100: DJ Sammy "Shoebox Moses": Make Money, Have Fun, Give Back

How's it going? I'm Xander Fryer, just another millennial corporate dropout turned entrepreneur. Since quitting my day job as an engineer just over four years ago, I built a multimillion dollar coaching business mentoring seven figure business owners, professional athletes, award winning musicians, Hollywood actors, bestselling authors, and hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs. I truly believe that when we couple the right knowledge with a strong desire for action, anything is possible. But most of us are never given the right knowledge the shit you don't learn in College the Sidliq Podcast shares interviews from the world's most successful people in business, finance, sports, health and entertainment in order to help you live a life filled with more money, more meaning and more freedom than you ever thought possible. Get ready to learn the shit you don't learn in college.

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Hey hey, how's it going friends? Welcome back to another episode of Shit you don't learn in College. Today we're talking to one of my new best friends, DJ Sammy Taggett, AKA Shoebox Moses. Thrown away in a shoebox at birth and then adopted from a Philippines orphanage, Shoebox Moses has a passion for creating an unforgettable vibe and you'll tell once again to this podcast. He's recognized by Forbes as an international DJ and has performed with Cascades and headline festivals with Skrillex, Empire of the sun, above and Beyond, Kid Cudi, Major Lazer, Snoop Dogg, Avicii, and many more. As a headline entertainer for elite entrepreneurial conferences and festivals such as Mindvalley's a Fest, Shoebox Moses has performed for the world's most powerful leaders such as bestselling author Jack Canfield and one of the few DJs to play at Necker island, home of Sir Richard Branson. You're not gonna wanna miss this episode. We dig into breaking world records in Antarctica, how being thrown away in a shoebox at birth affected how he views life and how he gives back. We talk about the importance of tribe and community and experiences over money, how our rock bottom moments can turn into bigger opportunities. And don't forget, we only spread our message when you share this knowledge with others that need it. So if you enjoy this episode, please share it on your social and taganderfryer. And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on itunes and give us a five star rating so you don't miss any other great episodes. And and for all of our shit you don't learn in college fans out there, if you've gotten any value from this podcast, don't forget to go to www.sidlickbook.com Syd licbook.com to grab your copy of the number one bestseller, Shit, you don't learn in college, available now.

All right, how's it going, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Shit you don't learn in College. I'm your host, Xander Fryer. Today we've got one of my newest best friends, Sammy Shoebox Moses on. Sammy, how's it going, brother?

Yeah, what's up?

Is this. Is this a result of that yerba mate that you just had?

Oh, so it has adaptogens. I think it has a result to do with, like, my lion onesie, which I have a strong affinity for onesies as of late.

Yeah. So, Sammy, for those of you guys who, who can't see Sammy, if you're just listening on the podcast, Sammy has a. What is that? A Rasta lion onesie. So can you, can you tell everybody why. Why you're newly in love with onesies?

This affinity for onesies has started over the last six months or so as I've been playing. I've been DJing a lot of these shows in these crazy gowns and these onesies. And I noticed there's a lot of beautiful women that wear onesies with, like, scantily clad things underneath them. And then the other thing I noticed was that when Waring said such onesie, people love to pet you. And I, I'm a big fond.

Are you a physical touch type of guy? Is that one.

That is my number one, two, and third love language.

I knew it.

Touch and touch.

I. I love it, man. So.

To move on from that conversation, you know, one of the things that we're. I want to talk about your history and, and how you got to where you are now. But first you were just dropping some knowledge. You just got back from a trip in Antarctica. Tell me about it. Sounds like you. You just may have broken some records as you know, while DJing there.

I think we did. So have you heard of the group the mavericks, the Maverick 1000 group?

I have, I have. I don't know if anybody listening to this has, but yeah, yeah. Yannick Silver, right?

Yep. Yannick Silver. And so for the listeners that may have not have heard of them, they are one of the most dynamic and prolific leaders and mastermind groups that I've been part of. And so their philosophy on life is make more funny, make more money, have more fun, give more back. And so whenever they go to do an adventure, whether it's flying MiG jets or racing the Baja, I've been to Necker island with them a couple times, or any adventure, they go all out. And so what they did on this one to raise awareness for the oceans and, you know, our melting polar ice caps is they took me, their dj, to Antarctica to DJ on the seventh continent. And we didn't know this at the time, but we were just gonna go to do this.

