Michael Motamedi (00:00):

Such a high praise, but there isn’t a day that goes by where they don’t call me the Anthony Bourdain TikTok, which I never in my wildest dreams would’ve thought would’ve happened. So we just ended up traveling the world full time, staying one place at a time for one month at a time. Hey, what happens if you travel the world and just like use Guy Geek to tell you where to go from Marrakesh to Tokyo, all using ai.

Ross Borden (00:25):

This is creator the podcast from Matador Network. I’m your host Ross Borden, and I believe creators are the future of all global advertising. So join me as I sit down with top creators to hear about how they got started, the challenges they’ve overcome, and the tips you need to become a full-time creator. Alright, welcome to another episode of Creator. Today we have Michael Moti on the pod. Michael and his wife are the host of No Fixed Address, which is a different Matador podcast that we produce with them. If you haven’t checked it out, new season two just is rolling out now, so check it out. Michael, welcome to the podcast. How are you?

Michael Motamedi (01:06):

I’m amazing, man. Thank you for having me on. This is a really cool concept you got going on here, giving a voice to the creator.

Ross Borden (01:15):

Yeah, I mean, I think this is such an rapidly evolving space and you are really on the tip of the spear and from what I can tell and all the stuff that I followed from you guys. So introduce yourself a little bit, tell people where they can find your channels and then where are you now? How did you get here?

Michael Motamedi (01:37):

My name is Michael Moeti. You can find me on TikTok on an Instagram at Michael Moeti. And the YouTube is Michael Moeti as well. Pretty excited about that. I’m currently in Barcelona. How I got here. You want the long? You want the short? You want the plane ride?

Ross Borden (01:55):

We got time. So start from the beginning. In fact, I think a lot of people will be interested and I feel like I see in your comments of your posts a lot. It’s like be like, what is this guy? Who is this guy? How is he traveling nonstop? So you could start from the beginning really for real, where you grew up, a little bit about you before you were a creator, and then how you and Vanessa came to be on this mission you’re on.

Michael Motamedi (02:22):

Okay, cool. Yeah, I think I’m a little bit of a strange bird when it comes to a creator influencer. It kind of just landed on my lap. I was given it a shot, so that’s good for people to kind of understand about me. But to start from the beginning, born in LA around 17, 18, I was a pretty fucked up kid and my dad was like, you got to get out of la dude, this is not a good place for you. And so as all spoiled kids do, got sent over to Europe for a little bit to go live with my uncle and shit.

(02:56):

And then I ended up moving to Canada to go to university. I’m turning my life around, which is awesome. It was a blessing to be able to go to Toronto and study over there. I was supposed to, just a little funny thing, my father’s a banker and my grandpa is a banker. I was going to be a banker, so I took Econ 1 0 1. I didn’t even get to econ macro econ. I got to micro econ and I was like, I’m out of here, bro. There’s no way. Not a finance. Yeah. So I ended up becoming a philosophy major. I was going to go into law and inevitably just ended up becoming a serial entrepreneur. Started out in hospitality restaurants. My first endeavor was an after hours nightclub, so it was from 2:00 AM to 7:00 AM where all the bad things happened. But it was a really, really great time.

(03:43):

I learned a lot. And then fast forward 13 years and I had the opportunity through a family friend of mine who was starting a bourbon company and he kind of fell in love with me when he saw me on Master Chef. I was sixth place in Master Chef and he saw me on TV when I was being syndicated in the us. And so I flew down to Kentucky to see what he’s doing and I absolutely fell in love. His dream turned into my dream. We ended up starting a bourbon company and within four or five years we ended up selling to the second largest spirit company in the world, which is Pau Ricard. That’s like absolute Jameson, et cetera. Had a really cool

Ross Borden (04:25):

Run there. What was a brand? Was it Rabbit Hole? It

Michael Motamedi (04:27):

Was called Rabbit Hole. Yeah, it was a rabbit hole bourbon. And not that I need to harp on anything, but as all good things, they come to end. And it was a little bit too corporate for me, even though it was supposed to stay. When big brands come in, they always sell you like, Hey, everything’s going to stay the same, the culture’s going to stay the same. And kind of turned a little corporate for me. And as you can probably tell just by the curse words that I’ve used in the last five minutes that I am not the most corporate person.

