215. The Gift of Grief - Jake Sasseville

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How did entrepreneur, TV personality and wellness CEO Jake Sasseville use the trauma and grief of his early life to live a life of purpose?

Jake Sasseville experienced phenomenal success in the entertainment industry at a very young age. He was the youngest host in late-night TV history on ABC. He explains the peaks and valleys of that success at such a formidable time, and the impact of losing it all and living in his grandma's basement. 

• The letter from a monk hours before he passed away that changed the course of his life.
• How we went from a self-serving life to one of service to others.
• What are the hidden inequities of retreat centers abroad?
• How did he cope going from huge success in the entertainment industry in New York City to it all being swept away, forcing him to live in his grandma’s basement, and how did that become a hidden gem of an opportunity for him?

https://imiloainstitute.com

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172. Losing It All to Gain Everything - ZofiaRennea Morales

173. Dreams Become Reality - Sharon Coleman

106. Magic, Video Games, and Upleveling Consciousness - David Lion and Michael Massey

00:00.00
karagoodwin
Hello and welcome to the meditation conversation I'm your host carwin and today I'm so happy to be joined by Jake Sasseville Jake is a serial media music and hospitality entrepreneur. An author and a podcaster he is the Ceo and founder of Imaoa Institute in Costa Rica and he was the youngest host in late night tv history on Abc and the white house named him one of the most innovative entrepreneurs under. 30 so I'm so delighted that you're here today Jake thank you for being here.

00:42.48
Jake Sasseville
Thanks Kara I think you know the name of the podcast really speaks for itself and it's important that we're having conversations like these and um and I'm really excited to have it I'm really excited to be here with you.

00:56.97
karagoodwin
Wonderful. Well I Can't wait to see how you got to where you are because I know that things like meditation and um, spiritual development are very ah important to you. Um, but the background that I gave on you. You know there's been so much early success and it's been. You know, very ah you know in the and entertainment industry and so Forth. So I Can't wait to see how that all goes together. But um. Ah, talk about your early successes and how those came about.

01:31.37
Jake Sasseville
Yeah I would say that from a very young age I um, wanted to be what I thought was successful I grew up in a poor milltown in the middle of Maine. Along the Andrewscoggin River and my parents were 2 beautiful working class people. Um, who I mean beautiful I don't know if they were beautiful but they were working class and they tried real hard like most yeah, that's right, they didn't get it right? All the time.

01:47.68
karagoodwin
Are.

02:01.26
karagoodwin
Um, they were great people. Yeah um.

02:06.14
Jake Sasseville
Um, and so much of my adult journey has been okay with saying yeah they didn't get it right? the whole time like they they tried hard but they didn't get it right? whereas in the past I would say well they did the best that they could and kind of as I've learned to be more authentic through my practice of meditation with myself and with the world.

02:16.12
karagoodwin
Are.

02:24.76
Jake Sasseville
Just been more truthful in what was and what so so it makes it makes things a little easier. Um, anyways I grew up in Maine and I experienced you know early childhood challenges I would say some might even say trauma. Um, that really kind of sculpted my desire to be successful because I thought oh boy if I'm if I'm successful. Then I'll be able to deal with everything that happened to me as a kid and nothing like well. Anyways I mean people will determine whether or not it's it's anything major but like my dad was diagnosed with parkinson's very early on my brother died cancer. My mother was an alcoholic so you know bang bang boom it's like oo.

02:57.36
karagoodwin
Wow Yeah, that's a lot.

03:02.58
Jake Sasseville
That happened as early teens and into mid teens will cause people to do a variety of things for me what it caused is the desire for success because like I said I thought it could fill I thought it could fill the hole I thought I could fill the hole. So I ah I was a magician in my teen years if you can imagine.

03:22.41
Jake Sasseville
And I was so set on making money because I I saw how challenging and how poor of a relationship my parents had with making money or anyone who made money it was just a weird you know I grew up in the middle of Maine you know where.

03:38.76
Jake Sasseville
It's considered not a badge of honor but actually a pretty bad thing if you're if you're well to do or wealthy or whatever. It is even those words will to do I remember that's from my childhood in any case so I was a magician I traveled around the northeast at like 14 years old that was making three four hundred dollars an hour which again huge for for where I'm from.

