think, I think I had left after maybe two, two and a half, maybe three years of dancing with Legacy- 

J.R.: Hmm ... 

Trandrew: prior to my, my next stint, which started [00:11:00] in 2014. 

J.R.: Okay, so you rejoined 

Trandrew: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I rejoined in 2014. That was when they opened up, you know, positions for being a board member. And, Oh, that's right.

J.R.: Okay. Yeah, 

Trandrew: yeah. Yeah. And Cindy Kim, CK, was the one who reached out to me and was like, "Hey, you know, there's open positions, nudge, nudge." And I took it as a sign of like, okay, you know, maybe this is my chance to kind of redeem myself, you know? I, I kinda... It kinda hung over my head for the longest time that I left Modern not on good terms.

Mm-hmm. And even Legacy, you know, I had my ups and downs with it, too. And I know I'm not the only one. Everyone just has ups and downs in general, you know, with any organization they're a part of. But it was my opportunity to kind of be more of a, in a servant leadership type of role to kind of just give back to everybody and give everybody an opportunity to shine on stage.

J.R.: Mm-hmm. I love that. And then how long was that second stint, and general reflections, like how do you think it went? 

Trandrew: So that second stint, I was, I [00:12:00] was... It was from 2014 to 2017. And then I stepped down and faded away. Reflections on that. Mm, I wish I took better-- Again, it's gonna be a common theme throughout all this, is taking better care of my mental health, taking better care of my body.

I think if I had done that and gotten more proper sleep I would've been able to train harder. 'Cause when I watch those videos, I see myself and I'm like, "What happened to you, bro?" Like, what happened to me? Like, you suck, dude. But yeah, I think, I think if I had taken better care of my body and mental health, I think I would've been able to train harder on top of, you know, the leadership role and everything.

J.R.: Mm. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Cool. Yeah, thanks for sharing. I know we'll get back to the, at least the mental health piece of that, maybe the physical health as well. 

Mm-hmm. 

But yeah, that's, that's awesome. I, I always like hearing different people's experiences, and it feels like, you know, everyone's experience is different.

Mm-hmm. But in some ways it's also very [00:13:00] similar. Everyone's just trying to figure things out, doing their best, ups and downs and whatnot, so it's always nice to hear about that. All right. If nothing else on couple Modern related things, we can go into our typical sort of starting off point, I guess, is- Uh-huh

which is origin story and biggest influences. So- Okay ... Trandju, where did you grow up and what were your biggest influences? 

Trandrew: I grew up on the border of Garden Grove in Santa Ana, California. I went to school in Garden Grove. Biggest influences growing up, I mean, there's a lot. As far as people, like, my oldest sister Tammy was a huge influence on me.

She still is. She's still, like, a life mentor and my-- and one of my closest friends. You know, a lot of family members. I had a very, very big family. Had a lot of good family members. My boy Mike growing up, Mike Cordia, my friend Alex Nguyen, they were still very positive influences on me, kept me out of trouble.

You know, they're the ones who really s- started me and taught me how to breakdance. It started... They s- they helped me start [00:14:00] the whole journey. But aside from that, I'd also say my Uncle James. Like, I, I realize now, I give a lot of credit to my friends and my sister, but my uncle really, really sparked, I think, music within me, because he was the first person that I saw play guitar, play piano and introduced me to a lot of different bands like Depeche Mode or The Cure and things like that.

And he definitely played a big role into, to what I still enjoy to this day 

J.R.: Mm, right. Yeah, I know you mentioned a lot of performing arts. Let's see. Yeah, so maybe we can go into that. So some of the things- Yeah ... that I noted down, you mentioned theater, break dancing, of course stand-up comedy- Yeah

guitar. Is guitar the only instrument you play, or do you 

Trandrew: play other stuff? So I mean, I can... That's the instrument I'm best at. I also play- Okay ... play bass guitar. I'm currently learning some songs on the piano, just so I can learn to be proficient. I can do basic drums. I forgot to bring it down, but I have a slide whistle.

It's one of [00:15:00] those, like, joke whistles. 

J.R.: Ah. 

Trandrew: Oh, man, I forgot to bring it down. But, That's funny ... overall, I think the only instrument that I can say that I'm good at, though, is the guitar. 

J.R.: Ah, okay. So how long you been playing guit- So then music... So was, was music before dance, like playing an instrument?

Trandrew: I mean, I played violin in elementary school, if that counts, but I don't even play it anymore. Oh. Dance was actually, was actually prominent before I became serious at guitar. I started breaking at age 12, and I started playing guitar, I think, at age 14. 

J.R.: Oh, okay. Yeah. So, but I mean, like, very formative years, right?

You're just so immersed into dancing and, and music. Yeah ... so I wanna, I wanna ask... Well, maybe you kind of alluded to it, but how did you get into these things? What drew you to them? You mentioned- Yeah ... your uncle. 

Trandrew: Yeah. I would say, honestly, like, you know, and I don't know if, if it was prominent while you were growing up.

MTV, you know? Mm. MTV was just so cool. Like, [00:16:00] you know, even before break dancing, I was, I was into rock music. I always wanted to be a rock star. Like, my sister played tennis, and I would take her tennis racket and put on a Green Day album and just start playing air guitar with the tennis racket and just run around the house doing that as if I was a rock star.

So, I'd say like, yeah, definitely MTV, Green Day, Offspring, who's also from Garden Grove, by the way. Oh, nice. Smashing Pumpkins. Those, those bands really, really influenced me growing up. 

J.R.: Hmm. Wait a minute. Did you teach us a routine to Queen? ... I'm Starting Now? Was that you? 

Trandrew: That was me. Yeah, that was 

J.R.: me.

That was the... Oh my God, that, every time I hear that song, it reminds me of you and that routine. I was like, it was one of my first exposures, and I was like, "Ooh, this song is fire."

Trandrew: It's such an amazing song. Yeah, I, I- Yeah ... still feel like I didn't do it justice, but, you know, it's, it, it was something that I was just very passionate about at the time, and, you know, Queen has a heavy place in my heart.

Definitely one of my favorite [00:17:00] bands of all time, and so, you know, I just, I look back at that and I'm like, "Okay, that's a fun video." There were some comedic elements to it, but definitely, yeah, I mean, that's so funny you bring that up. 

J.R.: It's, yeah, 'cause oh my gosh, it's like, 'cause we had, like, those leather vests and everything.

Trandrew: Yeah. 

J.R.: I remember, don't, I don't, obviously don't remember the choreo, but I do remember that you were so enthusiastic and passionate about it. You're like, "Oh my God, I love, I love this song. I love Queen." And I was, it was the first time I had heard of a dancer really into Queen, and I didn't- Mm-hmm ... was n- not really into Queen.

But I was like- Yeah ... "Oh, this, I, I vibe." Like, you could tell that you really liked this song and this group. So, yeah, that's what you have given to me- ... is that enthusiasm. So I- Thank you ... I always like hearing that song. It hypes me up. I'm like, "Oh, yeah, I'm about to break out." Wait, I don't, I don't B-Boy.

What is happening? 

Trandrew: You, you were in the video, right? You 

J.R.: were in the video. I think so, 'cause I was wearing, I was wearing that vest just without a shirt. Yeah. I'm 

Trandrew: pretty sure. Yeah, you're, you're in the video. Yeah, I mean, that was- Yeah ... that was kinda my thing. Like, you know, shout out to, to Alex Nguyen and Miguel Zarate, but on Kaba Modern, [00:18:00] they kinda, like, they pretty much were pioneers, and they did a piece to White Stripes' Seven Nation Army.

Mm. And to me, it, it kinda broke barriers for me of like, "Oh, wow, I could actually do non-traditional break dancing routines to the songs that I love the most." It doesn't have to be your typical, like, boom, boom, cat, ba-cat, ba-boom, cat, you know? Yeah. And you can- Break beats ... you can be really unorthodox with it.

And so I kinda took what they did and, you know, went further in my own direction with it and, Yeah. I mean, that- that's eventually, like, all I do now, or what I was doing when I was choreographing, was just choosing those types of songs. 

J.R.: Yeah. Well, that's kind of what I love. I don't know if you know Lil B, Brian Perez.

He's a locker. I used to dance- Mm-hmm ... with him in high school and had, I just had him on the show as well. But he reminded me as one of my freestyle inspirations, and now I'm talking to you reminding, reminding me of my Kaba Modern inspirations that I think one of the things that impacted on me is, like you just said, your style of dance [00:19:00] is not necessarily pigeonholed to a certain genre of music.

And in fact, that sort of, it's your connection to the music, it's the feeling, and when you freestyle, it's kind of bringing that out. And so it should never be kind of held down into a specific thing. And that's what I really looked up to a lot of the, you know, the big names on Kaba Modern and people who use their freestyle, put into choreography, into a music and genre you would not expect.

