Speaker 1: Welcome back to another episode of Car Stories with Some
Speaker 1: King and Amelia Hartford. Today we have a very special guest.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we get to share the man behind the myth,
Speaker 2: his myth to the madness if you will.
Speaker 1: And he's not afraid to really open up. We talked
Speaker 1: about physical, mental health, his business, how he's come to
Speaker 1: where he is today, where he started, where he hopes
Speaker 1: to go.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's just a great ambassador for the car community.
Speaker 2: The way he keeps, you know, the enthusiasm for the
Speaker 2: content that he makes and why he does what he does.
Speaker 2: Was just a very inspirational conversation.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's clear that he loves what he does. Without
Speaker 1: further ado, James Pumphrey.
Speaker 2: It's so interesting to meet somebody in person, James, because
Speaker 2: like your persona on screen, Oh yeah, is like so big,
Speaker 2: then when you meet in person.
Speaker 3: You're downright quiet, you are. Yeah.
Speaker 4: I always say, like when we have new hosts, I'm like,
Speaker 4: be one hundred and twenty percent of your personality, and
Speaker 4: so like I think I'm generally one twenty to one
Speaker 4: hundred and fifty percent of myself on camera, but then
Speaker 4: like in real life, like I always tell people if
Speaker 4: I acted like that, all the time. I wouldn't have
Speaker 4: any friends that would be the most annoying person who
Speaker 4: I was just like a.
Speaker 3: Baby.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'd just be like impossible to be around. And
Speaker 4: I also think I'm like a pretty shy person, like
Speaker 4: in general, you know, like I came up doing comedy,
Speaker 4: like that's what I moved to La to do, and
Speaker 4: so like I think being on stage and being in
Speaker 4: front of the camera just like yelling is like the
Speaker 4: way that I am personable. Whereas like I'd much rather
Speaker 4: talk to like three hundred people than one person.
Speaker 3: For sure.
Speaker 4: I don't like parties very much. Same I don't like
Speaker 4: I like the talking at not so much the interaction.
Speaker 2: It seems like that's common thread with a lot of
Speaker 2: people from comedy is that their stage persona is so
Speaker 2: different from their off stage Yeah.
Speaker 4: I think, like, yeah, my on screen persona is like
Speaker 4: who I want to be, and no one can talk back.
Speaker 3: This is getting a.
Speaker 4: Real deep, real fast it happens, yeah, and so no
Speaker 4: one can chime in, I'm just talking.
Speaker 1: Do you find it exhausting to socialize?
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 4: Yeah, Like what is that like your social battery? I
Speaker 4: definitely think my social battery gets drained I'm trying to
Speaker 4: be better about it though, especially now that I'm like older,
Speaker 4: like I've been doing Donut for almost eight years now,
Speaker 4: and so like there's like a number of like kids
Speaker 4: who when they meet me, like that's like something that
Speaker 4: means something to them. So I'm trying to be more
Speaker 4: like give them like the experience that they want to
Speaker 4: like take away and be like, oh, I'm at James
Speaker 4: from Donut versus like me being like, oh, I'm just
Speaker 4: like shy and they're like okay, but I'm like fifteen,
Speaker 4: you know, so it's like it's not it's I have
Speaker 4: to like overcome my insecurities and and you know, give
Speaker 4: people what they want.
Speaker 2: I can relate with that because when people meet me,
Speaker 2: they think that they're going to meet Han and they
Speaker 2: end up meeting like the grouchy guy. Yeah that's insecure.
Speaker 3: Yeah you lucked down.
Speaker 4: You made your like best known on screen persona like stoic,
Speaker 4: Like I wish I would have done that, Like looking back,
Speaker 4: like I'm like, dang, like I wish I would have been.
Speaker 3: Like good looking dude. Staring at stuff is like eating snacks,
Speaker 3: eat like you really like you picked a good one.
Speaker 2: I mean you'd be surprised how many snacks I get
Speaker 2: is like gifts from fans. But it's interesting when fans
Speaker 2: think like you are the person that they see on
Speaker 2: screen for sure, and at the end of the day,
Speaker 2: we're just people with like people problems too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, man, I got a lot of problems.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And that's something that I relate with you is like,
Speaker 2: you know, when I was younger, people would see me
Speaker 2: and they're like, can I get this picture? You know,
Speaker 2: and you know I would many times I would say no, yeah,
Speaker 2: because I'm you know, doing my own thing. And then
Speaker 2: Dwayne Johnson actually shared this with me, you know, like
Speaker 2: I asked him. I was like, hey, you're way more
Speaker 2: famous than me, and you've been famous for a long time.
Speaker 2: How do you deal with like the fans? And he
Speaker 2: put it in this like really amazing, like zam perspective.
Speaker 2: He said, you know, there are very few people in
Speaker 2: this world that it's gifted with the opportunity to make
Speaker 2: somebody happy just by asking their name, yeah, you know,
Speaker 2: putting your hand on their shoulder and taking a picture,
Speaker 2: you know, because it might mean the world for them
Speaker 2: for that day or that week, or for their life.
Speaker 2: If you look at it that way, like you know,
Speaker 2: there is a responsibility and a great opportunity.
Speaker 4: Definitely, That's definitely something I've come around too, because, like
Speaker 4: I mean, I made no means like super famous, but
Speaker 4: I'm more famous than I thought it would be, you know,
Speaker 4: like I get recognized in the store, and it got
Speaker 4: to a point where I was like annoyed by it.
Speaker 4: Then like one day I just kind of like opened
Speaker 4: my eyes and was like, who am I to like
Speaker 4: be annoyed by this? You know, because those people like
Speaker 4: are one hundred percent responsible for really my entire life,
Speaker 4: you know, like my house and my cars and the
Speaker 4: fact that I get to do what I really like
Speaker 4: to do with my friends every day, Like that's my job. Yeah,
Speaker 4: like you said, like making someone happy, like that's like
Speaker 4: an extension of it. And you know, I really have
Speaker 4: turned it around and realize like how fortunate I am
Speaker 4: to be able to like have some kid, you know,
Speaker 4: make his day by like seeing me at sprouts.
