Locked In with Ian Bick - Armed Robbery, Assault & Kidnapping: My New Mexico State Prison Sentence | Thomas Baca

Episode Date: January 21, 2025

Thomas Baca served prison time in New Mexico State Prison for armed robbery, aggravated battery, and kidnapping. In this powerful episode, he opens up about his time behind bars, the harsh realities of prison life, and how he turned his life around after being released. Now a successful entrepreneur, Thomas Baca owns Sir Men’s Salon LLC in Albuquerque, proving that redemption is possible after incarceration. He shares how vocational rehabilitation programs helped him reintegrate into society, the struggles of life after prison, and his mission to inspire others who have walked a similar path. #PrisonStory #ArmedRobbery #TrueCrime #NewMexicoStatePrison #PrisonLife #KidnappingCase #CrimeAndPunishment #LockedUp Connect with Thomas Baca: IG: https://www.instagram.com/thomasbacabarber/ YT: https://www.youtube.com/@thomasbacabarber Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Presented by Tyson 2.0 & Wooooo Energy: https://tyson20.com/ https://woooooenergy.com/ Buy Merch: https://www.ianbick.com/shop Use code lockedin at checkout to get 20% off your order Timestamps: 00:00:00 Welcome to Locked In Podcast 00:04:19 A Turning Point: The Path to Juvenile Hall 00:08:11 The Impact of Peer Influence on Life Choices 00:12:33 Finding a Place to Stay 00:16:09 High-Level Connections and Operations 00:20:03 Escaping the Law: TJ's Story 00:23:39 Navigating State and Federal Charges 00:27:17 Receiving a 1 to 10-Year Sentence 00:31:23 Misconceptions About Prison Life 00:34:49 Life in Level Two Prison: No Rules Environment 00:38:20 Unexpected Gesture in the Barber Shop 00:42:10 Life in Prison and the Razor Blade Story 00:46:11 Transition from Prison to a Business Mindset 00:49:57 The Vision of the Ultimate Fighter House 00:53:33 Overcoming Financial Struggles and Homelessness 00:57:24 Overcoming a Criminal Past: A Small Business Owner’s Journey 01:01:19 Shout Out to Ric Flair Powered by: Just Media House : https://www.justmediahouse.com/ Creative direction, design, assets, support by FWRD: https://www.fwrd.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hurry into your local dealer for the Jeep Declaration of Deals. Jeep has won more awards over its lifetime than any other SUV branch, Chief of the Jeep Groo or Registered Trademarks of FCAUS LLC. TJ, welcome to Lockton, man. I think you might be our first guest from Albuquerque. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you, Ian, for having me on.

It's a great podcast. Yeah, thank you. And thank you for the merchandise, man. This is your merch. This is your shirt that you guys produced. That's my merchandise, my shirt, everything. I appreciate you having that shirt. Yeah, of course.

And we will have the link to this and the description of the episode along with, like, your social media and stuff. I think it's so important to, like, promote whatever the, the guest is, you know, has or is marketing or whatever. It's a big part of the platform. So many podcasts always plug in people at the end of the episode. So I like to do it in the beginning. Thank you.

Yeah. And what do you think of those Tyson pre-rolls? I know we weren't able to smoke them yet because we couldn't find a lighter. Dude, I think these are absolutely amazing. So I just can't wait to, you know, these are going with me for sure. Yeah, those things are so cool. And they look at what they just sent me this. This is a like a vape box.

Oh, no way. So I'm looking forward to getting into these. There's like all these different types of vapes that they sell. There was like this whole kit that they sent. Oh, that's sick. Tobacco pouch. And do you vape it all? Oh, yeah, absolutely.

Like, I vape the just not the tobacco stuff, but I'm saying that, yeah, just why is that the tobacco vapor? Yeah, these are all the nicotine vapes. Oh, it's still dope, though. Yeah, these are cool. And next week's this fight. I mean, the fight will have already been over when this comes out. Shout out Mike Tyson. We already know you're the champ.

Yeah. And Rick Flares, Woo Energy. Sick. Awesome. So did you grow up in Albuquerque? I grew up in Orange County. Well, actually, I was born in Orange County, California, and born in Santa Ana, which is in Orange County, and raised in Marino Valley.

That's in California. In California. Okay. And did you have your mom and dad together growing up? Oh, yeah. I had my mom and dad together, a stable household brother as well. Ah, so pretty normal family. Yeah, very normal.

Did you guys have money? I would say they did pretty good. My dad was like a store director for Ralph's grocery store in California and my mother did real estate. Oh, Ralph, wow. Yeah. Yeah, my dad was big time into Ralph, started from the bottom up, from a bagger all the way to the top. I love Ralph. So, like, when I was a kid, we had family in California and we would always go to the Ralph's

that was right there in Malibu. Oh, nice. That was like before like Whole Foods kind of like really blew up and whatnot. Ralph's like the OG Whole Foods. Yeah, it is. As a kid, how would you say people would describe you? I would say kind of nerdy a little bit, maybe class clown a tiny bit to, you know, along those lines. What about dreams, goals, aspirations? Do you have any of those?

At a young age, honestly, I probably, I didn't have many, you know, I wasn't seen through a scope that had a long lens. I wasn't looking into the future. I was really just kind of, you know, living for the day. And did you guys go to public school and growing up? Yeah, I went to public school growing up. What was high school like in California back then? So I was there during a crazy time. Geez, the O.J. Simpson trial had hit the Rodney King.

There was a real Rodney King got beat and that caused a riot in our school. But other than that, I mean, it was pretty, pretty normal and pretty good. Wow. So what was that time period like in high school when those things were going on? Is it like what today's world is, like seeing everything on the news and, and, you know, how that kind of affects you in school and work and whatnot? Man, back then it was, there wasn't as much news. So, I mean, I don't know how they got the messenger cause. It was different back then. When the Rodney King thing, happened. I remember all the brothers, the blacks got up, stood up right in the middle of class,

walked right out. All the Hispanics stood up and walked out. There was a lot of fights between a lot of races in California, Valley View High School. Shout out to Valley View High School. But again, they facilitated it well. It was a walkout. A few fights happened. And I watched it. I wasn't embarking in it. I was still, you know, 15 at the time. So, you know, yeah, it was just something crazy to see. But, you know, nothing that, you know, really gave me any kind of crazy vibe or anything. Do you end up going to college? I did not go to college. I did not even graduate high school. I ended up in the 10th grade. I ended up going to Juvenile Hall. And that's what happened. And I missed out. I ended up getting a G.D. in juvenile hauling in California.

Why did you go to juvenile hall? I went to juvenile hall because me and three buddies, me and three buddies used to ditch school, go to this girl's house. We did school. We went to this girl's house. They unfortunately stole some items from her house. A couple dudes, Randy and Sammy, all public information, all juvenile shit. Someone stole cigarettes. Someone out of the freezer.

Someone stole the chain. And police end up at my doorstep. And they send me to juvenile hall. Shout out to my father. First and foremost, I love you, dad. He's passed away now. I really do love you, dad. I swear to God.

