Dance Moms to Dinks & Cozy Culture | Melissa Gisoni w/ Dear Dance Mom

speaker-0 (00:00.45)
The thing that also gets me is that it's the cozy living aesthetic thing that they have going on. But there's too many damn steps. I can't follow that because you lost me at five. Just sit down.

speaker-1 (00:12.204)
Just wait. And just be quiet for a little bit.

speaker-0 (00:16.054)
Eat a taco.

speaker-2 (00:17.09)
dogs do it all the time. I'll put them on video if you need to see how to do it. This is Big Dink Energy, the pickleball podcast that's half insight, half nonsense, and all entertainment. If you love pickleball, don't take yourself too seriously and think a little trash talk makes the game better. Welcome home. This is the place where life and pickleball intersect. We celebrate the chaos, call out the nonsense, and put the fun back in dysfunction. You're either in or you're out.

And if you're still listening, you're in. So let's go. Big Dink Energy starts now. Is this the real life? Is this No, you're wrong. It's the BDE podcast. Big Dink Energy coming into your ear holes live right now, free of charge, but not necessarily free because we have a sponsor. Yeah, we're professional.

speaker-1 (00:55.118)
is just

speaker-2 (01:12.14)
Listen, a quick story, Dink and Dash is a pickleball app. It is, but it's not built for people obsessing over stats and rankings. There's other apps for that. It's for the people who remember the laughs more than the score. The random rec night partners, the inside jokes. The how the heck did we end up playing for four hours nights? The courts, road trips, and people you don't want to forget all there in the Dink and Dash app. Track your games, tag your pickle pals, earn badges, save them memories. It's free, no ads.

No upsells, no annoying pop-ups. If Pickleball has ever become more about the people than the points, this app is for you. Go search Dink and Dash in the App Store or Google Play. That's Dink and Dash in the App Store or Google Play. So, I don't know if you guys follow social media other than our page. I always follow our page first, but.

There is something going on right now, a massive trend taking over social media. And I think we arrived at it early. We were doing this really early on, all of us, and it's slow living is what it's called, or cozy aesthetic, if you wanna, you know, jizh it up a little bit like that. But after years of hustle culture, rise and grind BS and all that, people are now romanticizing, doing absolutely nothing. I've been reading that book for a long time. I've been romanticizing the heck out of doing nothing for a long time.

They're posting videos of themselves and folding laundry mindfully, just sitting in a chair, pensively staring out the window. The cozy aesthetic.

speaker-1 (02:40.982)
So I agree with a little bit of this, but I don't agree with all of it. So I absolutely love the peace and just the predictability of life and just where I am at.

in my life. That's how, you know, pickleball, it's, that's one of the things, you know, it's like not a lot of people play pickleball at our age or whatever, but it's now become that thing that I really enjoy. I do like watching my hummingbird feeder and you know, those types of things, but like the sitting in the chair and just looking out the window, I think they did that for 15 seconds for TikTok. I don't think people are literally just sitting and staring out a window for an hour.

Like I would, don't mind looking in, you know, at the birds and drinking my coffee, reading a book and you know, there's, but I don't know that people are just.

speaker-2 (03:27.212)
Mr. Beast didn't get to a million, whatever downloads, every single day by being sitting in a chair looking at

speaker-1 (03:32.89)
So I understand having that peace and the calm, but don't post 15 seconds of you just, you know, sitting in a chair and be like, I love my life of, of what? Like you did this for 15 seconds. Like there's other, you know, does that make sense?

speaker-2 (03:46.03)
Yeah, yeah. It's the whole thing in TikTok. I've got to find the next thing. know, Stratton and I, my son Stratton and I were talking a little bit about this because he's in the gym culture and people are just inventing ways to work out. Like instead of grabbing a weight, they have cuffs and they cook the D ring to the cut. so it was a whole thing. So this is just another form of rebranding. This is the, I'm too tired to go out. It's cozy aesthetic.

speaker-1 (04:10.976)
Right, this is literally just being at home, which, know, being at home used to be like, okay, this is where you would sleep, but now that is an experience now, is being at home. Yeah. And I mean, I'm all for that life, but isn't this just like retirement? Like, is that what retired people do? And now it's just early on in life that now you're just starting to do the things you love and appreciate everything that you took for

speaker-2 (04:32.814)
Now, you know, these are the same people that were hashtag hustle harder and look at me doing all the things going into the big city going to my office and and they're just now it's they they've lost some followers or they're trying to gain new followers I don't know but it seems like just everything needs to be rebranded because of social

speaker-0 (04:51.942)
That's what I think it is. It really is a rebrand because yes, everyone loves a good setting candle. Everyone loves when your space is clean, when the lighting is perfect, when you have your big cozy chunky blanket.

speaker-1 (05:06.828)
Yeah, I love that. Puzzle, chess. We played chess the other day, my son and I, yesterday. You know, and we were just hanging out, playing chess, and it was fun. But, I mean, I'm not gonna, like, videotape myself doing it and be like, I just love... And it's like, no, because I hustled my ass off that morning.

