Honestly, if you consider the amount of dough celebrities and social figures are dishing out for homes in Los Angeles, $7.5 million might seem like a walk in the park in comparison. Wolf’s Lair, a walled and gated castle estate whose property stretches over 3 miles, is up for sale.

The castle was built in the 1920s by late real estate developer L. Milton Wolf and is a 5.485-square-foot property containing eight bedrooms and six bathrooms. Whereas many mansions have the tricked-out home theater system that’s big in today’s home décor, Wolf’s Lair includes a black-bottomed, heart-shaped pool, pool house, cabana, and 1920s speakeasy, in case your friends get tired of getting drunk on your couch and are up for a change.

Wolf’s Lair is notable among California’s elite due to its developer’s old school industry status – Wolf is one of three artists responsible for creating the development atop which the iconic “HOLLYWOOD” sign still stands today. Got a few mil lying around? It’s in a pretty sweet spot that overlooks much of Los Angeles and Lake Hollywood, which makes for a pretty impressive nightcap selling point.

Labels: AlysonMance, cribs, los angeles

Working out on the couch used to serve as one of those crappy cliché excuses for just being a couch potato. However, fitness equipment mega-company Life Fitness has done something about that by developing a couch that actually converts to a home gym in a matter of minutes. The Otto-Bench is a combination of a multi-adjustable bench, bench press, and free weight storage space that, once converted and decorated with a couple pillows, looks just like a regular leather living room couch.


Designer Gabriel Prero is the hand behind the Otto-Bench, the winner of a Life Fitness competition challenging independent designers to come up with the perfect urban fitness machine. Prero’s Otto-Bench is actually a pretty genius invention, especially if you’ve got a tiny place or don’t have the spare bucks for a monthly gym membership. Running outside is free, but getting a quality lift session in isn’t always as easy. Bachelors everywhere will be clamoring for this soon enough.





A PimpWiz Exclusive

Labels: AlysonMance, CribEssentials

Convincing your significant other to spring for that 60-inch flat screen TV is hard enough, but the biggest battle is figuring out where to put it, especially if changing your classic antique-laden living room into a contemporary chill room is involved. In order to meet your skeptical mate halfway, VisionArt has developed VisionArt Audio Solutions by Triad Speakers, which basically hides your television and speakers behind a fake painting.

When the TV is turned on, the painting retracts and the screen and speakers are revealed, going from tea party to Super Bowl party in less than a minute. The company also allows you to customize your order, adding things like a subwoofer or extra speakers to satisfy your couch potato needs. Now that’s compromise. .

Labels: AlysonMance, CribEssentials

Could you even imagine the voice behind Family Guy’s sexually androgynous Meg Griffin being even one iota of sexy? Maybe, if you knew that that same voice played the ever-sexy (albeit painfully annoying) Jackie Burkhart on Fox’s That 70s Show. Yet despite her best-known roles also being her most irritating ones, Mila Kunis stands out on account of being incredibly hot.

At 24, the Ukranian-born actress has already played a number of small movie roles, including a young Gia (the older character played by Minx of Life Angelina Jolie – a pretty good hotness prediction in my book, but whatever), but she’ll hopefully be making A-list status with her new starring role as Rachel Jansen in the upcoming blockbuster comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall. She’s also been nominated for a number of awards for her longstanding role as Jackie, and was featured in both Stuff Magazine’s “102 Sexiest Women in the World” (2002) and Maxim Magazine’s “Hot 100 List” (2006). And for these things, we’ll forgive her for the following:


1.Not being single
2. Not being single due to having been the girlfriend of Macaulay Culkin for the past 6 (yes, 6) years.


Mr.Home Alone is clearly doing something right. Step your game up, fellas. Until then, she’ll be sitting pretty as April’s Minx of the Month, and you can check out all of her fascinating parts (a hint, but not quite a movie spoiler) in Forgetting Sarah Marshall on April 18.

A PimpWiz Exclusive By Alyson Mance

Labels: AlysonMance, Mila Kunis, Minx of the Month

David Drake learned the meaning the meaning of the word , niche at the tender age of 8 when he sold cacti door to door. Now the owner of more than four companies, 500 apartments, and an active philanthropist, Drake, 36, isn’t ready to settle down any time soon. Here the owner of drakelife.com chats with us about his goals, his lifestyle, and why having a dope downtown loft is essential to every pimp’s lifestyle.


First off, can you tell us about your background?
I was born and raised in Sweden, went to Wall Street for a year, went to work in Sweden, didn’t like it, came back to New York and worked in commercial real estate. I did all kinds of deals for many, many years, and seven years ago I bought a listing service [that had] corporate housing, expanded on it, and here we are. I’ve probably started a hundred different ventures in sales [since then].

What’s this cactus thing about?
My mom had a cactus collection at home – she loved cactuses ‘cause you didn’t have to nurture them that much. I dunno how it started, but I was 8, took these little buds, put them in a little plastic bucket, put some dirt in it, and walked door to door and said “you wanna buy a cactus?” And these were some cool looking cactuses. So I’m coming home, eight years old, and I got dollar bills in my pocket. You know, 25 years ago, that was a big deal.


We heard you speak more than a few languages, are the rumors true?
If you’re American, I speak between seven and ten. If you’re European, I speak between five and eight. If you’re Chinese, I speak 15 *laughs* - but, if you’re drunk and American, then I speak twelve. If I’m drunk, and you’re American, then I speak 13. But if we’re both drunk, then I dunno what we’re talking about. It all depends on how drunk you are! You like that one? I gotta write that one down. In Sweden, we don’t dub the TV, so we see all of the movies in [their] natural languages, and we have to pick up, you know, 2 or 3 languages when we’re in school – so after a while, we just have a proclivity to pick up languages fast.

