Learn more about Michael on his LinkedIn and about Flipbird Films on their website.
Show Notes:
Young Han (00:23):
All right, well, thank you so much for joining me today, Mike, I really appreciate you taking the time outta your busy schedule to spend some time with me and join me on my podcast and share some of your parenting stories with my listeners.
Michael Ogata (00:43):
Thanks my pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me.
Young Han (00:46):
Awesome. Let's get right into it. So I'd love to just start off by asking you, what do you do for a living and where, where are you at right now?
Michael Ogata (00:54):
Yeah, so I'm here in the bay area and I am a cinematographer and editor for well, I'd started out independent, but now I am a co-founder of Flipbird Films and we're a video production media agency and we're just holding it down and that's what I do for a living.
Young Han (01:11):
<Laugh> that's awesome. And it's funny because we work together mm-hmm, <affirmative> on Flipbird Films and I'm obviously you know, working with you with your business. And it's funny to hear you talk Flipbird Films. I don't know if I've ever actually asked you how you describe it. So that was really fun for me to listen to, to how you describe what you do. <Laugh> and I like that you focused on how you hold it down more than anything. That's awesome. And then, so what are some of the projects that you're working on and what are some of the big things that Flipbird Films is doing right now?
Michael Ogata (01:40):
Oh, that's a good question. Yeah, right now we're just really trying to find a, a strong balance between doing things that are creative and other things that just sort of keep that house lights on. Yeah. right now we're we just worked on a few projects with, with SBE medical and that's a medical diagnostic testing company. They are helping to solve issues with COVID and just revolutionizing the way that they are to test things faster. And really didn't think about the projects here. What the hell do I work on? <Laugh>
Young Han (02:11):
Well, maybe it's not the project. Maybe you just talked about the, the big thing you're working on right now is just kind of like the polarity and the tension between doing things that's created, but also doing things that's good for the business. Right? Like I know that that's a big hardship for a lot of us by hiring professionals of like, finding that balance of like craft versus money and like what that, what that, what that balance is. And it's very indicative of the same conversation that I want to have with you about being a parent and being a professional. So that could be in itself the big project. I don't know, like, I don't feel like you need to tell us exactly what projects you're working on, but maybe, maybe at flip words itself, is there something that you are tackling right now that you like?
Michael Ogata (02:45):
That's true. Yeah. I mean the big project really is that we just launched our company about a year ago and we were just a bunch of creatives, a bunch of filmmakers who were sort of navigating things ourselves. But then we had so much in common Jordan Ching and Lorenzo Escalante. We got together and created Flipbird Films a year ago. And the reason why we did that was mainly because we wanted to share something and create something larger than ourselves. And we wanted to create stories that are, you know, on Netflix or Amazon Prime, you wanna make movies honestly. And in order to do that, we can't just jump straight forward to that. So we're building our company out and servicing different industries out there just to create videos, to promote different brands and companies out there.
Young Han (03:34):
Yeah, it's awesome, man. And, and I have a lot of insight on, on the business because I've, I've been, and basically like been coaching you guys for mm-hmm, <affirmative> the vast majority of your inception and it's been really, really fun. And, and I think that it's an incredible journey that you guys are on and it's been really, really exciting and fun for me to be a part of it. So I, I think it's cool to, to share with people like how busy you are. And I think it's important that they understand the context of like how you're juggling with this new business venture as an entrepreneur, as a creative, as a business owner, while you also became a new dad. Right. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so I think that that's really interesting because the biggest thing that I'm trying to unpack here with this podcast is mm-hmm, <affirmative> figuring out how other ambitious and success full professionals are navigating parenthood and juggling between those two things.
Young Han (04:24):
And like, where are they finding the balance in that? And so that's really the whole point of this podcast for me. And I think you fit that mold perfectly because you're a prime example of someone that's going to achieve bigger things by starting a business and something that you love and, and you guys are crushing it. I mean, quite frankly, Flipbird's is kind of crushing it. So it's a really exciting time to be talking to you about this. But and I, I, yeah, sorry for, I have like insight information. So I just wanted to elaborate a little bit and tell everybody, tell everybody, cuz you're being a little too modest. How at how, how much you guys have grown in a very short amount of time and how, how fast Flipbirds has escalated in its business ventures, revenue, top line growth and profitability letting all the above. So anyways, let's go into the other parts of it. So tell me about your kid.