Speaker 2: In the produce section.
Speaker 3: Well, dude, do you like vegetables too? What do you
Speaker 3: got carrots? Due? Carrots? Dude? For sure?
Speaker 4: I mean I was definitely like uncomfortable with it though,
Speaker 4: for sure, Like early on.
Speaker 2: You have to learn I think you have to grow
Speaker 2: into it, yeah, and then find purpose behind it. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and then it becomes a positive thing opposed to you
Speaker 2: like running away from it, right.
Speaker 4: And I think it was also like in being like
Speaker 4: in this situation or whatever, like you welcome criticism a lot,
Speaker 4: people correcting my videos, and you know, like I put
Speaker 4: so much into my work and creation is like a
Speaker 4: very vulnerable process and so like whatever we put out
Speaker 4: is like a representation of ourselves. And like when somebody
Speaker 4: who like you don't know, is like, hey, you suck.
Speaker 4: Like I think early on that really like affected me
Speaker 4: and I think probably influenced like those feelings of like
Speaker 4: just like.
Speaker 2: Let me be Yeah, you get older and stop caring
Speaker 2: what people think.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I would really hate it if people stop
Speaker 4: liking me, you know. That's I think that also contributes
Speaker 4: to me being cool with it now, is like what
Speaker 4: if they stop coming up to me, Like then I'm
Speaker 4: in trouble, you know.
Speaker 2: So, I mean we hear it all the time with
Speaker 2: the fast movies. You know, they're like those movies suck
Speaker 2: and oh yeah, you guys suck and you're sucky.
Speaker 3: Actor.
Speaker 1: I had to shift my mindset as well, and like
Speaker 1: hate comments, hate mail even and a lot of just negativity.
Speaker 1: It's like, well, you're a comment on my video. I
Speaker 1: hope you enjoyed the video, hero because you watched it
Speaker 1: enough to have this opinion.
Speaker 4: I mean, I'm sure you don't. I mean, with so
Speaker 4: many more levels, like being a woman in this industry,
Speaker 4: you sure you're recognizing the fact that you're a woman
Speaker 4: or that you.
Speaker 3: Either way.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 4: Yeah, people have some audacity, but they're the ones who
Speaker 4: watched the videos.
Speaker 2: Actually, Yeah, stepping back now, I admire these people that
Speaker 2: give negative criticism because damn, like first you have the
Speaker 2: time to do that, and then you have the energy
Speaker 2: to spew out that hate because that's not easy, man.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I mean sometimes we get like legit good criticism that's
Speaker 4: like not necessarily positive, and like we'll take it to
Speaker 4: heart and like kind of we've shifted like last year
Speaker 4: around like the end of last year beginning of this year,
Speaker 4: we kind of like got too far into like YouTube
Speaker 4: and our fans like let us know what's that mean
Speaker 4: to you to be so like we're playing like the
Speaker 4: YouTube game in addition to like doing what we want,
Speaker 4: like we rarely work on our own cars. That's like
Speaker 4: just one way to do it, is like you build
Speaker 4: cars and like people like watch it or whatever. But
Speaker 4: then like we play like the YouTube game, you know,
Speaker 4: and like we think of like what's going to perform
Speaker 4: well on YouTube almost before like or at the same
Speaker 4: time as like what's valuable as like a car thing
Speaker 4: that's like a very delicate rope to walk, you know,
Speaker 4: like between being like click baity or being like two niche.
Speaker 4: Like from the beginning, we've always said, like I want
Speaker 4: to make car videos that my aunt would watch. You
Speaker 4: don't have to like cars, but if you do like cars,
Speaker 4: then like that's like this is your shit, right, And
Speaker 4: so like at one point, I think, like last summer
Speaker 4: we hit just not even car.
Speaker 3: Like I think the video.
Speaker 4: That we all kind of agree was like us jumping
Speaker 4: the shark, was we filled an engine with blood. Yeah,
Speaker 4: not a lot of people did, but like I still
Speaker 4: think we could have pulled it off.
Speaker 3: We could have made a good video about it.
Speaker 4: But yeah, we like went to the butcher bought a
Speaker 4: bunch of pigs blood and we were like, well, like
Speaker 4: blood is just oil for your body, and so like
Speaker 4: we put like a bunch of stuff in an engine
Speaker 4: and then like finally.
Speaker 1: You put blood in that see if it would run.
Speaker 4: Blood and an engine to see if would run, and
Speaker 4: like we were shooting it and we were like, this
Speaker 4: is not good.
Speaker 3: This is gross.
Speaker 4: Like I think Pete is gonna shut us down, like
Speaker 4: it's stunk, Like blood is gross.
Speaker 3: Yeah. So yeah, so like our audience was like, what
Speaker 3: are you guys doing and we're like, yeah, you're right.
Speaker 4: So we kind of like refocused because like, yeah, everything
Speaker 4: has to be actual car and.
Speaker 1: Not if you're in the business to get views on YouTube,
Speaker 1: it's certainly become more of a stunt based platform than
Speaker 1: it has.
Speaker 4: Wrenching we're still making videos around the same time. Yeah, right,
Speaker 4: And like back then, like Nicetat was like god of YouTube,
Speaker 4: but yeah, it was like very lifestyle, very like oh
Speaker 4: the this is a way to like get a more
Speaker 4: intimate look at like these people that I admire, and
Speaker 4: you know, like yeah, a lot more vloggy stuff, a
Speaker 4: lot more video essays, which is like what we started doing,
Speaker 4: and now like it is like big stunt, big title
Speaker 4: influenced stuff.
