Sammy "Shoebox Moses" Taggett: Secrets to Transforming Dreams into Reality

From a shoe box in the Philippines to deejaying for Richard Branson on Necker island. Our guest today probably has one of the best. Origin stories that I've ever heard and also frightening at times. Funny it's wild. So I brought in Sammy Shoebox Moses Taggett onto the show today to talk about how. His, he started life abandon and it's wild. I'm not going to give it away now, but he's turned it into this globe, trotting, DJ philanthropist.

He's helping celebrities and, and big movers and shakers, basically launch brands with podcasts and beyond. And he breaks down his whole story in his path of unlocking these things along the way. And a lot of it's rooted in thinking much bigger than you've ever thought before. And he breaks down how he does that and how he grounds himself in the whole process, but also how the connection with people around him and the way he does it. Unlocks these opportunities that he can never have dreamed of.

And it's all things that all of us can do in our own flavor. So Sammy breaks it all down and I think you're going to have a fun time. So. let's go hang out with Sammy Shoebox. Moses Taggett.

All right, we're rolling. You're here. Finally. How are you today? My friend, Sammy. So it's been way, way, way, way, way, way, way too long. Wait, wait. Yeah, it is. It has, but we're making it happen. We hung out the other week. It's been too far and few between there too. Yeah. We have so many friends in common and And I would say we also have a lot of common interests, and common skill sets, and common parenthood. There is a lot of, a lot of parallels that we run my friend. absolutely.

It's true. And, um, yeah, like we were just talking about, like, okay, the bond, I think both of us could light up about our people, right? It's like connecting specifically with people and, and making magic happen, whatever that looks like, you know, and we, we probably, we approach it a little differently, but we both have the music side, but got the podcast going, just creating cool stuff, being an entrepreneur creator in general. And, uh, so much more.

So, um, I mean, everything, every time I see you, I look at your website. I talk to people, you got a big old smile on your face, your drives all the way around. That's everything you project. Thanks, man. Yeah. that way though? Oh yeah. 24 seven. I'm never, I'm never off ever. I'd never am off. I think. Um, and the reason why is because I have a two year old and you're always patient and you're always happy when you have a toddler, always right right?

I think, um, I would say it's about 70 30 though. I am usually pretty upbeat and pretty happy about things, you know, and I don't know if your listeners. experience of really knowing where their true beginnings are and what happens when you kind of find your origin story. And for me with this whole Shoebox Moses origin story and, and, How that started for me, it's definitely given me a lot of leverage to be forever grateful and to be in the space of deep gratitude every day.

And that is something that I think is most profound for me, because if ever a day turns to total crap, I look back at where I could literally be and I'm. Instantly snapped out of it. My worst day is somebody's dream like a thousand times Better than their situation.

Yeah. Do you really actually go back to that, like when you're stuck in a rut that's like, that's the thing that gets you, yeah I I visit that when I need to when I need to really access a deep reservoir of Just motivation or gratitude or patience I will for sure do that and it does, I mean, I'll be honest.

I mean, I don't do it every time because it's a, it's a deep, it's a deep well to go into if I need to do it, but it's pretty easy to just look back and be like, yo, you could be there or I could be in LA. We could be in LA in the fires or we could, you know, there's, there's a, there's thousands of things that you can always look to be thankful for. But for me, just that humble beginning And to where I'm at having a beautiful wife and a kid and Living in San Diego.

Yeah. Traveling. There's It is weird to think that we have anything to be pissed off or bummed or upset or angry about but it definitely happens and It's nice to have that leverage, you know absolutely, man. We, we, it's easy to just get used to whatever environment we're in. You know, it doesn't matter if it's, if it's quote unquote, not great or whatever, or awesome, whatever it is, it's humbling yourselves along the way. I think it's cool to, you know, go back to the beginnings.

Cause I mean, I'll just, I'll just, you know, for a while I'll just, Talk about like the cool shit you've done, at least what I've known. I mean, like you've partied with so many awesome people, meaning like you are the party.

You brought the party, being the DJ of some of the biggest events around, uh, what people like Richard Branson even, and tons of tons of different celebrities and just doing cool stuff and also working with them through podcasting, evolved podcasting that you have the whole agency around. So it's like, You're super deeply connected, but obviously, um, if you're open to it, that origin story that you hinted to, like, Oh, yeah I tell me about it, man. Cause most people probably don't know.