(05:01):

And then my daughter was born and at the same time that my daughter was born, my dad was retiring and my dad was depressed that he was retiring. And I’m looking at my daughter and I’m looking at my dad these two different cycles of life and I’m thinking, holy crap. My dad just worked his ass off for 67 years and he’s depressed and now he’s gotten into the place that he was trying to get to. Something is off here, dude. And so I talked to my wife, I’m like, let’s just travel the world. What’s the difference? I mean, she doesn’t have to go to school, we don’t have to go anywhere. And so we just ended up traveling the world full time, staying one place at a time for one month at a

Ross Borden (05:40):

Time. And was that, when did the journey begin where you guys started traveling? How old was your daughter at that point?

Michael Motamedi (05:48):

She was six months old. She’s turning three in a month, so about two and a half years ago probably. And then I was a marketer my whole life in the entrepreneur world. So I was like, why don’t I just market myself for once? I’ve never done that before. That sounds horrible. And so the channel blew up. We ended up meeting, I meeting such cool people, and this journey just kind of unfolded and I don’t know, I mean it’s such a high praise, but there isn’t a day that goes by where they don’t call me the Anthony Bourdain TikTok, which I never in my wildest dreams would’ve thought would’ve happened.

Ross Borden (06:26):

That’s a big compliment for sure. I’ve seen a lot of people call you that. So did you guys start on TikTok or you already had an Instagram as well when you started traveling?

Michael Motamedi (06:36):

TikTok? Dude, everything started from zero. It was crazy.

Ross Borden (06:41):

And did you have this plan when you’re like, let’s start traveling a month in every place and living all over the world. Did you already have a plan to start a channel and do content or did that happen organically?

Michael Motamedi (06:55):

Super organic, man. I mean, if you go back to some of the earlier videos, I think our first stop was Algar of Portugal or something. Those videos are horrendous. I want to take them off, but it reminds me of where it all started. You know what I mean?

Ross Borden (07:12):

I think when I discovered you as Amalfi, was that the second or was that the third?

Michael Motamedi (07:16):

That was the third destination or Yeah, the second destination. And I started getting into my groove, and that’s when it really blew up, dude. I was like crazy.

Ross Borden (07:27):

I felt like every video you were doing was going viral and it seemed like, I don’t know, I wanted to be there with you making cocktails in the middle of the day on a Wednesday, you really sold the Amalfi Coast big time. I was like, damn, everyone watching this is dying to go and check out these restaurants, these beaches. You guys were renting boats, you were making cocktails, you’re going in the back of the meeting, the family and the kitchen staff at every restaurant. I was like, it really was Bourdain esque in that. I don’t say that lightly, but it was great content.

Michael Motamedi (08:03):

Amalfi was a little bit of a trip, by the way. Thank you for that. But Amalfi was a little bit of a trip for me because it was kind of the first time where people started recognizing me. And so I’d have Americans like, Hey, I saw your videos. We decided to just come to Amalfi. They’re taking photos of me outside of the sandwich shop that I was promoting, and it was a cool experience. And then by the end, I’d befriended so many Amalfi people, so many Italians that owned restaurants. My landlord came up to me and he’s like, his name was Adriana. I was like, Michael, I’m not going to do an Italian accent because that I already sounded horrible. But he was like, Michael, listen, I just went to the restaurant and they don’t even ask about me anymore. They want to know where you are. They want you to run for the governor of Amalfi. I was like,

Ross Borden (08:51):

Whoa. Oh my God. That would be a turn. That would be interesting turn.

Michael Motamedi (08:55):

Yeah.

Ross Borden (08:57):

And so were you guys there for one month or were you multiple locations in Italy over the course of a month? Where were you based out of Positano,

Michael Motamedi (09:05):

Just one month in Amalfi, dude.

