Vegas Circle

Relentless Hustle: Andrew “Ace” Pacheco’s Journey from Nightlife to Investment Mastery

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What if you could transform your career from nightlife to strategic entrepreneurship? Join us as we uncover the journey of Ace Pacheco, a former VIP host at Wynn Nightlife who leveraged his industry connections to build a thriving business empire. Ace shares the pivotal moments that allowed him to cross the bridge from the glitz of Vegas nightlife to earning respect in the world of high-end investments and finance. Learn how Ace's innate people skills and relentless determination helped him overcome the challenges of reinventing himself and gaining mentorship from influential leaders.

In a city known for its vices, Ace reveals his blueprint for success in the subprime personal loan sector and the high-end luxury goods market. Discover how innovative marketing strategies, such as Google ads and street-level promotions, played a crucial role in attracting customers to his finance business. Ace also provides valuable insights into the investment potential of luxury watches and designer items, shedding light on post-COVID market trends and the profitability of such ventures. This episode offers a rich tapestry of strategies for navigating multiple business landscapes in dynamic industries.

But there's more to Ace's story than just business. We explore the shifting nightlife scene in Vegas, where high-end dining experiences are giving traditional nightclubs a run for their money. Dive into Ace's perspective on the evolving entertainment hub, the rise of sports teams, and the importance of a strong hospitality team. Lastly, Ace opens up about balancing business with family life, emphasizing the importance of mentorship, financial knowledge, and family values. With an open-door policy for those seeking advice, Ace's journey is both inspiring and filled with practical wisdom. Tune in now for a compelling conversation that blends strategic insights with heartfelt advice.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Vegas Circle Podcast with your hosts, Paki and Chris. We are people who are passionate about business, success and culture, and this is our platform to showcase people in our city who make it happen. On today's podcast, we're going to be exploring the journey of breaking free from the nightlife industry to pursue strategic investments and cultivating a thriving family life. Welcome to the Circle Entrepreneur Investor, Ace Pachico. I've got to say it, the right way.

Speaker 2:

Thank you guys for having me.

Speaker 1:

I really appreciate it. This is long overdue, man, long overdue. We connected probably I don't even know what three or four years ago now, at least right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Where was the connection? Was it through Blake, wayne or Vaughn? Yeah, 100% Blake. I think it was Blake. It was Blake, I think, when you were working at Wynn Nightlife and then through that, obviously knowing a lot of the same people, jay Sean, natalia, a lot of the same people that we know. Peter Cross.

Speaker 2:

But man am you know the success I have, the position I'm in and thankful to be here with you guys and you know I'm a big fan of the show. Obviously I've seen Jay Sean and Natalia and Peter's episode. And these guys are people I look up to, as well as my friends, so I was excited to be here.

Speaker 1:

You know, one of the things that I saw that I was reading about you 40 under 40 night life professional. Back back in the day I think they wrote an article on you and I love the statement that you had. You were talking about don't let anybody outwork you and I feel like that's what you've really set your template and your foundation of being involved in so many different fields right and building your network.

Speaker 2:

But let's just talk about kind of like your transition from the nightlife industry to entrepreneurship and what that's been all about and why you did that, in my opinion, when you're working in Vegas nightlife and you're a host cocktail waitress, whatever it may be, I mean you have access to just the titans of industry that come to this city weekend after weekend, especially working at the one in Encore.

Speaker 2:

I mean, that's just the who's who that gets to stay there. And you know, something that has always resonated with me has been your network is really your net worth. So I've tried as much as I could just to cultivate as many relationships with all these different people who are successful in different businesses, and I looked up to every one of them and a lot of people that work in nightlife. You know, it's almost like when you work in the restaurant business you make such great money, it's like all right, what's the next step?

Speaker 2:

And you make a great living here in Vegas being a nightlife host, being a cocktail waitress, but what is that next step? And there really isn't a segue when you're working in nightlife to become a casino executive, a casino host, a convention services director, whatever it may be, that's it. You're working in nightlife and that's the box you're in, and I always just refused to accept the circumstances that that was going to be my it. I was never just going to be just a nightlife host, and I networked, I used a lot of the relationships I had and took a lot of business advice. And here I am today where I have my hands in many different things and I'm able to, you know, have the life I have now and support the family that I have and provide for them. Ultimately, that's what's most important.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we had a couple of different people on that were in similar situations. Right that they did this transition from being in the nightlife to entrepreneurship. All of them, I think, have the same kind of mindset the fact that you are in this networking hub. Do you think that networking part of your personality has always been there, or do you have to develop that in the nightlife scene? I think you either have it or you don't. Yeah, me and Paki talk about that a lot because he has it.

Speaker 2:

I don't. I don't think that's something that is, you just have it, and someone that I always looked up to that was a past guest of this podcast was Jay Sean.