speaker-0 (05:21.122)
Exactly, so like my cozy time is not a cozy aesthetic. That's the time that I am recovering. It's so that I am not, like, because if I don't have my cozy time, which is typically on my Sundays, I have my self-care Sundays because I have to reset and I have to be able to come into the work going the work week just, okay, now we're here.

speaker-1 (05:45.134)
That time ebb and flows. Like you're gonna have your hustle time, you're gonna have your downtime. But I think what happened is all the, well, let's just say women in general, because the majority of them are women. I agree. I believe, this is just, okay, this is my opinion. So I believe.

speaker-2 (06:02.85)
Don't at us in the comments.

speaker-1 (06:04.814)
that all the hashtag girl boss women are like, hashtag effing tired. I'm not doing it no more. So it's the girl bosses from 10, 15 years ago, just gonna say I was one of them, that are now like, hashtag tired, hashtag no, I'm not doing it. And I think we just all were of that hustle culture and you know, I definitely believe in grace over grind now. And you know, if things don't get done,

well, at this point.

speaker-2 (06:36.332)
Yeah, no, it's not generational, but it is the so-called influencers who finally figured out that grinding yourself into dust has actual consequences eventually. Eventually. You can do it in your 20s for sure.

speaker-1 (06:49.294)
You either end up on medication or in a hospital or in the ground.

speaker-2 (06:54.156)
or taking a little snack bag with you everywhere you go. Call back to another podcast.

speaker-1 (06:58.382)
It's either that or they realize like, if we jump on this trend, we'll get a whole different market. You know? But I mean, in general, I am all for enjoying peace and quiet and comfy and whatever if you like to garden or read a book. You know, just the slow life things. I think slowing down, number one, lowers your cortisol. So that hashtag, great. And, you know, I think that life is good for people, but I don't...

I think it just happens naturally as you get older and the younger generation is just like, what are they doing? Because they seem really happy.

speaker-2 (07:35.263)
Or are they trying to game it too? So is it gaming the system too? It's another thing we have to be perfect at. Look at how we're relaxing. We're so perfect and are relaxed.

speaker-1 (07:45.038)
The other thing I don't understand about social media is like the get ready with me or whatever, which I'm all over social media. So I'm not trying to say anything bad. What I am asking a real question like, do they set up their camera and then pretend to lay down or is it videotaping them all night and then they actually wake up?

speaker-0 (08:05.206)
It's totally staged. There are people who are like, okay, this is how I do my get ready with me. You see, they'll set it up and then they'll go to bed and then they get up and then they fix their camera and then it's like, okay, I'm getting up in the morning and and the perfect little stretch with your perfect hair curls and your makeup.

speaker-1 (08:22.574)
That's not real like you didn't videotape yourself for the eight hours and actually get up right so I'm also feeling that way about cozy chair like are you were you really sitting there and then someone came by and was like let me get a nice cute picture of you or did you stage this whole thing with your fireplace in your

speaker-0 (08:40.302)
100 % stage, but the thing that also gets me is that it's the cozy living aesthetic thing that they have going on. But there's too many damn steps. get overwhelmed with trying to follow your cozy routine because I can't follow that because you lost me at five. I just wanna sit down and take a breath. I don't wanna have to make sure that my...

speaker-1 (08:51.214)
It does not make it slow living.

speaker-0 (09:05.272)
candle warmer lamp thing is working and that I have this turned down to this level and

speaker-1 (09:12.654)
I didn't know it included. I technically have not.

speaker-2 (09:15.118)
It's staging, it's all the staging.

speaker-0 (09:16.27)
Too much, it's too much. Just sit the hell down. Just lay down.

speaker-1 (09:19.342)
and just be quiet for a little bit.

speaker-2 (09:23.234)
No, it is all performative. That's all it is. It's all performative. Life is too loud, too fast, too much at all times. Taking some downtime is just smart. I don't need you to start a whole TikTok trend on it.

speaker-0 (09:36.898)
And respectfully, if you're taking downtime and you're taking that time to yourself to truly relax, to recenter yourself, to get yourself ready, you're not recording it. Because then when you're done, then you have to turn around and edit it. You're just making more work. You're not actually slowing down. You're not actually being cozy. You are putting on a performance.

speaker-1 (09:57.742)
Really the definition of slowing down is not making content. I can tell you that right now, content takes a lot of work.

speaker-0 (10:01.358)
Not making

And the editing and all of it. And so it's like, okay, well, I just recorded myself doing all of this for the past hour. Now I've got to cut it down to a 30 second clip and pretend like I am the cozy queen.

speaker-1 (10:17.1)
So you

speaker-2 (10:20.192)
So when you leave here, Paddle Princess becomes Cozy Queen. I love it.

speaker-0 (10:24.054)
I love it. I go home and go straight to bed.

