107 - TikToker and EMT Jack Raia

What The Hell Is Michael Jamin Talking About?

On this week's episode, I have TikToker and EMT Jack Raia. Tune in as we talk about how he uses his content to help educate people in health care. We also talk about how he balances making sure his content doesn’t take away from the potential severity of health situations.

Show Notes

Jack Raia on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@whatsgood24.7.365

Jack Raia on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhatsGood24-7

Michael's Online Screenwriting Course - https://michaeljamin.com/course

Free Screenwriting Lesson - https://michaeljamin.com/free

Join My Newsletter - https://michaeljamin.com/newsletter

Autogenerated Transcript

Jack Raia:Cameras and healthcare tend to not really mix very well, especially when it comes to me just running around my cell phone camera. So that's definitely been a major roadblock in kind of the day of life kind of stuff

Michael Jamin:You're listening to. What the hell is Michael Jamin talking about? I'll tell you what I'm talking about. I'm talking about creativity, I'm talking about writing, and I'm talking about reinventing yourself through the arts.

Michael Jamin:Hey everyone, it's Michael Jamin. Welcome back to another episode of my show, which I've rebranded as the Michael Jamon Show, because I want to make sure that there's more me in every mention of the show. And as you know, mostly I've spoken about, I've interviewed screenwriters, people, I've worked with directors, actors, and now after doing this for two years, I want to open it up to more people. We're just doing interesting things and there's a whole universe I don't know about, and so I'm learning about, and my next guest is going to teach us a little about that. His name is Jack Raya. He's the host of What's Good, 2, 4, 7. He's a big talker, so we're going to learn all about that. Jack, welcome. Thank you for joining me.

Jack Raia:Thanks for having me on, Michael. I really appreciate the opportunity.

Michael Jamin:Yeah. So let me tell everyone a little about you. So as far as I can tell, maybe I'm wrong, you're an EMT, you're in New York, right? Where in New York are you?

Jack Raia:I'm on Long Island in Nas County, long Island.

Michael Jamin:Interesting. My nephew's an E, he's a paramedic, actually. So I know a little about that word world, but you started, you have a very popular channel on TikTok where basically you act out, for the most part, you kind of act out scenes of what it's like to be an EMT. Am I right?

Jack Raia:Yeah. Yeah. I categorized it as EMS, sketch comedy, I guess is what I've labeled it.

Michael Jamin:And then what inspired you to start all this?

Jack Raia:So it was honestly a series of coincidences that got me into TikTok. The first instance was back in the summer of 2020, a friend of mine just posted a random video on TikTok, and it was this new app that I wasn't even on yet. It was kind of labeled the app that's just for middle school girls to do dances on. Right. No one really knew what it was yet.

Michael Jamin:That's exactly right. That's what I thought it was. Yeah, right.

Jack Raia:So my buddy posted a video, it was lighting off fireworks or something dumb, and the video blew up. The algorithm just picked it up, and it ended up getting a couple million, I think over 3 million views or something like that. And my buddy had zero followers on TikTok. So that was the first instance of like, wow, this whole algorithm base for you page is like, holy crap, I guess it works. So then that summer I was like, all right, well, I guess I'll give it a shot. So I was the captain lifeguard at the time, and because of Covid that summer, we had to figure out a way to test the rookie lifeguards, drill them on saves without making physical contact, which is a little bit strange, but it's the way it ended up working. So I came up with the idea of having them save traffic cones. I was throwing traffic cones into the deep end, and I posted a video of one of those drills, and it blew up just like my buddies did. So I went from zero followers and zero views to 6 million something views and 11,000 followers. So that was the first instance of like, wow, this level of attention is so easy and addicting that I think I'm going to give this app a little bit of a shot. But

Michael Jamin:Do you have other aspirations? I mean, you got a real job, you have a career.

