Welcome And Crowd Energy

SPEAKER_01 0:05

I don't even need a way to do that. You just got to meet them. Turn those cameras around. Show how many people are here to see. Welcome to Hold My Cutter. We're here with my new friend. What's your name again? Rick Monjovi. Mon Jovi? Like Bon Jovi, but Mon Jovi. Original Bon Jovi and Meatball. You remember him from the last episode or a couple episodes back? He choked on the meatball. He's gluten-free. Let's run right into this. We're here, both of you guys, art owners of this beautiful place, the distillery, right? I'm not sure that's true yet. But you are here all the time. So I think you're like the guy on the couch from Half-Baked. He's a cigar guy. He's a cigar guy, but you're not. I'm not a cigar guy. All right, what are you then? You're here. This is the drawing room.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

I'm here with my friends. All three of my friends. But you just said there was a lot of them. Well, they all went to the bathroom. I see you're all walking in late. They all turned around and walking out the other side.

The Vision For A Multi-Use Venue

SPEAKER_01 1:08

All right. So tell me, how did how did how did you come up with this? How did you get involved with this place? Mr.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

Rick Bon Jovi. Involved with it about five, six years ago. Um friends of mine came up to me when they're not going to invest into this uh project over in a sassy bar. So they had a concept of building this building, six-story building, and having a multi-use uh facility with a rooftop bar, an event center, a um cigar bar, which that's where we're in now. And we have a tasting room, and we're looking to maybe put a restaurant and uh some live music on the second floor. Entertainment this weekend, this Saturday. We got uh Chris Higby band coming in, country band. Not Bon Jovi, not yet. Bon Jovi. That's maybe next time. Next time, okay. Yeah, but uh he'll be here on Saturday, um uh at seven o'clock to perform uh you know, perform uh country music. I love it. You gotta wear your hat, you gotta dress in your uh your cowboy attire.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Yeah, do you have that? Oh, yeah, yeah, buckle. Rick, you gotta tell him the song you're gonna sing too. You're gonna be up.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

And he will be playing wagon wheel, and I will be up there probably with him singing wagon.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

You promise?

SPEAKER_00 2:29

Yeah, he'll probably so you guys sing her. I can't sing.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

But why wagon wheel?

SPEAKER_00 2:36

Why it's my favorite song, Darius Rucker.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

But how did that come to be?

SPEAKER_00 2:39

I mean, it's about a wagon wheel. I just love Darius Rutgers Wagon. I love it. Here comes the food now. See, here comes more of the the people.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

That's why they actually told us to pull you away because you usually eat all the food. I know. That's like I know. I don't want the beat, I don't want to eat it all. So if you're an investor, obviously you've done well in life because they don't just ask anybody to be an investor. And by the way, will you please show your shoes? No, not not you. Put those down, those are awful. Yeah, they're comfortable. But then I love the matchy matchy. Good for you. Got style, but they're not those.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

What about the Steeler? That's that.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

We're in we're in baseball season, but I I'm a huge Steeler fan now. Oh, right. I adopted it this past, I guess it was last year. I was like, you know what? I need I need to dig in. Now went in, went right in the middle of all the answers. I'm like, I'm all in with these people. This is amazing. All in. Yeah, I mean, I don't think anybody loves sports better than Pittsburgh.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Let me ask you some questions.

Building A Plumbing Business From 21

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Hold on. No, sir. Let me just wow, yes, in a minute. You can't we'll flip sheets. But first, what do you do?

SPEAKER_00 3:38

Because obviously I'm a plumbing contractor. We do plumbing, uh commercial plumbing, and we sound like a shitty job. It is a shitty job. It's been shitty, but it's been it's been shitty for 43 years.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

But it's been well and it's consistent, it's not going anywhere.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Yeah, as long as people are shitting, we're there. Yeah, we're there. Yeah, so if they put shitting, then we're out of business. I don't know if that's possible. I don't think that could ever happen. That'd be a bad thing for everybody. Job security.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

It is how do you I don't think anybody goes at five, like, you know what? I want to be a plumber. Yeah, you wake up one day and go, you know what?

SPEAKER_00 4:14

I think I'm gonna get in the shit business. That's what it is.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

Or did you say that seems like there's some liquid gold there?

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Yeah, yeah. Hey, it's a train. It is, don't you? You know, so how did you start?

SPEAKER_01 4:27

How did you start a business and where is it today? I was 21.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

What's it called, by the way? Mon Jovian Sun Plumbing.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

So you have a son?

SPEAKER_00 4:36

I have two sons. So you don't like one son? Two sons and a daughter.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

Well, you don't like one son and a daughter. Why who don't have put their daughter in a business?

