• 2 months ago
Transcript
00:00From your last relationship, name one thing that you did wrong and one thing that he did wrong.
00:09I'm not answering that. Okay.
00:11What's up? It's Jordan here with a lovely team, Arlette and BM, to talk generational dating,
00:18balloons, and to get to know the team who started it all.
00:30Welcome to the Essence Shoe Studio. My name is Jordan and today we have Arlette and BM
00:36from the famous, the viral show, Pop the Balloon. So I have a couple of questions prepared today
00:43because I do want to discuss your opinions and what you think of today's dating culture.
00:48Okay, let's do it.
00:51All right. So my first question is the obvious. How did the idea of Pop the Balloon come about
00:57and what is the backstory? Yeah. Yeah. So Pop the Balloon is a viral trend. It was
01:04around the pandemic. It started happening. Everybody was doing their own versions on
01:08YouTube and I just wanted to create a version that I had a vision for. So I wanted my wife
01:13to host. Just how you see it with the setup of the studio. And I wanted it to be more mature
01:19as well. So trying to get people that are working class people that have good jobs and stuff like
01:23that. And yeah, it just kicked off. My wife has been absolutely amazing at presenting the show
01:29and all the production as well is run by me and our team is growing. And yeah, we're just taking
01:35it day by day. I just want to, I want to say congratulations on your three-year anniversary.
01:40I just saw it. Thank you. That's amazing. We love a duo, right? It's so close knit with you guys.
01:47Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's what helps with, you know, us working together is we kind of know
01:52how one another flows and all that. So it makes things a lot easier. Can you share any success
01:59stories from the show? Just being in a successful and tight knit relationship. Do you guys see that
02:04with the content that's produced and the relationships that are hopefully kept strong
02:09after the show? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, our, our most recent, Oh, actually I'll just, I'll say our most
02:15popular success story was the engagement that we had. We did a follow-up after the couple's
02:21match on pop the balloon. We bring them back for a follow-up just to see how they're doing,
02:26get a quick little update. And during one of our follow-up catch-up videos, Mike, that's the guy's
02:33name. He actually ended up proposing to Kay and it was so beautiful and it's just so unexpected.
02:39And honestly, I'm just so happy for them. And I'm so happy that they were able to meet on our
02:44platform. It just makes things like that much greater. Yeah. I love a good success story because
02:49nowadays, like, you know, the saying there's piss in the dating pool and it's hard, especially me
02:55as a single Gen Z-er. Sometimes I find myself thinking, okay, should I take an untraditional
03:01approach to dating? And I just feel like your show shows that there's, you know, let's delete
03:06the dating apps. Like let's actually, you know, find different ways to find love. So you feel
03:12that your community is taking on untraditional ways. Have you heard of like inspirational
03:17stories from your fans on their, the ways that they're going about dating? Oh yeah. Yeah. I
03:23actually feel like more and more people love the fact that we are traditional and people want to
03:27get back to the traditional ways through our show. It's like people say a man needs to be,
03:34a woman is trying to be submissive to the man. The man needs to provide, you know, and it's like
03:39people want the old school traditional way, like what marriage was back in the 1950s.
03:45That's what people are actually, they're wanting right now, which is amazing to see.
03:49Yeah. So you have a new spinoff show called Blind Date Love. And my best friend actually
03:55sent me the link. She's part of your fan, your community. And yes, shout out Jackie.
04:02But she sent me the video when it was 13 minutes old. So that just shows that you guys have like
04:07people ready. So I watched the video, I saw the comments, people were like, Oh my gosh,
04:12I'll let you look amazing. You know? So like, with that being said, do you feel like this
04:17new show Blind Date Love brings back the more traditional aspects of dating? It's just what
04:23the questions you're not seeing. It's not like a visual, you know, I'm popping my balloon because
04:27I don't like the way this person dresses or the way this person speaks. But you're actually
04:32listening to their answers, you know? Do you feel that that is, you know, just bringing back
04:39the traditional side of things? I think it does help because it takes away like a lot of like
04:45the superficial stuff that we deal with nowadays. Like you said, a lot of people now are so focused
04:50on what someone's wearing or you know, what shoes they have on, what haircut they have.
04:55And with Blind Date Love, like you don't see that you're fully focused just on what the person is
05:00saying, what their voice sounds like, you know, how they speak, how they articulate all that.
