Shaquille O’Neal on The Moment He Truly Became “Shaq”

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Mr. Kilo Nail, welcome.

We're the glass half full.

We start every episode with a toast.

I've got my bourbon.

You don't drink on TV, so we got your mug.

But this is not TV, it's a podcast.

That's true, but there are TV cameras.

Beatbox.

What are we toasting to?

Life.

Just life.

Me making you look bad on your own podcasts.

That's how we go start this.

That's how we go start.

Okay.

Hey everyone, Craig Melvin here.

And welcome to the very first episode of my new podcast.

It's called Glass Half Full.

And this is where we really sort of dig into those moments

that shape and mold.

People that we thought we knew.

And I think what you'll discover is what I've discovered.

Nobody gets anywhere worth going

without maybe facing something a little hard along the way.

And our first guest, one of my favorite guests,

a whole of famed guest, if you will.

Mr. Kilo Nail, of course, five time NBA Hall star.

But then it goes on to become this prolific business man

as well, philanthropist.

And I think you're going to enjoy our conversation

because what I discovered is

Shack is still chasing stuff.

He still wants more.

So here we go.

The very first episode of Glass Half Full.

Me and you always fight, bro.

We do. And by the way, I don't think it's a coincidence

that since you started beefing with me,

my career is sort of, so I should probably attribute

some of my success to Shack.

First of all, it's not beef, it's just competition.

That's true.

I love you and I respect you.

I'm also proud of you.

Like I've been a fan of yours from day one

and you do great honest work.

You know, a lot of people in our business

don't do great honest work, but you do great honest work.

And they, a guy, continue to bless your brother.

Man, we might have to stop the podcast.

Thank you.

That means a lot coming from someone like yourself.

Before we get into some of the moments

that have shaped you professionally and personally,

would you consider yourself a glass half full

or a glass half empty kind of guy?

Half empty.

Really?

Yeah.

That actually surprises me.

Why would you consider the glass half empty?

Because it's always work to do.

Even at this stage.

Yeah.

What's the work?

I mean, just continue to inspire people

and I'll continue to learn by myself

and continue to do excellent business.

You know you're one of the most beloved

former athletes in America.

I am.

You are.

I didn't know that.

It's true.

People love you.

Like you're one of the few athletes left

where people are like, uh,

I don't get out much because of my house arrest.

Shut up.

Shut up.

Shut up.

Let's talk about because, you know, on the podcast,

we like to focus on first the moment

that has probably shaped you more than any professionally

or personally.

And then we'll talk about some of these smaller moments.

But as you look back, as you reflect on all of it,

can you point to a single moment

where you went from Shaquille O'Neal to Shaq?

It was the last day of me being a juvenile delinquent.

Growing up, uh, had a great life.

Just didn't develop my leadership skills

until it was forcing to me.

Father always said, be a leader and not a father.

But I never knew what that meant.

I discipline one last time and then said,

you know what?

I'm gonna start doing right.

This was around the time of that.

John Concax signed a contract for,

I think it was 15 million for three years.

Okay.

And my father took me to a game.

It was a professional player,

but I felt in my time that I was better than him.

So in my genius thinking,

I was like, if he's making five, I can make three.

I can make two.

Right?

Like if I'm as high as this guy, I can make 2.5.

And then I started focusing and I started playing.

And then it wasn't until people started telling me

I was great.

The first famous guy to come to my house is Ernie Johnson.

Ernie Johnson came to my house and did an interview on me

and my family.

Wait a minute.

Yeah.

The guy you sitting next to now was,

I never knew that.

Yeah.

And then running my high school,

it was always a dream for Dick Whiteel to say my name.

So we attended the All-American game

and there was a whole bunch of guys there from the New York

and all these guys through these big cities.

And I get in line.

I was like, hey, Mr. Whiteel.

How are you, sir?

And he looks at me and he says,

and your name is?

He didn't know my name.

So that kind of upset me a little bit.

