The Nick Bare Podcast - Archive - Nicky Cass | Spreading Good In The World Through Laughter

Episode Date: April 25, 2022

Nick Cassano is a social media influencer and BPN Ambassador who has exponentially grown his platforms on both Instagram and TikTok by creating comedic content. While the content uses similar characters, the themes for the videos are incredibly diverse. Most however have some relation to sports, or Italian American heritage. Through being authentic, providing quality content, and a professional attitude Nick has been able to build a loyal audience that looks forward to the content on a daily basis, and his content has even been featured on Barstool Sports, Buzzfeed, and more. In this episode, Nicky sits down with Nick to enjoy some some laughs as well as discuss the importance of staying true to yourself, not letting your insecurities control you, and more. More Resources: BPN website: www.bpnsupps.com Nick’s website: www.nickbare.com Nick’s Instagram: www.instagram.com/nickbarefitness Nick’s Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/barelifenutrition Follow Us On Social Media! Instagram: @thebareperformancepodcast Facebook: The Bare Performance Podcast Twitter: @BarePerformPod

In this episode of the Bear Performance Podcast, these pizzerias, they do too much. They'll take like a bunch of garlic and they'll throw the garlic in there. And then they'll take a bunch of olive oil, and they'll throw the olive oil in there. And those two things are combating the magic that's going on in this pot. So for me, a perfect pizza, the sauce, that's your winner. I like a sauce that you don't really, you don't really mess with too much. You get the Samarzan on tomatoes. They say DUP on them.

It means they're legit, product of Italy. And you grind them up a little bit. You get out all the seeds, and it's really just like a tomato puree. I like to taste the tomato. I like a nice fluffy crust. And a hack, you get what they call buffalo mozzarella. Now, you're just little dots. You follow what I'm doing?

I'm following, yeah. When the heat hits them, they kind of seep into the crust. So now you're getting a moist bite. And then when you take it off, Parmigiano Reggiano. Parmigiano reggiano. You take the reggiano and you throw it on the pizza, it kind of melts on top of the pizza. rated regiant. To me, that's when you get a good pizza, Nick. Welcome back to another powerful

episode of the podcast. I'm your host, Nick Baer, founder and CEO of Bear Performance Nutrition. Every week, we bring you insightful stories, knowledge, and inspiration to help you reach your full potential in life, fitness, and business. If you enjoy the message we're promoting in this podcast, we would greatly appreciate it if you would leave a rating and review on the platform you're listening to. sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on future episodes that embody the go one more mindset. All right, ladies and gentlemen, we have special guest today. Nikki Cass, welcome.

Well, thank you for having me. First of all, I'm very excited to be here, but the whole Nikki pause at the end is because I told Nick, I can't stand when, like, the people in my quote-unquote circle call me Nikki. Because, like, everyone I know calls me Nick. And, you know, Nick's an ass. So what he does is every time he sees me, he calls me Nikki. But I'm stoked to be here. It's going to be good.

Well, part of that is I don't have anyone else in my life with the name of Nick. So it feels weird calling someone by your same name. And I started calling you Nikki in the beginning and it's just stuck. Yeah. No, I know. Go ahead. And I never knew you were offended until you were over for dinner the one day. And I called you Nikki and you got upset.

Well, it's not like I'm not offended. It's just like everyone like who sees me on the street calls me that. So it's like a distinction between like here's like someone who actually knows me and someone who's just a fan of me. You know what I mean? So like if you're, if you had like a quote unquote stage name, I would call you your actual name because we're friends. You know what I mean? Like when people call me Nikki, it's like, oh, the next. thing that comes after that is, do you want a picture or can I get a picture? Can you do

like an impression? So that's all it is. It's not like I'm offended. I'll keep it in mind. Yeah, just keep it in mind. All right, we're going to kick off this episode with a quick hit round. Okay. So there's three things, either questions or things that you have to do. And it's just to break the ice, just to get us started. Okay. All right. So the first one. Wait, hold on. What do you mean by things I have to do? Well, I'll explain. Okay. Sorry about that. Number one. Speaking in an Australian accent, tell me why you love BPN strong greens. I mean, that's a low blow.

I don't even know what the Australian sound like. What I really love about the BPN strong greens, don't make me laugh. What I really like about these strong greens is the flavor of them are just magnificent. Oftentimes, you know, you see these people making. these greens products. And the taste is just absolutely terrible. But the bad performance wants. I mean, it's turning into like Jason Statham.

This is good. You keep talking, I'll fucking kill you. The BPN strong greens. The flavor is unbelievable. And I take them every morning. And my poop just goes from my stomach to me bunghole. And it just comes right out every day. I mean, now, I mean, come on.

That's Oscar. That's Oscar worthy. It turned into like a Jason Statham. All right. Number two. Describe our friendship in three words. From my point of view or like from... From your point of view, yeah. Okay.

Like three different words that don't have to be like a sentence. Correct. Okay. From my point of view, uplifting. I want to make sure it's easier, good. Uplifting. Respectful. disrespectful.

I feel like that's pretty good. That's very good. That's spot on. Because like I had like obviously like and we get into this when we started talking but like there is this level of like respect. But at the same time when it's not about like real life things, it's like I mean like you just shit on each other. Yeah. Just back and forth. All right.

Here's the last one. Okay. If you could have an unlimited supply of one thing, what would it be? excluding BPN strong greens. Well, don't need to answer this one in an Australian accent. Like, you can't say money. That's a bad answer. I mean, it could if you're a greedy, shout a motherfucker.

But I also feel like if I had unlimited money, like, that just prohibits you from, like, wanting to do more. I feel like that's like money is a motivation for some people. So I would say if I could have unlimited of one, One thing, gas, gasoline for my Jeep. I'm filling this fucking thing up three times a week. And up by me, the gas prices are outrageous. So if I could just have an unlimited supply of gasoline, I would be, I mean, I'd be chilling. That's great.

It sounds like you need a Tesla. No, no, no, no. Because, no, I thought about the Tesla. And the thing about the Tesla is, like, I just don't think it's that cool. Like, I have no desire to get. because like I had a Volvo for a little bit and it was like a computer and I could not stand it

because it like if you veer off in a lane you know like by accident the steering wheel will steer you back into the lane Of course corrects Yeah and then you'll be backing out of a spot and it'll think that you're about to hit something and the car will stop for you and it's scared to ever live and shit out of me

every time it would happen It's too much of a computer That's why I like the Jeep Because it's just like just a vehicle You know what I mean? I'd agree with you I just don't like Tesla I'm not the biggest fan either.

Yeah. Something about just having some gasoline running through your engine. Right. That's exactly what I'm saying. It gets my rocks off. Yeah. All right. It's diving into this episode.

Yeah, let's go. When I first came across your content is because I started seeing it pop up on Barstall. Right. And from my understanding, you were trying to communicate with me. Yeah. During this whole Barstall. Oh, yeah.

event in your life. Yeah. Before we dive into that, yeah. What is the reason and what is the story behind you starting to create content, putting yourself out there? So I was,

I've always been the, like, the one to make people laugh. Like, ever since I can remember, I mean, I have stories from my relatives when I'm like two years old,

like making fun of people in Macy's. Like, there was this one time where there was this dude with a big belly walking around Macy's. and I turned to my hand, I said, hey, Kim, look. And I would, like, imitate the guy, whatever. And, you know, as growing up, like, I played baseball,

baseball was the first thing I ever loved. But, like, with that, I was always, like, the class clown of, like, the team, like, on the bus rides and make people laugh. Like, every instance, like, even meeting new people, like, when I would meet you for the first time, my goal was to make you laugh. I say it time and time again. I've never met anyone who I can't make laugh. It's just something that I'm naturally good at and something that I find.

enjoying doing. And like throughout that, I was always, like, I always loved going on YouTube and watching like skits and stuff like that. Like, for as long as I can remember. And I would recreate like my own sort of skits. Like I remember, you ever, you ever see the flip cam? Remember the flip cam? Like the actual flip cam?

Yeah. Yes, I grew up. I was born in the 90s. Yeah. The old flip cam. I had one of those and I would make videos with me, sometimes just me, sometimes my friends. And go on an Imovie and I'd like edit them up. There's just something I enjoyed doing.

And it's just always been a part of me. Like even like when you had projects for school and they would do like, you could rather write an essay, you could do a PowerPoint or you could do a video. I'd be like, let's go. I can make a video about this and I'd love to present it to the class. So it's always been a part of me. And to make a long story short when I was, so I had stopped playing baseball. I didn't know what I was going to do.

