Collaborative Creativity. Ben Giroux

[00:00:00] Bob Wheeler: Welcome to another episode of money you should ask where everyone has something they can teach you. I’m your host, Bob Wheeler. In this episode, we are going to explore why we do what we do when it comes to money as a CPA for the past 30 years. Wait, let me say 25, because that makes me sound younger. I have seen it all when it comes to money and emotions.

[00:00:21] And if you think I’m talking about my. I’m not, I’m talking about myself. My relationship with money has been, and sometimes still is an emotional rollercoaster. Maybe that’s something you’re also familiar with. Good news. You and I are not the only ones. Our next guest is going to share their money, beliefs, money blocks, and life challenges as well.

[00:00:43] Buckle your seatbelt and enjoy the ride.

[00:01:06] our next guest is Ben Jeru. He’s an actor, voiceover artist, producer, director, and writer, best known for his portrayal of the toddler. And Nickelodeon’s Henry danger and danger force franchise. He is currently voicing the lead character, Nate in the highly anticipated Nickelodeon series. Big Nate available to stream on paramount.

[00:01:26] Then as toured with the Backstreet boys launched a successful production company called small red Cape has appeared in over a hundred episodes on television and has over 4 million followers on all social media platforms. Ben, welcome to the show.

[00:01:38] Ben Giroux: Thank you so much for having me, Bob so great to be here.

[00:01:41] Bob Wheeler: Well, I’m so excited. You’ve got this big show coming out, but I have to ask you, how does it feel? And I know I’ve watched a couple of interviews about being an actor in front of the camera, as opposed to being a cartoon in front of the camera. How is it like when you get all this fame that people are like, you don’t look like your character, or maybe you do, how has

[00:02:00] Ben Giroux: that?

[00:02:02] Well, I got to say, I love cartoon voice acting because it affords me a different, I guess, a wider net of roles that I would otherwise be applicable for. I started my career as an on-camera television actor, and there’s only so many things that you can play as a five to. At a certain point, you own a lot of Christmas elf tights for elf commercials and so on and so forth.

[00:02:29] So I would say the thing that I appreciate most about animation acting is you said it yourself. I get to play Nate right on our new show. Big Nate on paramount plus. And Nate is a sixth grader. I’m not playing a sixth grader as a 37 year old man on camera. So the fact that I can kind of sound one on the microphone.

[00:02:47] I just think that the breadth of roles that you could potentially be considered for is much wider in animation.

[00:02:55] Bob Wheeler: So here’s the thing. And I was going to bring this in and ask if it was an asset being shorter for voiceover or on camera, but so I’m five, four and a half to be clear, not just five,

[00:03:05] Ben Giroux: four, you would fit in very well in my family.

[00:03:07] Bob Wheeler: But here’s the thing on those elf commercials auditions. I was always just slightly too tall. So too short for mainstream. Too tall for the Alf world. It was a struggle.

[00:03:18] Ben Giroux: Yeah, I get it. And one of the very first elf commercials I ever auditioned for this is like I was in college. It was, I think it was a Sprite commercial.

[00:03:25] And I walked in and they were actually in the casting lobby. The breakdown had called for little people and I walked in and everyone looks at me like, what the F is this guy doing here? I was the tallest person in the room and I should not have been there. And I, I did not book. That’s

[00:03:44] Bob Wheeler: trying to steal the little people’s spots.

[00:03:46] How dare you? How dare

[00:03:47] Ben Giroux: you. It was not a good moment.

[00:03:49] Bob Wheeler: One of your first roles was Birnkrant 606. It’s a story about USC students and their world war II, Nazi neighbors. Cause that happens a lot. Maybe only near us. You were the young Republican douchebag. I don’t know if you remember that that was your role.

[00:04:06] Ben Giroux: This is news to me. This is probably a college project I did at USC and theater school. I was just

[00:04:11] Bob Wheeler: wondering if you had been worried about getting typecast with this young Republican. Yeah, it’s in your credits, man.

[00:04:17] Ben Giroux: Hey look. Not to get political, but I’m glad douchebag was attached to the rest of that title.

[00:04:24] Bob Wheeler: Well, I almost felt like it was redundant, but I don’t know. But my point is it was about USC. You went to USC, does knowing people in the biz actually.

