Ep 177: You Have to Have a Mind That Sees The Whole Picture, Not Just One ft Vlad Margarit

Raphael Harry [00:00:00]:
Hi, everyone. Rafael Harry here, and you're listening to white label American, a podcast where we hear stories from an immigrant or 2, sometimes more. Thank you for listening, and enjoy the show. Welcome to another episode of white label American. Thank you all for joining us today. I'm your host as always, Rafael Harry. To everyone who's new, thank you for being here with us. Thank you for listening.

Raphael Harry [00:00:39]:
Welcome new listeners. If you don't know how to support the show, join us on Patreon. Give us 5 stars. Buy our merch. It's very important. We're an independent podcast, so we need all the support we can get. With that being said, you know, for as low as $3, but we take gold, we take, Bitcoins as good value right now, so we accept Bitcoins. Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:01:03]:
Give us everything. And we we we accept jewelry too, like real gold, silver. Well, we'll take silver. Don't bring bronze, but bring gold. Yes. We accept that. So with that being said, now you know why I said gold and jewelries and all that good stuff. I mean, if you We have the distinguished guest with us today, Vlad Margaret.

Raphael Harry [00:01:27]:
Beautiful name. We've not had anybody with that name for a long time. He's a dynamic professional thriving in the jewelry industry. Together with his wife, they've built a jewelry brand from the ground up. So today, we'll be talking about how he got into all that, how he works with his wife, and how he deals with his creative passions. Because he's not just limited to just jewelry. He does videography, photography, content creation, post production editing, and graphic design as well to elevate their brand. So welcome to the show.

Raphael Harry [00:02:02]:
Thank you very much. I appreciate

Vlad Margarit [00:02:04]:
it. Everything is good.

Raphael Harry [00:02:05]:
Yes. Glad to hear that. So let's go to the very beginning and shout out special shout out to our boy, Zu

Vlad Margarit [00:02:13]:
Oh, yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:02:13]:
Tielo for bringing Vlad into my, circle and my attention because Zu was the one who, introduced Vlad to me. And if you can't remember who Zu was, go check our previous episodes. Zhu has been on the podcast before. Remember, he was born in Mali, and his partner has also been on the show. She was on Mother's Day episode last year, and, well, she has to come to our solo episode too. That reminds me. So I'll get her. Yulia.

Raphael Harry [00:02:42]:
So yeah. So back to Vlad. So can you introduce us to the meaning of your name and if there's a story behind how you came to have your names?

Vlad Margarit [00:02:52]:
Yeah. So, my family name, Margaret, I I have it from my dad.

Raphael Harry [00:02:57]:
Mhmm.

Vlad Margarit [00:02:58]:
And from what I've learned, it means pearl or something like that.

Raphael Harry [00:03:02]:
Pearl? Pearl. You know?

Vlad Margarit [00:03:04]:
Yeah. It's significance, like wisdom and some other stuff Yeah. Which I was surprised to to find out that that's what it means. Also, the short part of margarita. You know? Ah. A lot of people are, oh, like, the drink Yeah. Which is funny.

Raphael Harry [00:03:18]:
We do. Yeah. Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:03:19]:
And then my second my my name as Vlad it's pretty tough too. It's the impeller, you know, Vlad Dracula. And I have few friends over here who actually were calling me just the impeller, It was funny. And yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:03:37]:
It just happened, you know, to

Vlad Margarit [00:03:42]:
The story with Dracula actually is way more alive here in in the states than in Romania. You know?

Raphael Harry [00:03:49]:
Yeah. We're talking about that before.

Vlad Margarit [00:03:51]:
I like it more here. Over there was not that discussed, but here it's it's more enjoyable.

Raphael Harry [00:03:55]:
Oh, man. So your name, Vlad, is it just Vlad, or is it short for a longer version?

Vlad Margarit [00:04:05]:
No. It's just Vlad. Okay.

Raphael Harry [00:04:06]:
Yeah. Alright. I think you're the first person who I've met that's just Vlad. I think most people who I've met with Vlad is usually a longer version. I mean

Vlad Margarit [00:04:17]:
From where I'm from, it's pretty it's not that popular, but it is, like, a known name. Okay. Vlad.

Raphael Harry [00:04:22]:
So with that being said, can you, tell us a little bit about where you were born and, yeah, introduce us to your, yeah, your neck of the woods of the area where you come from.

Vlad Margarit [00:04:36]:
Yes. So I'm not that good to I mean, I'm not a fan to identify myself with places

Raphael Harry [00:04:45]:
Yeah. Or,

Vlad Margarit [00:04:48]:
let's say concepts when it comes to nationalities and stuff?

Raphael Harry [00:04:52]:
No. No. No. No. We're No.

Vlad Margarit [00:04:53]:
But I'm saying so I was born in, Bucharest, which is the capital of a country, Romania. Yeah. And, it's a beautiful country. Beautiful. It's pretty small. But, close to Germany, it's it's in a great place over there. And, actually, I think Romania right now, it's one of the best places to live, like safety. The food is still good.

Vlad Margarit [00:05:21]:
Everything is pretty okay. It's not like madness. Even though we have a war right next door, but it's still a good, place to be. So, yeah, I lived over there until I was 30 years old. No. Actually, I was 29 when I left. And then I I went to Bermuda for a little bit, and then I came here to the states.

Raphael Harry [00:05:45]:
Okay. But

Vlad Margarit [00:05:46]:
But Yeah. Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:05:47]:
Yeah. Bermuda. Okay. That's good. We'll we'll we'll come to Bermuda because that's the we have to visit Bermuda Triangle Good to go. Staying with your childhood

Vlad Margarit [00:05:59]:
Yes.

Raphael Harry [00:06:00]:
What was your childhood like in Bucharest? Because, yeah, that's one part of the world that always fascinates me. And I think, you know, thanks to, all the vampire stories that have been out there, I think everybody just has a misconception about that place as if only vampires and, werewolves and all the rest hang out there. But, yeah, you you you grew up there. So what's your childhood like over there?

Vlad Margarit [00:06:28]:
So the childhood in school, you know, you have your boys, your that you're always hanging out, and the neighbors are actually my my, colleagues in school.

Raphael Harry [00:06:41]:
Mhmm.

Vlad Margarit [00:06:42]:
We had a great childhood. No phones. No nothing. We were just screaming at each other. Hey. Come on. Let's go. We were deciding what time to meet and stuff like that.

Raphael Harry [00:06:50]:
Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:06:51]:
So I have a lot of great memories with my friends. It was pretty tough when it comes to, I don't know, in a sense to do there were not too many things to do. So it was always in communities like here.

Raphael Harry [00:07:10]:
So you are in your city you are in your city proper?

Vlad Margarit [00:07:13]:
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Act close to, like, 20 minutes from the city.

Raphael Harry [00:07:17]:
Okay.

Vlad Margarit [00:07:20]:
What else? Yeah. It was just

Raphael Harry [00:07:24]:
So what did you guys do for fun? Like

Vlad Margarit [00:07:26]:
Like, playing soccer Yeah. Playing basketball, going, taking we used to have, like, a huge park, kind of like Central Park, but also with lakes, and we were going there, like, swimming and, a lot of good stuff. You know? We were traveling with the subway since we were kids, so it was pretty easy.

Raphael Harry [00:07:47]:
Okay.

Vlad Margarit [00:07:49]:
Yeah. A lot of events, of course. You know, young boys getting into trouble, having 2 brothers. 1, it's older, 1, it's younger. And he was

Raphael Harry [00:07:58]:
So you're the middle?

Vlad Margarit [00:07:59]:
Yeah. Under middle. And I just found out Zu also. He's the middle

Raphael Harry [00:08:04]:
brother. Yeah. That's that's why you took it along. Probably. Right? So in all that, what would you consider your favorite childhood memory to be at this moment? Mhmm.

Vlad Margarit [00:08:19]:
I think my favorite one was when, my dad used to take us on the country road. Mhmm. So we were going outside the city on a, like, a country road, and we were building, like, a lap, and he was putting us to drive. You know? I was, like, 14, 13, something like that. And, just driving the car, it was so amazing for us. And it was, lap timing us, me and my brother, and sometimes some other friends. But that was the best time as enjoying just I always liked machines and stuff, cars, or whatever it was, motorcycles. But that was one of the best times in my childhood.

Vlad Margarit [00:08:59]:
Just driving on the country road with a car was amazing.

Raphael Harry [00:09:04]:
What what kind of car were you driving?

Vlad Margarit [00:09:06]:
It was an, German car, Opel.

Raphael Harry [00:09:08]:
Ah, okay. Like a big one. Uh-huh.

Vlad Margarit [00:09:11]:
Like, 2.3 diesel. Just rear wheel drive. I was like, I loved it. A little bit of drift, a little bit of this and that. Yeah. My dad taught us a lot of things.

Raphael Harry [00:09:21]:
Wait. Were you thinking about becoming a Formula 1 driver?

Vlad Margarit [00:09:24]:
That was my dream for since ever since I was a kid, and my dad was actually such a big fan. I was Shumi from Shuma

Raphael Harry [00:09:32]:
Michael Shumaka. Shumaka. Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:09:34]:
And my younger brother was, Mika from Michael, from Mika Hakkinen.

Raphael Harry [00:09:38]:
Yeah. Hakkinen.

Vlad Margarit [00:09:39]:
Because they were the best at that time. Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:09:41]:
I remember the arrival.

Vlad Margarit [00:09:42]:
Yeah. And I remember he was waking up waking us even early at 5 o'clock, depends what the race was.

Raphael Harry [00:09:48]:
You know? Yes. There are some early races.

Vlad Margarit [00:09:49]:
You're such

Raphael Harry [00:09:50]:
a good driver. Back

Vlad Margarit [00:09:51]:
Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:09:52]:
Yeah. And I enjoyed the the time then, the time difference Mhmm. Be some races

Vlad Margarit [00:09:56]:
And I'm still watching Formula 1.

Raphael Harry [00:09:58]:
Yeah. I I follow it now. You know? I

Vlad Margarit [00:10:01]:
It's more complicated now and too many things are happening. Mhmm. But, you know, it's it's still the best racing from from what yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:10:10]:
Yeah. I've I've I I had to I missed the opportunity to see it live when I arrived in Bahrain. Oh. I was going to the the that was the first time it was coming to Bahrain. The the Formula 1 would have happened there, and then Arab Spring happened, so it got moved. And by the time it came back the next year, there was something going on with work, so I couldn't go. But the crowd that came into the country, you know, the hotels, the people, I was like, alright.

Vlad Margarit [00:10:45]:
It's really huge. Choose for?

Raphael Harry [00:10:46]:
Yeah. So, yeah, but I was like, I think after then, I I just stopped watching after. I was mad about not going to see the race in person because the the if it had, taken place during I think it was literally, like, almost, up to a week or 2

Vlad Margarit [00:11:08]:
Mhmm.

Raphael Harry [00:11:08]:
Until the date, there were still plans about it was gonna happen. And then they finally said, nah. They're moving it. And they finally moved it to, I think, Qatar.

Vlad Margarit [00:11:19]:
Yeah. Probably. And then

Raphael Harry [00:11:20]:
but the next day, they brought it back to Bahrain. But, yeah, I went on these tracks. I see our photos. We drove on the tracks. They allowed us to drive and put on on the the the racing suit.

Vlad Margarit [00:11:33]:
Oh, look at that.

Raphael Harry [00:11:34]:
Look at me. It's so cool. Yeah. Well, it was just go karts, though. Not not real cars that, like Yeah. You're driving that fast.

Vlad Margarit [00:11:41]:
Yeah. It is. No. I can't.

Raphael Harry [00:11:44]:
But yeah. Formula 1 was, that's yeah. I I grew up with Michael Schumacher. I was also a Schumacher guy.

Vlad Margarit [00:11:50]:
Right.

Raphael Harry [00:11:50]:
Yeah. I

Vlad Margarit [00:11:51]:
mean, he was especially on the rain. When he was raining, we knew he's gonna win. Yeah. I I didn't Lewis Hamilton now when

Raphael Harry [00:11:56]:
Yeah. I didn't I didn't think when Schumacher was raining, I didn't think anyone could beat his, records on common takeover. So that's why I had huge, admiration for Hamilton. And then, you know, and it's also black. So, you know, it's also cool to see that.

Vlad Margarit [00:12:16]:
It's an amazing

Raphael Harry [00:12:17]:
And then now he's going to Ferrari. So it's a double win because I was I became a Ferrari guy because of, Schumacher. So was always tough to, like, spot Hamilton because he wasn't team Ferrari, and then now he's got a team Ferrari so that I can go all in with Hamilton.

Vlad Margarit [00:12:34]:
I did. Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:12:35]:
I can't be acting

Vlad Margarit [00:12:37]:
like I'm betraying,

Raphael Harry [00:12:38]:
my my Formula 1 team. You know? So so while you were, in back in, Bucharest

Vlad Margarit [00:12:52]:
Yes.

Raphael Harry [00:12:53]:
Staying back in Bucharest, as a young person, what were other when did you you know, you start developing interest. You start, you know, finding yourself.

Vlad Margarit [00:13:08]:
Mhmm.

Raphael Harry [00:13:09]:
What were some ways you did you what in what ways did you express yourself? So, yeah, let's go with careers, like, as in jobs that you you know. Jobs? Yeah. Because that's a form of expressing yourself.

Vlad Margarit [00:13:26]:
Yeah. So I was not a big fan of school

Raphael Harry [00:13:30]:
Mhmm.

Vlad Margarit [00:13:30]:
Because we just got off we just finished in the nineties with a revolution and stuff like that. I was born in 86. So I caught the revolution over there when I was 4, 4a half. And I remember tanks and stuff on the street. It was terrible, horrible. But after that, when I went to school, like after a couple of years, everybody was still wearing the same outfits, same stuff. So I was never big fan of school. You know? I didn't like was not a, I didn't find it interesting the way the education educational system, how you have with notes.

