Check it, check it, check it, it's a unique hustle, it's your boy, E-CEO, and I'm here with the lovely official, Mr. Jamaica. What's going on? None of my day all gone. Man, hey man, another day, another dollar? Yes, sir. Fifteen cents, something. You know what I'm talking about? Hey, we got a special guest in here today, man.  I talked to a lot of people about this guy, man, came from, uh, uh, what are you from? Allington. Yeah, all into it. Hey, check it, man. My boy Antonio Diego is in the building. What's going on, man? What's going on? What's going on? Actor, model, DJ. Really? You doing all that? I'm doing a little something. Yes, sir. Oh, man, so, you know, just when we invite guests on, the first thing we want to do is just kind of understand who they are, right? Yes, sir. We're looking to try to understand where they come from, right, before they got into their craft. That's the person before the name, because Antonio Diego, is that your government name? That's my stage name. That's what I thought. That's what I thought. So we want to know the person before the Antonio Diego. How'd you grow up in all like this? So basically, um, I grew up in, I'm from Louisiana and I moved from New Orleans to Miami back and forth, growing up, landing in Allington, Texas, about five or six, um, my mom and my brothers grew up pretty normal, um, just grew up pretty normal. What's normal to you? Growing up in school, playing outside with your friends, uh, high school.  Nah, just my mom. So some people will say that's not normal? Yeah, it's not normal. We was doing a lot of things, we was playing sports, we was in the streets. Yeah, banging? You was banging? Yeah, for sure. Yeah, banging. I know what you was doing. That's not normal. Yeah. That's not be real. Nigga, you were banging. What was you? Cripple or blood? No, no, no. Don't come in there trying to give us no water down, project the story that you're trying to make us feel like, oh, yeah, we're not in it, we're faking, man. Let's get to the bridge. Okay, we'll give it to us. One thing I always tell people is that when you come on this platform, our platform is here to help and educate people because things that you've been through in your life, you're not the only one who's been through it and there's somebody who's going through it right now and look and about to look at our show and you can help them go through whatever situation that they are going through right now. Hundred percent. So I don't know if y'all, um, tune in to Say Cheese TV? Yeah. Rainwater. Yeah. Rainwater was just on there maybe like two weeks ago. That's more through his manager. Right. He was the one that was talking about just being real with y'all. When I grew up, Allenton was the worst area in DFW. That's where it went crazy. All the blogs was posting it. He was talking about. That word. No, he's talking about Allenton. Not that word. That's in Grand Pier. That's in Allenton. No, he's talking about Allenton. Allenton. It's between Fort Worth and Dowlenton. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I'm saying what part of Allenton? East, Northside, South Allenton. Okay. Allenton is huge. So you got South Allenton, you got East Allenton, you got West Allenton, and out there, a lot of people from Allenton. Right. That's the misconception. Like, oh, Allenton. I never thought Allenton was bad. I knew Fort Worth was bad, but I never thought of Allenton being. Poverty wise, like, it wasn't much poverty.  Right. It wasn't like, you compare like, South Dallas to somewhere like, people like, oh, this nigga's from there. Allemaggy think he's hard. Right. Because he grew up a certain type of way. It doesn't really matter, like, what area you in. Like, Allenton, y'all got big houses. There's no way y'all could be doing anything besides going to school and being good boys. Mm-hmm. You know what I'm saying? And that's just what it was. That was 15 years ago, though. Okay. So how was it growing up there in Allenton? For you. For me, it was fun. For you. It was fun. Like, I got a lot of things out of my system when I was young. So when I hit my 20s, I had already been there, done that. It was time for me to focus on, you know, my real talents. And the things that you did as a kid, how much impact not having a father there had to do with it? A lot. Hell yeah, a lot. I was angry all the time.   You just as nap. You so young. You ain't never really been through none. You had to go through some things to understand. Bullets missed me and hit my friends. Mm-hmm. You know, my brother got killed. Certain things that didn't. You would never think looking at this person, what I am today. Like, but back then it's what I had to go through. Your brother got killed. Yeah, my brother got murdered. How old were you when your brother got murdered? Well, 2011. How old was I when I died? Shit, what? Like 20, 19? Okay. 19? And you were even more angry at that time. Yeah. What were you guys into for something like that to occur?  You know, growing up in this part of Texas, there's no real gangs. There's more cliques.  Got kicked out of basketball team. Got kicked out of track for doing things they should be doing. And they just came together and just started. A menace. That's what you want to call it. Yeah, but the thing I say. We thought it was having fun. We didn't know. Bro, it's no different than mine. Mine was worse. You know what I mean? I'm just being real. If I start going down my whole path, you know that. But definitely this is about you. But I'm saying, I think a lot of times people, when they are older, they try to tend to not relate because they're trying to fancy it up for where they're at at the time that they're there. But real talk, all young black men go through this. It's a tougher time to try to come up in a society where people don't really respect you and they don't expect you to be anything. Exactly. And with that, I think some parents hide it because they don't want their kids to go through what they've been through. They want it to paint it to make it look good. Mama can't stop your curiosity, though. That's the thing. My mom is a great mother. She did everything she could, but you know, when you're the youngest and you're seeing your older brother in them do stuff that you wish you could do, it's very enticing. It's like, damn, I can do that. Let me go to the party. I want to ride. I'm tired of seeing the trailer cars pull off and they come back with all these wild stories about what they were really doing in the streets. As a kid, it blows your mind. You know what I'm saying? It's like, damn.  How could you advise a young kid at that stage who hadn't been in a car yet but are hearing all of those fantastic, you know, things that he would be curious to go out here and do? How could you advise him being an older father figure to not do that? It all has an expiration date. It may be fun, but it's going to end very quickly and very soon. And it's only two ways it's going to end.  And once I start seeing that and realizing that, that's when I changed my life and I started going towards my gifts instead of running from them. Did you end up in TDC? Hell no. You said like it's such a bad thing. I know, he said one on the next. P.M.C. ended up in TDC. The night after he got out, TDC saved him for a little longer to be on there. And you're right. TDC saved a lot of our black men. No, for sure. It's times when I know I could have been dead if it had been for some kind of something to stop me from going through that stuff that I was going through. So I always used to say when I was 23, 24, I'm either going to be by the time I turn 25, I'll be dead or incarcerated. Right. And I didn't care which way it went. Those were the asses. Because I was hustling. Right. So I wouldn't be able to let that money go. And I already made it up in my mind. That's what I'm going to do. Not the cards you were dealt. Those are the choices you make. Because I hear some people say that. She's going to come at you differently. No, because the thing is that I hear a lot of people say that. You're right. No, I hear a lot of people say that. But as they get older and they really look back, they realize that they had other choices. But they just didn't want to make those choices because as a kid, nobody couldn't tell them what to do. Even as you turn around and I'm asking you how could you deter a child from going that path.  I want to go party. You can't tell me none. You owe. Right. But you can tell me. I can tell you from experience what you're going to go through. You don't got to believe it. You can get on YouTube and type in anybody that's been through something in the streets. The story is going to be the exact same. It doesn't change. Right. We know that. We know that. Yeah, it's the same thing I would tell my son. Or tell my little brother.  The choices you made. Tell me how many siblings you have. I have one brother that's alive and one that's her mother. And he's younger than you. He's older. I'm the baby. You're the baby. Right. I'm the baby. So how did that affect him when he lost his brother as well? I know it can either straighten you out or it can make you go down the wrong path as well. For my brother, he kind of went, he turned up. I, for me it was a, it was a. Eye-opening. Right. It shook me up. Like my world was like tossed up. Like I was like, yo, this is real.  Everybody running. It's funny when you get in the car and no one's hit. But when you're like that and your phone's blown up, your brother's got killed. It's not funny no more. No.  Who's coming to with me to shoot one of them? Exactly. And then the niggas were like, bro, we didn't sign up for this dinner. It's like, damn. Well, what am I doing this for? That's when I realized this wasn't for me. Because when it got real and I needed some people to show me what there really was about, it wasn't about what they was portraying to be about.  You know what I'm saying? I definitely get it, man. I mean, when you lose somebody like that and it's just abrupt and it just bam-ham. Right. You know, it's definitely, I couldn't imagine it. You know, I never dealt with it on that level. My dad got shot in the head, but my uncle got killed in the same club. You know what I'm saying? And when I think about that. And you were a kid at that time. Yeah, I was a kid, but I remember it. I remember when my uncle died. I remember when my dad had to go to that hospital. Right. So, you know, these things are, they're at the next level. But how do you change and how do you grow from it?  