[00:04:33] Ben Giroux: You know, it’s interesting. I went to theater school at SC and I had a great experience going to college in town. I think what I got out of going to school at USC was just being around entertainment, being already in the city.

[00:04:46] So I started auditioning professionally while I was still in school skipping classes. So I could go do voiceover auditions on camera stuff back in the day. I would say what that afforded me was I didn’t graduate college, like a deer in headlights, ready to sort of then tackle the industry. I was able to kind of transition into it while I was still in school because I was in Los Angeles.

[00:05:09] So look, the fact that I have a very expensive theater degree on my shelf has never booked me one of my many, many television acting roles, but I would say the relationships that I made. I still collaborate with people that I went to college with. The friendships that I made were immensely helpful, but yeah, I’ve never auditioned for something where they’re like, well, he went to USC, let’s give him the role, uh, in the role.

[00:05:34] That’s right. Yeah. But I do think, you know, ultimately it’s an industry where knowing people and creating relationships and bonds with people, that’s how you create opportunities and work for yourself.

[00:05:44] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, absolutely. Do you think for young people out there? And to me, this is a thing I know that as a kid, you said that you almost went into the fine arts you drew and stuff.

[00:05:54] When you were younger and playing Nate, you get to relive your childhood, maybe do a redo. Did your parents encourage that kind of thing? Because a lot of parents will say, find a second. It’s a great hobby, but trying to do anything creative, just doesn’t pay the bills. Don’t do it. What kind of childhood, what kind of parents?

[00:06:15] And you don’t have to say too many bad things about them, but like, were they nurturing or was it just the trauma of childhood that got you into the fine arts?

[00:06:22] Ben Giroux: Well, certainly in comedy and I’m sure you can relate to this. The trauma of your childhood and upbringing certainly fuels your humor as an adult, but I am very lucky that I have a very close, tight knit family.

[00:06:33] I’m very close with my. And I’ve talked to so many of my colleagues in entertainment that did not really have supportive parents pursuing a career in the arts as you intimated. I had a great experience. My parents immediately saw I was a creative kid and helped me fuel that creativity in whatever ways, whatever avenues that wanted to present itself early on, as you said, I was into the fine arts I drew, I painted, I was a little bit of an introvert as a kid.

[00:07:02] And then I started to kind of come out of my shell and find that, and I’m sure it made you have many guests on your podcast that say this, that the greatest natural high in the world was laughter eliciting laughter consuming laughter. And so really comedy is what drew me to a career in entertainment because it was equally as creative, but where the art was sort of isolating the entertainment aspect of it was communal.

[00:07:28] And if the pandemic has taught me anything over the last two years, I got into entertainment for collaborative creativity to be around people, to be on set. So I’m very grateful to have grown up in a creative household. You’ve probably seen this in a couple of other, my interviews. I’ve mentioned this, but there’s a photo of me is a couple of months old.

[00:07:47] And my dad is holding me up to the TV screen in the eighties. And we’re watching the three-step. So from an early age, I got to appreciate slapstick comedy. My parents owned a comic book store growing up. So I grew up surrounded by art and colorful entertainment. And I think that really propelled me towards a life and entertainment.

[00:08:06] And again, they’ve been super supportive over the years because I think there’s. Choose what they want to do with their lives. And there are people that sort of are what they do. Yeah. You could put me in a cubicle desk job, but I would still be finding ways to crack jokes and be an entertainer. So. Very grateful to have supportive parents.

[00:08:26] Yeah.

[00:08:27] Bob Wheeler: And life is short. We all need to laugh if I could bottle it, man. I mean maybe alcohol is the bottle, but it’s just amazing to watch people laugh and lighten up, especially the grumpy folks. And then the, oh, they cracked a smile if they’re alive, they’re alive. So let me ask you this. Do you remember getting your first big paycheck?

[00:08:45] Like where you were like, wow,

[00:08:47] Ben Giroux: this is a big page. Yes, I do. I think it was certainly those first couple of TV jobs. It was nice to get a paycheck or two, but on those old guest star rates, it was enough for a little bit of rent. But the biggest one, I remember that first big one came from, I think my first like sag commercial, like I had a, you know, what it was, I don’t remember exactly what it was.