I was working in a gym. I was training like 10 clients at the time, some online, some in person at the gym. And I was working at the desk of the athlete gym. And TikTok had just been coming up. Like TikTok was like this whole big thing. And this was like right before the pandemic happened. And I would still like make videos on my Snapchat and like post them on my Snapchat just for my boys and stuff like that. And my buddies are like, you like get on the app, dude.

Like please just like make a couple videos. I'm like, nah, I don't want to be a part of that. because there was this persona around TikTok. It was like Charlie DeMilleo doing all this stuff. And I'm like, no, I ain't going to do it. So one night, I remember what day it was, but it was 7.52 p.m. The gym closes at 8. I never forget.

You don't remember the day, but you remember the time. I remember the time. Because they had like one of those road clocks up at the top. Yeah. And I usually got ready to go around that time. So it's 7.52. And I'm going to download the app. I downloaded TikTok.

And they had this long face filter. on the app. And to me, it always reminded me of, like, a Guido, like, old school Italian dad or whatever. I'm like, I'm just going to make a video and see what happens. And the video took me probably three minutes. It was, like, non-Italian versus Italian dads when you say you're going out. And it's like the American dad's like, oh, see you later, buddy. And the Italian dad's like, fuck you mean you're going out.

JPM on a Wednesday. Where to fuck you going? Like something like that. I posted it, I put in my pocket. The next day I wake up, it's got two million views. like, I don't know what to do. Like, it's like, holy, like people are seeing this thing.

So I, whatever, the pandemic hits. And I'm like, you know what? I enjoy making them. I find them funny. And just for that sole reason, I'm going to keep making these videos. I'm going to do one video per day. And I was in a conversation with one of my buddies.

They were getting a little bit of traction here and there. He's like, listen, man, your stuff is funny, but it's not relatable to a bunch of audiences. like a broader audience because I was doing more like old school stuff like growing up with a like no no no stuff like that and he said you need to do something more with that like Italian dad character. I'm like, all right. Like what if we do like a literally game? Like dad's at a literally match.

And he's like, perfect. So I made the video the next day and I sent it to Barstool and I wrote, you guys should post this. I think it'll do great. Like I was very, I don't know what drew me to do that. It's just like something that sort of happened. And I sent it to all these pages. And like two hours later, I got a like DM back from Parsool saying we're going to post this submitted here. I'm like, my life's about a change.

I don't know what to feel. I don't know if you've ever felt this before. Like when BPN started doing well, more people were getting eyes on, I'm like, I know my life's about a change, but I don't know what that means. So I'm like itching for them to post. I don't know when they're going to post it. I'm in the shower. It's around 8.50 p.m. I'm listening to country music on my phone.

And all of a sudden, the music goes silent. And it's just like notification after notification after note. I'm like, what the hell is going on? Like I forgot about the whole Barso thing. And they had posted it and I'm like, holy shit. Like it was the coolest but scariest feeling because like it's out there. Like there's no going back now. They're either going to love you or they're going to hate you.

And it's out there and there's nothing you can do about it. And they just kept posting the stuff. And I remember like to circle back like, trying to get in touch with you, the first thought in my head was, oh, this is great. Like, I'm going to figure out a way to get in contact with, like, Nick and, like, BPN.

So that's pretty much how it started. It was just, like, I was always the one to be creative like amongst my friend group, and I love making the videos. And I just blindly started posting stuff and put myself out there with no fear and no real goal, so to speak, other than the fact that it was the quarantine

that had nothing to do. And I just enjoyed making them. And I didn't realize what that was going to be at all. That's interesting in regards to the whole creating aspect of it. Yeah. Like when I was younger, I loved creating too. Yeah. But there was never really a clear intent behind creating.

There was not like a goal. Right. So like when I was in high school, me and my buddies, we would just do, we would do stupid stuff. We do anything. We had this one old school video camera. And we would just think of an idea. concept and then we'd kind of write down

scenes and we'd go film for a whole day and I'd edit on my computer at night. Yep. And no one ever saw it but us really. Right. But we loved doing this. We got so much out of it. And then one time I did post one video, it was this, it was called Extreme Scootering.

And we tied this scooter to the back of my Honda Civic. Okay. And then we drove 40 to 50 miles per hour. Oh my God. What are you doing? To see if we could hold onto the scooter. Everyone fell off and everyone got banged up and cut up.

Stupidest thing. Right. But I got like 80,000 views on YouTube and we were like, we are famous. Yeah. Oh, yeah. That feeling is weird. Like that first initial feeling is like very weird. But the reason, like the purpose behind that story is I think sometimes if you have a passion

behind anything in creating in the sense, you do it even if. you're not getting paid for it. Right. Even if you're not getting anything from it in terms of recognition or popularity or, or quote unquote, like followers. Oh, yeah.

But you get so much in return. The return is this feeling of creating with people you enjoy being around. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. A lot of people think that, like, in order to get from point A to point B,

social media is this catalyst. And they then start creating for that and it's forced. And there's no actual passion behind. it. No. You got to start with some sort of passion to create because once you start in this space, you don't turn it off for years and years and years. You cannot.

You legitimately have to keep putting logs in the fire. And like, I never was in it for, like, I'm going to turn this into a business. It was always out of the pure enjoyment of the fact that I love to create. Like, that's my favorite thing to do besides make people laugh and work out. And if you're in it, I would say, like, if your goal is to do it to make money, you need to find another source of why you're going to do it. Because if you do it for that, then you don't love the process. And I don't think, I think you give up real easy when things don't go your way.

So, like, for me, If I were to post a video on TikTok and it didn't do well, okay, it didn't do well. I'm going to make another one. Want to know why? Because I love to make the videos. I don't care. Like, I genuinely laugh at every video I've ever pulled. I think I'm hysterical.

Like, I got to, like, not even in a cocky way. Like, I watch my videos and think I'm fun. You laugh at your own stuff. I, on the floor, laugh at my own stuff. I mean, like, whenever I'm bored sometimes, I'll scroll through my own videos. And not, again, not in, like, I'm, like look at me way. Like, I just think they're funny.

Like, I think they're actually funny. So, yeah, I totally agree with you in terms of like the reason for doing, like the reason for creating. So you lean into, into growing up in an Italian family. Yeah. A lot. Yeah. And obviously that, that is very relatable.

Oh, yeah. People find it funny. At one point in your life, did you realize that growing up in an Italian family had these quirks and these parts of humor. Oh. As opposed to just like... I mean, you know, it's... There's something to be said.

And every culture, like, has a lot of pride about their culture, but there's something to be said about growing up in an Italian household by old school parents because, like, and I'm sure people can relate to this who grew up in that sort of household. Well, to answer your question,

I noticed it from the very beginning. Like, very... Like, what I'm pretty good at, I've found throughout this process is I could pick up on things and sort of like point out a quirk kind of like like you'll see impressionists talk about like when they impersonate like famous people to pick up on like facial expression and stuff like that. So like in terms of overall quirks like what my parents are doing versus like what other parents are doing, like okay, that's very distinct. No other parent is telling you, you know, at that's 18 years old

to be home by 1030 because you got to go to school the next day. So it's definitely tough, but like the tough, like the tough nature of growing up in that household does two things for somebody like me who picks up on those quirks and likes to be creative. One, it teaches you that there are consequences for your actions and that there are rules when you live in my house, you live under my rules, and you ought to respect my rules, but two, to turn all those, like, damn it, like, why, why, why do I have to be home at this time?

Why do I have to, I couldn't even cross the street when I was in middle school without calling my mom to tell her I'm crossing the street. That's how strict it was. But it takes all those frustrating moments, and it turns it in to something funny and something that you could look at and laugh about. It's not pain, but it's like you could flip the script on like a frustrating

moment now that you're out of it. Like when I was growing up, my parents weren't my friend. My parents were my parents. But now my mom and my dad are my best friends because you learn there's reasons for what they did. And now that I'm out of it, it's a fuel for the content. Like I got content. Like people ask like, are you ever worried by your next video? I'm like, no, because something will happen tomorrow where I'm like, this is brilliant. Like, perfect. I'm going to make a video. So.

That's like I saw this, you posted this video a few days ago where you drove your Jeep on your dad's lawn. Oh, yeah. And your dad made you patch up a lot. Oh, yeah. Oh, that's nothing. That is nothing. My dad, so the, the, that, first of all, that's my fault. And you know what it is too?