Speaker 2: I've always been curious about, first your origin story, Like
Speaker 2: I don't know if the listening audience knows, like how
Speaker 2: did you become the persona that you are or the
Speaker 2: person that you are? Because first, you know what I
Speaker 2: love about you, James is when I watch the videos,
Speaker 2: I use this like you know, analogy. Your headlights are
Speaker 2: on full, like you know, they're like on high beam,
Speaker 2: And anytime I have a question about anything carbulated, I
Speaker 2: go straight to you because you make it so fun.
Speaker 2: Thank you, and you know you shared with us briefly
Speaker 2: that you know you started in comedy. But how did
Speaker 2: this journey start? Like like where did it begin?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 4: So, like I as a kid, I like two things.
Speaker 4: I liked comedies and cars. Like I remember like a
Speaker 4: Z thirty two three hundred DX I saw at the airport,
Speaker 4: like my parents were divorced and my dad was taking
Speaker 4: me to the airport to go back to my mom's
Speaker 4: house and I saw three hundred DX.
Speaker 3: I was like, oh no, I like these.
Speaker 4: Similarly, in fourth grade, I saw Billy Madison and like
Speaker 4: my dad loved like comedy and stuff. But like Adam
Speaker 4: Sandler was like the first dude who me and my
Speaker 4: friends like got And I think that's very like a
Speaker 4: very similar parallel to like, oh I liked imports, and
Speaker 4: I liked Japanese cars and like European cars, where like
Speaker 4: my dad liked muscle cars and like old British cars.
Speaker 4: So like it was kind of at the same time,
Speaker 4: these two things that like were mine and like the
Speaker 4: first time I had taste that was different than what
Speaker 4: was just fed to me. Those two things are just
Speaker 4: like the main constant through my life. So like I've
Speaker 4: always had a dumb car, and being a comedian has
Speaker 4: always been like my dream. So when I was nineteen,
Speaker 4: I moved to Los Angeles from Louisville, Kentucky, and say Louisville.
Speaker 4: I do, because I'm not like I grew up all
Speaker 4: over the Southeast but landed in Louisville.
Speaker 3: I went to high school there, so that's why I.
Speaker 4: Say I'm from there, but yeah, Louisville, it's also acceptable.
Speaker 3: So yeah, I moved here from Louisville.
Speaker 4: And this theater called Upraad Citizens Brigade was just opening
Speaker 4: their La branch and I just got in really early
Speaker 4: and like luckily got like a bunch of stage time
Speaker 4: and was able to work with like a bunch of
Speaker 4: people that I had seen in movies.
Speaker 2: Like an improv group.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so like I did a lot of improv, a
Speaker 4: lot of improv and then sketch comedy. So like I
Speaker 4: had a number of sketch groups.
Speaker 3: I had a group called the Midnight Show.
Speaker 4: It was a monthly show and we all like lived
Speaker 4: in this big mansion on Wilton in Hollywood together and
Speaker 4: we would like argue about comedy like as a science,
Speaker 4: like there's like rules that make things funny, right, and
Speaker 4: like that's like really how we approached it, and like
Speaker 4: what just the nerdiest stuff like listening to like National
Speaker 4: Lampoon Radio Hour, or like watching like scenes from movies
Speaker 4: and like pausing them and being like all right, so
Speaker 4: what's the game in this scene? Really just like dissecting
Speaker 4: really making comedy not fun, but we'd like, yeah, getting
Speaker 4: fistfights or what's funny? And did some movie stuff? Was
Speaker 4: on some TV shows?
Speaker 1: Was this all through people you met at UCB? Was
Speaker 1: this through an agent? How did you get these opportunities
Speaker 1: early on? I?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I got like representation pretty early when I was younger. Yeah,
Speaker 4: And like I was doing Hollywood pretty hard, So I
Speaker 4: was like going auditions a whole lot, and like I
Speaker 4: was just like so tired.
Speaker 3: Of doing it. Three or four years in a row.
Speaker 4: I was like tested multiple times for like a sitcom
Speaker 4: during pilot season, you guys know, but if you don't
Speaker 4: for like two months in the spring they cast all
Speaker 4: the new TV shows, and so like I would be
Speaker 4: going to like eleven auditions a week, and so like
Speaker 4: that's like eleven job interviews that I'm not getting. But
Speaker 4: every single one of those job interviews could potentially make
Speaker 4: me a millionaire, you know, if like a show gets
Speaker 4: picked up. I remember my manager telling me, he's like,
Speaker 4: if you get in syndication, then that's fucking You'll have
Speaker 4: like fifteen million dollars. And I was like, yo, I
Speaker 4: don't have any dollars. So I get just like this
Speaker 4: constant up and down. So like when I started with Donut,
Speaker 4: like this guy Ben Conrad who directed a lot of
Speaker 4: the Jim Connas, I just wanted to be around him,
Speaker 4: and I was like done being on camera. And I
Speaker 4: thought like, oh, I'll just like shadow Ben. He can
Speaker 4: mentor me, and I'll be a director and I'll just
Speaker 4: like direct commercials and like that'll be my job. And
Speaker 4: kind of did that for a year. And my boss
Speaker 4: at the time at Donnut was like, make one video
Speaker 4: with you in it where you tell the history of
Speaker 4: a car, any car, just do it and put it
Speaker 4: out and like I was like all right, So like
Speaker 4: I did.
Speaker 3: And that was the first episode of Up to.
Speaker 4: Speed and it got like three million views on Facebook
Speaker 4: in like twenty four hours. And he was like, all right, cool,
Speaker 4: you gotta do that every week. And that was seven
Speaker 4: years ago. So in some form or fashion, been doing
Speaker 4: that ever since.
Speaker 2: So is the acting hat just kind of hung up?
