Rush Consultant Lorie Stefanelli

They’re secretive and they’re selective but Rush Consultant Lorie Stefanelli specializes in helping young women get into the sorority of their dreams. We talk rush does and don’ts, why sororities are popular again and the secrets hidden behind closed doors. Then, we countdown the Top 5 Bad Sayings.

Lorie Stefanelli: 01:40

Pointless: 40:26

Top 5 Bad Sayings: 01:03:23

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Interview with Sorority Rush Consultant Lorie Stefanelli

Nick VinZant 0:12

Welcome to Profoundly Pointless. My name is Nick VinZant. Coming up in this episode rush, and bad sayings,

Lorie Stefanelli 0:21

they now have to make a video, they have to do essay questions. So it's not just like showing up in a cute dress anymore. That's by design, because it's marketing. They want to market themselves as a certain type of house or sorority on campus, TV and in movies, really take that stereotype and run with it and make it so like, just gross, I guess I can't even begin to tell you how many doors have opened. For me, being a part of my sorority,

Nick VinZant 0:53

I want to thank you so much for joining us. If you get a chance, subscribe, leave us a rating or review. We really appreciate it, it really helps us out. If you're a new listener, welcome to the show. If you're a longtime listener, thank you so much for all of your support. So our first guest specializes in helping people get into the sororities of their dreams. But even if you're not interested in what you should do, or you shouldn't do, I think she has a fascinating look at fraternities and sororities, the role they play in our society, the secrets they have, and why we're so fascinated. This is rush consultant, Maury Stefanelli. What is rush like for people who are not familiar with this, what is rush?

Lorie Stefanelli 1:45

Sure, so sorority Rush is the process in which young women college aged usually 18, fresh out of high school who are fixing to go off to college and want to join a sorority. So basically, what that entails is, they sign up to go through the process, and they go and visit all the different houses that are on their campus. And then from there, you know, it gets narrowed down to, you know, their choice at the end for the day.

Nick VinZant 2:11

So it's essentially like a selection process, right? It's auditioning for a selection process.

Lorie Stefanelli 2:16

Yes, I would definitely say it's more of a selection, mutual selection process, both on the sorority side, and on the potential new member side.

Nick VinZant 2:23

Why is this important? Why is getting into a good sorority or a sorority? Like why is this so important to people?

Lorie Stefanelli 2:30

Sure, I think it's important to young women, especially now, it's important because it's giving them a community within a smaller community within a bigger community of their college campus. So it allows him to connect with other women who share the same values, who are like minded, and allows them to also get involved in other areas on campus and within the community as well. But obviously, for social reasons, right? Like people want to be social in college, they want to have fun and go to football games and parties and things like that. So this is definitely a good place to do that with. And if that makes sense.

Nick VinZant 3:10

Is it more than kind of the cool club at the end of the day?

Lorie Stefanelli 3:13

It is to be quite honest. You know, there's a lot of girls who maybe aren't like the big partiers, but instead, what they like to do is they are more into their academics. So it's allows them to push themselves a little bit further, because you have to keep up your grades in order to stay in the sorority. It gives them scholarship opportunities as well within the national organization. So yeah, I mean, it's definitely a stepping stone and it opens a lot of doors for so many women.

Nick VinZant 3:43

When it goes through like the rush process, the selection process. Is this about somebody's grades, somebody's morals, somebody's ethics, or is this like, she's cute, and she's pretty, she looks like us bring her in the club.

Lorie Stefanelli 3:58

Um, I would definitely say it's a little bit of both. So I think more of the like, she's a well rounded person, we really like her. But there are certain houses at certain campuses that are more like, Oh, she's really cute. Like, we would love to have her. We call them Lux houses. And so that's kind of like what they're into. And that's perfectly fine. If that's something that you're into as well then Godspeed, but I think some other girls are more like, we want the full package.

Nick VinZant 4:28

I think that may be for people who are looking at it first from the outside, like, this is like an inside versus outside, right? Like if you're on the inside. This makes complete sense. And if you're on the outside, this doesn't make any sense at all. Like how would you kind of explain it to somebody like that might think what's going on here?

Lorie Stefanelli 4:45

Yeah, I think to explain it to someone from the outside. Like I always say like, Oh, if they're from like Europe or you know, a different country, because this is truly an American thing. And I think just to explain to somebody about what it means to be in a sorority or what it takes to be in a sorority, it's, it's really just young women, like if you go back and think about it, in the early years of on college campuses in the late 1800s, early 1900s, going to college for a woman was a very new thing. And so and there weren't a lot of women on campus to begin with. So they had to create their own groups, in order for them to feel supported. And they were kind of like the first feminist groups on campus back in the day. Over the years, it's kind of morphed into something else. So if you look back at like, the 50s, and 60s, it was very much like, Oh, she's cute, like, you know, let's, let's have her join our sorority, it was very, I guess, a little shallow, if you will, because it was just more of like a social club. It was a social organization. You know, when my mom was in her sorority in the 60s, it was very much about, you know, going to school and getting your Mrs. degree and finding a husband. And I think people now still think of it in that terms. But y'all, it is in our Dear Lord 2023, year 2023, like we've evolved, right? So I think in the 80s, it became very like passe, like, nobody really wanted to join one and a little bit into the 90s, as well. But I think with social media, it's really kind of picked back up in popularity. But sororities in general have also picked up on like, hey, we need to evolve in order to stay current, and to keep our traditions alive. So now you see that women are joining sororities, for a lot of different reasons. It's the connections you'll make during and after college. It's job opportunities. It's, like I said, scholarship opportunities, it's ways to network and connect with people. You know, like I said, I work for Warner Brothers discovery, we have an internship program here. So one of the things that I let my girls know is like, if you're ever interested, we have an internship program for you waiting for the summer. So I think it's an evolved into so much more than what it used to be back in the 50s and 60s. But definitely, you know, starting to be a little bit more aware of like, what the reputation can be, because I think a lot of people still think of sororities as being women who want to find a husband, women who were just there to look pretty and like, you know, whatever. But I think it's explaining to someone who just doesn't know what this is. It's just, it's a social group. It's a support system for young women when they're away from their families. And, you know, college for the first time, it's, it's really just a support system.

Nick VinZant 7:41

Looking at kind of the South, that seems to be the biggest area for sororities and fraternities on a scale of like, one to 10 How important is this for somebody coming into college? Is this like, no big deal? Or is this like, my life is over if I don't get into where I want?

Lorie Stefanelli 7:59

I guess it all depends on the person. But I think if you're going to school, like a big SEC school, Alabama, you know, Auburn, Georgia, it's a big deal. It's a really big deal. I would say it's like an eight or nine

Nick VinZant 8:11

pretty far up there. Right. But it's is everybody kind of getting in to something ultimately, are there people that are just, man, you're out? You're you're at the nerd table.

Lorie Stefanelli 8:23

I mean, okay, so again, going back to the 50s, it used to be like that, like if you, if you had 10 sororities on campus, and you were meant to be with the nerd table, then you were probably not going to get a bid. But now they've made it so that it's more of a mutual selection process, right. So at the end of the day, if you stick with the process, you will end up with a sorority, will it be the sorority you want? Probably not? Or maybe not that? I guess, like all really depends on like the girl, but at the end of the day, if you stick to the process, you will end up with the house.