It's in the moment, like you think to yourself, like, why is he making me do it? this, but after it's all set and done, he's right. Like, he's always right. He's never been wrong. My dad used to make me write down, like, a hundred times. I will not X, Y, and Z to mom and dad. I will not, uh, and, like, that's, I mean, he had me, like, painting the fence as a punishment at, like, eight years old. Like, I was painting this fence, and I didn't know how to paint the fence. I'm eight. And, like, he'd go to work and, like, all the consequences had something to do with like, if you broke it, you're going to fix it. So I drove my Jeep onto the lawn.

And I didn't know that it was moist. The grass was moist. So I pulled into the lawn and the Jeep kind of sank into the grass. And I said, like, this is, this going to be a problem. You knew right away. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And my dad was downstairs working and he comes up the steps.

And like, you could just, all you could hear is, fucking kidding me and then like I'm trained like I know and he's like okay he goes

get your ass outside with the rake and start raking and so I'm raking right and this is the part I didn't include in the video and he rolls down the window

no do with your bare hands it might be better so I'm taking I'm taking my bare hands okay and I'm unflopping the grass. And I'm pressing down

the mud. I'm pressing all this stuff down. And he goes, good. Now do it on the other side. And I'm like, you know what? It's really. And then, so then, like, you're walking. Don't get any of that mud or dirt on my, on my foot. Like, what do you want me to do, Dad? But again, you know, he's right. And I wouldn't want it any other way.

Yeah, no, that's all real. What did the relationship change from your dad being your parent to now allowing you to be a friend? Yeah. So I think it changed around like the college, like college. Because like there, there was this like level of respect that was gained. Like not from, not me, I always respected my father.

But I think my dad understood, you know, like I did a good job. Like my, I, in high school I was always, I always did the right thing. I always made sure I did the right thing. with my work ethic, with how I treated people, X, Y, and Z. So through action, I kind of proved that you have nothing to worry about Pops. Like, I'm good. You did a great job.

You and mom did a great job. And I think once that switch was flipped and there was enough action to back the fact that, like, I'm not, like, I never sought to disrespect my parents. Like, it was never like an idea in my head. to be like, oh, I'm going to do this because they said don't do this. Like, that never crossed my mind. So I think once my dad understood that, it was like, okay, like, I did a good job. Like, now we're, I mean, my dad is my best friend.

And I don't think that that would have happened if it wasn't for my upbringing. Like, I'm happy that he was not my best friend growing up because it's a big majority of the reason I am who I am today. And our baby girls do in July. Yeah. So I've been doing a lot of thinking recently about raising children and the parent that I want to be. Right. And sometimes when we go on to dinner now or around town, I'm more observant now than I was prior to knowing Steph was pregnant. Right.

Of just like parents and kids and, you know, how they're acting. Yeah. And one thing I've noticed is that, and this goes back to the way your parents raised you. Yeah. My parents raised me is there's like this level of respect that needs to be taught to children. And portemine has identified. Maybe it's just in this small cohort of that I'm surrounded by. Right.

But I've realized that these standard levels of respect aren't being taught. Yes, sir, no, ma'am. holding the door. Just like being polite. Absolutely. It is almost becoming non-existent. Yeah. So it's very refreshing when you see it in person.

When you see it a little kid's like finding a diamond in a pile of sand. It's like. It still exists. Yeah. And I totally agree with you. Like I feel like nowadays it's more how can I be cool and like how can I get my kids to like me and I'm I cannot really share much because I'm not a parent myself but you know I would much rather take the route that I had and like there's there was so many times countless times

where I would feel embarrassed because I had to be home at 11 o'clock I had and and when I say 11 o'clock If you rolled in at 11.01, you're done. No, you're done. You're not going out. What was the punishment? Okay. So one time I rolled in, I was supposed to be on 1130 this time. Got an extra half hour, right?

I'm rolling out 1131, 1132, like flirting between the lines. My dad is at the top of the steps when I get in. Okay. He took away the car. He said, figure out a way to get to school tomorrow. Okay. you just take it right on a chin. All right.

Sounds good. I guess I got to figure out a way to get to get to school tomorrow. And you know what, Nick? Like now in real life, I'll, when situations come up where there's consequences for your actions, I revert back to those situations. And I'm like, all right, I'll just find a ride to school. Something doesn't go my way. Oh, I'll just figure it out because I've done it in the past.

I don't feel sorry for what I did. I don't think life's unfair because something didn't work out my way. I made the mistake. I should have listened. There's consequences for your actions. Figure it out. And that discipline that my parents gave me has fueled my decisions and my rebounds from when things don't go my way.

So I think that level of respect and the consequences for your actions that I was brought up in they're huge. And I agree with you when you find kids. It's kind of like a dog. Like you ever see a dog owner that got like that don't train the dog and like you're at a barbecue and

the golden retriever comes over and start like on your plate and then he'll like shit everywhere. You know what I mean? Like it's the dog. It's the dog train. It's the dog trainer. You know what I mean? Obviously we're not dogs but like if the dogs got respect, we

you, he's going to, hey, sit. Okay, I'll sit. That doesn't mean you're a dictator, but, like, I just feel like there needs to be more discipline. That's all. I agree with that. Yeah, I don't know. So your grandma, Nona.

Yeah. Does she live with you? She does. She lives downstairs. She's lived downstairs my whole life. Is that your dad's mom? It's my mom's mom's mom. Your mom's mom?

Yeah. Are your dad's parents still alive? My dad's mother is still alive. She does not live with us. But both of my, and probably, a lot of people don't know this because I have like the no-no character. I never met both of my grandfathers. So just my, I got two grandmas.

And Nona lives downstairs. She has my whole life. Were your grandfather pretty hardasses? Honestly, I've never met him. So I don't know. And on my dad's side, his father passed when he was very young. So not much memory there, recollection there. But, nah, man, I mean, on my mom's side,

from what I've heard, like, Nona was the tough one. I mean, they were both tough, but, like, Nona, you know, like she used to have the Dr. Scholl's shoes, and she would throw them. Like, my mom would say the second she would lift her leg like this. Like, my mom was like, oh, shit. And, like, she would be snappy with them. She, like, take them and, like, chuck them.

There's this one time where my mom, as a sister, they were fighting over this ukulele, like this mini guitar, right? And they were, like, going back and forth. My grandmother, Nona, goes over. She goes, okay, that's it. She took the ukulele, broke it over her knee. You play with that one and you play with that one. And no say nothing.

And that's it. Like just, she, so go ahead. I'm just going to get into it now that you open up the door. Is Nona the Italian word for grandmother? Yes. That's what that is? Yeah. And then Nono is grandfather.

And Nomi is grandparents. Does she do a lot of cooking at the house? for you guys? Yeah. I mean, she, so she, she's slowing down a little bit as she's getting older.

And it's just breaking my heart because, you know, she's just not making enough quantity anymore. Like when she makes chicken thighs, she made chicken thighs for five of us. She made six chicken thighs and probably a cup of potatoes for everybody. Like, no,

this, you know, this ain't cutting it. She calls me downstairs, and Nicholas, can you place and beaded the hags of me? I can't beaded the exit no more. Like, she's slowing down a little bit. But when we were,

growing up, I mean, how it usually worked, but she had a huge helping hand in raising me, my sister, my three cousins. My parents would work until 5.36 o'clock and no one would have us throughout the whole day during the summer and after school. And she was tough, man. Like, she didn't take no shit. She would threaten to call the cops on me three times a week. For what kind of stuff?

Like jumping on to bed. Like, stuff like that. And, like, she, like, she would just say, you know, stop. I'm going to call it the police on you. And, like, I'm a kid, so I don't fucking, so I'm like, oh, okay, I'm sorry. She would, the wooden spoon thing is real. Like, I'd get hit with the wooden spoon. Not hard, just like a little, like, tap on the ass.

But she would say shit like this to me at, like, eight or nine years old. Nicolese, okay, you no stop to do this? I'm going to love you no more. As a kid, what the fuck are you supposed to think of that sentence? Oh, my God. I'd cry for hours. Like, my mom would come home. She's like, what's the matter?

Nona doesn't love me anymore. Like, stuff like that. But you know what? She, I mean, she drove at, she was 65 to 70 years old. When we were growing up, she would drive us to the park. She would make us food. I mean, I was the chubbiest kid on earth eighth and ninth grade. I mean.

I was going to ask that question. In a household like that, how do you stay thin? No, you don't. You don't. I broke her heart the day. I was like, all right, no, no, I got to lose some weight. I was 185 pounds, 5 foot three, 8th and 9th grade. What were you eating?

I mean, just a snack when I would come home would be like a full thing of bread with mozzarella, olive oil, and like leftover pasta from the night before, and like 10 or 11 chicken cutlets. No bullshit. 10 or 11. Chicken cutlets is a big thing, isn't it? Oh, my God. They're so good. When you come visit, you got to have them because they are.