Speaker 3:

He's the best I've ever seen. I told you that with my face and when.

Speaker 2:

I started working at Win Nightlife Jay Sean was it. You know what I mean. So I followed his footsteps. I looked at what he did. I looked at what Natalia did. A lot of these people there were a lot of big hosts in the city that paved the way for guys like me to come up and be here. It's something that you have to be a people person. I think you got to have those street smarts. You have to be able to walk into a room and recognize who the influences are, who the tastemakers are, and organically create a rapport with that person. Anybody can just walk up to somebody. I'm Andrew, I work at the Wind. Here's my business card. How do you really make that connection? And that's something you either have or you don't.

Speaker 3:

And as you're kind of making that transition because you're developing these relationships but now you're deciding I want to branch off, I want to be an entrepreneur. These are people that are meeting you in different environments.

Speaker 2:

It's a fun environment. Now you're like, hey, can you help me with some business advice? Can you mentor me? Or can you provide me some guidance like how do you make that shift? You know that's a challenge. Yeah, how do you have a billionaire, you know, investor from god knows where? Look at you as not just a nightlife vip host this isn't just the guy that I can call.

Speaker 2:

I need a dinner reservation or a nightclub reservation to go see chain smokers at xs. That's something that I think you have to cater to each and every individual relationship and you just got to nonstop keep banging on that door until they open it for you. You have to, that's true, because they're not going to give it to you. No one's going to give it to you.

Speaker 1:

And you kind of transitioned, at least with your background, with nightlife, right. So you transitioned from Wynn to Zouk and I think that's what you took care of me one time over at Zoo and then transitioned to Fountain Blue and all of that. When did you like fully, you know, laser focus and say, okay, this is really what I want to do? Like I want to get in the business for myself. Like when did you make that decision? Was it during a period where you just you know what I mean. Just kept adding.

Speaker 2:

I think really what happened was COVID, you know.

Speaker 1:

I think when COVID happened.

Speaker 2:

I think that just readjusted everybody's vision and perspective Like all right, what am I doing? What's next? And the whole city shut down. There was nothing going on and it got to a point where I was just very, very successful with everything I accomplished at the win, everything I remember, like yesterday, I wrote down everything that I wanted to do and I accomplished that, and it got to a point where that passion just wasn't't there anymore. It's like that challenge wasn't there.

Speaker 2:

I'm extremely competitive person, extremely competitive, and you know, as a nightlife host, you want to get the biggest client in every night. You want to get the biggest spend we get paid based on our sales. Of course you want to, you know, have the highest sales and you know when that passion is gone. You've done all that already. It's like, alright, what's next? And that's what led me to go into resorts world. I was very close to ron and um. I had an opportunity to run a vip team from there and kind of you know, teach a group of vipos, kind of what I was able to do as an individual at the win. You know we were successful there. We had some nights where it was really through some great parties and you know we own the city on a lot of different nights, with Travis Scott, with Post Malone, with Tiesto. But from there it was like all right, my family's coming together, my sons are growing. I need to be there for them.

Speaker 1:

And being a businessman, being an entrepreneur, obviously gives you that lifestyle where you can not be at the club until 3 am every night and wake up at 7 am and take my son to school, and that's that's where I'm at and it gets all, it gets whole fast, I don't know waking up, getting the three, two or three hours. Yeah, sleep all the time I'm in bed every night at 8, 39 o'clock oh wow, okay, that's not like Chris. Yeah, it's not like Chris.

Speaker 2:

DJ's like go on till 1 1 30. You know now, every night I'm in bed by 8, 30, 9 o'clock, like that. I wake up every morning 6, 30, 7 am, bring my son to school and go on about my day. I need to learn that. I still go to bed late as best, you still wake up early.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I still have no sleep.

Speaker 1:

So let's talk about kind of you know some of the companies you've invested in Right. So one of them is the private access. Cash Right says cash right, yeah. So can you kind of talk about what you do with that setup is for loans and things along those lines, right Titles and things like that.

Speaker 2:

So I'm working at the wind. I was, fortunate to you know, meet someone as an individual, become a mentor to me. He's a business partner of mine. He was a very big gambler at the wind and he was it. He took me under his wing and kind of showed me the ropes. And again back to COVID. I had a lot of good conversations with him hey, what's next? What am I going to do? And he was actually involved in that business, in the personal loan business in Texas, and we just started talking. I think there was a business for sale here in Las Vegas and I wanted to potentially buy it and he gave me the advice, helped me go in that direction and we started Private Access Cash and it's a personal loan business. Obviously it's subprime lending, it's high interest rates. What I'm trying to do is kind of create a business where it doesn't have that stigma, where you walk in and get a payday loan. You know what I mean.