Trandrew: Mm-hmm. 

J.R.: And to me, that's real artistry, and I love that so much 'cause it's like, think outside the box, guys. It's like a freestyle mentality brought into choreography, which I really love. 

Trandrew: Yeah, 100%. I wholeheartedly agree with you on that. You know, I, I really think that's what kind of made KM stand out, is we would take, you know, especially, you know, old school fundamental styles and putting them to songs that you just wouldn't really expect to hear out of it, you know?

And then with that, it brings out also different movement as well that you, that probably might not have come out had you choose something traditional, you know? Mm-hmm. So, I definitely think, yeah, you're [00:20:00] pretty on point with that. A lot of, a lot of choreographers around that time were doing that. 

J.R.: Yeah, especially my super oldie, Shaun Duong.

Trandrew: Mm-hmm. 

J.R.: He, his advice to all of us was always, "Yeah, learn other styles of dance or just expose yourself to it and different genres of music. And then when you come to choreo days and you do something, like, experiment with that." And I always remember that piece of advice. That and also Deyo's advice, which is always do, always submit something for choreo day because it's kind of the practice of always just doing it instead of- Yeah

letting the fear. So those two piece of advice from my super oldies were always very instrumental. 

Trandrew: And I love both of those guys so much. Yeah, 

J.R.: of course. Those guys are so cool. Of course. 

Trandrew: Yeah. Yeah. 

J.R.: Yeah. Definitely all of my inspirations. I wanna ask about, so we talked about guitar, we talked about music and break dancing.

Mm-hmm. So theater, how did theater come into play? 

Trandrew: So theater was actually my first love. Hmm. So theater I mentioned my older sister, Tammy. She was in theater growing up [00:21:00] Like in junior high and high school, I would always go to plays and watch her, and I just thought it was always the coolest thing, you know?

And on top of that I was a big fan of Saturday Night Live growing up. Ooh. I was just a huge fan of sketch comedy. I feel like there was something so different about it, something so smart, and something that you couldn't just get anywhere else. And so, you know, my first play was in, what, second grade.

I, I played the gingerbread man in a holiday play, and I actually had to do like a rap. It was a gingerbread rap, like a one-verse thing. Nice. And once I got to junior high... Actually, hold on. Before that sixth grade I entered the talent show at my school and I did a comedy sketch called Amnesia where, you know, I'm playing with a friend.

I get hit in the head or something, and I wake up and I forget who I am, and then I do a Forrest Gump impersonation. And I got third place at the talent show. And so- 

J.R.: Nice ... 

Trandrew: and then junior high and high school, I was definitely involved in like plays and things like that, and even had some lead roles.

And then I [00:22:00] stopped, actually. Stopped with acting once I joined Kaba Modern because- Mm ... once you're on Modern, it's all about Modern, you know? Yeah. And I didn't really pick back up with theater until like... I did some short films in college, and then it wasn't until 2016 that I actually started doing stand-up comedy, and I did a three-year run of stand-up.

And so- Wow ... yeah, so that was pretty cool. 

J.R.: How did you... Okay, so, mm, how did you get into stand-up? H- like, how did you learn it? Mm-hmm. And I can see I guess the third follow-up to that is, like, you mentioned theater or sketch comedy SNL, improv, and stand-up. You know, those are, like, different but peripheral siblings.

Yeah. Sorry, just to go back. So then how did you get into stand-up? 

Trandrew: Okay, so, well, I, I did I did improv as well in high school. Oh. We did something called ComedySportz. So I did some of that too. But stand-up happened because I was at one of my friend's birthdays. His name's Adrian Lau. He's also a U- UCI alumni.

He had a birthday party, and [00:23:00] up in LA, and I didn't really know anybody, so I was just kinda sitting on the outskirts, just, like, with a beer in hand, sitting against a wall. And then I saw this, this woman, you know, this Asian girl, like, maybe, like, five, six feet away from me. And I look at her, and I'm just like, "Hey, what's up?"

I just introduced myself, you know. She introduces herself. She's like, "Hey, my name's Jenny." And I'm like, "Oh, I'm Andrew," you know. And, you know, she's like, "What do you do, Andrew?" And I just talk about what I did for work, and at the time I was, you know, working with special needs kids. And I said, "What do you do?"

And she's like, "Oh, yeah. Well, you know, I'm a professional stand-up comedian." And she, like, says it like that, just like matter-of-fact, nothing crazy. Yeah. And suddenly I'm like, "Whoa! You do comedy? Oh, my gosh," like, "How'd you get into it?" Like, "You do it professionally? You do it for a living? That's crazy." Just totally, like, enamored with the fact that that's what she was doing, you know?

And I think she felt that from me. I was- I, it's kinda hard for me to hide my emotions. Yeah. And you know, her name is Jenny Yang. Y- and she's, she's, she's [00:24:00] quite famous, I, I will say. And sh- let's see, like, three months later, maybe even less than three months later, she sends me a Facebook message, and she says, "Hey," you know, "You, you told me..."

Well, I did tell her during the time, I said, "I I've always wanted to try something like that." And so she hits me up on Facebook Messenger, and she says, "Hey," you know, "Me and my friends are throwing a comedy festival, and we actually have a bracket where newbie comics can perform. So we're choosing some newbie comics to just go up there and do a short three-minute set, and that's it.

Would you be down to do it?" And, like, literally, like, I was so ecstatic. I was like, "Yes." But at the same time, scared to death because I had not done that before, you know? I have probably about two, maybe three months to, to prepare. And, you know, they prep us too.

Like, she had me come out to do a workshop with some of the other newbie comics, which was super helpful. And, And pretty much, you know, she had us, like, write down on a sheet of paper, like, "For the next 10 minutes, write down what [00:25:00] annoys you. And then after you write it down, get up and talk to everybody about what annoys you, and don't even try to be funny.

Just talk about it." And as I'm talking about it, I notice that they're laughing. And I'm like, "Oh, that's all you have to do is get up and talk about what pisses you off and people will laugh?" Mm-hmm. You know? And you know, fast-forward maybe, like, three weeks after that, I, I go up, you know, I, I do the thing.

A lot of friends came out to support me, which I'm very grateful for. You know, like, it just... I felt so, I felt so supported, you know? And I think it's because people knew that, like, I had this ambition to do something with my goofiness, with my silliness. And you know, I, I did pretty well, I think better than I thought I would, which was a nice feeling.

And as I got off stage, s- one of the coordinators of the show, one of the comedians who threw the show came up, and she was like, "Hey, you did really well." And I was like, "Oh, thank you so much." And she's like, "Hi, I'm Atsuko." And I'm like, "Okay." [00:26:00] Yeah, and so Atsuko Okatsuka. Yeah, yeah. So she, she was, she was actually one of the coordinators of the show.

Oh, 

J.R.: that's cool. 

Trandrew: And it was really cool 'cause, like, we connected a little bit, and then less than a month later, I got invited to do a show with Jenny and Atsuko. It was like a small show at, like... I forget what it was called, but it's up in LA. I think it's closed down since then. Mm-hmm. But I, I'm only going, I'm only rambling with this story just because, like, she- Go for it

I, I feel like Jenny and Atsuko were, were mentors of mine. And, and then now Jenny's... She's, she's blown up. She's actually, she's written for TV shows and things like that. And Atsuko, obviously, she's, she's huge now, you know? She- She's 

J.R.: funny, yeah. 

Trandrew: Yeah. And so, man, if only I had stuck with it. 

J.R.: Yeah. Yeah ... okay, I, I have so many follow-ups, but I wanna go back.

Okay, I guess quick context. So I had taken a Stand-Up Comedy 101 class. Okay. And it was all about how to write jokes with, like, you know, professional comedians, and it was a really helpful class. It was, like, right [00:27:00] before the pandemic. And then maybe s- 2024 I took a s- 201 class from the same studio or the same comedy theater in Huntington Beach.

Mm-hmm. And then so my friend and I would do open mics here and there. And so I'm so fascinated with comedy. Obviously, I love comedy. I, I've done open mics myself, and it's one of 

Trandrew: my- You did open mics? 

J.R.: Yeah. This is one of my ambitions that I've been putting on the back burner until I'm done with this sor- sort of thing.

Anyway, so long story short, I'm so fascinated about your journey. You said that you start off with that three-minute set, and then you started off with the foundation of, okay, what annoys you. How did you turn that into a full set? And then how did you approach doing sets from that point on? 

Trandrew: Good question.

So s- really, like I, I started off with a couple of things that would annoy me, and then like if I'm just being completely honest, I would sit with a pen and paper, I would get hammered, and then like any, any like weird thing that I would do when I would be hammered, I would write it [00:28:00] down. And like the saying goes, "Write drunk, edit sober," and that's what I would do.