And I always tell people, because most of the time people be like, man, how could God be really let that person die? Well, how do we know death is a bad thing? Exactly. We never experienced it. Exactly. And it's hard for me to gauge it if I'm being selfish because of somebody left and I'm not able to have them with me no more. Yes, sir. You know what I mean? See, and my point of view on that is the fact that when God takes somebody, your job is here done. Whatever is meant for you to do, you did. Right. And it's not, your life is not your own. So you're here. People are like, oh, I'm doing this. I'm going to do that. Really, it's how many lives you touched. Exactly. And even sometimes you may be doing something bad out here. You don't realize that somebody is watching your life and realizing, I don't want to be like that. Yeah. If it wasn't for that person being like that, that person might be somebody else. Right. You know what I mean? Very true. So it's a chain reaction. Everybody's life is a chain reaction in affecting other people. For sure. So you just have to realize what you're talking about. Did you ask how did your mom, how did she... How did she... Her and y'all's relationship count? Because that's a tough thing, apparently. Back then, it was more of a situation where my mom was like, why? Why you choose? I work hard. I do all this to protect y'all from this type of life. Why do y'all choose to be out here running with these fools? Why? Why? What's wrong with going to college? And you know, back then... That would be...  It's like, you can't relate to me with nothing. You're not even the same sex as me. I'm not listening to you. Like, I'm listening to my brother. He's obviously been through some stuff. They're men. I looked up to them because I didn't have a father figure. So I looked up to my older brothers. You feel me? My mom, it was just like... I felt like her delivery at the time was more of, excuse my language, bitching. No, no, you're kidding. Then really giving me a heads up. Like, you in a fast car, if you don't slow down, you know what I'm saying? You're going to wreck. I wasn't trying to hear you. But would anything she say, would that even get through to you? No. Just because of what you just said, because she's a female. No, not really. Mom, when I was 15, 16, I wasn't listening to my mom about anything. Me neither. She didn't scare me. It was no fear in my heart. Ooh, I would have whooped. I would have whooped. It don't matter about you whooping somebody. I'm not going to tell you something. I ain't with me. I ain't crying no more. I looked at it. I'm gangsta. I looked at my mom and she realized, like, this ain't my baby no more. He got the baby no more. I was just like...  And no matter what you say or do, it's like all you're expecting one day is for a policeman to come to that door and to say that he's dead. Right. And you know... And that's what honestly between me and you. I don't even...  I ain't never told anybody this type of part of my past.  We don't come in here to try to tell people, hey, man, this guy went through it. Now look what he's become. We don't play with it, bro. Right, right, right. Like, why do people go on platforms just to talk about themselves and what they've accomplished and not tell about the other side? Yeah, yeah. I like that, bro. People love the backstory too. Right. People need to hear the backstory because our people are hurting. Right. And so that's the reason why we built this platform. We didn't build it just to give everybody a shine. If that's the case, I oughta part all my gold out, nigga. I oughta got fly on you, nigga. I oughta part my old school right here. Hey, I didn't wear my tan. I kept it real smooth, man. I kept the models and stuff for you to have here. Yeah. I can really turn up, nigga. Yes, sir. But I'm just trying to be good, nigga. Yeah, I like it. I like it. No, but you were saying something. That's the reason why I could because of your mom. My mom really, she really got to me. You feel me? And then like I went through another situation that really was like, whoa, this is too much. It's like back to back to back to back to back to back murders. You feel me? Wow. And then jail. That's really when I was like, okay. So you did go to jail? Yeah, I went to jail. I didn't go to prison. I went to county jail. But it was just like. For how long? I did a month. Two different times. Two different times. Yeah, two different times. But you know, I was in Den County so it was just like. We were at a lose stereo. North tower. I don't tell no lie. No lie. Maximum security. Yeah, New Island jail. You were down for that. You got to think if you get in trouble, well I know in Taren County if you get in trouble for anything gang related you automatically on gang file for five years. I've already been removed from there and all that situation, but my background at the time carried over to Dallas County. I arrested I could have went to jail for jaywalk and it was gonna put me in the maximum because of my background You know I'm saying so like that's what I realized like damn. I know all these people. I know Willie I know this person that person.  I was like I would never go back to jail Um, so it wasn't an impact. It wasn't somebody who said something to you or something Somebody today ready to change me.  Then you're sticking me in here at this crazy this nigga snoring on I don't know this like I don't know how people do jail but when I when I went for to real just one thing going to city jail in the county It's two different experiences That's like this. It's not for me, bro. It's not this is what we've interviewed so many people Interviewed somebody in california the other day that he went to prison for 35 years until my freeway ricky rock No, it was Melvin former with Yeah, yeah, we interviewed him Oh, dude, man, I'm playing no games over here.   Right. But the last time when he came out She told him I can't afford for you to go back. I'm getting older, right? Your brother and sister you put that stress on your mama because right she thinking the worst and you like man I wish in the world but she thought she thinking like oh my baby So but you know you said your dad wasn't there, but where was your dad? Do you have do you know him? Have you ever met him? My dad was locked up. So So, yeah, you broke the cycle, right? That's what I'm talking about. So, you know, so did she take you to jail to meet him? No, he was in Louisiana prison and from what I was told that's rock and roll She didn't want me to experience even though my psyche as a child going into an environment like that And you end up almost doing thank god you're not all the way there But you started tripping into that, you know, cyclat first Yeah, I was curious. I was I wanted to see uh, what what the what I'm in my mind. I think it was a combination of like anger and curiosity like can you really get killed doing this like Like I didn't think it was no consequences because there's no one that told me Like this is what happens when you choose this lifestyle I love to hear this because a lot of people don't really Say this type of stuff that this is what they're thinking as a child and as a mom I like to hear because you know kids I want to be able to touch a child and say hey You know, I understand what where you might be at and I can learn from other people's experiences I don't have to actually go through things myself. But yeah, some people will do Let's get on. Let's go on with it. Yeah, yeah, let's pull up out of that Now we're on to talk about how did you turn everything around? How did you become how did you get into acting? Um, I got into acting professionally. Yeah, um through my manager Willie Johnson j3 productions Yeah, I talked to him before this started dope dude. I like the way We had a we had a good conversation. He knew you was walking in the greatness nigga. Yes, sir You got Yes, sir, but at the end of the day, he seemed like he would be the one to talk to since he started sir I'm gonna interview him. Yes, sir. We got to set that up. I already know that because but the thing I can say is man Uh, how did how did what what did he see in you that made him feel like you could do something to act? Can you act nigga? I did do something. Yeah I've actually been acting I've been acting since I was two years old Yeah, I was in a performance arts theater called cats. It was a creative arts theater in high school so like I always had an acting background but I I was afraid to show that because of what my brothers and my peers around me would think ah, that's that's it That's weak. Yeah, nigga.  We out here It's not gangster to be an actor.  So I'm like secretly this entrepreneur like I want to act I want to dance. I want to be take pictures of my shirt off But you know my my surroundings and models were looked at as gay, right? So back then niggas wasn't going for that. My brother's real Crips.  So it wasn't cool to be Antonio Had to be little tony young tone had to be I had to really mask Who I wanted to be and what I wanted to project the world to see to please everybody rhyming because I didn't want to be Shunned I didn't want to be like nigga. You ain't with us.     What would you think like niggas you to do that? That's the first text I get. I'm like, am I bad? Brother Crips, I said these niggas confused But that's the way it goes when you start banging off something you ain't supposed to be in In this out of Cali, you know what I'm saying? That's the way you confuse this. Hey, I'm trying to figure it out So no, but but being an act been in the act and have you gotten into any any uh, any Movies any so I've done additions for yeah for some of the big can I tell them can I talk about it? Okay, so they're about to they I'm in the lineup for the you mean to show the game. Yeah So just had a girl on here Tasia. Yeah, she she worked in on the back Producing for BET on the guy. Okay. Yeah. She was just on here. Yeah. Hey, man. Wait a minute. Man. What's going on?  