Tell us about your companies.
Drakelife is a corporate housing [company]. It’s been around for 7 years, [and it’s] doing very well. And the other one, who I’m hoping to surpass me, is Drakehouse securities. Then you also have lightninggps.com, another company that we just started recently because GPS [is so popular now]. There’s also Drake Lifestyle, and we do concerts at Carnegie Hall. I did one and people stood in line, it was sold out, and we’re doing one on February 18th that’s also a fundraiser for trailblazers.org. We take in kids, not the worst ones, and not the nice ones - the ones with issues. Take them to the woods for three weeks, three sessions each summer, and give them self esteem and confidence. So I’m raising money for that event, and we’ve already picked up about eight or ten [donation volunteers]: Roberto Cavalli donated things for the silent auction, I donated a yacht for a sunset cruise, Lalique is donating crystals…so it’s gonna be sold out again. The third one will be for the Ronald McDonald house, in New York, on May 17, we’re also working with Best Buddies. I want to work with charities like Paul Newman and St. Jude’s to raise awareness and put together fundraisers, because for me it’s been pretty easy to put things together. We’ve had 300 dinner parties here in the last three years.

What have been your biggest obstacles so far?
Financing - I built everything with my own money. And if I want to scale it, and move forward, I need to go to Wall Street . I don’t need to, but I’d like to go to Wall Street, to scale, because there’s so many other companies I’d like to build, and they’re gonna need financing to scale it, and if you wanna buy a factory in China, then you know, you’re gonna have to have private equity come in and help us.

Well, you’re 36, so where do you see yourself in ten more years?
I see myself with 20 great friends that do business in different industries, [with me as] the chairman of the companies. And just building great friendships, family, and having someone to share everything with. What’s the point of just working if you can’t share it? So you share it with your wife, your kids, your family, or your friends. That’s it. After that, what? You gonna sit at home by yourself? And that’s one of the reasons I’ve spent a quarter million on dinners here over the last two years, for tons of people.

What advice would you give to someone who’s trying to start out in real estate?
Do informational interviews with people who actually are very, very good at what they do. Find out: what is their angle? What is their competitive advantage? Are they married into a rich family? Are they hustlers? Do they entertain? How do they maintain and entertain their clients? Does the money come from the clients? How do they control the relationship of the client, and maintain it? What kind of marketing is the biggest part in the world? Very powerful. Do they take them out on a regular basis? Are they best buddies? Do they follow up, do they send Christmas letters? Do they use a certain software, like SalesForce, to maintain the relationship with their clients?

What are some of the perks that you’ve experienced from doing what you do?
My friends bring friends to the loft. I have easier access to people. I’m always meeting incredible people by continuously going out there and reaching out to people. And, you know, having this loft, girls – girls are always throwing themselves – but most of the time I’m just hanging out with my friends.

Drake Life
Tel: 212.924.6666
Email: Fred@drakelife.com

A PimpWiz Exclusive

Labels: AlysonMance, David Drake, Interview, NYC

When twin brothers decide to use their business savvy and eye for fashion toward shoe manufacturing, not only do they raise their pimp status with the "Sex in the City" crowd, but they get the most props from the over-30 working women, who are starting to consider trading in couture for comfort.

With a history in sneaker design and a keen eye for fashion, Shane & Shawn Ward combined their resources and created two footwear lines - Shane&Shawn and Detny by Shane&Shawn – designed to make men and women feel as good as they look. Their shoes have already made their way into top boutiques and department stores and, with plans to launch their own store and clothing/accessories line, they’re guaranteed to be around for as long as women stay sexy.

Can you give us a little background on your company?
Shane: Well, we both went to the University of Michigan, and I studied industrial design in the art school, and Shaun studied mechanical engineering, and when I graduated in 1996, I was offered a job at Adidas in Portland, Oregon, to design cross trainers, women’s workout shoes, and cleats...so that’s pretty much how we got into the industry. [Eventually] the entrepreneurial spirit kicked in, and I really wanted to work on my own, and I decided to start a freelance design company called SW2 Designs and move to NY.

Shawn: When I graduated, I spent five years [working] at Daimler Chrysler, in automotive engineering, while earning my master’s in mechanical engineering. In 2001, I moved to NY because I had the opportunities there to work for myself, become an entrepreneur, and trade stocks in the stock market as a day trader, [but] when the market was closing at 4 o’clock, besides working out, I had pretty much nothing to do, so I started to help Shane out with the freelance company and brought a little bit more of a business side of the operations. My goal was to really take Shane as a one man show and take it to a formal company and expand it, but in the next two years, we ended up designing shoes for Reebok, Converse, Merrill, etc. [With] a really successful freelance design company from 2001 to 2003, we decided to start our own shoe company that reflects our own sense of style, but also combines with the athletic comfort that we’ve had expertise in over the last three years. So, in fall of 2003 we launched Detny, which is a combination of Detroit and New York, where we’re from.

Women love shoes and women love the men who make the shoes, so how has your life adjusted to the career switch (from sportswear to high-end fashion)?

