WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.740 This episode is sponsored by TeamBuildr, yet 00:00:02.740 --> 00:00:04.860 another company that's doing great things for 00:00:04.860 --> 00:00:07.679 the first responder community. As a strength 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:09.960 and conditioning coach myself who also trains 00:00:09.960 --> 00:00:13.140 tactical athletes, dissemination of wellness 00:00:13.140 --> 00:00:15.320 information is one of the biggest challenges. 00:00:15.980 --> 00:00:18.519 Now TeamBuilder is the premier strength and conditioning 00:00:18.519 --> 00:00:21.539 software for tactical athletes and there are 00:00:21.539 --> 00:00:24.839 several features that really impress me. Firstly, 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:27.780 there is a full exercise library. So you, the 00:00:27.780 --> 00:00:29.940 personal trainer, does not have to create that 00:00:29.940 --> 00:00:33.039 within your own department. Secondly, you can 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:36.020 send out programming, but also individualize, 00:00:36.060 --> 00:00:38.840 which I love. So you blanket program for everyone. 00:00:39.060 --> 00:00:41.780 Now you can tweak based on someone's injury, 00:00:41.979 --> 00:00:44.479 someone's need to maybe drop some body composition, 00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:47.420 rather than having to write a program for every 00:00:47.420 --> 00:00:50.179 single person on their own. TeamBuildr also 00:00:50.179 --> 00:00:52.679 allows you to build custom questionnaires to 00:00:52.679 --> 00:00:55.719 collate health and wellness data. It integrates 00:00:55.719 --> 00:00:58.280 with wearables. And I think one of the most important 00:00:58.280 --> 00:01:02.079 things is obviously it tracks. To me, it's imperative 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:05.540 that we as a profession start tracking our people 00:01:05.540 --> 00:01:09.439 from day one and then over the full span of their 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:12.659 career, therefore catching potential wellness 00:01:12.659 --> 00:01:16.200 issues and injuries before they happen. Now, 00:01:16.219 --> 00:01:18.420 if you want to try Team Builder, they are offering 00:01:18.420 --> 00:01:20.760 you, the audience of the Behind the Shield podcast, 00:01:21.180 --> 00:01:25.359 a free 14 -day trial to experience all of the 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:27.900 features. And if you want to take a deeper dive 00:01:27.900 --> 00:01:32.439 into Team Builder, listen to episode 1032 with 00:01:32.439 --> 00:01:36.459 Melissa Mercado or go to teambuildr .com. And 00:01:36.459 --> 00:01:37.980 I'll spell that to you because it's not as you 00:01:37.980 --> 00:01:44.140 think, T -E -A -M -B -U -I -L -D -R .com. Welcome 00:01:44.140 --> 00:01:45.879 to the Behind the Shield podcast. As always, 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:47.739 my name is James Geering and this week it is 00:01:47.739 --> 00:01:50.519 my absolute honor to welcome on the show fitness 00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:54.719 trainer, stuntman, and actor Aaron Williamson. 00:01:55.400 --> 00:01:58.040 Now in this conversation we discuss a host of 00:01:58.040 --> 00:02:01.640 topics from his journey into the military, his 00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:04.680 transition into the world of coaching, becoming 00:02:04.680 --> 00:02:08.360 a technical advisor on military films, his transition 00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:11.409 into the world of stunts and performance, his 00:02:11.409 --> 00:02:14.449 powerful mental health story, and so much more. 00:02:14.889 --> 00:02:17.090 Now, before we get to this incredible conversation, 00:02:17.310 --> 00:02:19.870 as I say every week, please just take a moment, 00:02:20.009 --> 00:02:23.069 go to whichever app you listen to this on, subscribe 00:02:23.069 --> 00:02:26.449 to the show, leave feedback, and leave a rating. 00:02:27.180 --> 00:02:30.439 Every single five -star rating truly does elevate 00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:33.120 this podcast, therefore making it easier for 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:36.620 others to find. And this is a free library of 00:02:36.620 --> 00:02:41.460 well over 1 ,100 episodes now. So all I ask in 00:02:41.460 --> 00:02:44.479 return is that you help share these incredible 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:47.460 men and women's stories so I can get them to 00:02:47.460 --> 00:02:50.539 every single person on planet Earth who needs 00:02:50.539 --> 00:02:54.219 to hear them. So with that being said, I introduce 00:02:54.219 --> 00:03:18.000 to you Aaron... Williamson. Enjoy. Aaron, I want 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:20.419 to start by saying two things. Firstly, thank 00:03:20.419 --> 00:03:22.740 you to our mutual friend Christian for making 00:03:22.740 --> 00:03:25.020 this connection. And secondly, to welcome you 00:03:25.020 --> 00:03:28.580 onto the Behind the Shield podcast today. I appreciate 00:03:28.580 --> 00:03:30.639 that. Yeah, Christian's a good guy. I was just 00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:33.379 down in San Antonio and did a MRF with those 00:03:33.379 --> 00:03:36.199 guys. Great crew. Yeah, it's a brutal workout. 00:03:36.419 --> 00:03:38.259 I'm assuming it was probably hot as balls there 00:03:38.259 --> 00:03:42.360 that day too. Yeah, it was like, it was just 00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:45.699 starting to creep out. That sun was coming out 00:03:45.699 --> 00:03:48.360 pretty hard right at the end. We started pretty 00:03:48.360 --> 00:03:51.000 early though. Yeah. Good idea. All right. Well, 00:03:51.060 --> 00:03:53.180 very first question, where on planet earth are 00:03:53.180 --> 00:03:57.500 we finding you today? These days I'm in Scottsdale, 00:03:57.580 --> 00:04:01.759 Arizona. Beautiful. Yeah. Well, that's hot, but 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:04.240 it's that dry heat. So I'll take it over the 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:06.599 humidity any day from the South. Yeah. Yeah. 00:04:06.659 --> 00:04:09.460 Yeah. We're from, I'm living in Ocala, Florida 00:04:09.460 --> 00:04:13.280 now. So it's been like 106, 107 with that humidity. 