Speaker 4: It's weird, Like I was totally like done, but like
Speaker 4: I feel like this year, like, oh, I don't know
Speaker 4: what I want to do, you know, Like I feel
Speaker 4: like maybe there's some sort of next chapter coming up.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 2: It'd be a shame for you not to like spread
Speaker 2: your wings because yeah, you're so funny.
Speaker 3: Dude, Thank you man, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: You're so talented, because how do you make car information
Speaker 2: content like so entertaining? Yeah, that's that's that's a gift.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's that's your superpower. You know.
Speaker 1: Well, you guys have done so well, I would say,
Speaker 1: leading the carnistry. Can I say that?
Speaker 3: Sure?
Speaker 4: Yeah, we're not technically the I think we're like the
Speaker 4: fifth biggest automotive YouTube channel. But I do think like
Speaker 4: our other businesses and stuff like all combined, I think
Speaker 4: we have a pretty big footprint.
Speaker 2: It's really cool to hear your journey because for the
Speaker 2: listeners out there, it's a testament to how sometimes when
Speaker 2: you think like you have a certain road that you're following,
Speaker 2: and then there's a roadblocke, these other doors or these
Speaker 2: other windows open and that journey that you were initially
Speaker 2: on actually prepared you for the whole Downut thing.
Speaker 3: For sure.
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely I am more aware now than I was then.
Speaker 4: How fortunate, like the timing of this whole thing was
Speaker 4: because like these three guys, who were very experienced in
Speaker 4: all of the stuff that I'm not good at, were
Speaker 4: just like, hey, we're starting this company. You and Jesse
Speaker 4: our chief creative officer, and like my main like creative partners,
Speaker 4: just like you can do whatever you want creatively, and
Speaker 4: so like we were just given like all this space
Speaker 4: to like fail like a lot, like you know, take
Speaker 4: a lot of swings and like come up with something
Speaker 4: that at least works for now consistently. And I think
Speaker 4: one of the strong things about the Donut team is that,
Speaker 4: like you know, We're never satisfied, I guess, so, like
Speaker 4: we're constantly like evolving what it means to be donut.
Speaker 4: And I think that early like encouragement to do things
Speaker 4: that might not work continues to be like part.
Speaker 3: Of what we do.
Speaker 1: Does it get scary to try new things because it's
Speaker 1: not very forgiving on YouTube. If you put something out
Speaker 1: that flops, you may not be promoted again for the
Speaker 1: next post.
Speaker 4: Yeah, YouTube right now at least rewards consistency. I've always
Speaker 4: like really enjoyed being creative within confined, like whether it's
Speaker 4: like budget or like just like resources or like rules
Speaker 4: or like I think that's why, like the way that
Speaker 4: I approached was like, all right, there's like all these rules,
Speaker 4: you know, like you set up a reality. All right,
Speaker 4: we're all on the same page. Like the audience knows
Speaker 4: that this is the reality. Then you break the reality.
Speaker 4: That's the joke, and so like then you return back
Speaker 4: to the reality and like we kind of catch them
Speaker 4: off guard, break that same joke again. That's the second
Speaker 4: be And like I always like kind of liked rules.
Speaker 2: Gotta know the rules to break them.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Yeah, I'm a big, big proponent of knowing the
Speaker 4: rules and they break them. That's probably my my ethos
Speaker 4: of being a creator for sure.
Speaker 2: Now, is there a method to the madness of how
Speaker 2: you approach your content? Because you're literally a Wikipedia of knowledge?
Speaker 2: I go, does this guy know all of this information beforehand?
Speaker 2: Or do you go and study up on.
Speaker 4: It from the very beginning? Like writers have been a
Speaker 4: big part of Donut, So everything's like super written, Like
Speaker 4: we have punch up sessions, like not so much anymore,
Speaker 4: but like all those early videos. So yeah, it's like
Speaker 4: a lot of research, you know, and like making sure
Speaker 4: we get it right because we've definitely got it wrong before,
Speaker 4: and like that's the worst, Like that's when they come
Speaker 4: for your throat, especially when we're doing up to Speed
Speaker 4: the car history show. We'd like, the worst thing we
Speaker 4: could possibly do is if I'm like talking about like
Speaker 4: a fourth gen something and like an editor shows like
Speaker 4: the wrong generation car and just like lit up, just
Speaker 4: like I was like, I don't know, I haven't even
Speaker 4: seen that edit. But yeah, but like a lot of
Speaker 4: research and then a lot of care put into like
Speaker 4: crafting jokes and stuff.
Speaker 2: You realize listening to that is that it doesn't just
Speaker 2: come easy, Like there has to be like a method
Speaker 2: and a process, yeah, and work behind it. Nobody ever sees.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and that process, like I feel like it's constantly
Speaker 4: evolving for us, Like there is a method, but like
Speaker 4: that method is constantly changing, and like as soon as
Speaker 4: we feel like we know what we're doing, it's old
Speaker 4: and so like we have to like start over. And
Speaker 4: that is the aspect of the team that I'm most
Speaker 4: proud of, is that we're willing to just be like,
Speaker 4: what we're doing isn't working anymore, Guys, Like we're done.
Speaker 4: You know, we're starting over, always evolving, always changing it
Speaker 4: like never, it's never quite right, We're always tweaking it.
Speaker 2: That says a lot about your team because first being
Speaker 2: able to take criticism and listen to it, and that
Speaker 2: allowing your ego to take over, because I mean in Hollywood,
Speaker 2: you know, man, it's like people surround themselves with yes man,
Speaker 2: and I see you know colleagues that have so much potential,
Speaker 2: but somehow their ego gets in the way and they
Speaker 2: think there's shit, doesn't stinc But you know, art is subjective,
Speaker 2: and if you are not constantly evolving and growing, I
Speaker 2: think as a human being, you're not accessible to the
Speaker 2: viewer too. That's why it's every time I watch you,
Speaker 2: it's like you're accessible, you know, like it feels like
Speaker 2: it's a friend in my living room talking about their passion.