SPEAKER_00 4:45

I was 21 years old. Uh-huh. I uh decided I want to start my own business. So at 21 years old, people aren't gonna realize I'm too young to be bidding on projects. At 21 years old, you just you know but your so you grew the mustache. Yeah, no, I had that when I was like six. So everybody always thought you're 21. So, anyways, um I decided to start my own business, so I called it Mon Jovian son. I was never I wasn't married yet, wasn't even dated. So you're speaking the son into existence later on. So I end up uh starting a business two years later, got married, had a first son, a couple years later, had a second son, couple years after that, had a daughter.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

We know who's the favorite, folks.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

So now the daughter. Yeah, the daughter's a favorite. Yeah, yeah. It's to the point where you know, the son, as he grew up, came into the business, liked it. The other boy came in, gave it a shot, liked it. So now, 43 years later, it's a little hard to change the put an S on the name of your company, change all your trucks.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

It kind of gives you the power too, because you get to picture which son you actually like that day. There you go.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

So one day you like this one, the next day you like that one.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

Yeah, you're like, oh no, no, that's not the son it's named after, right? Right? Yeah, it messes up.

SPEAKER_00 6:15

Are you the son or yeah, which son's the son? You know, so for one meeting, the son's like, I'm the son. The other boy's at another meeting goes, I'm the son. Yeah, the daughter just reached the daughter, yeah. The daughter came in years later, and now she now should be Mon Jovi's son and sons and daughter. No, she just reached the she's behind the scenes. Yeah, she she's the uh that's why she's your favorite.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

So you grew the mustache at six, maybe the earliest ever.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

Yeah, it's uh so we gotta make a deal with it, though. Oh, you and your bets. Let's go.

SPEAKER_01 6:50

Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

We gotta make a bet to shave the mustache. You know what? People did try to do that. My friends tried to do that. Would it even go away? I never took it off. Oh, it'd be back in like 10 minutes.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Yeah, like I think you'd be like one of those Viking where they just think about it and it pops up.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

It just won't be me.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

Yeah, it's really like a mustache has to fit and it fits. Hey, I'm in the plumbing business. Some people think I'm the Mario brother. I wasn't gonna bring it up, but you look like Mario. I know there's no doubt. People say that, so that's why I got the money. And like I love Mario growing up. So, like when I saw you, I was like, who wants to talk? I was like, Yeah, but he's a plumber. Yeah, I know. I like that, and he's the main character. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Yeah, I mean, Luigi, I don't like the money that Mario Brothers made, but I mean it's

Italian Family Traditions And Pittsburgh Life

SPEAKER_00 7:35

who does, right? Right? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 7:36

Yeah, but you gotta find a princess, and you did. That's right. Yeah, so tell me a little bit more about your family.

SPEAKER_00 7:43

So we're an Italian family. Couldn't have imagined that. I'm Jovi. Yeah, no, no, so your wife can cook.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Was she Italian?

SPEAKER_00 7:54

No, uh oh.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

But she took in the the cooking, she knows how to cook.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

Okay, all right, second part.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

But not as second uh second so the better one, yeah. Okay, yeah, all right, is which I don't watch what I said. Uh who's who's the mom of the children?

SPEAKER_00 8:15

Okay, okay, nice, okay, nice. So um we still have Sunday dinners once in a while. I love that Monday, but Sunday gravy. No, no, no, no, it's how it have to be marinara. Gravy is just for people in Jersey. They say gravy. When you put sauce, when you have red sauce, it's soft. No, no, gravy's white. No, no, brown and white. Gravy's brown.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

Okay. He's southern. I'm southern. They don't know. We don't know how to cook gravy. Yeah, you guys, you marinate.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

What's your last name?

SPEAKER_01 8:52

McHenry, I'm Irish, I think. I'm a mutt. I was born black. From your mother's side. Huh? From your mother's side. My mom didn't know her family. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

It could be anything. So are you Italian?

SPEAKER_01 9:04

I could be. Oh I I'm I'm more of like the mutt. Oh you know, like you you throw my DNA in there, it just pops up like question mark, question mark, question mark. Could be all. So I tell people I was born a brother. Like my man swing over there. Swing, how you doing, swing? Yeah. He said swing. Swing, swing. Swing, like a baseball bat swing.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

Yeah.

unknown 9:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:27

What I said or not. I no, not even close, but it's okay.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

So what's the bet? Hold on, what's the bet? Yeah, you're drinking water.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

We gotta make a bet for the mustache being shit. What?

SPEAKER_01 9:38

I I would even take what if he dyed his mustache.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

No, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

Yeah, I mean, you shouldn't have been in the middle of us too. That's one thing.

SPEAKER_00 9:47

True. So, what is the bet? Will you shave it off if you lose the bet? So, no, you don't get the bet. What about dyeing it? I'm 60 some years old.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

Yeah, you could die it. Yeah. Like bond? No, he's not doing it. Oh, you better not die.

