Episode 31
Secrets of Universe with Riki Leona Irie
Local business owner Riki Leona Irie joins me for a conversation about her thriving business, her childhood, and her philosophies about how to enjoy life. This is my first time meeting Riki and we hit it off right away. We connected on our love of animals, childhood weight problems, and our favorite podcasts, speakers, and spiritualists. We talked about the ways that we can find the nuggets of happiness in life and the pitfalls that can block you from joy. We covered some stuff about faith, belief, the Law of Attraction, and God. We get to hear about Riki's childhood in Hawaii and Missouri, her decision to strike out on her own, and the obstacles that ended up leading to her success. She even tells the story of how/why she chose to keep a shaved head for over a year and what she learned from it.
We laughed a lot. Riki speaks with humor and she tells her story with bravery and integrity. She knows what she believes and she owns the choices she makes. She is a cool chick and after this podcast you will feel like she is a longtime friend.
I hope you enjoy this episode!
Find Riki: @rikileonabrows | @riki_leona
Topics/keywords:
Hawaii, Missouri, Clatsop County Animal Shelter, South Pacific County Humane Society, News: Meow!, cats, Pier 11, Deep Water Horizon, podcasts, Office Ladies Podcast, Abraham Hicks Daily, Norman Vincent Peele, Agnosticism, Carl G. Jung, group behavior, meditation, life-coaching, Smith Rock(s), True North Adventures, yoga, camping, rock-climbing, waxing, hair removal, eyebrow micro-blading, guitar, self-doubt, trauma, cosmetics, self-esteem, self-love, infinite expansion of space, God, sunscreen, bone-conduction headphones, Dr. Joe Dispenza, make-up, tattoo, The Law of Attraction, work/life balance, food, micro-biome, bacteria, the gut, food-poisoning, Jackass, Viva la Bam, Wildboys, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, St. Baldricks, merkin, powdered wigs, Cancer, Saddle Mountain, emotional baggage, taking risks, having fun.
Links:
Business inquiries/guest booking: Ramblebytheriver@gmail.com
New Website (in-construction): RamblebytheRiver.com
Website: Ramblebytheriver.captivate.fm
Facebook: Jeff Nesbitt (Ramble by the River)https://www.facebook.com/jeff.nesbitt.9619
Instagram: @ramblebytheriver
Twitter: @RambleRiverPod
Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCNiZ9OBYRxF3fJ4XcsDxLeg
Music Credit(s):
Still Fly, Revel Day.
Transcript
Riki Leona draft1
Note: This transcript was produced by Descript AI and contains errors.
[:[00:00:23] I feel like every day with my clients, I have such great content. I could be courting you totally. I know. And I'm like, can I hide a microphone in here? And just, just put up a sign since you're being recorded. Totally. Yeah.
[:[00:00:49] Riki Leona Irie: [00:00:49] still in the experiment and you're leveling up, you got to scale your business. You need to get more people in here. Exactly. .
[:[00:01:02] intricate. That's nice.
[:[00:01:10] Riki Leona Irie: [00:01:10] I didn't even think about it. That's great. Yeah.
[:[00:01:23] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:01:23] loud enough. You're okay. Right. Okay. Yeah. I usually, um, I overthink it and it's not nearly as light's going to work out. These are surprisingly good mikes for being like 20 bucks.
[:[00:01:34]Jeff Nesbitt: [00:01:34] Welcome everybody to another exciting episode of ramble by the river. I'm your host, Jeff Nesbitt. And joining me today in the studio is Ricky Leona Irie.
[:[00:01:47] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:01:47] And we're also trying a new thing today. We have Mr. Geoffrey Hylton over working the sound.
[:[00:02:05] Riki Leona Irie: [00:02:05] Yes, we were at the beach at the beach last night and all weekend at like eight, 15 last night. Kevin told me to put on my shoes and he just drove me to the beach.
[:[00:02:15] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:02:15] Yeah. That's one of the great parts about living here. So I saw that you recently went to Hawaii. Yes. That's where I'm from. That's where you're from. Could you tell me a little bit about
[:[00:02:30] Um, it's me and I have an older brother and, um, I lived there until I was, I was in the sixth grade. My parents moved us, me and my brother and my mom to Southwest Missouri. Oh, wow. Cause my mom is from Missouri and, um, Hawaii schools are just shit. Like we had a really hard time growing up there and when I'm on the mainland, like people assume I look like I'm from Hawaii, but in Hawaii I'm super white.
[:[00:03:20] And I mean, I'm a childhood obesity survivor. Like I was a fat kid, you know, so I feel like I, that was just an easy thing to get made fun of a lot of that a little bit later. Shit. Yeah.
[:[00:03:39] Riki Leona Irie: [00:03:39] Yeah. Um, up until my freshman year of high school, I would say.
[:[00:03:57] And also like, I was taller than [00:04:00] everyone and there's, I'm just in a sea of beautiful other local girls that are Asian and Polynesian and just don't look like me. And so I just like constantly like that comparison thing. Yeah. Yeah. There's still, there's like one girl that I have told Kevin, my boyfriend about. I just can't, I can't shake it. I've healed from stuff oh me,
[:[00:04:26] Riki Leona Irie: [00:04:26] And twice she told people I farted and I did. Oh, you probably did. Well, I would have owned up to it now I would.
[:[00:04:37] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:04:37] that would tell people who does such a thing.
[:[00:04:51] No, I love my friends, but it seems like you have a lot
[:[00:04:54] Riki Leona Irie: [00:04:54] Oh, well we're social media.
[:[00:05:02] Riki Leona Irie: [00:05:02] Yeah. That's important to me. I feel like, I believe that has been just a, not even a secret to it.
[:[00:05:31] Yeah. It
[:[00:05:36] Riki Leona Irie: [00:05:36] You don't have to constantly do it kind and like mindful way. I'm just saying like, I'm just taking care of me and that is a reflection of you. What I hear you say about what I'm doing. So
[:[00:05:54] Yes, yes. Um, but speaking of helping other people are, I heard, you're kind of, I saw on your [00:06:00] Instagram, you're involved with the humane society or was it
[:[00:06:20] It's awesome. Um, honestly, because I have a cat who I love so much and I'm so silly. I feel like. I am a childless, divorced woman with a cat and I'm going
[:[00:06:31] Riki Leona Irie: [00:06:31] own it. Like, it's awesome. But, um, but yeah, I just like, literally I just have so much love for her and I just wanted to continue to like that ripple.
[:[00:07:03] Cause after I read, she was there for that long. I make no one deserves to be there that long, but I will say like firsthand experience. They take such good care of the animals there. Yeah. It's amazing. Um, it's primarily like run by volunteers. So I don't think I've been to
[:[00:07:19] Yeah, a lot of times. Yeah. One time actually, I was there with my mom and I was probably 16 and we had this one cat named scrubbed and scrubbed was cool when she was young, but she developed allergies. I'd say midway through her life and became kind of like, you know, a crotchety old grouchy cat, no scratch and little kids she'd come up and rub on you, but she's like little crusty.
[:[00:08:03] Riki Leona Irie: [00:08:03] and you cared so much about yeah.
[:[00:08:27] And I. Um, there's this cat, that's sticking an arm out and he's got he's black and he's got like, he's like a tuxedo cat, but he's like put on some extra weight, just like a middle-aged cat. So he's got a belly, but he's sitting like human. Like he's got his legs out belly facing us and he's gonna just got his arm out through the cage.
[:[00:09:05] Scrub. Oh, ready. Sitting in the cage.
[:[00:09:25] Riki Leona Irie: [00:09:25] you did. So you left her there
[:[00:09:32] Riki Leona Irie: [00:09:32] is an awesome for 10 minutes and scrub
[:[00:09:39] Riki Leona Irie: [00:09:39] yeah, by a younger model.
[:[00:09:48] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:09:48] I'm glad you got that joke. I was like,
[:[00:09:51] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:09:51] Yeah. I actually have had a lot of cats, so I know that you don't really do that. Well, they kind of do there's holes in
[:[00:10:04] We have so many just there. You can't even call them bloopers. Cause it's just me being like, oh my God, this cat, like, cause you can't get a cat to do anything, but when we do it's, it's so great. But, and I don't know how much it's actually like, I mean, we don't know how much it actually helped, but I just feel like any positive ripple towards the shelter is so
[:[00:10:24] Yeah, so
[:[00:10:47] And that'd be so funny. And we went to the dollar tree and I got that. It's a green and blue fluorescent microphone that I literally got for a dollar.
[:[00:11:16] But anyway, yeah. I was just like, oh my God, it'd be so funny. And you'll just, you'll be the voice of a cat. We'll go back and forth. And I think the best way we have the best ones, most ones, I think that are the best, excuse me, are when I have no idea what he's going to say. And he doesn't know what question I'm going to ask.
[:[00:11:47] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:11:47] Oh, I imagine it's probably important. Like the opener.
