Hi, I'm Megan Segura. And I'm Eric J. Mack. And this is the Daily Dish, Bravo's official podcast.
Well, Megan, before we get into it, I have a question for you. Yes. So I want to know where you fall on the Christmas tree spectrum in that are you an immediately after Thanksgiving, full speed ahead, Christmas, the tree goes up. Or are you like a.
Let's wait, get into December and then we can worry about decorating. Okay, I am firmly in the Thanksgiving is over. Let's talk about Christmas. Mainly because I always felt that Thanksgiving was a throwaway holiday because you don't get gifts, so what's the point?
True. But yeah, after Thanksgiving, meal was finished immediately Christmas music went on, went out to look at lights like that. I get so excited for Christmas. I'm gonna celebrate as long as possible.
The problem is I'm moving on Friday. That's right. So I have to wait to get the tree. Oh, no.
But that could be one of the first things you help set up, like, in the new place. Like, move in, get everything arranged, like, figure out where the tree is gonna go. It's like it's a part of the move in process. Yes.
What about you? Well, I usually like a little bit of a buffer in between. Like, I like Thanksgiving to end and be like, there's that and then a little bit of time. But Danny and I, pretty quickly after Thanksgiving, I think it was like the Saturday or Sunday after just last week that we went out and got the tree because we're like, look, 2020 has been a rough year for everybody.
What sparks more joy than Christmas and decorating and lights and pretty shiny things? So we were like, let's just do it. Let's just get a tree. So it's all set up.
It has Mariah on the top. Like, I always put. We've got our decorations up and we're slowly now getting present. I did a little, you know, shopping on Small Business Saturday, and, like, I just think we deserve it, you know, we've all a most wonderful time of the year.
Right. I might have to hit you up for some gift ideas later because men are so hard to shop for. I know, I know. I think I've mentioned it on the show before.
It's one of those things I'm just not good at, like, picking out gifts for people. If I come across something, I convince myself in my mind that it will work for the person that I think it will work for. Whether it actually does, I don't know. Yeah.
Well, speaking of Christmas gifts, we have an early one this year because we have the super tease for season five of the Real Housewives of Dallas. Oh, my God. Okay, let's play the audio. Welcome to South Fork Ranch.
We're doing a shock. Oh, my gosh. Randy's dad. Who killed you?
I don't know. I'm dead. This is how we do it in Dallas. This is a Runway walk.
How have we been handling the coronavirus? I think Dandra's about to have orgasm. We've all taken this quarantine very seriously. Damn.
It's been really nice having a doctor around. She's sweet and I'm sour. Is it? You're working every day.
Your job is a little different than what we do. Better than didy helter. All she does is give or no fighting and be honest. I know that's really hard in this group.
You're very. No face. I'm not guilty. That's a lie.
That's a lie. You've been getting along as we've been quarantining. Am I in middle school again? Oh, yeah.
Jimmy. My burden. That's my Rose Sakura burden. That sure as hell feel like it.
Do you think I'm an optimistic person that does things for personal gain? You're darn right I do. I want to give them the childhood den I never have. I feel like you do not take me seriously.
Probably true. Everyone wears masks. I literally just myself. I may not be the type of friend that you expect, but I'm doing the best I can.
You made one mistake. One mistake. What you did was wrong. You know that.
That is. Whenever she drinks, she puts. I'm afraid what's going to happen next. This world really could be coming to an end.
I won't do so much, and I'm done. All right. My first thought is new housewife Dr. Tiffany Moon.
She's getting a lot of attention in this super tease, which I feel like not every new housewife does. Right. That's true. Yeah.
She is clearly very much in the thick of the drama, which is good. You know, I thought it was interest all the stuff with Brandy, which I think is referring to some of the more personal headlines that made the news last year. And I'm glad we're not glossing over that. But I don't know.
I guess it's weird because are we. I know this like it was filmed in the time of COVID but on one hand, they're wearing the masks, and on the other, they're out and about. They're all together. It's very Confusing to me.
Right? Yeah. I mean, with something like Super Tease, you're not really sure the actual order of events. Right.
So it was kind of like one section in the middle. They're wearing those face shields, which I did notice. We had those in the Real Houses of Atlanta. Super teas, too.
So at least, you know, we're dealing with Orange county and Southern Charm right now, where production had been shut down and it's just picking back up. So we're definitely going to see that Covid experience. But the face shields, oddly, don't bother me. We should know they're kind of like.