Jack Raia:Oh, yeah, of course. But given how I discovered the algorithm, I was like, you know what? Maybe I can do some other stuff on here. So I was experimenting with a bunch of different types of videos and characters. I used to do an Eminem character, like the rapper, Eminem Burns his finger on the stove, just a bunch of crap that I was just making in my free time. But then that following school year, a buddy of mine started doing these POV style skits, which was, I hadn't had any exposure to until I saw it on TikTok. So my buddy started doing APOV frat guy comes up to you at the bar, or POV, your Italian dad, or something like that. And at first we were like, dude, what are you doing? It's an app for just posting random crap and doing other stuff. Why are you putting yourself on there like that? But he just didn't care, and he just kept making his videos, trying to make each one better than the last. And I watched my friend one day, he had 10,000 followers and 50, a hundred, and now he's got over a million, and he moved out to la Oh, wow. And he really did it. So I watched him just not care what other people were thinking and just be consistent. And I was like, all right, well, maybe I could do this whole POB skip thing.

Michael Jamin:But your friend wants to be an actor, right?

Jack Raia:Yeah. Right.

Michael Jamin:Do you want to act as well?

Jack Raia:I mean, I would love the opportunity, definitely. My first love is definitely being an EMT and working in the S field. I have a private ambulance company job on Long Island nine one system, and I also work for an event staffing company that does everything from fashion shows to concerts to music festivals and stuff like that. So I really love doing that stuff, but I've realized through all these coincidences how lucrative social media especially TikTok can be. So I guess that's really all culminated to what I'm really doing here.

Michael Jamin:Well, tell me then, how do you monetize on TikTok?

Jack Raia:The main way is you build up enough of an audience to get brand deals. That's the way that pays the most, at least for most people.

Michael Jamin:Are you doing that?

Jack Raia:Yeah. Yeah. So the most recent, I guess notable one I had was for a video game company called Supercell that makes an iPhone game called Clash of Clans. So actually, they posted a contract through the app. So there's a creator marketplace on TikTok, and you can see different companies and scroll through and see they're offering different rates for different videos. And so I applied for this one through Supercell, and the objective was to use one of their sounds, which TikTok is pretty popular for. So when you open their app, clash of Clans, there's a pretty distinct sound that you're opening the game. So I just kind of figured I could work it humorously into an EMT skit, and it ended up doing really well.

Michael Jamin:Now are they giving you a lot of notes? Do you have to go back and forth and tell 'em what your ideas?

Jack Raia:It really depends. Every company has different wants and specifications when it comes to doing the brand deals. Some are super relaxed and they let the creator just like, Hey, do your thing, we trust you. But some others are like to nitpick and stuff like that.

Michael Jamin:But you must be worried you, you can't do that a lot because then suddenly you're the commercial channel. Right?

Jack Raia:Exactly. So you kind of got to pick and choose which ones you want to do and when there are other avenues though, the Creator fund is something I get questions about a lot. So based on the certain amount of views you get, it'll pay out a couple cents per thousand views or something like that.

Michael Jamin:Are you doing that as well?

Jack Raia:So they just changed it actually. They just released a beta program where now there's a much higher payout rate for videos that are over one minute long. So I'm kind of screwed because a lot of my videos are 30 to 50 seconds long, so I could try to stretch 'em out, but I feel like the quality of the video might take a hit at that point. But there's some people out there that they have a hundred thousand followers or something like that, and it's just them spewing their thoughts out into TikTok, and they post four or five times a day of them just talking or giving their opinion on stuff. And all these videos are minute, two minutes long, and there's people making 10, $15,000 a month off just this new beta creator program. Now,

Michael Jamin:Do you think it limits your reach, though, if you're on?

Jack Raia:So I think it has to honestly, and I'm confident in saying that TikTok is the least predictable social media platform out there. We're all at the mercy of the algorithm here, and it seems to be pretty random and definitely hard to predict. So some stuff happens to blow up, some stuff doesn't. I'll be super confident in a video that I make, and I'll be excited to post it, and it'll flop in comparison to other videos where sometimes I'll just post for the sake of consistency and just get in content out and, oh, crap, this one just blew up. All right.

Michael Jamin:What is your schedule? How often do you post?

