DarinRios

When I moved to LA, I had a vision for myself. I was 25. I was prepared to live in my car. I had nothing. I had $300 to my name. And he says, "Well, we need you to come out and help shoot on this commercial with Kevin Hart and Coca-Cola." Holy [ __ ] So, me and my uh rinky dink equipment that I had, I said, "Yeah, okay, sure. Yeah, I'll go shoot with the one of the biggest brands, if not the biggest brand in the world and one of the biggest celebrities in the world on my little uh Nikon that I got. Fast forward about 3 years, I was working in my career, doing my thing. I get an email, hey, are you available for 4 days on this day? I was like, yeah, what's up? He's like, well, we need you to sign an ND8 before I tell you anything. He's like, great. We're shooting a film, a short film with Johnny Depp, and we need you to work with Johnny for four days, every day for an hour a day.

Why didn't you give up in this stretch where you had to live in a small apartment before you got the call?

Yeah, that's a good question. Oh man, I think

Hey everyone, welcome to the Be Yourself podcast, the podcast on expressing our true self. Today my guest is Darren Rias who is a highlevel personal brand strategist from LA who works with A-list brands, celebrities, entrepreneurs. Darren, welcome to the show.

Thank you very much for having me.

My honor, man.

uh you know uh in one of the articles about you, I read that um your career took another leap when you were able to work with customers like Coca-Cola, Ford and even Johnny Depp. So can you tell me what led to the opportunities of this kind and how you were able to capitalize on them?

Oh man. Uh yeah, I mean that's a that's a great question. What led to it? Uh man, I I feel like I can track that back to uh to many years. But uh in a nutshell, what I would say is when I moved to LA, I had a vision for myself. Um I was 25. I'll be 40 this month. So, it's been a good 15ish years being here in LA. Um, I knew that that's what I wanted to do. And, uh, or at least for the time. Uh, so I started, uh, I I was a photographer. Uh, I did graphic design. I was an artist ultimately. I moved out here and uh and I set it in my mind that this is what I wanted to do. Um networking was a huge thing, right? Um and so I knew that, okay, well, I got to meet people. I'm new to a city, one of the hardest cities in the world to make it in. And uh and so I was like, okay, I'm going to do this. When I moved here, uh, I was prepared to live in my car. Um, I had nothing. I had $300 to my name and my car insurance actually ripped it out of my bank account. So, I had zero dollars. That was a whole thing. Um, and I had one friend who let me live with him for that first year. uh until I was able to uh do a job and kind of get on my feet and then the ball started rolling. Um so anyway, long story short, um I did a job for the right people and I knew

Yeah. So I I um I came on a job. It was a free job. It was out in the desert. we were shooting a short film and uh I just wanted to be a part of what these people were doing and so I said, "Okay, I I'll do whatever. I'll be your gopher." On set in the middle of the desert, uh they were taking pictures. So I said, "How about I take pictures?" The the director was taking pictures. He was doing a bunch of different jobs. Like, "I'll take the pictures. I'll do it." uh because I knew I wanted to shoot for like movie posters and advertisements and all that kind of stuff on film. Long story short, I shot that. They ended up liking it a lot. The producer on that job 3 years later calls me for um another job. Wow.

And he said, "Hey, are you are you still shooting stills?" I said, "Uh yeah." He says, "Uh, well, we need you to come out and help shoot on this commercial with Kevin Hart and Coke Coca-Cola." Holy [ __ ] So, me and my uh rinky dink equipment that I had, I said, "Yeah, okay, sure. Yeah, I'll go shoot with the one of the biggest brands, if not the biggest brand in the world and one of the biggest celebrities in the world uh on my on my little uh Nikon that I got. Uh so, long story short, I showed up on that set and it was strange. It was a strange experience because um you know getting to shoot with Kevin and and work with the creative team at at Coca-Cola, I saw a lot of what was missing. Wow. And so I I was I was new. I didn't know what was going on, but in my head I was this was kind of the starting point of what I do now where I help people see hindsight in like blind spots at very high levels. Um, and so what it what it showed me was these are creative directors of Coca-Cola. This is Kevin Hart, one of the biggest celebrities in the world. And this was when he was really like like at the at the start of his trajectory. And uh, and so he was the hottest thing out at the time. And then uh and I I got to see kind of behind the curtain of what was missing and and the creative directors of Coca-Cola were asking me questions about how to shoot the campaign. Um you know what what uh digital assets we should acquire to to convey a particular message. So I found myself consulting. I didn't realize that was a consulting thing at the time. Uh I didn't know that people could do that even for a living. Uh but I that was the one of the first jobs that I did that really opened my eyes to a gap in the market. Um and so fast forward