And they work as a dramatic accessory because Deandra's slamming hers down at the end, right? Yeah, she's getting all dramatic, like, slamming it down, and Brandy's trying to figure out how to take a sip of her drink with it. Like, that will definitely add a layer of physical comedy that we don't always get with Housewives. But there is an awful lot of, like, falling and stumbling and all of that, too, that we saw in this trailer.
I am so excited. That premiere is January 5th at 9, 8 Central. Also with Real Housewives of Atlanta just around the Corner, premiering tomorrow, Sunday, 12, 6. We have season seven through 12.
Have been marathoning all week, and I think they're still going today. So check that out if you haven't, because we have a new season of Atlanta coming. Yeah. That season 13 premiere is Sunday, December 6th at 8, 7 Central.
And perhaps my favorite season of Real Housewives of Potomac, probably everybody's. The finale is also on Sunday at 9, 8 Central. So we are saying goodbye to a season that I have held very near and dear in the last few months, being a part of the after show. So I can't believe it's coming to a close.
But that said, this reunion is much needed. Yeah, I mean, we can't be too sad about finale because the reunion is coming. All those pretty ladies in yellow. All right, what are we recapping today?
We're talking about Real Housewives of Potomac, Real Houses of Orange county, and Real Houses of Salt Lake City. Plus, we have an interview with the leader of the Shaw squad, Jen Shaw from Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Okay, let's get into Potomac. So the big situation that's going on in this episode really is did she or didn't she Karen inviting Monique around the same time as Candace to this event?
Right, Right. Okay. So from my perspective, it seems that Karen was just trying to manage the situation to avoid them coming in contact with each other. But that's not really how everybody feels.
Here is my thought that maybe Karen was, as you were saying, trying to manage it so that they weren't running into each other. Maybe that was her whole intention. Maybe she was trying to get them to see each other. But I do believe in my heart of hearts that if that were the case, it was coming from a good place, that she wanted them to be able to have some sort of.
But at the same time, now that it's gotten legally, you know, there's legal ramifications to all of this. I don't know that she would go that far. Yeah, no, that's a good point. And I think you can see it in Karen's face, how she's, like, rushing Monique out the door when she finds out that Candace is on her way.
So maybe there was a miscommunication in the timing of the texts and everything, but it was clear that she told Monique to come earlier and that she wanted Candice to come with the rest of the women so that Karen could have her way, because she wants to be fair to both Candice and Monique through this whole process. And what's interesting is that in the after show, Karen actually admits that she should have clued Ashley into it, because we see Ashley being like, well, she said in Portugal that, you know, you aren't gonna come. But I think that was Karen just, like, trying to keep it simple and not overcomplicate it and reveal anything in front of Candace. Like, she just wanted to keep it very clean.
Be like, no, Monique's not coming to the event because she came earlier than everybody else. Right. Because if she says, yeah, I invited her, but don't worry, you're not gonna see her. That just opens a can of worms of, why are you talking to her?
Aren't you my friend? And Karen's had enough of that. Yeah, exactly. And it sounds like even in this episode, Monique, in her interview, she seems pretty understanding about it.
Like, she gets that. Okay, yeah, I want to come and support my friend Karen. I understand that she doesn't want to cause more of a conflict than already exists. So, you know, it was weird that, you know, Ashley brought up that, you know, she said, I was invited in Portugal and all that, but, you know, at the end of the day, that Karen was just trying to.
Two people in her life that she cares about. And I don't think everybody read it that way. Right. But I agree with you.
Yeah. One question I have for you is, do you think that Ashley's family knew of her And Michael's. We'll call it the Unconventional Marriage prior to this season airing. Now that everything's kind of come out on the show.
Yeah, it's so funny. I never even stopped to consider that. Right. On one hand, Ashley and her mom are super close, but on the other hand, that's not really necessarily something you would want to, you know, any aspect of your sex life you're not really going to be jumping to talk to your mom about.
Right. Yeah. It's not like, oh, baby, Dean said his first word today. You know, like, that's not going to come up in conversation in the same way.
Right. Oh, and also, Michael and I hooked up with this girl yesterday at an EDM concert. Yeah, no, exactly. I mean, it is just interesting because we see them sit down with Michael and Uncle Lump and Sheila.