03:56.84
Jake Sasseville
I was just so set on it. Yeah and I was recruited by or or scouted by the tonight show when I was 15 or 16 or something started a Tv show and that tv show started locally on a local access tv station that I did in my spare time with my high school friends and that's the show that.

04:12.14
karagoodwin
Um, was it called Wayne's world no ah

04:14.60
Jake Sasseville
It was not called Wayne's world but it felt like it. It felt like it so felt like Wayne's world had a baby with Oprah I thought I could like have these meaningful conversations and also be crazy at the same time and that was my life for a long time and I launched that show went from local Tv to Abc after Jimmy Kimmel I had this whole Jake after Jimmy campaign I launched in 60000000 homes on Abc when I was 21 years old yeah yes and ironically, that's also when my practice of meditation.

04:37.85
karagoodwin
That's amazing. Oh my gosh 21 wow

04:46.56
Jake Sasseville
Started as well I remember I I started to well I stopped drinking that was a big thing I stopped drinking when I was 21 and I just realized can you imagine I was I was drinking like a fish and my teenagers I'll be honest with you I just you know.

04:51.86
karagoodwin
You stopped drinking at 21 that's and that's so interesting isn't it or yeah.

05:04.30
Jake Sasseville
It's just it was part of the it was part of the experience. So I stopped I stopped that and the reason why I stopped is because I wanted to create a big life for myself I was doing all these programs I was doing the Anthony Robbins program and I was seeking mentors I've been very fortunate to have mentors all around the world but I wanted. To create a pure life of success. Not ah and I just I was just dancing on bars all night and then going to school in the morning and then taping my show in the afternoon and I said is this really what life is going to be for me so the moment I stopped drinking First of all I lost a lot of all almost all my friends from those days.

05:40.41
karagoodwin
Are who.

05:42.66
Jake Sasseville
But I started gaining new ones and new mentors and there was 1 in particular in London Susie Pearl um yes her name is Susie Pearl and she was a Pr exec for like Madonna and Michael Jackson and she would invite me to her house I was like 192021

05:52.85
karagoodwin
Um, that.

06:00.22
Jake Sasseville
And I remember she had out a library the most beautiful library and there was a Paul Mckenna meditation Cd Paul Mckenna is a hypnotherapist in the Uk but he had a meditation Cd and I said what's meditation and that started my journey with meditation. Yeah.

06:08.38
karagoodwin
Are in.

06:14.50
karagoodwin
Oh wow wow! That's beautiful. So what happened to turn your attention to Costa Rica and I mean that would have been it sounds like that was a turning point that this the sobriety and then learning. Even what meditation is but kind of getting your toe into that world. But um, at some point it seems like your focus really shifted to spiritual development and and subsequently focusing on Costa Rica

06:47.92
Jake Sasseville
Um, yeah I would say you know sometimes for those who are listening when you stumble upon a modality meditation. Whatever it might be another practice sometimes it takes years of being with that practice before it starts to make the real. Tectonic shifts in one's life and that was certainly the case for me I may have found meditation I may have zoned out for 20 minutes and encountered a whole new world. But I'll be damned if I was just going to give up everything and go to live in a jungle you know or whatever. Those.

07:07.15
karagoodwin
In this.

07:19.64
karagoodwin
Um, yeah.

07:23.39
Jake Sasseville
Whatever those people do so there was a lot of reconciling there was it wasn't like an immediate shift all through my twenty s I continued to hustle I continued to rev my ego and it was around twenty seven twenty Seven twenty eight I had lost everything in Hurricane Sandy my house was washed away in New York city

07:38.59
karagoodwin
Oh I'm sorry.

07:41.66
Jake Sasseville
All all my Tv it's okay, it's it's I call it my divine quarter. It's when things just literally washed away all my Tv contracts all my earning all my friends life was not sustainable the way that I was living it the high highs and the low lows of you know. Running fast and revving the ego and I went to a buddhist monastery and this is to answer your question of how life started to shift for me I went to this buddhist monastery in upstate, New York Port jarvis if I remember correctly. And obviously I was seeking something I don't even know if I knew what I was seeking then but I decided to let go and let god and go to this monastery and I remember the the monks were all out that weekend I went with my friend who said this is going to be great. The monks were all out. They were on some seminar or something.

08:17.12
karagoodwin
And.