Speaker 3:

It's low interest rate.

Speaker 2:

It's discreet, it's private. We're here to help people get from point A to point B. Not everybody can walk into Bank of America and say I got a $5,000 personal loan, they don't have that 700 FICO score, or maybe they don't make the income on paper, and that's what we're involved with right now. Oh, that's powerful.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so you can do smaller loans right.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. The average loan is like $300 to $500.

Speaker 1:

Oh, that's excellent, yeah, and so that must be like clockwork in.

Speaker 2:

Vegas. For sure, it started officially a year ago and it officially a year ago and I think just last month, we did 20k in revenue. So I mean the business is scaling every single month.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, that's fantastic. What kind of challenges do you run into? Because that's, you know, a hard business model to jump into. Now you're doing interest rates, bank loans, financing, etc. There's a lot of different credit screening. It's not necessarily like a restaurant, something easy to jump into quickly.

Speaker 2:

I'm so intrigued by the world of finance and all the different facets that come from this one business that I'm in right now. The biggest challenge is getting people approved right. I think in this city it's going to cultivate an environment where people are going to overextend themselves with the gambling and all the different vices that are in this city. So I think that's the biggest challenge is keeping people within their safety net, so to speak. But that's regulated by the state, so it's not too bad. And of course, there's a default. It's like a 20% default rate and things like that.

Speaker 2:

But you know it's just a one small step into multiple businesses. I look at a business like Dollar Loan Center. He has 60 different locations, I think, throughout the entire state.

Speaker 1:

I mean, imagine the revenue that guy does. Yeah, and he's branded himself very very, very well, yeah, don't be, brokecom.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, for sure that's a good one.

Speaker 1:

So how do you guys market yourself? How do people know about it? Is it mainly online? Do you guys like brick and mortar? Yeah, the brick and mortar store, tropicana 215. Oh, okay, I got a billboard.

Speaker 2:

I just drove by on the way here, oh, okay.

Speaker 1:

That was a nice investment.

Speaker 2:

It's funny. I get to see my billboard and then right across is Marshmallow at XS.

Speaker 1:

That's where you bought that. How cool is that?

Speaker 2:

That's hilarious so yeah, I have that business a lot of Google ads, a lot of marketing, a lot of flyers.

Speaker 3:

I even got the one guy on the corner of the street with the billboard, kind of flipping it, dancing, getting people in there.

Speaker 2:

So at the end of the day, I think in this market with Vegas, everyone's always going to need some kind of personal finance assistant, one way or another and if I can provide that, provide that in an organic and you know a positive way. I'm all about it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's awesome, and so you branched out with multiple things. The jewelry too, I know, is a big thing, right? So you got involved, is it? Is it XS?

Speaker 2:

XL Jewelers. My boy, Michael. I'm a director of sales with XL Jewelers.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so you guys handle a lot of the luxury stuff.

Speaker 2:

Okay, jewelry watches, birkin bags.

Speaker 1:

Chanel bags. Stop talking about the Birkin bags. My wife said it, but that's what you guys have there. Yeah, okay.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely so. I've always been an enthusiast for high-end watches and Rolexes and things like that. And I remember when I was in Nightlight Post and you would meet someone for the first time, like your first impression is everything. Just the first time you meet somebody, you see the watch on their wrist. So what kind of watches is it? Is it a Rolex? Is it a Patek Philippe, AP?

Speaker 2:

And that's kind of what started that passion for that market and help people get their first watch, help people get different pieces of jewelry and Birkins and things like that. I like the high-end items, of course.

Speaker 1:

I get it. Talk about the investing right Because we were talking about art earlier with the giants like Alicia Keys and Swiss Beats but do people really buy watches for specifically investment because the resale value is unreal? Is that what you see? A lot of Two years ago the market was crazy.

Speaker 2:

you could buy a hundred thousand dollar watch, sit on it, wear it every day and sell it for 110 000 into the month I mean the market was crazy.

Speaker 2:

After covid it was like that with everything cars over, msrp, watches, jewelry, art, birkins of what? Thirty thousand dollars, I think they're 10k retail, wow. So, um, now, absolutely, you can definitely buy now as a buyer's market for sure, because everything has come down like everything else. So you can definitely buy a collection of watches, sit on them and almost I think I saw a stat somewhere where watches have um outperformed the s&p 500 over the past like 10 years oh wow, I saw that somewhere I think I saw on tiktok.

Speaker 3:

That's unreal. Are you seeing it like become, you know, harder and harder to sell these higher-end watches, like now that it is kind of starting to come down, and maybe, you know, the people that are wealthy are kind of holding cash a little bit longer, not splurging on some of these ancillary, you know.