They're like, what is guess I didn't even Yeah, so that story is this beautiful,

humble beginning story, uh, for listeners that, that don't know me, which is probably most people actually, uh, I was, uh, so blessed to have been a newborn in the Philippines and thrown away in a shoebox in a dumpster. And I say so blessed as the origin of that is absolutely awful. Let's be honest. That's a terrible thing and a terrible way to start.

But I was found by two police officers who then brought me to a hospital and I made my way from there into an orphanage where I was then adopted by a family in the United States. So, as terrible as that beginning is. Initial beginning was, it was the best thing that could have happened to me. So that, that's where the shoe box comes from. Fast forward through this myriad of pot, like the companies and the, the performances. I, I got to a spot in my life where I was like, I want to give back.

I really. I feel like I've reached a couple different pinnacles in my life. I got to do the, my biggest, my first biggest goal was to play Red Rocks, and Oh Red Rocks a couple times. Got to open for Kid Cudi in Empire of the Sun, um, at Red Rocks, the most iconic venue for me, right? I saw Pearl Jam play there, and I was like, I'm gonna play there one day! And, you know, fast forward ten years, I ended up doing that.

Then my next, Big vision and mission was like, okay, I'm going to play for the most purpose driven entrepreneurs on the planet. So I ended up playing for mind Valley and vision becomes one of my closest friends. And then I meet Yannick Silver. Yannick then takes me to Necker Island multiple times to play for Richard Branson and his entrepreneurial group. And that is where this Moses thing came in. So, right. I know this whole shoe box thing.

And. I had the vision to go back and just kind of help my, my people. And what was interesting is I went back on this mission trip and I find the story out right before I'm about to leave. And so I'm kind of shaken to the core Like your story you're yeah, my origin story, I find this out. So here's what happened. My, my parents had a whole notebook. You're like, you know, you have parents keep your pictures and all these things.

My mom was like, Hey, here's Philippines, I know you're going to go because I was going on this mission trip to deliver water filters to, uh, to Tacloban City, which had been ravaged by a hurricane or a typhoon. So I'm on my way. I'm leaving in like two hours. And my mom goes, you need to look through your paperwork to make sure

that you have as much information before you go to the Philippines, look for your orphanage, maybe see your biological mom, this and that. So she tells me, she tells me to look through my paperwork and Joe, I opened up my notebook and I looked through this stuff and I'm reading this paperwork and it says abandoned in shoebox. Left, you know, left, mother left for infancy and it just hit me at that time that I was thrown away in a shoebox. Mm hmm.

I had had that knowledge, I'd been sitting on it for my entire life, but never looked at it until the day I was about to leave for the Philippines for the very first time. So was that something that you had the choice to look at beforehand or, Oh, okay. And I never did, right? Like God never had it on me to be like, look at this until I was about to go. And so I get that news. I go to the Philippines. We have this insane. this insane journey.

We deliver over a hundred water filters on the mission side of that trip. And then we go to the orphanage and they're like, yeah, you're one of our shoebox babies. It's so good to see you. Oh my gosh, you made it. And I'm like, Oh my God, fast forward. I'm like shaken to the core. I see hundreds of kids that are in the orphanage that could have been me, you know, like that would have been my, my start. So my whole world is shaken right as I get back.

Right. After I've seen this part of what my life could have been the week later I'm sitting on Necker Island with Yannick and they're like, what is wrong with you right now? You're usually crazy and partying like what what's going on? And so I'm just kind of processing everything and I tell them that I had found out that I was left in a shoebox and this is what was going on with me. I don't know what to do with this. I want to go back and help those kids though.

I just saw hundreds of kids in the orphanage. I need to go back. And they go, well, you've always been our little shoebox Moses, so go help them out. So don't, don't think anything of it. We're going to support you, whatever you need. Right. And so shoebox Moses kind of Came from that whole journey

It was given to you. given to me, right? And then now it's a, it's just part of, it's part of what keeps me centered on my mission, keeps me centered on what I'm doing. And it's, it's really interesting too, as young kids or. You know, students that I'll bring in for performance.

They love that name because it keeps them like connected to me, but it also, it's a fun story for them to share and, and, and for them helps them stay grateful for what they've got to Well, back to the connection, right? Like you're connecting your humble roots. It's like, yeah, I've done all this cool stuff, but like there's still a human in this crazy story that.

You didn't know until just a handful of years ago or whatever it was, you know, man, that's that's crazy I mean, it's not crazy because it's it's life, right? Like everybody and I guess that's the thing that you start talking with people and you're like everybody's got a story Something that probably they haven't uncovered or don't talk about or maybe don't use as a nice Like pull yourself out of the rut if you ever get there like it's almost cool in a way, you Yeah. No, totally.

