0

Calvin Tilokee 0:02
Hello and welcome to the midlife crisis podcast. I’m your host Calvin, also known as Revparblems on Instagram. I’m excited to do this talk show with my best friends from high school and college. Stephen Mikko, what can you expect on this podcast? Well, I like to call it a talk show for Men of a Certain Age. We’re not quite old. But we’re the kind of guys that have to make sure we don’t miss our alcohol on a night out, you know, we’ll chat about current events, trending topics, and things that we just need to get on our soapbox about knowing us. We’ll be laughing the whole time. And ladies, don’t worry if you ever wanted to know what your husband or boyfriend talks about in the man cave. Stick around. Now, keep in mind, we’re old enough to remember when Parental Advisory stickers went on CDs. If you don’t know what CDs are. You’re too young for this podcast. Speaking of which, make sure you have your headphones in. It’s NSFW as these kids say. We’ll be bringing that flavor to your weekly on your way to work while you’re shaving, or just sitting around wondering why you’re back. But let’s get this show on the road. Hello and welcome to midlife crisis podcast. I’m your host Calvin here as always with my boy Steve and Mikko bringing that flavor to your ear on a weekly basis. On today’s episode we’ll be speaking with award winning travel influencer Sarah Dandashy of ask a concierge you’ll get our Chris Rock quote of the week and as always get off my lawn. But first How was the week fellas?

Steve Rudolph 1:23
killer week

Calvin Tilokee 1:25
Nice.

Steve Rudolph 1:25
Absolutely. Killer week had a three day week. took Thursday and Friday off to see some friends. So yeah, absolutely. Killer week. Great time with them.

Calvin Tilokee 1:36
Nice, nice to you. You were telling us you went on a long drive.

Steve Rudolph 1:41
Dude, it was nine and a half hours.

Calvin Tilokee 1:43
That’s sick.

Steve Rudolph 1:43
nine hours, nine hours.

Calvin Tilokee 1:45
was it wasn’t supposed to take nine hours or is it traffic or something like that?

Steve Rudolph 1:49
is what it is. They’re extremely great friends of ours at navdy. They just had a beautiful little girl. So we went out there and saw him and got to hang out in Cedar Rapids. It was wild. They had just had a hurricane or a tornado. They’ve gone that they’ve gone through there. So there was really Oh, yeah, trees. 18 inches. 24 inches wide just snapped in half. It was wild. And like the aftermath was just nuts. But I got back 40 minutes ago, so I am wildly hopped up on caffeine.

Calvin Tilokee 2:19
Yeah, we love it. So

well, you just reminded me to one thing I will say Steve is a good friend. I mean, obviously, since you’re on the show doing this with me. I’ve have known you a long time, but I do remember like Steve will put in the extra hours and miles for your friendship. I swear to God, there was a time I hit this guy up you up in like buffalo or something. Right? And I randomly texted you,

Steve Rudolph 2:45
Toronto

Calvin Tilokee 2:45
Yeah, you were in Toronto. Right? Right. I randomly texted you because I think I got tickets to go to go see Drake out of all people.

Steve Rudolph 2:52
Yeah.

Calvin Tilokee 2:53
It was the governor’s ball on Roosevelt Island in New York. I randomly got these tickets. And I don’t know what the fuck made me text you about this? I have no idea. But you were like, yo, you know what? I could reroute through Buffalo and then fly into Westchester? And and this dude did it. No, you flew into Buffalo and then drove right?

Steve Rudolph 3:15
No, I drove from Toronto. I had to drop a guy off in Buffalo. And then and then

Calvin Tilokee 3:20
yes, this guy drives from Toronto to hang out with me for like, a night.

Mikko Miller 3:24
worth it.

Calvin Tilokee 3:26
That was a good night. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that was a good night. So thank you definitely gets those uh, you should get a triple A membership if you don’t have one. Shouldn’t you get discounts at hotels? I can give you that. You know, insider information. Yeah, at least 10%.

Mikko Miller 3:47
Get the resort fees out the way.

Calvin Tilokee 3:49
Yeah, right. What about you Mikko?

Mikko Miller 3:52
week’s been pretty chill, other than the fact that LA is bullshitting when it comes to winning this championship.

Calvin Tilokee 3:57
Oh, yeah,

Mikko Miller 3:59
they kind of choked, choked out last game, so yeah, pretty chill. But you know, everyone in LA stressed out, especially a lot of the people that are LeBron fans, Laker fans, they’re all wanting him to win the championship. You know? They’re doing it for Kobe, supposedly so stressed out. I mean, everybody’s taking bets. Everyone’s saying it’s going to game seven. I’m thinking it’s gonna end tonight. But I mean, so many people have hit me up for bet there’s a lot of these fly by night Miami fans all of a sudden, that want to take bets. You know? Yeah. A friend of mine got a tattoo of the Miami Heat winning a championship this year. Not a friend but he’s like, it’s

Calvin Tilokee 4:36
okay. So that’s definitely means. It definitely means that Lakers are gonna win. Anytime. Some idiot does that and goes public with it. That That means the other team’s gonna win. What a dummy

Mikko Miller 4:46
art shout out to you art

Calvin Tilokee 4:51
sorry, Art. I don’t know you personally, I shouldn’t have called you a dummy. But that was a dumb idea.

Steve Rudolph 4:56
Yes. Is that the only tattoo that’s that impulsive like that?

Mikko Miller 4:59
Yeah, I think that’s the only tattoo he’s had he put it on his calf where it says Miami Heat 2020 champions.

Steve Rudolph 5:06
So, if you had like a tattoo that said godfather three was gonna be really good.

Calvin Tilokee 5:10
You might have to go that direction now though. He should just get his whole leg covered in bullshit tattoos.

Mikko Miller 5:19
Yeah.

Steve Rudolph 5:22
Phantom Menace was a great movie.

Calvin Tilokee 5:25
Listen, if you’re a real heat fan, the next one I got to say Harold Minor is the next Jordan.

Mikko Miller 5:28
Oh, baby Jordan, you had to bring that out. You had to bring that out? Those that don’t know Harold minor was supposedly the next Jordan think he flamed out after three years.

Calvin Tilokee 5:37
Yeah, exactly.

Mikko Miller 5:38
He won a dunk championship.

Calvin Tilokee 5:40
You got to go all the way. Now see, that’s what I would do if I did that. But if by some mistake, I had a tattoo like that, I would just go all the way. That whole leg just had to be covered in tattoos like this.

Mikko Miller 5:52
Why not go Rony Seikaly? Ronnie Seikaly tattoo? Oh, get an arm.

Calvin Tilokee 6:00
Who was the guy that was that was?

Mikko Miller 6:06
Glen rice. ball out ball out.

Calvin Tilokee 6:15
Exactly that you got to go all the way. Yeah, you just fucked it up for the rest of us. Because I mean, full disclosure. I forgot you are a Laker fan. Mikko. I’m not rooting for them. This because I don’t want to see LeBron win. And it’s not that I don’t like LeBron. I actually really do like him. I like him as a person. But I’m tired of Jordan comparisons. I was a huge Jordan fan. And even besides that, I just don’t think he deserves to be mentioned in Jordans breath. Sorry. That’s just my opinion. And I don’t want to see him win no more. I don’t want to see him win anymore and get and get any closer. Because this dude did all this winning you saw the stats recently about how he’s got more playoff wins that Jordan and more points and all this but he’s done that for half the championships. You know, so that’s what I’m hanging on. And he will win. They will win this he’ll get to number four, but I already got my excuse ready. I’m gonna be like listen, Jordan one all his championships in June. Okay, this dude got an extra four months. That shit don’t count

Mikko Miller 7:10
Damn! COVID had nothing to do it?

Calvin Tilokee 7:13
Hey, listen, this I’m not going into any detail. I’m just all I’m gonna say is Jordan won his championships in June. That’s it. He didn’t need to take an extra four months. Sorry. Oh, man, but now you got to give LeBron his props. I’m surprised that they lost that game actually. Cuz he went off. He can’t play better than that.

Mikko Miller 7:32
the last second who he passed it to?

Calvin Tilokee 7:34
That’s why I’m a little worried.

Mikko Miller 7:35
Why green?

Calvin Tilokee 7:36
Yeah, but I mean, it’s the right play.

Mikko Miller 7:38
Don’t get me wrong. It was the right play.

Calvin Tilokee 7:41
It was the right play.

And he always does that though. That’s the point. Kobe takes that shot. Jordan takes that shot. You know what I mean? They want to be in that position. They want to take that shot. And it’s the right play. And listen, Danny Green’s made some big shots in the finals. I mean, with the Spurs and stuff back in the day is he’s no slouch, but he’s been off. You know, you could take the loss easier if LeBron takes that shot and misses it. You say well you know what, that’s just the best player on the team doing what he had to do. He missed it so what but when you pass it off and they miss it, you’re gonna be questioned, you know?

Mikko Miller 8:12
True.

Calvin Tilokee 8:13
Yeah. Anyway, that’s enough sports talk. This is not you know, ESPN first take

Mikko Miller 8:17
we’re not?

