Coming up next on the Jordan Harbinger Show.
After a rainy day, the mold levels are 100x what a house normally would be.The thing is, outside, we got the sun.We have the most amazing UV light of all time.We have the wind.
Basically, the wind and the sun and the trees are the most incredible air filter ever, but we left that shit outside.
Welcome to the show.I'm Jordan Harbinger.
On the Jordan Harbinger Show, we decode the stories, secrets, and skills of the world's most fascinating people and turn their wisdom into practical advice that you can use to impact your own life and those around you.
Our mission is to help you become a better informed, more critical thinker through long-form conversations with a variety of amazing folks, spies, CEOs, athletes, authors, thinkers, performers, even the occasional arms dealer, gold smuggler, hacker, or astronaut.
And if you're new to the show or you want to tell your friends about the show, I suggest our episode starter packs,
These are collections of our favorite episodes on topics like persuasion and negotiation, psychology and geopolitics, disinformation, China, North Korea, crime and cults, and more.
That'll help new listeners get a taste of everything we do here on the show.Just visit jordanharbinger.com slash start or search for us in your Spotify app to get started. Today on the show, my friend Mike Feldstein.
We're doing a deep dive on indoor air quality.I know it's kind of a weird niche topic.It's also a roundabout way he ended up here.
I was researching air filters, and then I got into air quality, and then I got introduced to a bunch of people who know a lot about mold and all this stuff, and everybody just pointed me back to Mike, who I already knew from a previous business that he was running.
It turns out he really knows his stuff when it comes to air quality.So we jumped on the phone, and I was just like, wait, wait, wait, we should be recording this conversation.So he flew out here, And here we're doing a show.
And this is a bit of a niche topic.Again, maybe not our usual kind of conversation here on this podcast, but I really think that the air we and our children breathe is massively important.
Most filters that people have in their homes are kind of like fans with a towel in front of it. And there are simple fixes for a lot of issues that can actually cause some pretty serious problems over time.
So while I will be sort of shamelessly shilling Mike's brand of Jasper air cleaner here, it's not something that you have to buy in order to get a lot of the benefits from making changes around your house to get cleaner air.
Like I said, I gotta warn you, I'm gonna shill pretty hard for this air purifier.I love it.It's one of the reasons we're doing the episode because I've had these for a while and they're just amazing.It's interesting air quality info.
It's the best product out there.I've tried every brand of air cleaner.I've had my indoor air tested afterwards and Jasper was actually the clear winner.I'm not a lab.That was good enough for me.So here we go with Mike Feldstein.
Humans have built-in temperature and humidity sensors.And I recently read that humans are better at smelling fresh rain and fresh water than sharks are at detecting blood in the water.Have you heard that?The first part, yes.The second part, no.
I almost don't believe it, but it was like a credible source.It was like a science magazine, which is, I mean, sharks basically have superhero level abilities to detect blood in the water.So you wouldn't think humans would be good.
Well, but bears and other animals can, like hound dogs.That's true.They do it in the air.That's a good point.I hadn't thought about that.
The reason this is relevant at all, before we lose the audience, what we don't seem to have is air quality detectors.Like I will be in a place and I'll be like, yeah, that's fine.
But then like the Jasper, the air filter that's right there, I don't know if that's on camera, I assume it is, that thing will turn orange.And I'm like, oh yeah, my wife's cooking something.But unless it's like fish or bacon, I basically can't tell.
And unless there's a wildfire and the windows are open, I can't tell.So it's interesting because you would think
that like we would need air quality detectors, especially with all the studies that show not just athletics, but even like people who play chess when there's bad air, they get worse at making whatever calculations they have to make.
So it's, it's a SAT scores to SAT scores, which is great.Cause we're in like asbestos filled school rooms with windows closed or with windows open and a lawnmower outside taking that test.
Yeah, so I think we do have air quality detectors and we just don't have it built in yet.So like, we don't have access to it.We don't have the air awareness to use these sensors.So if you think about water growing up, you would just drink water.
From the tap.And then when you think about your childhood, you're like, hmm, that hose water did taste kind of plastic-y.Yeah, and metal-y and everything.And then you discover, especially in the last decade, filtered water.And you're like, oh wait,
Once you start drinking filtered water and then you go back to tap, all of a sudden the tap water tastes like chlorine, it tastes like chemicals, it tastes like metal.
Yeah, my wife flew back to Michigan where I grew up and she wanted water.We didn't have filtered water so I gave her a regular glass of water and she wouldn't drink it and I was like, what a freaking diva.
And then I drank it and I was like, this tastes like if you accidentally drink water at the swimming pool. except slightly cleaner.And it's just it's it was horrible.And I grew up drinking just gallons of that straight out of the tap.
Yeah, exactly.Because so because you didn't even notice it, right.So because you didn't have the water awareness, yeah, you weren't able to leverage your taste buds to even navigate that.But now that you have calibrated, I like to say calibrated,
Yeah, we got that reverse osmosis back there.And all of a sudden that water tastes really good, but pool water, tap water.So the taste lets you realize like, this is not good.
In the same way like smell, if you smell a pooey diaper or a bunch of garbage or a wet dog, you're like, this doesn't smell very good.So the smell can allow you to navigate certain situations.
If it smells smoky, you're like, we need to get out of here.It's like a safety thing.
I'm not sure in California, that's just background.
Just regular baseline smoke.Yeah, just baseline smoke.Maybe Canada now too, I don't know.So if you take five people and we all go outside and we all have to write down the temperature on a piece of paper and then we all look at once.
And I've done this experiment a bunch of times.Typically, we're all going to guess within like a few degrees.At most, usually five.Very unlikely, I would guess that it's 95 degrees out and you'd think it's 67. Right, that's true.Yeah.
So that's because you've calibrated your temperature sensors by looking at the weather every day, looking at the thermostat every day.Like right now inside here, it feels like 68 to 70 range.Sure.Like we could tell, cause like we've calibrated that.
If you go into a desert versus a rainforest, you haven't calibrated your relative humidity sensors, but you can feel dry versus humid.Yeah.And the same thing holds true for air.So yesterday I walked into, when I got to the hotel here in San Jose,
One step in the lobby, I go, mold.Yeah, really?
I'm like, oh, gross.What's the room going to be like?You get out of the elevator, you're like, disgusting, carpet, smoke, VOCs, pollen.I go in my room.Of course, the windows don't open because buildings are designed for energy efficiency.
And that sucked.So I went to Target.I bought a horrible air purifier.It didn't do great, but it did something.
So you went to Target and bought an air purifier.Are you going to bring it home, or are you just going to leave it at the hotel or return it?I returned it already.
I already returned it.Sorry, Target.I can't be traveling around with that thing.I often fly with Jasper, but it's a little bit too big for that.
Yeah.Again, if you're watching us on YouTube, what do you compare the size of that thing to?It's not portable.
It's like a cylinder trash can.Yes.It's about 30 inches tall, about a foot in diameter.But like, realistically, it's the same footprint as most air purifiers.It's just a little taller.Yeah.And like, it's not taking up useful space in your house.
I'm not saying that.I'm just saying you can't really, like, if you brought that on a plane, you couldn't bring any clothing.
I have.When I, I've traveled, no, dude.Like at a dolly.I had three locations on my trip and the box was just like falling apart more and more and more.
So I like to do it if I know someone in that city and then I can like Uber it to them before I go home.But yeah, so the number one request we get by far is why don't you guys make a travel size Jasper?Is that even possible though?It's not.
And I'm like, guys, I can't.That's why it's big.Yeah. when they're small, they don't work very good.They'd have to be on the loudest speed all the time.
So what I'm trying to do instead is I didn't bring it on this trip, but usually when I go to a hotel, I bring all my air quality testing equipment and I film myself testing the air.So I've been building up this database for a couple of years now.
Eventually I want to start Jasper list where we basically, I, every hotel I go to an Airbnb, I show people what the air is like. I recently was at a hotel in Santa Monica called Ambrose.It had amazing air.
It was the first time I went to a hotel that actually had great air.I don't think it had carpets either.Really?So like, I don't think we should have to travel with air purifiers or filtered water.Yeah, that's a good point.Or our own bed.
That's a good point.I think hotels... Like, why is it on me? The hotel is in the sleep business, sleep as a service.They're supposed to give you a comfortable bed.Like if it didn't get cool, you shouldn't travel with your own air conditioner.
So it's not okay to go to a hotel and have horrible air.So I'm like, I'd rather put pressure top down, bottom up, raise awareness.So like next week or 10 days from now, I'm going to a hotel event.
just to like scream from the top of my lungs that like you guys are giving your guests the worst air ever.And it's one of two things, either they're not aware or they don't care.
But once a few hotels start providing people with way better sleep, it's gonna be something that they all have to do.
You're gonna have a hotel that says like, clean air guarantee, we guarantee less than PM, I don't know, like 0.016, PM 2.5.And then people who know what that means are actually gonna care.
There's nothing grosser than walking into a hotel and you smell that like powder crap that they put on the carpet to clean it.
And it's just, you know, you're kicking that up into the air and all it is is like to absorb barf and urine smells from the previous guests.
Dude, when I was in, so my background was in mold remediation, fire restoration, floods, hurricane, toxic cleanups.Yeah.And in the course for fire restoration, I remember the big saying that goes, when you're done cleaning the house before you leave,
they would ask us to spray lemon deodorizers, a very chemical lemon deodorizer, all over the house for mold, floods, and fires.Because they said, if the home smells clean, the customer will assume it is clean.Yikes.There's so much wrong with that.
So that was in the training.Yeah.For me, as a wildfire, mold, and flood guy, they go, perception is reality, and the house must smell clean.They go, if the house doesn't smell clean, they're going to question the integrity of your work.
After we do all of our extra cleaning, we had these pump bottles that we would spray lemon, and I wasn't even thinking, I didn't have the awareness back then.I'm like, oh, we're cleaning the mold and adding lemon chemical instead.
Fun fact, there was no lemons.No, no lemons were used in the making of this lemon scented toxic spray.
And if you think about all of the general products that you'd buy at a big box store to clean your house, they all have a ton of fragrance because they want it to smell clean.
And once you have that shift and you realize, same thing with deodorants, cleaning products, when you realize this is not clean, this is actually, I call it, so the term I have for air fresheners is air makeup.
Yeah, I learned this kind of the hard way too.I went to Japan for snowboarding and I have these pads because I fall because I'm new, right?And they stink after like, you know, one day or so.
And I was like, I need a spray that washes these because they're hand washable.I'm not going to, I just, look, I'm not going to do that, right?I need them to be cleaned by whatever spray.So I bought a product.
I won't say the name, but it rhymes with plebs sneeze.And, uh, I sprayed it all over, and I was like, wow, this is amazing.How does this clean stuff so efficiently?
