Imagine becoming president of a successful construction business at just 19 years old, guided by the wisdom of a grandfather who'd built fortunes throughout his life. That's the incredible journey Santino, a young entrepreneur, shares with us in today's episode. Through discipline and resilience, he transformed himself from a high school video gamer to the president of a thriving company and a dedicated Jiu Jitsu practitioner.
Santino opens up about the pivotal role his grandfather played in shaping his work ethic, as well as the martial art that rebuilt his self-confidence. We dive into the challenges he faced as a young president, including a costly mistake on a public works project, and the tough lessons he learned along the way. We also discuss his experience competing in a unique Jiu Jitsu tournament that required participants to smoke a joint before each match!
Throughout our conversation, Santino's story reminds us that determination, commitment, and the support of loved ones can lead to incredible success. His advice to seize opportunities and express gratitude highlights the importance of recognizing the people who help us along our journey. Don't miss this inspiring episode, and remember to subscribe, like, and share this podcast with those you know.
https://linktr.ee/Thehassleofhair
Imagine becoming president of a successful construction business at just 19 years old, guided by the wisdom of a grandfather who'd built fortunes throughout his life. That's the incredible journey Santino, a young entrepreneur, shares with us in today's episode. Through discipline and resilience, he transformed himself from a high school video gamer to the president of a thriving company and a dedicated Jiu Jitsu practitioner.
Santino opens up about the pivotal role his grandfather played in shaping his work ethic, as well as the martial art that rebuilt his self-confidence. We dive into the challenges he faced as a young president, including a costly mistake on a public works project, and the tough lessons he learned along the way. We also discuss his experience competing in a unique Jiu Jitsu tournament that required participants to smoke a joint before each match!
Throughout our conversation, Santino's story reminds us that determination, commitment, and the support of loved ones can lead to incredible success. His advice to seize opportunities and express gratitude highlights the importance of recognizing the people who help us along our journey. Don't miss this inspiring episode, and remember to subscribe, like, and share this podcast with those you know.
https://linktr.ee/Thehassleofhair
I want to find people that are living a different kind of life, a life that they love, a life that's worth something. Me and my wife went after me being a fighter my nickname's the hassle her wanting to be a hair stylist, cosmetologist I don't even know how to say it and so that's why we called it the hassle there. Things didn't work out like that for us, but we entered into a new life, an entrepreneur life, a life that we're free in and a life that we love. I hope you guys enjoy the show. I want to find other people doing that too. This is the hassle of hair. Guys enjoy it. Welcome to the hassle of hair, or welcome back to the hassle of hair. Our first guest is Santino.
Speaker 1:I first met Santino through Jiu Jitsu. First thing I thought when I met him was Anifal Leinman. He's a mountain of a man. He's huge and not really someone you want to be thrown around by right. It was an honor to interview him. Santino was 19 when he became the president of construction business through the guidance of his grandpa and the help of his grandpa, and now he's 26 years old, probably the most successful 26 year old I've ever met, and that was an honor to interview him. One thing that stood out to me was when I first met Santino, i thought confidence. I thought this man walked around with a lot of confidence and after talking to him, i guess that wasn't the case. It was something he had to build up to and it was inspiring to listen to. It was awesome to interview him.
Speaker 1:You're going to notice that there is a little bit of echo. I have new mics. I'm really just basically I'm working with them. I mean, i'm learning them. They're not like the other mics. These are wireless. I'll get better with them. But sorry about the echo guys and I hope you guys enjoy the episode. I'm going to be doing things a little bit differently. I want to make this more of a documentary style. This is my first crack at it and it's going to get better as we go with each of us that we have. I want to start traveling. I want to start getting out there and finding people that are living a life that's different, a life that they love and a life that's meaningful to them, because it's rare and I really can't just stay in the Bay Area or the Central Valley. I need to find people that are around the world and that's my goal.
Speaker 1:First up is Santino. I hope you guys enjoy the episode. Guys, before we get into that, please subscribe. If you're new to this, please subscribe. Please like, share. If you know Santino, share his story. Share with somebody that you know that knows him that would love to listen. Get this man's story out there.
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Speaker 1:I hope you guys enjoyed the episode. Remember, subscribe, like all that stuff, and talk to you guys soon. Peace. What's up Santino? What's up Dan? What's up, dan? I met you a while ago through Jiu Jitsu. I just want to have you on just talk about your story, about what you've done so far at 26 years old, before we get into that. What's the everyday weekday for Santino? What do you do on the weekdays?
Speaker 2:So Monday through Friday I work. We have a family business, we do construction as well. So Monday I wake up, typically around 5.36. Get ready to shower the whole deal, get in the truck and then I start visiting all my job sites, one job site to the other. Typically by around noon I'm either done with meetings or I have a meeting. So then I go to the office. Pretty much work my day in the office until around 6. Paperwork, scheduling, whatever material ordering, finish at 6, walk to Jiu Jitsu 6.30. That goes to around 8. And then drive home 30 minute drive. By that time it was like 9 o'clock. Just go to sleep and do it all over again. Monday through Friday.
Speaker 1:And where did this? so you're 26. At 26, where did this drive come from? Where did this motivation to set your own schedule and the business and where did that come from? Where did it all start?
Speaker 2:So it started, it goes back, it goes back, it goes back to high school. So when I was a sophomore in school, my mom and I hadn't gotten into a big argument And one thing led to another and then I ended up moving And I moved with my grandfather. So I went with my grandfather, started going to school and the whole thing, get ready to high school. And he would be like you have to either do good in school, go to college, or you're going to go to work. There's no other choice. He's very disciplined. He was ex-Marine, ex-judo Olympic coach, the whole deal Coaches USA Judo, so you can imagine that he's super strict.
Speaker 1:And before you got to your grandpa's, were you like? were you smart book smart, were you No?
Speaker 2:I was like a huge video gamer. Believe it or not When I was in freshman year, sophomore year, I wanted to be like a professional call of duty player And I figured one day in life I'll figure out what I want to do. I have thoughts of architect and stuff like that, So I never really hit the books. I just wanted to go to school, get the homework done at lunchtime So I can go home and play video games. I was like one of those little stuck to the TV nerds.
Speaker 1:Were you as motivated as you are now?
Speaker 2:No, not even close, not even close. Yeah, we never struggled. There's people who struggled a lot harder than we did. So my family gave me a good living. I never really had to skip a meal or anything like that. I got other people I had to go through. So living with my family and them, that was so what they cared about. I just wanted to play games, i just wanted to go to school, i wanted to hang out with friends. So I was never really motivated like that with the school.
Speaker 1:So you went to your grandpa's and you started seeing the work at the key head.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So when I went with my grandpa he would tell me, like I said, you're either going to go to work or you got to go to school. So I went to school Again, didn't take school serious, so I just wanted to screw around, play with my friends, hang out, and then I found wrestling. But during all that time I would always go to Judo at San Jose State. My grandfather got me into that So I would train there, go to school, and that was him pushing me. He never let me go to high school parties, he never let me go to senior ditch day and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2:So, seeing that he worked every day and telling me you have to work every day, you have to wrestle, you have to do Judo, you have to do something. Keep that mind busy. At first it was like a night and day from living with my mom. Then I lived with my grandpa and it's like okay. Well, now I got to wake up sharp six o'clock because that's the time he would get up and go to work, make my bed. He would take me to school During the season. He would make me run in the mornings So I would be jogging and he'd be following me with a car and then come home, shower, change and go to school.
Speaker 2:But if it wasn't wrestling season, any tournament season, it was just wake up at six, make your bed and wait for your grandma Take you to school. Yeah, you know, most people at age like walk to school. whatever. I was up at six, six, 15.
Speaker 1:I had to just wait because that's what he was telling me.
Speaker 2:You're just going to wait to go to school. You're not going to go to sleep. So at the time it didn't make sense. Now, instinctively, I wake up early and there's no problem. It's like today Sunday coffee crew, right, I wake up at six without an alarm. During the week 5.30,. I need the alarm, But if I'm sleeping in six o'clock I'm up. Now. I'm thankful for that, And then you have more hours in the day.
Speaker 1:And what so? is that what? what do you think it taught you Like? it taught you like a work ethic to get up on time. But what did the the getting up at 6.15 and waiting like when did it click for you? It was like oh, there's valuable time.