Jack Raia:So when I started and I was really trying to give it a go, I was super adamant about sticking to one a day. No matter what, I don't care if I love the video, I just have to force people to see me every single day when I was really trying to grow. So the quantity over quality method works pretty well when you're trying to start out, but now I'm at the point where I try to be more selective and I try to make sure that video is up to standard, if you will. So I don't really stick to a hard schedule. It's more if I have a good idea and it comes to me and I'm able to flesh it out and I have an opportunity to film it, then great. But if I don't, it's like, ah, didn't get one today.

Michael Jamin:And then how long do you spend on each idea? Do you write it down? What's your

Jack Raia:Pre-production? Right. So my particular, I guess, strategy is 95% of what you hear me say on TikTok has been written down. At a certain point as I go through it, maybe stuff gets switched around or whatever, but the general premise, and I guess the pacing of the skid is totally all written down and stuff like that. A big part of my production is actually my little brother who's my cameraman, andHe's got a real knack behind the lens. I like to tell him he's, he's good at being able to keep me in frame the right way, which all of my videos have that banner title over the top. So sometimes we have to restart because my head clips into it too much and stuff like that. But other than that, it's just me and an iPhone camera. TikTok has given us the ability, or really social media in general to create content that can have a wide reach with not really a lot of equipment. So super grateful for that.

Michael Jamin:On a given day, how much time do you devote to a video?

Jack Raia:Sometimes

Michael Jamin:Zero, writing it, producing it, and then posting it?

Jack Raia:Well, I've definitely gotten faster at it. So when I would start the whole process, start to finish from writing the script to getting that final take, putting a filter on it and posting it be up to two hours, sometimes in the beginning, an hour or two hours easily. But now, if I have a good seed to build a skid around, whether it's a good punchline or a premise that I like, that I can kind of mold the rest of the video around, once I get that down, the whole filming process, 15, 20 minutes for me now, sometimes 30 minutes, depending on where I am, I live next to the train tracks. So when a train goes by, it'll totally ruin my take. Or sometimes I got to wait for the neighbor to stop mowing his lawn and stuff like that. But when I'm able to just film at the pace, I'd like to film probably about 20, 30 minutes to do the filming now as opposed to an hour before.

Michael Jamin:Right. That's so interesting. And then how has this benefited you in ways that were unexpected? What has come from this?

Jack Raia:So by far, it's the amount of people that'll reach out to me through Instagram dms, or even in my comments section, telling me that my content has inspired them to take an EMT course. Oh, wow, okay. I've even had some pretty moving conversations with people where it's like, Hey, man, just got off the truck after 24 hours. Thanks for bringing me a smile. It's nice to be seen, is what people have told me. Nice to be seen shedding a little bit of light and humor on some of the grittier sides of the EMS world. So people have noticed that, and I'm like, wow, I didn't even really mean to have an impact on people like that, but I have been. So that's been really, really cool to do.

Michael Jamin:Well, I think people love e mt workers. I mean, you're there to save lives.

Jack Raia:It's kind of hard to hate on sometimes. Yeah.

Michael Jamin:But okay, but do you get haters? You must, oh yeah, of

Jack Raia:Course, of course.

Michael Jamin:And how does that affect you, and what do you do about it?

Jack Raia:So I'm thankfully at the point now where I have a large enough audience where if someone leaves me a hate comment, someone that likes my content or is following me will go to bat for me in the comment section. I definitely don't entertain trying to argue with people in the comments or dms or stuff like that

Michael Jamin:That, do you block them or no,

Jack Raia:Not really, honestly, because not really. Sometimes getting a little bit of controversy in the comments and people arguing back and forth on each other can be good for engagement, unfortunately. But I've come to realize that no matter what kind of content you're creating, and no matter how good you are at it, there's people that are going to have negative things to say, people crap talk. Everyone from Tom Brady to the best comedians in the world, the best musicians, best artists, writers, it doesn't matter. You're going to get hate if you're putting yourself out there. People like to spread negativity for some reason. So it's just part of what comes with being, putting yourself out on the internet. So I don't really let it get to me too much.

Michael Jamin:That's it. But it's interesting that you don't block them. You might be more mature than I'm sometimes I just don't want to hear it. Just, oh, goodbye, goodbye. I don't want to look at the negativity.