And I looked it up, and what it does is it disables your ability to smell what's on the thing.So I was like, oh, so all the gross stuff is still on here, and a chemical that just disables my nose's ability to tell that it stinks?
I don't know how I feel about that.
As soon as I get in the Uber, like, Ubers are probably the worst there of all.You get in there, Christmas tree thing, I'm a fan.As soon as I get in the Uber, I'm always, I'm like, can you please take out the, they're like, what?I do that too.
They're very confused.I'm like, does everybody not ask this?Like, are you okay?I tell them I'm allergic to it.Then they're like, oh, sorry.I tell them it gives me headaches.
And like, when I'm in Austin and it's 112 degrees out and I open them to ask them to crack the windows, they don't like that very much.Yeah, yeah, yeah.But like, yeah.
So once you kind of like, as soon as you go to an Airbnb, I walk around, I unplug every single air freshener.Good air smells like nothing.You know, the smell of trees and rain and natural smells.This is not what it smells like inside.Right.
So if anything, that's why I'm bringing it back to the first thing you said. There is an ability, which I can tell you what the carbon dioxide is pretty precisely in this house.
I would say right now it's between 600 and 700, and I have my CO2 detector.We'll check after.
Yeah, I want to check it.
I was going to buy some, and I was waiting for you to come by to ask for your recommendation, because when I record a lot in my studio, there's a door over here that's off camera, but there's a soundproof door, and it's also air sealed.
There's a return, but it's like crappy. I get really tired in there if I'm in there for a long time.
Granted, I'm doing voice acting and recording the show and stuff like that, but I can't help but think my CO2 is just like off the charts because I'm not getting any fresh air in there.
So I start to feel really sleepy and then I'll come in here and I feel a lot better after a really short period of time.
And one, look, I'm working way harder in there because I'm literally like making video game monster voices or doing this talk show in there. So that's part of it.
But I really, I do suspect that after a long enough time chatting in there, I'm just inhaling my own stank breath at some point, and there's no fresh air at all.
So CO2, which is short for carbon dioxide, unfortunately this is not something an air purifier will solve.You can't filter CO2 out of the air.The only way to deal with CO2 is ventilation. However, there's a few crazy things.
So first of all, a lot of people who have a sauna practice and they find themselves after the sauna, it's so hot, it's been five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and they're dying of heat.
I've measured the CO2 in a lot of saunas, so good to set baseline here.Outdoor CO2 is 400. Okay.That's the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.That's like normal slash good, right?That's just what it is outside.I see.
So that's as good as it's going to get.Yeah.Apparently several hundred years ago, it was like 200.So we can't even conceive.So when they talk about like climate change, global warming, all this stuff, you picture like natural disasters and stuff.
It doesn't really get people motivated to make a difference.When they talk about carbon in the atmosphere, that 400 number is going up.Yeah.So think about it.If, if 13 or 1400 is the CO2, a level set here, so 400's outside.
So when you're in a building and you're like, I gotta go outside and get a breath of fresh air, what your body's saying is like, the carbon dioxide in my blood and in my lungs is way too high.So you need to go get a breath of fresh air.
You could go outside, it could be a pretty polluted day outside, but it's still like, oh, it's gonna be the easiest breath to take because you've been in this high CO2 environment.Indoors, fairly normal, 600 to 800.
So it's almost twice as much as outside.Yeah. But that's not horrible.600 to 800, it's okay.Once you hit 1000, we're starting to get into brain fog, fatigue, SAT scores are dropping.Once you get into 1500, 2000, it's like...
The word that the human uses to describe high CO2 is stuffy.So if somebody ever says it's stuffy in here, I'm always like, the carbon dioxide is high in here.We got to go outside.So saunas can get up to 5,000, 6,000, 7,000.
Because people are breathing heavily, is that why?You're breathing.It's a tiny box that's designed not to breathe.That's how it heats up very quickly.So most saunas don't have good airflow at all.And if they did, they wouldn't heat as well.
This is a solvable problem.You need two vents at the bottom. But that's why often it's unbearable and uncomfortable.It's not just the heat.It's the carbon dioxide.That's interesting.
I never think about carbon dioxide.Probably nobody does.I'm so interested to find out with your equipment.
So I have one in my bag.I take it everywhere I go.The battery lasts four years.In a car, normal CO2, 6, 700-ish.If you hit that recirculate button in your car, within minutes, it's going to be 3,000 plus. So if you're ever on- I always use that too.
If you're on like a highway drive, long drive, you're getting exhausted, you're like, I just need to open the window to get some cool air.It's like, no, you're suffocating from carbon dioxide.
From I-75, some fresh I-75, Highway 10, whatever air, yeesh, yeah.So it's just like, this is an air awareness situation.Yeah.Because once you know, you use that button more sparingly.You crack the window, you crack the door.
When I was living in Kelowna, British Columbia, I had air sensors.So luckily I was able to diagnose this, but I was sleeping 10 hours a night, waking up exhausted every single day.
I was going to say that sounds amazing, but no, no, waking up exhausted.Yeah.And turns out our CO2 is going from 600 to 3,500 at night because we had, um, baseboard heaters and heat pumps.We didn't have a HVAC system.
So we'd close the door at night to keep the cats out and the CO2 would get so high.So we were just starving for oxygen, getting pumped with CO2.The exciting thing about this,
Once we were aware we could crack the window except for during wildfire season Yes, but leaving the ensuite door open and the bathroom fan on at night was enough ventilation to keep it under 900 so it's interesting because I had this like very critical health situation.
Yeah And one little button using my bathroom fan was the most life-changing thing.That's shocking, actually.
I should probably get a CO2 tester.Maybe I'll find a good one on Amazon or get a recommendation.I use one called the Aranet 4, A-R-A-N-E-T 4.I'll link it in the show notes.We'll get the exact model so people can crack it and buy it.
This house is relatively new.We tested the air. a year or two after moving in and it turned out to be, I won't say really crappy, but like medium crappy.And it wasn't because we had a ton of dust or anything.
It was just largely because of, I think the guy, this is like a professional, I didn't just buy some thing. is California wildfires and just having people living in the house just kind of does that.But also like an HVAC pan didn't drain properly.
So it basically was like a bed for mold.And that was just being blown from there into this room and stuff like that.
And what was interesting though, is this house is of course painted, their stuff glued onto whatever, you know, from the contractors, but we weren't able to move in right away.
because of permit issues, and we had four to six months or more, I don't remember, that we couldn't live in it.We were living next door.
So it was actually lucky because all of the off-gassing kind of happened, not all, most, happened during that time.So when we moved in, Nothing stank, like we didn't have that plastic-y smell.
No new car smell.And it was this giant window back here, also off-camera, this door window, we were waiting for that to come in from Taiwan and it had gotten destroyed in shipping.And so they had to send us another one.And this was just open.
which is fine because it's California and rain can't get in here, but it was all open.So everything in the house, all the paint, all the wiring, all the whatever, pipe glue, all of that just blew out there for four to six months.
And when we moved in, it was fine.So when the guy tested the air, he's like, this is a new house.It's actually pretty good because you don't have, and I can't remember, all these chemicals and stuff.
So I'm very happy for you that you had this experience because so VOCs are volatile organic compounds.And this is the catch all name for thousands of different chemicals.
So people want to just like think, you know, formaldehyde would be a very popular one, benzene, toluene, but there's thousands of different VOCs. And I can tell you, actually, your air in this house is quite good.That's good.
My internal air quality detectors are very pleased.We have air filters in every single room, so that helps.But it's funny because, you know, we talk about just like testing for air or testing for water as if there's only one thing to test for.
You know, I did air quality and water testing for a decade. We have to specifically test, it's like when you get your, you know, I used to just get my blood test and then only the last few years I'm like, tested for what?
It turns out they were only testing for six things.Now you like get tested for hundreds of things.They're like, your blood's fine.I just figured it was the blood test that was testing for all things blood.It wasn't the case at all.
It was like a sliver and what was considered good enough was actually not great at all.So the same kind of things apply to our house.So when you look at like, what are the particles like?There's tons.And of course, you have to be practical.
You can't test for everything.So in a new home, every single thing in this home would off gas.So the new car smell dissipates after some time.New car smell is not necessarily great.Now, so
We associate it with a good smell because it's an exciting new purchase.
I remember a long time ago, my uncle had a can of new car smell air freshener in his car.
And I was just 20, 20 hindsight, like 30 years later, seemed awesome at the probably pretty gross and not something you should actually spray in your car because you're right.New car smell is like.
that rubber crap that they used to make dashboards out of in the 80s and 90s.I think they may still use that, I'm not sure.But like, you know, a new Ford Topaz, that's just plastic off-gassing in your face.
And I wouldn't be surprised if they're doing extra stuff to enhance that smell.Just like I was doing in restoration with the lemony stuff, they'd probably put a bunch of new car smell in the filter.
So with a house, if you think about everything here, everything was manufactured somewhere.Yeah.Whether it was these chairs, the table, the flooring, the windows, the bed, the couch, everything was manufactured.
And when you manufacture stuff, the goal is make it, pack it, ship it, then the distributor gets it.Their goal is sell it.
So if only our food was so fresh, but the time that this stuff goes from like finished manufacturing in a factory in China to in your home to off-gas also, once they're done manufacturing it, it's instantly sealed.
So it doesn't get moldy or damaged in transit.So what happens is the off-gassing process takes place in our home.
In your home, yeah.So if you buy like- I didn't even think about that.
If somebody buys a new couch, often Jasper will pick up right away or a new bed. Ooh, that new bed smell.That new mattress smell.Just called formaldehyde.They don't tell you that part.
And so yeah, with this house, it's really great that you got to do that.I always tell people when they're setting up their baby's nurseries to don't wait till the last minute to paint.Oh, I didn't think about that.New crib, new furniture.
Babies due next two weeks, let's paint giant rainbows and stuff on the wall.Quick, quick.Yeah, with latex paint.
And why are we even making, it's like, do you think your baby cares about the thousand dollar crib and the wallpaper?The baby can't even see hardly for the first couple months.
So it's like, are you doing it for the baby or are you doing it for yourself?And it's like, are you doing it for yourself or are you doing it for Instagram for the perception?
Like it's your baby's room.This is not a place that necessarily needs to be beautified.And I like to buy new stuff.Yeah.
But I tell people when you're setting up a nursery, if you can, a secondhand crib and a secondhand dresser means they've already off-gassed it for you.That's interesting.I hadn't thought about that, but it's a great idea.
Open the windows, let that nursery breathe.And while I'm on the topic of nurseries, diaper pails. Did we have one of those?
I wanna say we just threw them in the garbage and then took the garbage out more often.
Well, you are a rare breed, and that is, you're doing good stuff on the air fryer.
Yeah, yeah, that was an accident.I think we just didn't want to sleep with a room full of poopy diapers.You had the baby in your room.We had the baby in our room, yeah.