[00:09:09] It was a build a bear workshop commercial, and I was playing a Christmas. That’s sort of the theme of this conversation. And it was the first major influx in entertainment, finances that I had. And I clocked that in my head. It was a, it was a big deal.

[00:09:27] Bob Wheeler: That’s called. Did you spend it or did you save

[00:09:29] Ben Giroux: it a little bit of both, to be honest with.

[00:09:32] I remember when I was a freshman in college, my roommate at the time came from a pretty wealthy family and he used to drive around in a pretty nice car. And I remember thinking to myself, man, I’ve got my 2000 Mitsubishi Mirage and I’m like eating ramen noodles every night. And like, I am really. Trying to make it week to week financially, as soon as I’ve got the money, I want to get myself a nice car.

[00:10:00] In fact, the same model this guy has. And so I wound up, I think I was like 24, 25, and I got myself the same car that my freshmen college roommate had had. And it felt like a real personal achievement. Because I always dreamed of having a car like that. So certainly a depreciating investment right away.

[00:10:21] Sure. But one that had some real personal pride attached

[00:10:25] Bob Wheeler: to it. Yeah. That’s awesome. That’s awesome. And some of those little wins, even if they do depreciate, there’s still a win inside that says I’m on the right path. Like I’ve done something. Did your parents sit you down and have that talk about, Hey, Ben.

[00:10:41] Artistry. I mean, I know they supported you, but did they tell you, like, there’s going to be a lot of ramen. I was

[00:10:47] Ben Giroux: lucky to grow up with parents who were their own bosses. My parents, as I said, owned a comic book store. And so they were incredible role models in, I never really saw my parents working for somebody.

[00:10:59] And so I think that’s why I’ve always struggled to have any kind of boss really. I feel like a self-starter and I feel like I’ve kind of always beat to my own drum. Financially to just sort of finding a way. I find that whenever I’ve sort of gotten into dire straits financially, I dig my heels in. I get creative and I come up with revenue streams.

[00:11:21] And I think I learned that from my parents operating their own business for almost 40 years. So they never really had to sit me down because I got a front row. I guess seat watching them having to navigate those same kind of financial ebbs and flows throughout childhood.

[00:11:40] Bob Wheeler: Do you remember a time as a kid where you weren’t able to have something where, Hey, mom and dad, I really want this bike or really want this and it was, yeah, that’s not going to happen.

[00:11:49] Ben Giroux: Not so much in childhood. I felt again, just so grateful to have such a supportive family. And we always felt like we had my sister and I have always felt like we had what we needed. I do recall back my sophomore year of college. So I started my freshman year. I was at Chapman university in orange county and their film.

[00:12:07] And I transferred to USC. My sophomore year of college, there was this great restaurant across the street from USC and I was living in a studio apartment with another guy. I was designing websites at the time. That was my way of sort of being able to fund my rent. Everyone else was going to parties at night.

[00:12:24] And I was there, you know, coding websites in my crappy studio apartment off campus. But I remember there was this restaurant called the two nine cafe. And it was a great little place to go grab a sandwich with your friends in between classes. And I distinctly recall their menu. And I would get a chicken wrap or sandwich or whatever, and they would offer a cup of soup as a side.

[00:12:47] And I always kind of wanted to get the cup of soup with the sandwich, but it always felt like, nah, I can’t afford that extra couple of bucks. Right. And I always remember, I can’t wait for a time of my life where I can get the cup of soup. And thankfully I’m at a place in my life now where if I want the cup.

[00:13:05] I’ll get the cup of soup, but I have a little extra gratitude in my life now for that little extra thing that I get at the restaurant or whatever it is, because I’m still ultimately that kid that didn’t get the cup of soup sophomore year of college at the two nine cafe. And I think it’s important to kind of hang on to what that felt like, because it constantly fuels you even years.

[00:13:29] Bob Wheeler: Yeah. And, you know, I hear the part about gratitude. That feels like an important piece. I don’t know how that plays out in your life, but to me, yeah. Being able to have that extra soup, I did not grow up in a rich family. So I know about those. Yeah. You don’t get that today and gratitude, I think. At this point in my life is much more productive than add on half ass.