Jack Raia:Thankfully, I don't get too much. I definitely got a little bit more in the beginning than I do now, and I know TikTok is pretty good at censoring a lot of stuff sometimes too good. Honestly, I've left comments that were meant to be positive on other people's pages, but it'll get flagged for being negative or insulting or something like that. So a certain percentage of negative comments won't even show up. I won't even know that they're there. But the ones that I do get, it's like, it's just part of it. It's like you got to take the good with the bad a little bit. Some of them are funny, honestly, some of them are pretty clever.

Michael Jamin:You respond to, it sounds like you respond to a lot of people. Do you respond, even kind comments, you respond to them, everyone?

Jack Raia:Yeah. Yeah. I'm definitely less responsive in my comment section than I am for my dms. If someone wants to reach out to me on Instagram and personally message me, I'm grateful for every time someone takes the time to reach out to me. I think it's crazy that people resonate with enough with what I'm creating to send me a message. I think that's crazy.

Michael Jamin:Yeah. Interesting.

Jack Raia:If you take the time to message me, I'll totally answer.

Michael Jamin:Hey, it's Michael Jamin. If you like my content and I know you do because you're listening to me, I will email it to you for free. Just join my watch list. Every Friday I send out my top three videos of the week. These are for writers, actors, creative types, people like you can unsubscribe whenever you want. I'm not going to spam you, and the price is free. You got no excuse to join. Go to michaeljamin.com. And now back to

Michael Jamin:What the hell is Michael Jamin talking about? Here's a question I tend to ask people who are creators. Do you notice a difference between the kind of people commenting on TikTok versus let's say YouTube or Instagram?

Jack Raia:A hundred percent. There's almost like a generational gap between something like Instagram or TikTok. TikTok seems to be like the 25 and under Instagram seems to be the 18 to 35 or older. So the difference in humor and the difference in memes on each page is definitely different. And it's interesting that I'll post something on TikTok, it'll do well or comparatively will do well. And then once I load it into Instagram and I have that kind of Instagram mindset and that feel for that audience, I almost hesitate a little bit. I know that it's going to be perceived totally differently. There's a certain level of, I guess, being corny on TikTok that is being intentionally corny. They see the sarcasm in it, so it works on TikTok, but it doesn't come across that way on Instagram. So Instagram, it's just a different way that people view it. It's kind of strange, honestly.

Michael Jamin:And what about YouTube?

Jack Raia:So YouTube, I do put my stuff on there, but I don't really have enough of an audience on there to really get much engagement. I have two vlogs on there. I've made an attempt at the long form content, but it doesn't really compare to what I'm doing on TikTok and Instagram right now. I'd love to get my YouTube audience up in the numbers these days, but the only real comparisons I can make is TikTok, Instagram and Facebook are kind of the Holy Trinity of where I post my stuff and what I can

Michael Jamin:Describe as well. Now, was it difficult at first putting yourself out there? Was that hard for you? I know you were inspired by your friend, but still,

Jack Raia:It's crazy you say that because I look back at some of those older videos that I was making, and I have no idea how I had the balls to do that. I look at it now and I'm like, what was I thinking? How did I not care? I just kind of didn't, and I was kind of just enamored by seeing other people blow up on the app, especially my friend, and I was like, you know what? Screw it. Who caress?

Michael Jamin:And how long have you been doing this now?

Jack Raia:So the first time I ever posted on the app was summer of 2020. The first time I ever really tried to make POV skits and succeed that way was December, 2021, about a year and a half coming up on two years now. But it wasn't until last summer that I realized that this EMT character was what I was really going to try to stick with. So the whole

Michael Jamin:Isn't that interesting that you naturally found your voice just by doing it over it? People struggle with that, and I kind of say the same. Just do something every day, and then you'll find your way, you'll find your voice. You'll just know what works and what doesn't work.

Jack Raia:I used to be super adamant about rotating my characters. I had success with a bartender character in the past and a bouncer. I've done a teacher, a lifeguard, a whole bunch of different stuff. And I used to be pretty adamant about, okay, I did my Gen Z cop today, so tomorrow I'm going to do the Gen Z professor, and then I'll do the lifeguard, and then I'll circle back around to the EMT character. But I got to a point where the only one that I really enjoyed doing and the one that I was the most motivated to create was the EMT character. Well,

Michael Jamin:Because that's the most authentic, that's who you are.

