From Jersey Shore To “Rontrepreneur”

Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, who brought the iconic jersey shore cocktail “ron ron juice” to America (a watermelon and a handle of vodka), has swapped “juice head” for “productive pothead.”

- Tess Adamakos

Ronnie Ortiz-Magro was easily convinced to do a video interview for “a new MTV show” after being approached by an MTV producer while he was weekending in Belmar.

“A strange girl walks up to me and she’s like, ’You look like you fit the criteria for this TV show we’re doing. And I’m like, ‘What? Douchebag?’” Ortiz-Magro laughed. “Then on a Tuesday she gives me a call and says ‘Hey, would you come to Long Island and do an interview?’”

With a “why not” attitude, the Bronx native took the hour-long drive to Long Island with a friend. “I pull up to this house and there’s plywood on all the windows. And we’re like, ‘What? Where am I?’” Ortiz-Magro said. “It looked like Freddy Krueger’s house. And I’m like, ‘Oh my God. Am I on Elm Street?’”

Ortiz-Magro recalls the day clearly, with it being the day of Michael Jackson’s funeral service. “I see a guy walking out, tool bag. Just like Pauly, with the blowout. And I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m in the right spot, obviously.’ He wasn’t murdered so I went to the back,” he said. “I said to my friend, ‘If I don’t text you in 10 minutes, call the cops.’”

Ortiz-Magro then got a second call from the producers, saying they would like to fly him out to California for a final round of video interviews.

“At that point, I was this 23-year-old Bronx kid that never really traveled. I thought, what do I have to lose? Free trip,” Ortiz-Magro said.