Nick VinZant 9:01

So as a rush consultant, like, what do you do? And phase two? Like? Yeah,

Lorie Stefanelli 9:07

no, that's a good question. I get asked, like, what could you possibly be teaching these girls in? I am teaching them a lot. Having my background and human resources, allows me to one have sometimes difficult conversations with these girls like sometimes they need to be brought down a little bit, or they need to like, take a step back and look at the big picture of like what this really is. So I have a lot of experience in doing that. But in addition, I help them with the prep of doing it. So that could be the registration process. They now have to make a video, they have to do essay questions. So it's not just like showing up in a cute dress anymore. You know, it's like really walking them through that process. And when you go to a school like Alabama, where they could potentially have 3000 girls going through recruitment in only 18 houses. is available, you know, how do you? How do you stand out? Right? It's in, it's competitive in the sense of like, if there's houses that certain girls want, it's gonna be harder to get into those houses. So how do I help them stick out and shine. And that could be in a lot of different ways, whether it's their social media presence, how they do their video, how they do their essay questions. And their conversations during the party. So I help out with all of that. And then wardrobe also,

Nick VinZant 10:26

what would you say is kind of the biggest thing that people most of your clients like, oh, they need it's usually they it's this thing that they have to work on? What thing? Do they need to work on the most? What thing do people usually like? They kind of got this

Lorie Stefanelli 10:38

since COVID, I think the biggest thing that a lot of young women need help with is talking about themselves. And talking to somebody that they don't know, without having a phone in their hand or whatever. I think ever since COVID, a lot of these kids have been deprived of like social interactions, and, you know, joining clubs and sports and things like that. So they're like really hungry for it. But at the same time, they're anxious about it. So I need to kind of help them figure out like, what is your story? What is your narrative? Like? How do you want to present yourself to these girls? Let's figure out what that is. And like, let's craft that into your conversation. So that when you walk in, you have a little bit of like, you know, a sales pitch. And I find that a lot of young girls hate talking about themselves. You know, it's like that self, you know, deprecation is like already there. So just really trying to get them comfortable, like, you know, saying things about themselves and even introducing themselves to young other young women.

Nick VinZant 11:41

I don't know if this question is going to be a brilliant question or a kind of like, an impossible one to answer. But if you were to design like the perfect sorority rush candidate, what is the hair look like? What's the personality? What's the clothes? What's the shoes? Like? What would you cut? How, what would they look like?

Lorie Stefanelli 11:59

Everyone's so different? I don't know if I can really answer that. Because I feel like mostly it's going to be a girl who has confidence. Honestly, a girl who can pick up very quickly, like anything that I'm teaching her. And then also like, you know, like, if she's not the cutest girl in the world, maybe I'm not gonna change her, I'm not going to make her go dye her hair and get fake eyelashes and tell her to go spend hundreds of dollars on clothes. What I'm going to do is I'm going to say, that's a really cute dress. But what I would do instead of red, why don't we go with blue? Because I saw you were blue the other day, and I thought it was a fantastic color on you. So it's just like more like, you know, smoothing out the rough edges, if you will,

Nick VinZant 12:42

presenting the best version of themselves. Correct. So I only know about this from like what I've seen on social media. And when I look at it, like, everybody kind of looks the same like this house, they all look the same. This house, they all look the same.

Lorie Stefanelli 12:58

That's by design. Why is that that's by design, because it's marketing. They want to market themselves as a certain type of house or sorority on campus. And it's so that they can pull in those same types of girls. And if you notice, it's the same exact sororities from the exact same campuses that always do the videos on social media. There's a lot of other stories that you don't see them doing that because they don't have to, you know,

Nick VinZant 13:27

oh, so really the ones that you see on social media, those are kind of a quote unquote, lower houses.

Lorie Stefanelli 13:34

I think it's not that they're like a lower house. I think it's just that that's what they like to present themselves at, as, and then they like to pull in those same types of girls.

Nick VinZant 13:46

So it's not like this is the blonde house. This is the brunette house, right. And the redhead house kind of stuff.

Lorie Stefanelli 13:52

Yeah, I mean, and honestly, like the girls who are the sororities that do those videos, it's the same girls in the same videos over and over and over. Trust me, like those ones that you see with all the blonde girls that look like Barbie dolls. They have the brunette sitting in the back that you know, that's just not their jam. Like they don't want to be on social media, but they have specific groups of girls within the sororities that you know, are the same ones over and over doing those videos.

Nick VinZant 14:19

I think that throughout this interview, you can kind of tell that I certainly have a certain opinion about it right like and I feel like I've kind of let that influence this a little bit. Does the way that I'm kind of coming off is that a true perception like that kind of like all these people are the same it's Baptist, bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla, right, I'm being dramatic. But do I have a good analysis of it? Or am i Are you secretly like this guy's completely wrong and you're missing the point?

Lorie Stefanelli 14:46

I think you are wrong and missing.

Nick VinZant 14:49

Okay. That's fair. That's fair, right? Yeah.

Lorie Stefanelli 14:53

Honestly, like, I know, society and culture wants us to put us in like this. boxes like this is what it means to be in a sorority. And this is what you look like. And this is what you wear. And it's it's some like, again, there are some elements of that, but it's not everything. And I think it's just a matter of what that sorority is putting out there. To see, you know, like, oh, like, because they're gonna attract those same types of girls. So there is an element of it, where it's a little vapid and just kind of like shallow, but it really is so much more than that.

Nick VinZant 15:26

When you look at like, say, the rush as a whole. How can you like sum up? I know this is obviously very different depending on colleges, etc, etc. But how does the whole process kind of basically work?

Lorie Stefanelli 15:38

Yeah, so surprisingly enough, most college campuses are under the umbrella of the National Panhellenic Association. And the National Panhellenic Association basically, is the governing council over all of the national sororities on college campuses. So when you go to a school regardless if you go to, you know, Boise State, Alabama, you know, Arizona State, wherever you're Villanova, it doesn't matter where you're going, the foundation of recruitment is going to be the same, because they all have to adhere to the guidelines process and rules of what Panhellenic sets. So they'll do an orientation day, right? So orientations, the first day of recruitment, you go and get assigned, what they call like a recruitment counselor. Some schools call it like, Ro Kai's, Chi Chi's whatever. And she is a woman who has disaffiliated, from her sorority, for the summer, so that she can help prospective new members find their home. And she's supposed to be a guide, if you will. And so you get assigned to Rho Chi, and that Rho Chi has, let's say, 20 girls under her arm. During recruitment, she is saying, Okay, this is your schedule, this is where you need to go. So orientation is the first day. Now, since COVID, this is a holdover from COVID. Essentially, you have to make a video, and then the sororities make a video. And what happens is, they're watching every single potential new members video, and then you have to watch every single sororities video. So after that orientation day, you're watching these videos, and then you have to go and rank all the sororities in order from your very, very favorite to your least favorite, the sororities do the same thing, but on a much larger scale. Because at Alabama, if you have 13, potential new members and 18, sororities, they're having to do that for 3000 Girls. So they're essentially doing the same thing, but on a much bigger scale. So you'll go in, and you'll say, okay, of the 18 sororities, I saw, these are my top 10. And then everything else, I'll just rank below below that. And then the next day, when you go into the second party day of parties, you'll get an invitation list back of where you got invited. And I think the biggest misconception is that people think like, Oh, I'm gonna cut this sorority because I don't like them. It doesn't work like that, like you're ranking them, not cutting them. And so even if you ranked a sorority dead last, you could still potentially get invited back to their house the next day for a party.

Nick VinZant 18:15

Does that end up though, like where somebody just, it almost seems like a system that could end up with every kind of nobody getting exactly what they want it correct.

Lorie Stefanelli 18:24

Yeah, the point is, is that it's as again, as long as you see it through, because the point of all the parties is for you to meet as many sorority members as possible so that you can make that decision. Like, you might walk in thinking like, oh, my gosh, tried out their Instagram, these girls are so beautiful, I want to be a part of them. They're awesome, blah, blah, blah. And then you get there. And you're like, oh, actually, I'm not quite sure about these girls. And so as you go through all the different parties and meeting all these different women, you'll start to realize like, Oh, now it shifted away from Tridel. And now I'm looking more at Kayo or zeta or PI phi or whatever. And that's kind of the point of it, right is like you want to meet as many people as possible so that you can make the best decision for yourself. And again, they're doing the same thing. If you talk to five girls at pi phi, they're all fake trying to figure out like, oh my gosh, Lori was awesome. She had the best conversations. She was funny. She was, you know, super, like bubbly, bubbly, blah, or they're gonna say like, you know what, she didn't really talk a lot. She didn't ask any questions, she seemed bored. And then that's kind of like how they make their decision of the PNM is moving forward. So you'll go to those houses. And every day, you have to rank and you get less and less invites back because there's a max amount of number that you can get invited back to each party. So because I mean, look, if they wanted to invite 3000 girls back every day, I'm sure they would, but they can't. So and obviously they want to spread it out evenly amongst all the 18 houses. So as you go through the process, you're getting your invite list back. It goes, for example, at Alabama, it goes from 18 to 12 to seven, two. So let's say I go get invited back for philanthropy round, and the max number of invites that I can get back is 12, I probably won't get 12, I'll probably get eight, right. And anything that's not on my invitation list, I'm done. Like, I'm not going back to that house, I'll never think about them. See if I see them again or anything, I got enough focus on who is on my invite list, and go to those parties and you know, have a good time and enjoy myself. And then again, out, you go into sisterhood and the maximum number of invites, you can get a seven, I might not get seven, I might get four. And then going into preference, the max number of invites you can get as to

Nick VinZant 20:44

when when you were going through it like when you went through the process. Did you get to the place that you ultimately wanted? Yes.