I put it out. Yeah. Let me check it out. I'll leave it But yeah, um, so I got cat. I got a Well, how do you say it? I got auditioned for that. Um, they haven't called anybody back Um, done stuff for water burgers shot for Toyota. Yeah Um Was it wingstop uber eats? So I don't a lot of stuff for his commercial acting wise Being on any movies. I haven't got any movie opportunities How do you get these gigs is because of your manager that you get these gigs or do you go out like If the person out here and wants to be an actor don't have a manager or anything like that Can they just walk up to these places and say here's my headshot my portfolio. Can they do that? They can but it won't be an ex about a process It won't be overnight. It won't be um as smooth as you think it is you're going to go through a lot of Ups and downs before you get there if you just walking there by yourself because in my mind I'm thinking persistent is key Me and like if I'm at that door every single day for the next six months because being an Entrepreneur or owner I prefer for a person to be coming to my door every day being persistent because I know that Before he saw me I was like, I'm dope. I can do this. I can do that Because I'll show that you're not going to waste my time compared to somebody just dropping something off and say Okay, call me when you're ready for me. Yeah, so I was hitting him up all the time like what two years Like Willie Willie Willie well, I've known Willie for 10 years you feel me, but I didn't I didn't like I said I wasn't and he's always been a manager For me. No. No. No. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you made some of the biggest talents come through here But I I was just like, yo, he was like you got to show me how serious you were so I had to lose weight Um start taking my skincare better Um just start doing things in a different light to really show like y'all I'm serious because you got to think when you sign With these these companies and these these agents your representation of them no matter what you've done in the past We we we worry about what you can do now and what you can do and move them forward Okay, so before I think I got signed, um, I just I lost a lot of weight How much is a lot for you? Shit, I was with 195. I'm 150 160 right now. Okay, so I lost like 40 pounds. I'm gonna start taking my health and my fitness more serious I started doing acting classes. I just Did a total 360 from party party party party party drink drink I was I've been on tour before so that was all that stuff was like in the night life That's that was cool, but acting you have a really it's like another notch How long did it take you to turn everything around? From from what from the first day that he said you got to prove it to me to I think to me six months.  He's ready. He's serious because I was like six months every day Sending him pictures. What you think about this? Hey keep working keep working because he sees we sees all day professional models at the highest levels You know, so he's got model sign with people all around the world So it's like me being popular in the club isn't going to transfer over to the acting in modeling world So I had to show him like I can compete with these niggas. Give me a chance I like that. I like the fact that you just keep going, you know what I mean? And somewhere you where you came from you you don't have a give-up spirit. Anyway, you know It seemed like you really, you know go for what you want. Yes, that's that's the that's the dope part I mean, I'm glad we got the story.  I called people and asked people.  Yeah, Norm T. Yeah I called him BG though, but G.T.G. you know him He's from Orleans. He told me he was good for real. I know he told me I already knew all this stuff You think I'm playing over here my dude? No, he knew me when I worked with B.H.M. them back in the day Bro, this dude B.H.M. been on here. He been on here. I was B.H.M.C. for years I went on tour with him all around the country. Him and Fat Pim Yeah, that's dope. Fat Pim been on here. We been working over here baby.  Yeah, I got over 250 episodes more than like that's amazing. You said it was six months ago Yeah, yeah, so I mean, it's just happy that you you know took your time out to come on the platform Oh, 100% If you guys need something else in here your team, you know, we we're here to help You know what I mean for the people who really serious about what they're trying to accomplish That's more important.    That's my wife nigga, but nigga you look like you could be a model He looked better than the other boy. See James. That was on here. He was a model He looked better than see James He's younger and he's older Yeah, see James. I gotta show you he did his own movie man. He's from Arkansas a little rock He did his whole movie acting producing everything first time he's ever done Times have changed man. That's what I was going to ask you too Like the people we say acting and all that but there is so much technology out here and so many resources that you can do A lot of stuff a lot of stuff on your own you can create look at country Wayne Look at the things that these people are doing that impactful. They don't need nobody to really do nothing They can breathe exactly But there is there is a level to it though. You got to understand what your what your and that's the difference You know, I mean that's the difference like for example Um, I had I used to blow my manager's phone up and like just Complain like really why am I signed? Yeah, this person's trying to sign me. I want to sign with him right now He was like, okay Well, you can either wait for the people that I think you should sign with to sign or you can just sign with the first couple Agencies that reached out to you and I took his advice and I and I've seen The difference It's a big difference Like you said levels of and that's in the entertainment industry for anyone really when you think about it because A lot of people when they start out in entertainment They always so excited and am because the first thing you want to do is sign just like somebody buying a house You want to jump out here in the first house?  I've been I've had my my trust me I've had my meltdowns plenty of times where I was just like I don't want to do this no more But it's hard it's very hard because it doesn't well if it was easy everybody be doing it, but it's hard Yeah, it's hard Because you got bills to pay people have bills okay work I work and I stay up all night. I don't show you how it's done.  I ain't trying to hear it. If I can do it for them. I can do it for me That's the whole game, but you got to be willing to go to extra mile.   No, I'm being real niggas who really want it They want it and they go get it. So all this is hard. Yeah. Yeah, it's hard niggas. Let's go I was hard on your ancestors. I always say that it's not it's not as hard Like to get in the business.   I did my audition perfectly. The lighting was perfect. The sound was perfect Like I sent it to my agent my other agent and my manager. They all say this is amazing I submitted it. Did not get selected. You know what?  Yeah And if I had gotten that it would have conflicted with what I'm gonna have coming out, right You know, you can always switch your thinking always say I'm one yes away Yeah, and I'll be looking for those because I know already make me stronger. I'm crazy. I'm looking for the nose Some people take those nose and sabotage Be like, man, I can't stand this. I give up You can't be like that. Yeah, you can't I mean if we was I mean every door don't just open like that, you know, I mean if you really want something The universe you got to go through it. You got to keep keep going through until you get it Right. That's the whole game. So where you at with the dj and do you know music like you don't know no damn music It's crazy, man. How long have you been dj? Six years You know who was just on here DJ chose. No, uh, yeah, he was on here, but I'm talking about uh, tasia lexer She's I heard her the next day two or three days later how she get down on 104 You know, I'm saying, what do you do man? Can you dj? Where can I catch at nigga? I got a residency at opera On fridays. Okay gala. So every every two fridays. I'm opera and I'm at bloom on sunday.  I b y b. He's a dj. You heard him No, I never heard dj. I b y b. We had dj frost jack frost on here jack frost.  Yeah, nigga, you know, he's in the streets.   Yeah at the white So listen, listen, I'm gonna be real with y'all. Okay. I'm gonna be real with y'all They brought me to k104 g. O cook them brought me in in 2015. I was supposed to be like the new Fresh personality of k104 before they hired hit that. Okay.  They had me working with the vox pro had me working with cat daddy had me working with breeze If you know Okay, I had an interview with christine in the next day and gio said all you got to do Antonio is going here just be humble be cool They're gonna they're gonna put you on the street team and then you're gonna work They're gonna work you in they're gonna start letting you do sunday nights Oh, how would you tell me that they didn't do it? No, no, no, no, they're looking for somebody high What? My ego at the time, you remember the member you ever heard a party called latex grandma pv weekend Yeah, they started like like seven eight years ago Me dj frosty a baby b ham fat pin. We started that festival. It the first year. We did 10 000 the second year We did 20 000 and then I was doing stuff at unt street team How dare y'all say that y'all say y'all wanted me to be on the radio sound like vita local when vita said that they wanted to put her on Uh, um on the weather No, it trafficked. It trafficked. Listen, listen, listen, this is not true.  I was like from somewhere now. I was 20 years old now I understand no, I was 22 so I went home that night. I talked to my You know, my my girlfriend at the time and I had yes men around me back then I said, okay, so what should I do?  I want this this this this and that Sabotage my interview I sabotaged it.  