What up is muting? You checking out the Cruise Show podcast. Make sure to subscribe, rate, and share Cruse Show Real ninety two three, LA's new home for hip hop. This is my guy right here, Stephen J. Klueback. What's something man? How are you? Man? We're in the era of get a clue? It's fun, isn't it? Feel me? Absolutely, We're gonna bring back humor. Bring back humor, simple solutions for a better life for all of us. Man, That's what it's about. Man.
The Hollingback Youth Center is honored to present Stephen J. Kluback with the twenty twenty five on Migos Delos Neils Award. This is major congratulations, Thank you sweet award.
Man. That's that's great. I'm not one for honors. It's all about the kids. Yeah, it's all about the kids. The kids are our future.
Why why are children so special to you? I mean, I know you have children, right and they're adults, I believe at this point, But why are kids so important to you?
Well? There are future and you know I've always been a father that teaches integrity. We don't lie. Tell me the good beat the ugly. We'll fix it. There's always solutions. Yeah, and you know, teaching them humanity service, giving I remember when they were kids, I used to make them clean out their their closets and their room and I said, okay, what do you have that you played with in a little bit, Let's put in a bag and we're going to go down to the hospital and give it to
kids in need that are sick right now. And I wouldn't just have it delivered. We'd go together and they'd see the smiles on kids' faces. That's what it's about, isn't it. Yeah, it's giving back service, rolling up your sleeves and giving man.
Yeah, I mean that reminds me of what we do for cruise cares. You know, at the end of the year, we get a bunch of toys together for a bunch of kids, and we help out the boys and girls clubs and you know, and it reminds me of why
kids are so specific. I have children as well, young ones, but I didn't grow up having too many friends, right for whatever reason, and finding those kids with not that many friends because of their circumstances or because of how they look or how they feel inside, those are the kids and that's a lot of kids. You know, those are the kids that really need us. They're all special
and they're all over the world. But you know, in California, we've forgotten about an important component part of who we are. We're all customers and we got to start taking care of our family first here in California. Yeah, yeahdred percent. Your start was unique, right, So you got started with negative twenty million dollars. Well, you were in debts that.
Came that came about. No. I started off as a young kid. I was a busboy at one of my dad's developments, and then it was a waiter, a dishwasher. I learned how to cook, you know, not not I remember Lucille except told me don't mash those pancakes too much, or don't mash the burgers as before. Smash burgers. Now it's now, it's now, that's it. Did you create the smash berger? I didn't create the same. But I'm a good cook. I love cooking. You should try my chiliver
in or so I'm good. I used Wahaka and Kesso Fresco. We're pulling up to the house. Man, listen, fun no poetry, key, that's right. Hey, how did it feel to be honored.
I mean, you know, being you know with the Dodgers and and and you know, I mean it was like, how did that feel to be just in that same pocket with them and and being that being so synonymous here in Los Angeles.
Well, you know, look, Boyle Heights is where it all was started. It was the Inner City Games. You got Danny and Priscilla who work hard with with the Holland Back Youth Center, and the Inner City Games then morphed
into after School All Stars with Governor Schwarzenegger. He wasn't the governor at the time, but and it's become this great institution of providing youth services that schools can't provide for those that are in need, that need community to have interaction and around sports and it's health and it works. So I'm very honored and proud to be involved. It's on the twenty ninth, and you know, I've been down to Holland Back numerous times. I love being down there.
And when we do it, during Thanksgiving we have turkey drives and during Christmas we have toy giveaways. So it's just a full impact for the community. Social impact. You know, profit businesses is one thing, but there's something called social profit. That's what this is. This is impactful to the community. So you know, I'm a businessman but a philanthropist, so you marry them both together and you end up with something beautiful which we could do for the state of California.
Man, absolutely, How tough is that being doing philanthropy and politics and you know, and giving so much of yourself.