And I think it's, it's good for you to revisit that. You know, they always say, Your mess is your message. I think Gabrielle Bernstein used to say that. But, it's really true. The way that, I mean, you know, you've got the hustle and flow chart. This is just a heroic journey of people making monumental F ups. And coming out the other side and figuring out what they did to make it work.

And I love that about your show because you're sharing iconic stories and you have some legendary people on there. So I was like, you really want me on there? I'm like, yes, I'll totally be on there. And you are a legend. oh, thanks man. Yeah. So yeah, it's, it's stories, man. Stories and connection are the deepest thing that if you are not figuring out consistently how you tell a better story or how you connect with people better, then you shouldn't start a business. You shouldn't try branding.

You should, if you're not into learning how to tell stories and becoming the most prolific connector, In my opinion, then it's going to be a hard journey for you to be a successful entrepreneur. I would agree with that, man. And, and, you know, knowing your own story, I'd say is a big piece of that. Cause I've done deep dives into myself and, you know, did this whole like tens of thousands of word right up and all that almost. Basically a novel autobiography. It's good for everybody.

It's painful, you know, but yeah, dude. but not public, but for my own eyes for now, at least, but like you've chosen to, you know, there's so many ways to connect, but like, so you have obviously telling the story and entertaining people through DJing, you know, music. I mean, you're an incredible musician. I've, I've seen you, um, like traffic and conversion. You did that, I think at least a handful of times, That was like seven times. Yeah. Yeah. A bunch of times.

I, but I just remember one very clearly. You were just like everyone's surrounded and you're in like the middle of the room, guitar rock. I mean, you're not just DJ and you're like guitar. You're all of them. Like, who the hell is this maniac? It was hilarious. It was That was one of my very first trafficking conversions when they had me on the guitar Nice.

Okay. and then Ryan was like, Uh, we just saw you DJ in, I think we were in Mexico or something or Dominican Republic and he goes, I did not know you did that. We need energy at the event.

We think you should be on stage. It was, it was Ryan and Richard Lindler. Then Richard's like, we should put that dude on stage, man. This is going to keep our, this will keep our people coming back for more. Yeah. Not hanging in the hallways. Come on back here. yeah, exactly. right, man. So, I mean, what took you, uh, you know, I guess ways of connection. Cause I know you're, we're, we're both about connection and, and, you know, sharing what's real.

Obviously being curious, I think is a big one, but like, I dunno, like, I guess you and people, like what, what made that thing feel like, like the connection thing because that opened up so many doors, like DJing and podcasting, like, I don't know, like how did that all Oh man. Okay. So this is crazy. You're into the big AI space, right? You understand this and this is going to answer your question in a very weird way.

But I asked chat GPT the other day, and if you've never asked chat GPT this one question, you are crazy. This is like the most important question you could ask chat GPT. And I asked chat, I go, Hey, I've been asking you questions about how to improve my life, my business, and my wealth, health, and happiness for the last two years. Knowing this much about me, what are my biggest blind spots and what's going to stop me or slow me down from being the best version of myself?

And I said, do not hold back. And it literally pumped out three sentences. It says your fear of abandonment from that first childhood wound is going to rear its ugly head in every step you take, especially the more successful you get, which is. Inverse to the way you think it would be. But if you do not address that main wound about being abandoned, left in a shoebox for dead, you will not get to where you need to be because you will always worry about what other people think.

And I was like, are you That's bang. what, what are you talking about? And it was so on the money. So when you ask, why am I so adamant about connecting? The first thing that it is, it was my fear of abandonment and how to stay relevant and never be alone and left. So it came from that. That tip of the spear was do not let these people leave thinking that you are useless to them.

And it's so interesting because that is what made me want to stay so deeply connected with people and so deeply entrenched in, in having fun and bringing excitement and bringing music and having people transform their experiences. I was like, Oh, if I can do all that and I can make it the best for them, then they will never leave me. And then that transcended out of that because I did address that wound. I got past all that.

And then I realized, to make a living and to make a substantial impact and help transform people's lives that you have to understand deep connection and What I, what I learned a couple different times was people will never remember what you say. They'll rarely remember what you do But they will always remember how you made them feel. So I was like, oh my god Yes, I love that and I love leaving people feeling better than they did before they met me So I love

that part of it And then the other thing I learned on the heels of that was you will make so much more money Be able to provide for your family and leave a legacy. If you can help them get from where they are and where they want to be and help them with that transition. And if you can mirror or not mirror, but if you can merge all those things together, if you can icky guy, your life, so to speak. you will become so valuable. You'll be the most valuable person in the room.