Michael Ogata (05:06):
Yeah. Now that you talk about it, I totally forgot about how this all works. So <laugh> with my kid in Flipbird Films, they like pretty much birthed around the same time flipper film started maybe in about September, 2019. And then it didn't really ramp up. We started working with you in maybe March of 2020, and my son was born right before COVID about February 22nd, 2020. So if you look at the timeline, as soon as we had him, we had to stay indoors. We we couldn't see anyone. We can see parents. We didn't want to, you know, we to be very safe. And in general, when you have a child, they tell you like, don't let them see too many people in general, but with COVID it makes it even more, a little bit fear. Right. Terrifying, you know? Right. So yeah, I mean, that being said I started out, you know, planning to just take a month off, you know, like let be present for my family be there, enjoy raising this child. And then it turned into as a freelancer, you know, you only eat with you killer the money you make at the time. So it was just really scary because we didn't work for maybe like six months and navigating through that was, is not sleeping, having a child understanding that aspect. And then also like, how do we make money? How do we find anything when you, no one can do any video production. It was, it was really daunting. It was the challenging time.
Young Han (06:32):
Yeah. It's kind of crazy to think that this was all like this business like started and then immediately I, after you had a baby and then the pandemic hit. Yeah, I do remember that. I remember like joining, joining the crew as you guys were coming off a really weird spell of not being able to actually work because of the pandemic. Talk about trials and tribulations on top of juggling parenthood. So tell, tell me about your son. Let's talk about your son a little bit. Like how old is he now? You said February 20th, right? Mm-Hmm <affirmative> so what does that make him a year, year and a month or something? Or year ago?
Michael Ogata (07:04):
A year. 14 months. Yeah. He'll be 15 months in about a week from this recording. He just started walking last week. Congratulations. Yeah. I would say we're a little bit different than most parents. I mean, just to touch on that, you know, he's been vegan for, we've been feeding him vegan meals. He's only tried salmon once and we were like, no, we'll just stick to just a plant based diet. So he's been doing that and we have our own pediatrician. We have a, we went through a private practice for that and she not only monitored just like his height and his health and how he's doing, but also his develop mental process and his diet. So it's been great. And we've been just going strong, being vegan this whole time and he seems happy. He eats just as many as much food as anyone. His grandparents were very scared that we thought we were crazy. Yeah. But a lot of people think we're a little nuts, but I just feel strongly that he's benefiting from this diet and he's really healthy and he's been developing very well.
Young Han (08:01):
Yeah. And is there, is there science that proves otherwise I I've never even actually heard of going to, so yeah. Where'd you even come up with this and do you know if it's safe? Like have you like, did the re I'm assuming you did the research, you know? Yeah.
Michael Ogata (08:13):
But the grace of YouTube, we've been doing a ton of research from other vegan parents. If we look around my friends and family, there's not many vegans, but there's all community of us on YouTube. And a lot of parents are just, you know, strongly taking care of their kids in this plant-based way his diet works with we have celery juice in the morning. First we do water and then we have celery juice, just straight celery juice. He drinks it on his own. Wow. And then, well, half of he goes on his shirt of course, but he he's practicing. Yeah. And then we have a smoothie. That's just all fruits and vegetables. And then from there on, he'll just have his, he pretty much eats what we eat and is it safe? I mean he's 14 months strong and everything has been going great.
Michael Ogata (08:58):
The pediatrician has been she's very aware of different diets and she just making sure everything works. She told us like a D she slowly had us introduce different foods. Yeah. Remember which ones, but like, okay. Try strawberries. All right. His cheeks are red. That's okay. Buts just noticed that citrus foods are gonna make his cheeks a little bit more red. Yeah. And then just different items, like, okay. Give him broccoli, make sure it's steamed so that it's like very soft so he can eat that on his own. So yeah. We've been monitoring, it was a little bit scary, more scary for our grand, the grandparents, but everything's been going great.
Young Han (09:32):
That's awesome, man. Yeah. I've never heard of that before, so it's really cool to hear that you're successfully navigating it. Yeah. It's just one of those things that I don't know if anybody's ever really like in my circle of spirit, a circle of friends that has done that. So that's really interesting. Very cool, man. And then you're, you've been doing that too, right? Like you added that as an added aspect of your crazy year that you've had with the pandemic. Right? Like you, you just recently did that. I feel like right. Mm-Hmm
Michael Ogata (09:58):
<Affirmative> yeah. So I've been eating predominantly like vegan, but like off and on. I would cheat when I was going to work in such a year ago, I'd eat whatever. But then last November I had from all the stress of not sleeping and just my imbalance of what I was eating, I had got this tough staff infection and it was just like, really like all these like bumps and irritation on my face. And it was like one of the hardest things I've ever had to deal with. So of course I went to the doctor, you wrench in to do it. And it took me about a month to finally come around. He was like, you started like, Mike, look at your face, you need to get help. And I was like, what do you need? And I suddenly kept going. And I was like, and he was like, it was more serious than I thought, thank you, young for caring about me. <Laugh>
Young Han (10:44):
Yeah. I'm like, what do you mean? Look in the mirror. I can like, see your face. It's not right.
