How This Marine Raider's Life Changed After Joining The Military and How He's Helping Others Become Better Versions of Themselves Ft. Don Tran (Former Marine Raider/Co-Founder of Underwater Torpedo League/Deep End Fitness) | SPOTLIGHT

In today's episode, we're bringing back entrepreneur Chris Ngo, co-founder of The Leverage, a fashion house agency recently said to be the next global conglomerate in menswear by Forbes back on the show.

I'll be doing a new four-part series highlighting four high-performing individuals to break down what it takes for them to successful. With the New Years here and resolutions being made, I decided it'd be helpful to provide firepower for those serious about making positive changes in 2023.

In this episode, we discuss:

0:54 - 80% of people fail their New Years solutions by February 

2:17 - Mike talks about his 2023 New Years Resolutions

3:09 - Chris intros himself 

4:00 - What Chris has been up to since we last time we spoke

5:50 - Chris doing an Iron Man 

8:10 - Chris shares his take on New Year’s Resolutions

10:50 - What’s your why?

16:00 - How to find your WHY

16:24 - DO EVERYTHING and TRY EVERYTHING 

18:25 - How did you curate your mindset without having anyone to teach you?

19:00 - Working shitty jobs at 19 years old taught him many lessons

21:34 - What common theme do successful individuals share?

24:45 - Chris shares his story of the first time seeing a Ferrari in person

26:00 - Dealing with haters

26:57 - You either let criticism fold you, or you let criticism drive you

28:12 - What’s the minimum you need to get yourself fired up?

29:15 - What would the present day Chris tell his 25 year old self?

30:20 - Chris talks about dealing with failures 

32:10 - Chris the life coach?

35:01 - This is what Chris would tell you if he was your coach

41:25 - Chris listens to his 5 year prediction from his last podcast episode

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Happy New Year's AM Fam! Wanted to drop a recap episode for everything that happened in 2022 and what's to come in 2023. Wishing everyone a fruitful year and hoping 2023 is your best year!

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I'm happy to welcome Sean Lew to the show for today's Spotlight episode.

Sean Lew is a multi-talented individual with an impressive resume that includes a professional actor, dancer, choreographer, award-winning chef, writer, creative director, editor, and singer. 

My guest is perhaps best known for his two seasons on the hit competition series World of Dance and has amassed millions of followers across his social media.

In addition, he’s also made the jump into acting, playing teenager Chris on the Hit Fox Show The Cleaning Lady. The show was a Top 5 new broadcast drama of the 2021-22 season with the #1 largest total multi-platform audience for a new FOX show. It also marked the network’s highest-rated drama premiere in two years and Hulu’s most-streamed FOX debut in the network’s history.

Today's episodes episode explores Sean Lew's journey from a professional dancer to becoming a series regular on the Hit Fox Show The Cleaning Lady.

1:57 - Tell us your background and where you’re from

3:35 - Went to school in Japan and China

5:30 - How Sean initially got into dancing

8:21 - Sean describes his first memory of performing and the realization that this would be what he wanted to do with his life

11:15 - Becoming an overnight sensation and getting invited on to the Queen Latifah show 

12:59 - Throughout your career, did you see a lot of other Asian American dancers 

15:15 - Not allowing being the only Asian or boy in the room affect his mental

17:34 - what do you think about when you hear “Asian Representation”?

19:09 - Going into auditions as an Asian American

19:37 - The type of representation > Just representation 

22:12 - Acting requires you to be 100%, or else you’re just “acting.”

23:15 - Was it a smooth transition going from dancing to acting?

27:26 - Sean describes The Cleaning Lady

29:40 - What happened when you got the news you landed a spot on The Cleaning Lady?

33:47 - first time hearing that the pilot got picked up

36:25 - Hard to be taken seriously coming in as a dancer

38:35 - Why is it important for you to inspire others?

45:25 - Describe what the perfect actor role would be for you

52:334 - Where do you see yourself in the next five years?

52:16 - What’s the best piece of advice you can offer someone?

55:41 - Where can people find you?


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In this Barbershop Talk episode, Mike and Leo share their thoughts on Jeremy Lin's latest documentary "38 at The Garden, a pair of Levi's from the 1800s with an anti-Chinese slogan that sells for 87K, and the best-selling novel "Interior Chinatown" get TV series adaptation.

0:45 - Topic #1 - 1880's Levi's Jeans Fetches 76,000
2:45 - Leo was unaware that the jeans had a racist slogan on it
5:00 - The world was much more openly racist than they are today
7:27 - Topic #2 - Jimmy O Yang cast to star in Interior Chinatown
14:01 - Topic #3 - 38 At The Garden, New Linsanity Doc
18:00 - Lin made it a point that he didn't want the documentary to focus on him
20:36 - For the first time, we had an Asian person to refer to when you were playing basketball well
23:15 - Did the NBA deny Jeremy Lin because he's Asian?

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Part 2 - Today's episode is our level-up series, and we'll talk about how you can upgrade your style for this upcoming fall/winter season. We're going to break down GQ's 16 Men's Fashion Trends for 2022 with the help of our cohost Leo, a fashion/style expert. You should have some ideas on how to level up your wardrobe when you're done listening.