I really see what he's done for me. He did everything right for me. That dude, I love you, dad. And he did everything for me. And you know what? I just didn't. I was falling down the path with the wrong crowd, not listening to my dad. When I went to Juvenile Hall, Sammy and Randy, both that evening left Juvena Hall with their parents' custody, my dad said that he's not picking me up.

So that was a turning point in my life where it was a little bit sad to see that I wasn't going to get to get picked up and go home. They ended up, I ended up going back to court and they're like, well, the lady's dropping the charges this and that. But you're now a ward of the state. Your parents aren't. You're 15 years old. You're 16 now. And so I had to go into either a placement or a group home, which I should have done. Instead, I was an idiot and I elected to try to get things done quicker.

I chose to go to a place called Twin Pines in Idaho, in Idaho, California. And it was a six-month program compared to the eight months I would be doing in a placement or a group home setting or having to, you know, not come home, you know, for eight months. I wanted to come home sooner. Was your mom supportive of your dad's decision to do that? You know what, brother, that is a, I'm very glad you asked that. My mom, I love you too, mom. I love you with all my heart. My mom, my mom was a very good woman.

Again, in those time frames in that time, my mom, my mother probably didn't have that big of a voice in the family unit. My mother played the mother role and my father played the father role. And when my father made a decision, that was the decision. So I think a lot of times that even when I escaped from Twin Pines, you know, I went and I called my mom on the phone and I'm like, hey, mom, these guys tell me that if I, if I go to New Mexico, I can, and I stay out until I'm 18. I won't have to come back. I just, I want to go. And my mom, you know, told me I'll get you a bus ticket. I love you for that, mom. I swear to God, I'll get you a bus ticket and we'll go to New Mexico. But she let my father know, my father called the police on me and they sent me back in. Shout out to my father, too,

because you did the right thing. And I'm glad you did that to me because it bettered my life in the long run. Yeah, I mean, most parents, I don't know if they would necessarily make that choice to kind of like abandon their kids. for the greater good of that situation. Like, that's, like, the hard old school style of parenting. A lot of the kids, like, I work with kids now on juvenile probation for, like, a mentorship thing. And, you know, the parents bail them out. They, and they go right back into the same cycle again.

Yeah, my dad made me stay. And he was that very harsh individual that, you know, if you went to, he had never been to jail ever. nor is my mom nor is my brother. And so the moment I went, it was dishonoring the family. It was a bunch of stuff. It was big for them. So it was, you know, the answer was you stay. What do you think your motivation was for getting into trouble and hanging around the wrong kids?

Plain and simple, I was a dork and I wanted to be cool, dude. And cool got me somewhere that wasn't really cool. So I'm saying that was the big just of it. I saw these bigger dudes in Cali. And, you know, it was like, oh, man, you know, I want to be a part of that. I could see the stigma to that. This feels good and it wasn't good. Show me your friends.

I'll show you your feature. That's very true. It's all about the people you surround yourself with. And as you get older, you realize a smaller circle is better for everyone. You're the lump sum of the five people you hang out with. Absolutely. Choose wisely.

So the way you were just describing your dad, how you feel about him now. Did you feel the way about him back then when he did make that decision to leave there? I hated him. And you know what? I hated him. and he passed away, never knowing that I cared about him.

And my dad passed away, never knowing that I was a barber. My dad passed away, never knowing that I cut hair. My dad passed away while I was a piece of shit. And my dad passed away while I was, you know, a piece of shit in prison and out of prison and a big loser. My dad never got to see me work as hard as him. I hated my father. But when I grew up and I just grew up and became a man,

I really feel like I copied my father in his work aspects. My dad was the hardest worker. I hear these guys coined that term, hardest worker in the room. You're not the hardest worker in the room if you work five days a week, dude. You're not the hardest worker in the room if you work six days a week. I don't even claim that I'm the hardest worker in the room and I work seven days a week. Surmen salon.com.

Go on there, go look at my schedule. I work seven days a week. And I don't even consider myself the hardest worker in the room. so yeah i feel like there's always someone that you know no matter how hard you work there's going to be someone that's kind of like a step above you um but everyone uh you know what what is hard work to some might be different for others and vice versa like i work nonstop seven days a week but it's not for me it's easy now it's my passion this is what i do um but for others they they're like how do you do that or you know they seem like it's a lot you know they they don't get that um and that's perfectly

fine, you know. You have a beautiful vision. You have a beautiful podcast. Everybody subscribe to the podcast. If you're not subscribed, subscribe now. Thank you. So what happens after that? You get out of juvenile detention. I get out of juvenile detention. My father comes, picks me up on an airplane from California and flies me out to New Mexico. I get to New Mexico. Look, be honest here, my father drank. when I got out to New Mexico I was older I was 18 now I got out went into the household

my father spoke to me a certain way within a week of me being back being in Albuquerque and we had words and it did not come to any fist fight because I would never do that and the words were I was gonna

I just left I got up I left and and I literally slept behind Keller Farm Store. Everybody in Albuquerque, New Mexico, know where Keller's Farm Store is. That was my first job in Albuquerque. Nobody knows that. I walked straight over there and I was like, oh, I better get a job now. Walked into Keller's Farm Store, somehow accidentally got hired and was there. And at night, I would leave that store. And I would, and I would, and I was a weird idea. I'd just go hide behind. There's this little area that I could kind of lay blanket on, lean back, kick back a little bit. And then I'd go to the gym in the morning, workout, wash up. And then I'd go back over to work. And, and, uh, And before I even got the money to get the gym membership, I would just go there. One day, one of the meat cutters, they had started liking me. And he's like, hey, man, did you want to come over tonight or whatever and kick it with us? And I was like, I don't really have a place to go.

I was like, oh, I'll roll over there. So I rolled. And then when it was done, it was like, you know, like, where did they take me? I just had him drop me off at a house that really wasn't mine and then just kind of snuck out, you know, and just went back to that location. They finally ended up finding out that I didn't have a place to live. I ended up moving in with one of the dudes. And then from there I ended up working and having a place to stay. Why do your parents decide to leave California?

My mom and dad are from New Mexico originally. My dad's from Albuquerque. My mom's from a small town called Chama, New Mexico. My grandfather is the first mayor. The reason that they chose to leave New Mexico is because I felt like they felt like they moved me to California. and I think they felt somehow in their mind that if they moved from California that I wouldn't get in trouble anymore. Where does your last name come from? Baca.

Yeah. Baca is a Spanish last name from Spain. Okay. And so it comes from my father. And that's a big shout out to all the Bacca's in Albuquerque. And that's a big last name. Yeah. So it's, yeah.

Whenever I think Albuquerque, I think, what is it? Breaking Bad. Oh, yeah. for sure everybody thinks that. That's the only reason why I know of Albuquerque. Let me know what you think of that, Wu energy. Yeah, let's see right now. Yeah.