Ross Borden (09:07):

Okay.

Michael Motamedi (09:08):

One of the things that we have and we are trying to do with this experiment is to really immerse. So my wife, obviously a lot more than I am, not obviously, but a lot more than I am into touristy stuff. Even she’s pulled back when we go somewhere, she finds her coffee shop, I find my bar. You know what I mean? She finds her favorite restaurant. I find my favorite sushi spot, whatever it may be. And we just interact with life as if we were living back home, wherever your home may be. So it’s interesting, as soon as you start to travel, people are immediately like, oh my God, you went all the way to Italy and you didn’t see Tuscany.

Ross Borden (09:56):

Just super touristy.

Michael Motamedi (09:57):

Yeah. And it’s like, dude, that’s not what I’m doing, number one. And number two, I’m also working. You know what I mean?

Ross Borden (10:05):

Yeah. So after Amalfi, your channel’s taking off, that’s when we had reached out to you at Matador. We were like, let’s do some kind of show. What was next? Were you guys Mexico City after that? I don’t even remember anymore, dude.

Michael Motamedi (10:18):

But I mean it was like Hawaii. Yeah, Hawaii. And then we were starting that South America tour as well, which was Guatemala, Caribbean as well. Barbados,

Ross Borden (10:26):

Right?

Michael Motamedi (10:26):

And then when we came back from D, we hit up Mexico City and I was doing the street food tour and that also blew up. I don’t know, people just, I realized I think if you can do it, people just like to see one dude doing the same thing for 30 days in a row. Or actually honestly 365 days in a row, you got the grilled cheese guy. He is making grilled. I mean, I feel bad for the dude. He’s making grilled cheese every single day. I’m like, dude, I don’t care about the views. I really don’t care about the views. Right now I’m doing Tin Fish. Last year I did 10 fish for 30 days in a row. At the end of it, everyone’s like, please more tin fish. I’m like, bro, I cannot eat any more tin fish. I don’t care about these. I’m actually

Ross Borden (11:05):

Eating the tin fish every day. You guys

Michael Motamedi (11:08):

Are watch. But the Mexico City was a little bit different. I love street food, but people were pretty concerned about my digestive issues during that trip though, for sure.

Ross Borden (11:17):

And that’s when we launched Guide Geek and you were using Geek to Go Around, and that was early version of Guide Geek. So it was probably, accuracy was probably maybe 85%, 15% weird hallucinations and stuff. But you still got into a bunch of really exciting food experiences. And overall, I mean, what an amazing city to explore with the ai. So what was that like when you first started using Geek?

Michael Motamedi (11:44):

What did you think? Yeah, that was on the end of Mexico City, but when Guide Geek Really Guide Geek kind of changed my perspective on life, to be honest, dude. So congratulations. I’ve always said that’s an amazing thing that you guys are doing over there. But when me and my wife for the audience, just some context, me and Ross got together and we’re like, Hey, what happens if you travel the world and just use Guide Geek to tell you where to go, how to get there, and all the stuff that you’re doing over there. And it was a crazy idea to begin with. We’re like, let’s give it a stab. First place it picked was Morocco, and I’m in la, I’ll never forget this. We want to start basically gave it parameters like, Hey, we want to start over here, we want to end up over here, but we don’t want to know where we’re going. So one destination at the time, and it picked Marrakesh and I’m like, oh, whoa, this is going to be a big culture difference compared to everything else we went to. But that was the beginning of a journey, man. That next year, which was the second year of travel, was something I’ll never forget, man. I mean from Marrakesh to Tokyo, all using ai.

Ross Borden (12:53):

Well, for most people, deciding where to go for lunch and fully trusting AI is adventurous and you guys are literally using it also to dictate where you’re going next to live for a full month. So that was the extreme version of ai Adventures for Travel. So tell us about Morocco. So did that give you pause a little bit? Whoa. Had you ever been to Morocco before? When you’re in la you’re home, you’re comfortable and you’re in your sort of natural habitat and then you’re like, alright, actually we just asked the AI and now it’s saying to go to Marrakesh. What was your initial reaction? And then how did it end up being?