05:05And it's just like, yeah, I think it does kind of help us kind of go back to the traditional way a
05:10little bit just because you're not so focused on all the superficial things that people are
05:15focusing so much on. Okay, so I have a burning question for you, Marla and for you, BM. I know
05:22you guys see the memes, right? I know you guys see the memes and just social media, the stitches and
05:27all of that. Yeah. How do you, how do you feel about being crowned the messiest person? I know
05:34you saw that. I know you saw it. I think honestly, I think it's, you know, I have a PR background,
05:39all publicity is good publicity. But how do you feel about that? What's your opinion?
05:43Honestly, the first time I saw it, I was cracking up. When I showed my husband, I was like, oh my
05:48God, why do people think I'm messy? Like, and we were just laughing about it. And it's like, some
05:54people were in the comments, like, she's not messy. She's asking the questions we want to know.
05:57And I'm like, that's what I felt I was doing. You know, I didn't think it was messy. I was like,
06:02because if I don't ask these questions, y'all be in the comments, like, oh my gosh, like we want
06:07to know why the person pop or, oh, this is boring. You know what I mean? Like, go ahead. In real life,
06:14a lot of people don't give people enough answers. They just leave. So this show, you really want to
06:19put people in the spot. If you come on the platform, know that you're going to be asked.
06:23We'll ask you. But I don't think I'm messy. Okay. I just ask the questions y'all want to know.
06:28Right. And that's that. So that leads me to my next question about messiness or disrespectfulness.
06:35So we saw sometimes people get defensive and people's feelings get a little bit hurt. How do
06:42you draw the line? Or is there boundaries that you have beforehand that you discussed with your
06:48line up, the cast on, um, you know, just when things start leaning into being disrespectful,
06:53how do you make sure it's still entertaining, um, while still like nipping it or still,
06:58I know you would probably edit, but like, how does that work?
07:01It's all about production and vision. You know, when I'm producing the show on set,
07:05I give all the signals when to move on, when to do certain things. If I feel like it's getting too
07:10heated, I will, you know, we'll cut the segment.
07:13Also beforehand, you tell people like, don't get offended by what somebody says. You always tell
07:18them that people are respectful about the way they go about it. And somebody can say,
07:23Oh, your forehead's too big. And they say, Oh, thank you. I appreciate you.
07:27So it's, I feel like that's the thing when people see our show, they know that if you go out of
07:31character, people will come after you on the internet. So that's why I was like, if I went
07:36on a show like this, I'm not going to try and show any bad side to me. I'll just be like, okay,
07:41thank you for your opinion. And I think also like, they don't really know each other. So
07:46what a person who doesn't know you is saying about you doesn't really affect you that much.
07:50You know what I mean? Like if these type of comments came from someone who you hold near
07:54and dear to your heart, it might hit a little different, but it's like, I literally don't
07:58know you. So what you're saying is going to just like, I'm going to move on with my life. So I
08:02think that's how a lot of people just like, okay, thank you. And they move on.
08:06And I was thinking as well, it's controlled, you know, it's controlled. Like I make sure
08:11that there's no noise, there's no nonsense. And that's why people, people have to abide by the
08:16rules. And that's how we get the show to look like that. You know, if somebody is speaking
08:20over there, when I was talking to someone there, I would look at them and tell them,
08:23you know, you have to be quiet, respect the people speaking. Otherwise it becomes just
08:27unprofessional. It's funny how you said that no one knows each other on set. Right. So I know you
08:32guys are based in Phoenix, Arizona, right? I'm not sure how, you know, does everyone know
08:38everybody? Like, how do you find so many singles? Do you fly people out? You know, I know you guys
08:43put your application in the description box. Are you open to casting people who live in different
08:50States? Um, how does the application process work for both shows? Pop the balloon and blind date
08:55love. Yeah. It's all over the States. Um, it started with just Phoenix episode one and two,
09:00and then everybody just wanted to come on the show. So I opened it up for the whole
09:03of the U S people by their own flies, accommodation, they make their own arrangements.
09:10Exactly. Yeah. And people want the opportunity to find love on this platform because they see
09:14the quality of people that we put on the show. They feel like they can match with them.
09:19Right. Um, I feel like there's a little bit of a stigma, at least right now in reality TV,
09:24how people are not going on there with the right intentions and they want social media.