And that was always, that was always this, this tenant. And I'm like, Oh, that's why you connect and that's why you learn. that's it. And that's, it's the way you make people feel that, that lasting effect. That's the thing that it's like years later, people will still be talking about you and they have about you. And I've experienced similar, but it's like, yeah, you talk about the stroke, go back to marketing. It's like, what's the best form of marketing? It's it's referrals.

It's word of mouth. It's people saying that you're, you're the shit like doors opens. Amy can come right in. There's no question. You It's a, it's, it's, and it's so true because we have a multimillion dollar company across all the things that we're doing. And, We have never once in our entire lives marketed anything other than these last little masterminds that we're marketing a little bit. We just like put a little small ad. We're not even paying for the ads. We just post it as real.

Uh, and That's the only marketing I've ever done. Everyone's always been like, Hey, I got your name. I saw you play. You're insane. Can you please, please be part of our event? And I'm like, that is crazy. Like to me, that is nuts. And yes, I'll be part of your event. So yeah. Yeah, well, I'm looking at, I mean, like it's working because, Oh no, I just saw this. You got to update your tour schedule, brother. Oh, yeah. I would see. I'm like, you're going to Antarctica pretty soon and all this.

So, but you've done Antarctica. I already did that one, yeah, oh yeah, that, that tour schedule is a year and a half old so That's funny. that. Well I think what happened too is like our, our VA, she's like, you have so many dates on the books for next year, I was like, I'll just take the calendar thing down, cause, and then she It's already caught you out like that, but I was more impressed than it.

I was like, Oh, but I know it says I'm going to Antarctica but there's like a picture of me in Antarctica, I'm That's why I was like, it kind of looks like that could be it. Well, if you go to shoebox, moses. com, you'll, you'll know what we're talking about, And now because we had that conversation, there'll be an updated schedule You are welcome brother. here. Thank you. But yeah, like, well, and there's something else I saw from you.

I think it was on your website poking around, but like a little, something's stuck out to me, which is. Go big. Like there's no reason to think small or, or play small or be small, whatever it is, but like the more you shoot for, you know, just whatever big is, or the biggest stage, like you said, Red Rocks, like it does something different. It changes you. It changes just everything. Talk about that. I'm super curious about that.

Like going Yeah. There's a book out there too, that I love, uh, that I just read 10 X is better than two X. Oh, I've heard of it. I So good. So it really summarizes exactly the thinking, right? 10 X is better than two X and the, like. The way that I look at that is, is as a DJ, right? There's one thing that I used to do all the time when, when I was getting my chops in because my DJ career started in a really interesting way. We can talk about that in a little bit.

But what happened is I ended up in the middle of playing for these huge events. I had to get better at my craft because I, I, Luckily fell into this position where I was just playing on big stages very quickly. And that's also happened to my podcast company too. Actually now that I'm thinking about it, that is a pattern. I end up getting on big stages, playing for big people, doing big things really fast.

And then I have to kind of work backwards and build the skill sets up a little bit to be like, okay, I can do this. But what happened for me is I was, playing these huge shows and I would stumble through them. But then I was like, I got to get better at this right away. So I started doing a lot of weddings and I'd play weddings. Then I play bar mitzvahs and I play these other things. And to DJ one of those events, you have to carry your own gear. You have to plug everything in.

You have to be there super early. You have to get all your music ready. You have to make sure that the bride, the groom, all, all the people in the family have the music that they want. Then you have to be so on time and they have to have. All these microphones set up, you have to have wireless mics, you have to have lights, you have to have so much shit put together for a 1, 000 or 2, 000 gig. Wow. I'm like, oh my god, inverse of that!

When I played on the main stage at Red Rocks, or when I go to Traffic and Conversion, or when I go to Necker Island, or if I play for J. J. Virgin or Mindvalley, I walk up with a USB stick and or a computer, and there is a stage. There is lights. There is a baked in audience. There is people that are so excited to see me. And, at that space that I play, there is no competition. Like, I am the person that they are coming to. I haven't lifted a cord. I haven't packed anything.

I haven't done anything. any of the stuff that I had to do when I wanted to grow. And what I noticed, even in the performance space, prior to having another company, all of the people that I used to perform with all the DJs that majority, maybe 90 percent of them are all in the same space.