Michael Motamedi (13:36):

Initial reaction was excitement right away. And then immediately, oh my God, is this baby friendly? You know what I mean? Because when you have a kid, it’s like immediately you think about yourself. It’s just instinct, it’s human nature. Then that goes away and you immediately think about your kid. And then it went into like, oh my God, this is going to be the badass trip of my life. I mean, we’re about to start a journey that we’re never ever going to forget. And it was 306 days without ever stepping foot in the us. That’s crazy, dude. And talk about adventure, talk about your 85% right thing, best mistake that’s ever happened to me on Guide Geek Ever. And it’s the best memory I have of Morocco. I was looking for a haircut and the guy who was like, go here, go there, go there, go here. And I couldn’t find the haircut. And then this one dude just popped out of his store and he was like, haircut? And I’m like, yeah. And he is like, I’ll give you a haircut. And I’m like, are you this guy? He’s like, yeah. I’m like, there’s no way. This is this guy. And he took me into his house.

(14:46):

Was he that guy or he was just like, I have no idea. Till this day, I have no idea. We had to seven minutes to this dude’s riad his house, and then he takes me in this dark dimly litted room, all the shades are closed. I’m like, it’s no air conditioning, no sink, like plastic chair. And he just starts cutting my hair and sprinkling water like this. I’m like, dude, I’m, we’re going to die. You know what I mean? We are going to die right now.

Ross Borden (15:13):

You were running around Barcelona with Guide Geek, then you went a whole bunch of other places and now you guys are back in Barcelona. Why are you back?

Michael Motamedi (15:22):

So this is the first place that we’ve been back, by the way. So it’s a big deal for us. And we’re actually doing a three month stint here, which is also the longest. So as you can probably tell, there’s a little bit of a testing phase going on here to better understand if the city is really what we believe it to be. And I’ve learned

Ross Borden (15:43):

Lot. Does that mean you’re house hunting? House

Michael Motamedi (15:44):

Hunting? I mean, I think we are looking for houses, but there’s been a lot that we’ve learned as well. I don’t necessarily want to be in a city and it’s nothing against Barcelona. I think these are things that we’re learning about ourselves. The luxuries that my wife and I have about being able to travel from place to place is that we really, really get to better understand who we are and what we’re looking for. I don’t think many people have that luxury, no matter how much money you have, you know what I mean? You kind of get trapped in a place or you get stuck in a place, you build a family and you adapt to that. We’re taking it from a completely different perspective and we are literally hunting for that perfect place for us. So I love the culture in Spain. I love the people in Spain. I love the food in Spain. Is it like all day everyday Michelin star restaurants? No, but that’s not really my jam either. I just like to go have some olives, have some anchovies, crack open with a beer, have a glass of wine. That’s my lunch. And then I want to go take a nap and then I want to eat dinner. That’s Spain. You know what I’m saying? That

Ross Borden (16:46):

Is Spain

Michael Motamedi (16:47):

And

Ross Borden (16:48):

Dinner and dinner’s at 1:00 AM or something. Yeah, that means it’s like 10:00 PM

Michael Motamedi (16:52):

Every night.

Ross Borden (16:52):

I lived in Spain when I was studying abroad, lived in Madrid, traveled all over Spain. I love Spain. And it’s almost like you get six countries in one because Pa Basco, you got Galicia, you got Catalonia, you got Andalusia, and then you have Madrid. And they’re all super different, sometimes different food, different language. But one thing thats seems consistent, and I’ve actually seen other creators talking about this on TikTok who have gone all in and moved to Spain, is that the Spanish lifestyle is the most chill and the most enjoyable. And people I think coming from the us, and maybe this is you as well, are used to the stress and the hustle and bustle and the maybe living paycheck to paycheck, maybe making great money and still feeling like you’re barely keeping up. And people move to Spain, Americans and they’re just like, this is living, I’m so stress free since I got here. The median income is whatever it is, $50,000 or less. And you can still live a great life even if you don’t make a lot of money. And people really enjoy it and they slow down. So it sounds like maybe is that sort of the vibe that you guys are going after and have you noticed, is that true? I guess? Have you noticed the same things?