Lorie Stefanelli 20:51

Yes. Thank you. It's my number one choice

Nick VinZant 20:57

for Pete does that How often does that happen, though, if you were to put a percentage on it, like 10% of the time somebody gets exactly what

Lorie Stefanelli 21:04

they want? I yeah, I would definitely say it's more than that. I would probably say it's like 60%. Oh, that's

Nick VinZant 21:11

pretty good. Yeah, one person out of 100 actually gets what they want. And the other 99 are at like, loser, loser fi.

Lorie Stefanelli 21:21

Well, it's so funny, because I remember a couple years ago, I was helping this girl at Alabama, she was from Chicago. And she was left with a house that she absolutely loved. And a house that she was just like, there's just not my vibe. And I coached her through that. I'm like, when you go in there, this is what you're going to tell this house that you love. And you're just going to knock it out of the park and like you're just going to be awesome. And she ended up getting that house on her birthday list. So she was really excited.

Nick VinZant 21:50

Success Story, right? Yes,

Lorie Stefanelli 21:51

yes, yes.

Nick VinZant 21:52

So kind of the devil's advocate, I don't know if that's the right question or not, right. But you see this stuff on social media? And let's take that with a grain of salt, right? Do people do people of color to people from less affluent backgrounds? Did they kind of get left out in the process?

Lorie Stefanelli 22:10

I don't think so. I think when you're talking about certain regions of the country, it can seem like that. But I think it's also because there aren't a lot of you know, people of color, women of color, or from different socio economic backgrounds that go through the process. Now, if you go to a big school like Alabama, you probably won't see a lot of those women rushing, but there they are there. It's just not in huge numbers. And I think now at schools, especially in the south, they're starting to realize, again, like we have to evolve in order to stay where we're at, because at the end of the day, sororities nationally, they function as businesses, they're nonprofits, but they run like actual companies. And so they realize like, hey, like, we need to diversify, we need to, you know, in all forms, right, whether it's race, gender, sexuality, socio economic backgrounds, whatever, like, there are programs established to kind of help them kind of break through and get those types of members because they realize that they're only going to be stronger when they have that diversity within their chapter.

Nick VinZant 23:25

Um, as a rush consultant, how's business, I guess, are you in demand?

Lorie Stefanelli 23:29

Yes. The main good. Seems good for that, right. Yes. I'm already booking for spring, so January recruitment?

Nick VinZant 23:39

How far in advance will people like contact and get ready for this?

Lorie Stefanelli 23:43

So if you are rushing in August, which is a fall recruitment, people usually reach out to me in the winter, I would say so prior to even them graduating, and I started working with them in April.

Nick VinZant 23:59

Now, are they reaching out? Are the parents reaching out? There's always like the student reaching out through the parents, right? Like,

Lorie Stefanelli 24:05

a little bit of? Yeah, it's a little bit of both, I would say. It's probably 60% Parents 40% young women.

Nick VinZant 24:13

Okay, do you have to manage the parents a role? I say this because that's, that is the answer. I interviewed. Previous guests was a beauty pageant coach, and he said, like, I manage the parents far more than I manage any of my contestants. Yes. What are the what are the parents like?

Lorie Stefanelli 24:33

Their parents were just like, I'm stepping away. This is her deal. Like I'm just here to like kind of, you know, be the person who's paying. And then there are parents who love to be on every session love to ask questions, love to really be a part of it. I've had one one mom who that was a complete, you know, lesson learned on my end to do certain sessions with just the girl and not let the pair went in and she took over, she would answer questions for the daughter, she would interrupt and tell the daughter like, No, this is how you should answer it. Or she would focus on certain things that weren't that important. And it was just an it was a nightmare to be quite honest.

Nick VinZant 25:15

Yeah, I think there's always that parent, right? From sporting events to everything. There's always that always that parent is there. But it does all of this put a lot of pressure on younger people, right? Like, does this Is this too much pressure? Maybe for somebody to be handling? Or is this like, no, like, this is life now? And you got to get used to it?

Lorie Stefanelli 25:37

Yeah, I think there are some girls, for example, I had one girl earlier this year. And it was too much, you know? And quite honestly, like, it got very overwhelming for her. Because I was like, No, you need to change your picture on social media to this or you need to start following all the sororities on Instagram, you need to put together social resume you need to, and it was just too much for her. Like she just could not handle it. So I was just like, all right, you know, like, if y'all want to step away, I'm perfectly fine with that. If something changes, please let me know I'm more than happy to step back in and help. And then sometimes you get girls are just really lazy and think if they show up and look cute, that they'll be fine. And like, they don't want to listen to what I say. And I'm like, your parents pay good money to have me help you. So let me help you, you know, and then they'll start to flail, and I'm telling you at the 11th hour, they're like, Oh my God, I need help. And I'm just like,

Nick VinZant 26:34

we've been can't do it. So how much do you charge?

Lorie Stefanelli 26:39

I just would rather not say okay, um, it's not, it's not pricey, but what I will say is that I do offer, like discounts for military. You know, if your parent was like a police officer or anything like that, you know, my father in law's a retired New York city cop. So like, I understand, like, you know, having a family member who is police officer, or firefighter or military, girls who are full rights, got academic scholars, if they can't afford the services, I'll help them out. I had this one girl who, who was going to school at Alabama and rushing, she really wanted to do it. And her parents were just like, you're responsible for paying, she took two jobs. And to help kind of like pay for my services. One of them was at J Crew, so she could use her discount for the clothes and stuff like that for rush. And then I found out her dad was really sick. And I found out that she was killing herself to do all of this because she really wanted it. And when I found out her dad was ill because I lost my father in my senior year in college. And the people that were there for me, were my sorority sisters. They were by my side throughout the entire process. And I just knew that for her like this meant something and she really wanted it. So I just stopped charging her.

Nick VinZant 27:59

Can you make a living as a full time brush consultant? Like, is this industry big enough that you could do this full time? And be comfortable?

Lorie Stefanelli 28:07

Yes. Yeah, well, and I live in New York City.

Nick VinZant 28:13

But is that because it's that in demand? Or because there's not really that many people who do it?

Lorie Stefanelli 28:19

Um, a little bit of both. I will say that, you know, I was in the documentary Bama rush. And I would say most of my clients actually come from tick tock, but what I will say is ever since that documentary came out, everyone's rush consultant, everyone is. Yeah, that's how it works. Right? I've been doing this for 10 years.

Nick VinZant 28:41

Okay, now, is there the opposite of not the opposite of a rush consultant. But is there fraternity consultants?

Lorie Stefanelli 28:47

I don't know. Actually, I've never come across one. There. They're just their processes. So different. It's like, there's this more like, Dude, can you get hot chicks? And you know, to our parties, it's like that kind of thing. Like, how many beers Can you drink? You know, it's like, it's just so different.

Nick VinZant 29:05

Are you ready for some harder slash listener submitted questions? Yeah, bring it biggest mistake most people make.

Lorie Stefanelli 29:11

Not coming in prepared, you know, just showing up and winging it. And not having good conversations. I think another big mistake is their social media presence. Like, look, I was 18 I grew up in El Paso, Texas on the border. I started going over to Mexico, you know, when I was like, 15, like I get it kids drink. You know, biggest mistake is having social media pictures where it's, you know, lip synching to dirty lyrics or, you know, having red solo cups or, you know, whatever, you know, a white claw or anything like that in their social media, because sororities don't want to see that. And I think a lot of girls think sororities do want to see that.

Nick VinZant 29:54

Yeah, that's jumps out of me, right? Because that's, it's like they don't want to see the thing that call Just kind of secretly all about, yeah. Hardest sorority to get into.

Lorie Stefanelli 30:04

It's it varies on by campus to be honest because like I was a Chi Omega, but a Chi Omega from my school would have been completely different from like Iowa or Northwestern or you know, whatever. Like, I'm currently involved in the New York City Chi Omega Alumni Association here. And we have Chi Omega is from all over the country, and everyone is just so different

Nick VinZant 30:29

school where sorority is everything, like what schools would you say? Like, oh, it is everything at these schools.