speaker-1 (10:26.23)
So I'm not against it. Let's just say I'm not against it. I am 100 % for it. I just don't know what they're displaying on TikTok is really what you need to be doing at home. You just need to just live your life, be silent and quiet and enjoy the small little things, enjoy life for what it is and...

speaker-2 (10:44.59)
I'm going to call it what it is, at least from my perspective, stolen valor. I've been doing this for a while. It's stolen valor. You're just being performative about it. It is very performative. like nobody else.

speaker-1 (10:54.028)
You can, you can.

speaker-0 (10:54.922)
It's performative and it's also, it's just fake. Like if we want to call it what it is, it's fake. It is absolutely fake. No one is putting that much energy into being cozy and slowing down. That doesn't make sense. Yeah. And it's putting, like it makes other, especially young and impressionable women.

think that this is how they are supposed to be. So then they're going and spending money on the perfect candle warmer, the perfect blanket, the perfect chair that they saw, and all of this stupid stuff. And it's like, just get in your bed and lay under your covers.

speaker-1 (11:29.856)
It's super simple. Sit down.

speaker-2 (11:31.798)
My dogs do it all the time. I'll put them on video if you need to see how to do it. us know. Get up in the bdepodcast.com and all of our socials. Tell us what you think. Are you stolen valor and trying to get into this cozy aesthetic or have you been there all along?

speaker-0 (11:35.598)
I love

speaker-2 (11:55.598)
Jeff loves it when I make noises on the mic like that. That Pickleball Gal says in our fan mail bag, that Pickleball Gal says, thank you for elevating voices on your platform. It means a lot. It's encouraging to see more voices and more content being created by everyday people who love the sport. You've nailed us. That's us for sure. Thanks that Pickleball Gal.

speaker-1 (12:18.542)
Just the tip. Quick pickleball wisdom in and out before you know it. An expensive paddle will not replace training and drilling, but poor sport apparel might. So can you guess who our tip is from? Poresport.shop on Instagram.

speaker-0 (12:36.162)
their stuff.

speaker-2 (12:36.992)
yeah, I was wearing their long sleeve the other day. It's awesome.

speaker-0 (12:41.068)
Just the tip

speaker-2 (12:46.632)
It's time for Picklepacks!

speaker-2 (12:52.524)
Well, this is a big one for us from reality TV to pickleball courts. Our guests spent years managing daughters. You've seen them. I know that through dance moms drama, all of the drama raised two superstars, of course, built 4 million follower platform, discovered pickleball. Melissa is with us, the mom of Maddie and Mackenzie, host of Dear Dance Mom podcast and Pittsburgh's newest pickleball player. Thank you so much for being on the big Dink Energy podcast.

speaker-3 (13:20.1)
my gosh, I was so excited because everything about my life is pickleball now and everybody knows that. I even have a pickleball closet just for my clothes.

speaker-2 (13:29.326)
Yeah, that's, I mean, you met my wife and we've been fans forever. She owns a dance gymnastics, ninja cheerleading studio. And so we've grown up with dance moms. We've grown up with your daughters too.

And so it was kind of a fangirl moment for her. And then she says, oh yeah, she's definitely, she's a pickleball player. We love her and she's going to be on the podcast. I was like, okay. And then here we are today. And I'm just so, so excited to have you on. Cause I have, I've watched your girls go through the craziness of their life at that time and blossom into these superstars that they are now. But you're a superstar in your own right with your podcast and doing pickleball. mean, my gosh.

speaker-3 (14:08.226)
that's so sweet. mean, I loved your wife. I'm like, my gosh, I love her energy. And she was super fun. And I love that she didn't take it very seriously. Yeah. But yeah.

speaker-2 (14:12.59)
It's a worse person.

speaker-2 (14:20.59)
Yeah, we are. We're definitely for the rec players. I am just always out here waiting for Duper to say, hey, we need a solid 1.5 and I am there. I'm going to be their spokesperson for that. So we got to know how did you go from the craziness of dance moms to now, you know, the pickleball player.

speaker-3 (14:38.094)
So I, funny enough about, I don't even know when, Jill and I decided, let's play pickleball at my country club. And I was like, oh, this is really fun. And then she's like, a few months later, I didn't play for months and months and months. She goes, you have to join Pickleball Harbor. And I'm like, oh, I don't like to play indoors. No, no, no. So I literally, said, okay, I'm going to join for the exercise. So I started, I almost quit because I was like, how do I play with people? I would literally go in and play with the ball machine.