So you had that, luckily you had that awareness.Yeah, it stank.A lot of folks.Even when it was shut.You get the nursery, you buy a diaper pail. It's like, first of all, if the thing was airtight, your room wouldn't smell like poo.Wouldn't stink.
I've tested the air in a number of nurseries.The bacteria levels are like, evacuate the building levels.So, fun story.And then they leave their baby and they're like, goodnight, and they go in their clean, clean room and sleep.
Rachel is my wife's name, and when Aria, this was like four years ago, I was like, Rach, it smells like poo in here.Like, can you please take the diapers directly outside?
She's like, easy for you to say, 20 diapers a day, this hallway's really long, I have all these things in my mind, like, this is just way more convenient.We put it out there for a while, in the patio.
So I was like, as a rite of passage, tonight, Rachel, let's put the diaper pail in our bedroom, and I'm sleeping on the couch tonight. And she's like, ew, no, I'm not sleeping with that diaper pail in our bedroom.But my infant will.
So, but once she had that realization for herself, it was done.And so an average adult breathes between 10 and 20,000 times per day.And they give you stats, like, I will breathe.I'm like, people don't all breathe the same amount.
I'm sure I breathe more because I spend hours outside walking and talking on the phone.And my job is with my voice.
I gotta inhale way more than people normally do, I think. So an adult's breathing 10 to 20,000 times a day.Babies breathe 60,000 times a day.Their respiratory rate is way higher.Their lungs are tiny.Their immune systems aren't developed.
Their body's filtration systems aren't yet developed.So baby can't talk yet.So we paint, brand new crib, close the door, shut the window, put the poop beside their head. Good night.Good night.No wonder baby's sleeping 18 hours a day.It's so gross.
So that's why I bring everything here back to, I wish Jasper was the ultimate solution for everything I do.Yeah.Well, I don't.Air awareness is the actual solution.
Because once you, you realize, and going back to the thing you were saying about like the shark and our abilities to smell, if we put a poopy diaper,
Pretty much anywhere in this house, and I blindfolded you, and I tied your hide behind your back, you'd find it.I'd find it, yeah.So you also can smell through air currents.Yeah.We have these crazy abilities that we just aren't really in tune with.
And once you realize, like, if it smells like poop, it is poo.Like, when you smell a thing, it's because that thing's going inside you via air.
That's the worst realization, when you go to a public restroom and you're like, There's just little bits of stranger's fecal matter just landing inside my nose and on my tongue.
Or like, driving down the road, you're like, smells like asphalt.Smells like rubber tires.I'm like, no, no, it's because you're, you're, you're not, instead of drinking it right now, you're breathing it.Yeah.Not that different.Still tasting it.
And then if it smells like poo, it is poo.If it's poo, it's bacteria. and E. coli and Enterobacter.
So when you can kind of like trust your nose to navigate your health a little bit more and get more air aware and an air sensitive all of us and like the more healthier choices that you start making.
And I want to make sure we like there's a lot of free stuff that people can do instantly in their home like today to get a lot of benefits.So I want to make sure we touch on a little
We will.I know we're going a little bit out of the order that I had assumed, but you know, that's what conversations do.But I'm curious, you used to be in the disaster chasing business.
So when there was a flood or a giant fire, you were on the scene and I'm curious kind of what you were doing.You said remediation.
I don't know if everybody knows what that means, but it sounds a little bit like a miserable scene because you're kind of going into like the ruins of people's lives.Like this, you're not in my house here enjoying my chairman company.
You're in like the ruins of my home with my children's photos that are half burned.
and like water damage and all my belongings that I can no longer use are here and you're like getting rid of them and trying to clean up my house so that maybe it's livable again.
Like that's, it sounds like a rough thing to do for a living and bad for you because you're, you're there.I'm gone because it's an unhealthy place to live and you're just like working in there for two months.
Some people are running from the fire and others are running towards it.Right, exactly.Yeah.
So, I was never in the army, so I never went to a war zone, I never had bullets flying my way, but that feels as close to anything that I could experience as wartime mode.So you go into a disaster zone.
Also, another thing that people don't realize is often there's no power. That makes sense.When there's a citywide flood or fire, the power gets shut off.
Hotels are basically all sold out or shut down.There's basically no rental vehicles.The infrastructure of the city is not really operationalized yet.So in addition to dealing with the ruin, you're also kind of like on a camping trip.
like the first responders who are like getting infrastructure going again.We would get in and often it's like military blocks it off, you know, civilians aren't allowed in.Just showing my restoration business card was like your all access clearance.
That's crazy.Like, Oh, I'm going to go clean up some of this mess.And they're just like, whatever, go ahead, bro.The first thing to restore is gas stations, post office, grocery store, and hospital, water treatment plant.
I'm missing a few other things, like essential infrastructure.Then once those things are done, sometimes people are evacuated most of the time in the big disasters, but not all the time.So you have, you know, thousands of homes burned down.
Every breath you take is just like ash piles kind of flying all over the place.And it's not like We were making a campfire and it was just wood and s'mores when thousands of homes burnt.Yeah, it's like WD-40 cans and paint in the garage.
Every car, you drive down a street and all you see is chimney stacks, because that's the last thing standing in a home.So all the tires from cars, all the roof shingles which are made out of like tar?Gone.Every piece is gone.
And they don't really like... let the city breathe very long.I mean, what can you even do?I mean, if you waited three months to re-enter the city, but like, they're like, we got to get everything going again.I get it.So we'd go in.
So you're usually like, one of my first wildfires ever, there were seven of us in one hotel room.That sounds cozy.Seven of us in one, because we could only get one hotel room. We had like $2,000 a night hotel room with seven people at least.
And yeah, you're dealing with a situation where often people aren't there, but you're going in there and I can't tell you how many furnace filters I would pull out that were yellow, green, red, purple, like all of these crazy colors that were
intake and you get nose blind very quickly.So when you're in this disaster zone, normally you would smell it, but because the whole city is intoxicated by smoke, you lose your ability to smell things.
So you can't trust your nose has something to navigate for you anymore.Are you wearing respirators the whole time?I mean, you can't wear a respirator for a month, can you?No, we put on P100 respirators.
So not like the N95 masks, like a gas mask basically.And that's what we'd be wearing into people's homes. But yeah, it's a difficult type of work.It was gratifying work.It was perfect for my 20s, like leave your families.
If you navigate things well, it can be a good business opportunity, but a lot of people also can go bankrupt because insurance companies don't tend to pay you till you're done.Oh, I see.You're like, so you're managing all those costs.
You're managing an emotional family with potentially sick children.You're managing insurance companies Then you're trying to like hire a bunch of crews in a place with like very limited power water.So we have to get generators.
We have to bring in bottled water.We have to bring in like porta potties.So yeah, the, the, uh, I'm grateful for the opportunity because it taught me so much about like logistics and survival stuff.
That's something you want to do when you're 50 years old, even 30, two kids. Yeah.No way.I can't do this type of work anymore.
But so yeah, it was difficult work, but a lot of people who are in the restoration business, so restoration means restore things back to their original state.
So if it's a flood and when there's a fire, it's also often a flood because water bombers bomb homes.Oh, I see.So you get water.Fire departments are blasting homes with hose.So often it's fire damage is also also water damage.
I saw homes in the Calgary flood.There's basements in Calgary.So the water would be the entire basement fold and then half of the first floor as well.So when people had serious values, there's this company called Team Rubicon.
They would come in and scuba dive into people's basements to retrieve the most valuable thing.
That is really gross to think about doing.That's really, really gross.
I was not Team Rubicon. So, you know, with a flood, it's like, there was a hotel in Calgary called... They were retrieving it for the residents or were they just like... For the residents.Okay.
Like, that sounds illegal potentially.
No, it's like, let's say like the diamond ring or... Oh, I see.Insurance is like, this thing might not be recoverable in a month.We'll pay you guys five grand today to scuba dive to the basement.
Go find the safe that's in the basement that's underwater.Yeah.
That's a very specific job.
That's a job.Crazy.If you're wondering how to become a professional scuba diver, same thing for Google team Rubicon.
Also, when a fire burns down and there's all the ash there, they would go in with like full hazmat suits, like a nuclear looking suit, like way more than restoration gear.Go into the ash pile to try to also retrieve valuables.
Stuff you don't think about exists.That's so interesting.Just think about if your house burned down and there's like one or two things you're like, we really want these. Like, so there's, whenever there's a demand, there will be an industry.
I don't, it makes me realize I don't own anything valuable.I wouldn't, there's nothing in here, like obviously my wife and kids, obviously, aside, that's not what I'm talking about.
I don't own anything where I'd be like, you need to go in and get that.I would just be like, oh well.I keep like super essentials in a fireproof bag in my house. I'm trying to think what that would even be.I think I have my will and testament.
Like will, your will, little stuff like that, nothing too big to do.
Also, my lawyer has a copy of that and I can get another passport in like a month.Yeah.If you're in your home country, the stakes are lower.Yeah.
Oh, right.You're a foreign, you're an immigrant.I'm working on it.I am an immigrant.So my passport is like, I forgot about that.My visa lives in the passport and they don't just replace it.If you lose the passport, you lost your visa.Yikes, man.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.I forgot you were here.Totally legally and above board.
A2 visa. Yeah, but to conclude there, a lot of companies that do water damage or floods, they're used to like a kitchen fire or like your toilet leaked and there's a little bit of mold.I wasn't in that business at all.
It was specifically like traveling around the country, going to the most devastated places possible.
The fine products and services that support this show better than lung cancer.We'll be right back. This episode is sponsored in part by Shopify.
You know, when you think about those brands that are absolutely crushing it, like Alo Yoga, Allbirds, or Skims, what comes to mind?
Great products for sure, cool branding, no doubt, brilliant marketing, obviously, but there's this often overlooked secret behind their success, the business behind the business, part that makes selling easy, smooth, and simple, and for millions of businesses, that secret is Shopify.
Nobody does selling better than Shopify.They're the home of the number one checkout on the planet, and shop pay is incredible.It boosts conversions by up to 50%, which means way fewer abandoned carts, more cha-ching moments.
So if you're serious about growing your business, your commerce platform better be ready to sell where your customers are, whether they're scrolling through your site, checking out your store, or just casually tapping through their feed, Shopify is set up for all that and more.
The secret's out.Businesses that want to grow, grow with Shopify.
Upgrade your business and get the same checkout all birds uses.Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com slash Jordan, in all or a case.Go to Shopify.com slash Jordan to upgrade your selling today.Shopify.com slash Jordan.
This episode is sponsored in part by Audible.If you want to understand how we can actually stop mass shootings, Trigger Points by Mark Fulman is a must listen on Audible.
Fulman dives into the world of forensic psychologists, FBI agents, and experts who are actually preventing these tragedies before they happen.