Vlad Margarit [00:14:12]:
From there was, like, the 4 was the smallest one, or you can take, like, 2, for example, up to, 10 is, like, a plus will be here. You know? Okay. So I didn't like this comparison of way of thinking because it was a lot of, you know, separation, division between us as kids. It was it was feeling very well. I've I had that feeling since I was a kid, you know, since I start school, actually. So I was always leaving from school. I had my, ed educator at that time. Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:14:47]:
Was a lady. She was not very nice to us. She was kinda slapping us, especially me. I was pretty dark Mhmm. Like brown, especially in summer. Anyway, she didn't like me that much. I didn't like the system and her way of teaching. It didn't kinda make sense to me.

Vlad Margarit [00:15:08]:
So because I don't like it, I was kinda skipping school. My dad didn't knew. Of course, they don't know because you're so young. They they walk you to school and then they pick you up.

Raphael Harry [00:15:18]:
Yes.

Vlad Margarit [00:15:19]:
So every time I was smart enough to let him bring me to the school or actually my older brother and bring me to the school. And sometimes I was getting out of the school before he got out of the school and running. And I was just staying on streets, man. I was just going, taking the bus, taking the the subway. I was just going through the as a young boy, you know, and I was still safe. He was still safe that time. So, yeah, I didn't stay too long in school. And because the first until the 3rd, grade, I didn't I I had so many how you call it, when you I skipped so so many times school.

Raphael Harry [00:16:00]:
Yeah. So many classes.

Vlad Margarit [00:16:01]:
That year, so many classes that I had to repeat that one. So that was perfect because my brother was 1 year behind me, and he, like, caught up with him. And now he was on a a class where he was, learning English and stuff. I was on the c class. So somehow he moved with me because he was like, come on. I was like, come on. Let's be together in the same in the same class. And since we moved together, everything changed.

Vlad Margarit [00:16:28]:
So we had an amazing time at school. And again, I didn't went to high school because I was like, I didn't I don't like this type of school, and high school was much better. But I start, I had a break. I remember the summer break, and I told my mom, I wanna make some money and stuff like that. And she was working for one of our cousins who had a a restaurant. And, she was like, okay. Let me let me see if if you have something or whatever. And she found me as a bar bar back in that restaurant, you know, and, on my cousin restaurant.

Vlad Margarit [00:17:09]:
So that's what happened. I started around 14. I was when I had that break between before trying to get into, high school Yeah. I was like, let me make some money. And from just let me make some money, I just stayed in at the job, at a job, you know, having working.

Raphael Harry [00:17:26]:
So what what did the bar back do?

Vlad Margarit [00:17:29]:
So bar back, I was bringing bottles in the front. I was like bar back, you know? Yeah. Stuff like that. I was not making too many cocktails or but I learned. Eventually, I learned. I learned. And Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:17:41]:
Because you're in environment when

Vlad Margarit [00:17:42]:
you watch. It was nice to work in that restaurant. A very, very good very good restaurant. Very popular in Bucharest, like the old Bucharest. Everything was

Raphael Harry [00:17:54]:
So was it

Vlad Margarit [00:17:54]:
was like a museum. Cuisine. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Next to the, house of popper where it's very political area. You know? Very nice.

Vlad Margarit [00:18:06]:
Very nice. So So before before That was my first job.

Raphael Harry [00:18:11]:
Okay.

Vlad Margarit [00:18:12]:
Cool. And I started working as a bar back. And I after 6 months, I remember my mom was pushing me. No. You have to get ready. Go back to school. Do this, do that. And I was like, I like it staying with older people.

Vlad Margarit [00:18:24]:
I like their problems. They were having, like not I like their problems, but I like their discussions. You know? It was more interesting and more, make more sense for me. You know?

Raphael Harry [00:18:36]:
So you like letting from that

Vlad Margarit [00:18:38]:
as well. So I like working. I like making money. I like having those new entourage, you know, like, new people, older, new, more stuff about, than me. And, I didn't went to school. Then I I remember I got the one of the servers from there, like, an older guy. At that time, he was probably 45 because he was old school restaurant. So I was like, can for me to become a pickle.

Vlad Margarit [00:19:02]:
And I was like, man, you have to teach me exactly word by word, you know, everything, how to do it. He was like, of course, you're gonna catch it right away. So he taught me how to become a pickle and help and do all those things, you know, like a assistant server.

Raphael Harry [00:19:15]:
Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:19:16]:
And, I learned. I liked it. I knew I was actually one of I think I was the only one who knew English into that restaurant. So we were having a lot of, tourists from here, from the states, a lot of big tables, yeah, with with a lot of people, and I was the only one speaking English. So, eventually, I became, like, a event organizer because we were having dancers. We were having, not mariachi, but still, like, people who sing on all kinds of, like, piano or Mhmm. Violin or other stuff, you know, depends on the show. Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:19:51]:
We were having show after show after show. And with dancers also after they had this beautiful ballroom dance as a pair, you know, then they were going and inviting guests from the restaurant. It was such a nice vibe, beautiful show.

Raphael Harry [00:20:06]:
And how old is before you became 18?

Vlad Margarit [00:20:09]:
This was yeah. When I was 16. Yeah. 14 to 16. And, I had a great time. I was making a lot of money, and then she was my cousin. She was keep the owner, she was keep calling me back, like, come on. Come on.

Vlad Margarit [00:20:22]:
And I was working every day, man, from 5 to midnight. And young, I had all those money. I didn't have the time to

Raphael Harry [00:20:29]:
To spend it.

Vlad Margarit [00:20:29]:
Spend it, and eventually, I left. And then, I work as an assistant for some famous lawyer over there for a while.

Raphael Harry [00:20:37]:
So, like, a paralegal?

Vlad Margarit [00:20:40]:
No. Honestly, I was more like Second time. I like an assistant and also a driver and a little bit of of a yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:20:49]:
Something like that. Well Yeah. That's a real estate.

Vlad Margarit [00:20:51]:
Having bodyguards. He was having a lot of a huge firm, like a huge villa with all those lawyers and stuff. Well, huge, law law firm. But, I was 17 when he got me. You know? So I was just fine to wear a suit, like a Givenchy suit. I was fancy. She helped me. You know? He got me those, stuff just to be part of the team and look presentable like everybody else.

Vlad Margarit [00:21:15]:
And, after that, I remember I just switched to real estate. In real estate, it was amazing. This was around 2,000 6. Right? No. Wait. I'm jumping too much now. So I stayed with him. Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:21:32]:
We work couple of years. Yeah. Let's say I I jumped up. I stayed I worked for, like, 4 years with him.

Raphael Harry [00:21:40]:
And why why did you leave him?

Vlad Margarit [00:21:43]:
Things changed, and I was looking now to do something else, you know, after and when you're young, you're kinda like, oh, this sounds good. This sounds good. So you kinda I was trying stuff. You know? I was experimenting different industries. I knew I don't wanna be a lawyer because I know how they work and what's happening. My younger brother finished the law school. And, restaurants, I really liked it, but I was making money in no time. Then I switched.

Vlad Margarit [00:22:09]:
I realized I don't wanna be a lawyer for sure. And then when I got to real estate, I had a great time. I was actually an associate because a friend of mine, she was having this Remax franchise from here. Oh. Franchise. Yeah. Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:22:25]:
I was about to say Remax. I I see

Vlad Margarit [00:22:27]:
that here. So over there, you also you're an associate. So I was paying to be in that park, in that team. And I had eventually, I had, like, 2 big projects, very nice places. 1 was 60 homes that I was about to sell with building them. You know, you have the constructor. You have everybody, and I was the one who was selling them through Remax. You know? Anyway, I had also another huge project with homes, with solar panels, with some good amazing technology, but it just happened that 2007.

Vlad Margarit [00:23:00]:
Right? Christ the crisis came. The financial crisis. And I was back to 0.

Raphael Harry [00:23:05]:
Wow. You

Vlad Margarit [00:23:06]:
know? So a lot of times you find out that society, it really ruins your life in a way. Big in society is us. Right? It's what we build, what we put out there. So I I realized early that I didn't do anything bad. I was having 2 amazing projects. And then somehow, somewhere, I don't know where, which was started from here in a way, the problem with the financial crisis, it ruined my life in Bucharest, you know. It's not just mine The

Raphael Harry [00:23:34]:
ripple effects.

Vlad Margarit [00:23:35]:
Millions of people. Right?

Raphael Harry [00:23:36]:
So 1,000,000,000 actually.

Vlad Margarit [00:23:37]:
Yeah. So since early, I start thinking about what's happening. Why nobody's I don't nobody's giving up, you know, or what's going on. So, since then, I start becoming more curious about what's what's society, what's our relationships, all those fundamental deep way of thinking. You know?

Raphael Harry [00:24:02]:
Okay. We'll we'll we'll come to that, though, because I I really admire the way you were able to you know? I I I I think, you know, one problem I suffered from was that, you know, something was working for me. I would just stay there and not leave. You know? But it wasn't it was part of my programming that, you know, if it's working, we don't don't,

Vlad Margarit [00:24:26]:
Mhmm.

Raphael Harry [00:24:27]:
If it's what what how do you say it again? Don't don't, don't break how do you say it? Don't break a a team, not not, a team that works. Don't don't break it. Don't fix what's not broken.

Vlad Margarit [00:24:43]:
Right? Yeah. Oh, I get what you say.

Raphael Harry [00:24:44]:
Don't fix what's not broken. Yeah. Yeah. Just If it's broken, don't fix it.

Vlad Margarit [00:24:49]:
Oh, okay. It's okay. Then fix that works out.

Raphael Harry [00:24:51]:
Yeah. So, yeah, a lot of us suffer from something like that, and it's amazing to see that you were introduced to a field. You walked in there at a young age, and you were successful. You're like, well, you know, I can go try something else. And you found a new passion and you followed it. And did nobody ever try to stop you when you were like, okay. I'm moving to something else. And people like, why are you leaving? This is working great for you.

Raphael Harry [00:25:18]:
Right? You're making money. Stay. Oh. How did you react anytime if if anybody tried to stop you from moving from one field to another field?

Vlad Margarit [00:25:27]:
A lot of people, especially the older ones, they were trying to push me to go back to school Mhmm. Which I agree. You know? It makes sense. Like, go just have your diploma, have all those stuff. But I was like, I'm gonna waste so much time and money. And it's not just about money in a way or time, which are pretty much the same those thing those days. But it's like I remember after I was finished work or I was doing those projects or something and go back home, I love hanging out with my neighbors, you know, my my entourage from back home, but still the discussions were superficial. You know? Just nothing complicated.

Vlad Margarit [00:26:06]:
Not about the big world out there. Nothing about something to, you know, open your mind that much. So for me, moving from 1 industry to industry, I kinda feel like, okay. It's just about learning the skills which any human being, if you're born and you're okay, your body is fine, you have all the fingers and stuff, you know, you and you're healthy, you can learn skills in any industry, and it will help you to make money. You know? It's not like it's not impossible. It's just your will if you wanna do it or if you discover what you like to do. Yeah. So for me, I I was kinda jumping from one to another, still looking for I mean, I wouldn't jump from, real estate because my life was like, okay.

Vlad Margarit [00:26:55]:
From this project, from those 60 homes, either I get the money, which is one home from there, or I'm gonna keep the home for myself. You know? So I was planning either to move there or to sell it or invest in something else. So the life was going into that direction. But like I said, when the crisis came and everybody got you know, I had to readjust. I was back home thinking about, okay, what's next now? Because the real estate is blocked. Nobody's selling. Nobody's Everything's blocked. Back to 0.

Vlad Margarit [00:27:24]:
Right?

Raphael Harry [00:27:24]:
Yeah. But And Well, why I asked that question is that, you know, that, it's that Who? Going back to, like, the very first job. You you you're

Vlad Margarit [00:27:36]:
14.

Raphael Harry [00:27:37]:
Yeah. You start working in the restaurant space. You know? I I get it from the adults. Like, you know but before I even go on that question, like, in Nigeria, most jobs require an average of, a high school certificate

Vlad Margarit [00:27:58]:
Mhmm.

Raphael Harry [00:27:59]:
Which is what it would be called

Vlad Margarit [00:28:00]:
Oh, I agree.

Raphael Harry [00:28:00]:
You know?

Vlad Margarit [00:28:01]:
What you're saying. Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:28:02]:
So I understand. Except if you're president Buhari, who did not have one, and I know for a fact. We all know because we saw what he did. So, yeah, you you there are ways around it. That's the point I'm trying to make. However, so if you don't have a high school certificate in many parts of the world

Vlad Margarit [00:28:26]:
How are you?

Raphael Harry [00:28:27]:
You know, it's Good. It's usually extra difficult Yeah. For you to survive. Like, even here in America, we we see how, they they it's still you know, it's really people, like, they really try to make sure you try and get a certificate at least.

Vlad Margarit [00:28:42]:
Mhmm.

Raphael Harry [00:28:43]:
You know? So, when I call I I can see people trying to say you should get at least that diploma Mhmm. Even if you're getting money. So I can understand that advice. But, when you're making that switch from the restaurant, which is why my my, you know, steps that you took, that you weren't afraid to venture out

Vlad Margarit [00:29:03]:
Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:29:03]:
And try something and then, you know, conquer it. You weren't you know, you still went for what you wanted to do, and you weren't shying away. But, you know, and the school because school is not necessarily the it's not the be all, end all. I I I think many people begin to realize that. But I'm not I'm not against getting I still say it gets diploma if you

Vlad Margarit [00:29:27]:
I mean, this if you can get type of system.

Raphael Harry [00:29:29]:
Yeah. Well, maybe all over the world, I'm I'm still recommend getting a diploma. Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:29:33]:
No. It's still good. You have to go in. At least for the socialized

Raphael Harry [00:29:36]:
Yeah. Skills. Yeah. That's the socialized skills. Very important.