08:34.25
Jake Sasseville
There was one monk there. His name was dorku kelsang dorku and I went on a three day pilgrimage with this eighty year old monk and it was and I did and I had never meditated to that degree and and I was that was like three four hours a day barely eating anything I was like this is insane I like to eat I live in New York city what is this. For me meditating was always something I did in order to get something rather than just to be and so a year later if you can imagine a year later I didn't keep in touch with Dorku I didn't keep in touch with him a year later

08:58.70
karagoodwin
Are the.

09:11.47
Jake Sasseville
He reads a blog post that I wrote about losing my house losing the Nbc deal. Whatever it was and he wrote me an email Kara and it was the most and I remember it I remember the email to this day. Because it struck me so deeply and it set my life on a whole different course. He said my dear Jacob I didn't even know he read my blog or kept in touch with me my dear Jacob in your recent blog post about losing your deal with Nbc I count 22 uses of the words I and my in the. In the blog post remember it is our self-cherishing ego that is the root of all our suffering and finally please don't ever forget that our lives are fulfilled in direct proportion to the care and concern we have for others. Love. Or co and he died the next day Kara he died the next day which I was shocked that is why I decided to remember the email I was like this was prophetic. This was prophetic and so.

10:09.99
karagoodwin
Um, oh my God you're Wow gri.

10:18.45
Jake Sasseville
I made my life slowly again. These things don't change fast or at least they didn't for me. Maybe they do for others who are quantum leaping and all of this but slowly I started to move my life in the direction of human beings slowly I started it. You know not to be about I and my but about we and them and. That's why imaoa in Costa Rica our leadership tenant is to serve from ah from a spirit of service and a posture of learning How do we do this from behind rather than thinking that we need to lead out front and so over the years after that email and after a lot of learnings I moved to maui.

10:46.31
karagoodwin
Um, and.

10:56.35
Jake Sasseville
Created this beautiful home in maui where people started enjoying coming to maui and enjoying friends friends of friends my house just would fill up constantly with people and I realized people want to feel at home in their transformation so never having been to a retreat before never having even thought about it. Never have I had done yoga but not a yoga retreat I have a stronga yoga practice I I started in miloa based on this human need that I saw that people need to feel at home in their transformation retreat centers didn't seem to be doing it hotels certainly weren't doing it. So that's why I created himaloa and then a year later or whatever it was six months after talking about this vision. Um, we raised the money me and an ex-business partner of mine raised the money and and we started what became ialoa and now it's arguably 1 of the most successful retreat centers. You know. At least in Costa Rican we're expanding to 7 different continents over the next five years so it's an intercontinental institute for the education advancement the human beings and it really started with that dorku email and how our lives are fulfilled in direct proportion to the care and concern we have for others. Yeah.

11:52.17
karagoodwin
Um, one.

12:04.22
karagoodwin
Wow, That's beautiful course. Not how so when did when did you start emaloa.

12:07.30
Jake Sasseville
Hope that's not too long of an answer. Okay, good.

12:14.20
Jake Sasseville
June First Twenty Eighteen is when we bought the property I had started it probably 2 years before in my head right? because bake believe that I have is yeah our word creates our world so I had to talk about it in order to make it come. You know it had to like.

12:16.77
karagoodwin
Okay. In Maui or okay.

12:30.89
Jake Sasseville
I didn't just be like okay I have three and a half million dollars let's start a retreat center. It took time to raise the money and to envision it. But I moved to Costa Rica we closed on the property that became in miloa June first 2018 so about four four and a half years

12:33.19
karagoodwin
Yeah.

12:44.39
karagoodwin
Wow, that's great and then of course so you were pretty. You were what about coming up to 2 years when things shut down I don't know how how that affected Costa Rica

13:00.16
Jake Sasseville
So Costa Rica's borders closed on March eighteenth two Thousand and twenty I'll never forget it I almost had a full-blown panic attack meltdown um, not only because the borders were shutting but because we had 32 contracts like upcoming contracts like we were sold.

13:06.52
karagoodwin
Yeah.

13:16.68
Jake Sasseville
Not out. We weren't sold out of 2020 but we had a lot of upcoming retreats because I had you know I had researched the market I figured out what our unique differentiators were I hired great coaches. We had a great team boom we were we were you know our first retreat was three months after we closed on the property I mean we we scaled very quickly.

13:33.80
karagoodwin
You.