Speaker 2:

So I'm a good point, especially with everything going on. Yeah, right now I think people are starting to buckle down a little bit. We still see a lot of the high, high net worth individuals buying very, very, very expensive items. You can't walk into the Rolex store at Crystals or a Patek Philippe store or even a Richard Mille store and just buy a watch. It's hard. A lot of these watches are discontinued. A lot of these items are very, very hard to get and if we have that access to certain high-end items and make it easy, I think the right people are going to buy it still.

Speaker 3:

And is high-end items and make it easy. I think the right people are going to buy it still. And is that the business model? You know you buy it from somebody trying to offload it and then you know, obviously find another seller for that item like that. Maybe you have a waiting list.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it is a secondary market. I'm not a fan of, you know. I think these, these, um, how do I word this? I think, like the gray market, dealers almost have like a stigma against some of them, and I'm not a fan of of people who will misrepresent themselves to have a relationship with an authorized dealer with Rolex or Protect Philippe, to purchase an item and turn around and flip it. I've never been a fan of that, but I think there are people that you know have certain items and they need to unload them for whatever it may be, and you need to sell it somewhere. So that's how we acquire our items, absolutely.

Speaker 3:

And it's kind of like. It's like a lot of sourcing, because it seems like there may be a person looking for a specific watch, right, oh, absolutely. And maybe they can't access this watch now you have to go and source that watch for a specific buyer.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, there's WhatsApp chats and there's Facebook groups and you know, calls for certain watches and really connect with some dealers out in New York. And this is life.

Speaker 3:

I need to learn, because I don't know anything about that. It's fun, yeah.

Speaker 1:

I keep seeing more. So how is it like track, Like you get these high-end $100,000 watches $200,000. Like how do they do the whole setup? Is it cold? I mean, how do you know that it's real? I guess it's the best way to put it. Oh, like how is it real, like authenticated, and there's a reason A really well-known dealer that I respect.

Speaker 2:

He always says that you don't actually buy the watch, you buy it for the dealer.

Speaker 3:

You're buying the dealer.

Speaker 2:

It's all about reputation. You know a lot of people will co-sign for you and vouch for you and I've never had an issue when it comes to that, as long as you're dealing with reputable people Got it.

Speaker 1:

So that's the, and I'm not trying to make fun of Rick Ross, but you know talking about Rick Ross, I don't know if you recently in the news.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, of course that's true.

Speaker 1:

That is true, so that was a fake watch or replica.

Speaker 2:

So here's how it is right. It's not an authentic factory Patek Philippe watch. I think it was. I think it was the AP or it was the Patek Philippe.

Speaker 1:

It was the green animal watch. Yeah, I think it was AP.

Speaker 2:

The watch is not made by AP. That watch is have a watch and a dealer or high-end jeweler will make that custom. It's still an expensive item.

Speaker 1:

It's still yeah, amazing but it's not a not the three million dollars that you would really pay for okay that watch is not worth three million dollars absolutely not, but I heard it was like 20 grand and I was like what?

Speaker 2:

but that's in. That's what these rappers are dealing with. Like these, bust down day-date rolexes and things like that and bust-down Cartier watches. They're not authentic. Save your money. Go buy yourself a $10,000, $12,000 Submariner factory Rolex. No diamonds, no, nothing. That's what you need. That's going to hold its value.

Speaker 1:

Forever. Yeah, that's what I heard. That's a great investment piece.

Speaker 2:

You don't want to buy the $5,000, $10,000 Cartier. Watch that a dealer's putting lab-grown diamonds all over and it's great and it's flashy and it looks great, but it's not classic. It's not authentic, it's not what you want. I'm glad you said the dealer part it's not timeless.

Speaker 1:

Rolex is a timeless piece, but I'm glad you said that the dealer is the most important. I'm glad you're saying that, and that's what I was trying to. Are looking for different things to invest in that hold value, and these Birkin bags I'm understanding too. They're holding their value also.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, there's a gentleman in town that would be great for this podcast. Okay, his name is Michael Mack.

Speaker 1:

I don't think I know him. He owns.

Speaker 2:

Mack's Pawn and Jewelry yeah.

Speaker 1:

I've seen Mack's Pawn.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I think he has the second biggest collection of Birkins in the world.

Speaker 1:

Oh my goodness, He'd be grateful for this episode. And the bags are just ridiculous. You know how much Birkins go for? Nah, it's unreal $25,000, $30,000.

Speaker 2:

Damn, really that much for a bag. Yeah, I don't know about that In Florida.

Speaker 1:

I think somebody's like 100 grand Mother's.

Speaker 2:

Day is coming around the corner, yeah let's stop this conversation now.

Speaker 1:

So then you also got Daydream Experience right. Are kind of orchestrating between is it the New York market, miami market and then Vegas market.

