J.R.: [00:00:00] Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of One Thousand Gurus where we share the stories and wisdom from people of all walks of life, and I am your host, J.R. Yonocruz.

Today's episode features Loren Segovia, a B-boy and registered nurse, former Disney dancer, currently serving as a nursing director of an ICU, specializing in the care of burn victims, and a self-proclaimed fulfilling the typical Filipino stereotype.

This was another fun and enlightening conversation with an old friend and dance teammate of mine from college. We get into our history a little bit in the beginning, but like most of my friends, this is mainly an excuse for me to learn about his life and career trajectory from his dance career to his nursing career, how that has evolved over time, and some practical and actionable takeaways for anyone who is not only interested in pursuing nursing as a career or getting into and surviving nursing school, or is looking for insights on how to progress a career in nursing.

I had a lot of fun with this one, and we had a whole section of questions that we didn't get to, unfortunately, so hopefully we can schedule a part two sometime in the next season to dig into more of [00:01:00] the personal and random topics. So without further ado, please enjoy this episode with Loren Segovia

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

Loren: Hello, everyone. Thanks for having me. 

J.R.: Yeah, thanks for being here, man. Yeah, so thank you for jumping on. I know I kinda DM'd you, I don't know, last week or the week before just like, "Hey, you wanna jump on?" I noticed that, like, you...

You're, you're obviously following the show on Instagram, and then you engage, and you saw all of my Kaba Modern guests. So I'm like, "Hey, Loren's cool. I should have him on the show." And I'm always open to, like, you know, like, from the universe, like, giving me these signs. Or, like, I just had Arnel on the show, and I had him on, like, a year and a half ago, and then my last three Kaba Modern guests, or two Kaba Modern guests and someone else, mentioned Arnel.

And I'm like, "Okay, that's probably a sign from the universe to have him back on." And he was super down. And so, so yeah, I think it's kinda like the universe aligning sort of thing, so appreciate you and appreciate you taking out the time as always.

Loren: Most definitely. 

J.R.: Cool. Yeah. How, [00:02:00] Well, I want, I wanna go into how I know you, but how, how have you been, man?

How's everything in life in general? 

Loren: I've been great. Adulting, married, homeowner. We'll get all into that. 

J.R.: Yeah. 

Loren: But just super happy to be here, and I actually saw you the other day at rehearsal, so that was awesome too- Yeah ... in person. 

J.R.: Yeah, yeah, for Shazia's wedding dance thing. 

Loren: Yeah. 

J.R.: Yeah, that should be super fun.

It was cool. It's super cool. I don't know, like, if, how, how often you see everyone, but I rarely ever see anyone unless it's, like, a birthday thing, like Alex Hung's birthday or something like that. Yeah. So it's always nice to see, especially all the older folks, right, like people who weren't- Yeah ... in our class but, like, above us.

So that's always nice. Glad to hear that you're doing great. You're living like the, you're living the adulting dream, man. Married and have a house, and seems like you have a great career, and we'll get into, so I'm happy for you, dude. 

Loren: Most definitely. Thank you. Thank you. 

J.R.: Yeah. And it's been a while since we've talked, so it'll be nice.

Like, I, I always tell my guests, this is half an excuse just for me to catch up with my old friends. [00:03:00] And so selfishly, that is the purpose of this podcast. So let's get into- Yes, it's probably 

Loren: been since, like, KM Legacy. Did we do- Yeah ... did we do 

J.R.: KM 

Loren: Legacy together? Yeah. 

J.R.: Yeah, yeah. 'Cause I, I did for a little bit, and I'm pretty sure you were there, too.

'Cause it was, like, what, I was talking to Trandrew about this, like, I don't know, what, 2014 to 2015- Yes ... something like that. It was, like- It was a- ... those years were... Yeah, like, it was, like, a year or so after I graduated. Came back, danced for a little bit, and then got busy with work and stuff. But then I did, I did a Bboy piece for Trandrew's Don't Stop Me Now by Queen, and that was super fun.

Dude, 

Loren: I remember that. 

J.R.: Yeah, that was a lot of fun. And then he's like, "Damn, I had totally forgot about that." And then I was like, "Dude, every time I hear that song, it reminds me of you, Trandrew."

Cool. All right. So yeah, let's get into how we know each other, I guess. So obviously we know each other through Kaba Modern at UCI. Yeah ... I believe you're a year younger than me in terms of school, right? 

Loren: No, you're, you, you, you were actually my oldie because when you were a newbie on Kaba, I was still on Kreative Movement. 

J.R.: Oh, never mind. Never mind. So you're [00:04:00] two years below me on Kaba Modern then.

Okay. Yes. Yeah, you're right. I get everything mixed up. But then when did you start college? 

Loren: Same year. Technically speaking, it would've been 2011, 'cause we started in the fall, but yeah. Okay. My first year of college was Kaba Modern. 

J.R.: Okay, okay. Yeah, so then actually, yeah, you're two years... Okay, so I think, I think it's just an even two years for both then.

Okay. All good. Let's see. So there's that, and then obviously we danced with each other at UCI, and then you... W- when I say UCI, it's like, you know, the larger UCI community, especially like the freestylers and whatnot. Yeah. Let's see. I think that's, that's like the largest, that's the, the long and the short of it.

Am I, what am I missing? I know we have a lot of random dance contexts, but I mean, I feel like 

Loren: this is each track. Random lap things. Yeah. Yeah. There's a lot of things like KASA dance-off, B-Boys Anonymous. Yeah,

all KASA. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, good. 

J.R.: Because- The North East South scene. Yeah, of course. Okay, while we're on BBA, okay, So Jyu Think You Can Dance, and you said you- Ooh ... you made top four. [00:05:00] So I don't think- Hey ... I've ever participated but I was around when that started. So could you tell the audience, what is Soju Think You Can Dance?

Loren: So, So Jyu Think You Can Dance, it, the one I battled in was a little bit after pandemic. It was hosted by Quest Crew from America's Best Dance Crew, and hosted, I think it was all started by B-Boy Atomic Gooseball, if I'm not mistaken. And I honestly joined the crew with one of my, one of my best friends, Kevin Donique.

He's also a B-Boy, and he's actually also a nurse. So we entered the battle in our scrubs and entered as Fuck Yeah Filipino Nurse Cuties. 

J.R.: Isn't that June? Wait, were you around for that? Okay, I'm sorry. Quick tangent. When I was a newbie, right, June, June San Santianos, or June Lee, I guess now. So she was on the Tumblr page, like Fuck Yeah Filipino Cuties, and we would always make fun of her about that.

But you're saying there was a nurse [00:06:00] version of that? That's awesome. That is, that is awesome. Okay, sorry. Continue, please. 

Loren: But the, the, one of the biggest reasons we even joined the battle was there was no entry fee, and the whole premise of the battle is you take soju before each round, so we were getting free alcohol.

So we were like, "Why not? Let's just enter for the free alcohol. We'll see how far we get." And somehow we made it to top four. Nice. But before each battle, it was a, it was Christmas themed, so we took soju before each battle, and then you open up a present randomly, and the whole premise is you have to dance with whatever prop you get.

So it's more of a- Interesting ... how creative can you get and think abstractly with whatever prop you get, versus I'm gonna smoke this person with all styles or whatever. 

J.R.: Yeah. Interesting. Wait, so this was post-pandemic or right before the pande- 

Loren: Th- this, th- this, the one, the season I competed on was post-pandemic.

It was actually at- 

J.R.: Oh ... 

Loren: the source, [00:07:00] but- 

J.R.: Okay ... it was great. Oh, so this was way later than I, this was way later than I thought, but okay, that's cool. Why do you think you won? I mean, I know there's a lot of for non-dancers who watch jams or battles, there's a lot that goes into this, whether it's judging styles, et cetera, but, like, why do you think you guys made it so far?

Loren: I think we made it so far because of how unserious we are, and for anyone that's, like, hung out or danced, danced with, like, Quest Crew people, it's very on who can make the audience laugh versus who can make the audience go like, "Oh." So, like, for example, round one, very ironically, the prop we got was superhero capes.

Okay. So they're like, "Hey, nurses are superheroes. This is perfect." So we had to dance with capes and pretend to be superheroes. Round two, we had to dance with, like, tutus that we got. 

J.R.: Nice. 

Loren: And then round three, when we made it to top four, I think this is around the area we lost, we had to the dance with a [00:08:00] human prop.

They just put someone in a chair and said, "Dance." 

J.R.: Okay, lap dance. Like what, what- It's 

Loren: very much like- That's funny ... how do you not do a lap dance, 'cause that's the most- Right, 

J.R.: right, 

Loren: right ... obvious thing you could do. 

