The Viall Files - E325 Rod Thill - Show Me Your Anxiety

Episode Date: September 29, 2021

Today we are joined by TikTok star Rod Thill. Creating videos and rising to popularity during the pandemic, Rod creates videos that focus on work-from-home culture and anxiety, specifically with millennials. From popularizing the term “Cheugy”, dipping into 90’s nostalgia, breaking down anxieties from the workplace, and catching up on Sex in the City, Rod is unapologetically himself. In this interview we break down toxicity in the workplace, toxic masculinity, hanging out with the Bachelor crowd, and more! “If I’m working hard to make videos for 10 people, or working hard to make videos for millions, it’s worth it.” Please make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode and as always send in your relationship questions to [e-mail] to be a part of our Monday episodes.  For merch please visit www.viallfiles.com today! THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS: MasterClass: Go to http://www.masterclass.com/VIALL Viall Files listeners get 15% off an annual membership.  Laithwaites: Text VIALL to 64-000 to get six amazing bottles of wine, plus two bonus bottles and two stemless wine glasses for $49.99 (plus tax) with free delivery.  Episode Socials:  @viallfiles @nickviall @rod See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What's up everybody welcome back to another edition of the vile files I am your host Nick and wall boy do we have a great episode for you today? I'm going to keep this intro real short. If you're watching it on YouTube, you'll see that I'm recording from New York. We are doing our intro for our Rod Thill episode. Our guest today, Rod Thill. You might recognize him from TikTok. He is risen to stardom in the TikTok community talking about very relatable content like anxiety, having that in the workplace, toxic masculinity. Great guy, great conversation. Really enjoyed my

time with Rod. I don't really have any housekeeping notes other than if you are tuning in to listen to Rod for the first time, make sure to check out our Ask Nick episodes on Monday, our recaps for all things Bachelor on Tuesday, and to check out our Ask Nick episodes on Monday, our recaps for all things Bachelor on Tuesday, and sending your questions for Ask Nick episodes at asknickacastme.com, cast with a K. And I won't waste any more of your time with me talking because Allie and Amanda are not with me in the studio right now to catch up on their wild dating escapades.

So let's get to Rod. Rod? Yeah. Phil, how are you? Doing great, Nick. Thanks for coming. Thanks for having me. Who are you for the people who don't know?

Oh, man. I mean, I know for a lot of people on TikTok who are tuning in to listen to you, they love your content, you're out there, but who are you? Let's just start there from the beginning. For the people who aren't familiar with you, how did you become to be this entity who talks about anxiety

in such relatable and humorous and comical ways? Yeah, absolutely. So I started making, well, I started working from home during quarantine, like everyone, and I was working a sales job. I've been in sales for 10 years, corporate sales. Where did you work? I worked for a company called ship up their logistics so selling selling logistics which just was not sexy at all sure yeah selling space selling little space yeah and space and trucks and then um i just started when tiktok came during quarantine of course like every millennial i was like oh let's see what this is and i got overwhelmed and

then hopped off and then once we got deeper into quarantine, I started actually making TikToks. And then I struck a chord talking about like one of my TikToks was I'm afraid I'm going to get fired for doing nothing wrong. And then it went viral. And I'm like, oh, my gosh, people relate to this. And so I got making TikToks and rolling with that kind of anxiety workplace theme and then somehow weaved in nostalgia into that so i started using like britney spears songs and christina aguilera songs jesse mccartney was a big one and then from there i just kind of waved or paved my way through this um nostalgia tiktok side so i do like millennial recaps. I translate the millennial experience, I guess. Interesting.

Yeah. Yeah, it's really quite taken off. And now have you quit your job? I quit that job that I was working. On good terms, we actually left pretty well. My old CEO still texts me my TikToks. And he's just like, this one cracked me up. I'm like, oh, good.

And then now I'm doing something more creative. So I'm doing writing now. So it's still in a corporate space, but it's more creative. It was surprising. I never thought I was creative. I never was the funny one. I was never the person to like, I was the class clown, but it was just like more like, you know, making jokes about myself. But now I'm writing, you know, and using that experience.

Isn't that kind of interesting though? I've often felt that way since, you know, I moved to LA. I was living in Chicago. I'm actually, I'm reading like some fun facts about you. Quit a sales job. Doesn't like the term influencer. Resides in Chicago. I no longer reside in Chicago, but like you, like all the same, like I don't like the term

influencer. I've learned to embrace it, but. Yeah, you have to. But yeah, it's, I think, you know, we're always talking about pro like essentially we're talking about pros and cons of like kind of the new world and, and, and like the overwhelming effects of social media, the good, the bad and the ugly. And, and, and one great aspect of it is I think so many people, uh, have been able to tap in to their creative side that I think society essentially told us,

unless you like became an artist and like went to school for that, you're not allowed to be artistic anymore. You know what I'm saying? Like it was something where you just go get your job, whatever it is, whatever field you want to do. And you shut down that creative side. And, you know, I was someone as a kid like i've talked about this like the i wanted to be a cartoonist for disney when i was a kid i was really good at

drawing and i liked to draw it i took art classes etc etc and then i i just got away from it i stopped and then you know when i went to college i was like i have business i gotta i gotta make money i was money driven and then i would do that. And I just like, I turned it off. And now, you know, I came out to LA. I'm trying all this stuff. And through like, hey, I got to, you know, I got this following. I got my platform. What do I want to do with it? I've really tapped into like a creative side.

And it's what's really been cool about social media and especially TikTok. And I'd love your thoughts on this is is that you were finding some we're like discovering all this talent and a lot of it is truly talent it's not just you know like oh influencer because i can pay for a good photographer yeah influence isn't just taking hot pictures anymore it's like you're you're literally creating thoughts and ideas and And, and I, and it sounds like people have found, and even myself, it's, you have funny relatable stuff. And someone who talks about like nostalgia, but anxiety, there's comfort in the relatability of

it all because it's like, I'm not alone. Yeah, exactly. I think the biggest thing that I've seen my mindset move away from is age too. Like we were told like, oh, well, once you're graduate college, that's what you're doing for the rest of your life. And so I was like, even with what I'm doing now, I'm still, my imposter syndrome is like, you're too old for this. You know, like you're 31. Like, why are you going to keep doing this?