So my whole mind said it was tomorrow,

Mr. Whiteel and the whole world would know the name

Shaqila now.

So that was the day I became Shaq.

And then I've always said to myself,

you know, my uncle Jerome was one of my favorite people.

He would always tell me,

don't mess up your mother's house.

I've always kept that in mind.

I don't want to do things that jeopardizes my mother's house.

And that was my whole focus because

I've been one day riding with my mother

and she was looking at a house.

And she just kind of pulled over.

Because we never had a house.

We're from the projects in Oakland, Jersey.

We used to stay in the military barracks

and the little apartments that they have for us.

So when we moved to San Antonio,

it was like big Texas estates and farms.

She just pulled over one day and just looked at this house.

I said, you know what?

I got to get my mom on my new house.

And that was always my motivation.

So Jerome wanted you to tell me before you do

or say anything crazy,

do not lose your mother's house.

And you never did.

Never did.

You go back to the delinquent thing though.

Little petty stuff, it was a serious.

One serious.

You know, just...

But it's such a strength.

Yeah.

That's a great strength.

Yeah.

You just referenced your father.

And I'm assuming that when you say your father,

you mean the man that you came to know is your dad.

Not your biological father.

Yes.

Yes.

I don't...

I don't use the term, stepdad, all that.

Yeah.

You know, he was raising me,

told me everything, told me about life,

about values, about morals,

told me about respect for myself and respect for others.

So, you know, he's my father.

I do have a relationship with my biological now.

And, you know, when I met him, I told him,

Hey, things happened.

We have no horror feelings.

We can have a relationship.

But, you know, the guy that made me laugh

is Sergeant Philip Arthur Harrison,

Rest in Peace.

He made sure.

Yes.

And you made peace with your biological dad later in life.

I never had a problem with him.

Okay.

I never had a problem with him.

Because, you know, as...

Listen, men, marriages, relationships,

you go through things.

Especially when you're struggling with addiction.

Yes.

And I wasn't always the perfect guy

in my relationship and in my marriage.

So, who am I to judge?

So, I never really had a problem with him.

Just, you know, I just felt that.

If you wanted to get to know me,

or you just should have,

you just should have came and, you know,

talked to me.

Like, it was unfortunate I had to find out about it

on the Ricky Lake Show.

I just felt kind of blindsided.

I wasn't upset.

I don't get upset.

Because when I get mad, you'll know.

Because I'm a terrorist.

You won't mess up your mom's house.

But you've messed up.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

My house, I definitely messed up.

You just alluded to it.

And you've been fairly open about it in the past.

This idea that Shaq,

amazing basketball player,

amazing philanthropist, amazing businessman,

was not an amazing husband.

If you could go back and redo some of that,

that means...

I mean, I'll just do the right thing.

That's all.

You know, it's really no excuses.

What is that?

What is that mean?

Like, you know, when you make vials and you say

and do certain things,

you have to, you know, stand up to that.

I wasn't...

You know, we can always sit here and make excuses.

But it was definitely no excuse for it.

And, you know, I've paid the price for it.

And I've lived in 67,000 dollars' grip for the house

by myself.

No kids, no nothing.

You know, it kind of got to me at times.

But, you know, my kids,

they understand and, you know, we've had conversations.

So, you know, my relationship with them now is perfect.

You've grown from it.

Yes.

Do you think if you were...

If you had been older when you got married,

do you think it would have been different?

I don't know.

I don't know.

But again, it's just, you know, I'm the type that when you mess up,

you say, I messed up.

Yeah.

And you learn from me more often.

I don't go well.

It was because...

It was because of nothing.

I'm a true man and I messed up.

Because a lot of folks probably don't know that...

They shut dealt with or deals with the medical condition

that a lot of people can relate to.

Yes.

I'm a spokesperson for Lily.

And, you know, I'm on a crusade to help people with,

you know, talk about a moderate to severe OSA.

OSA stands for obstructive sleep apnea.