Link to GQ article -
https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/fashion/article/autumn-winter-2022-trends-for-men

0:40 - Trend #9 - Cheer up it’s all about Misery Chic
1:33 - Trend #10 -  Sweater Vests are still here 
3:41 - Trend #11 - Pounce on the Animal Print
5:40 - Trend #12 - Sex Clogs are a thing
9:17 - Trend 13 - Wrap it up in a dressing gown Coat
11:45 - Trend #14 - Pop on a spot of pink
14:22 - Trend #15 - Get it on the baggy jean thing
16:30 - What type of sneakers go well with baggier jeans?
18:36 - Trend #16 - You’re either red, or you’re dead

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Today's episode is our level-up series, and we're going to talk about how you can upgrade your style for this upcoming fall/winter season. We're going to break down GQ's 16 Men's Fashion Trends for 2022 with the help of our cohost Leo, a fashion/style expert. You should have some ideas on how to level up your wardrobe when you're done listening.

Link to GQ article -
https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/fashion/article/autumn-winter-2022-trends-for-men

1:33 - Leo cuts his hair after 5 years of growing it out
2:27 - Leo signs on with an acting manager
7:30 - Start of Episode
8:54 - Trend #1 - Power Shoulder
12:01 - Trend #2 - Double down on Double Breasted
14:00 - Trend #3 - Leather for your pleasure
18:32 - Trend $4 - Overall, it’s all about Overalls
22:16 - Trend #5 - Flash Your Furry Bits
24:18 - Trend #6 - Invest in an architectural sweater
27:03 - Trend #7 - Oversized Safari Jackets
29:23 - Trend #8 - Your Toes Should Be Chiseled

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In this Barbershop Talk episode, Mike and Leo unpack how height plays a role in finding a partner,  AI influencers/Deep fakes, and the release of the upcoming show 'Asian Born Chinese' featuring Chinese mythology and gods on Disney+.

1:51 - Leo talks about expediting his LA plans -Talking to a realtor
3:25 - Leo putting down an offer for a home in LA
5:30 - How Leo's LA plan went from 5 years to 2 years to 3 months
9:00 - Intro to the first topic: study how much short men need to make to compete with someone who is 6.'
10:15 - Shorter guys have to make up for their height in other areas like dressing well, being fit, being funny, etc
12:40 - Taller guys will get more initial opportunities than the shorter guys, so they have a better chance of finding someone as opposed to shorter guys 
15:15 - A guy can be a couple of inches taller, but a woman will think they're the same height 
16 - Boots can help you feel and look taller for guys on the shorter end
17:36 - Second Topic Introduction
18:36 - AI-generated rapper lands record deal 
21:00 - What happens once AI becomes so realistic that we can differentiate between real and fake?
23:29 - Tom Cruise & Chinese Elon Musk deep fake
26:45 - How deep fake could take fake news to the next level 
27:37 - Asian Born Chinese topic introduction 
31:55 - mike and Leo talk about growing up watching the 1996 series Journey to the West 
34:00 - Will we see a Game of Thrones version of Journey to the West soon?

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In this Barbershop Talk episode, Mike and Leo explore the different categories Asian men fall under, how our environment shapes who we are, and what is considered Asian American culture.

1:20 - What do you think of when you think of "Banana" within the Asian community 
2:20 - Describing the different categories Asian American men fall under
3:50 - Mike asks Leo how he would describe himself from the categories that were listed
5:00 - Leo describes growing up mainly in black culture 
7:15 - Mike talks about how he would categorize himself
8:00 - Why aren't there any white guys who are Asian inside or blacks who are yellow inside?
10:00 - Mainstream media, for the most part, was dominated by White American culture, now it's Black 
12:00 - what does mainstream media look like if Asian American culture?
15:00 - We're a product of our environment
17:00 - the case for Awkwafina's Queen's accent 
19:00 - Describing an 'Asian' Asian
24:00 - The popularity of 88rising artists

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In this Barbershop Talk episode, Mike and Leo share what they've been up to these past couple of months. 

In this episode, we discuss:

0:50 - Mike talks about his trip to Asia

3:00 - Food in Thailand wasn’t as great as Mike thought

4:45 - The difference between traveling as a young man vs. an older man

10:25 - Leo gives his life update (moving to LA, acting)

12:00 - Intro to the episode 

14:00 - Time is going to fly by anyway, whether you make that leap or not

15:00 - People want things but aren’t willing to do what’s necessary to make them happen

17:25 - Mike asks Leo to demonstrate an acting exercise for the audience

19:40 - Acting is like sports; you have to have the mentality of understanding your fundamentals first before doing anything major

 20:16 - Leo shares what his first short film lead experience was like 

21:48 - Leo describes his first lead role in a short film 

23:32 - Having experience as a model and doing commercials helped Leo feel comfortable on set 

29:50 - Failure is a part of the process. The more you fail, the closer you are to your goals

31:57 - Recent announcement of an Asian male lead for the revamped show ‘Quantum Leap.’

35:15 - Way more opportunity for Asian actors in LA vs. NY

37 - You have to start

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