Shawn: It’s definitely an unfair advantage to introduce yourself to a young lady and say you’re a shoe designer. So, obviously, there aren’t too many cooler things that you can say outside of “I’m a rock star.” But usually, if you’re a rock star or an actor, they should know who you are, but as far as like a regular job, designers are really perceived as “cool”. I’m coming from engineering and stock trading, and those aren’t really glamorous jobs, but, you know, being in this field where women love shoes, we’re able to put our shoes on celebrities, and we get a chance to meet celebrities who really embrace our product. Just being in the footwear industry has definitely enhanced our lives big time...it’s definitely a perk.

Shane: We really are all about the kind of rock-n-roll lifestyle - going to parties, having fun - but we also have substance to our shoes, and I think that’s what brings people back. We actually get, like, old ladies - literally 60 year old women - coming in and telling us how comfortable our shoes are!


If you guys started out with sneakers, what made you branch into shoes? The women’s shoe industry is tough, especially for two straight guys – and, you know, women are picky!

Shane: Well, from a business standpoint, women buy shoes, men don’t -

Shawn: - Generally speaking -

Shane: So, we were forced into it from a business standpoint, but I think over the years we’ve definitely come to appreciate putting shoes onto women, like during our events. We hang around a lot of women, and we don’t wanna just outfit ourselves in what we think is the coolest, hippest shoes that are comfortable, but we would like the girls around us to wear what we think would be hot on them. Another thing is, because we have the athletic background, we know how to build really comfortable shoes, and we would see women in elevators all the time wearing their office gear, but then they have like, New Balance or Nike shoes on and their office shoes in their bags, so there was a need for a shoe that at least can combine the two extremes.

Any plans for the future – expanding your brand, opening your own store, etc.?

Shawn: We’re gonna place [Detny] as a lifestyle brand; footwear’s our expertise right now, so we’re really building our foundation on what we’re experts in, like Kenneth Cole did. But we’re also gonna be launching handbags and hats – limited edition – for fall 2007, and then eventually go on into jackets, denim, shirts, etc, and a part of our business plan is to open our first Detny/Shane&Shawn boutique in 2008.

A PimpWiz Exclusive By Alyson Mance

Labels: AlysonMance

It’s really hard to impress your friends on a night out when you’re short on cash, and MyOpenBar.com feels your pain. An online database of the many open bar nights you don’t (but should) know about, MyOpenBar.com lets you in on what’s happening on the cheap at the hottest clubs around, so you can flaunt your faux baller status wisely.

When two guys became fed up in 2005 with spending exorbitant amounts of money each weekend to party, they decided to help themselves (and, in turn, us) by seeking out open bars around the New York area and creating a wildly popular website for hipster lushes. Now, with the inside scoop on bars and clubs in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, and Washington, DC, it’s virtually possible to spend your weekends getting drunk for 20 dollars or less. What’s more, you can subscribe to the site and get constant access to open bar updates, party pics, and news/reviews on what’s happening in or around your area.

After only a year, these guys have successfully brought out the cheap side in everyone and currently have tens of thousands of subscribers and an ever-expanding database. But don’t worry – there are enough free drinks to go around. And around. And around.

We don't usually like things are cheap/free but this is just such a good idea we had to share it ;-)

A PimpWiz Exclusive By, Alyson Mance

Labels: AlysonMance

Apparently, the premiere swingers’ soirees are happening overseas. At schlossparties, exclusive “sensual parties” held in Swiss castles, invitees can have a Nicole Kidman/Tom Cruise-esque experience, complete with face masks for semi-anonymity and a little extra class. The party members, all hand-picked by the company, have to actually go through a screening process to become a part of the attendee list, making it way more exclusive, safe, and stylish than the come-one-come-all events hosted by your freaky neighbours. Freundliche Grusse gives us details on the party you most likely wish you were pimpin enough for.

What exactly IS a "Schlossparty"?
Schlossparty [means] “Castleparty” in English. Our Schlossparties are events with selected guests and high carat DJs who create a world of tantalizing and enthralling eroticism. Castle Events are not just simple parties. They are journeys to a land of sensuality, the universe of fantasies and an atmosphere of kings. Dreams have a touch of the surreal and that touch is what we try to cultivate at our parties. This is why Venetian masks are an integral part of our Events. They lend a magical, unconstrained flair to the evening, where nothing is a must, but certain things may happen. Just like in fantasy. Castleevents is not a dating club. Castle Events provides a setting for people who would like to experience sensual parties. This is why we ensure that the ratio of men to women at our events is 1:1. This even ratio is not the result of hired staff, but is the outcome of a specific selection process, the sole purpose of which is to bring together like-minded individuals.

What prompted you to start a company of this nature?
Many of us find it hard to enjoy the everyday routine of stress, anonymity, arrogance and obsession. What we miss are variety and relaxation, the world of the senses, fantasy, emotion and sensuality. Eyes Wide Shut gave me the necessary impact to base a company with similar character. Castleevents have dedicated my total motivation and skills to create an unequalled project of aesthetics and passion.

What kind of clientele do you accept/receive? Is there a screening process? Do you go by appearance, financial status, etc.?
We have a multi-level screening process that is based on a number of different criteria. Our basic criteria are physical appearance and personality. These are of course subjective criteria, but we want to have individuals at our events who understand our party philosophy. Financial status is not a formal criteria, but the entry fee to our events is purposely set high to ensure a certain amount of exclusivity.