They're both there and, you know, holding Michael accountable for what he's done. And not to excuse what he has done, but once you understand that other layer of Ashley and Michael's relationship, it just gives more context to the whole situation. So I do wonder if they would view it differently or if they knew or they didn't. It's kind of hard to know.
I feel like if I were him, though, I would make sure that the mom knew the truth. Yeah. You know, like, I. I wouldn't want Ashley to sort of throw me under the bus.
Like, can you, like, shock and horror? Can you believe he did this? It's a little bit more gray than that. I did want to say in this episode because I believe in giving kudos or kudos where they are deserved.
And Giselle looked really good at her photo shoot with her daughters. Oh, in the gold. Very beautiful. I just thought, well done all around.
Well, yeah. Let's talk about the photo shoot. She did look fantastic, which, like, I said, kudos to you, Giselle. But, you know, I felt really, really bad for her in this moment.
But I think we really got a glimpse into what her future with J is going to look like, because he's not really around. Okay. Not only that part of it, but the part where producers were like, were you upset? And she got really defensive and said, do I not seem upset?
What do you want me to do about it? People say that you are letting them off the hook. Are you disappointed? What makes you feel like I'm not?
What makes you feel like I'm not? I mean, I was disappointed. What do you want me to do? Fall on the floor and in a field position and ball out crying?
Like, no, that's not who I am. I just felt like, like you said, getting a glimpse at their future. She's always going to have to defend him now. Yeah.
You know, everyone knows about him. Everyone knows the mistakes he's made. And I think that that is the sad reality of getting back together with someone who's wronged you is you were going to constantly have to apologize for their behavior. Yeah, no, absolutely.
That producer was Kamar, who we've had on the show, and he's part of the after show as well, and he's been with Giselle from the beginning of the show and has really seen this evolution of her relationship with Jamal. So even though he's a producer, he's really not supposed to take a side or whatever. You can kind of almost hear it in the question of, like, giselle, give us something like, are you upset about this? And it is a moment that feels very real, and it's like her walls are up, and she already, like you said, no, she's gonna have to defend this relationship.
As long as she's in it. I don't foresee a time when that's not going to be the case. So it's just. It's a tough decision to make.
But if she feels like it's the best thing for her and her family, then, you know, I guess we gotta be on board with it. But do we? I mean, because even she's later with her daughters, like, I don't understand where this relationship is going. If her daughters are saying, do not ever move us.
We don't want to move to Atlanta one day. I like mailing, but when we do long visits, I want to go back home, but we have to have some place nice to stay, obviously. But, like, it's all, you want to move here. I mean, they're at an age where that would be a very trying thing, you know, to uproot teenagers, and they just are so not on board.
Even the idea of their dad coming to live with them for a week, they were very not cool with. I know. That was so interesting. They're like, what?
How long? It just. It is crazy to me that she can be so on board with this relationship then. Yeah, I know.
I don't know. There's something I think that we're not getting, and maybe at the reunion, they'll dig into it. Yeah. I trust that there's going to be something at the reunion about this and maybe an update from Giselle on where things stand and how they are planning to move forward in their relationship.
Because right now, it Feels like a stalemate. Like, I don't know where we go from here. Right? Okay, we talked about this last week, but I'm bringing up again because it keeps coming up.
In this episode, I need everyone to stop with this shade about Karen's wig line, okay? Because Karen is quiet about her businesses until it is the right time to announce it. We've seen her do that so many times, Ladon, with the, you know, the exploratory phase or whatever she was saying. And, you know, it'll be popping up somewhere very soon.
Like, she. She doesn't get too far ahead of herself. Because then how do you explain when a business doesn't take off but, like, leave everybody alone or leave Karen alone? Not just that, but they're talking about how she's probably just the face of this.
And, you know, that's okay, but, like, they clearly don't think it's okay. But why isn't that okay? Jennifer Aniston is the face of Aveeno and Smart Water and Emorett. Like, that's okay, you know, why is that a problem?
Good for her if she's getting money and doesn't even have to be investing in the product. You know what I mean? It just is so silly to me, right? Why is it anybody's business what her business is?
Like, just let it be. And she actually mentions in the after show as well that she had started a wig line years ago, and I think it was specifically for cancer patients. And then it didn't really take off the way that she wanted. So that particular initiative was put to rest.