Yeah.

Once we got there, we ended up taking these really cool Zodiac rides to the seventh continent. We set up. And I DJed a silent disco party on Antarctica, which we had to stop a couple times because penguins were coming out of the water, and they were looking at us like, what in the actual fuck is going on here? So we had to stop the show a couple times to make sure they had a March of the Penguins through our dance floor.

So it was a silent disco because you could. You didn't want to disturb the wilderness. Is that right?

You don't want to start. Yeah, you don't want to start dropping bass on a glacier.

Oh, that's. That's probably a good call. I didn't even think about that one.

I didn't either until I was looking at. Watching some of these shows, and I. Could you imagine being the DJ that caused a caving incident or having incident the size of New York because you. You just had to play Laney because you.

You just went too heavy on the bass. Yeah.

Yeah. And, you know, I do. Every DJ does, so it was amazing. And so what we found out is there they don't think that there's ever been a DJ on Antarctica, and they definitely not been a DJ that has played through silent disco headphones. And then the second world record that we think we brought, we are bringing is that I also DJed on these zodiacs in the Southern Sea. So what the Zodiac boats were, as a group of us three boats dodging icebergs while listening to Le Nate and Gone Gone beyond and Ben Bomer, which are my favorite producers right now.

Yeah.

And it was just amazing. But what was more important than that was what we were doing it for, because we're all about really big missions, and this one was to bring awareness to the water. But what was crazy is, once we turn the music off and you take your headphones off, Xander, you can hear this popping, like.

And what that is is this. This nitrogen and these gases releasing from the ice.

Gee.

So it's like the codes of the Earth that have been locked in ice.

For some massive, massive movements. And. Yeah.

And so what we were experiencing and hearing in that moment was Earth's voice and whisper like, hey, you got two choices. You know, that's what we were really pulling for is really amazing. Very powerful. Much more powerful than listening. And I love those producers, but much more powerful listening to that, Especially when you turn off all the engines and you just hear, like, this.

What is. Yeah.

And it was just the ice Mama.

Mama Earth as the DJ at that point.

Yeah. Mama Gaia is like, yo, I got some bass for you. I got some songs for you.

Dude, that's amazing, man. What an amazing experience. So let's. And. And, you know, this theme of. Of awareness and giving back is something that's, you know, prevalent in. In your life. And I think we'll get to that at some point in this podcast. But I'd love to go back to, you know, your early childhood and how, you know, how your upbringing and how eventually you went down this path of becoming a dj, playing in front of, you know, on some very, you know, famous stages and, you know, for companies and in front of audiences like Maverick, Google, the Ritz, Cirque du Soleil, Virgin, all of these things. Like, how do you like. Let's go back to the very beginning. Let's hear about how DJ Sammy Shoebox Moses gets to where he is now.

Ooh, good question. Okay, so the short answer most people want to know is where did Shoebox Moses come from?

Yeah.

Then they also want to know what is. What is the path to becoming a dj?

Yeah.

Just to kind of start at the beginning. I usually start at how I became a dj because it actually circles back. Okay. Kind of an interesting story. I don't know if I told you this, Andrew, in our. In our myriad of encounters, but when I moved back from Texas, I had a failed relationship. This was my rock, rock bottom moment. I think we've all had them.

Yeah.

Huge failed relationship. No money, no job. The only place I could find to live was in the basement of my buddy's house in Denver who was super nice to put me up. He. He had me there for a couple weeks. One night we. We were partying in the basement, and we were trying to start a T shirt company. And one of the things are rituals. A lot of the things that I do have these rituals and consequences or rituals and gifts if this is through line. But the ritual that we would have is we would light this candle and come up with T shirt ideas because we. He had a silk screening process in his basement, and he was like, we can make T shirts. So we thought if we made these really cool T shirts, we could make a lot of money. And the T shirts were stupid. They said things like, kiss me, I'm bipolar, so fuck off. Or have you hugged your Islamic extreme extremist today? Like, stupid T shirts that we thought everyone would buy.

Yeah.

