From A Shy Kid To TikTok Sensation: Landon Bridges

Internet personality Landon Bridges joins the We're Out of Time podcast. My cousin, she did a video and I got like 20,000 views on TikTok. I'd like a 20,000 views, the worst video I've ever seen in my life. If she could do that, I could do that. I was always like a shy kid. I didn't talk much. I didn't do much. I just kind of sat back and just observed. I'm going on a couple of reality shows soon for like cooking, I can't say which one. And then just cookbook and the works and like the next year or so. Hot Sauce Company is doing well. You have a Hot Sauce? Yeah. I think it's number 27 on Amazon right now. That ain't nothing. The We're Out of Time podcast team extends heartfelt thanks for helping the show reach number two in Apple Podcast's mental health category and number 68 overall among top shows. Your support means more than words can express. Thank you for listening to the We're Out of Time podcast with Richard Tate. If you haven't already, please follow the podcast, rate and review. And if you're getting value out of We're Out of Time, share it with someone else you know. If someone has a problem with substance use disorder, please call one call placement. That's 888-831-1581. And if we can't help you, we'll make a referral to someone who can. Please, We're Out of Time. Land in Bridges. Thanks for coming, man. I appreciate it. Absolutely. Good. So before I get into any of these questions, why don't you tell me where you grew up? I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. Yeah. And then I was there until I was about 17. Jump ship got out of there and I really haven't been back since. Came right here. No, no, no. We spent some time in Nashville, spent some time in Florida and then finally decided to drop out of school to pursue TikTok. And then that's when we ended up here. Yeah. How you deal with that? Uh, I mean, it's doing really well now. I'm good with it now. There is definitely a few years where you're like, what the f**k is happening? Why did I do this? But now, now everything makes sense. So it's, it's good. Tell me about that beginning through today, your journey on your social media. Um, I mean, I started making videos. My cousin got like a, she did a video and I got like 20,000 views on TikTok. And I was like, how's that get 20,000 views? This is a**. This is terrible. Worst video I've ever seen in my life. Uh-huh. And then I was like, if she could do that, I could do that. And then of course I saw like all the Viners and the YouTubers and they're like leaders, they were like, it was like the original TikTok, I guess, from like 2000 and like 12 or some got it. But, um, so I saw how rich they were. And I was like, damn, this is this is much better than like staying in school and and doing whatever bullshit job that you got to do. So I started like making videos, three videos in one hit like 3.5 million views. And I was like, I'm famous as hell. Let's go. Let's let's keep going. That's so funny. Yeah. Famous as hell. I remember when people were famous for actually doing shit. Yep. Right. Like singing or acting or playing sports. What was that video that got 3.2 million? I think I was, um, I was making fun of DJ Khaled. So I had like my stomach out and on a jet ski and I was just like, it flipped to a picture of him and then flipped to a picture of me. And we were like perfectly in synchronized with it. Great video. It was like a trend at the time. And then he ended up retweeting it and stuff. And I was like, oh yeah, we are on the way up. Can we put it on the podcast? Sure. You can. We'll insert it right there. That's bitch. You can find it. Yeah. Go ahead and throw it in there. If I can find it. She's seen money all around me. I look like I'm the man. Do you get something better than 3.2 million? We've had a lot of, a lot of videos that did really well. At the time it was one of those things. I think I got like 20,000 followers overnight or something like that. And I was like, yeah. On TikTok. Yeah. This was, this is the original days of TikTok. Your follower account just skyrocketed. And then I just started doing like comedy stuff. It was hit or miss. Found myself out at a bar one day and this, this guy came up, I was like, go up to this guy. I'm like, hey, that TikTok kid, right? And then he had 3 million followers. We ended up getting hammered. And then he's like, dude, you got to do these videos. Trust me, it's going to work. And they were the worst videos you've ever seen. It's like stage pranks and poppin water balloons on people and stuff. Like the, just the dumbest you've ever seen, right? Gained a million