But I'm working hard, you know, and I'm enjoying what I'm doing. And I was enjoying what I was doing before, but it's, it's something that is new. It's refreshing. So why not pursue it? You know, like age isn't a number anymore. Yeah. doing and i was enjoying what i've seen before but it's it's something that is new it's refreshing so why not pursue it you know like age isn't a number anymore yeah do you find being on tick tock that you have to deal with imposter syndrome a lot because there's a lot of age shame on tick tock i think any new platform is always adopted by the youngest generation of people who are like allowed to use technology yeah and then and then it blows up it comes more mainstream and a lot of people are like you're too

fucking old for this and then like there's even a lot of people who who like you know like tinks you know are you familiar with tanks i think even in her bio she like reversed herself as the oldest yeah the oldest like and she's like what 29 or i don't 30 or i don't know whatever it's a silly it's silliness and uh do you struggle with that does that trigger your anxiety it doesn't because well for tiktok especially like it the algorithm is so strong so since i talk a lot about the corporate workplace and i talk a lot about 90s and early 2000s nostalgia the algorithm is puts me in this pocket where i'm only talking to people between the ages of 25 to 40 right but there has been times where like i do these millennial recaps

and one of the big words that i helped introduce i didn't make up um but i helped introduce was the word chugi chugi yeah what's that so chugi i don't know if we should go i mean i i feel like i explained this to you okay so no the best part about this and rod will relate to this is i had to tell my mom and like my basically second mom what chugi was during a bachelorette party perfect and bachelorette parties are chugi's everything i was describing was either something in the room or what we were wearing i was like we are the worst like the big gold balloons so basically chuggy is um a new word for basic so like chevron chevron patterns um like oh t-shirt jeans that's so chuggy no like if you're wearing a golf polo and not golfing that's chuggy you know like the

guys that wear like um what else like sparries and you don't even you never go on a boat like that yeah rose all day like that kind of this this is the way it was described to me and this is the narrative that i try to get away from but it's anything that exudes girl boss energy so think of like have you seen that new documentary about lula roe no okay so like lula roe is this multi-level marketing legging company but these girls are like girl bosses and they'll slide in there's so many jokes on tiktok it's like they'll slide in the dms i don't know if you guys have gotten it but it's like hey girl how you do it like people that girls that went to high school with other girls are like reaching out to them trying to get them

to join their team but it's just multi-level marketing and but there's the certain energy that comes along with that and so yeah like chugi is just this word that a single Gen Z are put out into the universe. But then Gen Z got offended. I was using the word and I had target videos created to me creating a generational divide. Gen Z came after you? Oh, they came after me. Yeah. This one girl was in like a whole.

Were you terrified? I was terrified. Gen Z. Oh my God. I would be terrified. Gen Z scares me. They're so terrified. I never want to ruffle any Gen Z feathers. I don't want to ruffle any gen z feathers i don't want to

ruffle any feathers let alone gen z and my biggest fear in life is anyone hating me even people that i hate hating me is really hard for me um but i got through it i got there and that's the thing about tiktok is like you give anything 24 48 hours at a blowover wow yeah it was fun it was fun time gen z very territorial about their well that's the thing is i've seen like you would do a tax for like co-opting gen a gen z word was that was that the accusation so here's the thing is gen z thinks that if like one there are people in the gen z age group that do use this word and i've seen it in pop culture i've seen it in public and but if like if there's a group of gen zers that don't use that like growing for example growing up if we

we had seen kids we had the preppy kids that shopped at holoship or crombie we had the hot topic kids you know gen z doesn't see themselves out which is great but then when it comes to things like this it's like no we don't say say that because like there's a group of gen z-ers that have not even used the word chugi so that means none of gen z uses the word chugi because they can't see that other people might be different i don't even know if this is going to make the cut because i'm afraid someone in gen z yeah like i was a little worried are you rod are you sure you want this i don't know i was like why did i bring this up yeah i think gen z is like sensitive to other people trying to encapsulate Gen Z because I think it's very hard for people outside of Gen Z to understand

Gen Z. I feel like I'm barely making the cut of Gen Z and I still sometimes find it challenging, but it's like oftentimes when people try to talk about it, they're like center parts. And Gen Z is like, that's not it. No.

Did you hear about that trend? Where, so like middle parts are big thing for millennials, right? Like we parted our, like girls parted their hair. Middle parts. Okay, we're talking about hair. Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Could have been skinny jeans. I was going all over the map, middle parts. Oh, yeah, okay. No, Gen Z like ruled out, a group of Gen Zers said skinny jeans were choogy. So then millennials got so upset. And that's what the fun of TikTok is though. Especially my audience, I can get them riled up.

Yeah. Is it skinny jeans? I think those are straight legs. They're very straight legs. Yeah. That's what I'm saying. What I'm saying is I've been... But that's just trends.

Yeah. I've been a skinny that's just trends. Yeah. I've been a skinny leg guy for a long time. In fact, coming from Milwaukee, I was ahead of... I was like, guys, why are we wearing everything so baggy? Let's be fashionable. Let's show those legs off. And I got some shit for it. I got meaty thighs.

I ran track. I don't have bony legs. So my 32-32 is like I will really fill out the, the, the, the, the skinny jean and totally fine with it. Right. But lately I've gotten older and I see the trend of getting away from skinny jeans and I'm fully embracing it and I'm, I'm all for it. I've been on, on the market of buying some like straight leg levi's of which again fashion it comes with

comes and goes it's i i was like i knew this was gonna happen i just was like it's always fashion because it's like i remember i've been teasing like i just got my friend from back home in walkstraw wisconsin to wear skinny jeans like maybe a year ago because he was like boot cut yeah you know for the longest time and i like i just i finally got him to wear skinny jeans and now i'm like hey man sorry we're back we're back to like boot cut again west vibes yeah you missed it so i think that that's one thing with social media that i've seen too is someone's like how are these trends blowing up so quickly and we've been as millennials like through every round of social media right like myspace to facebook to instagram to where we're at now

but with fashion specifically it moves so quickly because one video goes viral and someone's like oh that's cute and then everyone goes and buys it like coach even leaned into that with the new york fashion because they saw like they're kind of rebranding to what they see on tiktok and the trends which is brilliant because then they're going to use social media to leverage their trend you know and it moves even quicker yeah are you doing a lot like i feel like a lot of uh you seem obviously very well versed and and really educated when it comes to not only social media, but how it works and adapt it. And I've found in my experience of working with a lot of organizations, they're not very good at the whole social thing.

I have thoughts about this. Have you thought of doing some consulting work for brands? I've thought about it. I'm giving this like a year just to see like how i do you know what happens but there's like there's so much work that these brands have to do because they don't want to learn about tick tock they don't understand that everything you put on tic tac has to be shareable because there's engagement that comes along with the algorithm there was one brand that wanted me to say mac and cheese for 15 seconds straight and like in what world

would that no one's gonna share that no one's that. Yeah. And to answer your question, yes, I have thought about it. And then I kind of do it with every brand I talk to. If they give me a concept, I'm like, Hey, that's just not, that's not going to work. You know? Yeah. Masterclass. That's right. Be a master. Take a class. No better time than to learn about whatever it is that you've been trying to get better at. And that might be photography, could be cooking.