I would write down a flurry of ideas, a lot of which sucked. A lot of these ideas and jokes that I ma- came up with sucked, but a couple of them I would actually keep, and then I would just build upon that. And it became one of those things where as I'm writing a set, I be-- I kind of become obsessed with it.

So even when I'm at work throughout the day, I'm constantly thinking about it. And then if something makes me laugh internally, I'll put it into my phone and then transfer it on, you know, to my whole set list later on. And so I think from there on, I started growing a little bit more confidence in how to, how to put together a set.

And my subject matter was very niche. It was, it was a lot about, yes, mental health, big surprise, but also, yes, sex, drugs, religion, things like that, video games. Just things that I naturally had like a, a fascination for, I guess. 

J.R.: Hmm. Okay. I love that. So how-- My brain is very analytical, nuts and bolts.

So [00:29:00] how do you structure a set? So you said that you build a set and you kind of focus on it, you add to it, and you think about it. But like, is it, do you just focus on a few topics? Do you focus on one topic or just try to build it out like that? Or how, how do you approach it? 

Trandrew: So, I mean, by no means when I, when I give this, I guess, quote-unquote advice or whatever, by no means- Yeah

do I think I'm an expert, 'cause I, I don't really feel- Right ... like I ever hit that 10,000 hours to master it. Yeah. But I, I honestly treated it kind of like a, a dance set where you have pieces. You have pieces and then you find ways to transition into you know, one into the other. And I think the longest set I did was about 15 minutes.

Oh. That was the longest set that I had done. But most of my sets were about five to 10 minutes. So most of those would consist about maybe like six or seven different bits that were about a minute and a half long- 

J.R.: Mm ... 

Trandrew: with little bits in between, of course. So I was never one of those one-liner guys. Mm

so it was always just like set up little like, you know, jabs in between and then one big punch at the end. So [00:30:00] I would treat it a lot like a dance set. 

J.R.: Mm. Okay, I love that. And then so when you were doing different sets, was there a, so you switch around little pieces in between and try new stuff? That, that's kind of how I learned it from my teachers is, like, you have your C, B, and A sort of tier, and then you kind of- Mm-hmm

start off strong, and then you do your experimental stuff, and then you end with your finisher, like your best stuff. And then- 

Trandrew: Yeah ... 

J.R.: as you go through that process and you level them up to A-tier jokes you kind of do that. So was it a similar approach? 

Trandrew: Yeah, absolutely. There w- I definitely was strategic about, okay, like this one usually gets a laugh, so I'll put it here.

This one's new. I'm not sure what it's gonna, what kind of reaction it's gonna get, so I'm gonna put it in between these two jokes that have gotten laughs. So I would structure it that way. But hold on. I'm still, I'm processing right now, J.R. Yeah, yeah. You did standup. You've done open mics. 

J.R.: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's- My God ... I, that's, I love doing open mics actually. Yeah, okay. Well, I don't even know where to start. Yeah, it's been a lot of fun. I [00:31:00] did it for my- I did it by myself for a little bit- Mm-hmm ... and then pandemic, and then I got my friend to do 201 with me, and then we were just doing open mics. And it's so funny because in, in the theater that we go to, he and I are, like, the only Asian guys.

Mm-hmm. And so it just happens that I'll- I'll tell Filipino Asian jokes, and he'll tell gay jokes, as he's gay. And then one us- sometimes I'll go first, and then he'll go. And then when he went first one time, he started telling Asian jokes. Mm-hmm. And so when I went up, I'm like, "All right. Well, Aeden told all the Asian jokes.

I guess I'll tell the gay jokes now." Everyone's quiet except him. He's dying laughing. And I'm like, "All right. Well, at least we got each other to..." So our, our, our, our comedy humor, like, really made each other laugh. So we're, like, doing fan cams of each other. Yeah. And it's always we're laughing at each other's jokes, and everyone else is quiet.

So it was a lot of fun. 

Trandrew: That's so funny. Hey, as long as you change one person's life, you know? 

J.R.: Yeah, no and it's funny because, so I'll, sometimes if my girlfriend goes to my open mics, my set just happens to be, like, I start writing a joke about her, and then my set is, like, 90% about her. And so I- ... open with, "All right, so my [00:32:00] girlfriend's in the audience.

So if you hear... It's funny because she- she's heard this entire set, and if you hear someone laugh late, a little, tiny girl in the back, that's her." And then she starts to giggle. I'm like, "See? That's her right there." And then after that, everyone starts laughing, and then I'm like, "You know, it's funny because she heard this joke 10 times, and yet she still laughs late."

And then that gets the c- the crowd warm. But,

Trandrew: Oh, that's so cool, dude. Yeah. I love it. I love it. Okay, so I, I know you're, you're the one leading this podcast- Yeah, no, no, no ... but can I just make a request of you? Yeah, 

J.R.: yeah. 

Trandrew: Is if you ever come to Vegas, A, you can stay with us. Like- Oh, thank you ... you have a free place to stay.

You don't have to pay for any hotels. For sure. There are open mics out here. So I'm trying to- Yeah ... get back on stage this year. I, that's- Mm ... that's part of... I actually, m- I made a bingo card with, like, me, Clarissel, the girls, Gigi, Albon, April, even Via. Yeah. We made bingo cards of things that we wanna accomplish this year.

J.R.: That's cool. 

Trandrew: And hopping back on stage to do stand-up is one of them. 

J.R.: Nice. Dang. I'm excited. Same. Same. Going, getting back to stand-up is... Like, I've been on a dance team [00:33:00] that I just finished my term on, and so now I'm like, "Okay, now I can do all these other projects," and stand-up is one of those things, too.

Yeah, man. 

Yeah, no, I mean, I, I was... When I, when you were posting some videos, I was pretty stoked. I'm like, "Dang, I didn't, I didn't know Traj did stand-up." And then, you know, you were having a lot of fun with it, and so that was also another thing is, like, knowing that a friend of mine was also doing stand-up.

Yeah. I'm like, "Oh, that's so cool." Okay, hold on. My brain has derailed as well. What was I gonna ask? Oh, okay, so you said a three-year sort of, like, you were doing it for three years. Mm-hmm. I w- I'm curious about, like, what that experience was like. Like, how... You know, you just went on stage. You had good feedback.

Mm-hmm. Then you started having, like, these mentors, and you started meeting people. How did it turn into three years? Like, were you just going to shows? Were you getting invited? Where, like... And then- I don't know. I don't know where to start. Yeah 

Trandrew: I mean, I, I really feel like I got lucky. I got very, very lucky.

Like I d- in no means was I like killing it from the beginning. Yeah. I got some chuckles, you know? But let's see. So that, that show that I [00:34:00] told you that I did, that Atsuko, Jenny, and another person, De Loco they threw, it was called Comedy Comedy Festival, and it was I think a two or three-day event.

Each day had a different host. The host that did-- that was there for my day when I performed his name's Aeden Park, and he's gay. And he actually started throwing events himself, and him and I talked backstage, and he actually, you know, he was like pretty drunk while he was hosting, I'm not gonna lie.

But backstage he's like, "Wow, you actually have jokes." Nice. He's like, "Wow, you ac-" He's like, "You actually have jokes." And I was like, "Yeah, I mean, I, I care about this," you know? And he's like, "Okay." Yeah. And so he started throwing events, you know, and at the Laugh Factory in both Long Beach and Hollywood, and it was called Rainbow Pop, and it was really geared towards the LGBTQ+ community, and I was the token straight guy.

He- I see ... he was like, "I need a straight guy." I was like, "I'll be the token straight guy. Okay." And most of the time I opened up, you know, [00:35:00] because everybody that was performing there was pretty seasoned, like five plus years, and here I am this just random Asian dude just coming in doing five minutes, you know?

And so that's kinda how it continued. What else happened? Ugh. I think, okay, I I think the last big event that I did was the Hollywood Improv. I did the Hollywood Improv, and one of the nieces for the Wayans brothers was the one throwing it. 

J.R.: Oh. 

Trandrew: And I thought that was really cool. But that pretty much ended at, like, the three-year stint that I had done.

J.R.: Mm, okay. 

Trandrew: And so after that, I kind of faded away and started focusing on other things. 

J.R.: So then for, so these big events, it's kind of like, because you were in that... You had networks and you were kind of invited or you found your way into those shows. Is that what happened? 

Trandrew: Yeah. That's pretty much it. Yeah, just trying to go out there and be a child of the universe and spread good vibes, and as a result, I got opportunities.

J.R.: Yeah, yeah. What was your, like, cadence? Like, was it, were you doing stuff every week? Or, like, was it just [00:36:00] big events in between and you were just preparing for those? Or, or what was it like? 

Trandrew: So I mean, I would prepare most for the big events, and leading up to the big events, I always did a couple of open mics prior, especially if I had a lot of new material and I needed to test it out.