This is not just another grim look at mass shootings, it's a hopeful, myth-busting book that focuses on real solutions.Trigger Points goes beyond the thoughts and prayers and gets into the science of how behavioral threat assessment actually works.
full of fascinating real-world stories from survivors, experts, even perpetrators, and it shines a light on how we can actually prevent these horrific events.
Listening to it on Audible is a perfect way to absorb all this eye-opening information while you're on the go, whether you're commuting, working out, running errands, you can dig into these critical stories without needing to carve out extra time.
Plus, Audible's massive selection means there's always something new to check out when you finish.So if you want to understand the problem and learn about the solutions that are making a real difference, grab Trigger Points on Audible.
Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free.Visit audible.com slash jhs.
If you're wondering how I managed to book all these great thinkers, creators every week, it is because of my network, the circle of people I know, like, and trust.
And I'm teaching you how to build your network for free over at sixminutenetworking.com.
This is a non-cringy, down-to-earth, non-cheesy course that'll make you a better connector, a better colleague, a better friend, and a better peer, whether at work or in your personal life. Six Minute Today is really all it takes.
I mean, honestly, it's like four, but Four Minute Networking, I don't know, not the same ring to it.Many of the guests on the show subscribe and contribute to the course.Come join us.You'll be in smart company where you belong.The course is free.
I don't sell anything there.You can find it at sixminutenetworking.com.Now, back to Mike Feldstein.
So this is probably not related, but I always wonder, if the town next to you burns down, like let's say that there's no fire here, but there's a fire a couple towns away, and I mean like a big one, the whole town, you know, wildfire.
The smoke is burning and flying past me for a month. Isn't my home drenched in toxic crap that's stuck to the walls and stuff?Yeah, that's what I thought.It'd be like going to a bar where everybody's smoking, and you're like, but I don't smoke.
And then you're like, why do my clothes and hair stink even though I've washed them three times?Exactly.I remember those days in Michigan.And I'm like, okay.
And that's way less, a bar is way less than 300 single family homes burning down over the course of four days.
And a million acres of trees.Right, and trees.Because that smoke is also, so when you have high heat, there's still something called PAH, which is polysilic aromatic hydrocarbons.So it's not like you're just breathing tree at those super high heats.
Also, generally in a wildfire situation, there's going to be helicopters and planes dropping fire retardant.
So even if homes themselves aren't burning, the things that they're using to suppress the forest fires get caught up in that smoke plume as well.So Jasper is normally going to be at a five.That's good air.
Like you said, when there's smoke, it could be 50, 60, 80, 100.When Toronto and New York City Last year, if we're getting fires from British Columbia, their Jaspers were hitting 100 too.Oh, interesting.
I did see crazy horrible air quality in New York that during this one.So the fire wasn't in New York, it was, you know, a thousand miles away.Yeah.
The really crazy thing is, if somebody tests their bed, their carpet, their furniture, now in New York City, it's filled with toxic ash, smoke, pH.Oh, so you need to replace that stuff.It's chrome.
If you're filtering your air, you filter stuff out of the air before it becomes a service problem. If you weren't servicing it, just because the smoky smell went away, the most harmful part of the air is the things you can't see and you can't smell.
It's like raw chicken.We put it on the counter, you know, it can give you salmonella.If you go to a pond and fill it up, like ocean water or pond water looks clean, even if it's radioactive, it looks clear.But if you drink you'll get very sick.Yeah.
So the most harmful stuff is too small to see or smell.So anyone who had like the smoke blow by, oh the smoke's gone now.It's not gone.So we would test people's everything in your house basically.Yeah.
So if you don't have something to deal with it while it's in the air, every single particle that was in your air absorbs into everything porous in your home.
Yeah. Yeah, I heard you say that before, like if it can absorb water and it can absorb air and the stuff that's in the air.
And I always think about these fabric chairs that we have, which are great for having little kids that wipe boogers and food on everything because they're impossible to clean.I'm just like, what were we thinking?But how do you clean
A lot of this disaster stuff, what do you do?Do you use some kind of air scrubber?But like, do you obviously have to rip out all the carpet and maybe even the walls?
It's got to be like having a meth lab in a house.And insurance companies are so upside down and backwards.
So they typically evaluate the performance of an insurance adjuster, not by how much money they spend, but by how well they justify the money that they do spend. So talk about misaligned incentives.Oh, I see.
If we were restoring this house and I would say, hey, insurance company, we're throwing out the couch because it's clearly intoxicated with smoke.Right.They're likely going to say, nope, we need you to attempt to clean it first.
Meanwhile, they determine the cleaning rates.It's all like they give you a rate sheet.So to clean this couch could be two grand, for example.Sure.You know, we might be able to clean it off-site.
We might have to take it off-site to like an ultrasonic ozone tank.Because even if we vacuum and wipe down the outside, it's everything inside that makes it comfortable.The inside stuff, yeah. That's the absorbent stuff.
So we're like, okay, we cleaned it now, it still stinks.They're like, okay, now you can throw it out.Where if you throw it out, they're pissed, because now they have to pay the customer back for a couch.
But they're like, clean it, and if it's not perfect, but I'm like, it won't be perfect, they're like, just try first anyway.So that's everything in the house.
So often, we're HEPA vacuum, we're steam cleaning, we're doing everything, we're washing the clothes three times.They're like, now that you've tried multiple times, now throw it out.
Right, so $600 later, or $2,000 later, you're throwing it out and you're like, I told you that this was gonna, so now instead of a $10,000 couch or whatever, I don't know what couches cost obviously, but now it's a $12,000 couch.
And we wasted longer, and the family hasn't moved back home, so they've been paying hotels.So it's totally backwards.But broadly, also it's kind of, this is also another big thing.
So typically when someone has a flood or a fire, they call their insurance company first. And the insurance company sends you a guy, they go, let me, we'll send out the contractor or here's a couple.
The problem is if that contractor is consistently doing expensive claims, they get cut off.They don't want to bite the hand that feeds them.
So when I was doing restoration, I was the people's choice, meaning I never worked for an insurance company once.Cause in your policy, you have the right to choose your own contractor.
So a lot of people don't realize that they just call the insurance company first, they send someone over with totally misaligned incentives.So my whole thing was, I go, we're the people's choice.The more work I do in your home, the more we get paid.
So our incentives are totally aligned and we don't get paid. until you get paid.So if like, that was our whole thing.If you get screwed by the insurance company, we'll fight with them for you.
So that was a great deal, unique positioning and made it that we went viral.Like every time we went to a disaster zone on, then I also would do post environmental checkups for two 99.
So it's like if the insurance company came, they cleaned, then we would go in to do an inspection. And we would find ash and soot everywhere, and ash in the attic, and chemicals everywhere.We would do more comprehensive testing.
Also, insurance companies will typically say, we won't pay for air quality testing.Yeah, because they don't want you to do it.But if you pay for it, and it's positive, we will reimburse you.
So I tell everybody, always do it, because it will always be positive.And now that you've got the positive result, and it's tough, a lot of people can't afford it.And I can tell you, insurance companies, they profile everybody hardcore.
So for example, if you have an insurance claim, you're going to be traded great.They're going to quickly Google you, be like, this guy has reach.
Don't do him dirty, because if we do, he's going to talk about it, and we're going to lose a lot of customers.That's good news for me, but it's bad news for like a third grade teacher who doesn't have a diet.Teachers get treated great too.Do they?
Thank God.Teachers get treated well because they're part of unions.I see.Okay.But like in Fort McMurray, Alberta, huge fire, like a lot, there was a lot of like Filipino immigrant families cleaning there.
And instantly I knew that they were going to be raked over the coals.Right.So with them, I actually offered free testing. Because I'm like, once I get them testing, I'll be able to fight with their insurance company on merit, on science.
And it was wild, though.Just by walking in and asking someone what they did, I instantly knew what their insurance company's response was going to be.I didn't read a book about this.
You mean what they did for a living.
What they did for a living.
So if you find out that somebody's a landscaper or owns a driveway finishing company, They're just gonna get denied, denied, denied, denied.
Interesting.And especially if it's a low income, if he owns the company, he might be better because they maybe will think he could fund legal.
But if you just like have a job that's paying you under $30 an hour, the insurance company will deny you for sure because they know you're not going to be able to deal with the legal.You're like, I got to get back in my house and start working.
So they're very well designed to profile.That's fascinating.
I've only seen anecdotal evidence of this kind of stuff happening.I've got some friends who are just buddies that have similar hobbies as mine, and some of them are in their 20s and 30s, younger dudes.
And they'll be like, I got in a car crash, you're a lawyer, what can I do?I'm like, call your insurance company, calm down, it's fine.And they're like, my insurance company's denying the claim.I'm like, it's always BS.
I'm like, so you mean to tell me your car was parked, someone smashed into it, and they're not going to pay you?"And they're like, no.
And then meanwhile, I won't go into detail, but there's been other things where I'm like, ooh, this is definitely my fault, my issue, or our fault, our issue.And the insurance company's like, sure, here's your check.
Oh, if you're a lawyer, for example, especially a practicing one, insurance is going to treat you like gold, because they're like, this guy's got free legal.
I had my cat dump water all over my computer, totally not covered. by anything.And they were just like, go to Apple and ask how much the repair is.And they were like 1800 bucks.And I was like, they said 1800 bucks, here's the sheet.
And they sent me a check.It was there in two days.And they didn't ask for proof of anything.
They're very good at this.Yeah.I mean, I get it from a big corporation standpoint.It makes sense.But it's horrible.It is horrible.So yeah, we would kind of deal with that all the time.And yeah, the fire flood stuff was very eye opening.
It gave you really good insights into people in big business, but by being the people's choice, which is something that I, if anybody can leave with a tip here, if they have a mold situation, like, getting three quotes is a good idea.
Yeah, I wanted to talk about mold.
It's a buzzword now, kind of.It's in your coffee, it's in your HVAC, it's on my toenails, or whatever the hell that is.Everything's moldy, moldy, moldy.Like, is this a really big deal, or is it overblown?
Because it seems like a big deal, but I'm also like, maybe it's also a buzzword to get you to buy I don't know, different coffee or whatever.
Both.It's definitely was used by a certain brand to basically tell people mold will kill you.Yeah.All coffee has mold, not ours.
Right.That's what, that's what I'm, that's what I'm referring to right now is like the person that we know.And I don't know if they're wrong about all coffee having mold, but also we're eating mold constantly because mold is on everything.
But is it like if it depends on the mold man, right?Mildew or whatever. I don't want to breathe it all day, but if it's on an orange peel that I touch, like whatever.
This is important.So going back to my previous career as a mold restoration guy, there was two sayings in the industry, and this was 2010, 2011, way before it was a buzzword.Okay.One was mold is gold.Right.Cause it's expensive to get rid of.Yeah.