Speaker 2:I have waiting. Self discipline Yeah, he showed me. That showed me, just, you need self discipline. I didn't understand then why. I understand now. You know, in life you need self discipline to do something you don't want to do, but you know you have to, you know. So that gets to the to the work thing, now that you asked me right.
Speaker 2:So with the business, you know, the reason I got into this thing is I didn't do good in school and high school. I then didn't go to junior college. I didn't get accepted to no colleges. Some of our grandpa said, okay, you're going to go to work, so I go. Okay. I thought, well, maybe I'm going to have a summer off and then I go to work in August, like a school schedule in high school. The day after I graduated on the stage he woke me up at 5.30 to go to work. Yeah. So I was like, okay, that was a huge like slap to the face for reality. But I was like, okay, well, whatever, you know I'm not going to say no to this guy because he's just, he's mean. You know, he's very loving, he's very mean and he's very disciplined, even more than the now. Right. So then right away I went to work and I was working in the field as a laborer. But he had a very small crew, it was maybe three guys that he had, so this was his own business, this was his business.
Speaker 2:So, mckinn, our company, was started in 2012 by my grandfather. He triggered into telling me when I was in high school, like, hey, i'm going to start this company And basically, unless you do really good and you can keep going in school, it's going to end up being for you. You've got to take it serious, you know. So he started in 2012 and I started working as a laborer on a small crew and he put me with one form in and moved me to another form in And after about a year and a half, he started teaching me. Okay, he would pull out the blueprints, plans, we call them plans And he would say, okay, this is how you read this, this is how you read that. Teaching me, you know.
Speaker 2:And at the time I was like, oh, grandpa, it's three o'clock, you know, i don't want to be. I just worked eight hours. I don't want to be looking at plans in your office. It's three. I did my eight. I want to go home, you know? No, no, no. He said bullshit. You're going to read these plans with me. So I go, okay. So he was showing me how to read these plans, how to do a takeoff, how to measure, check in scales, the whole thing. Then, when I get into the field, if he had questions and he couldn't be at the job, he'd call me and he'd say look at this plan sheet. What does this plan say? So then I thought, oh, i flipped to it. Oh shit, now I know why he was having me do that with him, so he can utilize me in the field right During my eight hours. I go, okay, whatever time goes on About another year now.
Speaker 2:That time I graduated school, 17, 18, maybe 19 years old. He said, okay, i'm going to pull you out of the field Because during that whole year or two years, every day was laying asphalt, pouring concrete, forming concrete, demolition, pouring concrete, paving. It's like every day. It's just what we call una chinga, you know, like it's just a beating on your body, you know. But at a young age you endure it. You know you're enduring, but it still sucks.
Speaker 2:I don't care what, anybody says Oh yeah, blue collar dudes no, waking up at 530, laying asphalt in the summer in South County, that's terrible After that much time. He then put me into the office And at first I thought, okay, i want to start being an office man and the whole deal. Now he had me collecting tags and matching them with invoices. It was like the most boring eight hours. You're getting a material tag and you're finding the invoice and you're matching it and you're putting it away. So I went from like blue collar work in the field, you know all the dudes to then clipping papers and like filing them away. I was like I don't want to do this Grand play. It's not going to be too bad, basically too bad. You're going to do it. You're helping your grandma.
Speaker 2:I thought, okay, well, as time went on, i started to see what materials were costing on these jobs And I was like, okay, well, i know that these guys are pouring concrete. This is not much of concrete cost. Then we started establishing what's called a job cost And the job cost is like every day you go to work, you spend labor, you spend material, you use your equipment, you're buying whatever that all costs And at the end of the day. Do you generate enough income to cover that cost to make money? So we had to do that every day.
Speaker 1:And doing this right Like what 19?
Speaker 2:19, maybe 18.
Speaker 1:And did you have friends? Did you see what a regular 19 year old was doing? Because that's not. I mean it's normal, but it's not. It's rare. It's rare, It's rare.
Speaker 2:And yeah, i had a lot of friends. Luckily, my group of friends were working guys. You know, like one of my good friends, ricardo Abraham, all them, they were working with their dads or whatever. We were getting a job. But other people in my class at that time I did see like, oh, you guys are having kickbacks, you guys are going to these parties. You know that I never got to really enjoy. I would enjoy concerts, you know, but at the same time grandpa was still strict. Even though I graduate in a Mexican household, like that, you're still not a man just because you're 18, you know. So he's like you're not going to these parties, i don't care if you have your own car. No, you know. So I thought, okay. So seeing people my age going to these parties, going to all these different places, and it's like, oh well, i'm stuck in Gilroy working every single day.
Speaker 2:You know we work, the Bay Area, but in general I'm stuck here just working. So at the time I didn't really I didn't like it, but I was beginning to understand. I was beginning to understand because, seeing the job costs running the work, at that time you started talking about. You know, keep this up, this is going to get passed on to you, you know. So you have to understand what's going on here. Okay, another big thing on my grandfather that you should know is he's like the foundation of our family, like I don't know if just my family, i'm sure most families you have one person who everybody relies on, maybe, maybe, but my family, we all grew up trusting my grandfather, relying on my grandfather, on his guidance. He kind of guided the family, you know.
Speaker 2:So, seeing that he's, you know, older. He's 83 now, back then maybe 76, 77. And then my mom was always kind of sick. She has this thing called Fibromyalgia and then my parents split. So my dad's been in my life but not as close as I would want him to be. You know he's just kind of doing this thing in San Bernardino We were close but not like that. So seeing, okay, i'm the oldest, my mom's sick, my grandfather's older, i do have to pay attention. I have, because when he goes, who's going to do this? Who's going to take care of my mom and my sister? Who's going to take care of my grandma, my brother, at the time, like, who's going to do it? We have no, we live off of him. You know his guidance, his support.
Speaker 1:And you were. This was you were thinking like this at 19?, 18, 19. And thinking like, okay, once he's gone. Then I got a feeling that rule Exactly And not. You were thinking that at night Like what? what do you think gave you that mindset? Cause I was at 19,. I was thinking about like fucking, i don't know drugs and and drinking, You know I wasn't thinking like that. What do you think drove you? Is it seen, just like your grandpa, being successful?
Speaker 2:We'll stop on my part and we'll go back to my grandpa a little bit. So my grandfather and his lifetime it's rumored, you know, but it's it's truth. But there's like, oh people right, that he's became a millionaire three times in his life. And it's true because there's stories and stuff that I've heard you know. But sometimes people fluff other stories that are here with my grandfather and sometimes people cut them down. But the truth that I know is that he's he's really made himself up, lost it all, made himself up, lost it all.
Speaker 2:And you don't see that often, especially in business, and you don't experience that at a young age. You don't see this businessman, very wealthy, loses everything, makes it back. You have to have a special mindset to do that. You have to be so disciplined, you have to have self-confidence in yourself that you can make it back. So I thought, okay, well, if my grandpa's doing that, he's doing something right in life Because he enjoyed his life, He worked this whole life. He still works with me today, but it's that drive that kind of kept him going to be able to give my grandmother and my mom the life that they've had. So saying, okay, this guy knows what he's doing. I have to be paying attention to what he's doing. I kind of forgot what she was asking.
Speaker 1:I was just asking what gave you that mindset at a young age? Because having someone that's successful in front of you, being that young of an age and then knowing having that attitude, that motivation, because I'm trying to figure out, where does that motivation come from? That's what part of this podcast is. It's like where does someone's worth, that ethic, come from? Because everybody gets a chance. Everybody's born, everybody gets a chance to do this life thing. What's happening with people that are successful? that's different from an everyday joke. And that motivation you have, where do you get it from? And it's sounding like at a young age you had it And maybe it's just seeing your grandpa going from not having the business to having a good business bad business, good business And maybe it's that.
Speaker 2:It's that you know he had a when we were young. We I was born into the time where my grandfather was wealthy, you know. So being young and going to these nice Italian restaurants a couple of times a week and driving in a Mercedes with him, it was very nice. And around fifth grade or so my grandfather got sued by the city of San Francisco, and that's a whole other deal. But long story short is. He spent basically all the money he had to protect himself to end up having a house arrest for about six months, right, but the city was after him and he only had about 20,000 left to his name.