J.R.: Right. 

Loren: So pe- 

J.R.: Of course ... 

Loren: like, what, what we did was we, because we were nurses, we treated the person like our patient, and we were just- Mm

messing around doing, like, nursing things to them while dancing. 

J.R.: That's funny. 

Loren: So, yeah. 

J.R.: It's... That was, that's awesome. Cool. Yeah. That's, well, okay. We'll, we'll get into all the n- dancing and nursing, but let's go back to dance really quick because it seems like 99% of my guests happen to be dancers or dance-related.

Can you give us a TLDR of, like, your dance background history and how it has evolved over time? 

Loren: Yes. So started dancing back in elementary school. I started out and still to this day am a b-boy. I still identify as a b-boy, but the way I even became a [00:09:00] b-boy was, like, my older cousins thought it'd be funny to, like, just teach me random things and make fun of me while I see-

and stumble. So they taught me in the garage- Wait, were they dancers? N- not really. It was one- Okay ... it was one of those generala- generationally speaking B-boying and dancing was, like, the thing to do. So to say- Gotcha ... like, in the early 2000s. Yeah. So remember, like, it was like, You Got Served and all of that.

There was th- these videos. So th- they showed me this video. They're like, "Hey, learn how to do this six-step, and then learn how to do this baby freeze," and just watched me struggle, and then I ended up liking it, so I just ran with it, and I'm the only one that really stuck with it to this day. 

J.R.: That's 

Loren: funny.

But as, as a B-boy, after that, I just joined Creative Movement. It was my first competitive dance team community back in 2009. 

J.R.: How old were you? 

Loren: I was 16 going into the- Okay ... like, the dance community, so to say. Did my three years on [00:10:00] Creative, made it to my older year. The following year, I was able to join you on Kaba Modern for the KM20 and then circumstances happened.

I did not make it back for the following year to my- Mm ... returning year. Which is, funny enough, a good thing that happened with you after that happened. You actually told me to join Academy of Villains because they were coming down to LA, and it was this new thing that AOV was coming down to the Bay Area and, and LA division.

So you talked to Farside, I believe, and had him recruit me essentially, and I was on AOV, and I only lasted two weeks. 

J.R.: Hey, two weeks is still pretty good. 

Loren: Yes. 

J.R.: We have, we have people who only lasted one day, so... 

Loren: It was one of those, when I was on the team, for those that know what AOV is I would describe the choreography and dancing as very aggressive, so to say.

And during that time, I was [00:11:00] in a very aggressive state of mind and bitterness of what had happened, that I was no longer on Kaba Modern, unfortunately. And for that first two weeks, felt great. And then I realized I'm not an angry person And this isn't really for me. So after that, I was able to talk to some people, and I was lucky enough to actually get a private audition and get invited onto Super Galactic Beat Manipulators.

And that's lo- located all the way down in San Diego. So for those of you that are wondering, I was born and raised in, like, the Lakewood, Long Beach area. And I commuted down to San Diego for this dance crew- That's crazy ... all the way in s- like San Diego. For three years I was with SGBM, and then after that I did- Damn, I didn't know it was three years

ballets and all those things. Yeah. 

J.R.: Damn, that's crazy. 

Loren: Three years with Super Galactic. Then I went on to do, at the same time, like, KM Legacy. We'll get into it by way into Cast Members only with Disney and just taking dance [00:12:00] further. I'm sure we'll get into it later, but I grew the most in my time with Super Galactic and the San Diego dance community versus how I did in the Irvine dance community.

J.R.: What is the... So I've never... I, I've not been exposed to the SD community. So I guess the community at large, but also SGBM, like, what is, what was that experience like in a nutshell, I guess? 

Loren: Yes. So with SGBM and the San Diego dance community in general, some things that were a lot of a culture shock to me coming from the Irvine scene, especially from Kaba Modern, was the fact that I only had two rehearsals a week.

I never had a hell week. Hell week consists of adding one more extra rehearsal, which equates to a normal Kaba Modern rehearsal schedule of three days a week. And practices were capped because we did have studios. So for example, my very first day on Super Galactic, my drive to San Diego and back to San- back to Long [00:13:00] Beach was longer than my actual rehearsal time that I spent in the studio.

J.R.: That's crazy. 

Loren: And because I think practice wrapped up at 11:00 PM. They did the bring it in, and I was very confused as to why we were ending practice, and I thought this was a prank they were playing on me as a newbie. And no, we went out to go get tacos after practice because practice was genuinely over.

Nice. And it's just a lot more efficient. The San Diego dance scene- Just for whatever reason is more structured and efficient. And not to say that this Irvine scene and what we did on Kaba was inefficient, but what we did in like two, three hours in rehearsal in San Diego we didn't have to do that like while in Kaba where we spent practice until the sunrise for whatever reason, where cleaning goes out the window because we're no longer able to maintain our brain function at that point.

J.R.: Mm-hmm. 

Loren: So very [00:14:00] inefficient, in my opinion, in retrospect. 

J.R.: Yeah, that makes sense. Do you think that part of that was because SuperGalactic was... I- is it safe to say it's like more of a company than like a college team? I'm not really sure of like the, the structure or dynamics 

Loren: Hard to say, in all honesty.

Granted that the level of dancers on that team was ridiculous. We had people on the team as young as 16 years old and as old as their, in their 30s. It was a very big age range, and the way Super Galactic w- recruited back then was public auditions were only every two years. So that's the only peop- time people got the opportunity to even join the team, other than getting lucky to be privately auditioned or privately invited like myself.

And that was just me getting very lucky, because what ended up happening is after I didn't [00:15:00] make it back onto Kaba, I was very lost. I didn't know what I was gonna do with my dance career, so to say. Like, who am I gonna join? Am I gonna join Common Ground? Am I gonna join GRV? Am I gonna join TM? Like, I still wanna be part of this collegiate dance scene, but at least for the OC scene, none of these teams really appealed to me as a dancer as far as what I want to do, and Super Galactic was always one of my dream teams.

I just thought it was unrealistic for me to join a San Diego team while being out here, in all honesty. But it worked out, and I just reached out to the board of directors for Super Galactic. At first, they were kind of hesitant to even bring me on. What I ended up doing was driving down to San Diego to a workshop just to show them like, I'm committed, like, I wanna try, and after I went to that workshop in San Diego, they actually offered me a private audition, which was very, very scary and intimidating.

Shout out to Kan Dang and Jeff Conwi for going with me to my private audition, [00:16:00] because didn't really know who was gonna go with me and support me since I didn't have really San Diego friends, and wasn't exactly cool with a lot of people when things went down - 

J.R.: Mm ... 

Loren: back then. But it all worked out. I got to join them, and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life, in all honesty.

And surprisingly enough, I actually saved more gas on Super Galactic than I did on Kaba, only because we had a, a carpool of like four to five individuals all from the OC, Long Beach area, that we all- Okay ... just took turns. So- Yeah ... realistically, I only drove once a month maybe to S- SV. 

J.R.: That's convenient.

Like, I didn't know there were other people who were commuting from far away as well, but that makes sense to just carpool, right? 

Loren: Yep. 

J.R.: Nice. Okay, cool. That's awesome. And so then afterwards after you finished on that team and then just legacy stuff, what is, what else has your dance been like? Is it more just dancing here and there or in any official organized [00:17:00] capacity?

Loren: Nowadays it's just freestyling. I still B-boy every now and then as like my warm-up workout cardio and having fun. I take class every now and then at local studios like Off Stage. I actually live five minutes from the studio. I could actually walk there if I wanted to. 

J.R.: Nice. 

Loren: And as of recently, I actually did make my return to the Bust A Groove stage with Reclaim and Rise, with Alibon and Gigi, and that was one of the craziest experiences ever just because I got to dance with a lot of people from our generation but from different teams like, oh, the, our generation of like Pac Modern, TM- Yeah

220 all these other people. It was just so cool to be all on the same team but we were all the same community kind of vibe. 

J.R.: Yeah. That must have been a trip. I was seeing all the stories too of all the people who were like, you know, coming together for that project. I'm like, "Man, it's super cool." Must be such a surreal experience.

Loren: Definitely 

J.R.: Okay, cool. So two different paths now. So obviously we wanna talk about your [00:18:00] career, nursing and, and et cetera, but maybe we detour real quick to being a Disney cast member. So could you walk us through- Yeah ... what that was like? Generally the questions are your journey to being a cast member, like I know you, I know you've been doing that for a while.