um that same producer he brought me on and uh to all these jobs that he was doing. So, I got very lucky to I guess l I wouldn't say lucky, I'd say fortunate uh to be tied in with what he was doing because everything he was doing was a a major brand that had a a celebrity like A-list B-list celebrity attached to it. Yeah. So, not only did I get to work with, which was my intention moving out here, to work with big brands, but now I'm working with big brands that have A-list, belist, celebrities attached to them. Mhm. So, it was like a a a perfect fulfillment of exactly what I what it was that I wanted to do. Um, and so that's kind of how I got plugged into that scene. Uh, started working with some celebrities on their personal brands and doing some consulting. um creative consulting in that arena as well. Um, and so yeah, you know, even even before that, and this is a crazy story because before I got that call, I was sitting in my 100 square foot apartment, 10x10 apartment in Hollywood off of Sunset and Bronson, and I had just hung out with a friend the night before, and we were talking about I didn't know who Kevin Hart was exactly. I just heard of him. So she's like, "Oh my god, you've never seen his special." And I was like, "No, no, I mean, I've heard of it." And she's like, "We have to watch it." So we watched his first special. That night I told her, I was like, "Oh, I really like Kevin." I was like, "How cool would it be to work with that guy?" Wow. And she's like, "Yeah, I know." I was like, "Oh, man. He seems like a cool guy to work with." I [ __ ] you not. The next morning, I got a text message. Are you available, right? Are you available to shoot on a commercial tomorrow with Kevin Hart and Coke Zero? Right. All right. And I I text her. I said, "You look, you're not going to believe this yet." All right. Uh so so I was like, "Okay, that was cool." You know, and and I remember too, I don't know if it was after this experience or maybe before. I'd have to look at the dates, but uh I was sitting in that same apartment and uh and I just got this feeling,

you know, one of my one of my greatest influences before I moved out here was Johnny Depp. Um and and uh I was just really inspired like I loved, you know, Pirates of the Caribbean and like uh Edward Scissor Hands and just every film he did. I just I was all into acting, you I did a lot of acting as well. Um, and so it was I was just very inspired by by this individual. So I was like, how cool would it be to work with this guy? And I just got this feeling, this this knowing and I I got on Facebook and I have the screenshot. I said, I'm going to work with Johnny Depp. I don't know when or how, but watch some something like that. And uh fast forward about 3 years, I I was working in my career, doing my thing. I had an office downtown, which was pretty cool. It was uh I don't know if you ever heard of the show New Girl. Um but but it was that show. It was the It was Their Loft in the show that was my my old office that I used to share with some filmmaker friends of mine. And uh so anyway, I'm sitting there or I'm on my way back to the office. I get an email. Hey, are you available for, you know, 4 days on this on this day? I was like, uh, yeah, what's up? He's like, well, we need you to sign an NDA before before I tell you anything. It's kind of a big project. So, I was like, oh [ __ ] are we shooting for Obama or something? I thought we were shooting like, you know, some some Yeah. thing, right? So, uh, I signed it, sent it over. He's like, "Great. We need you to work with, we're shooting a film, a short film with Johnny Depp, and we need you to work with Johnny for 4 days every day for an hour a day and just go shoot with and I just I read the email and I was like, you got to be [ __ ] kidding me, dude. like like talk about some some orchestrated, you know, serendipitous events. And so I just I just kind of like fell against the elevator walls like you got to be kidding me.

