The HoneyDew with Ryan Sickler - Lana Negrete - LanaDew

Episode Date: December 20, 2021

My HoneyDew this week is Lana Negrete! Lana is back to Highlight the Lowlights of life after the 2020 Santa Monica riots! SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE and watch full episodes of The Dew every toozdee! https://www.youtube.com/rsickler  SUBSCRIBE TO MY PATREON, The HoneyDew with Y’all, where I Highlight the Lowlights with Y’all! You now get audio and video of The HoneyDew a day early, ad-free at no additional cost! It’s only $5/month! Sign up for a year and get a month free! https://www.patreon.com/TheHoneyDew  SPONSORS: Imperfect Foods -Get 20% off your first 4 orders when you go to https://www.ImperfectFoods.com and use promo code HONEYDEW Athletic Greens -Get a FREE 1 year supply of Vitamin D AND 5 free travel packs with your first purchase when you visit https://www.athleticgreens.com/honeydew  Everlywell -Get 20% off an at-home lab test at https://www.Everlywell.com/HONEYDEW   Liquid IV -Get 25% off when you go to https://www.LiquidIV.com and use code HONEYDEW at checkout Purple -Go to https://www.Purple.com/HONEYDEW and use code honeydew to get 10% off any order of $200 or more Manscaped -Get 20% off and FREE shipping with the code HONEYDEW at https://www.Manscaped.com 

Learner's Permit Thursdays on my YouTube. Subscribe today. La Jolla, thank you so much. We sold out some more shows down there. Man, we've hit them now in Indy, Baltimore. We've hit them in Cleveland, in La Jolla. Thank you so much for your support. Austin, unfortunately, has to be rescheduled.

The club is not going to be open in time. And Kansas City, I can't wait to get to your wonderful town. I'll be there January 20th through the 22nd. Get your tickets for those dates and all dates at ryan sickler.com. The honeydew with Ryan Sickler. Welcome back to the honeydew, y'all. We're over here doing it in the Night Pants studios. I'm Ryan Sickler, ryansickler.com, and Ryan Sickler on all your social media.

Dates, the Night Pants Nation tour is going fucking great. I can't thank you enough for your support. Coming up next is La Jolla. What's that? December 15th through the 17th. And Austin, January 6th through the 8th. Tickets available at ryanstickler.com. YouTube. Listen, this channel continues to grow and grow and grow.

And I can't thank you enough for that either. So I know you're watching. Please subscribe. And the Patreon is just, it's like, I don't know. It's like, how do you pick your favorite kid? That damn show has the wildest stories and it's five bucks a month. And yeah, I do know that's a lot of money for some people. Absolutely. I know that's a utility bill. I know it's a sell bill. I know that. 60 bucks a year. But if you sign up for a year, you'll save a little bit of money. You'll get over a month free. All right. I'm doing everything I can to keep costs low and keep bringing you good shit. Cause y'all have not let me down. If y'all know someone or you have that story has to be heard, please submit it to honeydewpodcastatgmail.com. Hopefully we get to do an episode together. All right. Uh, the website here, the honeydew podcast, oh, sorry, Honeydewpodcast.com. And merch is still all stocked up. The holidays are here, man.

Get your Honeydew merch for the holidays. It makes a great gift, okay? Now, you know what we do here. We highlight the lowlights. These are the stories behind the storytellers. I'm very excited to have this guest back on the do. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back Lana Negrete. Welcome back to the honeydew

lana yeah you got it fuck yeah clap yourself in not enough people do um all right first of all thank you for coming back thanks you look fantastic as always um people don't see your cowboy boots but maybe we can get them in the picture i mean i can put them up girl can i see them that's nashville that's n Nashville. Please, before we get into everything we're going to talk about today, plug, promote everything you would like. First and foremost, Outreach Through the Arts. The nonprofit Ryan works on with me as well. We've had a rough year, but we've built some amazing programs that are coming out. So I definitely want to plug ATA.

OTTarts.org is where you can go to find out more about all the programs we're doing and the kids we're serving and how you can help contribute with time

or money. And then of course, you know, Santa Monica Music Center, Culver City Music Center. Those are the two spots that I own. My family business

for music lessons, instrument needs. We've got you covered. Podcast studios now. That's right. We'll talk about that. And we're about to open up our live recording studio as well. So whether you want to learn because you're a novice or you're a professional and you need a space, that's where you can go.

SantaMonicaMusicCenter.com. You can look at both locations from that website. And then lastly, by the time this comes out, I'll be gearing up to campaign for city council, Santa Monica. Santa Monica city council. So I'm on there now. I was appointed, but I'll be running my campaign for election next November. So if you're in Santa Monica and you can vote, please vote for me. If you're not, please move and register to vote.

Give me a tally. Let me just get some votes. Fuck yeah. All right. So we have a little bit to talk about here. First of all, this blew me away, the small world story that happened after your first. So I want to say this. Also, there's links on the Honeydew Podcast website as well.

You can go there to get anything to reach out to Santa Monica Music Center. So we did the first episode, which if you don't know who Lon is, you want to know, go listen to that first episode. It actually is a really great episode. And after that, some things start popping off in the community and people are hearing this and that. And an article gets written. I mean, is that what you call that? I wouldn't call it. I guess, you know, whatever. Some trash gets thrown out, I wouldn't call it. I guess, you know, whatever.

Some trash gets thrown out, blows across the street. And our neighbor here, our neighbor, this man comes up and approaches you, correct? Yep. And how long would you say after that episode? Probably like, I mean, it had to have been, when do we do that one? God. It's like a year after because I was already on city council, which is kind of how it came about. But I think – I don't know if he listens to your podcast or if it's because one of the council members – Article, maybe.

Article, whatever. So what you referenced specifically in that podcast that we're talking about is that – what happened to you? So seventh grade, I was 12. You dosed, right? Yeah, I put acid in my drink. I don't know that I named him, but maybe. Anyways, it's my experience. It's my information.

And it led to a bunch of shit. Oh, yeah, it led to a bunch of shit. For me, in my childhood, it was a pivotal moment for me, for sure. It was trauma, if you will. But I guess it also was for him. So when that happened, he never apologized or never reached out to me. As a matter of fact, I felt the opposite in the encounters that I had with him after that, that maybe he felt the victim somehow. I don't really know.

But post that, he's standing there, and I'm looking at this person. Look at me. I'm like rushing out of it. Right outside. Right outside in the garage, and he's using the space that the landlord, who we love so dearly. Oh, what a gem. Rents out over there. And he's like, Lana.

I think he said Lana Fernandez, which when anyone uses my maiden name, I'm like, oh, you know me from high school or before. And then as I'm looking at him, I realize who it is. And he's like, it's me. So he wanted to schedule some time. It was him. It was him. It was him. It was the guy.

And I haven't seen or talked to him. Who rents next door to your family fucking business. I mean, he works like he's an independent writer, I think. So he uses that space. So I could see it as I see it looked like genuine, like, oh, my gosh, I want to have this connection. Do you have time to sit down? He said that? Yes.

If we can make time for each other. And we still have to. Has he ever said the word if we can make time for each other and we still have to um and has he ever said the word has he still said the words i'm sorry no i don't think he's had that opportunity maybe that's what he wants to say he had the opportunity right out front on the sidewalk i think it was so so whatever you know listen man well again i don't know maybe his purpose is to say what he experienced from it which we'll find out. But yeah, so, and then afterwards. Fucking crazy. It's so crazy.