[:[00:11:51] Riki Leona Irie: [00:11:51] to be funny and especially cause he does try to he'll change his voice a little bit. If we have like a tiny, petite little female cat and it it's just like so funny and, [00:12:00] but we've had a couple of tips. He's like, I can't do this voice much longer. So we have to like get this right now. So, um, it was nice and that, so now when we're in there together, we don't have to like have our mask on, but in the past.
[:[00:12:25] Yeah. That's actually
[:[00:12:28] Riki Leona Irie: [00:12:28] It makes things a lot easier. Like I, people talk to me more about news mail than anything I actively do in my life. Like yes, random people or people. We saw a lady at Costco recently and she was like, how do I know you? And it's just so funny. And I'm wearing a class of animal shelter shirt, and I just love it.
[:[00:12:49] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:12:49] quirky things that will go viral
[:[00:13:07] That way you can walk the dog and do Pokemon go. And no one's going to judge you because they won't realize you're doing PokemonGo. And so I'm like what a brilliant idea. And apparently they ended up having like no animals left. So it's like. I mean, at one point during shutdown, there was like one dog, one cat over there.
[:[00:13:22] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:13:22] Wow. People just wanted pets when they're locked at home. Yeah.
[:[00:13:34] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:13:34] right now. Yeah. They just keep on breeding. Yeah. I actually did an interview yesterday with the coast weekend about the show and I panicked and I was just like, oh shit, what am I, what am I done? Yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah, that's fine.
[:[00:13:50] Riki Leona Irie: [00:13:50] yeah. It makes you feel alive. Yeah, exactly. You got something in the coast weekend. Yeah.
[:[00:14:05] Riki Leona Irie: [00:14:05] why did you not expect that?
[:[00:14:07] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:14:07] I actually kind of had planned on hiding it from them. I just didn't want it to, I just wanted it to be successful. Other places, just, I just have been worried. It would complicate my life somehow. Sure. But it's improved it a lot. Connecting people is a really great
[:[00:14:26] And being yourself and doing something creative.
[:[00:14:42] Riki Leona Irie: [00:14:42] And take this out, right. If I don't like anything you want.
[:[00:14:49] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:14:49] oh shit. Or just
[:[00:14:51] Riki Leona Irie: [00:14:51] me and I'll take it out. Good. Yeah. I just thought
[:[00:15:06] Thank you. I don't even mind that you're knocking your knuckles on the thing a little bit. I'll let that slide.
[:[00:15:38] Um, so as you can see, Jeff is very large and he works. Have you ever worked out at the, any of the gyms over there across the river? Like 1440 or anything? I haven't either, but he says they're great. Yeah. Oh,
[:[00:15:55] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:15:55] um, oh, here's something you're into Jeff. She does eyebrows.
[:[00:16:02] Riki Leona Irie: [00:16:02] He's in Nebraska. Oh yeah.
[:[00:16:08] Riki Leona Irie: [00:16:08] far as to say fetish.
[:[00:16:22] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:16:22] Well, you were doing, uh, like a whole salon thing, right? A spa, a spa. And then now you've kind of niche down
[:[00:16:44] And it was right after Columbia river day spot had just closed, like right after I moved to town and there, so there wasn't really anything besides cannery pier, um, the hotel and spa. And I was like, let's fucking open a spa. I [00:17:00] mean, I've done a lot of the things I've done without really thinking too much about it.
[:[00:17:23] And he was super in on it. It's always like super supportive. Um, And our realtor that we bought our house through, out here, like had a re a commercial space downtown. He owned the pier 11 building that big red building. Um, so I essentially opened Malama there. Like it was, I moved in June and we were open in October.
[:[00:18:03] Yeah. Wow. Yeah. And I had power of attorney on everything. I was like, he came home and we have a business. Wow. Sorry. No, he knew about it. It's like scary. I mean, kind of like, I definitely had that like help from him and my family and my two of my closest girlfriends at the time were doing it with me. So it was a beautiful thing.
[:[00:18:33] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:18:33] is, is good. So you can, you just got to figure out
[:[00:18:38] And I've just always in the very beginning, it's like you have one client a day that one clamps your world, like, and that woman knows 10 other women, and then they're going to come in and it's just like, so word of mouth in a small town, it's like a big thing, man. Like, I mean, no wonder, I, I'm not all surprised to hear of the ripple of this because.
[:[00:19:12] Riki Leona Irie: [00:19:12] heard.
[:[00:19:28] Like I need more positive information all the time. That's not music and yeah. Tune it out.
[:[00:19:52] Right. It's always like, oh, this maybe gave me a few things I'm curious about now I'll go look up for, so it's, it's more like having a conversation. So [00:20:00] it kind of kills that loneliness a little bit of like, if you're driving forever by yourself or something like that. And not even that it's, I don't even mind being alone all that much.
[:[00:20:20] Riki Leona Irie: [00:20:20] Um, I mean, I'm a basic bitch. I love office ladies podcasts. Oh my God. I learned so much. It's never, I mean, if you love the office, you're going to love it, but, okay.
[:[00:20:57] So it's essentially just [00:21:00] so it is a day. Okay. Sorry. I know later you should just Google it and then you'll be like, oh, okay. But it is kind of strange. So, um, Abraham Hicks is a collective consciousness that is channeled through a human woman that we know. We don't know. I've heard. Okay. Who's the woman, Esther Esther
[:[00:21:23] Riki Leona Irie: [00:21:23] dude.
[:[00:21:36] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:21:36] Well also, if you try to talk about it with normal people, they're going to think you're a weirdo.
[:[00:21:41] Riki Leona Irie: [00:21:41] a normal person. I would love to talk about this stuff. So that is the, basically the foundation of that movie, the secret. Did you ever watch the secret or follow those tapes? So that's basically all law of attraction base,
[:[00:21:59] Vince [00:22:00] Vincent Peale. Norman Vincent Peale. Jeff Norman. Vincent Peale. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Uh, similar,
[:[00:22:21] And you can ask, sit in the hot seat and ask questions and it's fucking weird, but it's so awesome. That's fun. So good because she's just, she's a regular person as she's talking, but it's like, I've never heard them say anything that I was just like, what the fuck? It's cause it's all just like, oh my God, that's so true.
[:[00:22:57] I've just like, I'm in control of my own [00:23:00] reality. I'm also aware that my basic needs are met and I can focus on this sort of thing, you know, and feel that is huge. I'm not going to not say that.
[:[00:23:17] Riki Leona Irie: [00:23:17] work hard every day just to be just to survive.
[:[00:23:39] And so, so every day I listened to that and even like, I mean, Kevin and I are very different in our thinkings of stuff, but like, um, I know, I know that he likes it. Like he'll hear it and he'll say something and anyway, I just think, cause even he. Back in the day, it would be like the first person to tell you he believes in nothing at all.
[:[00:24:04] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:24:04] just all such a mystery. Who knows? I love that. I love having people in my life who are completely like, who think that they have it all figured out about that. There's nothing else.
[:[00:24:27] Riki Leona Irie: [00:24:27] I like doing that. I feel like I just kind of enjoy second guessing things anymore.
[:[00:24:33] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:24:33] I don't know. It's really all I want to do. It's like, I like
[:[00:24:39] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:24:39] That's a rabbit hole. You can go down. God. Geez. The it's, it's easy to fall into that stuff. If you're like feeling victimized by society or homes like that, conspiracies are really something it's just easy to grab onto them.
[:[00:25:00] [00:25:00] Riki Leona Irie: [00:25:00] exactly.
[:[00:25:04] Riki Leona Irie: [00:25:04] circling back. I I'm trying. Yeah.
[:[00:25:14] That's real life. The channeling thing. So, oh, Abraham. Yeah. If you think so. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's like, does she do a voice when she's down? Is it or just her normal horse?
[:[00:25:39] I don't know how to say it. And like, you know, they're never stuttering on a word, like everything's so perfect. And it is just like, my mind is blown. Yeah. But it's just so good. Like it literally does. It lifts me up. I love it.
[:[00:26:09] Like when you just know something instinctively like contemporary science tells us that that's because you're genetically, your ancestors had experiences that wired your, your brain to just automatically know things like how to feed yourself when you're a newborn, you know how to find the nipple or things like, you know, knowing that you need to drink water.
[:[00:26:49] And then you see them drive by or they call you all of a sudden things like that. It's a law of attraction. Yeah. Do you think that you'd believe in that there's
[:[00:27:00] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:27:00] doubt. And can you, can you sometimes as a meditator, I know that you probably have, because that's the only times I've ever felt extremely connected to that whole thing is when I'm deep into meditation or just falling asleep or,
[:[00:27:18] Yep. Yep. More receptive to picking it up. Measurable veil is lifted. Yeah. Yeah. Kind of so
[:[00:27:35] Riki Leona Irie: [00:27:35] but I feel like in those moments that feels like me literally more connected to my like higher power, my source, like, cause I feel that the better part of me is still this non-physical part of me.
[:[00:28:02] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:28:02] You're
[:[00:28:09] I mean, I like when I was home in Hawaii, went to church every Sunday with my grandma. Like I there's so much, I love, I'm not going to ever like say down about it. Like, because I feel that I know what God is to me. And so who might've say what that means to you and maybe that feels really good. Like, I just care more about how you show up after you do those.