Jack Raia:Exactly. Right.

Michael Jamin:Yeah. You're playing a role,

Jack Raia:And I discovered how valuable it was to really focus in on a niche instead of doing this myriad of characters just being kind of labeled as that e mt guy on TikTok was pretty valuable to

Michael Jamin:How much of yourself, because you're doing sketches, and so this is a character that you've created. The character is based on yourself, but it's still a character, and you're still not showing all of us. You're not showing all of yourself. Right. And so what's the line and how did you decide on that line?

Jack Raia:I am someone that I found it much easier to play a character online than it was to naturally talk to the camera and stuff like that, which is definitely the opposite for other people. There's creators 2, 3, 10 times my size where they just hit record talk to the camera, and they have this big, beautiful, successful video. But I don't know, when it comes to my, I guess, authentic personality and putting it on TikTok, I kind of spin my tires in that regard.

Michael Jamin:Is it not comfortable for you or you don't want to?

Jack Raia:I dunno. When I go to try to do some authentic stuff like that, I don't even know what to talk about. I have no real inspiration on what the video should be about when it comes to these TikTok skits, I'll have that joke or that punchline. I'm like, oh, that's good. And then I can craft a video around it, and then I'm excited to film it. So I'm definitely not opposed to being authentic and showing my real personality on camera. I just don't really know what it would really do or be about. So maybe one day, but

Michael Jamin:Yeah, so interesting. And then, okay, so you mentioned that you're into, you would think about acting. You don't want to move to la. You're not that serious about it. You're open to it.

Jack Raia:Right. So the way I see it, I live in Long Island by train. I'm less than an hour outside of Manhattan. So any sort of opportunities in the entertainment industry, I feel like I could probably pursue in New York if they were to come about. But the idea of moving to LA and trying to jump with both feet into Hollywood, I guess, doesn't have as much as appeal to me as it does. Kind of just making my videos, working on the ambulance, working at a concert. I'm kind of liking what I'm doing instead of really trying to jump into one or the other.

Michael Jamin:I appreciate that. I mean, you're doing this to me. It seems like you have, it's the purest form, excuse me, purest form of expression. You're doing this, you want to be creative. This is your outlet.

Jack Raia:And the honest truth is I like being a content creator, but I love being an EMT. It's honestly, the unfortunate reality is that if I could make as much as a content creator as an EMT, I probably wouldn't be doing much of the content creator stuff. Obviously, like I said before, the attention super addicting and it's fun to get recognized and stuff like that. But if I could flip the payrolls, I would,

Michael Jamin:Well, let me ask you this. Why not do more actual day in the life where you got the camera, you're behind the wheel, the ambulance or whatever? Is it because you're not allowed to

Jack Raia:Sort of? So I've done a little bit of that. I've able to, like I said, I have some vlogs on YouTube where I'm vlogging the work that I do as an EMT, but it's definitely much harder to do than if you were to do it with other jobs, with everything from HIPAA violations to if I were to deviate even one second or one minutia of my brain power to my phone or something like that while I'm in the ambulance at all, it's just not something you really want to get involved

Michael Jamin:With. Yeah, I could see that. I mean, other than maybe cleaning the ambulance when it's parked

Jack Raia:Station, right? Yeah, no, no, no. I can see that. But cameras and healthcare tend to not really mix very well, especially when it comes to me just running around my cell phone camera. So that's definitely been a major roadblock in kind of the day of life kind of stuff.

Michael Jamin:Yeah, I can see that. I guess it's a naive question now that I ask that. Yeah,

Jack Raia:Yeah. But I've had some success, so it's not like it's impossible, but its definitely more difficult. So it's not really that much of a priority for me.

Michael Jamin:Creative. Are there creators or even famous people whose work you admire you were trying to emulate in your work?

Jack Raia:Yeah. I mean, there's other EMT creators or EMS creators or even just healthcare workers in general that create content on the app that I really like. One of 'em is the name's Fire department Chronicles. He's a bald dude that makes firefighter skits and he's the best in the business. He kills them.