And they're like, Oh yeah, I want to have like a, I want to have like a 10, 000 a month or I want to have like a, A gig where I'm playing for like 500 or a thousand people and they have just thought incrementally bigger And I was always like yo think as big as you can Like I was thinking about doing a sphere gig like they have in vegas I was thinking about that five years ago It's like how do I make an immersive experience?

Where i'm playing underwater and then they have lasers and they have air and then they made the sphere and I was like Oh my god, thank god. I've been thinking like that I will play there. I will play there. Right? And so I think with, with thinking big, the magic of thinking big like that is it changes everything that you conceptualize to get to the next level. Cause you think completely different. You don't think about, Hey, how do I get 50 more people here?

You think about like, Oh, if I'm going to do that, How do I get, how do I get security for, for, for 5, 000 people or 10, 000 people? Okay. If we're going to have 10, 000 people, Oh, this is what we can do for them. This is how big the stage is. You think completely different. And the same thing with like podcasting and archive types of companies, right? With, with the evolved podcasting company. We work with the biggest people in the, in the space and personal development.

So we're not like, something shows, right? yeah, we've launched over a hundred shows Okay. Yeah. I got outdated news, yeah, well we were just counting. We thought we had 50, but now we were like, and it's so funny cause some of the shows we started five years ago and we forgot and then they just have gone on and started doing their own thing. Cause we, we believe that we teach you as much as you need to grow. And then if we're not in partnership with you, then.

We want to give you enough to do it on your own because our whole model is a little bit different. But what I noticed is that even in that space, if you're thinking so much bigger than you're thinking about how many products that you can sell, how to reverse engineer your, what you're thinking out of the show, you're not thinking about growing the audience. You're thinking How do you monetize the right people? What's the Ascension model that you're taking people on?

And then when we bring in 10, 000 people for this, are they all going to the right place? Is it all, does it all make sense? Are we using Delphi to communicate with them? Is this like, do we have the right Ascension model for thousands of people rather than a hundred? That's what we think about, It Yeah. Forces you to solve problems that you never knew were even like existed beforehand. Yeah. You're, you're just kind of in your little box and. I'm sure, um, I mean, we've all done it.

Yeah. There's 10 X in the book. I have it pulled up here. I will be buying this red afterwards, but that's, it applies to everything. You know, it's, it, it, it applies just to your personal life. It's like, Hey, you know, you can be living in that. Yeah. I have a lot of family from East coast, South Carolina. They haven't really left South Carolina in their city. It's like, but when you start to think bigger and think of just like locations and the world is big.

And small, but it's also huge and awesome. And, uh, you gotta, it's just like, do something that, that changes perspective. I think that's the big thing. The Well, and I think you even helped Mike curate some of this too. Like we're talking about Mike Koenig, but you helped curate the idea of thinking like the billion dollar moonshot question, right? You are.

If there's any time in life right now to think bigger than you've ever thought and then if you don't know how to think big to ask a chat agent or GPT, how would I think 10 X bigger than this? How would I make this system 10 X more efficient? How would I make 50 X more efficient? with what I've got. And this is the, this is the time. If you're listening to this and you are not asking yourself, how do I make my life 100 times more efficient with grace and ease and happiness?

How do you help me do that? Knowing what you know about me, how will I make my life better? And most of the time it will spin that chess board that you're doing life on around and say, you're focusing on the wrong shit. You're not focusing on your family and your health. If you focus on your health, like I had to do that.

I had to pivot the health, like the health thing kicked my ass in the beginning of this year because I did a, I did some cleansing and the cleanse brought up all sorts of crazy stuff. And I noticed like I was not focusing on family time and health. I was like, I'm in a studio working nonstop. And now we just did like this mastermind up at the Ritz Carlton up in, in Dana point, Uh huh. But we were talking to people, having a good time with our family. I go, this is what we need to be doing.

We don't need to be like, I love doing this, but just the next podcast you see me on will be my, my mobile studio that just deploys. You pick it up. And then I'm, then you're interviewing me over a cliffside. That's what we're building. Much better. And so. Yeah, totally. So yeah, it's called the go box studio. It's amazing. Nice plug right there, right? The go box studio for mobile studios. You're only you're, you're one in your one stop solution for mobile studios. Go box Go box studios.