00:04:14.349 --> 00:04:16.589 Yeah, brutal. When Floridians are saying that 00:04:16.589 --> 00:04:18.050 it's hot, then, you know, it's really freaking 00:04:18.050 --> 00:04:21.430 hot. Yeah, I'm from Daytona Beach, Florida. There 00:04:21.430 --> 00:04:24.550 we go. Down the road then. Oh, yeah. All right. 00:04:24.550 --> 00:04:26.389 Well, let's start there then. So tell me where 00:04:26.389 --> 00:04:28.149 you were born and tell me a little bit about 00:04:28.149 --> 00:04:30.449 your family dynamic, what your parents did, how 00:04:30.449 --> 00:04:35.029 many siblings. I grew up in Daytona Beach, Florida 00:04:35.029 --> 00:04:38.850 when it was party central. You know, got in trouble, 00:04:39.029 --> 00:04:40.610 did all the stuff you're not supposed to do. 00:04:43.949 --> 00:04:49.329 Just a normal poor family. I mean, that's really 00:04:49.329 --> 00:04:53.850 it. There's not a whole lot to say. My childhood 00:04:53.850 --> 00:04:56.370 just wasn't that great, which is what led me 00:04:56.370 --> 00:05:00.850 down the path to the Marine Corps. So Marine 00:05:00.850 --> 00:05:02.910 Corps is my salvation. It saved me. What did 00:05:02.910 --> 00:05:05.649 your dad and or mother do as far as careers? 00:05:07.050 --> 00:05:10.350 Nothing. Nothing. Just mediocre work for the 00:05:10.350 --> 00:05:15.370 city, fast food. Now, this is what's really interesting 00:05:15.370 --> 00:05:18.410 about these conversations is when you talk about 00:05:18.410 --> 00:05:21.949 our upbringing, we more often than not will look 00:05:21.949 --> 00:05:25.149 at parents maybe, but never beyond that. When 00:05:25.149 --> 00:05:26.949 you look at the kind of upbringing that your 00:05:26.949 --> 00:05:29.329 parents were exposed to that maybe created the 00:05:29.329 --> 00:05:32.029 childhood that you had, were there any kind of 00:05:32.029 --> 00:05:33.910 common denominators when you went back another 00:05:33.910 --> 00:05:38.870 generation? Honestly, I don't even know, man. 00:05:38.970 --> 00:05:45.660 I'm not very good at my family history. My relationship 00:05:45.660 --> 00:05:49.500 with my family is something that, you know, I'm 00:05:49.500 --> 00:05:52.399 still working on today. It wasn't that great 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:54.240 for a long time. I joined the Marine Corps right 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:56.019 out of high school and I disappeared for a long 00:05:56.019 --> 00:05:58.639 time. I've only been home a handful of times. 00:05:59.019 --> 00:06:01.120 What about sports? What were you playing during 00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:04.860 the school ages? Everything, football, baseball, 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:07.600 volleyball, track, anything to keep myself from 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:09.879 getting in trouble. And I heard you mention on 00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:12.980 the Medivac podcast about being a smaller kid 00:06:12.980 --> 00:06:14.500 when you were younger, which if people saw you 00:06:14.500 --> 00:06:19.420 now, it would be surprising for them. Yeah, when 00:06:19.420 --> 00:06:22.220 I graduated Marine Corps boot camp, I was 160 00:06:22.220 --> 00:06:24.759 pounds, which I think is probably the lightest 00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:29.959 I've ever been at 6 '3". But growing up as a 00:06:29.959 --> 00:06:32.360 kid, man, I was really skinny. I started putting 00:06:32.360 --> 00:06:35.079 on a little bit of size in high school just from 00:06:35.079 --> 00:06:40.699 playing sports and eating. You know, doing stupid 00:06:40.699 --> 00:06:44.959 drugs gives you the munchies. And what about 00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:46.899 career aspirations? Again, when you were younger, 00:06:46.980 --> 00:06:49.019 what were you dreaming of becoming then prior 00:06:49.019 --> 00:06:53.860 to the military? Nothing. No idea. I had no aspirations, 00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:57.079 no goals, no role models, no mentors, no guide, 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:01.100 no guidance, no plan, no nothing. So this is 00:07:01.100 --> 00:07:02.959 always, I think, a really important conversation, 00:07:03.139 --> 00:07:06.879 especially, I would argue, for... us looking 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:09.480 how to move forward and improve you know the 00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:12.639 environment of the next generation is the people 00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:15.279 that have come on here and there's been an absence 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:18.040 of role models whether parents were there and 00:07:18.040 --> 00:07:19.759 just not involved whether they were you know 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:21.500 they left whatever the thing was they passed 00:07:21.500 --> 00:07:26.310 away where The difference between someone staying 00:07:26.310 --> 00:07:29.430 on a bad path and ending up prison, dead, overdose, 00:07:29.870 --> 00:07:33.410 whatever, and turning that corner were the positive 00:07:33.410 --> 00:07:35.930 role models. Now, prior to that, you mentioned 00:07:35.930 --> 00:07:39.430 about straying into some negative areas. What 00:07:39.430 --> 00:07:43.149 was the environment that you grew up in as far 00:07:43.149 --> 00:07:50.390 as the pull from that negative role model? I 00:07:50.390 --> 00:07:53.170 don't know what you mean by that. So, for example, 00:07:53.170 --> 00:07:55.970 if a young kid grows up and there's a gang culture, 00:07:56.430 --> 00:07:59.529 that's all they know. That's their environment. 