Michael Jamin:Are you going to clap with him or no?

Jack Raia:I mean, maybe one day. I haven't really

Michael Jamin:Reached out to him that Okay, you don't know each other. Okay. It's great.

Jack Raia:He's got millions and millions of

Michael Jamin:Followers. Well, you're getting up there. You're getting close to a million.

Jack Raia:Hopefully. I like to think I'm on my way. It

Michael Jamin:Looks that way. Sure. And then you also sell merch. Are people buying? Are the people digging you?

Jack Raia:Yeah, a little bit. It's a work in progress. This is one of the shirts. It's just bankrupt the funeral home. So it's kind of a humorous situation where it's like, imagine if healthcare workers could do their job so impossibly well that no one was dying. So the funeral home is like, oh crap, we're out of customers here. We can't really afford to keep the lights on anymore. It's kind of, yeah,

Michael Jamin:It's a good message you got. It's positive. And I really admire you for putting yourself out there for just showing up. A lot of people are afraid to do that.

Jack Raia:Yeah, absolutely. I appreciate you saying that. My goal is to do something greater for the emergency services community down the road. I'm making a couple bucks off each T-shirt here now, but I have plans to really increase it. I'm collabing with a much larger Instagram page soon. So we want to sell everything from hats, patches, stickers, t-shirts, bags, everything under the sun, donate a portion of each sale, and really try to give back to the community that's given me this platform is definitely a goal of mine.

Michael Jamin:Well, I imagine you're becoming the face, you're becoming the face of EMT workers, at least in your area. I can only see good things coming from that in terms of raising your profile in the industry.

Jack Raia:Yeah. I'll have to agree with you there, for sure. Yeah.

Michael Jamin:Have others reached out to you? Other people in your line of work reached out to you and say, Hey, good for you for doing this? Or how do they react? Yeah,

Jack Raia:Yeah. I get a lot of really positive messages from other creators and just from other, Hey, I'm an EMT and wherever, wherever I really like your videos, man. One message that sticks out to me in particular was, it's probably last summer I got a message and it was, Hey, I'm an EMT instructor out of Iowa. My class loves your videos. We watch your videos as an icebreaker every morning before class. Holy crap. Really? The whole class.

Michael Jamin:That's really nice.

Jack Raia:That's when it really started to hit me that I'm really impacting other EMTs and paramedic stuff in here. I was like, wow, there's some real serious reach here.

Michael Jamin:Yeah. People don't realize that what you do actually makes a difference in some people's lives. It really does.

Jack Raia:And with that, there's definitely a little bit of responsibility. There's two aspects of my content that I'm kind of trying to clean up in the future a little bit. One of them being is the disheveled kind of inappropriate nature that my character exhibits a lot of the time, showing up with his boots untied, still tucking in his shirt, which kind of happens due to the nature of the job. Maybe you're on a 24 hour shift, you just woke up, you're drinking Red Bulls or doing whatever and would hate for that to influence a new or future EMT. I would hate for them to think that it's okay to do that because of the nature of the job.

Michael Jamin:When did you come to that realization now?

Jack Raia:Pretty recently. So I've started putting, or I've went back and put disclaimers on a lot of my videos. It does not represent correct practice. I'll have people nitpick what I'm doing in the comments and stuff and it hit me. It's like it is important to, obviously it's a comedy skip, but it is important to note like, Hey, this is not the way you're supposed to be doing things. I'm over here trying to make a couple people laugh. This is in no way, shape or form the way that you're supposed to conduct yourself.