Well, we light a candle, which was our candle, that would motivate us to come up with these ideas. And then we left it burning in the basement in my room. And I burned my friend's house down. So the candle stayed lit in my room and ended up burning down Devin's house. So I have no place to live, no job, no money.

Now he has no place.

Now he has no place to live. And I am.

Are you. Are you and Devin still friends, by the way?

Yeah.

Okay.

Just.

Just double checking.

The Sammy renovation is the best thing that ever happened to him. Yeah, so the crazy thing that happened, though, is I started to scramble. Like, you know, I have to get a job. So I call my friends. I'm just calling anyone who listen. I go, I need a job. I need something. I just burned Devin's house down. I'm totally fine. So my friend Patrick calls me and he says, you know what? I got a job for you. I'm going on tour. He's a guitarist. I'm going on tour. You can take my job at Alley Cats. Just be there at 8 o'. Clock. You can have my spot. So Alley Cats is a nightclub downtown in Denver. At the time, it was above. It was above a strip club. It was like the hottest place to go in Denver at the time. This is 2014 or 13, I believe. And so I get to Alley Cats. I walk in for my shift, my only job opportunity at the time, and they hand me a duffel bag. Xander. And this duffel bag has a bowl, some mints, some mousse, some really crappy cologne.

Oh, my God, cigarettes.

And I am like, what do I do with this? And they go, you're the bathroom guy. And so my only job after burning my house down, failed relationship, moving back with nothing, was to get a job in a nightclub. In the bathroom.

Yeah.

So that was my station. I remember the first. I'm setting up. I'm like, well, I have no options. This is the thing I gotta do. I'm putting the bowl up. I'm putting my things up. I'm like, you know, there's like that. Whatever. That Australian moose. I was like, who even uses moose? There's Drakkar, crappy gum.

Now you. Now you know. Who uses the moose.

Now I know. Well, the guy come. One of the Security guy comes in, drops a huge deuce behind me, and I'm just like, oh, my God. This is exactly. This is where I'm at right now. This.

So that. That happens. And I'm set up in there, and, you know, nine o' clock rolls around. All of a sudden I just hear this thumping.

And it's the DJs doing soundcheck. And I hadn't been too privy to too many DJs. There's a DJ I worked with in Fort Collins prior to this. But I look outside the door. I could step outside of the door, and that's where I could see these DJs. They're having a blast, right? I was like, oh, my God, I got to do that. I got to get out of this bathroom and get to that stand. I have to do this. So I realized very quickly that I'm a very good salesperson and that if you set your mind to anything, you can make it work. That first night I was there, I think I made 350 bucks. It was crazy. In tips. In the bathroom.

In the bathroom.

In the bathroom.

Wow. Who knew?

I was like, oh, my God, it saved my life. I remember just walking out almost in tears. I was like, oh, my God. I just. I can buy food. I can do something. I can. Yeah. You know, I can. I can live for another few days.

Yeah.

So I had a couple more shifts, the whole thing. You know, I'm an entertainer. I was like, I gotta get out of this bathroom. How do I get up there? And, you know, during my little breaks, I'd run up to the DJ booth and see what they're doing, and they would always, like, shoo me away. And. And I finally realized that these DJs really love something. They love shots and they love chicks. So I. I could get both because I was in the bathroom, and I could save my money, buy them shots and take them chicks. And so I would buy shots and bring chicks up there to do shots with them. And in that process, I'd be like, now what does that button do? What does that button do? Well, how did you mix that? Oh, so you can take this music off your computer and just put it. So if I bring you music, you can play it? Yeah, totally. So I got to know most of the DJs, and they would just let me kind of just mill around. And then there was about a month of this going on. Me bringing shots, rituals, and gifts, so to speak.

Right? Yeah.

Here's your gift of a girl. And then I saw. I saw a DJ Go down in flames on a Friday night Just train wrecking. He was too drunk to play, and I jumped out of the bathroom and jumped in his spot and started playing. And it was my image.

Sounds like something out of a movie.