Michael Ogata (10:49):
Yeah. That's funny. Pretty bad. I went to the dermatologist and I did blood tests. All my blood was good by the way, like, nice. My doctor's like, you have no fat from this vegan diet and everything's strong. We don't know what's going on. Then I took antibiotics. Cause I had to cuz I had a sta infection. So that helped kill that. But I still had like a lot of rashes and irritation and things weren't like fully going away. So from that moment, I just decided I'm going to like get up and get off of the couch and not feel sorry for my myself be strong, eat healthy. And just, I'm just gonna go for this plant based diet because my partner is very strong about it and she's been doing it and I haven't looked back since it's about five months strong and I don't think I'm gonna look back. Yeah,
Young Han (11:32):
Yeah, no, it's awesome. And I, I, I wonder how much of that stress was coming from being a new dad or because you're trying to build a business during the pandemic. All of that.
Michael Ogata (11:40):
All of that. I was trying to wake up at five in the morning we were hustling.
Young Han (11:47):
We were hustling hard. Yeah.
Michael Ogata (11:48):
We were, we were hustling hard. I was running marketing and we were still, we were doing outbound, still trying to talk to as many people you that's right by the way. Thank you. You are the one that I strong. Like we're gonna get through this. We're gonna keep calling people. We're gonna find what thank you. But I did my best with that. I wanted support the mother and support my son. I would get up in the middle of the nights and help change the diapers. But in the end, all that stress really just got me hard and I just got sick.
Young Han (12:18):
Like if you could parse it out, what do you think? Like if you had to say like, what do you think the division was? Do you think it's even 50 50 or do you think it was more being a dad, new dad? Or do you think it's more the trying to build a business during the pandemic? What do you think?
Michael Ogata (12:30):
Yeah. I think it all all do. Just like with a weight on my shoulders. I mean, I wasn't making as much money at the time and I think that mentally does take a toll on you. Not sleeping is so obvious, but we don't realize it. I mean, we're all like overachiever. So I think that really knocked me up beat me up and yeah, I think it all just like snowballed and finally like trying to be Superman just didn't work out <affirmative>
Young Han (12:54):
Yeah. It it's hard. Like I, I mean, it's like so funny to think about like the pandemic being just last year, because it's like, I, I like forget in some ways, you know, which is crazy because like now this has become so normal, but you like, it was just last year that we couldn't work. And a lot of people were like immediately unemployed and or unemployable and, and like, it's so funny to like that it's all kind of just like gone in memory and thanks for reminding me because that's a really good point that like you were dealing with a lot and as a business owner and as a new father, but you definitely muscled through it and you're sitting really pretty now Flipbirds is crushing it. So I'm glad that we persevere and you're doing good. You're healthy. And you're and your kid looks great.
Young Han (13:34):
I mean, he is like he's yeah, he's big and strong and happy and he has great hair and so it's awesome. Pretty good hair. Yeah, he has great hair. Let <laugh> we could talk about his hair the whole time. Actually he has great hair, but that being said I I'd love to actually talk to you about your childhood. I, I feel like parenting has a lot to do with how you were brought up, like how you were a parent and how you value parenting versus work. And so it'd be great to talk through that a little bit so I can learn a little bit more about you and that's something that I actually don't know about. So do you mind sharing with me what's your childhood like?
Michael Ogata (14:05):
Yeah, I mean, so my mother is Filipino and then my stepdad is white Japanese, and most of you know, my cultural, upper is Filipino. So we had a lot of the Filipino diet and a lot of the values that Filipinos have. Other than that, you know, I grew up in sort of like the suburb area. I mean, I don't know if you know, if it's suburbs, but San Lorenzo, which is near San lean and Oakland, it's not too bad at all. Yeah. And I feel like my upbringing is pretty safe. My neighborhood and nothing was too bad. But what I noticed is that my dad, he had a pretty tough, tough upbringing cuz he grew up in Oakland and grew up, you know, something similar to your upbringing, just a very challenging environment. And because of that, you know, he probably had a lot of abuse in his life and he didn't want that to happen to me. So he went extra hard to spoil the heck outta me and just gimme so much love if I wanted burger king McDonalds, he's getting it. So I got spoiled so hard and I feel like I just got so overweight from all that <laugh> and because of that, I did.
Young Han (15:10):
Were you overweight as a kid?
Michael Ogata (15:12):
Yeah. In my high school and through like yeah.
Young Han (15:15):
Yeah, please. I gotta see these pictures
Michael Ogata (15:18):
Yeah, yeah. We're gonna dig those up. But because of that, you know, I just feel like I want a stronger balance. So my, you know, my son's vegan we're just wanna stay away from that really unhealthy diet that kids are receiving. Cuz you know, we wanna love our kids, but we just give them all the sugar, but there's other ways to love them and give them good experiences. And so that, and then I just want a little bit more of a balance of not disciplining them, like making them stay in the corner, but just really giving them what they want, but also giving them what they need as well.