00:08:00.540 --> 00:08:02.920 it's easier to be pulled in that direction when 00:08:02.920 --> 00:08:05.560 there's a positive mentor, like I'm assuming 00:08:05.560 --> 00:08:07.639 for you, you know, within the Marine Corps itself, 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:10.959 then it tends to steer young people back onto 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:13.439 the right path. But the environment that you 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:16.279 grew up in, were you kind of immersed in that 00:08:16.279 --> 00:08:18.459 kind of, as you said, the drugs, the negative 00:08:18.459 --> 00:08:25.379 side initially? My family started getting a divorce 00:08:25.379 --> 00:08:27.420 when I was in middle school and everything just 00:08:27.420 --> 00:08:30.720 fell apart. I started hanging out with the wrong 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:32.240 crowd. You hang out with the wrong crowd, you 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:33.580 get involved with the wrong stuff. And that's 00:08:33.580 --> 00:08:36.720 really it. Gotcha. All right. Well then let's, 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:39.039 so you're kind of, you're, you're lost, you're 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:41.080 wayward. You've played a multitude of sports. 00:08:41.899 --> 00:08:45.039 What even made you think about the Marine Corps 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:47.000 and talk to me about the on -ramp experience 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:49.700 from, for you from having no role models to being 00:08:49.700 --> 00:08:54.929 thrust into such a rigid discipline. It saved 00:08:54.929 --> 00:08:56.710 my life, and it was everything I needed. There 00:08:56.710 --> 00:09:00.149 was a guy on the varsity football team who graduated 00:09:00.149 --> 00:09:02.809 high school and joined the Marine Corps. And 00:09:02.809 --> 00:09:05.029 prior to joining, he was just a big meathead 00:09:05.029 --> 00:09:08.730 dude like Goldberg from WWE. When I saw him come 00:09:08.730 --> 00:09:10.809 back from Marine Corps boot camp, he was a completely 00:09:10.809 --> 00:09:12.990 different person. I didn't even recognize him. 00:09:13.929 --> 00:09:16.230 Everything about him was just different, and 00:09:16.230 --> 00:09:17.830 I knew that's what I needed, and that's what 00:09:17.830 --> 00:09:21.659 brought me into the ranks. What about prior to 00:09:21.659 --> 00:09:23.159 this, because we're going to obviously get into 00:09:23.159 --> 00:09:26.360 personal training, what did your fitness, weight 00:09:26.360 --> 00:09:29.120 training, strength conditioning programs look 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:33.200 like prior to the Marine Corps? There was none. 00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:36.440 No structure, no nothing. Just did whatever I 00:09:36.440 --> 00:09:40.559 thought was right. Looking back on it now, I 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:42.559 don't even know what I was doing. You hear that 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:45.399 a lot. Some, and again, not tarring everyone 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:47.539 with the same brush, but you hear a lot of high 00:09:47.539 --> 00:09:49.799 school programs, the strength and conditioning 00:09:49.799 --> 00:09:52.080 side is often done by people that maybe understand 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:53.919 the game, but they don't understand the training 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:59.000 element. Yeah, it was just train. There was no 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:03.639 program or really much of anything. Gotcha. Did 00:10:03.639 --> 00:10:06.600 you feel physically prepared for Marine Boot 00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:11.980 Camp? No. I had no idea what I was getting into. 00:10:14.919 --> 00:10:17.480 So what was it that allowed you to succeed? Because 00:10:17.480 --> 00:10:20.159 you obviously went through it. So as you kind 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:23.360 of were immersed in this new arena, who were 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:24.960 the people that steered you in the right way? 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:28.100 And then what was it that allowed you to progress 00:10:28.100 --> 00:10:35.840 when some people did ring the bell? I don't know, 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:39.480 man. Look. My whole childhood leading up to the 00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:41.460 Marine Corps, I really don't remember much of 00:10:41.460 --> 00:10:44.940 it. I try, like I can recall small details. Joining 00:10:44.940 --> 00:10:46.419 the Marine Corps, I just knew I was trying to 00:10:46.419 --> 00:10:48.419 escape becoming the person I didn't want to be. 00:10:49.019 --> 00:10:51.519 And that's really what it came down to. I got 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:53.360 on the yellow footprints. I knew I was in a different 00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:55.799 world. The drill instructors were doing their 00:10:55.799 --> 00:10:57.860 thing, yelling and spitting and all this stuff. 