And I mean, you probably know, like, doing an open mic, that was perhaps the scariest thing. Yeah. Because a lot of times people are there, they're comedians, and they're probably just thinking about themselves and their own set, so then they might not be laughing as much. So you're not getting much reaction out of it.

It's like, did you experience that? 

J.R.: No, I did. That's why, that's why I told that joke because my friend and I, we would be laughing at each other's sets because we have the same sense of humor. Yeah. Everyone else is just, like, stone cold, like, just no reaction. I think also too, because they, the, the group of, like, 10 to 12 comedians, like, some of them were, like, really close friends and we were- Yeah

kind of outsiders. And so I get it, like, you laugh at your friend's jokes because they were laughing at each other's. And I was like, "That was okay." But I would still laugh just for the vibes, you know? Yeah. But then when it, we went up, it's like silence, but I genuinely thought our sets [00:37:00] were funny.

And so, and I don't know what your experience was like, but, like, I don't know. When I first went on stage, I thought I was, I was nervous beforehand. Yeah. But once I'm on stage, I'm like, "I feel like this is so, like, where I'm meant to be." Like, I'm not nervous at all. I love watching it, I love the process. And, like, even if I bomb and no one laughs, I'm like, "That was kind of fun still."

And, like, I like listening- Yeah ... to it, and I like the science of tweaking, restructuring a joke or working on the delivery, right? It's like the, it's either the delivery or the structure or both that needs to be kind of revamped. Mm-hmm. And I think I have so much- I have so much, like, ADHD when it comes to my sets 'cause, like, I know I need to work on specific jokes to level them up, but whenever I sit down to write a set, I come up with a bunch of new stuff, and I'm like, "I need to work on these old things," but- So I'm just-- There's just too much enthusiasm and creativity, I guess, that I'm like, I just need to do this where I'm doing open mics, like, multiple times a week, and I- Mm

commit to it, and then I just, you know, kind of level up my skills. Because the passion and enthusiasm is there, [00:38:00] it's just I need to commit to the time. 

Trandrew: Yeah. 

J.R.: But,

Trandrew: Yeah ... 

J.R.: anyways, I don't know if you had any similar experiences. 

Trandrew: Yeah, no. I mean, you know, it's, it was always kind of a scary experience. I think that's the most anxiety, performance anxiety that I've ever had.

You know, we're, we're so used to being a part of a group, you know? Yeah. And everyone's kinda like feeling it together. But when you're on stage, it's, it's all you. So you either feel like you're on top of the world or a knife is being twisted into your heart when no one's reacting, you know? Yeah. So yeah.

J.R.: Yeah, yeah. It's funny too 'cause sometimes-- Well, I learned this from my teacher as well, where he's like, "You'll get laughs where you don't expect it, and then if you keep doing it again, you'll realize, oh, the joke is actually right here. It's not right here." Mm-hmm. And then the second thing is when you're present in the room and you react to people's reaction or non-reaction, that's sometimes even funnier- Yeah

because people know that you're there with them. Yes. And so I always think about that, like slowing down, listening to the room, and then I'm like, "All right, well, my set is clearly bombing, but being present is making people laugh." 

Trandrew: Yeah. [00:39:00] 

J.R.: And so I'm like, "All right, well..." Yeah. 

Trandrew: Yeah, man. That's, that's huge, actually, because I think when people see a stand-up comedian- Mm-hmm

if they show a certain amount of awareness, like if the c- if the, if the audience is thinking something and then the comedian articulates it, it's like, "Oh, this person's aware. I trust this person." You know? It's like if somebody who looks a certain way, like might look goofy, they go out on stage and the first thing they do is make fun of themselves, then the audience will likely have their backs because it's like, "Oh, dude, like this guy won us over because of his humility and his awareness," you know?

Mm-hmm. So I always think about that too. It's like if you have something about you that... And this is just in everyday life too. If you have something about you that is kinda quirky or weird that people might notice and you call it out first, you have won that person over more than likely. Mm-hmm. 

J.R.: I like that, 'cause you're not hiding from it.

What was I gonna say? There's this other thing where it's, you know about jokes where like the audience can [00:40:00] tell if you're not over something- Mm-hmm ... and it's hard to laugh. But if they can tell, they're like, "Oh, you're, it's like a something in your past that was painful," but then like you're telling a joke about it and you're like, "Oh, he seems fine now," then they can, they feel like they can laugh.

Mm-hmm. 

And so I feel like that's a something else that I learned. But on, yeah, on that topic, or if you had any thoughts on that, but I'm curious, what are some other things you've learned that really worked for you when you're building a set or, or performing?

Trandrew: Drawing from personal experiences I think allowed me to speak very honestly and genuinely, and I think that's where I got the most laughs. The, the few that I got, the few laughs that I got were, really came from the genuine moments that I was just being myself. Like, "Oh, I'm fucking depressed, so I'm doing a, a triathlon, you know, but I can't swim 'cause I'm Vietnamese, 'cause Vietnamese people can't swim."

And then people actually really liked that. And I'm like, "Well, so here I am trying to immigrate to the finish line," you know? And that was That was one of my better ones. 

J.R.: That's funny. 

Trandrew: That was an abbreviated version. 

J.R.: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wait, I didn't know Vietnamese people can't swim or if that's a [00:41:00] stereotype.

I never heard of that. 

Trandrew: I mean, you know, it probably isn't. I think that's something that I just made up- Oh ... because I couldn't swim. Oh, 

J.R.: okay. 

Trandrew: So I think, yeah. 

J.R.: Oh, I gotcha. Yeah. Okay, I'll throw one out there now that you reminded me. So I- I tell one, when I wanna go into, like, saying how I'm Filipino, I'm like, "You know how you can tell where the Filipinos are in your area?

Is you open up Google Maps, you type in Jollibee, and all the Filipinos are in a five-mile radius of that Jollibee." Always kills for Filipinos. And another thing I love doing is if, if, if I know a friend is coming, right, I will for sure write one or two jokes about them. 

Mm-hmm. 

And then no matter what, it always lands, 'cause obviously you have context, and so they'll laugh.

And because they laugh, everyone else around them laughs, and then the rest of the set goes well. And so I love it when people come to my shows, 'cause I tell them, "I'm gonna write jokes about you." And then- ... then they start laughing, and then it's just a great set, even if the jokes aren't even amazing. That's always fun.

Ah. 

Trandrew: That's awesome, man. Yeah, I mean, it's all about your energy. And yeah, the, the, the audience, one person from the audience does have the ability to impact the [00:42:00] rest in a positive- Yeah ... or even negative way. Oh, yeah. Of course. You know? So, I mean, that's why it's just, it's luck of the draw. Like, everything has to kind of be clicking on all cylinders, right?

J.R.: Yeah. 

Trandrew: Yeah. 

J.R.: Dang. Ah, 

Trandrew: I get so excited talking about this. Dude, I'm, I'm very, very, like, impressed. Like, I did not know that you did stand-up. Oh, thank you. Dude, that's freaking awesome. Thank 

J.R.: you. Yeah, I mean, I've been kind of low-key about it because I really, like, I, I don't know, it's just timing. I really wanna get into it.

I feel like this is something that I would do for fun for the rest of my life. 

Trandrew: Yeah, yeah. 

J.R.: It's just, like, yeah, timing. But yeah, man, I'm getting too excited talking about this. We should, we should stop this. Okay. Yeah, maybe we connect offline, and then, you know, if the whole, like, we do a set together sometime in the future, that'll be awesome.

Trandrew: Mm-hmm. Yes. 

J.R.: Okay. We talked about theater, breakdancing, slam comedy, guitar, challenges, takeaways. I don't know. We kind of went over this, but any biggest lessons or takeaways that you wanna impart on the audience with your performing arts sort of adventures?

Trandrew: You know, you're gonna hear people say it all the time, and probably because the people who are saying it are also still battling it themselves.[00:43:00] 

Just do the damn thing. Just go out, do it. Don't be scared of what anyone else thinks. If friends or family are unsupportive, if they're jealous, or if they just feel like that you're not gonna be good, just do it anyway. Like, our time here is so limited, you know? And we get so wrapped up in ourselves, and it's very easy to do that 'cause everyone's their own worst critic.

The best thing that you can do is just fight all that anxiety with action because- Mm-hmm ... coming out on the other side of it, there are miraculous things that can happen if you're able to push through and do that for yourself. 

J.R.: I love that. It's like that one saying, "The antidote to fear is action." 

Trandrew: Yeah.

J.R.: Because, you know, it's always, it's always bigger in our head than it is in reality. 

Trandrew: Absolutely. 

J.R.: Okay. So let's switch over to career and financial planning. I'm curious about this. I'm always curious- Okay ... about people's chosen career path and field. So how did you get into financial planning, and, like- Mm

did your career trajectory change over time when you were younger until now? 