I like it, man. Where is it? I want to, I want to, all right. When, when it's ready, you're Oh, it's ready. It's going, it's on. It's, it's a product. Oh, you know what? I got it. Yes. I just pulled it up. I'm like, wait a minute. That actually sounds more, uh, Oh yeah, that looks beautiful. Okay. Need to get myself a go box. They're so sick. Yeah. If you want to put, if you're interested in a go box studio, just go to go box studio.

com and tell them that Sammy and Joe sent you and they will hook you up with a fat 10 percent discount. This thing is sick. Yeah. Okay. It's so sick. I got to close that browser, that window. Um, dude. Yeah. Like, so going big, I'm curious, like, and I want to get to that DJ story, how you fell into that whole Oh God. That story is so funny. Yes, totally. ah, okay, maybe I should just start there. Cause like, obviously you didn't always think this way, right?

That the thinking big, I mean, was there like, obviously the switch, maybe that was all the, well, you, you tell me. okay. So the switch, the switch, I'll tell you about the switch. Then we can revisit. How I got started because the switch started when I went to my very first event that was hosted by Mindvalley and, and vision that switch. It was a paradigm shift because I got to.

I got invited to go to A Fest as a singer and I got to the place where the event was at, but even to get there, I had had to pawn a guitar. Uh, my car was wrecked. It was a blizzard in Denver. I had to get a ride to the airport. There were no Ubers really at this time. So I had to like pay my friend to take me out there. And I got dropped off. I had maybe 90 to my name. I got to the place in Maui. That's where this was and Maui's not cheap.

So just to get to the hotel I went through another 30 and I'm like, oh my god, I'm not gonna have any money when I get there And I had a couple credit cards with like a very small balance on them I get to the front of the Grand Wailea if you've been there, I've been, yeah. A beautiful hotel and it was even more miraculous and beautiful. This is like 12, 13 years ago, right? I was like, Oh my God, what is this? And I'm like, how much is it to stay here a night?

And they go, it's 600. And I go, I do not have that. I didn't know if I was paying for my room or whatever. I knew that even if I gave them my credit card, like that 500 credit card limit, I'm like, dude, I'm not going to be able to have the incidentals on there. You know, I was at nothing. So anyway. The event planner just happened to be there. Her name's Alex Katoni. She goes, Oh, Hey, you're Sammy. Oh my God. I thought you were going to be a girl. I didn't know who's coming. This is great.

And, uh, like funny story. We ended up dating for a year and a half after that anyways, but that's funny. Alex is side note, she's amazing. Um, but side note, the funny thing that happened with that is I got introduced, I get into the hotel, I get to this event, but I just start meeting these people that had just started dating.

started in internet marketing. They hear just at the forefront of this and they, we had monthly reoccurring revenue of 500, 000, like 600, 000, 200, 000, 50, even five grand a month, you know, just happening for them. And it set me on that trajectory of holy shit. If I do this, like they've done it, I can have these results.

And so that's what was crazy. That was the shift. So I started thinking differently and bigger at that point. I was like, Oh, okay. So you have a house here. You have a house there. You have a house here. What's the mechanism? What do you do? And then how can I do that for myself? So I came home immediately after that built my first internet product at zero dot. I didn't sell anything, but I built probably four or five of those. I had a swimming one.

Um, I had a DJ course, we've had a guitar teaching course, I've had a few different ones that we've done, you know? And so I just saw that, and that was the magic of thinking big, and that's when that happened. But, that all came about in that one experience, but what happened then is, I had all this amazing stuff going on and I just, I hadn't quite mastered it. I hadn't become a DJ at that point or anything like that. And so how I became a DJ, this is crazy.

Hold on to your ass on this I'm ready. So I, um, there was a time just prior to all of this,

uh, I had, Just move back. Like I had this, this whole thing, I was still in the process of figuring out my life at that point. But believe it or not, it was even worse. five years prior to that. I was like, dude, I have a disaster waiting to happen. So I had gone, um, to Texas. I moved in with this girl, that relationship imploded. I moved back to Denver and the only place I could find to live in Denver was my friend's basement. He was a little entrepreneur. He wanted to do all these things.

So he's like, you can just live in the basement and help me with my t shirt company, blah, blah, blah. So, We sit there and one of our favorite things to do at night was to smoke bong rips and think of t shirt ideas. Well, when you that'll get the yeah, dude, the greatest way to think of things, right?

Think of them and forget them. Yeah. So we're, we're doing this. This is our, this is our nightly routine. So we're smoking, we get super stoned. This is in Denver, by the way. Again, we're like, let's go get some dinner. Now we're hungry. So we leave and I had left a candle in his basement burning and we leave to go get food after our t shirt inception ideas. And of course what happens, the candle burns all the way down and burns his house down. shit. And it was in my room.