[:[00:28:34] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:28:34] show you? Can't you can't just turn it off, put it on hold till
[:[00:28:45] And sometimes that prayer is just like an intentional thought or an intentional, like letting go and letting go and letting God, whatever God is, universe source, higher power. Like, I totally believe that, but I just, like, here's such a funny thing. Cause I would never [00:29:00] tell someone like, you know, I think that's bullshit.
[:[00:29:05] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:29:05] Yeah. I agree. And because I don't know. What's true. Right. All I know is what's what's not knowable. Right. And there's a lot of it, so it's not worth it to try to force my. Basically my opinion or my interpretation of what we can observe on.
[:[00:29:28] is
[:[00:29:40] And I feel like, oh my God, it'd be, we're gonna think I'm so weird. I'm weird. I don't give a fuck. I'm like, I'm so confident in who I am, because I didn't make me like, I'm just here, so fuck it.
[:[00:29:59] Yeah. But [00:30:00] yeah, no, I feel that all the time, um, this, this stuff is, is actually, I'm more used to talking about this kind of Wu stuff than, than other parts of it, like talking about the like darker parts of my history and that's the stuff that's really, I worry about because I don't want people to judge me, but the Woolworths stuff, it really reminds me of like church.
[:[00:30:45] Uh, and sometimes it felt really genuine and I was moved by it. And even as a kid and other times it felt totally bullshitty and I'm like, it's just pushing people over. It's like, he's a, he's a shyster. [00:31:00] And there, I don't want to have to play that game of like figuring out who is and who is not trying to manipulate me and, and, you know, use my attention and get me to buy into some program or, you know, I'm just very skeptical of group, uh, dynamics that might, that might lead you to kind of disregard your own.
[:[00:31:40] Riki Leona Irie: [00:31:40] was so thought, I thought there was a, a point maybe it'll come, it'll come back.
[:[00:31:51] Riki Leona Irie: [00:31:51] right. Then I'm also like, I don't care. So, but it is just, it's just like, it feels like a very safe thing. I have like my own spirituality and I think that cause, and it should, it, it is [00:32:00] so, um, but yeah, it's very personal.
[:[00:32:03] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:32:03] for sure. Yeah. And you can make it your own too. It's not. Yeah. Which is something that I think a lot of people struggle
[:[00:32:19] There's no, there's no guide.
[:[00:32:28] Riki Leona Irie: [00:32:28] normal practice? I um, okay. So the best, the best day I would have, would be to wake up and have like 45 minutes before I have to do anything. And I can go to the upstairs area of my house.
[:[00:32:58] So I love it anyway. [00:33:00] So ideal morning is I'd go up there, have like 45 minutes to do like a 20 minute meditation and then do some journaling that helps me so much. I feel like if I start my day at just that easier, lower frequency of not being so, you know, by the world and all that. So I, that I've had to, I still have my phone in the bedroom.
[:[00:33:41] And it's just like, I want to get a chance yeah. For you to think about who you are literally, when really I'm like, maybe I just had like a beautiful dream. I want to just like, kind of like come down from and decompress or go deeper. And I, I love it, but I, so I've always. I've always been very interested in personal development and mindset stuff.
[:[00:34:17] But anyway, um, she, I met her, she was another coast guard, spouse stationed out here. And I just, from the moment I met her, I was like, oh my gosh, you ever just meet people? And there's just like this sort of energy that I am. Like, I am a calmer, better nicer person with a more positive attitude about life because I'm in your presence.
[:[00:34:53] I never know. So I say both every time. So we pulled over the gate just in case I'm physics and went off
[:[00:35:02] Riki Leona Irie: [00:35:02] So it was a, just a, it's actually like the only time in my life I've been camping, which is really,
[:[00:35:13] Riki Leona Irie: [00:35:13] best.
[:[00:35:35] So she constantly think, oh, maybe she's not like super big into, um, but she was in the area for awhile and now, um, yeah, they're coast guard. So they like, now they're in mobile. That sounds very familiar. Yeah. Maybe, but she was here for a bit and um, yeah, so it was yoga, camping, rock climbing. That sounds bad ass.
[:[00:36:19] Yeah. So in any way, I feel like I've been. That was probably just really like, you know, you have these like shifts and after that trip, I was just like, okay, there's some, a lot of shit here to unpack and it's just ridiculous. But our body image insecurity stuff's hold us back from, there are so many things in life I didn't do.
[:[00:36:45] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:36:45] really hot in here. I finally stopped dripping the first 15 minutes. All I think about what it's like, please stop sweating. That's all right. As it's like dripping off my beard, it's cleansing.
[:[00:37:16] Yep. But that's all potential and past it's and all we have is the moment. And we try to formulate these stories so that we feel like we know who we are. And, but it's always, it's a construction. It's a continuously changing construction and you have a lot of power to insert plot changes. And if you, if you try and it's a lot of people don't really think about life that way and they let life happen to them.
[:[00:37:56] Riki Leona Irie: [00:37:56] Right. But, it does not come easily. You know, I feel like it eventually [00:38:00] trying to be more positive and trying to reframe things eventually it's like, you're just more accustomed to doing
[:[00:38:06] Riki Leona Irie: [00:38:06] it
[:[00:38:07] Riki Leona Irie: [00:38:07] hopefully. Yeah, but I am, I mean, I still have low lows too.
[:[00:38:21] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:38:21] That's why we're here. We're here. Totally. Um, we'll just move on to something else in circle. But, um, I, I really don't mind that at all. I love it. It's like a real,
[:[00:38:33] This is like a first date with no pressure. Yeah. Like I love exactly what he's trying to get to know people.
[:[00:38:39] Riki Leona Irie: [00:38:39] Whatever you am. I, the first person that is not from, from here. Um, probably, oh my God. I was thinking of that earlier. Yeah.
[:[00:38:49] Riki Leona Irie: [00:38:49] uh, I would be so honored either way.
[:[00:38:53] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:38:53] I do. You have you heard me talk about it? Anyone else from Astoria for a story, you know, there's a guy. [00:39:00] Well, Mario was from Mexico, but he lived here for 20, 20 something years. That was the guy. Okay. Yeah. Um, well, yeah. Yeah. Thank you for being our first town or
[:[00:39:16] Totally. Yeah. Yeah.
[:[00:39:26] Riki Leona Irie: [00:39:26] yeah, that's done. Wasn't Astoria. Wasn't Astoria to warranty.
[:[00:39:35] Riki Leona Irie: [00:39:35] mistake. So how'd you get how'd you get into the brows.
[:[00:39:50] Yeah. Um, it's just, I just always love that. So I started out, um, I have, like, I have my associates, I went to a two year [00:40:00] college. Um, I got a free grant. I went to school for free, so I did it, hated it. I went to OTC, Ozark, Ozarks, technical community college, and my brother said it stood for over the counter.
[:[00:40:35] And that's exactly what I did. And, um, so that was 2003. Um, and so like shortly after I moved back to Hawaii, cause why not get the hell out of Southwest, Missouri, but I, I still have family there and I love to go visit, but I just know I couldn't leave lived there. So how long did you live there? Total?
[:[00:41:18] They're still good. We fucked it up. It's fine. So they were in the air force for a few years. My dad got stationed back in Hawaii. My mom went with him. Um, they, they both got out of the service and stayed there and then here we are.
[:[00:41:33] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:41:33] train of thought. Yeah, me too. Actually, I was almost interrupted you mom's side of the family in Missouri. Oh, Jeff.
[:[00:41:43] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:41:43] going to promotion.
[:[00:41:47] Me.
[:[00:41:57] Riki Leona Irie: [00:41:57] her side, her mom.
[:[00:42:10] The, sorry. Yeah, I have to do it next time. The Mac thing, they don't let you put a whole bunch of mics in one, unless you have, well, actually, no, I don't want to derail us. Yeah, we're good. Sorry, Jeff. You get rolling. Can I just get back to the podcast where we get to talk about your mic all day? Sorry for interrupting.
[:[00:42:51] Riki Leona Irie: [00:42:51] the bottom three,
[:[00:42:55] Um, I had a blast and at the, uh, yeah, so I could see why [00:43:00] you'd be attached to that place and like what a great place.
[:[00:43:16] My dad stayed in Hawaii, who I think at the time was like, God, like my age now I'm probably like, just, just shy of like 40. No. So he was out of the service, but he, by trade, he, he was became, he was an electrician in the, um, in the air force. And then he became a lineman and was working for. The state of Hawaii.
[:[00:44:04] Like, it's not unheard of, but I feel like when I was in Missouri and you tell people about that, like people were just like the Bible belt. Oh, is that the Bible belt? Oh, is in there. It's in there. I mean, I've always said that. I feel like if it's not it's you still get hit with it in there. So yeah.
[:[00:44:22] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:44:22] there.
[:[00:44:26] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:44:26] We love Jesus.