Oh, wow, the taste is amazing. Wow. It's so powerful. Yeah, and it does have five grams of sugar, which, you know, some energy drinks, most nowadays don't have sugar, but I think the five grams of sugar comes from the natural ingredients that are in there, too. It tastes really good. Let's see what it does.

Yeah, definitely. All right, so you leave Albuquerque, like you leave your parents home, what happens next? I start drifting off with the wrong crowd, getting drifting on with the rougher crowd and, you know, they're committing crimes, selling pounds of weed. You know, I start getting into the selling pounds of weed. My charges stem from my initially getting robbed from some idiot. I end up amounting to renting a house and renting an apartment. No job, no nothing. end up, you know, drifting with that crazier crowd, ended up quitting the Keller's Farm Store thing,

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And was this stuff that was like coming right across the border? Jeez, dude. Let's just say we don't know where it came from. But it was I was plugged. So I mean, you know, I was this source of anything. Look, you want me to tell you something? I would just bridge a gap. So for me, I'm the type of dude that a bridge a gap. So it's like back in the day, if I met you, look, I would just go look for a dealer and someone who wanted, you know, a certain amount and I could bridge that gap for you. In other words, if you're already loyal to your connect now, it's going to be a matter of time before you gets cut up, before he doesn't, he's not around. And so I could step in now and I could plug you.

Once you see that mine's a tad bit cheaper, I could do that on purpose and that it's better than that's how I kind of bridged gap. So it wasn't like you were running around the street selling smaller amounts. It was more you knew some dealers, you know, you met a connect and you bridged a gap. But wasn't it hard to do that as like an out of town person that's young? No one really knows who you are. No, because when I got here, I had hit the county jail right away. I'd got in trouble.

I'd done that. So I'd already met crazy individuals. I met some certain individuals that were plugged on a high level. So, I mean, instantly, it was coming from California that actually aided and assisted in me being able to do all of it in the sense of, you know, just people liked me. You know what I mean? It was you were able to get along easy with individuals and of that dynamic. How long were you doing this for?

God, I did that from now from about like 98. I did not do it. I did it from about 2001. Well, we'll say until 2003. And why do you end up stopping in 2003? I went to prison. For the weed. I went.

When I got out, I went to prison. I went to prison for armed robbery aggravated battery and kidnapping around the weed. And so someone ended up robbing me. I ended up robbing him back. You ended up pistol whipping someone at a party. And it was a crazy. Look, I had a homie shout out Connor Payne, whatever, we're co-defendants.

You know, and it was a big party that night. And there was a big fight and a bunch of shit happening with a gun. And so, you know, that's what led to a warrant. I went on the run. Outran the U.S. Marshals, ran from the FBI. ended up finally getting caught and then and then ended up getting going into prison so take us through to the party what what happens that night okay i can take you through the party all of a sudden conor pain comes up and says starts twisting his beer bottle and says and it's all we've already been sentenced for it so none of it's snitching uh snitch uh you know comes over and twist his beer bottle and says hey dude that fucking dude's here and i was like who i was already drunk because back then i drank i partied and he's like uh he's all hey john lambrite's here and i was like what and i was like what and i was I was like, and he's like, yeah, that fool's here, the one that, you know, took about 10 grand for me. Like, the one that wanted to snitch on me for destroying him and then ended up, you know, robbing me and stole a bunch of shit from me in the beginning.

So it's like, you know what I mean? Nah, he just said that dude. Look, we threw a big party. I had a house in an area that I'm not going to talk about. It was across the street from my apartment. So I had a house that I could be at. And then I had an apartment that I rented out that we just partied in and threw a bunch of parties. was a high end apartment La Mirage.

Everybody in Albuquerque will know that apartment complex and that at a house in Tanna one, whatever. And so, anyway, long story short, uh, we're parting sick that night. Everybody's over.

Some girls invite some dudes. We have a bunch of chicks there. They invite dudes. This idiot shows up. And it's the idiot who actually robbed us. So Connor comes up and he's like twisting his beer bottle and he's like, twisting his Heineken bottle. And he's like,

he's like, bro, that fuck, I'm going to give that kid a jaw shot that fool's here. And I was like, what? And so that's when I was like, and so, you know, I was armed at the time. And you know what I mean?

I escalated the situation and proceeded to take care of the situation. And that assault and battery led from, I ended up with a kidnapping charge. People don't know this and they think kidnapping, you tied someone up. Kidnapping is moving anyone three or more feet against their will and a second degree that I got during the commission of a crime. So in other words, we also took his backpack and cash he had on him. I robbed him. You know what I mean? It was we, you know, just that was it, broke him off. The way we got caught really was he had $70,000 worth of facial damage. And for that, I'm very sorry and I actually do not like. And that was a big part of my change. But that,

yeah, I did that. Now, was this guy another drug dealer too? This guy was another drug dealer and like a star football player at some college. And he was around the same age as you? Yeah. Okay. So you guys do that to him that night. at this party. Do the cops come right then and there? Oddly enough, they did not come right then and there. But I think we all did back to the house. So maybe they did. I doubt it.

But all of a sudden, these girls, they start hitting these girls up, like, who brought the dude of the party. So it's not long before they start throwing around the word T.J. And you know what I mean? They're like, oh, Connor and T.J. I still have the police support it all. They're like, oh, yeah, Connor and T. So then they're like, they don't know who T.

They're still trying to figure that out. But then after multiple police reports of my name, you know, eventually they figure. figured out this is the guy that has this apartment. He's here. This is where it. And then that's when there was a warrant. And, uh, you know, I went on the run for two years. Now, why did it become federal?

Like, why were the feds after you for a state charge? Yeah. And so the feds were after me because I mean, so all of a sudden I went to Las Louise Trail. Everyone will know this in Albuquerque. Uh, it's a federal, like, mountain type of area where you can go hike and do all this shit in. I had a disorderly conduct with a, uh, forest, uh, forest ranger over in that.

area at the age of 21. Look, guys, I'm older now. At 21, I was a fool. I was with some hot chick, shout out, Yvette. And then I come back over to the Mustang. And all of a sudden, I have a hellcat now. All of a sudden, I go back over to the Mustang and there's tickets on there. And the dudes right there. So I catch him in the act of like putting the tickets on. And I'm like, hey, bro, what's up? I was like, what's up with these tickets? I was like entering an unauthorized area during fire season, this. I'm like, oh, no, get rid of this shit. Just rip them up. and we had an argument and I ended up really doing something bad. I took his ticket.

He somehow put his hands on me and I grabbed his ticket book from him. We ended up in like a little tiny altercation that wasn't an assault. I ripped the ticket books from him. I jumped in my Mustang. I figured since I stole the tickets from him, he doesn't have my name anymore. So I just drove down the mountain and I threw all the tickets like through all of them. They were really adamant on where the tickets were. They didn't care about me.

I threw all the in fact watch, this is a crazy store. I threw all of those tickets down the mountain and like through all of them right there. And you vet's like, oh my God. And I was like, yeah, fuck that fool. I was like, you know what I mean? And then all of a sudden, roll back to the apartment where I had about 20 pounds of weed and rolled over there. And all of a sudden, the next day, it's like literally, I'm not going to tell the whole story

about that. The next day, you know, some, whoever these idiots were from the forest department or but they're cops. I don't know what it. They showed up and they're there. And they're like knocking on the door. I was going to shoot them. And I hate to say that, but it's flat out, dog.