So now I've burned my buddy's house down. I come back to this smoldering house and there's the windows are blasted out. There's a couch through the front of the house that the cops or the fire fire department had to break in and put the fire out.

And I have nothing. And I start calling all my friends. I have my cell phone, that's it. And I'm like, I'm like, I need to find a different job immediately. Does anyone have anything for me? And my buddy Patrick at the time goes, Hey, I'm going on tour. He was a guitar player. You can have my gig at Diamond Cabaret, which is a strip club in downtown Denver. I work upstairs and you can take my gig.

And I was like, sweet, thought it was a Bart ending gig or something. I get there the first night, Joe. Um, and this is all happening. This happens in like 48 hours. I get there and they hand me a duffel bag. The duffel bag is full. I go, what is this? Am I in the bar? And they're like, no, no, no. Here's your duffel bag. Has napkins, cigarettes, and gum. I'm like, oh my God. Am I in the bathroom? They're like, yeah, you're the bathroom guy.

So I. Two days later, I'm in the bathroom at a nightclub above a strip club. And I'm like, this is the worst place I could possibly be. What have I done with my life? Right. Just burn my buddy's house down. I had a failed relationship. I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm back in Denver. Now I don't even have a place to say, I literally burned it all down. And I remember looking in the mirror and I was like, this is not going to define you. It can't get much worse than this.

And as I say that there is literally a guy, a security guy in the back, just taking a dump behind me. And I'm like, Oh my God, this is going to get a little bit worse than this. Nevermind. that's all happening. see everything it? Yeah. He's just like, yeah, he's like, who are you talking to? I'm like, shut up. Yeah. Not now. I'm having a moment. And, uh, as this is going on all of a sudden, I hear this, like, pounding dope music. It's like, I'm like, what in the fuck?

And I come out of the door and the DJs are like 25 feet from the door and the booth is there. And I was like, Oh my God, what are they doing? That's so sick. I haven't really seen DJs up close. I know some from Fort Collins, but I was like, Oh, I love this. This is sick. And I go back in the bathroom. I'm like, dude, I am going to get out of here. I'm going to get from here to that DJ booth. I don't know how, but I'm going to do it.

So as the night progresses, this is like still within this 72, 48 hour window, right? It's a, it's a, I'm making huge money as the bathroom attendant. Like I was making like 50 bucks every 20 minutes. People are like, dude, thank you for the tips. Like I was helping guys with their hair. I was like, yo, this, you look terrible. Just doing my thing. Just being exuberant. Yeah. And I start noticing the pattern that these DJs have, which is hot chicks and shots.

And so I'm looking at my bowl of tip money. I'm like, Oh, I got this. So I start going up and buying shots for these guys and introducing them to the chicks. Cause I'm in the bathroom. So I'm always meeting people. So I'm like, Hey, here is, this is Jenny. Here's your Washington apple. What does that button do? This is that. I'm like, cool. How do you pick your music? Oh, why would you pick it that way? Oh, cool. Here's a shot. This is a girl. Here's the shot. So I start trading.

I started trading shots and women for knowledge on the decks. And so I do this and I'm like, ah, I figured out my way out of here. So fast forward, it was probably a month or so that I did this trade. Right. I would just give them shots. Yeah. That's it. Yeah. And this is at the time when Napster. And you could do bit torrents and kind of find really cool music. I figured out, and I was always a techie, you know. I figured out, I had like um, Pirate Bay, I think it was. Oh, I remember.

I had so much sick music that I had found. All these remixes of dope music that I downloaded and always had with me.

So, it was a Friday night. Our guy that was in, in the booth, I'll leave his name out of this. Just cause he gets hammered. I'm like, Oh my God. And I hear it from the bathroom. He's just train wrecking. He's a mess. And so I'm like, Oh my God, this was my moment. I jump out of there. And I put my music on and I just, I do full send and just do a 20 minute set and just bring the roof down on this house, on this, on this strip club. Well, there's a nightclub above the strip Above it.

Yeah. Yeah. is a great combo by the way for, for anyone that wants to start a really terrible business. But uh, this place is going, place is going nuts. And the promoters are like, Sammy, he's a bathroom guy. What is happening? I'm like, Oh yeah, dude, I've been working on this. And they're like, you should not be in the bathroom. You gotta play more You're better. there. They're like, you're insane. You're such, and I'm also an entertainer. Like my whole life has been entertainment.