And it's also profitable for the get rid of it.Well, that's what I mean.Yeah.And the mold rush was a term. Corny dad jokes.And looking back at what they thought was the mold rush now, pales in comparison.
So when I was doing mold restoration, once again, the same thing they taught you, the amount of times the word Hollywood came up when I was becoming a certified mold remediation guy was crazy.
So they're like, the restoration is very important, but the optics are equally important.So think about it.If you're like a contractor who could do demolition or like remove drywall and flooring for a bathroom.
To like pull up two floorboards and a foot of drywall, you're gonna get like 200 bucks, 300 bucks.If that drywall was moldy, that could potentially be $10,000.Why? Because now it's mold remediation.How much are you willing to remove a piece of wood?
How much are you willing to safely remove harmful mold from your house?So because of the fear level, the budget is much greater.So what happens is if somebody gets three mold quotes, mark my words, you will see a 400% variance in the quotes.
You'll see quotes from $2,000 to potentially $50,000. And not always, but often, the thing that impacts the price is how good the person is at selling fear.
Yeah, like, oh, this can make your kids do poorly in school and their brains are developing versus somebody with no kids who doesn't spend very much time in their house.
And if they're like, that mold is not just there, it's actually behind all of your drywall, so we have to gut the place, you have to move out.
It honestly breaks my heart from a health standpoint, sustainability standpoint, financial standpoint, to see a family get told that they have to leave their home. go rent an apartment for six months.Yeah, six months.
Which is way moldier likely than their house that they're moving out of.Right.And now they're in this like teeny little apartment or like a hotel or an Airbnb or something, which also, insurance company doesn't cover mold.
They'll cover mold as a result of a flood if you did your best to mitigate it.But if you just like find some mold, it's not covered.So that's typically a private expense for people.It's not covered at all.
Now, what happens is a lot of times people are, they're concerned about their health. So they get their home tested for mold, or they call a mold restoration guy.First of all, if you're calling a mold restoration guy, a little bit of a conflict.
Right, like his incentive is to find mold in every part of my house and rip out all my drywall, even if it's fine.Exactly.Right.
And then when the mold guy got trained, Even in the training, they teach you to be scared of mold, because the more the remediation guy is actually scared of mold, the better that he will be able to actually sell mold remediation services.
Right, because he's really selling it if he shows up in a hazmat suit or whatever, right?
He's like, I can't breathe this air.Oh god, it's going to kill me.Yeah, and usually they don't bring the hazmat suit.I have seen it done before.And you know, they'll use big words.Microtoxins and stachybotrys and show you some pictures.
And I don't want to push too far the other way and say mold's not dangerous and scary.Sure.Very much it is. I've heard a stat that says 70% of homes have mold in them in America.It's 100%.Because when you go outside, there's also, mold is everywhere.
It's everywhere, yeah.It's like saying pollen, mold is everywhere.So when you test for a house properly for mold, this is what you do.We'd come here, we'd take six or seven mold samples inside of the air.We'd look around.
We'd also take a test outside.And we are going to compare the levels of indoor mold to the outdoor mold.
Yeah, because aren't we evolved to be able to deal with some baseline level of mold?
I mean, humans have breathing mold before... When it rains, the mold levels... After a rainy day, the mold levels are 100x what a house normally would be.The thing is, outside, we got the sun.We have the most amazing UV light of all time.
We have the wind, which creates natural... It's called hydroxyl radicals.Basically, the wind and the sun and the trees are the most incredible air filter ever, but we left that shit outside.It's outside, yeah.Not inside.So mold is a problem.
Same thing with dust.If you go outside, you won't find dust outside.Dust is an indoor problem.Dust only occurs in these artificial airtight boxes that we created.You won't find dust outdoor.It's not a naturally occurring thing.It happens inside.
And dust is an air problem.If there's dust on your counter, do you think it, A, came from the counter, or B, came from the air.How is there no dust outside?
That part I don't understand.Because isn't dust just dead skin cells?It's surely that's outside, pet dander.
We got wind, we got sun, we got filtration out there.And there's also airflow.So the CO2 is much lower and there's adequate airflow, which is the filter.I see.Trees are the most amazing air filter ever.But inside, and know a few plants won't cut it.
I was going to say, what if I just like make my living room kind of a jungle?Plants want to live outside.Yeah.They get pissed inside.So mold is kind of like that.
And so of those homes that have mold, so often someone will tell you that they had a mold problem, they're moving out.You're like, oh, like what kind and how much?They're like, oh, no, no, like it was airborne mold.
So it's like playing whack-a-mold and ripping up drywall to like find every little leak.It's a house. Your roof's not perfectly sealed.Pipes leak a little bit.There's going to be a little moisture in your home.You can't hide from water.Yeah.
So I always tell someone, if you're ever trying to break a lease, friends and family, give me a call.I'll come over.I'll find the mold.We'll get you out of that lease.That's smart.
I feel like that's your real business niche right here.Breaking leases?Breaking leases. Oh my god, I gotta move to Canada because, you know, my girlfriend lives there, but I have six months left on my lease.I've gotten out of five leases early.
I feel like that's fine.All because of mold.Wow.Few of them were actually significant.Sorry, landlords.Landlords hate this one trick.Yeah.You will find the mold.Don't make it, though.That would not be cool.Don't make the mold.That's
It's a renewable resource, so that's why it's also better than gold from a business perspective.
But what's happened now is a lot of naturopaths and functional medicine doctors who are great at what they do, they're like, ah, all of a sudden I'm getting a call all the time.People want to check for mold and do mold detox. So what do they do?
They like Google like mold certification.They take like a two day course.Two days, sounds comprehensive.So flood fires, all the environmental certifications I did, two days is like the longest.Like it's not like we went to mold university.
That's sort of disturbing.I thought it would at least be a few weeks of like intensive.No, flood guy, fire guy, FSRT, WRT, all of these IICRC accredited courses, they're typically like one to three days.Typically it's a weekend.
And then you're a certified mold man. And yeah, so you don't learn anything in there.You actually learn everything what not to do.You learn it on the job and from other experienced people.
Hopefully you have the privilege of working with experienced people, ethical experienced people.So now the naturopath is like, ah, I'm getting a huge inbound.
If you like type in mold or mold testing or mold sickness on Google, it's like a hockey stick to your point about being trendy and buzzy. And it's because it really does make people sick.People are really, they get really sick from mold.
If you have any respiratory stuff, it exasperates it.It can make autoimmune stuff much worse.It can make you sick.It can wreak havoc on your sleep.Did you ever get sick doing that?
I mean, you're exposing yourself to mold and chemicals back in the day to all that stuff to get out of people's homes.
Yeah, I did.I still have a little bit of psoriasis, which is mostly under control, but this autoimmune condition popped up after flood, fire, mold situations.That's interesting. So the naturopath is trying to do their best, right?
They have a business to run, they have patients to see.It's a difficult career and now there's all of a sudden this mold thing.So, you know, they learn about a couple things.
How do we test people's blood and bodies for mold and mycotoxins are like the airborne mold spores that mold creates to like grow and survive.So if you go and get tested, essentially everyone's gonna have elevated levels of mold.
If you're not filtering your air, drinking a lot of filtered water and saunaing regularly, like- I walk outside and sweat a lot, does that count?You got really clean air.
Yeah, that's true, I got really clean air.
So you're gonna be probably fairly good, but it's one of those things like, if you test for heavy metals, if you test for stuff, you're gonna find some of it in you.Yeah.And then someone goes and tests their house for mold, ah, it's in the air.Yeah.
They test their blood for mold, it's in me. panic, they're in the perfect state to have someone come over and charge them 50 grand.And I don't fault at all the naturopaths.And there's typically, there's two types of mold tests almost universally.
There's tests that skew towards false negatives and tests that skew towards false positives.So there's a type of test called ERMI. ERMI, it skews towards a false positive.Not that it's a bad test, it's a great tool.
They're all good tools if they're used comprehensively together.So ERMI doesn't actually like test the air, it tests your dust.So we would take your furnace filter or some dust in the home.
I think that's what we had done because they had to wipe stuff.
Yeah.There's a lot of wiping.So of course there was mold there at some point.Yeah.And if you test just the air and the windows were just open or your air purifier is running, it can skew towards a false negative.
So if you're the insurance company, you love false negatives tests. If you're the restoration guy who wants to be paid to come clean again, you love an Urbie.
So there's various tools that are skewed particular ways, or there's this little Petri dish test.That will always grow mold.It will grow it outside, it will grow it inside.
So to summarize this whole thing, if you have visible, physical black mold growing in your home, if it smells musty and moldy, it's like the poop thing.If it smells like poo, it is poo.
If it smells musty and moldy and damp, you most likely have a problem. If you look in your attic, in your toilet bowls, under your kitchen sink, your bathroom sinks, if there was water damage bulging something, that's a real problem.
At that point, call, get a few restoration quotes.They have to seal off the area.They put commercial grid air purifiers in that room and in your house.They use an antibacterial, antimicrobial to clean the mold, double bag the drywall.
It's like a surgical, you're removing it. And then they come back and they test your air and it's all good.That's because usually the air purifiers are still running.
If they came back a week later to get tested, it's moldy again because mold is everywhere.So it's like your water.If you have bad water, do you like dig a new well or like run a new main line to the city or do you just filter your water?
So you kind of just need to filter it at the end point, right?And mold, how do things get in our bodies?There's four ways.We eat it, we drink it, it absorbs in through our skin or we breathe it. Mold is only getting in through inhalation.
The same way allergens and pollen are making you sick, it's all a breathing issue.So that's the only way allergies impact people.So if you get the pollen and you get the mold out of the air, you're going to be doing great.
So yeah, if you have real mold in your house, you see it, you feel it.
definitely get it removed, but most of the time, if it's just like airborne mold, make sure they test at the outside and you're not supposed to test for air, mold in air, unless it hasn't rained for two or three days.
You're not supposed to because you'll just get a false positive.It's going to skew your results if it just rained. or a false negative because it's very moldy outside that day.Oh, I see.
But what a horrible business mold testing would be like, ah, it rained, we have to cancel our jobs for days.No one actually does that.No one cancels it.
To conclude, mold does make people very sick, but you do have to be careful that it's a nuanced thing.If you're removing it, get a few quotes.I believe people should filter it from their air, especially if they're in a humid environment.
But yeah, proceed cautiously.
Yeah, that makes sense.I will say filtering the air has been quite incredible.These things, the little sensor detector on the Jasper is pretty awesome.I don't smell anything, right?I'll see that thing go on full blast.
First of all, I have to make sure we're not cooking in the house.I'll get to that in a second.But there's been a few times where that thing has just gone crazy.And then I think, oh, something's wrong.