09:29They want the cloud, you know, um, right now we're coming off of a high with love
09:34islands and the bachelorette. Um, and recently on the bachelorette, it was
09:39shown that the person that she picked did not have the right intentions. The fact that you did say
09:44a sometimes fly themselves out that shows their intentions are pure. Um, when it comes to choosing
09:50people that apply, um, besides the fact that they might be, um, providing their own transportation,
09:55what do you look for? We focus on, you know, the age range,
09:59how many kids they have, if they don't have kids, um, what else do we really look for?
10:04Like check their Instagrams too. Yeah. We're just like clout. We're like trying to avoid that.
10:12Yeah. And I also look for what they do, what work they do as well. Cause that kind of tells us where
10:16they are. Um, and yeah, so it's mostly kids. That's the most, the biggest deal breaker is kids.
10:22Also religion. Religion is not a deal breaker. And, um, yeah, age range, what's the lowest age
10:28or date, the highest age and stuff like that. So we try to like match, well, we try to put people
10:34on each episode, women, women and men who we believe would have like the highest chance of
10:38matching based off of like information they put on their applications. And also when you speak
10:44to them, you get more information as well. And also height as well. Height is very important.
10:47Yeah. It's a big one. Sorry. Most of the time I actually call them and I have a conversation
10:53with them. It could be from 10 to 20 minutes. Really try to get to know them a little bit,
10:58because it's very important to kind of understand someone's character over the phone. You hear how
11:02they speak. Some people might call them and they sound like they're, they're tone, you know,
11:07they're just not well-spoken. They don't care enough to come on. And I'll just be like, yeah,
11:12yeah, yeah. At the end of the day, it is entertainment. You have to pick people who
11:19people want to watch. What would be some advice that you would give to Gen Z or just anybody who
11:26is looking to find love just to have a success story like you guys? Yeah, I would say definitely
11:32put yourself out there. I think a lot of people think that their future husband or the future
11:39wife isn't come knocking on the door out of nowhere. It's not going to happen. You have to
11:42go out there. You have to try different things. Like if you're always just going to the same,
11:47I don't know, same gym or same brunch places, whatever it is, like try to go somewhere else
11:53and see, you know, who else you can meet there, travel the world. You know, your person may not
11:57be where you live. He came all the way from London and we had a long distance relationship for,
12:02you know, a few years. So yeah, just go out and do things you don't usually do. That's how you're
12:08going to, you know, put yourself out there and meet someone who could be your future.
12:14Yeah, just like she said, put yourself out there. And also I think people need to have discipline
12:18in their lives and take life seriously because all these superficial things and pickiness,
12:25come on, let's grow up. You know, when you get to an age where you're not, you don't have a family
12:30and you see other people happy and you're not happy, you're going to regret it. So just take
12:34it seriously, actually try to make something happen. Yeah. Good point about the superficial
12:39stuff because clothes change, styles change. The things we wear today are not the things we were
12:44like a few years ago. So that kind of stuff, if that's really what you're focused on, you're
12:49going to have a hard time. We're trying to make it to heaven. We're not trying to watch all these
12:54worldly things. Right. It doesn't matter. I think as a generation, we just got to come back,
13:00come back to the basics. Arlette, you always seem so composed when it comes to just the
13:06messiness. I know there are some, you do laugh. I've seen it. I definitely laugh.
13:12Are there moments where you're just like, okay, cut the cameras? Like what what's going on?
13:17You all like make it look like you're always so composed and have everything together.
13:22Yeah, no, honestly, for the most part, like people can read the room. They can tell like,
13:27okay, it's time for me to stop because first of all, he's very, he's a very serious person. So
13:31if people start, you know, doing too much or talking like off on the side when they're not
13:35supposed to and things like that, or if we notice the conversation is getting a little too heated,
13:40he'll be like, okay, like let's move on. Let's move on. And as far as like, for me, I think it
13:45helps when I stay neutral and stay calm. It helps the people know as well, like, hey, like, you know,
13:51you don't have to, I think it helps them feel comfortable. I guess that's the word I'm looking
13:55for. It helps them feel comfortable to the point where like, if anything is getting too
14:00uncomfy, like they're like, okay, our let's going to move on when it's time. And I can also feel
14:05like, okay, it's time for us to move on to the next thing. So that, that kind of helps me just
14:10like keep my calm composure. But if someone says something funny, I'm going to laugh.
14:15And it's important that she, she does, she holds it so well. She surprises me sometimes, but
14:20the way the amount of composure that she has, so many people cannot do what she does.