13:34.67
Jake Sasseville
And I think that's just a testimony really to the vision and to the team that when a vision is big enough and when the team is just treated like the royalty that we all should be treating our teams. Ah amazing things. Magical things happen Anyways, Covid came the pandemic came and you know in hindsight we were.

13:48.22
karagoodwin
Um e.

13:54.10
Jake Sasseville
Not in hindsight this is a reality we were the only hospitality business not to shut and not to fire a soul during covid despite the borders being shut for everybody for seven months um we reduced all of our salaries. You know to 10% of what we were making but we didn't shut down.

13:59.60
karagoodwin
One mile

14:11.82
Jake Sasseville
Let me tell you something the minute the world opened back up and what I mean by the world is the Costa Rican borders we had a competitive edge like no one else in the market because everyone had said oh you know we're done. We're shutting down until this thing is over I was like oh heck, no, we're not and we were the only. My my team would come in in April and may of Twenty Twenty Kara that's true. They look like they had just seen a ghost the costa ricans I said guys? what's wrong, they're like Jake we're the only ones in our town to have a job. We are the only ones in our town. Like this is ah this is not a testimony of me by the way I mean I have some very gracious investors and we took on some debt but we did what we had to do to look out for those that we cared most about which is our team and this is where our core values came into front and center for us because it's like what were we going to choose what path were we going to choose.

15:04.60
karagoodwin
Wow And then that was then you guys were able to take off like once things opened up again. It was fairly seamless. It sounds like.

15:05.98
Jake Sasseville
That's what we chose.

15:14.27
Jake Sasseville
Well, it was so it was not easy I lost the Ceo and COOf himaloa my 2 business partners during covid they stepped down they didn't it wasn't covid. They stepped down they stepped out of the business because it was a plane that was careening toward a mountain.

15:25.69
karagoodwin
Are.

15:32.60
karagoodwin
Yeah.

15:34.25
Jake Sasseville
I mean that's really what it was so they they were like heck no and I was like oh yes, this is where it gets good because I knew if we could survive I knew Kara that if we could survive. We would be a safe haven for people who would be asking some of life's biggest questions and that's what we've become. We.

15:49.24
karagoodwin
Are.

15:52.83
Jake Sasseville
Pivoted during covid we became a long-term live in work spacece so you could come and live eat sleep at emaloa gourmet food. Great community, unbelievable nature and you could work from there because we had great fiber optic internet. So we did that for seven months and then yeah when we when the world opened up. We began booking retreats and it was tricky. It was really tricky. It was I did not want to be Ceo of emaloa I resisted it I said no 3 times I was the sales guy you know.

16:20.10
karagoodwin
Are.

16:22.47
Jake Sasseville
But something got me something shifted inside my heart on the third time that the the lead investor called me and said you have to take it over or else we need to sell this place and I was like okay I got it I just I stayed in it for the team. You know I care a whole lot about this team and about the vision of what what I thought we could create.

16:35.45
karagoodwin
Are.

16:40.37
Jake Sasseville
If we could make it through.

16:43.78
karagoodwin
Well, it's amazing I mean I have like my little minor version of what you had because only in in terms of the retreat because I was hosting my very first retreat locally. So I'm in Indiana and um and I just.

16:48.64
Jake Sasseville
Um, yeah, tell me.

17:00.13
karagoodwin
Kind of of my own accord found a place kind of in the country and or in you know in the in the woods. Basically um and I had my first retreat that I was looking forward to and it was March thirteenth to Fifteenth Twenty twenty

17:16.57
Jake Sasseville
Um, ah ah.

17:18.63
karagoodwin
And I had all my bags packed like all the retreat stuff all my candles and in ends and you know my you know Salt Light My Himalayan Salt light candles and all of that you know, um.

17:21.20
Jake Sasseville
Of course.

17:33.67
karagoodwin
Packed up by my garage door like ready to be loaded in the into the car and I had participants calling me like are we still doing this and the owner of where we were staying like are what do you think? and I'm like I think we still go like I kept you know all day long I'm like I think we need to still keep going. And that very day this was like a Thursday I think yeah, it was a Thursday I mean schools were starting to close but it was all happening in one day it was like then Disney World closed and I was like Disney World closed

18:02.56
Jake Sasseville
Ah, yes.