[:[00:44:33] a huge contrast from Hawaii though, for sure. For sure. No
[:[00:44:39] Riki Leona Irie: [00:44:39] Aloha. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but, but also, you know, it's just, it's so hard. They're just such different places. But, um, but my brother is actually still in he's outside of Kansas city, Missouri. So he did get a little bit more city in him. He's up north and he's married with two boys, so they kind of have their life there.
[:[00:45:00] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:45:00] how Kansas city got to be in Missouri. Is it, is it was Kansas a person or something? What is Kansas? Jeff, it's another state. Well, I know that I know of the state. I mean, why are they naming stuff? Why they named the state Kansas? You know, Washington was a guy we named our state after a person whose Kansas who,
[:[00:45:21] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:45:21] That's a great question. I have no idea. You know, there's, that theory probably falls apart real quick. If I start thinking about,
[:[00:45:46] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:45:46] Yeah. That's me too. Yeah. She's kind of a fun feeling now that the internet tells us everything that we like when you find something that you're like, wait, how did I not know that? But like, how did
[:[00:46:03] [00:46:00] Indians people, the south, a Southern wind. Interesting.
[:[00:46:13] Riki Leona Irie: [00:46:13] I had a little dispute over
[:[00:46:22] Riki Leona Irie: [00:46:22] It's only a matter of
[:[00:46:24] Riki Leona Irie: [00:46:24] I feel like, yeah. I
[:[00:46:42] They got rid of that one. I know they're now just the Washington football team. Right. They could do better than that.
[:[00:46:51] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:46:51] just kind of what a child is. Response is like, okay, fine. We just want you to have a name that
[:[00:47:06] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:47:06] the day by keeping the old colors,
[:[00:47:12] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:47:12] name and
[:[00:47:17] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:47:17] Yeah. Have they cured cancer yet? Seems like a lot of energy going into those names.
[:[00:47:29] Riki Leona Irie: [00:47:29] Congratulations on your spouse. Thank you very much. I mean, like, I think I sent you that message, like, I didn't know much about you all, but I do remember you guys falling in love. Yeah, it was pretty great. I mean, I, and I just, I know Michelle, I'm a lot closer with Michelle, but I've always just adored Melissa, but well, on
[:[00:47:47] Yeah. She came on for, to do a special father's day.
[:[00:48:04] That's beautiful.
[:[00:48:20] Totally. Jeff's one of them and Melissa's one of them. I got an electrician friend. I love it. Yeah. Those are special people. You're meant to connect to those people and totally,
[:[00:48:32] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:48:32] Yeah. Um, but anyway, she's been helping me prep and so she had, and she's like, yeah, you know, a lot of times, uh, we have conversations when I hear you have a guest and I'm like, Hey, you should ask him about this or ask him about that.
[:[00:49:04] So I'm going to go through those ones. Um, oh yeah, here we go. The ukulele. Um, I heard you're learning the ukulele. Oh, you seem sad about that. What's going on because
[:[00:49:25] Oh my God. Yeah. The vibe's not here. I just don't feel it. . But, um, yeah, I love it. I've played the guitar for a long time. Like, I mean, I just feel like I can't even say I played the guitar because I just like, I'm aware that there's I have strings and chords and I try to do it in a way that you can tell it to song, but I'm not like,
[:[00:49:44] That's the disclaimer. You have to say if you're not a professional musician, but like I grew up with my mom plays guitar and uh, she, I got so sick of her telling everybody how she doesn't actually know how to play guitar. I was like, that's bullshit. You play the guitar. I hear you every day. Um, so don't sell [00:50:00] yourself
[:[00:50:01] I know. Even now that I like can hear it being said, that's annoying. I don't have energy like that. Sorry. No, I apologize.
[:[00:50:14] Riki Leona Irie: [00:50:14] yeah. I love it. I feel like that is like such another form of meditation for me, I think is therapeutic.
[:[00:50:40] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:50:40] cognitive
[:[00:50:42] Yeah, for sure. So, yeah, I feel like that's been music for me for a long time. Um, And when I was home in Hawaii, I bought an Uber Layla. I'm like, I'm why do I not already play this? Like, oh my God, it is so much easier. Like, I will say that. I mean, I shouldn't say easy [00:51:00] for me. I feel because I already have a little eye because I'm already such a smash in guitar player.
[:[00:51:20] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:51:20] yeah, if you see a real musician, because either that or a sniper, because you don't pack a guitar around, unless you got business to take care of
[:[00:51:33] But yeah. It's been fun. Yeah. So I like put myself out of my comfort zone because I like to do that. And I posted a video of the first night I played my ukulele and I I'm telling myself, but whoever's paying attention also that in a month I'm going to post another video of the same song. And I'm going to hold myself accountable for making time for this every day, because I really love it.
[:[00:52:09] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:52:09] I think that sets a great example for whoever's watching.
[:[00:52:33] I don't really remember, but we have a bunch in the vault. It didn't release because. At a certain point. I was just like, I have to just start putting stuff out so I can have something to improve on.
[:[00:52:49] Riki Leona Irie: [00:52:49] hundred percent. Cause it's in neutral. Yeah. And it's like, our expectations are so much different than anybody that's tuning in.
[:[00:53:11] And then you just slowly get the contrast makes it better. Everything's fucking feedback.
[:[00:53:35] Riki Leona Irie: [00:53:35] is, where does all that come from story?
[:[00:53:55] And it could be like, it's all rooted in shame. Like nobody wants to be judged. No one wants [00:54:00] to feel bad. If you don't go for it, you can't be disappointed because you failed because you just never went. And yeah, like that's a bad cycle to get steadily, but I get it. Like I totally get it. And I can, it's crippling for people.
[:[00:54:29] I like didn't even allow myself to edit it while purpose. Cause I was like speak from my heart.
[:[00:54:50] And talk about vulnerability hangover, you know, like big time, but the point is, oh my God. Afterwards. And I did and it was fine. It we're very different people. Which is [00:55:00] totally fine, but I did feel like, did it resolve anything for you? Like as healing is healing?
[:[00:55:27] And like, Wounds are gaping open still. And we can't like close them up yet and it's just, everyone's healing. It's not linear and it's not the same. So, yeah, but ever since that happened, like something has shifted in me and I'm like, I have never going to regret telling someone I love them. I'm never going to regret that.
[:[00:55:58] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:55:58] a really powerful thing. Totally. [00:56:00] And it, and then you can use it in a lot of different ways and it can, it can be corrupted in, but in its purest form, it's, it's really powerful and special.
[:[00:56:25] Um, she's got a lot of love to give and the more that you give, the more there is there to give later. Like you just, it's almost like you practice love and it, it becomes easier. It's love is an act. It's not just something you feel. And it's always good to have more like it's and yeah, it's I said that in three-year-old language to her in a way, but to try to just express the idea that like, it's really a very human animal impulse to want to hold somebody like as a possession like that, somebody who's close to you, or that means [00:57:00] something to you, but you feel like you're protecting what's yours or you're protecting your relationship or, or whatever.
[:[00:57:16] Riki Leona Irie: [00:57:16] if you let, if it comes back, it was meant to be. Yeah. Yeah. I'm pretty sure it's loosely. Yeah, exactly. But
[:[00:57:27] Totally. And you just have to accept that they might hurt you. Right. There's a good chance somebody will totally,
[:[00:57:39] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:57:39] she plays a trip, some stuff that's really funny. Like, uh, just like, I don't even understand how she knows.
[:[00:57:58] Riki Leona Irie: [00:57:58] Well, is she [00:58:00] right? It wasn't this shirt to be fair. It
[:[00:58:10] Okay. I better get back to my Melissa list
[:[00:58:22] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:58:22] No. No. The ukulele is like, is it equally?
[:[00:58:29] I don't know. I'm literally not. I'm going to go with your pronunciation.
[:[00:58:39] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:58:39] yours better than Oakland. I don't even know it was, I feel like if I, if I try too hard to sound like a whatever dialect I'm saying, like, I actually let my whiteness come through. Cause I don't want to seem present. Like
[:[00:58:55] Yeah. Yeah. Or like I
[:[00:59:31] It's so it's so boring.
[:[00:59:50] Jeff Nesbitt: [00:59:50] Australian
[:[00:59:50] No. Yeah,
[:[01:00:02] Riki Leona Irie: [01:00:02] I can't even name 37 countries. I think I can either. Just kidding. I think I could
[:[01:00:11] Riki Leona Irie: [01:00:11] That's pretty cool because you just never know where that referral comes from.
[:[01:00:16] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:00:16] it's, it's interesting to see where it's
[:[01:00:28] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:00:28] yet because yeah, I meet you actually. What would you recommend
[:[01:00:33] I mean, both of you are pretty damn right. Perfect with those brows on you're just saying the thing about men is you guys, you always have good brows, good lashes. Cause you don't fuck with them. Like we're constantly prodding at our faces since we recognize we have faces. It's just like, yeah, it's ridiculous.