I said, I ain't putting up no tense lady I'm not I saw I got a team that does it for me. I don't know who y'all thought y'all Get them get them Listen, yeah, I told them. Yeah, literally they said have a nice day. Gio called me two minutes later He would have cussed you out. He said, why did you do that? I said damn gio, I ain't I ain't I ain't down with the street team, baby In that business they all talk but the difference Do you feel like it was meant for you to be there or do you feel like god put you in different places for different reasons Honestly, the the stages i've touched now and the things i've done and the people that i've associated with now I don't know if i would have done that if i would have gotten to radio 10 years ago. You would have still been in the radio Listen man, Antonio. God don't make mistakes right everything doesn't mean he he It was written When you went in there that's already written when you said it was already something that was gonna happen, bro You ain't it ain't nothing you did wrong you right where you supposed to be right now whatever god have for you Guess what it's coming to you and came nothing stop it. Yes, sir That's the most important thing right there. See everybody want to we all act like we got it all going on But we only we stand on one side of the door and we look through a peephole of a key of life But god stand on the other side and see the whole thing We gotta stop acting like we so in control when we just vessels being used And that's what i learned i realized that over the years like It's a lot of opportunities with stuff that i see people doing like damn that that was supposed to be me But i fucked i dropped the ball like so now in my career I don't drop the ball as much as i used to i try to be you know more business man i'm still working on my personal a little bit But doors have been opening up for me because i stopped being like that I was in my own way my ego was just too too big because you gotta think coming from At the time my early teens to being on the road be help when be help was big nigga, you couldn't tell me nothing When bricky bobby came out, you know be him from all ins and that was the biggest song He was a one of six of park so to come they grabbed me from a gang It was like yo, that saved my life big rick, man. I get my credit Get buckled baby I've been on his cook show If you watch his cook show, of course boss talk been on there already right? Rick was like rick was like, uh, I was best friends with his son He was shooting in our houses and stuff and doing rick was like no you need to be on the road with us So he grabbed me and asked my mom like hey y'all want to take him under my wing, you know put him around him Gave you that He was the person I give big rick's credit He was the first person to show me what the music business was like right at 18.  I'm telling y'all Bro y'all can love bro. I ain't nobody listen.  It is all right. Hold on now. I saw you got a long way to go man I didn't believe you bro. You didn't look like I don't believe you man. I believe you man. I'm gonna see you. You gotta see me in about six months You're gonna be like this and we're gonna see you now. You're not a yes man to come up in here That's right. I'm gonna see it. You just, you just hung up very high hat I wanna see it. You know what I'm saying? I'm telling you y'all Will Smith, Michael B. Jordan, Antonio Horton Jr. Man, let me get on up there. Look at that.  Listen Listen That's a very high hat. It's there though. I'm just waiting for one yes. I commend you bro. I commend you It's just one yes, just one, bro. That's one yes You post a thing like that So, okay, so In today's where are you going? Wait a minute. Do you have you just you're doing this from Dallas? So you're going out of you going places trying to get these? I'm rarely. I'm rarely home. Honestly. I'm really My thing is that every okay today's in today's industry You have to wear many hats mean like you can't just be an actor Just like people who are rappers. You can't just be a a rapper.  So when I say that meaning like okay, you're gonna act But do you have any inspirations to be the director the writer the everything right because most actors I do but the level the level that I'm playing on right now.  Yes, there's a major actor like You know, that's the goal is to get that first major booking and then learn master my craft at that Then go into producing films then go into directing But I have to master the craft of acting first But you can have your goals set written down and so oh, yeah, I got a vision boy I didn't even want to hear what exactly what's your end game my end game? Is to be a director Years later down the road directing my own. So what kind of film go ahead action Oh action So that that's what you like to acting as well I like yes action and comedic acting is is where I think I see. Thank you funny a little bit Hey, I know. You think I'm funny Willie? Hey, I know. Am I funny Willie? He's scary. I don't know. Am I funny? I don't know nothing. You are. I just go home boy is my nigga. This is your home boy. I don't know. I just made me laugh. I just made me laugh. You know what I'm saying? What you got? All right, you ready?   But I can see I can see the um action. I can see the acting like you know, I see action.  Right.  You're not Jamie Foxx, nigga. You ain't showed me nothing right now. I got I got clips from hyenas. I did improv. I sent them to y'all. I'm actually hilarious. But yeah, I just feel like honestly it's too much to do that right now. I'm juggling acting, modeling, DJing. The comedy is the hardest lane to get into. Because no matter how good you think you are, if you go up there and bomb, it'll it'll mess your self-esteem up. I've never bombed, but I've seen comedic. Desi Banks is one of my best friends. He bombed. No, I watched. You put his name out there. Yeah, I watched Desi. No, not him. No, he didn't bomb. Desi, listen. The nigga bombed. Right after the stage. Desi. I watched him go from doing small college tours to being the number one. He's like the number one guy on Instagram right now. Desi Banks. Yeah.  He's like, I can look at you. You're ignoring it. Like something about you. He's like, you just got to go after what you want. That was in 2016. After that, that's when I really started taking shit to the next level.  Will you do all the other? Of course. If I get casted, I'm doing it. The horror film. Horror. Comedy. The action. The action. Anything. Romance. Romance. Everything. Everything. It's, you can't limit yourself. I will never, I will never tell my agent or my managers, nah, I don't want to do that, bro. Let's say something that goes against my moral code. You ain't 20 no more. So you know, I'm putting on a dress. Four in a view. You is ready to go now. You going to put on a dress? Right. You said. Would you put on a dress and act as a female? For sure. 100%. What's wrong with that? I know my sexual. Can I know some comedians who say they wouldn't even do it right now? Because they got, they led in the outside world influence how they feel about themselves.  I know what I am. And I can show you better than I can tell you. You feel me? Like a lot of people looking at me, oh, this is a little ice game. You really have no idea who you're dealing with, sir. You just be cool. Be calm. Like, just be calm. You can put, like, a Miss Dile Fire, a mama. What's a big mama? Norbit. Look at Eddie Murphy. Look at the greats. Martin Lawrence, Eddie Murphy. They didn't shy away from wearing dresses and doing that stuff. I want to know something. I want to know something. They kind of say it go against how it, like the male, you know, the dominant male. Why though? Why do you feel like that? A lot of people say that. They say it goes against it? Yeah, they want to feminize our culture. Like, Dave Chappelle won't even put on a dress. I'm just telling you how people speak about it. Dave Chappelle said that. But they said that in today's society, but internet, you don't have to do it. Right. So Dave Chappelle, he doesn't do that. He won't wear the dress. He's against it. But you don't see a lot of white comings doing it, either. Well, you do. Miss Dile Fire was white. That's a little more. I don't know what you got. I know what you got. I just said that. I'm not done. I'm not done. I'm not done. You got nobody else. Miss Dile Fire, the guy on SNS was Saturday Night Live. The names do all that. I'm not counting it. They all do it. My thing is this, if they come to me and say, Antonio, we want you to play a woman. We're going to pay you $250,000 per episode. My girlfriend's going to be on set nine times out of 10. I'm going to do it. OK. It's comedy.  Yeah, I will. Kissing another guy on there. Man, you know God is good. Hey, I mean, to that extreme, I don't know. I'll have to really do some soul searching. But we're a dress and do comedy. I'm with it. Yeah. OK. But the Brokeback Mountain.   So, but then once people see that, they're going to start, you know, want to see them on. Then Will Smith did it. Will Smith did it, too. Jamie Foxx did it. Martin did it. But they're saying that Will Smith is bisexual. How do you know that? Who's who is telling people this stuff?    I mean, those trolls on the Internet, everybody. I don't know. I don't. Me, too, movement is strong, brother. Yeah, but I don't get it. Honestly, because of my background, where I was raised, I don't even. It's either this or that. It's no, it's not. It's not like, um, how do you put it? Like, I don't look at Martin Lawrence for doing Big Mama. I mean, that nigga is bisexual. Like, he's doing the job. He's giving him entertainment. I don't look at them putting on dresses as, you know, it's just a role. But whereas I've seen more and more films where you have a lot of guys or female skittings. I've had castings come to my email and they're like, we want you to, you know, kiss another man.  How much money they're paying? No, not even that. Not even that. It's just, like I said, it just depends on with the mood. You feel me?   No, no, no, no, no, I'm just saying, you know, you know, this whole me too movement, a lot of people doing things a little different than when I was growing up.  They're getting a lot of flag about being straight right now. There, this whole thing is flipping like this. You know, the world is changing, man. It is, but I don't know if it's going to be for the good or for the bad, but I do know it's changing. Here's my, here's my outlook on, I was at Rollin' Loud when the baby did that. You was there. I was there. I looked, I was literally backstage drinking and he performed and he started talking. He didn't say nothing offensive. He was directing that towards one artist. He wasn't talking about the LGBTQ community as a whole. But you know, they'll take it and go. I mean, anybody will.   No, I feel like everybody is entitled to their opinion.  And for whatever reason, the straight community don't get on them. So y'all can't get mad if LGBTQs get on y'all. Like I feel like everybody's at times their own opinion. It's not them versus us or us versus them. It's we all together.  That's how crazy that he said that. If you feel like that, that's what it is. If you feel like that, I like the way you explained it. No, I like the way I said it because even I was listening to Breakfast Club earlier and they were talking about there was a radio talk show host or somebody, a commentator, a sports commentator. And he acted like, what accent that was, like an Asian accent or whatever would say something. And he had to go back and apologize. Apologize for what? And because. What did you say that was offensive? But it's like, if you act like you're somebody else when you're not, everybody say that. Oh, you shouldn't do that. You shouldn't do that. But then what he said, he was like, but people act like they're Caribbean, with the pastoral all the time, but nobody ever says anything.  