Vlad Margarit [00:29:39]:
Learning school. Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:29:40]:
But back then, I'm I'm I'm going to back then when you were so for that first one, when you were 14 and, you know 14. You know, get getting to 16, and then you're not deciding to move to, your next job was, the law firm. Right? Yeah. You moved from restaurant

Vlad Margarit [00:29:56]:
As an assistant for the big

Raphael Harry [00:29:58]:
Yeah. From the restaurant to the big Mhmm. Law firm.

Vlad Margarit [00:30:01]:
That's how we make

Raphael Harry [00:30:02]:
the restaurant. Yeah. It's in the restaurant. So, your your cousin not tried to stop you when you were leaving.

Vlad Margarit [00:30:07]:
Oh my god.

Raphael Harry [00:30:08]:
And, well, like, she cried.

Vlad Margarit [00:30:09]:
She, you

Raphael Harry [00:30:10]:
know, you sure you wanna go to law firm? They can fire you, that kind of thing.

Vlad Margarit [00:30:14]:
No. It was You don't leave family. It was it was hard. My mom was upset. Everybody was upset. Everybody was against. Don't do that. Don't be silly.

Vlad Margarit [00:30:22]:
You're making so much money. I was helping my mom. I was helping family and everybody. But this guy came. I met him about this wedding that we were doing there, and, she offered me, hey. You wanna be, like, my assistant? I have those amazing guests. You can bring us a coffee. You're gonna hang out.

Vlad Margarit [00:30:39]:
We can travel. We can do this. He was having a lot of people with him, not just me and him. You know? Yeah. It's like a lot of people, the driver, the secretary, or whatever. And, I was like, of course. You know? And I was curious to see more Mhmm. About life.

Vlad Margarit [00:30:53]:
Because this job, I was already doing it amazing. Yes. Amazing, because I liked it and I was fast and I wanted to do stuff and I had to switch. And I realized also that by switching from one to another, it's, like, so good to have this psychological revolution in a sense like, okay. Let's readjust now. And to your point, it's very important to have the diploma Mhmm. But it's also very important to learn skills, life skills.

Raphael Harry [00:31:22]:
Yes.

Vlad Margarit [00:31:22]:
If you learned all those skills, then you can go in any industry in in a way and and sit down with people, you know, and and have a this relationship, have a understanding because at the end of the day, it's not all everything about money. You know? It's just about, okay. What do you want? What do I want? Can you get what you want? Yes. Can I get what I want? Yeah. Then it's a deal. That's the negotiation.

Raphael Harry [00:31:45]:
You know? I'm glad you said that because, the person who I was, at that age, if I had an opportunity like you did, I probably would have chosen loyalty to family over that man, but my heart would have wanted to go with a lawyer, but I would have chosen loyalty to family because I mean it's just

Vlad Margarit [00:32:10]:
you have to you know,

Raphael Harry [00:32:11]:
you gotta stay and, you know, because it's the same You have

Vlad Margarit [00:32:14]:
to get to know yourself, how you Yeah. How you are.

Raphael Harry [00:32:16]:
But, you you you because now I can I can understand what you're saying about the teacher having issues with you?

Vlad Margarit [00:32:22]:
Oh, yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:32:23]:
Because you already

Vlad Margarit [00:32:24]:
However, there a lot of people were calling me gypsy because I was 10.

Raphael Harry [00:32:27]:
Yeah. So That was another question I was gonna ask you

Vlad Margarit [00:32:30]:
Mhmm.

Raphael Harry [00:32:31]:
If you ever interacted with

Vlad Margarit [00:32:32]:
Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:32:33]:
Gypsies or

Vlad Margarit [00:32:34]:
Yeah. So I I interacted. Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:32:35]:
At the young age?

Vlad Margarit [00:32:37]:
At at a young age. Yeah. And I remember my dad also. Actually, it was pretty crazy. He was telling me, like, be careful with gypsies because it's not that they are bad people. It's just you cannot trust them. You don't know if they lie or not Mhmm. Sometimes, especially you're young.

Vlad Margarit [00:32:52]:
And he was right. Couple of times, I I had those interaction with gypsies, and I looked pretty fast. And Martin was actually my very good friend for a while. But, still when it came to something serious, he abandoned me. He left me. He ran. So I was like, okay. You're in the boat with me, but it was the small turbulence.

Vlad Margarit [00:33:11]:
You're just gonna jump out Jump out. Abandoned. So there was no trust in you, no loyalty. Yeah. Not all of them probably, but the one that I encounter. You know? Yeah. So, yeah, it was not easy. You know? And my it's funny.

Vlad Margarit [00:33:26]:
I my dad was also a little brown, but my other 2 brothers, they are, like, white. You know? For me, I love it because I can get tan. Everything looks amazing on me. And for them, you they have to hide. Like, oh, I don't wanna get sunburned or something. So I was lucky, actually, in a way to Is that possible to

Raphael Harry [00:33:43]:
see that? You got gypsy blood?

Vlad Margarit [00:33:45]:
No. Because my dad was not gypsy. No. What about your

Raphael Harry [00:33:48]:
great great grandparents? You know?

Vlad Margarit [00:33:50]:
No. Mm-mm. No. Okay. And I will not be against or anything. And honestly, I don't care. But I'm just saying that's how people I had a purse I had a a start over here, right, when I was a kid also. It was a trend.

Vlad Margarit [00:34:08]:
Actually, it was not a trend. That was very few people. So people that time, they were just judging you just because I'm having a stud here. A lady told me, oh, Satan.

Raphael Harry [00:34:16]:
When you're

Vlad Margarit [00:34:17]:
Yeah. So people back there is, like, very, you know, back in time in a way. For those who to be.

Raphael Harry [00:34:23]:
Yeah. Out on Patreon. Call on Patreon. You can watch the video. Right. Vlad just

Vlad Margarit [00:34:28]:
The lip first. Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:34:30]:
That he had a start on his lips. Mhmm. That's another reason why you should join Patreon so you can watch the video. But, wow. So that that was, like, what, a sign of Satan Yeah. To some people.

Vlad Margarit [00:34:40]:
Simple, simple stuff like that. Somebody will be like, oh, you're Satan. Oh, you're a gypsy. Like, I get it. And that's another thing I didn't like. Same language, which was terrifying, but same beliefs, same especially one story that I loved are after. You know? Mhmm. On communism times, everybody was happy.

Vlad Margarit [00:34:59]:
Everybody was everything was clean, beautiful, and so on, but everybody was niching on each other. The the yeah. The doors were open, so you can go to your next neighbor. The door were open, you know, in your building. But everybody was niching on each other to the police or something like that. You know? So it's still not it's still not, like, a real beautiful relationship. You know? It's still like everybody's forced to like each other because you have to turn on the other. It's kinda like North Korea now or Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:35:26]:
Who knows other parts. So I never liked this one track mind or one language and stuff, and from real estate because I start I went back to 0.

Raphael Harry [00:35:40]:
Oh, sorry. Before before you go on real estate Yeah. Real estate because I know we'll get to demo that soon.

Vlad Margarit [00:35:47]:
Yeah. Yes, sir.

Raphael Harry [00:35:48]:
I just wanna get one thing about, your rev one more thing about revolution, period, because you say you remember a little bit about

Vlad Margarit [00:35:56]:
Yes.

Raphael Harry [00:35:57]:
The revolution. What what what what more do you remember, like, when it ended? You know, you say you remember the tanks. But just in a brief summary.

Vlad Margarit [00:36:07]:
My some of my memories?

Raphael Harry [00:36:09]:
Yeah. What are the memories of revolution that you remember apart from the the

Vlad Margarit [00:36:13]:
So I will tell you the most scary ones. Mhmm. The scary one was I remember we were coming. We were going back home from my mom's sister, which we just visit, and it was me. My mom was holding my younger brother in her arms, me by the hand. So I was, like, kinda like this with her. And, my older brother was walking next to us, And we were just going home, and it was this, like, big inter intersection over there. And there was just like a line of tanks coming into the city and chaos everywhere.

Vlad Margarit [00:36:49]:
People running, people trying to it was chaos, like, scary. And I feel my mom was scared. Imagine a a woman with 3 kids

Raphael Harry [00:36:56]:
Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:36:57]:
And just and some veggies or whatever she had with us, the bags, and just try to get home. And, this was happening, you know, for a while, we knew, in the city, but that was, like, the closest I've been to the tanks, like, right next to us going Yes. Army and stuff like that. It was very scary. And then another thing, because my dad was a police officer, some high rank. I don't remember what. In their station where he was in the neighborhood over there, it came like a big order. You know? Like, hey.

Vlad Margarit [00:37:32]:
You have to go out, and if somebody is obeying or something, shoot people.

Raphael Harry [00:37:36]:
Wow.

Vlad Margarit [00:37:37]:
Yeah. So he was like, what? On the phone, like, what? Are you crazy? Okay. He he closed the phone, and then to his team and everybody there, he was like, those are the the laws in a way that we have to follow or the rules, but we're not gonna do that. So he just hold all the policemen in the, station for a while in the section. Yeah. Station. And, the moment passed, you know, so they stayed there for a while, and eventually they had to go home or something like that, everybody. So he hold them there, you know, not to go and do some crazy shit.

Raphael Harry [00:38:14]:
Mhmm.

Vlad Margarit [00:38:15]:
And, I remember next day, we had people trying to come and attack us. So we had to barricade our home, our door. Luckily, we're on the last floor of the building. So the only way to get to us, you'll have to come on the top of the building and get in, but it was pretty tough. My dad was having a gun. You know? But we put a lot of furniture, a lot of things in the door, and they came. The car that we were having it, he he put it, like, 10 blocks away so nobody can find it. And we just stay in a house for, like, 3, 4 days, closed.

Vlad Margarit [00:38:45]:
Nothing. Wow. And we had, like, few people came and tried to and, anyway, on the street was revolution, and that was, like, crazy madness. So it was a scary scary thing.

Raphael Harry [00:38:55]:
They were coming to your house because your dad was a police officer.

Vlad Margarit [00:38:57]:
Exactly. And he disobeyed disobeyed the orders. Uh-oh. So those people from police, somebody, I don't know what happened. They were like, no. We're gonna arrest this guy because he disobeyed or some shit like that. I don't know. And who gave the orders? My dad was like, no.

Vlad Margarit [00:39:11]:
Nobody's going. So he hold him home. Hold them home. Hold them in the station. And after that, he came home, and then we got attacked and stuff like that. But luckily, we were we were free after 2, 3 days. Wow. Things settled at that time, and then, I don't know, we just got out.

Vlad Margarit [00:39:27]:
But, another thing that I realized early in life that it's way more important to have a psychological revolution, just a psychic one, you know, than having a physical one. Because physical one are always hurting. Right? They're always the worst possible scenario can happen. But when you just have a psychological one, you don't have to express that one, if it makes sense.

Raphael Harry [00:39:54]:
Why why do you say

Vlad Margarit [00:39:55]:
words, it's you know, we change our mind. Right? Yeah. Sometimes we have to to bring a revolution to change something. Right? Yeah. And then we all gonna have our minds change, and from here, we're gonna act according to the new way of living. Right?

Raphael Harry [00:40:11]:
Yeah. New information comes in.

Vlad Margarit [00:40:12]:
Exactly. What if we just change our mind before we do the physical revolution, if it makes sense? And we have the revolution just in our psychic, in in our consciousness as humans. You know?

Raphael Harry [00:40:22]:
How do how do the humans get that psyche changed? That's the big question.

Vlad Margarit [00:40:29]:
To to go through those, I mean, it's a it's a deep subject to go into, but, the easiest way will be just to have an open mind. In other words, to have a free mind. Because once we attach or we identify ourselves with bigger concepts or, yeah, ideas, then you act according to those things. So if you free yourself from those, I may put them on the side for a moment, and then you see the truth. Truth will show you what it is to to do in that moment. Right? If if you see a dang something dangerous, you're gonna you're not gonna say, oh, let me study. What is this? Oh, this thing is called that way. Isn't it? You're not gonna if you have the time to stay and make a analysis of that thing, of the danger, then you might be dead, you know, in a way.

Vlad Margarit [00:41:15]:
But in those moments, you just have to put the intellect of the side and just see what's really happening or all senses.

Raphael Harry [00:41:22]:
Front of you.

Vlad Margarit [00:41:22]:
All senses. Be aware of what you feel, what you hear, what you smell, what all those things. So when you bring this harmony in your the intelligence of the body and plus you as a you have the knowledge and you can see what's happening Yeah. Then you take the exact You do the right thing, in other words. You know? It's a complicated

Raphael Harry [00:41:43]:
It is complicated. It

Vlad Margarit [00:41:43]:
is a

Raphael Harry [00:41:44]:
little complicated. Why I asked why.

Vlad Margarit [00:41:46]:
But that's why it's better to have a psychological revolution.

Raphael Harry [00:41:49]:
Which I

Vlad Margarit [00:41:49]:
I think Instead of Yeah. Having the physical one, and then everybody change their mind.

Raphael Harry [00:41:55]:
I I think If people will not

Vlad Margarit [00:41:58]:
listen yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:41:59]:
I think on a good day, I would that that many of us would love to see that.

Vlad Margarit [00:42:04]:
Yeah. That's a completely different discussion. But,

Raphael Harry [00:42:08]:
But, you

Vlad Margarit [00:42:08]:
know to go in into it slowly, slowly. In a

Raphael Harry [00:42:10]:
in a world where I bring a 100 people and a 100 people say, this is my truth. And I'm like, oh my god. Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:42:16]:
The truth that's the part, you know, because everybody believes

Raphael Harry [00:42:19]:
this is There's a child dying right now. We gotta take a child to the hospital. I mean, like, well

Vlad Margarit [00:42:23]:
Exactly.

Raphael Harry [00:42:24]:
You know, who my health care the government ain't gonna tell my health care.

Vlad Margarit [00:42:27]:
I said, that child is dying right now.

Raphael Harry [00:42:30]:
This child is dying right now. Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:42:32]:
Coffee now.