Michael Motamedi (18:16):

100%, but I want to back it out a little bit. You hit the nail on the head for me. I don’t know if it’s happening to anybody else, but the rat race that’s going on in the US is taxing mentally. You know what I mean? And it’s a big sacrifice to think about moving somewhere else for someone who has family there. Like myself, I was born and raised in LA and my entire huge families out there, especially having a kid, you want your kid to be around the grandparents or whatever it may be. So these are really, really big conversations that are being had between my wife and I. But to counteract that, it’s like, dude, everyone’s keeping up with the Joneses. Like I was having this conversation with my mom the other day. It’s like if I was living in LA, I would have a problem driving like a 1992 Honda.

(19:10):

You know what I mean? I would have to feel like I have to keep up to that next guy for whatever reason. You know what I mean? If I’m over here, I don’t care what I’m driving. You know what I mean? We’re using it as a utility. This is just one example. I’m just using it as a utility to get from A to B. It’s not this status thing. I don’t really care what clothes I wear. I don’t care if I do my hair in the morning. I don’t know. It is not that I don’t care. It’s that I feel comfortable enough not to care. I think that’s the way that I want to phrase it. And I’ve found that in a lot of countries outside of the us, the pace is a lot slower and that pace and that ability to kind of hang on to what really matters, which is what’s the number one killer stress man?

(20:00):

More than cigarettes, more than booze, more than anything. Stress is the biggest killer. And I’ll never forget, even in South America, similar to other European countries, my wife was like, Hey, we’re going to go to lunch. And it was a Tuesday at two o’clock in the afternoon and there was 30 people having tortilla soup. And I’m like, is anybody work? They’re like, oh yeah, this is what they do. They come after work and they all have lunch together. I’m like, my mind exploded. I’m used to not taking lunches. Everyone’s looking in the office. Who’s going to take a lunch? Who’s going to take a lunch? You know what I mean? Okay, if that dude does it, I’ll take one too, but if not, I’m going to rock through this day. And it’s what happens to your life, man.

Ross Borden (20:50):

And it kind of goes back to what you said about looking at your dad who is retiring and he was still feeling unfulfilled for some reason, and then your daughter and that sort of big realization you had about man, life goes fast. You got to enjoy it and not be caught up in that rat race. I totally agree, and I feel that same stress and across all my friends and most of the people that I know in the us, no matter what they make or what their background is, I feel like there is that tension.

Michael Motamedi (21:25):

That’s the craziest part too. It has nothing to do with your salary or your money. It’s like a mentality thing. Yeah. Don’t get me wrong, you’re going to obviously be a lot more chill the more money. I mean, not necessarily. Obviously there’s a lot of fricking maniacs that I know that have a lot of money. You know what I mean?

Ross Borden (21:47):

And very unhappy

Michael Motamedi (21:48):

People. Yeah, exactly. But it’s like this idea of continuously working and working and working and working to get to a place where you miss working. There’s something weird going on there. Dude, I

Ross Borden (22:06):

Calculate my, there’s always a more, you never actually arrive at gratitude. This works for me. I made it. It’s always like a lot of the most successful people I know. I think one of the causes of their stress and unhappiness is that you make it to one level, then they’re like, oh, got to make it to another level. And it’s like that’s not really a good way to live or set yourself up for just being happy with what you have.