But then the other one goes crazy, or the one in the bedroom goes crazy.I don't know if my window's open or anything.And then like three minutes later, fire trucks.And then five minutes later, my brother-in-law's like,
I'm flying my drone, there's a house fire three blocks away.Let's go check it out.And I'm like, we'll check out the drone footage.And it's a house fire that I didn't smell.My windows are shut.
The Jasper senses something toxic in the air, starts working overtime.And meanwhile, there's a house burning down three blocks away.And it just started, like really just started.It's really, it's really incredible.
I kind of wonder how that's possible.My, I probably shouldn't give this example, but my son, in the bedroom, he likes to fart and then wait for it to turn on.And it almost always does.It will.
It's almost instant too, which is incredible.Methane is a VOC.
Yeah, it's actually quite amazing because I thought, you farted under a blanket and you're five, like there's not that much.And then this thing will go, for like 30 seconds.
Similar to like if you cook bacon here, even if you had a 10,000 square foot house, the entire home would smell like bacon.
So if you think about a bathtub, if you fill the bathtub with water and you put like three drops of red food coloring in it, it doesn't like swim around.Within seconds, all of the water is equally distributed.It's incredible.Air works the same.
So with that fire that happened over there, I like to think about Jasper kind of as an air security system.It is helpful all of the time, but air is not linear.It spikes and it valleys.
So when you're cooking, when you're cleaning, my mom was varnishing a picnic table 200 feet from their cabin at the lake in Canada.
doors and windows all shut and her jasper went crazy red and then so because you know it's like if you see someone at the beach spraying their sunscreen i hate that 100 feet away hey you smell it so think about the coating my lungs the radius that that sunscreen is is covering yeah guys do not use aerosolized
sunscreens, especially not indoors, and not anywhere.It's not cool for you.
It's not cool for anyone.I lost my mind at these people at the beach.I felt kind of bad.Dude, you're spraying my two-year-old daughter in the face with this nonsense?
Jason and Candace Gaynard, Jason was in bed. And Jasper went red and he trusts Jasper.So he's like, I'm going to go walk around my house.They left the stove on and a protein fire was about to get started.
Someone named Megan, she, similar situation, lying in bed, Jasper went red, her dryer vent was just ambering about to fire.So two situations.Prevented a house fire.They dealt with it and prevented a house fire.
So it's not like something that I thought we would be really monitoring for.And like, if you barbecue outside a hundred feet away, just in that moment that you open and close your door, it's going to go crazy.
If you see it goes red sometimes, if you like look outside, you might find someone 12 homes down is their contractors in the front cutting like two by fours or like tiles.
Allow me to take a break from shilling air purifiers to shill the fine products and services that support this show.Basically it's shill-ception right now.We'll be right back. This episode is sponsored in part by Airbnb.
You know, if you ever thought about hosting your place on Airbnb, but found it a little bit overwhelming, here's some good news.It's way easier than it seems now.You don't even have to do all the work yourself.
Airbnb's co-host network has you covered.Basically, you can hire a local co-host to take care of your home and your guests while you are away.Imagine this.
You're off on a summer-long adventure in Europe, hopping between Paris, Rome, and Barcelona, and your home is just sitting there, empty. Instead of letting it sit unused, you could have a local co-host manage everything while you're away.
They can handle the guest check-ins, the cleaning, and even any last-minute issues that pop up.So while you're sipping wine in Tuscany, your home is not only taken care of, it's also making you extra cash.
For somebody like me, who's often out of town, this feels like such a practical way to make a little bit of extra cash without having to do any of the heavy lifting myself, and it's not just about the money, right?
It's a smart move, very little work on my part.Why not put your place to work while you're away, right?If you've got unused space, you're heading out of town for a while, this is definitely a no-brainer.Find a co-host at airbnb.com slash host.
This episode is sponsored in part by The Defender. We all have those big goals that seem just out of reach, right?But the truth is, that's what keeps us moving forward.For the people who embrace challenges and explore their way, there's the Defender.
The Defender is built to handle whatever comes its way with legendary capability, on-road or off.It's engineered with a tough, rigid body, tested to the extreme, and built with durable, lightweight architecture for strength and confidence.
But it's not just about ruggedness.It's an icon reimagined, with a design that feels modern, yet honors its adventurous roots.
Plus, there's a Defender for every kind of explorer, from the Defender 90 to the 110, and even the 130, which seats up to eight people.So whether it's just you or the whole family, there's a model for your journey.
If you're ready to embrace the impossible, the Defender is your perfect partner.Be on capable and ready to go wherever you're headed next.Build your Defender at LandRoverUSA.com.
If you like this episode of the show, I invite you to do what other smart and considerate listeners do, which is take a moment and support our amazing sponsors, those who make this show possible.
All of the deals, discount codes, and ways to support the show are searchable and clickable over at jordanharbinger.com slash deals.If that's too overwhelming for you, go and use the AI chat bot over at jordanharbinger.com slash AI.
And last but not least, if you can't find something or you're not sure the code exists, email me.I am happy to dig that stuff up for you because it is that important that you support those. who support the show.
Now for the rest of my conversation with Mike Feldstein.It happens.There's construction.When leaf blowers go off, they turn up.And I don't open my windows or doors that often.It's just seeping in.
And you have a good HVAC system in a brand new home.Yeah.
It's just seeping in through whatever.It's actually incredible.I thought the range hood would take care of it, but the fact is it just, and mine vents outside, which I know a lot of range hoods actually don't, which is shocking.
Like it just blows it around your house.But It doesn't really do 100%.
I mean, as you would expect, it can't get 100% of the smoke, especially from like, if we overcook something like Brussels sprouts, these things, jaspers are just going nuts for the next 10 minutes.
Cooking is a big deal.Yeah.So I tell everybody, do your range hood test.Take a tissue, hold it up to the range hood and make sure it's pulling it.If it's like flapping there, I've seen range hoods that are blowing, not pulling.Literally.
How is that useful in any way at all? It's the opposite of useful.Yeah.And then, so number one, make sure it's pulling.Okay.Number two, make sure it's venting outside.Yeah.
So a lot of time it's like venting in the cabinet above or like down below or attic in between your drywall. Oh my God.
This is not uncommon.We have this giant metal box out there that I first was like, are you kidding me?This is annoying.Cause it's like a foot out from the wall and you can't park that close to it.
But when my wife's cooking, I can smell it a block away because it's blowing, it's blasting, you know, chicken air out into my driveway.
There's indoor pollution and outdoor pollution. Outdoor pollution is, you know, the pollen, the mold, the rubber tires, the wildfire smoke.
And then there's indoor pollution, which is your cleaning products, your cooking products, your pets, your dander.But someone else's indoor pollution can become your outdoor pollution.
So like if someone's using like bounce sheets in their dryer and then venting it outside, outside their house and right into your house. Also, most people, you know, you have a down-drafting range hood, looks like a Jenn Air, I think.
So what this thing comes out of the kitchen island and then it sucks in air at a crazy clip, an absolutely insane clip.
It has to be crazy or it wouldn't work.Yeah.But like, I'll just be, most people have an above range hood.I see.So we don't have that.Another pro tip is
If you're cooking, it's going to be a little annoying if you're like using a pan or a wok, but especially if you're boiling stuff, use the back burners because they're more directly under the range hood.I see.Captures a lot more of the air.
That's interesting.This is an induction stove.You can put the pan wherever you want.It's actually like a miracle of modern science in my opinion.But yeah, I don't, I didn't think about putting things closer to the range hood.
Speaking of moving a ton of air, we replaced our other
name brand air purifiers with jasper because we did the test and we realized that they weren't working and i used to have one plugged in right next like the other one plugged in right near the jasper and the jasper would turn on when she was cooking and the other one it was like kind of a coin flip as to whether it would detect the pollution and do its thing
And I always thought that was kind of interesting.The other thing is this thing, it moves so much air that my kids play with it.They put these little scarves on top and they go up like a tornado and they swirl around in one place.
And the other one would just sort of like gradually puff this scarf off and put it on the floor. Because the fan just couldn't move nearly the amount of air.
It breaks my heart.If you go on Amazon or Walmart, everybody wants to think in Amazon filter boxes these days.So they go on, they set the price low, and then they say extra large room.
And they're like, often the richest people have the cheapest air purifiers.It wasn't like a conscious decision.They thought they were just like checking the box.And that's not the case at all.So what brands do is they talk about square foot coverage.
Square foot coverage, air doesn't care about square feet.It cares about cubic volume.That's what I wondered myself.
So what if I have a, let's say I have a 1,500 square foot house, but I got a frigging 12 foot ceiling in here.So like, how is that the same as where I lived before where I could jump up and touch the ceiling with my hand if I was not the same?
How is that the same?It's not.Air cares about cubic volume.Yeah.It cares about also the layout of your home.Is there lots of different doors and rooms and windows?Is your HVAC system a central air system?
So everybody wants to just think in this like simple little linear way.Like, I don't know, did I send you a video yesterday?I was at Target. I don't know if I did.I don't think so.Dude, they had an air purifier at Target.I posted it online.
It was this big.It was called the Never Change Filter.First problem with that, yeah.And then they said, covers 1,400 square feet.It's a multi-room air purifier.So then I'm like, oh, what's the CFM?What are the specs?Not on the box.
I go to the website.Not on there.Their specs are 1,400 square foot.If that thing does 1,400 square foot, we do 10,000.But we don't.Doesn't talk about ceiling height.Doesn't talk about anything. little tiny baby fine print.
It's like based on one air change per hour.What's one air?What does that even mean?That means in one hour, all of the air in the room has been circulated through the purifier one time.You want that to be like four or five.Oh, I see.
So that 1,400 square foot is more like two and change, not 1,400.So it's all like, you know, how statistics lie type stuff.So it's very sneaky.And yeah, people just think they're like checking a box.So when you cook,
You might see Jasper go crazy, and then maybe half an hour-ish later, maybe 10 minutes, depends on what you're cooking, and it's back down to baseline.
If we turn off all your Jaspers, we can even put a few little small, cheap air purifiers in the room.And then we put an air quality detector in here. the air will be bad up to 48 hours later.
So it's not like we went from like 20 minutes to like three hours.We would go from like 20 minutes to like days.And then where do you think it went?It's now embedded in all of your surfaces.
And it's not just like, you're like, oh, but I'm eating healthy.I used avocado oil, organic grass-fed grass-finished beef. Certainly, that would be fine to breathe.Well, here's the thing.
When you take high temperature and protein, it creates byproducts and other chemical compounds, like the PAH, like sulfur dioxide.It creates other things that it puts into the air, that it's not just like the food and the oil itself.
And then on top of that, just because you can eat something, it doesn't mean you can put it in your nose.
Well, that's, yeah, I was gonna say, just because grass-fed, I'm not gonna try and take a steak intravenously either.No, no, you wouldn't.No. I wouldn't even try.If you eat, don't think it would be a good idea.
