Digital Social Hour - How TikTok Changed Retirees' Lives Forever | Retirement House DSH #802

Episode Date: October 13, 2024

🌟 How TikTok Changed Retirees' Lives Forever! 🌟 On this exciting episode of Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly, dive into a heartwarming and humorous conversation with the viral sensations from the Retirement House! 🎉 You'll be amazed at how TikTok has not only transformed their golden years but also brought them closer to the younger generation. Tune in now to discover their incredible stories, packed with valuable insights and laughter that'll leave you inspired. From childhood memories to navigating the digital age, this episode is a delightful blend of nostalgia and modern-day wisdom. Don't miss out on the chance to learn from these timeless trailblazers! Watch now and subscribe for more insider secrets. 📺 Hit that subscribe button and stay tuned for more eye-opening stories on the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly! 🚀 Join the conversation and be part of our ever-growing community. Your next favorite story is just a click away! #adultfamilyhome #navigatingretirement #financialeducation #mentalhealth #retirementplanning CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:18 - Retirement House Engagement with Youth 02:35 - Residents' Childhood Locations 04:08 - Importance of Religion 06:06 - Retirement House Engagement with Youth 09:00 - Best Era for Movies 13:18 - Television Influence 14:22 - Current News Landscape 17:24 - Respect for the Law 19:26 - Runaway Experience at 12 22:05 - Importance of Integrity 23:59 - Parenting Perspectives 27:30 - Addressing Bullying 32:50 - Mental State Before Retirement House 36:58 - Managing Stress 38:00 - Cryptocurrency Insights 38:29 - Closing Messages APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [e-mail] GUEST: Retirement House https://www.instagram.com/retirementhouse/ LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It's a shame to see where it's gone. One person does something and you make a lot of money at it? Everybody just jumps on the bandwagon. It's that way in everything. Why can't we be individuals? All right, ladies and gentlemen, viral sensation here today. Retirement House. How's it going, guys? Great.

I'm very excited. I feel like I could learn a lot from you guys. I'm 27 years old. You guys have been through a lot. It's going to be exciting. All these men in my life are 27 now. Really. Our producer, and then we have new people that come in.

We have new assistants. They're all 27 year old men. How does that feel, being surrounded by all that young energy? I like it. My grandchildren are about that age, though. So my grandson is 27, maybe 26. Wow. So I like that energy. So you're about to be a great-grandparent. No.

You're not going to own that? My granddaughter just got married. She'll be 30 next month. Okay. But she's really busy preparing for doing her thing. She's a producer for Red Bull. Wow. Yeah.

That's a big deal. The one that gives you wings? Yeah. It's a big deal. The one that gives you wings? Yeah. Well, Red Bull has separate companies that just do production. They do a lot of documentaries and they do shows and movies and things. And they have those production companies

at every one of their plants around the world. And as a matter of fact, right now, she's on her way to Austria for a meeting of all the producers from Red Bull. Wow. That's big time. I think... I'm sorry. Go on.

I was going to say, I think we, as than our young counterparts also have a lot of energy. Okay. And we shoot on Thursdays at the house, us and the rest of the retirement house. We're going, do a scene, do a scene. Okay, I need you over here. Bing, bing. Yeah. We're keeping up with them.

We went to New York City in the cold and walked right alongside them. Moderate's got a watch that says how many miles we walked. 4.8 miles in the cold, in the wind. And we kept up with him. Five miles in the cold. Yeah, New York City gets cold, man. I'm from Jersey. Where are you guys all from? I'd love to hear where you grew up

and stuff. I'm originally from a small town called Marblehead, Massachusetts. Birthplace of the American Navy, which is why I love history. American history. Nice. I grew up inhead, Massachusetts. Birthplace of the American Navy, which is why I love history. American history. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. I've loved it there and still have my old Cleveland friends.

I've been in California now for over 55 years. Dang. You like Cali more then. Oh, I'm a California girl. California girl. California girl. I was raised in Cleveland, but California girl all the way. Can't beat that weather, man.

What about you? Alabama. Ooh. What was that like? Well, I don't want to talk about being the third child to a family of sharecroppers. Okay, here we go. You're always going. No.