Michael Motamedi (22:32):

I have this weird epiphany. It’s like I call this thing the happiness threshold, and it’s like this place where if you can find it for yourself, and guess what? It’s ever evolving. There’s a lot of factors involved. Where you live, how much money you make, whatever you have kids, your wife, you’re divorce, whatever. I don’t care what it is. If you can find that, I truly, as I get older, I kind of feel like you should just live in there. It’s a safer bet, just like chill. If you’re in your early twenties, you’re very ambitious and shit. You’re in your twenties and you want to really want to kill it, great. Go do it. And if you’re really ambitious and that really does truly make you happy, great, go do it. That’s your happiness threshold. But if you find that place and you’re kind of like, Hey, I like my house, I like my wife, I like my car, I like my life, I like the food, I like my kids, blah, blah, blah. Just chill there for a bit and soak it in. You don’t have to be there forever. It could change tomorrow.

Ross Borden (23:27):

So maybe not continuing to move around the world for you guys, if you guys stay, this stint is three months and then you might stay indefinitely it sounds like.

Michael Motamedi (23:38):

Well, I think we still have a little bit more hint. It’s like a weird addiction, I swear. It’s like a strange, strange addiction. And I think people get a little bit of it when they go on their normal, regular people get those two weeks, they go and they want another two weeks and they want another two weeks and they want another two weeks. This is now amplified in two our life a little bit, I think unhealthy, to be honest. It’s almost a little bit like a real drug, unfortunately. I mean, it’s not all positive, obviously. It’s this weird battle you have. It’s this weird battle we have together, right? On one end it’s like, hey, there’s a little bit of stress living out of a suitcase. I mean, I think we cracked the code.

Ross Borden (24:22):

I would imagine a lot of stress.

Michael Motamedi (24:24):

I think we’ve cracked the code as much as we possibly can, but then on the other end it’s like, I’m bored. I want to go somewhere else. Soon as you’re in one place, place you want to

Ross Borden (24:34):

Go.

Michael Motamedi (24:34):

Yeah. That to me is kind of the downside of it. I’m not complaining. So whoever’s listening out there, please don’t pull all your violins. I understand. I sound like an idiot even complaining about this, but I’m just telling you that if you are in this situation, this will probably happen. And it’s making it harder and harder to find somewhere or even wanting to settle down. I want to go and see so many places in the world. You said it perfectly earlier in the conversation, it’s like people don’t really think about how fast everything happens. It’s like, to me, it blows my mind that 99% of the people do not think about how imminent and quick death is, how fast it’s coming at you. You know what I mean? It’s like in the grand scheme of things, you’re on the beach and the wave is coming and you’re watching the wave. You know what I mean? On a good day, me and you, half our life is done. You know what I mean? On a good day. That’s scary, bro.

Ross Borden (25:46):

Yeah, I’ve seen as my parents get into their seventies too. I mean, you might be living, but you are. You’re not like adventuring anymore. You’re trying not to fall. So it really even shortens it from there of what you can do. The kinds of adventures and experiences you can have. Time is very limited. So I know we we’re low on time. I could talk to you all day, but I wanted to bring it back to what you’ve learned as a creator. And I don’t mean necessarily going viral or views or followers, but what do you think has worked for you as a creator and why is that? And I’ll give you an example that things that I see constantly blowing up are these Tin fish series, the cheese series you did in Paris. How did you get the idea for that? Are those that have really worked for you? And any advice to creators out there who are a little earlier on in their progression and trying to think of what could be my thing that catches on?

Michael Motamedi (26:54):

Fantastic question. And I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately as I kind of progress into seeing where this takes me. Is it done or is it going to go keep going? As I said earlier on, and as you’re aware of, it’s not really my bread and butter, you know what I mean? It’s really kind of hobby to be honest and turned into a business. In reality, I think as a new creator, you really have to ask yourself a big question. And I don’t think most do. One is, are you just looking for views? Are you just looking to go viral? Are you just looking to have an account that is just continuously pumping out an astronomical amount of views? Well, guess what? You’re going to have to pick something that everybody loves and just do it every single day for the rest of your life until you die.