I mean. It's a thing where everybody is so. And honestly. Have you watched? Have you watched the guy's name from the 70s? What's the guy's name? Not Red Fox, but Archie Bunker and what's the nickname? Jefferson.  Go on YouTube and watch them episode. They're saying the C word. They're saying the N word. They're saying Koon. Hunky. They say all that on TV. So it's like, if you go back to look at that, versus now everybody's too sensitive. I'll give what you're saying, man, but we're in a different day and time. You know, people are changing. They want everybody to go to the same bathroom together. Right. Restroom. This whole thing is flipping rapidly. My thing. My only thing I say about everything that's going on in media, leave the children out of it. That's my only thing. When it comes to anything gangbanging, what's your sexuality? What you like animals, whatever, leave the kids out of it. Don't push stuff on kids. I agree. Don't make the kids think gangbanging is cool. Don't make the kids have to choose whether they want to go to a men's restroom or a women's restroom. Let them be children. They're still innocent. And it's so crazy because they definitely, you know, try to challenge them with the stuff at our early age, even on cartoons and all this different stuff that they're adding it in. You want to talk about Robin the other day? Yeah, Robin. They say he done flipped over. But how can you do that? He's a cartoonist fictional character. They say he's bisexual. The writer is a bisexual. You can't force it on kids. Like, come on, like, let's be honest. There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with that. And these are what kids are watching. Listen. But I'll say this, man. We're going to pull up and move out of here, OK? I want to ask you about the top three artists of all time in music. Let's get back to music. Dead or Alive. Dead or Alive.  I need to know your top three artists. Number one would be who? For me, I'll have... Any John or Tom? Any John. Any John? I got to go with James Brown. James Brown. Good choice. That's my number one. I like that. I love that. All this is of all time. Like... Can you do his name too? Michael Jackson, your number two? I got it. I got it. Oh, number two definitely is Michael Jackson.  OK. And who else you got? Number three would be... I had to say musically. I got to go with Michael Jackson, James Brown. I got to go with Chris Brown or Kanye West. Chris Brown? Chris Brown, yeah. Chris Brown better than Michael Jackson? That's what somebody said on here the other day. Don't get mad at me. Yes. We got an agree on here. They say Chris Brown is better than Michael Jackson. Let me tell you. It just went down. It just went down like that here. Michael Jackson got all his sauce from the Temptations, the Five Heartbeats, James Brown. That's who he saw coming up. Otis Redding, Otis Williams, all of them.  He took it. Michael Jackson wasn't doing what Chris Brown was doing.  Man, come on. Please, man. Let me tell you something. Bro, bro, you playing... You let me tell you what you're doing. Man, you niggas is older than me. I'm telling you, bro. You got to tell me the truth, man. If you seen Mike in London or Sundown, where boy... Yeah, we doing arenas. ...out of the globe, out of the window, everybody fell out in the crowd. Chris Brown ain't doing nothing like that. That's power, man. Man, I was going to talk to Chris Brown. I'm going to tell you something. If you remember, ain't nobody ever did this stuff, man. I'm going to tell you something. When I saw him on my eyes, I never saw Michael Jackson in person, but we had a show with Chris Brown down at Hildog. And you comparing that to Michael Jackson? Hold on. Listen, listen. We go to the soundcheck. You know, you go to a venue and they doing soundcheck or whatever, right? We get to the venue, right? There's ambulances pulling up.  Ain't no Lil John concert. They was like, for all the girls, it's about to be passing out. For who? Chris Brown? Yeah. I seen him during the show. They were cycling girls. And you think that's on the level of Mike? I mean, you asked me a personal question. Bro, Mike do this. Like, it was all the time. It wasn't... Michael Jackson wasn't rapping, too, man. He didn't have to. Man, listen. Michael Jackson's song at five. Chris ain't do that. He sung where? He was singing at five and six. It's phases of Michael Jackson. True. You got to get through. You know what I'm saying? You got to get through these phases, man. There's phases. You're looking at the end results of when he got burned and changed his face and his hair was curly. No, nigga. I'm talking about the boy with the eyebrow when he was five, nigga. This is a whole lifestyle. This is a lot to deal with. So, yeah, yeah. He had the big nose. He changed it to the little nose. No, Michael Jackson is different. Michael Jackson is a different level. And I think for me, and I've never expressed it like that on here because I try to get y'all shine with Chris Brown. But, bro, this is a hell of a situation. I got to go with Chris Breezy. Chris Breezy is going to tell you that. I don't have to tell you that. Man, he's going to tell you on camera. He ain't. No, no, no. Oh, no. He's going to tell you that for real. Nigga, nigga cried when Mike died. Then they were flipping on BET. I did, too. I remember. I remember. You cried, too. I was very upset. Nigga, you going to be a good actor. Nigga's like you be crying and stuff. You know, when Michael Jackson died, really? I cried in class. There's a monologue on my Instagram. I cried. For what? I did the Fresh Prince monologue. When he was like, oh, why am I dead? I seen that. You did a good job on that. Appreciate that, man. I watched that. I was like, that boy dope. I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm watching what you're doing. Yes, sir. And you're tenacity. Man, you're going to be dope. Just keep going. That's all I could tell you, man. That's a lot of times when I look at things and I see our people, we don't have people like you in Dallas, man. What you mean? I mean, actors, good actors that really look like me, but are younger me, but I hear getting to it like that. We need that. I mean, this city needs so much, man. We need to bring people into this city and make them spend money with this city when they come here to be here for an event instead of paying them and giving them bags and letting them leave. And that's all I just need to tell you. That could be like literally interview part two because I feel like Dallas, where we lack, we don't celebrate our characters here in hometown. Like Houston, you from Houston, they celebrate you. They promote you. They love you. They, hey, this is from Houston. When you got characters in Dallas, niggas will bring up your pads. Niggas will try to throw shade on you. It's like, it is what it is. I love my city, man. We love you too. I'm Dallas, nigga. Stop playing. We hear it, nigga. We in now. I just started six months ago. I pulled up, nigga. I looked in here and it's interesting. You know what I'm talking about? Say, man, thank you so much for coming on this show, man. Yes, sir. How can people get a hold of you? My Instagram is Antonio Diego underscore live. My Facebook is Antonio Horton and they're my two outlets. I'm on right now. Wow, man. So if you could go back and talk to the younger you, when you was about 18, man, what would you, 17? What would you, 16? What would you say to that 16 year old guy? You from where you at now and what that guy's getting ready to face? Be patient. Be patient. Relax. What about don't be scared? I was never scared. You were never scared? I was impatient. That little journey came out. You're never scared. There are you. It was more impatient. I was impatient. Very impatient.  They ain't never scared. A bone crusher. Bone crusher came out.  Right, right, right, right, right. I'm not your boy, man. You're saying, man, it's been another great segment of Boss Talk 101.


Welcome to Healthy Planet, the show for people who care about their health and the health of our planet on the ThinkTech Live Streaming Network series. I'm your host, Dr. Grace O'Neill, joining me today is Elaine Cumick, vegan chef and author of Hawaii, a Vegan Paradise and Tasting Hawaii Vegan Style. Today we're going to talk about vegan food. So Lillian, tell us about some of your new projects. I have been quite the busy be grace. I'm actually doing a course now with the first vegan patisserie course with the Le Cordon Bleu London venue, which is very, very exciting. I actually read about it in one of my vegan magazines that I subscribe to, which by the way is a great idea if anyone is interested in going more plan based. Look out for some, you know, magazines that you might want to subscribe to because they, they do really pack a lot of information. So I found out about it through one of those magazines and I'm now in my eighth week of the 10 week course. And I'm learning all about traditional French pastries on some of the recipes are from the 18th century. They're just incredible. And it's like learning a whole new sort of world of cooking, something I'm not used to, something you definitely don't want to eat every day.  