Speaker 2:

So that's owned by a gentleman named Brian Lee. Okay, Really really successful VIP host here in Vegas Worked at Marquee.

Speaker 2:

That's where he really came up, oh yeah, yeah yeah, and he came out and he created his own independent hosting company. In my opinion, he has the best independent company in Vegas history. That says a lot, a lot of Ace. Okay, brian, he's legitimate, okay, and you know he's killing it. He has connections all over the world and he's creating. You know anybody can go ahead and book a nightlife table at Live in Miami or Eleven or Excess, whatever it may be, but he really goes above and beyond. From the moment you know that customer or guest arrives to the leave, he has everything set up Yachts, dinners, nightclubs, shows, shows, whatever it may be. So obviously I'm not working specifically for a nightclub anymore so I still have, you know, a lot of high-end clientele that I want to take care of whenever they come to vegas.

Speaker 2:

So I partnered up with brian and I work with him directly.

Speaker 1:

That's what's up so where are you guys focused on?

Speaker 2:

just any experiences, restaurants, the whole nine yeah, anywhere, any, any, any, uh key event that's going on throughout the world, whether it's in n Nabeela, whether it's in, you know, f1, whatever it may be.

Speaker 3:

Okay, you know, down here on the ground, you know we don't get to see a lot of this high-end experience, you know how many people are legitimately doing this on a consistent basis. Is it like five a night, 50 a night, 10,000 a night? Like well, what is like that real number of people who could really afford to do these type of things that you see doing it consistently Every weekend?

Speaker 2:

Really wow. There was a gentleman this past weekend that just spent $400,000 at a nightclub.

Speaker 3:

Damn must be nice At a dayclub $400,000.

Speaker 2:

Jeez, it happens all the time, that's unreal.

Speaker 1:

That's why you never know who you're dealing with.

Speaker 2:

It's going to walk to that front door. You never know who you're speaking to. Don't judge somebody how they look. This person is a CEO of a meat processing company in Nebraska and you know he's worth a hundred million dollars and you'll never know. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And they stay below the radar for a reason. Yeah, that's unreal. Yeah, what do you see happening in Vegas now, because I mean the growth has been unreal, right, and especially the next five to seven years, do you continue to see? You know more, you know clubs and things like that, opening up more lounges and things like that? Like what do you see happening?

Speaker 2:

You know, I was so excited to be on this podcast to answer that question right there. Because I I was so excited to be on this podcast to answer that question right there because I can really just keep it 100. Yeah, I want to know and I don't have any political affiliations or anything like that. I don't have to keep it corporate anymore.

Speaker 1:

That's why I'm asking you, because I know you're going to give it to me real.

Speaker 2:

I was really excited for this podcast. Okay, in my opinion, I think outside of Wynn Nightlife there's a lot of mediocrity in nightlife in Vegas, I think a lot, of, a lot of everything is going towards, you know, restaurants supper clubs, lounges things like Delilah. I think a lot more people will have a better experience in Delilah, having a high-end dinner and being there the entire night, rather than going to a nightclub and spending ten, twenty thousand dollars.

Speaker 2:

I can't disagree with you yeah, I think where the city's going is, um, you know, the city's going in a great direction. Where we're going with the Raiders, obviously put us on the map. Aces, oakland A's are coming. Basketball team will be here eventually. I mean imagine being in New York or Boston 30 years ago. I think that's where Vegas is right now, and I think there's going to be so much opportunity in everything outside of nightlife and outside of hospitality and just in general it was a great time to be a young executive in Vegas, yeah absolutely.

Speaker 1:

I'm glad you saying that. I'm sorry to cut you out. Like you said, boston right. Like Boston Harbor right, what they've done to the Boston Harbor. I was just there a few weeks ago and it's I like doing. We love going to these like the Delilahs and the nice high-end restaurants, and now they're having DJs and stuff at all these spots and you have a vibe like a lounge while you're eating, which I absolutely love Shout out to Ed and Joe Kane and all those guys.

Speaker 1:

The entertainment group and Randy Greenstein Yep, you know all those cats. Yeah, I love what they're doing out there. I got my start with those guys. I opened up a restaurant for them in Boston years ago.

Speaker 2:

Red Lantern.

Speaker 1:

Okay, that's what's up. Okay, yeah, we're going to talk, we'll keep it on Vegas, but shout out to Bosno because I love what they're doing, because just seeing the high end and you see the luck, like you were just saying, like how wind you can tell when you walk in the wind you see the details and you feel the luxury of there and the vibe there.

Speaker 3:

I noticed that when I was in harbor, like they got some nice stuff there really really nice so, but I'm sorry no, no, it just seems like it is becoming more and more challenging to break into that, like you know. So everybody is comfortable going to where they're tried and true are. So you're seeing it like you probably know more than I do, but from the outside it looks like you know. Zook maybe ran into some challenges, found blues running into some challenges, so how?