00:10:57.980 --> 00:11:01.139 And I knew I was in an environment where I had 00:11:01.139 --> 00:11:03.659 no idea what was going to happen next, but I 00:11:03.659 --> 00:11:07.629 was open to it. And with an open mind, it really 00:11:07.629 --> 00:11:12.210 broke me down to the studs and it kind of forced 00:11:12.210 --> 00:11:18.830 me to rebuild my foundation on discipline. And 00:11:18.830 --> 00:11:20.909 that was the new chapter. That was the new me. 00:11:20.990 --> 00:11:22.809 That was my first transformation going through 00:11:22.809 --> 00:11:26.950 Marine Corps boot camp. I didn't know what to 00:11:26.950 --> 00:11:28.750 expect. I thought it was going to be more physical, 00:11:28.809 --> 00:11:30.570 but it was really more mental than anything. 00:11:30.669 --> 00:11:34.899 And that mental... That mental stress, that mental 00:11:34.899 --> 00:11:41.299 chaos was what took me to a place where I was 00:11:41.299 --> 00:11:46.019 able to, I think, really operate my best. Even 00:11:46.019 --> 00:11:48.899 to this day, I operate the best in chaos. I don't 00:11:48.899 --> 00:11:51.220 like chaos, but for some reason, I just have 00:11:51.220 --> 00:11:54.120 an affinity to be able to adapt to it and thrive 00:11:54.120 --> 00:11:58.120 in it. And what about as far as the MOS, like 00:11:58.120 --> 00:12:00.159 as you progress through boot camp, what was the 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:01.919 area of the Marines that you were focused on 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:05.340 at that point? Well, ultimately, I wanted to 00:12:05.340 --> 00:12:13.059 become part of force recon for the Marines. But 00:12:13.059 --> 00:12:17.720 when I got to my first duty station, they just 00:12:17.720 --> 00:12:20.159 my platoon commander was not like he was just 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:24.000 not letting me go. It was a. You know, I was 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:26.200 with 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines. I got to my 00:12:26.200 --> 00:12:31.120 first duty station in the end of 1999. And it 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:33.740 was like a bunch of bad news bears. So I was 00:12:33.740 --> 00:12:36.399 like, you know, me and my buddy from Daytona 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:40.379 Beach, we ended up at the same unit together. 00:12:41.159 --> 00:12:44.600 And we just kind of fed off each other. So we 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:47.080 were squared away, you know, shining our boots 00:12:47.080 --> 00:12:49.899 every day, ironing the camis, going to the gym 00:12:49.899 --> 00:12:52.870 every day, eating clean. just wanting to be the 00:12:52.870 --> 00:12:54.889 picture -perfect Marine because we were just, 00:12:55.009 --> 00:12:59.809 there was a lot of pride in it. Got promoted 00:12:59.809 --> 00:13:04.070 to a team leader as soon as I got there, which 00:13:04.070 --> 00:13:07.529 didn't bring much love from the crew to have 00:13:07.529 --> 00:13:10.669 some boot Marine, you know, in charge of an NCO. 00:13:10.690 --> 00:13:13.750 That doesn't go down too well. So infantry ended 00:13:13.750 --> 00:13:17.710 up being where I got stuck. And I say I got stuck 00:13:17.710 --> 00:13:20.769 because... It's what put a bad taste in my mouth 00:13:20.769 --> 00:13:23.929 from the beginning is having bad leadership can 00:13:23.929 --> 00:13:27.009 really ruin the experience for you. And I think 00:13:27.009 --> 00:13:29.529 that's across the board in every industry. There's 00:13:29.529 --> 00:13:33.690 bad leaders everywhere. And part of what I do 00:13:33.690 --> 00:13:37.950 now is making sure that I can use my past experiences 00:13:37.950 --> 00:13:41.789 and life experiences to help people not be bad 00:13:41.789 --> 00:13:44.309 leaders because it can literally ruin someone's 00:13:44.309 --> 00:13:47.490 life. This is something that we see in the first 00:13:47.490 --> 00:13:49.590 responder professions. You get these people that 00:13:49.590 --> 00:13:52.129 progress through the ranks that just have no 00:13:52.129 --> 00:13:53.929 business being there. And they have all the pieces 00:13:53.929 --> 00:13:56.210 of paper. They were able to climb the rungs. 00:13:56.509 --> 00:14:00.070 But as far as actual leadership, as far as managing 00:14:00.070 --> 00:14:03.149 individuals, as far as being firm when you need 00:14:03.149 --> 00:14:05.409 to and then vulnerable when you need to as a 00:14:05.409 --> 00:14:07.769 leader, there's a complete absence of that. And 00:14:07.769 --> 00:14:09.690 I think I would argue humility was probably the 00:14:09.690 --> 00:14:12.120 thing that was lacking. When you reflect back 00:14:12.120 --> 00:14:14.899 now at that moment and then any other leadership 00:14:14.899 --> 00:14:16.700 kind of challenges that you've had through the 00:14:16.700 --> 00:14:21.379 last 20 years, what are the mistakes that these 00:14:21.379 --> 00:14:23.919 poor leaders are making? And then what are the 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:25.840 attributes that you see in the good leaders that 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:29.519 you've worked alongside? I think there's a big 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:32.379 misconception about leadership that it has to 00:14:32.379 --> 00:14:36.399 be loud. You got to be the one that everyone 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:38.559 notices because you're the loudest. And I think 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:42.379 it should be the opposite. Being a good leader 00:14:42.379 --> 00:14:49.779 is about being there for others in the worst 00:14:49.779 --> 00:14:53.419 times, in the dark times, in the chaos, and to 00:14:53.419 --> 00:14:57.019 be able to have that trust in someone who's not 00:14:57.019 --> 00:15:02.759 going to throw you under the bus. For me as a 00:15:02.759 --> 00:15:07.940 leader, I was very stern, but quiet. I was loud 00:15:07.940 --> 00:15:10.960 when I needed to be loud. You know, other than 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:12.600 that, there was no reason to be loud all the 00:15:12.600 --> 00:15:15.220 time. And I think that's a big issue today is 00:15:15.220 --> 00:15:18.200 leaders feel like they need to be loud and seen 00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:22.299 and heard. And it's just not the case. Absolutely. 