I was like, I'm just going to get. And busy some other idiot was like, oh, no, no, bro, from Chicago. And he's like, oh, no, don't do that. No, bro. They're just put the pounds of weed away. They're not going to. And it's like he de-escalated this situation, shout out busy. And then, so it just, you know, I opened the door somehow.

I was going to give him a fake name and everything. And then all of a sudden, they're like, you're not going to jail. They're like, we're not here for any of the shit we smell. We don't care about any of that. You had it. You had, you were up in the forest. we need those tickets. And so I just strung them along.

I was like, all right, I'll show you where they're at. And I never did. I just, you know, Joshed him, dipped out on him. And you know what I mean? And did all that, left that apartment because out another house. We had a bunch of places. Wait, so the feds were after you because of that? Well, the feds weren't after me.

I had a U.S. Marshal hold. So when I got caught for the state shit, you, I had, forgetting those federal tickets or those tickets that I had when I didn't show up into court or whatever, there was a federal hold. hold for me. Like I ended up doing 90 days for tickets. Go look it up. Hey, do me a favor too. When you look it up, post it. So these guys can all believe it. Go look it up that I was in. I did 90 days in, uh, in, in where Sanneval County, or in Estancia in the feds in just a holding, not in prison. And then in fact, when I was in the feds, I was facing all the armed robbery charges and

everything. So I already knew that that the feds I wasn't going to, I'm just here for tickets. I'll be gone. I'm going to the state. And over there in the feds are like, oh, he's not really in there for armed robbery. I really was, dude. It's like, you know what I mean? So did this happen before the fight or after the tickets or like at the same time? The fight happened before and then the tickets maybe happened a few days after the fight like a week after, five days after the tickets happened. And then so as I'm building, as I already had a warrant for the state now, a month later, I ended up having a federal hold. Because look, when I went to the state, I bonded out on the armed robbery. As soon as I went into the state, I was like bond bonded right out. And then I'll,

all of a sudden you have a U.S. detainer. Some whole and I was like, what? Because I've never, I'm not a federal guy, dude. And I'm like, no, there's got to be a mistake. I even told the sergeant, get that shit off there. This ain't. There's no way.

And he goes, no, you have the U.S. marshals or some U.S. marshals, whoever they are supposed to be coming for you. And I'm like, that's weird. Sure enough, they came. And then instead of going to that weird state court, I was in like a U.S. magistrate some shit. And I'm walking in and it looks more. more high end and it's like and they're like oh you have a disorderly conduct you have I had those

warrants for those tickets and and they gave me a public defender and they said they gave me 90 days in in jail so this was after you went on the run oh yeah well this is what I was on bond yeah I bonded out of this I went on the run then I got caught I look as I was on the run I picked up the forest ranger shit and then stayed on the run stayed on the run then I got caught went into the state and as I went into the state, I bonded out right away on those initial charges. That's when they had the hold. And I'm like, what? And I'm like, oh, the tickets.

And I'm like, I never knew they could even. I thought that should disappeared. So did you know you had warrants out for your arrest? Not federally. So it wasn't technically on the run. You were just like avoiding your, like it's not where they hunting you? So the state charges, once they found out who I was and that dude had that damage to them, they came up with the charge aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, armed robbery.

and kidnapping. And they had a slew of other charges. Those are the ones I pled to. So those were, you had an active warrant for your arrest. So I was on the run. Okay. And how long did that last for?

How long were you on the run for? I mean, from beginning to end a couple of years. But I'm just saying I got caught right away and then bonded out. Then went into the feds did 90 days. Then the feds let me out. And I didn't have to go back into the state. I went back on the run.

Instead of appearing to court, I went back on the run. And then I stayed out for. a grip. That's when U.S. Marshals came, not because I was a federal in me, but I guess because I was so good at escaping or whatever, they came to get me. I still escaped from them. I made it away from the U.S. Marshals even. They found a house that I was at showed up and I got out of a window. Dude, I jumped over a wall and I saw the fat dude sitting right there with the gun. And I knew back in the day, if you just put your hands up, they won't shoot. And so I put my hands up and out

ran him. I did M.A. I was in great shape back then. I don't, you know what I mean? It was I was 46 and I was 21 then I was a superstar and then you went back on the run after you escaped the U.S. Marshall. Nah, they ended up, they caught me within about 48 hours after they had that initial contact with me. They caught me right away like the next day. And where do you go after you get caught? They took me into jail and then they revoked the bond and put, said no bond hold or whatever. And then that's when I stayed in, that's when I ended up, I wasn't able to reach a bond anymore. What's your relationship with your parents during this non-existent?

Zero. Yeah, I just, I was already, once I left the house, I never saw. I didn't see my parents until I damn near God, got out of prison and not my dad ever. How much time were you facing on these charges? In the very beginning, they said some crazy number with like the four assault with the dead. All these, like 56 years. And then by the time it went down to just the armed robberies, it was like 36. 36 years.

Okay. And what do they end up giving you? They ended up giving me one to 10. I got the best plea ever, one to 10 with a five-year cap. So they gave me, in other words, the lawyers said they can either do, they can do, they can give you as low as that you have to have one year for the firearm enhancement. That was a mandatory minimum in the state. So they were like, they can give you anywhere from one year and let you out today or credit time served or they can, you know, or they can give you the 10 years. But you have a five year cap, which is, you know, either where you're, I like to.

that like you're going to get five years. And that's what happened. They gave me the full 10, but it was only five in prison. Why'd they give you such a good deal? I had no other adult record, no other, my juvenile record wasn't existent to them. They never found it or looked it up or anything. So now they're sending you to Albuquerque State Prison. A lot of guys got, so my co-defendant got probation, just to kind of give you an idea of Connor Payne. He got probation. Shout out to Connor Payne. Why do you think he got probation? because he's a solid-ass dude. He got probation because he's rich.

And he probably got probation because he had zero-zero, like stuff going on. Yeah, did you have money for a paid attorney or anything? I did not. No. So you didn't have a paid attorney? No, he did. I did not. Okay, so you had a public defender. Yeah. Do you think you would have gotten an even better deal?

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Shout out to Amada Sad, the attorneys now. They had already said that if you had hired us back then, that should have been probation for sure. And is Albuquerque like small town vibes? Albuquerque's big city, Albuquerque's small town vibes on a big city mindset or whatever. It's just,

it's kind of that in between. It's small town vibes, but it could be a little bit bigger than small town vibe. So does like everyone in the criminal justice system know each other, like all the lawyers judges? Hey, look, I'm going to say it on the podcast. Shout out to Joe Robertson, the assistant district attorney that let me out of prison.

Thank you, Joe. I cut his hair to this day. I just cut his hair four days ago. Shout out to Homeland Security. Shout out to FBI. Shout out to all the other people that are in my shop. It's funny how life comes full circle, huh? Full circle.