What, any great stories and what the insider culture is like, and/or if anyone's trying to get a job there, I don't know. I mean, we... Sorry another quick tangent. Like, I knew since we are a dance community, I feel like we disproportionately knew a lot more people who worked at Disney as, like cast members, dancers, performers, et cetera, because we were dancers ourselves.

And so- Yep ... for me to tell other people like, "Oh yeah, I have a bunch of friends who've danced at Disney and got, you know, free- ... Disney entrance," right? But then for other people, that's not a real common thing unless they're, like, doing other stuff in Disney. But, Yeah ... anyways, sorry, just going back to, like, what is, what was your-

your Disney cast member journey like? 

Loren: Yeah. So with Disney, I was able to join the company back in 2013. [00:19:00] It was pretty much at the exact same time I was able to be on SuperGalactic. And before that, it took me roughly eight auditions before I even got casted into a Disney show. I had been trying ever since my senior year in high school, but I was unsuccessful, and decided to pretty much train to get into Disney because as a community dancer, we are all about, like, hip hop, popping, locking all the freestyle elements.

But Disney is Disney, in all is the best way to describe it. It's I had to learn jazz, I had to learn basic ballet, I had to learn basic technique, how to do a pirouette. Like, skills that are way out of my scope of practice. Yeah. But I had to learn those because that is what was expected of me in the audition.

I wasn't gonna go in there and expect to be breaking because that's obviously not what we do there. So my tip to people if you want to get into [00:20:00] Disney is one, look what they're looking for. They're very specific as far as I'm looking for a male from 5'8" to 6'1" and with an athletic build. If you do not have those requirements, don't bother showing up because it is a waste of your time and their time.

J.R.: Mm-hmm. 

Loren: Like there was auditions where I saw, like they're looking for males under 5'5". I already knew I'm not gonna get that, so why bother even showing up? For my time there, though, it was amazing. I learned a lot. I got to grow as a dancer and at the same time get paid. Funny enough for, as relating to all the Filipinos especially, my parents were not very, so to say, supportive of me being a dancer until I started getting paid to be a dancer.

Mm. And then next thing you know, it's like, "Oh, my son is a dancer for Disney, and he makes money dancing." Now it's something we can brag about versus, "My son is on Kaba Modern." It's like, cool. Yeah. Are you making money being on Kaba Modern? No. [00:21:00] Well, then what are we gonna brag about? 

J.R.: Right. 

Loren: Of course. So there was all that.

Some pros and cons, though, and I'm sure a lot of people that are former Disney cast members can relate to this. As soon as I got hired at Disney, a lot of, quote-unquote, friends started sh- popping up and DM'ing me saying like, "Hey, it's been years. I hear you work at Disney. Can I get a discount on tickets?"

Or, "Can I get tickets? Can you get me into the park?" Mm-hmm. I was like, "I haven't talked to you since, like, sophomore year English class, bro." What? So there is that side of things, but as an entertainer with Disney, we got away with a lot of things. I mean, I didn't have to wear a uniform. My uniform was what I wore during the show, and it was great.

I got to do-- ma- bring magic to a lot of people and put a lot of smiles on people's faces, which have brought me... I, I brought that into nursing, which we can get on into later. But I was featured in [00:22:00] Pixar Play Parade and Paint the Night parade. And if you haven't seen those shows, Pixar's not gone already, but Paint the Night is back.

Recommend checking it out, everyone. 

J.R.: Nice. That's cool. Yeah, actually, that's an interesting thread there is, you know, as a, as a nurse, you work with people, but especially as a performer, especially within Disney, I'm sure there are things that you learn about people interactions that probably was valuable to your career.

And I'm sure working at Disney is always, like, a magical experience just by definition, right? And- Oh, yeah ... I, I echo that, like, with our friends, mutual friends who also worked at Disney, and it's, like, people always asking them for discounts and tickets and stuff like that, which, I mean, I, I've-- I don't think I've ever done...

I'm not really a Disneyland sort of person, so I never found myself in the situation of trying to sleaze my way into, like, free tickets or something like that. But I was always like, yeah, that kind of gives me such an ick when people do that. And in, in seeing it- Yeah ... I guess third, thirdhand, [00:23:00] like, or secondhand, like, embarrassment, like, ugh, why are you guys so fake?

But yeah, I mean, that's just-- I guess that's part of the, the curse of working there. But anyway. Yeah. So like, yeah, maybe, maybe we go into-- If there's nothing else on that, maybe we go now into nursing since that is a big part of your story. So what was your journey into nursing like? I know the, the general arc that I wanna take us into is how did you decide you wanted to be a nurse?

How was it like getting into nursing school, surviving nursing school? You mentioned nursing during the pandemic, and then now how your career has evolved since then. You have a lot of letters next to your name and so, like, maybe we can break that down as well. So yeah, let's start at the beginning.

Why nursing? 

Loren: Yes. So why nursing? And 

J.R.: don't say it's 'cause you're Filipino because 

Loren: So going into that actually, so it's funny enough you bring that up. So yes, everyone, I am Filipino, I am a dancer, and I am a nurse. I am very stereotypical. Such a stereotype. Going into [00:24:00] that now. So growing up, I actually, my dream was to be a pharmacist.

That is actually when I went to UCI, I did one year at UCI as a pharma sci major. My whole goal in life ever since I was, like, in the fourth grade was, "I want to be a pharmacist. I want to be a pharmacist." And you know what? Why? 

J.R.: Why pharmacy? Like- 

Loren: So the only reason I wanted to go to pharmacy was, one, be straight up the pay.

Two- 

J.R.: Oh, okay ... 

Loren: I wanted to work in healthcare. Three, the only reason I went that route is because my mom, also a nurse, yes, very typical, I know, everyone, always told me, "You should be a nurse. You should be a nurse." And I said, "No, I refuse to fall into the p- typical Filipino stereotype," and that's the only reason I didn't go into nursing, is because I wanted to prove her wrong, that I don't have to or want to be a nurse.[00:25:00] 

And here I am now. 

J.R.: You can't outrun ge- you can't outrun genetics, man. You can't outrun our culture. 

Loren: So here I am now as a nurse. So going into how I actually fell in love and actually g- got back into nursing, so to say. After my first year at UCI for those of us that went there the Chem 1A series sucked.

I found out I hate chemistry, and pharmacy is all about chemistry. So learning that I actually hate chemistry, I decided to give it a shot and go into nursing. I couldn't get into the nursing program at UC Irvine because it was impacted. Back then nursing schools were very impacted in the sense that no one can get in.

So the only university that was available to me was West Coast University, and it is a private university. It is very, very, very expensive, unfortunately. So I went to West Coast, and it's, it is an accelerated nursing program, meaning I get no [00:26:00] summer vacation. I get no breaks. I am in school literally every single day for the next three and a half-ish years, and I got through it.

But because it was accelerated, I technically graduated on time in terms of a four-year college university program, whatever you wanna call it, and I graduated. So with all that having happened- I love nursing, and funny enough this is a cute little story. Once I graduated nursing school in August of 2015 you can't just start nursing, you have to apply for your license.

So usually people take it immediately after graduating or whatever. I took roughly a three-month break because I was so fed up with nursing school and had surviving it that I just wanted a break from studying. And during that time, I actually opened Paint the Night with Disney, so I was dancing five nights a week.

I just wanted to focus on [00:27:00] having fun and getting paid to do it. But while I was doing that my mother was very like, "Shouldn't you be studying for your NCLEX?" Which is the name of the exam for a nursing license. And at some point in November, I actually passed the exam on my first try, thank God. And because I passed, I was very in don't give a F mode, so I went up with SuperGalactic to do a show in the Bay Area.

I started doing more shows with Disney, and my mother's just like, "It's been a while since you graduated. How come you aren't taking your license?" But I had already passed the exam, and the only reason I didn't tell her was because her birthday is at the end of November. So on her birthday, she was always getting - she was even just at me on her birthday saying, "How come you aren't studying?

You should be studying." And I just gave her an envelope, and it was my nursing license, and she cried and I cried. It was awesome. 

J.R.: Oh, nice. So you're saving it as a surprise. 

Loren: Yep. It was one of the greatest gifts I was able to give her, so- 

J.R.: Nice ... 

Loren: it [00:28:00] was fun. And back then, my mo- my mother wasn't retired yet, so once I got a job, it was funny 'cause we would have family dinners, and we would just talk crap about her day as an ER nurse and my day as an ICU nurse.

J.R.: Nice. I like it. Okay, so there's that part of it. I know there's a little bit, a few more parts, but I guess while we're on you studying for the licensing exam and then passing it do you have any advice or tips for people for deciding nursing? You know, what considerations should they think about getting into a nursing school, graduating, studying, getting licensed, et cetera?