Michael Jamin:That's an interesting realization that you're doing this for fun. And then you realized at some point you had a responsibility

Jack Raia:Exactly

Michael Jamin:To the world really to not just to your coworkers, but in your profession, but to the world, which I don't think not everyone comes to that realization. Yeah, I wish more people did because what you put out there is important and

Jack Raia:It will affect people, whether it's subconsciously or directly. It will start to influence the way people see this job. And that goes for whatever kind of content you're making. Another aspect that I'm going to try to clean up in the future is I don't want to deter people from calling 9 1 1 because they think they might get this EMT that comes in with attitude and doesn't want to be there and stuff like that. Some of the videos I make, I'll be coming through that front door and I'm just like, oh, this is a bull crap. Call my kind of rolling my eyes and I'm making jokes about the lack of severity of the situation and I would hate for someone to see one of my videos and think twice about calling 9 1 1. So it's definitely some stuff that I'm going to address in the future, but I feel like I'm ahead of the curve hopefully, so that it hasn't really gotten too far yet where there might be some crazy instance or something like that. But it's definitely something that's on my radar to kind of address.

Michael Jamin:Where do you think most of your followers are they being in the United States? I mean, I would assume,

Jack Raia:Honestly, I'm not sure. I can check my analytics and it can tell me where people are from. The most recent time I checked my most followed city was Chicago, coincidentally enough. So it was like Chicago, Phoenix, Austin, New York wasn't even really up there.

Michael Jamin:Isn't that interesting?

Jack Raia:Yeah. But there's definitely a lot of local people that have recognized me. When I started at my private ambulance company in February of this year and my first ride along, I showed up, I walked into the building and put my stuff down and immediately went on a call with of my field training officers. So obviously we're kind of in call mode, right? But once we transferred our patient care and everything like that, my FTO was like, you, that guy. I was like, probably. I'm probably the one you're thinking of.

Michael Jamin:Yeah. How funny. That must have been. Nice. So before we wrap up, I don't know, I'm very impressed by what you're putting out there, by what you're doing. You're simply a standup guy. What other advice do you give people who I don't know, who are interested in doing what you're doing? What else do you have to offer them?

Jack Raia:I think that consistency is probably the most important aspect of trying to be any type of a creator. Whether you're writing a blog, making POV skits or making music, anything like that. Kind of just forcing people to be exposed to your content through you just keep making it and posting it is probably the most important aspect. And if you can do that and just make an effort to make each one a little bit better than the last, it will start to compound.

Michael Jamin:And by consistency you mean once a day or what?

Jack Raia:It depends, honestly. So with me, it worked once a day. Back in the winter of 2021, I had a winter break from school, so I was like, you know what? I got nothing to do this break, but watch the Sopranos and make TikTok. So no matter what I'm doing, I'm going to make a TikTok every day. I don't care if I love it, I hate it, I'm going to post it. So that was that first little spike in followers that I got and I was like, this can probably work. I think I got it down here. But

Michael Jamin:I think it's great that you're really, that you're sharing your profession, you're making it light, you're trying to entertain people and you're doing a little something, but you're raising your profile. I see just good things, good things coming from it.

Jack Raia:Yeah. I really appreciate it.

Michael Jamin:Yeah. Congratulations. Thank you for joining me again. I really appreciate it learning your story. My pleasure. Very interesting. Everyone go check out Jack, Jack Raya, his channel's called What's good, 2 4 7 24 7. That's me on TikTok. I imagine that's your same handle on Instagram and Facebook. Yeah, that's it. Wonderful. Thank you so much, Jack. Really good for you. Congratulations.

Jack Raia:Absolutely. We'll have to do this again sometimes. Thank you.

Michael Jamin:Yeah, good stuff. Alright everyone, that was an interesting talk with an EMT Jack. We'll check him out on TikTok. Alright everyone, until next week, I got to think of a better tagline. You used to say, keep writing, I'll think of something else. Keep bullshitting. Alright everyone, thanks so

Jack Raia:Much.

Michael Jamin:So now we all know what the hell Michael Jamin is talking about. If you're interested in learning more about writing, make sure you register for my free monthly webinars @michaeljamin.com/webinar. And if you found this podcast helpful or entertaining, please share it with a friend and consider leaving us a five star review on iTunes that really, really helps. For more of this, whatever the hell this is, follow Michael Jamin on social media @MichaelJaminwriter. And you can follow Phil Hudson on social media @PhilaHudson. This podcast was produced by Phil Hudson. It was edited by Dallas Crane and music was composed by Anthony Rizzo. And remember, you can have excuses or you can have a creative life, but you can't have both. See you next week.

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