What's the difference between a chicken cutlet and chicken palm? So a chicken, a chicken cutlet is the, the base of chicken palm. So like chicken, chicken palm is basically like a pizza chicken cutlet. So like you get the chicken cullet, you put the sauce and what's it out, and a little bit of sauce on top. The chicken cullet's just a piece of chicken. And like when you get one of the Italians that do it right, I don't know how to describe it

It's like you win like dates Like when you like When you can't stop being the dates It's the same thing with the chicken call it I'll tell you what I uh I was envied people who grew up in like Italian households

Oh yeah I had some you know Being in central Pennsylvania We had a lot of Italian families up there Did you I didn't realize that Yeah we had some good Italian food Like there's not much down here in In Texas to be honest

There's there's there's definitely cork cork. Were you surprised by that? I tell you what. And just this last point about my grandmother, now that I've grown up, I realize, like, from what you just said, like, how much of a blessing it is to have that woman in my life. Because if it wasn't her, it was like daycare, babysitter, stuff like that. So when you reach a point of maturity to where you can see how things work, you get a real deep appreciation for what that was and just so lucky and grateful to have her. Cork.

Well, last time, so last time you're in Texas, I have a hard time when you're down here. Yeah. Finding a place to take you for food. So I know you have quite the palate. I do have a palette for food. And I don't want to disappoint you. Because if you're coming from- Do you really feel that pressure?

I do. I feel pressure. I didn't know that. So I told Steph this. We were talking about where to take you last time. and I told her, I said, I think cork is the spot because cork does these like brick oven pizzas. Yeah. I think they're really good.

And it's not your traditional. If you go to a traditional pizza place. Right. Anywhere. The pizza is pretty similar where it's pretty crispy on the bottom. It's crispy throughout your sauce, your cheese, some seasoning, some toppings that spice it up. But cork, I like when a. pizza is imperfect.

Okay. It's like, it's not perfectly circle. Right. You pick it up and it's kind of like, it almost falls apart a little bit. Okay. It's, uh, it's messy. Yeah. What I like doing is drizzling honey on that pizza.

No, you did, you did do that. But, but to be fair, for all the people listening, the, you did that, but you had like a meat, you had like a meat lover's like pie. It was, yeah. You didn't just throw that on a margarita. But I would have. Okay. See that.

I see what, what just happened there was I was, I was, trying to cover your ass and you, you just completely ruin that point. What makes a perfect pizza? In your opinion, if you were going to make a perfect pizza. Okay. Because I like making pizzas at home.

I do love it. And, you know, I can go, it's one of those things. I like cooking at home because I can go out to dinner and I can get a really good meal. Right.

But I can also spend, and it makes no sense to most people who don't like cooking. Right. I can spend two hours cooking this meal. I love it. That tastes nothing like the one I'm going to get out to dinner. Right. But I'm eating this thing that I created.

Yes. And I agree. And to that point, too, those two hours of cooking are the most relaxing two hours. Like for me, like, just like even like the smallest things, like just like chopping up like a vegetable or like throwing like the chicken on the on the grill. Like for me, it's not even about cook like the food I'm about to eat. It's just the process to make the food. You zone out. Oh, zone out.

Completely zone out. It's like what you do when you run 35 miles on a Saturday. But what makes a perfect pizza to me is subjective, but you ask me this, so I'm going to give you my opinion. A lot of times these pizzerias, they do too much because what I find fascinating about pizza is that it's three ingredients. Bread, sauce, and cheese, right? The best pizzas I've ever had. And this is why Cork was so good because the owner, shout out Cork in in Georgetown, Texas, the owner knew what he was doing. And you're grilling him.

I was giving him the bit. I have never met someone that matched my pizza energy. I was grilling him. And he went to school in Italy to learn how to cook this pizza. And he was saying all the right things. So for me, a perfect pizza, the sauce, that's your winner. Because the sauce is the first thing that the taste buds are going to hit, right? or taste.

I like a sauce that you don't really, you don't really mess with too much. You get the Samarzanan tomatoes, okay? They say DUP on them. It means they're legit product of Italy. And you grind them up a little bit, right? You get out all the seeds. And it's really just like a tomato puree.

Like when I bite into that pizza, Nick, I want the, I want the sauce to hit my nostrils as well. You know what I mean? How do you remove the seeds? There's a machine. Okay. They got a machine for that. All right.

When you, if or when you come, no, actually when you come up, because you promise me, to do the sauce, you'll see. It's a whole machine. So, when you bite into that pizza,

and the first thing you get is a sauce, I like it, I like to taste the tomato. Because most of these places, what they'll do is they'll take like a bunch of garlic and they'll throw the garlic in there. And then they'll take a bunch of olive oil and they'll throw the olive oil in there.

And those two things are combating the magic that's going on. in this pot, which is the tomato. That's your winner right there, the tomato. They think that they got to throw all this other. Now, then they'll throw the garlic powder on top of the garlic itself. Then they'll do the oregano. Just keep it simple. And then I like a nice fluffy crust, kind of like Neapolitan style.

And a hack that, for those of you listen and watching at home, if you want to elevate your pizza, okay, take it from here to here, you get what they call buffalo. Mucceo. And what that is, it's a more milky muchadale. So when you put that buffalo much now, you're just little dots. You follow what I'm doing? I'm following, yeah. You put these little dots at a buffalo mizzo. And when the heat hits them, they kind of seep into the crust, right? So now you're getting a moist bite with the pizza. But if you cook it right, the bottom's crispy, but the dough is soft on the top. That's when you get a good pizza. And then when you take it off,

you take, say with me, Parmigiano, Reggiano. Parmigiano, reggiano. You take the Reggiano and you throw it on the pizza, and because the pizza's hot, it kind of melts on top of the pizza. Just grated reggiano. To me, maybe a couple basil leaves, that's a perfect pizza. I was going to ask about that, basil leaves. Yeah, I like it.

I love, do you like Caprice salads? Yeah, I do. That was pretty good. I used to call it caprice. I go to the pizza place. Can I get a mozzarella cheese pizza and a caprici salad, please? I'm sure they loved you. So what's the, what's like the tradition of making all this sauce in an Italian household?

It's the same, it's the same for like, like, I've met people who make, like, maple syrup. Like, they live in Vermont and they make maple syrup. It's just kind of like part of our culture. Like, we call it doing the tomatoes. Like, it's not like, oh, we're going to make sauce. It's, oh, we're doing the tomatoes. And it's just a way to get the family. around and it's like a two-day process.

No one is up at six o'clock in the morning and we're just like cutting the tomatoes. So you cut the tomatoes first, you wash them, you throw in the big bowl, you stir them around, then you put them in the machine. And it's just kind of like, I don't know,

it's just always been something that we've done growing up. And I don't know, I never really, never really questioned it, to be honest. But it's just tradition, I guess. My financial advisor was visiting a few weeks ago.

and he's from Vermont and he brought us some maple syrup from Vermont. Oh my gosh. That's good. It is good. Did you know that it's just, you just boiled a sap? Yeah.

He said he collected about, I think it was 120 gallons. Yeah. And then after boiling it down, it was 40 cases or something. It wasn't much. Yeah. It boils down so much.

Oh, yeah. But that maple syrup, I mean, it's a whole process. You poke a hole through the thing and they got the long tube that goes into the sugar house. The lines, yeah.

Yeah. And then they boil it. It's crazy. All right, let's do round two, quick hit. All right. If peanut butter wasn't called peanut butter, what would it be called? Sex is taken. So, um...

Or is it? Honestly, like, you know, um, we'll keep a PG-13. Uh, if peanut butter wasn't called peanut butter, what would it be called? Um, magic? Magic. Magic. All right.

You're a big peanut butter fan. I love peanut butter. Yes, so do I. Any nut butter. Oh, I love nut butters. Name the Olympic sport. That would be the most cringy to watch if all the athletes were naked. Fencing.

Fencing? Because they're kind of bouncing up and they back up. So, like, men's fencing, you know, the thing would be going like that. I think fencing would be pretty awkward. What else you got? Grungy. So fencing was my first golf, not golf. What I said?

Bull? No, no, what is that? Oh, that is, I know what you're talking about. Curling. Curling would be pretty funny. Steph said volleyball. The volleyball was one I thought of, like, beach volleyball. Yeah.

I mean, that's a great question. And name three, four. foods to avoid on a first date. Buffalo wings? Because you got to eat them with your hands. And me, I don't give a shit. You know what I mean? I'm like, you know?

