Trading Secrets - 244. Justin Glaze: From returning to Bachelor in Paradise to launching Love Potion, BTS of returning to reality TV, self-funding his own espresso martini company, and the truth behind THAT rose ceremony

Episode Date: July 21, 2025

This week, Jason is joined by entrepreneur, artist, and reality TV personality, known for his appearances on ABC’s The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise, the one and only, Justin Glaze! Justin has joined us on Trading Secrets a couple of times, detailing his career in corporate America and as a freelance artist in addition to his experience being a part of Bachelor Nation. Since Justin has been on the podcast last, a lot has changed. He officially launched his canned espresso martini company called Love Potion, and decided to jump back into the reality dating pool by joining the season 10 cast of Bachelor in Paradise.  Justin opens up about how his quest to find the perfect espresso martini led to discovering the secret ingredient that sets his canned creation apart. He shares why he decided to return to Bachelor in Paradise, how talent rates have shifted this season, and why transparency played a key role in his decision to step back into reality TV. Justin talks about taking calculated risks, his true intentions heading back to the beach, and navigating his relationship with Susie—from best friends to dating to a post-breakup. He also discusses his connection with Lexi, the truth behind THAT rose ceremony, where things stand between them now, and answers rapid-fire questions about BIP. Plus, Justin reveals how Love Potion got its name, the money and time that went into building his company, what it took to find a distributor, and his current relationship status. Justin reveals all this and so much more in another episode you can’t afford to miss! Host: Jason Tartick Co-Host: David Arduin Audio: John Gurney Guest: Justin Glaze + drinklovepotion.com  Stay connected with the Trading Secrets Podcast!  Instagram: @tradingsecretspodcast  Youtube: Trading Secrets Facebook: Join the Group All Access: Free 30-Day Trial  Trading Secrets Steals & Deals! ROK Financial: Business owners-when opportunity knocks, do you have the capital to answer? ROK Financial, helps small businesses access up to $5 million in funding—in as little as 24 hours. Whether you're expanding, upgrading equipment, or simply need working capital, ROK makes the process fast, simple, and personalized. Visit ROK.biz/tradingsecrets to get started and see what your business may qualify for in seconds. Square:  Whether you're selling lattes, cutting hair, detailing cars, or running a design studio, Square helps you run your business, without running yourself into the ground. With Square, you get all the tools to run your business, with none of the contracts or complexity. And why wait? Right now, you can get up to $200 off Square hardware at square.com/go/tradingsecrets. OpenPhone: OpenPhone is the #1 business phone system that streamlines and scales your customer communication. It works through an app on your phone or computer, so no more carrying two phones or using a landland. Whether you’re a one-person operation or have a large team, OpenPhone is a no-brainer. For 20% off your first 6 months, head to OpenPhone.com/tradingsecrets Indeed: Indeed Sponsored Jobs there are no monthly subscriptions, no long-term contracts, and you only pay for results. There's no need to wait any longer-speed up your hiring right now with Indeed. For a $75 SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com/SECRETS 

Welcome back to another episode of Trading Secrets. Today we are joined by entrepreneur, artist and reality, TV personality, known for his appearances on ABC's The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise, the one and only Justin Glaze. Justin has joined us on Trading Secrets a couple of times detailing his career in corporate America as a freelance artist in addition to his experience being part of Bachelor Nation. Since we last met with Justin, a lot has changed. He officially launched his canned espresso martini company called Love Potion, which we have here, and decided to jump back into the reality dating pool by joining seasons 10 casts of Bachelor

in Paradise, which just debuted on July 7th. We're going to discuss all the details behind the development and launch of his company, what made him decide to give back into reality TV, some of the details of what translated there and happened, and what we can expect from him moving forward, Justin Glaze. Thank you so much for being in Trading Secrets. You're a pro at this. I'm impressed every single time you do an intro, man.

I got to tell you, I was looking at the notes, man. I think you might be the guest that has come back the most. My repeat guy. I love that. It's amazing. I love it here. Let's kick off here. We're going to get into paradise, but most importantly.

this is a business podcast, love potion. We'll talk about the details after we talk about Paradise, but like, congratulations. I appreciate that, man. Tell me right now, is this on shelves? Can people buy this? So it's available online nationwide, we're in 43 states, and then in the coming month or so, very soon in this summer, it will be on shelves. We're figuring out dates right now with our preferred retailer, so I'm really excited about it, and it's happening fast. Let's go. We'll get into the details of the business. Guys, hold on for that, but right now we've got to crack this. I mean, we've got to do it, right? You got to shake this thing up, man.

It's night show infused. You're shaking crack? You shake it up. I've never seen a can drink like that. Yes, sir. All right, here we go. Shake. It won't explode on you, I promise. Crack and pop. Hey, congratulations. Appreciate you. Let's see. Here we go. Oh, man. That is good.

That's different, too. It's a secret ingredient in there. What is that? You can't. It's a secret. Everyone that's trying. Everyone that's It's like, there's something. What is it? Like your palettes, like, hmm. Let me tell you, I've gone through like 50 plus iterations of this formula, and I kind of, you know, traveled the world, the country, and search of the best espresso martini. I think a lot of people that follow me know that I do kind of like the reviews or whatever.

And so I was traveling, and every time I find a good one, I kind of play dumb, and I'll ask the bartender like, oh, what did you put in this? Sure. To see if they'll give me a little golden nugget. Yeah. Some bartenders keep it close to the vest. Others are like, oh, I added this, I added that. Yeah. And I'll take out my notes app.

and I'll kind of jot it down, right? And so over the past two and a half years, I would implement those into my formula. I would go home, make one, talk to my distillery, like, hey, what do you think about adding this? And it's a whole back and forth thing for two and a half years, right? And so I flipped this whole thing upside down about a year ago. And I was like, guys, I got it.

I added this ingredient, and it was so different from any canned espresso martini that I negotiated with my distillery that you guys can't use this ingredient in any other RTD espresso martinis that you make. and they agreed, they were like, yeah, that's fair. So I have an agreement with my distillery that they can't make any other espresso martinis that have this one ingredient in there. You just kicked off with a trade secret. I think that's a tracier right there.

Like, when you're out at the restaurants, you see something you like or you're doing, like use it as research and development. Put it in the notes app. And when we talk a little bit more about Love Potion, I'll try and figure out what this is. Let's see if he'll spill any tea, but, dude, congratulations. You like it? Yeah, it's really good. Appreciate it.

Like I said, there's something that makes my palate dance a little bit, I want more of it. We'll get into that. Before we get into that, We got to get into what's just, I mean, the obvious here, man. Back from the beaches of paradise. Dude, I got to be honest. Like, let's just, let's go jump in Trading Secrets History here.

January 2024, you and Susie, come on. You announce your relationship on this show. You guys had a little bit of a breakup or, you know, some type of differences in June 2024, get back together. And in about a year from when you announced that January 2024 to January 2025, inevitably break up. And then you go back on the beaches of paradise. Now, for behind the scenes, I got to tell you guys, Justin and I are good buddies.

We talk about this stuff, you know, from my end, we were wearing the pros and cons. Let's hear from your end. Like what inevitably made you say, you know what? I'm going to put myself back out there because I will tell you, privately, when you've gone through a public breakup, it's hard to put yourself out there privately. When you've gone through a public breakup and on TV and multiple times, it's close to impossible and the scrutiny that you deal with and the mislabeling and the misunderstanding,

it's non-stop, part of what happens, but it's hard, you did it, why'd you do it? 100%. Maybe because I'm a fool. I don't know. Let's start with that. Maybe I'm a fool. But truthfully, I mean,

you may have did me a solid by leaving a part of Trading Secrets history out there out of this equation when I came on with Greg. And I said, you won't catch my toes in that sand. Don't worry. If you guys haven't seen you yet, a reel is coming. I already got a tread that we're doing it.

to make sure that they know exactly what he's talking about. This was the exact clip. Here we go. If you ever, like, I'm just curious, like, just paint a picture, imagine a world in which you are single. Like, would you ever have interest in being the bachelor or going back on paradise? If you were.

You wouldn't catch me, you wouldn't, you would not catch my toes in that sand. Ever again? No, never, no. Okay. That's crazy. I love my drill down, too. I was like, never, ever.

Okay. I doubled down, too. Were you lying to me? that. No, I genuinely, at that time, I promised you I had no interest, no interest in going back on Paradise. I was so content with where I was in life and with work and everything that I genuinely was like, why would I do that? Especially with my prior experiences on the show that, you know, didn't really go as planned or how I thought they would go. Yeah. Man, it took a lot to get me back on that sand.

You say a lot, trading secrets, money. Was it a lot of money, a lot of effort, a lot of logic, a lot of ration? I don't know if I'm able to, I mean, whatever. The money wasn't there, right? Would you pay more or less than last time? Less. And I'll tell you why. Because, and at the time, you know, people talking, I had an inclination.

Of course. But the money was less for CAST this time around. It doesn't matter who you are. It didn't matter if you had one follower or a million followers because there was a cash prize component for Paradise. they weren't paying people to incentivize them to go. They were like, we can't tell you why, but we're doing flat rates. Nobody's getting favorable or whatever.