So I would go in the morning and literally play with the ball machine for an hour. I'm like, I'm never making friends,

speaker-2 (15:13.238)
Way less feedback from the ball machine.

speaker-3 (15:15.338)
Yeah, and I was like, my gosh. And then I played in a drop-in and I was like, my God, this is gonna be so hard. And everybody at the drop-in was so good and I was so bad. And they were so nice to me and I was like, okay, this might work. So I started taking lessons from Jill's, Jill from Dance Mom, her husband. So I literally took a lesson every week and I still do and I adore him, he's the best. And now I'm obsessed and I'm playing in my first tournament on Saturday.

speaker-2 (15:44.46)
Wow, that's amazing. And you famously say you're powered by friendship and pickleball. And I can tell that automatically just comes across in everything you do.

speaker-3 (15:53.666)
And it's, well, it's crazy. think that once you're turned like 50 and Andre Agassi said this, literally I watch Pickleball. I'm not playing, I watch it because it makes you better. And Andre Agassi said it best. He's like, when you're 50 or above, you don't generally make new friends. I have made so many new friends. I actually want to be in Pittsburgh because of my Pickleball friends.

speaker-2 (16:15.458)
Yeah, and it's, I tell people all the time who haven't tried it, know, okay, I mean, you know, at least go out and show up. And as soon as you do, as soon as you step on that court as a new person, people, it's like a moth through a flame. People come around you, the community puts their arms around you, and everybody's willing to teach and talk and show. And it's just so, so fricking phenomenal.

speaker-3 (16:37.644)
And we said it today, because I played, of course, this morning. I play every morning from 8 to 10, and then I'll play at night 5 to 7. And I'm in a league starting on Thursday, too, at our club. But we say we always thank each other. We're like, thank you for this opportunity to be together. And sometimes people are having a bad day, and then we all rally. And it is the most amazing community.

speaker-2 (17:01.196)
Yeah, it absolutely is. And I'm still in law enforcement, prior military, and I really try to encourage the guys in those cohorts to get out there and try it because there's nothing else for your mental health that's quite like it. I mean, you can do all the counseling and all that kind of stuff. That's one-on-one. But in the pickleball community, the only other community I found that's very similar is the Harley Davidson motorcycle rider community. Where you're not going to be broken down on the side of the road.

for more than two seconds before another bike pulls up, you know? And it's the same in the pickleball community. You're not gonna be broken down on the side of the court before people are just surrounding you and picking you back up.

speaker-3 (17:37.388)
Yeah, and that's what it is for us. And Kevin, Kevin Henry, he's my partner that I'm playing with on Saturday. He was a tennis player and he's so good and he has taught me so much. And I'm like, okay, what do I do? And he coaches me as we're playing. I'm very competitive now. Yes.

speaker-2 (17:53.358)
Of course. Now, we've never seen that come across the screen anywhere else before, so it was hard for us to figure out your competitive.

speaker-3 (18:02.766)
I'm actually playing in the ladder league at Pickleball Harbor too with Kevin and we're at 95 % right now.

speaker-2 (18:08.366)
Dang, holy moly. In the lead. Yeah, you are competitive. So kind of like, is there anything that translates from the show, from Dance Moms Show to the Pickleball Corps or in your new pickleball life that has really carried over?

speaker-3 (18:21.93)
For sure, competitiveness. Like, it's really funny. like, I wish, and this is what I said yesterday. was like, I wish I would have started playing pickleball when my girls were little girls. Cause I would be like a 6.5.

speaker-2 (18:33.89)
Yeah, for sure, for sure. Yeah, I mean, you'd be out there with Agassi, for sure.

speaker-3 (18:38.604)
I would be playing with Anna Lee and it's great.

speaker-2 (18:42.042)
I love that you brought up Agassi because that's my generation too. You I watched him on the court. I watched McEnroe on the court. And of course, I think McEnroe was saying, I'm not going to do pickleball. Now here he is, fully entrenched in pickleball. And I love his little crash out. Not as bad as he used to be, but I love seeing that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So people who listen to the podcast and know who you are, are not going to let me live it down if I don't ask. Like, tell us a little bit about the show.

and kind of the drama there and what it was really like back in those days.

speaker-3 (19:16.622)
I mean, it was pure hell, honestly. I mean, we look back now and like tomorrow, I'm filming with the next three days, it's gonna be Christie, Kelly, and Jill and I. So we have done this Pillow Talk, it's called Pillow Talk. And you know, we had a lot of drama on the show and we were all friends prior, except Jill, she was a newbie. We were friends for years before Dance Moms came along. So, you we had that friendship.

prior to all the drama on the show. The show really pulled us all apart. But what's crazy is we're all back together again. And what I love is Christie and I didn't talk for years. And it's so funny, because when, and she always says this and I say this, we would kill for each other. Like no one knows what we've been through. And when we get together, it's like old times. Like we lay on each other, you know, we.

do each other's makeup, we're always fixing each other. It's just funny. mean, it's like...

speaker-2 (20:19.246)
Well, trauma bonding, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah, for sure. And then to see your daughters just becoming superstars, you know, getting all the way through that and becoming superstars in their own right is fantastic too, because that industry, you just see so many horror stories and bad endings coming out of those things. So to hear you say that and then also see your daughters out there just living their best life. Yeah. I mean, that's fantastic.