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And what are some things that you have found to be the most relatable things that you maybe thought you were alone on? And you put it on TikTok and it goes viral. Oh, shit. Everyone feels this way that you think could be something like an HR department should actually start incorporating into their workplace. Yeah, I think the biggest one is hours of work. Like there's this whole side of TikTokiktok with people who i even made one today that's actually what i put up right before coming here but that people feel the need to work after hours especially working from home because they think that's gonna give them a promotion because there's this like work hard play hard culture and

especially in sales that people will work on the weekend and then it pushes other people to work on the weekend and then it creates this unhealthy environment but then of course managers are like well you're working so i'm not going to say anything but that's that's been the biggest thing i've seen on tiktok is people just like working longer hours um and not just and just not taking mental health as a priority like mental health days are considered a sick day so if you have like what 14 sick days you're taking like five mental health days a year like that's eating into like if you have like what 14 sick days you're taking like five mental health days a year like that's eating into like if you had actually gotten sick you know and needed to use that day so i think that's another thing that i've seen is employers should use mental health days as separate days

separate yeah than a sick day interesting yeah i'm just processing, but what couldn't mental health be? Like, I don't feel well. My mental health isn't great. I'm just thinking out loud. Like, shouldn't that be considered, wouldn't that be normalizing the fact that our mental health and us not feeling our best mentally would be the same as running a fever? No, as I'm saying, so if it's different, then like, for example,

if I'm feeling overwhelmed on a Tuesday, right? And I'm just like, hey, I'm working like crushed today. I'm feeling so overwhelmed and I know that tomorrow I'm not gonna give it my best. At the end of the day, I say, hey boss, like I just need to take half day tomorrow. I need to take tomorrow off, get a therapy session in, get a nice workout in. Do that like once every other

month you know and then you're not feeling the burnout that people are feeling by working set or five sometimes six days a week you know like cruising through the work week and then kind of using that to keep their their thoughts on their mental health in so i think that would create more even more open dialogue as well in in mental health in the workplace how do you how do you think we actually change it because like i i know what you're talking about i saw a tiktok you did about like uh the unlimited vacation you know and i it's such a crock of shit yeah oh it is especially because so it's like a game of chicken it's just like you have unlimited vacations yeah it's like oh but how do i you took you took a vacation already this year i'm like i

took a five-day vacation in february and it's october yes like i would like another vacation i remember like i i just kind of i was i was working at sales i love salesforce and i and i i love loved my boss but i asked to take a vacation he'd go well if if you think that's best and then what are you going to say to that? Yeah. And then walk away. I mean, you are the CEO of your own business. And so I don't want to tell you how to run your business.

So. Oh my gosh. Trigger words. And I was like, you know what? I'll be here tomorrow. He's like, I'll be here tomorrow. Cancel my flight. I will be staying.

Yeah. Well, because Chicago is such a startup culture, right? Like there's so many startups I've worked. And it's such a, it, cause Chicago is such a startup culture, right? Like there's so many startups I've worked. And it's such a, it's a, it's a startup culture, but it still has the bones of like a financial city and like that kind of good old boy,

very much work hard, play hard, you know? And yeah. Yeah. So there's like unlimited PTO in every job I've worked, but then you ask for it off. And then I'm like,

why am I asking for it off? If it's unlimited, it's funny. And it's even gotten rejected before. It's like, for it off if it's unlimited it's funny you know or it's even gotten rejected before it's like why is this what's the point of even saying unlimited pto so that's one thing that people are trying to change is when they're interviewing you know like asking hey how unlimited is the pto like yeah and it's weird because uh i don't think salesforce has unlimited pto but i do, like one thing I learned at Salesforce,

and I think a lot of, especially sales organizations will train their people or companies is the idea of under-promise, over-deliver. Yep. And unlimited holidays is the exact opposite. It's 100% an over-promise and under-deliver to acquire talent. It's funny you mentioned, so there's like bank holidays, right?

That a lot of other companies get off for, like the more established companies that are public you know and have a set amount of vacation days i've had to work every i've never taken off the bank holiday because it's just not a thing you know anymore whereas like it used to be like oh like it's like labor day is the only one but oh you could say you should be able to take president's day off you know and now it's just not a thing you have to work through it interesting yeah wild times what else in the corporate workplace can we try to improve or you've realized that you'd love to it's one thing you've found that is resonating with your audience yeah it's not something we can necessarily change

but i think with this work hard play hard mentality the generation before us doesn't want to retire you know or there's this fear of retiring or whatever especially even boomers and so then millennials aren't getting promotions right now because yeah, cause they're not, there's no, there's no opportunity for them to grow. So a lot of millennials are kind of stuck, especially at these larger corporations,

like seeing their friends at work for a startup, you know, like getting director within three days basically. And then they're stuck fighting for years to get that title. Yeah. I can see how that can get very discouraging yeah what do we do about that there's nothing i don't think we can do anything about it you know like be more open and be like hey you should retire but create better retirement benefit retirement

benefits but companies aren't going to put money into that not sure um so have you always been an anxious person oh i i realize now yeah what do you mean by that it's just i think growing up like therapy was such a buzzword i'm not sure where you're from in milwaukee if like that was encouraged to go to therapy or whatever but no but my i mean like in milwaukee it wasn't like something on the playground we're like you're a therapist you know it was something if you'd like watch movies and you like all the like the la people had therapists it would be like oh those al people la people are sending their kids to therapy like the cuckoo people yeah um out of touch you know coasters uh yeah it was not something that was promoted yeah i think especially for me too just like i told my mom like i remember and she we're she's obviously she loves my tiktoks because she's learning about me and my mindset

from when when i was young but she she there's one time where i was like hey mom i'm not doing so hot like should i look into therapy and she was of course like i am such a bad mother that this would get to this point i'm like okay let's just make it about you for a second yeah and then like move along but those kind of moments like repress you know the the openness that i wanted to have about my mental health you know i think even with society too, especially in masculinity was a really big topic that I've been talking a lot about, especially toxic masculinity is just like, we have to keep it together.

You know, it's like, why do men go to therapy? Like I even did a Q&A on my Instagram that I was like, hey, like I'm a male who talks a lot about mental health, let's do a Q&A, I'm not an expert. But then people were like rolling in. The most common question was, how do I get my boyfriend to be open about his mental health?