It's crazy you tell that story and then you come to work one day and this dude's like. A year later. Man, I'm part of Night Pants Nation, I gotta tell you. And I'm assuming it's either that or one of the council members that knows him. Yeah.

And they ran into each other and he was trying to get ahold of me. Maybe he heard it, whatever. I a hold of me maybe he heard it whatever i don't know maybe someone heard it um but anyways yeah so that spawned this which would be take a lot on the lunch motherfucker and say you're sorry and i'm not getting my bring my own drink i said it yeah and bring your own god damn drink the whole time so we talk about... What you got to tell me, by the way? I just hope he has a good sense of humor, because I do. If he doesn't, that's his fucking problem.

Yeah. You're the one that got dosed. That's the... You know what I mean? And the crazy thing was like... It's not like I got you. You know? No, no.

Was other people were involved in like, oh, you know, that was traumatic. I guess he had his... whatever happened to him afterwards, there might have been some trauma for him around it, which I respect and can acknowledge. That's a crazy story. It's a crazy story. And I hope it ends in some new relationship. I think we all grow up and become parents.

30 years ago? Yeah. I hope you get full closure finally. Yeah. All right, here's what I also do want to, what I don't want, we're not going to talk about because i'm sure people were like yeah we're not talking about uh politics here we're not talking about the looting or whatever happened to us we're not sitting here and the reason i don't want to

first of all i don't give a fuck what other people think about what happened to us. Yeah. I don't give one shit what anyone else thinks about what happened to us. Yeah. Period. Okay. Because I am proud of you. I sat down there and cleaned up glass and all that with you. And both of us, instead of whining and boohooing, we lost just like everybody, maybe more than others. And we just fucking got up and started marching forward.

And not only that, growing and succeeding. So look, I want to commend you because I'm telling you, you got big dick energy. If you were a dude, your dick would be bigger. I mean, and look, you know what my daughter's mom told you. So we're sitting here, both of us sitting here, big dick energy, girl. Anyway, I'm proud of you. And let's talk about what you did because literally picked ourselves up and you, let's talk about ATA first and what you did with that whole program.

I mean, almost like immediately after because there was all the stuff happening with all the racial tension and the police, I mean, nationally. So here we are trying to literally pick up pieces and build. And I thought, oh, my gosh, what a great opportunity to create another class or course or way for these kids that are in the diversion program, which is now called LEAD with the Santa Monica Police Department, because I had a connection to Santa Monica Police. I knew people that ran that program, so I knew I could get access to these kids in the neighborhood. And I thought, there's no trade schools. You know, people, this industry, whether it be music, entertainment, including podcasting, all of it is so mystified for kids,

and they don't even know, like, how do you get to where you are now? Like, what were the steps taken? So it was a great way to teach kids how to run pre-production, post-production, you know, teaching them the four-camera live switch, teaching them skills that they could literally take and put on a resume and go get a paying job for. But more importantly, I thought the dialogue that they could have would really be meaningful for the community, for themselves. So you created a course, a class. Yeah, with you. Well, it's your stuff, but I created a curriculum. You created a class. Yeah. And the opportunity for these people and myself, because I've come to you and said, I thank you for including me in it because I really love it. I've enjoyed it. And you're right, because I, as a parent, especially

now and watching and knowing what I paid for college and watching these people get just into an almost six-figure hole that they're never going to pay off coming out so I then I question wow is college really the right move I know I am the generation of parents who they got their high school diploma and went right into the workforce, maybe touched on college a little bit, but it was boom. We were the generation that was supposed to go to college to further ourselves. I think this generation, I agree. Again, there's nothing wrong working at Starbucks, Little Caesars, whatever, nothing at all. I think that's great for you too. But if you can get an early jump on something that you have a passion

for, and like you said, whether it's production, because we've taught the kids in here, the cameras, we've taught them audio, we've taught them live switching, we've taught them editing, basic editing, music, how to pick your titles, graphics. We've taught them everything. And we've done two courses now. And how to be a host, how to speak speak and how to be a host and be a guest also you know so um and to get out of your comfort zone because these kids are interviewing the fucking police yeah fresh off of like we still sleep sweeping up glass out there i'm still wondering where the fuck they were you know i'm like where y'all come here for the class huh no problem getting here for the class anyway i joke kind of. But you're right.

If someone just learns how to do cameras or editing or whatever, they can walk forward with a real skill that they can take out into the world and start making good money early on and connections that could help further them down the line. Because this shit's not going anywhere. No. The YouTubes and not only podcasting, but all this content creation is not going anywhere it's only getting bigger and better real tangible skills which is what i think we're missing like those i mean when i was in high school you learned how to change your oil and we had rop programs where you left early to work in a certain field or whatever so like literally repairing wires, setting up mics, doing post-production, that's a job that is not just the creative side of it. It's like, that's a thing that you can

learn and do. Like we can teach anybody that and you can do that job and make a living. And then maybe from there, as you're in that world surrounded by those people, you find your creative outlet. But for some people that is the creative piece of it so i think what's hard is when you know we can't just look at these kids doing all this tiktok and creative content blogging stuff i just hung out last night with um a couple that was like how long have you and your husband been together i'm like oh we met in 2000 he's like i was born in 2000 and they're making more than us you know content creating content on tiktok and blogging and instead of you know poo-pooing it or laughing at it it's like that's great but do you actually know i think what's even more valuable

is if you know how to set up your own stuff like if you could set it up and produce it then you're more valuable because if your content is gone and no one likes it in a couple months and it's just like a one-hit wonder you can still go get a pretty well-paid job with insurance doing the other stuff so these kids you know having a foot in the door in this industry is a big deal who you know it is so saturated so it almost makes it more competitive in a way you got to be like extra special to stand out well what what i really loved it was a moment where i just was like there it is because at first you were like this person podcast pocket i go lana everybody's got a fucking and then there was like after like two months

somebody came up in front of us you're like she goes i want to do a podcast everybody's got a fucking podcast i was like there it is because i didn't even listen to podcasts before and then i realized like everybody has a podcast but and everybody's got an opinion everybody's got something to say and everyone has a crowd to listen to them and I respect that but these kids I wanted them to learn skills so that whatever they walked away with they they learned something at the end of the day and we were also providing a platform for the police to expose who they are as human beings because here are kids who have had negative interactions and positive interactions with police. And I think in this program, the positive has outweighed the negative in our community. So I wanted to send a positive message because the negative narrative

was already out there. And we had kind of cast this national opinion on all police officers that they're all bad. And I was friends with a lot of these guys who grew up not wanting to be police because of what they endured and their communities and then deciding, no, that's actually why I want to be a police officer. And then you remember it started turning into these cops were moving, you know, their shift so that they could come and be on here. Yeah, they were all coming in. And also we interviewed the chief of police who, what I was told, this woman made history.

So she was the first, I believe, black female officer and then went all the way to the ranks and was the first every level all the way up to chief of police. It was so good that the current chief of police during the bullshit was out and she came back in to help out. I mean, and these kids got to sit, and she came back in to help out. I mean, and these kids got to sit down and talk to that woman about her life. I wanted to come on here just because I have so many questions about the racism and sexism. Because she told a story about how, or they had said, I don't know if I'm allowed to say this. A domestic violence call she went on. Yeah, she went on a domestic violence call with a female partner, I believe. And then her backup showed up

and the two guys waited outside because they figured she would get roughed up and fucked up in there and they'd come in and Captain Save-A-Ho and make them look good. Like, see, y'all can't really do the job. And apparently she drugged that motherfucker down the steps and then they said, you want us to call it in?