[:[01:01:01] [01:01:00] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:01:01] Cause he doesn't put chemicals on them most of the time. No. Do you, do you do the thing with the little squeezy thing? Would that makes them curl? I've seen those in like every woman's bathroom, you know what I mean?
[:[01:01:14] Riki Leona Irie: [01:01:14] eyelash curler I've actually ever
[:[01:01:20] Riki Leona Irie: [01:01:20] So yeah. I got some curly. I mean, yeah. I mean, that's the thing. I always have one in my makeup kit for it. Cause I do bridal. I do weddings and stuff too. Um, but it, yeah, it just like.
[:[01:01:53] Oh my God, that sounds like that could be dangerous. Great shit to look better. I was
[:[01:02:00] [01:02:00] Riki Leona Irie: [01:02:00] and we don't care. And the truth is, is like that, about that, of course. But like anytime, like all this is lost on Kevin, right? Like I know he thinks I look my most beautiful when I have no makeup on. And I'm just like, just who I am.
[:[01:02:40] And it's like, nobody actually gives a fuck. No, it is insane.
[:[01:02:57] Like we're trying to make it matter less, like [01:03:00] the level, the playing field. Right. But there's a certain part of it where it's just like, these are just animal instincts back to analyze things, another callback. Perfect. Um, I feel a
[:[01:03:20] They know they're looking good. That people think they're beautiful.
[:[01:03:29] Riki Leona Irie: [01:03:29] Going on five years now.
[:[01:03:57] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:03:57] Do you do that? Uh, is it, they must pay a lot.
[:[01:04:08] Riki Leona Irie: [01:04:08] not a hair left.
[:[01:04:27] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:04:27] saw you still on a massage table or are you getting rid of
[:[01:04:34] Yeah. I had it for so long. And you didn't press two pieces? No, it was just like, it had, it had seemed so many people like it was just so, you know, you have to like get rid of, because when my closed down long, when I officially licensed in Oregon, I closed down long beach and then I moved everything to Oregon.
[:[01:05:17] Like I have always had an accountant. Thank God. And it's somehow things have somehow worked out, but, but she was basically, it's like, so I feel like I was finally listening to people and I'm like, let's stop working 10, 11 hour days, waxing people all day. And let's officially like branch into this other business of yours that you can bring in more money in literally less than half the amount of time.
[:[01:06:02] And so I'm so grateful for that woman, but the truth is that there are other amazing artists in this town that can do a great job. And I'm the only one that does this other thing. And this is, was really peaking my interest and it feels so good. Talk about like losing track of time. Like, oh my God. I remember when I did work here, like I would drive over and I would get back in the car to come home.
[:[01:06:30] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:06:30] So, and it happens so much when you're staring at bottles and faxing all day,
[:[01:06:58] Think it's very interesting. Like, you [01:07:00] know, it's, I it's, it's not sexy. No, I wouldn't think it
[:[01:07:17] Right. Um, but you're still willing to pay. It depends on the industry you're working in, I guess, but relative to the rest of your body.
[:[01:07:35] Like, you know, but also I'm like, ah, I wish I had more of a story, but yeah. And the older I get, the less, I, as long as you, as long as you are clean, I don't care. Like it doesn't matter. And I feel like, but I have definitely had, I, this is sad, but I had a client like coming back after COVID and she was cause I was shut down for almost three months.
[:[01:08:09] And I have heard things similar to that many, many times in the last decade of doing that. And it is just like, yes, in my head, I'm like, are you fucking kidding me? I know what the fuck that guy looks like gross, but it's just, it's so weird to me. And I think like, but things like that, sorry, I just started thinking on a different level.
[:[01:08:53]Jeff Nesbitt: [01:08:53] Yeah. Why are those ones?
[:[01:09:09] It doesn't matter what we're doing. We're connecting during this time. Yeah. So what I love, it's so silly, but like, there are so many times where my client will start to leave and then come back in. Cause they forgot to pay me. Like, I love that because you have forgotten that we're actually doing a transaction and I'm like, oh yeah, this is how I pay my bills.
[:[01:09:41] Yeah. And I'm so my higher self wouldn't think that, but I would definitely think that for a moment because I'm human. Yeah. But so I have, but I have always gotten such great. Feedback and response from people and so much love, but it's also how you come in and doing it. Like we just wanted to add something, not [01:10:00] take away from anyone else.
[:[01:10:01] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:10:01] yeah, you can tell when a business interest community, if that's what they're in it for, if they're trying to enrich the community or if they're just trying to enrich their bank accounts and it, a lot of businesses don't survive here. So it's, it takes a lot of effort and you have to have the right intention.
[:[01:10:16] Riki Leona Irie: [01:10:16] sure. Yeah. I closed Malama um, September of 19, like right before COVID I dodged the biggest bullet. Yeah.
[:[01:10:31] Riki Leona Irie: [01:10:31] So at one, for a couple of years, I was doing both businesses. So I was out in Lama and then I would drive to long beach and it was like chaos busy, busy.
[:[01:11:00] Like it's not, I feel like it was successful in a way of, I feel good about it. And now I'm on this other place in my life where I, I started this and I have clients because I had that other thing, but Malama just got bigger than us and. Oh, and my rent was going up like almost 40% almost like, what am I doing?
[:[01:11:46] You asked for all the debt. Oh yeah, yeah. And now I'm like, oh great. But that's okay because who knows what the future will hold, but, but I'm just, I'm still, I feel so good about all of it. Like I'm grateful for it, but yeah, it's just, I [01:12:00] mean, in my account would always tell me, well, I guess this is just your passion project.
[:[01:12:20] Cause I'll shower at the gym. I'll be really fit. Like, you know, Laming, that's going to be great. Yeah. So I feel like I did always know, like it's just going to work out. It has, that's the attitude to take and that adaptability, you have to be able to pivot because I like to think somebody, what some podcast I was listening to recently, it was talking about, if you think of like, um, What's it called roadblocks roadblocks in your life.
[:[01:13:12] Like, so I know now
[:[01:13:28]
[:[01:13:42] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:13:42] at all. No,
[:[01:14:05] It's not, it's doesn't make any sense. And now we have a model where we can see like, look, if we educate. People on the dangers, if we make sure it's available in safe and consistent forms that we know exactly what we're getting, we're going to reduce. I mean, like with weed, you're not, we're not reducing overdose deaths because there's no such thing.
[:[01:14:28] Riki Leona Irie: [01:14:28] be increasing type two diabetes on the people that do that
[:[01:14:35] Riki Leona Irie: [01:14:35] my God. Yeah. Everything is linked to some sort of obesity. Cause not everything. Excuse me. But so many things, the
[:[01:14:48] Now it's type two diabetes.
[:[01:14:55] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:14:55] little bit amount of time, then you grow and you're done, but [01:15:00] that is not good. And I don't really notice that honestly, like my wife's a teacher, I go into schools and I don't see nearly as many factors as I expect.
[:[01:15:20]Riki Leona Irie: [01:15:20] to carry when you're so young to know it's like, how long can your body just support that?
[:[01:15:48]I want to be wearing them, but then they mess with my jaw and I might, I can't, it
[:[01:15:55] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:15:55] to set up a page where we didn't have to wear them because they're not comfortable. And [01:16:00] so I'm like, oh, well I have Jeff run the sound and just doing my thing and, um, Right.
[:[01:16:26] Even if it's just a coincidence, I think it's fun and cool to think about. So, um, radar love is a song that I don't it's okay. It's a decent song. But when I was in high school, I didn't put it high enough on a ranking list that I wrote for the school paper. And me and Jeff got no fight about it. And I'm like, uh, we were drunk.
[:[01:17:02] That's
[:[01:17:19] It it, when you start paying attention, there's just more of it.
[:[01:17:30] Riki Leona Irie: [01:17:30] them. It's beautiful. And I just feel like when people say they just don't they're they can't believe that like, oh, they got, I'm like, oh my God, it's everywhere.
[:[01:17:53] Cause it's just, it's just beautiful. And it makes me feel like, okay, so I am in control of whatever's going on. So I'm going to [01:18:00] intentionally put out there that this is what I'm going to, this is what I want. And I am choosing to believe this is going to be manifesting into my life. Like, it's incredible.
[:[01:18:12] Riki Leona Irie: [01:18:12] love him except for the fact that he's a doctor because he's a character. I know
[:[01:18:20] Riki Leona Irie: [01:18:20] so don't go there with that with Dr.
[:[01:18:26] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:18:26] I honestly credit his meditation technique with teaching me how to pray correctly. And I really think that I prayed my daughter into existence because I couldn't have a baby. Like I still can't have a baby, but I couldn't make a girl have a baby. Um, for a couple years, like I was married before Melissa and we could not conceive a child and I tried and it just didn't work.
[:[01:19:03] Riki Leona Irie: [01:19:03] and then there was just one big one, but I don't know what happened.
[:[01:19:06] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:19:06] That concerned me. Oh, I, uh, I had accepted it and then I got together with Melissa and I just, and I like became a dad because I had Sawyer and Elsa and I just wanted it on another one. Like I wanted one that looked kind of like me. And so I, and I, I was so afraid to let myself actually even want that because of the fear of discipline appointment of rejection
[:[01:19:31] Yes. Yeah. That's what stops people from doing anything they want. Exactly. Oh, but
[:[01:19:49] So I hit like his actual voice, which I don't love. Yeah.