18:09.90
karagoodwin
And then the and Nba closed and I'm like the Nba closed.

18:11.30
Jake Sasseville
I remember when the and Nba closed that was big.

18:15.30
karagoodwin
Yeah, and I'm like wait a minute like these are really big big corporations and I'm like they're okay so then that really made me like okay well who am I you know why would I think that my people are going to be safe when everybody else is retreating and they're like no, we've got to stay home. So. Stay home and I'm like why why would I then be like think that you know my people would be safe. So then we did I had to make the last minute call and it was like I mean but it was really in the eleventh hour like I mean I was. Packed ah literally everything packed and ready to go and then I had to individually call people and.

18:59.46
Jake Sasseville
Ah, it's the hardest I mean to deal with clients at that time was so hard because they had many were paid in full. You know it's not cheap to host it in miloa I mean I totally feel whatever level. It was whether it was called you having to call participants or us having to deal with folks like you like clients.

19:04.40
karagoodwin
And.

19:15.30
Jake Sasseville
Really tricky what ended up happening with your retreat.

19:16.44
karagoodwin
I I postponed it so we I did do it in August at the same place which wasn't it didn't feel like that much later I was but looking back I'm like wow that really wasn't that long before I was able to have it and it was great.

19:20.24
Jake Sasseville
Um, cool.

19:31.54
Jake Sasseville
Good.

19:33.82
karagoodwin
Ah, but it was one of the first things where people were kind of all together for all the people who were there and so it's just it's funny to look back and be like yeah we were really tiptoeing around each other and everything was outside. You know because it was it was August so we were able to be outside and we were really like praying for the weather like in the the weather was incredible. So we got really we were. We were very fortunate um under the circumstances and um.

19:55.87
Jake Sasseville
Um.

20:03.80
karagoodwin
But it was It was so funny because it was a meditation retreat you know and and we were all trying to you know set it up so that it was really you know, nurturing our spirits and um, but the the place where I hosted it. They Also they were kind of ah a motorcycle destination because they were in the Hills in the beautiful countryside and because things were just starting to open up and there weren't a lot of places where you know motorcycle groups could go. They.

20:23.77
Jake Sasseville
Um, ah.

20:37.53
karagoodwin
That was like a destination for a lot of people to like take their motorcycle on the weekend and go hang out at this hotel or it was like this little country in you know, different outbuildings and stuff but they had a bar and ah like a little bar and grill and so there were just.

20:47.10
Jake Sasseville
Um, ah.

20:54.13
karagoodwin
It was a very funny contrast because we were able to be off. You know in this barn area that was really beautiful but then when we needed to eat. We'd go to this bar and grill and then there were like all these you know Barker but ah bikers and then a lot of people who were just there to like let loose.

20:56.44
Jake Sasseville
Um, ah.

21:12.65
karagoodwin
And um it so was it was just very funny because we were yeah it was It was is like we were.

21:14.28
Jake Sasseville
Um, it was a weird time. Yeah, yeah, it was this interesting time when humanity it's like I've not done ayahuasca the plant medicine from the from the Amazon Ayahuasca but.

21:26.92
karagoodwin
Um, I'm shocked if you haven't done that and you're in Costa Rica

21:30.37
Jake Sasseville
I Know everybody. It's the whole thing I Just when everyone says Zig I go Zag but I had many friends who said the world was collectively going through an ayahuasca journey. Um, you know in that time because everything that was normal suddenly wasn't and yet for me.

21:39.11
karagoodwin
Oh.

21:49.16
Jake Sasseville
I got to see people for who they really were Kara and that was really powerful because I was disillusioned even though I'm a pretty smart person and pretty intuitive I still allowed myself to be disillusioned by certain folks and I feel like covid also really lifted those veils too.

21:50.98
karagoodwin
Grown.

22:00.72
karagoodwin
Marie.

22:08.73
Jake Sasseville
Yeah.

22:08.91
karagoodwin
Yeah, there were definitely there. There have been gifts in it and it's been ah, and yeah I mean I can I haven't had ayahuasca either. But I can I can see that you know that parallel between. That type of experience and what you know the collective has been going through for a couple of years it's funny to look right? and it's funny to look back on it and you know now we look back and we know how it works out.

22:30.63
Jake Sasseville
Um, the purging the purging. Yeah.