Speaker 2: And that's something that I search for, you know, as
Speaker 2: I get older, it's like, how do you keep passionate
Speaker 2: about something when you've done it for like close to
Speaker 2: a decade already.
Speaker 3: I just thinking.
Speaker 4: I mean, it's probably not healthy, but it's like just
Speaker 4: never thinking it's good. And like as I get older,
Speaker 4: I'm like getting better at being like okay, like let's
Speaker 4: celebrate our wins. And I think like just as a team,
Speaker 4: we are so like heads down all the time. I
Speaker 4: think we have kind of missed a lot of like
Speaker 4: milestones and not given them like the proper celebration or something.
Speaker 4: It's like we're actually like actively trying to be better
Speaker 4: at that. I get overwhelmed by my job a lot,
Speaker 4: not a lot, but like enough. But at the end
Speaker 4: of the day, if I look at it, I really
Speaker 4: do feel so fortunate that I'm able to do this,
Speaker 4: Like it's literally what I wanted to do, like when
Speaker 4: I was nine years old, Like I like this thing,
Speaker 4: and I like this thing. How can I make jokes
Speaker 4: about cars and the fact that I get to do that,
Speaker 4: like if I'm in like contract negotiations or like I
Speaker 4: have like a crazy shoe schedule, or frustrated with you know,
Speaker 4: somebody I'm like working with or whatever, Like if I
Speaker 4: really like look at it, like I'll look at it
Speaker 4: like it's like I get to do exactly what I
Speaker 4: wanted to do. And if I ever allow myself to
Speaker 4: not be stoked about it, I sort of like someone
Speaker 4: that either call me out on it or I'll realize
Speaker 4: it myself and be like, dude, like come on man,
Speaker 4: because it could all go away, you know, Like it's
Speaker 4: like we were talking about like people coming up to
Speaker 4: us or something. It's like, well, I would really hate
Speaker 4: it if nobody did, or like I'd really hate it
Speaker 4: if like I didn't have three videos to shoot this week,
Speaker 4: Like that would suck.
Speaker 3: Like this is the best.
Speaker 2: What a healthy perspective? Yeah, yeah, that's great. Perspective's great
Speaker 2: to share with people out there.
Speaker 1: Do you self reflect a lot? Are you an overthinker?
Speaker 3: Uh? I do.
Speaker 4: I'm like very I take care of my mental health
Speaker 4: very actively in these days. So yeah, I like meditate,
Speaker 4: practice gratitude.
Speaker 1: What made you realize you wanted to put attention on
Speaker 1: your mental health.
Speaker 4: I went crazy or I was going crazy in what sense? Uh,
Speaker 4: just a lot of senses.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 4: I think I've chosen a pretty extreme path, like moving
Speaker 4: here when I was so young, and choosing this sort
Speaker 4: of like make or break career and then jumping into
Speaker 4: donut and like everything that came with that.
Speaker 3: Like I think I.
Speaker 4: Like got to the point where I was like allowed
Speaker 4: to have a normal life and just sort of like
Speaker 4: one day just realized I was like exhausted, Like I
Speaker 4: was just so beat up.
Speaker 1: Do you take time off?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I do.
Speaker 4: And our work schedule, like we're all very conscious of
Speaker 4: it now, because I think we went really hard as
Speaker 4: a community. I think like we all were like all right, guys,
Speaker 4: we need to like do this better. So like our
Speaker 4: schedu we have like people that make our schedules, and
Speaker 4: like we're very conscious of burnout now. But there were
Speaker 4: days like in the beginning, I'd say like twenty eighteen
Speaker 4: was probably like when we first started like hitting there's
Speaker 4: like a ninety day stint and like we would just
Speaker 4: be in the office till midnight just because we loved
Speaker 4: being there. You know, and like we're like, oh, it's
Speaker 4: not work because like we love doing it, but it's
Speaker 4: like it is and you need to like take time.
Speaker 3: But I don't know.
Speaker 4: I'm like older now, I'm I like doing other things.
Speaker 4: I'm like, you know, thinking about starting a family, care
Speaker 4: about my health, had some health scares just like really
Speaker 4: didn't take care of myself, like from again a mental standpoint,
Speaker 4: but also like a physical standpoint.
Speaker 1: Like working out, eating healthy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and like.
Speaker 4: I smoked and like drank a bunch and like did
Speaker 4: a bunch of drugs when I was younger, which is
Speaker 4: like fine, just like stop at some point. But yeah,
Speaker 4: very recently I realized like this is my life. And
Speaker 4: I feel like I've always like not been present, so
Speaker 4: like i feel like every accomplishment or everything, I'm like
Speaker 4: working towards this other thing. And recently I've tried I've
Speaker 4: realized like, oh, this is the life that I live,
Speaker 4: Like this is mine now, Like the dream is now,
Speaker 4: like the dream is no longer like oh I'm gonna
Speaker 4: be will feral. The dream is like I want to
Speaker 4: be like a good partner and I want to be
Speaker 4: like a great like person for my friends, like create
Speaker 4: with I want to, you know, be a good mentor
Speaker 4: to people. I want to you know, do all these
Speaker 4: things and like that's my dream now. So like now
Speaker 4: my dream is like today, and so everything that I
Speaker 4: do isn't like looking towards the future, although like it
Speaker 4: is good to plan towards the future. I think like
Speaker 4: I'm trying to be more present than I ever was,
Speaker 4: because I think I spent a lot of my adulthood
Speaker 4: not being present.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel that. I think that's also YouTube grind.
Speaker 3: Yeah, like goals are good, but like the tribes are crazy.