Speaker 2:

are you?

Speaker 3:

know, are those things? Is it saturated too much or is it just not the same experience?

Speaker 2:

No, what it is, you've got to have the right people there in the very beginning and I would compare it to an NFL team. You've got to have the right special teams coordinator. You've got to have the right defensive coordinator, the right head coach, the right owners, the autonomy to do what you guys got to do. And I worked at the Wynn. I came up at the Wynn so everything I know is the Wynn, so I got to see firsthand when I left the Wynn and go open up, you know work at Zouk and some of these other operations in the city. You just see how dysfunctional they are.

Speaker 3:

They really do, you know, I mean, the Wynn just does not miss. They don't, is it?

Speaker 2:

just like throwing a bunch of a lot of things.

Speaker 2:

You know you really got to have the right people there that understand what hospitality is. You got to have the right people, the right operators and operators there from the very beginning, the not to execute on on any given night. Now you're paying these dealers a lot of money, a lot of money, a big break even, you know, and it from the team of vipos that are soldiers working that city and working their phones and getting the best customers in there and they're fighting with other vipos that are other nightclubs for that those same customers. Right, you got to have the waitresses there ready to upsell and provide the best experience and you know you got to have the right operations team. You got to have the right marketing team. There's so many different parts that that create this one unit and it's hard. It's a hard business to get into, you know, and these dj prices keep getting higher and higher and break that's what I wanted to add, higher and higher.

Speaker 1:

I mean how, how could they make a return off if you're having like a black coffee or whoever it is, come in or drake for you know, for a reason, you know for evening? How can they make a return off that they're paying a million, two million, 2.5 million?

Speaker 3:

are they even trying to? Are they trying to get them into the casino? Outside of the win, they're not making money, that's a good point let's just be real.

Speaker 1:

That's a very good point.

Speaker 2:

The win. They're profitable absolutely, oh yeah, 100% Win. Night life is profitable. A lot of these other clubs, don't you see it? With Live Right Now and Foul and Blue, I mean they are struggling. That's not the impression they wanted to make. You know, coming into Vegas and and Zucrop had its challenges at first and you know, I think that we were able to kind of push through some of those challenges and still created some successful nights.

Speaker 2:

But even there I'm sure their number is not where they want it to be quite yet. You know, and you know Ron's no longer there at Zuc is more on the hotel side, so that's that's a big blow to them firsthand. You know the win. Really, they just capitalize yeah, every event.

Speaker 3:

They really do, they do a great job yeah it's steve went you know the guy was a genius. We're all here because of steve went at the end of the day, do these like nightclubs? Are they owned by the casino or are they renting out of space for the casino, like how?

Speaker 2:

does that? A lot of these nightclubs aren't owned by the actual hotel and it really does help when the nightclub is owned by the hotel. Um, it's not like that with with zook. It's not like that with a lot of the tal group properties. Um, when xs is owned by, when god, okay, that makes no difference so when it has its eyes on it, when it has its own people there, and from the top down they're running it oh god.

Speaker 3:

So you're a win employee at the wind. You're a Zouk employee when you're at Resorts World.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, zouk was a little different. Zouk was owned by, you know, kt Lim's son, so it's a little different. But you know that's one of the reasons why Wynn does so well that it's owned by Wynn.

Speaker 1:

That makes sense because you're at a turning point, you know, family man, like you're saying, going to bed at 8.30, 9 o'clock now, what's keeping you in the hunt right now? What are you really focused on? You know, trying to accomplish maybe over the next five years?

Speaker 2:

or so. When I wake up, first thing I do every single day is just all about my sons. It's all about legacy. It's all about them 1000% you, their future safe, having their future secure and having a last name they're proud of. That's what it's all about for me right now. You know I've been very, very fortunate in this city. I've been very lucky. I work with some great people. I'm blessed to be here. I'm blessed to be here with you guys talking about.

Speaker 2:

You know the story of how I got here, but it's all about them right now. It's all about the family. Yeah, it, yeah it really is.

Speaker 2:

That's awesome. You know, what else are you looking at as far as investing in or getting into different industries right now? What else is on your radar? I got to tell you the world of finance really, really gets me going. You know I'm looking into, like merchant cash advances. Where you know Jason Griggs, we created a company called JA Homes. We're just buying single family homes, rented them out, holding them for the long term. My goal is to buy three investment properties this year. I've already bought three with him in the first quarter.

Speaker 2:

So we're on pace to have 10 by the end of the year. So anything with real estate, anything that creates an ROI that's what it's all about for me. Anything that makes sense.