Lorie Stefanelli 30:37

Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, Ole mess, University of Florida. UNC. I'm trying to think where else? It used to be Texas. And it's not it's not a huge thing anymore, because like the student population is so diverse now. Indiana, oddly enough.

Nick VinZant 31:01

Why is it it why is it seems to be confined almost exclusively to the south

Lorie Stefanelli 31:04

tradition. I think for the most part, like having that tradition, whether it's in football pageants, you know, a lot of the women who went to school down there end up staying down there, because they're from the area, they're from the region. So they stay down there. And their mothers were probably in sororities, and their mothers mothers were probably in sorority. So it's this line of tradition that continues. And I don't want to sound mean or anything. But you know, if this is what you want to do, this is fine. But a lot of them may not pursue a career. So they, you know, they're in junior league, or, you know, anything like that, where they're getting involved in kind of like another sorority, if you will. And that just kind of continues, and they're a part of it, which is great. Like, that's fine. But then there are areas where, like, let's say, the east coast, where you won't find a lot of sorority alums in this area, it's really hard to actually define them. You know, if they're married and have kids and they live in the suburbs, or wherever. It's harder to find alums living in that area than in the South.

Nick VinZant 32:18

This one just says, how much of this is about the boys? No,

Lorie Stefanelli 32:23

none of it. Like so for example, you are not allowed to talk about boys during recruitment process. You're not going out to frat parties after the party, you have to rush parties. You're not doing any of that because it's not allowed. And so they want to make it truly about this sisterhood. So if you're on campus, going through recruitment, in some frat is throwing a rager. You PMS are not allowed to go. potential new member Yes, sorry. Potentially members. Yeah, they're not allowed to go. Then you don't talk about boys. You don't talk about, you know, who do you mix with or anything like that? That's just considered like, in poor taste, because again, they want to focus on the sisterhood.

Nick VinZant 33:04

Oh, this was kind of interesting, biggest stereotype that isn't true,

Lorie Stefanelli 33:07

that we're all dumb. And that we're only there to party.

Nick VinZant 33:13

Do you think that that some of that comes from people from the outside kind of looking at it with a certain mindset?

Lorie Stefanelli 33:20

Yes, I think it comes from like movies and television. Because if you think about it, if you see sorority's on TV, like the best movie that I can think of that actually is like one of my favorite movies is The House Bunny. And, you know, she's like the Playboy Bunny that becomes like the house mom of the sorority. And they're like the nerdy sorority, but she like makes them cool and hot or whatever. But that's a stereotype, right? Like, they're, it's not a stereotype of the beautiful girls, it's a stereotype of like, the bad or the loser sorority, but like they have the mean girl sorority that terrorizes them. But if you think about it, like no national sorority ever lends their name out to any movies, books, television series. And there's a reason for that, because I feel like TV and in movies really take that stereotype and run with it and make it so like, just gross, I guess. And I think at the end of the day, like they're just trying to protect their reputations.

Nick VinZant 34:24

Yeah, and I think that you could see it in kind of my line of questioning necessarily is that movies and TV and media puts it into a category. And then no matter how hard anybody tries, it's but it's already in this category.

Lorie Stefanelli 34:36

Yeah. And honestly, I think like the National sororities, they're like, that's fine. If you want to think of us like that, go for it. But like, we're not like that. And that's why they don't lend their names out.

Nick VinZant 34:44

How will this impact my life moving forward? Why should I join a sorority at this age? How will this benefit me later in life? Basically,

Lorie Stefanelli 34:56

I can't even begin to tell you how many doors have opened for me, being a part of my sorority. I think that after you graduate, you can do what you want with it. A lot of girls are like, peace out, I'm done, like, you know, like moving on to the next chapter in my life. And there are a lot of girls who are like, this helped me in so many ways, or this was such a great experience for me that when I move and find my career outside of college, like, I'll join the Alumni Association, or I'll go to different events that they hold in my city. And it just only connects you to other people. Example, in New York City, I've met so many wonderful women who are in different, you know, careers and different stages of their life. But I learned so much more from people from all over the country that I've met here in New York, when I lived in Chicago, same thing, every single girl that I'm really good friends with was a part of my sorority, but from a different campus. And I get to learn about people and you know, how they grew up, or what their college experience was, like, because it's all different, you know, depending on where you're at. But I think honestly, like, it's just the connections, the networking, the opportunities, whether it's in your career, or you know, anything like that, it can help you if you want, you can basically work it to your advantage.

Nick VinZant 36:20

What do you really think of all the videos on Tiktok?

Lorie Stefanelli 36:24

Um, you know, they're cute, they're, they're, I think they're harmless. I think what gets what gets a lot of these girls not I don't want to say in trouble, but um, I think for a lot of sororities, they don't enjoy because ever since 2021, when all these tick tock videos were going viral, which was outpacing the Olympics during that time, which I thought was funny. I think when that started to happen, and then the trend caught on last year, and now this year, sororities are thinking like, well, these girls aren't serious, they only want clout, or they want to get famous. And I think it's a detriment to those potential new members. But I think they're cute, like I like it's interesting to kind of see like, Oh, like this girl put this outfit together or whatever. And now you're seeing girls of different ethnicities, different, you know, various different backgrounds. You know, you had grant Sykes last year who, I guess I don't, I'm not keeping up with him or following him, but at the time he are they non binary? So, you know, it's like, really interesting to kind of see all of that, but I personally think they're cute, but I can understand why sororities wouldn't want them to do that.

Nick VinZant 37:37

What do you think that it is about, like people from the outside that kind of why do you think they're so fascinated by it? Because

Lorie Stefanelli 37:44

everything is a secret, and everything is, you know, kept, you know, only between, like this small group of people. And I think when you have that, like, you know, that secrecy or whatever, I think a lot of people are like, what are you keeping a secret? You know, like, everyone loves to hear a good secret, right? So I think it's just like, well, what are you hiding? You know, like, there must be something there. I think that's why people get fascinated with it. Because at the end of the day, behind closed doors, they have no idea what's going on. Yeah, I

Nick VinZant 38:13

could see that right, because you see this stuff. And you're like, well, if they're doing this in public, what are they really doing? You know, what's really going on? Yeah, is there usually a big secret behind closed doors or any kind of like, amounts to you go behind the secret curtain? And it's the secret sauce is just amazing catch up kind of thing?

Lorie Stefanelli 38:33

Um, yeah, it's so this is really funny. At the end of the day, most sororities like they have an initiation, right, like at the end of your, your new member program, or pledge ship when I was in the 90s. That's what we called it. But at the end of the day, a lot of the initiations are like relatively the same. Yeah. And so with that being said, like, I think if you did look in you would see like this beautiful house, with these lovely girls inside. And at the end of the day, it's just a big meeting, right? you'd meet every week and you have your pledge meeting and you have your you know, actives meeting and then you guys are discussing like, okay, Homecoming is coming up, we're gonna pair up. I mean, it's really not a lot of you know, anything. It's just really awesome people getting together and having fun on college campuses.

Nick VinZant 39:23

That's really all the questions I guys anything that you think that we missed? How can people get a hold of you all that kind of stuff?

Lorie Stefanelli 39:28

Yeah, so my website is Greek chic. nyc.com I'm on tick tock, Greek chic NYC as well. And yeah, I mean, other than, you know, I'm really, I love doing what I do. And I love helping girls reach their full potential while still figuring out who they are. And I think I help out with that a lot. So I'm part therapist part cool aunt part, you know, ballbreaker. So, yeah,

Nick VinZant 39:59

I want to Thanks, Lori, so much for joining us if you want to connect with her, we have linked to her on our social media accounts. We're Profoundly Pointless on tick tock threads, Instagram and YouTube. And we've also included her information in the episode description. Quick reminder, the YouTube version of this episode will be live on July 20, at 4:30pm Pacific. Okay, now let's bring in John Shaw and get to the pointless part of his show. Have you ever been a part of a secret club?

John Shull 40:35

No, but I always wish you ever seen the movie The skulls?

Nick VinZant 40:39

Yeah, the original one right with the guy Paul Walker, the original one.