'Cause there's-- I know there's a lot of different parts of that. Yes. But I'm wondering from a person who, let's say, I'm, I'm high school student and I'm, you know, my... I'm also Filipino, and my parents tell me I should be a nurse or some sort of medical field, or I'm in college, I'm-- and I'm, you know, studying to be a nurse or to graduate with nursing, or I'm past that and I'm trying to get in to [00:29:00] nursing school, or I graduated or stu- I'm sure there's a lot of different parts to it.

Yes. Are there any specific advice or takeaways or insights that you think would be helpful from your story? 

Loren: Yes. So it's funny 'cause I, I talk a lot about this because I have been a g- a college professor for nursing. I'm currently the nursing director for an ICU at a local hospital. So going actually o- over all the things in my title, I am a Master's of Science in Nursing, RN, registered nurse, CCRN, critical care registered nurse, so I specialize in critical care and I'm competent in that field, and PHN, a public health nurse, all, all things that I studied for and got certified for.

Now, with all that being said, as far as individuals watching this that want to go into nursing, whenever I interview new nurses, I always a- end my interviews with two questions, and if you cannot answer these two questions, and a good 75% of my candidates have not been able to [00:30:00] answer these questions confidently, then you should reevaluate a lot of things.

My question is usually, "Why my facility?" Because a lot of candidates just throw out a bunch of job applications and hope someone responds. And then my second follow-up question is, "What sets you apart from all the other new grad nurses that walk into this room?" Because every single new grad nurse that I interview, it's gonna be the exact same thing.

They're gonna have a resume that says you did all these clinical hours at every single facility, which is a state requirement. You need to do those, so I don't necessarily care because it's the same with everyone else. Most of the time you'll have zero healthcare experience, so there's nothing there as well.

So I always look for what sets you apart from the last person that walked in, and a lot of people have this view that I work as a barista, I work as a bartender, I work in retail, and none of that is [00:31:00] applicable to nursing or healthcare, so I shouldn't put that on my resume. If someone tells you that, they are absolutely wrong.

Do not, not put that in your resume. That should be in your resume. Why? Because I want you to tell me how that relates to nursing in the sense of you're coming into the field with zero knowledge of healthcare. But if you can tell me how do you talk to people, tell me about a time you dealt with a pissed-off customer, how did you fix that?

What did you do? And tell me-- show me your people skills, that makes me more inclined to hire you. As an example, for myself, I was very discouraged by my counselors in nursing school. They told me, "Do not put Disney or Kaba Modern or anything dance-related on my resume." And they said it had nothing to do with healthcare.

It has nothing to do with nursing. Why is it on your resume? To remove it. This is my advice to people to listen to yourself also. Yes, people are out there to help you, but sometimes you don't necessarily need to take their advice. They're just there [00:32:00] to give you their knowledge as well. So even right now, you don't have to listen to me.

I'm just giving you, y- all my input. But I decided to go against the grain. I put all of that on my resume because that's the only thing that really sets me apart from all the other candidates, in all honesty. And what happened is when I got hired at a very prestigious hospital, Torrance Memorial, in the burn ICU as a new grad nurse, my whole interview was, "Okay, your name is Loren Segovia.

You have a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing. You have zero experience in healthcare. Oh my gosh, you work at Disney. What show? Pixie Hollow Play Parade and Paint the Night Parade? My kids love that show. Tell me about what it's like to work at Disney." And just- Yeah ... asked me all these Disney questions, did not ask me a single nursing question, and that's how I got the job.

J.R.: Wow. 

Loren: So yeah. 

J.R.: It makes a lot of sense. I like that advice a lot. I think it's very counter to what I think the typical person might tell you to do. Well, I mean, it is very counter, and like Loren said, you know, take it with a grain of salt. You can ignore any advice you feel like [00:33:00] you don't wanna take, but I, I think it's very insightful.

I wanna ask specifically, what do you think-- I know you're telling people, don't exclude parts about yourself that could be significant towards getting that job as a nurse, but what do you think are the elements of someone who would be a good nurse or has the personality or traits or mindsets that would help-- that would allow them to succeed very well in that field?

As someone who's not a nurse, obviously, and as someone who you work with a lot of nurses and are a nurse, what do you think are elements that make a great nurse? 

Loren: Yes. The, the great elements of a nurse are the ability to have empathy, wanting to help people, and to critically think. So for example, and I became a nurse at a very, very young age.

Like, I was like 21 turning 22, which is relatively young for someone to be taking care of someone's [00:34:00] life, so to say, let's be honest. And as soon as I entered the nursing field, in all honesty, I was making a lot of money. Like, it was crazy how much money I was making, especially being at that age. I was still living at home with my parents, so I wasn't paying rent at all.

I was just racking up all this finance. And because of that, a lot of my colleagues and friends that aren't nurses saw me and like, "That is freaking awesome." Like, "You're making so much money. You know what? I wanna be a nurse." And I told them like what I'm telling you guys, like all the resources I went to.

I went to West Coast University and so on and so forth. But I always wanted to tell people that if you're going to enter nursing, do it for the right reasons. Do it because you want to help people, and that you are comfortable around blood. You are gonna see very traumatic things, and you have to be okay with that because that's what you're signing up for.

You're not signing up for, "I'm gonna be [00:35:00] making six figures," and that's the end of it. There is a reason you're making six figures. And a lot of people, because of that, go-- when they go into it for the wrong reasons, they fail out of nursing school. And now you're X amount in debt because you paid for nursing school with the whole intention of, "I'm here to make money.

I don't care about helping others," and all of that good stuff. So you're not gonna succeed in nursing school. So make sure you're choosing nursing for the right reasons, so to say. Again, there is no right or wrong, but if you wanna be happy doing this, you need to be cool with a lot of things. Like, like real talk, I have been assaulted, I have been spit on, I have been pissed on, I have been shit on, and that is all fine.

And a lot of that isn't even the patient's fault. It's because of the circumstances of whatever they're going through, and I have to clean it up, and that's part of the job. It's not just giving [00:36:00] meds, saying hello. And not to call out a lot of influencers, it's-- a lot of the things you see on social media, that's not what nursing really is.

There's a lot to it than that. So be smart about why you're going into the field and yeah. 

J.R.: Hmm. Let me dig deeper on that. So what is out there on social media, and what is the actuality? Like, what is the reality? I'm not really familiar with what's being put out there in terms of influencers or social media.

Loren: Inappropriate in some cases. Big advice to a lot of people is, speaking as a nursing director, I've seen a lot of things that shouldn't have happened for a lot of people. You go through school and you work so hard to get your degree, and then you work so hard to get your license. After all of that, you want to protect your license because that is your livelihood.

It's like driving a car. Is it a good idea to [00:37:00] drive drunk? Probably not. So you're not gonna do it Generally speaking, so to say. But same thing applies to nursing. There's rules and guidelines you need to follow according to your hospital's organization's policies and procedures, and even s- simple state laws that you need to follow.

Mm. So for example, on social media, you'll see a lot of people filming them giving meds or doing procedures. In most cases, that is not allowed. If your organization finds out about that or finds it, you are subject to losing your job and potentially losing your license and being reported to the board of nursing.

J.R.: Mm. 

Loren: So why jeopardize that for, what, views, couple money, side hustle, just to lose it all? It's not worth it. So I always like to tell newer nurses, "You worked so hard to be here. Don't put your license at risk." Especially many are aware they're putting their license at risk. Mm. Okay. But what I see a lot out there also to-- [00:38:00] It's not also all glamorous.

Every nurse needs to go through the trenches, I think, and work in like med surg, telemetry before you specialize in whatever field you want to specialize in, for the most part. So not to call out individuals, but don't go into nursing just to say, "I want to go into nurse aesthetics and focus purely on beauty products and all of that."

Cool. You still need experience cleaning a patient and doing all of that before you can do that. Yes, that could be your end goal, but you still need to take the steps to get to that end goal. 

J.R.: Mm. I like that. Yeah, it's kind of like the whole age-old people going into, at least going into careers for the wrong reasons, just to go back to that, where it's, you know, especially coming from the Asian culture of doctor, lawyer, engineer sort of thing, and people's like, "Oh, I wanna be a doctor."

Like, "Why?" He's like, "Well, they make a lot of money." I'm like, that's like the shittiest reason to wanna go into a career, especially healthcare- Yeah ... especially [00:39:00] something people-oriented. Obviously, that applies to nursing as well, and I think that's, that's such a bad sort of approach to it, and I get the financial considerations.