Because you can negotiate before. We've talked about it on this podcast. If you carried more weight, it's like, you know, you can negotiate guarantees up front, or at least you used to be able to. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, so that wasn't a factor of me going back. There were a multitude of reasons. I mean, it took a handful of phone calls from the EPs.

I mean, the first call was like, absolutely not. Yeah. You know, full me once, shame on you, full me twice, shame on me. type of thing. That's kind of what verbatim, what I said to them when they initially called, you know, they were really persistent. They were like, hey, you know, we value you. You're a great guy. You're a stand-up guy. You know, all that, you know, they build you up, right? And I kind of had PTSD from my past experiences. And I was like, guys, you've got to understand, based on past experiences, why would I trust this process? Why would I believe anything that you're saying? And this person

in particular that I was talking to was one of these few people that was left over from the, you know, prior original franchise that I did like, you know, and I did respect. So he or she knew what you had been through and know where you are today, which is helpful. Correct. So for those who don't know, the franchise kind of cleared house. They cleared house and they needed to. A lot of the people, a lot of the key decision makers that were calling the shots behind the walkie-talkies in the control room that caused a lot of chaos and unnecessary drama. It just, they were let go. They moved, you know, they kind of cleared house and kept a few people, and I happened to like those few people that they kept around.

So I was like, okay, like, I want to be cautiously optimistic and believe what you're telling me, but you have to understand why I'm cautious. And they were very patient, very transparent. And I'll tell you, they were, this person in particular was more transparent than they needed to be to kind of give me that nudge of like, hey, like, I got you. They had to kind of prove it to me that they had, you know, that they weren't going to screw me. They were very upfront. Like, hey, we called Susie as well, just so you know. And I'm like, I respect that. Yeah, that they're honest.

And they were like, we're not trying to pull like an aha gotcha moment. I love it. Have either one of you there and be caught by surprised? We don't think that that's good TV. We respect both of you. We value both of you. We love both of you in this franchise. And we would not do that to you.

She's a great person. You're a great person. And this person was like, you know, I am putting myself in you and Shuzzi Suz. And I can only imagine how hard this must be. and I would never want to have to face my ex on national television. So I'm putting myself in you guys' shoes and I'm going to take care of you guys. Like, I'm not going to put you in any uncompromising situations.

We're all driven by the search for better. But when it comes to hiring, the best way to search for a candidate isn't to search at all. Don't search, just match with Indeed. If you need to hire, you need Indeed. Indeed is your matching and hiring platform with over 350 million global monthly visitors. Ditch the busy work.

Use Indeed for scheduling, screening, and messaging. so you can connect with candidates faster. And Indeed doesn't just help you hire faster. 93% of employers agree, Indeed, delivers the highest quality matches compared to other job sites. One thing I love about Indeed is that it's hiring in one place. It's simple. It's easy to use.

And if you're looking for a job, it's so easy to search. Leveraging over 140 million qualifications and preferences every day, Indeed's matching engine is constantly learning from your preferences to be the best for you. And listeners of this show will get a $75-sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com slash hire. Just go to Indeed.com slash hire right now and support our show by saying we sent you there. Indeed.com slash hire. Terms and conditions apply. You need to hire. You need indeed. So here's what I'm hearing. I'm hearing that from the time you went on reality TV to now, you've obviously had a global approach. You've talked to all your buddies. Andrew Gregg, meet. The list is on Joey. Oh, the list is that list.

you know the inside, the outside, the left, and the right. From production to what could happen. And what I'm hearing is that because you've seen it all and you talk to producers who are so straight up with you and honest about it all, you gain confidence that I feel like it's my risk level is less in the probability of potential outcome of being with someone, like this working now is increasing because I have people that are also giving me a global perspective like a whole i hate you using like sounding like such a business guy but like that's what probably put you on that beach is that correct you mean you hit the nail in the head i i think you

i'm a very i'm a realist right and that doesn't always make for great television right especially in this franchise in my opinion because i'm not i don't know i'm not like drama i don't come i lead i try to go on these shows and date how i would date in real life yeah you know and i feel like with the prior group of production, you know, they want to stir up chaos, right? It's like, to my face on the beach, my first time in paradise, it's like, I tried to send myself home early. Yeah. And they were like, you know, Justin, you're a great guy. You're one of the people we need here. We want you here. What can we do? And I was like, well, what you can do? You know, is there anyone you're interested in? I was like, well, I know, I know

is at the hotel. You could bring her down, you know, and that's probably the only way I'd stay. Okay, we're going to work on it. Circle back. Hey, we've talked to her. She's interested as well. we're going to make it happen. Fast forward, I end up getting, you know, I'm in hideout in a hotel for six days. You know, it's just a bunch of manipulation and lying and just like, why did you guys do that to me? You know, so this time around, and I've always said, I can deal with the truth. Just don't, you know, don't, you know, don't, you know, don't lie. And I feel like that was my experience previously where my intelligence was being insulted. And I had the feeling from these calls early on that like, okay, I think I can trust this. They do seem to have my best interest at heart.

And they're giving me transparency. And I appreciate that. Yeah. So I love it. Okay. The other thing, too, is like you talk about, you know, you're pretty logical and pretty straight lace. We saw you on the beach in paradise this season. It was emotional. It was serious. I listened to you on the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast. It was pretty serious. I've had you on this podcast where it's been like all laughs and serious. One of the things like I wish, and I don't know, people, People get to see it through your social media. So everyone go follow, Justin. You're one of the funny.

Like, I've had some of my biggest and best belly laughs with you. You're fucking hilarious. I wish that could have been more of paradise. It wasn't, though. Me too. Yeah, but I do got to ask you this. When you got the call, you explained, like, what it went through to put you on the beach, make the career, life, and personal decision to go.

Were you surprised at all that they had called you? Because I think when you were on the podcast last and you said you wouldn't be caught dead on the beach, they hadn't reached out to you at all in any capacity for the most part since then. Is that correct? Correct. Okay. So were you surprised to get the call? Yes and no.

I definitely wasn't expecting it. And I wouldn't have been offended by any means if they didn't, you know, because I didn't have plans of going on. But I also wasn't surprised because it was like, okay, I was in a public relationship and we're clearly single now. So, of course, this would make good TV for you guys. So, you know what I mean? Right.

So that's why I wasn't. Curveball. Right. So that's why I wasn't surprised at the same time. But even like with that, like I said, the early calls, I was just like, I don't even think this is going to be a good idea for me. Makes sense. So it took a lot.

And ultimately, you know, and I had this conversation with Lexi on the beach, actually, because she asked me, you know, what's the reason why you came back? And I kind of surmise it to, as cliche as it may sound, I have always been a risk taker, you know, with anything that I've done, you know, from leaving my safe corporate finance job to exploring the entrepreneurial route, you know, leaving Baltimore to move. to L.A. It's like, there's a lot of risk here, but what's the upside? What could the outcome be? Right? And there's a lot of risk of me going back on that beach. It's like, but what's the outcome? Like, okay, this is a new format. It seems like a fresh start. These, you know,

people seem to be, you know, having my best interest at heart and being honest to me. And I do know people from Paradise, you know, Thomas, Becca, Noah, Abigail. I've seen it work, right? So who am I to decline that potential opportunity for what it could and lead to, which is my ultimate goal is to find someone, get married, have kids, and move to that next chapter. Makes sense. Okay. All right.

Here we got it. You're down there for how many total days? Six. Man, maybe five or six. Six. Okay. Five or six. All right.

And real quick, I know you can't get into the specifics and we always respect ABC contracts. We're ABC people, but it's a daily rate, right? It's not like a guarantee. I don't remember. Yeah, I think it was. Okay. So a relatively nominal amount that you're making.

It literally wasn't significant enough for me to like even. Okay, got it. I was like, sure. You make the decision, you go, you make a couple of, a few thousand bucks, something like that. Okay, yeah, okay, got it. You go down there, you touch the beach. Now, anybody watching the show, and if you didn't watch the show, stay with me. What happens is you get all these people that are very excited, cool cast, they're ready to go.

And then, Justin, you touch down. And it's like the veterans there, like the guy, and you made a mention. You're like, I feel like, I think you said either high school or college, I feel like I'm the guy who graduated that came back. It felt like once you got there, you were second-guessing it. or maybe like, gosh, why am I here? Did you feel that? Oh, I felt so out of place. Why?

I felt so out of place. You know, I didn't go into it with any expectations, really. I didn't give any names of people I'd be interested in. The extent to which I went with the producers that I was talking to was like, hey, you guys know what I'm about. You guys know I just came out of a very serious relationship. And I'm looking, I've gotten a taste of what that is. I've gotten a taste of what those next steps that I've spent. to attain our right marriage kids right like I've gotten the taste of it and I'm not going

back on this beach to splish splash in the pool and you know no offense to anyone younger but it's like I at this point my life I'm not trying to go back there and just you know woo like with with a 20 something year old that isn't serious like I want something serious so I was assured like hey we know what you're about we know who you are and we can assure you that we've got girls lined up that a lot align with with what you're looking for and want the same thing okay you sure yes like i'm i'm looking at two right now they wouldn't tell me of course i'm looking at two or three right now that i know you would hit it off with that want the same thing they're very serious but funny and this

i'm like okay maybe they're you know i don't know who they got in the vault but sounds good you know we're aligned here and so all these things went into the equation of like is this something that could make sense for me okay got it and but then you got down there and obviously you're thinking like okay, this is not that. Yeah. So where they're at? They in the back? When they're coming out of here? Where they're at?