John Shull 40:44

I remember Josh Jackson. I don't remember Paul Walker. But I'm sure always

Nick VinZant 40:48

wait is Josh Jackson, the guy that I think is Topher Grace.

John Shull 40:54

I'm gonna guess probably yes.

Nick VinZant 40:55

There's always those actors of a certain age that you can't exactly remember who which one is like I always got Kurt Russell and Patrick Swayze confused

John Shull 41:03

Jesus. Okay. Well, that I that I don't forgive you for but Topher Grace, and anybody else that you mentioned prior to Kurt Russell, and Patrick Swayze, I'm okay with.

Nick VinZant 41:14

Okay. So go on about you always wanted to be a part of the skulls?

John Shull 41:18

Yeah, I just, you know, growing up, I mean, it was I 1516 or something, when that movie came out, I always thought it'd be cool to be a member of a secret society or something. And then you get older, and you actually kind of realize that they're kind of lame, really.

Nick VinZant 41:35

I think that some of them can probably have really good connections. But those are probably the ones that we've never really heard about, or don't really know very much about. If you kind of know about it, it's probably not that great of a secret.

John Shull 41:48

Like, what's that? The book or the movies with Tom Hanks? The Davinci Code, like the Illuminati and stuff, like, if those are real, that's badass.

Nick VinZant 41:59

Yeah, I think that life is really much more simpler than that. I don't really think that there is a big grand conspiracy or secret groups that are controlling the world. I think generally, when that stuff happens, it's usually playing right in front of you. And we just don't pay any attention to it.

John Shull 42:14

Isn't that how we live our lives? We don't realize what's right in front of us, Nick, we don't realize what's right there.

Nick VinZant 42:19

What we're always looking for something, some new danger, some new trend, but the reality is usually directly in front of us, right? Like it's not going to be some secretive thing that gets you it's going to be a car. Right?

John Shull 42:30

Speaking of danger, I have to tell you, we can talk about it now or we can talk about it after the segment. But something happened in my basement yet again, during ping pong.

Nick VinZant 42:45

What is it? Like at some point, like we gotta hear another basement story.

John Shull 42:49

I mean, it's becoming regular. I had a guy go through my wall. I've had people scuff up the ceiling, hitting it with ping pong paddles. This one's This one's pretty good, though. Okay, all right. Let's hear so one of the guy who one of the guys whose plays is he's like six foot four. He's a tall lanky guy. And I have some floating shells with probably when I'm looking at him probably about 30 glasses on them.

Nick VinZant 43:15

Yeah, dude. Like, I'm just gonna go ahead and jump into this right at this point right now, right? Like, there's a reason that everybody puts a ping pong table in the garage, not in their basement. I mean, you might write like, let's have a, let's have a bullfighting ring. Where are you going to put it basement. It's a bad idea. Okay, there's things go in certain places. And when you try to buck the system, this is what happens to you. And the fact that you haven't learned your lesson is mind boggling to me.

John Shull 43:38

You know me for how long now? I'm never going to learn my lesson. Never.

Nick VinZant 43:43

Why is that though? Like, why don't? Why don't you learn?

John Shull 43:47

Because you know what? Someday, I'm going to I'm going to wind up on top and I'm going to be able to flip off everything else

Nick VinZant 43:55

as that happened in any avenue of your life yet?

John Shull 43:59

No, not even close. All right,

Nick VinZant 44:01

well, just keep trying. All right. All right, finish the story about what happened. I'm sure the glasses broke. Somebody's got something that it's gonna cost you how much money

John Shull 44:10

it will cost nothing. But yes, he raised his arm and knocked over the shelf and about 10 glasses broke. And it was could have been way worse than it was. I mean, there were people standing in the vicinity of the glasses, but luckily, none of them had anybody. I've never really

Nick VinZant 44:27

understood this thing could have been way worse. Like everything could have been way worse. Things could always be worse. It's funny

John Shull 44:33

you say that because I actually agree with you everything. Somebody could have died and that's pretty bad. Right? finality is kind of what the worst I would think.

Nick VinZant 44:44

Do you want to be in a secret club someday though? Do you want to get into a secret club? Did you ever think of joining a fraternity?

John Shull 44:53

I did but so I went to a smaller college. But oddly enough, it was about 3000 Students There was like 14 frats and sororities and I got blackballed from one which meant I was blackballed from all of them because it was such a small campus

Nick VinZant 45:09

so how did you get blackballed?

John Shull 45:12

I mean, I, I guess it's long enough ago, right? I can I can kind of hint at the story. But it was during rush, you know, when when you're when you're going through all the initiations and whatever. And one of my friends, who was already in the fraternity was basically asking me to do something. And I said, No, I'm not doing that. And then he proceeded to, like try to have a power trip over me and I basically threatened to beat him within within an inch of his life. And they kicked me out and then I remember like, the next year, I was thinking about going to another fraternity and they were like, No, man, you're you're you're blackballed from the, from the society from the fraternal society here.

Nick VinZant 45:48

So you were on the list?

John Shull 45:51

I guess I'm I mean, it never stopped me from going to general parties at these

Nick VinZant 45:54

places. It just couldn't. You just couldn't get in. It just couldn't get

John Shull 45:58

in. Yeah. So. But you know what? Looking back on it. I'm actually kind of in Listen, I need to say this, because I feel like I come I'm coming across as kind of a douche right now. If you're in if you're in a fraternity or sorority, great, if that's what you want. I'm all for it. But looking back on it, I'm glad I never joined one because I don't think it would have been it wouldn't have benefited me at all.

Nick VinZant 46:19

I don't know if that's one of those decisions that if you join or you don't join, I don't think that anybody really regrets it at the end of the day, right? Oh, I wish I would have been in one or like, Oh, I wish I wasn't with anyone. I think that's one of those decisions that looking back on it seems like a major point of your life, but afterwards you just kind of like but not a big deal.

John Shull 46:37

Yeah, I mean, I do think when you go to larger institutions like the alumni base for some of those are, you know, it matters right like the skulls were. Some of them have millionaires who are alumni alumnus and they help out but I don't think that's most people's cases. But yes, if someone was to come to me with like some skeleton key tomorrow and was like, go and lock this door in Moulin Rouge it or whatever, with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, which is not the right movie. I don't even remember what movie it was, but remember the movie with them? Or like they're in some secret society or something new?

Nick VinZant 47:12

Don't think it's Moulin Rouge?

John Shull 47:16

Eyes wide shots? Yes, you got it.

Nick VinZant 47:18

I've never seen that movie. I just seems like the kind of movie that's like one of those titles that could be anything like, well, what's that about?

John Shull 47:24

I think I would just do it out of pure curiosity. Like, I wouldn't want to really be like, I don't want to commit. But like, I would just want to go through the paces just to see what it's like.

Nick VinZant 47:33

I feel the same way I feel about horror movies. I don't want to see him. But I just kind of want to know the plot, like what happens. And then that's it. But you were a part of a secret club, you were a part of a secret club of all the people who were blackballed from every place on campus. That's got to be a secretive Club.

John Shull 47:50

Well, this might actually be the first time this has ever come out. So publicly. So that's yeah, it's, I don't think they want it to get out and be known. Because I think, you know, they're, essentially there are a business, right? They don't want people to think that can happen. They want everyone to you know, come and rush and think they have a chance. They don't want people to know that like, hey, we can. It's our house our rules, you know?

Nick VinZant 48:14

Yeah, I think dude, I think everybody's knows that. I don't think that that's like, well, you're not going to expose the truth that some people aren't able to get into the fraternity or sorority their

John Shull 48:22

little 19 year old Johnny didn't give a shit. All right. He was still getting his alcohol somewhere and still partying at some point. So

Nick VinZant 48:29

oh, that's that's good. It seems to have worked out for you. And now it's just in your basement breaking glasses. Okay. And walls by are these commemorative glasses? Are they easily replaceable glasses?

John Shull 48:41

They are thankful. Thankfully enough. They are replaceable glasses, because there was one glass I did not want to break into didn't so do you? Do

Nick VinZant 48:50

you have a question?

John Shull 48:51

Do you have a special glass? Do you have like a glass that? If it broke, you'd be upset?

Nick VinZant 48:55

No, it's a glass.

John Shull 48:57

I figured you say that.