And I was like, Oh, well like tell him to go to therapy or help him see how to therapist. And then he's like, he's terrified to go to therapy. It's the, unfortunately it's not usually that easy. And,

and as much as we talk about on this show and as much as more and more people are talking about it, it's, it's still has a long way to go to be normalized. Yeah, it's kind of, especially couples. I was actually, I was doing a podcast with Dr. Solomon and it was her show. We were talking, like literally today, we were talking about it

and how she tries to promote like couples who has just been dating to do couple therapy even maybe it's you've been dating a month or you've been dating six months and i've been using this uh car analogy when it comes to like love and relationships and it's just like you get like you know love is a very powerful thing we recognize that it's powerful like yeah fuck's up we do some crazy it's so powerful we make movies about it we recognize that it's powerful like yeah we do some crazy it's so powerful we make movies about it we talk about it constantly powerful thing yeah we'd also agree that like sports cars powerful things like you know formula one nascar you like you we're probably not even allowed to get in a car and drive it without like an instructor you know but yet uh

we are no one talks to us talks to us about love or dating you know certainly and then the advice we get is from like you know the city or yeah oh my god or whatever i have so many thousands i just started it oh my god where do we go hold on like i don't know how long this episode is gonna be um and yet like yeah like we would if we got if we were given like a nascar and started driving it we like most people were like well right off the bat like how do you drive stick like you know like i know i mean i know how to drive stick i'm a little older but like no one they don't even make that shit anymore you have to like custom order a car if you're trying to drive stick and it would just be like you know what maybe and you'd crash in a couple maybe we should should we

just like google like an instructor and maybe take some classes and like have someone like how to turn it on and get it and all that and that would be like totally normal and yet like love this powerful thing we're all just jumping into we get in a relationship and we're just like why do i need someone to teach me how to do this you know and we get the shame and the defensiveness around that and whether so you know to that end like couples therapy or or just therapy yourself because fuck life uh-huh you know like and trying to and and i guess we're just maybe i have to keep coming up with these random ass analogies for for people because well there's still yeah men it's still

a stigma with that yeah like men aren't going to be a charlotte they're going to be uh what's um the other girl miranda miranda they're gonna be miranda you know like so but it's like why can't men men be a charlotte you know like be like hey like i want to pursue love and i want to find true love and then of course miranda just like hates her life all the time but yeah interestingly enough though i feel like yeah like toxic masculinity is something you know it's a really interesting conversation we talk a lot we try to you know talk promote kind of less toxic behavior but i think our society i think we're still shaming it and i think it comes from women

as well and men we're um i told like i don't know if this is on the podcast but i did a poll on my instagram i don't know if you know this if you put a poll up first story click on it engagement goes up a little bit so like sometimes i start you do it if that's your first story of the morning first story in the morning there you go uh helps with engagement so i'm like yeah i'll try that learn that from tiktok hot tip yeah a hot tip i don't know if you know this. So if you follow me on Instagram and you're wondering

why I'm asking these random ass questions. What should I have coffee today? Trying to get those views. And so I took this picture of Natalie cuddling with my dog Jeff. So naturally,

what do I ask? Let's ask a poll about cuddling so i asked my audience do you like to cuddle yeah i didn't give any thought and this uh other influencer like like literally posted in their story because a bunch of people sent it to me uh like shaming me as a guy for a male influencer no female female influencer a woman influencer was like why would a guy ask his female audience about cuddling that and she was like simultaneously like criticizing me about his other stuff but and i was just like i'm fine i'm good like i don't care i still like to call you're not gonna feel bad about myself but like that type of energy when you're putting it out

into the world and like you're you want want, and we're asking more of our, us, us men are asking more of ourselves. Women are asking more and that's great. We should be holding ourselves accountable, but like it's stuff like that. And the use and like, like,

like fuck, we're just, I thought I'm supposed to talk freely about my enjoyment to cuddle. And is it okay if I'm a little spoon now and then, you know, and I think we're still not there yet is that men and women are still shaming you know what you know because we still like we want to break down those it feels like and i would love your thoughts like we're trying to like break down the stigma of like

what it means to be masculine right um and yet we're, but we still have an expectation of, of what is attractive. Yeah. And, and I think those lines aren't very clear. Yeah. Yeah. And I think like you always hear the jokes, it's like, oh, girls want a guy with a good personality until, you know, he doesn't have a six pack, you know, or something like that. So it's like, is that, how true is that stigma? You know, but I think as far as masculinity goes, there are, I have seen, there's been people out there who want to appreciate a man for just being a man

in the sense of being in tune with his own emotions. Because I think there's something even worse to say about a man who can hold in his anger and who can effectively communicate through what? Therapy, right. And then hopefully these, this generation can set the, the tone for the next, you know, so I don't think it's anything that's going to change overnight, but I do think that this, like it's, it's,

I'm seeing a lot of difference in through social media of, of even me specifically of a man being able to be more open about my anxiety. I'm like wondering how all these people follow me and then i'm looking back i'm like i'm cannot remember a guy who's talked about his anxiety besides like justin baldoni who's like a major public figure you know so i don't think there's anyone who's just been like a co-worker or on the ground level who has who has done this i guess i've been out of the corporate world for six or seven years and i and i guess when i was working there, I wasn't talking about that. I freely talk about my show. I put it out there now,

but I guess I, I've now that I'm thinking about it. Yeah. I'm not that far removed from not, you know, um, they, they're,

they're encouraging. It depends on the company. Like my last company was really good about like mental health days, you know, and all this stuff. Um, or they would do like a mental health seminar, but it was just like having a therapist come and sit in a zoom call to answer questions, you know and all this stuff um or they would do like a mental health seminar but it was just like

having a therapist come and sit in a zoom call to answer questions you know but i do think that there could be better education on it you know and like hey here's actual resources you know or if like doing wellness retreats and or encourage like a fitness stipend i know is a really big thing that some companies are doing right now that employees are seeing a lot of mental health benefit in you know because working out releases endorphins and I get it. It's not for everyone, but it's a big thing that even helps my own mental health. Other than just, um, being more open about their feelings. What are some things that you would like men to, uh, hold themselves accountable more when it comes to, uh, showing less toxic toxicity with their masculinity yeah i think

understanding that not every man is cookie cutter you know especially in sales like i'm sure you've seen it where it's just like you have to be like go hard all the time you know and just like pick up the phone and cold call and i was never that guy i was more relational i was just like hey like you know what i'm not going to upsell you here because like, that's going to put you out of business, you know? So like, let's just try to get on, get on each other's lane and try to be more productive. And then I think through that, you know, I kind of learned more about myself and like what I, my abilities were, but I do think a lot of men have this idea that other men should be like them. I feel like there's a lot of alphas in the corporate world specifically where it's like

there's the head of the office, the CEO or whatever, even like the director, they hire a director based on idolization. So they want the rest of employees to be like this one director. And if it's someone who is Wolf of Wall Street, you're going to get a bunch of employees who want to be either be that or feel affected that they're never going to be that and i was one who would never be that guy um so i guess that's if that makes sense like just understanding that like we're all different you know i think it's specifically a toxic masculinity world not every guy likes sports i don't watch sports um i watch the cubs that's about it you

know and i think that's another big one that's like i have found myself pretending or researching sports players before going and hanging out with friends because i'm like this is the only way i could hang out with them yeah in addition to that not only like or you can like sports but also like what like the bachelor or watch sex in the city oh yeah or why or or like uh broadway broadway shows i got a lot of hate for doing my bachelor recaps or talking about the bachelor from guys because they were like why do you do like when i was working in corporate world like well you're probably watching the bachelor tonight i'm like i am watching bachelor tonight it's a good time really you'd be shamed for it oh yeah yeah i mean i yeah i'm aware i mean you were on the show i get it too but yeah yeah being on it not as much but you know if someone wants to