Any fish. Any fish. Sushi included? You know, because, like, what if you ever get, like, a sushi kiss? Like, Steph ever give you, like, a kiss after that you ate sushi? I mean. It's like a salmon kiss. We've been married for, like, a year and a half.

We don't kiss after dinner anymore. You should probably work on. Well, I'll get, listen, I'll make sure you guys kiss after dinner tonight because that's not good. Okay. I think any fish, sushi was, NAS, I would include sushi in that category. And then, like, any food that's, like, not, not, like, a questionable call if you like it or not. You know what I mean? Like, if you order, like, like, just, like, eggplant or something like that, you know what I mean?

That's going to raise some questions. Like, just go with a very confident choice. You know what I mean? Burger fries. Yeah, burger, fries steak. Like, don't be doing, you know, like, don't be doing the, I don't, like, don't ask what the specials are. Like, just, just get the, what's going on on the menu sort of thing.

There's always a guy that asks for the special. Yeah, what is the special, but never orders the special. Well, it's almost like, it's almost like, like, like, routine. Like, like, and for me, I wait for them to tell me the special. You know what I mean? Because that's what they're supposed to do. Yeah. Like, oh, oh, what are the, you?

the specials tonight? Yeah, run in the opposite direction and a guy who asks for the specials the second you sit down. They're talking about buffalo wings. Yeah. I think it's very interesting to watch how people eat their wings.

Oh, I totally agree. Steph, for example, makes me so angry the way she eats her chicken wings. Oh, no. She's very slow. She doesn't break any of it apart with her fingers. And she leaves half the meat on the bell.

Oh, no, no, no. Mean, I actually don't eat it off the bone, I ripped it off my hand, and then I put it in my mouth. Now, that's weird. I don't, I don't think, that's a little weird. I didn't think you were going to say that. I thought we were going to be on the same page with this. For me, I'd take them.

We're talking about drumsticks or flat? Flats. I'm a flats guy. You're definitely a drumstick guy. I'm a drumstick. I know it. I know it. You take a bite of the drumstick and you get the first flap of meat. and then what you do is you take the middle finger and you poke the rest of the meat through and then you eat that part

and then you clean up the ends. That's the best way to eat a buffalo wing. For me, with the flat, if I'm eating the flat, I first break one of the tops off so the two bones are separate. So they could go like this. Yep. And I flip them back over and I pull all the meat off

like you're just like, oh, that's psychotic. shedding something. Oh. And then I dip in my blue cheese. I eat it. No, no, no. That's psychotic. That's what I do.

That's horrible. And I love chicken wings. I love wings. Okay. It's iconic. That's it. Well, thank you for a quick hit round two. Yeah, thanks.

What I want to know is, you know, here you are creating these videos on Barstool. Yeah. They're picking up some speed. You're growing this following, this loyal following, this community. at what point did creating evolve into the opportunity of what is now a business? That's a great question. Not going to be serious with this one. So I remember, like I said, I always started doing this just for the pure enjoyment of it.

And, you know, oftentimes when you get the opportunity to turn something you love into a business, people think it's a very easy decision. It's really not because you're doing it for a hobby and turning a hobby into a business is, you know, it doesn't matter if you feel like doing this today. You're going to do it today sort of thing. And I was afraid of what that was. And a part of me was like, you know, I don't,

I just love the fact that people are laughing. I don't see a need to make money while doing it. And that's a very young-minded, like, thing to think. But my dad was always pushing. Like, my dad's a business guy. So my dad was always like, you know, like, you really have something here, Nick. Like, we could really, we could really do something here. And you could keep making these videos and you could keep making people that.

But you could also make some money for yourself. I need push. And he'd just be like, no, I'm good. I just don't want to do it. And so I remember this was 2020. I signed up with Cameo. And it was around the holiday season. And mind you, I had around $14 in my bank account before this happened.

You were bowling. Dude, I had no idea what money was, how it worked, any of it. You're in college at this point? I was in college. Yep, still in. Yeah, I mean, I remember being in college, having $5 in my account. But every time you got a check, it burned the hole in your pocket. Oh, I got money.

I'm going to spend this money. Oh, we're eating good tonight. Like, you don't think in like, oh, I'm going to put some of this money away. Like, for me, at least, I was like, I could buy this shirt from here. I could buy these shorts from there. Like, if I do, if I just need $15 more, I could buy, like, a pair of, and you had something to do with this. Oh, I could get, I could get two things of milk and cookies protein.

I could get strong. Like, it just burned a hole in my pocket. So, um, It's the month of November, and I'm signed up with Cameo. And for those you don't know, Cameo is an app where you could pay, you could pay quote-unquote celebrity to make a video or whatever. And, like, I thought that was the greatest thing on Earth because, like, you can control the quality of it.

And I made sure that every video I put out was the greatest cameo on Earth. No one would ever do a better job at Cameo than me. And I was getting such good review. that I would keep getting more and more bookings and I couldn't keep up. So I would raise my price and raise my price and raised my price. I started at $6 for a cameo. And my price now, and it hasn't changed in a while, it was $125 per cameo. And I remember after the month of November, looking at a check that hit my bank account.

And I was staring at my bank account. And I'm just like, this is real. Like this is real life. I've never seen that much money in my entire life before. Like maybe my dad's on to something. And in that moment... How much was it? Are you going to say?

About $4,000. Okay. $4,000 on cameo. Yeah. Right. Yeah, it was around $4,000. And I remember in that moment, I'm like, I don't know what's going to come of me turning this into a business.

I don't know what the future looks like, but I'm making the conscious decision. decision to give this everything I have and I'm all in. So whatever happens, I'm going to keep showing up every single day. And that decision was what led it to becoming a full-blown business. I started the LLC, you know, the Nikki Cash Media LLC is the LLC that I run my business out of. and the decisions from that were now all business-related. And I had no idea how uncomfortable the next few months were going to be. But again, I remember I'm the type of person.

When I make a decision I'm in, I'm all in, that's it. Like, there's no going back. And so in those moments, like, you have to look back and say, well, I committed to doing this. So I'm here. Like I turned, I flipped the switch from being a teacher to now being a student in every aspect, every single aspect, drop my ego. I don't know shit about what I'm getting into. And I'm going to try and soak up as much as I can and listen to everybody that I can.

And that's a hard thing to do when your right hand manned is also your father. because your dad tells you clean up your room, do this, take out the garbage, X, Y, and Z. So in the beginning, it was a hard adjustment to be like viewing him as my business partner. But as you become more familiar with it, I would be a lost puppy if it wasn't for that guy guiding me through. So although there was uncomfortable moments, at the end of the day, I'm doing this with my best friend. Like, I'm doing this with my dad. So, like, is it really that bad? And, like, watching, you know, some of your content helps out because you think, like, am I the only one feeling these?

Like, I describe it, like, people are like, well, what's it like? I describe running your own business as, and I'm not in the product retail. Like, I'm not in that category. But I could still describe it as being a kid that doesn't know how to swim. and then someone comes over and throws you in a pool. It says figure out how to fucking survive. Figure out how not to drown. And that's how it feel.

Like, it still feels that way sometimes. It never goes away. Yeah, like, but sometimes I feel like I'm treading water. Like, I feel like, okay. Like, at least I've been, like, here for a little bit now. I know what the water feels like. Like, I could figure it out. But in the beginning, it is the most uncomfortable thing I've ever done in my entire life.

but because of that conscious decision that I made to go all in, the best decision I've ever made ever. I can tell you from firsthand, being an entrepreneur, being a business owner that has a growth mindset who chooses growth. Yeah. It is this consistent cycle that is you get thrown in the water.

Yeah. And then you learn how to swim. Right. And once you start learning how to swim, things feel pretty good. Right. Like, oh shit, we're swimming now. Right.

But then things kind of stop. Like, you plateau. And the only way to grow and continue to improve is that you have to get out of the water and you have to jump into another body of water. Right. Where the swimming technique is different to survive. Yeah. And again, you're drowning. Oh, yeah.

And you learn how to swim again. And then you get out of, you have to choose to get out of the water to choose to jump in the next body of water. Oh, yeah. And not know how to swim again. Right. And after doing this for 10 years, I am still humbled all the time of what I don't know. Oh, yeah. Absolutely.

And you know what? Like I wrote, I don't, did you end up reading that paper I sent you? I did. Yeah. Like, I, like, being an entrepreneur. And like, as you begin, like, I'm sure you've realized this through, throughout your life and throughout this journey with BPN. Like, for me, it was, there's no other option. There was never another option. I was never going to be a nine to five guy working for somebody else.