She's like, we got it. Yeah, yeah. No, she's a badass. And my dad's a fan, as you know. Oh, yeah, he is a fan. He watched her take somebody down. Yeah, no, I mean, that was the whole point. Like, let's look at people as people and find out who they are.

And these kids got to give their perspective because for the longest, we were hearing a community that has a 30,000 foot view, which I like to say, it's like this luxury of having this 30,000 foot view. The luxury to have space and time to really think about a problem and come up with a solution is a true luxury. But when you're in it, in the shit, there's a lot of value in that because you have real life experience to be applied to the situation and that's how I see these kids like they're living it and they're the next generation let's let them lead the conversation because I think they have something to say which as we found out was quite different from what some people were saying they

were like I don't want to defund the police. I'm in this amazing – I wouldn't be here today learning how to podcast if it wasn't for our local police, the Santa Monica PD, and this amazing lead program. I wouldn't be learning all these great things. Officer so-and-so gave me my first pair of Jordans, and I got Thanksgiving dinner delivered to me by this officer. So we were just going through such a negative time, and everything was so negative. I just wanted an opportunity to say there's good people out there in all fields. And if there's a way to shed some light on that and teach some kids a trade that they can actually go get a job with, well, then I feel like that's a good program. And the kids were great. Some of them really impressed me, like took right to it.

Some of them were like, I'm never going to be in front of the camera. Cut to they were like the best in front of the camera. I can't remember the one young girl's name, but she loved Rogan. And I was like, you listen to Joe Rogan? She's like, yeah. Remember, she was ballsy and she wanted that one cop to come in. And she's like, I want to ask him why he never says hello to me. And I go, are you serious? She's like, yup. And she put him in there and she goes, how come you never say hi to me? And he was like, oh, I say hi to you. And I was like, look at her in there. Fearless. And then because of Mark Wahlberg had stepped in and created a bunch of connections.

Dwayne, who started here. And then that connection between Mark, who introduced me to Talitha, which connected me to William Morris Entertainment. He got to be able to have a dialogue and a possible mentorship with Kevin Shivers. So, I mean, none of that would have happened had all those negative things not happened. So, it's just, you know. Well, then we also, well, again, you also, I keep saying we because I feel so like I'm excited to be a part of it. So, I apologize. I don't want to take any credit from you, but you created also, now that was for at-risk youth in Santa Monica with the police department. You also have a program through OTTA as well for the Culver City High School kids. And I got to teach the curriculum to the Culver City High School kids.

And they were great too. Yeah. Different group of kids. They were already taking some classes in media and entertainment. So it was wonderful to have them in the room. And now they want to make it a full on extension part of their school. I think most schools are leaning towards project based trade based,

like teach, putting kids in front of the action and actually having them do it. So, I mean, look, I think it should be a class in high school now. Yeah. Everyone's doing it at that age already.

You're starting to quicker. You can learn this stuff and why wouldn't you're teaching all the other shit those old those av kids would be all over this shit remember that kid the dork that wheeled the cart to class well i'm older than you that kid would be like i got your fucking cameras and shit don't worry no exactly yeah that's the kids you should hang out with i'm that's where i fucked up hung out with all the jocks instead of the nerds i know i think about that coding and everything else. I know. You're what? Five houses? You got five, huh?

Dungeons and Dragons. God damn. Who's a loser now? I had to be all Juco. That don't pay shit. I think about that all the time. And that's what I want to share with kids is experience. And no matter what we share, there's always going to be,

they have to figure it out themselves. But, I mean, even during this process, once becoming on city council, I realized we have a whole studio a block away from here, a TV studio. That's what I'm saying. Why can't that be added to VoTech? That's what we called it back in the day where you go work on a car, home ec sort of classes, chef, cooking, all this. They do. They did a small program, but this is going to be different. No, no. all this like they do they did a small program but this is for podcasting no no for the for the actual studio where we had city tv when they have aerobics classes a cooking class i mean

the city had put tons of money and it's just sitting there because of covid so the idea is to have um the kids in this program be able to learn how to work the big camera rigs and everything that goes into putting a show together and hopefully having them take over the communications for the city. Because how cool would it be if the next generation is out there interviewing citizens, talking to policymakers, creating content about our city from the next generation who literally in a few years could be up on the dais, you know, so that's I want to make it. I want to unmystify the industry and opportunities for kids to stand up and be leaders like listen. I mean, I wasn't that kid that was pushing the car. I definitely wasn't. I was definitely going, you know, getting off campus whenever I could or whatever, but that doesn't mean that you can't be afforded opportunities Like we got to look at the glass half full and who people are and not what they aren't. The holidays are right around the corner. If you want help prepping for your parties and family get togethers, all while supporting a more sustainable local food system,

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During this whole process, after I was on the show, this guy, because now I get back to the do it's so funny like during this whole process after i was on the show this guy because now i get appointed to city council yeah so now you google me that's the only thing literally nothing yeah wrecked on the fucking sidewalk right to city council woman having to have people deliver create outreach to the arts for uh this non-profit for the two new programs and then become an la city or excuse me santa monica city council not la um and which was crazy because people used to joke around all the time like oh you're a mini mayor of santa monica because i knew everybody and they'd call me if they needed to know something um or how to do something in santa monica and then it was like

you should be on city council and i was like i don I don't have time. It's not the right time. And I was literally riding my exercise bike. I'll put a polygon for Peloton in case they want to send me anything. My Peloton, or as Louie likes to say, my Peloton. And I have all these Mel Robbins, like, inspirational quotes. And one of my favorites is start before you're ready because nothing beats experience. i thought you know what i'm never going to be ready i mean i thought i was ready to have kids at a certain age and their therapy bills will prove that i wasn't but um but no i mean so i just said you know what i'm just going to do it and then immediately like when it was all happening

because it was an appointment process i was up against like 33 other people or something, but it's a little different, not a full-on election. But there's still like some campaigning going on. And then the minute it actually happened, it was so great. And then I got up there and I had to make a vote right away. But that night when I went to bed, I had a full-on panic attack because I realized my friends were texting me. Like people were taking to social media that never met me before saying mean things. And I was like, oh, I told you. I was like like i don't know if i can do this like people are read the comments about my laugh lani you'll feel better about yourself people are just so it's so crazy to me

that like the minute somebody's up on a and i'm not even like it's not like i'm making money or anything like we get paid fifteen thousand dollars a year I can't get over that. And we get a parking pass though. That's the key to the city. $15,000 and it's a full-time job and a parking pass. That parking pass is, my husband's always like, show them how we do it, baby,

in the mall. Oh, it didn't work. It's only on weekends. It's Sunday from 12 to three, but you can park wherever the fuck you want. No, but I mean, that whole like experience of seeing how people who maybe even met you and worked with you in some like pta group and then they take to some it takes to the who's

this bitch think she is yes i know but i'm like if you know some and these are the people that diligently read all the i haven't seen you at a meeting i've been to 875 meetings and are you on a board or a commission have Have you done anything? Or do you just sit there behind your computer and write things on social media? Keyboard, cowboys. Oh, and they know everything and how it should be done and everybody on there is doing the wrong thing

and you don't know how to do it. I'm like, well, then get up here and do it. But I mean, for them to wait for the perfect opportunity. I don't want to do it. I just want to tell you how to do it. And how you're doing it wrong. Yeah, how you're doing it wrong and fucking it up. But I don't want to do it. I just want to tell you how to do it. And how you're doing it wrong. Yeah, and how you're doing it wrong and fucking it up. But I don't want to do it.