(27:49):

Because as soon as you don’t, your views just plateau. I mean, they go down. That’s what happens, right? And I mean, that’s a tough question to ask because I think most people get into this business because they want to be famous or I don’t know, have influence. I don’t really know. I don’t know the exact objective, but I would assume it’s an ego thing, right? Because a million jobs out there. And I think that it’s probably has to do with freedom of work. That also plays a big role. Not having a boss and social media has given so many people the opportunity to do that, which is pretty cool. But if on the other hand, your mission is just to create really cool shit and send a message out there, you got to be okay with the ebbs and flows. There’re going to be downs.

(28:41):

There are going to be a lot of downs. There’s going to be a lot of ups. And for me, it’s really the second one for me. I really, even if you see my tin fish stuff, it’s 30 days of tin fish or whatever, 30 days of cheese. I’m incorporating what I truly believe in, which is getting to know the culture, getting to know the people. That’s what I enjoy. So if I’m having a cheese, I’m going to go meet the guy that’s selling me the crackers and selling me the cheese and you know what I mean? And telling me this. And I might even share a cheese with a dude sitting in a picnic next to me. So those are the things that really make me happy when I create. And I think at the end of the day, if you’re able to create without needing to hit a quota and you create because it makes you happy and you create things and content that makes you happy, you’re going to be way better off in the long run. That chasing of the views, it goes back to chasing the money. I could literally just do the same thing every single day that I know is going to go viral. But that’s annoying to me.

Ross Borden (29:47):

Yeah, it’s too much tin fish too. Just at some point. It’s too much. No, I really like that. It’s a good point. Other folks have said, do something that’s true to you. But I think do something, create content that makes you happy, is even more of a direct goal that people should think about. If you’re making content that makes you physically, makes you happy, that you feel good about, regardless of if you think it’s a winning franchise or something that’s going to go viral and get a bunch of views, I think that’s a good north star creating.

Michael Motamedi (30:20):

That’s the big difference. And I don’t think anybody really, people don’t even talk about it in entrepreneurship. Why do we do what we do? Why does anybody do what we do? Why’d you start Matador? Why do we do what we do? Why did I help start a bourbon company? Why do I create content? If it’s money, you’re doing it to make money to be happy, right? You’re not making money to be sad.

Ross Borden (30:45):

But I never would’ve lasted this long to do matador for this many years if it wasn’t about travel and I didn’t get to meet people from all over the world and talk and create content about travel every day. If it was a real estate startup, I would’ve given up long ago.

Michael Motamedi (31:02):

You took both your goals into one. Lemme make money, let me be happy. And so for content creation, even more so because it’s literally every single morsel of your body you’re creating every single day. You know how the algorithms are. You miss a day, you’re done, which is another is a whole nother thing. I mean, there should be a class action lawsuit against these guys. And if you want, I’ll go with it on you. But like you said, combined, what makes you happy and then create what makes you happy. If you don’t, if you make really, really great grilled cheeses, but you hate grilled cheese, I don’t know if that’s sustainable.

Ross Borden (31:41):

So Michael, another thing I ask a lot of creators, what was a mistake that you’ve made in your career as a creator and what did you learn from it?

Michael Motamedi (31:51):

Okay, so the biggest mistake I think comes down to placing too much of my stress, my attitude, my personality on the ebbs and flows of the views man and the engagement. And it’s a real toll. I mean, creators talk about it all the time, and it’s honestly utterly one of the most difficult things. Once you start getting that high, you are hitting a million views of video or half a million of video,

Ross Borden (32:25):

The dopamine hit of going viral and then the trough of low engagement.

Michael Motamedi (32:32):

Yeah, I would go 30 days, half a million, half a million, half a million. I go to a new country out of my control. I’m just going to a new country and it’ll drop to like 5,000. I was like, whoa, bro. And people laugh. They think it’s stupid, but it’s like, dude, it’s your passion. It’s your love. You’re putting every single thing and every morsel into these videos and then not for it not to be seen. You start questioning if you’re okay, if you’re valid, do people still like you? Start questioning yourself. So that’s my biggest mistake because at the end of the day, these algorithms don’t care about you and they’re pushing the videos that they want to push based on their own things and their own tests and their own crap and just, I hate that it affects me and I’ve stopped that.