It's funny that when you have extreme accountability and you're not afraid to admit to what you did and I don't do anything anymore. So I'm allowed to, you know, explain it, talk about it and, you know, at the same time. This summer, Aegee jeans looks to California wine country for inspiration, where style feels effortless and time naturally slows down. The summer 2026 collection reflects that mindset with premium denim washes,

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Yep. So where do they end up sending you for your prison sentence? So they ended up sending me to a, they ended up sending me to a, so we go to an RDC, which is our reception. And they send me to Los Lunas, which is the reception. I go to Los Lunas. Everyone stays there for diagnostics. They do education. They do everything like that.

You stay there for, you stay there for about three weeks. and then you get shipped off to wherever it is that you're going to be, wherever they deem that you're going to go. I ended up getting sent to Las Lunas Level 2, and that's where I started my prison term. And was that a level 2? What kind of inmates? Level 2 is a camp where you have to have five years or below to go there.

So lucky enough since I had that five-year mark and I was not gang-related, and I had no previous adult record, I ended up going into the level 2. And so I went over to level two is a, it's, what is it, a minimum? But there are violent offenders because your case was classified as violent. Oh, yeah, for sure. But I mean, they're on their way out. So it's like five years and below.

Now, you are telling me out when we were in the lobby talking when you first came here that you feel like the prison experience in general is kind of overhyped and, you know, made more violent or harder than what your experience was. I mean, God. I would say, coming from my perspective and where I was, I mean, I came from a notorious county jail. Shout out to BCDC, the old west side. BCDC and the old west side. Prison just wasn't as hard as where I came from. And so what was your experience like? Give us like your first day, you know, what everything.

What, first day in prison? Yeah. First day in prison was weird. It's like I showed up to this level too and I'm like, it was really hardcore where I had came from. throwing a ton of riots. I know these guys don't believe me a lot of the time. Go look it up. Come to Albuquerque. You go to the jail once. You'll see one riot at least. Look, the first day that I got to the level two, they just got your ID, you're betting, I went into like a dorm by myself. I'm like, damn, there's free movement. You're not,

they're not shackled. I was like, this shit is a trip. And as soon as I walked in, there was a homie. Shout out to Daniel Garcia, rise from Alwasha. He passed away already. And he's the sickest barber. He taught me how to cut hair. And as soon as I walked in that homie rises there and he's all what's up brother he's all hell yeah sick and he's all what up and we're in the county here so i was like oh what's up dog i was like what's popping over here like what do you got going on and he's like man this is what we got going on i have this pod locked down this is the pot come into my room he had some dude living with him it was awkward in the beginning to see someone this part was awkward for me because i'm not that bad of a person but like rises like oh yeah

we're going to put in a bunk slip and move that zero now and i was like damn so you just pop in a bunk slip and move him like it's nothing but I guess they had it like that so he moved that dude out of his room I moved into the room uh it was a party dude I ended up getting the barber job because of him he was tattooing inmates in there so he was like I don't want the barber job anymore I'll hand it to you and uh and go ahead and and rock with it so I became the barber in there and did you have any experience cutting hair I had experience cutting hair I cut air one time when I was 14 and then I went into the county jail and I was there for a year. So I lied to the inmates told him I was a barber. And then they're like, they're like, so all of a sudden the clippers come in these all,

Hey, Holmes, I bought those a barber. And I was like, oh, shit. And then so I cut the dude's hair and it came out good. And I just cut for one year. I'd went eight months of a year experience before I went to prison. Were you ever nervous about cutting like some of these violent guys hair? Like, if you messed it up, something could happen. The very first one that I did. But I was just so really love that hair cutting industry. I breathe it. It's running through my. blood. I have barber blood. I'm a real barber. The first person I cut his hair, I was nervous, big old dude from Sanho. I was like, oh, yeah, let me, you know, if it comes out bad, he's probably going to break me off. We're going to end up banging. He's going to win. And, you know, that's,

it is what it is. But I cut his hair. He still didn't talk to me. He was, you know, like the guys are out in New York. And he walked right back out, came in through me some commissary. And I was like, oh, word. I was like, so he must have liked it. They're just, you know, less of a conversation. and I was like, all right, word. And it was that good feeling that were someone liked what I did. That's what I liked. Were you allowed to cut anyone's hair? Like, if they were gang affiliated or a different race or anything like that,

was there any rules to it? In that level, too, man, yes. You were allowed to cut anyone's hair. You could do anything you want. The world is yours. There was zero rules. That's what tripped me out to you is I got there and it was like zero rules. You could be a Spanish Jew cutting a black dude's hair.

Once you hit the three are that switched a little bit. But. And you never made it to a three. Yeah, I went to a three, four, five, and six. Why did they kick you back up? I got multiple misconduct reports. For what? What happened?

So when I was in the level two in Las Lunas, my buddy, rise in me, brewed some hooch. We got caught with the hooch. We got caught with the... So we got everyone in the pod drunk. And the CEOs came in, did a big shakedown,

put us all in the gym, found out the hoochers in our room, took us to the hole. The next day when we're coming at, when we're in the hole, like two days later, they start calling Daniel Garcia's name. Daniel Garcia, you know, rise from El Washington. And then they get him. They take him back over to the camp.

And I'm like, oh, cool. They're going to call me next. Sick. So this is this seg shit that really doesn't mean anything. And it's nothing. And so I was like, and then they're like, all of a sudden, they're like, they don't call me. And they don't call me. And so I was like, the CEO came by and I said, hey, dude, can you see what's up with

that unit manager? Like, what's up with me? What am I still doing here? It's like, you know what I mean? And so then they said, uh, they're like. I guess they decided to split us up. He would stay there and they'd kick me off to another camp. And so I ended up going to another level two,

ended up barbering over in that level two. And then became really good in that level two. The secretary, I really started to focus my mind at that point. This is where the roller coaster I went on. The first I was horrible with that too. Then I went to Santa Fe. And I really started to like,

I got there and they told me, try to give me a kitchen job. So I refused it. And I said, I'll just go to the hole. And then they said, well, we'll have to send you to a level three then. And I said, I don't care.

I ain't working. And so they're like, well, all of a sudden, the warden called me and they're real helpful over there in Santa Fe. Shout out to Santa Fe. And then they're like, the warden calls me and goes, hey, man, what's up with you? You're not a gang member. You're not like, why don't you want to program? You don't want to be here? And I said, I'm not working in the kitchen, dude, for 10 cents.

And I just, I'm not washing pots and pans getting involved in those politics for 10 cents an hour. I'll just go sit in the three, four, wherever you want me. And so he's all, because you could be a pod porter over there and have no job. So I was like, I'll do that better. And so he's like, well, what do you do? And what was your detail in Lasunis? I said, I was a barber. Man, I had it made over there.

And he goes, there's clippers right over there. We just lost a barber. Go pick up the clippers. I was like, no way. Because it's hard to get a barber detail in prison, especially where I was. And so I went and got the clippers and started getting to work, man, and enjoyed my life, built a structure over there, started. I ended up the barber that was there.