Speaker 2:Luckily, my mom was married to a gentleman at the time who could take care of us, so we were able to still live comfortable, but nothing similar to what it was like when we were really young And I kind of saw it, but I didn't understand because I was third grade, second grade. But then I do remember my grandfather leaving, you know his beautiful house. You know we moved in. My stepdad was able to take care of that And he ended up moving with my grandmother's niece And it's like, okay, in my life this is the first time I see that drop in his life. You know that he's gone through so many times. But I was young so you know I watched and I would visit him and the whole deal.
Speaker 2:And then he started a concrete company with my uncle. They worked together for so long and then they disbanded but my uncle kept it successful, right, he has concrete work. He does a lot of concrete work for cities and stuff. I thought, okay, well, look what my grandpa just did for my uncle, you know, in a matter of five years, right. And I was like, okay, well, my grandpa's a smart guy. Then, to get led to moving out living with grandpa. Then he starts this company. It's like I'm going to hold on to this because this is an opportunity in life you don't have all the time. And along the way he's teaching me the self-discipline and, you know, trying to establish some you know self-confidence in myself that I was very much lacking at the time. So he's just really grooming me, trying to groom me to become a good young man and a dependent young man, you know.
Speaker 1:So I said I'm going to fly, You're going to get a good go at it.
Speaker 2:Don't worry about it. So that that goes. So now you understand how when I move with him, he's growing with him. We were very small. Yeah, you know, we did five figures a year the first year as a construction company. You know my grandpa, so it's like okay.
Speaker 2:So as time goes on, i become a project manager. So as a project manager I'm dispatching the guys to work, ordering materials, checking plans, my grandfather's bidding the work, sending the bills, collecting the money with grandma Just grandma, grandpa and me in the office. That was it. And we had a little office, not even an office, there's no. You walk in and you're in my grandma's desk, you know. And then that was it. So it was grandma's desk, grandpa's desk, and I had like a little half desk where I had my little computer and that's where I was clipping all the papers and trying to do work off of. Yeah, so we're there, project managing, running work, and we start building little by little. And I never questioned my grandpa's decisions because it wasn't my place, i was just a project manager.
Speaker 2:But as time went on, then he teaches me how to estimate right. So once I learned how to estimate the work, run the work, run the cost for the work, understand where the material price is going and your bills and collecting and so on. Well, at that point you kind of trickled into every aspect of a construction industry. You're as you're finding the work, you're bidding the work, you're obtaining the work, you're doing the contracting. That's everything that I had to do Run the work, order the materials, send the invoices for the work, collect the money, give it to the bookkeeper. You're doing the whole cycle. but he taught me that in increments. So once I was doing that, then it says okay, now you're going to bid this job and you're going to run this job, you're going to collect the money for the job.
Speaker 1:Now, were you always? were you strict and disciplined? at that time he was teaching you Were there some mishaps, Like big mishaps.
Speaker 2:Yeah, big mishaps. Um, i was not like a, a locked on good boy, neither You know. I would try to go out late night when I had the chance to sneak out, you know I would go to once I turned 21, strip clubs, bars. I was like, oh boy, i'm out of here spending my whole paycheck on a Friday night because I know I'm going to go. I live with a grandma and grandpa on my phone's paid. I'm going to just go to work. I have a gas card.
Speaker 2:You know grandma can make me lunch, you know. So that's not good. You know you can't do that kind of shit. So when my grandpa first found out, he was like Hey, go to Home Depot and buy a gunny sack, is that go, grandpa, i don't, can I have your card? He's like you just got paid on Friday. It's Monday. I'm like, oh, i give it to this Fripper in the city, you know, sorry, right. So even he's, he can't be doing that kind of shit.
Speaker 2:You know, a man always has money on him. A man always has money in the bank, always has cash on. You got to be a man. He's like this girl is walking around with your money and you're over here asking your grandpa for money, right? So when he told me that I was like, okay, that like I have to now be a little bit more self-disciplined myself and not just spend it on video games, weed, whatever, you know and this is super alcohol, can't be doing that kind of shit. So there was always those kinds of mishaps, you know, and maybe getting in trouble. You know the whole deal, everybody has it. I can't really think of just one situation that's exact, but there was always ups and downs and around 2016. So that means I would be 19 years old. He thought that I've worked enough to take the president role of the company. Yeah, at 19?, at 19. 2016.
Speaker 1:And this is still a five-figure construction? No, no, so by 2019 year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so at night. The company started in 2012, 2016. I was born in 96. I think that puts me at 19. Yeah Right, because I'm supposed to be good with math.
Speaker 1:I can't even do math.
Speaker 2:But whatever I was around that age 2016, whatever I was, the company had a licensee because my grandfather's license had expired. So it was a very close family friend of ours. He would come in and check out the work, you know, periodically monthly, excuse me And everything is thankful to him too. You know my grandfather ran the business and everything, but we wouldn't be able to do anything like that without our licensee. So as time went on, the licensee was the majority stockholder of the company. But when I started getting into work 2014, we established the stock option agreement, which meant by the time I reached a certain age and I was capable, i can purchase the company for so much money $5,000 at the time or so. So the time came, my grandpa thought I was ready, so then I exercised my stock option and I bought my cam from our licensee, which made me the 100% owner.
Speaker 1:And those actions, those actions at 19, that you did right that day or that time. It was brought by your grandfather teaching you all these things, yeah, grandpa's guidance, like the whole way. And take me back to that day that he told, like, was there a certain day, Was it when he told you hey, I want you to be president.
Speaker 2:So by that time in my life, I already understood that I would have to be that pillar figure that I told you about. So the whole partying and stuff really minisculed out and I was just working. So it was around early 2019, January, I think. he brought it up to me And he sent me down in our office. we always shared an office, But whenever he's like yeah, I want to talk to you, we all need to talk. Grandma, grandpa, Santino, right, I'm like oh boy, Like something's up. you know like years ago.
Speaker 2:There's a family problem or there's a work problem. But I don't like problems, you know They come. So he sit down and he goes. We started talking about the work and he says you know, do you really like what you do? Because by that time I was helping him bid work, get work, run the work, the whole deal, help Bill collect the money being involved with our you know, cash operations, financial operations, the whole deal. And he goes do you like what you do? I go, yeah, like I really like this. You know I go, i don't see myself doing anything else. And he goes. Okay, he goes because I wanted you to exercise this option, but I only want you to do it if you're going to commit, because if you commit there's no going back. That's it. So I go, okay, i said yes, right there. But he was like I don't want you to tell me right now, I want you to go home, right, and you'd let me know on Friday. I must have been on a Monday The whole week, the first day and the second day I was like, oh, i'm Mr President, you know I'm Mr President.
Speaker 2:But by Wednesday I was like, oh shit, i'm going to be there. I'm like I'm going to have to run this. Like you know I'm young, it's a little scary. You know like you have to earn the respect of the men in the field. You know you have to earn the respect of your suppliers.
Speaker 1:And did that go through your head, like I'm 19.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, i started cycling myself out 30s, 30s, early 20s, 30s, 40s, some guys 50s, And it's like, damn, like I'm going to. Are people going to really respect that? Are people going to listen? You know like the guys listen to me now, but now I'm their boss. You know like I'm going to be their boss with my grandpa. And by Thursday I was like, okay, maybe not, maybe I need more time. But then I just thought, okay, the pillar, my grandpa doesn't have much time And if he thinks I'm ready, like the only reason he would ask me is because he thinks I'm somewhat close, right. So I said, okay, if grandpa thinks I'm going to, i'm going to trust them, i'm going to do it. I wanted to do it, but I wanted to follow his guidance too. So on Friday he sat me down, same thing, thought there was a problem, right, no problem. He just said I want your answer, i go ahead, tell him yes. So he goes. Okay, very good, we were happy. We wanted to go get dinner.
Speaker 2:February the 16th is the day I'll never forget the day because I never had a professional signature. Okay, yeah, as silly as it sounds, i'll never forget the date because of my signature. On the drive up we went up to Oakland. It's where this guy who you know, it's like a lawyer who does corporate stuff And my grandma, goes do you have your signature ready? because you're going to have to sign and your signature on that document. That's your signature, you can't really change it. So I go, okay, i don't have a signature. I go let me get a piece of paper.