00:15:22.500 --> 00:15:26.259 When you were in that branch, did you ever come 00:15:26.259 --> 00:15:29.340 across Major James Capers or his story at least? 00:15:31.240 --> 00:15:36.210 I'm somewhat familiar with it. Recon Marines, 00:15:36.370 --> 00:15:39.269 Vietnam era. He was wounded. Very long story 00:15:39.269 --> 00:15:42.570 short, he got all his men on a helicopter. He 00:15:42.570 --> 00:15:44.750 jumped off because it was too heavy. They dragged 00:15:44.750 --> 00:15:46.929 his ass back on again. They managed to take off, 00:15:47.029 --> 00:15:50.830 but he was African -American and probably one 00:15:50.830 --> 00:15:54.850 of the Medal of Honor recipients that was denied 00:15:54.850 --> 00:15:57.659 that. medal because of skin color at that point 00:15:57.659 --> 00:15:59.799 so even to this day they're trying to trying 00:15:59.799 --> 00:16:01.480 to still get the medal of honor for him but i 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:04.000 had him on i went up to to south carolina a while 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:06.120 ago and interviewed him as home but definitely 00:16:06.120 --> 00:16:08.620 one of the legends of your your branch there 00:16:08.620 --> 00:16:13.480 that's amazing yeah general i was with general 00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:16.159 pace for a while the pentagon he had talked about 00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:18.769 him a little bit yeah incredible man Well, you 00:16:18.769 --> 00:16:21.090 mentioned about wanting to get into recon. How 00:16:21.090 --> 00:16:24.250 did that end up transitioning to the kind of 00:16:24.250 --> 00:16:30.090 funeral detail side? When I was in Okinawa, Japan 00:16:30.090 --> 00:16:35.929 on one of my pumps, my company first sergeant 00:16:35.929 --> 00:16:40.850 kept talking about it. And I was like, you're 00:16:40.850 --> 00:16:43.370 telling me that there's a section where you can 00:16:43.370 --> 00:16:46.190 lift weights and carry caskets and represent 00:16:46.190 --> 00:16:49.929 the Marine Corps? I want to be part of that. 00:16:50.429 --> 00:16:53.990 So he started making some calls. And when I got 00:16:53.990 --> 00:16:56.190 back from that deployment, they actually came 00:16:56.190 --> 00:16:58.009 down to Camp Lejeune and strength tested me. 00:16:59.769 --> 00:17:02.809 I didn't pass it. And I was just planning on 00:17:02.809 --> 00:17:04.450 moving on. I was getting ready to go to squad 00:17:04.450 --> 00:17:09.049 leader school. And before I was ready to punch 00:17:09.049 --> 00:17:13.779 out the career planner. called me into his office 00:17:13.779 --> 00:17:15.220 and said, Hey, when do you want to take leave? 00:17:15.339 --> 00:17:16.660 And I was like, what are you talking about? He's 00:17:16.660 --> 00:17:19.539 like, you got cut orders to, uh, to DC to be 00:17:19.539 --> 00:17:23.299 a part of the body bearers. So it's a checklist. 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:25.619 You know, the strength is just one piece. The 00:17:25.619 --> 00:17:28.339 strength can always be built. It's the, it's 00:17:28.339 --> 00:17:30.240 the type of person you are, the character, your 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:32.720 values, your morals, how you carry yourself, 00:17:32.900 --> 00:17:35.779 how you present yourself, um, how responsible 00:17:35.779 --> 00:17:38.859 you are. All those details go into it because 00:17:38.859 --> 00:17:43.089 when you're laying someone to rest, That's a 00:17:43.089 --> 00:17:46.509 huge moment. And I call it my most humble duty 00:17:46.509 --> 00:17:48.849 because when you lay someone to rest, it's the 00:17:48.849 --> 00:17:50.549 last image a family is going to have of that 00:17:50.549 --> 00:17:55.589 loved one. So it was a very surreal experience 00:17:55.589 --> 00:17:58.049 to have been a part of that detail. And I ended 00:17:58.049 --> 00:18:01.789 up becoming the section leader. So we trained 00:18:01.789 --> 00:18:04.769 hard. We trained heavy. We trained for perfection 00:18:04.769 --> 00:18:08.849 all the time. Now, you mentioned Okinawa before 00:18:08.849 --> 00:18:10.609 we kind of go a little bit further into that. 00:18:11.549 --> 00:18:14.230 One of the things that's really interesting is 00:18:14.230 --> 00:18:17.109 that Okinawa is one of the only blue zones on 00:18:17.109 --> 00:18:19.690 planet Earth. And if we're talking about health, 00:18:19.869 --> 00:18:23.509 nutrition, etc., it has, I think even Japan now, 00:18:23.549 --> 00:18:26.829 it's extended through the whole island, has the 00:18:26.829 --> 00:18:30.720 highest population of people, 100 or older. than 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:33.700 the planet. And it's always interesting to hear 00:18:33.700 --> 00:18:35.920 people that were stationed in Okinawa or just 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:38.559 happen to live in Okinawa as far as the observations 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:41.200 of the culture, the food, the exercise level 00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:44.980 that creates such longevity in those populations. 00:18:45.240 --> 00:18:47.519 So do you remember kind of any of those kind 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:49.240 of elements when you were stationed there as 00:18:49.240 --> 00:18:53.220 far as the Okinawan people themselves? Well, 00:18:53.299 --> 00:18:57.859 I was on Camp Schwab and... We really didn't 00:18:57.859 --> 00:18:59.680 leave base that much. We were just a bunch of 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:02.619 grunts. And there was a lot of protests all the 00:19:02.619 --> 00:19:04.880 time outside the base. So I don't think we were 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:08.680 necessarily wanted there. So it's not like we 00:19:08.680 --> 00:19:13.119 were just out in town all the time. So I don't 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:15.339 have a whole lot of memory of being out in town. 00:19:15.400 --> 00:19:18.440 Although I remember when I was, the people were 00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:23.759 very nice. I was very tall, comparatively speaking. 