SPEAKER_00 10:09

Just let it go.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

So you're born and bred in Pittsburgh. So this podcast is obviously it's called Hold My Cutter, right? So obviously you smoke a cigar and and baseball, cut fastball. So we we kind of tie that in. So we always try to tie in Pittsburgh in sports. Obviously, you're a fan. Were you born here? Yeah. So you're a Italian. What type of West Penn Hospital? Oh, okay. I actually spent some time there recently in the burn unit. It was awful. Um, so hopefully you had a better experience. If you remember cut, huh? You had a paper cut. I had a paper cut and I freaked out. So yeah. Um so born here, just talk about your childhood because you probably went through, I'm guessing you're what, like 32, 34. You've been through a couple generations, times two. Like 10 years? What?

SPEAKER_00 10:56

What did you say?

SPEAKER_01 10:57

No, just talk about living in Pittsburgh and like how much it's grown and what you like about it. What made you stay here? Low question. Don't get it wrong.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

Oh, I like to have been in Florida, but um you know, born and raised. We're done. Well I love Pittsburgh. I'm born and raised here in the Crafton Ingram area of Pittsburgh, if you guys know where that's at. Um all my life in that west west part of Pittsburgh by the airport, and um started my business at 21 years old and still involved with my business and like the So you're 63 if I'm if I'm doing my math right.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Oh, you said 43 years, so I was close.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

Yes. You look good. I'll be 65 in June. You look good, but um in Pittsburgh, now the whole area of Pittsburgh, work in the whole area of Pittsburgh. Um great people compared to other cities and stuff like that. And I just I love Pittsburgh in the summertime. Wintertime, I don't care 64.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

64 dude looks good, right? Yeah, great. He holds the mustache great too. He keeps saying that, yeah. A lot of work, a lot of work to do.

Networking Habits And Cigar Talk

SPEAKER_01 12:21

So, John, is there is there a story? Because when I come up to you, I'm like, hey, other podcast went a little long. Who who can we talk to? He immediately pointed to Mario. I mean, what do you got?

SPEAKER_00 12:35

He's good for the building, he's a character, he brings people here all the time. We have fun. That's what it's all about. It's like that community, a lot of like the network. I like media, all that whole thing.

SPEAKER_01 12:47

You guys both seem like you're great at networking. It's something that like I've just gotten into. I played baseball, didn't really even think about it, get out of baseball, and I was like, oh my gosh, I have a huge network, and people are always trying to pull me to try to use it. I'm like, maybe I should start trying to use it, and I've really enjoyed to get new people. How did you guys come to that? I think that's something I've learned a lot from some Yenzers because you guys are great at it. You guys seem to have a feel of people.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

Did that just come naturally, or is that something that you grew up with your grew up grew up with that? Yeah, the Italian family, they're always huggers and and and and you didn't hug me when we met. Yeah, I know. I just you just grabbed me and brought me over, and you know, I saw him. You're right.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

Yeah, it's okay.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

I'll do it. Do that, do that. All I know is I'm sitting there. Networking's going well.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

I just grabbed people, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

I didn't know you either. It's the best part.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

Now we do. I'm Michael. Good to meet you. Yeah, nice to meet you, Rick.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

Wait, wait, I thought there was a hug.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

That's later. Oh, okay. Yeah, that's off camera. Yeah, you're loud to ask questions for sure. Yeah. We need two books and cigars though. What are you smoking right now? This is a Sperlingo. Only two people in say it slower. Sperlingo. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:03

Only two people in the U.S. have these now. Us in the vault. Another great shot. Partner with them. Great. What makes that special? Well, we were the first ones to get in the US. It's a very unique car Dominican Republic.

SPEAKER_01 14:24

Love the Dominican Republic. So it's been really a great seller for us.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

Um, everyone who tries it comes back more. And you can see this being a very big brand down there. So we were the first to bring in the US.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

I love that. I love that. And for all you folks, I'm smoking the fat bottom bedding. It's got this sweet aroma taste. It's got a little sugar on the tip, too. It's outstanding to try it. You don't smoke cigars. What is your vice of saying? Meatballs, what do you what do you like? Oh man. Do you like do you like drinks? Do you like food? Like tummy. I like pinzas. I like bostas. You can't fall into the norm that far. You're full-blooded Italian. We get it. What else do you like? I don't like potatoes.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

I'm not a potato guy. Yeah. I'm a Italian.

SPEAKER_01 15:16

You like pierogies?

SPEAKER_00 15:18

Yeah, I'll eat them, but not, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

So you want to live in Florida, you don't like pierogies? What do you like about Pittsburgh?