Trandrew: Oh, Lord, [00:44:00] has it changed. You know, for a while, for 10 years I was working with special needs kids, you know, and, 2020 hit, and I can't do my job via Zoom, you know, 'cause it's a very hands-on career, and so I lost passion for it.

And after 10 years, I just thought it-- I think it's time to hang it up and try something new. And so I've always had family and friends tell me, you know, like, "If you got into, to business, you know, or sales, you're so good with people, I think you would thrive." And for me, it's like, yeah, well, I can, I can be good at a party and talk to people when I'm drunk, but for a career?

I don't know if I, I don't know if I have that energy, you know? But,

J.R.: Yeah ... 

Trandrew: you know, I was, I was doing loans for a little bit as a mortgage loan originator, and then in 2021, 2022, the rates went up. So it's a very feast or famine type of career. And so when I had a dry pipeline, I was looking around for different jobs, and my family, my-- Well, my sister's fiancé, Hung, he linked me up with with his friend Bruce, who worked for New York Life, [00:45:00] and pretty much set me up with him for an interview, and Bruce was like, "Okay, you know, you got the job.

Just come into the office, you know, get dressed. We're gonna train you." You know, I had to get licensed and everything. And the more I learned about the company and financial services, you know, 'cause ultimately people think that New York Life sells one thing, but really it's, it's a multitude of things. And it's just holistic financial planning, and that's always in season, you know?

And not to sound like a television commercial or anything, but, you know, we, we really specialize in tax advantage solutions and making sure that people just are able to retire comfortably or to protect families and things like that. So, for the sake of compliance, I won't be getting into any products or anything.

Mm-hmm. But that is what we do and, you know, for me personally, I, I, I've been blessed enough to be able to move up in the company, and now I'm in a position where I can actually offer people the same opportunity that I had. And so I'm managing people now, but I'm still able to, to help my community of anybody that needs help with anything.

J.R.: [00:46:00] Mm-hmm, I love that. Is it okay to say, hey, if you-- you're the first financial planner on, on my show, so you, you get my automatic endorsement if you need advice or help, I guess.

Trandrew: I'm not gonna say no to that. Thank you. 

J.R.: Yeah, yeah. I feel like, it's kind of a given for all the, all of my guests who like real estate or they're an attorney or something like that, I'm like, "You're on the show.

You, you're-- I obviously like you, so you have my endorsement," you know? Um, So that same goes for you, Trandrew. Yeah. So I have, I have really three main questions about this is like I know you were shifting or evolving over time into this new position. So like what was that shift, like what were the biggest challenges for that?

Two, lessons learned on how to be good at what you do. And then three, if you do have any advice about financial planning for like a general person that you may, that you think maybe people need to hear or just general- Good advice. I'm curious about that. 

Trandrew: Okay. So what's the first question again? Okay.

J.R.: Yeah. Challenges, like, for shifting into this field. 

Trandrew: Oh, man. [00:47:00] So the biggest challenge really is letting people know what you do. 

J.R.: Mm-hmm. 

Trandrew: Because, you know, I, I, I guess it's safe to say I kinda had a personal brand of being, like, a goofy cornball person that-- who's fun at parties and things like that, who plays guitar and everything b- you know, former B-boy.

And so kinda shifting that and letting people know this is what I'm doing now, you know. And basically, when people hear about life insurance, they, they treat it like it's the plague, you know? Yeah. And so, you know, I had to kinda-- I had to really overcome that and let people know, well, you know, that's one piece of what we do.

And you know, getting the clientele, building your business from the ground up, you know, being in the weeds and just really just reaching out to people. That, that's actually pretty difficult, but the sooner that you get comfortable being uncomfortable, the sooner that you could actually start thriving and elevating.

And I think that's leading to your second question, like, what to do to get better at this. Yeah ... really it's, it's about, it's about knowledge. You know, you really have to know your stuff. You have to know what [00:48:00] it is that you're trying to do for people. You have to have good intentions too. You know, I think that's very important to be very ethical and be very client-focused so that you're not just thinking about yourself and your commission or anything like that.

You know, it's really just about helping people as well. And so I think continuing to study and further your own personal education, not just with what the career entails, but also with just how the world works too, I think has allowed me to actually thrive. So I think life experience is also a huge supplement for becoming successful in the business.

J.R.: Mm. 

Trandrew: Okay. And then what's the third question? 

J.R.: Yeah, yeah. Basically for an average person, what tips, advice do you think you would give to them about financial planning? Yeah. Some people might not even know what that really is. I know you mentioned life insurance, but some-something that might be helpful.

Trandrew: Learn about taxes, learn about tax implications, the three tax buckets. But moreover, see a trusted professional. Not everyone is built the same, I [00:49:00] have to admit that. You gotta really get with someone that you vibe with, that you can trust, that has your best interest at heart. And then learn from them.

You know, obviously this is also the age of information, so I think you can easily type in something in, you know, ChatGPT or Cloud or anything like that and, and learn. But you're gonna learn the nitty-gritty of it also from, from a local advisor. But again, choose someone that you can trust. 

J.R.: How does one find someone that they can trust?

Trandrew: Yeah, I mean, that's a good question.

J.R.: I mean, yeah, so do I just Google and be like, closest tax advisor, financial planner? 

Trandrew: Yeah, you can do that. You can, you can definitely see, like, who's local and whatnot, but there are people who are out of area that can still help because they're licensed in other states.

And that's not just a shameless plug for me to help you. Um, But um, definitely you can, you can easily look to see, like, who the top producers are for, like, you know, your local financial services company nearby or anything like that. But, Yeah ... I would also really look [00:50:00] at different companies and make sure that they're reputable and that they have good financial strength.

Okay. 'Cause you really wanna make sure that you're with a company that's gonna have longevity, that's gonna outlive you. You know what I mean? 'Cause if a company goes down under, your finances will go down under, too. 

J.R.: Oh, that's true. Cool. Yeah, thank you. I think that's very helpful. I was-- It's more just, like, I guess, how do you...

My thought is, how would you find someone to tru- Like, are there any indicators of someone who is knowledgeable, trustworthy, the company is good? Like, what are the... I guess we're at sur- surface level, right? But, like, what are some- Mm-hmm ... indicators of that? 

Trandrew: Certain indicators There are additional licenses that one can get to be able to give themselves more credibility.

So if you see someone that's in financial services and they have like CFP, you know, or you know, that's a certified financial planner, or FSCP, financial services certified professional. If y- if you see anybody that has like some letters next to their name, that means [00:51:00] that they know some shit. Mm-hmm. So, I would recommend starting with that.

J.R.: Mm. Okay. That's, that's a good tip. Okay. I guess last thing, if you don't have any other advice on that, but what do you think... A- as someone who, whose career has evolved over time, what are some lessons or takeaways or advice would you have for someone trying to figure out their own career? 

Trandrew: Figure out if it's purpose, if it's income, if it's autonomy, like what matters most to you.

You know, do you want freedom? Do you want time? Do you want a lot of money? Do you wanna help people? And obviously, like the goal is to have something that checks off all those boxes, of course. But I, I think really knowing oneself and knowing what's important to you is a good starting place. Obviously, you know, people say like, the saying goes, "If you do what you love, you'll never work for a day in your life."

That's ideal, but it's also doesn't always happen, you know? Mm. Sometimes the means to [00:52:00] the end is doing something that makes money so that you have the freedom and the money to do what you love, you know? And so I think really just self-assessing yourself and what's important to you. And here's the thing, you change over time too.

Mm. People change over time, so your career can evolve over time too, you know? So I think s- it's just really important to be honest with yourself. 

J.R.: Yeah, that's really good advice. Careers can change over time just like people can, right? 

Trandrew: Correct. 

J.R.: Awesome. Okay. All right. So let's pivot over to the last topic, mental health.

Yes. And so don't have a good jumping off point here, but I guess maybe to start off, what has your own journey been like with mental health, and how has it evolved? 

Trandrew: Yeah. Yeah, so I mean, for as long as I could remember, I've been a very depressed and anxious kid, and that has really it stuck with me throughout my life.

And obviously I didn't do myself any favors, you know, in my late teens and 20s and even my 30s. You know, I'm 39 now, but, you know, there's, there are certain things that I [00:53:00] didn't do well for myself in terms of like partying or drinking and things that didn't really help me. But I will say this, you know, I've g- I've gone through a journey of finding out a lot of different truths in my life that I won't go into detail with, but have allowed me to really self-discover and be at one with myself and s- and kind of dealing with those things.

I was able to effectively deal with them because I, A, I read some self-help books and some, some books that I would recommend are "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck" by Mark Manson and also "The Untethered Soul." Really, really good book that my friend Jen recommended to me a long time ago. But more importantly, you know, you really want...