Raphael Harry [00:42:32]:
Have a paper

Vlad Margarit [00:42:33]:
with the I'm

Raphael Harry [00:42:34]:
like, okay. So

Vlad Margarit [00:42:35]:
So you see, that's what I'm talking about. Like, the crisis is now. It's now. The kid is is you know, it's it's here. Mhmm. If you want me to wait for just I'll do it now. Make sure it's the

Raphael Harry [00:42:46]:
bleeding stops. Call 911.

Vlad Margarit [00:42:48]:
And then I'll do whatever you want.

Raphael Harry [00:42:50]:
Lift the child's head off. If it's that's what we need to be done, you apply first aid and not no. But you you I'm like, oh, no. No. No. Okay. You don't get it.

Vlad Margarit [00:42:58]:
You see? So that's what I'm talking about. People need to need to understand before we get into this revolt, right, in this revolution. Because if they will get it at the beginning, this way is not gonna work. Yeah. You have to act now, then the physical one will not happen. And, usually, physical emotion comes again with pain, with suffering.

Raphael Harry [00:43:20]:
You just you remind me after the recording, I will send you an interview that I listened to recently. The there's a case that there's not been a successful revolution.

Vlad Margarit [00:43:32]:
Mhmm.

Raphael Harry [00:43:32]:
There's only I think there's only been 1 or 2.

Vlad Margarit [00:43:34]:
I mean, there's

Raphael Harry [00:43:35]:
There's never been a successful revolution.

Vlad Margarit [00:43:37]:
From yeah. Exactly.

Raphael Harry [00:43:38]:
The that's a separate side path. But, you guys want me to talk about that, I will do that on Patreon. I won't I won't I won't give you all that free. Freeloader, you're not getting that. No. That's too deep. Me, myself and Vlad can suck.

Vlad Margarit [00:43:49]:
So that was I'll

Raphael Harry [00:43:50]:
bring Ashwin. Ashwin just had surgery, so, he should be feeling better by then. But, yeah, you that you have to sit down with Ashwin for that one. That's my chaos master. Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:43:59]:
Yeah. Totally. I like those.

Raphael Harry [00:44:00]:
But, well, so we'll not spend too much time on this because freeloaders ain't paying for that one. So you gotta pay for that. That's too good. I love that kind of discussion. But I haven't forgotten about Bermuda. So financial crisis happens, what's the next step you take?

Vlad Margarit [00:44:18]:
Oh, the crisis. Yeah. After the crisis, the friend that I was actually a partner from this, association with Remax, we were like, what we gonna do now, bro? And he had somebody with the space and a a powerful uncle, something like that. He was like, guys, I can help you with a huge space over here, like an old deposit for furniture. And, we were like, okay. Let's build the grand ballroom because people are still gonna have weddings. You know? So we are kinda approaching the situation, what people are doing. Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:45:02]:
And we're always gonna do, you know? So weddings, we always gonna have them, stuff like that. I I knew about hospitality, a great high class service style from my cousin, place. Like I said, the place was amazing. The

Raphael Harry [00:45:16]:
forks at age 14.

Vlad Margarit [00:45:17]:
The forks and knives were silver. So it was, like, super high class only for, like, the high society. So I was like, I know the deal how to organize teams and stuff like that. We're gonna figure out. Let's check the place. So we went. We saw the place. It was like a huge, huge, huge place.

Vlad Margarit [00:45:37]:
And we were thinking about it now. How should we do it? Should we split it in 2? So we do, like, 202100, like, 2 events at once Oh. Or we do, like, just one huge event. So, like, no. Let's just leave it big because there were already a lot of small grand ball, grand ballrooms. You know? Like, we we do 100 or 20, 250 or 300, but we were, like, minimum 150, you know, up to 600. So we I did a lot of huge events over there in ball in the ballroom, weddings. I organized most of them myself because I was sitting down with a couple, you know, and taking, and it was amazing.

Vlad Margarit [00:46:16]:
So this was another couple of years So which we build a

Raphael Harry [00:46:20]:
Sorry to interject there. Yeah. You just remind me of something. What what's the average size of a of a Romanian societal Wedding? Wedding. Yes.

Vlad Margarit [00:46:30]:
Mhmm. So for Romanians, it's around you can start from 80 to 250. But my friend, it was, Macedonian. Yeah. Macedonian. So usually, they are

Raphael Harry [00:46:46]:
Can I say it again? My yeah. You you like

Vlad Margarit [00:46:49]:
Ma'Kedom. Ma'Kedom. Ma'Kedom. That's how I know for sure. Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:46:53]:
Yeah. No. Yeah. That's I think that's original. It's a

Vlad Margarit [00:46:55]:
it's a beautiful Like

Raphael Harry [00:46:56]:
I said, I've been I've been Swedish. Yeah. They

Vlad Margarit [00:46:58]:
have a

Raphael Harry [00:46:58]:
Very merry.

Vlad Margarit [00:46:59]:
You know? It's a beautiful community, but they're huge. Most of them are, like, very well established. And, when we're doing also their weddings, the those weddings were, like, huge, up to 600 people.

Raphael Harry [00:47:14]:
Oh, wow.

Vlad Margarit [00:47:15]:
So but it was so beautiful, man. I remember I had to set the tables in such a way that they will dance not just on the ring dance, which was a huge place to dance, but also between the tables. So they you're having this line of people dancing and somebody amazing. So I learned the dance. I learned all the community. Most of them knew me.

Raphael Harry [00:47:35]:
Confirmed dancer here. That's good. That's very handy.

Vlad Margarit [00:47:38]:
Yeah. I had an amazing time over there. Crazy problems, like, you know, running a a business and stuff. It's always insane. And now we are not doing just events like weddings. We are doing bath baptism or, we start actually doing catering because we had such a huge kitchen that you have to I assumed

Raphael Harry [00:48:02]:
all that was part of the event. Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:48:04]:
Yeah. Okay. Exactly. So that was So You have to have the shifts. You have to so it was like a huge team, a huge machinery going on when it come to events. It was beautiful. Like an army of servers. I was

Raphael Harry [00:48:16]:
having, like, 30 the logistics of all that in place.

Vlad Margarit [00:48:20]:
And, after that, we we made some money after, I mean, we made money. And I think after 3, 4 years being in business with him, we kinda separate a little bit the relationship. We were actually young. You know? We were pretty much too young to find money or success that that is that fast, you know. So he was going on his mind a little bit different. I was in my own way. Yeah. So we kinda separate a little bit.

Vlad Margarit [00:48:51]:
We kinda break down. And then I got into a club with a friend of mine, somebody that I've met. So that's how we kinda broke up. You know? The things didn't work that well. You split a little bit, then I found somebody with the club that I can be part of and stuff. And I was like, okay. Club now, it's interesting. I was like, this guy can take over and he's gonna be fine.

Vlad Margarit [00:49:14]:
And I got out. I moved into clubs now. I had an amazing time also rebranding that club, do all those things. Another experience with dancers, with nightlife. And

Raphael Harry [00:49:28]:
Yeah. So how how was that shift from day doing mostly daytime events to nighttime?

Vlad Margarit [00:49:33]:
Actually, weddings were also nighttime. Oh, nice. Over there, they start at 5 or 6 PM, and they finish at 6 in the morning.

Raphael Harry [00:49:41]:
Oh, no.

Vlad Margarit [00:49:41]:
Because you have 5 courses, you have events throughout the night. Oh, you

Raphael Harry [00:49:46]:
got It's a lot. Yeah. Potty potty.

Vlad Margarit [00:49:48]:
Exactly. They really like to potty. Not like here. Over there, it's really potty. Not not my best friend, like, yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:49:53]:
I mean, I thought my generals like to potty. Nigerian's, I mean, we got we got some

Vlad Margarit [00:49:57]:
They love Romania, bro. They love them. No. And you see them Well,

Raphael Harry [00:50:01]:
that's in a challenge.

Vlad Margarit [00:50:02]:
Yeah. No. Romanian, Bucharest, especially, when

Raphael Harry [00:50:06]:
you come to

Vlad Margarit [00:50:07]:
clubs and

Raphael Harry [00:50:08]:
That is serious.

Vlad Margarit [00:50:09]:
Stop in in the in Europe. Wow. And after the club with the same guy, my friend, somebody approached us because we kinda build this troubleshooting team. Me and, and this guy, we are very good at managing and and bringing up bringing back, like, businesses, like a club. And we had somebody who's like, hey. I wanna build a restaurant. Actually, more like a franchise then, but let's do, like I haven't planned to make, like, 5 of them. So we start building the project together.

Vlad Margarit [00:50:47]:
And after 8 months of getting it ready and everything, we find we found the place. We start taking the place apart just to build the project. Some shit happened. 1 of them got arrested, not my friend of me, the other part

Raphael Harry [00:50:59]:
Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:51:00]:
The other partners. One of them got arrested in some trouble, and the project just didn't happen. And then, we took the project. We went to somebody else, and he we found somebody to invest, and we start doing this project in a different location. I mean, not the same project. We changed it a little bit just to match the location, the neighborhood where it was.

Raphael Harry [00:51:23]:
So are these these still in Bucharest?

Vlad Margarit [00:51:25]:
They're still in Bucharest. So I was moving from after the club, I got into this thing to build a brasserie on a nice area, but then we moved this brasserie idea on a completely new, even better area, more in the center, even, yeah, a better area. And over there, the part of that we were we were he was in politics. So then I found out how it is to work with politicians. That's another long story, which I don't know if I should talk about

Raphael Harry [00:51:59]:
definitely, that would be for part 2.

Vlad Margarit [00:52:00]:
Yeah. So that didn't work too well because it didn't. You know? They were there just to was

Raphael Harry [00:52:09]:
it like a money laundering thing?

Vlad Margarit [00:52:10]:
Money laundry. And they didn't care about the industry or anything, just like laundry money and stuff. And they kicked us out. Actually, they really tricked us. But I was like, bro, I have nothing to lose because everything is invested in this thing. So I'm not I'm gonna burn myself getting to this and burning all the way down or you're gonna pay us because they came like, hey, with mafia, with people over there, you as you know, you know people who are powerful. So if you don't know them or if you have you need the money in a way, you know, to to be protected. And now I'm just saying it's the same, but at that time, and now probably it's quite the same.

Vlad Margarit [00:52:45]:
I think it's quite the same because the same people who are there in power as the group that I know they're still there. It's just with extra steps now, if it makes sense. Just better. So, yeah, that we did that brochure, and eventually after a year, we had to get out of it. We got off some money with some money, and then I was waiting on a new location where I was about to open with my friend that our next just us in that place, that location, no more partners. Just us and the landlord. And the landlord, he was a nice guy at the beginning. And because I, he had somebody in that location, we had to wait like 1 year until he gets out that the restaurant Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:53:34]:
That we were trying to get. And I was like, I'm not gonna stay 1 year and do nothing. And it just happened. A friend of mine came like, hey, bro. People are hiring in, Bermuda for hospitality, you know, like servers, captains, whatever.

Raphael Harry [00:53:50]:
And I

Vlad Margarit [00:53:50]:
was like you

Raphael Harry [00:53:51]:
ever been there before?

Vlad Margarit [00:53:52]:
No. And I was like, oh, this is interesting. Like, working holiday. I need a holiday. I need a break from all this fucking shit shows. Sorry for the No. No. No.

Raphael Harry [00:54:01]:
You're good.

Vlad Margarit [00:54:01]:
Oh, yeah? Yeah. So I need a break because those guys tricked me.

Raphael Harry [00:54:05]:
As natural as you do.

Vlad Margarit [00:54:06]:
Okay. So the politicians tricked me. The other guy before, he he was we were close, but he had some problems on his side, so we had to separate. The financial crisis ruined me, so I was I stopped my life couple of times from 0. You know? Even between the grand ballroom and the club, I still had a zero moment in my life until things happen to do the club, you know, gig. And, Yeah. I went to Bermuda because I was like, okay. So it's working holiday.

Vlad Margarit [00:54:37]:
I'm just gonna go there. I went to Bermuda. I had the best time of my life, honestly. Yeah. No. It's the best thing to live on island. It's completely different than living anywhere else on land because you you don't have the stress of the time, like the hours. Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:54:59]:
Everybody is slower. Like, you have a nice rhythm. You know? And everything, especially in Bermuda, everything is pink, blue, turquoise, or, you know, all those beautiful I was also riding a scooter, so I was so excited.

Raphael Harry [00:55:14]:
Nice.

Vlad Margarit [00:55:15]:
It it was the best time, honestly. And my contract ended, and I remember I flew back to Romania and I landed at 3 o'clock. And I got home. I changed. And at 6 o'clock, I was meeting my friend that we we're supposed to get that location. Like, tell me what's happening with that location. Are we ready and stuff like that? And I sit down with him and he told me, bro, the landlord, he tricked us. He he signed with somebody else.

Raphael Harry [00:55:44]:
Wow.

Vlad Margarit [00:55:44]:
Because that guy, I I get it. They had a lot of money. They came to him. You know, in a way I keep saying people, everybody has a price. I guess when it comes to business, like, who to put as a when it comes to business, yeah, everybody has a price. I I'm not I don't agree when it comes to daily life, like, bit among relationships. We shouldn't have we shouldn't put price on those. Some people do it, but whatever.

Vlad Margarit [00:56:10]:
So, anyway, I sit down with him. Tell me what's happening. Where are we standing? This was, like, 3 hours after I landed, you know, so I wanna get back into Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:56:20]:
You're ready to go. Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:56:22]:
And, because I brought the landlord just signed with somebody else, and I was like, bro, you know what? I was looking around the gray buildings in Bucharest. Now it looks much better. And I was like, I'm done. I don't wanna stay in Romania anymore in Bucharest. And for me, if I don't stay in Bucharest, then there's no other city, which there are a lot of big cities, nice close to Bucharest, but nothing like like it. I was like, I'm done with Romania. I just realized Bermuda opened my eyes.

Raphael Harry [00:56:50]:
Mhmm.

Vlad Margarit [00:56:50]:
And a lot of people I was meeting a lot of people from New York in Bermuda because it's very close.