But I do know how to. Okay, asshole. I had some lady come up to me where I got the great opportunity to announce Santa Claus and do the tree lighting, which for me was a little bit like, I don't think the mayor realized when she let me do it how much it meant. Because growing up as a kid, my dad used to play on the stages there and we would see santa and we'd have to wait in line and it's funny because my dad was a musician we we didn't it wasn't like we got to go first it was like yeah we'll let everybody else go first and sometimes i'd miss the opportunity i'd like have all this anxiety like god damn it there's

60 kids in line i might not meet santa and they would do the annual tree lighting and i got to go on stage and read the last line that introduced s who lights the tree. But right when I get down, this woman who I've known, whose kids have taken lessons and gotten scholarships from me, is like, you know, you got to do this. And nobody knows what you're doing because you're not saying it. You should do this and you should do that. And if you don't do this this way, that way. And I can't help myself. But I was like, why don't you do it? I don't have to do shit, lady. Like, don't talk to me like that and come up to me and just start telling me how I should. And hi, how are you?

Nice to meet you. Nice to see you. It's just crazy how people feel like it's an open invitation. To shit on you. To shit on you. And like, what does that do? All the people that complain about our city

and are so angry and they're so certain that there's this conspiracy theory going around that the entire staff and everybody's all working together to like diabolically take the city down, I guess. I don't know. I'm like, why do you live here then? Like if it sucks that much, like I don't get it. Or why aren't you a part of the solution? Like it's so easy to point out the problem and maybe say what the solution could be.

the solution could be, but to actually come up with the solution and then do the work towards making it right and figuring out along the way, ah, that wasn't the solution, but maybe this is, and if we tweak it that way. Well, there's certain people break you down and other people break you down and then help build you up. And that's what, hey, look, I see a better way to do this. Great. Would you like to help? Yes, I would. Yeah. I love those people. Welcome them all day long, but it's the people who don't. And then you realize there's people who have ulterior motives and you start getting into all that stuff we want to get into politics i realize i'm not a politician and so that might be the demise of my campaign next year because people are like well you got to do this because if you don't then this person's going to get and then that's going to mess up i'm

like but it's not right to do that and they're like but if you don't do it then this person i'm like well but it's not right to do that. And they're like, but if you don't do it, then this person, I'm like, well, but it's not right. I got to be able to go to sleep at night. So I don't want to check off a box of a group of people and say, oh, I voted this way because whatever you guys always say how to vote, I'm always going to vote that way. It's like, well, I don't know because I have a different perspective and experience in life. And clearly it was valued enough to get where I'm at now and if I get elected then that means that there's enough people that agree with that and I think everybody has value the the ivy league lawyers that are up there to the working moms I mean I'll just say this though I'm the one that still is running payroll and actually owns a small business so I think my voice has a lot of value now there's times in the when- In the city you are- In the city, yeah.

And I was born and raised here, so I have historical perspective as a working class person living in a rent control department building. I mean, you all lived in the Walton house. Not me. I mean, I've got perspective for sure. And I'm raising kids here,

and my trajectory is not, my goal is not to be you know at the state or whatever level my goal is just to serve my community so it's not like i'm doing this to get to the next step it's it's truly just to serve the community and so my kids can get dropped off at the promenade without having to carry a weapon in their pocket now um but no i mean that's that's my goal and i'm so excited to be able to like help on a bigger scale and bring in the kids that I work with. That's, that's really what I want to do. Like, look, nobody thought I was going to be up here, including myself. And I am. And I, it reminded me of Michelle, Michelle Obama, when I went and listened to her book reading, I'll never forget when she said she, I'm paraphrasing, but she was like, basically her first few weeks being there as first lady, she thought, oh my God, there's all these smart people in the room. Like I'm not the smartest in the room. I'm a fraud. And then cut to like a year later, like I might be the smartest person

in this room. Yeah, right. Soon to figure it out. So logic and pragmatic approach, I mean, that's valuable to me. So I just try to bring that approach. I try not to be embarrassed. I raise my hand. I ask. You'll see me on the dais be like, do we always have to speak like we're in a Shakespeare play? If you got to put up a PowerPoint to explain that ordinance, maybe we should be reducing it down to three sentences so everybody can understand it. So I hope to bring that part to city council so people see like, oh i'm translating it for the people like my power there's somebody doing that right now you know i do power points lana that's what i do look

someone's gonna hear this listen to this like what did that guy write out of the two hours we talked about this is what we know about people do though she was molested drugged and her dad played intros to titty bars. And now I can't do my PowerPoints. This fucking bit. Everyone picks out the most negative things. And look, I like to laugh and make fun. I mean, Louie and I bag on our kids so hard, we're like not sure if it's even right.

But we laugh at each other. We laugh at ourselves. Yeah. That's okay. But to just be mean like just to be mean is like really i don't get it what's what do you what do you get out of that like the people that take time to comment i'm not talking about your podcast but you're saying people say stuff plenty of them but why are you gonna listen then and then take the time to go on my account

and that's why when they say like your laugh ruins every podcast i'm like thanks for listening thanks for listening all of them it's on ringtone you can get it as a ringtone now you just leave 10 voicemails with your laugh so let me ask you this you go from being business destroyed to not only building yourself back up but building your community back up which is un-fucking-believable yeah um becoming a santa monica city councilwoman and um or is it person council member member okay yeah that's like councilman what are you i want to highlight low light so right now what are you most proud of and i want a personal like in my personal like if right now you could look back in a year and a half ago and tell that us down there sweeping that fucking glass up like hey

what are you most proud of that we're still here i know that's so basic but i really thought at that moment there's so many businesses that aren't yeah like that was and then you know what i went through after that with the lease negotiation so i, he showed up that day and was like, how are you going to pay for my rent? I was like. Okay. So the landlord shows up and tell us about that conversation. He literally is walking around to see what happens. And he says, how are you going to pay my rent now?

And I was like, watch out for that glass. Didn't he call you little girl? Oh, many times in all the negotiations. Like he would wait for my dad to do meetings, even though. And he called you little girl. Oh, yeah times in all the negotiations. Like he would wait for my dad to do meetings even though. And he called you little girl. Oh, yeah, little girl. My favorite one was when you told him you brought your feelings to a business meeting. Oh, yeah.

Tell me. So I was actually ready to give him a bigger check than he ended up getting. I ended up reducing it because, you know, I just wanted to make – I wanted to move on. Everybody was doing the whole like like, not paying rent. I was never doing that. I was giving more than I had to. And just no one knew, like, am I going to owe all this? Am I not?

