What it was actually like being on 'The Ellen Show'

Hey everyone, I hope you're having a beautiful day. Um, you know, oftentimes when I was on the road, and even now, I just recently, the reason why I'm making this is because I just got an email kind of reminding me to do this. I, so many people when I was on the road was always asking me, how was the Ellen show?

What was it like? How did it all happen? It's a pretty common question I get. So I figured it'd be a fun little video to talk about it. I, uh, I was on the Ellen show about what a year and a half ago. It was April, I think April of 2019. And the reason I remember the month. Yeah, it was, it was April, 2019. And the reason why I remember the month is because, uh, I was at my, my friend, Eric, Eric and Erica.

I don't know if you guys ever saw the video of me getting a dog named Jax. I, I, my, my two best friends, they're a couple, they're married now. But they asked, they said they always wanted a Jack Russell and I found this Jack Russell puppy at one of my events. And we sent the dog from Los Angeles to Miami.

It was a beautiful video. The story of Jack's. Hi guys, have my piggies. But, um, it was there at their wedding that I found out I was going to be. On the Ellen show. So just to backtrack, you know, I was reaching out to the Ellen show when I first started the Asher house. My goodness, it was on my bucket list.

I'm literally, it was in my goals on my, uh, vision board to be on the Ellen show one day. Cause what a, what a better way to share your story. So. Man, it's just, I'm just thinking about that day. It was so crazy. But anyways, for a long time I tried to be on the show. I eventually gave up, really. I was like, I'm not going to be on the show, whatever.

And then They had called me one day. I got this call from an unknown number and they said, Hey, this is so and so with the Ellen show. We'd love to talk to you. I was ecstatic as anyone could be. I almost couldn't believe it. Really. It was years. And the reason why they called me so many of you, they got so many requests from people.

They didn't even see mine. I guess they had so many requests from people, uh, that wanted to see me on the show and they finally reached out. So thank you all for getting me on the Ellen show. But basically we were in conversations with them for nearly a year. You know, they were always interviewing us, always asking questions to the point where I was, you know, in the beginning, when they first called me, I was so excited.

Then after a while, it's like, what are we doing the show? Are we, I didn't know what was happening anymore, but luckily, uh, it did happen. So what happened was this, it's pretty funny. I'm at my friend's wedding at Eric's wedding. And I'm literally putting on my suit. I'm putting on my suit and my jacket. And I get, I get a unknown number call.

I answered the phone. I'm in Miami at the time. I'm not even with the dogs. Luke was back at home watching the pups and hanging out. And out of nowhere, I get the phone call and they said, Lee, it's the Ellen show. I said, Hey, it's been a while. How are you? They said, good. What are you doing? I said, I'm in Miami.

I'm at my friend's wedding. This is a Saturday. They said, when's the wedding? I said, tonight. They said, when are you going to be home? I said, I'm supposed to be home Tuesday. They said, we want you on the show Monday. I said, are you serious? They said, seriously man, we want you on the show Monday. I had a date.

I was going to go on a date Monday night. Uh, in Miami, so I had to cancel. I had to go home early. Uh, I was so excited about this date as well. It was like, I hadn't been on a date in so long, but I canceled the date. I called Luke. I said, you won't believe it. We're going to be on the show. He said, no way. I said, it's going to be Monday.

I'm coming home early. I flew, I flew home the next day, the whole time at the wedding, you know, I'm going to be on the Ellen Show. I'm going to be on the Ellen Show. It's so funny. I get home Sunday. I get ready. I leave first thing Monday morning. They pick me up. It was very nice. They pick me up. They set me up in a hotel by the Disney World.

It was, uh, not Disney World because it was Los Angeles. Disneyland. It was the hotel near there. David. David. How you doing? What are you up to? Want to hear the story? Okay. So, they pick me up, they drop me off at the hotel, they say, you know, get ready. I met, I met Luke at the airport. And, uh, you know, it really started to hit me.

Like, I'm in Los Angeles, I see the Ellen Show billboards. And they pick us up, excuse me, we get, we get to the studio and they put us in this room and they start telling us who's been in this room, you know, this is where Justin Bieber sat, this is this, this is that. I was like, great, you know, I don't care, great, you know, I just was excited to be on the show.

But it was such a beautiful experience, I kept telling Luke, I knew we would do it, I knew we would do it, you know, cause I used to say way before, Even we were on the road, I used to say I promised one day we were going to be on the show, so I kept telling him, I knew we would do it. Cough, cough, cough. And um,

so I said, do we get to meet? So we're in the room, they're prepping me, and they said, act really excited when you go, you know, when you first see her, act really excited. I said, I'm going to be excited, I don't have to act excited, I'm going to be excited. Yeah, but just make sure you act excited. I said, I am.

They said, just don't pick her up. Why would I pick her up? I don't know. A lot of people, like, want to pick her up. I have no intention on lifting her off the ground. I said, uh, I'm going to be excited. Don't worry. They said okay. And then, um, they said, are you, they kept asking me, are you expecting anything?