In order to access our website, and in turn our party schedule, individuals must first register as a Standard User. However, in order to attend a Castle Events Party you must be a Full Member or a Provisional Member. Provisional Member status is granted following a positive evaluation of the applicant's User Data and picture upload. A photo is mandatory, and enables us to ensure that all party guests meet the minimum aesthetic standard. A Provisional Member may attend two parties, after whcih he or she may apply for Full Membership. A Full Member is entitled to attend all parties and can determine who may be accepted as a new member and who may not. Full Members also have the right to recommend friends or acquaintances as Provisional Members. This is a gesture of goodwill on our part, and also offers a measure of control, as Full Members have a vested interest in ensuring that only those individuals attend our parties who fulfil Castle Events’ requirements of aesthetics and personality.

How do you find venues for your parties?
We are fortunate in that there are lots of historic, renovated castles located throughout Switzerland that can be rented out for private usage. Finding and inspecting these is a fun part of our job and brings us to lots of interesting locations.

Do you have plans to expand your company abroad?
Until now, most of our parties have taken place in Switzerland. However, our most lavish party to date was held in a wonderful castle in France in September. We are definitely looking into more options like this for the future.

Do you have to be a European resident to attend one of these events?
No, our parties are open to individuals from all countries.

How is this like/unlike a sex party?
Our parties are exclusive parties, held mostly in castles, where selected couples and singles can meet to dance, flirt or more. We distance ourselves from cheap sex parties catering to simple sexual gratification. If anything erotic does happen at our parties, then it is usually sophisticated, unconstrained and, above all, stylish.

Andrej Lorenc, CEO
Castleevents

A PimpWiz Exclusive By, Alyson Mance

Labels: AlysonMance

Using actual skills to become famous in Hollywood is so old school. But, if you don’t have a high-profile family, a sex tape, or really famous friends, chances are you still won’t be a celebrity unless you come up with something that’s too ridiculous (and oddly addictive) for the celeb circuit to pass up - think William Hung, except with savvy and wit. 33-year-old Kevin Johnson, also known as The Famous Guy, is proving to everyone that it only takes a little frustration, a big idea, and a ton of free time to make your way to the top.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Well, right now, like my site says, I’m just a regular guy. I deliver holiday popcorn tins for a living, and I really hate my job, and I’m looking to make a change.

What made you start this project in the first place?
Well, like I said, I really hate my job, and just wanted to make a change in my life, and I thought, “wow - it would be cool to live the lifestyle of a celebrity.” And then, unfortunately, I realized I don’t sing, except in the shower, I haven’t acted in any major films or anything, [I have] no prestigious family name and not a lot of money, so I thought what I could do was take the little money that I had, start a website and a marketing campaign, and see if I could turn myself into a celebrity.

Did you get this idea from anyone, or did you just kind of say, “I’m just gonna start a website and call it a day”? ‘Cause there’s that guy from Craigslist who bartered his way from a paper clip to a house…
No, I really didn’t get it from anyone; we all reach our breaking points in certain situations, and I was finishing up making a delivery, and I thought, I’m at a point in my life where I need to do something drastic, and I thought, you know, asking people to help me become a celebrity [is] pretty drastic. I thought it would get some attention, and there was a chance that I could actually do it, so I gave it a shot, and it’s starting to take off.

Is anybody else in on this? Who does your PR?
Coincidentally, he was the publicist for the guy who did ‘One Red Paper Clip.’

Oh, really?
Yea, he was his publicist. After I started this, I started to look around for a publicist, and then I heard about the guy who did One Red Paper Clip, looked up his publicist, and he came on board.

Where do you see yourself in the next couple years?
Definitely. I just spoke with Canon earlier – they’re sending me a camera to document it – and I’m hoping that I can maybe turn it into a documentary, sell that, get a book deal and endorsements, and I would love to get into filmmaking at some point, so I’m hoping that this leads to other opportunities. I think it’s something I’m passionate about, and I think this [website] could open those doors.

What have you received so far?
Canon’s sending me a camera to document it, and then there’s a leasing company here called Driver’s Select, and they’re going to provide me with a luxury vehicle to drive. They wanna actually sponsor the whole project. That’s another timing thing as well – they planned on launching a contest next year, called ‘Driver’s Select Makes You Famous,’ and, since I’m already doing this, they wanna [feature] me [instead]…so I kind of beat them to it.

Is there a Mrs. Famous Guy?
No Mrs. Famous Guy right now. Just a bevy of beauties. LLTFG: "Ladies Love The Famous Guy".

A PimpWiz Exclusive By Alyson Mance

Labels: AlysonMance

In another installment of our "You Better Ask Somebody" series we bring you the next DJ to break into full-fledged celebrity status. Following the path his boy DJ AM has blazed for him, DJ Vice is starting to take his name and his skills to the next level.

25-year-old DJ Vice made a name for himself in the California area as a regular weekend spinner on Los Angeles’ Power 106, and is now expanding his popularity eastward, with a resume including gigs at the Grammys, the NBA All Star Game, and the Super Bowl. Beginning his professional career less than ten years ago at the same radio station, Vice can now be spotted behind the DJ booth at the hottest clubs in California and Nevada, while making guest appearances at higher end NYC spots like Marquee among others.

Starting out at house parties and bar mitzvahs in high school, Vice is now racking in over 1.5 million listeners every weekend on his home station and banks off of his popularity with the underground circuit with a bi-monthly mix CD that circulates among the hipsters and beatheads alike all over the world. Not just popular with the adult clubbing crowd, he also did a nine-month stint as Nickelodeon’s “The Snick House” co-host. Keeping his name out of the tabloids and soon to be among the A-list of music makers, DJ Vice is well on his way to becoming a household name...You better ask somebody!