speaker-3 (20:44.014)
And I'm so lucky with my girls, we're so close and I'm still in their shit. You know, I mean, I know how to work them. I know when they want me there and when they don't, but they always come to me. I don't question them. I don't tell them what to do. I know how they are. If they ask me, I'm there. I'm always there for them. But I don't give them unsolicited advice because I think that's why our family works so well. But if they need my advice, you know.

speaker-2 (21:09.922)
always right there as a safety net. Yeah, and that's great. And we kind of, our kids are free range. We're homeschoolers, free range, wide open, 16 and 13. And it's really worked for us. The structure of school did not work for them and for us. We tried it, but.

speaker-3 (21:28.238)
You know, my husband retired at 58 because he saw what was happening on sets. The girls' education was like, you know, you should see in Hollywood, It's joke with school. you know, he did the curriculum of our school and they had books and they had to sit in their seats and, you know, and then if they had to work, they didn't do school that day, you know?

speaker-2 (21:48.94)
Yeah, and we get school, they get school whenever, you know, it's appropriate to get school. You know, we're not bogging them down. We're not putting them in a box or a cubicle and saying, sit here for eight hours a day. gosh. All the, you know, all the things, you know. So with the pillow talk and the dear dance mom, the podcast and all that does, does pickle ball flow into that as well? Do the girls play? Let's let's start that.

speaker-3 (22:08.078)
Well, Jill plays. Jill's very, very good at pickleball because her husband is amazing. Like he's the best. He's my coach and he's just amazing. He was a tennis player. Jill and I saw each other this morning. I play from eight to 10 and she typically does too. I play every day. She doesn't play every day, but almost every day, but she has a different group.

speaker-2 (22:27.227)
And so then on the podcast and stuff, I mean, does that come in like, hey, you know, it's time for pickleball or anything like that.

speaker-3 (22:34.114)
Well, we play, we work around our schedule. So I play, we play till 10. So we usually start filming at 10.30 for her, but I'm gonna miss pickleball for three days in a row. But actually, I'm really, I'm gonna play a little later on Thursday, cause we have to film, but.

speaker-2 (22:50.038)
nice. So now you're also into baking and cooking and gardening and crafting and all the things. How do you find time for that? know, what's your time management, I guess, look like? Because people, you know, people are like you and like me and they, time is limited. I want to get in pickleball. So how do you find the time for the other stuff too?

speaker-3 (23:07.246)
Well, so it's funny, I'm very scheduled person. I basically eat the same food every day. do the same, I'm so type A. That's where Maddie gets it from. I play pickleball. I get up at six usually or even earlier whenever my dog gets up. I leave the house at 7.30. I like to be a pickleball a little bit early. I finish and do my podcast in the morning when, know, once a week, maybe twice a week sometimes. I do not sit. My rule is I do not sit until nine o'clock at night.

And sit meaning I eat dinner, of course, but it's my role. I don't watch TV. I don't do anything until nine o'clock. And I'm gardening because I just planted 56 pots. And I did a lot of seeds myself. I planted like 2,000 seeds this year. Wow. Yeah. So I have to share them with everybody, which is wonderful. But I watch pickleball on pickleball TV as I'm planting my flowers.

speaker-2 (23:47.64)
You

speaker-2 (23:53.038)
Wow, holy moly.

speaker-2 (24:02.464)
I think it's probably not much longer before we see you with some meta glasses or something like that so you can watch it in your glasses while you're doing all the stuff you do. Yes, yes.

speaker-3 (24:11.382)
Yes, but my whole life, it's kind of crazy. It kind of revolves around my pickleball. In the morning, I think about it and at night, I watch it before I go to bed.

speaker-2 (24:19.854)
So we kind of, we were on a pretty strong day like that too, nine o'clock, 10 o'clock at night, as you know, bedtime, visiting with each other and all that. But with content creation, you know, that's almost a full-time job all by itself. How do you manage to work that in? you just, you know, do you schedule that? Do you script it? You know, not down to the letter, but hey, I need to film this today or these two things today.

speaker-3 (24:46.254)
Well, so my friend Michelle, she does all my editing for everything. She really helps me a lot when I have like a brand deal. I'm like, and we're very, I try to be as authentic as possible. And I don't do any brand deals that I don't really believe in, because I don't think that's smart to do. And you can really tell when I'm very passionate about something, but I kind of loosely script because you kind of have to give it to the brand. You do. You know, just to say, this is what the concept is and this is what I'm going to do. And sometimes they even ask what you're going to wear. And I'm like,

speaker-2 (25:17.991)
Yeah, something I can go from here to pickleball.

speaker-3 (25:20.59)
I literally when I play in the morning and night I just keep my outfit on all day But and then I wear my gloves when I garden or no gloves But yeah, I like I do my YouTube's once a week and like this past week. I'm like, my gosh It's Friday because I usually do it I try to schedule that Tuesday or Wednesday and for some reason I didn't look at my calendar I had to quickly do my YouTube and I know it's not scripted at all. Yeah, I just kind of do it

speaker-2 (25:45.366)
Now, and if anybody, and I recommend everybody go over there and take a look at that. It is, you can tell you're genuine, you know? There's so many people that are fake. You can tell it's really scripted down to the letter, down to, you know, I've got to put this sponsor in here, this product placement in here. But everything that, even on the podcast it comes across is everything's just genuine. that's, it's refreshing because I don't, you know, I've done some things in the law enforcement world.