You know, I wouldn't. When all is said and done, I wouldn't trade it. Wow. I went through some hardships, but it made me who I am. Yeah. And for that, it's a keeper. Nice. What a great outlook, because you could have been resentful,

and you could have talked bad about it. Yeah, a lot to be resentful for, but you know, my mother kept a sharp eye on us and kept us balanced and used the Bible and scripture and son, you know, you're not supposed

to do to them as they do to you. And she explained it in a way that, you know, helped us. Yeah, religion was big back when you guys were growing up, right? Now I feel like the younger generation's kind of, not as many people go to church, you know what I mean? Yeah, it's just, it's almost passe. Yeah, and just even family values.

Yeah. Back in those days, the family really meant something, which is why I try to go back every couple years to see my other family, not my retirement house, I'm real family. Yeah.

Because I've been out here like probably almost 55 years. Wow. It gets like that. Yeah, I've been out 50 years. Oh my God, I'm old. Came out after graduating, graduated high school,

graduated from Leland Power School of Radio, TV, and Theater, two years in the Army, another year at home, and then out to California. I wouldn't go back. I love back east, but I wouldn't go back in the winter. Unless we're going to go ship out. Unless you're interviewing Gary B., right? Yeah.

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What are you waiting for? Get off the bench, into the huddle, and head for the end zone all season long. Visit BetMGM.com for terms and conditions. Must be 19 years of age or older. Ontario only. Please gamble responsibly. Gambling problem?

For free assistance, call the Connex Ontario Helpline at 1-866-531-2600. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. I think Jazzy. Wait, Jay-Z you said? Not Jay-Z. What was the girl's name? Wasn't it Jazzy? Oh, Jay-Easy. Jay-Easy. Jay-Easy. I can't think of all these.

Jay-Easy. Not G-Easy. Jay-Easy. Jay-Easy. She's a 13-year-old phenomenon. Got it. She was great. And Dr. Mike.

Nice. Oh, I'm sorry. I gave you the wrong name. You remember the father that brought his daughter? That's what I think. I thought it was Jazzy. You're close. Okay, I was right.

Okay, Jazzy's her name. She's a reporter. She goes around the world. She's 13 years old. Her father takes care of her. Her father makes sure she gets the education, doesn't get big-headed about it. Nice. And no,

she was wonderful. And it's wonderful working with the young people when they talk about, oh, we're going to go see so-and-so big on social media. And I'm like, who is that?

And then we'll say someone from our past. Oh, the great Barbara Streisand or someone. Who's that? I bet we could give you a name and you wouldn't know

who they were. I've heard of Barbarabra Streisand. Okay. How about, when I put the ones that wasn't used. Do you know who Clark Gable is? Clark Gable, no. Well, give him something easy. Clark Gable.

Clark Gable was the man of the century. Man of the century, whoa. That's quite a statement. Yes. He was a man of a lifetime for us. Gone with the Wind movies. I haven't heard of him. Man of the century. Whoa. That's quite a statement. Yes. He's a man of a lifetime for us. Gone with the Wind movies. I haven't heard of him. And a TV show.

Gone with the Wind. Yeah. And I don't think any of us realized it before we went into Retirement House that our producers didn't know who our heroes were. Yeah. our producers didn't know who our heroes were. Yeah, we kind of assumed that everybody would know who Tom Selleck is and people like that. I haven't heard about one. You haven't? No.

Tom Selleck? Yeah. No. He's still on the air. Really? Yeah. Yeah, Blue Bloods. Yeah, no, it's amazing.

We'd say something, oh, okay. And last night we went to Cirque du Soleil. Yeah. Their celebration of the Beatles. Okay, I've heard Soleil. Yeah. Their celebration of the Beatles. Okay. I've heard of the Beatles. You've heard of the Beatles. Okay.

Thank you. But I said to Brandon, to our creative assistant, that's music. Yeah. For real. The new music these days, I can't even listen to it, honestly. Thank you. I don't like it. It's a few words.

You mean the rap. Yeah, the rap and the hip hop. Yeah. I listen to like 1990s, 2000s stuff. Yeah. Stuff I grew up on. Okay. Now some of the singers or artists are going to country music.

Yeah, country seems like it's coming up. Taylor Swift and stuff. Luke Bryan. I don't listen to country. I actually don't like country music. Do you? No. You know what? No. I have't listen to country. I actually don't like country music. Do you? No. You know what?

No. I have to take that back. Because when you're born in Alabama, you have no artists on the radio that look like you. I mean, they would throw in a Fats Domino or a Chuck Berry. But most of the music was country. Yeah, Alabama, yeah. That's where it's born, right? Yeah.