Calvin Tilokee 8:18
although i i do have a decent Steven a impression. I’ll save it for another show though. Oh, now it’s time to introduce our guest Yes, the first guest to ever grace the airwaves with midlife crisis podcast. You may know her as an award winning concierge. You may know her as the famous Instagram influencer, ask a concierge, but she’s best known for her memorable backup vocals in the most watched hospitality based quarantine video. “We be missing you” produced by me. Please welcome to the show traveler, concierge, lip syncer and 90s r&b enthusiast, Lady Sara Dandashy

Sarah Dandashy 9:04
Wow, that is quite the intro. I have to say. I don’t know what part embarrassed me more Wow, that’s a lot First of all, and exciting that I’m your first guest thank you for allowing me into the man cave.

Calvin Tilokee 9:23
You are You’re welcome.

Sarah Dandashy 9:26
Be nice.

Calvin Tilokee 9:28
We will we will just remember what happens in a man cave season a man cave right? Don’t Don’t give our secrets.

How are you Sarah? Welcome, welcome.

Sarah Dandashy 9:41
Thank you for having me here. This is exciting.

Calvin Tilokee 9:44
It is. Yeah, we’re excited to have you full disclosure. I’ve been a big fan of yours. Ever since I’ve been on Instagram. Pretty much. I started my page about four years ago and yours is one of the first pages that I followed and I was like, I want this girl’s life. This is this looks amazing.

Mikko Miller 9:59
Whoa whoa whoa wait

Calvin Tilokee 10:06
What? I can’t want to live like a travel influencer?

Sarah Dandashy 10:09
Okay. Oh, can we slow down on the I word a little bit like influencer? pains me every time. All good. I like to say by the way that the concierge were the original influencers So, you know, it’s like that’s what we do we you know, we tell people what to eat, see and do we give recommendations we kind of do our homework curate it, and then you know, that’s why it’s kind of been a natural sort of transition One could say to Instagram, so we should still take it easy on the influencer word.

Calvin Tilokee 10:42
Oh, gotcha. We can scrub it. You know, we can we can bleep bleep it out wherever you want.Yeah, exactly. Oh my god, what did they say?

Mikko Miller 10:57
What do they keep calling her? why are they bleeping it out?

Calvin Tilokee 11:00
you know? they let a girl into the man cave and treat her like that? So disrespectful.

Sarah Dandashy 11:06
so disrespectful.

Calvin Tilokee 11:10
So tell us a little bit about your background.

Sarah Dandashy 11:12
Okay, cool. My background I was actually like to say like travels in my DNA. So those that have been following me they might know but a lot of people are still kind of taken aback by it. But I’m actually half Lebanese. So even though blond hair blue eyes, like I’m half Arab. Right. And so yeah, I actually grew up in Saudi Arabia as a kid and London, England. I lived in Atlanta from eight to 18. So I have a bit of brandom like ATL Dirty South in me, whatever that is. Don’t tell my mom. No kidding. And I will do New York. While we love the delay on that, that’s cool. Um, yeah, so I mean, and I kind of like fell into hospitality. So I was going to school at Georgetown in DC and my cousin had gone to hotel school, and he was like, You should come work at the four seasons. And I’m like, cool. That should be interesting. He’s like, you get benefits on like, benefits, what? 18 years old. You think that’s like baller status? arguably so it is kind of important. But still, you’re like, Oh, cool. So yeah, so I started in hotels, and while I was going to school, but I always had like this interest for sort of like film and TV. So that’s what brought me out to LA. And then I continued to work in hotels, kind of as the, you know, quote, unquote, day job. And I got lucky again, I kind of like fell into being a concierge at a five star five diamond Hotel in Beverly Hills at 22. I mean, it was kind of like nuts. They were just like, yeah, sure, you can handle this. And I’m like, Alright, this is gonna be fun. So yeah, so it’s been an interesting journey. And then a couple years ago, I kind of was able to blend my two, sort of like passions, which is, you know, kind of like the film and TV aspect, bringing that basically online to social media, but then also combining that with what I was doing on a day to day basis, which was kind of telling people what to do in Los Angeles. And pretty quickly, I noticed that there was an audience for that. And I’m like, Okay, well, maybe I’m onto something. And then it’s grown over the years. And now I get to work with brands that are not just based in LA, but I get to travel and do all of that sort of fun stuff. So it’s been this really cool kind of organic progression. And just been fun along the way. I mean, you know, also like, a lot of work, too, but it’s fun.

Calvin Tilokee 13:32
Yeah, that’s awesome. I mean, it has to be fun, otherwise, you’re not going to stick with it, you know. So that’s great.

Sarah Dandashy 13:38
I think anytime that you have like a sort of passion for something that kind of drives it, you know, it’s like, what are you willing to do crazy things for? As in like, sleep very little stay up late work in crazy hours, whatever it is, if you find whatever that is for you, it’s amazing what you’ll do. So

Calvin Tilokee 13:55
absolutely, yeah, that’s so true.

Sarah Dandashy 13:58
So that’s kind of my rough overview of my background to bring everybody up to speed.

Mikko Miller 14:03
Okay,so, yeah, that actually did lead me into a question because Mikko is also out in LA with you. And he also has an East Coast background. So for both of you guys, which coast is better?

Sarah Dandashy 14:13
Oh, you just gonna throw it out like that. Yeah,

Calvin Tilokee 14:15
yeah, we started the show. We don’t shy away from hot takes.

Mikko Miller 14:20
I’ll let Sarha go first.

Sarah Dandashy 14:21
That’s cool. Well, I Oh, I have no problem. Also throwing them bows. West Coast, dude West Coast all the all the way. I mean, I’m sorry. Actually I’m not sorry. I’m not sorry. I chose to live here. I’ve lived here 15 years. I like it, even if you don’t.

Steve Rudolph 14:37
How come? What, what is it about the West Coast that makes you love it so much?

Sarah Dandashy 14:43
You know, it’s a combination of, it’s the lifestyle. It’s like the people that I’ve met here have been really awesome as well too. There is a sort of creative feel and vibe to it. It is a big city. So it’s like you can run that pace, like New Yorkers run a pace. Like you can still keep that pace if you want to. Or you can have a more laid back sort of approach to things. But as I’m talking to you guys, I’m looking at my window and I’ve got like four beautiful palm trees. And maybe I’m just a sucker for palm trees. But like,

Calvin Tilokee 15:16
I mean, who isn’t?

Sarah Dandashy 15:17
It’s this like cultural hub of the world. And I think there’s something kind of exciting about that. So, and it’s a little bit more green. Yeah. Than New York. Sorry, what’s left in New York, but

Mikko Miller 15:30
I prefer the West Coast to To be honest, even though I spent half of my life in Maryland and half in LA, or Orange County is not really LA. But it’s close enough. It’s a little bit more laid back than LA, in my opinion, but East Coast, West Coast, West Coast. And that’s the reason why I chose to do my career here. live out here. I got married out here. I want to start my family out here. It’s just a different vibe. And I just feel like when I moved out here, back when I was 24. I just felt like I can make money here. I can make a business out of this place. I can do something with myself here. Not that I couldn’t back in Maryland. But I just felt like la like she said, there’s this creative energy about this place that you just feel like you can make it big out here. And even though most probably won’t, but I just have that feeling that I could.

Steve Rudolph 16:20
Hmm. Interesting.

Interesting. Okay.

Sarah Dandashy 16:23
Wow, we definitely have firm East coasters.

Mikko Miller 16:26
Yeah. they’re like fuck L.A.

Calvin Tilokee 16:29
I can’t speak. I can’t speak I’ve never lived on the west coast. I can’t speak you know,

Neither have I and yeah, full disclosure. I live in Chicago. I live in Cleveland. Now. I used to live in on the east coast in New York with Calvin. And I’ve been to California. plenty of times. I’ve never been to LA. It’s the one city I have not had an opportunity to go to yet or just haven’t wanted to go to yet.

Sarah Dandashy 16:52
It’s all good. leave more for us. that’s cool

Calvin Tilokee 16:58
Yeah,

Sarah Dandashy 16:59
you guys just don’t know what’s up. that’s okay.

Calvin Tilokee 17:01
No, I don’t I mean, the closest

Sarah Dandashy 17:10
Me vs. Three in the man cave. This is gonna turn out real good.

Calvin Tilokee 17:14
No, it’s I mean, it’s almost like you and Mikko are like on one couch and me and Steve on the other. You already find yourself a teammate early. That ain’t too shabby.

Mikko Miller 17:23
She can play on my team any day. any day.

Steve Rudolph 17:27
California. I’m not anti California. I’ve just never been to LA. That’s. And that’s all. And look. I know, Cleveland’s voted the sexiest town in America time and time again,

Mikko Miller 17:39
only next to Detroit.

Steve Rudolph 17:44
But I’ve just never been never been.

Sarah Dandashy 17:48
Oh, you missing out but that’s cool.

Mikko Miller 17:51
I want to see it. I wanted to breathe it. I want him to just inhale it and just fall in love with it.

Sarah Dandashy 17:56
I mean, as soon as I walked off the plane, I was like, yep, this is home

Mikko Miller 17:59
Yup. Huh. Same way. Same.

Calvin Tilokee 18:00
Really? Wow. Awesome. Totally awesome. That’s, that’s really cool. I did some taskforce work in Long Beach for six months. So that’s about as close as I got to experiencing it for real, but it was a couple days a week and I’d fly home. Yeah, I spent one night in LA.