Speaker 2:Never paid attention to cursive in second grade. So I'm like, holy shit, i can't even do a Z for my last name. So I go, okay. Well, some people just initial their first name right, making excuses and shit. I go okay. So I started trying to do my first name. I go holy shit, how is an S going to connect to the A? And I was like, oh man, you know this is a bad deal You're about to be a president of business and you're worried about your signature, my signature.
Speaker 2:I'm like how am I going to sign this document? I'm so nervous. So then, finally, i just tried to go okay, it's got to be quick, because when people sign, they sign quick. So here we go Boom. First thing, that's right. Next one looks like shit.
Speaker 2:I was like, oh my God, i didn't like any signature on the page. So we get to this guy's office, you know, get in there and sit down and the guy's okay, you know, i diva law notary, the whole deal. And then he goes okay, you need to sign here, here and here I go, okay. And I just like, randomly signed, and I fucking hated it. It's not even Santino, it just says Santi, barely barely my signature, it's like it's a NTI and a long ass line. And I was like, okay, well, that's the first one, that has to be the same the whole way down. So then that's the signature. Is it still your signature? Still my signature this day? Still my signature to this day? It's crazy, yeah, cause I still do not do a Z on Orozco, you know. So all of these documents that I signed, corporate documents, i've been public work, federal work, state work, whatever It's got this Santi signature.
Speaker 1:Is it a running joke with your grandpa or is it something that you guys like? I move my grandma more Cause my grandpa is super straight and super like.
Speaker 2:You know he likes to laugh and bullshit, but not like the common person You know. So my grandpa is like that's your signature. Good. Yeah, right, and my grandma will be somewhere else And my grandma is like. You know the story of his signature, you know. So my grandma is the one who has all the stories And my grandpa was like that's just your signature.
Speaker 2:Get over it, You know like you have other fish to fry. You know I was his saying we got other things to fish to fry, you know. So 2016 became the president, have the signature. And I remember I had a check for my foreman at the time that I was in a. It was. It was on a Friday. I said I meet me at this Bailey exit, right in front of that fruit stand. But you came from the north.
Speaker 1:But that fruit stand.
Speaker 2:I go meet me at the fruit stand, so I go, okay. So I saw me. Benizio, you know he goes. How'd you sign and go? My grandpa told him I go. Oh good, good, good. And then I gave him the check and he shook my hand. He's like okay, thank you, patron. And I was like I am 19 years old. Like I wasn't ready for that.
Speaker 2:You know, and I was like all right, for sure, you know. So I was like oh God, i started driving back home. I was like dude, that's the first time ever anybody has called me boss and like meant it, you know, cause he didn't say like in a joke, he said it like thank you, patron, like seriously, respectfully. So I go, oh shit. So I'm driving home like that. I don't like that, though, i go, i don't like that, i don't like that. Just Santino, why? I don't know, i just don't know. My grandpa's the boss, you know, my grandpa's the boss, my grandpa, the whole thing is his business, he's the boss. I'm not the boss, yet I'm the boss on paper. That's what I was thinking in my head. I'm the boss on paper, you know. But grandpa's the real shock caller, you know that, not even really being the So the Montserrano job during that job.
Speaker 2:So in public works, you bid, bid items, and I know some of this may not make too much sense. Or maybe you know, maybe you don't, but there's a sheet of paper and then each item on the job is itemized and you put a price to each item. Okay, and that's how you tattle the up, your bid and you submit a bit to the city. The lowest bid gets the job based off of those items that you put a price to. Yeah, so one of the each item has a bid item description and the specifications of the project, which is like the book that basically tells you how to do the job, what they want, what kind of material, the process that they want to done in, whatever. So in the bid item description of what you're supposed to include, dollar wise, in that bid item, i missed like $180,000 worth of work in this one bid item.
Speaker 2:But I didn't know until after we got the job and after we were already performing the job. So I have a signed contract with the city. I have, you know, subcontractors lined up. We've already started work. So I can't be like, oh, city, pull my bid, i made a mistake. I already opened up the ground, you know. So I thought, okay, this was the first time that I made a really big mistake, you know, and it was all because I didn't read this back.
Speaker 1:So you're basically basically basically giving the city free labor. Free labor once they, once they if they accept your bid.
Speaker 2:If they accept my bid, Yeah, And if you miss anything, that's your ass. Like you got to, you buy it, you know. So we're doing this job and we do all the concrete work And luckily it was a profitable job. And there was a portion of work that she wanted more work done And I had all my profits in that item. So when she said, Hey, we're going to add 2000 feet of this item, I was like Holy shit, Like cool, I'm happy, I'm going to. This is going to be a very profitable very lucky, very lucky Yeah.
Speaker 2:So, but you never count your chickens before they hatch? Yeah, Never. So when I learned that lesson, go to the paving and we do the takeoff and there's a bid item for overlay and it says 800 tons. So I go, okay, 100 times I measure the road out. I go damn, this looks like doing it so long. You look at the road, Yeah, you can gauge approximately how much tonnage you need a month of material, Right. So I go, okay, we're going to need. It looks like a little bit more than 800. So I'm going to measure this thing. So I started measuring it through my quantities. It's like 1400 tons. I was like what is it? That's almost $600.
Speaker 2:600 tons and more than than the 800 tons that were bits. I go okay, the city made a mistake, right, i thought so I called the city. I go Hey, jessica, we're going to have a problem. The tonnages are way over here. I don't know is the city okay with that? And she was let me call you back. You know, let me look into this. She looks into it and she goes Oh no, the asphalt on the edges is a part of this concrete. That's never. That's the first time in the last time I've ever seen that. So whoever put that spec together just really was looking for it, right. Looking to really get somebody not paying attention Me, right?
Speaker 1:The 19 year old kid.
Speaker 2:So I was like, oh damn, so she goes. Yeah, is there a problem on the phone? And I was like you know what? No, there's no problem, there's no problem. Yeah, i'm on like East middle and Morgan Hill, driving back home in traffic.
Speaker 2:And I was like, oh my God, how am I going to explain this to my grandpa? Like because my grandpa always told me, going back, right, once I started kind of bidding work, kind of run it on my own a little bit with his guidance, He would always tell me I'm going to let you do what you want. I'm never going to tell you what to do, but every month I want to see a profit and loss statement. He goes if there's one month that there's a loss, i'm shutting the whole thing down. Yeah, so I was like, oh shit, now I got to explain to him. I made $186,000 mistake And at the time we were doing low seven figures a year in revenue, right. So I thought, oh man, this is like almost 10% of our annual. I was not in no fucking tiger king then, but I was thinking I'm never going to financially recover from this.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:I was like I'm so screwed. So my grandpa, we sit down and I tell him Hey, grandpa, i made this mistake. You know he goes check your job costs. you know, check your job costs, the first things first when you have a mistake like this. he was calm. I was like, oh, he's going to fucking take his hat off and slap me and be upset. You know, he just, he just said okay, he goes check your job costs.
Speaker 2:When you're in a situation like this, you have to see where you're at on the job And this is what he calls a bleeding wound. He goes this is a bleeding wound and you have to pack that bleeding wound as fast as possible. And I go okay. So I pull it up and I go okay, well, right now we're making so much money. And he goes okay, how am I round figures? We're making 200 grand on the job. And he goes okay, that's good. It's good because that stupid item that was saving my ass, right. And then he goes how much is missing to cost you? And I go that's going to cost me about 186,000. And he's like 186,000.
Speaker 1:He, being calm, went away.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he, being calm, went away Right And he's probably thinking I was going to cost 10 grand, 5 grand, 20 grand right, 186 grand right. And he's like holy shit, something you can't. How did this happen? I then he questions it's a city's mistake And I go no, no, no, i already called the city. I already called the city is my mistake. Yeah, shit Right. So we're checking it out. Luckily we had enough profits to absorb that hit. We finished the job. We didn't make money on the job. We did this $800,000 job for the city of Montserrano for cost. You know all the profits we made we lost on that item.
Speaker 1:It was just basically being able to do the work, pay the pay, the workers, cash flow, and then that's it.
Speaker 2:That's it. Build the work, collect the money, use that money. When no profits, just keep your labor going. It was just cash flow And the president doesn't get paid.