This is a total movie. It was a total movie. I dropped. Pondery Play by Rihanna is my very first song. I remember that much. And the club started going. You know, they're like, ooh, we love this. And that song drops asses. People like, that song still hits. I love that song. The remixes of that song are so good. So I played for 15, 20 minutes. This. You know, he popped back up into his place, and I ran back into the bathroom, back to my post, and I got cornered by a bunch of the guys that were in the VIP section, and they wanted to know what I was doing in the bathroom. And I was. I kind of thought I was going to lose my job. Yeah, this is my only job. I'm sorry. I just. The club was failing, and they were.

I had to do something.

They were like, you do not belong in the bathroom. You need to meet Kevin Larson. Kevin Larson will teach you. Like, he'll get you on a bigger stage. He has these huge events, and I was like, oh, okay. So that turned out well. I met this Kevin Larson guy, and he ended up, at the time, being one of the biggest promoters in the city. And he put me on my first big stages in Denver, where I was allowed to DJ a New Year's party with, like, 2,000 people. Wow. And that set the trajectory of what I was going to do, and it was off to the races from there. So then you fast forward to I'm playing all these shows in Denver. It just turns into one next show. So the big show leads into another show, a grand opening, this and that. And the one thing that happened for me that was really special was I was different, you know, like Rob Dyrdek. Totally different. Yeah, me, Totally different. We went. We went and had our own special thing. And I was an emcee. So as an emcee and a singer. So I would spin and I would also sing and play guitar and do my things with my DJ sets. And people are like, this is so much more entertaining.

I love this. Than just a dj.

Yeah, dj. And then also, there's energy, right? There's so much energy that I was conveying to this audience. And I learned that really quickly that you can't just push buttons. Like, you have to transfer the energy. And that's all I was doing, was just transferring my crazy Energy. Like, you have it and I have it.

Yeah, I love that because there's, you know, there's something that we always. We always talk to our clients about, right? It's like, if you want to be a true leader, like, people follow people's energy, right? So you have to be able to convey that energy if you want to lead them, whether. Whether you're a dj, an emcee, a leader in any other form, you have to convey energy, connect with them in that way.

Oh, absolutely. And so that's what I learned to do in that space. And so those shows led me to play a show for a company called Mind Valley. I met a guy who took me to my first A fest as a singer, and he said he could DJ. He didn't know how to DJ, but he kind of BS'd his way into this event saying he was a DJ. This was in Maui. And I was like, oh, my gosh, I can totally do this. So he. Another failed dj. I stepped in his place and got the party going. That event was the tip of the spear when I met Vishen Lakhiani, who is the founder of Mindvalley. He and I became super fast friends. And then I also met a gentleman named Yannick Silver at that same event, doing a connection exercise where you look into somebody's eyes, like, really awkwardly for.

For an extended period of time.

Awkward little stare, right? And I was like, yeah, what's up? Like, very awkward. And then an awkward hug to follow. And that was Yannick. And we laugh about that still to this day. But that led me into playing these really cool events. And what had started to turn for me was this paradigm shift, whereas, like, whoa, you can meet amazing people doing what you love to do, and you should be doing that. And I didn't realize it because I never finished school, I didn't finish college, I didn't do. I wasn't able to follow the path. It didn't work for me. But I always followed what I love to do and stayed kind of close to it, even though I wasn't in my true zone of genius or in my bliss in the bathroom. Music was my bliss. Music was it. And I knew that if I stayed in that space, my internal guidance system, which was pure joy and love of music, would show me how to get there.

You'd eventually, this. See, this is. I mean, honestly, this is why we started. Shit you don't learn in college. Exactly what you're talking about right now, right? Like, that's not something. That's. That's taught to most people. And the college education system doesn't teach you to follow that. Follow that compass. Right. Why do you think so many people don't do that? But you, you know, had the ability to do this and maybe with a little help of burning down your buddy's house. But, like, why did you have that in you while so many other people don't?

Okay, so that's one question a lot of people ask me. And I really think that this is something that has to be learned the hard way or pushed through a lot of fortification on a lot of really intense discipline, and that's to be uncomfortable.

Yeah.