And so I, yeah. So you do like it? Yeah, you'd start humming it. You know, you're in the cotton fields and whatever that work you're doing. You didn't have no car radios. You didn't have any cars. But, you know, you'd be humming it in the wagon or humming it when you're picking up corn

or whatever you're doing, feeding the animals. You'd be humming, you know, country music. Interesting. Oh, well, out here in Vegas, you've got to know Elvis Presley. I have heard of him. Oh, yeah. That's amazing. I've heard of him.

I'm sorry. I couldn't name a song, but I've heard of him. No, he's, yeah, Viva Las Vegas. Viva Las Vegas? Okay. But it's like, yeah, that's when i think the best music was in the 50s in the 60s in the 70s disco came in okay 80s 90s but they're still they showed their great songs because they're still being sung sometimes yeah and the beatles that's true still being i still bump some beetle stuff yeah yeah those

are classics what about movies what era do you think we're the best for movies? From our day? Yeah. I love film noir, which is like black and white. Really? Oh, yeah. Detective stories in black and white. Well, I watch a lot of it, but I don't know that that's my favorite.

I've seen one of those, 12 Angry Men or whatever. Okay, yeah, that was one. In black and white, yes. From the 50s. I've seen one of those, 12 Angry Men or whatever. Okay, yeah, that was one. But in black and white, yes. It was in black and white. Not necessarily film noir. Film noir is more the suspenseful detectives and stuff. Today you've got superheroes. I don't like those.

It's too fake. Thank you. This was like no graphics, no computer stuff, just real life people and what they go through, the detectives, the bad guys. Yeah, when it's too unrelatable, I just don't like it. You know what I mean? You don't like Superman?

Not really. My cousin invented him. Oh, then I do. Yeah, sign me up. Front row. Well, speaking of relatable, I think one of the most touching movies for me, and a lot of people laugh at me. They say it's so simple and so trite,

was Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. I haven't seen that one. That was, yeah. Sidney Poitier. I don't know her. Anyway. There were a lot of moments in there with Spencer Tracy. Catherine Hepburn.

And Catherine Hepburn and Sidney Poitier and Bea Richards. You do know what it's about. No, I never heard of this. She brings home a man to introduce to her family who is black and she is white. Okay. And this guy, the family, owns the newspaper in San Francisco, right? So they're letting you know that these are big-time people. Right. And they raised their daughter.

See, this is the thing that really is relatable to me. I was telling you about how my mother raised me. Yeah. Well, the way they raised their daughter. And when she brought it home to him and said, you know, as much as, I'm paraphrasing, but you taught me not to hate anyone. And now you're telling me, boy, when those moments conflicted, oh, there was so much

tension in the air. And Bea Richards, as much as called Spencer Tracy, an old worn-out nothing who couldn't feel his emotions anymore. Mom. Because, man, you'll get me. I better stop. I'll get to crying over that one. Dang, got to check that out, man. Yeah, I was stuck.

Watch it. You may not be able to relate to it. Like Gone with the Wind for me, I was asleep, I think, about 13 minutes in. I was sound asleep. Gone with the wind? I was. I was sound asleep. Oh, wow.

But luckily, I had my thing. I could rewind. I didn't go to the movie. Oh, you didn't go to the movie? No, I didn't go to the movie. In my day, we went to the movie. Oh, God. Yeah, I was just talking with my fiance about this.

I used to love going to the movies, but now I feel like it's not the same. Oh, it does, yeah. It's not. I hate to bring up a sore subject, but you go in there, you're half scared. Somebody's going to start shooting. I don't want to go in there. It's just stupid. You're not going to see a story.

You're just going to see a bunch of special effects. Yeah. You're going to have a seizure with all the lighting yeah it's crazy yeah so much editing yeah movies aren't the same man

it's a shame to see where it's gone I think people are just into the superhero stuff right now right yeah it's sort of like one person does something

and you make a lot of money at it everybody just jumps on the bandwagon yeah I mean that's that way in sports. It's that way in everything. And it's, why can't we be individuals? Yeah, there's no personality anymore in the movies. You can predict almost any movie these days.