You know, for people that don't know that,

there's a lot of times when you lay down the sleep.

Airways could, you know,

close a little bit, partially close or whatever.

And, you know, symptoms are like you choke at night.

You gas for air at night.

You know, you wake up and you're tired and all these things.

So, I urge people to go get checked out.

You've always used your platform for good.

So, that's not surprising that you're trying to save some lives out there.

As we sit here, though, you're good.

You're healthy.

Yes.

Okay.

I mean, I've been, I mean, I've been talking to my doctor

and, you know, I've been, you know,

putting together a plan that's, you know, good for me.

Looking back professionally,

is there something that you would redo?

Is there something where you think back on it?

You're like, gosh, knowing what I knew now,

maybe I would have handled this differently.

As far as what?

As far as basketball.

Oh, no.

As far as basketball.

No regrets.

No regrets.

No, I wouldn't say regrets.

You know, I've always talked, you know,

to, you know, make the right decisions.

I don't make decisions based off of motions.

You know, I always try to be very tactful and, you know,

my decisions.

And, you know, everything I did was done correctly.

And, I did it my way.

You know, one thing about my career,

I did it my way,

and beat all the odds.

And, how many times I heard, oh, just file them.

Just file them.

You'll, you'll never do this.

You'll never do that.

So, that's right.

That's right.

So, at the end of the day,

you look up and you see three statues

and three tired jerseys.

And, I go in my safe,

and I see four beautiful championship rings.

I did it my way.

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All right, did you take on something?

A cream of dulce bar was here in the green room shortly

after the broad broke the scoring record.

And we were talking,

and we were talking about the evolution of the game.

And he said,

he said, Craig, do you have any three point shots

I took in my career?

I mean, I was, you know, I was a kid.

I was like, Ma, maybe 20, maybe 25.

He was like, no.

And I think he told me three, maybe four.

I think that's it.

And then I read, how many did you take, or make?

I made one.

You made one.

Out of 20.

Out of 20.

Yeah.

Big men now, they shoot the three ball a lot.

And it's my fault.

Explain?

Because when I was playing,

no big guy wanted that funk,

so they all moved out.

Right, no think about it.

And like, we're all products of our environment.

So when I was growing up, I watched Korean.

I watched you, and I watched Robinson.

So I was told to get inside.

Yeah.

But when I was playing the dominant,

what was, you know, what was the opposing center trying to do?

Bring checkout.

Bring checkout.

So you got guys like the Derrick and the Dunkins in the Garnet.

They were picking pop.

So all these kids, they're watching Bigs do picking pop now.

Well, I've never thought about that.

Yes.

So I'm my fault.

And you don't think we'll ever return to the big goal?

No.

No.

Especially since the smart numbers guys have figured out that,

you know, it makes more sense to shoot 25, 33s a game.

Well, some people are so smart that they're stupid.

You know, when I play, I'm playing to win a championship.

So, you know, like I, like I as Coach at all time,

why do you guys do the same thing?

We're now in a copycat league.

Everybody wants to be cold in the state,

but you're not stuff.

So like if I got a guy that can pretty much score,

like for example, Joe and me, why are you shooting jumpers?

You're the biggest guy out there.

You're not getting double.

You're not getting triple.

They're not putting defenses around you.

You should be, you should be earning at 30 million

and dominating so much.

So to where your next contract is like,

shake, you're just Alexander 70 million.

But, you know, people always give this use home.

You know, the game is different.

No, the game is how you dictate it.

I could have shot jumpers and did all that,

but I didn't want to do that.

I wanted to dominate you and make you quit

and bearish you in front of your wife and kids.

Make you cry.

Make your whole team yell three seconds.

Make your whole team say,

oh, he's not going to make the free throws.

I just wanted to make you miserable.

And that's what I did.

Like, if I was playing now, you know,

like somebody said the other day,

oh, well, you can't guard Joker.

Well, Joker can't guard me either.

And that's what I would do.