followers in a month doing those videos. And I was like, all right, now we're selling fake AirPods and making like, we did like, I think like 30,000 in sales off one video on just fake AirPods is back in the day. You sold people fake shit. Well, it wasn't, it was like free AirPods quote unquote. And then it paid for like shipping and stuff. I don't know. All it was is first time making money. Someone texts me, they go, I got something to sell. Dude, dude, let me tell you what happened. Okay. You sold me. You so you gave away three AirPods and charged 20 bucks for the shipping, which costs less than five. Yep. And so you were making over 15 bucks. How many of yourself, 30,000 of them? We know we did like 30,000 in sales day one. And then, but of course, it was one of those things. Someone's like, hey, I'll give you 20 percent. Just promote this link and blah, blah, blah. And and then, yeah, got scammed. That was my first running with like. You got scammed by people who were aming. Exactly. I got scammed by scammers. If only you saw that coming. I know, right? Wasn't too bright. Okay. We were broke. We were in college. We were in Florida. We were like, I'll do this. I was expecting to make 500 bucks, turn it in, making like a few grand. I was like, hell yeah. And then eventually at the time I was saying at my mom's vacation house, she started seeing the videos and she's like, you got to get the fuck out. You go to you either like you drop these videos. Go back to school or you get out. And of course, I had my fake air pod money. So I was like, I'm going to LA. That's a great story and and very good decision. By the way, I mean, it's kind of turned into a hole. Yeah. But I remember it when it was pristine and, you know, there was no crime and people weren't running into your local wherever the hell and knocking down old ladies and, you know, mothers with newborns. Yeah. It's just like traumatizing everybody. I remember the days where that didn't happen. Oh, yeah. It's it's a great place to get. There's a lot of good spots to get dropped off right in front of for sure. You definitely not a walking city, not a walking city. Dude, you're hysterical. If you want to know the moment I fell in love with you is just now. Yeah. Yeah. It's a great place. We say it's a great place to be dropped off. What did you say? There's a lot of good places to be dropped off in front of. God, that's so good because it's because it's not safe. Yeah, it's not safe. You're going to trip over all kinds of people. Like it's like might as well be a campground at this point. So it is what it is, you know, one block over you're like, holy shit. And then the next block over you're like grabbing your pockets and running as fast as possible. How fast do you run? Not quick. Not quick. Do you know what, though, dude? You just have to outrun one person. The bear, the bear gets the slowest one. That's usually me, unfortunately. Oh, dude. Lest the girls got like high heels on or something. I'm counting on it to hit a crack and fall or something. Grab an old lady and throw her behind you. Yep. Then I'll be that person throwing the old women around, you know, I'll be part of the problem. Well, at least you won't be the guy selling fake to everybody. Yeah, because, you know, that 11 year old was so happy. I took all his money that he got for that last two months of mowing people's lawns and washing people's cars and bought that. And then, you know, he just it didn't work. And then when he called you guys, I don't know, 50,000 times, you know, he got some Pakistani in a cave somewhere. OK, totally offering to help him out over and over and over again and never helping you. You know, it's not my proudest moment looking back. It was it was my first time, first deal, first anything that came through. I had to look, we learn and we move on. We know it's cool. We got legit products now. Things are good. We got hot sauces on Amazon like that. We're good, dude. Yeah. You weren't selling crack to children. Relax. Yeah. Everything's good. All right. You're constantly surrounded by food and drinks. Has that lifestyle taken a toll on your health or energy levels in any way? Absolutely. So I was 300 pounds at one point in time. What are you clocking in at now? I'm in like 240. Dude, you're just as a rail. So but I was 300, got down to 170, looked great. Then COVID happens. You have a question. Yeah. When you hit 170, do you see your? Absolutely. Good man. Yeah, I was pissing out of my belly button at 300. All right, go on. I interrupt. But now you're good. We we we just I lost a bunch of weight. Then I started drinking, started having fun, started making