Speaker 2: I totally can relate with that. It took me so
Speaker 2: many years and maybe I feel like I kind of
Speaker 2: just figured it out like recently, like in the past year,
Speaker 2: like living in the moment, you know, and I was like,
Speaker 2: you know, always in the grind and like you know,
Speaker 2: and thinking about like ten years down the line, and
Speaker 2: also never feeling like, you know, I'm worthy enough or
Speaker 2: I'm good enough. I mean, this one connective tissue that
Speaker 2: we all three of us have is that you know,
Speaker 2: like or biological fathers or not here, Like I didn't
Speaker 2: grow up with my real father, like he left before
Speaker 2: I was even born. You know what, I mean, and
Speaker 2: you know, the parents I did grow up with, they
Speaker 2: kind of split up and stuff. And for me on
Speaker 2: a personal way, I think that's was like one of
Speaker 2: the primary motivations for me to like go into becoming
Speaker 2: an actor, because like I wanted to feel like, you know,
Speaker 2: I was validated as a human being, Like I wanted
Speaker 2: to turn into something that I was not, like kind
Speaker 2: of change like with the world or even the way
Speaker 2: I saw myself. Do you think that kind of background
Speaker 2: like led you guys into entertainment at all?
Speaker 3: I mean, I definitely think so.
Speaker 4: I think, like, yeah, being funny or like being loud
Speaker 4: or being just like that dude is like I was
Speaker 4: never good at sports or anything.
Speaker 3: So like that was the first thing I was ever.
Speaker 4: Validated in, and like maybe the only thing I was
Speaker 4: ever validated in as like a kid was like I
Speaker 4: was even now like I'm less like talented and just
Speaker 4: more willing to do so I'm just like not embarrassed
Speaker 4: to do stuff in front of people. And so I think, like, yeah,
Speaker 4: that was like a skill or a trait that was
Speaker 4: you know, immediately rewarded as a child and then like
Speaker 4: consistently rewarded into adulthood and so I was like, all right,
Speaker 4: I'll just keep doing this, keep doing this, keep doing this.
Speaker 4: But yeah, and I always wanted like a million jobs.
Speaker 4: So like I remember my dad saying, you don't want
Speaker 4: to join the army, you don't want to like be
Speaker 4: an architect, just be an actor and you can pretend
Speaker 4: to do whatever you want to do. He said that, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 4: you can pretend to have any job you want.
Speaker 3: I'm like, all right, but yeah, validation for sure.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I don't know if it's so much of a
Speaker 1: validation not consciously, and maybe it's so consciously it could be.
Speaker 1: I think obviously losing a parent can change your navigation,
Speaker 1: your direction where you're going. But for me, with acting,
Speaker 1: it's I'm almost say it was the first thing I
Speaker 1: would say I wanted to do before even I think
Speaker 1: I fully knew what it was. I just loved, you know,
Speaker 1: hanging with my friends, playing pretend, and if I could
Speaker 1: do that for a living, it's what I wanted to do.
Speaker 1: But I think they're growing up in a household that
Speaker 1: wasn't the most stable. I think caused me in my
Speaker 1: life to psychoanalyze myself, to never feel complacent, to never
Speaker 1: feel kind of like what you were saying about that
Speaker 1: hunger of constantly wanting more and not celebrating the small wines.
Speaker 1: I find that I'm like that in my life, and
Speaker 1: I can only assume that's because as I didn't have
Speaker 1: that growing up.
Speaker 2: You know, I can't even do birthdays because I never
Speaker 2: had birthday parties growing up.
Speaker 1: They're hard.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So like my wife is, she's like the mother and
Speaker 2: the sister and the wife that everyone dreams of having, right,
Speaker 2: And she's always trying to have a birthday party for
Speaker 2: me and I can't do it. Yeah, you know, and
Speaker 2: I didn't grow up with that validation. Hey, this is
Speaker 2: your day you were born. I go, well, who would
Speaker 2: come to this birthday party?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 2: And see, like I think a lot of people will
Speaker 2: come for the free food. Yeah, it's it's it's interesting
Speaker 2: how like our childhood molds like how we see ourselves
Speaker 2: in the world. I mean, talking to you, this is
Speaker 2: amazing because you know, I was always so looking forward
Speaker 2: to like sitting down with you in person, because again,
Speaker 2: this light that you radiate through, you know, the content
Speaker 2: that you make. I was like, there has to be
Speaker 2: like some recipe for this. There has to be like
Speaker 2: a method to this madness, and you know, going back
Speaker 2: to like how you know you practice in meditation and gratitude, Like, well,
Speaker 2: what is your approach to that?
Speaker 3: Where'd you learn that meditate?
Speaker 4: I don't do this so much anymore, as much as
Speaker 4: I should, but I really like breath work a whole lot.
Speaker 3: I pray.
Speaker 4: I'm not like religious necessarily, but I do make an
Speaker 4: effort to pray. I make lists when I'm at my best.
Speaker 4: I do this stuff, but you know, its slips, and
Speaker 4: then I try more and more now to be like
Speaker 4: physically active. That was never like a thing that like
Speaker 4: I made like an effort to do. But I think
Speaker 4: like one day I was like, dude, I'm getting old
Speaker 4: and when you're old old you can't put on muscle,
Speaker 4: and so like I'm like, all right, I gotta like
Speaker 4: beef up where my kids are gonna be able to
Speaker 4: beat me up. And so like now I'm like actively
Speaker 4: trying to be like more active and stuff.
Speaker 1: What made you realize I mean subjective saying someone's old,
Speaker 1: But what made you feel that way? Uh?
Speaker 3: Oh, I started getting gray in my beard.
