 I was traveling around the country doing a tour with, I think, Donald Scott's Carvencombe. Okay. Yeah. And I was in Iowa? Des Moines, Iowa. Yeah. Des Moines, Iowa. And I said to a few different people, so this is going to be like a hands-on class or whatever, can you duplicate my haircut? And I thought you were one of the educators. Right. And I said, can you duplicate my haircut? And you did my haircut better than I did it, but I was the guy showing it. So this was, but this was the thing too. I was in beauty school and I had really fallen in love with palmatial products and I wanted to become like an educator. Right. So I actually, I didn't really have a car that could drive that would actually, I think, physically make it three hours. So one of the educators drove me to the show and we were in that hotel room and I remember you came walking in and it was just like, I was like, who is this guy? Like you were dressed all in black. You had like this, like this attitude about you, like when you walked in and you guys all started doing the haircut. Well, I had been watching that DVD and trying to learn it. Just now I found this out. Yeah. So I'm sitting on the bed and I'm thinking, man, I wish I could try that. And then when you said, would you like to try it? I was like, yes, I would like to try it. So I hopped up and did the technique. Yeah. And then I said to you, so I was, it was the stroking technique. Yeah. That's what it was. So I was really taken back of how great you were. And I'm like, so what's your name? You said, my name's Matt. And I'm like, what are your dreams? And you're like, I want to be a platform artist someday. So then the next day I did this show or whatever. And then I said, so there's this kid who does not know that I'm going to do this right now, but I want to bring him up on stage. And I'm like, so you shared with me yesterday that you want to be a platform artist. So now it's your opportunity and you did my haircut. Yeah. And then what I didn't know that night was evidently you spent the night in your car or something. So that was a different time. So we left that show. I was excited. Okay. Went back to school and you gave me your business card. Yeah. So I said, so I ended up calling the salon in New Hope. And I said, you know, where's Sam going to be next? And it was in Nebraska. Okay. And that was, yeah. So Nebraska was eight hours from where I lived. So I drove to Nebraska. And that's, that's when I slept in the car. And you slept in your car. But I did not know this. So I saw you again. And I'm like, oh, so you're that kid that I know you want to be a platform artist. And I did the event. And then I was staying at an embassy suites hotel. Yeah. Because I knew that it was two rooms. And and I'm like, so I want you to to the next day, I found out that you slept in your car. Yeah. And I was mortified by it because I was thinking he could have at least slept in like the pullout couch area. And you shared with me that you'd never been a hotel before. Yeah. Well, I've been in hotels, but I definitely did not have the money to do it at that point. Right. So like with my family growing up, I've been in hotels, but never like so the owner of that distributor, you talk to him. Yes. And then he came up to me because I was going to drive home that night because that's you said, are you going to be here tomorrow? And I said, no, I, I got a shower is basically whatever I slept with my car. Yeah. So you were like, you talked to the owner of the distributorship. He saw me on stage the day before or that day. And he was like, you know, would you stay if we put you up in the hotel? So I said, yeah, of course. And you so I went up to my hotel room and there was a microwave and there was like all this stuff. I was like, I was like, this is the greatest thing that has ever happened. So, so from that point on, that was where it was really like, for me, like the turning point, because you put me back on stage, you got to teach a private class with you the next day. And then, then the next step I went to the Paul Mitchell gathering, which I was invited to by that distributor in Iowa. And you were there hung out with you the whole weekend. That was a pretty intense weekend. And I interviewed with Kelly Cardenas at Robert Salon. Yes, yeah, yeah, you sent me there. Yeah. And then I came back and I remember you said to me, how did it go? What do you think? And I said, you know what, I think, I think I'm going to come work with you in New Hope. And I said, you don't want to come work with me. I said, yeah, because this is the thing. And I think a lot of people out there when you're looking for a mentor, it's not necessarily to me, it's about somebody that takes care of somebody. And from the minute I met you in that hotel room, you let me do that haircut. You put me on stage that weekend in Nebraska, all that stuff happened. So it just felt like I want to go work. I wanted to work for somebody that had belief in what I was, and not just go work for somebody that, you know, has no idea who you are. And then you're, you know, so I felt that connection. So I ended up, I went to beauty school for a few more months, got enough hours to work in PA, and then flew out to New Hope where we're at right now. Well, and then I was freaked out because you were the only out of state, and like, I had just opened up this salon, maybe two years earlier, I had one other employee maybe. And now I'm going to have this employee that's going to come from another state and this young kid, and I'm like, and now I'm going to be responsible for him. We hooked up a one bedroom apart, one bedroom furnished apartment for you. You didn't have a car or something. I didn't bring a car. So we're here in New Hope now, which is where this all began. But you got this furnished apartment, and the salon was a mile away. And you walked a mile every day. I would say a half a mile, but it was like, it was definitely... It's all of Main Street. New Hope's only a mile long. Yeah, that's true. And you had this really cool pair of shoes that you loved. I did. That you loved these shoes. And you would walk in the rain, and you would walk in the snow, and you were always the first person in the salon, and the last person to leave, and you never slept a smile off of your face. And I remember, and I started calling you Main Street, Matt, because you only knew Main Street here in New Hope. And at one point I remember you had holes in the bottom of your shoes. And I said, you got to get another pair of shoes. And you're like, it's the only pair of shoes I have. I can't afford it. So the reason why I wanted to bring that up is nobody wanted it better than you did. You studied this haircut. You followed... Whether it was me or whether it was whomever, then you drove eight hours, and I recall you telling your clients later on that you dug for quarters in the cushions to try to get... You slept in your car. You didn't have a shout. Then you gave up your loving family who I've got to know over the years. Left all of them in Iowa to come out here to Pennsylvania to be entrusted with me in this furnished apartment because you wanted it that much.