22:40.17
karagoodwin
You know it's like oh well of course like you course you wouldn't have your retreat because the whole thing closed down for a long time and then it would open up and then it would close down again depending on where you were and um and it it was you know such a slow.

22:44.11
Jake Sasseville
Um, yeah.

22:57.17
karagoodwin
Reintegration and it's such a slow process of coming out of that which we now know that even I mean things are more or less at least to a new normal now you know where? but. It just depends I mean I still go out and I'll still see people in masks and things like that. So there are still like vestiges of it. But um, but looking back you know we have the the gift of hindsight where it's like well yeah of course.

23:24.57
Jake Sasseville
Ah.

23:24.87
karagoodwin
Everything closed down. So of course you would have yeah that's how it was for a lot of things but when you're going through it. It's like this is so weird like really bizarre.

23:33.44
Jake Sasseville
And we have that collect. It's a intense interesting talk about the gift of hindsight because it's ah it's probably for the first and only time in our lifetimes and maybe even in generations. Although maybe our grandparents generation in world war ii 1945 was obviously that day in 1945 was a big day. It's interesting because it's a collective. We all get to look back and experience that like and we all get to pinpoint. Okay, you were in Indiana doing your retreat I was in Costa Rica and we were just ending a retreat and we we didn't know we wouldn't have another retreat again for a year like all these things that.

24:06.25
karagoodwin
Yeah.

24:09.91
Jake Sasseville
And yet we can all trace it back to a certain time period and how we felt and it was collectively shared and now it's a collective hindsight very rare to be able to do that I mean you and I probably live very different lives in Indiana and Costa Rica and yet here we are unified by these by these moments and it really.

24:28.11
karagoodwin
Yeah, um.

24:29.17
Jake Sasseville
Goes to show like that. This is why for me Covid was particularly striking and the pandemic was striking because it showed us our common humanity in front of us and continues to if we listen to it How how in sync we actually are.

24:39.37
karagoodwin
9

24:44.42
Jake Sasseville
That were more same than separate all of these things.

24:48.10
karagoodwin
Um, right, right? Absolutely so I I know that you're learning a lot about business and culture in terms specifically about Costa Rica and you're working on. Ah. Striving toward equality in your international team and I was really interested to read about that. So do you want to talk a little bit about that.

25:08.86
Jake Sasseville
Ah.

25:11.73
Jake Sasseville
Yeah, so for those who haven't done business or been to Costa Rica it's one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Some of the loveliest people doesn't matter their socioeconomic background whether they're wealthy or not they just their motto is puta vita which in spanish means pure life. Um, and so instead of saying hello and goodbye they say putha vida so imagine you're in the street in the grocery store getting gas and everyone's saying pure life pure life pure life. Um, so it's a really remarkable. Um, it's a remarkable place to be and yet there are.

25:33.40
karagoodwin
Are.

25:40.53
karagoodwin
Um, no.

25:49.96
Jake Sasseville
Huge amounts of inequities. Um, you know the minimum wage for many of the type of work that we employ many of the type of team members that we employ is 5 six seven hundred dollars a month according to government standards for those in the hospitality business. And Costa Rica is not a cheap country. It's actually quite expensive for central America. It's quite expensive to live here. Um, and so this inequity really bothered me and in fact I had local costa ricans those who were business owners indigenous costa ricans wealthy indigenous costa ricans. Tell me that I shouldn't pay a dollar more because that's what they get paid and otherwise it'll cause it to be difficult for other business owners like wild things when I first moved here I was like what because I wanted to pay everybody more I thought this was crazy to pay people $600 a month and to see that even.

26:34.77
karagoodwin
Um, and.

26:42.64
Jake Sasseville
Costa Ricans themselves were not advocating for their people to be lifted up and it's not about the money. Although it's a big part about the money for me. It was about creating a sense of hope and curiosity about what's possible in the world and that that could be intergenerationally impactful.

26:59.70
karagoodwin
A.

27:02.50
Jake Sasseville
And it's not the same in the states. It's not the same The states is very capitalistic in its approach. This is very pure. It's a very different I mean it's capitalistic as well. Don't get me wrong, but it's um, it's less interesting to. Address these inequities in a place like the states which is so harbored with and plagued by so many different cultural challenges. Um from racial to economic to religious and it's much for me. It's much more enjoyable to. Contribute in this way here. So you know there are certain steps that we've taken and are taking you know one of the things I'm really proud of is is our general manager who's Costa Rican and our director of sales who's from Southern California they make the same amount of money same job same you know one's a woman ones a male but they.