If you really want to get better, if you really want to improve your life and yourself, you have to do the work. And for me, I was very fortunate to find a good therapist. I've had ther- therapists in the past. They didn't really work out. But I have a female therapist, and I've been seeing her, like, pretty [00:54:00] consistently for about six years now.

She's made a huge difference in my life, and so I definitely feel like... And Arnel Calvario, shout out to Arnel, he told me, you know, the best gift that somebody can give themselves is therapy so that you can take care of yourself, you know? But just because you see a therapist doesn't automatically fix it.

You do have to find someone that you can vibe with, that understands you, and that can be a scary thing, 'cause shopping for a therapist is not easy because what, what do you mean I have to make myself vulnerable to all these people and then pick the right one? You know what I mean? Like, that's, that's pretty difficult to do.

So, I think at the end of the day, yeah, that's the best gift you can give to yourself, though, is to y- you read some books, but more importantly, find somebody that you, you can trust, that you can open up to. 

J.R.: Hmm. I like that. I- my que- my natural question was how do you find a good therapist, and you mentioned someone that you vibe with, someone that you trust.

Is it all just vibes, or are there any sort [00:55:00] of checklist sort of things that- Yeah ... you would advise to look out for? 

Trandrew: So I apologize if I veered away from the original question. Yeah, no worries ... you know, when you, when you go to certain websites, if you're looking for a therapist it will show what they specialize in.

Like, there's marriage and family therapy. There's there's very specific ones. There can be therapists for, for Asian American males who are gay, you know what I mean? Or things like that. Or for, for somebody who could be like biracial where they might be confused, you know, of like, you know, growing up in this American society and whatnot.

So there are people that put out there what their specialties are. There's a lot that you can do with the web. So I would recommend just putting in those keywords. Like, what, what... Who are you? And then hopefully there's a match out there or close to a match, or at least somebody that might be able to redirect you and refer you to somebody else.

J.R.: Hmm. I like that. Yeah, I've had, I've had a therapist on the show one of my classmates from college, and she mentioned how she's, she works out in Boston, and how [00:56:00] there was such a demand for her as an Asian American woman because Asian Americans aren't really represented in that area, I guess. And so she doesn't have a problem with business, but it's good because she's really able to connect with people's, the shared experience of having that sort of background.

And so that's one takeaway I got from her. And other friends who've been on the show mentioned their therapy process, and they, like they s- like you said, it's really important to find someone who unders- can understand you, maybe has similar background, because that usually helps. But also, I like your advice, which is looking into their specialties.

Trandrew: Yeah. Yeah, looking into the specialties is huge. And I'm gonna backtrack a little bit to, like, my own experience. There was a point in time around 2020, 2021 when I was taking antidepressants, and I thought that was gonna be, like, a huge thing that fixes me. And it did help, but I think I relied on it a little too much and was upping my dosage and things like that.

So I would heed caution towards leaning on those things a little bit too heavily. Every [00:57:00] person's different. I'm not saying that it can't help people, because it definitely can. But it can also be a detriment if you're not careful with it, too. So I did have to wean off of those, and I've been, you know, antidepressant-free for about two years now.

Awesome ... and the best thing, the best exercise that you can get besides talking to somebody who you can trust is exercising. Exercising really- Yeah ... you know, it's very, it's typical, but man, like, the feeling I get after an exer- you know, just a session of running or even walking, you know. In, in, in my old age, reaching 40 soon, you know, walking is actually very, very beneficial, you know.

So, that's just a little tidbit that I would give. 

J.R.: Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, I was gonna ask that. I am reading a book right now that's on the s- the science of happiness, and it's always on the top five list of, of being happier is you're taking care of your physical health- Yeah ... of, you know, exercising, movement, walking, et cetera.

So, that's a great piece of advice. I think you kinda went into some of the other ones I was gonna ask, but [00:58:00] have you ever heard of this... I'm curious what you are, but there's, like, this personality sort of thing. There's quadrants, and it's There's four personality types, and it's people who experience very high highs and low lows.

I think they are like the s- entrepreneur. And then someone who is like very high highs but m- mid lows is like a cheerleader. So like really good positive and not, and really low negative. People who are very not high positive and not high negative, they're like the judge, which is like me. And then there's the poets, which is very intense sad, but not a really intense high.

Have you ever heard of this? 

Trandrew: I haven't, and that's very intriguing. 

J.R.: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Like categories based on like how you experience the positives and negatives, like whether it's extreme or not, or if you tend to be somewhere in the middle. S- 

Trandrew: so I would say, and, you know, I've, I feel like I've gone through some, some, some pretty good p- personal growth.

Like in my 20s, I was definitely high highs and [00:59:00] super, super low lows. Oh, I see. You know? Like I, I definitely had some manic attributes to myself. These days, I feel like I've mellowed out a little bit more with some more self-knowledge and some good strategies for managing myself. Can you go through them one more time?

Like the first ones. 

J.R.: Yeah. So it's just basically high positive, high negative, that's CEO. High positive, low negative, that's cheerleader. Low positive, low negative, that's judge. And high negative, low positive, that's poet. 

Trandrew: If I'm allowed to be in between two of them- 

J.R.: Yeah, yeah, yeah ... 

Trandrew: I would be in between the CEO and the cheerleader right now.

J.R.: Oh, okay, okay. So definitely high positive. Yeah. And it could be like either neutral or, Negative 

Trandrew: Yeah 

J.R.: Like neutral or high negative. Ah, okay 

Trandrew: Yeah. I'm, I'm definitely a deep feeler, so I do feel all- Yeah ... the emotions very intensely. But I'd say in the past year and a half whatever you could attribute that to, growing [01:00:00] career, stable relationship, things like that- That's...

Yeah ... my lows have not been as low, you know? And- That's 

J.R.: awesome. Yeah ... 

Trandrew: I'm very happy to say that. 

J.R.: So, and so the reason I bring in that is because I was listening to, on a podcast, this author, and it's like poets make the best artists because they somehow channel that negative energy into their artistry.

So they have great art, but obviously it's not... They're, they're miserable, quote unquote, right? Yeah. But I always thought that was interesting 'cause it's, those different emotions, whether positive or negative, can fuel you in different directions. And so that's what it made me think of. 

Trandrew: Ah. That's cool. 

J.R.: Yeah.

Trandrew: That's really cool. 

J.R.: Yeah. I guess as a, as like a judge personality type, I guess, sometimes I am a little bit envious. I'm like, "Wow, you guys really feel a lot of emotions," and I'm just like, I feel dead in comparison. You 

Trandrew: feel dead? 

J.R.: You know? I feel dead. And it's in a dramatic... Right, I'm just being dramatic.

But- 

Trandrew: Yeah, yeah ... 

J.R.: I don't, I don't, I'm, I'm thankful and blessed I don't feel super low lows, Mm-hmm ... which is great. But it's like I'm also not the person to be like so [01:01:00] shocked and like so expressive on the positives. And so I'm like, sometimes I'm like, "Hmm, I kinda envy people sometimes who really feel that," when I'm just very like chill all the time, you know?

But- 

Trandrew: Yeah ... it's 

J.R.: fine 

Trandrew: That's funny because I've, I've felt the same thing towards people like you, where I'm just like- 

J.R.: Yeah ... 

Trandrew: must be nice, dude. 

J.R.: Oh. 

Trandrew: Must be nice to, like, not be- Well, thank you ... in a dark place, dude. Not, not to say that you don't feel sadness- Yeah, yeah, yeah ... or anything, you know. Of course. But 

J.R.: like- Yeah

but, but 

Trandrew: just- The grass is always greener, right? Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, th- that's for everybody, for both me and you as individuals. I think just being at peace with yourself is where it's at, man. Yeah, ultimately. 

J.R.: Yeah, I like that. Okay. I know the last thing is really just practical advice. I know you mentioned find a good therapist, exercise.

Anything else you wanna leave people with on mental health? 

Trandrew: Oh, get sleep. Get quality- Mm-hmm ... sleep. Get quality sleep. Your s- your sleep or lack thereof can heavily impact your mood, therefore impact your whole day, how you interact with people, and [01:02:00] how you handle things. You know, sometimes you could feel like you're hanging on by a thread, and sometimes that thread is extra thin if you haven't gotten sleep.

You know, so that's, that's a big piece of advice I would give. 

J.R.: I love that. Yeah. My, my last episode that we just recorded, we talked about a whole section on sleep. 

Trandrew: Oh, wow. 

J.R.: With Rami? So much science. No, not with Rami. Oh ... with my girlfriend. She was on- Oh ... the one right before this one. But it was like- Okay

This book called Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. Have you heard of it? 

Trandrew: No. 

J.R.: Yeah, so it's, it's basically how sci- sleep is the foundation of your health, full stop. Like, if you can eat well, you can hydrate, you can exercise, but if your sleep is trash, like, you know, good luck with your health outcomes, recovery, with your immune system, with your mood, everything.