Upcoming Shows
Nov 2 2006 10:00P - Moto 8 Party Los Angeles, California
Nov 2 2006 11:00P- Area Los Angeles, California
Nov 3 2006 11:00P - Body English @ Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas, Nevada
Nov 4 2006 11:00P - Tao @ The Venietian Las Vegas, Nevada
Nov 5 2006 11:00P- Body English @ Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas, Nevada
Nov 6 2006 11:00P - Tentation Newport Beach, California
Nov 7 2006 11:00P - Element Hollywood, California
Nov 9 2006 11:00P - Mist New York, New York


A PimpWiz Exclusive By, Alyson Mance

Labels: AlysonMance

The UNA Hotel Vittoria in Florence, Italy is the kind of place coveted by the finger-snapping, A Clockwork Orange-coveting crowd. Epitomizing avant-garde, the hotel takes technology and futurism to a whole new level, using the vivid color scheme and unique, innovative design of tomorrow, while keeping up to date with modern trends with plasma TV fixtures and broadband. You may feel like a Jetson if you’re more used to the classic aura of hotels like the Ritz, but UNA Hotel Vittoria is a great spot for your girl that likes all things “shiny”.

With an almost trippy atmosphere combined with the Euro laissez-faire that is Italian living, staying at the Vittoria is like having the VIP room at the city’s hottest club all to yourself. Every room has its own psychedelic aura, from bathrooms illuminated with neon fiber-optic lights to bedrooms with leather ceilings and stark white conference rooms. What makes the hotel trendy versus tacky, however, is the classical architecture and historical artwork interspersed throughout the facility. Guests can check out traditional Florentine artwork and design in the same vibrant and high-tech rooms they’re lounging in; a perfect mix of old and new school harmony.

A PimpWiz Exclusive By, Alyson Mance

Labels: AlysonMance

Imagine waking up every day in the middle of the afternoon to get dressed, grab a bite, spend your whole evening chilling with celebrities flirting with beautiful people, then going to bed only to wake up and do it again. In fact, that’s exactly what Stan Tudor does for a living. As the VIP host of Tao nightclub in Las Vegas, Tudor basically gets paid just to be a cool-ass dude. He’s that guy that everyone knows, pretends to know, or wishes they knew, and, as the gatekeeper of the hottest club in Nevada, he’s surprisingly humble and down-to-Earth; Stan Tudor makes you wanna go where everybody knows his name.

Well, you’re the VIP host at Tao. Do you think that’s the best club in Las Vegas regardless?
I would say it’s one of the best clubs in the country. I mean, we just got voted Best New Club in the Country by WMC Miami this year.

When did you guys open?
We opened in October – [we’re having our] one year anniversary party; it’s gonna be amazing. We have a 500 sq. ft. red carpet, like, 50 thousand dollars entertainment money invested, celebrities. We have the show Extra with us, we have People Magazine…it’s gonna be crazy

Well, how did you get into the business in the first place?
I was a talent agent/ modeling agent. I used to work for a modeling agency, and I have a huge background - about fifteen years - in the entertainment industry, producing TV shows, drag shows, stage shows…all types of different things. I produced like, little TV shows back home in Romania, and here [in Vegas] I did convention shows, fashion shows…I even worked in a gay club called Crave for over a year; we opened that place, and I had the chance to produce some big, big drag shows, which I’m very proud of as a straight guy (laughs).

Did you ever consider going to NY or to LA, you know, where [the production industry] is mostly prominent?
Nope! I hate big cities. (laughs) That’s why I left Romania; I [lived in] Bucharest, [which is] pretty similar to NY - you just don’t have the high rises, but you have a 2.5 million person city where you’re surrounded by everything, people, all this craziness, and I hated it. Here in Vegas, the lifestyle is very laid back - you know, you concentrate on your work [while] everything [else] is going on on the strip; you can get out [of the city] and relax.

So, what exactly do you do as the VIP host, and how is that different from what you did before?
I maintain relationships with customers; I network with customers, I find my own customers in conventions and in all types of different media, newspapers, contacts, referrals…and I’m just a nice guy, I’m the friend of everybody, everybody knows Stan!

Well, I’m sure everyone wants to be your friend now!
Everybody wants to be your friend, so everybody’s nice to you, and it’s just nice when people…they just, I don’t know, they just say hi to you with a smile on their face, and you know they wanna be your friend, they wanna know you, and they save your phone number forever, and every time they go to Vegas they have one name to think of.

Well I definitely will call you when I come to Vegas!
See?

Where do you plan on going with this?
I’m planning to stay with the company; Tao is becoming a huge, huge company, and the people and the things I learn working with those guys are amazing; I mean, those guys are nightclub gurus, and it’s amazing to work with them and learn from them and gain their trust. That’s probably one of my most important things: gaining the owners’ trust, because this company’s going to be huge in the next few years; I mean, they’re planning to open clubs worldwide, and why not be part of one of those one day?

Well, how would someone else be able to get into the business?
I mean, you have a lot of experience behind you, so you probably have a head start on others, but how would they start doing that on their own? If it were that easy, everybody would have your job.
Basically, yea. A lot of people want [my job], but then they realize it’s not that easy, and you have to be born for a job like that. You have to have the right personality to have it, and that [means] you have to be friendly - on a first handshake, people have to like you. And a lot of people try [to do it], but then things change. It’s not easy to be friendly for about six hours a night. It’s not easy to have a personality like this, and to talk to different people, and then you go out, and you have to drink with those customers…you know, it’s not an easy job.