And then this one came to be through just, like, a connection with, you know, the guy that she partners with, Steven, I think his name was the one who apparently says things about Giselle on social media, and that's why she didn't go. So, you know, everything has a time and a place. And I think Karen has been a lot more strategic about who she partners with and, like, what businesses she wants to get into. And it's not like we've seen.
It's like a Sonia Morgan, like, toast her up in, like, this movie's being made. Like, go shave of Sonia. But, you know, Karen, when she says something is happening, seems to follow through it. So I don't really understand the shade around it.
The other point that they're attacking her on is the not drinking and, oh, will you drink with Monique? So, like, it gets ulcer. I don't understand what the big deal is. Is, you know, like, okay, if you go to a work event Aren't you going to be watching how much you drink?
I mean, I'm not saying you. Because I don't eat wood. I'm not saying in our scenario that happens when we swap for drinks after work. But like, yes, I get your person does because they don't want to make a fool of themselves.
What if that's what she's just trying to do is like, she knows that she said too much before when she drank and she's going to be mindful of that. I think that's okay. Yeah, she's going to be mindful of her Kiki moments is what she calls them. She says she gets one a season and that's it.
Plus, I don't blame her for drinking champagne at a one year old birthday party because what else are you going to do there? And you know, not to jump too far ahead, but we're going to talk about it in O.C. you know, Shannon is someone who doesn't stop drinking for the cameras. And then that's a problem too for.
So there is just no winning, right? No, that's true. One thing that comes up at the wig party once we finally get there is Robin says something about, you know, Karen's drinking and Karen's quick to clap back with, you don't want to hear what Juan says when he's been drinking. Are you afraid of what you might say when you drink?
No, I'm not. But you should be concerned about what Juan says when he's drunk. Okay. Yes.
And so I thought that kind of came out nowhere. And Robin's reaction was very much like, she's got nothing like that, like, whatever. But in the after show, you know, Robin says the production actually approached him. I was like, what is Karen talking about?
Robin's like, it's nothing, it's nothing. But Karen is doubling down like she does in her interview that, you know, it's not empty words, it's a promise that it's coming out of the couch, you know, the reunion. So I don't know if she has something or she thinks she has something. If she just was deflecting and trying to just quickly clap back at Robin.
We saw her do it at Portugal at the dominatrix party. I don't know. What is your take? I think it's something.
And I don't usually say that. Usually I think people are so full of it and just want to say the quickest thing they can to hurt somebody. But I feel like there's something to it. Right.
I wonder if, you know, because so much of the season has been, you know, Giselle and Robin and everybody. Not everybody, but most of the cast sort of against Monique and against then Karen and, you know, Ashley then because they're signing with Monique. I wonder if once we get to reunion, Karen, Monique, Ashley are coming with their own level of receipts, which by the way, we know that Monique has a binder full of receipts that she told Andy about and watch what happens live. So I mean, this is like nothing is going to go unsaid.
I think at this reunion. She is not for lazy moms. It's like arts and crafts, you know, like make your mind are really pretty. Which Emily Simpson didn't do that her first season.
She was like, I gotta bind her. Fun fact too. Karen storms out of her party. She ended up at KFC but apparently had reservations at a steakhouse.
So I don't know, ever since giving up meat, fried chicken is the one thing I really miss. Oh yeah, I can imagine. Sorry, I'm hungry now. So I spoke with Real Housewives of Salt Lake City's Jen Shah about our shared connection, why she left the Mormon Church, her friendship with Heather, and Coach Shah's amazing pep talks.
Here's that interview. Alright, so I know a lot of you guys are already proud members of the Shah squad, as am I. So you will be thrilled to know that I am talking today with Jen, Shaj and what's going on. Hi, Eric.
I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for having me. And we are at Shaw Squad headquarters in Salt Lake City today. The chalet, right?
The Sha Chalet. The Sha Chalet, yes. And Stuart is running around here. He's getting lunch right now at Harmon's, which is his favorite place.
Well, I think it's so crazy. I mentioned this on the show before, that you and I have someone in common in our lives we are both extremely close to. Yes. And it's my girl Crystal.
Crystal. See? Money. Yes.
I love Crystal. I've worked with Crystal for so many years. She runs the operations. She's ran operations in New York for years.