Sarah Dandashy 18:18
Okay,

Calvin Tilokee 18:19
I can say that. I did a whole lot there. I’ve seen Beverly Hills I’ve walked down Rodeo Drive. So I’ve seen what that looks like. I have been to Orange County. But that’s about it. So I don’t have anything to go off of to make a determination. But I love the weather. I will say that. Because I started this taskforce when it was in November, something like that. You’d hop off the plane and it’s 72 degrees in December. I’m like, yeah, I’ll take this any day.

Sarah Dandashy 18:45
Right? I was by the pool two days ago, like, but I’m just like, outside thinking, Oh my gosh, how lucky are we that it’s October? And I could be sitting here? Yeah, yeah, I was doing work too. But I was just like, this is pretty

Calvin Tilokee 19:01
but. Yeah, you’re at the pool in a bathing suit. Like that’s pretty awesome. I didn’t like in October here. Forget it.

Sarah Dandashy 19:07
Yeah, no. Nice.

Calvin Tilokee 19:09
No, I live we literally went for a walk yesterday and it’s 75 degrees. And I’m like, hmm, should I put on shorts? Like No, this is this is October, October 75. Not May 75 it’s a whole different feel, No, No, we’re gonna throw some pants on. I did get away with a T shirt though. So that was positive. So having worked in hotels as a concierge for many years, what is the strangest concierge request you’ve ever got?

Sarah Dandashy 19:40
I knew you were gonna go there.

Calvin Tilokee 19:41
I mean, come on. It’s obvious.

Sarah Dandashy 19:43
No, no, no for sure. So here’s what I will say. And it’s so funny because it’s like, as I talk about it, different memories will kind of pop back up. But it’s crazy because honestly, when you’ve been doing it for so long, you become a little bit desensitized. Because like By the way, we’re having totally like, unfiltered Sarah, just because this is what makes sense that shit gets strange people get strange, okay? And the stuff that they come up to you and say, and you’re like, what? So by the end, it’s like, you’re like one of these ladies that’s like, you know, the heavy smoke is it? Yeah, that’s it. That’s all you got for me. Like, it’s like, like, I’ve got a new one for you like, yeah, try me bud. you know, me like, What is wrong with this girl? But it is true. Like I was like, cool. You want me to help you bury a dead body? Kidding, that is not what I mean. It’s like that crazy. Gosh where do I even begin, um, some of them have been like, I remember having to go and like buy lingerie for a guy’s girlfriend and just like have that in the room. I don’t know if that’s that weird, but it was just like, oh, that’s personal. And then they even shared more details. And I was just like, okay, now I really know way too much about your relationship. Cool. So it’s awesome. But then, like, I had somebody you know, we had a family that came in from Kuwait. And they wanted to get a dog and it was specifically I think it was like a teacup malti poo or something like that dog. But I don’t know anything about even though I’m female that’s no. So they wanted this so we had to go find it. And this was at the time where there were still breeders for this and or like puppy shops and all of that where that became a little bit taboo. But found breeders found the type of dog they wanted. Help them get the puppy then they get the puppy then it’s like, oh my now we have to train the puppy. And it was like all of this now the dog has to get shots. Oh, now look, the summer’s over. And we have to go back to Kuwait. We need to have all the shots that like we can get the puppy back with us. And then it was like, all of this, whatever to get the dog back on the plane to go to another country. And because the puppy was too young, they weren’t able to travel with it yet. It still needed to be like three weeks older, something like that. And then they’re like, ah, then don’t worry about it. Somebody here can just keep the puppy.

Mikko Miller 22:08
What?

Sarah Dandashy 22:09
Yes.

Steve Rudolph 22:12
For just those three weeks?

Sarah Dandashy 22:13
oh, no, no, forever. So at first they were like, yeah, we can keep it for three weeks. And we can like, bring it over for you or something like that. And that’s fine. Kind of like what we’ve done. We had the puppy for the summer. That was cool. It’s interesting. It’s really, I mean, that’s weird, you know, and it’s weird. And then I’d have like, there’s always been like this whole series of I had an interaction with Harvey Weinstein.

Calvin Tilokee 22:42
Right? Yeah, I’m leaning back in my seat. Now I want to hear this one.

Sarah Dandashy 22:46
Well, first of all, everybody knew that he was just gross. And so he was staying there with his wife, but they would always have separate rooms. Um, and then I’m like, okay, of course. And he called me from his roof. Oh, my God, I can’t believe I’m saying this story. Because he from his room, and he’s like, out of breath. And I’m like, this is what the way

Calvin Tilokee 23:11
He probably just walked from the bed to the phone.

Steve Rudolph 23:15
Let’s hope it’s that

Sarah Dandashy 23:19
we are on the phone, and I’m just like, Oh my gosh, I want to like pull the phone away from my ear. Because I I feel like, whatever is coming out of his mouth is coming through the phone. It’s like, yeah. And then he’s like, Can you send up some condoms? And I’m like, Oh, I’m totally. So I’m like, how many condoms do you need? Like, wait, no, duh.

Okay, fine. All right. Sure. Do know, we’ll send you and I’m trying to like, stay. Obviously, I’m freaking out right now. Well, I’m telling you the story. But this is like my internal monologue. Like, this is what is happening? I’m also going through like, in my mind, and I’m like, well, his wife is like, next door. Or like, What is? Is that really for her? Is he with somebody else? And I’m just like, stop with the thoughts. And then

Calvin Tilokee 24:10
yeah,

Sarah Dandashy 24:12
right away. And then he’s like, and then make them magnum? And I’m like,

Mikko Miller 24:15
Oh please, is he making balloons?

Calvin Tilokee 24:26
Hey kids look what I can do!

Sarah Dandashy 24:30
Perfect. I was like, I’ll send it right up. But it won’t be me. It’ll be one of the little pages. So I

Mikko Miller 24:38
mean, at least he wasn’t. He wasn’t like, Oh, well, how many do you think YOU will need?

Sarah Dandashy 24:44
Oh, yeah, that’s true. I mean, it could have been one step away from. I mean, it’s, and it’s not that bad of a story. I mean, it’s like it’s a hotel, like people call down for that type of stuff all the time. But it was just like knowing that it was him and just like, the whole circumstances and he’s just living He could walk through the lobby with like his pants falling off and I’m like, dude, I don’t need to see. Like what? Like, he’s, he’s the sloppiest human being.

Mikko Miller 25:09
So like, Jabba the Hutt sloppy?

Sarah Dandashy 25:14
Pretty much. Did not expect to go here. Wow, I can’t believe I told you my Harvey Weinstein story. Well, that’s it. I mean, it’s not that exciting. But

Calvin Tilokee 25:22
that’s what happens in the man cave. That’s it. That’s the man cave effect. I’m just having a vision of like, pigpen like, he just got like stink lines following him through the lobby.

Mikko Miller 25:37
Cloud dust following all over the place.

Calvin Tilokee 25:39
Yeah. Like hi Mr. Weinstein, how can we help you?

Sarah Dandashy 25:44
Oh, gosh

Calvin Tilokee 25:51
yeah, man.

Sarah Dandashy 25:53
I’m sure they’re weirder stories to

Calvin Tilokee 25:55
know. Yeah, I’m sure. But that’s that’s pretty

Sarah Dandashy 25:59
I had a guy who he was about to get married. And then he was like, how do I get out of this? And I’m like, I don’t know.

Mikko Miller 26:08
I didn’t realize you could ask a concierge that

Sarah Dandashy 26:14
walks over and I’m like, I gotta go get some water. I’m, like, walk away. I’m like,

Calvin Tilokee 26:19
you gotta you gotta throw that up on your website. Ask a Concierge Anything.

Sarah Dandashy 26:25
Like, get out of getting married? I don’t know. But I’m not involved.

Calvin Tilokee 26:32
Oh, my God. That’s crazy.

Sarah Dandashy 26:33
Yeah, it gets weird. Again, it’s just like people. It’s like, they go into a hotel and like Freaky Friday, every day. And I’m like, all right. You live on this earth? That’s

Calvin Tilokee 26:46
no, it is true. It is true. People get really strange in hotels. It’s like, they think it’s an escape from reality.

Sarah Dandashy 26:52
100% It’s so bizarre. It’s like they live it. They go into a hotel. They’re like, yeah, I can just like, do whatever. And it’s like, you do know that. Like, we have your name when you checked in. Like we have your credit card. So even if you have an alias like we have your credit card. Like we know your real name. We can Google you

Mikko Miller 27:09
do people still use aliases? Like, like, funny cartoon names?

Sarah Dandashy 27:13
Yeah.

Mikko Miller 27:13
Oh, wow. I thought that was just in movies

Sarah Dandashy 27:16
Well, I mean, also, I mean, keep in mind, like, I’m working in Los Angeles and Hollywood. So of course, like, you’re gonna have celebrities, and then they have a specific alias, you know, good. Theres that. Especially if it gets like crazy. Like, once you start getting people like the Madonna’s and the Cardi B’s and all of that, like, you have to have an alias. Yeah.

Steve Rudolph 27:38
Without asking for a specific, was there ever a celebrity who gave an alias? And you really, you know, you don’t really need the alias?

Calvin Tilokee 27:52
Nobody looking for you!