Yea, that sounds so hard…having to drink with people for six hours a night…
I dunno. It is tough, cause you deal with all types of people.

Working in this industry, I’m sure you have crazy stories from working there. What’s one crazy story that you’ve had from your experience working as a VIP host?
The craziest moments, I would say, [are] partying with rock stars. [For instance,] seeing a band like Journey, setting them up at a table, and going to the DJ and saying, “hey, I want you to play a Journey song for me.” [I ran] to their table, talked to the lighting guy, said, “I want your spotlight; I’m gonna tell you when I’m ready,” and then just gave [the band] a microphone and said, “hey…hold this for me?” Then – flash – the music goes on, and the band Journey finds themselves with a spotlight in the middle of the stage, with a mic in their hands, and their song playing….so they have to continue, and play along, cause everybody is watching them. It was awesome. And you know, [in general], just partying with superstars, partying with rock stars, and just kind of…I don’t know, kind of like melting the whole crowd all into [a mass of] energy - that’s just an amazing experience.

Do you get to develop a sort of close relationships with a lot of celebrities and other people with high-class profiles? What are the perks you have just from working there?
From a marketing point of view and from a PR point of view, we are the pioneers of this industry, of everything happening in Tao, and everything that happens [with promotion] – a TV show, a sports game – we get invited to all of those different types of things, and we always get VIP seating, and we always get comped things. Every club we go [to], we don’t pay for anything, ‘cause people always want to impress us, ‘cause they know we [not only] have so many customers [but] we bring customers with us, and people follow us. It’s an entourage of people here in town; they go from one place to another one, and they get free stuff. If I were to go to every city in this country, I would have friends [in all of them] - I wouldn’t have to pay for my hotel room, I would probably go to the best shows and go see sports games. Those are probably the benefits you get just from hanging out with [these people], superstars and the rock stars and their bands just like to have fun. But you’re also networking and communicating with their band members, with their PR people, and those are the people you maintain the relationship with. I come from a poor country - I made myself, I came here with 400 dollars in my pocket, [and]I don’t see the point in losing a thousand bucks a night [gambling] when you can make a thousand bucks a night.

If you need to get your situation handled please contact Stan Tudor via email or call him @ 702 423-4829 and tell him PimpWiz sent you to get on the "NFU" list!

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Man up Playa!

A PimpWiz Exclusive By, Alyson Mance

Labels: AlysonMance

When you’re rich, it’s easy to live off of daddy’s money. Others, however, use their resources to create their own empires and separate themselves from the name that made them famous before they were even born.

Here, PimpWiz has the ten hottest heiresses that are redefining the word ‘socialite’ as they take over the nation using business savvy over status.

10. Nicky Hilton, 22.
She might be the less popular sister, but Nicky Hilton is making a name of her own behind the scenes. Instead of using her name to become most famous for doing nothing, Nicky, an heiress to the Hilton hotel fortune, is creating her own image with a handbag line, clothing company, and, most recently, a hotel chain.

9. Athina Onassis Roussel, 21.
The granddaughter of the late Aristotle Onassis (yes, as in the late Jackie Kennedy Onassis’ husband), Athina Onassis Roussel was already a billionaire by 18, having inherited $2.7 bil on her birthday simply for carrying the Onassis name. Now 21, Athina is a 2008 Olympic hopeful (for the Greek equestrian team), has received another $2 billion birthday present, got hitched to a fellow equestrian, and is currently waiting to take over the Onassis Foundation as president.

8. Georgina Bloomberg, 23.
The daughter of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is no stranger to the socialite scene. A fellow equestrian, Georgina is also a 2008 Olympic hopeful, training in Wellington, Florida in between classes at New York University. Check her out in “Born Rich”, Jamie Johnson’s documentary on the nation’s youngest and wealthiest.

7. Anna Anisimova, 21.
It’s hard to believe there’s more than one Paris Hilton out there but, at 21, Russian heiress Anna Anisimova is catching up quickly. The former model is now a student at New York University with fellow silver spooner Georgina Bloomberg, but that hasn’t stopped her from buying an uber-dope, $15 million apartment in the Time Warner Center in New York’s Columbus Circle, renting Denise Rich’s Southampton pad for nearly $600,000, or picking up Diane von Furstenberg’s $23 million townhouse in 2005. What Paris has in shoes, Anna makes up for in real estate!

6. Aerin Lauder, 36.
With the late, great Estee Lauder as your grandma, you have no choice but to be beautiful. At 36, Aerin Lauder might be the oldest heiress on the list, but she’s definitely one of the hottest. As a senior vice president and board trustee of the Estee Lauder Company, Aerin is taking over the family makeup business (her dad is the Clinique Laboratories chairman) by storm, incorporating her own style and introducing models like Elizabeth Hurley and Liya Kebede to the Estee Lauder family.

5. Holly Branson, 25.
When your dad’s so popular that London’s youth would actually elect him president next to Tony Blair, it’s hard to stay low-key. Though Sir Richard Branson’s daughter Holly has some pretty big shoes to fill, she’s taking it slowly. The heiress to the $1.6 billion Virgin empire, Holly’s choosing to study at London’s University College with the hopes of becoming a pediatrician.