Yeah, the plot lines are from years back. You know, Ben Dunn, Ben Dunn better back then. And remaking, remaking, remaking the same movie and it's still not as good as the original. Yeah. Back then. Remaking, remaking, remaking the same movie, and it's still not as good as the original. Yeah. Any time they remake it, yeah, it's never as good. They're doing a lot of that too, huh?

Yeah. A lot of television shows coming, turning to movies. A lot of movies turning to television shows. Yeah. When the TV was invented, was that a big moment for you guys? Hmm. Yeah. I'm older than they are, so I went for eight.

First time you admitted that. No. The first eight, we got a TV when I was eight, and we were the first ones on the block to have a television. Wow. So it was very exciting, but they only had two shows. What were they? Howdy Judy. Oh, God.

And what's his name, Sullivan? Ed Sullivan? Ed Sullivan, yeah. Those were the only two? Well, the others, I don't know what they were, but you'd get a test pattern on the CD for most of the day. And it's just when something like Howdy Doody came out. Well, yeah, you couldn't play it all day long.

No. Wow. Now it's all day, like 100 channels. That's why I don't get cable. Yeah, I don't have it. I think that's part of the problem today with all the violence, that the news takes it and makes a big deal and spreads the word, and then somebody copies the same crime someplace else. True.

And it's not like the news is at 5 o'clock in the afternoon and 8 o'clock in the morning. It's all day long on multiple channels, and you can't escape it. Yeah. It just puts you in a really negative mindset, right? I used to watch it growing up. Oh, yeah, yeah.

The only news is bad news that they put on. Yeah. And so much with so many channels now, it's more about quantity than quality. Very few really good shows. The ones that were great, I say we're back in our time too, I saw we had three channels, which is ABC, NBC, and CBS. Well, we probably did too.

Oh, yeah, you probably had the same thing. Yeah, we had Richard A. Sullivan, Howie and Judy. Was your screen round? Yes. My screen was round. Yeah, it was like in a big cabinet box, the first one. Bit by the evidence. Then we went,

a color TV! Oh, Mom and Dad, great! And it was still square, but it was a small one. Wow. I was spoiled. I had a flat screen colored. That was my first one. Oh, really? A flat screen? Yeah. Oh, my God. We went without a color TV for years

because we didn't have any money. Wow. So they were way more expensive, the colored ones? Well, at first, there were no colored ones. Okay. But by the time the colored ones came out, we were just getting married. And my husband and I had no money. So we didn't get a color TV. Wow.

Wow. I mean, first, back to your original question, the first one I saw was through the Western, you know, well, Western Auto Store. This was, this was what, the best buy of yesteryear? Yeah. Yeah. And I'm standing outside in Alabama because the black kids couldn't go in the store unless you were going to give the man some money and get something and go out.

Wow. Couldn't go in. That's crazy. And look around and stuff like that. No way. So I was watching it through the window of the store. And the Cisco kid. Oh, they.

Yeah. And Pancho. I'm looking at him like he's going to remember it. It was a cowboy movie. It was a cowboy movie. Weekly. Pancho. I'm looking at him like he's going to remember it. It was a cowboy movie. It was a weekly kind of thing. Oh, in a show?

Yeah. Oh, boy. So that was my first introduction to television. And I would sneak back there on Saturday and try to watch and the guy would see you, he'd run you off. You know, go. You just watch. And the guy would see you. He'd run you off. Go.

He'd just wave. And you scattered. Like today. I think that was even better than today. You can almost shoot in the middle of a bunch of guys and they won't move today. Back then, the guy just waved his arm and we were gone. That's crazy. Yeah, they had more respect for the law, too.

Yeah. He comes back and goes, okay, go. Yeah, there's not much respect these days for the law too yeah he's been comes out go okay go get away yeah there's not much respect these days no for the law oh man must be scary being a police officer these days oh i wouldn't know some of these people you want to club them yeah but you can't touch them yeah yeah lots changed with you guys growing up not before you could get in fights in school and now you can't yeah oh now yeah fights who who did it But it was like, yeah, more respect for the police. And they weren't going, even the police weren't going around shooting people.

And it was a safer neighborhood. And the important thing to me was how you were brought up. Right. And again, I say I go back to the way we were brought up. Family-wise. Yeah. You know, you respect people. But nowadays nowadays I think the parents just don't care. I don't think that's true.