Young Han (15:48):
Wow. I love it. So there's a lot to unpack act there because you're yeah. But you're basically talking about like how your childhood has, like you're, you're copying some of those aspects, but you're also making it your own, for example, like you got spoiled, but you got spoiled with like fatty foods mm-hmm <affirmative> and like Mickey D's and stuff. And so you're, you're like, you wanna, you wanna do that, but you're all also trying to like improve upon that. Right. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and so you're trying to, you're trying to raise your kid up with a healthier diet and then some boundaries.
Michael Ogata (16:19):
Yeah, exactly.
Young Han (16:21):
You know, did you feel like you didn't have boundaries growing up?
Michael Ogata (16:25):
Not really. I mean, it was just like, Hey, don't do that. But like, I feel like my spoiled as in college did whatever I want and then my, like it caught up to me.
Young Han (16:34):
Tell me about it. Yeah. I wanna know like what you think that impacted you on like, all right. I mean just being dude, I I'm raising two girls right now. Right. I'm like trying to be the best at, in the world. That's my whole motive here is to like learn how other parents are navigating parenthood because okay. There's no, there's no playbook for this man. Let's just talk about it. Yeah.
Michael Ogata (16:53):
Yeah. I'll be a little more vulnerable. Like one fairly big like example is like my dad bought me this really nice Subaru WX in college, in high school, nice small mass car. My dumb was going through college and having all this fun and guess what I didn't do. I didn't change the oil and I wasn't changing the oil and I was driving in this car around and this expensive, beautiful fast car eventually broke down on the road. And that's when reality hit me. Like, Hey, they gave you this car. They gave, you, got you through college. And they gave me all these things and I didn't like realize like, Hey man, you need to like take care of your yourself. And I didn't understand for a long time, like in college, yo you're an adult. Like that stuff just didn't hit me. Like it took me like, so I was 25 for people to be like, Mike, you're an adult, Hey, you need to take care of yourself. So something like that I think is like, wasn't just that moment. I think it was just like, just like slowly like things happening and to the point where, you know, you make a mistake like that. And I just want to teach my son just to be a little bit more responsible about things and be a little bit more caring about what he has and all that.
Young Han (18:03):
Do you think some of that's impacted you at work? Do you feel like some of that stuff parlays into your business?
Michael Ogata (18:10):
In my business?
Young Han (18:11):
Yeah. Do you have that LA fair because of like your upbringing or do you feel like you're actually more caring or like more thoughtful about what you have because of that experience?
Michael Ogata (18:21):
I think so. I mean, I've learned a lot from that. I mean, I get very embarrassed actually to talk to people about that. Like, oh, having your car, you do change your oil, you do vest. Oh,
Young Han (18:31):
Like it's an actual, it's an actual like thing for you. Like you're actually embarrassed about the fact oh,
Michael Ogata (18:36):
I'm totally embarrassed. That's so I took it for granted
Young Han (18:38):
Like, oh yeah.
Michael Ogata (18:39):
Huh? I mean, it's just, that's interesting. Yeah. I just feel so bad because it's like, I think our parents like work so hard and they don't let you know like what they've done, you know? Like whether it's just like, we don't under, like I understand now I value how much, you know, how hard it is to be a parent and your par our parents don't really tell us that they just do it. And they just like kind of suck it up and act like nothing's going on. Yeah. But I just appreciate that. And like making a car payment for your son's car, like that's like insane. Like I can't believe, like I just took that like now that I pay my bills and I'm responsible, I'm like, wow, that's a lot right there.
Young Han (19:14):
Got it. So in retrospect, as you get older and as you starting to like soak up, these costs yourself and as you starting to like, think about your kid, you're starting to like have the retrospect of it, but you, you had this epiphany back then as well too. It sounds like you started actual. Yeah. But you're embarrassed about it. That's weird. I, I mean, that's not weird. Sorry. I shouldn't say that. <Laugh> but it's like, what are you embarrassed about? So what? You had a good, you had a good life. I mean, that's not a bad one,
Michael Ogata (19:38):
Right? I think you're right. Maybe you're helping me heal right now. It's not so bad. <Laugh>
Young Han (19:43):
Like, what's why is there an insec? Like, did you like, I don't know. There should be no insecurity. I mean like your parents provided you a great environment to live in. Were they spoiled? You rock? I mean, you turned out fine. I mean, you're a hustler. You're gritty. Like you work hard. I mean, God, you work really hard and you're building a really successful business. So obviously it's, it's turned out okay for you. And so I don't know. I don't, I don't, I don't feel like that's a weird thing to get spoiled or have a, have a good,
Michael Ogata (20:08):
Yeah, you're probably right. I think it was just an expensive lesson and that's all
Young Han (20:13):
They could just change the oil and the, get it running again.