like you know if there's a troll who wants to try to you know there'll be a lot of like what do you know you just talk about a reality tv show are you like why are you doing this and i don't know it's like one of my best friends who is pretty masculine guy for putting masculine in the sense of what society views as masculine binge watched all the housewives during quarantine and now he's addicted to the real housewives content yeah it's hysterical yeah that's a good point i think yeah i didn't think about it in that way i guess our interests uh we are often are like you said supposed to like certain things i've never seen a fast and furious movie you know i've only seen

the first okay wow and then i was like i'm good they're nine now right well to that end i've never no one's ever i've always like when i i grew up at a time in wisconsin milwaukee where uh the the phrase metrosexual existed oh yeah because and i and i was that and i and it was i was insecure about that and sensitive about it wearing skinny jeans and like buying stripes especially in that area yeah and it was i was insecure about that and sensitive about it wearing skinny jeans and like buying stripes especially in that area yeah because it was like i felt like i felt like people needed a like a label for me yeah to explain why i did in war what i did or acted the way i did that wasn't gay you know because you know we were so ignorant back then that if you had a sense of fashion if you say we're interested in like the housewives and and liked to dance well

yep you just must be yeah yeah and then it's like okay we're not gonna be so ignorant that we're gonna say you're gay but you're not one of us yes you are metrosexual but can i ask you this can you build out 2000 or your junior year of high school? What were you wearing to school? What was your outfit? Junior year of high school? I mean, yeah, it was like American Eagle. Yeah.

My parents couldn't afford Amicron beats, but like American Eagle. It was a nice middle. It was like a nice middle, and my mom would shop at the sales rack. And two t-shirts. Okay, hemp necklace yes um necklaces and uh some sort of boot okay not leather flip-flops no i but my senior year uh i thought i was cool enough to not care and only wore sweatpants oh okay because okay. Cause you've seen,

and that was more of a, like, uh, I can get away with this. You know, like I don't have, it's a, it was a very LA thing.

You know, LA people are like, I don't have to try. And this is fashion. Like that was like, it was kind of like that. They should have known by then where you would be here. What were you wearing?

Oh, so I was really overweight. I'm not sure if I told, like I was, um, couldn't fit even into Abercrombie if I tried. And American Eagle had XX, so I was able to wear their stuff, squeeze into it. So yeah, same thing.

I just tried American Eagle rugby polos. Never didn't even know what rugby was. A big thing for me was the chain necklaces that you clamped together, like the ball chains. Or I loved old Navy flip-flops so i wear those all the time do you still wear flip no i can't like i have a pair of birkenstocks that's the closest thing that i only wear to the beach that's only the closest thing i have to flip-flops i'm not a flip-flop do you have crocs i do have crocs i don't know about crocs but they're always in sports mode flip-flop do you have crocs i do have crocs i forgot about crocs but they're always in

sports mode flip-flops but i think they're in the genre they're not if you have the strap on the back just like a shoe uh yes i'm sorry sports mode come on no i i know i'm i'm i'm with rod here i did one time not as in like they are a flip-flop but in terms of like we're talking waterproof we're talking highly aerated shoes okay now but on a slipper yeah i like a slip-on natalie got me uh like those like slippers like a shoe right and yeah yeah day what well like in the sense you don't slip them on you don't slip them on you have to like they have a lip in the back so to speak and from day one i just stepped on the back matted it down made it and put it into a slipper and and that's like i was i was like no this this getting up in the morning and putting on a slipper is supposed to be easy and i will not have it it was like it was too i would have to be like you know and i'm like i'm not bringing out a shoehorn to put a slipper on. That defeats the purpose of a slipper.

So, and she's like, well, why don't we just get you a slipper? It's like, no, it's a gift. I'll wear them and I like them and they don't bother me. And when I wear these out, I'll maybe get a slip on. But I'm, like slipper, like sandals in public. I mean, I guess this is a toxic manually masculine thing to say to say i don't think men should wear flip-flops i don't think anyone should wear flip-flops grimy what am i supposed to wear to the pool okay that's like you're at the pool

that's different that's like a functional thing not the guy the guy in the airport and the airplane next to me today was wearing flip-flops so he just slipped them right off right off yeah no socks yeah not appropriate no thank you yeah no thank you is there you said like it you senior you felt like la what what is the biggest difference between the midwest and la now that you've been here for a while the biggest difference or like what's it i don't know what's it like i'm just transitioning i visited la for the first time this year february i'd never been this is like a whole new world for me oh i my first time i was la was like casting for the bachelor so i was 33 the first time yeah yeah i went um the biggest i mean the well the idea like in la you know like it's it's an energy it's it's hollywood even like parts of LA that aren't.

And so you're just familiar with TV and things like in the Midwest. If your neighbor is witness three in the five o'clock news, that's a big deal. You know, so there's a level of that. One critique in Midwest is great, nice people. But a critique of the Midwest is that people stop. critique midwest is great nice people but a critique of the midwest is that people stop it seems like when people settle into whatever it is they've you know the definition of settling down has the word settle in it or is that and i find i find that um there are a lot of people who you know stopped taking care of themselves uh i think it's getting better i think as a society we have learned the benefit of eating right.

I mean, people are also eating kale in Wisconsin now. Oh, good. The kale movement has made its way. But yeah, I think there's a little bit more, it's a little, you know, you know, like, yeah, it's like, you know, being a vegan in LA,

it's like, you just assume most people are. Yeah. And there's vegan people in Milwaukee now, and there's been plenty. But it's like diet. Diet and how we eat is different, I think. There's no shame around it. Obviously, politics, there's a difference there.

But I also think like LA is a transplant city, and so there's a lot of people from the midwest here and in la it's not like a city as much as it is like a sprawl or a suburb and and there's still a lot of great people and down-to-earth people in la just have to look for it and and if you go to the wrong if if you're in the hustle and the bustle and you care very much about being seen and attention, you can attract a really like, that's a,

that's one thing that doesn't exist in, in the Midwest. Like the hustler, the hustler that exists like in LA and New York, like there's a lot of like con artists and, and they're not like the con artists you would see like in a movie where they're like pros and confidence men they're just like people hustling but they're just they they teeter on the like kind of shitty of like using and like lying just to make a buck it's like how can you

get me you know people make money in very conventional ways in the midwest like they have jobs and nine to five and in LA, people are just like, you can make money anyway. And you just have to kind of figure it out. And that sometimes turns into some people, you have to be more cautious. Yeah.