Well, maybe don't care, but aren't as strong as us. I don't think the parents just don't care. I think the parents are just as involved and devoted. It depends what kind of family you come from. Okay, that's what I mean. How you were brought up. The way we were brought up and our kids. So you're saying that two involved in other things,

like trying to make a living. Yeah, trying to make a living. Single moms with kids. Well, they should never, right. I know it sounds dumb to say they should never have gotten married. Right. Or they should never have had children

without getting married. And that, I think, is a big problem to grow up in a one-parent home. Right. It makes a huge difference. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, it happened to me. My parents got divorced when I was 10.

Ooh. And I was an only child, but my grandparents, you know, had tens of siblings, you know, it was common back then. And I saw the household environment they grew up in. So you had a part of that, but there's so many kids, I think, today that don't. No, no, the divorce rate is over 50% now, I believe. Yeah. A lot of single parents. You know, yeah, if I could, I don't know, if anybody's to that, son, you're not supposed to do to

people as they do to you. Because I got through a lot of stuff. I processed it, and I went through some of the little drug phases, alcohol phases, and I kept looking for the brighter side of all of it. And I'll never forget, I was down in Oxnard, California, just got back from Vietnam, and the sun was rising. And it was there that I was able to forgive my mother for committing adultery.

Wow. Because her husband was not my father, and that's why I was a runaway. Because when I started to look like my biological father, he started to beat me. He would never beat me badly, but he slapped me around unnecessarily. I'll put it that way. But I wound up loving him and understanding. At an early age, I was still a teenager when I understood that, wow, what's a man supposed to do? He leaves home to go fight for the country. Country don't love him. Country, uh, uh, he's to the country. He's just another black or whatever

you want to call him. And he's in this. And then he comes back. He leaves with one kid. He comes back with three. And I could identify with that as a teen. I was going, wow, I can understand why he hurts. That is so traumatic, man. I'm sorry you went through that. That's crazy. Yeah. But I don't want the empathy from me. I want people to see that no matter what you're going through,

if you keep working at it, you can get to the other side of it. And you don't have to turn out bad. You can turn out good. He has a wonderful outlook on life. He's very up and he's very accomplished and I give him a lot

of credit. Absolutely. She loves to do that. I can see that, man. No, but that's the truth. So do you, though. I love your outlook too, man. You guys are all really positive. Again, I think the way we were brought up, I had my dad pushed, well, mom, too, honesty and integrity,

which I learned. He didn't slap around so much, but I went to buy some. I wanted to get mom and dad a little gift. They liked Jordan almonds, go to the store, she gave me some money for bread. Didn't have enough for the almonds,

so what we call the five-finger discount where you take it and put it in your jacket. And I go up to the counter and I say, oh, football cards. Okay, then. Yeah. As soon as I walk out the door, and that's how the times were in the 50s,

he said, oh, did you pay for those almonds? No, sir. Go back in, pay for them. And you go home and you tell your parents what you did. And stupid, go home and tell them what I did and my father said yeah you're grounded for a week but I told you he goes yeah if you didn't tell me it would have been a month

and you just don't do that that's why I have the honesty and integrity that I have today one of the good things they left me I'm glad I was at the time I might not have liked I kept my football cards at the time i might not like i kept my football cards yeah at the time i might not like being that happening but i mean other kids even my neighbor uh we played cowboys and indians and you made your own little

arrows and bow and arrows and the bicycle was the horse and we shot spokes my my best friend and my sister into their spokes, head first. My sister comes in with a big lump. My father said, you do that. Break. Again, you're in for a week. Kid next door. He's right back out.

Wow. So I was jealous, but again, I'm glad I brought it the way we were. Discipline, right? Discipline, yeah. Not spank. He didn't have to spank me. All he had to do was say,

I'm disappointed. Yeah. That was like a gut punch. That was worse than a spank. How did that kid turn out? He became an eye doctor, but I'd never seen him. He was like, no, I turned out okay. But yeah,

no, that was tough. Ever since then, they're like, don't disappoint him. Am I doing the right thing? Keep in mind, am I being honest and stuff? They don't do that anymore now they take away your phone for an hour yeah yeah oh yeah take away a computer oh that's the other thing does that do anything no i mean i don't have kids yet but just it's a different generation now all these kids are on their phone they live on their phone so did you then did i

live on my phone yeah no i didn't have a phone till high school what was the punishment when you would come to? When I got grounded, just go to my room. They'll lock me in there. Did it work? I don't know. Did you have your phone in your room? No, no. I don't know if it worked, honestly, because solitary confinement, I mean, you could go crazy,

man. You know what I mean? It can make it worse depending on your mindset. So I don't know if it works on everyone. You see people in prison that go to solitary. Maybe that's why you think you're an introvert i could be so my dad was bipolar so i i think i'm an introvert because if i said the wrong thing or did the wrong thing i would get yelled at so as a kid i was very shy because i didn't want to say the wrong thing yeah oh really yeah i i was i was shy as kid, only because I also stuttered a lot. You had to stutter?