As soon as Joker take me out and shoot the three,

I'm going to run right past his eyes

and stand in the middle of the lane for 100 seconds.

And you're going to throw me the ball

and I'm going to dunk and I'm going to get two points.

You might get three, but I'm going to get more twos

and you get more threes.

I guarantee it.

It sounds like when you watch the game now,

you get a little frustrated.

I do get a little frustrated

because these guys, I mean,

because, you know, we have to,

we have to, you know, protect this thing of ours.

And the reason why I love the game so much

my father took me to a game

and he borrowed money from his friend,

and he said,

man, if you ever get to this level

and people pay hard earned money,

make sure you give them a show.

I always wanted to give people a show.

That's why I did like certain little silly things

and looked at the kids and interact with the kids.

They're paying money.

Yes.

And we get paid off some of the money that they pay.

Yes.

Let's give them a show.

Like, just going out there,

joker of threes,

that's not giving them a show.

I think that's why a lot of folks

don't give them a show.

I think that's why a lot of folks

get frustrated with the load management idea.

You know, paying $200 a ticket

and I don't even get to see LeBron player

or whoever.

If you're taking on this,

this gambling scandal.

I started off the show saying,

I'm not a Puritan.

I'm a homeboy gamble.

Many of you up in the thing,

you know, we might have a betcha $20.

I guess I do stuff like that all the time.

Never gamble to anybody else's.

Never did none of that.

I don't even know how to play poker

and I don't even know how to play poker.

In Vegas, I'll shoot craps

and you know, do all those things.

But within those guidelines,

there's something called the letter of the law.

You know what's right and what's wrong.

And I know for a fact in the NBA twice a year,

they pull up to side,

got practice to say,

these are rules when it comes to gambling.

These are the rules when it comes to drugs.

These are the consequences.

So we know better.

And my only thing was,

why would you put your family

in your name in jeopardy?

See, we have to protect this thing of ours.

Magic, Dr. Jay paid the way for magic.

Dr. Jay didn't make no money.

He's one of the greatest players ever.

Magic made a little bit of money.

Charles didn't make no money.

I may get money.

But these guys will make it stupid money.

Stupid money.

They do this Alexander.

Well deserved.

By the way, 70 million a year.

KV signs of a two-year extension for 90.

If you think he's almost 30.

That's what I'm saying.

So, we allowed the person to plug in.

Yeah, you can.

You think I'm gonna f*** up 70 million dollars?

Not sure you can see that.

But yeah.

No, say like,

why would you jeopardize that?

Like, I don't even know that player pro.

I don't even know what that f*** means.

I don't even know what it means.

So, but why would you mess that up?

You seem big on reputation.

And you might remember when you used to say that.

No, it ain't that.

No, but you've talked about protecting, like...

My mother's house.

Right.

Yeah, I don't care about my reputation.

I don't want my mom and church and people looking at her crazy.

But you see your family name.

Yeah.

You're just proud of that.

Yeah.

My grandma used to say sometimes she'd read something

and watch something on TV and she'd check her hands.

Like, whatever happened to shame.

Whatever happened to shame.

I don't understand it.

So, I love her fact.

Adam Silver and the law enforcement community there.

Yeah.

They're definitely gonna clean it up.

So, we'll just sit back and see what else some folks.

I flew to Chicago several years ago when you celebrated

the 25th anniversary of one of my favorite shows

inside the NBA.

It's perfectly cast.

Just from the very beginning, you guys,

you make basketball,

watchable and more enjoyable for casual fans.

I mean, folks who really follow the game.

And I sit now, you won't remember this,

but I said something to Charles Barkley about

I read some article that he was retiring from broadcasting.

He might step away.

And before I could even start the interview,

Chuck, Chuck.

How you going to retire from a job you own do?

How you going to retire from something you own?

You own him shortly to production?

And I'm sitting there for five minutes.

And in the five minutes, I'm like,

this is why this show works.

They genuinely enjoy each other's company.

We do.