Sarah Dandashy 27:56
But what I will say is that because people will sometimes ask, they’ll be like, okay, like, what celebrities were, like, totally full of themselves. And what I’ve found, generally speaking, and maybe Calvin, you maybe can even like, understand this is that it’s like, the less famous the person was the bigger deal that they thought they were, you know, they might be just like, no, you’re like, I don’t know who you are, like, you just have money, but cool. And they think they are like the biggest deal. And then like, you’ll have the celebrities who are pretty down to earth, so to speak. So nobody know, everybody has been, you know, pretty cool. You know, as far as like any of like the big name celebrities, I don’t necessarily have any crazy negative interactions. I mean, I’ve had like amazing ones like Mel Brooks. Like, I got to have a whole conversation with Mel Brooks. And then he was like, hey Dandashy Yeah, we call me by my last name. And then we actually ended up like, going out. And this was when the first time they ever like hung out with somebody outside of the hotel. And he was like, he called me up. He’s like, Dandashy it’s your old pal, Mel. So you want to go to the Polo lounge? Either this shit is gonna get real weird. And I’m gonna have like somebody my grandfather’s age hit on me, which would make a good story,

Calvin Tilokee 29:09
It would

Mikko Miller 29:10
Definitely

Sarah Dandashy 29:10
or it will be cool, which will also make a good story. So like either way, let’s do this. So I actually went with him to the Polo lounge. He was amazing. It was literally like, having like dinner with like a grandfather. And it was just very interesting conversations. It’s talking about all sorts of things. And I was young, I was like, 23. And so I was like, Oh, this is playing with fire. But it was so cool. And but to get to be there with somebody that’s like, He’s a legend. He’s a legend. And to be able to just like, break bread with somebody like that, and to just talk about like life politics is incredible

Steve Rudolph 29:49
Spaceballs Blazing Saddles. The list is endless.

Calvin Tilokee 29:54
Men in Tights, one of my favorites.

Sarah Dandashy 29:55
Oh my gosh, that’s such a great one.

Calvin Tilokee 29:58
That’s a classic movie.

Sarah Dandashy 30:00
So yeah, I mean, there are cool people so it’s, you know, it just, and I think that’s also kind of part of the fun factor of like living and working in Los Angeles is that you have that. And yes, you can have that certainly in in New York, but I feel like almost a little bit more of an accessibility here in LA.

Mm hmm. Yeah, I think so. I think so. You know, sometimes you do walk past people in New York, and you’re like, wait, was that? You know, like, one time I’m walking past that I’m just walking past a cafe. And I had to be a Alanis Morissette said, it had to be looked exactly like her. But she’s just dressed like a regular person. And Alanis Moriessette she looks regular. And I don’t mean that in a negative sense. But you now, I mean, she looks like a, just an everyday person, you know, and she’s not dressed up or anything. So it’s like, it could be her or it might not be, but that’s what New York is like, I’ve walked past David Alan Grier on the street and it didn’t hit me until I passed him. And I was like, Wait a second. You know, that’s that was David Alan Grier, you know, but

so cool.

Calvin Tilokee 30:59
You have these experiences. Sometimes I was working for Gordon Ramsay at a restaurant that he opened in New York. And the hotel was that was actually the London New York City.

Sarah Dandashy 31:08
I bet it I was like let me guess. Yeah. London, New York City. Yeah,

Calvin Tilokee 31:12
yeah. And a lot of celebrities stayed there. And I met a few cool people. One time I’m standing in the lobby and the Toronto Raptors were staying there. Because they were coming to Boston next day. And these these guys all check it in and I see Chris Bosh walk in. And I mean, this is a giant. I’ve never seen people this tall, you know? And he comes up to the desk and he’s like, yeah, Bosh, Chris, like, we know who you are. Can you take your keys? Like, could you imagine having to announce yourself when you’re Chris Bosh. But I met Charles Barkley, which was the coolest celebrity experience I’ve had. He was really chill, just really, really down to earth. chatted with him for like five minutes he was in town to do Kimmel or something. But I’d say the funniest one was I had to work on the weekend, which is not something I really signed up for it which is why I ended up going into revenue where I can just Monday to Friday, and you know, I can have a life. But I’m working on a Sunday and standing at the front and three six mafia walks in. Oh, it’s like 10am so we like literally were just opening up for breakfast and everything. And it’s three six mafia. I mean, these guys are hood, right? So you’re thinking like, Oh, shit, what the hell they even doing here? You know the Gordon Ramsay restaurant. So they come to get a table I’m like, Well, you know, we’re not quite set up yet. etc. etc. have given him the whole spiel. And he’s like, okay, yeah, so you know, can we just get a drink? Like so first thing in my head? I’m like, shit. I don’t know if we got Hennessey. You know? I was like, Damn, I don’t think we gonna have what you want bro. Then he’s like, Yeah, um, I was like, What are you guys looking for? And he goes, Yeah. Do you think you guys can make mimosas? I was like, yeah. Three, six mafia. I’d be like sure we have let me run to the bodega here real quick thing is when you work in those environments, if that’s what he wanted we going to run around the block and be like yo who got Mad Dog? It’s 10 o’clock on Sunday. Somebody’s got some

Sarah Dandashy 33:45
It’s like PTSD like you’re giving me this PTSD? Yeah. from working on that environment. We’re like, Oh, my God, I have to go get this.

Calvin Tilokee 33:51
Yeah, yeah. So tell us a bit about how, how you started your ask a concierge brand.

Sarah Dandashy 33:59
Yeah. Um, so we, it was kind of one of those like happy accidents, like I was actually doing a writing course. And the instructor was, like, Hey, everybody should do a vlog on like, what you’re an expert in, and I’m like, a vlog. Like, what? Like, well I eat healthy and I work out, but I’m like, not that guru. And so I was like, Well, I guess I’ll like talk about what to do in LA, nobody’s gonna want to watch this. I’m just gonna call it ask a concierge and just do it for an assignment and just be done with it. And so I did the first video and I remember watching their faces, like in the classroom, and they were like, this is really good. And I’m looking at them like, but you live in LA, like, Why do you care about like me talking about things to do in LA? And they’re like, well, because like, we have family that comes into town. We’re looking to do things like maybe it’s a date night idea. And I was like, oh, oh, wow. It was like this light bulb moment where like, wow, this information is not only useful for just people coming to LA but also people living in Los Angeles, maybe there’s something to this. So that’s really how it got started. And oh my gosh, those videos still exist online if one digs deep, they can see the very first video that I recorded on my iPhone with a scarf around my neck look like a airline stewardess. It’s kind of crazy flight attendant.

Calvin Tilokee 35:21
Is that on a Google page 6?

Mikko Miller 35:23
I’m looking it up right now.

Sarah Dandashy 35:32
Yeah, so it was just kind of really cool. And then I realized that like the name, which honestly, like I just like, I just was like, I’m just gonna call it ask a concierge like, literally came up with it on a whim. And it just, it worked. And then I realized that bigger brands, were immediately starting to kind of respond to it just because the name made sense. Yeah. And so as I kind of continued, you know, at first, it wasn’t necessarily as much about me as it was like about my recommendations. And because I’m like, people don’t care about who Sara Dandashy is like, they don’t care. But they seem to be responding to ask a concierge is. So let me use that umbrella. So basically, using the power of the brand to kind of like get in the door. And the name of the brand immediately gave people a sense of that. And I was like, at some point, whatever, we can start incorporating myself, but at the beginning was very much like my recommendations. And that, and I do remember, at some point, somebody was like, No, you need to have like more photos with you and this and I’m like, oh, but I don’t want to. And then, as I did, I was like, wow, people actually do respond to this a whole lot more so. So I do try to keep it like a bit of a good mix as far as like content. But yeah, it was this really interesting. Again, it was just like a series of just smart decisions, where I didn’t necessarily know why I was making it. But I was just going on a hunch, kind of just like, set me up to propel me to that next level. And it’s amazing how it’s grown. And not only that, but I was also really in a great place as far as where I was working. because traditionally speaking, like at other hotels that are more corporate, you know, they would be like no social media. No, you can’t be you can’t be doing this. Like you. It’s super, super private. But I was now working at a boutique hotel. And they were like, yeah, so long as you’re like, responsible and like you do appropriate things. Cool. We like this. So I was now in an environment Yeah, that they were supportive. So again, it was just kind of like, right place, right time, lucky in regards to all of that.

Mikko Miller 37:31
Perfect Storm,

Calvin Tilokee 37:33
that’s really cool.