SPEAKER_00 15:23

I like the some of the uh Haytalian restaurants. Yeah. What's your favorite? Give them a shout out. Warren Dale there. Favorite dish. Uh raviolins.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

Raviolan? Raviolan's. Okay, I like that. I like that. So big sports guy. No. Well, he's really throwing through the carbon.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

Two things just crushing you. Man's wearing a steeler jacket. I know. I'd like to participate, but I'm not a big I mean I like the steeler.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

Oh, you like the network? You like making money. Let's be honest. Yeah. All right. Do you like to travel?

SPEAKER_00 16:07

I travel. Yeah, I go to Florida. I have a place in Florida.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

I go down there.

SPEAKER_01 16:11

Where's your place in Florida?

SPEAKER_00 16:13

Uh Benita Springs, which is in uh Fort Myers. On there in the wintertime for seven to ten days. And then I come back and work, and then I go back down.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

So you're like a part snowbird.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I don't live down. Yeah. Like I'm going down here in this month for eight days, I'll come back, and then I won't come back, I won't go back to Florida until until October. Okay. But then I go out and have a place to carne on the outlake up in Neary. Go up there summertime on a weekend. That's my summer place.

SPEAKER_01 16:48

So since you just like to network, did you ever watch the games?

SPEAKER_00 16:53

Yes, I I I used to belong, I used to got tickets to the school. Used to? What happened? Got rid of them years ago because they got uh we were you know uh got all the game books. That was really PC.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

Yeah, and you wanted a condo in Florida.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

Yeah, I'd rather have the Florida than 25,000 to go to have a suite.

SPEAKER_01 17:24

I like to lay it out. So real quick, what what made you say yes

Why The Spirits Stand Out

SPEAKER_01 17:30

to invest into this? Was it just I mean, please don't let make it be I had extra capital?

SPEAKER_00 17:36

No, what I like is um the spirits that we have. Uh I got involved with the spirits of ghost spirits or drinks. The spirits that we make, the vodkas, the he don't get it, does he?

SPEAKER_01 17:52

Huh? I've never I'm from Tennessee. That's called bourbon and whiskey and moonshine.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

We have gins.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

But spirits are ghosts.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

Ghosts?

SPEAKER_01 18:05

Yeah, a spirit.

SPEAKER_00 18:06

Oh, oh great. You're a little slow with it.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

It's okay. No, no, no. I just I'm having fun with you. It's the straight bod commentary. Yeah, that's that's that's how we do it.

SPEAKER_00 18:18

So you thought that was water.

SPEAKER_01 18:20

No, no, no. But I I I generally I've I have some buddies that are in the industry. I know nothing about it. So, like, how did you even like you said you got involved because of spirits? Spirits, as I just learned, are not goats, they're drinks. So talk about your spirits that are drinks.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

You asked me how I got involved. I got involved through a buddy of mine that he met the original owner that developed Big Spring Spirits. Okay. And oh that's what it's called. Which his name was Kevin Lloyd. And he told he already had the business before we got involved. And he wanted to grow the company beggar. So when he met the other partners that are involved with this whole uh facility, they they all invest, we all invested because of the spirit side. Then the building was something we purchased to build to sell our spirits out of and also have a facility that we can do multiple.

SPEAKER_01 19:23

The more you say it, the more I like it. I do. So we're you had like I feel like you have to have like a really, really great understanding of power to even be able to understand because like I've gone to tastings and I don't get it sometimes. So like what makes each and everyone different, especially your offs?

SPEAKER_00 19:44

I don't I don't drink water. I'll tell you one of the big big pluses to the big spring. Yeah, it's the water source. From the water water source up in up in Oak they use the big spring source of water. It's the one the mountainous waters there is that's what makes water smooth special. That's really you add water to to all the elements. Yeah, that's how you like yeah, that's how you make it cut it down. Yeah, and I think our water is it's smooth, it's from the creeks and uh of the springs, and um that's what that probably is. Let me explain. Pittsburgh is a creek.

SPEAKER_01 20:26

I learned that one that's what the spirits threw me off. I wasn't making like fun. I was like spirits, because like I don't I'm moved here three years ago. I'm from Tennessee, but like we we have our own problem, right? Like I call myself a Yalzer, you know, part Tennessee, part Pittsburgh, but yeah, like a crick, I didn't know. I was like, no, my neck is fine.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

But now I understand that's actually a stream of water. That's where you guys get your water from a crick. Right. Yeah, so that is special.

SPEAKER_00 20:56

Yeah, it's we haven't tried the ripple.

SPEAKER_01 20:59

I'm I'm I'm listening.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

We're actually not talking about it.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

I'm I'm I would think that that that's a proof

Final Laughs And Sign-Off

SPEAKER_01 21:05

we can't talk about it. Yeah, yeah. Mario, thank you.