All right. So you're scratching your head a little bit. Now, as you're scratching your head, in the back of your head, you know that it's very likely that Susie is going to come at some point. Yeah. You have talked on other podcasts about the fact you and Susie had conversations before just saying like, hey, it's likely they're going to call us both. You'll continue to be honest and real with each other, which of course that makes sense. One thing I want to clarify, I was curious about, because I was listening to, I think it was almost famous.

And I think Ashley, I said that I heard Susie is the heartbroken one in this relationship that he broke up with her, but she does go on to say, like, I don't know the source. And my question to you is, there's also people that are seeing that and then responding, like, oh, of course, you know, fast forward, spoiler, if no one's watched, you give her the rose unexpectedly to the crowd watching. and then people are like, oh, that was a sympathy rose because you had heard her. Is that true? I don't even think we've talked about that. Yeah, I don't, I'm not really sure where that comes from. It's not true.

Yeah. You know, I know there's a lot of theories out there because although public facing, Susie and I have kept our relationship pretty private. You know, when we got back together, you know, we weren't posting each other. We, like, we were very cautious and took the approach of like, hey, like, let's try to figure this out together,

and we don't want to include the public. We want to do this ourselves and respect and honor each other. I'm not really sure where that came from. I mean, Susie, for what it's where Susie did initiate the breakup. You know, it didn't come out of nowhere by any means. You know, we were both having a difficult time and could both feel that things were getting really tough. But, yeah, I mean, Susie did initiate it.

And, you know, I'd say both of us were heartbroken. You know, it wasn't, like I said, nobody was blindsided. Nobody was caught off guard. It was, we had mutual conversations where, you know, it wasn't a matter of like one person initiating a breakup and the others. Like, no, no. It was like, okay, like this makes sense. Yeah, I think maybe we do need to take some time apart.

So we've been really aligned in everything. Every step of the way, whether together or not, we've respected each other. We've loved each other from afar. We've, you know, we have each other's best interests at heart, and that's how it's always been. And I'm super grateful, like I said, on the show, to have an ex-like Susie, because especially with these public relationships, I think, you can attest first, and, I can't. I'm sorry, brother. You know, it doesn't always go like that, you know, it can get nasty, can get messy. And it's, you know, it's, I feel for you.

Especially, you know, we're friends and I, like, I feel for you, truly. And so I, I can't say how grateful I am for our relationship. and how we've handled things. I don't care how big your business is. If you are running a business, even if it's just a one-man shop, you know that every time you miss a call, you're leaving money on the table. When every customer conversation matters, you need a phone system that keeps up and helps you stay connected.

24-7. That's why you need Open Phone. Open Phone is the number one business phone system that streamlines and scales your customer communications. It actually works through an app on your phone or computer, so no more carrying two phones or using a landline. With open phone, your team can share one number and collaborate on customer calls and texts like a shared inbox.

That way, any teammate can pick up the right way and can get a person immediately. Keeping response times faster than ever. Plus, say goodbye to voicemails. The AI agent can set up that in literally minutes to handle all calls, after hours, answer questions, and capture leads. you'll never miss a customer or just have someone rambling on in a voicemail.

So whether you're a one-person operation drowning in calls and texts or you have a large team, you got to check out Open Phone. Open Phone is offering my listeners 20% off your first six months at openphone.com slash trading secrets. That's O-P-E-H-O-N-E dot com slash trading secrets. And if you have existing numbers with another service, Open Phone will port them over at no extra charge. open phone no miss calls no miss customers i think that's one of the things that like i can't sing

susy's praises enough for like what a great human she is consistently and throughout yeah and i can't sing your praises enough i appreciate both ways and it's you know it truly is like an inspiration to see the way you two both handle each other with such grace and such care for like what was but what is yeah and in previous relationships like especially before i came to the forefront of the public it was always like that. Obviously, fast forward, it's not like that, which is a little sad. But one of the things I always find interesting is like, obviously I just read your quote I heard from someone.

In this space, what irritates me probably the most is when like peers like that make statements or single things out publicly that could so easily be done behind the scenes with a quick question that, of course, you would have picked up the phone and answered. It's happened to me over and over and over, and I just kind of shake my head. And I tell myself, which I know is the case, that's the business, that's what they're doing. But it's also, it's a little frustrating. But I will say this, the next biggest question I got, you know, the people that watch this show, we joke around and call them like the Money Mafia.

They were just firing away when I said you were coming on. And it was like the why, the why? Well, you guys were, you were best friends. Like, it's hard to turn best friends into a relationship. You guys did that. So, like, if you had summarized high level, you don't need to get in the weeds. but just to answer the question that most people ask is, why did you guys break up?

Totally. I mean, I'll start by piggybacking off of a good point that you made, and it's the reality where I think for both of us, where we dated a best friend, right? And for anyone that has experienced that or maybe not, hopefully this helps to add some color, it's difficult. You know, there's a learning curve that you have to navigate in going from a best.

best friend platonic relationship to romantic partners, right? Expectations change. You see different sides of each other, right? And I'm not using that, you know, for a negative connotation, but there's a learning curve, right? And so when you're friends, it's easier, right? It's like your buddies, you hang out. It's all positives. But then when you start dating, you start to experience that person at a deeper level

and what really makes them click and who they are at their core. And so on the friendship level, you don't really experience, okay, what has shaped that person, parental upbringing, past relationship experiences, et cetera. Those are things that you're now experiencing now that you're dating, right?

And so totally different ballgame. Totally different ballgame. And so, you know, throughout our relationship, we had some, you know, it's, and I've said it on record before, it's, you know, I understand people like, why, why, why, there's really nothing crazy, you know, and that's what makes it harder.

You know, we're both good people that love each other, and it's like, nobody did anything. There's no finger pointing. There's no pinpoint. Like, this is the reason why we broke up, which I'm glad, you know, but it's also makes it harder because it's like, ah, if we could get over that hump, like what could have been, right? And we trust me, what I can say, I'm so grateful, again, to have someone like Susie, we both put in so much work. It's not like, I understand this day and age, you know, when the going gets tough, people retreat, right?

Sure. That wasn't the case. You know, when the going got tough at times, we dug our heels in and we really made a conscious effort to like make this work because we both had the same end goal in mind, which is marriage, kids. Like, that's what we want. And that's we're a team and we're working towards this goal. But unfortunately, you know, little things, you know, added up over time where we had to have a realistic conversation of like, hey, we were our best friends. we're dating now, like, are these incompatibilities too much for us to navigate and get over that hurdle? And it's that sort of, it's, it's almost like that 80, 20 thing that Mel Robbins

speaks to, right? Where it's like, and I'd say, with us, it's like 90, 10, right? Where it's like somebody could be 90% compatible, but that 10 to 20% you have to really figure out, okay, are those incompatibilities that I can get over and, you know, understand that no relationship's going to be perfect, which we both understand, or are these really deal breakers that we can't get through. Yeah. You know, what, what is it? And that's a decision that you have to make. And obviously, you know, we came to the determination that, hey, these things are getting really tough and maybe, like, who we are in those aspects isn't really what the other person needs to feel fulfilled and served right now. So let's take a step back. And, you know, maybe it's not

right. Yeah, I totally respect that. Anyone that's listening to this single, dating, or married, I think everyone can sympathize and relate to the fact that you date and then you figure out is that person going to be the person you marry? And if it's not, or there's even a question mark as you're trying to work through some of these changes, you decide if it makes sense or not to stay together or move on. And what I have found, especially in the public eye, the scary thing about dating, is that when you break up, even if it's just for, like, I asked you why, and it's just like a general that wasn't, we were working through indifferences.

and it's just like we decided to maybe go or different ways and maybe reconnect or not, but it was just indifferences. That's normal. But what happens in the public spotlight is like I feel as though once you break up, and I remember this in my last relationship, I remember us like phone to phone crying

because of the breakup. And there wasn't anything where it was like, you did this, you did this at all. And the thing I said to her is like, I hope that this continued respect we have for one another never leaves, because what's going to happen once we've announced this publicly is people are going to, with their words,

try and split us up and pick teams. And that's what happens. And it's like, it's good, it's refreshing, it's real to have a conversation with someone who's like, I love this person, I care for this person, in public and on a show I had their back when I wasn't with this person. Yeah.

Just didn't work out. Yeah. Just didn't work out. Totally. Yeah, it's, I mean, just real quick, I think it is, it's scary and it's dangerous when you're in a public-facing relationship because it's like on one hand,

And, you know, when you break up, people could nitpick your words, right, and take it and spin this narrative, and it can get really tricky, right? And I think that, I don't want to speak on her behalf, but I think that that's some of what Susie experienced with Clayton when they broke up. Sure. But then on the other hand, if you try to handle things privately and don't say anything, it's dangerous because people create their own narratives and speculate, and it's just like, you know, so I get it, but yeah, that really is all there was to it.