In front of me, yeah. Really? The mouth went before the brain. I didn't. I was shy. I honestly barely spoke growing up in school. Really? Yeah.

Because he would hit you? Never physical. So that's what I thank him for, because he was physically abused. So he grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania. His dad beat the shit out of him every day. But he never laid a hand on me. But he was just so damaged from it that it caused bipolar. It can damage you.

That's what I was trying to convey before. It can damage you. You got to be strong. You got to be strong. I'll never forget when I used to have to go to the store for my family because the three, it was four of us at the time, and the other three were girls. And when they'd go to the store, this guy would try to pick them up in his car. And so my mother started sending me to the store. And I used to go to the store, and they would, you know, I'd ask for the female things and all of that, you know, and they would razz me in the store about what I was going to do with it

and all that. And so, and then they'd go, the part that really hurt, I'd cry every time until this one day. They would call me over, come here, boy. And they'd all rub my head because they were playing distances on the Coke bottles underneath. And so they'd rub my head. And one of them said, Homer, what the hell are we doing this for? And he said, well, don't you know it's good luck to rub a nigga's hair? And so I'm crying by this time, and they're all rubbing my head. And then couldn't but one win, and it was like about 10 of them.

And the other nine would kick me almost out. Get out of here, nigga. You're bad luck. And I'd go, and on my way home, this one day, this one last day, I stopped by the side of the road, and I sat down. I was crying. And all of a sudden, it just lit up like it was daylight. And I just felt like, oh, you're the better for having gone through that, dude.

I just felt good. That was just one of the strengthening moments in my life that made everything work for me. Powerful. You just couldn't, I just couldn't be, you know, I'm not going that route. And I'm not going to hate you. And I'm not going to hate you. I'm not going to hate you. I'm going to love you.

Wow. You know. Love is a strong word. Yeah. It is. Yeah, these days they just bully you online. They don't even do it to your face anymore. They do it on social media.

Yeah. You know. What is that? Kids got to get out. Seriously, too much time. I mean, it's not good supposedly to look at a computer anyways for the brain, and they spend all this time. Get a life.

I don't mean like we did go out and maybe play outside but do exercises, do something. And it's like okay they're going to be brainiacs they're going to know how to do all the computer stuff but what are you going to do for a living? Live a life. I think a lot of these kids are accomplished

and they're doing a lot look at you, you're 27 years old There's a good side to it. But you're seeing all the good products. I am seeing the good things because people say kids today aren't going to do this, they're not going to do that. Most of them do do that and do accomplish things. I think that's one thing that followed each generation, isn't it? Because they had me in jail at 22.

Said I'd go to jail. Wow. So what does that mean? I'm trying to say the same thing you're saying. I'm trying to say the same thing you're saying. But sometimes I complicate it the way I say it. But yeah, that's what I was trying to say. You said they say kids ain't going to do this.

No, they are doing it. They're accomplished. They want to be successful. They want to make money, too. They want it fast, though, so the average attention span is three seconds now. Yeah, that's why TikTok's killing it and you guys are blowing up.

First three seconds are great, but you're right. You don't hear about them about them though you hear about the kids who are out shooting yeah the people you're working with and collabing with are my age are doing well but all the people watching it you know what i mean i'm super impressed that people can do that and get on social media know about the rig and that's that's phenomenal yeah and you guys probably thought you would never got on social media, right? Right. No, I didn't even know

what it was. Neither did I. That's funny. When they said TikTok, I said, what's that? Oh my God. Yeah, really. It's funny.

Yeah. You're going to do a TikTok show. I just care the fact that, oh, the character I'm playing is going to be an ex-porn star. Yeah. Oh, that's a comedy. Okay.

I love comedy. Make people laugh. That's what I love about our comments. I was having a bad day. You made me laugh. Thank you. Laughter is medicine, right? Oh, yeah.