And because Crystal doesn't mess around, she's Puerto Rican and she. She gets a dad in New York. That is absolutely true. And the reason I know Crystal is when I moved to New York City, she was my very first roommate.
And crazy enough, she turned me on to Bravo, really? Before anybody else. So the fact that we have this connection now and you are a housewife is just crazy. Like I remember I'd come home and she'd be watching Atlanta and Then she turned me on to, like, Beverly Hills and the rest of it, and I was just like, what is going on?
Then I got immediately hooked to Housewives, and now look at where we are. And now look at this. Isn't that crazy? It really is.
It's all meant to be, I like to think. And when I was working with Crystal, you know, at the New York office and kind of going through the process, I was like, oh, yeah, I'm doing this, you know, reality TV thing. And it was just the beginning stage. And she's like, yeah, okay, whatever.
And then when she's, like, seeing emails come across, she's like, are you kidding me right now? Wait, Jen, are you kidding me right now? She's like, wait, this is real? Yeah.
Well, she is also a member of the shots. Why? Tell us a little bit about the shots. While the team that you surround yourself with, the people that keep you going.
So the team I surround myself with, they are. They're. They're more. They're like my family because they're with me so much with me more than.
Than my actual family is with me. And they're the people that I rely on. So my squad is. They stay with me for years and years and years because we're family.
I take care of them, they take care of me. And it's more than just. Just a job. It's, you know, like I said, it's a family.
And we're in each other's lives so much, you know, 24 7. Like, I maybe in their lives a little more than they want. Like, I'm waiting for, you know, to get married, and I'm gonna find a wedding. I just.
I need to. I need these things scheduled on the calendar. Oh, my God. Well, you let me know if you're here before I do, because, like, I need to be on the loop on that, too.
Yeah, I'm gonna push things along because this is taking way too long. Well, I want to know, too, a little bit about the fan response to the show. I know that once it was announced and everything was out there, just talk about what it's been like to now be sort of at the forefront of something like Housewives. Know when we first were officially announced, it was.
It's almost. For me, it was just like a surreal experience because it's kind of like, okay, it's happening, but is this really happening? Or, you know, it's just. I'm just the same Gensha, doing business every day, running to, you know, Omar's football practice, like, doing the Same things.
But then, because my family keeps me very humble, they literally are like, I don't know why anybody cares, Mom. The boys are like, why would anybody want to pay money to go to a cocktail reception? That's weird, Mom. They can just say hi to, like, my boys keep me very grounded and humble.
So it's been very, though, you know, the fans know, the love, you know, people reaching out. It's been great. And just with what we're going through right now in America with, like, the social issues, voting and all that, it's been, you know, a blessing to have the platform to be able to, you know, use my voice, you know, for what, in my opinion, are things that I stand for I think are important. Absolutely.
And I've noticed this from, like, what I've seen on fan accounts, too, is, you know, how outspoken you've been is really. It's hitting something with them, and people are really responding to the way that you're talking about the issues that are going on in the country, in the world. So I really do love to see that. Yeah, no, thank you.
I think it's. I think it's very important. I. You know, the big thing for me is hopefully, you know, there's not, like, a right and wrong side.
I have what I feel is right, and hopefully I can provide education first for people as to why things that they're saying might be inappropriate or viewed as racist or why, you know, my views are why I feel this way. So hopefully, you know, with some sort of education, it can turn some people's hearts and minds, you know, toward the better. Absolutely. Yeah, I know.
We'll see some of that later on the season. From one of the super teases that saw there. Obviously, the issue of race and racism does come up. Now, looking back at the season, was there ever a point where you thought, like, what did I get myself into?
Yeah, there was a Mary luncheon. Okay. Because we're gonna talk about that in just a few minutes. That would have been the point where I'm like, what did I do?
Just because it hit so close to home, I didn't understand her viewpoints on some of the things I didn't understand, you know, why somebody who I thought would have the same viewpoint as me had a totally different viewpoint. I understand that. I left that luncheon and I called Coach Shylock in tears. Well, we'll get to lunch in just a few minutes.
But I also want to know. I know a lot of housewives have a group chat with the rest of the cast members. Do you guys have a group chat? We do.
We do have a group chat. Who is the most active in the group chat? You know, our group chat is more like. It depends on, like, if Mary Cosby's been up late one night.
She's active. Okay. We get some 3am novels for Mary. It honestly just depends.