Like, do you think she's going to give you anything? I said, I don't know. Do you, I don't work here. What do you think? They said, no, but we want to set you up. You know, we, we, we want to eventually, but we can't this time. I said, that's fine. I'm just grateful to be on the show. And then, uh, they asked Luke, if he'll take it, they say, will you take your hat off?

He said, can I please leave it on? I said, Luke, just take your hat off. He said, I don't want to, I want to wear it. I said, fine. I said, can you wear it? They said, okay. I said, maybe we're not off to a good start. They were, you know, we're already asking if we can do things they didn't want us to do. We were just nervous.

You know, we were just nervous. And, uh, I said, do we get to meet her or get to talk to her? They said, no. I said, no. They said, no, you're just going to meet her at the show. Like, she's just going to say, how do you there? And you get to talk to her maybe for a little bit afterwards. And I would say, okay, you know, I'm just excited to be here.

And I really was, I was, I was just excited to be there. It was so surreal. Everything was moving so fast. And then we're sitting there probably in the back waiting for, in the back waiting room for a couple hours. Luke and I are just hanging out, cracking a lot of jokes. We just were kind of taking it all in.

We're watching the show, you know, the audience. It was very weird. You know, we're watching the show and then we're watching when she's not on. And it was just, Just being there, you know, seeing how it really was. It's like telling the audience to laugh.

I don't know if we're allowed to say it. It was just so like weird, you know, but, but great. So the truth is I was just nervous and excited and I really couldn't believe it. But the whole thing was just so funny to watch what I was about to be on. And then they're like, all right, come back here. So we're in the back room waiting.

We're just hanging out and they're like, you know, 15 minutes. I was like 15, I had to pee so bad. I mean, I was, I had to pee so bad. I said, can I run and use the restroom? They're like, no, I said, I'll be still quick. They said, no, just hold it. So 15 minutes, 10 minutes. I said, Luke, here we go. Five minutes, you know, I'm just getting so pumped.

And then they're like, three, two, one, and they open and I walk out and I basically just blinked out, you know, seeing her, you know, waving at me, come on guys, she, I'll never forget, she goes, they're real life superheroes, she called us superheroes, and that was such a, a compliment coming from, you know, this woman who is just such a presence and such a, I mean, it's Ellen, you know, like it really hit me.

And she's saying, here's, here are these superheroes. I just was like, I had this flashback of all the hard work and everything we've been through and the literal blood, sweat and tears. It kind of just was at that moment. I had this flashback and all this wave of emotion, just seeing her. And, um, I was just so grateful that we had made it onto her stage as like an actual guest sitting there with her.

And, uh, Bill Hurd. Bill Hurd, actor comedian from SNL. He was, he, he, I'm a fan of his. He was the guest right before us. And it was just, you know, seeing him walk by me as I'm walking, it was just crazy. And I remember she asked me a question, I was, just couldn't help but tell her how happy and grateful I was to be there.

Because it was true, you know, I really just, it was, It was like a, it just felt like it was supposed to happen. And she then, I didn't know that she was doing this. She then put the, uh, my dogs up on the screen. It was like a, almost like a surprise. I remember just, it brought me this sense of, uh, calmness. I felt very energetic in a way.

You know, like maybe I was a little too much. And I saw the dogs and I kind of cracked the joke. I was like, oh, there's my babies. I said something like that. And I just felt kind of calm all of a sudden. Like my dogs were with me, you know, seeing their pictures up there like that. I wasn't able to bring the dogs.

I guess there's some legal issues. We can't, we, we can't have, I couldn't, I wasn't allowed to even bring one dog. I asked, can I at least bring Butters? I said, they said no dogs, which was honestly a little disappointing. But, I understand, you know, I don't know that stuff of the world, so I could see, whatever, someone in the audience being allergic to dogs, it could be a lawsuit.

So, uh, yeah, I, I, I, to see my dogs on the screen was just really cool. It really was. Uh, and Tony was rather new to the family at the time, so it was just nice. Hey Frankie, how you doing pal? How you doing buddy?

So anyways, I, um, yeah, again, I got this sense of relief and comfort that the dogs were there. It kind of made everything better as dogs do. Hey Ted. So then, um, when she was talking to me, she was, she asked me a couple of questions, you know, she kind of, you know, what I liked was like, they said she was going to ask me these few questions that she didn't end up asking me.

I don't know if I was just so nervous. I was talking a lot. Maybe I took up too much time, but she didn't ask me the questions She didn't ask me anything hard, but nothing that I was expecting. And then she said, how can people support you? And I kind of got nervous. You know, I'd never asked for a donate. I didn't know what to say.

I wasn't even expecting that question. I think I just said, follow us on Instagram and go to the Asher house. Dot com. And, um, next thing you know, she says, we're going to shut her fly, whatever the company is. I think shut her fly. We're going to, we're going to gift you 10, 000. I couldn't believe it, man. I was so happy.