Eugene Galloway ended up going home. I ended up running that barber shop. And then the first CEO sat in my chair. Well, yeah, CEO got his haircut there too. A sergeant sat. We're not allowed to. You're not supposed to. I'm sitting in there.

And all of a sudden, a sergeant waltz is right in. And he didn't like me either. But he walked right in. I was like, if you really see my Instagram and see the cuts I'm doing, you'll realize how good I am. And I was producing those in there. And so all of a sudden, I cut. he walks in and the sergeant sits in the barber seat and just points to his head.

And so I'm like, oh, shit. So I put the cape on him and I'm like, I put an extra, I put gloves on and I start cutting his hair. And I'm like, well, he tells me I want to, I said, what would you like to do? And he just says, like, give me a fade. And it's like he doesn't really even give me any mid, low, high, you know, so I just do it. I do his exceptional fade on him. He gets up. He leaves.

I'm like, oh, that was kind of rude of him. But it's like, whatever, he's above me. I felt like I had leprosy at the time. And, and he leaves. And all of a sudden, when I'm shutting down the barber shop before a swing shift, I'm shutting it on the barbershop and everything. All the other inmates had left. Even my other barber took off. And all of a sudden, that homie came in with McDonald's dog. And he walked in. I put that on everything, dude. And he walked in and put that on there and just left it and was like, go ahead. And I really didn't know if I was allowed to eat it. I didn't want to eat it. I broke it up into four squares, dude. And I took it back to the pod and tried to help some people. It wasn't even enough to, but I just the gesture of being able. to, we've never had that. Now, did people pay you for the haircuts or were you required to give it to them for free? Required to give it for free.

But did you create your own hustle out of that and charge people? Big time. Big time. So what would a haircut go for? A haircut would go for back then just like a couple bucks, which was a lot because back then it was 50 cents an item because I was there in 2003, 2004. So I'd say, you know, you'd get four items,

which is still, you know what I mean? Back then you imagine you'd do 15, 20, 30 cuts a day. you know knocking out an entire pod between a couple of barbers and um what would they pay you in nutty buddies nutty buddies honey buns uh if you want to get on my list i accept phone cards whatever you got whatever you want brother and and if you don't have anything i got you for free because we have to give it are there certain people you're not cutting air for like if they're a snitch a chomo bad paperwork anything like that so they uh the chomos were not interacting with us so we had no contact with them.

If there was someone who was a chomo, I don't know how that camp, I want to be as transparent as possible. I don't know how that camp would have necessarily worked. The next camp I was in was very clear. But I didn't see any of that. You know what I mean? I didn't also ask, but I didn't really see any of it.

So when you got kicked up to the higher security prison, what was the biggest difference between that and the one you first started in? The biggest difference was the mentality. Those dudes were, it was prison. that's where I was like oh wow this is this is this is this is where it is wow this is great because you you got to remember in love I all of a sudden I was doing great in that level to the secretary of corrections came and made me a job at central office I was cutting all the staff I became a staff barber I was the first one in New Mexico to hold the title

staff barber and then I'll even say the name some homie pistola from Westgate came in had took an issue with me we had a fight I broke him off and uh and and and and and ended up there's nothing they could do it was an assault i ended up going to the level five as an interim level five inmate so not really as on a level system at that time but got to experience the five on pt h pending transfer hold uh then i went over to a level three welcome to las cruises one of the best yards in the world why was it the best yard in the world i would just say uh god it was just, it was a very, it was a very, it was a very, very, very tough yard as far as I was concerned. Like, it was, it was, it mimicked the county that I was in very well.

Would you even want to be the staff, Barbara? Because I feel like that kind of takes away from your hustle, because you can't have the guards pay for you for anything. Well, the guards were giving me so much shit, it was unreal. Oh, like food, street, everything, anything you could think of. So it was worth it for you to do that. Big time. The guards is where the ticket was, because when they moved me to central office, I was eating street food. I was washing my clothes with tied in the real laundry room. Shout out to Oscar. Shout out to all these sheriffs now, you know, that were cadets back then.

You know what I mean? And so I'm friends with all of them. And were you given razors or would you guys pop them out of the razor blades, like to do like the razor ad jobs and whatnot? So to do, so look, I followed the rules because I didn't want to lose my job. So in the barbershop, you were not to have any blades. If you get caught back in the pod, you can have razors. and you could pull them out.

We would take the chip bag and turn it upside down to where you saw like just the foil part and then you could replace that as a blade so I can cut that up, put it in the blade and then clip the blade back, the pink razor back together, the orange razor back together

and then turn it back in. So yeah, we had multiple blades. But those were for like a razor fade in the unit. I wouldn't be doing any razor fade on film in the barbershop or anything. We weren't allowed to you. So how much time do you actually end up doing and said.

1,827 days. So what is that? Five years, eight months. Five years, eight months? I did eight months over the five years. Okay. And when you get out, do you have probation, parole? How does that work?

When I get out, I was on, so I signed the one to ten with a five-year cap. Five-year cap, meaning I went to prison for the five, and then the remainder of the five, being split between five years of probation and concurrent with two years of parole. So if it makes sense, I was on five years of probation, at the same time I was on two years of parole. Once I finished those two years of parole, I'd have three years of probation left. And how old are you when you getting out?

28. 28. What's your mindset coming out of prison? Wanting to do good, man. Wanting to, you know, done with the hall, had the time of my life in there, did all the crazy shit that I wanted to do, got it all out of my system.

And now my mindset was wanting to, I really, I had no great mindset. So really, I just wanted to get a job and work. Like I didn't really wasn't a business guy yet at that point. I just wanted to work, man. I was still poor. You got to imagine I went to a halfway house. No family, no nothing.

Went straight into a halfway house. Hold Coors in Central. I mean, homeless, no money, no nothing. So do you think prison did you more good than bad? Prison did me more good than bad, yes. Yep. Oh, yeah, for sure. Without prison, I wouldn't be who I am today.

I was a lazy piece of shit. Wanted everything. You know, you wanted to take everything. you know what I mean and get it quick and prison showed me that you must clean a cell that you must have your environment cleaner there's accountability prison taught me structure prison taught me to wake up on time I get up every morning at three o'clock I think you know that by my tax I'm just saying I'm still on it I don't that that will never go away so you think you wouldn't have that structure if you never went to prison I wouldn't have the integrity I have today without prison I love prison and I

appreciate prison. And I don't think anybody should go there. I think it's a horrible place. But I think that if you committed a crime, you should own up to it. And I think you should do the time. So do you think if your parents sent you to like a boot camp or something? Do you think that would have had a better effect on you? No. I think I needed prison, man. I think I was a bad kid. I think that I wasn't one of the awesome ones that was going to learn through a boot camp or learn through, you know, just instruction. I feel that I needed prison. I'm one of the few that probably had to go to prison to understand that lesson. Because, you know, once I went to prison and, you know, the stay was the way it was. I knew that I want to interact with a girl, dude.