Everybody's been pretty. Like, Whitney's been very proactive and, like, hey, you know, whenever there's something going on, like, Whitney's been great about reaching out, like when we saw the episode for the first time. So I think all of us, probably Whitney has been pretty active. Heather, myself, and, like, again, Mary Cosby, you know, those 3:00am That's.
That's the witching hour. That's when she comes out. Why does that not surprise me? Well, you know, outside your show, too, what about other housewives or other Bravo liberties?
Like, now that you are part of this family, have other people reached out to you from Bravo? Yes, they have. You know, Lala reached out. Katie reached out, you know, before that, before the premier, like in the week, week before or something.
Just congratulating, saying, hey, I'm here if you need anything. And, you know, here's my cell phone. And then we've. I've had, you know, a few people reach out, like, from Potomac, Dallas have reached out.
Leanne and Deandra reached out yesterday. Just wishing. Wishing me good luck on. On the premiere.
And, you know, it's. It's been. It feels good to have that because there's other people, kind of like a sorority where it's like, okay, they know what we're kind of going through, so it's nice to have that already, like, built in sisterhood that you can turn to. Yeah, absolutely.
Has anyone given you advice of, like, here's what to do. Like, first season, get ready. Literally, the advice that I've received from everybody. I talked to Melissa yesterday, or I talked to Melissa before, early on about, you know, kind of getting her input.
And she was like, girl, just. Just be honest. And that's what I kind of consistently heard with everyone, is just be honest and own it if you do something right, because it's gonna come to get you. That's.
That's reality. Right. See, I set myself up to win because I said in the beginning, yo, I'm super up. So.
Right. Where can you go from there? Exactly. Exactly.
Okay, well, let's talk a little bit of drama that's happening so far this season because I need your perspective on a couple different things. Okay. The first thing at the twenties party you confront Meredith about going to Mary's church, and, you know, looking back on it now, was it really about Mary, or were your feelings just hurt that she bailed on your sleepover 100. It wasn't about Mary.
No, it was. It was because she bailed on the honest sleepover. Yeah. And I did.
I could feel something was wrong, and I wasn't being told exactly what it was. You know what I mean? And I just need to. And I had that feeling in my gut, like, yeah, I know there's something else going on, but I can't.
I don't know what it is. I don't know why she's not telling me. Yeah. So Mary was almost like a scapegoat.
Like, that was your way into confronting her. Yeah. And also, like, Meredith, we're friends. If, you know what Mary has done and said to me, you know, why are you, you know, besties with her if you are concerned about my feelings?
And so that was just another way for me to hopefully try to get Meredith to see my point of why I wanted to start a discussion. Because Meredith is very, like, illogical in her thought process. Right. So.
But, yeah, that conversation didn't go as planned. It never does. Right. I was honestly surprised, though, that she didn't want to engage and got up and walked away.
I was honestly surprised at that. Yeah. She disengaged. She was like, I am disengaging.
Goodbye. Yeah, that was. That shocked me. And.
And hur. I mean, like I said, I. If you're my friend, I love you and I care. And so when something goes wrong, I have the same, like, you know, passion behind it.
Yeah. So I was hurt, very hurt by it, because I didn't expect that. Well, when you're ready to leave the party, we see Heather kind of step into mama mode, and she's flagging down Cherie. She's comforting you.
She gets you safely into the car. Talk a little bit about your friendship with Heather, because there is, like, a real bond there that we see. You know, Heather and I have had this bond since day one, since we met. We just kind of get each other.
We get along really well. She makes me laugh. I make her laugh, and I think we both. It's just like, you can be yourself with each other, you know, good, bad, whatever.
You know, we have our 2pm stand, bed, Netflix days, you know, and we own it. So we do. And I think when it comes down to, like, you know, Heather saw that I was hurt and wanted to make sure that I was okay. Yeah.
Well, we also see you open up to Heather about feeling lonely after losing your father and with Sharif always being gone. So take us back to that time in your life. Like, what were you going through after losing your father with everything going on there? Oh, man.
You know, that was the. Probably the single most difficult time that I've had emotionally in my life to this point, was losing my dad. Because we're so close and, you know, in the tongue and culture, I'm the oldest, and I'm the oldest daughter, so which is. I'm the father of the family, which comes with a lot of responsibility.