Charles, who I hate in real life, by the way,

but not really.

He chose like the annoying big brother that I never had.

Kenny is Kenny.

Love Ernie.

First thing was God every interview in my house.

They do a great job of letting us utilize our humor.

And I think it works because Barkley is a Hall of Famer.

And so you know he has G14 classification.

I'm a Hall of Famer with four championships.

So I think it's fair to say I know what I'm talking about.

Especially when it comes to big men.

Kenny has two championships.

Ernie reminds me of you, very professional.

You know, the way he does things, you know, his approach.

And believe it or not, Ernie is the funniest guy in the crew.

I've heard that.

Yeah.

Ernie is the funniest guy in the crew.

And we just like to have fun.

And then we do my Shaq in the full segment where...

Which my son loves.

Oh, thank you.

Love.

Because I...

We should do more of them.

Oh, I will.

I wanted to replace the word bloopers.

Like, with you walking down the street and you just tripping,

you have a whole bunch of Starbucks coffees and you spill them.

That's not bloopers.

That's Shaq.

Acted a fool.

Yes.

Why do you give Chuck?

It seems like Chuck has made a concerted effort to lose weight.

To slim down, to get in shape.

He seems serious about his health.

And you give him...

I didn't say nothing.

That was Kenny.

I didn't say anything.

You...

I didn't say anything.

Kenny asked him where...

He wanted to make sure he had the full number of the charity

where he donated the fat suits.

So he could get the suits back when he put the weight on.

And instead of encouraging your friend to continue on his health journey,

you left.

I'm just saying, like, he looks good.

I don't know how long it's going to...

Like, he was in the bag eating a pork chop omelette.

That's...

That's...

A pork chop...

Like, do think about that a pork chop...

Like, have you ever seen a pork chop omelette?

No, actually.

Me either.

I was like, what did I say?

He was like, oh man, it's pork chop.

Oh man.

Okay.

More ahead with Shaquille O'Neal.

Stay with us.

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setting savings goals,

or just splitting the check.

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We have a segment on the podcast called Craig's Curiosity.

These are actually things I've always,

I've been always genuinely interested in.

I'm asking about them real quickly.

You've never, you've always been self-deprecating.

You don't take yourself too seriously.

No.

Which would explain your acting career.

Oh.

You've been, you know what?

You've been nominated.

You know what?

Multiple Razzie Awards.

You know what?

1995.

Worst news star for your role in Blue Chip.

Okay.

There was the 1998 worst hacker for your role in Steel.

Okay.

It was 2015.

Worst supporting actor for your role has blended.

Okay.

If you could say something to the people who nominated you

for those Razzie's, what would you say?

I would say, I would give them my Bank of America account

in relation.

Go back to the set of movies to set again.

Well, I mean, we just got three blended steel blue chips.

How long blended?

Thank you Adam.

Three million.

Go ahead.

Blue Steel.

Oh, blue steel is about six million.

Okay.

Because Sam was about nine.

Because they paid you nine million for Kazam.

I paid myself.

First of all, you shouldn't be watching this.

Movie is for kids.

I don't know why.

I don't know why you're all watching a movie anyway.

They're for kids.

Yes.

I think that's more than Jordan God for Space Jam.

And listen, you know, I don't care what you say.

Every now and then, a person who walk by and say

Kazam was my favorite movie.

That's all I need.

People smoke weed in New York.

Yes.

What's the best prank Shack's ever pulled?

I'm not allowed to talk about it on this show.

Okay.

What's something that's difficult for Shack

because of your size?

Buying the sports card at these little rich people right around.

Like, I wanted to get those for hours

and those Bugatti's so bad.

I used to buy those cars

and then buy another car, cut them in half, super gooing together.

If you could switch lives with anyone for 24 hours, who would it be?

I can't say.

But there is someone.

Yeah.

Why can't you say?

Why can't you say?

Because if I say it, it'll go viral and can't say it.

Well, can you give a clue?

Are they an athlete, a musician?