Sarah Dandashy 37:33
You know, it’s, I kind of find that these sort of quote, unquote, like pivotal moments have been just kind of like going on my gut. So just all of these different moments, that’s like, okay, like, even for example, I had another kind of moment with that, at the start of the pandemic, you know, when everything was kind of shut down, and like, what do I do I travel all the time. I mean, I did 35 destinations last year, a lot of travel at a hotel, too. So it’s like, I would literally get off a plane, go home, drop off my suitcase, throw on my uniform, and go straight to work. And people, you know, it’s like, I mean, not glamorous, but I was like, This is what I need to do at this point in time. And so, you know, at the start of the pandemic, I’m like, Okay, this is gonna be interesting, because like nobody’s traveling, and how do you continue to talk about travel, or create travel content when you’re not able to travel? So I, you know, really took this moment to like, kind of like, watch what was going on, in the world of social media, what watch what other people were doing. And I was trying to find, where there were gaps in content, what people weren’t doing. Because I saw what people were doing a lot of it was like, Oh, I can’t wait to travel again. And I’m like, that’s gonna get real old real quick. Right? Okay. Well, obviously, at that point, we weren’t like expecting to be like, where we are still, like, in October, I was just like, okay, you sound like a whiny, lame person. I don’t want to do that. So I’m like, Okay, well, how can we like provide, like, some hope and stuff. And so that’s where I, again, I went with my gut and On a hunch, and I was like, Well, let me just start doing these, like travel industry updates, to really kind of focus on like, what’s happening in the world of travel to like, give us knowledge so we can kind of, you know, be excited about moving forward. And then I started doing a bunch of like, news interviews and all of that. So again, it was the using this time, like, Okay, how can you be smart about it? And then watching what kind of happens after that. It’s been cool.

Calvin Tilokee 39:30
That’s awesome. That’s awesome.

Mikko Miller 39:32
Yeah. Wow.

Calvin Tilokee 39:33
So give us some of the latest updates. You have very seasoned travelers on the show here with you. Oh, we would love to know when I’m gonna get out of here and be able to go

Mikko Miller 39:41
Yeah,

Sarah Dandashy 39:42
well, it depends on where you want to go. To be honest. Um, no, but I mean, no, it looks like Canada’s finally easing some of their restrictions. So I mean, I know that that’s like a you know, more immediate but I mean, think about it to Canada was like yo, no blocking their borders to US for quite some time. Now. They’re you it a bit for it, you know, family members, students, things like that. But um, you know, Mexico is obviously still a place we can go to Europe is not happening. And you know, it’s interesting, it’s like when you think about it, like, that’s easily Not gonna happen till next year. Yeah, what are they going to do open up right before the holidays? No way. No way. So it’s like, it’s just really interesting to see where we are now as far as in the state of travel. And you know, it’ll be interesting to just see like, I mean, obviously, it’ll come back, we’ll bounce out of it. But there’s in between time it’s like, Ooh, it’s nuts. Yeah. And I think that combined with actually like, the elections and everything, it’s like, we’re super inward focused where I think normally we might be more looking outward. There’s also that as well, too.

Calvin Tilokee 40:48
Yeah. Yeah. That’s an unfortunate tie into this whole situation is is our, you know, political climate and situation. Yeah, we probably, you know, I don’t think we’d be sitting here if different decisions were made, but I’ll leave it at that.

Sarah Dandashy 41:02
Agreed.

Calvin Tilokee 41:03
Yeah, yeah. So what would be your favorite travel story? Steve has lived in Korea for years, Mikko grew up in Germany. So we’ve all been around quite a bit. But yeah, what are your favorite places to go?

Sarah Dandashy 41:17
Yeah, you guys definitely have That’s awesome. Favorite travel story or favorite destinations?

Calvin Tilokee 41:22
Um, let’s go with the story.

Sarah Dandashy 41:25
Okay. Okay. So one of my favorite stories, I was actually in Prague, and there was a period of time, honestly before like tik tok was like really blowing up where I would like randomly dance in places. Like I find a mural and I just like start dancing. It started as like a joke. I was doing like a photoshoot. And I was like, This is so stupid. So I just started dancing. And we recorded it. And then I put us on to it and put it out there. And I remember being like, oh, how are people going to respond to this? I’m like, Well, you know what? Everybody has such a short attention span. If they hate it, tomorrow’s a new day. I can post something new tomorrow, but let me just give it a go today. And people really liked it. And then for the longest time, people are like, Oh my gosh, you’re the girl that dances in random places. I’m like, Yeah, I’m also an accomplished professional. But yes, I dance in front of random walls. Sure, I’ll take that. So I was in Prague and my, I was traveling with a couple friends. And they were like, Oh, you have to dance in front of the john lennon wall. And I’m like, okay, and we get there. And it’s like, oh my god, there’s so many people. There’s like a shit ton of people. Everybody’s taking pictures in front of the wall. And I’m like, Dude, this is like, now you want me to dance in front of all these people? Like they’re gonna start throwing like coins at me or something like this is? What’s happening.

Calvin Tilokee 42:40
It could be worse. It was the john lennon wall. It could get worse.

Sarah Dandashy 42:43
It could. Okay, yes. If

Calvin Tilokee 42:47
I had to go there, I’m sorry.

Sarah Dandashy 42:48
No, I know. So I’m like, Alright, whatever, just, it’s fine. My friends are there, they’re supporting me, it’ll be fine. So I put on like a Justin Timberlake song. And I start dancing. And I’m like, I’m trying to like not make eye contact with people. And then all of us, I’m just like, going out and like next thing you know, I see like, everybody like, swivel, like, they were taking photos of their friends. And then all of a sudden, they’re like, we’re going to take photos of this crazy person dancing in front of a wall. I’m like, Oh, my God, how many versions of this video are going to exist on the internet? Thank goodness, this was before influencers in the wild, I would have definitely appeared on that. Don’t make eye contact. And then out of the corner of my eye, I see these people kind of like getting close to me. And I like look up to like, Hey, we’re from Italy. Can we dance with you? And I’m like, Yes, you can dance with me. please don’t make me feel like an asshole. Definitely dance. Like hopping in, like, it’s a guy and like two other girls. And like, we all start dancing and like, everybody’s like having an amazing time. And it was great. And we captured it on video and the videos out there. And for me, I loved that moment. Because we were in this country where like, I definitely didn’t speak the native language. And I was had other people that were from another country, their native tongue is completely different. And we were able to connect over music and dance nice. And it was a special moment. And I know it sounds so silly, but it was just so, so simple. And I love that I love that you are able to connect with people in ways when I think possible.

Mikko Miller 44:29
That’s cool.

Calvin Tilokee 44:29
Yeah. Yeah.

Sarah Dandashy 44:31
Yeah. So that was my favorite sort of travel. I have crazy travel stories were like, chick, it’s wild, but it’s like not in a good way wild. But like isn’t like oh my gosh, what just happened?

Calvin Tilokee 44:45
Ibiza? what you say?

Sarah Dandashy 44:51
No. But to me, that’s like kind of like the whole thing of travel its like you really kind of get to live You know, cuz you’re outside of the confines of like your normal routine outside of your comfort zone

Calvin Tilokee 45:05
that is really cool. And one thing you said before in the story reminded me like growing up, you’d see these videos of like Michael Jackson doing a concert in the Czech Republic or something like that. And like how are all these millions of people enjoying this, do they really even, know what he’s saying, oh, and obviously now that I’m older, I realize most people speak English. We’re, not really bilingual around here. But, you know, yeah, exactly. You grew up realize, Oh, wait, I’m the idiot. My bad. But it is cool how people can bond over things like that, you know?

Sarah Dandashy 45:35
Oh, 100% that actually reminds me last summer when we could go to concerts. I saw Lionel Richie in concert, because I’m that type of person. That’d be like Lionel Richie.

Calvin Tilokee 45:48
All night long!

Mikko Miller 45:49
Yeah, I would have gone to that.

Sarah Dandashy 45:51
So he was playing at the Hollywood Bowl, and I saw him. And it was. So first of all, it’s a Hollywood Bowl. And if you’ve never been there, I mean, it’s like a large outdoor like amphitheatre. The weather is so beautiful in Los Angeles to have a live concert outside like that. It’s really magical. And then it’s Lionel Richie, who that man opens his mouth, and it just comes out so easily. It’s crazy. And there I am, I took a coworker of mine who’s from the country of Malawi, from Africa. And like he’s there, and like he grew up there. I mean, he’s lived in the states for maybe six years now. But like he grew up in Malawi, and it’s like, so I’m with him. Then we’ve got everybody else that you’re looking at, like in and around the whole Hollywood Bowl. And there were a couple of times that Lionel Richie was mentioning, like stuff that he’s like, basically, when he sings, it’s like, we all have very specific memories to his music, like we all know it. And it doesn’t matter where you’re from, doesn’t matter, like how old you are, where you grew up, like all of these different aspects that go into it. But like we could all bond over that shared love of that music. It’s this like, special, special thing. So I don’t know, like that, again, kind of coming back to the whole like music, just tying people together across like cultures and languages and all that.

Calvin Tilokee 47:13
Yeah, absolutely. That’s cool.

Mikko Miller 47:16
Favorite Lionel Richie song?

Sarah Dandashy 47:19
guys dancing on the ceiling.

Calvin Tilokee 47:22
I knew it somehow. I knew that.

Love it. Love it. All right, cool. So I know you have some exciting news about you potentially writing something? So I’ll let you talk about that.

Sarah Dandashy 47:38
Potentially? All right. Well, I’m writing a book. So not potentially, I’m like seven chapters in of 10.

Steve Rudolph 47:46
That’s fantastic.

Sarah Dandashy 47:47
Yeah, no. And you know, here’s the thing. I always wanted to write a book, but I didn’t want it to be like a tell all because I just don’t that’s just like not my thing. Even though I have many interesting stories. I’m just like, whatever. I don’t really care about airing other people’s like, dirty laundry.