Raphael Harry [00:56:55]:
Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [00:56:56]:
Now I was like, no, man. I have to I'm I'm done with it, man. I have to find something to move out of here. I I'm not saying I dislike or no. I'm I'm just I I get it. I I I get Yeah.

Raphael Harry [00:57:08]:
You don't have to explain further. It

Vlad Margarit [00:57:10]:
it's understandable.

Raphael Harry [00:57:12]:
If anybody don't get it right to me, I'll I'll explain to you.

Vlad Margarit [00:57:15]:
Yeah. And, we start looking for how to get out of it and where to go. And the only I mean, the only the the first, plan was we had we had a friend here in Atlanta in the states, and, he was like, he's in construction. So, like, he has this company and stuff. He's building homes and things. He was thinking to open a restaurant, some of those neighborhoods that they build. And we're like, sure. Let's do it.

Vlad Margarit [00:57:46]:
We know. Look. We did it before. He he was like, k, man. Sure. Let's let's give it a try. So just after 5 months when I came back from Bermuda, by the time we got ready and stuff, we decided to come here to Atlanta and give it a try and see what what it's about. And, that's how I end up coming to the states.

Raphael Harry [00:58:10]:
So Atlanta was your first stop?

Vlad Margarit [00:58:12]:
Atlanta was my first stop.

Raphael Harry [00:58:13]:
Wow.

Vlad Margarit [00:58:14]:
Yeah. And I really like it. Atlanta. I really liked it. I like it.

Raphael Harry [00:58:16]:
What was your first, yeah, your first feeling, your first interaction in Atlanta, what was that like?

Vlad Margarit [00:58:26]:
I really liked it. I like the infrastructure. You can see, like, everything is spread out. Everything is think through.

Raphael Harry [00:58:32]:
Mhmm.

Vlad Margarit [00:58:33]:
You know? And that's what I was expecting. Like, I want things to be, you know, like, good laws. When you have a business, you're protected. It's not like, oh, my partner can trick me and that's it. Yeah. You know, you depends who has more money or

Raphael Harry [00:58:45]:
don't mean anything.

Vlad Margarit [00:58:46]:
But eventually, even here to find out the law is still, like, it's not that, unbreakable Yeah. In a way. It's still the more power you have, the more you can bend it.

Raphael Harry [00:58:57]:
Mhmm.

Vlad Margarit [00:58:58]:
So, Atlanta Atlanta was fine. It was very nice. I just realized it's not gonna happen fast with the restaurant. It's gonna take a year just to build the building. And then

Raphael Harry [00:59:07]:
So you are building from scratch? Yeah. Okay.

Vlad Margarit [00:59:10]:
And I was like, man, and why should I do those this year that I'm staying here? I'm not gonna I don't work in construction. You know? Not that I I just it's another industry that I'll have to learn it. I I don't have time now. And I was like, I still had the the contract open to go back to Bermuda, which was like another 4 months I could have started my contract in the season. And I was like, I can stay here couple of months and go to Bermuda. And if you want, you can start building the building, and then I come back in 1 year. Or that's how it was, the the plan. You know? Like, let's see.

Vlad Margarit [00:59:45]:
Maybe this. And then I was like, okay. Since I'm in the state, let me just travel and see some of my friends. We went to Washington, and, eventually, we came to New York, like, a last stop before I either I stay here longer or I go back to, Bucharest and then fly back to Bermuda. For me, I I hoped I will stay in New York for a couple of months, and then I just fly a little bit over in Bermuda. Yeah. So I found some friends of mine from back home from Bucharest. They were like, come on, man.

Vlad Margarit [01:00:16]:
We can help you. You can stay with us for a week. I'll help you with the job. As a server, he found me. He helped me. I found the job by the way as a server. So I stayed with them for a week.

Raphael Harry [01:00:27]:
So it's kinda like

Vlad Margarit [01:00:28]:
I found the place. Yeah. I found then I found a room with somebody. I moved into that room. Actually, this time, I was with a girl. So she was with me. We are together in this also. And, yeah, we moved to that guy, then we found our own place, and we stayed in Astoria.

Vlad Margarit [01:00:46]:
And we moved to Astoria, and we stayed, like, 2, 3 months. And when the time came to go back to Bermuda, I was like, I love Bermuda. I really do. I like that life, but I'm still young. You know? I don't wanna be so settled in a way, which was a lot of fun. Jet skis. It was insane. You know? Party all the time and very nice.

Vlad Margarit [01:01:10]:
But I was like, I like cities, like, from Bucharest. Bucharest is a crazy city. Much, smaller, scared than New York, but still you have that nightlife. You have that, you know, hostile traffic. Mhmm. And that was the first thing that I liked about New York.

Raphael Harry [01:01:25]:
That was just about New

Vlad Margarit [01:01:26]:
York. Driving here. So I drove from, Washington. I came to New York and I was like, wow. I love this thing.

Raphael Harry [01:01:32]:
And,

Vlad Margarit [01:01:32]:
how they drove and stuff. I was like, because driving for me is it was really important, you know,

Raphael Harry [01:01:37]:
crazy stuff.

Vlad Margarit [01:01:38]:
Yeah. You mentioned it's something. Yeah. So that's how I end up to New York. I decided we stay, we move, we got a job. And from here, we just started building up. And I was looking to do the same thing, like, in Bucharest, which I found some somebody to open a location here to do our own restaurant. But then when we were getting ready, I start managing restaurants and stuff like this over here.

Vlad Margarit [01:02:02]:
And then I met this chef, and he was like, I'm gonna run the kitchen. You're on the first you're on the front of the house, and that's it. Boom. Boom. We had the ideas we had. But by the time we got more into it, COVID came.

Raphael Harry [01:02:16]:
Oh, man.

Vlad Margarit [01:02:16]:
Another society knockout that is not just for me, 1,000,000 of billions of people. Right? Global. But, again, there's something wrong with us as humanity in the sense, like, we are not wise enough. We don't know ourselves enough because that's what wisdom is. You know yourself. So it more and more, it doesn't matter. The industry I'm getting, I still have to get down to the basic of human relationships in a sense. Like, if we cannot learn how to have a daily living in a beautiful way or a harmonious way or compassion, we never gonna do anything.

Vlad Margarit [01:02:58]:
Even if you're making money for 10 years with your bill with your company, it depends on the industry. You're still gonna get knocked down by the society itself, which we are part of. So in a way, we bring those tables we bring those problems to ourselves. We create those problems. How we create them? There are many ways to go and elaborate on those things. Maybe another time. But more and more, I find myself getting into the philosophy of life, you know, the the philosophy of living. What's the import the meaning of life, you know, what is it? Because just to to work like a slave, even it's your business or you work for somebody else, you still work to make money.

Vlad Margarit [01:03:39]:
You know? And something happens, and we all get knocked down. And those things, they had to be understood, by most of us. You know? Like I was saying, we need the psychological revolution before we need the physical one. Yeah. That's what what like you said, there's no physical revolution whoever changed something in the good way. You know? It bring the similar situation, but it's still the same shit.

Raphael Harry [01:04:06]:
So it was a temporary win.

Vlad Margarit [01:04:08]:
Yeah. So that's why I'm more interested to to reach out, talk. I study a lot of, I mean, I study. I, Oh,

Raphael Harry [01:04:17]:
I know you do. Yeah. The the audience doesn't know. So that that's why I had to bring you here. But, so now COVID, you you launched the restaurant. Yeah. How long do you did you have the restaurant for before COVID struck?

Vlad Margarit [01:04:32]:
No. We didn't launch it, but we were we were building it. We were planning it. We the project was happening.

Raphael Harry [01:04:37]:
Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [01:04:37]:
And, yeah, it just COVID came, stopped everything. We were planning on the on the side. You know? I was still having my job managing and stuff and stuff.

Raphael Harry [01:04:48]:
And where was this restaurant gonna be? In

Vlad Margarit [01:04:53]:
mid mac, midpacking. Midpacking.

Raphael Harry [01:04:55]:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [01:04:56]:
In, lower Manhattan. Mhmm. So, yeah, we were excited. COVID came, and I realized now you have restaurants and they just closed you like that, and you still have nothing to say. I was like, this interest is also very limited, very I'm still somehow under authority of somebody that I don't even know or I don't even met or you know? It's still somebody who has power over you from all points of view. Even though we have from society itself as a civilization, but still when it's so direct, it's pretty pretty tough. You know? Because think about it. How many beautiful restaurants, especially in York, were destroyed.

Vlad Margarit [01:05:35]:
Right?

Raphael Harry [01:05:36]:
Yeah. Yeah. That is is

Vlad Margarit [01:05:37]:
And like landlords

Raphael Harry [01:05:38]:
for restaurants right now.

Vlad Margarit [01:05:40]:
Bro, if I was a landlord and I have a nice restaurant downstairs, I cannot I it. I need money too, you know, as a landlord. I have my own thing going on. But when you force me to destroy this guy, keep getting his rent, keep, what's the what's the plan here? We're just fucking each what's the what's the plan here? We're just fucking each other off. Like, what's the plan here? What we're gonna where this stops? You know? So other things, they really shut down and nothing moves, and then we reopen. You know? Mhmm. Like, change the pieces and stuff, and then you start the engine again, and you're good to go back on the road or not. That doesn't make sense.

Vlad Margarit [01:06:13]:
You know? So it felt like a lot of things were just on purpose. A lot of things were just and it sucks when nobody even after things happen, nobody has the the power or the courage to come and say, like, hey. I still don't like it. And remember we had a discussion earlier. You were saying everybody was thinking that, but nobody said it. Yeah. Remember? So that guy just because said the truth in a funny way, it make the room explode. Mhmm.

Vlad Margarit [01:06:38]:
It's kind of the same thing. Everybody's thinking about it. They know it is that stress, that thing that bothers you, like, how things were handled, and still you put your hand down and you keep going with it, that's not the way. You know? Eventually, we have to free ourselves. And that's why you reached the if you read in my bio a little bit, individual psychological revolution, which is like the art of dying in a way. Because that, if you think about it, it really frees your mind. It frees you. It just clears whatever you think you know.

Vlad Margarit [01:07:17]:
Clear it takes away all your love, your pleasures, anything. Right? So if we can have this art of dying like Bruce Lee was saying, that you empty yourself, you empty your mind just for a moment. I'm not saying be like that all the time. Of course, you have to you know how to drive a car and stuff. This is normal. We're not talking about we're just to put pushing on the putting on the side those things that really in our daily life have no meaning. I mean, not no meaning. No no purpose because it doesn't matter what I believe in as a god or something in my daily life when somebody needs help on the street.

Vlad Margarit [01:07:53]:
You know? It doesn't matter. I I see a human being, and I I'm helping him, you know, if it's passed out from the heat, like, I just saw an older person. You just have to offer that. You don't look, oh, it's white or black or no. If we think like that when it comes to being human and take act as a society, right, in society, we really need to be free of our ideologies and just do the right thing because we we have the skills, especially in New York. Everybody is skillful. You know? Everybody is super skillful, like a super programmed, robot, you know, in a way.

Raphael Harry [01:08:26]:
Oh, yeah. I mean, the the the moments that still shows that New Yorkers give a damn. I mean, look at every time somebody falls on the the train tracks. You see how fast people just rush to Yeah. People.

Vlad Margarit [01:08:40]:
Yeah. It is. We should, man. We should. And I remember in Romania, for example, or at least on those times, if somebody was getting entangled on the street, people from outside were, hey. Stop. What's happening? Especially if it was a woman. As a man, you attack a woman or something, that was a problem.

Vlad Margarit [01:08:56]:
Like like here. And it should be a problem. You know? You shouldn't wait for cops. Call the cops. Let them care. By the time the cops gets there, that woman is gonna be beaten, you know, like crazy. So we have to intervene. As human beings, we have to be human beings first.

Raphael Harry [01:09:11]:
We have to

Vlad Margarit [01:09:11]:
be then

Raphael Harry [01:09:12]:
Yeah. There are so many times where you you know when like, you just know. You have

Vlad Margarit [01:09:18]:
to intervene. You just have to you know. You can't see it. That's what I'm saying. You see reality will show you what to do Mhmm. In that moment. But if you're have this, veil on your face and you just scan things through your language, through your I think that's like, where

Raphael Harry [01:09:32]:
we are. Intentionally put the veil because we we see

Vlad Margarit [01:09:35]:
the veil. Yeah.

Raphael Harry [01:09:36]:
We know when to intervene, and then we start adding our veil.

Vlad Margarit [01:09:38]:
I don't take a little off.

Raphael Harry [01:09:39]:
You know, it's not my problem. It's not,

Vlad Margarit [01:09:41]:
But it's it's your community. It's not You know?

Raphael Harry [01:09:43]:
It's not my well, we start using language to to say, you know, it's not really Yeah. This. But, you know, there's 2 good a conversion to give the freeloaders, you know. Well, let let's not give them all that. You know? We'll be safe because yeah. We'll definitely have to bring Ashley back for for that for this conversation. So, well, let's we we got some more minutes left. I don't wanna go without jumping to the jewelry.

Raphael Harry [01:10:05]:
So, how did you now get into The Rock? The jewelry. How did you how did that find you?

Vlad Margarit [01:10:13]:
Well

Raphael Harry [01:10:14]:
Or how did you find you? Who found who first?

Vlad Margarit [01:10:16]:
I met my wife when I was, managing a restaurant in Midtown, and she was in jewelry industry. I mean, she still is. Yeah. And, it was fun. You know? We were working both of us in Midtown over there. We were seeing I was seeing her before work. It was so nice. Then COVID came.

Vlad Margarit [01:10:36]:
Boom. Destroyed us. She got fired from her job, which was whatever. That's another story. And I understand the owner where she was working for her move. It makes sense because, again, being in business so many times and and being kicked left to right or you learn, you know, life lessons in every industry. So it it makes sense what she did, but it was not fair, but sometimes people doing it. So it's like, don't take it personally, babe.

Vlad Margarit [01:11:05]:
We just, you know, move on. We move on with our lives. And, that's how we decided to build our own jewelry company, ecom. So we will we create everything in, Diamond District here in New York, and we sell online.