That is the best medicine. It is. And I still don't, I'm not on TikTok. It's like I'm not on TikTok physically. I'm in a show that's on TikTok. Okay. And I'm still blown away by numbers. 5.6 million followers there. And your views are even-

A million point five on Instagram, everywhere on Facebook. And it's- Yeah, the views are crazy. Getting recognized. Yeah. Last night at Cirque du Soleil, they recognized these two. Wow. Well, they really recognized him.

Yeah. And then she turned to me and she said, right? After she said, you're said she said your retirement house right and then she looked at me secondly wow she was really interested in jim we had the dress to come in we're on it too i'm it's so funny because you guys were all actors right and now you're getting retired for this no she's just a natural okay i i learned learned at the audition, you know, she's not an actress, but when you see her, it's just her being her

and she's great. Nice. Oh, thank you. No, it's like, darn, she's not an actress and she's doing better than some actresses, but we won't go on.

Hold on. Yeah, it's amazing, the numbers and keep getting bigger. We got recognized twice in New York. Wow. At the Empire State Building.

Oh, right. And somewhere else. In our Wow. At the Empire State Building. Oh, right. And somewhere else. In our hotel. In the hotel. Kai. Kai Sanat. I saw that. Yeah.

People saw that. Oh, you were on Kai's show. Okay. Yeah, he knows us. He's the most viral live streamer in the world right now. Okay. Yeah. They say he just did, what did he just do?

You remember. Nike. He just signed a contract with Nike. Yeah. He's signing an eight or nine figure deal right now. Yeah, with Nike. Nike. Yeah.

But you remember. Oh, yeah. I just was trying to remember the deal he made. Yeah. Every once in a while we'll go out and get recognized. It feels nice. It's crazy. Yeah.

Kids my age in their 20s are making millions. I feel like with your generation that wasn't possible, right? No. No. I sure wish they would make it possible before i go though no it's it's it's fun to do the people are wonderful other people coming in it's like a family so it's not work nice it's it's just fun and i've um kind of like i was a virgin never been in new york wow wanted to go and And one of my bucket lists was Broadway. My friend goes, hey, you got to see a show on Broadway.

And we get to see a show, Sweeney Todd. That was like, wow. And now the Vegas strip. Yeah. Everyone should experience Vegas in New York City, man. Yeah. And they're talking about other cities. We're going back to New York City.

Love it. Good Morning America wants us. Oh, let's go. It was like- April 5th. Wow. We do local shows. We just did last night's Inside Edition we were go. It was like, we did, we do local shows. We just did last night's Inside Edition we were on.

Nice. It was like, wow, we are really doing well. Love it, man. Where were you guys at mentally before Retirement House? Were you in a good place?

Good place? Not, my acting career, had a day job, was happy. Always had, I had a regular family of loved ones. Putting myself out there to work. But this came along again.

Fun shoot. Okay, we were only supposed to be two weeks. Within one week, a million followers. The rest is history. The rest is history. But no, I was in a good place, but this is a better place. So you're still working. I still, I keep keep my friend goes you

don't need the day job you get all this money in this and i keep it for like well if my car needs some repairs some extra money to have and uh give me something to do but yeah if we start shooting two or three days a week then goodbye the job is done it'll be just this and hopefully book things because they're very good with us if we have to book something. And I'm, like I say, with integrity. If I commit to them, I can commit to this week. Oh, I got an audition for you. I can't take the audition because I'm going with my family.

Nice. Love that. What about you guys? My husband had passed away, and I was very involved in community events after that and building new things in our little city that I lived in. And I was happy, but I'm usually happy. Wow. So, and then I heard about this and I was led to it. Wow. That's the universe telling you you're on the right path, right? I believe in that.

Well, for me, I, you know, I've never thought about it this way, but maybe I was saying, you know, I got to do this before I make my transition. I went on a bucket list of countries. I started in Saudi Arabia. before I make my transition. I went on a bucket list of countries. I started in Saudi Arabia. I went to Nice, France, and then back to Frankfurt. And then I went to Seoul.

And then I went to the Philippines. And then I went to Japan. Then I went to Vietnam. Then I went to Singapore and almost got locked down over there during the pandemic. It just started up. Couldn't get a flight out. Oh, man.