Calvin Tilokee 48:05
Yeah, you don’t don’t do that in the book. That’s what you come here for.

Sarah Dandashy 48:08
Yeah, exactly what I already did. Thank you very much for reminding me. I was like, Okay, what would it be like, and all of this, and then in this time, where there’s definitely been a really big shift as far as work and what I’m doing for work and my whole life. And like, the times now, and so I’m writing a hospitality book. So it’s a little bit geared towards people that are, you know, within the industry, but I’d like to think that, you know, people outside industry can definitely take some golden nuggets from it, as well to sort of be a mix of, you know, some stories of, you know, actual, like exchange exchanges and things that have happened, not only for myself, but from colleagues. And then, you know, kind of like dissecting hospitality a little bit more so like, talking about, like, the pillars of hospitality, like, what’s the difference between four and five star? The service does that that type of stuff. So through my lens, and so I’m excited because I’m like, let’s do this like not to be weird, but it’s like, what else is there to do right now? I’m pretty much at home. And it’s like, I feel like I work out sleep. And I’m like, I might as well write a book. No, I mean, there’s obviously plenty. But at a time where we aren’t necessarily going out as much and interacting with people that much that way. I figured this would be a really good time to be a little bit more introspective, and then create something out of it. So I’m excited and that should be coming out in December.

Calvin Tilokee 49:37
Just in time for the holidays. stocking stuffers.

Sarah Dandashy 49:43
Hospitality stocking stuff.

Mikko Miller 49:48
My wife what I want now.

Calvin Tilokee 49:50
That’s fantastic. That’s fantastic. Yeah, it’s very cool.

Sarah Dandashy 50:00
Thanks. Thanks. We’re getting there. One chapter at a time.

Calvin Tilokee 50:04
That’s it. Awesome. Awesome. All right, so we’re gonna wrap it up with some rapid fire.

Sarah Dandashy 50:09
Whoo. Okay.

Calvin Tilokee 50:10
All right. So we got some questions that are a little bit different than what we just hit you with. So we’ll let Steve start off.

Sarah Dandashy 50:16
Okay.

Steve Rudolph 50:17
What was your favorite kind of client in the hotel? The reason I’m asking my wife is was in the concierge industry, corporate concierge she would tell me all kinds of weird stories like talking.

Sarah Dandashy 50:28
I’m sure

Steve Rudolph 50:30
you’re favorite kind of guests to have come up to you in the hotel.

Sarah Dandashy 50:32
Oh, my God, first of all, why wasn’t she on today? Cuz that would have been interesting. For the two of us. We go at it with our stories. Oh, no, my favorite type were business travelers for two reasons. Genuinely, they knew what they wanted. And they had the money to do it. So it was fun. The back and forth sometimes with leisure travelers, although it can be fun, and you can get really creative. Then next thing you know, then there might be like a monetary limit or then like so and so in the family wants to do it. But so and so in the family doesn’t want to do it. And sometimes it can be all this back and forth. And then they end up canceling everything, which is frustrating to say the least. So yeah,

Calvin Tilokee 51:10
and then you’re stuck with a dog.

Mikko Miller 51:11
Exactly,

Sarah Dandashy 51:12
exactly. Oh my gosh. Case in point. So generally, normally my favorite because it’s like, again, they know what they want. They have the money to do it or expense it. And it’s like, cool. Let’s play. Awesome. Yeah,

Mikko Miller 51:28
I’m a big food guy. LA is not a area that I venture out to a lot. Even though I’m like 45 minutes away. Best taco place. Best taco place. Authentic taco place.

Sarah Dandashy 51:39
I’m just gonna just put it out there. Really? You’re gonna ask the white girl the best taco place like we’re gonna put that out there

Mikko Miller 51:46
I’m putting all the marbles in this question.

Sarah Dandashy 51:49
Perfect. Great. Well, I took that because the one time I did a video on like, three great taco places in LA and like, I got pummeled on YouTube. They’re like, Oh, okay, white Girl.

Calvin Tilokee 52:01
We don’t want no Mayonnaise on our taco!!

Sarah Dandashy 52:14
Oh, my God. No, um, I really like I like Guisado’s as far as just like, simple, easy, you know, it’s like, they kind of like, arguably more of the authentic. And they’re smaller, like hole in the walls, but they do have like, a couple locations. So yeah, if I would be going for more of the authentic route, I probably do something like that. If I want to do like fancy fancy tacos, then we’re probably playing a whole different ballgame. So

Mikko Miller 52:42
you got to name it now. What’s that place.

Sarah Dandashy 52:45
Okay, okay, fine. I know. So if I would do that I would do Petty Cash Taqueria, which is a cute spot really great. And, you know, again, like, just a little bit of like a different, like approach to some of their tacos, but it has like a fun vibe to it as well, too. So

Mikko Miller 53:02
definitely check those two places out.

Sarah Dandashy 53:03
Cool. Perfect. Let me know. Tell me if I suck, it’s okay.

Calvin Tilokee 53:12
Mine was do you get trolls? And how do you deal with them?

Sarah Dandashy 53:16
Um, I don’t

Calvin Tilokee 53:17
you don’t!? Good for you!

Sarah Dandashy 53:18
you’re not nuts. So I don’t like I don’t get hate. Maybe once every so often. Somebody might be like, Oh, I disagree with this. Rarely.

Calvin Tilokee 53:27
Mm hmm.

Sarah Dandashy 53:28
I don’t get trolls knock on wood.

Calvin Tilokee 53:30
Good for you.

Sarah Dandashy 53:31
And even like, you know, as a female putting yourself out on social media as well to know gear like, Okay, what? When you go into that folder, that it’s like, the whatever, the extra folder of people that you’re not contacts with? And you’re like, oh, okay, what what are these people sending here? Most of the time? It’s, I mean, it’s either spam or if it is somebody, you know, it’s gonna be somebody from wherever, and they’re like, Oh, you’re so pretty. Here’s a heart here’s a rose. Oh, I would marry you. And I’m like, Okay, well, in the scheme of things, I would take that, you know, yeah. Where the conversation could go, especially if it’s unsolicited. So yeah, you know, so it’s like, I am very mindful as far as like, what I put out there as far as to not necessarily be too polarizing to lead with, like, education knowledge, and keeping it positive. I also watch my language too. I mean, obviously, I just curse like a sailor on here. And I could curse a heck of a lot more, but I didn’t. But like when I do my stuff, I just don’t because I remember one time I actually posted a picture of me like flipping off the camera, because it was kind of like making fun of like everybody taking their picture on top of running and I’m like, Fuck off. I posted it. And I had somebody from like, Iran, like on the other side of the world, and he was like, I find that really offensive. And I’m like, Yo, dude, like, chill the fuck out. But then it was like, Okay, interesting. Interesting. And then it just stuck with me. And I ended up taking it. I mean, it was on my story. So it would go away after 24 hours anyway, but I ended up taking down probably after six hours, and I’m like, hmm, if he is offended by that, who else might be? And at the same time, it’s like, who’s watching my stuff? In the way I see it, especially if social media for me, it’s like, people that might potentially hire me are watching me, and what would they feel about that? And I remember actually shortly thereafter, because I, one of my big clients is Marriott, and I work with them on a corporate level. And like, almost all of like the C level execs Follow me. And I’m like, wow, I’m glad I took that off. So there is something to be said for just like being mindful as far as like, what? Again, it all depends on your brand and what you do. I’ve got a girlfriend of mine who was like, the most foul mouth individual. But then she shows me what you get at. It’s like, Well, you did say like some pretty crazy shit. And I know you’re not salmon, but like, okay, we get it, like, calm down, right? But the big lesson for me was like, you never know who’s watching and who could be a decision maker on a future job of yours. So play within that parameter.

Mikko Miller 56:13
You better brace yourself after the show.

Sarah Dandashy 56:15
Yeah. Oh my god. By the way, this is definitely a little tame

Calvin Tilokee 56:24
Oh, man. All right. So that means you got to come back because we don’t want tam eSarah.

Sarah Dandashy 56:28
Oh, no, sorry.

Calvin Tilokee 56:33
That’s funny. I deal with my trolls a hell of a lot different than you do. But that’s a story for another time

Sarah Dandashy 56:38
the trouble is that like, you creepy like you’re sharing memes, like all these people that get their panties in a wad because quite frankly, that’s what they are. Over the fact that like you’re sharing a meme as a joke, like simmer the fuck down? If you can’t take a joke. Oh my god. Wow. Sorry. Like, it’s a joke. Like these people that get all bent out of shape. And it’s too soon. It’s like, Okay. Like, like, yeah, move on. Like, don’t comment. Like, I don’t know why this is so weird to me.

Calvin Tilokee 57:11
No, you reminded me of something. I was at a Chris Rock show, like a year or two ago. Yeah, he made a joke about 911. And the girl behind me was like, too soon. I was like, well, when is it gonna be okay? Yeah. It was a long time ago. All right. I mean,

Sarah Dandashy 57:28
dude comedy is a whole different beast. And I wouldn’t even like touch on this. But so I actually used to do sketch comedy. And I’ve done a bit of stand up as well. So like the whole any of this? Yeah. I know. That’s it. That’s Google page 10. Sara sucked at stand up. No. Um, yeah. So I mean, look, you live in LA long enough. You You get to dabble and do a bunch of different things. So by the way, mad respect for people that can do that. But whenever you’re sharing anything that’s like comedy, like it’s a mixed bag, what you’re gonna get in return? Because it depends on if people are in the mood that day to laugh.