And you got to learn how to embrace the shit and be uncomfortable. I put myself in that spot through a choice, like, through a myriad of really poor choices. And so, I mean, I was very lucky. And this was when I was learning, right? As I was learning, we all make. And I was in my mid-20s, which is totally cool, to make these massive mistakes in your 20s. Gary Vee talks about this, like, if you're going to go f up, f up in your 20s, you got some time to bounce back. And so I was making pretty dicey decisions, but I was doing them in, like, my pursuit of what was my bliss. I was like, you know what? I'm going to go to Detroit and see if I can link up with the guys that manage, you know, E40 and can get me in front of Eminem. You know, I am going to go do these parties because I can perform at those parties at spring break in LA Villa and. And these stupid things that I was like, you know what? I was always following what I thought was my true bliss. But if I were to do it again, like, for your listeners now, do you have to put yourself on the edge and really, really, really almost make it destructive to a point? No, absolutely not. And how do you do it in a different way? Well, now, in this time, you can follow any path you want online. You can be like, oh, you know what? I can learn this. And then you can go. And if you are intelligent enough and savvy enough and will put in the hours, you can write that insane song like Billie Eilish and those guys did in their bedroom. You can create a following if you're consistent and put out content and you're out and hone your craft and you can expedite how well you get at that if you're disciplined and don't go out and party every night. One of the things I made the biggest mistake of doing was thinking that partying and being in that scene the whole time was what was going to get me on the stages. But in essence, what was really going to get me on the stages was being prepared when the opportunity met itself. Right.

And that came from being prepared when that DJ went down in a. In a fireball and you could just jump into that seat.

Yeah. When he was a snowball on fire, racing downhill, I was like, oh, I got this. But that came from me going home. And Devin. I didn't even tell you Devin was a dj. He was a dj. So I was like, yo, I got a job at Ali Kaz. He's like, what? You know, so it was crazy to see how that whole thing had transpired. And so I would go home, you know, those nights before everything happened, and I would just learn. I mean, I was always with other people doing music, but when I started to kind of see what these DJs were doing, I sought out my friends, and I would go home and be like, how do you. How do you do this? And instead of going out, I was just like, oh, so you mix it.

You were a learner. You wanted to learn more. You wanted to practice. You got curious.

I had no options, too. I mean, there's a point of leverage. I think Tony Robbins talks about this. This point that you hit where the leverage is so strong, you have to make a change. And that's. You know, it's like, even with as. As far as it goes when it comes to being a total procrastinator, whatever. But there's ways to not have to do that. Like, your listeners need to know that there's ways now that you don't have to do that. And you can learn from idiots like us that, you know, literally took. You can compress. Do you believe, Xander, that we can compress the 10,000 hours now?

I do believe that we can compress a lot of the 10,000 hours. I think part of it, though, that I will say is.

There is no.

What's the word I'm looking for?

You can't substitute.

Yeah, you can't substitute. Like, really learning from experience.

Oh, a thousand percent.

There's certain things you can learn a lot. The thing that I always tell people is, like, you can learn the books, you can go online, and you can still study the programs, but at some point, like, if you want to learn how to swim, you're going to have to jump in the pool.

Yep.

You're just going to have to jump in the pool. I personally think we can condense the 10,000 hours, but I don't think that we can condense it to like a hundred hours. Maybe maybe a thousand or two thousand or something like that.

Sure, yeah, I agree with that a thousand percent, because I was immersed. I was completely immersed in the culture. And I think that's kind of a nice segue to what really expedited my impact to get to the really big shows. After I did that first show for a Fest, I started to realize that life is way bigger than what we're doing. And when I met Jannik and the folks at the Mavericks, their philosophy is to have more fun, make more money and give more back. And so I got this humbling piece of advice. But I watched these people building empires virtually and having these teams around the world. When I first got introduced to them, I think the four hour workweek had just been released. It's the first time I'd ever seen anything about outsourcing, anything about bending time. But what I really learned from these guys was that the world's bigger than us and there's a mission and a reason why we're all here to do stuff. And for me, I'm an adopted Filipino. And what was crazy is I had seen these folks really impacting the world. And one of my dreams as an adoptee was to one day go back to my orphanage and just see where I was from and just kind of make the pilgrimage. And so as these shows started to happen and all the momentum started to really start taking root, I started to have this yearning to go back and figure out what I could do if I went back to the Philippines. And so in 2015, I had got the opportunity to go back to the Philippines for the first time and to find my roots and to find out where I was from and, like, you know, dig in there. And so what was crazy is I got there and right before I left, I got a. I was on the phone with my mom and she gave me this, you know, she gave me this really amazing talk about, like, knowing what I was about to go into. And so I had this crazy conversation with her where she told me about my roots. And she said that I was left in a shoebox in a dumpster. And so that was the information she gave me. And as I went to the Philippines, it was going to be my mission to kind of find out if that was in fact really where I started and what. What that really meant for me. And so, as you can imagine, my world really flipped when you kind of find your origin and if the origin has kind of that kind of levity to it or actually weight to.