Nick VinZant 48:58

You can just get another one man. The only thing I say is the only special glasses that I have are the glasses that look like they're glass but are actually plastic. I can't understand that. Right? Like, oh, that's a nice glass. Can you tell the difference? Like all? No way. Pour it out of there. Try it in this one. Now it's going to taste better.

John Shull 49:20

Also, I think I feel the need to have to call you out on something real fast.

Nick VinZant 49:24

Okay, okay. Okay.

John Shull 49:26

You know what's coming? I don't you give me constant shit for being a fairweather sports fan. But what did you do this past weekend?

Nick VinZant 49:38

I went to your soccer games. I had free tickets. Like you're not going to use free tickets. Is this the gist of your argument? Like, oh, you're a fair weather fan because you got something for free and then used it?

John Shull 49:50

No, but I can tell you that if I got free tickets to something that I had no interest in. I wouldn't go

Nick VinZant 49:55

even if it was the first time and you've never been to one before. So he's like, Hey, John. I got free tickets to rodeo, you want to go to a rodeo? You're gonna be like, No, you're gonna be the kind of guy that doesn't want to experience new things in life. Just want to stay in your little bubble.

John Shull 50:06

I mean, at this point in my life, probably but no, I want to stay home. rodeos can be fun. I'm just saying all the shit you give me specifically about soccer. And here you are going to a semi pro hometown team like I first off, I'm proud of you.

Nick VinZant 50:24

I support my community and I'm not going to turn down free tickets. And do you think that I really didn't go there and get some Dippin Dots? Because I love Dippin Dots. And it's like across the street from my house, your whole argument is just it's not a good one, right? Like, oh, you're hypocritical because you took three tickets and went and sat there and did nothing. I didn't even watch the game. Don't even know who won. But you know what I did do at a good time with my family. I would say

John Shull 50:49

that you're gonna bring your family into it make me feel like a dick.

Nick VinZant 50:52

Right? Well, well, shoe fits. Okay. If you can

John Shull 50:57

bench more than me, it's probably smaller. All right, let's give some shout outs Joe Smoocher. Antonio Cordova. Do you think people

Nick VinZant 51:05

call him Slow Joe? Joe Sluiter, Slow Joe.

John Shull 51:11

Cole, Alexander. George Cryer? Stanley, right.

Nick VinZant 51:17

Stanley, not a name that you hear a lot, but a solid name. Stan Stanley. That's it. That's a 70 year olds name right there. Who's that? Stanley, everybody knows who Stanley

John Shull 51:32

Andrew craft, Noah Spencer, Nick Adams, Trey Sanders. And we're going to end with Glenn Roberts. Because I like I realized when I was going through doing some some names here, I like Glenn. I like a good Glenn.

Nick VinZant 51:50

Not enough Glenn's in the world. I agree with you. Glenn is a solid name that should be whatever popularity it is in it should be moved up to the next year, no higher just the next year.

John Shull 52:01

Also, I feel like I need to give a shout out to our community of people listen to us, because I've been doing these shout outs now for I don't know how long at least three years. And I was going back I send Nick an email every every week with a shout out list. And I just randomly probably went through about a dozen, just to see if there was by chance that I had duplicated any names. I'm quite I'm quite certain I haven't duplicated names ever on these top 10 lists, which is an awesome thing to say. But also it just you know, thank you to everybody that likes our social media or comments or whatever. It's It's good to see makes us feel good.

Nick VinZant 52:39

Yeah, I mean, it's generally nice, right? Like it's, it's, it's nice to know that somebody else appreciates the work that you put into it. Right? It's a good feeling like we really appreciate it. Whenever somebody says something, even if somebody says something negative. I'm still like, oh, well, thanks for listening. Like that's kind of a new perspective. I'm always interested in what people have to say.

John Shull 52:57

It's usually against my opinions as people who are angry towards Yeah,

Nick VinZant 53:01

there seems to be a lot of that. But I love a good John wrong. Remember, if you see something that John says and you want to comment just put wrong. And he throws himself into a tizzy about it.

John Shull 53:12

I don't I just I've learned to kind of not get so emotional when people say mean things about me. So it's fine. Did

Nick VinZant 53:20

you just kind of don't worry about it. I think it's fascinating. I think it's a great time to hear what people really think I love hearing what somebody really thinks. Like honesty, no matter what the what the result is.

John Shull 53:31

It's better to be honest and honest ape, right? Yeah, sure. All right. Let's play some factor. Oh, we're

Nick VinZant 53:41

doing this again. Two weeks in a row. Okay. All right. Okay. All right.

John Shull 53:44

I want to see if you can go for for for again, part of the reason why I didn't nix the segment as I kind of want to I want to keep going till you don't get 50% Okay, because I have to be honest and Nick has no idea what I'm about to ask him he just randomly says backer fiction so let's start off with this one first. A factor fiction a penny dropped from the top of the Empire State Building can kill you

Nick VinZant 54:11

well, it can only accelerate to a certain amount of to a certain speed and I would actually probably say no it wouldn't because it would probably get moved all over the place.

John Shull 54:21

God dance bar for five

Nick VinZant 54:24

well the wind man right like you have terminal velocity it doesn't matter how much farther it is like something reaches terminal velocity and it's not going to go any faster than that.

John Shull 54:33

Wow. Well, okay, so on Mythbusters fantastic show if you've never seen it by the way for everybody out there, especially can also canceled I believe, cancelled, but it was a fan. Listen, all you young people out there, give it give it a give it a chance. scientists determined that a penny traveling at terminal velocity cannot penetrate concrete or asphalt. It would not cause serious damage to a person and even at the speed of sound. I would still not damage flash. At most, it would sting a little and maybe leave a small or minor welt.

Nick VinZant 55:08

You're gonna tell me that a penny, which is a piece of metal at the end of the day going 800 miles an hour isn't going to do anything to you. That part I'm like, oh, oh, wait, I made it here.

John Shull 55:21

That's I mean, yeah, I didn't believe it. That's why I asked you and you got to correct it apparently. is fiction. Okay. All right. Let's see here. Factor fiction. There is an a, an alien abduction insurance policy that you can purchase.

Nick VinZant 55:40

Yes. That is fact is absolutely true.

John Shull 55:44

Wow. Okay. Well, you said that with confidence. So before I give the reasoning. How do you know that or why are you so confident in saying that it's true? Because I have it. Get the fuck out of here.

Nick VinZant 55:58

Yeah, dude, do you think I have alien abduction insurance?

John Shull 56:00

Yes. How much these a lot of people have strange shit. And it would not surprise me if people out there right now are like, Yeah, I have it. But for you to say that you are that aware of it surprises me because I didn't even think it was a thing.

Nick VinZant 56:17

I mean, I've like I don't remember how I've seen it. But I've seen like an article on alien abduction insurance. It's a real thing. It's the kind of thing that if you're ever like scrolling through social media and you see an advertisement or something for alien abduction insurance, like that's gonna stand out to you. You're gonna notice that

John Shull 56:34

be like one of our former colleagues that now does infomercials. I could see him. Okay, all right. No, six for

Nick VinZant 56:40

six. Maybe jinx myself now jinx myself. I just I just got cocky a second ago. So here comes the end of it.

John Shull 56:46

No, I don't know. I think I think you're kind of figuring it out. But here we go. Is there such a thing? Called a Walton? Which would be a mixture of a whale and a dolphin?

Nick VinZant 57:02

Oh, that one? Yeah, probably. No. Yeah, I would think that there probably is something

John Shull 57:10

so you go in fact or fiction?

Nick VinZant 57:15

Is there such a thing as a wall? Yeah. No, the interspecies can't interbreed like that. And they're different species. So I would say no.

John Shull 57:25

You definitely Jinx yourself.

Nick VinZant 57:27

It I did it. Ah, what is it? It's a mix of a what know what

John Shull 57:31

1985 A bottlenose dolphin and a false killer whale produced a baby named what's

Nick VinZant 57:39

a false killer whale? If it's not really a whale, then it's not a wall Finn. I

John Shull 57:45

will have to I told you I research department. They they're just going on vacation for months. I have no idea. But they these two animals created. I'm not gonna say the name key Kamalu.

Nick VinZant 57:58

They're members of the dolphin family. I'm correct. There's no such thing as a Wolfin because it's just two dolphins. false killer whales are large members of the dolphin family. It's just another dolphin.