videos. Hot girls came over, realized I don't have to look great. If I got views, they still show up. And then the best part is you're with nines and tens with like Hello, credit card debt, barely paying rent, all this other that you're out partying. I'm at a table I didn't pay for. And I'm just like, this is the biggest facade I've ever seen. Dude, welcome to the club. Everybody in your genre, they're all full of shit. Yeah, all of them. Have you ever been to a building called 10,000? Absolutely. OK. Every influencer is there with their it only has a couple things. Influencers. Mm hmm. Newly divorced guys with nowhere to go. Drug dealers and guys drug dealers. Yeah, they're the only building that takes cash. You can pay a rent and cash at 10,000. Oh, really? Yeah. That doesn't have anything to do with being drugs. They're they're they're Orthodox Jews. OK, they're used to cash. Right. OK. So. I would know crypto scammers. There's a lot of that. Or a rich guy with his sugar baby. Yeah. OK. Other than that, there's nothing there. And these kids, I'm there with my son because we were getting this house redone for a year. And so I'm there in the building and he's like, dad, look at all these kids. They're so rich. All these lambos. And I'm like, hey, dude, they're living months to month. They have no idea how to make that car payment. Or or pay their rent in this building. None. Zero. Except the only fans, girls. They can pay it. They can pay five years in an upfront. Yeah, but they're special. Yeah, they're they're an anomaly. They're this generation's lottery ticket winners, for sure. They are. First of all, I've never been on OnlyFans. Me either. Never. OK. I've been on it. I'm not like I haven't made content for you. You know how to get on. I couldn't get on if I was. If you gave me a year to get on that without Dylan or my chief of staff, I have nothing. Yeah, I wouldn't be able to get on anything. Yeah. Right. So it's different. Wow, that's upsetting. Now, the next Shark Tank host is going to be a OnlyFans girl. Be like, how'd you make your money? Took the phone in the shower with me. That's literally what's going to happen. I'm not kidding you. Dude, I want you on every day. I'm not kidding. There we go. Hysterical. Thanks, man. Appreciate it. OK. How do you balance indulgence with staying sharp and healthy day to day? I don't. So we're working on that now. Yeah, I got this thing, one of these whoop things. Let me see the whoop thing. It like tracks your heart rate, your sleep, your like tells you how stressed you are or whatever. Dude, you don't look stressed at all. Oh, I'm not. But my body is stressed, obviously. So it like tells you your age or like by biological age. I'm 29, it says I'm 37. So I'm like, we should probably fix that. Dude, I was told I was going to live to be 57 and I just turned 59. Don't. Yes. But let me ask you a question. You want to get healthy? I'm working on it, you know, life has been stressful for the past five years. So now we're finding some stability. I'm not exactly like freaking out about rent every month. I'm like, I have like my views are pretty stable. My like career trajectory is going up. So I'm much more calm now. I partied really hard when I was like about to lose everything every month. I said, and I don't know what to do. Let's just go out. Right. And then now I'm slowing down. We're getting a little healthier. We actually like I can see a future. So it makes more sense to see. Just being able to do this longer. I mean, I'm going on a couple of reality shows soon for like cooking. I can't say which ones. So we're doing that. We've got like, you know, hot sauce companies doing well. Like we have a hot sauce company. It's exactly what it sounds like. Yeah, I have a hot sauce and it's like you have a hot sauce. Yeah, I think it's number 27 on Amazon right now. So number 27 out of all out of the hot sauces. Yeah. So that's the 27th rated hot sauce. That ain't nothing. So we're working on that and then just cookbook and the works and like the next year. So so it's just there's just more things like coming along. And it seems like I'm not exactly going to be famous for 48 hours, like most Tik Tokers, so it's more of a longevity thing. So now I can stop acting like an idiot and going out and getting hammered six nights a week and waking up feeling like death every day and can start to focus on like being around for a while. Good for you, man. Do you mind if I ask you what kind of income you make a year on this in your last 12 months? Nothing crazy, honestly. We're only at like probably like 25 grand a month right now. Some months are lower, some months are higher. You're making 300 grand a year. Yeah, but it went last year. It was I was also like my manager. How good is this guy going to get right now? Dude, from 300 grand a year, nothing. No, no, no, no. Are you sure? Pretty sure, 90 percent sure. One dinner is 800 bucks in LA. You can't even do that every night with my income. No, no, you can't. Yeah. Well, eight hundred dollars every night, you'd be 1700 pounds. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. When you do an eight hundred dollar dinner that month, they're not feeding you. You're an eight hundred dollar dinner. You've got a little tray of some stuff they're giving to give you some raw fish. They didn't even cook it. They're going to put all this has some whatever kind of juice, lemon juice. Congratulations. And like, all right, how much is this one singular little mini taco? Oh, $27. Yeah, let me get 20 of them. Yeah. They're called tasting menus. Yeah, I know. Oh, yeah. No, actually, actually, you know that you know which one is I love. Don't bring food until you throw up in your mouth. You know, right? I have little bites of each thing. Oh, yeah. But well, it works out because like after like, what is it? You're full 20 minutes after eating. So like they just spaced it out. I do like the the. Have you ever been? Have you ever gone to in and out afterwards? Absolutely. And literally. Exactly. Yeah, I'm in the Uber like ordering food. I'm like, Taco Bell is going to be there when I get home. Thank God. And the left just dropped the girl off. Now if I ate like a twenty five hundred bucks for dinner and got Taco Bell waiting for you, that's what I was excited about. I don't give a about caviar. I don't like this. Tastes like Jello made out of ocean water. I don't like it. It's not good. It ain't worth 200 bucks added. And then you go with like a rich dinner. Starts getting a five additions and caviar additions. And you're like, damn it. Now I'm paying for this. Good. That was nice. OK. You know, I do have a zempik in the fridge. You know, I've tried it and really. Yeah, it worked well. I just drink and it's a bitch when you drink, dude, you throw up all the time. I also got it from some like shady doctor and was I was just I was just wild, wild, wild, west inject and you know, I'm like, it helps with some addiction issues. I've noticed that. Yeah. When I when I first started like one injection on the I was like, I don't even need to drink this week either. Right. And then I ask you a question. Yeah. If you are going ahead and you were slimming up, not for looks. Yeah. Talking about for health. Yeah. OK. Because it's not so much what you eat. It's how much you eat. Right. Because you think about our bodies as like a car. Yeah. A machine and the more food you put in the harder the machine has to work. Right. So the less you eat, the better. Also for me, you know, I was two hundred and thirty two pounds. Yeah. OK. And then about buck eighty now. OK. And the way I did it was I stopped sugar. Yeah. OK. Because now after seven days, you don't crave sugar anymore. None. OK. And the only way you ever pick up is if you decide to pick up. Mm hmm. Right. And horse yourself into believing that it's going to be different this time. Oh, yeah. No, food has definitely been my addiction for sure. Like right now I'm keto. I've been keto for like two months. We're down like twenty five pounds, something like that. Nothing. I'm the greatest twenty five pounds on me. That don't mean it looks like I like took a piss. No, dude, it's great. It's a it's a it's a good start. You're winning. You're doing it. It's it's just about health because you're twenty nine. You know, you can't do this for too long because. Oh, I'm I'm aware. I'm yeah, I've done a lot of things to hurt my heart. Started getting meaningful all of a sudden. Got scary. Well, I mean, look, dude, I just want when people come here, I can't stop running my mouth, but it only but it but it comes from a genuine heart centered place. Right. Yeah. You're funny. Thank you. You're a good time. OK. I don't want anything bad to happen to you because you're stressing your heart out. That's silly. I agree. Yeah. No, I completely agree. We're working on it slowly, but surely you're doing great. Yeah. So let me ask you a question about the booze. Mm hmm. Why are you drinking the booze so much? You know, I mean, I know you're sponsored by what is it? Happy dad. Yeah. Right. Beer, tequila. It's like a seltzer, you know, like a seltzer type thing. Oh, OK. But yeah, no, it's not. So the booze thing for me, I was always like. I was always like a shy kid. I never I didn't talk much. I didn't do much. I