[:[01:20:04] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:20:04] brilliant. Yeah. Yeah. And the concepts he might be, he might get a little bit like, um, pseudoscience at times he references some things that I don't think he quite has a qualifications to reference, but neither do I, so I don't know any better.
[:[01:20:45] Picture the life you want go after it, don't get hung up in the weeds. Don't get hung up in stuff that is not going to help you. Right? Like petty squabbles with people who you don't like or who you don't even care about. Like things
[:[01:21:04] Anyway, if you focus on feeling good and not being a victim of some other motherfuckers bullshit, then you just, you can just let it go. Exactly. Yeah. People are the worst, but I love them. They really are. They're also the best. I know. It's like people.
[:[01:21:31] So like we walk around, we have accepted, like, I'm me, I'm Jeff. I think Jeff thoughts. And I see Jeff things and I live Jeff life, but it's, we're also like us, like the human organism, like an ant colony, an ant colony is a bunch of little individuals, a lot of their, their function in their, their ability to propagate as a species is, is dependent on their cooperation. And like the fact, if they're, if their nest floods, they all get into a big ball and they hold [01:22:00] together, which that's, that could be a cataclysmic event that could be a wipe out a whole colony situation, like a meteor, hit an earth and killing all the humans.
[:[01:22:26] When you described the, the being it's the consciousness kind of resides within the group, not, not completely in the . Individual, what is one ant? That's not even something that can exist, right? Humans are the same. Totally. And like, we have a little bit more autonomy and in our consciousness and we can branch out and kind of set up and be our own thing and build our own thing.
[:[01:23:08], if you could look at it outside of the time constraint, it's a, yeah. It's fun to think about stuff
[:[01:23:23] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:23:23] Right. Time is a thing that somehow I always end up bringing it up in.
[:[01:23:30] Riki Leona Irie: [01:23:30] weird. I love it. I mean, sometimes . I have a hard time with certain things that are just too unfathomable. Like I feel it's almost suffocating. Like yeah. When I think about how small I am compared to the size of the universe.
[:[01:23:42] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:23:42] concept of infinite infinity. Well,
[:[01:23:49] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:23:49] expansion is what gives me that feeling like I can deal with the thought that space can continues to go on and on and on that that's there, but I don't know how to wrap my mind around the [01:24:00] thought of it.
[:[01:24:26] Cause they're just going to give it back to him. And I, it was keeping me up at night and I was like, I couldn't figure it out. It was just like basic microeconomics. I was trying to figure out as a little kid. Um, I've always been like that.
[:[01:24:47] Boring and then acceptance of all, as soon
[:[01:24:54] right.
[:[01:25:12] You should not use sunscreen because obviously the sun can damage your skin. But some of the chemicals in the sunscreen, what do you do for sun protection? Green?
[:[01:25:35] So it's like,
[:[01:25:41] Riki Leona Irie: [01:25:41] skin, I mean, I do, but do I, like, it's been a long, I can't keep up with these young girls in school. Like I just know a physical sunscreen is going to be better for you. Something that is made from yes or titanium dioxide was the other one, some sort of side.
[:[01:26:21] I just bought something similar to that. Um, but is for the purpose of when I'm, I'd have yet to buy a paddleboard in Oregon, but I would go a lot with my dad and I lost my sunglasses. Oh, that sucks. I'm going to get those stupid, cheesy ones that float. And so I did buy one. I used it one time, but anyway, um,
[:[01:27:00] And it just, you hear it, but it doesn't block your ears. So you can still hear ambient noise. And I had a pair of them because one of the races I ran a couple years ago, it didn't allow headphones that were in your ears sneaky. Yeah. So I had them just like right here, like sit on your temples and you, but it it's weird.
[:[01:27:18] Riki Leona Irie: [01:27:18] I don't know if I would like that. It's kind of strange. Like when I took it off, you'd feel it still, like when you get off an airplane and you still feel like you're moving, you do.
[:[01:27:29] Riki Leona Irie: [01:27:29] night.
[:[01:27:33] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:27:33] it's cool. I don't know why we brought that up.
[:[01:27:48] That's translucent. That is something that is going to, it's not going to absorb into your skin. It's going to stay better, but I mean, just wear a hat.
[:[01:28:03] Riki Leona Irie: [01:28:03] if a man gets to Neutrogena,
[:[01:28:07] And I want to wear something that doesn't look, make me look less manly, but you know, maybe kill the glow a little bit. Get that shine knocked down.
[:[01:28:16] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:28:16] where to, where I look better on camera.
[:[01:28:32] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:28:32] pictures,
[:[01:28:35] So
[:[01:28:43] Riki Leona Irie: [01:28:43] and you'd just be too distracting to your guests
[:[01:28:52] I'm going to try. That's why, that's why I painted this room. Like, cause I wanted it to be a set and it's just, I didn't, I had no idea how much it goes into [01:29:00] just producing an audio only podcast. And it's just,
[:[01:29:08] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:29:08] something out.
[:[01:29:29] It's good. Like I wanted it to be a decent listing. Any listening?
[:[01:29:48] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:29:48] I get it mixed up. I'm sorry. I came up with the what's the fucking name and I say it wrong a lot. It's by it's by it's by. I don't remember. I had a hard time coming up with the name. Yeah. I thought of the [01:30:00] names for like six months and I had, I was convinced of some and then like the next day I'd be like, what was I thinking?
[:[01:30:09] Riki Leona Irie: [01:30:09] going. Oh, it's great. Yeah. Yeah. Little side projects that you name, like rambled by the river doing this thing. And do your other name I've thought about
[:[01:30:24] Riki Leona Irie: [01:30:24] whatever.
[:[01:30:28] Riki Leona Irie: [01:30:28] I have gotten some free shit in this community. Just because you just taught also talking to the right people. I'm not sending them people that way.
[:[01:30:38] Riki Leona Irie: [01:30:38] Um, maybe like, like six months worth of sandwiches for eyebrow for my other business.
[:[01:30:49] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:30:49] careful, I guess, up
[:[01:31:00] Pass back the same $20, like every month that's stupid. Yeah. So, yeah, but I definitely like the longer I do any of this, the more I realize my work is of high service and I like deserve to be compensated for what I do. And I am the only one in this area that does what I do, but I had a fuck ton of education and I really care about what I'm doing and this it's hard to,
[:[01:31:22] Yeah. It looks hard. How did, okay, so you might not even want to get into the details, but if you do, I'd love to hear about it because looking at the pictures of the before and after stuff that
[:[01:31:35] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:31:35] The, the after pictures look like natural, but like they don't look over done.
[:[01:31:52]Riki Leona Irie: [01:31:52] So it is a tattoo, so I am a type, a tattoo artists. That's awesome. Yeah. So it's, the modality [01:32:00] is quite a bit different.
[:[01:32:19] Like I use a hand tool. So when I do. I do permanent makeup, but within that, microblading is one of the things that I do. And that is that I am using a hand tool and I'm etching into the skin, the look of like a single hair. Wow. So
[:[01:32:44] Riki Leona Irie: [01:32:44] Yeah. I used to say it was like, like a sterile high-end like prison tattoo.
[:[01:33:04] Do you get, you have to get rid
[:[01:33:09] Riki Leona Irie: [01:33:09] must be kind of tricky. It would be if someone has a lot of hair, cause then I'm here. Like, fuck. And then I don't say that in front of them, but I've definitely been in situations where I'm like, well shit, like I'm the, who can, nobody can save me now.
[:[01:33:42] Right. So I guarantee it that we won't have to do a touch up for a year. So that is our
[:[01:33:56] Riki Leona Irie: [01:33:56] there. Thank you. No, it's okay. I'm looking at blood with [01:34:00] my microfiber cloth.
[:[01:34:05] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:34:05] I usually have done these at the beginning, but I was way too sweaty. I need to just sit still.
[:[01:34:11] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:34:11] do a lot
[:[01:34:18] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:34:18] Yeah, it could be
[:[01:34:27] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:34:27] Yeah. That's that's really hot. Oh, you know what? I bet it is. Service servicing here is horrible.
[:[01:34:44]Jeff Nesbitt: [01:34:44] Oh, that's another thing that's kind of, uh,
[:[01:34:48] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:34:48] service thing, I am curiously very bad with cell phones and electronics break around me. And I know it's just a coincidence,
[:[01:35:05] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:35:05] That's sometimes how it feels like if interesting.
[:[01:35:29] So like, I'll be neat trying to get my one of the time. It was like, I was trying to get, , my tires changed, like get new tires. And, um, I only had like two hours to do it. And I was, I don't remember what I was trying to do. I think I was, I had a podcast or something, but I was feeling very stressed and the whole place is computers wouldn't work.