Calvin Tilokee 58:08
Right. Right.

Sarah Dandashy 58:10
Whatever. People are weird.

Calvin Tilokee 58:11
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it really depends on how it goes. But I kind of, I usually come back at them sarcastic if you leave a sarcastic comment, then I’m going to hit you with sarcasm.

Sarah Dandashy 58:21
Yeah, as you should

Calvin Tilokee 58:22
right that. You know, that’s what you came here for. So, but one of my favorite quotes I heard about dealing with stuff like this was from JB smooth the guy from Curb your enthusiasm. Yeah. Yeah. He says when he does his shows, and people try to like troll him or Heckle him. He’s like, he’ll stop. And he say, look, bro, you could enjoy the show. Or you could be the show. And I was like, Yes, that is perfect.

Sarah Dandashy 58:50
Oh, so true. That always just baffled me like, whenever you’d see people that would get super offended. I mean, to be fair, there are times where like, comedians go like, a little too far. And you’re like, Okay, somebody didn’t take their medication today. Reel it in And that is not funny. That’s just weird. Okay.

Calvin Tilokee 59:11
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I actually don’t know you reminded me of too many things now. But a couple years ago, I saw Eddie Griffin. And he did a show in Vegas was just called the Eddie Griffin experience where it was completely unscripted. And he would just he sat there and he would just drink champagne for an hour or two and just riff just talk about whatever. And he started. Yeah, he started going down this whole street with you know, the Harvey Weinstein’s and the Bill Cosby’s, and he’s like, not blaming them, that I’ll put it that way. And I was like, you might want to stop. you might want to stop the I don’t think this is this. This was like hour and a half into the show. So I was like, yeah, you probably a little drunk now.

Let’s rein it in here. But I had a question for you. What’s it like having your own Instagram filter? inquiring minds want to know? Yeah.

Sarah Dandashy 1:00:09
It looks good on me. It looks good on, you just probably gonna go over to my Instagram page and take a selfie. I know you are. It looks great on guys too no, um, here’s the thing, like, especially if you’ve got like, I think a certain number of followers, you can have a filter created, like Calvin, you could totally do a filter if you wanted to. And then like there are companies that will help like design one for you. And then they give you the steps that you go through because you have to have it like approved by Facebook and all of that. And so yeah, in fact, I want to start doing a couple more filters, but without sounding like super weird and technical, but it does end up sending people to your page as well too. So it is good for analytics. and drill more you know, it’s not just like for a pretty face. Okay. We want to put some brains and numbers behind this.

Calvin Tilokee 1:01:04
I love it. I love it. Alright, so we’re gonna end on this one because this came up in a previous episode, where you’re talking about you know, dude stuff, but what is

Sarah Dandashy 1:01:13
Dude stuff my favorite stuff? Favorite?

Calvin Tilokee 1:01:20
Oh, no, no, this one. You’ll know this one. You definitely know. What’s the worst pickup line you ever heard?

Sarah Dandashy 1:01:30
Oh, God. Um, man.

Mikko Miller 1:01:37
Did it hurt? When you fell?

Sarah Dandashy 1:01:47
What was it? Um, gosh, I’ve heard so many. So one of them which I maybe it was also like, in a mood that day, but they came up and they’re like, also, by the way, hitting on somebody at work is horrible. Don’t do that. Not not you guys. You guys are taken, but don’t hit on people at work. So obviously, I’m wearing a name tag and a pet peeve of mine when they come up and then they’re looking and then they see your name tag like Sarah. I’m like, Fuck, okay, cool. You can read.

Mikko Miller 1:02:20
Hooked on phonics worked for me

Sarah Dandashy 1:02:25
My God. Wow, that’s such an exotic name. And I’m like, Really? Really? You’re gonna tell me that Sarah is exotic. Like that shits in the Bible. That’s the best pickup line?

Cool. They’re like, Where are you from? With the name Sarah!? a lot of places, I could be from anywhere.

So, I mean, that was just so lame.

Calvin Tilokee 1:03:05
ooh I love it.

Sarah Dandashy 1:03:06
And it’s not that bad. It was just what it was bad. It was just bad bad. Like, oh my gosh,

Calvin Tilokee 1:03:11
that is pretty bad.

Sarah Dandashy 1:03:13
Or my favorite was somebody like they came and I do feel bad because they were trying to be nicer like, wow, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. And I just say Wow, you don’t get out much do you? Oh my god. Again, salty lady. It’s like whatever the freaking sisters from Simpsons that are like Yeah.

Mikko Miller 1:03:44
It’s better than the hey Sarah got any condoms?

Sarah Dandashy 1:03:52
Will you deliver them to my room yourself? Wear something comfortableAnd make them Magnum. Oh, now you have my attention Geez, okay. Wow,

Calvin Tilokee 1:04:10
Better be talking champagne bro

Sarah Dandashy 1:04:17
I get some people are like, do you take requests up in the room? Oh, no take up in the room. No, no, no, no. We don’t play like that.

Steve Rudolph 1:04:27
What kind of the jackass thinks that that could ever work.

Sarah Dandashy 1:04:29
You know, they’re either probably drunk at that point, or they like know, it wouldn’t work. And so they’re just like, fuck it. What do I have to lose? You know, like, I sometimes feel like I’m like, are you just saying that to like, mess with me to see how I’ll respond or like not thinking clearly.

Calvin Tilokee 1:04:46
That’s when you hit them with a miscellaneous charge that they won’t remember in the morning. You don’t remember ordering the five pounds of caviar

Mikko Miller 1:04:56
Debbie does Dallas? What is this?

Calvin Tilokee 1:05:01
I didn’t watch that! sure you didn’t, buddy.

Oh, man. All right, well, it’s time to move into our segment and I think Sarah is gonna have a good time with this.

Sarah Dandashy 1:05:15
Oh, no. Yeah.

Calvin Tilokee 1:05:18
Get off my lawn.

Sarah Dandashy 1:05:22
Whoo. All right. So I was excited about this dude. Oh, no, no. Quiet. No, no wait, we have to leave a little pause because there’s an audio that goes in there. Oh, sorry. No, no, you’re good. You’re good. Yeah, we got enough. It’s like one second.

Calvin Tilokee 1:05:41
Do you want to go first? No, you guys have to

Sarah Dandashy 1:05:44
go. I do appreciate the ladies first haha.

Calvin Tilokee 1:05:47
See!? we’re gentlemen we’re gentlemen on this podcast

Sarah Dandashy 1:05:51
Clearly, so I would love to hear you guys because maybe it’ll get me in the spirit of get off my lawn. I was trying to. So you guys go first.

Steve Rudolph 1:06:00
My get off my lawn is actually with Calvin and Mikko

Mikko Miller 1:06:08
Oh,

Calvin Tilokee 1:06:09
he wait till we get guests to do shit like that

Mikko Miller 1:06:11
We need a bomb drop on that one

Steve Rudolph 1:06:17
Wednesday, October 7, VP debate is going on. The Fly lands on Pence’s head. Whether you want to call it his only black friend whether you want to call it a female fly and yet apologize to mother for being another room with whatever. Jokes aside, I messaged Calvin and Mikko and I’m like, hey, the fly in his head and Mikko’s response was get on Twitter. Or like, I know, get on Twitter. And I’m not gonna get on Twitter. This is what the hell’s happening here. And then I end up going down a Facebook rabbit hole because someone else had Sarah, I don’t go on social media a whole lot except for LinkedIn.

Sarah Dandashy 1:06:54
And except for now checking out my filter. But by the way, I do play on LinkedIn. So we should connect but keep going.

Steve Rudolph 1:07:02
If you had a gun to my head, it would take me forever in a day to figure out the filter. Then I’m on Facebook, and I look up all of these people I ended up going to high school with and we had done an episode a little while back about bullies. And there was this kid who slapped me in the back of my head and then in turn, the teacher slapped the Christ out of this kid. Holy shit, you know, I let the anger go real quick. Cuz he’s got to be like 350 bald stupid looking as all get out. And then I see pictures of his kids. And I’m like, you know what? No doubt he was an asshole. But the kids look happy. He’s probably a decent dad. And I just let the benefit I just let the whole thing though. But get off my lawn TT fuckers. Put me in that rabbit hole. I probably spent about three hours this week fucking around on Twitter and Facebook. over it not going on? Not going on for a while.

Mikko Miller 1:08:02
Shoula hopped on Twitter, so.

Calvin Tilokee 1:08:17
Oh, shit.

Mikko Miller 1:08:18
All right. My get off my lawn for this week, people that asked for money on the street or on the sidewalk or in parking lots that have a brand new pair of Jordans on are you really poor and struggling? Or are you just bad with fucking money? Like, if you’re poor? If someone gave you Jordans, don’t ask me for money, sell them things. Sell the Jordan. Otherwise, I’m gonna think you’re just an a hole bumming me for loose change. Get off my lawn.