Speaker 1:No no, no.
Speaker 2:And you know, i've never I take a salary, but it's very low salary. My grandpa taught me this. He goes um, you have a corporation, you're the president, right, and he goes to the company. Especially a corporation, you have to treat it like it's its own entity, it's its own person. You work for that person, regardless of what your position is, regardless of the president, ceo, cfo, secretary, whatever you work for McKim.
Speaker 2:Mckim is a person. The money that McKim makes is McKim's money. That's not your money. You take a paycheck on just what you need to live. I'm living with my grandpa. They pay my phone, right. So my grandpa goes.
Speaker 2:Even though you're the president, you're going to get paid. You know just enough to get your lunch for the weekend, gas, basically Right, so I go okay. So you know the the job. You know breaking costs, breaking even on the job. You learn a lesson, right? That's another up and down. You're going up in cause. You have a good, good month, a good two months, a good three months. Then, boom, you have a job like that that you break costs, that you're not making money, you're not making money on the job, which doesn't give you enough money to cover your overhead. So, in reality, that month you have a loss, right. So because he guided me through that situation, you know he's okay, he understood we didn't have a loss. He's maybe had a low profit or no profit month, but he says, okay, you learn from your mistakes. And he said I now know that you're somebody who learns from his mistakes. You're not going to catch it up front, you know. So I go okay. So time goes on.
Speaker 2:Another mistake same thing. You know it could be the same thing. I didn't read the spec. Maybe it didn't cost as much. Maybe it cost 15 grand. You know it's a percentage of the job, 15 grand, 15 grand. I'm not sitting here like 15 grand to jump change, you know, but it's, you know you have a lot bigger losses than other places, right, so I go okay. So those little mistakes I learned. Okay, I make a mistake. I'll never do that again.
Speaker 1:I made jobs now.
Speaker 2:I read the whole entire spec front to back side to side, upside down different language, just to make sure that I understand what this thing's saying. Is there anything that?
Speaker 1:you see now that you're working in your every day and your day to day, you're working in your day to day and you're like, made that mistake not going to happen again, Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah. So like bidding, that's a mistake, right, field wise, you know. You know you're responsible for dispatch, right? So it's like we've paid, we've done all the paving, you schedule the guys to go to work the things okay, but what about the fuel truck? So now you got these equipment on the job that needs fuel, you got trucks lined up and you got no diesel at the job site. You know, it's like, oh shit, how are we going to do this? Right, luckily, the trucks have fuel tanks, okay, well, boom. Now I'm paying out of cash, out of my pocket cash, to put $200 diesel there, put $200 diesel in that truck, come back, fill up this machine.
Speaker 1:You can't take big equipment through a fucking Babylon.
Speaker 2:No, you got to leave it on the job and one person has to go and go get diesel, come back and fill up the machine. It's already off the trailer.
Speaker 2:You know, so it's like, damn, you know so then. Then I learned okay, i need a full time mechanic. You know, you have these machines. You have dump, i have dump trucks, i have pavers, i have rollers, excavators, skip loaders, bobcats I have these machines. What happens if one goes down? Who's going to fix it? You know, my concrete guys don't know how to fix it. They're concrete guys, the paving guys. They don't know how to fix it. They're paving guys. Who's going to fix this shit? You know. So. Then, yeah, i had a mechanic, you know. So it's through those mistakes you know field mistakes, office mistakes, bidding mistakes that I've learned, you know. So I don't want to make no more mistakes.
Speaker 2:You know, but nobody's perfect. My grandpa says I'm 83 years old and I'm still learning today. I'm still making mistakes today, my whole life. You just learn how to mitigate them. You know you can't. It's almost like blackjack Some hands you're going to lose. You got a 12, he's got a 17, maybe you know. And the next card out to shoot the 10. What the hell man? you're going to lose it either way. You're going to hit that card. You're going to bust. you're going to stay. You're going to lose that 17. You're going to lose. You just have to know how to handle those losses. You know, especially in business, more than life, business my grandparents still need. Business comes first. Unfortunately, our family's right behind because the family relies on the business, you know. So you can't make that mistake because it's going to hurt your family, right? So now we'll go back to the climbing thing, right? So grandpa's getting a little bit older, you know I'm working in between.
Speaker 2:This time I made a sweetheart, you know, my fiancee right now, a fiancee at the time, girlfriend, and my grandpa right away. I have a grandpa of a serious girlfriend, you know, and sitting there and he goes. Sit down right there And he goes. He goes. The three worst things for a man is booze, drugs and women. Those things will ruin a man. He goes. You better hope you got the right one or just let it go. I was like I've never really been in serious relationships, you know, and I want to hear comes this one, i really like.
Speaker 2:You know, in my grand play this year, every time my grandpa taught me a lesson, i thought he just doesn't want me to do it. I tell him, grandpa, i want to go to Mexico, or you know, people die in Mexico. Oh shit, maybe I shouldn't go. Grandpa, i want to go to New York. You know what kind of shit's in New York. What are you going to go over there? People die over there every day. Oh shit, okay, i have this girlfriend. The women is the worst thing that can happen to a man. You know she's, she's ruining you. Oh shit, right So, but it's lessons. It's lessons he's teaching me. You got to always pay attention, you know. Not keep your guard up all the time, you know, but pay attention to what's going on.
Speaker 2:Can't be ignorant Can't be ignorant. And when you're young I'm 19, right, 20 years old, i think I just said 21 when I met my fiance. you're young, you know you never really experienced love. You know it's your first year of relationships, you know, and to him he's like oh shit, here he goes right, first time falling in love. Most people, first time you fall in love is a big crash. Right, i'm not saying it's the first love of mine, but you know you. you know you have relationships to that little bullshit relationships, right, yeah, then I find her And we, we start dating and things going on and things going on.
Speaker 2:Every time I come home from the date, i get home late. I want to take her out. I get home late. I had to go to work early in the morning. My grandpa's sitting on the couch. He's like remember what I told you? Remember what I told you, because then I started waking up a little later, being a little bit more tired because I'm not too late with my girlfriend taking her for a drive. Remember what I told you? Remember what I told you. I was like oh shit, man, i don't want to prove him right. You know, i want one time. I want to prove my grandpa wrong, right, so started taking things serious And, to my surprise, she ended up being a motivation factor.
Speaker 2:you know, because as time as time and not with business at first, more with myself, because I wrestled in high school and even though I was 270 pounds in high school, i was a heavyweight wrestler I still think, like to think and say I was in shape because I was compared to now. right, i was in shape then and you know, getting out of school I wasn't able to do judo anymore. I had to take on the family business and everything I'm telling you is moving along During that time. I'm like eating like shit, going out with friends, drinking, right The whole thing. it just blew up And I ended up being. when I first met my parents, i was around 380 pounds, maybe 385, pushing, and I was like, okay, right.
Speaker 1:So maybe 400. Hey, man, maybe 405. If you got on that scale at that time, Yeah, if I really got on that scale, you know.
Speaker 2:So I was big, i was up there And my grandpa always told me you have the self-discipline. you know you go to work every day, but I see that you're missing your self-confidence. He's like you need to have self-confidence.
Speaker 2:As weird as it sounds. In this business you need to be confident in yourself, right? And that goes back to his climbs and demises and rises and demises. So I go okay. So I think, okay, we'll have more self-confidence in myself. I have to be healthier and I have to have a little bit better appearance, right.
Speaker 2:So I remember I went to Lake Tahoe with my, with my Nazi, my girlfriend at the time. I get out of the shower 380 pounds, okay. And I'm looking at myself in the mirror and I'm like, damn, you know what I go? I deserve better, first and foremost, like I deserve to be more healthy for myself, you know. And my girlfriend, she's not a big girl, you know, she's a fit girl, you know, i thought was And she doesn't deserve this. You know, this looks like shit. You can't take this guy to the beach, you know. So I was like, oh man.
Speaker 2:So on the drive back home, right in my head, the whole drive home, i was like I'm gonna go back home, work out. I'm gonna go to Judo, i'm gonna find an adult wrestling program and Gilroy and sugar's gotta be in the adult wrestling program. Come back. Couldn't make it to Judo because of work And there's no adult wrestling programs at that time And Gilroy said, oh shit, what am I gonna do? And I saw this jujitsu sign, right, and I was like, okay, well, having a Judo background and wrestling, it kinda looks like. From the outside it's like that's a mix of both. You're in a G and you're scrambling on the ground.