Speaker 4: Well, like I said, I moved like I moved here
Speaker 4: when I was young, and so like I've always been
Speaker 4: the youngest like of all my friends, Like I've always
Speaker 4: been like the youngest person. And then one day I
Speaker 4: kind of like looked around donut I was like, I'm
Speaker 4: older than everybody, and like I went to the streams
Speaker 4: recently and I was like, yo, I'm like old for
Speaker 4: my job. Like I'm like one of the older people
Speaker 4: like in my industry. Like I'm like and I've been
Speaker 4: doing this like for almost a decade, like I've been
Speaker 4: on YouTube and you too, but like for almost ten years.
Speaker 4: Like that's gnarly, dude, and so like, yeah, I just
Speaker 4: I think I've always identified as younger. So I think
Speaker 4: maybe I had some sort of Peter Pan complex. And
Speaker 4: then so like I skipped that like okay, I'm getting old.
Speaker 4: So like now all of a sudden, I'm just like,
Speaker 4: oh dude, I'm.
Speaker 1: Here, Like I'm like life happens fast.
Speaker 4: And I think, you know, like whether it's like because
Speaker 4: I'm like old or whatever, like I really do want
Speaker 4: to do things, you know, like I want to have kids.
Speaker 3: I'm getting married. I'm very excited.
Speaker 4: And so like, you know, I can't ask someone to
Speaker 4: marry me without like being like.
Speaker 3: Oh, it's going to be for a while.
Speaker 4: You know, it's like you want to marry me for
Speaker 4: ten years and then I'll die, and it's like I'm
Speaker 4: marry me and I'll do it, Like I have to
Speaker 4: like promise her that like it's going to be for
Speaker 4: as long as I can like possibly make it. I'm
Speaker 4: gonna put in all the effort to make this as
Speaker 4: long of a promise as it can be.
Speaker 1: As you get older, do you find yourself focusing also
Speaker 1: on what legacy you're leaving behind.
Speaker 4: I have like thought about my legacy recently, and so
Speaker 4: like I'm definitely like not done evolving. I would like
Speaker 4: to include stuff outside of YouTube, which is why I'm
Speaker 4: so excited about like the other stuff. Like I think
Speaker 4: I enjoy like our podcast the most past gast podcast
Speaker 4: wherever you get your podcasts, and then recently are like
Speaker 4: apparel Line has been like a real a real joy
Speaker 4: for me to like do and like work with our
Speaker 4: lead designer student and Depaz and then Tim Moore are
Speaker 4: like head of product is like that's that's been like
Speaker 4: really fun.
Speaker 3: We're in zoomies now, which is cool.
Speaker 1: Yeah, congratulations on that.
Speaker 2: What's your legacy that you want to leave behind?
Speaker 1: Really, I'm still trying to figure that out. It has
Speaker 1: been a thought of mine more so lately about what
Speaker 1: I'm leaving behind, which I think is natural, you know,
Speaker 1: as you get older. I like to believe I've helped
Speaker 1: maybe open up people's eyes to women representation in the space,
Speaker 1: But I don't want to take sole credit for that,
Speaker 1: because there's so many incredible women in this industry who
Speaker 1: helped to make it what it is today. So I
Speaker 1: don't know. I think as I lean more into the
Speaker 1: mental health space, having just signed on the board of
Speaker 1: a nonprofit called Alive and well, I think just trying
Speaker 1: to give back and help as many people on this
Speaker 1: earth while I'm here. I mean, I can't really think
Speaker 1: of much else that I really want to leave behind
Speaker 1: aside helping other people.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think you've definitely, you know, as a woman
Speaker 4: in our industry, like some thing that we can do,
Speaker 4: almost like accidentally, is give someone something that they want
Speaker 4: to emulate, you know, so like it's so much easier
Speaker 4: for someone to do it if it's already been done,
Speaker 4: because like like you can be like, oh, like I
Speaker 4: really like Amelia Hartford. I'm going to make a channel
Speaker 4: like hers, and when it's like still on that person's
Speaker 4: like style and like their whole like vibe and like
Speaker 4: not ripping you off at all, but just like seeing
Speaker 4: that it worked and like being a fan of something. Yeah,
Speaker 4: Like when someone new starts at donut, like I'm like, well,
Speaker 4: who do you like? Like what do you like to watch?
Speaker 4: That's like the jumping off point from like what they're
Speaker 4: going to make. But by just existing and like putting
Speaker 4: stuff out, I think, yeah, you are one hundred percent
Speaker 4: influencing what is to come.
Speaker 1: You know, thank you. I don't like taking that much credit,
Speaker 1: but influencing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's also beautiful what Amelia represents, you know, even
Speaker 2: self reflection. To be able to have someone to understand
Speaker 2: what that's about and like constantly like yourself to echo
Speaker 2: what you said earlier. Is to never be complacent to
Speaker 2: who you are and to evolve into something better.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: That's something that I noticed about her, and that is
Speaker 2: a trait that separates her from other people that are
Speaker 2: making content. And because the camera doesn't lie, you know,
Speaker 2: it's like you know, I mean you've done enough like
Speaker 2: you know, film projects where you see someone and you go, wow,
Speaker 2: there's something radiating from them, and then you meet them
Speaker 2: and you go, yeah, they're kind of playing a version
Speaker 2: of themselves too, you know, like it's acting, but without that,
Speaker 2: the camera will see the truth.
Speaker 4: You can tell if there's joy behind a performance, and
Speaker 4: you can tell if there's not a note. I'm given
Speaker 4: a number of times to like a lot of our
Speaker 4: guys is like, yo, dude, I could tell you were
Speaker 4: not having any fun while you're making that video, and
Speaker 4: you know, usually it's like what can we do to
Speaker 4: make you have more fun? Like why aren't you having
Speaker 4: fun doing this? Because at the end of the day,
Speaker 4: we're goofing around and like driving cool cars, and it's
Speaker 4: awesome that we get to do this.
Speaker 2: And you know, because you started, you know, as an actor.