Yeah. And so it's like if you don't get your sleep right everything else is an uphill battle, so I always recommend that. You know, if you're young, I have younger friends and they pull all-nighters still. You know how, you know, we used to do that as well. 

Trandrew: Yeah. 

J.R.: And it's like, that's great, but eventually you'll hit that period where it's like, okay, you [01:03:00] can't...

You're not as resilient and you will feel the late nights, you know? 

Trandrew: It doesn't age well. Yeah. It, it just... I feel like in the past it was like a badge of honor. Like, "Damn, I stayed up so late." Mm-hmm. "I partied so hard." Yeah. And then now it's just like when I hear people do that, I'm like, "Are you okay?" Like, "Are you gonna be okay?"

Like, "Go get some sleep, man." Take, take care of this. You only get one, you know? 

J.R.: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. You can't, you can't trade it in for another one. 

Trandrew: Yeah, exactly. 

J.R.: I love that. Yeah, sometimes when I hear people say like, "Oh my God, I only got like three hours of sleep." And I'm like, "On purpose? Or why?" Like 

Trandrew: Good question.

J.R.: Yeah. You know? 'Cause I'm like, "That's important." But- 

Trandrew: Mm-hmm ... 

J.R.: cool. Anyways, all right, so let's move on to rapid fire. You good? 

Trandrew: Sure, yeah. 

J.R.: Sweet. We'll go through this. Name of the game, rapid fire questions. You can pass on any of them, but you don't have to, you don't have to go fast with the answers, but they are fast questions.

Okay. So the first one, billboard question: If you can put up a sign for millions of people to see, what would it say? Non-commercial, metaphorical. 

Trandrew: Oh, [01:04:00] man. Get more sleep do the thing, and who cares? We're all gonna die anyway. There 

J.R.: you go. I like that one. What is one of the hardest challenges you faced in your life, and what'd you learn from it?

Trandrew: It's right now. It is right now. It's the balancing act of being a good partner, being a father figure for, for Kingston, Clarisel's son growing into my career as a manager, and it's only gonna get more difficult once this baby comes, but it's something that I'm really, really working towards being prepared for.

So I'm currently facing the biggest challenge of my life 'cause I have so much to lose, but it's also, there's a peace within it as well. 

J.R.: Yeah. I love that. I know you can do it. I think if anyone can do it, Tran, you can do it. I believe in 

Trandrew: you. Thank 

J.R.: you. And I feel like, I feel like, too, it's, as you were saying that, sometimes it's those challenges that really bring out the best in ourselves- Yeah

you know? And so I feel like it's gonna be the same for you. I feel like you're going to evolve into that better version of yourself because of this, so [01:05:00] 

Trandrew: I'm excited for you, man. Thank you. I appreciate that, man. 

J.R.: Self-inflicted wound. Do you have a story about something that's gone wrong and you can't blame anyone else 'cause you did it to yourself?

Trandrew: Okay, so this happened, like, in my early 20s. I got a, I got a speeding ticket, and I couldn't afford it. I couldn't afford it, and I had too much pride to ask anybody for help. So because I couldn't afford it, the fees picked up. I ended up- Oh ... getting my license suspended, and I was driving illegally for a long time.

Dang. Later to find out, I told the story to one of my friends, and he was like, "Why didn't you just tell me, bro? I would've just let you borrow the money." 

J.R.: Oh, 

Trandrew: man. And so it was just a bonehead early 20s mistake. 

J.R.: Yeah. Dang. Okay. Next one. If you could redo something, what would you do differently? 

Trandrew: Hmm. If I can redo something...

It's funny 'cause I read this too, and I still, I'm stumped even now. If I could redo something, I think if I could redo college, I would be a theater major. 

J.R.: [01:06:00] Hmm. 

Trandrew: I was a psychology major, but I feel like I, I could have followed my passion more. 

J.R.: Why 

Trandrew: do you think- Shout out to Lawrence Cao for, for doing the thing, man.

Go Lawrence. 

J.R.: Hmm. Yeah, Lawrence. I was gonna ask, in the alternate universe that you were a theater major, what would be your goal or dream? 

Trandrew: To be a versatile film actor. 

J.R.: Oh, okay. 

Trandrew: To be in comedies to be in dramas and things like that. I always felt like I would be able to, to do both sides of the coin.

J.R.: Ah, okay, okay. So like movies? 

Trandrew: Yeah, 

J.R.: movies. Or just anything? Mm-hmm. Okay. Yeah. Okay, cool. That's cool. That's awesome. If you could give your younger self advice, what would it be?

Trandrew: If I can give my younger self advice, what would it be? I mean, same things that I'm telling the audience right now is get sleep. Don't worry about what everyone else is thinking. Obviously if I can like-- I guess, you know, this is like wisdom, right? Like, just 

J.R.: be yourself unapologetically in your art and in who you [01:07:00] are. 

Mm-hmm. 

Trandrew: I think I've held myself back in the past way too much just because I was just worried about what people would think.

J.R.: Mm-hmm. I like that. In the last few years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has improved your life, if we haven't already touched upon it? 

Trandrew: Well, that would be sleep. Sleep again ... that would be sleep, but also pausing and knowing when to take breaks if I have high emotions. So this applies even in my relationship.

This applies at work, too. When I'm stressed out or something's upsetting me is to just pause, breathe, and, and I think it comes down to asking myself, "Why am I feeling this way?" Is to separate myself from the individual named Andrew Tran and just be a being and, and ask, "Okay, why is this person getting so worked up?

What is the core wound that's being opened right now?" 

J.R.: I love that a lot. One of the things about mindfulness that it reminds me of is, like, whenever I find myself in these heightened emotions and they always say, "Take yourself out of it, identify the emotion," try to, like, label it in a term because sometimes- Yes

that helps, [01:08:00] right? It's like- 

Yeah ... "

I'm, I'm so mad." Like, no, you're not mad. You're, like, frustrated, or you're disappointed, or whatever. And then that's once- one layer of separation so that you can now diagnose what's going on. And I like your point of what is the wound that is connected to you or, or maybe some sort of thought pattern or mental script that you're holding onto.

Mm-hmm. 

It's always so hard to do in the moment 'cause we're so emotional. 

Yeah. Yeah. 

But it, it is very helpful, right? 

Yep. 

I like that. How do you define success?

Trandrew: I think success, there's, there's... It-- This is so multilayered, man. But I, I really think success, number one, is feeling good about what you're doing for yourself and for the people you love, and that could be so many different things. It could be financial, you know? It could be simply helping people, making food for somebody, you know?

It could simply be making sure that everyone who came before you knows that you appreciate everything that they've done for you, you know, and then passing that to the next generation. And so it comes in very-- a lot of [01:09:00] different forms. But ultimately, I think the highest form of success to me is, is m- doing what you love.

Doing what you love, whether you're getting paid for it or not. 

J.R.: I'm curious if this is different. What is something that separates the younger version of you from the current version of you?

Trandrew: The younger version of me had kinda like this like youthful, just random ass confidence to me. And then now, I think the confidence that I have now is very much earned, and I worked hard for it. Like, I had it, I lost it, and then I built it back. So I think the difference is knowing that I, the, knowing that I have the discipline to be able to achieve what I need to get.

Hmm. 

J.R.: I think that's very insightful. Where do you think that young confidence came from? Was it just ignorance or- ... or like s- people hyping you up or? 

Trandrew: It's a little of that, yeah. I mean, it's, it's ignorant confidence for sure, but it's also, yeah the confidence came from external forces, I [01:10:00] think. And now-- Oh, see, you've h- you've helped me self-discover, JR.

I think I think before it was an external confidence that I got from other people, and then now the confidence that I have is more internal, actually- 

J.R.: Mm-hmm ... 

Trandrew: which I think is sustainable. 

J.R.: Right. It's like a more foundational, more sustain-- long-term. 

Trandrew: Yeah. 

J.R.: I like that. What is something you've been pondering recently or think about often deeply?

Trandrew: Death. Okay. I think a lot about the time we have left, how it can come quick. I think a lot about what it's like for somebody on their deathbed, whether it's something that they saw coming, like an illness, or if it's a tragic accident, what that is like through the eyes of that person. It might... It kind of sounds morbid, but, like, I, I do think about these things of, like, the type of pain that that people experience.

Like, 'cause when you die, even if someone's there with you, you're, you're experiencing it yourself. You're dying alone ultimately. And so, yes, it does sound morbid, but at the same time, I do feel like [01:11:00] that's how I keep myself humble, is by, by thinking that way, then I'm actually grateful and like, "Oh my gosh," like, "I still have this.

This can be taken away at any point," you know? I'm on a, I'm on a podcast with J.R. right now. This could be taken away at any point, you know? 

J.R.: I love that. That is almost exactly the same thing that Rami said. 

Trandrew: Really? 