[00:13:50] And why don’t I, you know, coming from a sad victimy

[00:13:53] Ben Giroux: point of view? Oh, absolutely. And I would say I’ve really started to think more about gratitude after the last couple of years of this traumatic collective human experience of this. I had a similar sort of larger scale thing happened in my life this year, where I finally cobbled together enough pennies to buy a home, a real estate’s out of control.

[00:14:14] And so I always wanted to own a home in greater Los Angeles and I’ve figured out a way how to do. And I even now sometimes wake up in my home and I look around and I’m like, whose hotel am I squatting in? Right. Because it feels like someone else’s life almost because I never thought I’d be able to pull it off.

[00:14:36] So every morning I wake up with that kind of gratitude to be in a place that is my own in a very expensive.

[00:14:43] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, well, and going through the process of buying a home is so much fun. God, because they’re looking at all your numbers, they’re judging your credit. Why did you use this nickname? Like it goes on and on.

[00:14:54] It’s

[00:14:54] Ben Giroux: sort of a financial colonoscopy. Yeah.

[00:14:57] Bob Wheeler: It’s like they have to punish you before you can actually enjoy the fruits of your labor. Exactly. Because I’ve purchased a few properties over time. It has never gotten easier. No, it is always. Do you remember wondering if you’re going to get approved?

[00:15:13] Ben Giroux: Yeah, like the paperwork, it was like a manifesto I had to fill out the amount of signatures.

[00:15:19] It was, they cut down a small forest in order for me to sign all of the paperwork. Yeah.

[00:15:24] Bob Wheeler: And you read every page in each paragraph

[00:15:27] Ben Giroux: fully, every single one of them.

[00:15:31] Bob Wheeler: Just making sure. Just making sure, because yeah, I just signed now. You’ve also started a production company, small red Cape, and you’re working.

[00:15:39] You’re constantly creating content. What are some of the challenges of starting your own production company? It’s probably helps that you have a day job with big. But like that’s very entrepreneurial and in an industry that’s fickle.

[00:15:53] Ben Giroux: Yeah. No, it’s a great question. I originally started my company as just a loan out for my acting services as just a way to sort of save a little bit money on taxes back in the day.

[00:16:04] And then I quickly realized this was like in the early days of YouTube, I started to take over larger YouTube channels and started to kind of focus on creating. Content online. And I realized, well, Hey, why don’t I build this into an actual boutique production company? And now, you know, I’m proud to say we’ve built it into a pretty successful company where we do commercials and music videos, and we’ve done TV pilots.

[00:16:28] I’ve always sort of felt that entrepreneurial side of my personality kick into. I think early on, I thought that you could only choose one thing in entertainment. And if you did anything outside of acting, it would complicate your brand or people wouldn’t think that you were a real actor. And I feel quite the opposite.

[00:16:47] Now, now the more I can sort of diversify those entertainment interests, the more slashes I can add to the business card, the more creatively fulfilled I feel because at the end of the day, I just want to make cool stuff with my friends. Yeah. And that could be in front of the camera that could be behind.

[00:17:02] It could be in front of a microphone, whatever. And so having a production company really allows me to express my creative. And kind of combine all the things that I feel like I’m good at, you know, the producing side of things, I’m bidding on a directing job this weekend, literally as we discuss it. So I’m using my design and creativity, that sort of visual arts thing and creating my director tree.

[00:17:24] I’m working with head of production at small red Cape Scott Reynolds on creating the budget that we’re submitting for the bid. And so that used sort of like the numbers and coding website east side of my brain where we’re sort of breaking down. Okay, well, what is this going to cost? And can we get a deal on this and where are we going to find this game?

[00:17:40] Who’s the team going to be. And so I think that, yeah, having a company and bidding on jobs, particularly in the commercial world, allows me to sort of express myself and use skills in a variety of categories in my life. And again, makes you feel like you’re in charge of your own volition in an industry and in a career where oftentimes you don’t feel that you’re completely.

[00:18:05] Yeah,

[00:18:05] Bob Wheeler: absolutely. But did you ever have any of those moments of though I’ve got to cover payroll because you’ve got a staff of people and most people, I find, at least my staff, they like getting paid regularly and the checks clearing. And so there’s like business stuff. Like I know it’s show business.