It's going to end up in your digestive system, which is like a big acid soup that breaks things down, pulls out nutrients, filters out the rest.If you breathe it in, it goes into your respiratory system, which doesn't not have that process.
So it irritates it, it causes inflammation.So just because you can eat something, it doesn't mean you can.
Yeah.I'm surprised that anybody thinks that just because you can eat something and it's healthy, like vegetables, that you could also breathe it.But I guess this is 2024. What's a good number to see on the Jasper?Because mine always says, like, 4.
Almost all the time.Unless we're cooking, it goes up to, like, 80.And then it goes back down to 4.And if I open up the windows or whatever, it'll go to, like... maybe six or even eight.That's only because we have really good outside air here.
It's also because you are filtering it.Let's say you had no air filters, but we had an air sensor, that eight might be like an 18 or 25.
Well, when we first got them, it was 24 for like one or two days.And it slowly went down to four, and it's been at four for a year.
So most people, when they buy it, it will be between a four and a 10. Now, just because that number is called PM 2.5.Yeah, what I was going to ask about that.What does that mean?So there's two sensors on board.Okay.
The one that you see on the screen, which is called PM 2.5.Okay.And there's another sensor that's called a VOC sensor, all the chemicals.Okay.So you might sometimes notice it.It's designed to be subtle.
but you'll see it on fan speed too, but it'll still be green.And that's because it's detecting a chemical.PM2.5 is particulate matter under 2.5 microns in size.This means particles small enough to enter your lungs and your bloodstream.
So these are, if you see outside, that's like the most, there's AQI, but generally when they talk about particles and pollution, we're talking about PM2.5, which is like the really harmful stuff that our body doesn't filter out very good.
So that is the best thing that we can use to control the fan speed and give you a general indication.Just like when you get your blood tested, it doesn't test for everything, or you get your water tested, it doesn't test for everything.
That can't detect mold.It can't detect asbestos.It's detecting particulate because that's the best thing that's going to go up and down on cooking, on smoke, on dust, on pollen, on allergens.So an excellent number is in that 3 to 10 range, 4 is
very common for a really good clean home.
What I've noticed is, it's funny, when my parents come in, my PM 2.5 goes up briefly.And I used to think, oh, it's because they opened the door.But now I'm like, are my parents off-gassing?Like, what's going on?
Because when I come in, I come in, it doesn't go up.
My parents come in, it goes up.
How weird is that?Well, there's a few things that might be contributing to this.So one thing is,
If I've put on, and I'm actually trying to like find something more natural, but if I use like a regular deodorant brand and I go any, if I use like even a regular, like a hotel body wash or a shampoo, like a more mainstream, toxic-y soap, shampoo, conditioners, and I go near it, it will, it will jump.
And if it doesn't jump, the VOC sensor will likely spike.Hairsprays are one of the craziest.That makes sense though.Smoke, smokers.
We have a smoker outside.When that thing's on, even with all the windows and doors shut, these things turn up to, they go up to like 30.
So yeah, if somebody had smoked or, I mean, there's a bunch of other facts.It could be the stuff that they clean their clothing.
My parents live in a dirty house. It's not that their house is dirty because of them.It's just an old ass house and you smell the dust when you go in and it has a fireplace that's unused, but they didn't clean it.Or seal it.Yeah, they didn't seal it.
So it smells kind of like dusty and smoky.
So fireplace is backdraft.So when it's like windy out, that chimney smoke soot ash actually blows back inside. So yeah, maybe we got to get mom and dad a little Jasper action.They got one now?
Yeah, recently.Because I was like, it's so sticky in here.
It'd be fun to see if it doesn't go up as much.
I'm very curious.I actually want to put it in their bedrooms because their bedrooms are the worst.
That's where they need it.
Their bedrooms are the worst.The number one place to have clean air is the bedroom.Yeah.By far.Incense, you know, this goes without saying, incense makes it go crazy.I stopped lighting it.
Even the good stuff I feel like is bad for you because you're just inhaling.That's like campfire.Like maybe it's not horrible for you, but you're still inhaling like ashes and It's not great.And then the cheap stuff though is gross.
Cause I'm like, this is maybe not supposed to be lit on fire.There's like fragrance or soap or whatever they're using the non-natural stuff.There's all kinds of stuff I stopped using.
Another thing that it used to, that tripped me up a little bit was I would close doors to bedrooms and things like that when we were cooking.And I thought that that would help.I thought, well, the bedroom Jasper won't go up cause I shut the door, but
Obviously the HVAC system's job is to circulate the air, so it was completely pointless to keep the doors shut because what would happen is the air return would just blow in here and then blow the air in there, which is great when you're trying to get the AC to spread, but bad when you're trying to get the chicken, bacon, whatever out of your
indoor air pollution, like you can't escape the indoor air pollution, you really just have to clean it up.
A lot of people had a big moment of awareness when they have a Jasper in their kid's room and then they're cooking something that they didn't even realize was off-gassing.Yeah.
And they like go to wake up their baby from the nap and the Jasper's like red in baby's room.
Your whole home is one system and literally like you said the HVAC which is basically just your furnace and your air conditioner is designed to mix the air in the home efficiently.
So yeah, the plus side of that though is whenever someone's like, where's the best place?If I can only afford like one job, where should I put it?The first place would be in your bedroom, by far.
The second place would be in your kitchen living room area to pick up cooking particulate.But even if it's in your bedroom, So let's say that's making the air in your bedroom like 99% cleaner.It's making the air in your whole house like 20% cleaner.
Because of the HVAC system, it's almost like it's a part of your furnace.That's interesting.If you had two, let's say in two bedrooms, no matter where in the home it's positioned, it's contributing to the air being cleaner in the whole house.
I like to give the analogy of Sonos.Yeah, we have that too.Back in the day, you would have a giant speaker.It'd be way too loud.
and like the bass would be crazy and then like in every other room you couldn't hear the speaker anymore so it's like you'd have to get like the only way to change volume was like the volume button or your proximity to the speaker and then along came like Sonos and you could have the perfect amount of volume in every room.
So that's why we actually, I spent years trying to develop an HVAC style air filter, but it didn't work because when your furnace is off, it doesn't work.It's kind of like having that one big speaker in the middle of the house.
You really want something that's decentralized and sporadically placed out.That makes perfect sense, I suppose.
Okay.So to open the windows or not to open the windows, right?If you have, if my outdoor air is relatively clean, like it is most of the time in California, like it's literally like the HUI is eight or something or even better.
Okay, fine, if there's wildfires, you keep the windows closed, but what if, okay, if you live on a major road or just regular suburban living, and what about like people who live in New York in an apartment?
I mean, are we opening the windows or are we closing the windows?And it's not just urban because folks in a rural environment often are surrounded by farms that spray.Oh, I didn't think about that.
So they have more pesticides often than even in urban environment.Interesting.So to open the window or close the window, that is a wonderful question. and it does depend on the outdoor air.
So, you know, as that air awareness goes up, like I don't just Google, and I will say air awareness is going up because Tesla's now have AQI in the car.They do?Yeah.How do I find that?It's a new update on like the top right.No kidding.
Apple weather, Google weather.
No, it's outdoor.That's pretty cool.I don't think the car's detecting it, but it's connected to the weather network. Yeah, so cities, just the way that they're monitoring, people just think about air as, like, well, they don't even think about it.
When you think about the weather, you think about, is it hot out, cold out, sunny, and will it rain?Right.That's the extent of how you think about outside.Not really.Those are all air things.
You don't think about the particulate or the pollution at all.I'm really happy to see a lot of these big weather companies are starting to add more air quality stuff.
They're not like putting it in your face yet, but I, if I was going to go for a run, I'll usually check the air quality that day.I check the air quality every day anyway.There's some really good air apps there.If you just Google like air quality.
I have it literally.You'll be, I might be the first person that has this.It's literally, well, yeah, of course it's an airplane mode, so it's not showing up the one time I want to show it off, but.
Yeah, I've got AQI, UV index, weather unavailable because I'm on airplane mode, and a podcast app, that's it.But yeah, I'd look at that like every single day.Hopefully it updated now.Yeah.No, thanks for blowing my demo, iPhone.
Yeah.If the air quality is good that day, and it's not really hot or really cold out, great day for it.Also, if you're cooking, and you don't have air filtration, that's a no-brainer time to open it.And definitely open the windows.
I never thought about because of letting things out, only about letting things in.But yeah, that's a good point.No, it's more about letting things out.Yeah, sure.That makes sense.
So two windows is better than one, and ideally on opposite sides of the house.
Yeah, of course, I have noticed that I'll open this and I a little bit of a temperature change.
But then if I open that, and then I open like a window in this room over here with the door open, it's like the subway is coming, you feel that rush of air, there's a breeze and it really flushes out the house.
It's not like open it all the way or close it all the way, I would crack the window. Like even if you're just cracking two windows, that way you're getting the benefit of ventilation without opening it all the way.
Like in the winter or the summer, especially if it's really hot or cold, it's gonna kill your energy bill.
We don't have that problem here.
No, you're just like temper it always.
It's like spring slash summer 2047.That's crazy.We get charged for it.Then we get a sunshine tax.I do have a question about the sustainability of this.Cause Jasper's made out of metal and all the other air purifiers.
And I bought like every other brand that I could find that wasn't just a Chinese knockoff with a fake name. They're all plastic.So Jasper's heavier and it uses metal.The carbon footprint of metal is higher.
So what about people who are like super into sustainability?Is that going to be a problem for them?
No, it's the opposite.How's that?So when you manufacture one ton of plastic, it creates about three tons of carbon.So the big, big, big difference is Jasper's designed to last about 30 years.30 years?That thing's going to last 30 years?Should, yeah.
Holy smokes.And that's why we can do a lifetime warranty. A plastic air purifier typically only lasts three years, four years at most.So it's commercial in its nature.So Jasper used to be a $2,000 product that we only sold to doctors and dentists.
In that world, air purifiers were like $2,000 to $7,000.Well, at the beginning of COVID, every dentist in Ontario was mandated to put an air purifier in every room. And dentists were already the biggest air purifier purchasing industry.
Because of the mandates only?No, no.Before COVID.Really?The Department of Labor ranks dental and dental hygienists as two of the top five most dangerous jobs in America.Because of drilling teeth?I mean, what's in there?
What's in the air in a dentist's office?It's called bioaerosols, and it's ranked more dangerous than coal miners, cops, firefighters, power plant workers.
What's in the air, though?I don't get it.
Well, the two dirtiest parts of us are our mouth and our butt.I'd bring both of those to the dentist, yeah.When they take a high-velocity air and water and shoot it into your gums.
Yeah, well the point is they're getting all the disgusting crap out of my teeth.So when you test the air in a dental office, including in the lobby and the waiting area, it's off the charts.No kidding.The bacterias, the viruses, and dentists are
very aware of this, there's tons of companies that only make air purifiers specifically for dentists.And some of them are like $3,000, $4,000, $5,000, $6,000, $7,000.Wow.So when we launched, we used to be the discount medical air purifier.I see.