Ross Borden (33:17):

Yeah, that’s good advice. We see the same thing on our channels. I mean, we have 60 million social followers and they will go, it is even for us, a dopamine hit when something goes big and we get 20 million views or something, and then you get 20,000 or 5,000. And what I always tell our teams and our brand partners that we work with when they say that ask for advice on the same thing or creators is just keep going. If you just put blinders on and just keep creating great content, it’s probably going to come back. And by the time you’ve stopped thinking about low views, you’re hitting high views again. So it is something you definitely can’t control.

Michael Motamedi (33:58):

But I do really think that there is a class action lawsuit here, dude, they make you post every single day. They don’t even let you take a vacation. So if this is your job, right, you’re a single creator, they don’t even let you have a two week off period. If you get off for two weeks, you’re done, bro.

Ross Borden (34:17):

It is a treadmill. It is a crazy treadmill the way it’s set up. Alright, last question I ask everyone. If you had to live, you’ve now literally lived, not visited, but lived in probably a dozen or more places all over the world. If you had to pick three and those are the only countries that you could live for the rest of your life, three countries and you could go nowhere else. Your passport did not work anywhere else, where would you go? What would the three countries be on your list? Obviously, including the us.

Michael Motamedi (34:49):

Okay, but first of all, this should be a thing. You should be able to do that if you want, forego all your passports and get one passport for three of your favorite countries. Wouldn, I think you’ve got a concept going on here. Okay, is family outside of it? Is family part of this equation?

Ross Borden (35:10):

Of course, for you, for your life. If I said pick three and that’s it, Michael, what would you pick?

Michael Motamedi (35:16):

Okay, for sure us a hundred percent. I mean, my family’s there. I love the us and I mean, Jesus, I can’t go a year without eating in New York or la. I mean, it’s just, that’s the culinary of everything. Oh my God, this is freaking tough, dude. There’s just so many cliche answers. Is this like a speed game that

Ross Borden (35:40):

Don’t worry, worry about cliche? It’s not a trick question. You just have to say what you would actually choose. It’s it cliche. I mean, who cares?

Michael Motamedi (35:48):

No, no. I’m saying

Ross Borden (35:50):

There are popular countries that come up.

Michael Motamedi (35:52):

That’s what I’m saying. That’s incredible. Countries, okay, this is tough, dude, because you don’t want to be too, I’m taking this too seriously. Does everyone take this seriously?

Ross Borden (36:01):

You’re taking it way too seriously.

Michael Motamedi (36:02):

Okay, alright.

Ross Borden (36:03):

But other people have said, well, not including the us, where I’m like, no, definitely.

Michael Motamedi (36:08):

Okay, Japan, Spain, Japan, Spain, us, Japan, Spain. There

Ross Borden (36:11):

It is there.

Michael Motamedi (36:12):

It’s okay. I almost did Italy in there, but I was like, two in Europe. Can’t do that. You got to hedge your bets over. You got to have your brain work when you, you know how it is in Japan. That’s a cultural freaking phenomenon over there, man.

Ross Borden (36:31):

Yep. Awesome, man. Well, thank you. I think we’re at time and we got to wrap it up, but good luck in Barcelona. Good luck. I’ll be watching on the channels. I’ll be also listening to your podcast, no fixed address. He’s going to be coming out with a bunch of fresh new episodes. Again, Michael Moto Medi on all channels. Yeah, I’m excited, excited to see that launch. So I will see you online and enjoy the tapas, my friend. Enjoy Barcelona.

Michael Motamedi (37:01):

Appreciate it, brother. It’s always a pleasure getting to converse with you,

Ross Borden (37:07):

Creator. The podcast is produced by Matador Network. We are a leading global travel publisher focused on travel and adventure. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe. Every week I interview a new top creator. New episodes are released every Tuesday on YouTube, apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere podcasts are found. Thanks for listening.