I've noticed that. And a little more cynical and a little bit more, less trusting. You know, you can be more trusting of people and less people will upsell you. In the Midwest and in LA, that's a rare thing to have someone

not take advantage of an opportunity, even if it's not to your best interest, like the person they're working with. There's that, for sure. I was like being a creator, you know, and being just older, I was like, oh, cool. Like just, I'm making friends. Like, you know, like that's been the best part of this and there was one person that we connected and i gave them this idea of a collaboration that i wanted to do and it was

very specific collaboration and then literally two weeks later they were like yes let's do it i started we started like working on it two weeks later they just took over and made the whole thing themselves and it went viral and they just like played both characters and i was like they live here and like okay well maybe that's just people are just so hungry for to get to the next spot what is your impression on like kind of accountability and almost like a social media ethics board like what tools do people have like creatives like yourselves have when it comes to like seeking fair treatment in that landscape and space? Like copyright kind of thing? Or just like in terms of like, like, can you like, would you in that situation, like, would you call the person out and just be like, hey, like I have the receipts?

Like, how do how do you feel like people navigate in a situation where everybody's their own content creator? Like the lack of oversight or like more institutional structure? Some people would i think for this specifically though it's kind of too late you know it's like at the end of the day they had gone viral i was the bigger creator so if i said something it would just be tacky so at the end of the day it's just it is what it is and you can't you can't go back from it you know so there is no accountability one thing i do wish that these platforms did was give more resources for mental health. I'm actually working with Jed Foundation right now and doing something with them.

But there's just like none. It's the opposite. There's none. Especially like if you look at these Gen Z kids that have like never had to work, which is like good for them for like jumping right into this. But working for an algorithm that is so stressful for me. And I know that I can go back to my sales job if things don't work out. But it's just terrifying that your whole career is based on this. I saw this one guy get bullied off the app.

And he was a major TikToker. And there's just no resources for it. There's nowhere for him to go. Yeah, and forget about influencers or or, or major, um, TikTok, it's all relative, you know, it doesn't matter if you have a million followers or, or, or 150, you know, or three, like you don't, you're not associating yourself with 150 people every day. So you're giving your act, you're giving your access, you're, you're giving your access to a bunch of people you don't really engage with, but now you do and you're giving your access to a bunch of people you don't really engage with but now you do and you're sharing yourself yeah and we are just not equipped to handle um feedback yep you know we're

not equipped to and we yeah we're very reactive we're and and it's it's it's much easier to text to tweet something put it in text and yell, our immediate reaction. Because back in the day, if we felt something, we would just like yell it in our room or we would call our friends and be like, all right, you'd calm down the next day. But now you are responding in a comment or whatever and someone's reading it feeling,

I mean, it will truly, I mean, yeah. I mean, I've had some emergency therapy sessions with Darlene and I'm like, feel like I'm, yeah. I mean, I've had some emergency therapy sessions with Darlene and I feel like I'm really good at not reading stuff, but sometimes it finds you. People stop sending me stuff. Your friends or people. And I try not to read my DMs,

but sometimes I do because I'm engaging with my audience and I want to repurpose or share things that they're, especially if they're like, hey, if you share theile files on your social i tend to try to share that on my stories i can't get to everyone because thankfully a lot of people support the show yep but so i'll read it and then all of a sudden i'm looking for those and then someone's just like fuck you or did you see this you know like the the the story i told you about the cuddling yeah i didn't want to see that no i hate acknowledging that it ruined my day it ruined your day and it ruined your day it's happened to

me i'm like why did you send me this like they like i got the amount of times i was getting tagged in that gen z girl who was like roasting me i'm like weeks i'm like i i could not go on my mentions because you know tiktok you can like click see because you used a word that don't what is the word again i'm from chu gi yeah but there's there's another one that there's been people who have been kind of like ripping off my content which is fine whatever but then people will tag me in that and i'm like why are you tagging like cool like what am i going to do with this you know it's just like i don't know uh people think they're helping were you always talking about anxiety in life before you were talking about it on social media no no i wasn't my friends like it was different like i would just be like hey like

you know i'm feeling a little emotional today and they're like all right don't think about it cool you know and then i was i've been going to therapy for a couple years now but that was something me my therapist always talk about but that wasn't real life you know it's like therapy is yeah it literally stays in that room that's kind of interesting though right because it was it was the validation we received on social media so this is okay yeah people are like okay but like yeah it was so now are you talking about it more in life that that tiktok and social media has almost empowered you to do that because that's what i find that i'm like i found that i that's again another benefit of social media is the acknowledgement of me

leaning into my insecurities has made me feel you know what this is okay and now when i'm in the circles i will continue that path of like talking about my anxiety or my mental health or my insecurities or whatever and what's that like for you yeah Yeah, I think for me too, it's like, so 89% of my following is women. And I talk about men's mental health, but even just like there's women who would DM me like, hey, I showed my husband your videos. He said he related, you know, around the path to like therapy,

which I'm like, that's great. You know? So I think that's one thing that I've seen with this is at the end of the day, if I'm making, if I'm working hard to make videos for 10 people or working hard to make videos for millions of people, like I think it's worth it you know just because i'm being i might be putting all my stuff on blast but at the end of the day it's helping someone else and i am partnering with mental

health charities and doing a big push in november for a jet foundation we're doing a november push which is exciting but it's just it's it's i again if i'm able to be open and put myself on blast and make a fool out of myself talking about my anxiety who might not help were you talking on dates would you talk about therapy um or when did you like because i i don't well i started seeing a therapist after i was already talking to natalie so i was like i'm, I'm seeing, I was pretty open about that. But I definitely know that if I started being a therapist years ago, I would not be bringing that up.

Yeah. No, I had been in a relationship throughout therapy. So it was good to have and it helped us a lot, you know, to be able, but it was just me. And I was going through a lot. There's a lot that i had discovered

later on in life you know that i was trying to to work through so like my anxiety you know like something that i just never put a pinpoint on calling it anxiety because it was back then seemed like a diagnosis but it's just yeah in a mental state i have found that to be helpful for me like you know now they will be like what's wrong and i'm like oh it's just my anxiety is going off today and the ability to just say that yeah is like helpful because before i'd be like i don't know exactly or just like nothing you know i'm like you run into the room um but then she was like no like open up to me about it but then i would open up and then they weren't prepared so just like you know it's hard it's hard yeah do you know who corporate natalie is you probably know corporate natalie is the influencer she did a video that went viral and it was posted on puberty it was

posted on like all these major meme channels of her friend lives across the street from her and she was reenacting the taylor swift music video of you belong with me like holding up the signs is like hey are you okay and then the girls literally just said no said do you want to talk about it and the girl said it just it was funny but someone there's a reddit thread where people found her address from that it's so creepy you know and she's and she's an influence like she has like 200 000 on each platform so it's enough people but it's just very creepy that people got together and like let's find out where she lives for nothing make you nervous a little bit yeah that's why like a lot of those things i bet some unfortunate yeah um i bet for you oh my god you were on national television so

i can't and national television as an icon like a relationship icon i don't want to say sex icon but like there's a lot of men on that show who are like, you know, there's the shirtless scenes for a reason. You know, I was like, I can't even imagine the, the fangirls you had. Yeah. It's a,

it's, I've had some unsafe moments. Yeah. Um, they were kind of scary, but you live, I've gone in public with the bachelor guys and yeah, you're,

you're like friends with, uh, Andrew and, uh, in Chicago. Well, you met Justin. Who else?

