Jeffrey Wachman, entrepreneur and Co-Owner of Hunk-O-Mania, chatted with #Powerjournalist Markos Papadatos about his latest endeavors. He is also the author of the book “Braverman: Confessions of a Jewish Teenage Drug Dealer.”
Steve Jobs once said: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” This quote applies to Jeffrey Wachman.
“It feels great to be Co-Owner of Hunk-O-Mania,” he exclaimed. “Working with Armand Peri has been an amazing experience. I learned from the best and he is definitely like family to me now. We are not just business partners. He is my brother and he is an incredible person to learn from.”
Working with CEO Armand Peri
“Armand has been in the business since the inception of the Internet, so it’s nice to have that kind of knowledge that he possesses passed on to me. Then, the things that I’m learning now and the way things are done now, and combining those two together,” he elaborated.
“Armand has helped me become the entrepreneur that I am today,” he added.
The digital age
On being a part of the digital age, he remarked, “I keep up social media-wise, you know, thank God. It’s a Catch-22, right? I was born in the ‘80s. So, there wasn’t really social media back then. I feel like I’m always behind the times. I’m just trying to keep up with the kids, and once I got Instagram mastered, I moved on to TikTok.”
“Now I got TikTok mastered and people are doing Twitch and Kick, and I simply can’t keep up. My TikTok is pretty popular, and so is my Instagram, and I’ve got to stop there,” he added.
Future plans
Regarding his future plans, he shared, “To continue growing with Hunk-O-Mania, Red Velvet Burlesque and Diva Royale, for sure. We are in 30-plus cities worldwide, but there’s so much ground to cover around the globe. We are in so many cities in Canada already.”
“We want to be in Germany. We want to be in Paris too. If there’s a big city out there and a market for it, we want to be there… even in Italy. We’ve already started the process in London, England,” he said.
“Then, I want to continue to build my real estate empire,” he said. “I’m at 23 properties now in under two years, which is amazing!”
Rudy Bundini
Wachman had great words about Rudy Bundini. “Rudy is awesome! He has a personality like no other! He is a very genuinely kind-hearted person,” he said. “Overall, Rudy is a very nice guy, and I love working with him. I enjoy seeing him at the club and I still see him at our family functions.”
David Wesley
Wachman also complimented David Wesley, who is the nightclub manager of the Nashville Hunk-O-Mania club. “David has been with us for six years now, and he is great! He is willing to learn, and he picks up whatever I’m putting down, which is great,” Wachman said.
“I have a feeling that David is going to climb the ladder in this company really quick,” he added.
Career-defining moments
On his career-defining moments, he shared, “The day I quit working for someone else… that was a big leap to make!”
“I was making a lot of money at that point, but the person wasn’t appreciating what I was bringing to the table,” he said. “That was the last time I ever was in a situation that I would allow someone to not appreciate what I bring to the table.”
“It was the best decision I ever made,” he underscored. “It was a nerve-wracking decision to make, given the fact that I was married at that point, and I had a family to take care of. It wasn’t just about me, but I took a leap of faith, and here I am today.”
Stage of his life
On the title of the current chapter of his life, he responded, “I am writing a second book. And I have not titled it yet. I don’t know if you know, I wrote that first book, and it’s on Amazon. It’s called ‘Braverman.’ I went to prison. I grew up very poor. When I was about 13, I decided to quit school and I started to sell drugs, and I tried to do what I could to take care of my family.”
“When you’re young, you’re naïve,” he admitted. “Youi think you are doing the right thing for the right reasons. No matter what, there is no good reason to do what I did. I lost a lot of years of my life over it, but I did take care of my family for a long time.”
“Growing up in that kind of poverty, I don’t know why I took it upon myself as the baby of the family to change the dynamics of that situation, but I did,” he attested. “So, when I got out of prison, I wrote a book about my life, which was an insane escapade of drugs, rock and roll and violence.”
“To come from where I came from to where I am today is just tremendous,” he added.
Success
Regarding his definition of the word success, he said, “Success, to me, in a nutshell, is waking up every day, being happy with what I do and who I do it with.”
“If I can continue to do that, no matter how much money I make, even if I made less and I still got to do what I love every day with the people I love to do, I would be okay with that,” he acknowledged.
“Also, success is the peace of mind that comes with it. You cannot put a price on peace of mind,” he added.
Closing thoughts on Hunk-O-Mania
For fans and supporters, Wachman expressed, “I want people to come and release their inhibitions, and feel empowered as women to live their lives out loud, too.”
“Men go to strip clubs all the time and they have the time of their lives, and that’s okay. Women ought to have the same good time as well. We are all human, and it’s quite liberating,” he concluded.
His book, “Braverman: Confessions of a Jewish Teenage Drug Dealer,” is available on Amazon by clicking here.
To learn more about Jeffrey Wachman, follow him on Instagram.
For more information on Hunk-O-Mania, visit its Instagram page.