Can kind of change things for you.

Yeah.

This huge piece of imposter syndrome hitting me. I had this huge wave of guilt, like, how come I'm so lucky? Why.

Why did I make it? Yeah, why did I make it out? How did that happen?

How did I make it? Like, what am I supposed to do? What? What? Your reckless ass has been so cavalier.

House burning, reckless ass. Right.

So I got to the Philippines. I got to stare into the eyes of these beautiful little brown babies. They all looked like my brother and my sister or my kids or, you know, all this stuff. I got to see the streets, walk on the streets and smell the. Smell the dirtiness of that place. And it dawned on me when I was there that there's so much more that I should be doing. And not that I felt fully like, oh, my gosh, this is my life's mission. It was just a yearning. Like, you know what? I've got it pretty good. What can you. What can I do next? What's the one thing I could probably do that would be a little bit better? And so I took it upon myself to just give myself some. Some grace, to lean into an option of raising awareness for the orphanage, possibly instilling some education platforms where kids coming out of that orphanage could learn a creative endeavor or do something. I didn't know how that worked. I don't know what that looked like at the time. I just knew that there is something that was planted in me on that trip. And so what happened is that that planting of that seed started to take root. Xander. And when I got back, I got another opportunity to play for the Mavericks again, this time on Necker island, and that is the home of Sir Richard Branson. I got to sit at the feet of literally one of the greatest entrepreneurs I have ever known, and watch as he talked about going intergalactic and talking about getting off off this planet and just checking out space. And it made me think bigger. It made me see, like, what I'm thinking of is so much. Has so much more to it.

Yeah.

So it was amazing, is that each time I kept having these experiences, and each time somebody presented a whole new curtain that they pulled back. Every time that happened, I was like, oh, I could do this and this. And so now, coming full circle, I was with the Mavericks, telling them all these things I wanted to do, letting them know that I'd been found in a shoebox and all these pieces had all come, you know, colliding together, and they're like, well, that's amazing. You're like our little Shoebox Moses. That makes perfect sense. And they're like, you're going back to free your kids. And it said it was a goofy name, and it just kind of stuck. So the Shoebox Moses came out of that pilgrimage. It's coming out of the mission that I'm here to serve. And what's really cool is we were able to start a five a couple years ago, really build on the foundation of supplying that orphanage. It's the RSCC supplying the orphanage with supplies. We're working right now to build some classrooms out of shipping containers that we can put, like, these really cool, like, kind of just media types of things in there. In the Philippines, there are two things that are still standing after typhoons. Shipping containers and basketball hoops. I don't know why that's the deal, but they're basketball hoops.

The only things that can't get ruined.

Yeah, can't get ruined, right. So I was thinking about how to do this. And so what we're doing, we're in the process of creating really robust and super dope learning platforms for kids around the world. Not just the Philippines is what it's really evolving into. But what's neat is because of the VA staffing mentality in the Philippines, we're working with a couple companies right now to help those. Those companies mentor kids coming out of there so that they can find jobs in the creative arts. And so now I look back on why I had started a podcast production company, why I had a film company, why I have a talent agency, and why I perform in all these different places as a guitarist, as a dj, as an emcee. I was just kind of, in a way, paving the way to teach all these little. These little groms around the world what really fulfilled me.

That's amazing, man. One thing that I love about this story, too, is through the entire thing, you're talking about what Maverick is really about. It's like, yeah, you're going to be making more money, but you're having a blast while you're doing it, and you're giving back the whole time. So I think one thing that I want to chat about there is for you. Have you noticed there's a lot of entrepreneurs that maybe they just go down the money route and they're not focused on, like, enjoying life. They're not focused on giving back. What were some tips or pieces of advice you could give to, you know, any of the entrepreneurs or anybody out there, or. It doesn't have to be an entrepreneur. It could be people in the corporate world as well. They're just, you know, making good money and, but they're just kind of going through life and not, not able to give back. Not having the fun that they really could.