Calvin Tilokee 1:08:49
You know what, I’m gonna do a first. I’m gonna do a first. I’m gonna piggyback off both of those. Because you had just sparked that that shit annoys the hell out of me. There’s this lady that when I used to walk to work, she was be on the same corner every morning. This woman looks as healthy as anything. Flush cheeks has a hot cup of coffee every day, a laminated sign and just stands there and people are giving her money and I’m like, would you stop? There’s nothing wrong with this woman. She probably drives a Mercedes and lives in Dix hills Long Island where there’s mansions. Like, stop doing it. If the weather was bad. She wasn’t there. If it was too cold. She’s not there. She’s not homeless. It’s like stop,

Mikko Miller 1:09:28
the sign’s laminated people laminated

Calvin Tilokee 1:09:32
laminated. I mean, I don’t have anything laminated. You know? Who the fuck does that these days. She put a lot of thought into that.

Sarah Dandashy 1:09:44
That you mentioned that because when I was going to school at Georgetown, there were these two guys would always like ask for money outside of one of like the little deli stores there and typical Georgetown students generally speaking, a lot of them came from money. So they would always like tip these guy’s out. And they actually had like some kids from like the business school did a study and they ended up like figuring out and they did the math and they figured out that these guys made 60 grand a year. Yes. From asking for extra change from college students outside of a deli. So you’re right point is a Calvin, you’re right. She probably is doing just fine.

Calvin Tilokee 1:10:22
Yep. Yep.

Sarah Dandashy 1:10:25
Crazy. is the time for my get off my lawn? It is. It is the comments that I’ll get on Instagram that are like the backhanded compliments, or like the questions that will be like, oh, wow, like, you got verified? Or they’re like, Oh, that’s cool. Did you shoot that on an iPhone, where people are making either assumptions or comments that discredit all the work that goes into it? I mean, it’s like, on one hand, they’re kind of trying to say a compliment. They’re like, how did you get that? And it’s like, bitch, I was working while you were sleeping. Okay. Okay. So, I mean, it’s kind of like a weird, a weird one. But um, it does happen quite a lot that people are like, Oh, how did you do this? And it’s like, well, you know, XYZ and whatever. So that that definitely annoys me.

Calvin Tilokee 1:11:27
Get off her lawn with that nonsense.

Sarah Dandashy 1:11:28
Yeah, yeah. Get off my lawn, or I will like, throw this lawnmower at you. Throw it.There you go. I don’t know. lawnmowers are heavy as Shit, just for the record. So I get it.

Calvin Tilokee 1:11:44
Nah what you got to do you got to get the one with the seat and just drive over their foot.

Sarah Dandashy 1:11:47
I know. But no, no, no, no.That’s a little bit too Beverly Hills hillbilly for me. Okay. If we drive in that shit, like it’s going on the road, not on the grass. Okay. By the way, we would always mow our lawns. Like I mowed the lawn for my grandparents and also for my mom. And that was like, cool. Like, this is like your time to like, go out and get a suntan, which is totally like the way to get girls to mow lawns to think you can get a suntan while you’re mowing the lawn. Clearly, I grew up in a family full of women, but you know, they bribed us in different ways.

Calvin Tilokee 1:12:23
Oh, Love it. Love it. All right. Now everybody’s favorite here. The Chris Rock quote of the week.

Mikko Miller 1:12:30
Ooh. So we’re talking about Beverly Hills. We’re talking about LA we’re talking about people with money. So I chose one that kind of had to deal with something like that. That Chris Rock it said. People think you got to be rich to get a prenup. Oh no. You got 20 million and your wife wants 10 You ain’t starving. But if you make 30,000 and your wife wants 15 you might want to have to kill her.

Calvin Tilokee 1:12:58
I’m ain’t moving back in wit my mama cuz you ain’t in love. You gon have to die. She’s like, Oh, man.

Sarah Dandashy 1:13:13
No, no, no, I’m listening. I’m taking it in.

Calvin Tilokee 1:13:19
Oh, shit. That’s a good one. Well, this one came up from some of the content from earlier in the show. And you guys get it?

Sarah Dandashy 1:13:25
Mm hmm.

Calvin Tilokee 1:13:27
So my wife finds a pack of condoms in my pocket two condom. But it was a pack of three. And all I could hear is where’s the other condom? Where’s the other condom?

Sarah Dandashy 1:13:37
No.

Mikko Miller 1:13:41
Where’s the other condom?

Calvin Tilokee 1:13:45
it’ll be alright if you just say you did it. Yeah, it’ll be alright. If you just say you did it

Oh, man. I love it. Love it. Did you do you have one Sarah or?

Sarah Dandashy 1:14:01
Oh? I love it you say in a way like to Sarah. What? Okay, how about this I will say this is actually my all time favorite scene of Chris Rock that like ever from I’m gonna Git You Sucka was like one of my favorite movies.

Calvin Tilokee 1:14:24
I know exactly where you’re going with this

Sarah Dandashy 1:14:25
Oh, oh, where he goes into the rib joint. And then he’s going in and he’s like, how much for an order of ribs? like do like $2.50!? how many ribs do I get with that? And he just goes through and then he’s like, and then he’s like how much for coke and all that. Whatever like you guys.

Hungry?

Calvin Tilokee 1:14:53
No one rib

Sarah Dandashy 1:14:59
You got any Soda?

goes all the way through. And then he finally like goes ahead. He’s like, just pay me and get the hell out of here. And he’s like you got change for 100? I love love. Oh my gosh. Oh, when when he asked for the soda, he’s like, Fuck the cup just pour it in my hand for a dime.

Calvin Tilokee 1:15:27
I sho am thirsty

Sarah Dandashy 1:15:31
My cup cost more than 15 cents. Okay.

So good.

Calvin Tilokee 1:15:38
Classic classic

Sarah Dandashy 1:15:39
Oh my god. Oh,

Calvin Tilokee 1:15:42
Oh, fantastic. Oh, you

Sarah Dandashy 1:15:44
can’t go wrong with I’m gonna git you sucka. Oh, I’m gonna watch that tonight

Calvin Tilokee 1:15:51
Oh, man. All right, time for the shout out of the week. “I quote I dialed in for their Will you shut up man episode and was impressed with the quality insight and content, a solid group of distinguished gentlemen living their best lives, and giving some sage advice for those who need it” coming in from Anna Li. So thank you very much. Now Sara knows how to distinguished we are thank you for the shout out.

Mikko Miller 1:16:23
Whatever we will take it.

Calvin Tilokee 1:16:28
And it’s time to announce our contest winner who finally we finally hit over 500 downloads. We’re gonna have to do the air horn right there. But contest winner is Veronica servantes. So if you’re listening, and you should be hit us up on Instagram, send us a DM and we will get you your Google nest you and a friend. Congratulations. Congratulations.

Steve Rudolph 1:16:52
Congratulations.

Sarah Dandashy 1:16:53
Ding Ding Ding, ding winner.

I don’t know. They came to me.

Calvin Tilokee 1:17:00
I’m using that as a clip

Sarah Dandashy 1:17:03
perfect. Either way that has gotten me into a lot of trouble. I used to work in radio. And so like when I was like 20-21 my mom called in Oh, this was when I was living in DC. I worked for hot 99 five. My mom called in because I like subbed for one of the hot boys on the weekend. And it was obviously when like 50 cent was like super popular. And it’s like, she called in and she was like, I’m a PIMP pimp. That’s why I love it. Yes. In case you were wondering. I’m very cool because of my mother. Correct. This is exactly. My mom stood up called him was like, I want to hear 50 cents. I’m a PIMP pimp and that clip was used over and over.

Calvin Tilokee 1:17:45
That’s fantastic.

Sarah Dandashy 1:17:46
So feel free to use clips.

Calvin Tilokee 1:17:49
I love it. I love it. Oh my god. Oh righty. All right and time for the outros. This is Calvin, if you’re here, you likely Follow me on Revparblems or one of my brands. But if not head to revparblems.com find everything in one place. And we’ll see you on Instagram.

Mikko Miller 1:18:09
And this is Mikko the Filipino. You can find me on Instagram at Mikko underscore eats and I’ll catch you there.

Steve Rudolph 1:18:15
Hey everybody, this is Steve. You can hear me every week on the Midlife Crisispodcast with Cal and Mikko

Calvin Tilokee 1:18:21
and you can find him on Twitter.

Mikko Miller 1:18:22
Yes, Twitter

Sarah Dandashy 1:18:26
Hey, I’m Sarah Dandashy and you can find me online everywhere as ask a concierge

Calvin Tilokee 1:18:32
nice and simple See I need to learn something.

Sarah Dandashy 1:18:34
Yeah, damn. And then my IMDB page.

Oh, there

Calvin Tilokee 1:18:40
we didn’t go there we

Sarah Dandashy 1:18:44
go. Perfect. Come back once you do some more recon.

Calvin Tilokee 1:18:49
Oh right. Thank you for joining us on another episode of midlife crisis podcast. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please leave us a review on iTunes and tell a friend see what we’re up to in between episodes on Instagram at midlife crisis podcast. Show Notes for this and all episodes are available on www dot midlife crisis podcast com. We can also sign up for the mailing list, drop us a note let us know what topics you’d like us to discuss. Thank you for tuning in. Thank you to our guest, and we’ll catch you on the next one.

Unknown Speaker 1:19:23
Let’s go