I mean, people are still sitting in that predicament. So I just kind of wanted to close that chapter. Even though people said, well, you're just wait. I was like, I just want to move on and know a little bit more about the future. And in order to do that, I got to close this. So I had written out the check. And he comes in there. First of all, he doesn't want to just talk and know a little bit more about the future. And in order to do that, I got to close this. So I had written out the check and he comes in there. First of all, he doesn't want to just talk to me. He wants my dad in there, which is always funny to me because my dad's either falling asleep at the meeting or he'll say something off color.

The most inappropriate shit, yeah. Go back to your career. I won't even say what he says because someone will pick that out. But anyways, and my dad's looking at me like, I don't know, ask her. that out. But anyways, and my dad's looking at me like, I don't know, ask her. But he had brought his broker, who was great, who all I could see was his eyes during the whole meeting. But at some point, I mean, we were just about to give him the check and he goes, I just want to say something. And he went on to say, you chose to pay your employees before me. You chose to take care of all your employees and probably your vendors,

but you paid your employees before me. And that's horrible. You don't need to respect me. I'm the landlord and you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me and blah, blah, blah. He went into this whole like diatribe about how horrible of a person I was. And ultimately like, you know. How dare you. Yeah. How dare I take care of my employees. And I was like, if I had to do it again, that's exactly how I'd do it. Didn't pay myself, paid my employees. And they're still here.

They didn't have to struggle to eat or whatever. But he didn't get that concept. But I was like, listen, it's unfortunate. Thank you for sharing that you brought all your feelings about me and how I handled everything to this meeting. So let me just take this check back. Yeah. And look at your broker who said that we could possibly negotiate differently. And then it was like, the broker was like,

maybe you should just accept it. I was like, no. Little boy, you brought your feelings to a business meeting. I'm going to get my feelings involved a little bit. Your feelings, you brought them into business. I was like, listen, for all the things you've said to me and done to me, I've never once taken that into account because the business transaction is separate like i may not like you as a person or think all these things about you but yeah but this is a business transaction and this is who i'm doing business with right now and that's what it is so but unfortunately he let me know what he felt

about me and i was like good to know good to know wasn't some of the one that signs the check you just take that back so i mean we're not in the best situation but we're here he just rolled through the other day with bankers i don't know if it's like a thing to make me nervous he's like these are my bankers i'm like okay so does he know you're a city council yeah he does you know he's probably listen to this that's fine let him listen i think you know the reality. Let them listen. I think, you know, the reality. What scares you the most? I think what scares me the most

is not succeeding at this like dream that I have to create what I've actually been manifesting and doing. So it scares me that I won't keep taking those steps

because as silly as it sounds because I'll look back and go, oh shit, I did do it. It's like. And what do I tell you all the time

just fucking do it just do it I know don't wait just do it I know and that was my biggest thing because I think

I procrastinated a lot I just was it's a big what do you call it imposter syndrome I've always had that like I don't deserve to be in this room

around these people or I want to create this thing but it'll never really look like that because that's meant for these type of people and I think that's a product of like growing up with nothing or less you know what I mean and so I just constantly told myself that story and then honestly I read a couple good books I love James Clear Atomic Habits I read that book for the third time and shared it with the kids during the podcast. And it's just making those small changes to make yourself 1% better every day. And Mel Robbins, all those inspirational books.

But they took to me during that time because I thought, okay, what's my choice? It's either do nothing. Is he like Tim's dad? She. Mel Robbins. Tim's mom? Tim's aunt? No. No, it's not. That's funny, though. I didn't even Tim's dad? She. Mel Robbins. Tim's mom? Tim's aunt? No.

No, it's not. That's funny, though. I didn't even think about that. Tony? Tony Robbins? Oh, Mel from Melanie? No, just Mel. Mel Robbins.

She's like a big, she's a big speaker. And actually, she talks about how, you know, she was bankrupt, going bankrupt just a few years ago. And you start to go like, well, damn, if somebody like that could be standing right here, if somebody like that has imposter syndrome. And one of the cheesiest things she does is high five habit challenge that I've been doing and I want my kids to do it, trying to get them to do it, is high fiving yourself in the mirror. It sounds so stupid and you feel so ridiculous doing it. But it's proven scientifically that, like, you can't think negative thoughts about yourself when you do it.

I just broke the fucking mirror. What? I fist pumped. You fucking glad. Compliance. All down your hand and broke your fucking mirror. God damn it.

Lana's bullshit. I got handprints everywhere. No, but I just started to say, you know what? I'm just going to do it. And even if my, even if the goal is here and I just start and I get to there, that's the first step. And then that's all it takes. It's like when you say, you know what, I'm just going to do it. And even if my, even if the goal is here and I just start and I get to there, that's the first step. And then that's all it takes. It's

like when you say you don't want to exercise and you're like, I'll just go for a five minute walk, turns into a three mile jog. I mean, it was just taking the first step and doing it and not judging myself, being kind to myself and being like, you know what, you could have not done anything, but you're doing it. And we work for ourselves. And I forget, people remind me all the time. This is my family business inside your family business. Yes. And I mean, to not have to depend on someone else to create the structure and the entity that feeds your kids is a big, scary deal. So I have to remind myself that I've been doing that for a really long time and I've figured it out successfully. And what does success mean? Like, is it the big house or the this or the that?

No, it's being able to know that I make my own hours. It doesn't feel like that sometimes. It feels like you're, you know, tied to do certain things, but they're choices. Like no one's, I'm not doing anything for someone else. I'm doing them for me. And in terms of being like a city council member, there's times where you feel like, oh my gosh, I got to do this. I got to do that.

But it's part of serving the community, which serves my family too. So I think my biggest fear would be not to take those steps. And my biggest accomplishment is having trusted in and valuing the baby steps because the baby steps lead to the big things. Amen to that. That's the truth. What's next? There to the big things. Amen to that. That's the truth. What's next? There's so many things.

Here's the thing. You love to take care of so many people. I always worry about you because you don't really. Sleep? Yeah. I mean, I don't want to say you don't take care of yourself because you definitely take care of yourself. You eat well. You exercise.

You do all the right things. Chick-fil-A. But whatever. Everybody. Stop making that up. I like some Chick-fil-A. You exercise. You do all the right things.

Chick-fil-A. But whatever. Everybody. Stop making that up. I like some Chick-fil-A. But I get, you know, if it fails, everything goes away for you. Oh, I think about that all the time. The family business and helping other people. So you lose all of your passions.

So what is next then? Well, on that note, this is another cheesy cliche saying, but I truly live by it. And I think I've always felt this way is your net worth is your network. And I have created a network of people. And it's shifted because when you're in a negative cyclone, you suck in all the negative people and events. It becomes a pattern, like one negative thing after the other. I mean, usually kind of, you stub your toe in the morning,

you forget your keys, you spill your coffee, and then it's just like a shit show for the rest of the day. Unless you can stop yourself and be like, all right, restart. And I think I did a restart on myself, started being more positive to myself,

which in turn led to people, more positive people being around me. And then that just sort of grew and grew and grew. And it was all that, like what you put out into the universe, which I was raised that way. But for the longest, I ran away from that because I was like, all that positive manifestation is not paying my cell phone bill or my rent. Unfortunately, I tried it. I tried to call up the landlord and be landlord be like listen i'm just putting shit out there buddy um but i just saw the secret and uh i wonder if i could hold off on that money for three months oh my god i mean that's i kept you know practicality was like that's not gonna work so but what does work is when you're writing things down and manifesting it's not that the act