And I am a big believer that being an entrepreneur also teaches you how to be a good human being. And I say that because when you adopt the, when you drop your ego and you adopt the student mindset, everyone you meet has something to offer everybody you can learn from any single person you come in contact with because you've trained your mind i don't know anything like i i'm i'm here to absorb i'm not here to give like i'm here to to figure out like oh do we relate on this what can what can we talk about like how can you influence me and maybe get something like that i that i do and to help you as well like i feel like throughout the process of of growing business and throughout the process of of waking up one day and saying you know what i'm going to

i'm going to bet on myself for all of my successes all of the food that's going to come on my table is going to be because of my doing and not because i'm punching in every day the more times you get knocked to the ground the more perspective you're given which then makes you into that much better of a person if that makes sense and i feel like every true entrepreneur that I've come in contact with, the connection is almost instant because you're constantly trying to be better as a human being. And when you're better as a human being, everything else in your life is keeps going up. And I wouldn't have recognized that had I not jumped into this whole thing. And being, being an entrepreneur,

is problem solving. Yeah. But it's not just solving problems through yourself. It's also solving problems for the people around you too. So in my case, you know, we have 27 full-time employees now. And every decision I make doesn't just impact me or the business, but it impacts 27 other people plus their families. Right.

So you're constantly solving. problems for yourself and for other people so that you can all move forward together. Yeah. What I'm curious, and I'm sure you have an answer to this, is, you know, now that you've built your business on being this funny guy. Right. Do you ever get nervous that you're pigeonholing yourself as the funny guy? And what does that pivot look like?

Or how do you use that as leverage moving forward? Yeah. So I definitely don't, I'm not afraid to be pigeonhole because I know that it's not going to happen. And I remember watching a documentary. I don't know if it was the Mark Wahlberg documentary or the Kevin Hart documentary, both two documentaries that I watch frequently. And I'm pretty sure as Mark Wahlberg, he talked about, you know, never putting yourself in a box. You don't ever want to be put in a box. And I'm watching this thing. I'm like thinking back to like what I'm doing. I'm like, yeah, I don't want to be put in a box either.

And so there's so much more that I'm passionate about, so many more things that I feel that I can bring to the table that I'm not afraid to show the world. Like I started the Nicki Motivations page. And while I'm at school and trying to do Nikki Cass and running all these moving parts, I haven't really given it as much time as it's needed, but at least I'm trying. Like, I'd rather, I'd rather, and I think you've said something along the lines of this,

like fail up being creative rather than be successful at what everyone else is doing, something along those lines. And, like, I don't ever fear being pigeonholed as the funny guy because I'm not afraid to show other aspects of who I am. Shit, if you think about it in a grand scheme of things, I'm sitting here talking to you who is a supplement company owner who runs 30 miles on Saturdays for fun and I'm supposed to be this comedian

with a face filter making fun of Italian dads. Now how does that make sense? You put yourself out there. You showcase other aspects of you. Do not be afraid to be you because who you are is unique. So like looking at it myself, I use it as an asset

and apply the strategies I've learned from being the funny guy, the content guy, and just exploring other avenues. So what? If you would have said, no, we're not interested in, okay, I mean, I love BPN, so I would have kept coming back like I did.

But at least I tried. You know what I mean? I don't have any fear of putting myself in a box because I know that I'm passionate about other things and not afraid to showcase them, if that makes sense. Do you ever get the pushback of the response when you try to do something that's not funny?

Yeah. And people say, hey, stay in your lane, man. Stick the comedy. Yeah, I get it all the time. They used to bother me, but it doesn't anymore because I'm doing, and I tell people this and people I know all the time who want to start something new. At the end of the day, even if it blows up in your face, you did what 99% of people will never do.

and that's try something that they were afraid of the consequences had they done it and not been received well. Like if you just go and try, you're winning already. You're doing what 99% of people are not comfortable enough to do. So I look at it internally. If you don't like what I'm doing, that's fine because I tried. And I'm going to keep trying because this is what I love to do. So I'm not concerned about what he says.

or she says, because at the end of the day, when my head hits the pillow, I know I tried. Like, I know that I'm giving the effort. I know that I'm getting uncomfortable. And I know that because of this discomfort and because of putting myself out there, it will at some point yield the benefit. And like a lot of people, I believe, think that, and social media does a great job at this. They think it just happens like overnight. Like, how many times did you create a video and take it down? Or how many times did you try. something new and it failed. Like, no one sees that because no one puts it out there.

No, it's a long, long process. And if you let one or two people stay in your lane, stay in your lane, that's exactly what you're going to do. If you listen to them, that's exactly what you're going to do. And staying in your lane goes like this. That lane's going to come to an end at some point. Well, it's, you know, I say doubt is only dangerous when you start doubting yourself. Absolutely.

The same thing applies to put yourself in a box where if enough people, you know, People can put you in a box to the point where you actually believe it and put yourself in that same box. Oh, yeah. Oh, absolutely. But there's also the pushback of everyone in the world can try to put you in a box. But if you actually don't put yourself in that box, you don't believe it, nothing changes for you. Absolutely nothing. You keep trucking along.

But what happens typically is someone will either doubt you or a group of people will try to put you in this box and say, stay here. This is your lane. and this is where you belong, don't go left, don't go right. Right. And if you say, man, I think they're right.

Right. And you go walk over and you open the box, you put yourself in there, you're stuck until you pull yourself out. Yeah. Or you can say, fuck you. Right.

I'm not going to that box. I'm going this way. Yeah. And it's all perspective. Absolutely. There's not an actual box. Right. You're not getting put in this like,

I mean, yeah, no one shoving you in a box. But it's, you can, you know, put yourself mentally in this box by what people are telling you to do or where to stay. Absolutely. And there's this quote that resonates with me very much.

And it resonates with what you just said. When there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do no harm. And when you believe in yourself, when you're comfortable with you and what you do and you don't really care about anything external, he said, she said. I don't think people really understand how powerful that is. When you combine that with someone who's self-aware and someone who's humble, but believes in themselves, that's a dangerous thing.

Because you're not afraid of what everyone else thinks. And that's a long journey to get there. I don't believe that anyone is really born like that. But when you can achieve that level of confidence, not cockiness, but confidence and belief in yourself, you're absolutely right. It is a very well-received in terms of success, success path to take.

So in terms of putting yourself out there, right? You put yourself out there and you do what your passion, about you do it, your love, what insecurities have been exploited throughout that process. I know you're currently on acutamine. I'm on acutamine for a second time. Yeah. So, you know, acne flares up. Oh, yeah.

And I'm lucky in a sense where my acting when I was younger went away before using social media. Yeah. Before social media was even a thing. Yeah. But I remember in high school, my chin. Oh, yeah. blew up with acne. And I remember my mom took me this dermatologist, got me on this stuff,

dried my skin out so much. I didn't want to use moisturizer because I didn't want to break out more from the moisturizer. So I remember for a year going to school, my face was so dry that I couldn't open my mouth and talk. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I get you. I feel that. How is that putting yourself out there?

because I only, I felt that from going to high school and a few kids in a small town in central Pennsylvania. You're now putting yourself out there in front of hundreds of thousands of people. What's that been like? Love it. Like, I got very lucky with acne. And I'm going to explain what that means. So I had horrible acne from freshman year of high school up until freshman year of college. That was the first time I had horrible acne.

And I couldn't show you. like you could pull up pictures if you want, I'll send them to you. But the first round is where I learned all I need to know about being insecure. I mean, Nick, I never, I didn't want to look at people because I was so concerned that they were going to look at me and think I was disgusting. I would take showers and I would feel gross. I would put, uh, I, I, I'd dry my face out because it looked less. red. Like I'd take as hot of a shower as I could because I didn't want people to see how

how bad my acne was. I felt like I wanted to put a bag over my head. I didn't want to go out in public. And that sucked. But at the same time, it taught me so much about myself. And it turned me into this not cocky, but confident in who I was machine. Because I looked in the mirror and I basically told myself, you know what? No one's going to look at your insecurities as much as you are. No one's going to hyper focus on what you're insecure about more than you are. No one's going to look at your pimples, Nick, and say, oh, my God, look at it. No one's going to do that. And if they are, they're an asshole and you shouldn't be friends with that person because that's

not who you want to surround yourself with. And I accepted that. I knew that who I had around me loved me for me. And they didn't care how many pimples I had on my face because that doesn't mean anything. What's important is what's inside is corny as that sounds, it's the damn truth. And when you accept that and absorb it, you gain this appreciation for who you are. And so I'm now looking in the mirror with a million zits on my face. And I'm extremely lucky to have a support system like I do.