So sorry, I don't have anything more. No, no, I wish I had something juicy for you, but it's like, there is no tea. Yeah. But one of the things we've just talked about, and one thing that, like, if I bring it back to my scenario, it's like, I'm not good at defending. Like, I'm not, I'm really not good at defending myself. Publicly, privately, I'm better, but publicly, I'm just like, I just like, don't, right? In an instance, recently, you did defend yourself.

We'll get into that with the guys. I had no choice. You had no choice. But before we get into that, I want to say this. I've never met Lexi. and for those who haven't watched a show, Lexi is who you pair up with when you get down there for a couple days,

two, four days or whatever. I've never met her. She seems kind and sweet, and there's nothing that I want to say that is putting her in a poor light in any way, shape, or form. As a viewer, when I watch this stuff, and I'm interviewing someone,

what I want to do is take a third-party approach and disconnect my relationship with you so I can be as real as possible. Totally. It felt to me as real as possible, even as your good friend, that the relationship with Lexi it seemed authentic and intentional

it also seemed very it seemed a little awkward like the kissing booth I was like this is one of the most awkward like it felt like my head was like I don't want to watch this I don't know if it was the cameras it felt like your relationship with her never truly like connected it was just it was it felt it just felt awkward it felt awkward and I also felt like I saw a few inconsistencies, because I watched this show very closely, someone who was a cast to see what's produced or what's not.

Some of the inconsistencies I thought I saw was there's conversations about how her and Susie talked and she knew that she dated you. There's also conversations that when she saw Susie or referred to your ex, she didn't realize Susie was your ex on the show. The other inconsistency that got me a little bit confused was in like almost the same token, we went from like, I wrote down this quote because I didn't want to forget it. I need to take a pause before I'm comfortable moving forward. That's what she said to you. And then just like right before the rose ceremony, she made a comment about, do you think

I'll get Justin's Rose? And I don't know who responded, but someone said a thousand percent. No one can tell us but you behind the scenes. Is what I'm saying and saying accurate, inaccurate, how close was the connection? Tell me about it. Those are very astute observations. I'll say that. I'm looking at like a fine. Very astute.

I was watching like two in the morning last night. No, totally. I had actually, I had forgotten about that part because I think it was the first episode where she was talking to Jess and she was like, wait, who was this X again? Yes, yes. I'm so glad you brought that up because watching that back,

obviously I wasn't privy to that, but I was privy to after meeting Lexi and having conversations, you know, her telling me, oh, she had connected with Susie, I think stagecoach weekend or so. Ariel, had put them all in a group chat. Ariel, Lexi, and Susie, all, like, it's always stagecoach.

Yeah, it's always stagecoach. Yeah, it's always stage coach. It's always stage. I think it was around that time. I don't know if it was, it wasn't, I don't think it was in relation, whatever, around that time frame, because I think Ariel was supposed to be on Paradise.

So they were all in a group chat. I remember Lexi being like, yeah, like, she's so sweet. And we even talked about, you know, sharing clothes. And, like, you know, she made a comment at the bar. She was like, Like, I wish that it almost wasn't in that group chat because now I feel guilty because she's so nice.

And so watching it back with her talking to Jess, like, wait, who is this ex again? I'm like, you know who, like, you know who my ex is. You were in a group chat with her. And you know it's me. So I thought that was very odd. Very odd. And what I will say, just to, and I'll circle this back, but what I will say, you know, I was only there for a couple episodes. But from what I've seen thus far, it kind of ties into what I was saying earlier about

you know the transparency that i was given in the in not promises but what i was told from you know the eps of like hey we've got new people at the helm here and we're taking a much more hands-off approach and letting things play out how they play out and they have no interest in manufacturing anything they're going to show things how they actually happened right and so of course there's hours of footage the cameras are damn near 24-7 yeah but what i will say is from what i've seen in every relationship despite conversations being cut out and the gist of how things went is what is being shown okay and i can say that regardless as to you know my situation for holistically like that is a positive that i'm seeing as compared

to pat's production where it's like that's not how that went sure you know it's not like spliced and diced what you're saying is like what you're seeing for the most part obviously it's a produce of course but you're getting pretty good exposure yes okay is my is my assumption somewhat accurate that like like you had interest you're definitely like in the kissing booth you only swiped right on her. You were obviously interested, but it like something wasn't. Yeah. So I'll tell you when I, you know, she was the, I only pulled two people when I first got there and had the date card. I pulled Lexi and I pulled Alex. And I was trying my best to be very intentional from the jump, you know. And so my conversation with Lexi, I was like, wow, of course, you know, very attractive, sweet girl. Seems to have a really good head on her shoulders. Also seems to be coming into this with, you know, good intentions. And I know what she is, it seems like I have a good grasp on what she's looking for out of this experience. Sure. You know, so I think we're pretty aligned here. Alex, you know, from what, like, she's, she's goofy, she's quirky, she's funny, and it was more of a lighthearted conversation.

And I was like, you know, I think right now I align more with someone like Lexi, so that's why I made the decision that I made. And so what you are picking up on is also my experience where, you know, from our first conversation, it was like, oh, I feel so uncomfortable here. And I was like, oh, me too, but it was for slightly different reasons. I felt uncomfortable because it's like, you know I feel like I'm the old like the odd man out here I don't know anybody you know this is my second time back I feel kind of out of place you know the comment I made about the

college guy coming back to whatever that that was kind of why I felt out of place whereas she was like I I hate the cameras I you know like I don't like it and you know she would often ask or request to like have off camera conversations I'm like hey I wish we could talk off camera too but the end of the day we're on a TV show it's not realistic you know what I mean and you know and I I understand I get it the the Cameras can be uncomfortable, but it was hard to have genuine conversations on camera. It was hard to, you know, be physical on camera. And I, you know, we both put it out there.

We're looking for more of a slow burn here. So at first it's like, okay, let me just, you know, no pressure. I'm not, I'm not stressing either way. You know, like I'm trying to nurture this. And like I said, show up as best I can, you know, and how I would in the real world. And so the first couple days, I was really trying to do little things to show up and pursue Lexi and show that I was being intentional and I wasn't really getting that reciprocated and so then I was in my head like okay you know she was she was it was

very seldom that she was on set you know she'd be in her room alive and I'm like everyone like where's Lexi where's Lexi you know and so I didn't have a really good grasp of like is she just not feeling me yeah I'm like is it is it for health reasons which I'm super empathetic of course too and like I just want to find ways to help I I wasn't really being communicated as to why, you know, I wasn't seeing her and being able to talk to her much. And so, yeah, one day I, you know, I told myself, you know what, I'm going to take a step back and, you know, just see if it gets reciprocated and, like, we didn't talk at all that

day. And so I'm like, okay, something's up. Like, this is, this is strange, you know, and that's the day that she, like, put a pin in things. Whether you're running a cafe, salon, boutique, or something entirely on your own, square will give you the flexibility to grow at your own pace and even set up an online store in just a few clicks. It's your all-in-one business partner, making your day-to-day easier from a point-of-sale system

and payments to inventory and customer tools. Square brings everything together in one simple platform. And right now, listeners can get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com

backslash go, back-slash trading secrets. That's Square, S-Q-U-A-R-E dot com slash go slash trading secrets. Visit Square to get started because the right tools make all the difference.

I remember from my first company to my current company and that first company was creating resumes for other people. I would take payment with Square. Square is the best option out there. Just go to square.com slash go slash trading secrets.

Okay. So she put the pin in things there and then of course the rose ceremony comes and you are picking up the rows and you give it to Susie. Susie isn't expecting it. She's caught off guard. A question I have for you is when,

because you say it wasn't like you had your own discrepancy on a lot of things. Sure. And Jeremy, by the way, went on a date with Susie. So Jeremy could have potentially given his rose to Susie, therefore would have like eliminated your self-sacrificing of your time and taking care of Susie. How far before you picked that rose up did you actually know what you're going to do? Even when I was approaching,

I was just, my heart was pounding. out of my chest. I'm like, what, what am I doing here? You know, it was really, you didn't even know that right before. When we lined up. Yeah. When we line, because they, you know, they line you know, they line you up and they hold you. Yeah. And it's just like, I was pacing back and forth. I'm like, oh my gosh, like what, what do I do? And I was like, Jeremy's definitely going to give it to Susie. Like, he's got to, right? I want to stop right there for a second. People that are listening to this. I can't put enough emphasis because people listen to this and just go to your next word. One of like, I get sweaty palms thinking about being on the,

rose ceremony waiting for the bachelorette to give you a rose because the time you're up there sometimes for like two hours and you're like i really care about this person i'm freaking out so when they're filming that you only see six seconds but i can imagine you're there for probably like an hour it's just like ruminating it's just like oh my sweat it's hard and that's like people pass out sometimes yeah and they have and what's it adds even more to it because on the bachelor bachelorette you know you don't see the lead you know you're kind of just out there on the podium platforms they line the guys and girls up kind of like this right so we can all see each other they're like oh don't talk don't talk of course and so here i am i'm going crazy in my mind like what what am i doing what am i going

at the same time trying to control my body language in my face which everyone knows i have a hard time doing and i'm like i can feel eyes from lexie like trying to get the reassurance of like what am i going to do and i'm going crazy so i'm like i'm trying to and they're lined up next to each other So I'm like trying not to make eye contact. I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do. Like what's going on here. I'm processing everything still. Like it was insane.