[:[01:35:50] Riki Leona Irie: [01:35:50] But then also just you put out there that it's going to happen and it just universe gives you what you continue to put out there. Chicken or the egg. Yeah. I don't know. I mean, [01:36:00] I can reframe anything to try to figure out why it
[:[01:36:02] That's basically what I do all the time. Yeah. Yeah. Because I don't on, on a real scientific level. I don't believe that I have a magic power that kills wifi, but at the same time, in my own life, I notice all these coincidences where it just the worst possible time things just shit out, just like what is going
[:[01:36:23] How's this house we're just testing your resilience too. Yeah. I'm sticking to your goal.
[:[01:36:31] Riki Leona Irie: [01:36:31] there you go.
[:[01:36:36] Riki Leona Irie: [01:36:36] forget, uh, browse, tattooing Browns. That's right. That's right. Yeah. Um, Just try lots of colors. Yeah. That warm light is always going to be best, especially.
[:[01:36:53] Riki Leona Irie: [01:36:53] day. Well now, I mean like today I had one client. It was awesome at 11:00 AM [01:37:00] appointment. I went to the gym. Yeah. I love it. I usually I'll usually take two clients a day.
[:[01:37:21] And then after that, I, my goal is I don't see them for a minimum of a year. Wow. Yeah. So, I mean, you get, you get it out of it, you know? Yeah. Yeah. And especially with cost for that service done. So I start, so my mic bleeding starts at 500 and that includes the first appointment and the touch-up appointment.
[:[01:37:50] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:37:50] sounds like a premium service a little bit, and it's going to save you time and money in the long run total other
[:[01:37:57] Totally. And when you think about, I mean, when I have [01:38:00] clients that come to me every month and they're waxing their brows for $25 every time and or that go and, you know, lots of people get, I included get lashes done or hair extensions and all these things, and it's just like, it all, it all adds up. But just depending on like, what, which one do you want the most sort of thing, but it's, I'm grateful that I've always been very busy.
[:[01:38:28] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:38:28] Oh. So it is pretty exclusive clientele. That's gotta be kind of nice too, or you can kind of pick and choose. Yeah. Yeah,
[:[01:38:41] I think I did by accident. One of the best things for my booking is that I did create it that way, that I created a scarcity without realizing it with just opening up just a little bit at a time, because I just didn't with balancing Malama and this, and like, I just couldn't get too far ahead. But then what happened?
[:[01:39:12] But I think it's also, it's a good thing. If you can't get in with your tattoo artist for awhile and it's like, why are they, why are they free? I totally agree. Yeah. So it's worth the wait sort of thing.
[:[01:39:26] Riki Leona Irie: [01:39:26] no, just received. Never like done. I mean, I technically it's fun.
[:[01:39:33] Riki Leona Irie: [01:39:33] Yeah. You should try it out. Tell you could give
[:[01:39:39] Riki Leona Irie: [01:39:39] I'd be like, all I could do would be an eyebrow on someone, Kevin spot on one of his tattoos. So he, um, by trade was a welder. He's not doing that much anymore, but he literally. He had a piece of skin, you know, that came off.
[:[01:40:07] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:40:07] ate a lot. They do. Mine are very good at now for sure.
[:[01:40:19] Riki Leona Irie: [01:40:19] Yeah. They're pretty old. How old are you now? 32. Oh, you're young. I know. Yeah.
[:[01:40:33] Riki Leona Irie: [01:40:33] No, I don't mean it like that. I'm sorry. That did come off bad. No, I just mean like I've
[:[01:40:44] Riki Leona Irie: [01:40:44] better. Oh, it's so funny. I mean, you just need to wear sunscreen
[:[01:40:49] And then I wear a hat if you know I didn't today because I wanted my hair to get some highlights, but usually I do where you sent in. Yeah , [01:41:00] actually on your
[:[01:41:03] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:41:03] Cause I liked the way it looks and I'm not going to let anybody make me feel bad about it also.
[:[01:41:09] Oh yeah. Yeah. I can tell in any pictures I've seen that sometimes
[:[01:41:15] Riki Leona Irie: [01:41:15] Ease your beard and your hair slightly different. It seems warmer here. What is that? I don't know. It's like different hair.
[:[01:41:27] We'll put the curlies down here and put the bottom half of the face covered in that shit too.
[:[01:41:43] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:41:43] on Melissa's list. I got to make sure to get back to that.
[:[01:41:48] Riki Leona Irie: [01:41:48] I would be like, okay, man, these are not my hairs. Like this is from your fucking beard. As long as it's clean
[:[01:41:57] Riki Leona Irie: [01:41:57] and it's broken up. It is so gross takes [01:42:00] over and it'd be caught up with like cat hair and it just looks like a tumbleweed of disgustingness.
[:[01:42:07] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:42:07] I, when I was a kid, I had a thing about hair. Like it was, I found it repulsive. If it was off of somebody's head, like find a hair in my food at a restaurant, I was not able to eat the food, which now I'll just pluck it out and eat the food.
[:[01:42:23] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:42:23] Yeah. Was that baked in or did that just fall off pulling
[:[01:42:33] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:42:33] brakes. There's still a piece of it in there.
[:[01:42:41] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:42:41] the plate. I hate that too. Gordon Ramsey would never allow that shit. Oh,
[:[01:42:47] Do you cook? Well, I eat, but are you into food? Sure, me too.
[:[01:42:54]Riki Leona Irie: [01:42:54] yeah. I feel like a lot of that too. I feel I've, I've really just changed my relationship with food. I feel like that [01:43:00] sounds like very, uh, a girl that has like worked through her shit with food, but really, like, I think that that has been a struggle for me there to work through.
[:[01:43:10] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:43:10] That's something that we need to survive. But also if you have too much butter, if you get a weird relationship with it, it can be dangerous.
[:[01:43:22] Yeah. But I'm not going to like beat myself up, but we usually, like, I love going to brunch. We like, we brunch it usually every Sunday and I will full on have a cheat meal and enjoy every second of it. So yeah. But we do cook quite a bit. Um, but it's just like same stuff. Like last night, I'm just big salad and piece of protein.
[:[01:44:01] I was told that.
[:[01:44:07] Riki Leona Irie: [01:44:07] it's interesting. I'm not a big, I, I, he could eat. It's a steak every night and I'm just, I'm fine.
[:[01:44:18] Riki Leona Irie: [01:44:18] Yeah. For sure.
[:[01:44:40] So apparently there's something about the bacteria in cows there. So if it's not cooked enough and like his gut wasn't ready for that. And it, to this day, it was one of the worst nights of our life. Like he was so sick all night and I would just barely move the covers. And he was just like shivering and just like his body just battling, oh my God.
[:[01:45:12] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:45:12] yeah, that colony growing in his stomach. Yeah. No, that stuff is intriguing too.
[:[01:45:30] Riki Leona Irie: [01:45:30] Did you watch that thing? The gut brain, brain gut gut health, something on Netflix recently about the second think I
[:[01:45:37] Riki Leona Irie: [01:45:37] but
[:[01:45:38] Riki Leona Irie: [01:45:38] Books basically. Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting.
[:[01:45:54] Riki Leona Irie: [01:45:54] brain. Totally. That intuition. Yeah.
[:[01:45:57] Okay. Well, let's get to the ball [01:46:00] thing before we forget. So how did you end up with no hair? I mean,
[:[01:46:11] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:46:11] That was funny. I love those movies.
[:[01:46:17] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:46:17] It's the carrot is the charisma of the guys in the group until they're actually friends.
[:[01:46:25] Riki Leona Irie: [01:46:25] he was on the toilet and now he also kind of a fat fuck. I mean his dad. That is crazy. Yeah. I feel like he was so talented.
[:[01:46:42] I did. I loved wild bunnies and see, but I still follow Steve-O on social media.
[:[01:46:52] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:46:52] amazing a whole new career. He's doing standup now. I think he's on he tours. Nice. Yeah. I think he still like breaks it beer bottles with his [01:47:00] face
[:[01:47:01] Something or, yeah, I saw something recently did something equivalent to the snorting of the wasabi. Like it's like, why would you do that? Yeah, no, we don't need it. We
[:[01:47:14] Riki Leona Irie: [01:47:14] Anyway, the bald thing. Um, I just, I, it was on my bucket list of life that at some point I wanted to shave my head and I was at, so this was what was this?
[:[01:47:45] So St Baldrick's is, I don't completely know the whole part of it, but they are a foundation where they will have these big head shade of shave events and you just, you donate money, raise money, and you put it in, you all shave your head together. And it's just, I don't think it's something [01:48:00] like that. Yeah, it depends.
[:[01:48:07] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:48:07] Yeah. I mean you can make something else out of a pillows
[:[01:48:20] I think back in the day they would, they had to shave their pubes because of like lice and so they would put a merkin on so that you were still,
[:[01:48:37] Riki Leona Irie: [01:48:37] Yes, because it would be the same color.
[:[01:48:40] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:48:40] you've got to have the consistency.
[:[01:48:49] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:48:49] know if they do it like in Canada they do what
[:[01:48:54] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:48:54] so why? And I know they still do in great Britain. Um,
[:[01:49:03] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:49:03] like they wear robes?