So that's, that's one thing I'm doing. And I'm also writing my third book. Okay, so tell us more about the course. I'm wondering what the course is it completely online. Is that how you're able to do all the cooking online is demonstrations. The course is is only available online, unfortunately, because I'm the type of person that would actually be willing to go there for this course. So I am pushing the chefs there and hinting that they should definitely open up one that isn't online. So this is an online course. They give you assignments every week, it's full on actually I kind of worry about some of the other students in the course that have full time jobs because I'm spending about five to seven hours every day five days a week. And to get these, to get these dishes pumped out. French pastries I've learned are very, very fiddly. Definitely not something that someone who doesn't like baking or cooking will enjoy. It's a lot of work. And I think it's more for people like myself who are kind of a bit advanced when it comes to cooking or perhaps the home cork is really, you know, into trying new things. So it is online, you get assignments, you get graded every week. How can they give you when they don't taste the stuff that that's the only thing they don't taste but you have to send in a lot of photos of the process as you're cooking each each dish. Wow. Yeah, and there's, they go through things like food handling sanitizing your kitchen cleaning your kitchen. It's, it's exactly what I would expect from record on blur, to be quite honest, they, they have absolutely smashed this course in that it is very, very professional, very thought out, and for an online course, well worth the money so if anyone out there who's interested in upping their game in the pastry world, definitely go and check it out. I believe record on blur London is the only one that does it has the course available in English. So the, what was their inspiration to do a vegan course. I don't know personally how, how it came about but my guess is that they're, they're, they're getting, getting, yeah, with the idea. Yeah, they're getting onto the idea that people want to, people want to learn more about plant based cooking, more people are going plant based. And this course also offers a lot of gluten free options as well as just ask you that that's funny that you brought it up. I actually, I'm, I, I don't have a problem consuming gluten but my second book tasting away vegan style is actually gluten free as well as plant based. So I did learn a lot about gluten gluten free cooking but this course is just it takes you into, you know, the, the, the really just the, the whole basics of gluten free cooking which is something that's hard to learn in a Syrian something like this, and manipulating different flowers and starches to make you know the perfect gluten free, you know, combination for whatever it is you're cooking so it is a very good learning experience and a nice segue into my writing as I as I move along with my next book so very exciting. I guess with the gluten free flowers, what kind of flowers do they use to kind of make things taste like they're not going to make I guess that's the right because yeah, some of the things don't really taste like, you know, you would like them to taste like I agree, absolutely. I've never been a fan personally of gluten free baking or gluten free baked foods. When it comes to anything else outside of that realm like vegetable dishes or stuff like that really, I can't tell the difference between the gluten free or the non gluten free. But when it comes to baking you are working with various different starches the starches can be anything from potato starch potato starch corn starch. We use a lot of nut flowers in French pastries. So I've learned learned that I very much dislike having to save almond flour or ground almonds, which is something that we use a lot as well in gluten free baking so basically nut flowers and obviously anything that doesn't contain wheat. And pretty much these days you can you can get a whole range of nut flowers online and stuff a little bit limited with what we can get here in Hawaii. You can also make a lot too. Yeah, Lillian so absolutely making nut flowers is as simple as using dried nuts and then grinding them either in a coffee grinder or a food processor if you have one that's strong enough and that that that will work as well. I'm actually making today a chocolate tart from the 18th century. Yes, and it uses chestnut flour. Now chestnut flour cannot be found anywhere on the island and it's it is quite expensive quite pricey so I did manage to just buy my own chestnuts and I've baked them and dried them out and it's quite a long it's a lengthy process to be honest so, you know, you know, delving into something like this is more for again the advanced cook but if you're into learning more about plant based cooking honestly just jump online to check out a few magazines that you might want to subscribe to because when things like that are getting delivered at your door to your door, you know, once every month or help whatever the subscription is on you're going to start learning a lot just by reading you know take your magazine down to the pool or the beach and and read and learn because plant based cooking is not difficult doesn't have to be difficult. Are there magazines that you would recommend to somebody who's starting out. There are so many I seriously I subscribed to so many. There's actually a UK based one that I really really love it's called vegan food and living. That's an excellent one that you can also get these subscriptions e subscriptions if you don't want the hard cover which can be quite quite expensive. That's a good one Bon Appetit is another one I like. There's there's stuff in Bon Appetit. Yes, I like Bon Appetit it's not a vegan one but they do, they do add a lot of vegan stuff. I, I like magazines that don't focus on smoothies too much because I'm kind of getting over, you know, smoothie after smoothie after smoothie. Yeah, they're very easy to make too so it's not like there's much involved, you know, so yes, so just yeah that's that would be my advice and pick up a few rescue books, Barnes and Noble here in Alamoana have an excellent rain. They have an excellent collection of vegan cookbooks. I go in there all the time and I collect cookbooks. I have, I have so many. I have so many and I'm not even sure for anything I just collect them and collect them I'm trying not to collect them but now I've been collecting them on my Kindle too. So, I got to stop but. I know one can get quite carried away I admit that there's nothing like having a collection of cookbooks and you know whenever you have guests and they're going through your bookshelf or your collection it's always fun to just pull out pull out cookbooks and if anything they're at the photos and drool. Yeah. And see how far plant based cooking has come. That's true. It's just show us some of the, I guess Michael if you could show us some of the pictures of the things that Lillian has made and if she could, if you just tell us, you know, there's some picture of some bread there I think on the right. Yep, the bread on the right is actually that's the gluten free bread I believe we're looking at some bread rolls I mean look at how beautiful and rustic looking they are. These are recipes from the Le Cordon Bleu cause, which again uses a lot of almond flour, not almond flour sorry ground ground almonds not almond flour. Yeah, my Instagram is, I was going to say if anyone is interested take a look at my Instagram page it's Lillian vegan under bar chef Hawaii. And you can see what I'm getting up to there's lots of lots of pictures of my dishes and some of the dishes that I have in my cookbooks the first one Hawaii a vegan paradise, which came out just over two years ago. Yeah, I can't believe two years. Yes, it's gone quite fast and then my second one came out just last December so time to to get the third one out as soon as as soon as I feel it's the right thing and the right timing. I want to, before we move on to your third book I want to ask you about something that I kind of have craving for, but I'm not necessarily good for you, but they're really good. And I don't know if they teach you how to make these and French cooking, but you know how they have those little eclairs and like cream puffs. I'm going to make those and then three class gluten free because I haven't had one in years. I'm just, I'm just waiting for the day I can have one again because now that I'm vegan and gluten free there's, you know, there's nowhere I can buy that so I, I have to tell you when I went through the recipes that we were going to be learning in the 10 week course. One of the things I was actually disappointed that I did not see. In the recipe section what was the chocolate eclair. I'm with you on that one I agree that I used to eat a lot of chocolate eclairs when I was growing up as well I grew up vegetarian. I never ate meat or fish but I did eat a lot of junk food. Anything that didn't have you know meat or fish in it I, I thought that was fabulous. The worst diet I've ever been on actually. Yeah, I think the vegetarian diet is one of the worst things you can do.  So the chocolate eclair I, I'm afraid I can't give you any hints on what we've done a lot of cream and a lot of chocolate. Yeah, a lot of ganache and stuff. I love that kind of stuff. Oh my gosh. Yeah. I do too but you know Grace, food doesn't always have to be good for you. I believe that we do have to treat ourselves sometimes and to me as someone who is trying to reach more people and, and let more people know about how good that base cooking can be. I need to be aware, and I am aware of the fact that not everybody wants to eat a smoothie and a salad, because you're not going to bring them over to the green side. If you know if they think it sucks if the food doesn't taste good. That's one thing I do try to do. Definitely in my books is is showcase everyday food that that people normally eat that is the vegan version. In both books, the Hawaiian themed books that I did write, both of them are exactly that. There's, there's one smoothie in the first book, and nothing else and no smoothie recipes in the second book. They're all like, there's amazing burgers in the book. There's breads, pastries, cakes, chocolate cakes, desserts to die for. And it's everyday food and I think that's why my books have been selling well. Because people who are not plant based want to eat normal food and not feel like they're missing out on anything. The first thing that people say when they talk about how they could never go vegan is, but I could never give up cheese. I could never give up meat, but really nowadays we have so many substitutes. It's not that difficult to do. It's all up here in the mind. Once you can change the mindset and look at a vegan burger the way that you did a regular burger, I think that's where you're going to make the shift very quickly. So tell us about your new book then that you're working on right now. You have a title yet? No, and I wouldn't call it a new book because it's not anywhere near there. I don't want to give too much away because people are kind of wondering what's going to come next given that both books were Hawaii themed. The only reason I wrote the second book in that manner with the Hawaiian theme was because when I was writing my first book about Hawaiian food, I realized I had so many more recipes to go. Both of them have over 120 recipes in each book. And I could probably still write a third book on Hawaiian food if I wanted to, but my roots in cooking are not in the Hawaiian