So anyway, long story short, yeah, I showed up for that um again with uh you know, subpar gear, feeling unqualified. Um that whole experience was was a thing within itself, you know. Um, I don't know if I'm I'm running a tangent here on this, but uh, yeah, I think, you know, to hear that people people probably think, oh, like you were pro you were prepared. You were you had the best of the best. You were No, I was still in my little ass apartment still trying to make it with shitty gear. I had this I remember showing up on set. I had a I had a [ __ ] my car was falling apart. My my camera gear was falling apart. Um my lighting equipment was like bare minimum, like the cheapest [ __ ] you could find on Amazon at the time. And I'm driving to set thinking if they see me, they're going to tell me to go home. They're going to be like, "This guy's not shooting with Johnny. What are you doing?" And so I'm driving to set early in the morning and I'm in my head like, "Oh, I'm not qualified for this [ __ ] They're going to [ __ ] it. This is going to be the most embarrassing, most humiliating event of my life. Like, I need to go home." And I almost text the producer saying, "Hey man, I'm not feeling well. I don't think I'm going to be able to make it." Wow. Wow. And I was like, "No, no, I'm going to show up. I don't care if I [ __ ] it up. I'm going to show up. Let's just see what happens. I'm I'm going to just see what happens." So, I got there. My heart was racing. I'm like, we're all waiting for Johnny to show up on set. We're scouting the locations and where I'm going to shoot and and what I'm going to do. I'm talking to the team, getting the idea captured, everything locked and loaded, so when he's there, I'm ready to go. And uh he was about 5 hours late because of the prosthetics that he had to put on and stuff like that. Mhm.

We're on set, but we lose lighting because it's he's you know because of the he was late. The sun had gone down. We were supposed to shoot during the day. It ended up being a night shoot. I didn't have my lighting equipment with me. It was back on on set. We were shooting at a different location. So I was like expecting to use the light. No light. The camera that I was using was not qualified to shoot in low light. Mhm. So, I'm like, um, I knew it. I knew I should have just [ __ ] went home. Yeah. Uh, Johnny shows up. He gets out of the car. I'm the first person he sees. He's He's the coolest [ __ ] guy. Like, he is the epitome of just cool. He's smoking his cigarette. He's like, "You ready for this?" And I was like, "Are you ready?" Like, "Fuck yeah." I was like, "Let's go." He's like, "Let's go." Like fist bump, puts his cigarette out, walks on set, does his thing. Uh, and so when it comes my turn to to shoot uh with him after he does his scenes, uh, they're like, "All right, you know, stills, you know, photographer, it's your turn." Uh, I walk up, they formally introduce us, and I'm in my head like there is no light. I'm I'm pressed by all these people. I got the whole crew. I got everybody watching, everybody around waiting for me to do my job. And I'm working with a camera that's like $500. Piece of [ __ ] Like, is not going to [ __ ] shoot in low light. So, I was like, "Oh, God. I hope they don't ask me to look at the pictures after." Yeah. So, I'm I'm I'm breaking a sweat. My heart's pounding. I'm like ready for ultimate embarrassment. Uh, so I was like, "All right, Johnny. Um, let's stand right here. This is what we're going to do." I'm directing him. He's asking me questions. I'm telling him what to do. And I try to position him under this little lamp that was in the street corner. And I'm like, uh, here we go. And, uh, I'm not even exaggerating. When I picked up my camera to look through the viewfinder to snap my first shot, I went like this. And as soon as I went like this, it was perfectly lit. Like like professionally lit. And I was like, I took and I look to my left and the DP, the director of photography, the one responsible for how cinema looks, has a light, a soft box. And his assistant, his assistant is standing there with a bounce board on my right lighting Johnny. And I look at them and they're like, "Where do you want me, boss?" Wow. And I was like, I didn't even have time to be like, "Oh my god, thank you." Like I was just like, "Holy [ __ ] let's go." All right, let's position this up. Let's get the bounce right here, Johnny. You're going to do [ __ ] And I just I just entered the zone and I and I hit it and we got the shots and it was incredible. Uh I'll see if I can send you some of those. I don't know. maybe you can use it for this. But um but anyway, so that happened and that's when I was like, h I knew I should have showed up.

Yeah. Yeah. Right. Um so anyway, that's kind of that's kind of how I got into that and a little bit of backstory of that whole experience in itself. And uh and there was just many other cool experiences uh within that. Yeah. Thank you for sharing, man. Yeah, I feel like we all have this imposttor syndrome at times and you know and not believing that we can be on par with something or someone holds us back a lot some well sometimes or a lot. But uh you see I I think you even had more strictier standards for yourself than these people had had for you. Right.

So So why didn't you give up in this stretch where you had to live in a small apartment before you got the call? Like what kept you uh going and what kept what helped you keep believing?