Michael Ogata (20:16):
Could it just change the oil? It got to the point where the whole engine just died and it wasn't. Oh God. That's why it was embarrassing.
Young Han (20:21):
Oh, that is really embarrassing. Okay. Yeah. That makes sense. See, do you yeah. Yeah, yeah. I see where you're coming from now.
Michael Ogata (20:28):
It's the whole car is dead. It's gone. This is beautiful.
Young Han (20:33):
Oh, that's funny. Were you like 16? 17? What?
Michael Ogata (20:36):
No, this is more like 23. That's how it done.
Young Han (20:39):
Oh God. Okay.
Michael Ogata (20:40):
<Laugh> yeah. See you see what the embarrassment is with that. Yeah, but I mean let's yeah. Yeah. I'm just trying to see, I mean, you asked me like, how does it tie into my work world? But I mean, my parents didn't really teach me a lot about business. I feel like, you know, mentors like have helped me a lot with that and yeah. Guidance along the way.
Young Han (21:00):
Are you gonna teach your son about business?
Michael Ogata (21:02):
I think I am. I think I'm gonna teach him everything. I know, but I'm afraid cuz I'm a basket aholic that he's gonna get caught up in my whirlwind of being obsessed with learning, how to play basketball. Yeah.
Young Han (21:12):
I think what if he wants to be a basketball player? What are you gonna say?
Michael Ogata (21:14):
I'll probably just provide him with everything he needs to do it and get him some coaches. But I do want him to just have a good balance of, you know, like maybe business is good understanding how business works and I, that, I don't think I even thought about this, but I think it's very important that we teach our children more about finances and how to be responsible. Cuz they're not teaching that in high school or college at all.
Young Han (21:37):
No. Yeah, absolutely not. Yeah. I feel like I didn't really learn it until I was in my thirties. <Laugh> yeah. Yeah. Absolutely not. Yeah. So what if you're like, what about like your, if what if your son wants to do what you do? Would you be cool with that?
Michael Ogata (21:50):
I would be so honored and delighted. I wanna be prepared that it doesn't happen, but I do hear that you pick up on your hobbies. Yeah. And hopefully it doesn't have this expensive taste that I have of wanting like with all the camera <laugh> yeah. Actually that's one thing I would say like because of my mom and like all the, like the things I got, I feel like I have a spending issue before where like I always want like the nicest things where, whether it's the nicest camera or this and that. And now that I have my son and we have, you know, we have to have a budget and I can't just buy the nicest things. And that was a maturity thing too is just to not just keep buying things and just be mature and just buy with the essential items for the family,
Young Han (22:30):
Man. I, I like, I, I love it. So it sounds like you're gonna like teach your kid a lot of the stuff that you feel like you, you wish you did better, you knew better. That's basically how you're thinking about parenting then. Huh? I think so. Have you been doing a lot more retrospective, like introspection over the last like year based on the fact that like, cuz it sounds like you you're been thinking a lot about your childhood. Sounds like this question is actually like, sounds like you've been thinking through this a lot.
Michael Ogata (22:55):
I think so. I mean, I didn't really realize it, but yeah. The appreciation of how hard it is for sure. Yeah. That, and then just being connected with the grandparents or my parents is beautiful. And just seeing that and you do reflect a lot on just your own upbringing and how it's built you, but also like any, I guess that's true. Any like errors or mistakes that you had in your life, you kind of want your son or daughter or your children just to not make those same mistakes as long as they're not too costly. Of course.
Young Han (23:25):
Yeah. Let's talk about the end result of all this. So how do you qualify successful parenting? What, what do you think a successful parent is to you?
Michael Ogata (23:37):
There really is no playbook. Like you said, in my opinion, just any parent who's like there as much as they can. I mean, this is a challenge in general because if you have work, you have to be at work to make a living to take care of your child. So it's really hard for the dynamic if someone has to work more. But I think as long as you're making that very strong effort to be present with your child, I think that's a great parent just being present and making that effort. <Affirmative>
Young Han (24:05):
Nice. And then what happens if you, if it conflicts with work, which it often does this these days for you? Yeah. How do you justify that? How do you, how do you wrestle with that? I mean, so are you failing parenting right now based on your own standards? <Laugh>
Michael Ogata (24:21):
You know, I feel like every time I'm killing it at being a parent, I I'm getting in trouble at work. And then when I'm filling it at work, I'm getting in trouble by the mother that I'm not being there for my son. I'm like, I don't know how to win here, guys. It really is true. It's a balancing act. And I love that statement.