John Shull 58:12

Hmm, we may have to put that one up for I don't

Nick VinZant 58:15

think that we do. I think that that's pretty much just right. In fact, it's a member of the dolphin family. So it is a dolphin. It is not a whale. species cannot interbreed, right. You can't mix a dog and a cat. They're different species.

John Shull 58:28

I think we're able to take this one does some social media platform because I

Nick VinZant 58:34

think the facts I think the facts speak for themselves. In a whale. It's a dolphin.

John Shull 58:39

We'll say that that one's not applicable at the moment. We'll keep your your you're staying 100%

Nick VinZant 58:45

staying 100%. All right here number four in the facts wrong as usual.

John Shull 58:52

Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death. Yes. That is not true.

Nick VinZant 59:00

Well, I mean, why would they kind of there's something else that happens, right? Like you have the appearance of it.

John Shull 59:06

So apparently, the BBC did an in depth investigation on this question and found that nerve cells die within three to seven minutes after death, proving that everything stops growing. Hmm. However, the skin around the hair and fingernails retracts out after death due to dehydration, which makes them appear longer.

Nick VinZant 59:33

I have to raise contention with both of those last questions because I feel like they were slightly trick questions. I so they don't grow but they appear to grow.

John Shull 59:43

Two out of three ain't bad meatloaf even said it.

Nick VinZant 59:47

Is he died didn't he? He

John Shull 59:49

did die. I've I've never had proper meatloaf. I've always had just like hamburger mixed up with some onions with some ketchup on top. I've never had like a prop meatloaf.

Nick VinZant 1:00:00

What is a proper meatloaf? Because that sounds like meatloaf to me. And yet,

John Shull 1:00:05

I every time I see meatloaf, there's like a tomato puree on top with like, seasoned ground beef and onions and maybe some cheese and

Nick VinZant 1:00:17

I don't know, man. I mean, I think that meatloaf, the all that really defines what meatloaf is the shape of it. Otherwise, it's just a change in the recipe like does it come in? Like what does it look like a loaf of bread that it's meatloaf? Doesn't matter what it is.

John Shull 1:00:31

There's only one Meat Loaf to me. And he died in what year?

Nick VinZant 1:00:36

2021?

John Shull 1:00:39

I would have said 2020 He died in 2022.

Nick VinZant 1:00:42

No offense to meatloaf, but like, Okay, was it really ever that I was more known for his name than any of his music?

John Shull 1:00:49

Oh, no, come on, man. He is a pioneer. If you've ever seen me live play a concert. And I hope there's somebody out there listening to this that as the dude would play for five hours. He go through like seven shirts of sweat alone.

Nick VinZant 1:01:04

I've never understood that, right? Like, if you were a musician, you still want to be playing those same songs like think about how many times I'm trying to think of a really popular band that's been around for a long time. They think of how many times the Rolling Stones have played a song. Like Sympathy for the Devil. They probably played that 1000 times. Probably more than that. Yeah.

John Shull 1:01:26

It's funny you say that because I've kind of gotten to an Eddie money kick recently. And I was listening to an interview where someone asked him a similar question to that. And he says that he doesn't he didn't even like playing his hits. He'd be so sick of it. Yeah, new stuff and different things. But that's not what the audience wants, right? They want your hits. They want what they know.

Nick VinZant 1:01:48

Yeah, that would be weird, right? Like, no matter. That's the thing. I feel like with any musician after, I think any musician really only has like one to two good albums. Like you've got one to two. And then maybe you can get a couple of good songs and your other albums. But otherwise, I think you're kind of out of it. So imagine having like a 50 year career where you've been playing songs that you wrote, 40 years ago, you're still playing that like, then you probably collect your check and you're like, I'm okay with it.

John Shull 1:02:19

Yeah. And you continue to collect the check and you're like, Yeah, I'm alright. This is fine. Yeah, I'm

Nick VinZant 1:02:24

alright with that. Like, I didn't like this song. But I do like the house that he bought.

John Shull 1:02:29

I always wonder like vanilla ice, right? Like, wherever he goes, even if no matter if he tried changing genres or whatever, people were still gonna want him to do Ice Ice Baby, no matter what he ever did in his life. It's the

Nick VinZant 1:02:41

only thing that really they've ever wanted. So he should probably I would think that you probably go from being like anything else. I think when you have that level of fame, you probably go from being like embracing it to being sick of it to trying to claw back into it. You know?

John Shull 1:02:55

And then you're like Britney Spears, and you apparently hit yourself in the face and say that another celebrity did it?

Nick VinZant 1:03:02

I never understood what was happening with that. She's like, I'm just gonna leave. I'm gonna leave all Britney Spears related topics alone. That's my new him. That's like, I'm just like, whatever. Britney. Alright, good job. Good. Do you whatever you're doing.

John Shull 1:03:18

Let's let's move on. Let's, let's go into our top five.

Nick VinZant 1:03:21

I'm not entirely sure what our top five is. I confused myself as I went along with it. But top five sayings. You're glad are gone. What's your number five.

John Shull 1:03:31

I don't know how this is confusing. But. So my number five is Whoop, there it is.

Nick VinZant 1:03:40

You're going to have to do that when again, your network bogged

John Shull 1:03:42

down. What is happening today? It's

Nick VinZant 1:03:46

Detroit brown here in Detroit, right move to real fucking city and you won't have these problems.

John Shull 1:03:50

Obviously, Ballard FC. Alright, so my number five is Whoo.

Nick VinZant 1:03:54

What's Detroit got? What's Detroit got to Detroit even have a sports team anymore that you can call a professional sports team? Because you certainly can't say that about the Detroit Pistons. You certainly can't say that about the Detroit Lions or the Detroit Red Wings. Or Drever. Detroit else does because one of the championships that they're getting zero over the last 1000 years.

John Shull 1:04:13

Are you done?

Nick VinZant 1:04:14

I'm done. And so is Detroit with producing quality sports products.

John Shull 1:04:19

Yeah, watch the Detroit Lions this year.

Nick VinZant 1:04:21

Oh, watch him. I'll we'll watch him not make the playoffs. You want to bet on that? Sure. How much money you want to put on it? Because whatever amount you're comfortable with. I'm comfortable with your $2 $2

John Shull 1:04:36

I mean, I'll go I'll go 100 on it.

Nick VinZant 1:04:39

I'll take that money.

John Shull 1:04:41

Alright, fine. You're You're crazy.

Nick VinZant 1:04:45

Right? Did they make it last year? Because every time that there's the new hot team in football, what happens to the new hot team in football? Oh, wait, all the analysts were

John Shull 1:04:52

wrong? No. Okay, fine. 100 bucks. Anyways, who

Nick VinZant 1:04:56

was who was it last year? Who was it last year because it's the Cowboys. year every year, and it never is.

John Shull 1:05:03

Well, that's different. I never bet on the Cowboys. No, ever.

Nick VinZant 1:05:07

I love the Cowboys. I love it. Nothing. No, everyone should like the Cowboys either because they like the Cowboys, or they really like to if you're a people who like the Cowboys.

John Shull 1:05:17

Alright, my number five sayings, I'm glad are gone. Whoop, there it is.

Nick VinZant 1:05:24

That's an amazing saying that should be brought back. I don't understand what the problem with a whoop, there it is at all.

John Shull 1:05:30

There's a lot. First off the song sucks. Secondly, the saying doesn't really make a lot of sense. Like what is whoop. And where is it? Like, why is it there?

Nick VinZant 1:05:41

It's just not in the culture, man. I gotta not hit. You're not hit. I don't know what it really means. But it meant Whoop, there it is, man. Like fuck, we're gonna have a good time. Like, there it is. That's all you need to know. Like, oh, there it is. Oh, right. That's, that's great. I'm fine with that. Um, my number five is anything along the lines of I did a thing. I hated that saying I did a thing. That was just a way to humble brag without sounding like you are humble bragging. Like, don't try to soften it in. Just do it. I did a thing. No, you got married. You got divorced. Got a new job. You didn't do a thing. You did something specific. You did something just use one credit for it without trying to act like you're just taking credit for it.

John Shull 1:06:38

It was humble bragging before humble bragging was a term.

Nick VinZant 1:06:41

It's the evolved version of humble bragging. That's what it is. Okay, my rant about stepped all over there. But I'm okay with that. I was upset about

John Shull 1:06:49

that. You are I mean, that's your video has been ranting all episode. My number four is what's up player.