[00:18:22] Right. And people forget about the business part a lot. There’s a lot of stuff on the administrative side, on the business side of running.

[00:18:30] Ben Giroux: You mean, we’re not doing this for philanthropy? Well, we are, you know, I’m so grateful to work with a really collaborative group of people. And I would say our jobs with small red Cape have the same ebbs and flows that my acting career does at my voiceover career.

[00:18:47] Does there are months where we are working on multiple jobs at the same time. And then there’s a time like the pandemic in order to keep everybody safe. We didn’t do anything for a year. Right. I felt my responsible. Of making sure that my crew was safe, the best way to keep him safe was to not be on set for awhile.

[00:19:05] So, yeah, I think you develop a great team of people. You figure out a wonderful shorthand together. I certainly feel. Uh, responsibility and a loyalty to the friends and colleagues I have that work with and for small red Cape routinely to keep them working and to make sure that they’re making as much money as possible.

[00:19:27] And to make sure that they’re in an environment of respect and positivity, even when we’re up against limited budgets or crazy deadlines, that kind of thing. So, you know, again, it’s all in the spirit of collaboration and if we can make a little money along the way,

[00:19:42] Bob Wheeler: Even better, even better. Well, what would you say?

[00:19:45] And I know we don’t have probably a lot of sixth graders listening. So what would you say to the parents of those creative kids out there who want to get into the creative arts? The fine arts. That’s where they feel their passion is. And the parents are maybe in this dilemma of the realities of showbiz or creativity, what would you say to people out there who are struggling with what to say to their kids about encouraging, not encouraging harsh realities?

[00:20:15] Well,

[00:20:15] Ben Giroux: I think that it’s all about being proactive. I think that almost every ladder wrong I’ve ever climbed in the industry, the Genesis of that climb has come from something I made myself or some opportunity I generated for myself, certainly along the way, representatives and auditions and all those kinds of classic templated industry things are very helpful, but you don’t have a lot of control over that.

[00:20:40] What you do have a control over. Is your amount of hustle and the amount that you can be proactive. So if I were a parent of a young creative kid, I would encourage them to make. You know, I think back to high school and I was running around with my mini DV camera, trying to figure out how to film little short films with my buddies, figure out how to get it on a VHS tape.

[00:21:02] It’s a lot easier to make stuff. Now we were all running around with movie cameras in our pockets. We have. Tik TOK and Instagram, where you can craft characters for yourself and try out voices and make short films with your friends. So if I were a parent of a creative kid, I would encourage them to use that creativity because it will always lead them to positive places and places where that can ultimately generate rev.

[00:21:28] Bob Wheeler: So you just jogged my memory. And so now I have to ask this about you. So when you’re talking about running around and your little camera, right, your mini DVD, I have this thing about sunk costs and there’s something called sunk cost bias. Like I’ve spent the money. I got, I still have that camera on a shelf because I spent like $800 for it.

[00:21:45] And one day I may need it again. And so it’s sitting on a shelf doing nothing. Do you ever experienced sunk cost bias where man I’ve spent the money? Maybe you don’t still have your mini DVD camera, but does that ever come into play for

[00:22:00] Ben Giroux: you? Well, I am someone who was fueled by nostalgia. I made, I think you referenced it in the.

[00:22:07] Really kind intro, where I made a back to the nineties music video of celebratory nineties music video a few years ago that went bonkers a hundred million views charted on billboard. We joined the Backstreet boys and so nostalgia is a real driving force for a lot of my creativity. And so I find that if I purchased something and it’s got a nostalgic quality to it, well now it belongs on a shelf where I get to show off my nostalgia.

[00:22:32] I will say, I told you, I just recently bought a home and moved. That was a wonderful excuse to purge a bunch of crap that I didn’t need anymore. And I’m also somebody, again, I know there’s like a financial angle to the podcast. I’m somebody that if I feel like I will get creative justification from a large purchase, let’s say buying a camera or a new computer or something for a few thousand bucks.

[00:22:56] I won’t blink at it, but if I have to spend $20 on parking, I am going to think about it for a month. So it’s amazing how our mind can do mental gymnastics. That if it feels like it’s a large purchase, that is going to help you with your creativity and yeah, my dent, the wallet for a little bit, but you’ll make that money back from the things you can create with it.