00:19:24.980 --> 00:19:29.009 The food was... incredible. I really enjoyed 00:19:29.009 --> 00:19:32.930 Okinawa a lot. We were on Orwan Beach. I don't 00:19:32.930 --> 00:19:34.650 know if you're familiar with Camp Schwab. It's 00:19:34.650 --> 00:19:38.769 where Amphibious Recon is. But I mean, it was 00:19:38.769 --> 00:19:41.750 just, you know, whenever we had libo or off time, 00:19:41.849 --> 00:19:44.990 just be on the water snorkeling and swimming 00:19:44.990 --> 00:19:49.950 and lifting weights and staying out of the jungle. 00:19:51.589 --> 00:19:54.309 i lived in japan for 15 months and i remember 00:19:54.309 --> 00:19:56.769 and i'm only six foot but standing on on the 00:19:56.769 --> 00:19:58.809 subway and i could see over almost everyone's 00:19:58.809 --> 00:20:00.910 head and like this doesn't happen at home normally 00:20:00.910 --> 00:20:03.029 i'm kind of like average but but yeah it's the 00:20:03.029 --> 00:20:05.690 leaving the even some of the well not some even 00:20:05.690 --> 00:20:07.690 a lot of the buildings walking into you got to 00:20:07.690 --> 00:20:09.450 you know duck your head they're not built for 00:20:09.450 --> 00:20:12.690 tall people no even the clothes yeah this guy's 00:20:12.690 --> 00:20:16.750 been a different size completely All right. Well, 00:20:16.809 --> 00:20:19.170 then going back to the funeral day detail, correct 00:20:19.170 --> 00:20:22.390 me if I'm wrong, that kind of straddled 9 -11. 00:20:22.589 --> 00:20:30.910 Is that right? Yeah, it did. So we were, we were, 00:20:31.009 --> 00:20:35.069 I remember when the funeral started picking up 00:20:35.069 --> 00:20:40.529 with a lot of the service members coming in from 00:20:40.529 --> 00:20:44.960 being killed in action. And out of Arlington 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:49.279 National Cemetery, at one point when this all 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:53.519 started, Section 60 was just a bare piece of 00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:56.619 land, just grass, maybe a couple of tombstones. 00:20:57.440 --> 00:21:01.279 And it was just filling up by the day. I mean, 00:21:01.299 --> 00:21:06.839 it was unreal to see how quickly these headstones 00:21:06.839 --> 00:21:08.720 were coming up and how many funerals were being 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:16.960 done there. And especially to even burying people 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:21.160 that you knew maybe from boot camp or from another 00:21:21.160 --> 00:21:23.819 unit or something like that. So, you know, it's 00:21:23.819 --> 00:21:27.180 definitely put a lot into perspective. How did 00:21:27.180 --> 00:21:29.200 you process that? Because I've had a few people 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:32.960 on, sadly, one gold star father who lost his 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:36.579 son and he was a naval, you know, the same detail 00:21:36.579 --> 00:21:39.779 as you bringing the caskets home. And, you know, 00:21:39.799 --> 00:21:42.140 the weight of that, the moral injury of, like 00:21:42.140 --> 00:21:43.700 you said, some of these people that you remember 00:21:43.700 --> 00:21:45.920 in boot camp and now you're, you know, bringing 00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:48.000 them home in a casket covered in a flag. So, 00:21:48.119 --> 00:21:50.460 you know, you already had these struggles when 00:21:50.460 --> 00:21:53.119 you were younger. You had this kind of healing 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:56.000 element when you first enlisted. But now you're 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:59.079 in a very, very traumatic position. So how were 00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:01.059 you able to kind of process what you were doing? 00:22:04.700 --> 00:22:07.460 I really don't know. I don't really know how 00:22:07.460 --> 00:22:12.500 to put that into words. I just remember I always 00:22:12.500 --> 00:22:18.440 wanted my Marines in the funeral to be flawless 00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:24.400 because I wanted the family to be proud of what 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:26.519 the Marine Corps represented and how we treated 00:22:26.519 --> 00:22:29.519 their loved one when we were laying them to rest. 00:22:29.700 --> 00:22:32.640 What we do in the Marine Corps that the other 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:36.200 services don't do is when we get to the hole, 00:22:36.299 --> 00:22:39.779 we raise the casket. as a final salute which 00:22:39.779 --> 00:22:44.180 takes a lot of strength but it's just our way 00:22:44.180 --> 00:22:47.400 our our last way of saying you know thank you 00:22:47.400 --> 00:22:53.299 for your service um yeah i don't really know 00:22:53.299 --> 00:22:55.180 how to put that one into words to describe it 00:22:55.180 --> 00:22:57.420 it's it's really just wanting to make sure that 00:22:57.420 --> 00:23:00.660 we do you know we do that service member and 00:23:00.660 --> 00:23:05.150 their family justice was there any kind of element 00:23:05.150 --> 00:23:07.609 when you reflect back now with this mature lens 00:23:07.609 --> 00:23:11.210 that you have any element of healing at this 00:23:11.210 --> 00:23:13.009 point or do you think you'd still kind of push 00:23:13.009 --> 00:23:18.630 things down up to then oh i pushed things down 00:23:18.630 --> 00:23:23.690 for a long time it wasn't even until long after 00:23:23.690 --> 00:23:26.150 i was out of the military deep into hollywood 00:23:26.150 --> 00:23:28.410 that i was able to start processing some of the 00:23:28.410 --> 00:23:31.029 stuff Well, let's talk about transition then, 00:23:31.069 --> 00:23:33.869 because that can be so jarring for military members, 00:23:34.049 --> 00:23:36.369 first responders. You know, you especially you've 00:23:36.369 --> 00:23:39.589 had this this certain upbringing. You find this 00:23:39.589 --> 00:23:42.329 incredible tribe within the military, within 00:23:42.329 --> 00:23:44.490 a fire station. You know, you've got purpose. 