We all wanna be financially comfortable and support ourselves. That's fair. But there are 101 other careers that will make money and make more money and will be more aligned with your goal if your goal really is to make money. But to go into healthcare because of money doesn't really make sense, and- Yep

and to your point, it's kinda like playing Russian roulette, right? It's like, why play a game that if you lose, you could lose everything. Is that really worth it? So I like that takeaway. I want to ask on the last part of that, well, two things. One is- Worst parts about nursing, best parts about nursing, just to give us a little bit more color to what it is like to be a nurse.

And then the second thing is, speaking on the technical side of, of becoming a nurse as a student Ramy talked about this and, you know, going through med school, how it was tough and, you know, Ramy is a smart guy obviously, but then he had to learn how to [00:40:00] actually study when he was in med school. And so I'm just curious if for you it was just a walk in the park and you're just a smart dude, or if there's any sort of takeaways you can give for people who might be struggling.

Like maybe they do love nursing, but the, the technical side of studying and exams and getting certified and licensed and all this other stuff, I'm sure there's a lot of wisdom you can impart onto us. So if you wanna take it away. 

Loren: Yes. So a lot of them there. So I'll try to cover everything and then stop me if I- Go for it, yeah, yeah

go on a tangent or something. But first thing, worst part about nursing. So the worst part I would say is kind of the unexpected things that happen. Like, there will be days where it is the greatest day, everything goes perfectly smooth, everyone lives, and no one gets mad at anything. But the worst part about it will be th- there's extremes to it.

It'll be the days where you have that patient [00:41:00] that, again, not to call out individuals out there, but are reliant on Dr. Google. And if you're relying on Dr. Google, why are you in the hospital and refusing to listen to your nurse, to your doctor, to your healthcare team that are all trained professionals, but you refuse to listen to them because Dr.

Google said you have something else, and XYZ 'cause you plugged in all of these sym- signs and symptoms, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And you have to deal with those people. So those are some of the worst things. And there will be also the worst times. Specifically, I'm referring to COVID. It's really sad.

It was a very dark time for all of us that worked in trenches in healthcare and at the bedside. We saw a lot of death every single day. We saw a lot of people lose their loved ones, their family members. And even at, at passing vein, like I would be the nurse... Damn, I'm gonna cry. Like, I remember, like, a lot of the cases where I had patients in my ICU, and we, like, we've done everything for [00:42:00] this patient, but the family can't be there to say goodbye.

So I am the liaison of literally getting an iPad, of bringing it into the room and saying, "This is your loved one. You guys have, like, 10 minutes," whatever time, you know, whatever, "and say your goodbyes," and then shut off the iPad and do what I gotta do in terms of the body. So there are times where those are, like, literally the worst times, worst days, worst part of my whole nursing career of that, and having to deal with that and take that trauma mentally, emotionally on that home And even knowing that my mom is also a nurse, so like whoever is h- healthcare, like I had-- I would strip down in my garage butt naked so I wouldn't bring anything that I brought from the hospital home, and just run to the shower, not say hi to my parents because I don't know what the hell I have on me by dying that time, and so on and so forth, and just going along with it.

Dur- [00:43:00] now the best parts, going in that same thing. We are healthcare essential workers. I have no traffic during that time. My commute to work was the shor- was the shortest it's ever been during that time. It was awesome. But then there are definitely just general best things about nursing, getting to help people, getting to see people get out of the hospital.

Like how I said, I specialize in burn ICU, so I saw a lot of things in a burn unit a lot of things that could be prevented. But like a lot of the things I remember are like a lot of the pediatric kid cases I dealt with and the seeing them survive or regain function of all those things and just saying-- them s- and their family saying like, "Thank you."

And it's like we, we almost become, as their healthcare team, we become part of their family. And at my former job where I specialize in burn, we actually have a Christmas party every year and we reconnect with all of those burn victims, and it's just an excuse for all of us to see-- reconnect, see how everyone's doing.

And seeing a lot of [00:44:00] those kids, like I've been in nursing 10 plus years and seeing a lot of my patients when I was a first-year nurse to now and seeing like their-- like my kids are like 10 years older now and like in high school from when their accidents happened. So those are like a lot of the best things about it.

Now what was your last question also on the other part? 

J.R.: Yeah. So best and worst parts you covered, and now I'm more just asking about the s- educational, technical, technical side of nursing, right? Like how to get into- Yeah ... nursing school or studying for exams, et cetera, like for people who want to get through that, but maybe that part is the toughest part.

Any advice? 

Loren: Yeah. So nursing school was the biggest struggle of my life, and I've heard the same thing from all of my nursing friends from my generation at least. Like we all went to different universities. Like I went to West Coast. I had friends at UC Irvine, Cal State Long Beach, so on and so forth. And we all agree it's the same at whatever university you go to.

There was no difference between the Cal State system, UC system, private school system. Nursing [00:45:00] school is nursing school, and nursing school is hard, and it sucks. I-- Before college, I was very much a, I took all the AP classes. I was a 4.0 student. I was- I was genuinely very, very smart. Like, it was e- all very easy to me.

Then I went to nursing school. I found out I am not smart. Everything is a struggle. So I became-- before then I was a perfectionist. Like, I always needed to get an A on my tests. I always needed to be the top of my class in high school. That was always my, my goals back then. Nursing school, C's get degrees, whatever passes, passes.

Granted, yes, I was dancing and made some poor life choices on the side. That was a bunch of other things at the same time. Granted, fair, but I just wanted to pass. And at the end of the day, do what you have to do to pass and find what study. [00:46:00] A lot of things that helped me was simply having a study group of my closest friends back in nursing school, and we would just bounce, like, case studies off each other and work it all out.

And then even, like, procedures, like in nursing school you have to perform all these different procedures and get them down and perform them in front of your professor so that you are competent and can do it on a real patient. This is how I studied for it, and this only works for me and maybe to anyone else that can-- has similar thought process as me.

But because I was a dancer and am a dancer, I looked at a lot of these procedures as choreography. Mm. So the first eight count is gonna be me walking into the room, looking at my patient, and assessing X, Y, and Z. The next eight count is going to be me specifically looking at their lungs and their chest, the next eight count so on and so forth.

So I choreographed it in my head as far as how the procedure goes and what is gonna happen. And because I choreographed it, it's just like, okay, just perform it now, [00:47:00] in a sense, and that's how I got through, like, the physical, technical aspects of actually doing the procedures and stuff. So that's what worked out for me.

And what else? Yeah, nursing school is just hard. 

J.R.: Mm. 

Loren: Yeah. It a- once, once you graduate, it's like I said, like with the whole interview process, you're gonna be the exact same thing as everyone. I have never looked at a nursing student-- like a new grad nurse's GPA from graduating nurse school. I barely even look at what university they came from.

The only things I look for is that they have a bachelor's degree in the s- field of nursing and their, their license. Mm-hmm. I could care less of where that university is. As long as they have those two things, they at least meet the qualification of stepping into a room with me. 

J.R.: Mm-hmm. Mm, okay. I like that.

So the, the takeaways you already mentioned, which were try to figure out why you're doing what you're doing, what sets you apart, and then nursing school is generally just hard, so I'm guessing the advice is just heads down and do whatever you can to figure out how to [00:48:00] get through it. But but for you, you kind of implemented how you see the world or how you approach dance creatively, which is like sequencing and rehearsing before those performances.

So I liked it a lot. Yeah. Anything else on nursing that you think we left out? Otherwise, we can switch. 

Loren: Ooh. On nursing Mm. Not sure if you wanna get into anything about being a nursing professor or a nursing director. Still all on the same vein 

J.R.: Yeah, sure. 

Yeah, yeah, no, absolutely. So yeah thank you.

Nursing professor, so what is that like? How did that come about? And then obviously the last one is, like, takeaways or lessons for that. 

Loren: Yep. So this kind of falls on the same pro- again, more pros for nursing, and a lot of r- another reason people go into nursing. For primary nurses, bedside nursing, you work three 12-hour shifts.

That means you have four days in the week to do whatever the hell you want, and that's exactly how I was able to dance and do a bunch of other things on the side. So while I was [00:49:00] doing my three days, 12-hour shifts as a burn ICU nurse, I picked up another job on top of being at Disney. I was a wound consultant for another hospital, and I also became a nursing professor.

Now, the reason I picked up a lot of these jobs was also, that we'll get t- touch on later, was to help pay for my wedding. Mm. Anything to help us progress financially towards the dream wedding that we wanted. But as a nursing professor, I went into that field specifically because, one, in all honesty, it paid very well.