[00:23:16] Well, then I think it’s a totally justified purchase that you’re going to want to hang on to for a while. But man, if it’s an expense that you can’t justify, it just nods at ya.

[00:23:26] Bob Wheeler: Listen, I will drive three hours to save on. Oh,

[00:23:29] Ben Giroux: yeah, toad care. One time I drove to the Beverly center and I parked in Phoenix, Arizona.

[00:23:35] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, it’s easier. It’s cheaper. It’s cheaper for the commuter flight. Yeah. I remember going to a Dodger game or some event at the Dodger stadium and it was $25 for the parking. I almost just drove away and go up the a hundred dollars tickets because I was so mad that they were charging $25, like on a Tuesday night.

[00:23:52] Absolutely. It’s the little things that keep me awake. Well, listen, we’re at the fast five brought to you by cube money. A cash envelope system made easy real-time financial awareness without the hassle of tracking expenses and carrying cash. For more information, click on the link in the show notes, check out, cube money, just check it out.

[00:24:11] Do you budget by the way, do you track

[00:24:14] Ben Giroux: your money? Yeah, I do. I should be a little bit better about it. Things got kind of out of whack when I made the most expensive purchase of my life, which was this, but yes I do. But. I sort of go through waves where I know I’m going to have a spend a year patch of time.

[00:24:29] And I know I’m going to sort of pinch costs a little bit more. I think just like opportunities and entertainment, ebb and flow. So does my budgeting and my willingness to spend or save throughout the year because of, I guess, how many peaks and valleys there are financially throughout the year when you’re an entertainer.

[00:24:48] Bob Wheeler: Yeah. Did you go out and buy a whole bunch of new furniture? Because a lot of times people will say, yeah, my current furniture is not working so well.

[00:24:55] Ben Giroux: It’s so funny. You bring that up. Cause I was like, okay, I cobbled together enough money to know, get the down payment and then they don’t tell you about the closing costs.

[00:25:03] Right. And I finally figured it out. I move everything in here. You never realize how shitty your furniture is until you move it into a nice, beautiful home. And it’s like, well, this stuff is awful, right? Yeah. So I didn’t think I was going to have to. And then as soon as I moved everything in, I was like, okay, time to start spending even more money.

[00:25:21] So in answer to your question, I am currently in that process of swapping things out, also the supply. I bought a new couch for my living room last August. And it arrived in January. So it’s a process, but yes, I am buying new furniture right now. That’s

[00:25:38] Bob Wheeler: awesome. It may take you a couple of years to settle.

[00:25:41] It just doesn’t happen in three days and then the drawers are different. So the silverware goes in a different drawer than it did at the old place. It’s just a lot to relearn.

[00:25:50] Ben Giroux: It’s a lot of, it’s just, it’s a never ending expense when you move into a new place.

[00:25:55] Bob Wheeler: No, that’s fun though. Congratulations. That is so cool.

[00:25:58] Thanks. All right, I’m going to ask you fast five. We’ll just have some fun here. What was your biggest epic fail financially. And how did you get.

[00:26:06] Ben Giroux: Oh, epic fail financially. I probably invested a little too much into doge coin and should’ve gotten out before Elon Musk went on SNL. I, how did I handle it? I hung on to it like grim death and I’m hoping it goes back up.

[00:26:22] Bob Wheeler: Oh yeah. Those are painful investments. When we lose, what advice would have helped you if you’d known it when you were younger?

[00:26:30] Ben Giroux: It doesn’t matter what people think of. You just do you, I think that I consider it a little too much of what everyone else would think of me or what I did growing up. And I think that dictated a lot of my decisions and I think now I’m at a place in my life where I’m like, Hey, I’m doing my thing.

[00:26:46] If that’s cool with you. Great. And if not, that’s also cool. Yeah.

[00:26:50] Bob Wheeler: Sianora that’s awesome. How would you define success?

[00:26:55] Ben Giroux: I think you are creatively satisfied and are working with people who prop you up and make you a better version of yourself. Yeah.

[00:27:06] Bob Wheeler: What splurge would you never give up?

[00:27:08] Ben Giroux: Splurge? Ooh. We mentioned it before, because it holds sort of personal pride for me.