And it was very, very hard for me to lose my dad. And the way we lost him, it was unexpected. I was in New York working, and I had a lot of guilt because I was working so much. And so guilt played a lot into it, too, that, you know, maybe I should have been here more if I would have known.
I didn't have as much time left with my. With my dad. So that played into it as well. And, you know, I was in New York, and I just had a feeling one day I said, you know, I'm go home.
Yeah, I need it back to Salt Lake. I came back to Salt Lake, and it was in September. Whatever holiday. That is stupid.
How is that? Labor Day? Labor Day, Stu, you know what? You're slow on that response.
Just saying, yeah, it was Labor Day weekend. It was coming up. So I flew home on a Thursday, called my mom, said, hey, I'm going to be home. Should we do a barbecue?
What are you guys doing for the weekend? And she's like, yeah, come home. We'll barbecue with dad and everything. So Saturday, I called my mom, and she said, dad's not feeling good.
She took. She called me Sunday and said, said, I'm taking him to the ER just because I'm just nervous. I just want him just. He's feeling weak, and I just want to check him out.
So anyway, fast forward. They ended up checking him in on a Sunday. My father passed away the following Saturday. So I was there the whole time.
I didn't leave the hospital once. I was right by his side, so I'm grateful for that. But the way it happened, it just. It was unexpected.
And I never gave you no time to write. And I'm very. I am like a strong person in my family. And so I'm older siblings.
I felt like I had to continue that face to everybody, to all my younger siblings and to my mom and be the strong one. So I didn't allow myself time to grieve. I jumped back into work to try to keep myself busy. I did go.
I saw a therapist, wants to talk to her about it. And she was telling me about, no, there are real stages of breathing. I was like, yeah, no, my stage of breathing hard. You better get your mind right and keep moving.
That was my thought process. And that is so far from the truth. Like, yeah, I don't care how strong you are, how much money you have, what you got going on. Grief is a real thing, and you need to.
You need to go allow yourself to go through the stages of reading. Because I didn't. And it negatively impacted me, where I blamed a lot of people. I blamed people.
The closest people around me. And then Sharif wasn't around because a lot. Because it was strength of all season. So I held a lot of resentment toward him because he wasn't there, and I was hurting so much.
But again, I didn't ever really tell him that. Right, exactly. You weren't actually going through the proper stages. You weren't communicating properly.
You were kind of closing things off. That should have really been much more open. Right. Like, Stuart really took the brunt of it, honestly.
Sorry, too, but he loves me still. I gave him a great bonus. I gave him a great bonus. There you go.
He's good. He's already forgotten all about it. Well, we do see. You get pretty emotional about Mary's lunch, discussing your upbringing.
We know that you were close with your aunt. Your dad came here from Tonga. Can you talk a little more about what your family life was like growing up? So my dad, I think I got so emotional at the luncheon, too, because, you know, Mary asked a question for us to the group.
She said, you know, share something with a group that nobody knows that will help us know you better and understand you better. And I really appreciated Mary asking that question. And I took it to heart and thought, okay, this is my opportunity to explain, like, my culture and my upbrings to my group of friends so that they can maybe, you know, truly understand me better and why I'm so passionate. So that was what I was attempting to do at the luncheon.
And, you know, my father came here with, you know, with nothing. He came here from Tonga, so I'm, you know, like, first generation. He was an immigrant, and he just hustled and worked and started his. His own business, was successful.
He started the National American Tongan Society in Utah, which is the first one. And then after he started it, there's been others branched out across the United States. So he was very involved in the community and sharing his success with, you know, the Tongan people. We always had people, Tongan families, Polynesian families.
You have cousins, aunts, uncles in your home. And because my dad, you know, was successful, he, you know, in our culture, you give that back to your culture and to the community. And so we always had people in our home staying there or that he would bring over from Tonga that we're trying to get, you know, better education or go to college. College or just better their life.
So I grew up. That's what I knew is, you know, family was like the core central, you know, unit that was like. That was our core. And then loyalty, respect is very big and being humble and sharing.
So. And, you know, my dad came over here with nothing and tried so hard, and he wanted his kids to have so much better than he did. And he, you know, coming from where he did, he was very successful. And so I felt like I needed to, you know, carry that on.
And his example to me of work ethic is where I get that from. And my mom, she's a boss bitch, too. Okay. Don't sleep on Charlene, because she is on Charlene.