Um, yeah, that's a good question. Oh, man. I think I just had a knowing that that I had something special. Mhm. Mhm. I didn't I didn't exactly know what it was. I just knew I had something. Um, but it but even more than that, I I knew what I didn't want. Uh, I've been a barista. I've worked in uh hospitals in the in the ER and all around hospitals. I' I've watched I've seen some crazy crazy [ __ ] Um, I've worked construction. I've worked in the restaurant business. Um, I've worked landscaping. I've worked in the FedEx warehouse packing, uh, trailers day in and day out. Um, you I mean, you name it. Um, and so I just knew I didn't want to do that. I didn't want to do it. And, and before I moved to LA, I had this job. I worked at Starbucks and then there was a customer that would always come in. I said, "Hey man, like I tried to give him my photography business card, you know, I was trying to do my thing." I was like 22. Uh and he's like, "Why don't you?" He's like, "I like you. Why don't you come work for me? I I have an office down the street. I I have an engineering company.

Uh we're looking for somebody to be a be in the research department." Said, "All right." So I joined that. paid me a little bit better. It's like 10 bucks an hour. Um, and at Starbucks I think I was getting like seven or eight, some [ __ ] like that. Uh, and so I joined that and then uh I just I I couldn't do it. I was I was sitting in an office for for eight to nine hours a day wasting away my I was just miserable. But they wanted to pay me like 75 grand a year to stay. They wanted to make me the head of the department even though I've been there a year and I was late every single day.

Uh and so I were desperate. You what?

Yeah, they were desperate for some reason, right? So So I was like, "No, no, no. I can't, man. I gotta I got to do something with my life." I was about 24 at the time. And I just had this desire. I was like, I need to move to California. I need to I need to try to make something of myself out there. Uh I just knew I didn't want to be a slave to a 9 to5. You know, me and my dad would always have these conversations of like, man, what makes people different? Like why are some people wealthy and successful and then other people just struggle to make ends meet? you know, and so it really threw me into really understanding that like why, you know, and and I knew what I didn't want, but I also knew what I wanted to a degree. And and it was foggy. It was it was unclear. It was just I knew I wanted something more, right? And so that's kind of what kept me going was first really understanding what I didn't want. Yeah.

Right. Because there's this um I don't know if you've you've heard of this, but there's a um our brains are more likely to avoid what we don't want than to pursue what we want. Yeah.

And so a lot of times this positive thinking [ __ ] don't work because well your brain is just like, "Oh, okay. I've thought of it so that's enough. Mhm. But it's it's more programmed for you to avoid danger than it is for you to pursue um pleasure. Our p primal brain just a survival brain, right? Yeah. So, so, so with that said, you know, it's really, it was really important for me to understand what I didn't want, you know, uh, and to really trust myself to figure [ __ ] out, you know, and and really adopt that mentality of, you know, and this is something I try to teach my daughter. She's three right now, but still, we don't freak out, we figure out. Right. And so, you know, I've had my fair share of freakouts in my journey. You know, feeling crazy, feeling like I'm delusional, feeling like I bit off more than I can chew, feeling embarrassed, making mistakes, feeling like, oh, I'm never going to recover from this mistake. Uh, I [ __ ] that opportunity up. I did, you know, whatever that is. I just I just knew I have to keep trying. I have to keep figuring it out, you know, and and taking responsibility for figuring it out. You know, it's easy to fail at something, which I don't necessarily consider things failure, but feel like you're failing at something and then blame everybody else and then you forfeit your [ __ ] power, right? And so I've been [ __ ] over multiple times by people that I've trusted, people that I've respected, people that I thought were my best friends, people I thought were in it for me, who who just rip the rug from under me when I I'm already on thin ice. And I have to keep I just keep going. I just keep going. And the only way for anybody to make it is to adopt that mentality of you just have to keep going. That's it. And so I have this tattoo uh I don't know if you can see it on the back of my arm. Uh it says, "Fear nothing, never hesitate, and keep moving." Yes, sir. And probably a little bit of paint on my elbow because I was painting my bathroom yesterday.

Darren, do you do you recommend your clients to actually go through all this [ __ ] you know, or or do you help people to avoid pitfalls, you know, because in a way we need to go through adversity, you know, to build up some muscles, right? So, what is your take on this? Should the person go through hardship and learn how to deal with it and how to yield, you know, some um lessons from it or is there a way to success that contains less friction?