I'm not saying I did this on my own. I had people around me who gave me that confidence. I knew that I had people around me who loved me for me. But now I'm looking at myself in the mirror saying, It don't matter how many pimples I have on my face. No one's looking at him. Who gives you shit? I'm me.

And this is what I got, right? And so it went away after taking acutine for the first round, right? And then as I'm blowing up on social media, it's coming back like wildfire. Everywhere, right? And I know you're a man of faith, and so am I. And I'm not going to really get into that. but I do believe that the first round of acne that I had prepared me for the second time that it happened

because now I got all the ammunition. Like, let's go to war. Like, I'm ready to go. And because I had that, I was able to say, you know what? I'm going to get my face on this camera as much as possible. I'm going to run right at it. I want people to see my biggest insecurity

because there's probably one or two kids who are going to watch this who have to go to high school the next day with zits on their face and are insecure that people are looking at them and maybe see my story and see me busting at the seams pepperoni face looking like a cheese grater and say, well, if he's going to do that every day and a million people are going to see his face, I could do it.

And so I use that to my advantage. Like, I feel like I was put in a position, the timing of it works so well, why would I not share with the world my biggest insecurity and how I overcame it? Because what's the point of having quote unquote success and this platform if you don't share something good? And I genuinely believe that it happened for a real reason because it eliminated the insecurity that I had and hopefully gave someone who is insecure a sense of comfort. I got you, bro. I'm right here.

I'm getting on this camera every day. could do it too. And I would get DMs, yo, my face is breaking out. I don't know what to do. And I was like, I got to do something about this. And I just kept, kept rolling with it. I mean, people say some nasty shit, some real nasty shit. Nasty isn't mean? Yeah, me. And, you know, like, I would always say, I would respond to some of these comments. I don't respond anymore. But I remember I would always say the same sentence. Pimples are temporary. Character is not.

And I take my character over your clean face every fucking day of a week. And I just kept it rolling. How'd people respond to that? It's always the same thing. I'm sure you know. When you engage in someone who's hating on you, the flip is, oh, I didn't think you would respond. Keep doing you, bro.

keep doing it's like come on man that's like smacking someone in the face and saying sorry yeah you know what I mean like I don't know I just didn't didn't waste my energy but for the people who who were struggling like

like I was the response was fantastic and that's the beauty of having a platform that first time to acutane how bad is that process I will wake up do that and my nose will bleed just very dry

oh my gosh I mean look at my lip You see my lips? I've been putting prescribed medicine on these things, aqua four, three times a day. Everything I can do in the book to make sure that my lips aren't chapped and they're still chapped. I mean, like, your nose, the inside will crack. And it creates like a scab on the inside of your nose. So when you breathe in, the cold air makes it burn. It's like it sucks.

It abs. But it works. How long have you been on it the second time now? I'm going on month four. What's like... Around six months. And then it should be cleared. For good.

It should be cleared for good. Forever. Yeah, forever. And you're not supposed to drink alcohol on it. Which is great for me because I don't really drink in general. And it's just like, I'm on acutane. Oh, God. You know what I mean?

It's just it's accepted. Yeah. What have been the potential downfalls, the losses that could occur when these insecurities take over? and what did you experience when some of these insecurities did take over? In life or in business? In both. You know, there were times where I didn't want to socialize with my friends or going to a public area or meet new people because I'm huge on first impressions. And in my mind, I was like, well, they're going to think I'm dirty.

They're going to think, like, I don't take care of myself. And, like, everybody you come in contact with has the cure for acne. Every fucking person you come in. Oh, don't eat dairy. Don't do this. Fix your gut. X, Y, and Z. It's different for everybody.

And it would hold me back in social situations. The second time it didn't, the second time I got acne didn't, the insecurities didn't hold me back. as I said. And the other, the other insecurity, don't laugh, is my height. I think I knew of that already. But like, this was like back in like freshman sophomore year before like I would go to the gym. I think that's why a lot of short dudes do some crazy shit, like physically because we need an edge. Like, we need one.

What are you think? Five five five. I'm five five. Five five. No, I'm five six. All right. And like when you walk into like a crowd while everyone's hitting puberty and like you're like not like everyone's like everyone's like people. Some people would grow up faster than others and like I just didn't grow at all.

But the like to be surrounded by a bunch of dudes your age and you're just you feel small like you feel less of when you don't have this confidence. it kind of fucks with you a little bit. Like you feel like a little boy. Like you almost feel like you don't like belong in that circle. But at the end of the day, it's like, you know, that's why that's not the reason for going to the gym. But like once you start to like do physical fitness and lift weights and stuff like that, that kind of goes away. but I'm extroverted but sometimes those insecurities

like acne and my height back then prohibited me from being my full self and that I would say that's the that's really the extent of it like I wasn't it didn't really hit me that hard in terms of like missed opportunities like I was I've always been one to seize an opportunity and I never really would consider my insecurities

to prohibit me from doing that. One thing that people like to point out about me through social media, uh-oh. To me DMs. And it's not even an insecurity. Like, I just don't have time to fix it. Eventually I will.

My bottom teeth. Yeah. My bottom teeth are pretty crooked. Yeah, that one's a little fucking crooked. So when I was in middle school, I had braces. Uh-huh. Did you have braces? No.

I was supposed to get them. So I had braces. And after your braces are done, teeth are straight, they say, where are these retainers for the rest of your life? Are you kidding me? Right. Two months in, my dog, chews up my retainers. Never went and got them again.

So my bottom teeth over the years have just gotten more crooked and more crooked and more crooked. So I'll get DMs, people pointing them out like, hey, your teeth are crooked. Yeah, I know. Yeah. Oh, bro, you're breaking out. Oh, are these what these fucking things are? Is that what it is? These are pimples?

I didn't know that. It thanks. Let me give you my check at the end of the month. But when I was younger, like, that would have bothered me. Like, someone pointing out my teeth and I'd want to find a solution. But now it's, I just don't care. I don't. I don't.

Like, I'm sorry. I don't. Like, this is me, man. Like, I don't. And I feel like that started to happen when I saw what being yourself can really do for you. As you get older and as you become. comfortable with yourself. The outside, I just don't

care. Like, oh, I got pimples. That, okay, great. You know, I love what I do. I wake up every day and I love living. How old are you? 21. You're young. Yeah, I'm a old baby. So,

I've recently heard a few people talk about this concept. Matthew McConaughey talks about it. He says, involve more, impressed less. And then one of my favorite authors, Donald Miller, I follow him on social media. And he posted this thing the other day.

He said, he doesn't want to be impressive. He doesn't want people to say, Donald Miller, you are impressive. You're an impressive man. He wants to be known. And at the end of his time, he wants to be known for the connections he made, the impact he's left,

the people he brought together his involvement. What do you, as a 21-year-old right now? Yeah. And this will change probably the course of your life. Absolutely. But at this point, 21 years old, what do you want to be known for? So for your first point,

I totally agree. Like, I almost become uncomfortable when I get fed, compliments. Like, I don't know how to respond to them. Um, because I don't, that's not why I do what I do. I want to be known for, like, of course, you know, any interaction. Oh, oh, you, I met him one time. He's hysterical. He's just, but you know what? He is a stand up, good quality guy. He's a great guy. Like, I want every interaction ever that I've ever had, the bad. ones and the good ones to be as positive as possible.

So I can, my reputation is so good that when something quote unquote negative comes out or someone says something negative about me, people are met with disbelief. And I really genuinely mean that. I want people to remember me as he's just a great guy. Like, take away the last, take away X, Y, and Z. He's just a great guy. And that's honest. That's it.

And with that, I want to be able to, with the people closest around me, to say, you know, Nick had an impact. Like, I wouldn't have tried something new if I didn't see throughout. action what Nick was doing. That's also really inspiring to me and something that I continue, that I want to continue to do. Like, I just want to, because what, what that does is it creates longevity, like, when you're gone.

Like, you're still alive. People remember, oh, he was just a great guy. Like, that's it. Like, it doesn't get much simpler than that. And of course, it'll probably change. Like when I'm married and have kids and I want my kids. I got a great dad. But like I just want to be known.

I'm talking batting a thousand. Everyone. Great guy. That's it. I've been saying for the past couple years, because as BPN started growing, started thinking as I was looking out of the market, what people were doing in the space,

specifically the fitness space. And one thing I always tell Preston and the people in the business from the beginning is when people talk about BPN and me included in that, I want them to say, those guys, they just do things different.