27:50.37
karagoodwin
6

27:56.16
Jake Sasseville
They make the same on that is an amazing feat that I bet very few businesses in Costa Rica can say especially if they're employing and working with local costa ricans. So that's just 1 specific example, but it's also about you know. Doing a minimum thriving wage like this minimum wage business. We pay everybody 30 to 50% plus more than what we're required to pay them and we do that as close to day one as possible and again it's not about the money as much as it is about creating.

28:26.70
karagoodwin
Um, wound.

28:33.35
Jake Sasseville
Possibility and being able to just stand apart. Um from how business has been done for many years here and how many people still are doing it. Um, and then there's training and personal and professional development things that you would never see at a hospitality business for a team of housekeepers. Or assistant general manager. You just would never say it and yet we've we've hired world-class coaches to come in and work with our people and so there's just there's several different things that we're trying to do that make life a little easier and a little better. And that have a intergenerational impact so that they get to teach their kids you know team members who are having kids they get to teach their kids that there's a different way rather than how gringingos essentially white bait bull who come in and and start these things oftentimes say that it has to be that they get to see a different way. They get to see it modeled differently.

29:18.82
karagoodwin
Is new.

29:28.86
Jake Sasseville
And that's pretty special I Appreciate you asking me about that.

29:29.85
karagoodwin
Um, yeah, that's that's fantastic, beautiful. Well I'd love to hear a little bit about Grandma's basement can you tell us about this and who Grandma was really.

29:42.60
Jake Sasseville
What a time a literal woman a woman that lived once upon a time she actually died this year bless Grandma so you know I told you that house got washed away in Hurricane Sandy and so and all my contracts and like I literally hit a dark night of the soul I smacked up against a wall of a dark night of the soul and it was hard.

29:50.98
karagoodwin
Um, yeah.

30:02.28
Jake Sasseville
Had no place to go and I was flying home in New York and I had to go back to Maine which I resisted because I didn't want to go back because there's just a lot of pain there right? If there's a lot of pain where you're from and you haven't dealt with it. It's hard to go back so I had to face my greatest fear. My aunt wouldn't take me in my mom was drinking my dad.

30:12.76
karagoodwin
Um, yeah.

30:21.67
Jake Sasseville
You know was very much into his parkinson's disease journey. The only place I could go was Grandma's and Grandma said you can have the basement and the basement was an unfinished basement probably 10 by ten had a little window out. But. You know little window to see the beautiful backyard I loved that backyard and it was the only house that had been a constant in my life for my whole life 27 years up to that point and I resisted the first year of being in that basement Kara I I just couldn't deal with it I had to. My my phone stopped ringing I started and failed at 5 businesses the six one which was a podcast actually worked but it was a faux blown surrender and in the dark night of the soul and I got into a 12 step program. I would go for 3 4 5 hour walks a day in the woods. Um I had no money in my bank account for for a year Grandma put food in the fridge. She gave me her 2004 gold Jetta and put gas in the car for me so that I could have some sense of normalcy. Everyone told me why don't I just get a job meanwhile I'm starting and failing at 5 businesses which is a little bit harder than a job application because I was trying to be true to myself in the face of all this fear and uncertainty and after the first year I started to accept what I could not change I started to learn to live life on life's terms.

31:36.37
karagoodwin
Are.

31:49.77
Jake Sasseville
I started to be okay with if I was in Grandma's basement for the rest of my life I started to not go back to New York city on my friend's dime so that I could experience the thrill of the city but rather just be in that basement be in the nature be in life live life on life's termss instead of always trying to create. Some result instead to really look at how I could be and just take action from wherever it is I was so this is what that basement started to teach me it was deeply moved. It was profound. It was a profound 2 years of my life. And you know life started to work again for me after the second year once I really surrendered and I learned how to create from a place of surrender instead of hustle and creating from a place of surrender allows us to listen to the whispers of life. Our life is always speaking to us.

32:34.80
karagoodwin
You.