Speaker 1:You know, it's like let's just put those together right.
Speaker 2:So and then I always remember it when I would do Judo, i would think oh man, in Judo you can grab the pants for a takedown. Not anymore You could before, after, i think, 2008, no more Can't grab the pants. So I always thought myself, oh man, if I could ever do a sport like Judo where you can grab the pants, it'd be over.
Speaker 1:Like I'd be a world champ, you know.
Speaker 2:And then you get to Jijitsu and it's like, okay, well, now you can grab the pants. Well, guess what? That don't mean nothing. In Jijitsu, you get down to the mat. Guess what? that's what the sport is you know, I remember my first.
Speaker 2:So I get into Jijitsu and I've never really been very social. You know, the group of friends that I told you I met when I first came is the same group of friends I have today. I never established new friendships, you know, oh, good acquaintance here, good acquaintance there, but like you're real core friends, you know, and I remember getting into the Jijitsu and, oh man, i lost my train of thought, bro.
Speaker 1:Getting to Gilroy BJJ, yeah, and what was your experience like?
Speaker 2:Okay, when you first found it. So when I first found it, i've never ventured out as what I was getting at And I was very what's the word when somebody's like you're not very social? there's a word for that Introvert, introvert, introvert. And I thought, okay, well, i'm introvert, I don't want to talk to nobody. So I'm going to go to the six am class, where very little people show up, so I can just get a good workout and go to work. So I would go work out with Tobias I don't know if you know Tobias.
Speaker 1:I've heard of him.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I worked. He was running the classes. You know I was doing the classes in the morning and then I started to hella, like to sport. I was like this is fun, i'm getting a good sweat. You know, it's literally a human chess match, like what people say. You know you're thinking about all these things And I go. I'm going to now go to the adult class and I'm going to go in the morning and I'm going to go at night. I'm trying to lose weight for myself, i'm trying to lose weight for my girlfriend, i'm trying to work on my self-confidence and you're just filling all three in one.
Speaker 2:I tried to weight lift for a little bit. I needed somebody to push me And if you know my coach Carlos, that guy pushes you, you know. And so getting into that adult class, having somebody pushing you, going back, you get your ass kicked like everybody has a wiper. You go in there I'm 200, no, 485 pounds or whatever. And I meet a friend of mine's named Josh At the time, maybe 145 pounds, soaking wet, ran a clinic on my ass like the first adult class, and I thought how in the hell is this 150 pound dude? just totally like if I was to fight him in the street. I get my ass fucking handed to me right now.
Speaker 2:No doubt, you know. So that's when Jiu-Jitsu then became okay, well, the weight loss is on the way. Let's learn this thing, because this is a bad ass, fucking sport, you know. So then I started paying more attention in class, the techniques, the drilling Along the way. You make friends, you know, josh, Andy, all these guys that I've met along the way, you know. Then I remember one day, andy, my friend, he goes, i want to add you to our group chat. I go okay, it was what's called the booty eaters. And I go okay, right, cool, cool, cool, that's fine. And he goes to join the group. We just have to make sure you eat the booty. And I was like, oh bro what the?
Speaker 2:hell, i guess kind of and he goes.
Speaker 1:I was just joking. I was just joking I go whatever that's how it is, Andy's a very opposite of what you say very extrovert, Very extrovert very extrovert.
Speaker 2:So then he puts me in the group and then it's all the guys we train with, you know, and it's like, okay, well, now we're sending memes to each other, we're talking about jujitsu, and then now during my day we're talking about jujitsu. At nighttime I'm going to jujitsu, right. So now I'm getting really deep into this. For you, make friendships. I want to go hang out with my friends. I want to learn this. I want to lose the weight. All of these gaps that you need are kind of being filled by this one fountain. You know, all my cups are getting filled up, right, i'm losing my weight. I'm making friendships, more people getting better.
Speaker 1:For my girlfriend thinking How did you manage You're running a business, how did that like? I know, you know like when did it click for you in your head like there is enough time in the day? Like because when you weren't going to jujitsu? was it like, oh, i don't have enough time, i got to manage this business, was it So?
Speaker 2:that's a good question. So when I wasn't going to jujitsu, i always thought to you, like I ate, you know I'd get off work. I ate, hang out with friends, drink, right. And now, looking back, i was probably doing that as a coping mechanism to all the stress that I was accumulating, because the business is paving business. It's a gamble. Every day you go to work. Every day you go to work is a goddamn gamble. You're going to make money, you're going to lose money. Hopefully you always make money, You know.
Speaker 2:And that's a big stress, especially then starting to see, okay, i am going to become the pillar of this family, i'm going to take care of my family, i'm going to guide my family in the right direction. You know, my mom at that time being sick, my brother was going through some of his own personal problems, you know. So I thought, okay, somebody has to steer their ship when grandpa's gone, right. So I'd bear with the stress and I tried to cope with the stress, which at the time maybe was eating, maybe was smoking weed, maybe wet, and smoking weed and eating is not a good mix, you know.
Speaker 2:Because, that's nothing but weight, right? So going to Jiu Jitsu, along with all those cups that I was explaining to you know. So I then realized, okay, jiu Jitsu is key to my work, because then the next day when I get out of Jiu Jitsu, there's an hour and a half I'm thinking about I hope this guy doesn't choke me out or break my ankle or break my arm. I'm not thinking about the work, no more. I'm thinking about my life, like I don't want to be put to sleep on this mat, right. So I think that whole hour to two hours of training, getting work off of my mind, was the best thing for me, because then I go home I'm exhausted right, remember, i'm 385 pounds, right And it's like I'm totally beat. I get home, shower, don't even eat dinner and just go to sleep because I'm so exhausted. Yeah, it was a beating on the body, especially being 385, but I thought this is the best thing for me.
Speaker 2:So as time went on, i did a training man as a white belt, my first tournament. I grabbed the guy and I got him with a Taiyo Toshi throw right With like a hip throw, got him down And I remember when he landed I let him go and I just stood there like Jiu Jitsu, like I threw him, controlled the throw, saw he landed on his back and then, just like I just stood there standing And the ref was like what?
Speaker 2:the fuck And the guy was recovering and Carlos was like go, go, go, go, go go. I was like how'd I go? She was the throw, how'd I go? She was the throw. And I remember Carlos, go, go, go, go, shit. Boom, I got on top of him We're getting into this weird scramble and I got him into a key lock And I remember I was really finding this key lock and he was a heavyweight too you know, he's strong And I remember I grunted and when I grunted the ref stopped And I was like, oh fuck, i know.
Speaker 2:I went, this guy tapped and I didn't know. We're like what's going on, are you something wrong? And then he thought that the guy getting submitted grunted, oh shit. So he stopped it verbal tap, verbal tap and gave me the win And I was like okay, well, i don't feel the best about this win because obviously he didn't tap me. You know, because the guy said when we were getting up to do it was like I didn't tap. And he was like no, but you made a noise And I didn't make that noise. I'm gonna go, fuck, we're both standing up. And I was like, oh, i guess I didn't make that noise either. So I get my hand raised and I was like, okay, cool, get back and I get into the next match.
Speaker 2:And confidence was a little built right. I was like I'm in the finals. It was like one of those three man brackets or whatever four man brackets. I'm in the finals And in like two minutes I get caught And this dude's skinny guy, just really tall in the heavyweight division, probably just pushing to 20, to 30, shoots those long fucking legs. I mean, get between this, you know triangle, and that was it. That was it. I tapped. I was so disappointed. I was like, dude, this small guy just beat me on the heavyweight. It's like I don't even know how he's a heavyweight, you know he signed up for this thing must have right.
Speaker 2:I get off the mat and I remember Carlos was like, hey, don't worry. So this is your first tournament. You went out there, you did great, he's like. You know, you got your first match. You won. I think we know the truth. But who knows right? And then he goes the second match, you know, after you fought like a war, he goes. You know, he popped cherry And I was like cool, cool, yeah, you're right, you're right.