Yeah. That being showing up as your true self. Yep. Doing the hard right over the easy wrong. Absolutely. Staying in your lane, being original, not just trying to copy or replicate

or recreate whatever else is doing. It's just those guys, man, they do something different. Yeah. And that's my goal. And, you know, when I hear that, that's like music to my ears. Oh, yeah.

Because I'm like, mission accomplished. Yeah. Absolutely. And I'm a huge believer in being the energy that you wish to attract. And, like, I don't think it's a mistake that I'm sitting here. at this table with somebody who just said something like that.

You know what I mean? Because it just makes sense. Like, I believe in the same things and that's what I put out there. Like, I run. I run from trends. I run from them. As you should. Yeah.

Oh, I run. It's the easy way out. Like, I don't want it to be easy. I've never, nothing's ever been worth it in my life that's ever been easy. when I go to create, the first thought in my head is how can I do what no one else has done yet? I've done one trend in my entire life, and that was the video I did with my grandmother of things in my Italian household. And that was merrily because I wanted to make her smile because she was having a rough day. But other than that, dude, I sprint in the opposite direction because how are you going to differentiate yourself from what everyone else is doing?

Like, how are you going to stand out? Why are people going to follow you? And it's in the fitness industry all the time. Everyone's doing the same exact thing. How can you be different? And kudos to you guys. Because in the most saturated industry in the world, you guys are just in a blue ocean.

And a frigging blue, like no one is doing that sort of stuff. You know, like I just, I totally agree. That's one of the things I think about, you know, raising this daughter who eventually will be using social media whoever knows what social media will be like in 10, 12 years

but if you look at the way social media has evolved, where it's at right now is it's been used to create these robots. These robots are people where these viral trends go out and everyone

replicates and reproduces it Yep. And one, there's no originality. Two, it doesn't force you to, like, actually use your brain and think for yourself. And create, like, going back to the beginning of this conversation, when me and my friends would sit in my parents' basement with our video camera thinking, what should we film today? Yeah.

And it was the most random shit ever. Yeah. Like, random. Yeah. But we had so much fun doing it. or, you know, that's when Halo was really popular when we were younger. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we'd link all these TVs in the basement because there was no live then.

Right. Like, it was, you'd tell your friends to bring their monitors over and shit like that. Yeah, and you'd go get this long cord. Yep. And you link TVs together. Yeah, with the three, with the three colored dials and shit. Yep. Yep.

You figure that out. But it's like you had to become, you had to learn. You had to create. Yes, yes. And that's why, you know, you pull up. I tried the whole TikTok thing. I tried. I don't think it's for a guy like you.

Every time I pulled it up, I got frustrated because it's like the same people doing the same dance. I'll stick to what we've been doing. But, you know, we did a podcast a few weeks ago with Arod and Jordan, our brand director, media director, talking about the lack of originality. And it's disgusting. Yeah. And it just goes back to what I was saying before. And shout out to the only professor I've ever enjoyed going to in my time at college. And he says, being you is your biggest asset besides time. And we are all designed to be unique and original. So be unique and original. And literally, and, And I've always been one to sprint in the opposite direction, what everyone else is doing. But to be proud,

like be proud that you're doing different. Like, social media is great, but social media can also, like you said, tell you what to think and what things should be like. They don't, they don't let it,

sometimes it prohibits you from questioning what it is you're seeing. And it prohibits create, Like, it suppresses creativity. And without even realizing it, like, people are like, I'm going to start this and I'm going to do this video because that person did it. And I'm going to keep climbing and it's just going to work because it's worked before. Like, no, that road is done. Someone paved that path. Now you got to figure out how to light your own path.

You need to figure that shit out. And that's normally, from what I've seen, the successful route is to be original. But the originality is slowly starting to decline. And I believe you're right. It's because of the amount of saturated content on social media of everyone trying to do what everyone else is doing. We're at a point where you've got to pave your own road. Stop driving on roads that have already been. paved. Oh, yeah. Absolutely.

100%. All right. So I'm going to wrap this up with two questions from the quick hit round. Question one. If a movie was made of your life, what genre would it be and who would play you? This answer is going to surprise people. I think it'd be a drama movie.

I think Mark Wahlberg would play me. I was going to say Leo. Leo. I thought that's where you were going with that. My girlfriend tells me, like, I get it. I got Leo vibes. I get the vibes a little bit. Yeah. I think it'd be like a dramatic comedy.

You know what I mean? Like I got to comedic side, but I also, you know, I enjoy the process. Like, I love figuring shit out. Yeah. I think it'd be a dramatic comedy. Okay. Name three questions you dread being asked

at family gatherings. Where's your girlfriend? Um, like not, not like, not like, do you have one? Like if my girlfriend doesn't come with me to, like on Easter,

she's not going to come with me because she's going to be an hour and a half down the shore. And like, where's your girlfriend? Oh, she's, she's with her fan. Like, I don't know.

I just don't like, I don't know. Two. Um, how school? I like school. It's good. It's good. Oh, yeah.

Yep. Um, and third. now, nowadays. Oh, oh, can I get a picture with you? Can I get a picture with you? Like, like tagging me on. Yo, is that what?

Like, come on. Like, stop. Please. Oh, did you get those for free? Oh, is this a paid post? Oh, is this? Like, that sort of shit. Steph was going over these questions with me.

She generated these questions. Did she? She found them online, I think. But she asked me that question. Name three questions you would, you dread. being asked at family gatherings. And one of my responses, I used to get this all the time at family gatherings.

Hey, are you, are you Preston Bears' brother? Yeah. Preston was a really big sports player in high school. Oh, yeah, that would be bad. His photo and name was all over the paper. There was a local restaurant that made a burger named after Preston. What?

So people would walk him back, you're Preston Bears' brother. Really? Yeah, he was a stud athlete. Really? I did not. I knew he played baseball, but I didn't know, wow. He's a stud.

Football, football and baseball. Holy smokes. They named the burger after him? Yeah, they did. And it was delicious. Absolutely. It was like this mountain of a mess.

What? So, Nikki and I are about to hit a training session, and then I can't wait to cook a steak for you, man. I'm excited. I can't wait. I'm excited. I love the waggon. I love the waggon. Before we close out, I'm going to end this.

I just got to say this. So when I was a freshman in college, I knew what BPN was in high school, but when I was a freshman in college, I really got a liking to what you guys were doing and what you were doing specifically. And I always said to myself, there will be a point in my life where me and Nick are going to cross pass. I knew it was going to happen. and I told myself when it does happen,

I'm going to take that opportunity and I'm going to run with it and I'm going to seize every ounce of that opportunity. And I literally I'm sitting here across from you because of what you've put out into, I'm a fan originally who has absorbed what you've said, go one more, embrace the suck, consistently good over it. occasionally great.

And I'm across from you because of that and the doings of my father. And I just, for what it's worth, would like to say thank you. And I appreciate what you've put out. And I genuinely hope that someday, not to get all sappy on you, but someday somebody, and I've told this to you millions of times, somebody looks up to me the way I look up to you. So I appreciate it. and thank you. That's all.

I appreciate it. No, I had to say. I mean, it's one of those things like, I've been creating content for consistently eight years now. It's 2014. Yeah. And spent thousands of hours. Yeah.

Creating and thinking. And while some people are thinking about how to make something a virus, or just reach people. I've always gone into it with how do I guide people through a process? How do I help people reach a certain goal in their life? How do I impact people? And while it's never been this huge spiking growth for me, it's been this consistent impact that has been super rewarding to receive on the other side.

So when I see someone actually take the knowledge that I put out, there because the stuff that I put out there, I know that if you take it and you implement it, it will impact your life. Oh, yeah. It will work. So when I actually see someone absorb it fully and implement it and even if they don't see results in 5, 10, 15, 30, 40, 5, 60 days, they don't get that job promotion. They don't build that business.

They don't reach their fitness goal. They stick with it for months and months and months. And they finally realize, oh, this is the job. the key. Yeah. Just fucking work and keep working. Right. And you will see a result and you're the result of that.

I appreciate it. Thank you, man. Oh, thank you. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that is the Nikki Cassano. Thanks, brother. Thank you. Now what I'm about to do is we're going to go into the gym. We're working out here at home.

We're working out here. I'm going to bench more than this 190 pound stick that's sitting across from me that I could say. Like I said, respect. first, then the disrespect. You know what I mean? I'm about to disrespect you on this bench. Okay. All right, thanks, guys.

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Bear Performance Podcast. Please leave a rating and review on the platform you are listening to if you enjoyed it. It helps us to grow and reach more people with the intent of changing lives through the Go One More mindset. If you are ready to take your health and performance to the next level, head over to BPNSubs.com to take the first step.