00:23:44.589 --> 00:23:47.349 You've got, you know, shared suffering. You and 00:23:47.349 --> 00:23:49.849 all these things are incredibly healing. And 00:23:49.849 --> 00:23:52.809 then one day. you don't anymore. And that can 00:23:52.809 --> 00:23:55.089 be so jarring for our service members, for our 00:23:55.089 --> 00:23:58.250 first responders. What made you decide to pull 00:23:58.250 --> 00:24:00.549 the trigger on transitioning out? And what was 00:24:00.549 --> 00:24:05.410 that initial experience like for you? When I 00:24:05.410 --> 00:24:10.809 ended my active service, I went to Iraq to be 00:24:10.809 --> 00:24:15.730 part of the identity management mission. At the 00:24:15.730 --> 00:24:18.930 time, it was all classified. So SecDef wanted 00:24:18.930 --> 00:24:21.990 to safeguard all the bases. How do you do that? 00:24:22.049 --> 00:24:26.269 Well, biometrics. So we were the test bed for 00:24:26.269 --> 00:24:29.269 the DOD Biometrics Task Force. So for the first 00:24:29.269 --> 00:24:35.650 two years, I was doing base access. I was the 00:24:35.650 --> 00:24:38.490 operations manager. Ended up moving into the 00:24:38.490 --> 00:24:41.630 country manager position. So there was a lot 00:24:41.630 --> 00:24:45.049 of traveling involved to make sure that things 00:24:45.049 --> 00:24:50.519 were. functioning as they should. But with all 00:24:50.519 --> 00:24:53.279 the travel, obviously, you're going to encounter 00:24:53.279 --> 00:24:56.059 danger. It's inevitable. And the longer you're 00:24:56.059 --> 00:25:00.099 over there, the more things are going to happen 00:25:00.099 --> 00:25:03.259 that you're going to have to figure out how to 00:25:03.259 --> 00:25:04.960 deal with once it's all said and done and over 00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:08.759 and you're out of there. The second two years, 00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:14.180 I moved more into a liaison position, working 00:25:14.180 --> 00:25:18.950 directly with the Iraqis. liaison with the U 00:25:18.950 --> 00:25:21.349 .S., helping them stand up their own biometric 00:25:21.349 --> 00:25:25.250 capabilities. And at the end of those two years 00:25:25.250 --> 00:25:28.710 is when we started transitioning everything back 00:25:28.710 --> 00:25:31.549 over to the Iraqis. And it started getting much 00:25:31.549 --> 00:25:34.910 more dangerous at the time. And it just got to 00:25:34.910 --> 00:25:39.609 the point where things were becoming, there were 00:25:39.609 --> 00:25:47.059 too many close calls. And, you know. I had the 00:25:47.059 --> 00:25:49.200 opportunity to leave and I took it. I knew it 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:51.539 was time to go. So I took a leap of faith and 00:25:51.539 --> 00:25:53.220 moved to New Orleans to do some more contract 00:25:53.220 --> 00:25:58.220 work with the Marine Corps. Marine Forces North 00:25:58.220 --> 00:26:02.079 is out of New Orleans. So that's where I went, 00:26:02.140 --> 00:26:04.779 man. I just took a leap and said, I'm out. I 00:26:04.779 --> 00:26:07.619 can't do it anymore. I'm done. Reflecting back 00:26:07.619 --> 00:26:10.779 on the time in Iraq for a moment. I've said this 00:26:10.779 --> 00:26:13.579 on many, many of these interviews of people that 00:26:13.579 --> 00:26:19.059 have found themselves forward deployed. One thing 00:26:19.059 --> 00:26:23.099 that we get back at home is an extremely polarized 00:26:23.099 --> 00:26:26.859 perspective when it comes to the news, how war 00:26:26.859 --> 00:26:29.619 is portrayed. Either kill them all, let God sort 00:26:29.619 --> 00:26:31.680 them out, or they're all baby killers. And in 00:26:31.680 --> 00:26:33.920 between are our men and women that are out there 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:36.339 with our flag on their shoulder, protecting that 00:26:36.339 --> 00:26:39.829 country, protecting our country. Two -part question. 00:26:39.890 --> 00:26:42.730 The first part, regardless of the politics that 00:26:42.730 --> 00:26:45.789 sent you out there, was there a point where you 00:26:45.789 --> 00:26:48.029 realized there were some horrific people that 00:26:48.029 --> 00:26:49.789 needed to be taken care of, even though obviously 00:26:49.789 --> 00:26:57.710 you were in this biometric role? 100%. A lot 00:26:57.710 --> 00:27:01.890 of the locals who I worked with directly, whether 00:27:01.890 --> 00:27:07.940 in the government or civilians, were very grateful 00:27:07.940 --> 00:27:13.660 that we were there. And I was able to develop 00:27:13.660 --> 00:27:16.019 some really close friendships with some of the 00:27:16.019 --> 00:27:21.599 local Iraqis. And, you know, as a result of that, 00:27:21.660 --> 00:27:25.819 of their sacrifice, and when I say their sacrifice, 00:27:25.940 --> 00:27:32.359 some of these locals, just by working with us, 00:27:32.420 --> 00:27:36.369 lost their entire families. come home, their 00:27:36.369 --> 00:27:39.089 whole family's hanging in the front yard trees. 