Like I blacked out. So yeah, it was not premeditated. Which is probably why. Because of course, the question I have for you was like, why didn't you have those conversations? Well, the conversations you probably didn't have is because you didn't know. Well, because not only that, I would have loved to because I did promise Lexi transparency and communication, right?

And so I think people can pick up on it now from seeing a couple episodes. It rained every single day and night in Costa Rica. It was, it's, it's the rainiest season of the year. Your day got canceled because of my day got canceled. Every cocktail party was cut short. Every rose ceremony was affected by the rain. And so after I had my conversation with Lexi, that sort of when I reflect in the moment, I'm like, okay, like, this is everything I want to hear.

Yeah. Sounds good. And I'm like, wait, is this like, hold on. It's a rose ceremony night, right? And so then I'm like, I reflect and I'm like, wait a minute. And of course they... You're like yesterday. She said she wants to pause.

And so I asked, yeah. And so I'm like reflecting. I'm like, wait, just yesterday, she's like, I want to put a pin in this. I want you to explore other girls despite me being like, I don't, I'm not interested in anyone else here. She says, I want to explore other guys as we saw. All this was the day prior. And so now the night of the rose ceremony and, you know, as I said in the comments, you know,

a lot of that was cut out where, you know, she expressed concerns over, you know, where we each live and you know what we want out of life all these things and so now suddenly at the 11th hour before the rose ceremony zero reservations it was really the first time that i you know felt she was being kind of touchy and you know giving reassurance and all those things it just felt very flip floppy up until that point and so it threw me for a loop where i was like wait a minute am i like okay do i do i take her word and give this a shot or do i give merit to all the data i've collected up until this point and do I have reason to be cautious and concerned about this chain this 180 now sure right and I'm left on one hand with this person Susie that I care immensely for

that I feel like kind of got screwed with how she was just thrown in there given 24 hours to make a connection and could possibly go home you know someone that's very kind selfless and deserves a shot at this I had a chance to navigate paradise without her there, I can give this person an opportunity. Gotcha. On the other hand, I've got this person that I've known, no offense for four days that I'm not sure about. It'd be one thing if, you know, I was like, oh, she's feeling me, I'm feeling her and, you know, like, let's see where this goes. I'm giving Lexi my rose, but that's the opposite of what I was feeling. It was hot, it got really cold, and then it

like slightly warmed up right before the rose summary, so you're thinking, okay. Then Jeremy gives the rose, obviously, to Bailey. That leaves Susie up for grabs. It was probably, I This is my assumption. My assumption is the second that Jeremy gave Bailey his rose, and you saw Susie there by herself. You're like, it probably clicked right then that you had to save her. Is that correct? Yeah.

Honestly, my mom has always said, listen to your gut. You know, it'll never lead you wrong. And I, in that moment when Jeremy said Bailey, I'm like, okay, that's the sign that I needed to, like, make this decision. Okay. You know, like, yeah. Got it. If Susie accepted that rose, thinking about like,

you're like, maybe we'll see what happens. you know i i was hoping to have a conversation i was hoping i didn't know how it was going to go i'm like okay do i have a conversation and say like because i wasn't going to stick around you know i i'm sure i would have had a conversation with her the next day and or maybe the next i mean it's like late at night at that point it's like i don't know if i'm going home that night or the next morning yeah exactly so i didn't i wasn't thinking that far ahead but i had kind of chalked it up to like well i'm going to go home because tomorrow new guys are coming in which isn't favorable for me, obviously.

You know what I mean? Like, I'm not going to just sit around and bro out as much as I would have loved to see an Andrew there who came in the next day. You just missed up. You two could have had your own show. No, I was a missed opportunity. I was so sick that I didn't get to be there with him.

But the writing was kind of on the wall where it's like if I give this horse to Susie and she says yes, then that means I'm going home. And I was okay with that at that point because I didn't have a connection. Yeah. So, yeah, I thought she would have said yes. but I also

you know I like looking back I totally get why you know she was throwing for a loop nobody knew in that whole room

what I was going to do you didn't even know until the last second right and so to Susie you know it tracks right

she's such a kind selfless person she's thinking like I don't want to like whoa I think she even said like I don't know if they showed it

but she was like wait were you in on this to Lexi I think she thought it was like it was like it was like right that Lexi and I

had conspired And we felt bad for her and we're like trying to save her. So that's why she was like, no, no, no, like pursue your thing. Because she didn't know the ins and outs of Lexi and my relationship. So she thought that Lexi and I had conspired to like save her out of like pity and feeling bad for her. And so she thought that by saying no, like she was like, no, keep pursuing Lexi. It's fine. Like you don't have to do this.

Whereas I'm like, I'm trying to like give you life and do something to save you. And you know, and so it was like a miscommunication. And we couldn't talk about it. And so it all blew up. It blew up. You gave your rose. The rose ends up going to Jill, which, by the way, I feel like dumb for not knowing who Jill was.

Jill's my new fucking favorite person. She's hilarious. She is the show right now. I am obsessed with Jill. I think she's, like, I can't wait for what's coming next. The Rose goes to Jill. You guys all depart. You and Susie have a very emotional moment.

And when everyone leaves, the way I'm perceiving it, especially watching, class, character, and kindness pretty much from. mall. Yeah. You know, even Lexi is talking about how like, she's sad and she talks about, she heard just a little on her parents and her parents, like, family members in work to see this stuff and like, you've got to respect that and you got to respect what you went through and you got to respect what Susie went through. And it felt like, okay, kumbaya, like, like a lot of class and respect for everyone. Yeah. And then we start seeing online, there's a couple shots thrown, you know, a couple passive aggressive TikToks and things. And there's a little

commentary, you know, you kind of put your stance forward. She puts her stance forward about what happens. You opened up with just a lot of facts and she responds. Where do we stand now? And then of course a lot of like, you know, Bachelor Nation scoop and like, you know, a lot of those, the blogs, they pick up on this of you guys commenting in your comments. Where, like, where are we today? What's your position on it? And where do you stand? Well, yeah, I just want to start by saying I, I don't have anything poor to say about Lexi. I think that she is a really kind person. I think, she is a nice girl. I think she, you know, does, you know, want something serious. You know, like, I'm not taking any of that away from her. I have nothing negative to say about her.

She is a nice person. I wouldn't have clicked with her and picked her if I didn't think that about her, right? And I still think that about her. And I can understand why she's hurt. And that's why in one of the comments, I tried to reach out to her twice because I do value communication. and I understand the facts are, yes, I did blinds at her. She did not see that coming, and I deeply feel bad for that. You know, I feel bad for catching her off guard. I feel bad for it, you know, if it was an embarrassing thing for, like I empathize, right? And that's why I wanted to have a conversation, like, hey, like, there's more color to this that I can add, you know, and I'd love to have a dialogue.

Here's what I was picking up on. Here were my hesitations. Here's where I was feeling. Here are some of the things that I was worrisome about. were confirmed, can you speak to, you know, I just wanted to have a dialogue as to why things went down the way they did. I reached out twice, got nothing, right? And so I was like, okay, like, I get it, like, protect your piece. You know, if you want to, like, I did, I feel like at that point I did what I could to try to mend or, you know, do, you know, do what I could.

I don't know. And so it was disappointing. It's one thing if you don't want to talk to me about it, like, cool, I get it. I get it. But then to take to some. social media, I'm like, okay, well, now it's just petty, and now it just feels like you're using the moment to kind of do something for yourself out of it at my expense, you know? And again, I understand being hurt, and I apologize for that. It's a conversation I wish I could have had, but I don't really appreciate some of the shade that she's thrown with her TikToks and some of the messaging that she has. used in song choices and comments and stuff like that. I don't think it's necessary. I respect

her. I don't think it's respectful. So it was disappointing to see for sure. And I don't know. I mean, like, again, maybe it's the realist in me, but it's like, we know each other for four days. Yeah. Like, let's be, let's be real here. We knew each other for four days. You know, like, I get it. At the end of the day, we do each other for four days. Yeah. Yeah. business owners when opportunity knocks do you have the capital to answer rock financial helps small businesses across up to five million dollars in funding in as little as 24 hours whether you're expanding upgrading equipment or simply need working capital rock will make that process fast simple and personalized with thousands of five-star reviews rock financial offers no red tape no hassle

just real solutions visit rock dot biz slash trading secrets to get started and see what your business may qualify for in just seconds. That's R-O-K, rock.biz slash trading secrets. Well, I always hope in these situations, is there, did you film a reunion? Not yet, but I think there may be. It seems like in this scenario, in a lot of these scenarios, there's, like, such minor differences that, like, just a call, like, privately, I feel like it could solve a lot of this.

Like, obviously, you have respect for, like, the foundation of who she is the person. totally and vice versa and it's like i that's why i just in the public day it's like one phone call we can just talk through right we could just i think there's a mature way to go about things and yeah it's just not what i would do but you know do what you got to do and well hopefully in the reunion there's like a kumbaya moment and like everyone could just be like hey are we all good here you know that's what that's what i i've got no problem with her i'm sorry you know and yeah i've i've got no ill will yeah so yeah didn't your thing a few days right it was hot it was cold You gave you a rose of someone that you dated for a year who was the best friend.