Every committee marching for Congress, it's like, mom, slow down. You are literally on 25 committees. This is crazy. And teaching a passage.
She got her PhD. So the reason I'm all over the place doing 500 businesses at once, I get that from my mom and my hard work. You're trying to keep up with her. She needs to slow her roll a little bit.
Are we gonna get to see Charlene on the show? Yes. You know, it's so funny because we call Charlene. It's like, our favorite thing to do if we're out drinking or her out late.
And I don't know, we'll start these random conversations. I'm like, you know, let me call Charlene. And we call her randomly at, like, 2, 3am she always answers my phone calls. Oh, my God.
And gives the best advice. And also reminds me of these very traumatic times in my life. I'm like, thanks, Mom. Yeah, you need to bring that up.
Exactly. So, yeah. Hopefully you'll get to see Meet Charlene soon. Yeah, I hope so.
And then I also want to say, you know, speaking of calling people and getting motivational speaks, I am obsessed with Coach Shaw's pep talk. Like, how do I. Yes. Like, how do I do this?
Like, can I call him every morning? Like, can we get him to send us a recording for the podcast? Like, we need to. We need Coach Shaw, listen, whatever you need, I will get you.
And we do that here, like, if I come in the office, because I need high energy so we can, like, be positive and motivated and, you know, be innovative here and make money. So if I come in here and Stuart's over there looking pissed off because he doesn't have his Harmon's, I'm like, you know what? Team meeting we call Coach Sean. I'm like, babe, we need a coach shot pep talk.
I got the team right here. And here he goes with that. And he's like, okay, got it. And he gets everyone fired up.
It's so amazing. I mean, I just. Just what we've seen on the show already. I'm like, yes.
I need this in my life, like, at least once a day. I know. I think. I think we're doing a coach shop pep talk so that all of America has access to kosher.
Like, you set your alarm and coach, I was like. Like, you know, that's what you wake up to. Yeah, I could see, like, an Instagram series, too. Like, just, like, videos on your Instagram of Coach Shaw just, like, talking us through the day.
No, I'm telling you, he can get you going now. Papa Shaw. That's who we really need the app for. Papa Shaw, Coach Shaw's daddy.
That's where he got it from. Okay. So many shots. So many shots.
I love it. There's so many shots. Yeah. The shots of Crenshaw, the shots of Compton, the Shaw family over there, they.
You think I'm crazy. Yeah. You don't see anything yet. That's a whole other reality show over there entirely.
Yep. You know, the other thing I want to ask you about that I'm so curious is, like, with Heather and Lisa and this whole, like, does she know her? Doesn't she know her? Like, what is the deal?
Okay, you know what? I'm glad you brought this up, because this is so crazy to me. Obviously, I believe, you know, Heather's my girl. So I'm like, okay, well, Heather says she knows Lisa, and then Lisa is adamant, like, I don't know her.
And I'm, like, sitting here going, okay, wait, this is, like, it's a yes or no question. Doesn't it seem very simple? Right? Like, you either went there or you didn't go there.
So I don't know what it's. I don't understand why they're. I don't. It doesn't make any sense to me.
It's getting convoluted with. They knew each other through Friends or not friends. You know what I mean? And so it's very confusing because to me, I'm like, okay, I'm just gonna have Stuart go pull the school transcripts so we get to the bottom of this because we need receipts.
Yeah, Stuart, get on the receipts, please. Screw them. To byu. Oh, well, then he's got the connection.
Yeah. I mean, we're on a mission, too. Come on, Stu. It does, to me so far seem to be one of those, like, Mariah Carey, JLo, like, shady kind of like, oh, I don't know her.
You know what I mean? Like, there's something personal there. I feel like I don't know her. Yeah.
That's why I'm like, you either know her, you don't know her, or the third, it could be. Are we playing Mary Cosby where you just don't remember? I don't know. Straight up, 3am not really sure.
The other thing, we see Lisa get into a little bit with Whitney with this whole, like, bartender situation, Whitney's vow renewal. And then there's something about these, like, rumors that she knows. Were you aware of these rumors about Whitney and her husband? No, you know, I wasn't.
I didn't hear about this discussion with. I think Lisa heard about it. And I think through. Indirectly, through people who knew people.
Maybe I heard about it, but nothing was, like, brought to me directly. So I never really. It was through, like, multiple. Multiple people, but nothing was ever brought to me directly.