That's a great question. It doesn't matter how many people tell you money is not going to make you happy until you make a lot of money and realize that it doesn't make you happy. You know, have you, have you ever.

Have you ever heard. Yeah. Have you ever heard Jim Carrey's quote? He says, I wish all the financial success to everybody in the world so that they can learn that there's more to life.

Yeah, absolutely. That's. I mean that's the simple part of it because we've, I mean myself included have had some incredible financial windfalls. But.

And wins. Is it windfalls either way, I've had them both great and bad.

It works. It works.

It totally works. It's like breathing air. And I think one thing that really shifted for so many of the folks that why they bring me on these, on these events, like why did they bring. The first time I went to these big events I had to pawn a guitar to pay for gas, put in my car to get to the airport. Like that's where I was at. But once I got there, what I realized is those the thing that we're seeking and the thing that we really hold dear are going to be the feelings and the connections that we have with tribe like minded family and the experiences that we cultivate together. Because at the end of the day no one's taking their money with them. At the end of the day no one's taken anyone.

I'm going to make everybody when I die, they're burying me with all my cash. That's just going to be a big. It's going to be like. Yeah, it's going to be like an Egyptian tomb, right?

Yeah, totally. And that, that for me what I notice is people want to feel good. And how do you feel good if, if you can find out the mechanism outside of, of purchasing and the mechanism out of just acquiring things. But, but sharing experiences and cultivating those world class experiences is one of the things that I noticed they bring me around for. It's to raise the vibration.

Yeah.

Cultivate an experience. And so what we're all looking for is a way to raise the vibration and to cultivate a beautiful experience. And so for the things that I get to do, I was just really lucky that I am very blessed That I learned at a very young age how to connect and how to just enjoy life's bountiful crazy fruits. Because it's been, it's been one experience after another. Right. We're going back to. We're going to be going to Jordan in a few months to dj. I said out there, I'm going to be in Costa Rica and Mexico and Florida, New York, you know, all the things that we do once you hit that point. But that has to come from the hard work and getting immersed in what you love to do.

But I think one thing, one thing you also brought up. You mentioned a lot of experiences, but you also mentioned tribe and people and family. And you mentioned how you had to pawn a guitar to get around this the first time, to get around this community.

Right.

You've done a really good job of putting yourself around the vibe, around the experience, around the environments. You know, even being the bathroom guy at the, you know, at the hot club, to be around the opportunity. Like, what would you say to that? How important is that being around that, you know, the Richard Branson's to cause you to think, be. Cause you to think bigger? Being around the opportunities, things like that.

Yeah, that's. That whole proximity is power kind of mentality. That for me, that started at a, that started at a really young age. I'm not very big. I'm five, six, like fully stretched out.

Yeah, we're like, we're homies. This is why I love you. Because we're party.

We're partying, I think. Rob, same size?

Yeah. We see eye to eye. Not just on like business terms and life terms, but like we literally see eye to eye.

We literally see eye to eye.

Yeah.

So what I realized from a young age was that for me to feel accepted a lot of times I noticed, I noticed that being around in those groups, I felt a little safe, a little bit safer. And so then I dug into that a little bit later in life and I read like the 48 laws of power. I started to understand that for me to change my current situation, to change my current reality, I had to find the folks that were living the way I wanted to do it and to in essence kind of mirror their energy and their frequency, but be myself.

And that came from a lot of trial and error of being rejected a lot. You know, a lot of the times people wouldn't. But through a lot of work, internal work, I had to find a ton of self worth first. I think they say your net worth will never exceed your self worth. I kind of Believe that. But for me, it really did make a big difference. I needed to learn how to be kind of a homie to those folks. And what those folks needed, you know, in a genuine way, was a place for them to be themselves and a place where they could just have fun, where somebody's not trying to get something from them. And I started to shift that, hey, I should just be around people of power and this and that. But it just started to become like, those were my friends. And I. You know, my friend Mark Wade asked me about this one time. He's like, how come you keep getting invited to all these things? Like, why are you the one that plays all those and does this and.