of writing it down it's that you're thinking about it and if you're writing things down and manifesting, it's not the act of writing it down. It's that you're thinking about it. And if you keep thinking about it and repeating it over and over, all of a sudden, something that's connected to that thought is the idea, is the phone call with the person who's like, oh my God, let me have you connect to this person. I mean, if I were to say just from you, just from what happened, just from a few contacts, the outer rings of those seven degrees of separation is crazy. The amount of people that I've met that I've kept in my life, I really value relationships with people. It's my oxygen. And so when you say what happens when it all goes away, I panic about that. And sometimes it keeps me from trying to attain the dream of like owning a home again. Cause I think, well, I don't have any, you know, job security in that sense, but

who does? So I do know that what I do have is an amazing group of people. And I truly feel like I've seen it happen. When we got looted, we had people delivering food to our house for over a month and to my staff here. I mean, it's crazy. My daughter got sick. People come and bring things and offer to drive and do this and that. Just reminding me that I'm always going to have the things my mom taught me to worry about. Are you safe? Are you loved? Are you housed? Are you clothed? Those are very primal, basic things. And some people don't have those. And so I know that with my network around me, I'll never not have those things. And that's a luxury because that's my financial safety net

that allows me to be creative because I know I'll have those fundamental things. And I've lived with the bare, bare, bare bones basics. I mean, we had WIC checks and I had to put my kids in swim diapers when I couldn't afford diapers. And I mean, I've lived it. I've lived both of it, when I couldn't afford diapers. And I mean, I've lived it. I've lived both of it, the highs and the lows. I know what it's like to carry a $2,000 purse and live in a nice house with a waterfall in the back. And I know what it's like to have four kids

stuffed in a bedroom, wondering when you're gonna take your kid out of those swim diapers. And eating Little Caesar's pizza all the time because it's $5. So to me, I'm like, I think that's the value of the kids we work with. It's like I've been in the gym of life. I've had the heaviest weights put on there.

So I've lifted in the gym. I've sprinted. I've trained. So when the race of life has started, I'm like, oh, I've trained for this. I've seen this. I've been knocked down. I know how to get back up. I know the curves on this track so i don't feel as afraid as maybe somebody

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everything it's uh it's easier to go the negative thought you know the this is that that it is harder to go with the positive thoughts so i um, well, you know, I do that five-minute journal. I do it every, I'm on like my fourth or fifth one. And it changed my mindset. Every day I wake up, I am grateful for, you know, and, you know, I always start with my health. Everyone is my health and my daughter's health. What do you have if you don't have that? Yeah.

That to me is rich. You know, I'm not in and out of a hospital right now. I was doing that in 2016. And I was in and out of hospitals for six, seven months. You know, all that bullshit. So I'm so glad. And I put myself on a five-year plan. It might get to six.

But that's fine. But I've exceeded what I wanted to do in that five years. And I had a plan that goes all the way up to including getting a dog and all this shit. Like I wrote it out so that I could, you know, go for it. And I even remember about the money part, which is crazy because in the most untraditional way, I attained that money part within $1,367. It's crazy like how, you know, I just started doing other things like I'm, you know, creating spaces and events and booking DJs. And that once events started opening back up, that started happening. And then that led to meeting more people. So that was a source of

income and something I wanted to do coupled with like other things. So yes, the store maybe was not in a position to afford me any, you know, because I couldn't see that. Like, well, how am I going to pay myself more if we can't afford this? But it came in other ways. And I also got opportunities to be a part of things that didn't end up costing me money to be a part of. You know what I mean? So I look at that as income. One of the biggest things that I took away with is the million-dollar morning from Mel Robbins, which is you put your phone... And I have to tell you,

I've been really bad about it lately. And I can tell the difference. Mel Robbins giving you a kickback on his mom on... Mel Robbins. I've DM'd you a few times and tagged you. But no, she... It's such a simple thing. But if you just put your phone to charge,

not... I use my phone as my alarm. So if you can just use an alarm clock, it's better. But if you can't, you put it far away from you and then like in a bathroom or whatever, and you just use the alarm to wake up. Now, if you can't do that, which I've been really good about it, is you let it wake you up, but you do not look at Instagram, Facebook, emails, text messages, who called you, nothing.

You don't not look at your phone. You just shut off the alarm for at least 30 minutes. And those first 30 minutes, and for me, I try to do an hour. You wake up, I make my coffee. I'll do a 10-minute meditation. I'll use the Calm app. That's what I like to use, whatever. And then I'll read whatever book I'm reading at the time, and I'll do a workout if I can. And if you can only do 30 minutes, that's fine. But it's so true. Like if you're laying in bed, she's like, do you think Oprah's laying in bed looking at people's Instagrams? I mean, whether they're positive things or you opened an email, that's a great

new project. You've now soaked up like the first part of your day, like already thinking about all these projects you have to do and you don't have time to like clear your mind and be creative. She goes into this part about like while she's brushing her teeth is when she lets just all the ideas flow that's for whether you're a creative or not it could be whatever it is that's on your mind i i use a notes thing and i think of poetic things and crazy funny episodes for possibly future things i want to do and i just speak into my notes i i ended up speaking this whole thing that became a talk at my mom's spiritual center about riding the waves of life and uncertainty. But I just speak these things out now.

But if I wake up and I'm on my Instagram and I'm on my Facebook and all that, next thing you know, I'm in a dark hole following people I don't know. I'm watching somebody's cat video about skippity paps. Yeah, Tony Baker's the best. I mean, somebody's cat video about skippity paps. Yeah, Tony Baker's the best. That was a good way to go down a hole. But I start looking at things that have nothing to do with me, that's not serving me. They're pointless. And it robs you of your day and it sets you up scientifically.

I just think it sets your mind up and your head space so different. When I got to 30 minutes easily, it's a full hour now in the morning of not looking at it and it feels great because I feel like I've accomplished I read I did a meditation I worked out for 30 minutes or whatever and now I can look at those things you know and be a bit distracted but try to time myself on it that was that was a big that was a big shift for me because I was getting sucked into like it's's easy to get sucked into like, oh, look at what everybody else is doing. I haven't arrived. Or when we were coming up with all the ideas of what to do and you were like, and I'm like, oh, no, someone else is already doing it like better.

It's easy to be like, oh, forget it then. I'm not going to do it. But I was already had set my morning up with, nope, today I'm making these phone calls. You know, I'm putting these mics in the studio to make this happen. You just keep moving forward. I mean, I've spent money that I didn't think I had to make something work, like the podcast studio in Culver City. And it didn't take off right away, but we're using it. Studios.

Studios. Available for rent. And it sat there for a couple months, but now we've got people creating content in there. Same thing with the live recording studio. Really easy to just be like, well, I don't have the money to do that, but figuring it out, taking a 0% credit card loan and making that choice to say, I could do that or I could build it and then have a space to do the program and not have to rely on other people. What surprised you the most? That I made it to this point? Honestly, it surprised me the most that I've made these connections.