Onward we march. Onward you do march. We're going to get into love potion now. Before we do, you went on the show, I asked you last time you were on this podcast, I'm going to ask you again. Is there any chance that we see you back on reality TV dating show? Is there a chance we see you on Paradise? Is there a chance we see you as a bachelor? Is there a chance we might see you on another network doing reality TV dating?

Give me the answer just a glaze. Stamp it. Cash it in right now. I'm going to look at the cameras. You will not see me on another reality dating show. Ever. Ever. You're sure.

Ten toes down. You won't. Sign sealed delivered. Like draw blood and stammer it. Stam it. No medieval time style. I love it. All right.

You heard it here first. I'm going to have to make another real. Before we get into love potion, quick rapid fire. How many bags did you pack for Paradise? Three. How much money did you spend on clothes before you got there? Oh. Your fits were sick.

I appreciate that. Maybe. Honestly, not that bad because I had a lot of stuff. stuff already this time and I feel like I like panic packed so I didn't even you know pack everything I wanted I'd say maybe a thousand shot at least a camera stylist food at the old regime and the new regime which food was better new AC obviously was a huge impact yeah and the cameras were obviously different oh man yeah you're never going to do reality TV dating again but if you do would you prefer old paradise or new paradise oh man what's the word up like old for the not like not novelty

but old for the, what's the word I'm looking for? Help me out here. Help me out. Old for the nostalgia. Nostalgia. New for the practicality and experience. I mean, man, I'll tell you, at least my TV was working, AC was blasting. I was like, okay, I can work with this.

Last question, because it connects to Love Potient of work. You're a busy man now. You're doing deals left and right. You're absolutely killing it. If you haven't heard, go to the last episode. You'll hear a little bit about the numbers behind his social media, but you more than I think double or tripled in 20-24-year revenue. 25. I'm assuming that revenue is bigger than 2024 at this point. Yes. Yes. Okay. My question for you,

were you allowed to use your phone and work on love potion and other things while you were down there? I did work that into my contract. Okay. That's great. And could you, was it a lot or you just allocated a little bit of time? So the agreement was at a minimum once every rose ceremony day, which equated to every two to three days. Okay. And they did honor that. I love it. You guys could probably hear me talking fast now because we're running out of time and I want to make sure we get to your new project. We talked about what was. We talked about what is. Let's talk about what's next. Love potion. It's now online. You could buy it. What I researched on drink love potion. com, 2299 for the canned espresso martini with real espresso and real vodka. First question I got for you, the name. Why? Ooh, I love that question. So I'll give you the quick and dirty. So in the late

50s, there was a song called Love Potion number nine that came out by a band called The Clovers, And it described this story of a man who was struggling to find love. So he sought out the help of a gypsy who created this concoction where when you consume it, you become irresistible to those around you. So it was the idea of forming. I need one too. Crack and out of one. So it's this idea of forming intimate connections with whoever you're enjoying a cocktail with,

whether it's friends, you know, coworkers, loved ones, you know. It's that intimate connection and seeing where the day or night takes you. So that was the name of it. That was the name. That's where the name came from. And then so obviously you have the packaging. I love the name. I love the song.

We'll play it here in the recap or here if we have time for it. How long did it take you start to finish for the idea for this now to be sold on your website, package, sealed, signed delivered, ready to go? A little over three years. Okay. How much money did you have to invest into it? Oh, man. I just passed that by. That's in 36 months to get this together.

That's a lot of time. It's been a one-man show. That explains this, like, special taste to it. Yeah, yeah. How much money did you have to put in this? Do you have investors? Do you own it 100%? What can you share? Yeah. So it's all been self-funded up until this point, not until this month that I start, or the past two months is the first time where I started to kind of build out a team on a consultant basis. Nobody's love potion itself has one employee. It's me.

But you did this all on your own? Yeah. I don't think, I mean, a lot of our listeners are in the business entrepreneur's space. That's really fucking hard. Yeah. I think sometimes I. I own 100% of the equity. I own 100% of the company. And you have no employees. That's really amazing. Yeah. So it's all been self-funded.

You know, I've talked to investors that were interested, but I haven't found the right opportunity, the right strategic investor. So fortunately, I have been able to self-fund it thus far, getting it off the ground. You know, obviously eventually I will need to bring on an investor and excited for where we're at and some opportunities that we may have. Cool. So, yeah. Are you currently in retail?

So one of the hardest things in canned beverage, wine, spirit, beer, is distribution. It's like a weird thing in the United States about distribution. You can't just go direct to retailers. You have to go through distributors. Have you gone through distributors to get this into retail space yet? Yeah. Just finalized my contracts. Wow.

We, you know, it's been a several month process of trying to get a distributor. There's pros and cons to go in with a big one versus smaller one. It's very nuanced. And so just finalize an agreement with my distributor. and finalizing launch dates for retailer. So we'll be in Bevmo, starting in the Southern California market. So super excited about that. And so, yeah, well, that should be in the coming very near future this summer.

I love that. That is beyond exciting. How did you actually come up? Obviously, you told us a little bit about the trading secret. You'd ask people what they're putting in it. You'd write it down. But to actually come up with a formula is pretty hard. How'd you do that?

Yeah. I mean, I've got a great, great partnership, great distillery in Pennsylvania. I mean, I was like drinking from a fire hose. So I started this, you know, like I said, three years ago, I was in Baltimore. And I had the idea, and I was like, I don't even know where to start with this. So I was researching just like RTD, which is ready to drink companies, trying to see if I can look at their packaging to see, like, who manufactures it. And I was just making literally cold calling people like, hey, here's an idea I have.

Like, you know, and some people are like, oh, we don't have the R&D in place to do an espresso martini. you know other people it was like more it felt more transactional we're like here's how it works you pay us this fee for the R&D we send you three samples you pick one and boom i was like no like i want to i'm very meticulous and very you know i care about what i put out i got to believe in it to put it out there right hence the three-year process and i finally found my my distillery and i mean just really down-to-earth guys who are they're like mad scientists man we like why don't you come up it's you know drive a short drive up 83 and the first day i got to there and they got flasks and scales and ingredients and we're just mixing stuff up you know i that day

alone we probably went through 20 different iterations and it was just like okay these guys they get it they understand they have an appreciation for this process you could tell the passion that they have behind the drinks that they make and that aligned with what i wanted out of a partner and and that's that's that's how we got started it's unbelievable so manufactured in pennsylvania yep distilled in pennsylvania yeah now distributed in california and if you go online right now we got listeners all over the country what state like can you buy in every state just a couple so 43 states 43 states so you got license and fully ready to go in 43 states yeah so basically i mean it's it's very nuanced but you

basically have to you know piggy back off of another you know another retailer's liquor licenses you need a liquor license to be able to sell in these states so it's a very nuanced process every state has different rules and regulations. So, yeah, 43 states right now that we can sell to nationwide. And then, I mean, technically, I have distribution in 50 states, but we're starting in Southern California and kind of slowly rolling out from there. So, you know, based on where you are, you know, you can go on the website and kind of, you know, submit where you'd like to see it or, you know, new flavors you want to see. And I'm really looking for feedback from people that try it and what, you know, what consumers want. It's important. So, yeah, we're just getting, I mean,

It's been three years, but it feels like we're just getting started, you know, so it's exciting. Just getting started. I'm going to put this out there. Justin can't say this. I can say this. We're going to buy a pack of this, and we are going to ship it ourselves to anyone that puts a review. And I don't care if you're in Canada. I can ship it. So put a review to this episode five stars. Let us know what your biggest takeaway is. And then the following recap, we are going to ship a pack of love potion out there. Let's do a little manifesting real quick. You know, think about it. You got your projections, your life. What is the goal? Like, where do you see it? Give me a number. you want to either sell it for or revenue you think you'll generate. Let's manifest something big

five years from now, three years from now, two years from now, one year from now, love potion, give me it. What does it look like? Sure. I think I'm going to actually quote myself, you know, you asked me this question when we did the podcast at Disney. And I don't know why it's always been a number in my head. You know, regardless as to what my role in the company is, you know, I, this is really a passion of mine. I'm not looking for a quick flip. I'm not in it for the wrong. You know what I mean? Like I really care about this company, this product. I believe in it. I'm loving the journey and I have a vested interest in it and I think people will taste that when they you know when they when they try the product and what they see you know what we have coming down

the pipeline so my plan you know ultimately I'm I'd be lying if I said it wasn't to grow this company as big as I can get it and then and then sell it and figure out what my next endeavor may be and I still would want to have some role in the company but I've had this number in my head I don't you know I want to sell the company at some point and a minimum 30 million let's go 30 million We heard it once on Trading Secrets. We'll hear it again. When you do exit for 30 million, you're coming back on this podcast. The last question I got for you before we're a trading secret.

It's called Love Potion. Everyone wants to know. We talked about your love life from paradise. We talked about Love Potion. Is it working? Are you in love? Are you dating? Are you single?