cuisine. I'm actually a trained Japanese chef, so in my next book I guess you could probably expect a lot of umami flavors. Oh nice, I love that kind of stuff. Something very different and it definitely will be food that will bring out the curious cook in you. So I love making food that people just want to take photos of or can't believe is vegan stuff like that. Fun stuff but food that makes a lot of sense at the same time. So when you said you said you were trained in Japan so did you go to a vegan cooking school in Japan or what kind of, I mean what did you do back then because sure maybe it was not as friendly to vegans I don't really know what Japan is like I do know they have a lot of vegan restaurants available now but I don't know what it was like when you became vegan. That's a great question that I do get asked a lot. So when I decided that I was going to go into the culinary world somehow I was very young. I lived in Japan for 30 years. I moved there when I was 18 years old. And in my early 20s I realized that I did want to just go into the vegan, the cooking world, but I did not want to have to go to Japan or any meat or fish. So this was a challenge and no cooking school in Japan or outside of Japan for that matter at the time would accept me as a student because I refuse to touch anything that was not flat based. So that was a challenge and then I knew that I wanted to open a restaurant I had already planned in my vision that at 30 years old I was going to, I was going to open my own restaurant and I did. April 1 of that year I turned 30. And so for the 10 years or eight years leading up to that I just did as much studying on my own as I could. I traveled lots and lots of dinner parties and every time I did people would say you should open a restaurant. That was actually what I was going to do the whole time. I did get some private lessons with chefs there, Japanese chefs who are friends of mine who do run or did run restaurants there. That's how I did it. That's how I learned. And in Japan outside of Japan as well if you work in a commercial kitchen as a head chef for three years or more. That is how you get the title chef. So, when I was thinking how am I going to become a chef without actually going to school because there was no way in the world I would be, you know, digging my life into a dead animal. Absolutely not. So I thought okay that works for me. I'll open my restaurant, hire people to work for me. I'll work in the kitchen. I was confident and three years into that I had my restaurant, my dining bar for 10 years. It was a vegetarian dining bar. I still hadn't turned vegan then but apart from cheese, I really didn't use anything else. It was mainly plant-based. So that's how I became a chef. I did that for 10 years and then after that I opened a school, a cooking school. I've been a cooking instructor for a very long time, about 20 years. And that's how it all began. And then I moved to Hawaii three and a half years ago and as they say, here we are. So, tell us about those dinner parties you've been having and how Sam Choi ended up going to your dinner party. I have actually been so humbled and so blessed to meet some of the best chefs here in Hawaii, two of which you just named Alan Wong and Sam Choi. They were introduced to me through friends and they've been to, I've cooked seven course vegan dinners for them quite a few times. I was also on Sam Choi's show cooking in the kitchen with Sam Choi. A few months ago, if you want to see that, just google Lillian Cumick, Sam Choi's in the kitchen and you'll see that show. So that was a lot of fun. I am actually fortunate to be meeting a lot of very influential people here in the culinary world and we're all bouncing ideas off of each other. But one thing that I do hear a lot when it comes to vegan food and the stuff that they're trying with me is they didn't know vegan food could be so good. So I think it's, you know, the more we spread the vegan love in restaurants and, you know, really try to get more vegan options in restaurants in non vegan restaurants in Hawaii. I think that's going to open up a lot of a lot of opportunities for people who dine out a lot to eat a little bit healthier. So something I'm very keen on getting involved in for sure, getting more vegan options onto restaurant menus. And how about the vegan show that you are going to develop any new updates on that? No. When that happens, it will be, yeah, it will be, I'll let you know, you'll be first. If viewers want to kind of learn about your cooking or get more information on recipes you make and see it live. Can you tell them about your YouTube channel and other ways they might be able to, I think you have a website as well for Axelian? Yes, sure. You can definitely reach me. I'm, I kind of go by the pseudo name Lillian Vegan. So if you Google Lillian Vegan, lots of things will come up. My webpage is also under that name. My webpage has links to all of my social media and my YouTube channel, which I must say I haven't been posting many recipe videos on recently as I have been quite busy doing other things. My YouTube channel does have about 200, around 200 recipe videos. I'm more active on my Facebook page and Instagram. Instagram again, it's Lillian Vegan underscore chef Hawaii. And my Facebook page also is Lillian Vegan. So Google Lillian Vegan and you should be able to find me. You can definitely reach out. I do a lot of things here. I do them a private, mostly privately booked events. So anytime I do like things like book signings at the Kakako farmers market, I'll post that and people can bring their books in if they want them signed or want to come and say aloha and have a little chat. I'm actually going to be at the Kakako farmers market this Saturday. I can't remember the date on the break this Saturday from 8am to 12pm. So I'm doing about once every two months. So definitely pop over and say hello, if you like. That sounds great. And I guess I'm really excited to taste some of your things I'm wondering if you're ever going to do a gluten free seven course dinner. Yeah, I first I have to convince the masses, because people who are not gluten free get a bit scared of the word gluten free just because they've had bad experiences with, with things tasting good. That's the only that's the only downfall about gluten free food. Again, going back to what we spoke about when it comes to gluten free baked goods like breads pastries rolls and stuff like that. That's where I think it's definitely an acquired taste. But when you think about vegan food in general, like, you know, the average stir fry, the salad, the tofu dish, the curries, things like that pretty much by default are normally gluten free. Yeah, yeah. So, yes, I will definitely keep that in mind for your grace once I can convince a few more people to come to it. Or maybe if you could just make cream puffs I'll buy them off you. Yeah, I know now you've got now you've got my interest hate for sure. Okay, so we're out of time. So we have to wrap it up, but I'm Dr. Grace O'Neill this is healthy planet on the think tech live streaming network series we've been talking with willing to make vegan chef and author. Thanks to Michael our broadcast engineer and the rest of our crew at think tech for hosting our show. And thanks to you our listeners for listening. I'll see you on August 5 for more healthy planet on think tech the show for people who care about their health and the health of our planet. Thank you so much for watching think tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please like us and click the subscribe button on YouTube and the follow button on Vimeo. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn and donate to us at think tech Hawaii.com. Mahalo.


Southwest flight staff tells mom to leave plane, then she gets a strange phone call. The plane slowly started to taxi along the Chicago Midway International Airport's runway. Peggy Uho turned off her phone in accordance with the rules and sat back, preparing herself for takeoff. That's when something unexpected happened. Instead of making it to the runway and taking off, the plane changed direction and started to return to the boarding gate instead. Someone was understandably confused then the flight attendant approached her and told her she'd need to get off the plane immediately. Anyone who has flown has either experienced or seen someone experience great concern before and during takeoff. Nervous flyers will white-knuckle the arm rests of their seats during this unsettling moment. However, for most people flying is a fairly pleasant and enjoyable experience. Peggy expected nothing less when she boarded her flight that day. However, as it turned out, she would not experience what she expected to. Peggy wasn't unaccustomed to flying and knew the drill already. As the plane began to move she obediently turned off her phone and made sure her seat belt was properly secured. She also checked that her seat was properly upright. She did a last check to make sure she didn't have any belongings that were obstructing the aisle. Naturally, she did the same thing every other passenger did. She sat back and relaxed, waiting for takeoff. U-Haul was traveling from Chicago, Illinois to Cleveland, Ohio. She chose to fly with the intention of saving a little bit of time as the flight cut down the travel time compared to taking a car. Since Chicago and Cleveland are about 350 miles apart, the trip by car will take close to six hours. Opting for the plane meant that she would be there in about an hour instead. However, the plane started to turn back before it even made it to the runway. Everything seemed to be going according to plan until the plane suddenly changed course. Needless to say, all the passengers were rather confused by the sudden change. Everyone started to look around, wondering what was happening. U-Haul recalls seeing the flight attendant approaching her. The attendant walked straight up to U-Haul and told her that she needed to I figured I was on the wrong plane, U-Haul told boardingarea.com during a 2015 interview. Midway International Airport officially opened in 1927 and was the primary airport in the region until the O'Hare International Airport opened 28 years later. However, Midway International Airport will always be remembered by U-Haul for a wholly different and unexpected reason. U-Haul had no idea that on that day in May 2015 that she would not be reaching her destination at all. When the flight attendant first approached her U-Haul had no idea what was happening. Why was