protecting certain celebrities and stuff and They're just so fake everything about them is fake and so I just do want to say that that's very refreshing that you come across so so genuine and everything

speaker-3 (26:25.102)
Thank you. You know, like we did our podcast yesterday and we're like, okay, what are we going to talk about? And then we just start literally just talking and we talk about nothing, but so much, you know, at the same time. Yeah. You know, we have our little things that we do, like what's for dinner or what's the top of the pyramid and you know, our products, we do kind of the same thing, but it's, you just never know what's coming out of our mouths.

speaker-2 (26:47.334)
Yeah, yeah that and I do a fair bit of public speaking too and that's what I tell the audience every time I say you're gonna be just as surprised as I am what comes out of my mouth because you know I have a general path that I want to go down, but who knows what's gonna come out

speaker-3 (27:00.046)
I have to tell you this story. So my sister worked for the police department. She was a dispatcher. And I was six years younger than her. So I would come to the police station all the time and all the officers there, they were like my big brothers. They me so afraid of drugs. I would see a pill, what's that pill? I mean, still to this day because of them, but they got me into bars before I was 21. Back in the day,

It was very different than it was, than it is today.

speaker-2 (27:32.588)
Yeah, and I got to imagine it's kind of tough for my kids. You know, my son started driving now and so he's been stopped a couple of times and, you know, as soon as I see his license, I know your dad. And so I don't know if that's something they like or they don't like, but I do know at any point they're got eyes on them when they're at least in the area where I

speaker-3 (27:51.818)
Well, I grew up in New Holland, Pennsylvania, the smallest town in the world, I feel. But officer gets, I could call him on the pay phone and say, I ran out of gas, my dad's gonna kill me or my car, I left my car keys in the car, can you come, know, my keys. And two of the cops were actually pallbearers at my mom's funeral.

speaker-2 (27:57.612)
Yeah, other than Altoona maybe.

speaker-2 (28:16.184)
wow. Yeah, I wish we could, and I try to as much as possible do that community policing aspect that we used to do so well back in the day, especially in small towns where, you know, everybody knew everybody and I just happened to have a uniform on and I happened to be able to have some, you know, say in what goes on. But it was all about helping people and community just surrounding each other like that. I do love that, but as we're getting bigger and bigger in cities, it's hard to do.

speaker-3 (28:44.846)
Yeah, but we loved our cops because they always watched out for us from our parents.

speaker-2 (28:50.594)
Probably needed to pay them extra to handle y'all. So the Pittsburgh pickleball scene, is it exploding? Is it good? Is it bad? Tell me a little bit about that.

speaker-3 (28:54.037)
Yeah.

speaker-3 (29:02.67)
Well, in my opinion, I feel like it's exploding because it's everywhere. went, you know, I play at Pickleball Harbor and I love it there. And then I also play at my country club. I'm playing Thursday night league there. And then we went to level up. It's in like, I think it's in Cairnsboro. That place is unbelievable. It has a restaurant, a bar, a speakeasy. Wow. And you play pickleball. And I think they have like 12 courts. It's too far away. But I want to do, I want to add.

Pilates to our pickleball studios so bad

speaker-2 (29:33.39)
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I loved Well, Stephanie is bringing booty on the court to PickleCon this year. obviously being a dance teacher, it's just natural for her, but it's just a fun, high energy, let's get out here and shake our booties. What's PickleCon? PickleCon is a, you don't know about that? Oh, yeah, we're gonna send you all the information on that. Yeah. We're gonna send you, yeah, absolutely. Come hang out at our booth. We're gonna have a booth. No, no, it's, is it in Kansas? Kansas or Missouri?

speaker-3 (29:51.465)
No, I'm coming.

speaker-3 (29:58.495)
How was it in Texas?

speaker-3 (30:02.958)
So, do you play pickleball too?

speaker-2 (30:04.279)
Yeah, it's whole, a, think of like a Comic Con where you got everybody there and dressed up and all that kind of stuff. It's like a Picklecon. It's the major courts going on, activations, a whole, you're gonna love it.

speaker-3 (30:16.664)
Well, so it's funny, Carol, who is our pro at Pickleball Harbor is amazing. I see her every morning and we talk so much pickleball. And the other day she was like, hey, there's a new Selkirk paddle and there's just a limited edition. I wanted to see if you wanted it. I said, yes. I didn't even look at it. And it's another boomstick and I love the handle because it's brown. I said, yes. And she goes, okay. I'm like, you know me, I'm just going to say yes to the best.