14:25And, um, it takes a lot to present the show the way she does, you know, some people just watch
14:30the show and think, oh yeah, this is, uh, they want, they want to show every week. They want
14:33to show every day, but it's like, we plan like it's, it's a super plan that we put together to
14:38put this content out there. What can we expect from the first season of Blind Date Love? Expect
14:43a lot of familiar faces. I'll say that. I think I might, um, I want to start using people that
14:51actually come on, pop the balloon, their favorite people to come back on Blind Date Love because
14:55people have already seen them. That's why I'm trying to work on right now. But yeah, of course,
15:00celebrities, um, there's a lot of celebrities as well that actually reach out to us as well,
15:04but it's just about how serious are they? Are they actually trying to find love or are they trying to
15:09promote their new song or I don't know, whatever it is, who knows?
15:13We get many applications of people saying like crazy things that, oh yeah, put me on the show.
15:18What it is now is probably not what it's going to be in a couple of episodes. So
15:23I'm just going to stay tuned and see what we're going to bring.
15:26What are your thoughts on the mixed reviews around your series? Pop the balloon. We talked a little
15:32bit about the types of people that go on there or just the stigma that's behind it. But what
15:38is your opinion? Do you want to, you know, squash some of the opinions or give your own explanation?
15:44So I think, um, we've seen in the comments, people are like, why do you guys keep bringing
15:48people back? We don't want to see the same faces. And it's like, the reason we bring certain people
15:52back is because they were actually interested in really finding someone. And unfortunately,
15:57the first time they were there, they weren't able to find someone. So, you know, I understand people
16:01always want to see new people and all this stuff, but our goal is to help people find a match. Like
16:07that's our main goal. So if someone who's already been there before wants to come back and get
16:11another chance at love, of course, we're definitely going to allow them back, you know, depending on
16:15how, you know, how they interacted with people beforehand, but for the most part, like everyone
16:19does really well. And of course, like we would have no problem bringing someone back to give
16:24them that chance. Yeah. We get more love than hate. We probably get about 97% love, probably
16:313% hate. But it's like, if you focus on the hate and you will never move on in life. So that's how
16:38I'm a musician. My first job is a musician and I've never really cared for people that hate. If anyone
16:44says anything about myself or my wife, it's like they're entitled to their opinion, but I'm focusing
16:49on the positivity. A lot of people, before they like something, they have to hate on it first.
16:55You know, it's almost like, Oh, you got new shoes. Instead of just saying, Oh, where'd you get them
16:58shoes from? Most people would be like, Oh, look at my shoes. Those shoes are ugly. But at least they like the shoes.
17:04But they just, we just, so many people, people are programmed to hate before love it.
17:10Yeah. I think also a lot of things grow on people. Exactly. Yeah. It grows on them.
17:18First they hate, then they copy. Exactly. Exactly. And you know, if people are talking
17:25about it and there must be a reason why they're talking about it. So you're doing something right.
17:29Oh, I think another thing is people are like, Oh, they only casted this person for clout and this
17:35on the third. Um, yeah, we definitely do not do that ever. Some people will apply one way and
17:42they come another way on the show. So, you know, some things are out of our control, you know,
17:48Where do you see your two shows in the future? Do you think that you're going to stick with
17:53social or can we expect reality TV? Can we expect a tour? Definitely. I love the way it's going
18:00right now. I'm just focusing on the YouTube series because I think we're just building
18:03YouTube, you know, came up with a new podcast, bandit love, and so many different things are
18:08coming out, but TV. Um, yeah, we, we are looking into that as well to see what we can do for TV.
18:14Exactly. Um, everybody wants us to get TV deals and I've been in this industry, like the music
18:19industry for a while. So for me, it's like what we're doing right now is TV as well. Internet
18:25YouTube is the new TV these days. Um, yeah. In terms of to get to the next level. Yeah. Whatever
18:31comes, if it makes sense. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. We're definitely open to the idea of TV.
18:37Um, but like you said, YouTube is just, it's really, it's working for us. You know, they say,
18:41if it ain't broke, don't fix it. So that's what we're rolling with right now. But yeah,
18:47if the TV deal comes and it's, it's a great deal and we love the idea,
18:51we love whatever they're bringing to us. We'll definitely be open to that as well.
18:55Well, thank you guys both for sitting down and talking to me. I really appreciate it.
19:00Make sure you guys check out their hit series, blind date, love and pop the balloon. And we're
19:07all tuned in, you know, for your success. So congratulations. Thank you. Thank you.
19:12Appreciate your time. Thank you for having us. Thank you so much.