Young Han (24:37):
Yeah. That's a really good statement in point, because I think that that's literally what I am trying to figure out. Right. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> like, how do you balance that? That's really it because I don't wanna stop puling and I don't wanna stop growing professionally. And I definitely wanna continue to grow my business and, and you know, like my aptitude for my professional aspirations mm-hmm <affirmative>, but I also don't want to, I also wanna like, you know, be a really great parent. I don't wanna stop being a great parent and have that focus on that. And it shouldn't be binary in my opinion. And there's gotta be a way to balance this out. And it's just like really fun to like talk to other parents about this problem. And you just hit the problem right on the smack head mm-hmm <affirmative>, which is great. How do you qualify success in business? If you qualify time, if you qualify time and being there for your kid as successful parenting, how do you qualify successful business?
Michael Ogata (25:28):
Well, business is different and I've learned a lot. And unfortunately I think it really is about how, what kind of numbers you're putting out there <laugh> cause it gives a. If you're putting all this time and not making any money, then you just, it doesn't do anything. I've probably learned that from you.
Young Han (25:46):
It's just a hobby.
Michael Ogata (25:48):
Yeah. It's just an expensive hobby at that point. <Laugh> but
Young Han (25:52):
That's terrible. It sounds awful. It makes me sound like a total shark punch. You also become more of a shark than anybody. Yeah.
Michael Ogata (25:59):
Yeah. That's probably right. I mean, once you started telling me it was hard to stomach when you're like, I don't care about the art, we just need to be successful, but I'm like, but what about the arc? There is a strong balance with that too. I think, I mean, from a parent, a successful business is one that provides for your family and you know, Flipbird Films is a media production company and we've, we're doing a lot of stuff ourselves, like handling everything from the marketing to the outbound, just to everything. But ultimately we're gonna continue to build it. We have five employees, but if we can get to 10 or 15 and like 10 years from now, I won't have to work as hard and I can be present for my family even more so in a very simplified version, a, a successful business as a parent is one that provides your income for your family. And that's more than enough for me, but if we can get it to where I can just go chill later and take my kids on vacation and go to T-ball practice, I'll take that as a very successful business.
Young Han (26:59):
Nice. So being able to truncate your time, truncate your effort and work, and then turn your business into a cashflow business, essentially, that would be success for you. That's really great that you can qualify that, but I love how specific you can name your success. That's all possible by the way. And I don't actually don't I mean just cuz I know the business so well, I don't think that that's 15 years old. <Laugh> I actually think you're pretty, you're actually like maybe half of that time you were less. I let's make you happy.
Michael Ogata (27:24):
<Laugh>
Young Han (27:25):
<Laugh> if you really wanted it, I don't know if your co-founders are gonna want that. I think they're gonna want to keep growing it. I think that if that's what you qualify success, that's really magical because I don't think people know how to do that. Like I don't know if people actually ever like sit down and go like, Hey, what is success for me in this? You know, what is my professional success look like? And so it's really cool that you're able to articulate that that's actually pretty impressive and neat. I like it. I'm gonna go jump into a couple rapid fire questions. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> that I want to ask every parent slash professional navigating this journey of being a parent in work a workforce method and then we will wrap it up here. Okay. What advice do you have for other are parents and soon to be parents,
Michael Ogata (28:06):
What advice would I give to soon to be parents? Or the parents? Yeah. Or other parents. I think you for going to be a parent, the most obvious thing they say is to get a lot of sleep, but also I think you should stack that money because something like a COVID or something like that can happen and really put you back on your, but so stack that cash as much as you can swallow your pride and have a baby shower for sure. And get a list of things you need, because that was humbling too, just to feel that overwhelming love from family and friends, like everyone really like takes that village mindset and gives things to help out. So that like almost brings a chair in my eye. So there's no way to be prepared as a dad. You kind of just have to wing it and just be there for your partner and be supportive as much as you can. And don't show that you're scared because they're gonna be a little bit scared. So you gotta just be strong and just keep pushing and just be there for your family.
Young Han (29:00):
That's awesome. Wow. Those are some really tactical specific devices. Heck I love it. I love it. It, I love it. It's great. I actually totally agree with the don't act scared thing either because I completely agree with that sentiment. I feel like the, the, the thing that you gotta remember is that like it's kind of a journey for, you know all new parents but just parenting in general. But I feel like there's a lot of chemical things happening in the women's body and like, you need to be stable and really strong as much as possible. Cause they're not just dealing with the emotional mental, they're also dealing with it physiologically. There's like literally chemical stuff happening. And I remember like, it's really hard to control those emotions based on how your body's feeling. So that's a really good piece of advice for dads, cuz I think a lot of dads feel a lot really lost about how to be a dad, you know, during that stage, you know?