32:43.18
Jake Sasseville
We just need to be quiet enough to be able to listen and I was never quiet enough I was never quiet enough even with all my meditation practices and my gurus and my mentor relationships I still wasn't quieting my mind and Grandma's basement forced me into quieting my mind. So. The sixth business like I said worked it was a podcast I started it in 2 14 I just called it. The Jake Asil show and what I decided to do is I made a podcast really as a living amends to those way it hurt in my twenty s because you don't end up without a house without contracts without friends if you're not hurting people along the way and I was a hustler I was hustling. You know? and so the podcast was interviewing people that had never done podcasts before in 1314 that were pretty well known or interesting at the very least and it was in being serviced to them to get their message out there in a beautiful way that they could be proud of and that. Podcasts went from 0 to 100000 downloads in like a month and I ended up leveling off a quarter of a million downloads a month for 300 episodes. Whatever it was I was making 8 9 10 12 grand a month after just three months of doing the show I mean things you just don't hear about in podcast. And I was taping the whole damn show from Duncan Doan at sparking lot because Grandma didn't have internet in their basement. So. The whole thing is just like crazy to reflect on. But also you know, really important because I'm sure that even though.

34:04.40
karagoodwin
Um, one yeah.

34:13.90
Jake Sasseville
Many of your listeners probably aren't in Grandma's actual basement Grandma's basement was a place for me, but it's a way of it's a way of mind. It's a way of thinking. It's an experience. It's a life pause. It's a dark night of the soul. It's all of these things that again, we share in our common humanity. But don't actually give credence to that we're each going through it in different ways right now and so that's why I love talking about Grandma in Grandma's basement and god bless her. She loved living with me for those 2 years She really did I loved her so much she was she was my little travel buddy. Ah when back when you know when I could afford to travel before Grandma's basement um, and ah yeah, a sweet immigrant lady from Canada and just provided that safe space and now for so many emaloaan Costa Rica is that safe space of home and it's an homage to grandma in a way like people are really touched and transformed by the.

34:50.80
karagoodwin
Ah.

35:08.78
Jake Sasseville
Week or two weeks they get it in miloa. It's very moving for a lot of people and it doesn't have to do with the curriculum or me or even the team what it is often I think Kara is it's a reconnection to nature because that's what I got in Grandma's basement those those hikes those winter hikes when snow was up to my knee.

35:19.48
karagoodwin
Are.

35:27.62
Jake Sasseville
My knees sometimes 3 4 5 hour hikes I was reconnecting with nature and now what people are doing actually I didn't get this until this conversation with you right now. But what people are doing at in miloa are reconnecting with nature. So. It's kind of an homage and an honoring of Grandma and. Safe space. She provided me to fall flat on my face. Yeah.

35:50.72
karagoodwin
Wow! Thank you for sharing that with us That's really, it's really powerful. It's so ah, just it's just beautiful that she was there to ah to catch you.

36:04.38
Jake Sasseville
Um, yeah.

36:06.26
karagoodwin
And then the yeah, the amazing things that came from Grandma's basement that's that's incredible success. So that's wonderful.

36:07.88
Jake Sasseville
Um, yeah, thank you so much. Thanks for sharing that? yeah.

36:16.38
karagoodwin
Um, well how can people find out more about you and about Emola Emaloa Sorry um.

36:22.70
Jake Sasseville
So you got it. You got it there you go emulo I wasn't gonna correct you. It's a lot of vowels I know I know it is um if people would like to they can go to emaloainstitute dot com or at Emaloa Dot Institute on Instagram um. And just for your folks if they use promo code Jake on any signature retreat. They'll get three hundred and fifty dollars off so that's kind of nice promo code jake at emaloainstitute.com um me I'm on the socials at jake sassiville the show.

36:45.75
karagoodwin
Wonderful.

36:55.84
Jake Sasseville
If they want to tune in is the jake ascile show. We just launched our fourth season yesterday or two days ago with Gandhi's grandson so Gandhi's grandson was yes the podcast. Yeah, the Jake Asil show is the podcast so people can listen in if they want to. But really, if people are like.
Feeling moved I think learning more about Imaloa and seeing if and how we could serve your people. Um, yeah, they're more than invited to go.

37:24.75
karagoodwin
Oh wonderful. Well thank you so much for your time here today and for the beautiful heart share and um and many blessings on your continued journey in Costa Rica

37:38.73
Jake Sasseville
Thank you Kara thanks for having me.

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