How difficult is all of this? You know, it's the most gratifying thing I have to do. It's not a job, it's a passion. I wake up. I'm so excited a mission. It's a mission because you know, I've done well in business and I've done you know, I studying to be a doctor, didn't do that a surgeon. I ended up going into shopping center development throughout California. I think going to hotels, hospitality, where I learned everyone's a customer, my team,
our customers. Everyone in California should feel the same way. And now politics, policy, which I've been involved with on the federal level, state level, local level, and I'm bringing that back to California. And it's not difficult. It's fun and everything is fixable and solvable. You know what it's going to be, don't I realized. I realized there are those that need to leave that have not fulfilled our expectations, and new people that have to come in and lead.
Now's the time where we have to be real and thoughtful and non vatrollic with one another and look for performance and results. Sure, have you always been a leader? Have you always? Were? You always a leader as a kid as No, I was kind of introverted until I became a bodybuilder, And there it is.
You found it there because it's discipline, discipline, and company and education and integrity.
Right, discipline, education, integrity. So yeah, the confidence I found my confidence because no, I was a shy kid. I was a shy kid. I was not the guy invited all the parties. And I'm still not one for parties. I'm here to serve. I love serving, you know, it's just unique in me. I dig it. I love it. I love chaos. I love complicated. I love situations where they say you can't do it and we get it done and then we see all the happy faces. And I don't want the trophy either. I want other people
to get trophies. I want to create great leaders. Right. Speaking of trophies.
So you go up there to accept your award and there's obviously a speech involved, right do you go over the speech?
Is it just straight from the heart? Dude, I can't. I can't read a teleprompter. I'm so dyslexic. I'm as authentic as it comes. People say to me all the time, what are you going to talk about? I'm like, I don't know. You got to feel the moment. I got to see the crowd, got to see who we're talking to, because look, that's about customer service. I got to know
who you are. I gotta know who I'm talking to, and it'll just come naturally from the heart, with passion and warmth and love, and that's who I am.
That's the way it should be. Man, sidebar, did you get your real idea? I've got my real life. I had to take my test.
I haven't gotten it yet. Garcia has had it for By the way, if you have Global Entry, which I was involved with at the federal level and I ran tourism the United States, if you have Global Entry card, that's actually real ID and you don't need really and you don't need tsa pre check and spend that extra eighty five bucks because you got global entry. So if
you have global entry, you are good to go. Don't let them think that you need a new real ID for a driver's license if you already have global entry. So there's a lot of ways to passport too. So if you have global ID passport, you can go get a real ID when you get it. But if you don't hate me there one of those, you better get your real ID.
How do you do all this with a smile on your face? Because you stop by here, I mean half a dozen times just in the building. You come by, you say hi, you know, you just joke with us, have fun. That's rough out there, I mean yeah, I mean there's got to be pressure in what you're doing, Like, how do you do it all with the smile.
I've been beaten up, banged up, pushed around so many times. I fight the fight I'm used to look. I lead with love. But I'm self made man, you know. I Yeah, you said, I started with negative twenty million because my father went bankrupt and I bought the bankruptcy, you know, in the mid mid of my life. And I never wanted him to be embarrassed because I respected him till the day he died, so you had to pay that
back before you even got started. Well, I paid that back in the interim of because I wanted my father to have respect, And you know, I grew up with respect, responsibility and showing results because we're proven by that. But look, how do I enjoy life? I mean, we have to have humor. We all go through rough patches. I get that. You know, you become who you are, your own brand. And I love what I do. I love my life. I love people, and I want everyone to do well.
For someone young listening watching and they want to enter politics and they want to be you know, they want to be a business person, right, what's quick advice for them?
Quick advice is get up early, stay late, go to work or the running nose. That's it. Just show up and always have integrity. Everyone makes mistakes. Nobody's perfect. You make mistakes, raise your hand. I make mistakes. I raise my hand. I laugh at myself. Never point a finger at anybody else. If you're a leader, you're going to become a leader. You take responsibility for everyone's actions. You are leading, and then you give the trophy to the others.