Nick VinZant 1:06:58

I'm okay with some settings if they sent now become used ironically. Like bro. I love saying bro.

John Shull 1:07:05

Yeah, I say that. I call everyone, brother. But I don't say what's up player anymore.

Nick VinZant 1:07:11

I don't think you ever really could to be honest with you. We don't fit. We don't fit the demographic that can say that. Well. You can't be a white kid from the suburbs and be like, what's up player? Does it work out?

John Shull 1:07:29

No, unfortunately. Yeah, no.

Nick VinZant 1:07:32

My number four is YOLO. I'm glad YOLO is gone. I always thought it was a stupid saying.

John Shull 1:07:38

I only live I still say it. So I know.

Nick VinZant 1:07:41

I know you do. I know. YOLO YOLO which is usually said before something stupid is about to happen. Like you only live once. Well, you don't have to cut it short. No, you don't have to cut it. You don't have to cut it short. And that's usually YOLO is usually said before that one life gets cut short. Actually got a funny. It's pretty proud of that. Actually.

John Shull 1:08:04

My number three is its darkest just before the dawn.

Nick VinZant 1:08:11

Oh, I think that that's a good life kind of thing. I think that's something that can inspire people a little bit. Right? Like, look, man, you gotta know, it's, it's, it's gonna get worse before it gets better. I think that's kind of a symbol of hope. I don't know why you have a problem with lifting people up.

John Shull 1:08:26

I, I we don't lift people up on this podcast, we bring them down.

Nick VinZant 1:08:31

That's true. That is true. Um, my number three is very broad, but I think also very kind of appropriate at the same time. And my number three is anything that someone over the age of 35 or under the age of 10 says that's a slang term. If someone outside of 15 to 30 is using a slang term, it's run its course, my seven year old came home and said HSAs the other day, which means that HSAs should be now out of our nomenclature. If you're too old or too young to be saying it, it means it's over. Right if you're adapting and 2023 It's over. It's done.

John Shull 1:09:15

What assess mean suspect?

Nick VinZant 1:09:18

Yeah, do okay. I'd you know, I don't know. I don't know. And that's the appropriate response. You shouldn't know if you were saying it at your age. That's not appropriate. It's run its course. Once it reaches mass, critical mass. It shouldn't be over with anything that someone over 35 or under 10 says

John Shull 1:09:40

So my number two is a tie. And I have just the word groovy like yeah, man groovy bro. Groovy this year so groovy. Your groovy and that's dope.

Nick VinZant 1:09:56

Oh, I think that those are making a comeback. I feel differently. I feel like Groovy is along the lines of Cool beans where it doesn't matter what it is. It's always going to be good. Cool beans like grew herbal to Cool beans. Groovy. I like it when I get hit with one of those. Okay cool beans like Oh yeah, that was yeah, it's gonna come back around man all those are going to come back around stupid

John Shull 1:10:19

Cool beans buku beans.

Nick VinZant 1:10:22

My number two is cap. I never really liked cap it was kind of cool for a little bit like it was kind of a cool different thing. But ultimately it's not any more efficient than just saying lying. It's kind of like a cowardly way of like Oh, I'm not gonna call him a liar. I'm just gonna say it's cat. Sam call Him a liar. Like put it out there. Don't give me this fake stuff. Give it to me real just give it to you. I like it anytime I'm getting it.

John Shull 1:10:50

So my my number one is just Jim had saying that their swole love swirl swirl are useful. You want a good school? Like shut the fuck up. Dude. That doesn't even make sense if you think about it.

Nick VinZant 1:11:07

Well, obviously you ever been swole

John Shull 1:11:10

No, you don't want I've been I've been tight. I've been you know, I've been feeling good not swell, bro. And it's always like the people that you would think say it that said

Nick VinZant 1:11:20

I have no problem with swole I find it to be hilarious.

John Shull 1:11:23

Hey, you want to prove to shake Ms. gimmicky school? Like get out of my face?

Nick VinZant 1:11:28

You don't have a soulmate? You gotta get yourself a swallow machine. That's a layer rise. I think that's hilarious. That's my soulmate.

John Shull 1:11:35

If I could find my guy would just drop this mic right now.

Nick VinZant 1:11:39

I think it's hilarious. I love it. I love it.

Unknown Speaker 1:11:41

swill mate, soul mate,

Nick VinZant 1:11:43

jacked and juicy. Like you don't want to get juicy as well. It's

John Shull 1:11:46

actually pretty good. I've never heard soulmate before. That's kind of good

Nick VinZant 1:11:49

soulmates funny soulmate is what saves it. Once you hear about soulmate it saves swirl, because now it's just hilarious. Well,

John Shull 1:11:56

maybe that's okay. All right, fine. Soulmates funny.

Nick VinZant 1:11:59

All right. My number one is anything in the lungs of like my truth. I'm going to tell my truth. I don't think that that just doesn't annoy me. I think that that's a detriment to society, because it implies that there's not such a thing as the truth. I think that that's a detriment to society, it allowed people to kind of dive into their bullshit. I think that's a problem.

John Shull 1:12:19

I mean, have you looked around lately? There's a lot of my truths going on around the

Nick VinZant 1:12:26

world. And I think that that's a big problem is that now people think that just because it's your idea that you that has some validity, know that there's real hard and fast truths in this world. And just because you don't agree with it doesn't mean that you're wrong. There's no such thing as my truth. It's just the truth.

John Shull 1:12:41

I'm mean, but my truth can be whatever I want it to be.

Nick VinZant 1:12:47

That's the problem. So then you justify your perceived biases, and you drift farther and farther out into the universe, as opposed to being grounded in reality.

John Shull 1:12:59

You read a lot this episode, you must be angry.

Nick VinZant 1:13:02

I'm becoming an angry man. What do you have in your honorable mention?

John Shull 1:13:06

Let's see what oh, I have a flub the dub?

Nick VinZant 1:13:08

Never heard of that before. What the hell is that?

John Shull 1:13:11

I have no idea. You just never You never used to say flub the dub? dub dub dub dub dub blah, blah, blah. No, no. All right. Not up to Dick. That one was a weird one in high school that I still don't really

Nick VinZant 1:13:22

never heard of these. What are you doing?

John Shull 1:13:25

Have no idea? Like a

Nick VinZant 1:13:27

private school like a Catholic private school where they thought this stuff was cool.

John Shull 1:13:32

No. Who let the dogs out? i Yeah. Money can't buy happiness. I hate saying I hate that saying and I know I think it still might be around, but I had to put it on the honorable mention regardless.

Nick VinZant 1:13:45

Well, money can buy happiness because it makes your life easier, which can make you a lot happier. So I don't like that saying either.

John Shull 1:13:52

If I win Powerball, I'm going to be very happy. I'm gonna make

Nick VinZant 1:13:55

myself pretty fucking happy. Yeah, right. Maybe it doesn't fundamentally change who you are, but it certainly can make your life easier if you have any other ones. That was it. I don't want to go into them but any of those kinds of like semi political phrases that people use that have lost all kinds of meaning. I'll just throw out like fake news woke snowflake like it's just applied to anything that someone doesn't agree to. It doesn't have any meaning anymore whatsoever. Anything that's like a political buzzword. It's just like, oh gosh, stay away from that. Um, speaking I don't know what that means.

John Shull 1:14:37

Well, God willing, we're still doing this podcast next year will be

Nick VinZant 1:14:40

Oh, bae. I always needed my gosh, any any ways to like refer to a significant other than it's like Bay hobby. All of those are awful.

John Shull 1:14:54

I mean, I'm okay with pet names, but Bay is Bay Bay is one of those.

Nick VinZant 1:14:58

What is your vet name again, but to read them again because I remembered it just now what's your pet name again? Do you want to say it? What are you and your wife call each other?

John Shull 1:15:09

I think you should say it.

Nick VinZant 1:15:11

A Bob's a wubs Ah, okay, that's gonna go ahead and do it for this episode of Profoundly Pointless I want to thank you so much for joining us. If you get a chance leave us a quick review doesn't have to be a big thing. Just a couple of quick words really helps us out and let us know what you think are some of the worst sayings that you're just glad are gone. I do you really wish more people would say cool beans though. I think that needs to make a comeback. And I don't know what John's problem was. Whoomp there it is, is I think he just doesn't get it.