In this interview Elena Cardone tells the story of how she first met Grant Cardone. They crossed paths on a night‑time commercial shoot in downtown Los Angeles, where Grant obtained Elena’s phone number from the director – a breach of protocol. He called her, delivering a brash, self‑promoting line that left Elena unimpressed and convinced she would never speak to him again. Over the next 13 months Grant left two voicemail messages each month on her answering machine, which she ignored, viewing him as just another suitor. The turning point came when a mutual friend revealed Elena’s past as a competitive shotgun shooter; Grant arranged to rent an entire shooting range for a date, hoping to impress her. Elena attended, found his shooting skills poor but his attitude decent, and decided to use the situation to her advantage. Through repeated interactions, she began to see him as tolerable, and they eventually became friends. Elena reflects that Grant’s persistence and the shared experience reopened her heart, shifting her view from seeing him as a superficial “poo‑nanny” to a genuine partner.
And then, so then from there Grant enters, right? So somewhere along that path. So can you tell the story of how you and Grant met? Because I thought that was really cool.
We met on a commercial shoot in downtown Los Angeles. It was at night. He knew the director. He came— it was a night shoot, um, and so he came on and I didn't think anything of him at all. Oh, just, just thought he was some guy, you know. And then I leave from that shoot and he calls me, got my number from the director. Director is not supposed to give out the number of anyone on the call sheet, but he gave my number out. And Grant calls me, we have this phone call. And look, I had been in LA since I was 17, now I'm mid to late 20s, and I'm from New Orleans. So, I mean, I know I'm naive, but I'm not that naive. I'm a little street smarter than I actually look today. And he gives me this call and he's like, yeah, da da da da, you know, people around me, they tend to do better when they hang out with me. And I just thought, oh my God, like I've never heard a line this bad in my life. And he's like, so get a piece of pen and paper and write down blah blah blah. I'm like, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. And I just hung up the phone and I thought, this guy is like, he's this some rich guy that thinks he can buy women. And he's so arrogant and he's not even my type and he's short, like forget it. I'm never, like this is, I'm never talking to this guy again. And then he would call and leave a message on my answering machine twice a month, every month for the next 13 months. And I never called him back because why would I?
Wait, 13 months? That's what you said?
13 months.
Oh wow.
Okay. 2 times every month for 13 months, he'd leave a message on my answer machine, but I never got scared. It wasn't like he was a stalker or anything. I wasn't scared. It was just like one of the many guys, because I was in my 20s, you know, back then. So I never really thought anything of it. And then finally he left a message because he found out from one of my friends that I used to shoot shotguns. I used to compete back then. So he said, oh, you know, I've rented the whole shooting range, and it's expensive to shoot like how I shoot. It's expensive to shoot. So I was like, oh, he wants to play that game. Well, I'll use him. I'm just gonna be honest. I was like, I'll use him for— he can pay for the show, and then I'll be done with it. He wants to play that game, all right. But obviously the joke was on me because I went And I saw that he was, you know, a terrible shot, but he was cool. He was cool. He wasn't as bad as I thought, you know. And I was like, but there was still no liking him.
Okay.
But at least it just kind of made him tolerable in my space. Okay. And so the same friend that he found that out about me is then she started bringing him out. And back then I was doing all the clubs all the time and going out, 20s, you know, whatever. And so he would show up and I was like, oh, he's not so bad, like he can hang. And then we became friends and anyway, the rest is history.
So would you say that he like, it was obviously a combination, but he kind of like opened your heart back up again? 'Cause earlier in the book you said like it seals off.
Oh, totally.
Yeah, so that was—
He was like the, yeah, the only one. And it just became more real because, it's so uncomfortable talking like this, but, You know, there it just became at some point I was like, this is not about the poonanny anymore. Yeah. Like, because, because a guy would have dropped off at that point. Do you know what I'm saying?
That's funny, at 13 months.
Like, what is it? Like, I don't even know. No. And then, you know, there was more, you know, then there was all the challenges and you know what I'm saying? Like all the other tests and everything else. And, and he just, so I felt like, wow, like I just couldn't even understand why he was interested in me. Like, I didn't even— like, I just felt like it was more than just that. Like, wow, he's like really serious for some weird reason. Because I wasn't even as cool as I am now. I was cooler in a different way, but not now. Now I feel like, wow, like now I could see— ego aside, but I could see why a man would want to be with me now because of what I can bring to the table.