Speaker 2:When I wrestled and did judo tournaments because it was so often I never had that feeling of the butterflies, i never had that anxiousness. And the whole time leading up to that first BJJ tournament I was like, oh, my God, the nervous, the normal thing. You got a P. You don't really have to P, you know. So it's like okay. So then Carlos really shook that off on me. Next tournament I won, and then that was about a year into the Jiu-Jitsu and then he gave me my blue belt. And when I got my blue belt then I was really liking Nogi a lot of the time. I really preferred Nogi at that time. So I thought, okay, I'm gonna do the Nogi. Then this tournament called High Rollers. You heard of High Rollers. Yeah, yeah, yeah, high Rollers is that's how anybody smoke. And then you compete against your opponent and you smoke a joint every time. I remember when I first signed up for that tournament. I don't know what the hell came upon me, but I was like I'm gonna tell my grandpa.
Speaker 1:Why would you tell your grandpa that?
Speaker 2:Right, so then why not?
Speaker 1:the other ones. Why not the other ones?
Speaker 2:He knew about those right. But I was like why would they even tell him about this one? So I go, i go, grandpa, there's this tournament And I didn't tell him at first that I'm competing in it. There's this tournament, these guys do Jiu-Jitsu and they smoke before and they play music and you roll. And I thought, oh, he's gonna play, that's cool. He was like that's the most disrespectful thing I've ever heard from martial art And I was like I already signed up for this thing in my head right.
Speaker 2:I was like I already signed up. And I was like, oh yeah, yeah, i go, but you know, it's just a community, a lot of guys you know. And he was like, no, that's very disrespectful to him.
Speaker 1:That's a joke, because he was old school judo.
Speaker 2:Japanese trains, judo. So he goes that's a joke. That's a joke, that's not even. And I was like, oh boy, i go. Okay, well, i guess I'm not gonna tell him. I'm gonna do this one.
Speaker 2:There's habit of ritual of mine that I have my whole life. Anytime I've ever competed, before I compete I ask my grandma to give me the bendición which is her Right. It could be in the morning of it, could be right at the event. If she's there wrestling, whatever, i say, grandma, that's the bendición. She gave me the bendición. So the morning of the tournament I didn't tell him And I go grandma, can you give me the bendición? And she goes yeah, I'll give you the bendición, she's gonna give me the bendición. She goes why am I giving you the bendición? And I was like, oh, just cause you know we're gonna go driving this here and stuff. I don't want to see us. She thought something. She goes you better not, are you competing? And I was like no. And my grandpa was like you better not be competing and not telling us. And I was like no, no, no no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 2:I'm not, I'm ready. You know, the president with grandpa in the whole deal put this little white light is he was like that's a joke. You know, go to this tournament. It was exactly what it's like. You know, you walk in there, people are smoking, right Right before your match. You're smoking, you get onto the mat First match. I went out there. It's open weight, right. I have this guy single leg picked him up And I did one of those inside trips with the single leg up at the side And he lost all of his air when he fell, so like he was out. So I'm like, you know, i feel like in my I'm getting all these like weird wins. Right, i'm getting the grunt win. This guy's dropping getting the win. I'm like what the hell's going on? You know this is weird.
Speaker 1:Is this really Jiu-Jitsu? Yeah, like what the fuck.
Speaker 2:The second match comes. I have this native American dude And he's maybe 170 pounds so I can win. He was one of the strongest dudes I've ever felt. I was like, holy fuck, this little dude is like super strong. We're rolling around, rolling, had a good match And I think I beat him on points. Then I got into the final And I remember there was this really big Jack dude. His name's Shawn Johnson. I think he was in Bellator And he was in that training then And I said I hope I don't get this guy in the semi-finals.
Speaker 1:This guy's huge, He's just Jack.
Speaker 2:you know I was like fuck, and I didn't. He went against this dude named Yu-Yu Who's like he's doing great. now He's doing like some MMA stuff. no-transcript. maybe 5'5", 140 pounds and this Sean Johnson, whatever 6'4" Jack.
Speaker 2:just chiseled dude and I'm like dude this big guy's gonna ruin this little dude, right And I go. But now I know I'm gonna have this guy in the final right. This dude, you, you cleanse his back, submit some. And I was like holy shit, now I'm afraid of this guy. I was like this guy just did this to him. This is like a Bellator fighter. Everybody's talking about this dude, you know. And here's this little guy and I go. Okay, fuck, i get out to the mat, it's our turn. We're in the finals. They're playing Street Fighter in the background.
Speaker 1:No, we're all hiring So. I'm like on the mat, no gear, like ready to go, Like what two hours?
Speaker 2:Yeah, at least, at least two hours is just nonstop smoking.
Speaker 2:I'm ready to fight. Right, we go and there's Street Fighter background music. We start rolling and rolling and I thought, okay, i know that he's a good wrestler. I was watching this dude wrestle all day. I know that he's slick, he can climb up people's backs and submit them. You know, i was like I got to watch out with this guy, so I was playing really defensive, kind of pushing him back, blah, blah. I waited for a tie up because I figured he's going to want to tie up. I just threw that leg across and just launched him into the air.
Speaker 2:If you go to my Instagram, you can see the video where he just like the referee was like frozen, like everybody thought he might have died or broke a leg At the time. Down, i'm losing the weight, right, so I'm maybe 315 pounds, yeah, so like 70 pounds of weight loss, still 315 pounds, just landing on this 140 pound dude. He was still fine from the throw, i know he felt it, but he was fine. He recovered and I saw his arm was off. So, boom, all right for that. Keylog wrapped it up. That was my first side tournament like not IBGG, i've known that no key win And I was like, oh my God, this feels great, you know, like being on the podium. This is a feeling. It's worth the nerves, it's worth the training, it's worth the anxiety getting that metal. And then they give you like an ounce of weed, like T shirts and stuff, and I remember that tournament was good. That was 2020, maybe 2020, 2021.
Speaker 2:It was before COVID and then COVID hit And then I live with my grandparents at the time. I live with them. So it was like, okay, now can't, you know, can't be going out and training because I don't want to bring COVID home to grandpa. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's, you know which. He doesn't have the shakes, but I could tell it's affecting little by little, you know. So I go okay. Well, i don't want to bring nothing back to him. So I stopped training for a little bit And then I started gaining weight again. So I was like you know right. Well, right before COVID, i did a fight to win too, and that's when I was my thinnest I was. I was 300 pounds. I weighed in the day of, or the day before, 299. And I thought the last time I was, 299 was like 2015.
Speaker 2:I was like here I am, you know, because it's you too. Now all of those reasons that I got into Jiu-Jitsu now are just like on the back burner, because you've established these friendships and you know you fall in love with this sport and the whole deal. Now I'm doing it because I want to compete, I want to get better at the sport. Now I have this goal of a black belt, you know. So I go okay, black belt and Jiu-Jitsu I'm going for that, That's what I want. But then like, and now we get to the COVID part and that sucked And I thought, okay, well, I want to try to stay as healthy as possible. So when COVID does stop, you know, go right back to Jiu-Jitsu. So I got into mountain biking.
Speaker 2:That was a very funny picture, dude, This 320 pound dude on a bike not an e-bike just trying to climb these mountains. I'd probably climb for like five to 10 minutes. I didn't have to walk. Was it fun? I like the ride down. I fucking hate the drive up Okay.
Speaker 1:Like the ride up is like okay.
Speaker 2:I'm exercising for this right And it's the way down where it's like this is the enjoyment, you know. So, doing the mountain biking, I remember there's a trail in Santa Cruz that it might be famous, i don't know. It's called demo And it's like I think it's a total. I did it on the watch. It was like a 13 mile or a 14 mile bike ride. The first four miles or so is all inclined for four miles Just climbing. I couldn't do that shit. I was walking, riding, walking, riding, walking, riding.
Speaker 2:Then you have five or six miles of just downhill, jamming, tight bands, the shit you see on the internet. And I'm like, okay, i'm a first year mountain biker, i'm trying to do the stupid trails, right, you get exhausted going downhill to then have another three and a half mile climb out, right, i remember that the climb out. I couldn't do it, no more. I drank all my water, i had all my snacks, right, i'm like parched, and I saw this dude coming up on an e-bike and I was stopping and I go hey, you got water, right. And he's like yeah, i got some water, he gave me some water.