Two, I like teaching And three, it was convenient in the sense that it was with-- I ended up teaching at the exact same university I went to at West Coast University. So I was very familiar with their system already, so it made it a lot easier to teach the system now and also have the perspective of the students i- that are learning.

And as a professor, it did has its ups and downs. I-- there was groups of students [00:50:00] that I absolutely loved. They were great. They were very engaged. And then I also had groups of students that I'm gonna honestly absolutely hated, and were not engaged, and were likely going to fail my class. I taught the clinical side of things, so I would be the professor that's in the hospitals that is guiding all these students in the hospital and making sure they, they learn the hands-on skills versus the, the lecture side of things.

And it was interesting, especially with this next generation of nurses being what, what are they? Gen Z. They were a bunch of characters, for lack of a better way of saying it. And the other thing that's also strange about it was because I became a nurse at such a young age, everything else that I led up to also became things at a young age.

So I became a v- nursing professor at a very young age. So, for example, one joke I kind of did to my students with each rotation I [00:51:00] got is when I'm with my students, they wear blue scrubs, and then I can wear essentially whatever scrub color I want, and then I wear a, a lab coat to, to designate that I'm the professor and leader of this group, so to say.

But on the first day, what I started doing is I just showed up in the blue scrubs like everyone else and see how they interact with m-my, me and everyone else. And it was very interesting to see, like- ... their lack of professionalism in some cases, or how they- That's funny ... approach nursing, or what, what are their thoughts about what the, the class itself And then I would le- say, "Oh, we have to go somewhere," and just lead them into the conference room just to reveal to all of them, "Good morning, everyone.

My name is Professor Segovia, and I am your professor for this..." And everyone would just be like, "You think he heard all that?" 

Damn, you're such a troll, man. 

Yeah, especially because a lot of people watching this, yes, my name is Loren. I am a boy. Because when [00:52:00] you look at your professor, you're just gonna see Loren Segovia.

Oh. Everyone assumed that the professor was a female, and was just waiting- Dang ... for a female person to walk in. So even- Yeah ... more reason to freak out. 

J.R.: Yeah, you had a, an extra layer of deception there. You're like, "Oh, yeah, like, oh, yeah, that... Where's, when's the, the female professor coming in here? Oh, just kidding, it's me."

Loren: Yep. Yep. Damn, that's funny. So I would mess a lot with them. It was fun, especially the ones that, the groups that were, like, really good and really professional. I'm just like, "Okay, you guys handled this very well." 'Cause I wanted to see students, how they truly are, so to say, not being fake around me- Right

or, like, just trying to be on my good side so I pass them. Like, I wanna see how you genuinely are as a person, 'cause you, you, and at the end of the day, you're gonna be handling someone's life. And you need to make sure you're actually on top of it. 

J.R.: Yeah. I like that. Honestly, I would say I'd probably do the same thing, like, if I was on the younger side and people weren't expecting me to be the professor and/or I could [00:53:00] get away with, like, you know, trolling and being a part of the class and then revealing, I probably would do the same thing just for fun.

But also, like you said, to see- Oh, yeah ... what they're really like behind your back, you know? 

Loren: Yes. It was super fun, but there was also some awkward moments where there there's actually been a couple times where some friends actually ended up in my class. 

J.R.: Oh. 

Loren: And I was like, "Oh, this is gonna be very interesting.

Over here, yeah, you have to call me Professor Segovia, please." 

J.R.: Right. "

Loren: Don't call me by my first name." 

J.R.: The formality, right? 

Loren: The formality of it, and then even some of them that, like, found out, they're like, "Oh, I think I've... Professor, I think I've seen you before." And then they would show me a clip of, like, us performing at Afterparty with KM Legacy at that- Oh

at the club, and I'm like, "Yeah. Yeah, that's, yeah, that's me." 

J.R.: I love it. Okay. I think the last thing I forgot to ask was nursing administration. Yeah. So I can kind of assume that that's different [00:54:00] than just what you were pre- previously doing, like, just bedside nursing, I guess, is what you called it.

Yes. So what is that like and how is it different? And how did you, how did you evolve into that or, or is that what you primarily do? I don't, I don't know the distinctions of- 

Loren: Yes ... 

J.R.: how you split up your functions. 

Loren: So as a nursing administrator, so my title now is Director of ICU. With nursing, once you get your foundations, there's a, there's a lot you can do with nursing, which is another pro to it.

You can become a nurse practitioner. You could be a CRNA. You could be a nurse educator. You could do nursing informatics. You could be nursing administration, so on and so forth. And for me, none of the other advanced fields of nursing really appealed to me as far as how far do I wanna take nursing and also the longevity and sustainability of it.

So I chose nursing administration. I actually took my master's with my wife, so we both have our master's in nursing leadership and management. And when I stepped into this role, there was a lot of [00:55:00] pros to it in the sense that I'm doing it to be financially stable, of course, but also prepare for my future in the sense of I don't work the three 12s anymore.

For better or for worse I work the five eights technically now, Monday through Friday. I have the weekends now off now. I have the holidays off. And I wanted to do that to prepare for, God willing, in the future w- when and if my wife and I have a child, I can take them to school, I can pick them up from school, I can go to all of their sporting events or whatever they wanna do on the weekend.

So I have more time for my family in the future, so to say. So those are the pros of it. As far as what I do now, a lot of it is being a nurse leader essentially, and leading my group of individuals. I've, I have about roughly 90 employees under me that I manage all of them in terms of their attendance, their schedules making sure they're doing what they're supposed to be doing and making sure that the department [00:56:00] and the hospital function.

Yes there is a business aspect to it, unfortunately. That's healthcare. It is still a business, but we're still all here to help people in the long run. And what I've learned in this role is, yes, I'm a nurse leader and I'm trying to evolve nursing. I have to do things in terms of building policies, making procedures, and it's even crazy that, like, at my age, I'm doing all of this.

Like, I'm the one making the revisions to a lot of this. And a good, what? 75% of my staff are either my age or older. Mm. And yet I'm the one that's in charge of all of them and responsible for all of their actions. So along that also, yes, I am your, like, roughly eight hours a day, Monday through Friday, but because I am in part of administration, now I'm the director, I do have technically 24/7 responsibility.

So even right now, someone could call me right now and has-- tell me that [00:57:00] something happened on the department that I either have to handle right now or can it wait till tomorrow, depending, and I have to triage the situation and address it accordingly. So a lot of nuances with it and I am happy in this role.

I like seeing that the people I'm leading are growing as nurses. My goal as of, like, now is to lead the next generation of nurses in order to go where they want to, whether that be do they want to be the next nursing administrator? Do they wanna be a nurse educator? Do they just wanna stay at the bedside and continue doing what they're doing?

That's cool, too. Whatever you wanna do, but I make an effort to at least see how each of my nurses wants to grow and guide them in that aspect. 

J.R.: Last question I have on this is how does one become, like, an is it nurse director? Like, how does one become qualified to do that? I know you have a lot of education and whatnot- Yeah

and experience, but for example, like, if a, if a nurse in your previous position wanted to do what you did, [00:58:00] how... What makes them qualified to do what you do i- in a sense of, like, how did you get that role? 

Loren: Yes. So being-- Stepping into nursing administration, generally speaking, in all honesty, full transparency to everyone, it is very, very hard to do initially.

Um Like what-- I, I got my master's in 2020 during the pandemic. I didn't get my, my first nursing administrator job until roughly 2024, if I'm not mistaken. Along there. And during that whole time, I was searching for an admin-level job. So for those of you that want to go into the admin field, of course, the basic qualifications is getting your master's in, like, something toward leadership or administration or business.

Something along those lines is the first step, of course. And then as, as a bedside nurse [00:59:00] just taking on more leadership roles as far as being a charge nurse of your department, being a preceptor teaching classes, anything that involves leading XYZ group that will help you sell your-- and market yourself as a nurse leader.

And then as cliche as it sounds for most people, a lot of it's networking. Don't burn bridges. Make networks with people that are nursing administrators or whatever, because what ended up happening is at my facility where I did all my primary training and care, I wanted to stay with them in all honesty.

But if I was gonna be a nursing administrator there, it probably wasn't gonna happen for maybe 10 years just because all the current administrators are either young, they're not gonna retire anytime soon. Like no positions are going to be opening up anytime soon for what I wanted to do. So I had to start looking elsewhere.

And luckily enough, I got hired at a hospital out in Culver [01:00:00] City, and the only reason I even got that job was because I was able to network with the chief nursing officer of that facility. So that's pretty much-- The chief nursing officer, for anyone that doesn't know, is the highest administrative position of a nurse you can be in a, in a hospital.