she coming towards her? She had no idea why she wasn't being allowed to fly. She started to think that perhaps she had somehow boarded the wrong plane. However, it would soon become apparent that there was a much larger problem at hand. However, what happened to U-Haul was not an isolated incident. Many other people have been removed from flights out of Chicago. Another such incident occurred in April of 2017 to David Dao Du Weon. David Dao Du Weon is a Vietnamese-American doctor, who was removed from a United Airlines flight by force. It all happened because four members of the airline staff needed to get to Louisville, but no one was willing to give up their seat. Because no one offered up their seats, the airline randomly chose four customers to remove from the plane. Three of the selected passengers accepted without any issue. Dao however did not want to get off the plane. The airline CEO, Oscar Munoz, sent an email to the New York saying that Dao was disruptive and belligerent. The other witnesses on the plane had a different version of the story however. Dao, a pulmonologist, urgently needed to get to Louisville by the next morning because he had to work. This meant that there was no way that getting off the plane was possible. The other passengers and video footage showed that Dao had been polite, and matter of fact. Witnesses on that plane in Chicago O'Hare International Airport claimed that airline staff was less than friendly. Then, when security officers arrived to escort Dao from the aircraft, they became aggressive. Cell phone video recorded by passengers shows staff knocking his face against an armrest as he's yanked out of his seat, only to be pulled by his arms off the plane. Later, Dao agreed on a settlement with the airline for his mistreatment. In other cases, meanwhile, passengers have been removed from flights for unacceptable behavior. For instance, in a separate episode on a Southwest Airlines flight from Chicago to Houston in October 2018, one female passenger became difficult after a flight attendant asked her to fold up her table for liftoff. Witnesses then described the unidentified woman getting cranky at the airline staff member's request to fold her table. And when she refused to comply with the flight attendant's instructions, she became verbally abusive. As a result of the female passenger's tirade, the pilot then taxied the aircraft back to the departure gate before takeoff. However, as the woman was escorted from the plane, video footage shows her launching into a racially abusive tirade against airline staff. Nevertheless, passengers didn't seem to mind being delayed by an hour, and they cheered as she was ejected from the flight. A statement released by Southwest Airlines and published by The Daily Mail in October 2018 claimed that the passenger had ignored airline staff when instructed to follow safety procedures. It said, the customer became unruly and verbally abusive toward our flight attendants, and the decision was made to return to the gate to deplane the customer, where she was met by local law enforcement officers. However, another passenger was removed from a Southwest Airlines aircraft for far less than that. A flight was due to depart from Sacramento, California heading for Austin, Texas via Los Angeles in May 2019. But, according to KTXL, problems arose when refueling and maintenance issues delayed its scheduled flight by several hours. Concerned with keeping their customers hydrated, airline staff started to hand out water to those waiting patiently on board the flight. Perhaps in an effort to make light of the situation, a passenger reportedly suggested that the staff serve vodka instead of water. But the flight attendant didn't find his quip funny. Peter Azelik, who witnessed the incident, told KTXL in May 2019, he said something, like, they should be passing out vodka because we've been waiting so long. The flight attendant came by and was like, I don't think that and I didn't like your joke. The situation then escalated when Azelik's wife intervened. As Azelik described, then my wife tried to but in there and say, look, we've been on this plane for hours. And the attendant says, well, so have I, so get used to it. Then all of a sudden I see her on the telephone up in front. The plane then returned to the gate and the man was removed by Sacramento County Sheriff officers. Although Southwest Airlines didn't apologize for the incident, they did issue a statement. As reported by MSN, it said, we regret any less than positive experience a customer has on board our aircraft. We welcome over 100 million customers each year, and we aim to maintain the comfort of all while delivering Southwest hospitality. Just a few weeks before Peggy Uhoels' experience with Southwest Airlines, meanwhile, another passenger claimed they'd had a particularly unpleasant experience. The customer alleged that the company had prevented her from contacting her husband after she'd received a disturbing message from him.  She replied back to him before the flight from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Milwaukee departed. Then the distraught wife made a further request to airline staff to make an emergency phone call. However, the crew instructed Momsenevers to set her phone to flight mode. According to the Daily Mail, once the plane had taken to the air, she asked another crew member for an opportunity to make an urgent call to her husband. And their response allegedly was that there wasn't anything they could do for her. Momsenevers then continued her journey home, but when she got there she was greeted by police officers who broke the news that her husband had committed suicide. Southwest Airlines insisted its routine for aircrew to inform pilots of emergency situations in which passengers or the aircraft are at risk. However, that didn't happen this time. So what happened with Peggy Eughel in 2015 that pilots felt it necessary to turn the plane back to the departure gate? Had she become unruly, like the woman on the flight from Chicago to Houston? Or had she offended airline staff like the man on a delayed flight from Sacramento to Houston? Well, as it turns out, she did neither of these things. Eughel, as we explored earlier, hadn't requested to make a call herself when she received bad news, unlike Momsenevers weeks earlier. Instead, there was an emergency that the Southwest Airlines passenger wasn't aware of at home. And as we discussed, the diligent passenger had prepared for the flight's departure by turning her phone off. So, as Eughel sat in her seat waiting to take off, a flight attendant came over with some instructions for her. But the staff member wasn't directing her to the departure gate. Rather, because Eughel's phone had been turned off, she was unaware that her husband had been desperately trying to contact her. Unable to reach Eughel directly, then, her husband was forced to find another way to get in contact with her. A desperate situation had unfolded at home that he needed to make his wife aware of. As a result, he contacted Southwest Airlines directly in the hope that they could pass a message on. Realizing the urgency of the situation, airline staff alerted the pilot of the circumstances. The captain then made provisions for Eughel to return to the departure gate. Already taxiing toward the runway, he turned the plane around and headed back to its starting point. And when it got there, gate staff instructed Eughel to call home. When Eughel contacted her husband, he told her some devastating news. Their son had suffered a head injury and was in a coma in Denver. It's distressing news for any parent, but Eughel was thousands of miles away in Chicago and heading for Columbus. So how would she get to her boy? With Eughel frantic about her son's life-threatening condition, the stricken mom had the added stress of figuring out how to get back to Denver and how she would pay for it all. Southwestern Airlines, however, were aware of the situation and they were one step ahead of her. The gate attendant already knew the situation and had booked me on a direct flight to Denver that was leaving in the next two hours, Eughel told boardingarea.com. But Southwestern Airlines' efforts and hospitality didn't end there. It seems that staff had thought of everything so that the distraught mom didn't have to. Eughel continued, Southwest Airlines offered a private waiting area, rerouted my luggage, allowed me to board first, and even packed a lunch for when I got off the plane in Denver. The shattered mom, then, didn't have to do anything because airline staff had kindly taken care of all her needs. Furthermore, Southwest Airlines staff didn't merely send Eughel on her way and forget about her. As she explained to the Daily Mail, my luggage was delivered to where I was staying and I even received a call from Southwest asking how my son was doing. So how much did the extra service cost Eughel? No doubt the best part of Eughel's predicament was that she got to be with her son with little delay. However, that it came at no further cost to the heartbroken mom must have been an added relief. Southwest Airlines provided Eughel's unexpected travel requirements completely free of charge. So it seems that Southwest Airlines' care commitment extends beyond its employees. It reads, we don't take our commitments lightly. We are dedicated to doing the right thing. We take great strides to ensure passengers, safety, and fostering trusting relationships between our employees, our customer, s, our suppliers, and our planet. Furthermore, in a statement made to Mail Online Travel in May 2015, a spokesperson addressed the Eughel incident. They said, this example is a direct reflection of the Southwest Airlines culture. Employees are empowered at Southwest to go above and beyond the call of duty. The Southwest Airlines statement continued, saying that staff have the freedom to follow their hearts to make decisions that positively impact our customers. We're certainly proud of, but not surprised by, any of the hard work that went into doing the right thing for Ms. Eughel and her family. The staff's hospitality, then, is something their employers expect. Nevertheless, the airline's attentiveness was a move hugely appreciated by Eughel. As she described to boardingarea.com, the care that I was shown is second to none. We have always liked Southwest Airlines, and now I can't say enough good things about them. But what of Eughel's son? Well, it turns out that despite suffering a head trauma, he was soon on the mend, according to Metaspoon.