J.R.: Is, you know, he, he, he works in the ICU sometimes, and he talks about, like, you know, being so close to death and so often that it gives him such a different spirit towards life 'cause he sees it as, you know, this person has X amount of months to live.

Like, what am I doing to really make the most out of my life? Because it could be taken away at any time, like you said. 

Trandrew: Yeah, 

J.R.: yeah. So I like that. Favorite hot take or something that you think most people would disagree with 

 It doesn't have to be like a spicy hot take.

Trandrew: Okay. So I have two, and it could be a hot take, might not. The serious one, I think when somebody's highly critical about somebody else and makes sure that they're vocal about how... If somebody's pointing out somebody else's [01:12:00] flaws and they're highly critical about them, it says more about them rather th- instead of the person that they're actually being critical about.

Mm-hmm. And I've been b- I've been on both sides of that coin, where I've been very critical about people, and then people have been very critical about me. So, I think ultimately it is a projection. And then the other one is that ketchup does go well with rice. 

J.R.: Oh. Well, there you go. I w- I, I, I was never into ketchup with rice, but my cousins all loved it, and I was like, "Okay, I guess."

Trandrew: Like if there's... And I, I got it from my best friend Mark, okay? Yeah, yeah. He's Filipino, so I learned this in a Filipino household. 

J.R.: There you go. 

Trandrew: That makes sense. But spam, rice, eggs, or chicken- It checks out ... rice, egg- oh gosh, yeah. 

J.R.: Checks out. 

Trandrew: Yeah. 

J.R.: I, I love that. What do you think are some of the differences between how you see yourself versus how others see you, if at all?

Trandrew: Oof. Definitely you know, you, you say it too, you said it too in the beginning, like I'm like a, a chill [01:13:00] guy, you know? And even like people at my work, like during a high stressful time, they're like, "Why is Andrew so chill? Like, he needs to be like worried about these things." Well, the truth is I am worried about those things, and the truth is I am having a fucking panic attack.

Pardon my French. I don't know if people cuss on this, if that's allowed. Yeah, you 

J.R.: can. 

Trandrew: Go for it. Okay. Yeah. I'm having like a panic attack, an anxiety attack deep down, but on the exterior I might, I might seem calm. So I think the perception is that maybe things don't bother me or that I might not care enough about things, but the reality is, is I do.

So I don't, I don't know where the disconnect is, but I'm dealing with anxiety every day. 

J.R.: Oh, I like it. That you're vulnerable, not that you have anxiety every day. Let's see, let's see. Last few. What are some of the-- What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you've ever made in either time, money, energy, et cetera?

Trandrew: So a couple of things. Therapy. So an investment into myself and my own self-care has allowed me to be stronger and be there for other [01:14:00] people as well. You know, the saying goes like, you know, if, if to help other people, you should help yourself first, actually. The other thing would be... Is there another thing?

No, we'll just leave it at that one. 

J.R.: Yeah. That, that was perfect. Favorite recent purchase in a relatively cheap, let's say 50 to $100 range that has impacted your life the most in six months? 

Trandrew: All right. So this is for my job, is I got a wireless HDMI transmitter to plug into my laptop that, you know, casts the, you know, on a bigger screen on the TV.

It's allowed me to coach my team better and it allows me to also plug it into, you know, my advisor's laptop so that I can see what's on their screen, and it makes it, makes for the coaching conversations to be much smoother and all the teachings and everything. So I mean, just that little bit of technology has actually really made my business a lot more smooth.

Hmm. 

J.R.: I like that. It's always those small things that you don't expect that you're like have the biggest impact. 

Trandrew: Yeah. [01:15:00] Yeah. 

J.R.: Which is why I like this question. All right. Last, last one. Favorite books, movies, videos, articles, or any media that you share or recommend the most? I know you gave some book recommendations, but anything else?

Trandrew: Yeah. So those two books. In addition to that, like movies, oof. I mean, it depends what you're looking for. I mean, if you just like artsy fartsy stuff, I'm a big Wes Anderson fan. I'm a big Stanley Kubrick fan. Those are my two favorite directors, so I would recommend that. Like recommend for what exactly?

J.R.: The-- Just any that you recommend the most, if you find yourself always recommending these things to people. I'm just curious.

Trandrew: Why is that such a tough question for me right now? It's okay. Listen to Radiohead. That's my favorite band. So if you want some good music, listen to Radiohead. Watch those movies for the directors I just told you about, and those books. My favorite show on Netflix right now, and it's been since like 2020, is "I Think You Should Leave" with Tim Robinson.

It's crazy how much more popular he's gotten since I started watching him. But it's just very [01:16:00] unsettling comedy. So if you need a chuckle or if you wanna raise your eyebrows like, "Why is this on TV?" Watch "I Think You Should Leave." 

J.R.: It, it's a series? 

Trandrew: Yeah. It's a, it's a series. It's not exactly sk- it's sketch comedy, but there's no audience.

J.R.: Oh, okay. Interesting. 

Trandrew: Yeah. 

J.R.: How-- Okay, cool. All right. I'll, I'll link that in the show notes. Okay, you made it to the end of Rapid Fire. Congrats, Trandrew. Thank you. We just have our ending sequence now. So we always end with gratitude. Shout out to my mom. So Trandrew, what are you grateful for? 

Trandrew: It's kind of funny that you do this 'cause me, Clarissa, and Kingston do this before we eat, and I'm just gonna say I'm grateful for them.

I'm grateful for my family. I'm grateful for you. You know, I'm grateful for my crew. I'm grateful for... You know, we had a midwife appointment yesterday, and I got to hear the baby's heartbeat, and so I'm grateful for my baby's heartbeat that Clarissa's doing well right now, and yeah, just grateful for all that.

Yeah. Grateful for my job. Grateful for my coworkers. Yeah. I [01:17:00] could go on and on. I 

J.R.: love it. Yeah, no, I love it. I love it. Thanks for sharing. Any final ask from the audience or any final takeaways you'd like them to have from this conversation? 

Trandrew: Just to reiterate again, get some sleep. Take care of your finances.

If you need a trusted advisor, I know a guy. Um- I also know 

J.R.: a guy. 

Trandrew: And ultimately just take care of yourself. Take care of yourself, and you'll be able to take care of other people much better as a result. 

J.R.: I love it. I love it. Okay. Tranji, so we'll link your Instagram and your LinkedIn in the show, but where can people find you if they wanna check out what you're up to or connect?

Trandrew: Mm-hmm. Yeah, Instagram's probably the best best space. You know, if you make it onto my close friends, you'll see the goofy stuff. But yeah you know, w- I don't really post on LinkedIn, but professionally if you wanna connect with me there, go right ahead. I'm still on Facebook here and there. But more than anything, if you wanna connect with me, I got a phone, you know, so hit me up.

Let's keep it old school. 

J.R.: Yeah, I like it. Cool. All right. Well, Trandrew, thank you so much [01:18:00] for the time. I really appreciate it. This was such a, what are the words? Very insightful, reflective, enlightening, inspiring conversation. Reminds me that the one time we actually connected was, was such a good experience.

I'm, I'm happy that you were able to make the time. I'm gonna re-listen to this one. I was, I was inspired just listening to it. I'm like, man, this guy has a lot of good stuff to say. I'm gonna take a lot of notes. I, I don't know. For the audience, if you guys don't know, I-- when I listen to these episodes, so I listen to them four times each.

I listen to them twice when I edit because I take notes for myself, and then I listen to it on Spotify, and then I listen to it Apple Podcasts just to, like, do a, a third and fourth sort of digestion. And so I'm like, man, this one is gonna take a long time to edit because I'm gonna be taking so many notes on this one.

So I'm excited. 

Trandrew: Well, JR, just thank you for having me. Honestly, I'm so proud of you, man. And- Thank you ... you know, we, we, our, our, our paths didn't cross during the formative years of Kaba Modern, of course, but I'm glad that we could connect like this. And it's just so cool on [01:19:00] social media to see everything that you've done, you know, from this podcast to all the dance videos that you were doing, and learning more about you just even through this episode that you're doing stand-up.

Dude, yeah, like I would- ... love to connect with you sometime and, and, you know, hopefully share a stage with you at some point. 

J.R.: Yeah. Thank you, man. Appreciate it. We'll throw it out to the universe, and then I, I have no doubt that it'll come back to us. So yeah. Yes, 

Trandrew: yes. 

J.R.: All right, cool. Let me do my final sign-off.

So thank you guys for being here. I really appreciate it. Be sure to like, follow, subscribe, five stars wherever you're listening to, all that good stuff. Leave Trandrew love in the comments below. He'll see it. And reminder to always be kind to other people, especially yourself. Also, sleep, as Trandrew said, like four or five times.

And also therapy is, is great. And lastly remember that you can always learn something from someone if you take the time to listen. So thank you guys for being here