It is the head nurse of literally everyone and everything in that hospital. And that nurse worked the bedside with me at my previous facility, and she only knew about me because we worked together. We had such a good relationship together that she knew how I functioned as a nurse, she knew how I functioned as a leader, and she knew that I had just gotten my master's in nursing leadership and management and reached out to me and said, "Are you open to being one of my nurse leaders for my ICU?"

And brought me on. So it was a lot of networking. And after I built my foundations over there, I was the nurse manager over there. I was able to advance to nursing director with my current facility and organization just because I was [01:01:00] able to build my foundations with another organization 

J.R.: Hmm. Okay.

That's very insightful. So a lot of obviously your core competency, being a nurse, getting your actual experience there. Also education, so your master's, and then networking, like you said, leadership experience. That all helped to get to where you are today. 

Loren: Definitely. 

J.R.: Nice. Awesome. Okay. If there's nothing else you wanna talk about nursing, I know we had a lot.

I'm sure we could dig in even deeper in a part two. Also, for the personal section topics of different questions my proposal is for part two, if you're willing and down, if we can find the time, we can cover that stuff in the next one. But I would like to switch over to rapid fire for the case of time, if you're cool with that.

Loren: I'm perfectly fine with that. 

J.R.: Cool. Okay. So first of the rapid fire questions, billboard question: If you could put up a sign for millions of people to see, what would it say? 

Loren: Ooh. If I could put up a billboard sign, [01:02:00] I'm very big on getting individuals to critically think and make their own thoughts.

So my billboard would actually be just blank white billboard, a line, and a period. So when you go by it, it would just force the individual seeing it to fill in that blank with whatever they want, whether it be, "Fuck, this traffic," or, "It's gonna be a great day," or what-- or even just draw an image on it. Like, I- it just provokes the individual to fill it in with their own creativity and whatever they want really.

J.R.: Hmm. To, like, self-reflect and see, like, as a mirror basically, to see what your thoughts are. Essentially, 

Loren: yeah. 

J.R.: Cool. Awesome. I'm curious about this one. Self-inflicted wound: Do you have a story about something that's gone wrong that's your own fault and you can't blame anyone else 'cause you did it to yourself?

Loren: Ooh, self-inflicted wound. 

J.R.: Also, you can pass any of these if you don't have an answer. [01:03:00] 

Loren: I, I don't know much if it was self-inflicted wound, but the one that sticks out to me usually when something like this comes up is when I didn't make it back onto Kaba Modern in 2013. I know we touched a little bit, but going deeper into that.

So I think of it as a self-inflicted wound because I'm like, what could have I done better in terms of as a dancer, as a creative, whatever, to have made it returned back onto the team? Like, I put everything I could in that audition, if you happen to recall that audition. I auditioned with my fellow brothers, Jacek and Angel, and thought I killed it, but didn't make it.

And then the self-inflicted wound going off that would be like, how did I bounce back from that in terms of I did-- Was it healthy for me? Not to, not to say it was a bad thing going to AOB, but was like, was that a healthy decision to just immediately jump onto that team after what had happened? But [01:04:00] yeah.

Mm. Any follow-up questions regarding that whole incident? 

J.R.: Yeah. Well, I guess, the details are fuzzy to me, and obviously I wasn't part of that decision, but did you get any feedback on why they didn't take you back? 'Cause I don't remember- 

Loren: Yes ... 

J.R.: I don't rec- 

Loren: Yes. So always two sides to a story. The individuals that were making those decisions, I don't know who exactly made the decisions for me not to be back on the team.

But as, as far as the feedback I got in terms of why, because I en- I do remember that the wh- how it all went down as far as everything happened, did my interview, and then I got the news that I wasn't gonna be returning, and then all I could really ask is, "Why?" And it was more so, and in retrospect, I'm like, I get it to an extent.

Kaba back then was going in a different direction as far as artistry and- My skill level was not up to par, [01:05:00] so to say. And a lot of what I had to offer the team back then, if you remember, was I was r- very specialized as a, like, b-boy breaker choreographer. Like, that was my niche. But they d- they wanted to, at least from my understanding, stray away from that m- because I was the last b-boy left, so there was no one else.

Like, even if I could offer that, there's no one that could execute it with me- 

J.R.: I 

Loren: see ... so to say. 

J.R.: Okay. 

Loren: I guess- Which was a, a blessing later, because when I w- when I got onto Super Galactic for that Body Rock set, I actually did have a little bit of contribution to the breaking section with Super Galactic for Body Rock.

J.R.: Hmm. That makes sense. In a sense of like, sometimes... Well, I'm just trying to extrapolate, like, one of those life lesson takeaway things, right? Like, so yeah- Yeah ... maybe a door, a door closes, another one opens, and if you realize that you weren't meant for one space that, that probably means you're meant for another space, and obviously your life turned out great for all intents and [01:06:00] purposes, so it's not like this crippled you, right?

And so I'm- 

Loren: Yes ... 

J.R.: happy to, happy to hear that. But no, that's a, that's a really good reflection.

Loren: Yes ... 

J.R.: and every team has their, every team and every directorship, sorry, has, like, its own criteria for what they're looking for. Exactly. So I guess for people in a similar sense, in a similar situation, you don't make it onto a team, or you don't get a job, or you don't get a whatever, it's not necessarily because you're a bad person, obviously, or you're not good at something.

It just might be the organization's looking for something different, right? 

Loren: Exactly. And in all honesty, not making it back on was, it was one of those, at the time, it was the worst feeling in the world, because I had dedicated like four years of my life to like the Kaba family. Of course. Yeah, yeah. And then I was out.

But it ended up being like the best thing to ever happen to me, because then, because I was no longer committed to like the three-day rehearsal schedule and the hell weeks, I got to join Super Galactic. I had time to be a Disney cast member. I started doing well in nursing school because all of that time got [01:07:00] distributed accordingly.

So and I, I grew more as a person and as a dancer because of it. So it worked out. I wouldn't pigeonholed into being, so to say, a Kaba dancer or your typical- Yeah ... Kaba dancer, so to say. 

J.R.: Right. Of course. I like that. Okay, next question. If you could give your younger self advice, what would it be? 

Loren: Ooh, my younger self advice?

It would be that everything is gonna be okay, and it is okay to be different. Because when I was younger, especially like elementary school days, I wouldn't say I was like the cool kid. I wasn't like the like loser, so to say, of the class. But I was definitely bullied, so... And it was for reasons that in retrospect are really stupid.

But so, like, like touching on like the origin story stuff, like [01:08:00] I was a dancer at a very young age, and like for our generation, like dancing, especially being a guy, was essentially like you were gay. 

J.R.: Mm. 

Loren: Like, that's like the best way. So like, I'm gonna be bullied because like what? 'Cause I'm a dancer, 'cause I like, I suck at sports.

Like yeah, I played like basketball and stuff, but I'm like, was I good at it? Absolutely not. I didn't have that Filipino aspect, but I was bullied for it, being a dancer, because it wasn't cool. And then I even, back then, I was even like dressing older, so I was wearing like-- I was big into shoes, and people would make fun of me because of like, "What the hell are you wearing?"

kind of thing. So I would tell my younger self, "It's okay to be different, and fuck what everyone else thinks, because it's all gonna work out." And funny enough, it's like after all of that bullying, that's when America's Best Dance Crew became a thing, and like, oh, now I'm the cool kid because- ... dancing is cool now.

J.R.: [01:09:00] Yeah. 

Loren: So. 

J.R.: Dancing stocks went up after that. 

Loren: Yeah. Most definitely it did. 

J.R.: Yeah. Cool. Yeah, thanks for sharing. How do you define success? 

Loren: Ooh Success, I feel, is defined by the individual. And when I say that, I mean that my success does not necessarily mean it's the same success as to someone else. Like, I can walk into a gym with some person and my success could be me doing, like, three pull-ups versus that person's success could even just be walking into the gym, and that's, like, a big deal to them.

So I define success as any progress made to that individual that helps progress their life in a positive way. And that can be a lot of things. And success should not be defined by, like, me telling you you're successful, but that I could tell myself I'm successful because I did [01:10:00] XYZ today, if that makes sense.

J.R.: Mm. So success is essentially defined by our own individual progress towards our own meaningful goals, essentially, right? Nice. What's something you've been pondering recently or something you often think about deeply? 

Loren: Ooh. Something I've been pondering recently is fatherhood. Mm Like, yes, me and my wife are trying for a kid.

If we're blessed, hopefully we have one. But that's something in my next chapter of life I am looking, hopefully looking forward to, that I get to experience that. And then with that being said, like, I start, I'm starting to ponder thoughts like, especially in this day and age, like, how do I navigate raising a child now?