And then patients started to buy it.And then we're like, I want to help families breathe better at home.Right.I don't like this whole medical side of the business.So yeah, the dentists and the hygienists wear masks.
when they're treating the patient, but your mouth is wide open.So I will never go to a dentist that doesn't have high quality air filters in every single room.Some of them use an extractor that is designed to be like a range hood.
Most don't, and even if they do, it doesn't capture most of it.Yeah, my dentist doesn't have that.Here's the crazy thing.
The reason we have the lifetime warranty, the reason we have one day shipping for replacement units is because when we launched during COVID, We would get calls from dentists, but their hygienists would refuse to work if the JASPER wasn't running.
Because it's orange between every single patient.In fact, turbo mode, that was created for dentists.Because when they're done treating a patient, I always ask the dentist, I'm like, by the way, once upon a time dentists didn't use masks or gloves.
I remember those days, man, very clearly.This is called the 80s and the 90s, man.They were just, my dentist would be like, oh, I guess I should use gloves when I'm poking around in your mouth.There's a new log for this.
But he, I mean, he washed his hands.Not long ago.Yeah.This is like not that long ago.And now that seems insane.Absolutely insane.
Like get your dirty.AIDS is when they were like, oh, I should probably wear gloves.And also what was the other?Yeah.Like a surgical mask.
And now they have like face shields and everything.It was the same mouth.It was just as dirty back then. So yeah, they're blasting all this stuff around, it's in the air, and then your mouth is wide open.
So we created turbo mode because I would ask dentists, I go, do you wash your hands between patients?Yeah, duh.Of course.I go, do you clean all of the instruments between your patients?They're like, yeah, duh, we disinfect it.
I go, do you clean your air between patients?No.So the percentage of dentists who do filter their air is going up dramatically.Yeah. once you kind of realize that people won't go to a dentist that doesn't clean the air anymore.Uh, yeah.
And it goes orange.It's always orange because it's actually working.So that's the dentist and the hygienist.They learn about bio aerosols in school and training, but it never was visualized for them.
And then they realize like, why are they getting sick all the time?Dentists have one of the highest percentages of any industry of adult onset asthma.
So you're breathing tooth particulate, blood, saliva, and then any other viruses that are in the air.So that turbo mode was designed because right when the hygienist is done with the patient, they can hit the turbo mode.
It will run on full speed for like 10 minutes and then go back to smart mode.And then we kept it.So now people use that mode when they leave the front door, they like hit it to do a little deep clean.
But yeah, that machine was, it was originally for wildfire smoke.And then when COVID happened, it was a medical and dental thing. And then the hygienist would, they would use it as a sales tool of why you should come to our dental office.
That's a good idea.And then the patient's like, uh, my kid has asthma.Will it help?Allergies would help.They're like, probably.Do they sell it for families?I don't know.Call Jasper.We had no e-commerce.The only way you could buy one was to call me.
That's funny.And I had like two people working for me. We would talk to every single person on the phone, or like email with them, and then we'd send them an invoice.So the ability to buy these things online was only February 2023.
Jeez, I feel like I got mine shortly thereafter, probably.Yeah.Because I think, didn't we get in touch originally?Because I had my air tested, and then someone was like, send it to this guy.
And I was like, oh, this, I'll send it to this Mike Feldstein guy.And then you were like, oh, hi, Jordan.And I was like, oh, you're that same person.Because it's not, you know.
You got some mole testing done.
Yeah.And then you were like, let me decode this for you.And then you're like, Hey, let me send you this thing.And I saw that it was just like fire right after.Yes.Yeah, exactly.
And then it was like far superior to anything that we had in every room in the house.So we ended up putting those in other like Airbnbs that my brother-in-law owns, like get, got rid of them and replaced them with Jasper.What'd you start noticing?
Yeah.Oh wait, the salon. The barbershop, the restaurant, as you start noticing like your home air, like clean air should be like outside in an area with good air, generally doesn't smell like much.And if it does, it's nature.
But when you go to like, dude, I can't go to shopping malls anymore.
Well, they already smell like the perfume from the department store.
The Lush and the Bath and Body Works.
Yes.Oh, when you walk by that store Lush, it triggers my gag reflex and it makes my eyes water.And my wife will go in there and she's like, I want to look around.And I'm like, I can't even wait for you like anywhere near the store.I have to go.
Yeah, there is a price to be paid for being an air snob.
Yeah, yeah, it's true.Well, thanks for coming all the way to my house to do the show.
I'm glad we were able to show off the Jaspers.You know, we don't run Facebook ads.We don't do Google ads.The whole mission is go teach people about air.And you know, we can't help you with CO2.You got to open your doors and windows.
And there are other products that clean the air just as good.No doubt.The downside, typically, If they're half the price, it's usually because they're louder and uglier and made from plastic.I see.
So where our kind of unique value proposition is, is if you want it to be beautiful and quiet and smart and have good service, but I would rather people get something rather than nothing.So I believe this episode is going to drop October 28th.Yeah.
So we set up Code Jordan for anyone who's listening.It'll be $400 off. It'll be literally the biggest offer we've ever had.And it's going to only last one week.So between October 28th for seven days after, it'll be $400 off.
And then after that, it will be $100 off for eternity.We'll just leave that code for anyone.But any of your loyal listeners who heard and they were like, whoa, I want to invest in Clean Air.And this sounds like something I want to do.
Code Jordan, October 28th for one week will be $400 off. And hopefully... I should buy some more for my own house with my own code.
So, sushi time?Is that legit?Yeah.Thank you.Yes, pay those bills and I will have to use some of that to get some delicious food because I'm starving.Thank you, man.
You're about to hear a preview of the Jordan Harbinger show with the one and only Dr. Drew Pinsky of Loveline fame.Always loved that guy.It's like a movie script.This person was saying a bunch of crap.Didn't make any sense.
And then you said something along the lines of, is there someone else in there I can talk to?
And then they were like sure yeah, I could tell it was a multiple.
Yeah, that's pretty easy thing for me to tell you listen with your whole body Okay, you don't listen with your ears and that really started happening with dealing with drug addicts out in the clinic because They pull you into a vortex if I hear the sound you know the little cartoon with these guys I know I'm with a drug addict okay, but I hear that you're gonna.
You're gonna sound in my head.I got somebody's doing drugs.I just know it I'm just gonna be sitting here listening to somebody going, huh, huh, huh, and all of a sudden I go, yuggity, yuggity, I go, oh, okay, I got it.
I can stop listening now and just start asking what they're taking, how much they're on, that kind of stuff.I'm thinking right now of this guy that called us and wanted to know.Women always freak out when they find out what I was in jail for.
And all of a sudden Adam goes, wait a minute, find out that you were in jail or find out what you were in jail for?He goes, what I was in jail for.And we go, oh, well, what were you in jail for?
I broke into a mausoleum and I twisted off the head of an old lady and boiled it to a skull because I needed it for my little brother's snake's aquarium.And I thought, wow.Wow.And you don't understand that might be a little disturbing to people.Why?
Okay, so he was... Psychopath.Psychopath, yeah.
Self-esteem obviously doesn't care if you're successful.
Right.Self-esteem is something established, I think, by age five.I mean, you can enhance it and you can move it a little bit, but most of it is set early.And mine was bad. That's okay.That's all right.
I you know it just if it gives you trouble if it makes you feel bad It gives you symptoms as it pairs your functioning.That's therapy time.Okay.Did you ever try therapy for 11 years?Oh my god.Not for that per se I was having overwhelming anxiety.
That was my main reason at least that's my wife's reason for sending me
For more with Dr. Drew, including what experiencing imposter syndrome usually reveals about you and how we can spot the behaviors of addiction in others as well as in ourselves, check out episode 72 right here on The Jordan Harbinger Show.
Alright, so this air quality thing is real, folks.
As a parent of small children, we put foam on stuff, we put tape on sharp things, we cover up the electrical outlets, but then I just never thought of cleaning the air where they sleep and spend all of their time.
So that was kind of a wake-up call for me, especially when we had crappy air quality and fires around here. And look, again, I apologize, at least a little, if this episode seems more salesy than usual.
That wasn't really my intention, but honestly, the more I've researched this, the more I really care about the air quality in my home, the more I feel really good about recommending something like this.
I mean, I had him fly out here to do this show at his expense.This is really a sponsor that I can really get behind.I went for them to sponsor the show.They didn't pitch me on this or anything.
It's always good when I like a product and then I can reach out to the company have them sponsor the show instead of it having it come through like a sales pipeline and I gotta figure out what I like about it.
This is really, in my opinion, the most authentic way to recommend something.And again, these things are beautiful.They work really well, but they're also beautiful.It's like something you'd find at the Apple store.
They're super attractive, they're clean looking, and like I said, most importantly, they actually work.
So if you wanna get one of these things, jasper, J-A-S-P-R dot C-O, and use code JORDAN this week for 400 bucks off, that is a pretty amazing discount, honestly.I'm actually gonna be using my own code J-A-S-P-R, jasper.co, using code Jordan.
I'm gonna be using that myself to get more for my own house, for my parents, and my in-laws.And if you're interested, if you're on the market for an air filter, this is the one.I encourage you to use this code ASAP and do the same thing.
And I hope this was helpful.I know I kinda nerded out here, so thanks for bearing with me.All things Mike Feldstein and Jasper will be in the show notes at jordanharbinger.com.
Advertisers, deals, discounts, and ways to support the show, all at jordanharbinger.com slash deals. please consider supporting those who support this podcast.Also, our newsletter, Wee Bit Wiser, a lot of you love this.
I really, I'm so grateful that you do.You hit reply when I send it out, and you can always do that to reach me.I just really enjoy sending this out and writing it.
The idea is to give you something specific, something practical, something that'll have an immediate impact on your decisions, psychology, and relationships in under two minutes.I don't wanna make long stuff.I mean, this show's long enough.
And if you haven't signed up yet, I invite you to come check it out.It's a great companion to the show.JordanHarbinger.com slash news is where you can find it.Don't forget Six Minute Networking over at sixminutenetworking.com.
I'm at Jordan Harbinger on Twitter and Instagram.You can also connect with me on LinkedIn and pretend we know each other professionally. This show is created in association with Podcast One.
My team is Jen Harbinger, Jace Sanderson, Robert Fogerty, Ian Baird, and Gabriel Mizrahi.Remember, we rise by lifting others.The fee for the show is you share it with friends when you find something useful or interesting.
The greatest compliment you can give us is to share the show with those you care about.If you know somebody who's interested in air quality or should be interested in air quality, definitely share this episode with them.
In the meantime, I hope you apply what you hear on the show so you can live what you learn, and we'll see you next time.