One thing that's kind of a dick question to ask.

Yeah. It's like, fuck you, Mark.

Why are you here?

Yeah. So one of the things that I realized is that I care about these folks. Yeah, I deeply care. Like, I love Yannick's family. I love knowing how Zoe and Missy and the kids are doing. I love Vishen and how his kids are doing. And, you know, I.

I deeply have a reverence for our connection as friends. Like, if the events went away and everything else went away, I can promise you I would still be hanging out with them. Yeah, they. I would still be calling them. There's, you know, the most for me, and this is me as a serial extrovert. I get the most energy out of connecting with people and learning, like, what. What I can do to enhance their lives. And it's always been that way. Like, hey, how can I make your life? How can I support you? How can I make your life better? Is there anything that you need me to pray for? Is there anything that you would like me to hold some meditations for? And I genuinely mean that. I think that for. For where we're at in society right now, I think that there can't be enough outpouring of care for each other. There's so many people out there that don't have anybody. They're lonely, they're sad. They were isolated for two years. I mean, so I think the reason I keep getting called back and what happened and how I got into that space and why I did that, as I understood the importance of connection and connection in a genuine way. And for me, that it runs way farther than being skin deep. And that probably happened, you know, as a total blessing, because as an abandoned child, thrown away in a dumpster, my first initial few minutes of life, I think were pretty tumultuous. And so I know true was true. Loneliness, true loneliness. So I think one of the things that I've always tried to get around is not being left alone. And then that process, I learned how to deeply connect and learned how to get some skill sets around me that made people always want to stay connected to me. And so with that in mind, now I get to teach it and spread it out, you know, like, teach other people how to do it. Like I teach people how to DJ and how to, you know, throw parties and do those things. Because the connection was what, what was the most important thing to me. And that's probably why I kept getting asked back. I'm not the best DJ in the world. I'm pretty damn good, but I'm not the best by any stretch. There's a nine year old girl I know that is a much better DJ than I am and I'm always jealous watching her do her thing.

I love hearing that, by the way, because in the end, I think that's what we're all looking for. We're all looking for connection. We're all looking for a deep understanding and feeling understood. I should say you're the second musical artist that we've had on this show that has been, you know, very successful. We had a music producer, Alex Salebian, who produced for Harry Styles, and he said the exact same thing. He said, I'll be honest, in rank of like, skill, I'm probably 95 out of a hundred, but I'm, I'm really good at connecting with people and helping them open up and be themselves. And he's like, that's, that's what people want. They don't, they don't need the best producer. They need someone that's going to help them be their best version of themselves.

Absolutely. Yeah, exactly. And that's how I would, I would put myself in like the top 50.

So you're not, you're not the bottom five out of 100. Like Alex is.

Promise you, if he's producing for Harry, he is not the 95th.

I love it, man. Dude, Sammy, like, we're going to have to do a second episode of this. I know, I know you and I both have some hard stops here, but we're gonna, we're gonna get a second episode of this. I'd love to talk to you more about everything that you're doing and go deeper on your story. But for everybody who wants to hear more about DJ Sammy Shoebox Moses, where can they find you? Where can they follow you? Where can they learn more?

There's a site you can go to shoebox moses.com that has tour schedule, music, new music, that has all like, all the companies that are there as well. And then if you go to my Instagram Shoebox Moses, it's there too in the link tree. It'll tell you everything that you need to know about me. Or if you want to try and find me in any local nightclub bathroom, sometimes I just visit that again and.

Just, just get the feeling back.

Hope that the hope that the DJ is going to go crumbling to the floor.

Hope that there's an epic failure, train wreck that I can go save. That's what I do, dude.

I love it. Sammy, thanks for coming on, man. I appreciate it, brother.

Totally my pleasure. Xander, thanks for having me, bro. Love you, man.

Love you too, dude. All right, that's all we have for today, folks. I hope you enjoyed this episode of Shit you don't learn in college. And if you did, please share this episode on your social media and taganderfryer. And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on itunes and give us a five star rating so you don't miss any other great episodes. We can only spread our message when you share this knowledge with the others that need it, so we really appreciate the support. Thanks a ton.