[00:27:14] I like having a nice car. I love having wheels that I feel comfortable getting from point a to point B in, and that’s a little personal point of pride because of the crappy car I used to drive.

[00:27:26] Bob Wheeler: Now is it sports cars? Like for me, I have to do SUV so I can see over the dashboard. Cause the little sports cars I’m usually like just looking up.

[00:27:33] Yeah.

[00:27:34] Ben Giroux: I like having a tiny sort of two door sports car. I like sort of zipping around town in a smaller car.

[00:27:39] Bob Wheeler: Fun, fun, fun, fun. Do you have an embarrassing money moment that you’d be willing to.

[00:27:46] Ben Giroux: Ooh, that’s a good question. An embarrassing one. I mean, certainly I sort of referenced it. I probably put a little too much into cryptocurrency, like during the pandemic, because we’re all sitting at home quarantined and you sort of feel a little, a little gambling with your cash in a way that you might not embarrassing credit card declined.

[00:28:05] You know what, actually, yeah. This is a funny story. This is a long time ago. Early on in college, I got swindled into signing up for some DVD service where I thought they were sending you free DVDs. And I came to find out that I had signed myself up for a subscription service that was auto renewing and auto pay.

[00:28:27] So I wound up spending like hundreds of dollars on DVDs. I didn’t want, nor did I select from some sort of scammy DVD thing where it made it sound like you were getting free DVDs. Yeah. I had just a massive DVD collection of stuff that I spent way too much money on. I found out way too late in the process.

[00:28:45] I think I had to actually switch the credit card because I couldn’t figure out how to cancel this thing. It was probably a scam.

[00:28:53] Bob Wheeler: Yeah. That’s yeah. If they didn’t come back for you, they were probably like, we got enough from thank you, Ben. Thank you for your money. We appreciate doing business. I remember

[00:29:01] Ben Giroux: they sent me the DVD walking tall from the.

[00:29:05] And I was like, I would not have bought this. This is not a good expense in my life. That is

[00:29:11] Bob Wheeler: too funny. Well, we are at our M and M moment, our sweet spot money and motivation. Is there a practical, financial tip or a piece of wealth wisdom you could share with our listeners that you personally have found to be helped?

[00:29:22] Ben Giroux: Yeah, I think certainly don’t spend outside your means, pace yourself, but also really, and this is probably advice that many of your guests give diversifying. That’s been really helpful for me. I’m by no means a financial Wiz, but I got a great guy that I trust at my bank and he got a little bit more aggressive over the last couple of years.

[00:29:42] Diversifying my diversifying my portfolio. That sounds like the douchey a sentence in the world, but somebody has got to do it right. But I think that in the same way that like, if I have a hot month directing, but maybe I haven’t sort of had many on-camera opportunities in a while, and then suddenly I’m voicing a lot, but maybe I’m not directing as much.

[00:30:02] I think the same is true with financial diversification. If you have. All your money in one stock and that stock isn’t doing so hot while you are really on a crazy rollercoaster ride, where maybe if you can diversify that to some mutual funds and some bonds, that kind of thing. I have found that by diversifying with the guidance of a financial advisor, I’ve been able to ride the waves a little easier with the ebbs and flows of the.

[00:30:29] Yeah,

[00:30:29] Bob Wheeler: that’s so cool. And it’s so important to find people you trust. Yes. Not the person that’s like, Hey, buy all my product. But like people that are actually like help you with things, not just sell you annuities that you may or may not need. And that’s a hard,

[00:30:44] Ben Giroux: and look, I would also say don’t be afraid to spend money on things that make you happy.

[00:30:49] I think there’s a lot of people that maybe get a little too savy with their cash. Like, look, you can’t take it with you. I think it’s important to be responsible and to save, but at the same time, If you want that cup of soup and you can afford it, have the cup of soup. Yeah,

[00:31:03] Bob Wheeler: absolutely. I was just talking to a guest earlier who talks about compounding happiness.

[00:31:06] Right? We got to, we don’t forget to nurture the happiness. That’s sort of the point we’re doing this. It’s not over there. It’s here while we’re going through it. So absolutely enjoy it. So, Ben, what’s been fun about this. I mean, one thing is, I mean, maybe it’s not fun is I realize some of us need better parents, but that ship has sailed.