Because in Singapore, see, I was going to, my last stop on that bucket list was going to be Peking. How do you say it? Peking. Peking. Yeah, the capital of China, right? I think so, yeah. Yeah, that's where I was going. And so I was going to get my ticket back to America there.

And so I was just going on these little in-country flights to these different countries. And, man, the people from Singapore, in whispered tones, they were talking about the pandemic. And all of a sudden, what was it, 10 or 11 days later before I could get a flight. And on the 12th day, I think they shut Singapore down. And you couldn't get out? Oh, I wouldn't have been able to get out. And my hotel was right behind the prison. Oh, shoot.

Oh, gosh. It was crazy. But anyway, that was, but I was in a good frame of mind because I was getting things done. Yeah. Traveling the world. That's important, right? Traveling is really enlightening. You know a lot.

Yeah. That's right. And I guess to conclude that is to say I guess I was – now that I got this, I have something to live for. That's important. They've done studies on retirement. And when you retire from work Your brain health, they're doing mapping And they say you age super fast

Because you no longer have that purpose Who's Brian Johnson? What's his name? He put the helmet on us Are you familiar with him? Yeah, I love him I'm the youngest in the group But I had the oldest brain

At 56 Galen coming in She was first I'm the youngest in the group, but I had the oldest brain. Really? At 56. Galen coming in. She was first. She was the oldest. She was first. She's got the youngest brain. I wonder what caused yours to be older. I think it's my fault from stress.

Stress. Stressing myself. It's not so much taking it on people. I take it on myself over stupid things. Oh, you dropped and broke it. You had anger. I cussed myself. I angered myself. you dropped and broke it. You, you had anger. I cast myself, I anger at myself.

And then I kick, sit back. Why? What's wrong? And it's self-stress. Stress is a killer, man. That age, that's what aged me

was the stress, especially upon myself. I had some stressful moments when I was 21. I had a gray hair at 21. Whoa, I wasn't that too stressed. Yeah.

So then I was like, I was dealing with my first lawsuit at the time. So then I was like, I was dealing with my first lawsuit at the time. So then I was like, wow, I have to take a step back. This is not normal. I literally had multiple gray hairs at 21 years old. Someone was suing you. Someone was suing me. I thought the world was ending. And they stopped when you stepped back. Stopped when I stepped back, settled the lawsuit, started doing more stuff in nature, just getting outside. Cause I was so focused on making money and my whole narratives on that has changed actually.

But at the time it was all about money. So when I thought I was losing it all, I thought the world was ending. Yeah, but life's more than just money. Yeah, definitely. There'd be too much pressure on yourself. You were into crypto, right? Yeah.

Yeah, I had some tough losses there. Cryptocurrency, so volatile. You were into crypto, right? Yeah. Yeah, I had some tough losses there. Yes. Wow. Cryptocurrency, so volatile, you know? My daughter is a senior vice president on wealth management at a huge firm. Wow. And that's something she never let anyone in the family get near. I don't blame her. Yeah.

Goes up 80% in a day and down 90% the next day. It's nuts. Yeah. It's nuts. It's crazy. Whole nother world. Guys, any closing messages for the audience? It's been a really fun episode. Live your life one day at a time and enjoy it. Do what you want to do.

Love it. I would say to you and to them, don't act your age. Don't act your age. Don't act your age. You're just going to leave it like that. I don't know if I... I don't know. You can see how much fun we have.

They can do a lot. Some broad advice. Or they can sit back and wait a little while and then don't act their age. It's just a number. Exactly. Absolutely. Well, I guess to paraphrase scripture, hold on to your dreams. To paraphrase or to quote, I think Jesse Jackson, well, he paraphrased the scripture also.

To hold on to that dream. I had mine, and I was cheated out of it because they laughed at me. My peer group, they laughed at me, made fun of me, and I cried. I just didn't hold on to my dream and pursue it with passion. But it came back around after Vietnam and, you know, I'm pursuing it at a later age. Hold on to it. Pursue it.

Don't let nobody deter you. Just stay on track and keep that dream in focus. Go for it. Love that. Yeah, no matter what your age. Yeah, I love that. And always keep laughing. Yeah, laughter's important.

Keep the smile on your face. Yeah. Less stress and you won't have all the great things. Guys, it's been fun. Thank you so much for coming on. Thank you for having us. Thank you for having us. Thank you for having us. Absolutely.

Thanks for watching guys, as always. See you tomorrow.