I want to hang out out here. I want to go on a date. I want to go get something to eat. I want to, you know, enough with the hardcore shit. It was cool while I was there. I got enough of it. So that feeling that you experienced as a kid of, you know, wanting to be liked or fit in, does that ever go away? Or did you always kind of still had that? That went away. drastically. The moment I got to prison and stayed there and started realizing who was who I was amongst some, you know, some of the people, there's a lot of good people there. There was a lot of bad people there. And I just started to realize that place wasn't for me anymore. It was when I got there, but by the time I was leaving, it wasn't for me anymore. I was going to do something

better and greater. How long does it take you to step into your business mindset after prison? shout out Diego Sanchez with the UFC. Shout out to you, Diego Sanchez. I'm going to send you this link, Diego. And you know what, Diego? I did MMA. I fought for King of the Cage. My last fight was in 2012.

King of the Cage, Ignite. I fought on the same card with another friend of mine, Donald Sanchez. Shout out to you, too. He fights for the BKFC. These are all friends of mine, mentors of mine, and a very tight circle of mine. Diego told me one day at the gym and said, hey, dude, you're the best barber in Albuquerque, you should cut hair.

The UFC stuff and everything, it's awesome and everything, cut hair. You know what I mean? And that's, you know, I was having fights and not making any money. Look, guys,

I'll be honest with you, all of my fights, I got paid zero. I have an amateur record. My last fight was even an amateur fight. 2012 made zero off it, it fought on TV and everything, didn't make a dollar.

Actually, and guys, guess what I violated parole on that and went to jail after that. So I really got out in 2012, once I finished all the shit. I violated there by being in a casino. So.

For the fight. For the fight. Even though it was for the fight. Technically. Well, yeah, but you're not, you had to have permission.

Oh, so you never got the permission. Okay. And you did more, that was that extra eight months? That was the last bit of the six to eight months that I spent. And I cleared everything up. Once I went home from there in 2012,

from the jail finished everything. I never went back. What attracted you to fighting? I had always fought when I was a kid. A black belt in Akito when I was young in California, as a youth. Thank you, Mom, for putting me into that, even though it was just Akito. I wanted to be in kickboxing and boxing. I trained with a guy in the level four, jihitsu for about two years every day.

What wanted me to get into fighting is I really just liked it. I liked the strategic challenge in a fight. I didn't look at it as any kind of, I don't look at a fight as a fight as a fight as a a bad thing. I've had over a hundred of them on the street. I look at it like, uh, you, it's an engagement. And so like for me, I can already slow myself down. I can, I know different steps to take to be in that engagement that'll, you know, further me in that engagement. I, I liked it. I just thought it was good. I got out. It was an easy route for me when I got out of prison. Uh, I could not get a job. I went to every single. Thank you to all the places that I applied for in Albuquerque for not hiring me.

I really appreciate you for that. Thank you. Because, uh, if you, uh, if you, if you, uh, if you, if you, you would have hired me, I'd never be here today. And so, yeah, I just, I went and did MMA. They had told me that you can, if you fight, if you fight, and that's going to be your career path, then we'll take that on probation and parole. And so I did that. I did that and went to school, part-time college. Why do you think you didn't go straight to barbering right after her prison? Because I didn't think Barbary made money. When I got out, I was like, I want to make some money. I just want to get a job somewhere. and then I want to start turning that money into something. I wanted to open up the fight house, Ian.

I had a dream that never happened. And you know what? I bought my dream house in high desert. Shout out to all my neighbors in high desert. And I bought a dream house in this dream neighborhood in Albuquerque. I started an LLC and I never shut it down. I had all the heart to called the fight house. And my plan was these awesome elite individuals in prison that were so tough and hardcore that I saw beat all kinds of dudes up.

I'm like, let's get out and do the. the fight house and all contract us through the king of the cage will live in the house. We'll do a 32 foot cage in the garage. We'll live in the house. And we'll do the, I was going to do that before the ultimate fighter even came on. I had already thought of the whole plan. I made an LLC for that in 2008. So I mean, you know what I mean?

I envisualized the fight house because I'm like then all they have to do from king of the cage, John Judy and all them is call us and say, hey, man, you got someone at 170. You got someone at 180. And then we could start the team, fight house. Well, you never knew how wrong you would be about the barbering being successful. I thought it was nothing. And then all of a sudden, shout out to another barber shop in Albuquerque 3D cut. Shout out to Barbara Derek, man.

I'm going to do it anyway. And you know what? I went over there and hung out with them one day when they all went to the UFC. Man, I sat there and played Cinderella. Derek said, hey, man, sit back and cut for me. And I said, I love cutting. Man, I never even thought I was going to get any money. I made $300 that day.

And when I made that $300, because I was poor, I thought it was $3,000. And I was like, oh, my God. And then that with Diego San go barber and a buddy in jail. Shout out to Little Venom from the West had said, Little Venom had told me, hey, brother, there's a program called DVR. And if you have any kind of disability, they'll pay for any kind of license that you want to get. and so uh and so i was like i right then when i made that 300 bucks i was like i want to be i'm really these people all loved my cut like it was like everyone in that shop was like damn you're sick and so i was like damn dude i was really getting that reckon 10 years of doing cuts and never

doing a professional one and i was like man dude i'm and then i felt like jaded because i'm like i'm better than everybody and i have no license so i really started lighting the fire under me at first that's it really started burning me and i was like i was like oh man what What is this? And I was like DVR, the homie said there is something with DVR. Let me see if this really exists. And I typed in DVR and I was like, oh, man, rehabilitational. And I was like, what does it take to get in?

You have to have a disability. I don't really have one. Oh, wait. If I go get a medical card, it says I have PTSD. There's my disability. Went and got a medical card and then went and showed up to that program with the medical card. And they said, hey, this is what it takes to get in the program.

If you get straight A's every semester and submit them to us, we fund you another check. Your boy got straight A's through the whole program and graduated that program with full honors. And now I also dropped out of that program. The director of that program personally wrote me a letter. I elected to drop out of that program, use my own money and fund myself to get my educator license. I'm now also an educator. An educator. An educator. A global educator.

I'm a barber instructor. Okay. So I'm able to teach globally. I'm able to teach locally. I'm able to teach barbering. And I have a license that says that I can teach. Where do you think you got that mindset where you knew if you wanted to be super successful in this industry, you had to branch out. You had to open up shops.

You had to become an educator. Like you have some people that just want to as a bar where they're working for someone else or they have their own. I love you, dad. My dad did it. I don't know how it came from. I don't know how I did that. I have no idea. It somehow just started being implanted into me and I just started doing it.

I truly have no idea how that happened. I just did it. It was, I just started, instead of not doing, I just started doing. I just started taking steps to go forward and rolling into DVR. Now I'm in DVR, getting straight A's showing up to the barber school. I didn't know that's what it needed to take. I just kept making steps forward. And then all of a sudden, I'm not joking with you, Ian.