4. Ivanka Trump, 24.
The Donald’s tendency to marry ultra-hot women definitely paid off. Having been cut off financially by her mother Ivana since high school, Trump’s oldest daughter Ivanka paid for everything but tuition by runway modeling. Today, Ivanka’s working in the family business as vice president of real estate development for the Trump Organization and making guest appearances on shows like The Apprentice and Project Runway.

3. Dylan Lauren, 31.
Whereas fashion guru Ralph Lauren made his name from selling clothes, his daughter Dylan is making hers from selling candy. A former art history major, Dylan’s combined her knowledge of worldwide goods and innate marketing savvy to create Dylan’s Candy Bar, a now popular store which features over 4,000 kinds of candy from around the globe.

2. Lydia Hearst-Shaw, 21.
Though Lydia’s the daughter of the infamous Patty Hearst and the great-granddaughter of late media icon William Randolph Hearst, she’s been gracing the very magazine pages her family produces as a model for designers like Louis Vuitton and Heatherette. Yet as one of the heiresses $5 billion-a-year empire, modeling is probably more of a cherished hobby than a financial necessity!

1. Amanda Hearst, 22.
Amanda and first-cousin Lydia Hearst-Shaw are making their way into the media scene as the “new Hilton sisters”, taking over for the classic duo as the new fresh faces of the heiress/model world. She also shares William Randolph Hearst as her grandfather and, as another heiress to the multibillion dollar Hearst Corporation, Amanda is also making her career the Paris Hilton way: by being hot.

Want more? The bucks don’t stop here. Keep an eye out for the future’s it-heiresses - Bill and Melinda Gates’ daughters, and Danielle Steele’s girls Victoria and Vanessa Traina, to name a few – and don’t forget our favorite old-school hottie heiress, Julia Louis-Dreyfus. That’s right, Seinfeld’s Elaine Benes is the daughter of a French billionaire in real life, but she’s best known for her acting skills – beauty and brains, apparently, does pay off!
A PimpWiz Exclusive By, Alyson Mance

Labels: AlysonMance, MinxoftheMonth, women

At 28, Noah Lehmann-Haupt lives the life most merely dream about. As the founder and president of Gotham Dream Cars, the rental company he started a mere two years ago with one Ferrari and an honest smile has expanded into an inventory of over $2.5 million dollars worth of cars, ranging from Porsches to Lambos.

While he makes running Gotham sound easy enough for anyone to do, think again – his company’s currently the only major rental company for exotic sports cars in the northeast, and, with plans to expand to other parts of the country, he’ll soon be pimpin' nationwide.

PW: First, can you tell us a little bit about your company?
NLH: Gotham Dream Cars is New York’s premier exotic car rental company. We deal exclusively with what we call “ultra-exotic sports cars” and luxury cars. In the [automobile] industry, a lot of people use the word “exotic” for a car, especially in the rental business, but it can mean a lot of different things - a lot of people will call a BMW or a Mercedes-Benz an exotic car. We consider those cars luxury, certainly, but our forte is the special cars, the different cars, the ones that people dream about. That’s how we came up with the name Gotham Dream Cars. So we deal with the super brands: Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley, Aston Martin, Porsche, you know, that kind of stuff. We’re based here in New York, but we serve the entire northeast. We have several trucks and trailers, and we’ll actually move a car all the way [to the desired destination] – we have cars coming from Boston going down to Washington, DC [for example], so we really sort of span the entire northeast United States.

PW: How did you get started?
NLH: We got started about two and a half years ago. I’m a self-proclaimed car nut (laughs), and there was a sense that there was a demand in this city for this [particular] kind of service. There were a lot of people asking for it, I’m a pretty active member of the car community, and there was not really anybody that provided this service in a real way. And you know, like I said, a lot of the companies out there [would] rent the Mercedes or Escalades or Hummers, but you know, there are a lot of people that wanna drive the “ultra” cars. So we started up with just a Ferrari and grew from there, and we’ve been growing steadily ever since.

PW: What did you do before that? Or did you just say, “I want to start a car company. I’m gonna get this Ferrari and work it out!”
NLH: (laughs) Well, I’ve been an entrepreneur my whole life. [When] I started, I was working at a software company up in Massachusetts, and we sold that to another company here in New York, and I moved down to New York to help out with that transition a little bit, decided that I wanted to do something different, then the idea kind of came to me, and that was it! So I wasn’t really in the car business or anything, just sort of a car nut, looking for something fun to do.

PW: How’d you swing that? You don’t just say, “I have a Ferrari, so if you wanna rent it…”
NLH: Well of course, in the beginning, we had to ask people to trust us. Now we have so many hundreds of satisfied customers that we have a testimonial section on our website and you can see lots of pictures of it, and I mean my issue is, we’ve been around for 2 and a half years, almost three years now, and we wouldn’t be here if we weren’t doin’ a really great job and having some really terrific cars. The market has a wonderful way of getting rid of those who don’t belong, and we’re, you know, sticking around.

PW: Tell us about the obstacles that got in the way of building this company?
NLH: Sure, I mean you know, everyone believes that it’s all fun and games, and a lot of people always call me up and say “man, I wish I could be you, I wish I could start this business” but the reality is that there are a lot of ups and downs to this – ya know, cars get broken a LOT. These cars are incredibly finicky, and we spend an enormous amount of money both insuring them and repairing them, just because of the nature of this business. So there are, you know, as much fun as it is to occasionally drive around and be able to deal with and play with these cars, you know, there’s the downsides of having to deal with when they break, angry customers, and people being late - you know, all that kind of stuff. So it’s a challenge always – when you’re in a luxury business, customer service is SO important, and so it’s a challenge sometimes when the cars don’t play along, but we do our best, and we work with what we have.