No.

It's a businessman.

It's a businessman.

No.

It's not a businessman.

Is it a woman?

Would you switch?

I'm not a troll.

No.

No.

It's just 24 hours.

You could be a woman for 24 hours.

No, I cannot.

I could never be a woman.

So, give me, like, give me.

You know what?

That's strike two.

Get the strike three.

We go 10 arrests right now.

No.

Yeah.

But I can't.

It was gonna go viral.

Okay.

Alright.

Well, let's talk about your business acumen for a moment here

because you have become.

I've read my notes.

You're one of, now, the four, depending on the list five,

wealthiest NBA players ever.

Does that surprise you?

Did you not know that?

I don't really think about it.

You know, just like...

What do you mean you don't think about it?

Of course, you don't have to think about it now

because you worth half a billion dollars.

My mother's house is number one.

Right.

My children.

My crew.

And then my toys.

It's all I care about.

You know, the fact that my mother can get...

I just bought her a Louis purses for the first time.

I actually took her...

She don't care about that stuff.

I took her shop and we went in.

How much is this purse?

3,000.

She's an old school.

No, baby.

It's like, get three of them.

Get five.

Get six or seven.

And just, you know, it's hard like walking around with...

Like her Louis purses and it makes her feel good.

That's all the matters to me.

My kids, you know, how they...

How they look at me.

You know, I feel good when I go into the meetings

and it's doctoral now.

Of course, I'm shocked with that.

They know and understand that.

Whenever you're about to tell me, I can comprehend what you're saying.

We can get things done.

And, you know, I have a great relationship with my children.

They were upset for a while because I set up...

Yeah, I'm rich.

You're not?

Yeah, we're not rich.

But, you know, it's kind of...

I think it'll be good for them.

I actually got the idea and like I tell a story all the time.

When I was playing for Miami Heat,

the owner of the heat, mom, that passed away.

And she had left the...

His two kids a lot of money.

Two fifty-three hundred million.

And it was like big article on paper.

So I come in the locker room one day and the kid is...

He's picking up dirty uniforms.

I don't say anything and then I see him another time

like he's doing regular stuff.

So, finally I pulled Mickey's besides.

I said, make it no disrespect.

Well, you own carnival cruise lines.

You do all this.

And Mama left the babies all this money.

I've seen Nick doing things.

And he said, Shaq, when I was first started out in the shipping business,

his father had him at the shipyard

learning everything about the ship.

He says, I make my kids work.

And since I got home, I was going to be like,

oh, there's going to be some changes around this house.

I guarantee that is going to be some changes around this house.

Seven kids, and you told them all,

like when I'm gone,

don't count on a windfall.

Don't not have to earn it.

Two questions for the road.

What is one moment that Shaq is still chasing?

What's one thing you haven't done that you still want to do?

I want to get Botox in the face like you do.

So I could look you on.

Got him.

Oh, I'm back.

No, no, hey, no.

Two, two, two to be clear.

I never got Botox.

I never had any Botox.

I do use a serum sometimes.

But I'm going to be fed.

You've got very nice skin too.

Yeah, well, I don't use Botox.

You've had some work done.

Have you tried a salmon sperm facial?

I have not.

I'm just asking.

All right, we're going to move on to the second.

second. Two to two. I heard that. I heard that. What is what is one moment that when you are six feet

on the ground? What's one moment that you hope people remember you for? I just want to say it was a

nice guy. You know we take pride in just being being regular people. I denounced myself from being

a celebrity about 19 years ago. Celebrities I ask. I don't want to be like that. Like I'm in one

time in a restaurant and I'm going to say his name but a kid. I just don't understand. Don't

interrupt me while I'm eating but a kid came last photograph and he embarrassed the kid and made

him cry. I just said I never want to be like that. You know what I want. When I go to work you seem

like my crew. You are going to always see me with Uncle Jerome, Uncle Mike Danny, D Mac. You know

we don't we don't do we don't do the homeboy special. What's the one boy special? We don't have a

30-50 people with gold chains. You never have. That's true. I never have. You know why. You know why?