just kind of sat back and just observed. That's that's who I was. And then like the drinking kind of gave me that like, OK, let's do this. I started having fun when I would drink. Right. So I was I would come out of my shell, like most people would say. And then I noticed all of a sudden now, as soon as I started drinking, now I have so many more friends. I'm having so many more opportunities. I'm doing so much more. I'm enjoying myself. I'm like that, like, I guess the fear thing just went out the door. And then next thing you know, my life just got better, better, better, better, better, better. And then it got me out here. It's like it got me to go go out all the time, do all kinds of stuff. So it was kind of like that was my main stimulant of just getting out and talking and figuring out my personality. That's right. And it starts off that way. Yeah. What? And then you start off all fun. And then you typically graduate to fun with problems. And then you graduate to all problems. Where are you in that arc? You know, for me, I still have like the image online of drinking all the time. And of course, I still go out and I still drink. I don't enjoy it as much anymore. I feel like I'm like right now, what's what's really getting me off is making progress on things. So like videos doing better, like just stuff overall doing better, trying to make more money. That's kind of its own high in itself. So I'm more focused on that. And I've just found that I don't enjoy going out and drinking as much as I used to. You're growing out of it. Yeah. So it's it's an enjoyment thing. And don't get me wrong. I enjoy it. I've also I got to do so much that I didn't earn. So it's like now when I go out and do that stuff, I want to earn it now. Like I'm all four going to Miami and getting up for three days straight. But if I don't pay for it, I don't enjoy it the same. So like I've done the tables, the private jets, the all that kind of stuff. And I've got like the fake experience I experienced the real but I just never earned it. So there's like a lack of perfect. Guest, your guest, it ain't yours. You feel fraudulent. Yeah, exactly. So now I'm to a point to where like I'm still down to do that. It's just I don't really enjoy it unless I'm I'm paying for it or I want to. OK, look, 300 grand a year, just know. We're a long way away. That it's a hundred grand round trip to get your ass to Hawaii. I'm aware. OK. Yeah, we've got a lot of work to do. We're just getting started. I vote my like career has really only been happening for a year now. I've done a lot of for five years, made a lot of videos with the cooking stuff is when everything changed. And then that's when I actually started making more money and more sustainability, gained like a larger fan base. And then that's when people started with me. And I want to ask you another question. Hit me. You know, anybody died of fentanyl? I think now at this point, two, I believe. Over the past five years for me. Can you tell me about it? Do they have? Can you tell me the story on how they pat no. Yeah, you know, just acquaintances for most of them or the two that I know of, it was from presses and spells. I mean, it just hit that L.A. story, you know, you get here. You just start doing what everyone does and then. Accidentally went down from it, you know. Yeah, when I was a kid, you could do all the pain and hair and you wanted so long as you didn't overshoot the mark. Right. Today, the kids don't know what they're getting. So you're not getting what you bargained for. Absolutely not. You're scary, man. It is. Yeah. As long as you live. OK, and you take care of yourself and you're not sick or you're not dead from doing street drugs. OK, then you're going to be able to be anything you want because you actually have to. Like you actually have to tell it. Appreciate it. OK. Are there any habits, routines or rules you stick to in order to stay healthy while consistently eating and drinking on camera? You know, we're finding it now for the longest time. There was like I'd form a habit. And then next thing you know, there's a party on Thursday you got to go to to meet so and so or do something where there's this event you want to go to. So it's like as as you're like developing a routine, it quickly gets derailed because all of a sudden now you've got to go to this. You've got to go to Texas for something or it's like, OK, we're locked in for two weeks. We're working out or eating perfect, blah, blah, blah. Next thing you're on and next thing you know, you're on a flight to New York. You're at a food festival or you're out clubbing. It's four in the morning and your your