[:[01:49:22] Riki Leona Irie: [01:49:22] Those two things.
[:[01:49:27] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:49:27] Yeah. Life is definitely better now. Maggie has improved situation.
[:[01:49:55] Cause this was a few years ago, but basically it was like he was going through like cancer [01:50:00] treatment now. And I did, my connection to them was my client was his aunt. And we had this beautiful rock wall that was built at Malama and, um, the guy that built it, do I call him a Mason or someone that deals with rock stuff is really beautiful.
[:[01:50:47] And so that's what we did. So I set it like a little less than a month, I think, between GoFundMe and like cash, we gave them maybe like a little under four grand or something just, yeah, I just, I [01:51:00] said, when I, when we raised five, a thousand dollars, I'm going to shave my head. I'm like, well, I'm going to shave my head either way, but I wanted to like set it out there.
[:[01:51:23] I did it at salon BOM in Astoria, and I love the girls there. And, , what was really beautiful is that like all of my friends, my super close friends were there and Kevin was there and everybody like took one shave of my head and it can make me emotional right now thinking about it. Cause that was just, and I feel like also, um, so much has shifted from even that happening.
[:[01:51:51] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:51:51] out again. You kept shaving it.
[:[01:52:03] Like I'm not just losing my hair and hopefully I'm not in a situation one day that I do. Um, but it was just transformative, especially because I am in this industry where everything is about our looks. And I feel like a lot of the reasons I came into this industry was because like, I'm trying to change the way I look or something like feeling insecure about that stuff.
[:[01:52:44] And I remember thinking like, if, if Kevin laid, like if he looked at the back of my head at laying in bed, he would think he was laying next to a guy. Like I would think of these weird things and think like, he's, he'll, he'll be on attracted to me. Like, what do people think of me? And just all that? [01:53:00] Oh yeah.
[:[01:53:15] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:53:15] was going to say, did you get like compliments on your eyebrows?
[:[01:53:20] Riki Leona Irie: [01:53:20] like, I think that I played up the makeup makeup artist part of me for a while, because I felt like I had to,
[:[01:53:33] Riki Leona Irie: [01:53:33] And then, and that's kind of like a fucked up thing too, right.
[:[01:53:55] And, and something I would say to people because especially women would be like, oh my God, I could never do that. [01:54:00] But like, What is your head shave? Like what is something in your life that you really want to do? But you're scared of doing, cause it could be something completely different. It could be taking yourself out to dinner by yourself, like going to a
[:[01:54:12] So many people are afraid of being alone.
[:[01:54:30] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:54:30] I'm fully an introvert, but I'm obsessed with people.
[:[01:54:50] I liked what you're talking about with the head shaving about how it was just like, almost like it got you to your base model. Like if you can be happy in, in your just most [01:55:00] basic form, you'd be happy with any alterations you can come up with. Totally. Because I do, I had shaved thing often. Like I have my whole life when I was a kid that was like my, my favorite haircut.
[:[01:55:36] No. One's going to criticize you for your choices you made, because it's just like, I don't have a choice of how I wore my hair today. Right. I don't have any hair. Totally. And it's, it's nice. I do it. I've always done it when I was like ready for a fresh time, like a new chapter to start don't stagnant or something.
[:[01:55:54] Riki Leona Irie: [01:55:54] Yeah. I would definitely say that's where I was at. And really it's like, I'm alive. My [01:56:00] hair is dead. Like I don't, I don't need it. Yeah. But it's already dead. Totally set up there dead. Oh, the problem is like, no, I really give no fucks. And I've just like, I let it grow.
[:[01:56:27] It's
[:[01:56:35] Riki Leona Irie: [01:56:35] It's like endless possibilities for sure. I just feel like. I learned that lesson.
[:[01:57:04] It looked like I was trying to prove I was a girl. So I just like didn't deal with it. Yeah. But um, yeah, it
[:[01:57:15] Riki Leona Irie: [01:57:15] Something I don't really know. Yeah.
[:[01:57:25]Um, let me just check the Melissa list one more time to make sure I don't let you out of here without covering it.
[:[01:57:47] Riki Leona Irie: [01:57:47] would say like meditation is the ultimate self-care, a hundred percent.
[:[01:58:07] I do a lot of like long walks by myself,
[:[01:58:14] Riki Leona Irie: [01:58:14] for sure. So, yeah. And gratitude, gratitude.
[:[01:58:22] Riki Leona Irie: [01:58:22] is important a hundred percent. And not just saying it, but like embodying that like practicing gratitude, like literally picking up little things like, right.
[:[01:58:38] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:58:38] Yeah. Walking. It was like, I'm able to just move myself across this earth just from my own wanting to do so. And not everyone can do that.
[:[01:59:15] And she said like, and this is the honor system. If you have a really bad like thought, like you better pick up a big rock. And I, by the time I got to the top of that thing, I mean, I had so much weight for the least rock, like, yes. So that was part of it, dude. Then you have to go and then you like pour the rocks out.
[:[01:59:49] Jeff Nesbitt: [01:59:49] Well, yeah. And even when you're not thinking about it, because you're when you, you're in the act of choosing the rock, picking it up, looking at it, putting it in the backpack. Yeah. That's when the thought is actually available in, [02:00:00] oh, you're aware of it. But once you put the rock in the backpack, you kind of move on to thinking about other stuff it's still there.
[:[02:00:06] Riki Leona Irie: [02:00:06] carrying your weight and you're just not, and you can easily get to it again. Yeah. Oh. But I was even mentioning that the only reason I'm mentioning that is because literally hiking saddle mountain. Yeah. Crossing us was a man with no legs. Wow. With crutches, with his dog. And it was just like good morning sort of thing.
[:[02:00:42] Jeff Nesbitt: [02:00:42] We're all on the world is full of beauty and pain.
[:[02:00:50] Totally. Um, so we've been in here a couple of hours now. That's crazy. I know it's gone by really quickly. And I just wanted to give you an opportunity before we start wrapping up. Is there [02:01:00] anything, anything you wanted to cover or anything? Any questions you have for me or,
[:[02:01:08] It's just, um, there's some snackies from Hawaii and there is a little funkshway dragon that I thought you could use into your space. Thank you so much. I don't know why it's definitely from an, you know, the Asian market and he gave me whatever box was available. This goes
[:[02:01:27] Riki Leona Irie: [02:01:27] I'm not super well versed on the dragon, but I do know that it is supposed to encompass more masculine energy and you want to keep it not above your eyeline, right? Like, so it's not more powerful than you. And there is something about it being either facing east or in the east corner, because that is going to, it's basically supposed to bring you like right on goodness.
[:[02:01:55] Jeff Nesbitt: [02:01:55] yeah. I'll look up some of the symbolism there and make sure I got it in the right spot. [02:02:00] Cool energy flow. Yeah. I don't, I don't want him thinking he's above me. Totally.
[:[02:02:06] Yeah. One of those, I just figured your kids would think it was so fun to the popcorn that you put the mochi crunch in. It's basically like just a bunch of seaweed and crunchiness and then, oh my God. It's delicious. They, you can get it all the movie theaters in Hawaii. My kids are
[:[02:02:23] They will, they will eat that. That's awesome. Oh, these are my favorite, right?
[:[02:02:29] Jeff Nesbitt: [02:02:29] So good. Yeah. Are they like a Hawaii? Native food, like, do they grow there? Um, they have, no, I
[:[02:02:43] Yeah. People think that I lived in like a hut on the beach. Like it's not like
[:[02:02:48] Riki Leona Irie: [02:02:48] coconuts, which actually I did harvest coconuts for my parents reinforcing stereotypes. My dad planted coconut trees. Good too. Yeah. Yeah. I think those are the leading ones. Okay. Yeah. They're [02:03:00] going to give you that, like in the back big
[:[02:03:03] Yeah. Fan of sour candy. Yeah. Thank you so much. That's really nice.
[:[02:03:14] Jeff Nesbitt: [02:03:14] You're welcome to come back. Anytime you want to start your podcast, I would love to be a guest. I love it.
[:[02:03:20] Riki Leona Irie: [02:03:20] I'm not, I'm proud of myself. I love it, dude. This was so fun. It was really fun. I'm really
[:[02:03:27] Riki Leona Irie: [02:03:27] Yeah. I was like, when I go in is the intro music going to be playing? Cause I feel like that. So that song now I want to share with you, like I have, I've formed a positive memory with your intro music because it reminds me of my 7:00 AM walks in Hawaii by myself and I listened to that song.
[:[02:03:47] Jeff Nesbitt: [02:03:47] I'm glad. Yeah, that's what I was going for with that song. That's what made me feel good when I was listening to it. I was like, yeah, totally. Anyway, thank you so much for the candy treats and the J dragon. This has [02:04:00] been such a delight. You're welcome to come back anytime you want.
[:[02:04:08] Riki Leona Irie: [02:04:08] Um, no. Yeah, be kind, be grateful. That's
[:[02:04:20]