Do you have any commentary? You know, I think I've been too busy making the drink. I haven't drank enough of them myself. So maybe stay tuned. I'm going to start cracking a couple cans myself and see if this thing actually works. I love it. Shake it up, crack it. Maybe it works for you. Maybe don't. We'll stay tuned for that. We always have to wrap with the trading secrets. So, Justin, thank you for coming on. Congratulations on everything you've gone through the highs and lows, the roller coaster, and this new endeavor, which is fucking awesome.

I appreciate. Trading secret. What can you leave us with? Didn't I start with one? You started with one? You got up the hook. You're never off the hook. Wait, what's the one I started with? You started with the idea when you would go to restaurants and you would actually write down, like, things that you're interested in for your recipe. So you look at the espresso martini. you ask them. Give me another trait. How about like, I feel like you just want a reality TV, man. You're going through. You're back in the public eye. Like, maybe mentally. Like, what's a trading secret mentally that you focus on? I feel like, every trading secret I give you. You're like, okay, good one.

Nice one. I pick on you. I'm like, bro. I'll shut up. Now I feel the pressure. I do that to you. It's not fair. It's not fair. Now I'm like, I don't, man, maybe I don't have good secrets. Give me like a, like lead the horse to water. I'm going to lead the horse to water. I'm going to usually I do this after someone gives me the trading secret. I'm telling you the trading secret I've learned from you lately, especially over the podcast,

is like, and just our friendship, it's like feel your feels, really understand your emotion, do your best to communicate, understand that you're not going to be perfect and take accountability for when you're not. But at the end of the day, like what I take from you is like, you always lead with the purest intention and that it works out or it doesn't work out. And because it's always so pure and real, you never have to question it. it. And I think that's, that showcases, like, and I just admire so much the respect that you and Susie have been able to have for one another, given the many, many complications that the relationship has gone through. And to me, like, that's an inspiration that takes a lot of work.

And more than work, it takes a lot of care. And I think the biggest thing that you pride yourself on is communication. Because without really, really, like, intentional communication, you can't go on the beach with your ex and have that type of showing. You can't. And you've done it. And so, So my trading secret is, no matter how hard it is, especially as a guy who back in his day was very avoidant, and I've worked so hard to overcome that, I learn from you, like, overcommunicate and it will benefit you. And even if it hurts, it's growth. I love that, man. I appreciate that. Thank you.

You're good at this. And that you did lead the horse to water because I was thinking more of a, from a business standpoint, and I gave a business one earlier with how I kind of got here with Love Potion. So I'll give a more emotional relationship-based trading secret. that has helped me a lot in my in my dating world and just through you know therapy and you know self-reflection and growth and all these things a trading secret that I will give is you know I think you hear people oftentimes like am I too picky I've got this list this this and that right and I'm not going to say you know no one should settle you know what I would say what I would challenge people to do though you know when you have this list of what you're looking for in a partner right when you come

up with that list of attributes and characteristics that you want in a partner, the best thing that you can do is become that list. Because if you're going to create that list and have expectations that that's what you want out of a partner, then you need to hold yourself to that same list. I love that. That's your best trading secret ever. Thank you. And I think the other thing too is like when you become that list, you attract what you are. 100%. I love it. That's a hell of a trading secret. Justin Glaze. Before we wrap, where can everyone find everything? You love potion, all the things. Yes. So you can find me, Instagram, Justin Glaze, TikTok, Justin underscore Glaze. And then you can find Love Potion at Drink Love Potion on Instagram and at Drink

LovePotion.com. Guys, go check it out. This right here. This is the song that you named Love Potion after it's a vibe. Hey. Yeah. Justin Glaze. Thank you for being on this episode. I need to drink more of us. Thank you for you on this episode, Trang Secrets. Ding, ding, ding! We are closing in the bell to the Justin Glaze episode, very timely as he had a huge, huge couple episodes with Susie Evans and Lexi in a little bit of a love triangle last week. Bachelor in Paradise is back after taking last summer off. And I got the one and only, the Curious Canadian, the reality TV guru, the guy of all opinions and any opinions, David Ardoin.

And on the recap with me, David, what do we think? Well, life comes at you quick when a couple months ago you're on Trading Secrets saying you won't catch me dead with my toes in the sand and fast forward a couple months later and this guy is having to go full-blown notes app posts on his social medias to explain his thought process on a situation that happened on reality TV, which he said he wasn't going to be in. Oh, that's the 180. I feel for our boy, Justin, and I will say our boy. I think it's his fourth time on the show.

But yeah, just life comes at you quick. Welcome to reality TV. You're back in it. Back in it. He's definitely one of the boys. He has been on like our show, just plenty of times, a good friend. So he is definitely one that's been on the show, will be on the show and is a good friend. But yeah, I mean, the fact that we have that clift is absolutely hilarious.

It sounds like, of course, at that time, he was not asked to go on the show, right? So he didn't know. and I mean he talked a lot about his reservations on this podcast which make a lot of sense and I think that's something people probably think a lot about now like especially him you've been on the beach before you've been on Bachelorette before you've dealt with a public breakup Teddy says hello and you got to think does it does it make sense is the risk worth the reward and I think now more than ever with a lot of the guests we have David real quick is like a lot of them probably have to think that because there are also so many shows

now. Well, I also think, too, like, the reward is getting so much more finite in this franchise than what it used to be. Like, it almost used to be a slam dunk where, you know, at least a majority of the cast is getting at least an increase in following after to monetize or, you know, finding love. And he was a thing I respect about Justin is he was very open. He's like, I've, he's been on this podcast saying, like, he's made more year over year from a social media. Like, he was going in to follow the footsteps of you know, Becca and Thomas and grocery store Joe and Serena like they're

you know Dylan and Hannah like there is a path there. The thing that I wish and I know I haven't ever gotten to spend time with Justin so I feel like I know him but I don't know him and I know when you have him on would you say he is one of those friends especially in the social media scene

where like when you get him on the podcast he's 99 percent like a serious version and like a really well thought of version but you get that sprinkle of like oh my god i think he actually might be as funny as i think he might be because he had a couple moments where he just totally let the guard down when he was when you guys were talking about the types of girls that he said that the casting said it would be on there and he's like where do you got him do you got him in the back are they back there and i was like oh my god this guy i just feel like you want to bring that out of him so bad and let everybody see

just how funny he is it's it's funny he said that because one of my main goals for this episode was when i was researching all of his other episodes i'm like i really want to bring bring out the fun side of Justin because I listened to Bachelor Happy Hour. He was very serious. I listened to a couple episodes he was on with us. He was very serious. And in general, he is very serious. He is very logical. He is very analytical. But he also is just hilarious, like hilarious, David. Like, so funny. Another guy that's like this, too, is Andrew Spencer. I mean, and then you put those two together. It's just like, like, quick wit everywhere, hilarious like you're just laugh belly laughing the whole time so you're bang on about that and

the thing about justin though is he is so wildly talented and he's so intelligent like his art first and foremost i know we've talked about on other podcasts his art is truly incredible what he's able to do um and how creative it is and when talking about love potion on this episode i thought you were a little surprised too and i was a little blown away he's the only employee from soup to nuts of creating a product to go to market in the alcohol industry. He's self-funded. He's the only employee. As of now, no other investors, no other employees.

He's had a carpet of consultants. Like, just how impressive is that? It's really, really hard to do, which explains the timeline, like the three years. So the fact he's been able to do it all by himself is absolutely incredible. But that's one of the hardest things about business. Like scaling a business is so hard because scaling a business requires investment in human capital, which can be a headache with just like making sure you're onboarding people, right, you're motivating them, right, you're doing it all right, legal, all that stuff,

and then investment in technology and resources. So the faster you scale, the quicker it will get done. But that just like won't always be the case. And it's a really hard thing to do. But you know what? He did it. It's a huge success. If guys haven't tried, love potion, you'll have to try it. But next time you're in town, I'll have to bring you a case. It's pretty damn good. what did you think about all the I mean a lot of drama like there's a lot you know if you think about it he was in a little love triangle here you know another shout out to Susie and him and Lexi for handling this you know the best they can given all the circumstances but now you have a whole third curve ball of social media and that's where we talked a little bit about the commentary back and forth at all did you by chance get to see any of that stuff that happened yeah oh yeah oh yeah he says yeah oh yeah yeah oh yeah yeah yeah yeah Look, and I love the context from it. Listen, there's three sides to every story in this case because there are three people involved to hear Justin come on

and give his just honest take. Like, it's, it kind of painted the picture a little bit. Like, you know, he, he clearly, you know, communicated and started and tried to explore connection. And, you know, the fact that she kind of put a pin in it and was pulling back, it kind of left him in the state of limbo right before there was a, you know, a rose ceremony. and, you know, if, you know, you're looking for love and you're looking to find a deep lasting

connection and want someone that sees good in you and wants to really try with you and works with the things with you, it's tough to make a decision when they're to tell you to your face saying, like, we've got to put a pin in it. So, you know, he kept echoing four days, four days, like that's the reality. Unfortunately, social media isn't the reality. And when there's a chance to speak about it or say it, you know, say it on your terms on social media it kind of get people can forget about that that it was four days and Justin's not a malicious guy I don't think he was trying to do anything malicious to

anybody I don't think that he was trying to go behind anybody's back like he explained the situation pretty clearly he he really explored and tried to explore Lexi it was told to him that you know they were putting a pause he had to make a decision in a row ceremony he has you know obviously a lot of history with Susie and wanted to see her be able to put on that path to you know continuing to find love and he continued wanted to continue getting put in a situation to find love and he didn't appreciate her kind of lexie handling it on social media which i'm sure if you were in the situation or i was in the situation it's like look we talked about this we've had conversations like and now to like

try and make it a thing and maybe get some more views or clicks or whatever you may want to call it but i would also love to have lexie on this and hear her side of things and and see you know her mindset behind that all that as well but i mean you're not it's not badger in paradise unless you're getting kicked off in the first week of being there and not have some kind of love triangle that you're answering to. But that's the risk and rewards are going on the show. That's the risk and reward going on the show. And like I said, I hope in the reunion, because they all seem like such great people. Well, I know Justin and Susie very well. They are great people. Lexi from a distance, I just don't know her well. Seems like a great person.