speaker-2 (30:45.098)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Stephanie's, if she hasn't purchased it yet, she's getting a boomstick for sure. It's the best. She's tried one and she fell in love with it. And now the big thing on our social media, she's trying on all these shoes and just trying to find the right pickable shoe.

speaker-3 (31:00.366)
I'm a shoe girl. I mean, I have like five pickleball shoes now and my New Balance Cocos are the best. Yeah, because they have support and so I bought two of them because I need support on my ankle.

speaker-2 (31:06.35)
That's the ones,

speaker-2 (31:12.238)
Okay, I'll let her know to try as she prop that she's ordered. I know she said don't be worried or or alarm. There's going be a lot of boxes of shoes coming to the house. she preempt something like that. I know to be worried.

speaker-3 (31:24.216)
Well, I think I bought 10 pairs and I sent back eight.

speaker-2 (31:27.687)
Yeah, that's what you got to do. Because I mean the shoe shopping anymore is just it's not like it used to be.

speaker-3 (31:33.614)
You can't just go, like, where are, I went to Dick's, we have a really huge Dick's. I drove 45 minutes to go to it. They had one pickleball shoe and I already had it. It was the Coco. And I'm like, I want different colors, cause I have to match all my outfits.

speaker-2 (31:46.478)
That's most important, I look for that too. Yes, of course. No, I'm the guy, I show up in whatever shirt I can find that's not dirty and swim shorts sometimes, so that's not me.

speaker-3 (31:57.664)
Yeah, it's all fashion about me. I love all the cute clothes.

speaker-2 (32:00.992)
Of course. Does your husband play?

speaker-3 (32:03.306)
No, but he'll play in the driveway with me, because I have a net and our driveway is perfect. So he'll like hit back and forth, but he doesn't want to do it because he doesn't want to hurt his back because he has a bad back. Yeah.

speaker-2 (32:14.466)
And he got. He spent a lot of time in corporate America, right? And he's retired, you said? Yes. What is he doing now? Just house-dating it up?

speaker-3 (32:21.516)
Yep, he does all my laundry. does it all. He's like, okay, what's going on? What's the pickleball schedule today? And I'm like, pickleball, then pilates, then pickleball.

speaker-2 (32:32.192)
Nice. And what's his name? Greg. Greg, shout out to you, Greg, for doing all the amazing things that you do. I don't want to take up too much of your time. I love it. Melissa, thank you so much for being on the Big Dink Energy podcast. I'm going to get you all the information about Picklecom for sure. You can hang out at our booth and hang out with us. We're going have a good time. Thank you so much for being on the Big Dink Energy podcast.

speaker-3 (32:37.698)
does, he does.

speaker-3 (32:51.936)
Yes, thank you.

speaker-2 (32:54.742)
It's time!

speaker-2 (33:00.238)
Pick six, where we take one question and each bring two answers and immediately regret to agree into the segment. This episode's pick six is Things That Feel Luxurious Now That Didn't 10 Years Ago. Things That Feel Luxurious Now That Didn't 10 Years Ago.

speaker-1 (33:16.174)
flexible schedules.

speaker-0 (33:17.998)
Well that's a good one. I 100 % agree with

speaker-1 (33:21.703)
I love time freedom more than anything I could possibly think

speaker-0 (33:24.606)
I was literally thinking about that today. My number one absolute thing that feels so luxurious to me is my towel warmer because I put my robe and my towel in it and getting out of the bath and just having that right there next to the bathtub so it doesn't have time to cool off. It's just so nice.

speaker-2 (33:46.92)
I'm glad you got us one because I didn't know I needed one either. know. Mine is kind of along the same lines. A hot shower with good water pressure.

speaker-1 (33:56.21)
that's a good one. Like getting into bed with clean sheets and a made bed, just that feeling of a long day and then you just like crawl into bed.

speaker-0 (34:05.87)
Every time that that happens I crawl into bed and I like I wiggle around I'm like

speaker-1 (34:11.226)
I like I'm so glad to be here right now

speaker-0 (34:14.35)
My husband thinks I'm absolutely insane. Along with that is my weighted blanket. I have a 30 pound weighted blanket and it is the best thing and I don't know how I lived my life without it.

speaker-2 (34:27.65)
This is something I've come to enjoy of late, especially after the knee replacement. Parking close to the entrance. That is a luxury for sure. Tell us what you think. Get all up in our socials. What is your thing that feels luxurious now that didn't 10 years ago?

speaker-1 (34:34.989)
Yeah.

speaker-3 (34:50.094)
News you can use.

speaker-2 (34:54.862)
What if I said the $300 million dollar pickleball? $300 million dollar pickleball. You should have waited, you're right. Fraud. $300 million dollar pickleball fraud y'all, father and son. Yes, yes, yes. We're gonna name names, Randy Miller and Chad Miller, a father and son duo from Arizona. They built Legacy Park, originally called Bell Bank Park in Mesa, Arizona.

speaker-1 (34:59.502)
300 million?

speaker-0 (35:03.084)
ball or a leg?