That whole thing when everybody saw the GoFundMe and all that, we got some attention, and then you were bringing people in, and that was attention by celebrity people or whatever. And I just thought, oh, that'll come and go. There was a piece of me that was attention by like you know celebrity people whatever and i just thought like oh that'll come and go i there was a there was a piece of me that was like this is the 10 seconds of fame around this thing um and then a little bit of anxiety and fear like oh no i need you know i need to keep this going so people know what we're doing here but surprised me the most is that that's happened like it's still people saying, wow, you've been doing this for

a long time. Like we love that your store is such a community store. We didn't realize that Outreach to the Arts was serving this many kids in these different programs because I never really had the time to go out and do all the promotion for it. And I want to just do the work. Well, that's what the mom and pop shops that, you know, during this virus that's still going on, they've wanted to save the Targets and the this virus that's still going on, they've wanted to save the Targets and the Walmarts and all that. Right. And they've left the mom and pop shops go to this wayside.

So even before you had no support from these people, it's people like you who are out there, word of mouth, like, bring your kids here. Try and do this. Try and do this. So to be able to have a larger platform to get the word out, I think, is a really great thing, too. And also to raise awareness because, like you said, people are like, I didn't know you were even doing all this. Like, yes. The biggest surprise has actually been how many of these people who are super successful in what they do want to come out and help.

I mean, like want to fly out for a day to work with the kids, want to give their time. I mean, I have an amazing producer who's just created a whole curriculum that he wants to do on just teaching kids how to produce. You've given all your a full day up to teach these kids. I mean, I'm surprised. I love it. I'm learning how to receive because I give and it feels uncomfortable to receive. And women in general, like we say sorry all the time. Like, sorry.

Or like someone compliments you and you're like, oh, it was on sale. Or, you know, someone be like, oh, you look great. someone be like oh you look great i'm like i just sharp my pants i just sharp my i love your eyelashes i have a hemorrhoid like you always have to discount yourself but i'm learning how to just be like thank you like you know and let people participate and not feel like oh they're going to come and participate and i'm not this big glamorous uh non-profit that's doing it this way but we're doing the work so they come in here and they're like oh my god you might not have a shiny brochure but who needs one when you're doing this amazing work so i mean we've collected so many people who

have given of their time well good people do want to help you know they really do and and that's who you want you want the good ones. They don't mind. Like for me, I've said before, like I wish I had you in my life when I was those kids' age. Yeah. Like, oh, my God, someone that's shown me something and with a sense of purpose and direction and everything. I'm just aimlessly bouncing around doing what I think is best for me. And then, of course, I really believe, especially with the death of my father at 16 and my mom

not being around, I think that stunted me 10 years minimum, a decade in life. And I went and got a master's degree in the school, like you said, the school of fucking hard knocks. But learning how to do anything financially or how to do this i didn't know any fucking thing yeah i never leased anything didn't have a credit card didn't and so i'm doing laundry like i'm just learning everything you know once the internet came around i was like who the fuck needs parents but but it was it was rough up till 96 you know i'm saying rough till 96 no but that's true i mean like it's in some ways our generation has become less what we think is less, not our generation, I'm sorry, the next generation, less resourceful in a way because information is so at their fingertips.

But actually, I watch it as a mom of a teenager. Like, it's their version of being resourceful. You know, and we put that there. We're sitting there going, in my day, well, it ain't your day anymore, motherfucker. Go get an encyclopedia. It's still your day, PS. You know what I mean? It's still your day.

You're still here. Just let's go with the time. You know what I mean? No, exactly. An encyclopedia. Y'all don't know shit about the Dewey Decimal System.

Talk to me like that. Oh my God. My daughter's friend had this 13 challenges celebration and I was like, what is that? And apparently, she had their kids do certain things, and then they celebrated it.

And one of the things was dropping them off in downtown LA, and then they had to figure out how to get home. How old are the kids? They were 12 or 13. What? That's great, though. I don't know about that. Not downtown LA. I think it's great.

I think it's great. I mean, we were missing that. Like, kids, you know. You'll be missing those kids. You'll be missing those kids. Sorry, we're looking for these children we dropped off today. They're 12 and 13. I mean.

Tent City? Okay, we'll check Tent City. What's Tent City? It sounds nice. Oh, me and being there like, they're camping. I got baked beans, mom. I mean, I just think that there's some things like kids wouldn't be able to figure out how to get anywhere, even myself, without maps. I mean, I use maps sometimes to get home from places I already know how to get home.

But see, I use it because I want to know the fastest way to get home. I don't use it because I don't know how to fucking get home. I want to avoid the fucking traffic that I don't have to deal with. My kids love it on soccer tournament days. Don't be following me on the freeway. But I like to reduce the time. So we take, I said, it says 33 minutes. 25 minutes.

Who's got me on 25? Oh, you try to get the timer down. And I'm all like, my soccer mom car. And then they forget about it, but I'm like obsessed with it, like making rights and less. Shave two off. Shave two off. That's exactly what I say. No, I mean, but they're using their

own resources but i will say that there's some things that we've lost which is like what we're talking about like physically setting up these cameras like they know how to get in front of it and create something but the rest of it is what they don't know well also it's interesting too because with especially with the dating apps i feel like a lot of people have lost human interaction and how to approach. Like imagine right now if you were a single woman in this age. I'd be trying to pick up people in aisle five. Oh, look at you.

You like that pasta sauce too? I like rotini curls too, man. You free tonight? Oh, God. I mean, that's how I can't even imagine. I've been with my husband 21 years, married 16. We joke around about it because he's not on social media. So he always likes to threaten, tease me like, I don't know, I might get on there.

He's like, people are going to start looking me up from high school that liked me and shit. I'm like, you're okay. It's real at an environment. But, you know, he says, I feel like I'm missing out sometimes because you're saying all these jokes i'm like you're not and you'll be on it all the time so don't bother with it but um yeah i don't know i mean i feel like these kids with the social media and the tiktok and the this and the that it's like but it's their time that's their time yeah it's so in your face the only thing i will say and this is like like what i was just talking about, is the bullying thing.

Like people are so shitty and mean to each other. And I think there is like a vibe of, you know, we just went to the Harry Styles concert. Like treat people with kindness. Just be kind. I do think it's way cooler to be kind nowadays than to not be. Like when I was younger, I felt like maybe it was cooler to be an asshole. A ball buster. Yeah. It was funny though.

You bag on people until you hurt people. But you hope they go back. Yeah. But then now I feel like it's gotten so far off the deep end. And I also feel that Pendulum has swung

to people being so sensitive. Everybody is so damn. He said I'm tall. Oh my God. People will, let me tell you, I'm curious what they'll pick out of this interview,

but people will pick stuff out and we won't even know what it was about what are they talking about yeah i see the way she moved that cup yeah i mean that's that's the crazy thing like she got almond nails she got almond nails i was trying to live out my teenage years um no i mean that's that's the crazy thing is like these kids are living their lives in front of the lens like Like we have this different perspective where we have both of it. So we know what it was like before and we know what it's like now.

So we can kind of make fun of it. We can kind of see it for what it is. But these kids now, this is all they know. And it scares me because my 11-year-old, you know what, by the time you get to the last kid, you're like, are they still in the room? Yeah. Like I got two? I mean, there's genuinely been times where we're like, oh, shit,

did we pick up so-and-so? So she's getting the most of it because she's had a lot of downtime in front of an electronic. Even though we don't let her have a phone yet and she's in middle school. I mean, she will have a working phone. It's like she has to use it on Wi-Fi or whatever. She has access to see all these things and what beauty is, what's important, what's not. Well, she makes videos with Stella and stuff, and I love that they do that.

Well, Brie does, yes. Yeah, I love that they do that. That's a creative movie thing. I love that. I love that. But Mia's over there doing the, did you see the new TikTok dance move? Is it just like this one?