Michael Ogata (29:46):
Yeah. Could I wanna add something else? Yeah. And then once you have the child, you know, like being like myself, you know, we're practicing being vegan and we're trying things like the Montessori way and baby letting weaning, which you can look up, they're all all on YouTube. But just be aware, you know, like we're in a society that's like extremely judgemental and like you can catch yourself, comparing yourself all the time or judging people. Like I don't know what our society's about, but we all do it. Just be comfortable with who you are as a parent and just know that you're doing the right thing. Just being there for your child and doing the obvious thing, like feeding them, changing their diaper. And if you have to turn social media off or someone you care about like is showing that their child is hitting different milestones, just know that your child's on their own trajectory and their own plan. And just don't let that bother you because they're just kids, man. They're just trying to grow. And like don't, don't let social media and mess up your mind and don't let people dictate how you feel and grow and raise your child is what I wanna let people know.
Young Han (30:44):
I love that man. And that might actually be the same answer as the next question. Cause it's kind of along the same thread, but like it's so important that you just said that. Cause that's not just for kids, man. That's also for us mm-hmm <affirmative> like, I feel like we even fall prey to that so much, you know, social medias can be very, very dangerous in, in like our mental health and our, and our, our happiness. So I think I just can't even imagine what it's like for our kids growing up. So yeah, absolutely. And then this is totally separate, but I didn't know you were doing Montessori, you know, I'm working with Monty kids a company that makes Montessori toys.
Michael Ogata (31:14):
I think I read about, I think I saw that
Young Han (31:18):
Like, Hey, I'm gonna send you that link so you can check 'em out because they're, they have a really cool subscription program where you can like basically go through guided curriculum with, with toys, Mon Montessori based toys that teach your kids self play. It's pretty cool. But I'll send you that link and maybe I'll even put it. I'll put it in, in the podcast cuz this is a podcast. That'll be awesome. That's good sponsor. No, there we go. That's right in the YouTube channel. Okay. So if you could go back and tell self one thing before having kids, what would it be?
Michael Ogata (31:47):
Hmm, that's a tough one. Definitely. Don't put pressure on yourself and just, there's no way to be prepared. I mean, they're gonna say that all the time and just have fun with it, man. Like don't think that like, oh my God, this kid, like, it'll be all right. They'll will sleep as long as you're careful. You'll be. I just remember like the times where you just have the child, you put it down. You're like, is it breathing? Is it sleeping? But just know that everything is gonna be okay and just call your parents and show that love and ask for advice always from everyone.
Young Han (32:18):
Love it. I love it. All right. What is your all time favorite business book?
Michael Ogata (32:24):
All time favorite business book? The, I don't have a lot of 'em, but I'm currently reading a book called win without pitching, which is very important right now it's helping a lot because we're really hitting up a lot of people that are up there and the value of win without pitching is that as a creative, we get so worked up with making these proposals and spending two weeks, making a proposal just for them to look at it and saying that it's we don't want it. So the whole purpose of the book is just being able to have a strong dialogue with your client or potential client and being an expert in the, that field and being able to navigate that into a good deal where everyone wins.
Young Han (33:03):
Oh my gosh. I love it. That's great. I'll have to check that book out. Cause I think everyone can learn, learn something from that or can use more of that. So that's great. Great answer. I I've never heard that book. I've never heard that book either. So I'll check it out. Last question before I let you get outta here. What is the most thing that you learned about yourself as a parent?
Michael Ogata (33:23):
Hmm, I think I definitely found a softer side in myself. My son, he was born here at the house, which is a whole big story. We did a home birth...
Young Han (33:32):
No way.
Michael Ogata (33:33):
Which we probably should talk about briefly,
Young Han (33:36):
Yes we totally should talk.
Michael Ogata (33:37):
Totally skipped that part. So, so we chose because as you can see, we're vegan, we're a little bit like hesitant on the hospital thing, which I learned is still valuable, but yeah, we did a home birth, which was all successful, but he did have an infection. He was like a little bit shy, five pounds. So the next day our midwife told us like we should go to the hospital. So we went to the Oakland children's hospital. We had him there for 10 days and I just found like the softer side of myself, because I was just so like scared, like to see like this child from first holding him and being safe at home to like seeing them with the IV on and like seeing this like little Ida, this little baby that's yours, just like in a whole different scenario, hearing the beeping noises. That was just like how humbling and showed the softer side of myself and just, I don't know. I just found that. And then I just learned like, just to believe in God more, which I was very more, less of that faith being, but just everything became more stronger in me just from like my caring, my love and just my care for my partner or communication. And I just saw this other softer side of me that I didn't realize I had.
Young Han (34:45):
Wow. That's amazing, man. So you, you got in touch with your emotional side. That's great.