So I just hope they can go on reunion and like, you know, I'll just like straighten it out and just have a good at a moment. As I spent time on social media and seeing Lexi post about this, you also see other posts that she has and she's she had a post as very similarly like like people from reality you see me as this and it was like timid and shy and quiet but in reality and then she goes on this like montage of like video clips where she's like what i said at the start with justin like she seems bubbly and energetic and fun and like all those things and sometimes it's just hard when you got those TVs and you're in that situation and you're you know you're trying to approach it in a very, you know, serious light that doesn't always come across.

So, you know, like I said, hopefully they can smooth it over. They all seem like amazing people. One thing I do got to say that point that stuck out to me about him talking about the show is, you know, talking about the change in venues and camera. As great as the new venue is, he talked about how it rained every single day, that one of his dates got canceled because of it, that the cocktail hours all got cut short. Is it just me, Jay, like, when I go on vacation, I check the weather 14 times a day.

Like, I'm not going to go home to Vancouver in April because it's going to rain every day. If you're building a massive show with multi-million dollar budget, are you maybe checking to see when the rainiest season in Costa Rica is and probably not going to Costa Rica during the rainiest season when you're filming an outdoor TV show on a beach? I mean, yeah, right? The answer is 100% yes. But then you also got to factor in what we talk about in this podcast is the money.

Like there could have been a money play from, the board of Costa Rica. Like we do a lot, the agency level, we do a ton of deals with people from like visit, let's say visit Boston, visit New York, visit Montana. There are these travel boards within different communities and cities and states that will pay people to come to their city, to put on content, to show the best restaurants, to show the best things to do, to increase travel there. Like there could have been something from Costa Rica where there is a budget, could have been this resort that paid a lot. And as a result of that, those things can sometimes outweigh the actual, you know, logic of the rainy season. Now, I did throw into chat GPT,

you know, how often does it rain in Costa Rica as you're asking me this? And it says the rainy season is May to mid-November. The frequency is almost daily in the afternoons. So, you know, it's funny that like, yeah, it sounds like they definitely had to know getting into it. there's other risks like tornadoes and things like that during this period. So I don't know. I guess it's more high risk than we even expected. Another thing, what's interesting, we talk numbers on this podcast, right? So just hitting ratings a little bit. It looks like when season 10 premiered, it brought in 1.8 million viewers, which is less than what's saying is half of what this show's first ever premiere was. The first ever premiere was in two.

2014. That premiere kicked off with 5.3 million followers. But as a fair comparison, the previous season drew in over 2.1 million viewers on the first premiere. So the viewers are down. And I guess episode two and three didn't do as well and did more than 20% worse than the actual premiere of this season. So episode two and three struggled a little bit. Maybe the Goldens are what will revive the show. I'm not sure. We'll see. We're all. Rudent for Paradise, we hope it crushes. David, was there anything else, whether it relates to the business side of things and or the moving parts of the drama, the decision making, the business of Justin Glaze

that kind of stuck out to you in this episode? Nothing really that stuck out more. I just, you know, the first person that we've got off of the new show to talk about the show, I'm sure we'll have someone else on in the future. You know, hopefully there are some people that find love and go what they're looking for to get a little more perspective. But yeah, I'm just as fascinated as everybody in terms of trying to see the direction that the show is going.

You know, I'm deep in the comments on social media, trying to see if people are liking it and the reaction towards it. You know, from maybe it's just my algorithm, but it's getting crushed for the most part. Like there are, you know, there are some comments of people that do like some things. But it's just a tough thing. I mean, this is a, this is a, how many years is this franchise going? Is it a 30-year franchise or 20-year franchise? 20 plus your franchise so you're trying to change something to a group of people

and are you trying to change it because those people want to change or are you trying to change it because you want to add the demographic of people that you've lost as you know new viewers are watching similar TV shows it's just going to be tough to see man it's just going to be tough to see it's going to be tough to see if if this new format helps people fall in love does it do better for the show and viewerships does it do better for followings for contestants after um because i don't know it seems like a slippery slope right now you know they did have two episodes on one on tuesday one on wednesday um you know i i enjoyed watching it i thought a little shout out to jill i gave her a shout out during the actual

episode but i thought jill's hilarious great addition to this show but um i do think the three hour episodes are a little wild like to me that's a crazy move now when you talk talk about you looking at comments, likes, and all the interactions. Bachelor data made a mention to me that there's been a difference in engagement. Like she analyzes engagement everywhere, right? Like all different angles. And one of the things that she was surprised by is the difference in engagement on Reddit too, the live discussion threads. I guess there's live discussion threads where you go back and forth, like during the episode for Bachelor in Paradise, have been much more quiet this week. These are her words, less than a thousand comments for.

for the whole episode. I responded to her. I was just like, well, what does the typical comment section look like in this live thread? And she said, she believed that in Joey season, it had like 5 to 7,000 comments an episode to put in perspective. So obviously, hopefully a big turnaround happens. But we'll see. We'll see. I'm glad, you know, Justin learned a lot from this. He's come on the other side of this. It looks like he has no regrets going into this. Who knows what will happen with him and Susie? But I think irregardless everybody will be rooting for the happiness of of him and susie you know we'll see maybe together maybe not and definitely uh independently um for for lexie too so reality tv man

it's uh it's a wild world out there that's for sure it is a wild word out there and i'm happy that uh he is he is on to bigger things with love potion can cocktail i would love to know what the secret ingredient is because the fact that he came up with that secret ingredient through his tricks of the trade, which was a great trading secret of asking bartenders and at restaurant to restaurant and bar to bar. And I cannot let you go, Jay, without the trading secret that he dropped at the end, which I thought was one of the greatest trading secrets in the 200 plus episode history of trading secrets, become that list that you want for your potential partner.

I just thought that was such like a walk-to-walk, talk-to-talk moment, and I thought it was an amazing trading secret. You know, similar to you, I just, I can't wait to see the type of woman that's lucky enough to end up with you at the end of the day. And I think Justin is in that category as well. It's like, I can't wait until he finds his person that he can be that goofy side with and appreciates his intellect and seriousness with. And yeah, I'm a huge fan and going to be, going to be cheering him on.

If you don't think that trading secret is, one that has started to replicate and I'm going, it sure has. It sure will be. So I thought that was a great trading secret. Really smart guy, funny guy. Glad to see him back on our TV screens and very excited for all of his endeavors, whatever they may be. He's just a true creative, true artist. His content's great. And he's a good friend as well. So it's exciting to have him back on Trading Secrets. A lot of action coming up here. David got out. A week in Hamptons, another week. We're hosting a house through one of Gary Vaynerchuk's companies.

There's different, you know, brand integrations with it. There will be some really solid faces in this mansion that we got going here. I think we, I think we, I'll tease them because they might be on the podcast. That's why I'm saying it like this. But we might have a couple participants from this season of Love Island. and some others who have been on the show and some others who haven't been on the show but some familiar faces

that I think most of you guys will know so it's going to be an exciting week ahead in the Hamptons and I feel like August is going to be a really good month too the summer's been fun it's been a fun one and exciting one and yeah how's life with you David good?

Everything is great here we got a busy couple weeks coming up we got a wedding this weekend it's Ashley's birthday on Friday and then we have we're going to Vancouver. We're going to the homeland taking Carter and Ashley to the homeland first time that they've both been to Vancouver

we're going for about nine days at the beginning of August so we're super super excited to go get some home cooking and show her where I grew up and all those things. So Summer has been a good one though. I will say that too Jay. Summer has been a good one. At times it feels like it's flying by but it's been good.

It has been a good one. I love it, David. Justin Glaze. Thank you so much for being on this episode, Trank Secrets, Love Potion. Guys, go drink your Love Potion. Check it out. David, anything before we wrap? Nothing. Enjoy the Hamptons.

I'll be a fly on the wall. I love it. Everyone, give us five stars. Let's know your biggest takeaway. We are giving away one pack of love potions. Let us know your biggest takeaway. Put your username there. And thank you for tuning into another episode, Trank Secrets, one you can't afford to miss.

Living that dream. Making that money, money. Ray on me. Making that money, living that dream. We're going to be able to be.