Um, Andrew, Justin's the homie. Um, Michael a, I just met joe for the first time i have not seen anything with joe but he's but i know he's like a chicago chicago guy and he's like a bachelor favorite i know um katie and i are friends now through the

show jessenia is a homie we actually met up for coffee when i was in new york and then just a couple of the random people follow me like abigail live in new york she was in new york for the summer for a little bit she lives in san antonio i think yeah who's who's your favorite who's my favorite oh justin um and i have hung out the most so i'm gonna say justin okay or michael a because michael who who isn't who doesn't love michael we love michael so you've interacted how'd you get to know all these people i started so katie season i people i mean i've known about bachelor my mom watched it my mom says hi by the way she loves him yeah big big fan um but she i i would like pop in and out

of her watching it and then i watched one season way back in college my roommate and i just like accidentally watched it and then we each picked one girl from the first episode and whichever girl went out first we were gonna stop watching but it was juan pablo season and i picked andy and he picked nikki who were like the finalists so we watched the whole thing and then after like i just didn't have the time and then for matt's season there was this girl victoria everyone was talking about and then um i was like okay okay, well, let's watch it. And we were watching it. And then she was going crazy.

Victoria was like, but that's when she said she's the queen. Like, everyone needs to call her queen or whatever. We're familiar with her. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I'm sorry if she's been on the show. She hasn't. But I started recapping on my Instagram stories and then just turned into a weekly thing.

And then through that, the cast just started following me me yeah because they they want to get on your good exactly you have the power yeah exactly but it's crazy it's crazy the tea that people my followers have like oh i dated this person they're you know this oh people were reaching out to you i get a lot of tea yeah which we can talk offline about that but yeah i don't i don't get as much maybe i just don't look for or listen to it yeah uh you know because i yeah because a lot of it is i'm i am overall protective of cast because sometimes it's like it's a lot of tea then it's always yeah there's a lot of people who it's like their access to the if they know someone yeah there's a little a little bit of that.

But then a lot of the show is clout now, isn't it? Because now it's social media. It's all clout, man. Yeah. It wasn't, I mean, how, like, you obviously gained a lot of followers after you did it. I felt like back then that I wasn't like, not even that far back. My generation of Bachelor cast people, it's weird. Cause like there's, it's a different generation now. Uh,

but like the Ashley, I, the Jared's bad, me, you know, Jojo and Caitlin, like we got into that show when social media existed, but like Kim Kardashian was like the only influencer in the world kind of

thing. And, and so we, it was like, cool to be like, Oh yeah i didn't do it like first season i had 50 000 followers i didn't do anything other than like post awkward selfies and like you know and when i first got the following i was like i can post a picture of a band-aid and get 300 likes and i i literally post a picture of chapstick because before we're on the show i never reached double digits on instagram yeah it's like when you reach double digits like oh my

god i was like oh my god like it's you know and i just thought it was cool yeah that i could post a picture of chapstick and 300 people would be like awesome you know well now i feel like it's a dangerous game though where now it's like if you post a picture of chapstick now if it didn't get to a certain you know like delete it or something yeah you delete it yes oh i'm running out of time oh yeah i think we uh but uh yeah it's and we've you know we recap the show we've talked a lot about this and it's it just is what it is it's just like it's not you you can't be a human being and go on that show and not be aware of what is at least perceived the perceived opportunity whether it's actually

the actual opportunity what you do with it and like you know before it was just the opportunity to travel the experience of going on tv and and but you kind of recur at least i was realistic about like like this is gonna end and i'm gonna go back to work and and i i you know it just it's changed but um if you look the audience no matter how much like well they're doing it for the followers but that has literally been my entire for you page was talking about brendan and piper's followers so it's get like the audience is talking about it right so they're they're still getting the clout that they want just you know it's it's it's interesting uh yeah who that's just briefly five minutes six in the city yeah who do you like the most who's your least favorite who's my least favorite oh carry

right well we talked i mean i'll tell you plenty of story but i've agreed with it from day one um carrie and big are so toxic obviously he's he's the representation of toxic masculinity you know kiddo yeah yeah yeah yeah um love aiden aiden's great yeah um my favorite of the four i just think charlotte charlotte makes me laugh just because she's so like you know but charlotte charlotte has the most growth charlotte has the most growth samantha just her one-liners will always slay yeah so samantha's probably but at early charlotte i don't like at all she's different she they gave her a lot of things a lot of well because not only is she different but what i don't like i don't like what she represents and she represents the the person who is so in love with the fantasy has watched all the rom-coms and cares more about their story

than actual love right they care about the perception of love what love looks like yeah uh that all matters so much more than the substance yeah and that's a real thing that's a real thing that there are a lot there are millions of people in this world who who live there who go about their love life in in a manner in which early Charlotte did. And so I really, yeah, I hated Charlotte early on. She's really, post-divorce, there's a clear evolution and growth from her tragedy. Even in the movie with...

I haven't gotten there yet. Oh, okay. The scene we all love with her where she really sticks up for Carrie but the I think the the biggest thing so I'm writing this I'm writing now so I'm actually like writing my own TV shows which is kind of cool some pitching and whatever but the reason I'm watching Sex in the City is I'm taking these shows like friends Sex in the City you know Gossip Girl where

it portrays New York in a certain way and then it's this guy the 31 year old man watches the shows and it's kind of like we said bringing down the toxic masculinity stigma but he goes to new york on a whim gets out of his job goes to new york tries to find love and tries to experience all these things he moves into a one-bedroom apartment like carrie but it's literally the size of this studio and that's kind of the whole premise of the show it's just him like encountering trying to encounter what he saw on tv versus what real new york is which is not at all like those shows totally yeah yeah the more we get enlightened the more we realize just how all these movies and tv shows yeah well and because the part is that for them to be entertaining there

needed to be the drama there needed to be the drama. There needed to be the over, you know, and to get there. The fantasy. The fantasy. We had to, we were taught that

that was normal. Yeah. That the problem was normal. The drama was normal. That we had to fight for the toxicity. So who's your favorite? We know you're miranda miranda

not even close okay yeah yeah i guess she she's corporate she's you know she's not even corporate she she's pragmatic and and she's the only one who sticks up to carrie oh my gosh yeah and and samantha and charlotte don't back her up i'm also wondering like why is carrie there and then also like i sympathize with miranda because the writers hate her she she's the one who had to get chlamydia she's the one who like has the farting problem when you know she's pregnant she's like you know like they're just shit on her constantly you know and and like why could you know like it's bullshit samantha doesn't he like it doesn't get, you know.