So, um, I end up blowing the lid off this. Those promoters are like, and even the last promoter, one of the promoters actually just had me open for Snoop Dogg like two weeks ago. Dude. I totally, yeah. I'm happy you brought that up. Yeah. And you're doing it again, I think soon Yeah. Doing it again. And so it's just, it's just so funny. That's what happened. That's how I became a DJ. But again, I just jumped straight into party DJing at a nightclub, one of the biggest ones in Denver at the time.

And That's how I started. I just got my break there and then they introduced me to another guy named Kevin Larson and Kevin Larson had a huge New Year's party and he's like, he's like, you want to play for me? You can totally play for me and, and the rest is history, but there's some funny stories about that too.

But so many stories, Joe, so many stories, but that's how I became a DJ and that trans transferred into playing for Mindvalley and then playing in stadiums and doing that Snoop and all, and who knows what else, man. And do you see your DJing as like, is that the glue with like who you are? People and all that, because you obviously you've got the podcast production agency. You're helping people scale some really cool stuff that way. I don't see that as the glue, to be totally honest.

Connecting is my glue. Like, however that is, whether it's dinner or things like that, I would say performance though in that space has definitely pushed me front and center in a lot of circles. But yeah, I don't know. I would, I would be reluctant to say that's the main piece of it. It has been in the, in the years past, but as this company's scaled and grown, I don't It's really cool because we have such good mentors in this space.

I think of like Ryan Dice specifically and Richard Lindler and even, yeah. And even like Perry Belcher and a lot of these other folks, you know, they, they've all known me as a DJ, but then they, you know, When I see him now, they're like, Hey, how's podcasting going? What else what's new in that space? And I'm like, Holy smokes. I'm moving. I'm moving laterally in these places so that, and I've been speaking on stage now about AI and AI consulting and, and those things, because.

As I was a DJ, man I guess you're right, the DJing thing is a pretty big piece of it. Because as I was DJing, I was sitting next to these guys as they're doing their keynotes, as they're doing their stuff. So, I had to like, soundtrack, Those guys perfectly, right? Like I play very specific music for Ryan. I play very specific music for Dave Asprey.

I play very specific music for JJ so that when they make their keynotes on what's new in the industry, what's changing the world in their space, that they have the perfect soundtrack for it. So it made me sit sideline to the biggest things that were happening in AI in, Podcasting and marketing and traffic and conversion. And now with go high level, I played go high levels event and the same thing happened there. I was like, Oh God, this is what you're rolling out. 230 updates on go high level.

That's amazing. So yeah. Yeah. I think, uh, yeah, it's connection plus that entertainment or whatever that thing is that keeps the connection going, you know, like, so that's the mechanism, but the heart seems like the connection and, you know, that's something we both share. And I think it's. It's cool, man. I love your stories because like everybody has a lesson they can extract from there and relate it to themselves if you want to, of course.

Um, I just thought it was a blast going down the history lane with you, man. And I, I think there's something to is like you've opened doors. It's, uh, there's that book called the third door. I Oh, I haven't heard of that. Yeah, and I've only heard it from our buddy Brad Costanzo, but it's like, you know, there's the obvious ways in you can, um, you know, earn your way in or pay your way in. Hopefully I'm not totally butchering this. Or there's that third door.

It's like, oh, I know someone or I'm in the bathroom and I just like I figured out this Tricky way to give some value to someone, hook them up. But now I'm like, I'm in, you know, and that's how you got in. So it's cool, man. Yeah. And that's kind of, you just found your own way. And I think that happens in life when you're open to opportunities and things around you. So thanks for sharing, brother. That's Yeah, yeah, yeah.

let's, uh, wrap it up and tell us like, because you got, you got a lot of stuff going on. Obviously the podcast side of things evolved podcasting, right. Dot com. That'll get you to all the good stuff of what you're doing. Yeah. Evolve podcasting is where you can find us for all things podcasting, how to monetize and scale your show. Um, and then how to start a show and make sure that it comes out of the gates, ready to monetize. That's where you can find all that information.

And then shoeboxmoses. com is where all my, my immediate performance things are and who I'm aligned with there. Those are the best places to find me. And then obviously I'm on all the social media platforms like Twitter, Literally all of them. So, Shoebox Moses. Yeah, if you go to Shoebox Moses, and just type that in, it populates all the good stuff, bro. All the good stuff. Yeah, go, go find, find some cool music Sammy's doing and just get some good vibes. Appreciate you, brother.

This is gonna be fun. Let's do the next one on the beach, all right? Or on the cliffs, either way. Totally. we'll be doing the next one that way. So appreciate you brother. Joe, thanks for having me, bro. Love you, man. Talk to you soon. Alright, bye.