[00:31:27] What’s really important. Or my take away is about looking for support, whether it’s with writing friends and the importance of collaboration versus doing everything on your own well in comedy acting, which is much different than stand-ups stand up, you’re all alone. And if you bomb, everybody hates you and you don’t have a friend to walk you off stage.

[00:31:46] It’s very sad, but being able to collaborate or having parents and a team of people that are helping lift you up. It’s just so important because I think so many people don’t have support systems that let them tap into their creativity or their dreams or their passions.

[00:32:01] Ben Giroux: He’s going to say you’re so right about that.

[00:32:03] And like, if I think about my writing and my lit career, I have a writing partner who’s equally a short, funny guy and we make stuff together because while I probably could write by myself, well, that sounds lonely. I love riffing and yes, and-ing and improvising with him. And so yeah, doing everything as a collective.

[00:32:21] Always is more satisfying.

[00:32:24] Bob Wheeler: Well, absolutely. And I think even in business, people will say, no, I don’t want to partner with anybody because now they’re going to take some of my money, but I’d rather have 50% of something than a hundred percent of nothing. Right. Because there’s other things that people bring to the table that I don’t bring.

[00:32:40] And so I do also enjoy collaboration and all that stuff. Also appreciate the piece because I feel like deep down, we’re all artists deep down, we’re all creative people and the world needs more creative, artistic voices. So the more we can nurture kids towards that. With also the practicalities of making sure you can feed yourselves.

[00:33:04] But I personally think it’s so important that we nurture the creativity in the world because we need more creativity. We need more. Laughs. We need more kindness. And to me that comes through comedy. So I love that you’re out there trying to make the world

[00:33:19] Ben Giroux: laugh. Yeah, 100%. And I’ll just say this, the best advice I ever received on set, I went up to the series, regular.

[00:33:26] This is one of the first shows I ever did. And I said, Hey man, you’re on your own show. What’s the secret. And he goes, all right, do good work. Be a good dude. And it’s simple advice, but it’s advice that I’ve tried to infuse in everything I do in this town. Be it in entertainment or not. It’s just be a professional show up, put your all into it.

[00:33:45] Treat everybody with respect, lead with empathy and don’t be a jerk.

[00:33:50] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So Ben, where can people find you online and

[00:33:55] Ben Giroux: social media? Oh yes. So I am very active on Tik TOK and Instagram, just at my name on both platforms. Ben Jeru, B E N G I R O U X post a couple of times a day. Lots of crazy stuff.

[00:34:09] A lot of Nickelodeon stuff these days because of big Nate and the younger ones.

[00:34:13] Bob Wheeler: And if you’re wanting to invest in a company or a comedy or a show, or you need a pitch deck go to small red Cape productions, right. And they can

[00:34:23] Ben Giroux: that’s right. Small red tape.com

[00:34:25] Bob Wheeler: and they can finance one of their next comedic projects.

[00:34:29] Well, Ben ed has been such a pleasure. I’m so excited about big Nate and all of that stuff coming out and going really well for you. I’m excited that you have your new house. Wait until you get your supplemental property tax bill, because if you haven’t gotten it, it’s common already dead.

[00:34:44] Ben Giroux: Oh

[00:34:44] Bob Wheeler: yeah. That’s yeah.

[00:34:47] Yeah.

[00:34:47] Ben Giroux: That’s fun. I thought it was fake. And then I called somebody and I was like, oh, this is. Great. Okay. Yeah,

[00:34:53] Bob Wheeler: you only get it the first year and then bigger ones next year. So it’s all good. But now I wish you more success and so appreciate what you do and glad you’re out there making.

[00:35:03] Ben Giroux: Rock and roll, man.

[00:35:04] Thank you so much for having me. What a pleasure chatting with you today? Absolutely.

[00:35:14] Bob Wheeler: we hope you enjoyed this episode. Did you learn something new about your relationship to money today? Maybe you have a friend who has some financial blocks or beliefs that are holding them back. Please share this podcast. So they too can get off the roller coaster ride a financial. And journey towards financial freedom to learn how to have a healthy relationship with money, visit the money nerve.com.

[00:35:36] That’s nerve not nerd. We’ll be back next week with another perspective on money and the emotions that bind us. .