Michael Ogata (34:51):
Yeah. Which is pretty valuable as men just to really get in touch for your emotional side, because we're just so raised to be like strong, like John Wayne or like not sure our emotions, but really like I'm learning that people are having like book clubs for like men and yo the dad is important too. Like we hold it down and like it's really stressful. And you know, I really appreciate all the mothers out there and they have the hardest job, but being a father is just, it's not easy either. You know? Like they forget about us. That's
Young Han (35:20):
<Laugh> yeah. It's, it's easy to say the, that one. There's just 2, 2, 2 dads here. But yes, I agree with you. <Laugh> let's try to say that when our wives are here cause say something totally different or at least I'll say something different. I'll completely disagree. <Laugh> you're on your own. That's right. You're on your own here. Yeah. Hey, so can we talk about the home brew? Cause I didn't realize you did that.
Michael Ogata (35:45):
Yeah, yeah. Dude. We should talk about it. That's wild.
Young Han (35:48):
What the heck? So like I've, I've heard about this and did you use a doula too? Or just,
Michael Ogata (35:52):
We didn't do the doula. We did the midwife. So doula, it sort of like coaches you through through things and like goes with you to the hospital usually and just like helps you the decisions like, oh, do you want epidural or this and that. But the midwife is like a little bit different where they straight up help you with the birth birthing of the child. So we went on leading up to the actual birth. We had monthly meetings that became, and then closer BI biweekly meetings just to check on everything, see how the baby is and her stomach train us, be ready. How I can help and be ready. So it's this whole like coaching and like more higher care, just loving care for my partner and she liked it a lot be cuz she's more holistic. And it was just night and day just for us to do that versus going to a gynecologist who scared the crap out of her.
Michael Ogata (36:46):
Cuz we told her like, Hey, we're gonna cuz they said like, Hey, you have to have a midwife. And she was like, oh no, the midwife. And then there's like a role where you have to like, go see a gynecologist. So we went to see this gynecologist and she like was lick my partner in the was like on birth, it's dangerous and scared the crap out of her. It was like, don't do it. She's all pumped up. You should go to a hospital. And I was like, whoa, why'd you do that? We've been like getting immensely, like ready for this. And you did that. I kind of like rambled there about like the whole midwife thing. But basically we had the midwife and then quick burst story is basic. We're getting close to the time that she's gonna have the baby. And then the midwife and everyone is like, oh yeah, you'll probably be having your child in about two or three days and she's over here.
Michael Ogata (37:28):
Like, no, I think it's coming soon. So everyone leaves and I'm just there with her and all of a sudden she starts like breathing. He heavily and everything at the house. Next thing you know, it's like, I'm holding two phones. She's over there. Like breathing hard. And like the whole thing is getting crazy and I'm calling people like, yo, we, you need to come here. I think she's having the baby now. Yeah. So the midwife's like I'm coming now and I was like maybe 20 minutes away from birthing the baby myself. But luckily the midwife came in time and helped us get the baby out and everything. Why
Young Han (38:03):
Were you holding two phones? What was the two phones part of the story?
Michael Ogata (38:06):
I don't know how it was with your wife, but like the, I, you know, I did anything for the pregnant woman, but she's just like asking us to do whatever she needs. She's like call my best friend. I trust her out. I'm like, oh, call her right now. No call the midwife, call your mom. I'm like, I I'm just doing whatever the hell she says. And that's why I had two phones in my head. I was like, I'm gonna play some music on Spotify of my, so you feel good? She's like, I don't like that song. And I changed the song. I'm like, how about this song? And I got her mom on the other phone and that's why I had two phones. Cause I was crazy listening
Young Han (38:35):
<laugh> now I get the phone comment. I'm like, what's the significance of the phones? I dunno what I'm just, she says that's the story of my life too. I just says funny. It's just hyper escalated during crisis like that. Exactly. Yeah. Oh man. That was a really great story. Thank you for sharing that with me. I appreciate it. I yeah, I didn't know that about you, so that's really cool. And now I know someone that's said a home birth. Yay.
Michael Ogata (39:09):
Yes, yes. And if anyone wants to do a home birth hit me up and I'll be more happy to let you know how it works out for us, cuz I think it is a definitely a safe and wonderful and comfort comforting way to have your child outside of the hospital. If you're thinking about doing that. Nice.
Young Han (39:24):
Yeah. I'll add your, I'll add your contact on the, on the link to the channel and the, so everyone can reach out to you about how your home birth experience was. But thanks for taking the time, spend with me today and I'm getting to talk to me a little bit about business, life, home birth and yeah. And just how, how you, how you're thinking about being a parent and just all your, your thoughts around this. And so thanks for taking the time, man.
Michael Ogata (39:48):
Thanks Young. This is fun.
Young Han (39:50):
Yeah. Thank you. It was fun. I'll talk to you soon. Okay. Thanks. Bye bye.
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