And that's how I run my life. That's why I'm happy. And I watch these other leaders why they failed, because you know what, when they fire other people and blame other people, they're the problem. Stand up, have the brass balls and say, hey, I take ownership of this. Everyone's on my watch, okay, and I see this. And if you're raising money, make sure that money is given to the folks that need it. Sure, and the costs are as effective and efficient as possible, and there's transparency. When
you start hiding things, that's where I get nervous. When leaders start pointing fingers, I get really nervous. Go look at our city. Yeah, we see it all over man. Well then let's let's let's really let's call it the way it is leadership. Yeah, no, for sure.
You know, now more than ever, a lot of young people worry about what they're going to look like struggling. And you know, you never really love a struggle. You only see the success on Insta.
Okay, well guess what, so you're gonna have to struggle and get a couple of Uh, you can't keep the struggle, no, no, no, no, it's important. You got to get beaten up, a little bit, punched around a little bit falling a pothole. Just don't break your leg, hit that guardrail a little bit, that's okay. No the assignment, No, the assignment, have riz risk.
And then and more importantly, slay it, yep, and don't crash out.
You don't want to crash out unless you're by yourself.
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, solo you know what I mean? No one's watching it is not an iPhone.
And then by the way, new one. Wel so always farm, always farm. Yeah you didn't know that. You gotta stream. You gotta go on twitch, man, And now you got me. I don't know what twitches.
Yeah, now you'll know. So it's just a streaming network, right, it's a channel.
It's funny when you know I was honored by the farm workers because I do a lot of work to protect farm workers those that need Could you believe farm workers have a food bank? Now? In what world would you think that in Arvin, California there's a food bank for farm workers that work at the current county Bakersfield area. In what world? That makes no sense? So I'm in that. And when I'm talking about togetherness, you want to hear my little Spanish correct me if I'm wrong. All good,
Let's go. That's right, my man. Yo, he looks over it. I want to make sure I'm pronouncing it right. I think I'm not. Okay, I'm just like doing good. He's doing great, doing good. It's funny because I'm sitting in a meeting on my worldwide hotel company, and I was in Espana and then I'm done in Mexico. Yeah, and I'm sitting in meetings and everyone's talking in native language. Because I'm always culturally well irrelevant. I want to always fit in, you know, not like this Trump stuff American
army boom boom. No. Culturally you'll take care of your allies, take care of your friends. And you know, they have these conversations and then all of a sudden, I go no, and they go, does he understand what that we were talking about? And yeah, I understand like one hundred percent Spanish, I speak like sixty sixty five. I'm working on it, yeah, leaning into it. Yeah.
Sure, No, You're doing great. It's coming from the heart. You can tell it's genuine always yeah, always, always, Well, congratulations.
I love you guys. I love you too. I love the show. Love you guys.
You stop by all the time. You're always welcome. You know, the door is always welcome. I mean, I'm sorry, he's always open for you, and you're always welcome to stop by and you know, say what's up. It's always great to you know, to catch up with you.
You guys are brothers. Thanks for the books. You're welcome, by the way, the book, by the way, by the way, that book. So we're launching the book at Barnes and Noble June seventh, eleven a m. The Grove. Stephanie Rule is going to be interviewing me from MSNBC and that should be exciting, and we invite everyone to come. So that's June seventh, eleven AM Barnes and Noble, the Grove.
Be there. I will be there, signing books, answering any questions you may have in different languages, well, pretty much in Spanish, right, definitely? What about the song? Can I mention that song? Oh? One hundred percent? You got to listen to this song California, get a clue. It's on Spotify, It's on iHeartRadio, and I think other marketing channels too.
Yep, hey man, congratulations, best of luck to you. We're here if you need us.
I love you. Guys, we appreciate it. Thank you for the honor.
I'm grateful always, brother always, Cruise Show Real ninety two to three. Hey Jack your rich from the Cruse Show.
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