Man, I think um frankly, I don't know, man. I I my own experience is is all I can speak from. And I think um the hardships that I faced are kind of the fire that forged me in my mind. Mhm. Mhm. Um I genuinely believe that I've been to hell and back um figuratively, physically, um emotionally, right? Um, and so I would I would say more so emotionally than anything. And so what that has allowed me to do is say, okay, if this is the belly of the beast and I'm still breathing, then I can keep moving. Yeah. Yeah. As long as as long as I don't quit. um my faith in God has been the foundation of of all that I am. And so, um, when I was 16, I had an experience, uh, that that rattled me to the core that I can't explain any other way than it was as if God was speaking to me directly in my soul that it shook me. And I was never the same again. Um, from an early age, I was joining gangs. I was I was a street kid. I was able to do whatever the [ __ ] I wanted as a kid because my I didn't have my parents. They split up when I was like six. My mom was sleeping in the woods in her car. My dad was a truck driver, so he was only home two nights out of the week. And then I had an older sister and brother who were still teenagers. So I was able to do whatever the [ __ ] I wanted at the age of seven. You know, I could come home anytime I wanted. I could do anything I wanted. smoking cigarettes, smoking weed, um having sex, doing whatever. Uh I had to figure out myself quick. I had to learn to survive quick.

So um I don't think it's necessary for success. I think the key to success is self-awareness. like a genuine introspective self-awareness that's like am I being am I being honest here am I being am I trusting myself here not not being perfect but am I being honest right is this true for me right or am I just trying to please somebody and get everybody to like me and and I'm actually operating from survival and not truth, which is what I did for many many years, right? And my nervous system still tries to do that at times. So, I don't think it's necessary for people to have to go through hardships. I think it's necessary for people to have to learn from any hardship that they face and take 100% responsibility for it. Even if they're 1% wrong, even if that failure Mhm. Right. Right. Even if that failure or hardship is only 1% their fault, if they can learn to say, "Where was I wrong? Where did I [ __ ] up here?" So that they can be better because everybody goes through different hardships. You know, you're out in a [ __ ] war zone. I can't even imagine what it is to live in Ukraine right now. like and and I experienced a a crazy wildfire that burned my entire city down and I'm looking at the mountains right here and I had to flee with my family at 2:00 in the morning with no place to go like driving on the street with embers hitting my windshield and my daughter sleeping in the arms of my my wife like just out like so it's like those are hardships that most people won't really face but whatever it is that they do face they have to face it with responsibility and accountability and I believe that that is what will make somebody successful or not. How much responsibility are they willing to take for their own life?

Yeah, I asked Chris Do a similar question and he said that stress does not necessarily create a strong personal brand but stressful times definitely uh makes a strong character and if you have a strong character distinct character it's as easier to build a personal brand based on it. It's easier to build a personal brand on that, you said.

Yeah. Yeah. Having having uh a character. Yeah.

Yeah. And and say again what did Chris say? Well, he said that it it doesn't directly like like having a very uh stressful experience. It doesn't directly influence your ability to build build a personal brand, but it it definitely builds your character and having the character than you can use to tell your story. I think we understand who we are better through hardships, right, Darren?

Right. and who you're not. Just like you said, things in your life early let you know what you don't want to do. And that's a great tipping point in uh finding your why, finding what the hell you want to do in life, right? You don't want to do this. You don't like oranges. You you like apples for God's sake. So find a lot of oranges that you don't like and then that going to help you maybe find uh that apple that you that you want.

Right.

Yeah. And to kind of add to what Chris said is I think when when people take responsibility, the ability to take responsibility is what will determine that success. Right. And you said you you said a quote that he said I I couldn't remember it. Uh do you remember what you said? that uh adversity doesn't directly uh create a personal brand but it it builds a character in you. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, and and here's what I was going to say to that. Yes, I agree, but only if you let it. A person has to be uh and most people aren't willing. Diamonds need pressure, right? Right. And what most people do is they try to, which is wild. It's like they try to squeeze their way out of pressure for whatever reason and be maybe they were never taught the value of pressure or whatnot, right? Um, for me in whatever series of events that led to my frame of mind that understood that perseverance was was important that that yeah, pressure sucks. However, it makes you better. Um, some people don't really have that, right? And so that's why it's important for people like us who do go through hardships to be those examples, right? to uh to let those other people know, hey, yeah, it hurts. Yeah, it might feel like you're broken. Are you breathing? Okay, can you move? Great. Keep going. If you got breath, you can do something, right? And so, um, yeah, they, people have to be willing to let it change them, right? They have to be willing to look within. And that that's a scary place to look. You know, that is the that is the the the cave of treasure that's guarded by a dragon that if you could just step into it and face that dragon, you'll realize it's only protecting you from what you think you need protection from. And it's actually a a cuddly [ __ ] bear. right? That just needs a hug. The dragon just needs a hug, right? And so, you know, there was a a meditation, you know, I got real real big into meditation and and uh hypnosis uh to help reprogram my mind and my nervous system and stuff like that and stuff that I still do on occasion. But one of the things that really helped me

was um visualizing the wall that stands between me and my desired life. Mhm. And then seeing the texture, seeing what it what it looks like, all of these things, and then asking it, "What are you protecting me from?" And one of the things my wall said to me was, "I don't know. You tell me." like, "Well, good one." I'm like, "Oh, well, why did I build you?" It's a fruit of your imagination.