whole sense of routine is gone. So it's like like I've always joked. I'm like what I really need is I need three months in Montana. No, what you need is time management and I'll do that with you afterwards. And they're got her whole thing. And don't laugh. I've done this for people at the podcast. People you probably know and they call me and they're like, dude, you're so good. Thank you so much. Yeah. Right. I mean, I check in on them every month to make certain they're tight. OK. It's really that simple, bro. Because in New York, there are gyms. Now, I don't expect you to go to a gym in New York. Yeah. OK. But we got to eat right for two months before I even start working out. We're walking, though. I do that. I do running like twice, three times a week. You don't need to do that. You could do. Do you know what you can do right now? Honestly, they do what I do. Yeah, whether I work out or not, I in the morning, I do as many push ups as I can. Three sets, set ups. OK. And then dips. I had dips again. But we do it all. We do it all on the floor and the dips in a chair. So that's in a hotel or a motel room. Yeah. Well, the other problem is we're waking up in the hotel room feeling like absolute shit. We we partied tonight. Oh, that's for sure. That's that's why my routine gets interrupted. It's like, we'll go out and have a drink next day. I'm the next day. I'm down all day. The following day, we're like recovering. We're like doing our laundry and figuring out what's happening. And then by day three, our ambition is back. And then by day four, it's Friday again. When you go ahead and you wake up in the morning and you feel like shit, you work out anyway. OK. Because what that'll do is sooner or later, you'd be like, I better take it a little bit easier. Yeah. OK. Right. Dude, I swear to God, I've made every mistake. I don't get off 25 years on drug addiction. OK. I wasn't even sober until I was 37, man. There you go. Yeah. How'd you get here? Start. That's my question. What guy you started? I lost 25 years. And then the minute I got sober, I got clear. And I was like, well, I just don't get off my entire life. I better hustle up here and get started. And so what I did was I started practicing law without a law license. And I did that for 13 years. Right. Then I started a rehab, never having gone to rehab. Right. And well, now I'm doing a podcast, having never listened to a podcast. So I was never a lawyer. I never went to rehab and I never watched a podcast. So the next thing I do is probably going to be, you know, underwater basket weaving, because I've never done that either. So you did it backwards. You made it, then faked it. That's right. Yeah. I like that. Yeah. I made it, then faked it. But how did you know how to you afford the cocaine and hookers? Because that's expensive. I was practicing law without a law license. That's what you did for the 25 years? Well, not for 25, but from 91 to 03. And then I had my rehab. Gotcha. Yeah. There we go. 13 years. All right, babe. Where can people reach you? Type in Landon. I'll be in there. I think Landon Barker is more famous than me right now. So the one right under him, that should be me. Or should we give you a last name? Landon Bridges, if you find, if you feel like typing that far ahead. Kids are that up to. Oh, if you had, they make it to L.A.N. And then if you're if you don't pop up, you're cooked, you're done. Yeah, they're like, can't find him. I try. And this people is why education is so important. These kids are so stupid. It's painful. Yeah, it's painful. All right, man. Well, I really appreciate you being here, man. Absolutely. It's a great time. Thank you for having me. See you next Tuesday. That's right. All right. Let me tell you how this works. You got five balls. One, two, three, four, five, six. And then you'd have to move over here. Yeah. Seven, eight, nine. OK, so. To get it in there, it's one point and so. OK, you get five to run up the score. Here we go. You go against me. I only get one. Oh, yeah. Don't worry about it. I'd stay here. Yeah. Two. Yeah. You're awesome. Don't worry. No, no, no, no, no. Yeah, there it is. Yeah. Two. Oh, yeah, dude. One, two, three, four, five, five and two is seven. Last ball. That was awesome, dude. See how much better you're getting. Oh, yeah. OK, nine. I'm out. I'm out. That's my five. That's right. Shit. OK, we had to lock it in at first. So I. Only get one ball. And because you had eight, the only way I can win is getting that ball into that lower. Back three back three. OK. You and well, wait a minute, do we tie? What's that? What's that eight? We just tie. There we go. There it is. I lose.