Raphael Harry [01:11:21]:
So how were you comfortable now living

Vlad Margarit [01:11:26]:
in your

Raphael Harry [01:11:26]:
restaurant and Yeah. I going to something that you have never tried.

Vlad Margarit [01:11:31]:
Yes. And Now Another challenge. Right?

Raphael Harry [01:11:35]:
Getting a new partner. Yeah. Not just any partner. Somebody who. Were you already romantically involved by then? When you started when you decided to go into the jewelry

Vlad Margarit [01:11:48]:
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We're already living together and stuff like that.

Raphael Harry [01:11:52]:
So now you're going into business and you're also romantic partners. How how were you, yeah. How comfortable were you and how yeah. It's not. That that's a very big step.

Vlad Margarit [01:12:04]:
I agree.

Raphael Harry [01:12:04]:
Or like your other life decisions that you had made, this was a lot different from Yeah. Other decisions that you had made.

Vlad Margarit [01:12:11]:
Always a a new chapter, completely new. At the beginning when we started, actually, I was keep going back and helping the restaurant where I was working at that time, helping reopen, but I was just part time. Not not anymore, like, full time. I was just part time in some things because I still like the energy, the people. I still had a lot of people, friends in hospitality. So in a way, I was still connected, and I'm still connected even now. But, eventually, I stepped out completely from hospitality and just jewelry, industry. And, how we managed to work together and especially when it comes to COVID and stuff, I guess my sense of always wondering about what is the real what is relationship? Not just human relationship, but relationships between animals, relationship between planets, relationship relationship.

Vlad Margarit [01:13:10]:
You know? So I always trying to dissect things all the way to the to the their fundamentals, to their dimension. You know? I always try to go on every dimension to their fund fundamentals, if it makes sense.

Raphael Harry [01:13:26]:
Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [01:13:28]:
So because of that, I felt like I had this patient, you know, when you sit with somebody. I also been in relationships most of my life, so it's not, like, very complicated. I know women have moods. It's normal. We have moods like everybody, you know, especially either you're young or getting older and stuff. And, it was not easy. It was a challenge for us to work together. But, eventually, by keep putting pressure on things, you kinda build each other.

Vlad Margarit [01:14:00]:
She's on the creative direction way and plans and design and stuff like that. Mhmm. And when it comes to website, and she has all this knowledge and creativity. And I'm on the men's collection in a way and, more when it comes to taking content for photo shoots, for all those things, you know, like editing all the way up to posting. She's, like, the one who posts the things. Actually, for a while, I was posting, but it doesn't matter. So we are, like, kinda separate. I do my own thing with editing and making sure the counting is taken, like, the you know, all those things.

Vlad Margarit [01:14:43]:
And also packing and whatever is needed in a way. I I did all of them, but, now the business became more it it grew more and now things are more you have to have your place. You know?

Raphael Harry [01:14:58]:
And it's more streamlined.

Vlad Margarit [01:15:00]:
Yeah. So whatever it's on the side when it comes to photos, all those things for men, collections, all the this is, yeah, a band I designed myself. It's amazing. It I really like it. I really like it. And another thing, actually, the most important thing why I really got so into jewelry. And I was like, I wanna do this because very recently and since with COVID, things start to show pop up more about lab grown diamonds. So once I understood what lab grown diamonds are, it totally makes sense to help exposing lab grown diamonds and show people.

Raphael Harry [01:15:44]:
How is that different from

Vlad Margarit [01:15:46]:
The mined diamonds, the natural one. They are not different at all. It's just the way you create them, it's much faster. So in in the soil, in deep down underground, it takes a lot of pressure and a lot of heat, for 1,000,000 probably, sometimes 1,000,000,000 of years, they say, to be formed. And now you take the same circumstances in a huge oven. I mean, huge. Like, yeah, like, pretty big, like this area here, and you put heat, you have you heat it up and you put pressure in it. There's a way to bring pressure, like, actually take vacuum out, I think.

Vlad Margarit [01:16:29]:
And then you have the seed of a diamond and you pulverize, carb carbon and some other stuff. So you basically build the diamond. You grow it. That's why that's grown lab grown diamond. The way it grows into the into the into Earth for 1000000 of years, the same way grows into a oven. It's just that on all dimensions, from atoms to molecules, cells, and all those things, in a way, it grows the same thing. So you can be a professional, whatever you want, diamond dealer. You cannot tell the difference with your open eye.

Vlad Margarit [01:17:08]:
Never nobody. And there are just very few machines that will tell either the gas in them or a little they will find a little bit of difference, but it's it's not. Oh. When it comes to what's actually in it, it doesn't matter and how it is built is the same thing. It's just this one takes 3 weeks to to grow. It depends how big it is. And in the earth, it's just so long. And when I realized and I found this problem of, oh my god.

Vlad Margarit [01:17:34]:
So they have to mind the soil. Right? Which you saw those huge mines of diamonds

Raphael Harry [01:17:39]:
Yes.

Vlad Margarit [01:17:40]:
For diamonds and not just diamonds, but

Raphael Harry [01:17:42]:
I love it. Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [01:17:43]:
All this machinery, all all those things that go into excavating those diamonds, which are not very so, rare. You know? They say they're rare because they wanna sell it high. Like, you say this take it's Wagyu, and it is Wagyu, but I'm saying it's very few of them. Mhmm. So usually, your jewelry comes with a story, and the better the story is, the the higher the price, the value will go. So when I when I catch this, BS in a way about the the importance of diamonds. And they are very important. It's the mined ones and stuff like that, valuable.

Vlad Margarit [01:18:29]:
I just realized, like, okay. Because for me, I was like, diamonds expensive. You have to have money in a way. I always had, like, some diamonds and tiny things, but nothing special, you know, never something out of ordinary. And when I realized that, actually, everybody can have diamonds or doing, propose to somebody with an amazing, beautiful, minimum 1 carat, diamond. Like, real diamond, not the but because, again, you cannot tell the difference. Nobody can. As a human with your naked eye, it's impossible.

Vlad Margarit [01:19:02]:
And I was like, this is a great market. You know? I mean, everybody now from my coworkers from regular jobs, they'll be like because I helped already, coworkers on mine. Like, I did engagement rings for them. You know? But until then, they couldn't afford it. Mentally, at least you don't try the challenge because, you know, it's gonna be at least $10,000

Raphael Harry [01:19:23]:
True.

Vlad Margarit [01:19:23]:
Or, you know, crazy. But now when things are changing, it's accessible to everybody, you know? And of course we already had the mind diamonds who already build all those huge humongous companies and all this infrastructure to support and build and workers and stuff, they don't wanna admit like, yeah, LeBron diamonds is the same, You know? Especially for us as regular people Yeah. It's actually better because it's clear. It's it's it's clean. It's clean. You know? It doesn't have inclusions. It doesn't have you you have always the best, color no color. You know? Colorless.

Vlad Margarit [01:20:00]:
So if it's a it's gonna take a while to to switch, but it's already into the companies. Like, most of the big companies, they already get it. They already have it in their inventory. They already work with it. Yeah. So it's just now when I have a client and they'll be like, I give you anything you want in a way. At the beginning, I was like, I don't support anymore mined diamonds because it's the mining, it's all those, problems that comes with it, you know, instead of being so eco friendly with having the ovens, you know, to grow the diamond. And now I'm just waiting or trying to bring awareness to people in a sense like, hey.

Vlad Margarit [01:20:48]:
Look over here. I get it. Your idea is that your belief is that the mind diamond is more valuable than this one when they are the same. The same thing. I can bring you 2 diamonds and, again, it's the same thing. But you, because you believe in something, you're gonna give this thing more valuable Yeah. More value, and you're gonna pay so much more when this thing is actually it can be the same color, same cards, same everything, and it's at this price. So at this point, it's up to you.

Vlad Margarit [01:21:17]:
What do you want? You wanna pay more because you believe in something? It's your idea because you cannot change your own mind, or you want this, which it makes sense because if we look technology evolves in all directions, we are so better with phones, with microphones, with everything, even with diamonds, which is a technology. I mean, now with all those things, we can make it, I mean, it's normal, like things to evolve, you know, to make them easier, easier, easier, and more accessible for everybody. So, again, it's just about your beliefs. If you believe you still want the mind, you're gonna pay a lot of money for nothing.

Raphael Harry [01:21:56]:
So and thank you for sharing that because I I was Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [01:22:00]:
This is just tip of the iceberg.

Raphael Harry [01:22:02]:
I I didn't even know about the lab. The lab diamonds. So, yeah, I've I've I'm honestly And

Vlad Margarit [01:22:09]:
that's why it felt like I need to help people become more aware about that you can have jewelry, which is something beautiful with Jewel. Right? Something and you can make your own.

Raphael Harry [01:22:20]:
So if if if I already have the the mined diamond

Vlad Margarit [01:22:27]:
Yeah.

Raphael Harry [01:22:27]:
And I brought it to you, like, a jewelry that was mined

Vlad Margarit [01:22:31]:
Yeah.

Raphael Harry [01:22:31]:
With, mined diamond.

Vlad Margarit [01:22:33]:
Okay. And I

Raphael Harry [01:22:34]:
brought it to you to resize.

Vlad Margarit [01:22:35]:
Yeah. We can.

Raphael Harry [01:22:36]:
You can still do I

Vlad Margarit [01:22:37]:
can do whatever you want. Work

Raphael Harry [01:22:38]:
with that.

Vlad Margarit [01:22:38]:
I'm not again, it's not like, oh, I don't want mined diamonds. No. They aren't on they exist. Okay. The plan is just I wish people would just stop mining Yeah. For a while. Just for a while. For 10 years, 50 years.

Vlad Margarit [01:22:49]:
Just stop.

Raphael Harry [01:22:50]:
Okay. Just stop. I'm I'm asking that in case somebody in the audience

Vlad Margarit [01:22:54]:
Yeah.

Raphael Harry [01:22:54]:
Was was listening, and they have that type of question. But, at the same time, what is, what if a big company wants to buy from you

Vlad Margarit [01:23:12]:
Mhmm.

Raphael Harry [01:23:13]:
And go resell at you know, what what if it becomes it starts buying from you and starts reselling at a higher value Your own jewelry, how would you feel about that?

Vlad Margarit [01:23:28]:
I mean, if you're a big company like this, you'll probably wanna find a manufacturer who will build for you exactly what you want. Because, usually, people take designs from one to another, change it a little bit. I don't see really I mean, there are companies who yeah. You can have your your piece, and you will create, like, 20 at 20 pieces for them. You know? It happens. The those things happen, but not not that much. When you're a big company, you usually get your own manufacturer. You kinda skip me

Raphael Harry [01:24:04]:
Oh, okay.

Vlad Margarit [01:24:04]:
In a way. I'm working with the manufacturers where I can produce the whole piece from which is amazing. And, actually, we we're doing also their social media. Because getting into doing this, jewelry, business, you have to learn social media. Right? You have to learn IG, Facebook, TikTok. So we had a lot of things to learn about social media, yeah, in content create creation. And that's how we also kinda been pushed into this other industry. Right? The social media stuff.

Raphael Harry [01:24:44]:
Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [01:24:45]:
Which you have to learn how to know how to bring it and push your jewelry brand with it, you know, like, bring it out there and show. And that's why photo shoots. That's why still doing with models, still doing so many things. And because we did a pretty good job and some friends of ours, which we work with, they reach out, and now we also help them do their own accounts. You know, we manage their accounts, which is pretty interesting, and I love it.

Raphael Harry [01:25:12]:
Okay.

Vlad Margarit [01:25:12]:
So right now, we try to relaunch our brand. Yeah. Because we invested so much time helping our friends with Yeah. I mean, also getting paid, but help and learn more things

Raphael Harry [01:25:27]:
Mhmm.

Vlad Margarit [01:25:29]:
About this social media and how to present the brand and things like this. And we re we really enjoy this thing too. So we just let things go naturally. You know? Not like crazy, push crazy, or obsessive, you know, let's get rich tomorrow. K. We just wanna put bricks by bricks, you know, and the right way and not to it is tough, but, you know, you have to keep doing it and eventually end up having something built.

Raphael Harry [01:26:05]:
There you go.

Vlad Margarit [01:26:06]:
Otherwise, it's just gonna be yeah. And right now, I'm just trying to find a way to be to find my place, you know, in jewelry industry, in this content creation, and also bring the philosophy, the IPR, the individual psychological revolution, mission that I wanna push. And I think this will help people even though even even if it's, like, not too many. I'm just you know, like, we share ideas between us. I wanna share with others. Yeah. Exactly.

Raphael Harry [01:26:44]:
So I need to start getting close

Vlad Margarit [01:26:46]:
to person is fine.

Raphael Harry [01:26:48]:
I need to start getting close to wrapping up. But before

Vlad Margarit [01:26:50]:
Yeah.

Raphael Harry [01:26:51]:
We start getting to the final stretch, Do you mind sharing one strategy that has been successful in marketing your brand on social media?

Vlad Margarit [01:27:03]:
On social media? Consistency. That's, like, the first one. Okay. You really have to be consistent. And the best way to do it, it's plan ahead. Don't rush to start. It's better just put 30 days of content ahead and then start it. So then at least you have time to to build more, to create more content because it's it's a lot of time consuming.

Raphael Harry [01:27:29]:
It is.

Vlad Margarit [01:27:30]:
Building it. You know?

Raphael Harry [01:27:31]:
I should do that.

Vlad Margarit [01:27:32]:
All those things and plus editing, and it's it's so much to learn. It's so, so, yeah, it's consistency. Very good ways to collaborate with other creators. It's very important. And show your face. Tell your story. Explain the situation, you know, like, the daily life in your industry. Like, what's happening? How you doing? How you deal with it? Because you'll find people who are more advanced than you or behind you or it doesn't matter.