Exactly.

And it was the wall wasn't Nobody put the wall there. I did. I built that wall. Right. And so to protect me from what? And so I I told the wall, "All right, it's time to start coming down y'all." And the wall's like, "Thank you." All right. I'm like, "Thanks. Thank thanks for thanks for doing your job, but like I don't need you anymore. I got this." And it was like, "Okay." So yeah.

Yeah. You know, man, I think that from the outside it's it might look like you got really lucky, right? Or fortunate as you put it, but yeah, I don't want this to be the narrative

because it's obvious that you really were had to endure a lot a lot of uh [ __ ] in your life. I don't come from privilege either. Like my family didn't have money. I don't come from money. I didn't go to high I didn't graduate high school. I didn't went go to college. Like I I was literally a street kid. And so I didn't have support that Well, I didn't have support like most people would think, right? My dad paid my cell phone bill for a few years. That was it. Yeah. That was it.

Literally what what are the things that people come to you with the biggest pain points in your consulting in your work? What are the things that repeat itself mo the most that you help them with? Maybe you can give us that and also how you solve that. How you help them solve that.

Um I moved pretty quick because you know it's taken me years to do this work and it's work that very focused work um within myself. So some of the pain points are looking at yourself. Uh I just had a call with a tech founder today who wildly successful and uh most of my clients are wildly successful selling their companies for hundreds of millions of dollars and they're financially good and they know how to do operations and systems and the whole kitten kaboodleoodle. Uh but one common thing I see is I'm afraid of how people are going to view me. I'm scared of what people think. And what that boils down to, I'm not good enough. Yeah. And so a lot of times people come to me without realizing what they're really saying is, "Hey Darren, I'm not good enough. I need you to help me portray myself in the world so that people think that I'm good enough." And what I do is I come in and I say, "That's a little ass backwards." I get you to realize that you're already good enough. And then we step into the world as that. So you don't need any [ __ ] permission and you can operate from a place of freedom and peace that can't be snuffed out. Okay? And if we need to go through the fire, well, that's my middle name. Yeah. And and sometimes people are like, I'm not ready for that. Uh I'll call you when I'm ready. But sometimes people are like, "Fuck." All right, let's do this. And then we do it. Cuz a lot of times people are like, "Oh, how do you do what you do?" Like, "Well, I' I've been through some [ __ ] How do you how do you say it that way?" Well, uh, you got to learn to tap into something that's true within you. But you can't do that if you don't believe that you're good enough. Because if you try to tap into something that you don't believe is good enough, well, you'll never try to tap into it and you'll always be creating outside of yourself things that will actually never be good enough.

This resonates very deeply with me man because uh I I reinvented myself at 33. I had uh like corporate business experience under my belt where I worked with investors and on paper I had sort of successful life but I didn't like my days you know I didn't love my days why why can't you love your work why should you like it only love is a much stronger word so I wanted to love what I do so and at 33 I started Ed doing different things. I started uh writing poems, uh playing DJ music and I started this podcast as well because I really love to connect with people of all walks of life, not only business, right? So, and now I enjoy myself much more, you know? So, I think we can all uh try to find ourself, find our true path regardless of how old we are. Of course, we could be sometimes we're bound by obligations and family, right? But I don't know, man. I think we owe it to ourselves to live the life uh that we want to get up and live, right?

Yeah. Yeah. You you you're spot on, dude.

Darren, any last word for um our listeners and viewers about how to, you know, lead authentic impactful life.

Oh man. Well, you know, in some regard, I'm still trying to figure it out myself, but um one thing I would say is you're good enough. You were born good enough. Trust yourself, not just to get things right, but to handle them when you get them wrong and do it anyway. cuz you're gonna die. News flash. Do something with it. Go out with a [ __ ] bang. Mic drop. All right, man.

Thank you so much, Darren. I appreciate you, brother.

Huh?