Speaker 1:

I love the art of the deal, the art of the business deal. I love that. Yeah, it's interesting. You talked about finance. Like I've been, I wouldn't want I need to go back and get a degree just in finance, because that's what rules the world Like. There's like four entities that rule the world as we know them it's media, it's finance, it's you know what's happening on Wall Street, but finance is like it seems like everything. If you can learn the details of what's behind that, it just helps you with everything.

Speaker 2:

If I go back in time, I would have gone to an Ivy League school.

Speaker 1:

I would have been an investment banker?

Speaker 2:

Yeah for sure I would have done in a heartbeat.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, there's so many avenues you can make money in finance. There's not just one way, because if you understand the numbers, you can make everything work. Like you said, you can make any deal work. You can make a business deal, a real estate deal, a loan deal Any deal works if you understand finance and just so much opportunity in the city right now. So much, and everybody wants money and people want to spend it For sure.

Speaker 1:

Did you see what the CEO of NVIDIA was talking about recently? I don't know if you saw that. I didn't even know how much now. It's probably trillions of dollars.

Speaker 3:

now they're like the third largest company.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, they're unreal, but I love what he was saying and the reason why I'm saying this is because of the vibe from being from the East Coast. It's a hardworking town, especially like New England, and I love what he was saying especially I've got two boys just like yourself is he was talking about suffering and he hopes people really go through that, because that's what makes you like literally takes you to the next level of suffering and learning what that suffering is about and that resilience basically matters. So if you get a chance, check out his little speech that he just did recently.

Speaker 2:

I couldn't agree with him more. Yeah, it's powerful.

Speaker 1:

It's super powerful. So mentorship is very important to me, right, and I know you talked a lot about some of your mentors. You know, obviously, that's being in Vegas Circle, who's in your circle that's speaking in your life now that's kind of helping you and guiding you, you know, going in the right direction a billionaire.

Speaker 2:

Okay, and you? Know, he's been very, very successful with his companies that he's that he's created ground up. He's in the oil business in texas, okay texas, okay, you know, and he sold, I think, two or three different companies now for well over, you know, billion dollars. Oh wow he's like 41 years old, jeez, damn okay. So I mean any, any advice when it comes to business or life or anything. I go to him, for you know there's a relationship I was able to um to have from the wind.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, okay, what's one nugget that he shared with you?

Speaker 2:

Again don't let anyone outwork you.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

Don't let anyone ever outwork you yeah. You know I'll, that's my number one. No mantra is someone out there is outworking you. Someone out there is younger, hungrier broker and they're coming. Yeah, for real.

Speaker 1:

I love that, love that. What else is a business advice you could kind of leave? You know, our listeners out on is, you know, maybe they're thinking about starting their own business. You know, what was one nugget that you could share with them, just from your?

Speaker 2:

perspective, someone I always looked up to to help get my start. The one with Sean Christie. Okay, he was on a podcast not too feed the soul and you just got to check the ego at the door and I've been guilty of it. You know a little bit of success. It's easy to get complacent and get a little bit of ego and you know, take your foot off the gas just a little bit. You just can never stop.

Speaker 1:

I agree. I did want to ask you about what family means to you, man, because I know me and you talked a lot about family a little bit, but just for you know, young parents out there, right, like all of us, have got kids at the table and we all struggle with different things. We're all trying to work to try to make sure we manage our time a lot better, but what's something that you're doing to kind of manage your time and trying to make sure that the home, uh, it's still home and your energy is good there, but you're still involved in so many different things. What's one tip you could share for somebody on that?

Speaker 2:

You know, I think growing up I saw my father struggle. I saw my family struggle. You know I remember what it was like to go to church on a Sunday morning and you know, sit down in the aisle and see other families come in, you know, better dressed than us. You know, and even almost look down on us in some ways. That's something I never told anybody and that's something that's always kind of been my fire.

Speaker 1:

I'm not going to let anyone judge me.

Speaker 2:

I'm not going to earn my respect and I think that I come from a long line of many different people, that men whose last name didn't necessarily open doors and they did what they had to do to make sure that last name opened doors. You better believe you know my sons when they get older their last name will open doors.

Speaker 2:

That's what's up and um, you know I just try to be present as much as possible. You got to be present. You know it's hard to have that, not that phone on you text and email and scroll on every little thing that you can do. Yeah, that phone away. And you know you gotta be present. You gotta have that, that family life that's secure. You gotta have that family life that's about love and, um, you know I'm blessed to have, you know, a wife with amalia. That provides that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love it because you you really speaking the truth, like when we were talking on the phone a couple weeks back. Right, we were setting up our time for both of our kids to be sleeping talking yeah, you know to be after that man, so I I'm glad you brought that up. Man is putting the phone down. We talk about all the time at home, man, like when we're eating. Look, put the phone down, man, or we're out to eat, you know, let's stop for a second and let's enjoy this.