Vlad Margarit [01:28:05]:
You're just gonna eventually, somebody will find in your niche where you are and understand and make sense for them. It's always again, you need, to be authentic in a sense, like, put my biggest challenge that I found is to show my face, you know, put it on social. I'm we grow up with no phones, no being you know, it's just us and then to show or I don't like showing off or anything. You know? But people enjoy seeing those things. And at the end of the day, when I realize I'm doing I'm I'm sharing my experiences, you know Mhmm. Which is not about me, but just as as life lessons for somebody can help. Because it's better to learn than hit your head. You know? When somebody tells you, hey.

Vlad Margarit [01:28:58]:
Watch your head. It's better to kinda watch your head then boom, hit it.

Raphael Harry [01:29:00]:
Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [01:29:01]:
You don't wanna do that. Right? So

Raphael Harry [01:29:04]:
You know what? There's one question I forgot to ask, which before I move on, I have to ask this question. How do you maintain a work life balance while running a business with your spouse?

Vlad Margarit [01:29:19]:
So how do I have balance?

Raphael Harry [01:29:21]:
Yeah. Work life balance because

Vlad Margarit [01:29:23]:
Oh, okay.

Raphael Harry [01:29:23]:
You know, you you you've brought you mentioned it once or twice, you know, right from your teenage years. You've been working a lot.

Vlad Margarit [01:29:31]:
Mhmm.

Raphael Harry [01:29:31]:
And you never you know, there was lack of vacation, lack of breaks.

Vlad Margarit [01:29:36]:
Yeah.

Raphael Harry [01:29:37]:
And now you're working with your spouse, your partner. So you're at a point where you you you you I think I believe you you now know the value of having balance to your work. Mhmm.

Vlad Margarit [01:29:51]:
So

Raphael Harry [01:29:51]:
how do you manage that?

Vlad Margarit [01:29:55]:
It seems to me that the most important thing is to make time for yourself first, you know, like, to have time. Today, I have a bad hair day, which is a little stressful, but it doesn't matter. You know? Not every day the same.

Raphael Harry [01:30:09]:
We we all do.

Vlad Margarit [01:30:15]:
Again, I think making sure you have your daily workout, whatever it is, more or less the the sufficient I mean, sufficient. The good nutrition in a way to eat, and you have to get to know yourself. And to do that, you have to take care of yourself, you know, in a sense, like, work out a little bit, what you eat. You have to have a little bit of your rituals to put yourself in a good, healthy mindset in a way. Learn new things, of course, all the time. And the rest of the when problems come at you because usually a problem is something thrown at you. You know? It's not like, oh, so when you end up having those unexpected problems or situations, you're apt to deal with them. You know? You're you already did your workout.

Vlad Margarit [01:31:15]:
You already ate. So now, okay, let's deal with what's the situation. And to find this what helps me find balance. And also you in a way, we have to set time in a way to do things and not to stay in them too long Yeah. Because then you ignore other things. So the balance that's a good question. You know? Because balance right now, the earth is spinning, but we are in balance. You know what I mean? We don't feel the spin.

Vlad Margarit [01:31:48]:
We just feel the gravity. So it's it's very interesting on many parts. I think balance, you need those moments when, you have to in our days, you have to put your phone down and listen. Listen to your neighbors, to the birds outside. Listen. You know? In a city, it's kinda hard to listen far, but sometimes I like to listen, like, 2, 3 blocks away. You know? When you hear an ambulance going a little 5 blocks from you, but you can still hear it. So if you can, with your sensors, become aware and and listen and feel things around you, that's what really help you not be distracted, like pulled all over the place by Mhmm.

Vlad Margarit [01:32:30]:
Distractions, you know, in our life, whether it's a phone or it's somebody or whatever, if we can always bring ourselves in the present moment, that's when you when you, again, you see what's happening and you the situation will show you what to do.

Raphael Harry [01:32:48]:
You and your partner.

Vlad Margarit [01:32:49]:
And between me and my partner is the same because I kinda know when she's in a bad mood. You know, when you live together, you kinda feel how you wake up, how you live today.

Raphael Harry [01:32:57]:
Surprised. Not everybody does that. You know? Even even if they work together. You know? I've see I've seen it.

Vlad Margarit [01:33:01]:
I agree. I agree. I agree. Because that's you know, why is that happening? And, I mean, why is it I think that happens. It's because people build those images about others. You know? Especially when you live with somebody, you're like, ah, I know what you're doing. And when you already know what the other is doing, that's what exactly what it is. You have a image about that person.

Vlad Margarit [01:33:23]:
Now those days, it's a movie. It's a video. You know? It's not just an image. But you have that image in your head about that person with all the past things, the the stories that I told you. So in a way, you kinda get bored of it. You know? It's like you always have it there. So that's why, again, the art of dying, it's so important because you always see this person with fresh eyes every day. If I start to remember everything that my wife and I did or arguments or happiness or things that we did before, it's just gonna add up more weight to me thinking about her or when it comes for me to take a decision about her.

Vlad Margarit [01:34:00]:
She's she's not the same like she was 2 years ago or even a month ago. You know what I mean? We grow. We have we adapt. We evolve. It's culture. This is what it is. So I'm always trying to start every day. It's a rebirth in a way.

Vlad Margarit [01:34:17]:
And, okay, it's a new day. Always try to give your best, like, you know, do your stuff in the morning, put yourself in a position where you where you you feel good.

Raphael Harry [01:34:26]:
I like that.

Vlad Margarit [01:34:27]:
Every day is approach life.

Raphael Harry [01:34:28]:
Every day is a rebirth.

Vlad Margarit [01:34:29]:
I like

Raphael Harry [01:34:30]:
I like that for you.

Vlad Margarit [01:34:31]:
It is. It is.

Raphael Harry [01:34:31]:
It is. It is.

Vlad Margarit [01:34:32]:
And I'm not saying that it says

Raphael Harry [01:34:34]:
like, oh No. I I get the point you're making, but I I like the way you I like the way you phrased it. Every day is a rebirth.

Vlad Margarit [01:34:40]:
Let go and then

Raphael Harry [01:34:41]:
I'll borrow that.

Vlad Margarit [01:34:42]:
That's how you always gonna have this patience for your spouse. That's how you're gonna have more, I don't know, compassion with it, you know, because you don't approach it with the idea of yesterday. Yes. Yesterday, I get it. Yesterday was a shit show, you know, because everybody has days and days. Yeah. And not just me, but you again, you see society sometimes you cannot go outside because in Canada, it's a huge fire and you cannot breathe outside with fires. I hope it's not gonna start now.

Raphael Harry [01:35:14]:
Right. It's quite the time. It's coming. But It's coming. Bad news. It's coming.

Vlad Margarit [01:35:18]:
So you see, sometimes we really have to find

Raphael Harry [01:35:21]:
And we have spiders coming too.

Vlad Margarit [01:35:22]:
Put our distractions on the sign and just stay there and listen to your body. You see how it feels. See what you ate, how you feel. Observe the intelligence of the body, you know, and find balance through those things. Yeah. To the facts, to fundamentals. Those are the one who will help you have a stable mindset, you know, like, okay, because you can move through thought to thought, but those can be superficial or fake thoughts or beliefs and whatever. But when you have facts on facts, you can stand on in a sense like, okay, this is my this is solid.

Vlad Margarit [01:35:56]:
So through those things, you can have a better

Raphael Harry [01:35:59]:
Thank you, Alan.

Vlad Margarit [01:36:00]:
Thank you.

Raphael Harry [01:36:00]:
Appreciate that. So, wrap up questions.

Vlad Margarit [01:36:07]:
Yes.

Raphael Harry [01:36:08]:
There's no way I'm gonna let you go without getting asking you a music question. So, I had to change my music question from the usual way I ask

Vlad Margarit [01:36:20]:
Okay.

Raphael Harry [01:36:20]:
Because you are an unusual guest.

Vlad Margarit [01:36:24]:
Okay. I like that.

Raphael Harry [01:36:25]:
So, how do you incorporate music when you work? And who are your favorite 3 artists to go to when creating a jewelry piece?

Vlad Margarit [01:36:37]:
Oh, interesting. So we really like listening to music, you know, when we stay and work or even by myself. Mhmm. If I'm just working by myself and I had headphones, I really like to listen somebody like, Rudovic Enyadi. It's a piano Mhmm.

Raphael Harry [01:36:56]:
Yeah. I figured.

Vlad Margarit [01:36:58]:
Yeah. It's so good. It gives me really into some

Raphael Harry [01:37:00]:
had a Ludovic who's not, in either piano or Mhmm. Orchestra.

Vlad Margarit [01:37:06]:
Yeah. Exactly. He has some amazing things, and I like his live ones when they just keep going. We also when we work together, because we kinda work together, we we're building her phone on on Spotify. We have those, you know, like songs, and most of them are are with voice, are without. We have different different it's it's, it's a random. Yeah. But we listen to a lot of also new new music.

Vlad Margarit [01:37:38]:
We listen to a lot of podcasts. If it's like not a when it's a work, just editing some easy stuff. Give us to talk.

Raphael Harry [01:37:50]:
2 2 more artists.

Vlad Margarit [01:37:51]:
You've mentioned 1. For music? Okay.

Raphael Harry [01:37:56]:
That you could listen to for an hour. Give us you've given us a little bit

Vlad Margarit [01:38:00]:
mix is not and I'm not sure. Some of them, she knows the artist.

Raphael Harry [01:38:04]:
Yeah. So you're like me. Sometimes it's just a song that

Vlad Margarit [01:38:07]:
Yeah. It can be also Drake if it's something new or popular. Depends what is on the on the time, you know, it can be

Raphael Harry [01:38:14]:
It's about time with Drake. You know? It's fast. Now Drake mentioned a long time, but, well, by the time this episode comes out, lady Drake is back again. Yeah. Right? But, Drake, join my Patreon. I would, you know, if it's alright. Kid kid dogs can't find you there.

Vlad Margarit [01:38:38]:
The way yeah. Usually it's like, yeah. Usually it's like Shazam. You go to places, you hear another one, then you add a deal list.

Raphael Harry [01:38:45]:
You're like me, man. I've I've I've

Vlad Margarit [01:38:47]:
I have We go with the flow. I I the flow. We go

Raphael Harry [01:38:50]:
with the flow. Songs from everywhere. Well, you got any Romanian artist you can introduce me to? I think, the only person I know who might I think I think she's Bulgarian. Ina.

Vlad Margarit [01:39:00]:
Oh, Ina. I know she's Romanian.

Raphael Harry [01:39:02]:
She's Romanian?

Vlad Margarit [01:39:02]:
Yeah. Oh. So, yeah, something popular like Ina or Alex Velas.

Raphael Harry [01:39:06]:
There's only one song from Ina, but I was in Bahrain when that song came, song is up.

Vlad Margarit [01:39:12]:
It's great. Yeah.

Raphael Harry [01:39:12]:
The song is up. And my boy put me on that song when I was in Bahrain, and that song was popping. She was supposed to come. It said she was coming for a concert and, No.

Vlad Margarit [01:39:22]:
She was here for a concert recently.

Raphael Harry [01:39:24]:
No. No. No. When I was in Bahrain. When I left Bahrain, it was over. That was the only time I could go to

Vlad Margarit [01:39:28]:
I think last month. Yeah. That's when

Raphael Harry [01:39:29]:
I was on my clubbing. After then, I was done. I ain't done. I ain't I haven't done clubbing like that. Yeah. My club expired.

Vlad Margarit [01:39:37]:
The time?

Raphael Harry [01:39:38]:
Yeah. But that song, Stay With Me, whom my daughter now knows Ina. Mhmm. That's only just that one song. The song is up. Yep. Something

Vlad Margarit [01:39:48]:
how was it? Not from my video. Oh, holograph. Holograph, it means hologram. No. Yeah. No. No. No.

Vlad Margarit [01:39:58]:
It's not hologram. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it, they have those love songs, those beautiful, beautiful songs. Amazing. Amazing. But again, you have to know Romanian.

Raphael Harry [01:40:10]:
So Hey. I don't know. I don't know.

Vlad Margarit [01:40:12]:
Even though if it even if you don't No. All the language is still

Raphael Harry [01:40:15]:
on my phone, but,

Vlad Margarit [01:40:16]:
You know, songs that I

Raphael Harry [01:40:17]:
got some popping songs.

Vlad Margarit [01:40:19]:
Mhmm.

Raphael Harry [01:40:19]:
Some is popping. Some is just I got Ethiopian jazz.

Vlad Margarit [01:40:23]:
Yeah. I was I was

Raphael Harry [01:40:24]:
just got melody from him. I got a big. I got yeah. That song is just Same. That's all I need. It's just the melody. Exactly. Yeah.

Raphael Harry [01:40:31]:
Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. My my kid got our own playlist too.

Vlad Margarit [01:40:35]:
So Yeah.

Raphael Harry [01:40:35]:
We hear my kids plays. I'm like, dang. Your kid. Wow. She she got music from everywhere. I'm like, mhmm. Because sometimes she has me listening to mine. She's like, I want that song.

Raphael Harry [01:40:45]:
Give me that song. Well, there you go. Put that into your playlist.

Vlad Margarit [01:40:52]:
But now I just remember, going back to vampires. It's such a good show, what we do in the shadows.

Raphael Harry [01:41:00]:
Oh, man. Man. The movie?

Vlad Margarit [01:41:03]:
It's a show

Raphael Harry [01:41:04]:
movie and the show?

Vlad Margarit [01:41:05]:
The show. Yeah. What We Do in the Shadows. I'm not sure if it's a movie. I don't know. I just

Raphael Harry [01:41:08]:
The original? You haven't seen the original movie?

Vlad Margarit [01:41:10]:
No. The

Raphael Harry [01:41:11]:
show is based on the movie.

Vlad Margarit [01:41:12]:
Oh, okay.

Raphael Harry [01:41:13]:
Yeah. Taika Waititi. He's he's the executive director. The first season of the show. Yeah. It was his movie that they based the show on. Well, the show is the American version of the movie because the movie was set in New Zealand.

Vlad Margarit [01:41:29]:
Okay.