I was just so happy. I, I just couldn't believe it. Um, as far as her, you know, the truth is, I don't know Ellen at all. I imagine she's a nice person. I know, you know, the media is the media and things happen. I don't know her. That's the thing is I don't know her from, she was very nice to me. I would have loved to talk to her for a few minutes after, but she just kind of booked out of there.

She was very busy and, uh, but she was very nice to me, very respectful, lovely. Um, I didn't really get a chance to talk to her. So, um, Ellen, if you ever want to have a cup of coffee,

seriously, if you ever want to have a cup of coffee now, but, uh, she seemed awesome, really, I, I, I don't know where to place the judgment or anything like that. Um, the people there, the whole staff seemed like there was a lot of structure. Everyone seemed to be knowing what they were doing. I think that any business, you know, you look at a lot of motivational speakers, you find that people that work for them say X, Y, and Z.

I think that any, what people don't want to know is that a business operates like a business. I don't know how she treated people. I don't know what she was like off camera. Um, I don't, I feel like every celebrity gets some sort of negative spotlight at some point. I know nothing about her. She was very nice to me.

Didn't have to give me a 10, 000 donation. It was. And, um, very helpful. And, uh, a big question I get is the impact that Ellen had on me. And this is the part that I was a little bit I hate to use the word disappointed because it almost makes me sound like I'm not grateful. So grateful to be on the show.

And if they ever wanted us back, wanted me back, I would 100 percent be there. With the piggies, even the thing is, is that the show didn't, for some reason, have a huge impact on our career or the business. Um, the donations with the 10, 000 donation she gave was way more than the amount of donations that we got.

As far as followers go, no impact, maybe a few thousand followers, really. It was just the credibility of being on the show, which was great. Uh, it was more of, I thought it was going to help out in other ways, truth be told. But, um, I, it was just more of the, the, maybe my ego that was so, it was me knowing I made it on the show.

It was this accomplishment, a goal of mine that I had accomplished. I had promised Luke it would happen, it happened, so I felt really good about that. But it really honestly didn't make such a big impact on our career. Uh, a lot of, what, what the most beautiful part about the show was the most beautiful part about anyone sharing our story, which was now a lot more people.

Heard about us, started following us. We still have a lot of people who support our mission and follow our mission today that heard of us because of the Elvin show. And that's always what we, what I ask for. Uh, when I, when I say we, I always often say we, it is just me at the sanctuary. I speak for the dogs.

You know, I speak for the piggies and the llama and my team. I speak for my team who is not here, but, uh, whatever, anytime we get a new supporter. It's a possible new animal we're going to get rescued or a new person who's a part of the community that maybe needs our videos to smile every now and then or laugh.

And, and that's what the whole mission is about, you know, rescuing animals, rescuing people. So of course, the Ellen show is a great platform to be able to share our message. You know, I kind of thought that like after the show, we would have, you know, uh, a car dealership reach out an RV, maybe help us with a new RV.

I thought all these people were going to like jump on the Asher house train. It didn't, it didn't really do that. Maybe for some, I know the show wasn't really shared much on Instagram. It was shared on Facebook, YouTube, and the actual show. So you got to have a lot of attention there, but I used to joke around with Luke.

I said, if you would have taken the hat off, she would have put us on her Instagram, a little passive aggressive, maybe. But it could have been true. But, uh, the hat did look good with the outfit. I don't blame him. And I respect him for saying he didn't want to take it off. But yeah, the show didn't have a big impact on our career.

But again, what it had an impact on was the amount of people who started, you know, hearing about our journey. But it's not like our events, you know, got bigger and we didn't get more sponsors. But again, it was a great experience. I kind of learned from it. It was very stressful. You know, it was quick. You had to go, go, go.

You had to. You gotta be pretty aware and ready. Um, but I would do it again for sure. You know, I would do it again. I would do any, you know, if it does, if it's not, it doesn't hurt anybody. First of all, I'd be grateful to do it again, but in general, whatever I could do to, to grow the Asher house and get more eyes on us and, and build our audience and our community, then of course that's what I'm going to do.

Cause that leads to the obvious, which more animals, more land, more people, more support, more everything. You know, more, more. of an ability to spread our word and, uh, and inform people about our mission. So it was a good experience as far as like my bucket list There's not really other shows, you know, I I I I would be grateful, you know Once you're on ellen to me like we've been like being on ellen is the best you can't really you can't really top it that I can think of.

I still do normal interviews with the same amount of passion and excitement. Just any, anything that I can do again to share our message is awesome. And that was it. We, I, I literally had, again, just to back, to remind you, I found out Saturday morning. I was in Miami, I was already in Miami. I flew back to California Sunday.

It was on the show Monday, man. Just, life is a trip. It really shows you, you got to stay ready.
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