Speaker 2:

And it's hard because my number one tray is, you know, my, my, uh, my motivation. I'm always so driven right I want to go go, go. I don't want to miss out on anything, but sometimes you just got to stop and like even this trip to Disney yesterday, like I needed that. Just to stop, smell the roses and just be like, look around you Like you're doing good you can relax for a little bit.

Speaker 1:

That's awesome, man. We always ask all our guests. I know you probably got some gems too, from all the places you've been to but what's one restaurant you can give us a gem of yours that you like, that you can recommend in Vegas?

Speaker 2:

It's so cliche and.

Speaker 1:

I hate to say it but it's Carbone. Okay, okay, I wasn't expecting you to say Carbone, it really is.

Speaker 2:

Why Carbone? It has a special place in my heart because when. I started here in Vegas. I worked at a restaurant called Botero.

Speaker 1:

Ah, okay, familiar with Botero.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's where Jarnan is. Yeah, that was a steakhouse, bot A steakhouse.

Speaker 1:

Botero was one of our favorite sponsors. We used to go there all the time. I was mad when they closed down. Yeah, Botero was fun. What they were trying to do was create that vibe dining like SDK and things like that.

Speaker 2:

When I first moved here it was a struggle. I couldn't get a job anywhere and I was very, very lucky that I was able to get a job at Botero Lunch. My background is in hospitality.

Speaker 2:

I was a waiter I was a server as soon as you come to Vegas. You want to work in the fine dining restaurants. You want to get in the union. You want to make $100,000 a year. You're set. There's no other place in the world that you want to work other than Vegas. When you're in the hospitality industry, I couldn't get a job anywhere, for whatever reason. I would go in these meetings, suit it up.

Speaker 1:

I got this.

Speaker 2:

I couldn't get a job anywhere and I had interviews everywhere. Prime Steakhouse, STK SW Steakhouse, at the win with Brad Brown, is a dear friend of mine now today. So I couldn't get a job nowhere and I got lucky. And I got a job at Botero Lunch and I came from the seaport working at Del Frisco in Boston $18 million a year

Speaker 2:

steakhouse, killing it. I was a sommelier there. All the athletes know me, celebrities know me, they're texting me when they need a reservation. And, humbly, I got a job at Botero Lunch, you know serving hot dogs and chicken fingers and working from 10 to 12. And so that whole staff, when they closed down Botero, that whole staff went to Carbone.

Speaker 1:

So these were the people that kind of took me under their wing.

Speaker 2:

That embraced me. I didn't know anybody in this city that had no friends, and those were my friends. So, that whole staff of Carbone. That's why it's a special place in my heart.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

And I take my son there all the time. He's four years old.

Speaker 1:

I think they have a. No, I don't eat pasta and make a mess. Carbone is good. I'm not going to. I don't disagree. I just I thought you were going to say something else, but Carbone is really good, so it's hard to get a reservation there too, man. So yeah, that's what I said.

Speaker 3:

That's what I said.

Speaker 1:

Man, I appreciate you, man. This is good to hang out with you for a little bit.

Speaker 2:

But what do you want to leave short? Yeah, no, and I think that there's just such an opportunity to be in this city right now, the way that it's growing. I agree with you know what you can do. You can change your whole life. No, never accept your circumstances for what they are and definitely let someone else tell you what your circumstances are, who you are, who you can be for real and just take advantage of it and just if you can dream it, you can do it.

Speaker 3:

Simple as that Because.

Speaker 2:

I shouldn't be here. I came here as a fine dining server, got a job at Botero Lunch. Somehow I got lucky and was able to get a job at XS and Encore Beach Club, became a very, very successful VIP host and I live a very, very blessed life that I'm thankful for, and I shouldn't be here. The odds were against me and blessed life that I'm thankful for and I shouldn't be here.

Speaker 1:

The odds were against me, and I did it.

Speaker 2:

That's what's up, man, if I can do it, anybody can do it. You just can't let anyone outwork you.

Speaker 1:

You can't Well keep paying attention to ACE man. I've been chopping it up with him for a while, man, so I'm, I'm I'm going to say this motivating, you know, like I told you before on the phone. So, uh, appreciate you. And where can people check you out? Check you out with your social handles?

Speaker 2:

People can reach out to you, Ace Pachico, on Instagram. I'm a very, very accessible. You know I've never been that person that a lot of individuals in the city reach out to for advice or a phone call or lunch. My door's always open. I'm always happy to share any advice, help out any way I can.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, well, appreciate sitting down with you, man, and check us out at VegasArtcom, so subscribe with us, man.

Speaker 2:

So thanks a lot, man.

Speaker 3:

Thank you Thank you guys Appreciate it. That was really good. Thank you guys.