One day I looked at my bank account. Shout out to Rosie with Gil Mortgage. They all know this and everything. You all see my finances. I looked at my bank account one day and it became, I almost cried. I looked at my shit and I was like, I'm, I'm, don't even live in a home right now. I'm still homeless and I've,

it's like, dude, this is, you know, and that's when I decided I'm just going to buy a house. And so I did that and you know what I mean? And do you have a family now, kids? It's just me by myself, yeah. Do you feel like that's a part that's kind of missing to the equation? That's a part that's missing. I had a girlfriend. I had a great girlfriend.

And, uh, you know, uh, She had two kids. I'm no longer with that girl anymore. And it's just me now. And that'll be the next phase of my life is, I want to have a real stable environment before I bring somebody on. So I'm still building a little bit more to have that real secure environment.

That way, you know, I'm an asset to somebody. Maybe a nice single lady will slide in your DMs after this. That'd be nice. What have been some challenges building your business with having a felony on your record, if there has been any? man, I got to say zero challenges. It's been such a blessing to know that guys, if you want to, if you are a convicted felon, you can easily open a business.

And if you're, you know, it was easy. There was no challenges with the felony opening the business. I think that was a stereotype in the sense of when I first got out, I hear a lot of people saying, oh, well, I can't do this. I'm a felon. I can't. We don't really know until you try. And so when I went to get a building, I think the stars aligned for me.

I think my dad had a lot to do with it that I believe in that. I went to a building that just allowed me to get in and I got in. I've been in my building with my shop for six years. I haven't had a barrier. Once I decided to open my own enterprises, I never had a barrier. Yeah, I really think it's mindset. Like I get frustrated when some people will say to me like, I can't get a job. You know, I'm a felon, this, this and that.

There's some type of job out there. The question is if you're willing to work that job or not until you get to that next level. Keep using methadone and keep hanging out with fentanyl. I'm just saying it's like, you guys, you guys got to give all that up. Look. And at the end of the day, even the stuff where it's like, oh, TJ, I'm on methadone or I'm on the, you should be on nothing, guys. Let's be sober. Let's enjoy life. You want to smoke pot. That's all right. But let's really just, you know, you guys got to grow up. There's no barrier other than the barrier that we create ourselves. You know what I mean? There is no barrier. Look, I couldn't get the job at McDonald's and Walmart

didn't like me. I wasn't going to crawl into the hole and start crying about it. Guess what? Thank you, Walmart for not hiring me. I commend you for that. And, you know, I became successful for them not hiring me. Now, do you feel like you embrace your past of, you know, having the felony and going to prison? And do you incorporate that into your business now, maybe like hiring felons or anything like that? That's a great idea, Ian. I really wanted to, I haven't embarked on that yet, but I really, you know, at the end of this, wanted to pick your brain a little bit before I even head back to New Mexico and see what you kind of thought about the structure for that. You know what? I would like to do that.

I worry about that in my shop because I have so much law enforcement in there. But then I say, what a great turnaround story that you can have another. Look, if there was another person like me that really turned it around and doesn't do anything at all, I'd love to have that as a story. So if there's another person in Albuquerque, New Mexico that doesn't, that has been to prison and you genuinely turned your life around, come build with me, dude. I'm down to build with anyone that really wants to build. I work seven days a week, dude. I'm the most dedicated person to myself and my craft that, you know, I've ever imagined. So if anyone's out there that needs the help or anyone wants to know about DVR, come into my shop.

Not a big deal at all. Surmen's salon, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Yeah, I've come to realize, you know, doing this, that's the job. there's a lot of small business owners like yourself that do have a criminal past that have never talked about it. I mean, did you ever see yourself talking about your criminal past on a podcast? Yep. Absolutely, Ian. And I visualized it with you. You have the best podcast in the world. Your podcast is absolutely amazing. And this podcast is doing a lot for everybody. I have a ton of people watching. And guys, everyone from Albuquerque, New Mexico, I want you to leave a comment on Ian's

channel right now and say something positive, guys. Come on, Ray. Come on, guys. Say something positive. I want you to subscribe to Ian's channel, guys. Come on, Matt. Come on, everybody. Do it. Donald. Diego. Everyone in Albuquerque, Ian Bix, doing something great for the convicted felons, dude. I really look up to you, Ian, for what you're doing. I appreciate what you're doing. You're giving us a voice. You're really helping us out a lot, man. I appreciate it a lot. Thank you, man. I appreciate you. But before you even knew of me, I mean, did you envision yourself talking about it, like openly? I, no, not like this because I just didn't know this would happen, but I, I always talk about

it. My people in the shop are really going to know this. I can't shut up about it. It'll be like I'm doing a haircut and I start talking about me. You know, I'm excited about my reform story, man. I like what I did. I'm not shy about what I did, even though they're heinous charges. Hey, man, sorry to the victim. Sorry to all the people out there. I really feel bad about it. If I wronged anyone, let me write you. And I'll do that same thing for you. I'll do something good. Yeah, I just, I'm glad to get the story out there.

I never thought that it would get out there. But I do love talking about it. And I'm very blessed to be able to talk about it on your platform. Yeah, I'm grateful for having you. What do you think is the biggest lesson you want people to take away from your story? The biggest lesson is, guys, anybody can do it. I stop this with ninth grade education, guys. anybody can do it.

Anybody in the world could do it. If you think that you can't, you can. If you're on drugs right now, I swear to God, you could get off them. I swear to God, you can do anything you want to do. You can get any job you want. You can create anything for yourself. Believe in yourself and do it and just take the baby steps forward and stop committing crime and don't do anything wrong, guys.

Let's all take the momentum to go forward and it will all work out just great. I like to say this, be the best version of you for you. We all need doctors. We need surgeons. We need FBI agents. We need cops. We need everyone. We need servers.

We need, there's a role for everyone. Play your role to the best of your ability. And then you are successful. Your success doesn't need to be determined by someone else's success. You know, take a step forward every day for yourself. And let's see you guys, step up. Let's do it. Guys, everyone start with a comment.

I want this to really, guys, let's all. breed the positivity. That's really what I want to happen out of this is, you know, I want everyone to, if anyone needs any help, guys, just, you know, don't be afraid to reach out to me or Ian. Absolutely. Well, TJ, thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with me today. And I know you love New York now, so. I love New York, guys. I swear to God, I love New York. I swear to God, I will get a home here very soon. And it's going to be in a high rise. Yeah, and I just found out we have a Ritz Carlton 20 minutes away from here. Thanks to you. And guys, I stayed there. So you go watch me on Instagram, Thomas Baca Barber.

Yeah, and we'll have the link to your Instagram in the description of this. But yeah, safe travels back. Enjoy the rest of your stay and enjoy the Tyson product. Ian Bick has the best podcast in the world. And this Mike Tyson product is so awesome. It's amazing. I appreciate you guys. And I want to say one last thing, too.

This drink was absolutely amazing. It wasn't over the top. It was just perfect. So thank you. That's awesome. Yeah. Shout out to Rick Flair. But yeah, thanks again, brother.

Shout out Rick Flair.