speaker-2 (35:24.212)
One of the biggest pickleball facilities in the country cost nearly 300 million to build. 24 courts hosted APP, PPA, MLP, ABC, 123, BBD. Legit. Here's the problem, they funded the whole thing with fraud. Yep, yep, yep, they forged documents to fake interest, claiming Manchester United wanted to use it for training. They didn't. Creating fake financial projections to convince investors the place would print money.

lying about the status of the project. They bought multiple vehicles for themselves. They dropped 400,000 on a house. Dream bigger, Randy. Jesus. Yeah. Enrich them. Maybe properties are tough out there in Mesa, Arizona. It's the desert. yeah. They enriched themselves with a project was already circling the drain. Defaulted within months of opening, filed for bankruptcy, 300 million to build, sold for less than 26 million. Someone is getting pennies on a dollar at court out there.

speaker-1 (35:59.63)
400,000?

speaker-1 (36:20.344)
Dang. wait, so they did host PPA and stuff? They said they were going to when they were getting, trying to get it built. And PPA is probably like, so first we're hearing.

speaker-2 (36:20.972)
Yeah

speaker-2 (36:24.861)
They were saying they were going to.

speaker-0 (36:29.504)
When they're trying to get investors.

Right.

speaker-2 (36:33.708)
Yeah, so you hear all this stuff and that's just a typical Tuesday for our Congress. True. Yeah, Randy Miller, Randy Miller, six years in prison, Chad Miller, should have got more for being named Chad, five years in prison, both three years supervised release after prison.

speaker-1 (36:39.406)
That's crazy.

speaker-1 (36:50.112)
All I know is like, what do people, do they think they're not gonna get caught?

speaker-0 (36:55.062)
100%. But then also, like, okay, if you have millions of dollars to invest into something, why do you not have people that you pay to reach? Exactly. that, like, I mean, honestly, that kind of falls on you for being that stupid.

speaker-1 (37:07.234)
A risk assessment.

speaker-2 (37:13.934)
They did build it and there was play kids played on it people played on it PPA events ran there But every everything else was just fraud underneath

speaker-1 (37:22.651)
That's the thing, it's like, we own several businesses and I can't get away with missing a signature on something. Right. You know, and it's like, so how did they get away with this?

speaker-0 (37:32.11)
Like it is 2026. Everything is verifiable at this point. And I don't understand how you're going, oh, here's $100 million just because you said this was going to happen. sir, I will make you $300 million.

speaker-1 (37:47.286)
Who the investors were? probably were like, please don't,

speaker-2 (37:49.582)
So that's another good point. I mean, yeah, they do. I don't know.

speaker-0 (37:51.49)
They have to pay restitution.

speaker-1 (37:54.67)
I mean, you can't get blood from a turnip. They were already not wealthy.

speaker-2 (37:58.942)
Order to pay 228 million in restitution jointly Randy has to forfeit 7.3 million Chad has to forfeit 4.8 million. They're probably doing feet stuff on only feet

speaker-1 (38:09.23)
They're never going to be able to do that.

speaker-0 (38:12.526)
Out of the 300 million, that's all that their restitution included?

speaker-1 (38:16.75)
it.

speaker-2 (38:17.678)
It doesn't say. So it's active? that does, yeah is, it is now. It's up and running and all that. The thing that, if you're an investor, did you just see the dollar signs and you're like, yes, I'm in? Where's your due diligence?

speaker-0 (38:30.089)
That's what we're saying.

speaker-1 (38:31.816)
Yeah, where is your due diligence?

speaker-0 (38:34.222)
You have a team of people at this point when you have that much money. Why did they not look into these people and be like, okay, Chad, Chad doesn't even know what he's doing. He didn't graduate high school.

speaker-2 (38:45.774)
I do do diligence on leaving a dollar tip. You know what I mean? Right. So that's on them.

speaker-1 (38:52.322)
That is on the... That's a big proper...

speaker-0 (38:53.152)
I agree.

speaker-2 (38:55.179)
Yeah, I didn't know it was for sale. I know. should have got it. Big thinking energy courts coming to Mesa, Arizona.

speaker-0 (38:57.944)
She just swooped in.

speaker-1 (39:02.286)
23 million? They sold it for 23 million? That's chump change.

speaker-2 (39:07.682)
Got that folded up in my wallet. Couple of $200 million bills.

speaker-0 (39:09.464)
Yeah, you know. You had to have the last word.

speaker-2 (39:15.566)
That's it for this episode, unless you've got something to say. Think we got it wrong?

Have a better take? We want to hear it. Find us at bdepodcast.com or at bdepodcast on the socials. Drop us a message. We might just feature you in the next episode. If you had a good time, well, same z's. If not, maybe try again. We grow on people. So you know the deal. Follow the show, tell a friend, and leave us a review. Or just pretend this never happened. Until next time, keep the dink soft and the energy big.

speaker-2 (39:49.12)
I can cozy like nobody else.