Like, how do I protect them from social media? How do I protect them from cyberbullying? Do I care if I have a boy or a girl? Even recently, I had this conversation with some of our friends yesterday after rehearsal. We all brought up-- I brought up the [01:11:00] question that, like, if you were to have a child, would you let your kid join Kaba Modern or like any dance team- Hmm

in general? Mm-hmm. Knowing what we went through, like would you be cool- That's a good question ... knowing that? 

J.R.: Yeah. 

Loren: Hmm. But yeah. Like, w- actually, out of curiosity, what i- w-what, what are your thoughts on that, to bounce the question off to you? Would you let your kid- Sure ... join the da- the dance community in general?

J.R.: The dance community in general? 

Loren: Yeah. 

J.R.: I-- At what age? 

Loren: Ooh, good question. Let's just say high school, since that's where a lot of us mostly started. 

J.R.: High school? I would say if, yes, but I obviously would want to be very involved and familiar with the community, of course, right? Like it's not just a- Yeah

oh, drop my kids off, and then good luck, have fun. I dance, too. You'll be fine. Oh, my God. Like, you know. Yeah, exactly. Like for, for me, I didn't really start formally dancing with a team-ish until late high school and then college. But I think there's a lot of positive benefits or [01:12:00] experiences you get from being a part of that.

So whether it's sports or a dance team or something like that, I think there's inherent value. I think, as a parent, I would want to also be careful or know, just be involved with curating that experience and being involved in that. So obviously getting to know leadership, getting in, getting involved with the team culture and making sure it's like aligned with what I want for my kid in that sense, at least in the high school phase.

If they're in college, it's like, okay, I would hope by then I would have done a good enough job as a parent to have- True ... instilled the right values and morals and have, be able to have them stick to their own principles and values so that they don't get influenced in a bad direction that they don't want to go in, at least as an adult.

But as a, you know, as a minor, as an under 18-year-old, I would definitely wanna be involved. But I would encourage an experience. And if, and it might not even be dance. It could be something else that they're interested in. They don't even like dance. Like sure, that's fine. I would still want to be involved in that, like making sure that the environment they are in is aligned with our family values, if that makes sense.

Loren: [01:13:00] Yes, it does. Most definitely. 

J.R.: Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. Thanks for throwing that over. Next one. Favorite hot take or something you think people, most people would disagree with 

Loren: Ooh. I have no idea. Honestly, this is a hot take, but I feel like it is. But all you can eat shabu-shabu over all you can eat Korean barbecue.

J.R.: Oh, yeah? Why? 

Loren: Yeah. I just think- Why do you think so? I, I... Because for shabu-shabu, it's one of those, I, I still get all the beef or whatever I want. It's still all you can eat. It's still relatively in the same price range. I don't feel gross after eating it in most cases because it's not as oily or whatever from all the Korean barbecue.

I don't smell like Korean barbecue or meat or whatever after because it's hot pot. And I feel like there's just so much more I can cook in shabu-shabu. Like, I can get different broths and all that. I can still get the sauce. But yeah. 

J.R.: Yeah. No, I like that. And I think that's a... Well, I mean, to each his own, right?

I will push back. I [01:14:00] feel like shabu is more expensive than Korean barbecue, generally speaking. Obviously, there are some more expensive of each and less expensive of each or whatever. But I feel like every time I go to or look at a shabu place, I'm like, "This is easily 5 to $10 plus of a Korean barbecue baseline price," if I'm not mistaken.

But I do agree- Yeah ... with like the variety because in shabu there's a lot, there are a lot more sides and veggie options so that usually- Yeah ... you can get more veggies, which balances out all the meat and the oil and the salt. And I guess if you're boiling something versus just like, you know, cooking it on a stove where everything gets mixed up or like a grill, you're right, it'll...

You'll have a different experience in how you feel and, like, how you smell. I mean, I feel like you'll still smell at a shabu place, but you're right. It's a different kind of smell

Loren: Yeah ... 

J.R.: but yeah. Yeah, I like that though. That's a good take. Okay. Second to last one. Favorite recent purchase under $100 that has impacted your life the most in the last six months?

Loren: Ooh. In 

J.R.: that- We can change the parameters. But yeah. [01:15:00] 

Loren: In that price range, the first thing that comes to mind, I wouldn't say it made, like, a significant impact on my life, but in that price range, what is something that my wife and I actually bought together was we bought a shot cup from Bora Bora. We like collecting shot cups from each country that we visit, and we have them all displayed at this little thing over there.

But- 

J.R.: Nice ... 

Loren: yeah, it's just one of those, it's cool to look back on, and then, yes, whenever we have, like, friends party, family parties, we bring out all the shot cups for all of us to drink whatever the hell we're drinking. And like, "Oh, you guys went to, like, Bora Bora. Oh, you guys went to Japan." It's like- Yeah

we get to have, like, cool conversations about, like, all the places we've been to, and- 

J.R.: Mm ... 

Loren: yeah. 

J.R.: It's like a functional memento, like a souvenir, but also it's like a tradition sort of thing. 

Loren: Yeah. 

J.R.: I like that. Okay, last one. Any favorite books, movies, videos, articles, or media at all [01:16:00] that you share or recommend the most?

Loren: Ooh, in terms of media and books, I'll be straight up with everyone, I don't really read books. If I do, it's probably, like, manga. Mm-hmm. But in terms of, like, media that I've been watching recently- my wife and I really are into K-dramas and anime. As far as things we've most recently watched, for our generation, if you didn't know, Bleach is back.

Would highly recommend watching it so that we finally get the animated ending that we've all been waiting our literal whole lives to watch. I highly recommend. And then as far as K-drama, something that we recently watched that we watched while on vacation in Bora Bora recently was Teach You a Lesson on Netflix.

It was this Korean drama about teaching in the school, the school system. Very interesting, actually. Highly recommend. 

J.R.: Hmm. It's Netflix, and it's one season? 

Loren: Yes. It's only, like, eight episodes, something like 

J.R.: that. Okay, okay. Okay. 

Loren: But it was really good about, [01:17:00] especially, like, teaching and educating in, like, today's schooling system.

It's a very interesting- Oh ... hot take on a lot of things. 

J.R.: Yeah, yeah. One more time, what was the title? 

Loren: Teach You a Lesson. 

J.R.: Teach You a Lesson. Okay, cool. I'll link that as well in the show notes. Okay. All right. We have made it to the end of Rapid Fire. Congratulations. Now we have ending questions. So we always end with gratitude.

So Loren, what are you grateful for? 

Loren: I am grateful for my family, my parents, my beautiful wife, Joanne Segovia, our beautiful fur baby, Scoobs, even though I can hear him barking upstairs and being a little brat, but I love him. All the family, all the friends that have supported me throughout the years and everyone that's always had my back you yourself included.

I'm grateful to all our friends and us having all these reconnections, especially that, like, even yesterday and, like, all the small little reconnections then. So yeah, just grateful to be here. 

J.R.: Yeah. [01:18:00] I like that. Do you have any final ask from the audience or any final takeaways you'd like them to have from our conversation?

Loren: Ooh, final takeaways from this conversation. I just hope for anyone that's listening, you got anything out of what we just spoke about, whether it relates to you in some aspect or not. I just hope it helps. And otherwise, I hope it was still entertaining otherwise- Yeah ... if anything. 

J.R.: Definitely, 100% agree with that.

Okay, last final question. Loren, where can we find you if people want to check out what you're up to, or want to connect or whatnot? 

Loren: Cool. A lot of my stuff all on IG. You can find me there. I mostly post, like, me taking dance classes or whatever on there, or recent travels. As far as professionally, you can find me on LinkedIn.

I sometimes check in my mailbox every now and then. And then that's pretty much it. I do have a YouTube. The only two videos on there are straight up my flash mob wedding [01:19:00] proposal and a K.M. Legacy performance reunion for my wedding. But hey, if you wanna check those out and you're into wedding dances, check it out.

J.R.: Dope. Nice. Yeah, and we'll link it in the show notes for his socials if you wanna check it out. Thank you so much, Loren, for being here, taking out the time, all your insights and your story, and sharing. It was a pleasure for me. I'm gonna take a lot of notes. I think it was such a great episode.

 So before we stop the recording, let me sign off for our audience. So thank you guys for being here. I always appreciate it. Be sure to like, follow, subscribe, leave us five stars, whatever platform you're listening to. Leave Loren love in the comments. And reminder to always be kind to other people, especially yourself.

And remember that you can always learn something from someone if you take the time to listen. So thank you guys for being here