Speaker 2: You know, I think prior to social media and YouTube,
Speaker 2: you know, there was a legitimate excuse that these gates
Speaker 2: to the studios were closed.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean, you guys are a testament to like, you know,
Speaker 2: there is another road that you can you know, and
Speaker 2: the cadence even with like Asian American kids today that
Speaker 2: are you know, content makers, is way different from my
Speaker 2: generation because we were beholden by the caykeepers. First, you
Speaker 2: had to get an agent, right, and if an agent
Speaker 2: didn't like sign you, you had no way of getting,
Speaker 2: you know, an audition, and if you don't get an audition,
Speaker 2: you're never going to get a job. You can't get
Speaker 2: in the Union. It's just the whole domino effect of
Speaker 2: these barriers, right. And when I see you know, Asian
Speaker 2: American kids today that have like massive viewership on YouTube
Speaker 2: or social media, their walk is different, you know, because
Speaker 2: they're I don't need shit that don't fucking studio to
Speaker 2: tell me, like I'm good enough, Like I'll just make
Speaker 2: my own videos, right, and and the self expression right.
Speaker 2: And with technology today, it's like there really is no
Speaker 2: excuse today.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know.
Speaker 4: I mean I saw a showed a Comedy Central like
Speaker 4: ten years ago and like worked on it for like
Speaker 4: two and a half years, and like it we never
Speaker 4: shot anything, just like notes and like rewrites and like
Speaker 4: all this stuff. It's like two and a half years,
Speaker 4: you know. I think having had experience with traditional media
Speaker 4: and then coming into YouTube with like the support that
Speaker 4: I had, Like I was just blown away by like
Speaker 4: what I was allowed to do and like how quickly
Speaker 4: I could turn stuff.
Speaker 2: Over no excuses.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you have distribution at your fingertips.
Speaker 3: Sure.
Speaker 1: Do you see yourself still on YouTube in five to
Speaker 1: ten years? Where do you see your career going or
Speaker 1: where would you like it to be.
Speaker 4: I have no idea what I'm going to do in
Speaker 4: five to ten years. I mean, I'm always going to
Speaker 4: do something like what I'm doing now more and more.
Speaker 4: I like sort of fostering creativity and other people. I
Speaker 4: think that's like something that I've always like had, but
Speaker 4: like I've never known how to do anything before. But
Speaker 4: so now that I kind of know what I'm doing,
Speaker 4: I really do enjoy sharing that with other people. So
Speaker 4: I think that's going to be a thing that grows more.
Speaker 4: I'm more interested in business than I ever have been. Yeah,
Speaker 4: hopefully I'll be involved in Donut. In five years. I
Speaker 4: think I'll be involved with Donut in some capacity. Just
Speaker 4: like more and more stuff, I think.
Speaker 2: But I love what that's rooted in your answers, that
Speaker 2: you want to be able to share and give back
Speaker 2: and foster creativity to like other folks.
Speaker 4: Right, Yeah, that comes from being like a fan, like
Speaker 4: I like stuff, and you know, like I like being
Speaker 4: a part of it, and I like the process a
Speaker 4: whole lot, and you know, I make a certain type
Speaker 4: of thing, but other people make stuff that like I
Speaker 4: would never think of making, you know, so like if
Speaker 4: I can do anything to like help that, then it's
Speaker 4: really like enjoyable to be allowed to be a part
Speaker 4: of that, you know, Like if I'm able to like
Speaker 4: give someone some shortcut or like let them save some
Speaker 4: time because they don't have to figure it out in
Speaker 4: the way that I did, Like the trade off is like, oh,
Speaker 4: you're really good, and I get to be like kind
Speaker 4: of involved in your thing too, So it's like really enjoyable.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 1: Well, I would love to ask if you were to
Speaker 1: talk to a nineteen year old you today, what advice
Speaker 1: would you give yourself.
Speaker 4: It's okay to get a regular job, go bus tables
Speaker 4: or something. Being broke doesn't legitimize you, just kind of
Speaker 4: like also start a YouTube channel and keep that going.
Speaker 3: That's what I would do for sure.
Speaker 1: What about people who want to get into what you're
Speaker 1: doing today? Do you think it's too late to start
Speaker 1: a YouTube?
Speaker 3: No? No, YouTube's not going anywhere. I think YouTube is
Speaker 3: going to continue to evolve.
Speaker 4: I guess, Like, so if someone wants to do what
Speaker 4: I want to do, surround yourself with people who can
Speaker 4: do things that you can't. I'm good at some stuff,
Speaker 4: but like when you combine me with like three or
Speaker 4: four other dudes, like we're fucking nuts. Like we're like
Speaker 4: really good, So you can do it alone. But like personally,
Speaker 4: I'm always been like a collaborative creator. And whether that's
Speaker 4: like you gotta share a channel or just like being
Speaker 4: around people that like have are doing like kind of
Speaker 4: the same thing. Like I think, like try and find community,
Speaker 4: but also find people that like are better than you
Speaker 4: that you can look up to. And if you like
Speaker 4: rip three people off and like make your own thing,
Speaker 4: then that's not ripping them off. That's having tastes. So
Speaker 4: don't be afraid to like emulate your heroes. Have heroes.
Speaker 4: That's my advice. Have heroes and emulate them.
Speaker 2: That's great advice.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, got to have people around you that are smarter
Speaker 2: than you. You're the smartest person in the room. There's
Speaker 2: a problem.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, right, I would agree with that.
Speaker 2: Thank you for being so open and candid. I feel
Speaker 2: like sure, you know, like I got to know the
Speaker 2: man behind the myths, and you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I appreciate you. Guys really got it out of me.
Speaker 1: Now this is great. I appreciate you opening up.
Speaker 2: I mean I have, I have, like so much more
Speaker 2: respect for you after this conversation.
Speaker 3: You know, thank you. Yeah, respect for you too, man.
Speaker 2: Thanks brother, thank you,