Because you like to keep the money in your pocket. No, you know why. You J. DPS. Uncle Jerome don't play that

all the lessons that you were taught early on really did stay with you. Yeah. By Danny,

Uncle Jerome, Uncle Mike, Danny, you know my crew like we when we just want to make people happy

and inspire people. 300 commercials. You've been in more than three or did you know that?

No, I know. We did we count on about more than 300. Is there a commercial that you look back on

you like that was that was pretty good. That was pretty good. Well, they're all pretty good

because the check always clears. No, it's not about the money. I have creative control. Really?

Yeah. Over all the from the beginning. Yes, from beginning. Well then I've got more questions

because the general ad was that you as generalized as beautiful. You know why? It's beautiful.

They were generic and they were the way they were like me and Uncle Jerome and the guys every day

before practice. We used to bet on Mario Povic. We used to bet on but oh he's not that like we just

like me just homeboy batting. No, I don't have the lead call. Yeah, it's like you know he's not

the father's not so we need to do that and then that commercials to come on. And I was like the

general, the general that I went back and my father's the general gave me insurance when I was

in college because I remember. Yeah, I remember I was like you know what, affordable.

It's something that I had. I want to represent you guys and we did it and you know the

comment. Listen, the commercials were I don't want to use the word cheesy but they were generic

for a reason. And they landed clearly. That's the point. Throw me the gummies. Can you just throw

me those gummies there because I did want to ask you about these because now you've got these

you've got you've got shakalicious gummies like what's the story what was the story behind that

because I want you to bite my head off. I'd be more than happy. Yes, it's bite off. Oh, these are

shoe ones. Yeah, those are shoe ones. Actually, I'm not sure you're sitting here. They're actually

good. I know they're pretty good. No, no, you were not like me and my crew, we taste about a

trillion gummies until we got it right. Seriously, they were selling them FedEx, they were going

there right now. No, no, no. And then and you know what, they were supposed to work chemists,

can I say chemists? Yeah, the the guy that that perfected he was a young cat.

You know what I've never seen you endorse? I do. I haven't what was your what was your beer

endorsement? Beat bucks. I urged people to drink responsibly. Okay. You know,

what about cannabis? No, I don't do it. I don't know. I'll get your own one. Play that, man.

But I mean, if the company came to you and they had like a no principle, no. Okay.

This is a great podcast. Thanks for having me. Thank you. I'm so happy you brought

Reebok back. Will you bring back the pump? I will. I got you. Okay. Appreciate you. I really do.

And so does America. Thank you. Well, there you have it. A very first episode of Glass Half

Full and couldn't have couldn't have asked for a better first guest than check. Although admittedly,

I will say I was a little surprised that he's a glass half empty guy. But you know, that's what

this podcast is going to be about. It's going to be about the journey that we're all on.

And I'm excited. I think we're building something special. So apparently we're going to be back

next week. They tell me we've got at least two episodes. So we hope that you will join us

next week. Until then, download, share, subscribe, like. There's always one with the comment,

comment. You're supposed to comment as well. Please do that. And I can't wait to see back here next

week. Until then, the glass, at least my glass, half full. Cheers.

Today's episode of Glass Half Full with Craig Melbourne is produced by Sadie Bass,

Enderick Crawford, along with Brooke Glatz. Ali Stream is our editor and Matt Tierney is our audio

engineer. Ariana Davis and Ashley Codiani are our executive producers. Additional production

support is provided by Chloe Long, Ashley Domagola, Ned Friedrich, Francesco Locacio, Miguel Taran,

Bailey Cronus, and Megan Cernacchi.

Bringing your business dreams to life takes heart and about a thousand decisions a day.

That's why Atlantic Union Bank's knowledgeable bankers are here for you. With the right guidance

and customized solutions to help you reach your business goals. So whether you're planning your next move

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