It's all the same. That's all they do all day. I'm like, what is that? You know what? When I first did one, I thought that the way they look at the camera, I thought that they showed you the dance and you mimicked it as you went. So she's like, okay, let's do it. And we went in there and I'm like, how do you know what to do? She's like, oh, you have to watch the dance.

I'm like, and memorize it? So I will give them that. They're learning choreography. But I mean, some of it's just like, come on. And I don't like looking at it. I don't like looking at them getting older on the – Yeah. You have to keep on them.

But I try to look at it like, look, they're creating content. As long as they have a good foundation of like what is and who you are. And like today, Mia went to school and was all worried that because she just got over COVID. Yeah. went to school and was all worried that because she just got over covid yeah and she's cleared to go to school that everybody was gonna treat her like she had the plague and it was cute because she's all they're gonna treat me like i have the plaque and i'm like the plaque i said well we do have to go to the dentist but no she said the plague and i was like oh how sad does that happen she's like yeah so-and-so came back and nobody wanted to sit with them or and i hadn't had a

cup of coffee yet and I was weak on my advice. I was like, well, well, then they're assholes. You'll have some alone time at lunch. I mean, hopefully she'll be cool. But yeah, kids are mean. Girls are meaner than boys for sure. But adults are mean.

And then as I tell my kids, I'm like, it is no, I literally had a middle school experience once I became city council. I mean, people called me, cussed me out for votes. And I remember I told this one lady, I was like, if we were in a Target parking lot, you'd be kissing that pavement. She was like, click. And then called me back. That's what I love about you.

I remember being on the phone with you. And you were at the DSW. And you're like, hang on a second, Ryan. Bitch, stop stop leave me alone i will fuck you up see me outside i'm just trying these heels on ryan is bitch and i am just sitting there because i was on the phone yeah on the phone yeah talking to me i mean i said something back through i was fucking around she heard it i think she's like oh he's over there saying oh yes i'm bringing my and sometimes i'm not proud of those moments but i'm like this is me

take it or leave it i mean but i think that's what more we need more of real people in these positions not the fucking bullshit politics not all that like bring a real person in that goes hey if we got to do a fucking 45 minute powerpoint presentation could you could you bring it down to fucking one? Yeah. One display that takes you five minutes to fucking go over this. Please. Because you'll be like, Ryan, I'm still on a three-hour phone call.

I'm like, what? And now I know you make $15,000 out of it. We go down. We go at five in our meetings and on average between midnight and two in the morning. And most of it is because of discussions that have to happen in front of everybody and callers and stuff like that. But most of it is discussions that are happening on the dais between,

there's new council members. Like, so not everybody, this is the first time there's been this many women. There's five of us out of the seven and this many newer, like untraditional incumbents. Like, so these are, four of us are really new so nobody gives you that's the other thing so you get on city council and i'm like okay when's the training they're like you know they give you a training about like basic things it's like sexual

harassment and now you're a public figure so you can't do this and no more than three of your council members like we were at a restaurant the other night and there was three of us and one showed up and pulled up a seat and somebody has to leave because really yeah it's the brown act violation it's brown act what's that it's you can't have more than three members out of the seven together in any setting whether it be in case you all have to shit at the same time the brown act because we got to talk about some shit so if we're talking about stuff that's it's because all our meetings have to be in public the public has to see what you're discussing so you can't all gather three people's the max for a personal gathering when you're talking to another council member you have to say

is anyone in your brown act before we discuss this agenda item like you can't call up and talk about all the items right and if you talk to someone about the other it's all so that's one thing that they train you on but they don't't tell you how to put a 13 item. I put one to make tattoos legal in Santa Monica. They don't tell you the process to do things. And there's a couple people up there who've been on there. And it's intimidating with the city attorney because they'll clown you on live TV. But I don't care because I got a sense of humor.

But it can feel a little intimidating because you'll be like, excuse me. it's not your time and you need it like this is a discussion you know you can't put that forward and you're like okay sorry so you just kind of learn as you go um like life like life you just learn as you go and that's what I want the I want everybody to see in the community like I mean I wish they paid them more and that's why these people that's why in government you see this because you have to do these of service jobs to get to that point and if you're a working class member unless you're of society unless you're just crazy like me or you're really you have a lot of time on your hands and you can do it like how could anyone give 30 to 40 hours a week and read 2800800 page agendas every other week. It's impossible. And meet with constituents. I got people coming in the music store, the city internet's out. I'm like, okay. You want a ukulele? It's a lot to be expected to talk to everybody and all that kind of stuff. But I want people to see that it is doable. I mean, you can do it. There's a woman

on there that has kids, works from nine to five, and she just says, I cannot call you back until after 5. And she checks emails and makes appointments on the weekends. And she makes it work for herself. I mean, she's busy. And me, unfortunately, I'm making time for everybody. Well, look, first of all, you've done wonderful things, not only for you and your family, for the community. You really have. For me, like, I love you.

You know I do. I really enjoy working here. I really enjoy volunteering with both of the classes. I love it. I know. I can't wait until we get there. I love being a part of it and watching you really make a difference in people's lives. It's awesome.

And thank you for making time for me today. Well, thank you for having me. Yeah. I love that you'll come here and raise awareness about this shit. I'm about to raise awareness about this IED. There's the too much information right there. It might be slipping out, y'all. I'm just kidding.

That'll make the headlines. That'll be our promo. One more time, please. Plug ATA. Plug it all, please. Okay. Outreach through the arts. So the acronym is ATA.

OTTarts.org. O-T-T-A. Well, O-T-T-Arts, which is spelled with an A. Oh, got it. My bad. Okay. Not farts. Okay.

O-T-T-A-R-T-S dot org, dot org, and then SantaMonicaMusicCenter.com will take you to our website, which shows you both Culver City and Santa Monica. I'm looking at the camera. And you can see what we're doing at both locations. You could, we've got all the gear,

so you literally could just come in, record, take your SD card home, or you can hire one of our engineers to cut it for you. You're doing it right. I love it. Yeah. I'm trying. You're helping me.

I realized. So listen, if you're – go ahead. Sorry. No, see, I realized you don't have to spend a million dollars to start one. Look, if you're local, for real, if you're local, Southern California, L.A., Culver City, whatever, hit Lon up, rent the space. Definitely if you want to do a podcast, you can rent it by the hour. You can rent it long term, whatever. Come in and do whatever you want.

Or you can be in there to talk about it, live stream your own content. We have teachers teaching lessons virtually on there. You can also rent practice space for musicians out there. And then, of course, we do lessons. We've got the DJ camps with DJ Hoppa. We've got for adults too. So we've got a lot going on. We have our new ensemble that's starting.

So any adults out there looking to play with other adults, we have a Sunday ensemble that's starting and our rock band. Hell yeah. So we're just doing it one foot in front of the other. That's it. Every day. I mean, there's only two people in the band, but. Four feet down.

I love you. Thank you. For real. Thank you for coming on and doing all this. Thank you for having but. Four feet tall. I love you. Thank you. For real. Thank you for coming on and doing all this. Thank you for having me. You're welcome. Anytime. Vote for Lana.

Vote for Lana Negrete. Santa Monica City County. As always, RyanSickler.com. Ryan Sickler on all social media. We'll talk to you all next week. 🎵