Speaker 2:I go, that's an e-bike. And he goes yeah, i go, bro, i will take off my shoelaces right now, make a makeshift rope and I'll give you a hundred dollars if you pull me out of this. And then he was all like, really. And I was like dude, i can't, my legs are shaking. That's like I wasn't ready for this And I go, i'll give you a hundred dollars right now, bro. I was like, please, and it's getting dark. I was like, please, it was 4th of July, a matter of fact. And he goes all right, yeah, i'll do it, but you don't gotta give me the hundred bucks. And I was like, really, bro. And he's like, yes, i go, thank God, tie the rope on. We're climbing probably a mile up. His battery died And he's like it's just too much weight.
Speaker 1:It's a heavy load right And he goes oh shit, my battery died I go oh shit, that sucks, bro.
Speaker 2:I go now, what are we going to do? He's like what are we going to do? He goes I'm out of here. I want to go up. And I was like how much? do you know how much more it is? He goes it's about a mile and a half. I was like, oh my God, a mile and a half of climbing. My legs are still shaking, i'm tired, i have no water. Another dude on the e-bike, random dude. I go hey, i'll give you a hundred dollars. He's like go fuck yourself. You just kept going right And I was like, oh my God just totally ignored the question.
Speaker 2:Basically, I was like, fuck, all right, well, i'm going to start walking. And here I go walking, making it all the way up. Then in my head, i'm tired, i'm in the Santa Cruz mountains, nobody would be. And I was like, oh my God. Then I started getting in my head mountain lions And I was like what if there's mountain lion out here? A mountain lion sees me, he's licking his chops. Dude, that's dinner for a week, right there, right? So I was like oh fuck, i got to get out of here.
Speaker 2:So luckily at the end I laid it out get back home, go to sleep That was during COVID, right? And then COVID keeps going, work's still going, the whole deal's going on. Then COVID ends and the gyms open up again And we get to our gym and maybe a weekend, a training or two weeks in the training the coaches have an announcement like COVID was really hard and we may have to shut down the doors And I was like fuck Now, where am I going to go?
Speaker 2:I'm a part of this team. I've made friendships here. Where are my friends going to go? Some of these guys live in San Jose, some live in Gilroy, some moved And it's like now, where are we going to train? You know, when we had this barbecue for the gym and luckily that gathered up enough money to keep the gym open, luckily. So Gilroy's still up and running, so right, and so yeah, so that's the Jiu Jitsu.
Speaker 2:And then, as time's gone on, i got my purple belt and I'm a purple belt now, a purple belt for one strike. And I remember I did my first tournament as a purple belt not too long ago, maybe last November. I got a shit kick on me. I was like this is a whole nother level compared to blue belts. You know I go. Then this guy there's nobody in the heavy weights. So I got that half ass first place medal, right That I don't even like to grab. There's nobody there. And then I'm going to sign up for the open, because there's one other guy, and he was a lighter guy, and Carlos is like, oh, you're going to crush him. You're going to crush him, you're big, strong, you're going to crush him. I went out there and just like, totally like deer in headlights. This guy was controlling my weight, controlling, you know, leverage the whole way, just racked up like 22 points on my ass.
Speaker 2:And I was like down That sucks. That's a terrible feeling. You know, your coach has a lot, of, a lot of hope in you, you know. and now, okay, i've gained weight back. I did this tournament. So I'm like, okay, now this ain't going to work. I have to be more disciplined on the diet. I've got to train more. I've got to do some weightlifting. We're in my gym right now. I built this gym just so I could keep working out.
Speaker 2:And I'm on this weight journey back down because I have a goal that next year I want to go to Brazil and I want to compete in that breast and little tournament. Fuck, yeah, Yeah Next year. That's my goal in my head right now. So I think by December I want to try to be at like 270, 280 by December. I'm about 320 right now. So that's, that's my plan. So that's Jiu Jitsu's. it's helped the weight loss, it's helped the motivation, it's helped the self, you know. discipline, because you have to be disciplined. It was the way for a purpose, you know, and it's it's really helped the law out on my self confidence, because it would be. I was one of those dudes where it's 120 degrees in Gildo and I'm wearing a hoodie, you know, because I'm all self conscious about what I am. you know now not so much.
Speaker 1:Before I get to my last two questions, when you walk into a room, the first thing I thought was like this guy's full of confidence. So if it, if it, if it, if there's one thing that that you've built yourself into is I mean, i see what, i how, i see you is someone that's really confident. Okay, so you built yourself. I didn't know you before Jiu Jitsu. So when I see Santino walk into a room, you're, i see confidence.
Speaker 2:So Jiu Jitsu and the trials and errors of business have built that self confidence in me And I'm so thankful for both. You know, like when we started to work and I'll tell you, it's me and grandpa and the five guys you know we had one dump truck. It was a 1989 Peter built Okay And old Bobcat And now, and like five guys, now we have 32 employees full time. I used to. I started with paving parking lots and little driveways. Now we pave heavy roadways.
Speaker 2:You know I do a lot of work Watsonville and doing freedom Boulevard. I've done a lot of work for the city of Gilroy. We're doing a lot larger volume than we're doing back in 2016. I think last year we did a $14 million a year for a family business. It's something I'm very proud of. Yeah, i looked back and I think down grandpa and me, five guys, grandma and grandpa in the office, and now I have a good friend of mine. She's in the office. She's like our office manager. I have another friend of mine. He's a project manager of mine now And I think we have too much work for all of us right now.
Speaker 2:You know so it's like who knows what the future is going to hold. I just bought a property in Gilroy to build my headquarters at for the company you know, the ranch, and I just want to keep going, bro. And it's like I need you need that self discipline and you need that self confidence. So if it wasn't for those things, i guess I wouldn't be. But I have no intentions of walking into a room and being like that kind of guy. You know, i just kind of. Maybe it's the height, maybe if I was, five, five.
Speaker 1:It'd be different, So I'll end with this It's, it's a. You kind of touched on it. Two questions similar What's your greatest achievement So far?
Speaker 2:and so far I haven't. I haven't reached the yet. I haven't reached the. yet There's no great achievement. There's always something else. There's always something else There's. when I was 10 years ago, i wanted to have a big paver. Now I have a big paver. It's not a big achievement, it just came along the way And 10 years from now, i know where I want to be. I want to be one of California's well known paving contractors. I'm not there yet. That's still not going to be an achievement, because I have bigger dreams than that. It just come down the line. There's no achievement. Everything just kind of comes along the way and hopefully is good. You know, like the ranch, not a lot of people 26 years old live on the ranch and have their house. that you know. I didn't build a house with my fucking hands, but I paid for the construction of the house. You know, not all people have that. but it's not an accomplishment, it's just, it's a necessity.
Speaker 2:You need a house, you know, and as long as you figure out a way to you know I put a house roof over grandma and grandpa's head, over my mom and my sister. My brother now is self-sufficient, thank God. It's not a good place to take care of, but there's no master achievement, there's no angle. There's no angle. Just keep going, just keep going Awesome.
Speaker 1:And before we go, is there anything you want to say? last, anything you want to shout out? anything? I'll leave it to you.
Speaker 2:I just want to say shout out to my grandpa for being there and then my fiance for supporting We're engaged, you know, and I love her very much, she loves me very much. I only seared two hours a day, maybe, like Monday through Sunday. I probably seared a tally of four hours, five hours in total week. So it takes a lot for a young woman to endure that. You know. You're going to be married to somebody. You want to live your life with somebody. She's accepted the fact that work takes a lot of the time. It just takes another bit of time.
Speaker 2:So thank you for her, for the support, thank you for grandpa, you know. And then for anybody out there who has dreams to do things bigger, it's possible. You're going to have opportunities in life. Take advantage of the opportunities you have, because opportunities come and go, but once in a while you get one good opportunity and you have to take advantage of that opportunity. You let it go, that's it. You let it go, that's it. And luckily I took this opportunity of following my grandpa's guidance and that If I was just another teen man who just said, ah, grandpa, it doesn't look better, i'm going to go and party, where the shit would I be right now, i wouldn't be able to take her on. My mom, my sister, my grandparents, you know. So take advantage of the opportunities.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, dude. Yeah we'll leave it at that, cool. Thank you, santino. Thank you no-transcript.