PW: What are the perks of having a supercar rental company?
Yea. I mean, the perks are pretty clear, you know? I mean, I have 14 of the world’s best cars in my garage that I can pretty much use at any time, which is pretty much the perk, and it’s a lot of fun. And I’m a car nut, and you know, to be 28 years old, and have access to…

PW: Damn! You’re only 28??
NLH : Haha, yea…I’m only 28, so to have access to a 2+ million dollar car collection is pretty cool. But I think the other perks are meeting some really, really amazing people. And I think one of the fun things about this business, and one of the programs we’re actually about to launch, is a program called our Dream Share Club - it’s sort of a subprogram of our rental business, I guess if I could sort of say I’m selling the experience of owning all of these cars. You pay a fixed rate - it’s very similar to the rest of the other organizations, like the Classic Car Club that a lot of people are familiar with. But you pay a fixed annual fee, and you really have access to the entire fleet of cars at any time, and you have a certain number of days per year that you’re allowed to use it. But it’s really sort of an all-you-can-eat menu on the vehicles, so really you just pay a fee, you get involved, you can call us up at anytime and say, “today I’m feelin’ like taking the Bentley out, I’ve got a date tonight, and you know, tomorrow, I’ll take the Aston Martin for a couple of days.” So it’s really a cool experience; you get a fixed number of days that you’re allowed to take the car, but it’s much more relaxing than renting cause you don’t have to sign a whole sheet of paperwork every time you take the car out, you don’t have to give us credit cards all the time [etc.] - it just takes the hassle away and basically lets you buy into the experience of doing what we do: having a garage full of cars at all times.

PW: Who are your main customers?
NLH: We serve everyone. I mean, there’s really not one single group. There are a lot of companies out there that will say, “We focus on the music community” and whatnot, but we’re [for] everyone. Our customers include small business owners, like guys who own very successful plumbing businesses, and who have done very well for themselves, maybe not to the point where they’re going to go out and buy ten exotic cars, but certainly where they can enjoy them. We do a lot of birthday and anniversary presents, you know, very thoughtful wives and girlfriends getting their husbands and boyfriends and siblings gifts, we deal certainly with some people in the music community, and some athletes - we’ve got a couple of New York Rangers that are pretty regular customers of ours - you know it’s a little bit of everyone. We have some guys who you probably don’t want to ask what they do, and they don’t tell us what they do, and they rent from us; I mean, it’s really a little bit of everything. So we’re pretty pleased, and certainly there are a lot of cool stories that come from working with our customers.

PW: What are your plans for the future?
NLH: We are currently engaged in a growth plan. We’re expanding to other cities around the country, and we’re really excited about that. We’re about to announce a pretty big partnership agreement with another rental company to work very closely with them, and we’re gonna be building the Gotham Dream Cars brand across multiple cities. That’s what I’m really excited about, and that’s what the focus of my time is on right now: growing the business, and providing a bigger opportunity for everyone.

PW: Are you thinking of expanding to, like, perhaps maybe a concierge service - jets, things like that?
NLH: That’s a very good question, but no. I have a focus: I want to be the service provider for cars. So I know that there are a lot of different directions that companies can go, and do an all-you-can-eat concierge service, but that’s not really my interest right now. I’d like to work with concierge services [though] - I want to be on the speed dial of all the major concierge companies. In other words, my goal is to be THE provider for ultra-exotic cars anywhere. So at any point, if a hotel needs to speak with us, if a private concierge needs to speak with us, you know, if they need a car, you dial one number, anywhere, and be able to deal with Gotham Dream Cars, and we’ll provide them with tremendous service and a tremendous vehicle as well. So that’s really our plan right now.

PW: You always have the perks available when you have this company, you have all these benefits, but do you ever actually get time to party?
NLH: Yea, that’s definitely one of the good perks. One of the cool services that we provide is sort of a barter service. I work with a lot of club promoters and managers at restaurants and whatnot in the city, and it’s a pretty simple exchange: if you’re doing the opening of a new club or you have a big night, we can, with the snap of our fingers, have ten Ferraris and Lamborghinis parked in front of the club - and that’s not something you see in New York very often. Maybe in LA it’s a pretty regular occurrence, but not [here]. So we’ve done that for a number of places, and for that I have a very simple formula: as long as my business partners and I maybe get a nice table in the back for us to have a good evening, we’ll work out a nice deal as far as that goes. And I’ve done that quite a bit, and that works out pretty nicely.

PW: Yeah that'll work. We call that putting a deposit in the "Favor bank"
NLH: Yea, it’s a fair exchange for everyone. But we also have a lot of paying clients who deal with that stuff as well; we do a lot of special events all around, [though] bartering is always something I’m interested in doing. We have assets, and we want to get as much as we can out of them, but I think the primary exciting business of renting cars is just what keeps us goin’.

PW: What are some of the benefits that you have in terms of charity and giving back?
NLH: We have a very heavy involvement with a number of charities. We do a couple things. One, we work with the Ronald McDonald house from time to time to give a lot of the kids there what we call Dream Rides: we take them out for a day and take them in a whole bunch of cars and take them for a spin, [which] has been a huge success.

A PimpWiz Exclusive By, Alyson Mance

Labels: AlysonMance

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