Raphael Harry [01:41:29]:
Yeah. And then they they made the American version, which

Vlad Margarit [01:41:32]:
is set in South Africa. Everyone now.

Raphael Harry [01:41:34]:
Oh, it's it's my hilarious. It's so

Vlad Margarit [01:41:36]:
good. It's hilarious. It's so good, man.

Raphael Harry [01:41:38]:
I haven't caught up to the recent

Vlad Margarit [01:41:39]:
And this is the second time we started. Oh, it's crazy.

Raphael Harry [01:41:42]:
It's crazy. Yeah. That's, yeah. Highly recommended. It's fantastic acting and writing.

Vlad Margarit [01:41:49]:
Yeah.

Raphael Harry [01:41:49]:
Yeah. So, final, fun question, but my questions are fun anyway. I arrive in Bucharest right now. What do I have to eat? What do you recommend that I have to eat to say I've been to Bucharest and Romania? What's your favorite cuisine to try?

Vlad Margarit [01:42:11]:
It's funny. I mean, the cuisine is pretty, it's pretty heavy in a way. The dishes are pretty heavy, but they're also long cooked. So it's good. You know, the the meat is

Raphael Harry [01:42:22]:
I can I can I can handle that? Mhmm.

Vlad Margarit [01:42:25]:
It's very good food.

Raphael Harry [01:42:26]:
My big boy.

Vlad Margarit [01:42:27]:
But what will I eat if I go back now to Bucharest?

Raphael Harry [01:42:30]:
No. No. You. Me.

Vlad Margarit [01:42:31]:
I'm Oh, you? You should also? The shawarma.

Raphael Harry [01:42:34]:
Oh, you've got shawarma too?

Vlad Margarit [01:42:36]:
Even though it's from, Turkey and stuff, but we have some good I was gonna explain that. Places there. You can try, like, stuffed cabbage rolls.

Raphael Harry [01:42:47]:
Right, man.

Vlad Margarit [01:42:48]:
You're gonna if you go to Romania, you're gonna have a lot of Romanian traditional stuff. But what I'm saying, what is good good over

Raphael Harry [01:42:54]:
there What you gonna recommend that I must, like, visit the food you guys try for.

Vlad Margarit [01:42:58]:
Exactly that one.

Raphael Harry [01:42:59]:
That when I come back from Romania, I'm gonna tell people I've been to Romania. It's this. And they're gonna say, oh, he been there.

Vlad Margarit [01:43:06]:
He Okay.

Raphael Harry [01:43:06]:
Had it.

Vlad Margarit [01:43:08]:
I think that's the best one. Yeah. The rolled, cabbage. So it's the cabbage leaf, and you put a ground beef meat. Okay. You can mix it sometimes with lamb, I think, or it depends.

Raphael Harry [01:43:23]:
It goes there.

Vlad Margarit [01:43:23]:
Some rice. So you make those cabbage rolls.

Raphael Harry [01:43:26]:
Okay.

Vlad Margarit [01:43:27]:
And, you make probably, like, 50 of them. Depends where and you also have this chopped cabbage next to it, and then you put some tomato sauce. It's a little smoky. You first, you have it on the stove, then you put it in the oven. It's a long term cooked, and you have those cabbage rolls, rolled meat with cabbage rolls. You have it with polenta and also, like, pickled serrano chili and some cheese or no. Not cheese. You can have it with sour cream.

Vlad Margarit [01:44:04]:
So those is, like, a very nice, good dish. Also, the the broth over there, the, soup Mhmm. They're also very good.

Raphael Harry [01:44:12]:
So where's that dish going?

Vlad Margarit [01:44:14]:
In Romania? Yeah. Saramale. Saramale. Saramale. Yeah.

Raphael Harry [01:44:18]:
Saramale. That's not bad. Okay. I can I can do that? Saramale. Yeah. Saramale.

Vlad Margarit [01:44:24]:
A r n

Raphael Harry [01:44:26]:
Any any, Romanian places that you recommend around here?

Vlad Margarit [01:44:34]:
Around here? Yeah. I know a few places. It's this guy. I just start following me now on his Instagram, and he's really, you know, Romania became so popular since Andrew Tate. You know? Andrew Tate kind of put it on the on the on the globe map.

Raphael Harry [01:44:53]:
That did.

Vlad Margarit [01:44:55]:
Oh, people And that's when it really explode. But, yeah, I see a lot of people now. They keep, catching it and bring it and make

Raphael Harry [01:45:03]:
it in Romania since the days of Georgi Hagi.

Vlad Margarit [01:45:06]:
Yeah. Georgi Hagi. Yeah.

Raphael Harry [01:45:08]:
Like, Hagi. Hagi. Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [01:45:10]:
He was so good. Right?

Raphael Harry [01:45:11]:
Good baller there. Yeah. And everybody died Also Everybody died their hair on, in France 98. All the Romanian players died their hair. But y'all ain't know nothing about that. Your audience, young young young cats. Yeah. Oh, join my Patreon.

Raphael Harry [01:45:25]:
I'll teach you more stuff. Put you on some game.

Vlad Margarit [01:45:28]:
Yeah. Legend. Yeah. Haji is a

Raphael Harry [01:45:30]:
legend. Haji. Patrescu. Yeah. I don't know my Romanian ballas?

Vlad Margarit [01:45:36]:
Mhmm. Yeah. You do. Alright. So, yeah, a few in New York, there are a couple of Romanian things or Romanian places where you can go. I don't remember the exact names, but the most traditional one will be Romanian garden. It's in Sunnyside, I think.

Raphael Harry [01:45:54]:
Okay. Well, anyone you remember, send it to me. The audience don't need to know.

Vlad Margarit [01:45:57]:
Just hook

Raphael Harry [01:45:58]:
me up.

Vlad Margarit [01:45:58]:
Yeah. That's, like, really where you're gonna find, sarmale

Raphael Harry [01:46:00]:
Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [01:46:01]:
Romanian style good, with, ingredients from there. I think they still bring it. I know the owner, and she was bringing most of it from Romania. Yeah. So it's like authentic food.

Raphael Harry [01:46:11]:
Sweet. Alright. So can't thank you enough for giving me your time.

Vlad Margarit [01:46:15]:
Thank you. I really appreciate it.

Raphael Harry [01:46:16]:
Appreciate you and sharing a lot. And teach me how to spell it on the diamond stuff, and the revolution, all those great memories. So final question. What would you like to leave the audience with? It's your freestyle moment.

Vlad Margarit [01:46:32]:
Go. Freestyle moment.

Raphael Harry [01:46:33]:
Yeah.

Vlad Margarit [01:46:36]:
I think, that's the only one with the the IPR, the individual psychological revolution. I think if you if you discover the way to empty your mind in a sense, Just be free. Be, you know, open minded and so you can observe what's happening around you, then you'll be much better at what you're doing in that sense. Otherwise, it's just acting according to some. You know, it's like, be responsible for You don't have to be responsible for because that's include implies a motive. Right? You have to be responsible. And either you're responsible for your kid kid or you're responsible for your cleanliness. You're responsible for your community.

Vlad Margarit [01:47:31]:
You just be responsible, you know, as human. But when we put ourselves, oh, I'm responsible for this. I'm not responsible for that. What's gonna happen in a job situation, or this is not part of my job? But right now, it's nobody else. So can you please help with this? Or you know? So people need to really not I hope humans will stop identifying so much or limit themselves so much with those ideas or beliefs that they really take on and hold on dearly. You know? Like, just be fluent. You know? I like water in a way. Just you're not gonna be the same like you were young and grow and still growing, and we still have 10, 20, 40 years, I hope, right, to live.

Vlad Margarit [01:48:17]:
So I can't wait to see how I'm gonna be when I'm gonna be 70, 80, you know, and how my mind my mind state is gonna be at that time. And the most imp I mean, the most important thing. I think if as human being, we can understand suffering. Right? Because it teaches us a lot, the suffering that we see around us, which we all share in our, human mind human consciousness. If we can understand suffering and learn from it and empty ourselves from this grudge of, oh, you did this or you did that. You you're like that. You're like that. All this division that it it doesn't make the it's not necessary, you know, when it comes to relationship.

Vlad Margarit [01:48:58]:
You really have to put your image on the side and don't build an image for that person, even it's your partner or your friend or wherever it is. Just always approach things new in a new way. Rebirth, you know, the learn the art of dying. Understand. Think about death in a way. It's not we all die. Everything dies. Even the sun, even the planet, everything.

Vlad Margarit [01:49:19]:
It has a beginning and a and a end. So the the more we understand that life and death are 1 and suffering is somewhere in the middle that it's part of where we start learning. Right? Because we learn as kids very quickly when we put our hand in the fire. Oh, shit. Right? We learn through those suffering and pain. It teaches us a lot. So just be open minded, and that's that's about it. You know? Like, intelligence intelligence is gonna it is and always was in a way, but now it's getting closer to be to happen more in our life because humans have became become more saturated about technology, food, and everything.

Vlad Margarit [01:50:06]:
Right now, if you have a job, you can here in the states, for example, you can be you're able to have most of the things. Right? You can have a good bathroom. You can have a good meal. You can have good stuff. So we're slowly slowly starting to understand that, okay, we can have those just with the regular job, you know. You don't have to be a billionaire just to afford some good food or a good place to put your head down. And I hope that this will bring more openness to the true relationships. Not relationships for, but relationships.

Vlad Margarit [01:50:39]:
You know? Because I we are in relationship now as friends. I'm in a relationship with my wife. I'm in a relationship with my dog. I'm in a relationship with the nature, with the community. We're not living. I'm trying to be you know? I'm being responsible, taking care of myself, taking care of the things around me, to make trash, don't litter. Right? Don't it's a lot of mind your own business in a way, but make sure you're doing it right. And to do that, you really have to be free from your own beliefs.

Vlad Margarit [01:51:10]:
Because since we start as babies, right, people will tell you, do this, do that, go to school, believe in this, believe in that. A lot of things that some of them don't even believe in after a while, or they were just lying, or they were just saying what somebody else said. So it's a lot of trash from a lot of people. So if we can cleanse ourselves from those things and just understand how to use them and also build up those skills from learning and and working and doing things in in different industry, not just one, because once you limit yourself to 1 industry, which is totally okay, not saying no, but you're just gonna understand a little bit of life. And if you want to approach those daily life, those huge problems of living, especially into our or in today, you have to have a holistic mind. You know? You have to have a a mind that it's sees the whole picture, not just one. You cannot see fragments. If you see fragments, that means you see from disbelief and your experiences.

Raphael Harry [01:52:22]:
You can't have empathy for

Vlad Margarit [01:52:23]:
Yeah. And now with social media and Internet, we see so much stuff. Right?

Raphael Harry [01:52:28]:
Well, I

Vlad Margarit [01:52:28]:
I see that. Ago, we didn't see

Raphael Harry [01:52:30]:
We only see one picture too because at the end of the day, with social media, it's whatever you believe, it feeds you.

Vlad Margarit [01:52:37]:
Yeah. It's the same. The algorithm is kinda which is which is good. And that's

Raphael Harry [01:52:41]:
another It's also bad too.

Vlad Margarit [01:52:42]:
It it is bad because we don't how to use it. Because it puts

Raphael Harry [01:52:45]:
you in one big bubble. Yeah. Whatever you want, it just loads you. But I got we gotta we gotta bring you in for a part 2. Yeah. Because really, you you know, you got a lot. Yeah. Because

Vlad Margarit [01:52:57]:
there's so much. There's so

Raphael Harry [01:52:58]:
much stuff

Vlad Margarit [01:52:58]:
on the

Raphael Harry [01:52:59]:
Freeload Ads a lot. You give them too much. Way too much.

Vlad Margarit [01:53:02]:
Okay. I'm not sure what that is. But

Raphael Harry [01:53:06]:
but thank you again. I I usually I usually thank you in in, your it's Romanian. Right? Yeah. Motumesque. Motumesque. Motumesque. Motumesque.

Vlad Margarit [01:53:15]:
Yes.

Raphael Harry [01:53:16]:
Okay. See, I got I got a new thank you now. So I add that to my list. So, where can people find you if people wanna get in touch?

Vlad Margarit [01:53:25]:
I mean, my page is not that important. Now I'm trying to, Well,

Raphael Harry [01:53:29]:
you got you got a brand, so you're

Vlad Margarit [01:53:31]:
a business. I agree. Sure. You see, my mind was also on the IPR more. So I have my own page where you over there, you're gonna see the jewelry business. So it's Toebo Vlad. Toebo is my nickname from back home.

Raphael Harry [01:53:45]:
Okay.

Vlad Margarit [01:53:46]:
T o b o, Vlad. And that's my Instagram. And, the other profile that I'm trying somehow to bring awareness in you know, I believe we have to give back. You know, as humans, we learn. We we we accumulate in a way, but then we have to share it. We have to give it back because we don't take anything with us. So my way of giving back, I see is this IPR mission that I hope is gonna bring in intelligence to people. And, yeah, that's about it.

Raphael Harry [01:54:19]:
Alright. So top of Vlad, the the IG page will be in the show notes.

Vlad Margarit [01:54:24]:
Okay.

Raphael Harry [01:54:25]:
And yeah. Go there. Get your great jewelry and Yes. Get on the IPR. Alright.

Vlad Margarit [01:54:32]:
I'll I'll start posting more for how to

Raphael Harry [01:54:34]:
Say say thank you again. Motomask. Motomask.

Vlad Margarit [01:54:38]:
Yes.

Raphael Harry [01:54:38]:
Everybody. And

Vlad Margarit [01:54:39]:
Thank you.

Raphael Harry [01:54:40]:
See you at the next episode. Keep the love coming in. 5 stars. Join Patreon and, yeah, open your minds. Thanks for listening to White Label American. If you enjoy the show, we'll appreciate if you rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your podcast from. If you have any comments, or have someone who will be a good guest on the show or you want to be on the show, send us a message at white labelamerican@gmail.com. And make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram at white label American.

Raphael Harry [01:55:21]:
Thank you for your support.