450: Elaine Culotti—California is in Real Trouble

The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe

Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 39.1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 September 2025

⏱️ 92 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Serial entrepreneur, lipstick farmer, and season 2 undercover billionaire Elaine Culotti unleashes a no-holds-barred critique of California's downward spiral. From endless red tape and anti-business policies to the sluggish response to the Palisades fire, Elaine argues that leadership under Gavin Newsom has been nothing short of disastrous. She doesn't just complain—she hints she might run for governor herself.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Chuck, do you know how I know that California is in real trouble?
0:06.4	No, Mike. How do you know that?
0:08.2	Because that's the name of this episode. Welcome to the way I heard it everyone. It's me,
0:12.3	Mike Rowe. Chuck is still here in our little studio in beautiful Southern California.
0:18.8	Don't you love California, Mike?
0:21.6	I do love it.
0:21.9	Yeah.
0:23.6	And I make no apology for it.
0:27.3	And our guest today loves it probably more than the two of us combined.
0:27.7	Yep.
0:29.5	Her name is Elaine Kalati.
0:34.6	And if you've heard of her, maybe it's because you're a fan of farming.
0:40.7	And you're familiar with the farm that she owns and her moniker as the lipstick farmer that she blogs on from time to time or where maybe you still watch the Discovery
0:46.3	channel and you remember season two of undercover billionaire where she made an appearance, wound
0:52.3	up in in Fresno with a check for $100.
0:56.5	Yeah.
0:57.3	And turned it into how much in 90 days?
1:00.1	A lot.
1:00.4	A lot.
1:01.0	Yeah.
1:01.5	It was during lockdowns and took a like a dilapidated old hostel or something and turned
1:06.8	it into something truly useful.
	...

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