Samantha's literally someone else each episode, someone different. Yeah. That's Miranda's whole thing. She doesn't even. Why do they shit on Miranda so much? That's so funny. She's the boss.

She has the job. She's working. She's working hard. She's dating. She's doing all the things with her girls. How does she do it? They're so mean to her and then like she's the only yeah and she's the only one who's like not only she's the only one who's in charlotte she sticks up stands up to charlotte because like she calls out you know charlotte's fantasy where carrie never does that carries like that that's why carrie gets to be the best friend because she always she gets to be the agreeable

friend that doesn't ruffle anyone's feathers but but but the same friend who will let her friend go down the path and get hurt because well she doesn't want to upset her friend because she wants her friend to like her miranda is constantly falling on the sword for her friends and sticking up for her friends and and getting shit on for it and getting in fights. You're going to hate the movie then. What happens with Miranda? Okay. I will probably love Miranda more.

You'll love. Yeah, you will. It's just the writers. Really shit on her. Yeah, the writers shit on her. Why do they shit on Miranda? You need to watch the movie. Text me after you watch the movie. Okay.

Rod. Yeah. It's been a pleasure. Yeah, it was a great time. Before we let you go, we like to play a game called Do You Know Me? Okay. It's real simple. you can't don't nothing to get

anxiety about okay i will still get anxiety about it don't get anxiety about it i have to tell you something yeah yeah don't get mad it's not a big deal you hate that yeah oh yeah it's like this it's gonna be a big deal uh everyone thinks this about you that's triggering i haven't gotten that yet no one's ever said this to you no in your life um i don't yeah i have found that it is something like ex-girlfriends of mine have weaponized the phrase well it's not just me everyone thinks this It's not even like a romantic thing. Like girls in high school, the worst.

They'd be like, well, you have no, you've never had someone say that to you? No. We never wanted to actually be friends with you. That's what I got told once. And then you ask,

who is they? Well, everyone. Who is everyone? You don't have two people. But even though I know they're just saying it to get under my skin. It's me and my mom. Anyway, I digress uh

it's real simple great i'm gonna ask you a question has rod ever this has rod ever done that simply yes or no questions anecdotal stories are welcome we're trying to learn more about you great um here we go okay has rod ever gone hunting I want to guess first. I'm going to say, I know you don't hunt anymore. I know that much. I've never hunted. And you live in Wisconsin? That's shocking.

I have my father to not blame because I appreciate that. He is a very, a lot of the non-traditional things that i don't felt compelled to have to do like hunting and fishing i'm not into cars i don't give a shit about any of that stuff like i like fashion and dance i don't assume um and i don't like to hunt um my guess is you have being from the midwest but you don't i have not but i used to live in minnesota where it's like huge hunting land and my two roommates did they would hunt i look what was it we're in minnesota i lived in minneapolis so it was like yeah i'm from white bear oh my gosh perfect yes we could

talk about that but um my two roommates were hunters they would leave hunting season come back with venison and they would make venison jerky in our apartment it's terrible terrible i know so i will not hunt after that specifically yeah that'll turn turn you off to it has rod bought or received flowers this month you can just answer oh yes i have you received or yeah i received yeah yeah my agents were um semi-flares i lost my grandma this month my agents my agents um super kind to send me flowers love them does rod own a pair of cowboy boots no no no no not at all was rod part of the student council in high school i was the president yes but guess who voted me in was the teachers the teachers felt so bad for me they voted me in you're good you're good what was it was uh the the

what was was what was your what policy did you was it was that you really brought to the school we got one of those ed's ice cream makers you know like the ones that is in um princess diaries they haven't been like a soft serve yeah and then um our prom theme was here's to the night can rod name all the oceans pacific atlantic indian antarctic um you're missing just like the easiest one. Atlantic. Yeah. Jeez. That was a history major, so it was geography.

Yeah. Does Rod sleep naked? No. No. Am I anxiety? Can we house start on fire? I could run out. If I hear about a guy sleeping naked i think it's i just have

questions i just think it's like a really impractical thing for a guy to do apparently it's it actually is very therapeutic for your body to do interesting i've read studies on it it is but i'm also the type of person maybe this is an anxiety thing maybe it's not if i ever sleep naked i have dreams that i'm naked constantly so i'm like well i want to sleep tonight so i can't yeah yeah but like there was one high school like i was running around high school trying to look for somewhere to hide and i couldn't it was just like i couldn't run into a classroom it was terrifying so no i don't has rod ever eaten spaghettios as an adult yes do i yeah i love the meatball spaghettios. It's very nostalgic. Very nostalgic.

Do you heat them up? Yeah, what kind of question is that? So really, you... Wait, I'm confused. I eat it cold. Wait, what? What? Do you just open the can?

Like as a kid, we never heated them up. We just opened the can and put it in the bowl. I'm concerned. I'm concerned. I do adult them up though. I add a lot of Parmesan cheese to them. And it makes good soup. Good soup.

Are you on good soup TikTok? Has Rod smoked weed on 420 this year? No, I don't smoke. That's a weird question. 420 cool speaking of toxic masculinity well how so I feel like that was the big thing in high school

was like if you didn't smoke weed you weren't cool as a guy yeah at least in my high school interesting yeah it was like a lot that was like the big peer pressure thing as many women as men I don't know weed smokers nowadays yeah back in back in the day i remember does rod own any sex toys

no okay i mean sex like things that you need but not toys i mean i've never owned for myself. No, not for myself. I have owned for others. We have sex toys in the household. I do, but not her. Why is it not even about me? We know, Nick. So Nick owns sex toys.

Yeah, but Nick also is like, so Natalie and I went to dinner last night and she wore vibrating underwear and it was a really fun time. That was true. Yeah. We're a sex positive show. Has rod ever had sex in a car in a car just and no i'm too tall how tall are you six five it's not it's just not practical thank you you're saying a final question has rod ever vandalized a property yeah what'd you do when i was little i carved my name

into my parents porch and i got in big trouble for it so i'm a rebel nicely done uh rod it's been a pleasure yeah this is great you're great and it's uh i really appreciate the work you're doing and you're putting out great positive messages and making being human more relatable. Same to you, man. And I really quite like that. Please let my audience know where they can follow you and digest more of your great content.

At Rod on Tik TOK, just me dot Rod on Instagram and then podcast coming soon. Wonderful. Yeah. Congratulations. Thank you. We've been talking a lot about this kind of stuff. So I'm excited. Thanks for listening guys. Don't forget to send your questions at

asknickatcastmedia.com. Cast with a K for Ask Nick episodes. Don't forget to subscribe. Rate us. Five star reviews. All that fun stuff. We'll be back on Monday for Ask Nick episodes. And other than that, have a great week.