00:27:39.990 --> 00:27:43.490 Or who knows what happened to them? They get 00:27:43.490 --> 00:27:46.349 kidnapped. So yeah, there's some horrific people 00:27:46.349 --> 00:27:50.609 there. And I think it's really hard to wrap your 00:27:50.609 --> 00:27:53.089 mind around how there can be such little value 00:27:53.089 --> 00:27:58.289 for human life. And one of the things that bothers 00:27:58.289 --> 00:28:00.250 me here in this country is we have it so good, 00:28:00.390 --> 00:28:04.069 but the stupidity is just so outrageous here. 00:28:05.900 --> 00:28:08.380 There's no perspective. There's no cultural perspective 00:28:08.380 --> 00:28:13.079 to compare how good we have it here because most 00:28:13.079 --> 00:28:16.220 people have never even left this country. But 00:28:16.220 --> 00:28:19.299 when you go over there and you see how a lot 00:28:19.299 --> 00:28:24.640 of these people are living and you kind of lose 00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:27.519 sight of the political side of it, you kind of 00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:30.299 lose sight of why you're over there. You just 00:28:30.299 --> 00:28:34.440 have a mission to do and that mission is to try 00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:37.519 and help these people. And that's what I was 00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:39.240 doing. And that's what my team was doing. And 00:28:39.240 --> 00:28:42.400 that's what I thrived on doing. And I think when 00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:46.460 you're genuine about it, you'll see the good 00:28:46.460 --> 00:28:49.619 people versus the bad people. But that bad presence 00:28:49.619 --> 00:28:53.279 you were talking about, man, that evil is just 00:28:53.279 --> 00:28:56.660 on a whole nother level. Well, this is the other 00:28:56.660 --> 00:28:58.359 thing as well. I mean, you just alluded to it 00:28:58.359 --> 00:29:00.859 for a second. We don't hear the kindness and 00:29:00.859 --> 00:29:03.200 compassion. either on the news whether it's of 00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:05.140 our own military or the indigenous population 00:29:05.140 --> 00:29:07.359 that you guys are serving alongside or trying 00:29:07.359 --> 00:29:10.180 to protect so when you reflect what were some 00:29:10.180 --> 00:29:12.400 of those beautiful elements about that culture 00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:24.660 i think really i mean the family just how close 00:29:24.660 --> 00:29:26.730 -knit the family and friends are I mean, the 00:29:26.730 --> 00:29:29.990 gatherings they have, the feasts that they have 00:29:29.990 --> 00:29:34.569 together, the celebrations they have, things 00:29:34.569 --> 00:29:38.609 that we don't really do a whole lot here to that 00:29:38.609 --> 00:29:44.809 degree. The way they celebrate sports, the way 00:29:44.809 --> 00:29:52.710 they, I don't know, it's a very different culture. 00:29:53.150 --> 00:29:55.730 This is the best way to explain it. The culture 00:29:55.730 --> 00:29:59.670 is very, very different. It's really cool to 00:29:59.670 --> 00:30:01.890 be able to have that cultural perspective. When 00:30:01.890 --> 00:30:04.269 you travel the world and you visit these countries 00:30:04.269 --> 00:30:06.950 and you see the difference in cultures, but at 00:30:06.950 --> 00:30:09.630 the end of the day, every culture has its evil. 00:30:10.589 --> 00:30:16.470 Especially in that part of the world, that evil 00:30:16.470 --> 00:30:23.380 is just dead set on carnage and torment. All 00:30:23.380 --> 00:30:27.180 the stuff here in the States, we're not exposed 00:30:27.180 --> 00:30:29.500 to. And if you were exposed to it, you'd have 00:30:29.500 --> 00:30:33.019 a whole different outlook on life. What I see 00:30:33.019 --> 00:30:35.700 is it's insidious as well, meaning it's like 00:30:35.700 --> 00:30:38.799 a death by a thousand cuts. It's not just suddenly 00:30:38.799 --> 00:30:41.900 someone pops up who's just atrocious in our society 00:30:41.900 --> 00:30:44.079 and like, okay, well, that person needs to go. 00:30:44.299 --> 00:30:47.839 It's that frog in the boiling water. It starts 00:30:47.839 --> 00:30:50.900 off cold and it slowly turns the heat up. And 00:30:50.900 --> 00:30:54.119 history is full of these lessons of exactly when 00:30:54.119 --> 00:30:56.000 that has happened, whether it's Nazi Germany 00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:58.339 or we can go back to British history and American 00:30:58.339 --> 00:31:01.039 history and all these other areas. And I think 00:31:01.039 --> 00:31:04.019 what's such a spit in the face for all the people 00:31:04.019 --> 00:31:07.480 that were lost previously is, as you said, that 00:31:07.480 --> 00:31:10.960 we... allow this to happen again. We allow this 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:12.819 division to happen. Regardless, I don't care 00:31:12.819 --> 00:31:16.099 what anyone's political leanings are. When people 00:31:16.099 --> 00:31:18.259 are put in front of us that are dividing a nation, 00:31:18.400 --> 00:31:20.259 to me, that's the opposite of leadership, just 00:31:20.259 --> 00:31:22.619 like we talked about earlier. If you're a Marine 00:31:22.619 --> 00:31:26.940 leader and you've got the two sides of a platoon 00:31:26.940 --> 00:31:29.420 working against each other, then that's not leadership. 00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:31.680 It's no different on the national level. But 00:31:31.680 --> 00:31:33.500 hearing all these stories that I have, whether 00:31:33.500 --> 00:31:35.319 it's our warfighters or people from all over 00:31:35.319 --> 00:31:38.539 the world. The storytelling, you know, these 00:31:38.539 --> 00:31:41.039 atrocities that have happened. The question is, 00:31:41.079 --> 00:31:43.319 when are we going to learn from them? If we're 00:31:43.319 --> 00:31:45.579 not hearing, you know, stories like yours, if 00:31:45.579 --> 00:31:47.359 we're not looking back in the history and go, 00:31:47.400 --> 00:31:48.920 we need to make sure it doesn't happen again. 00:31:49.299 --> 00:31:51.799 We're just setting ourself up for yet another 00:31:51.799 --> 00:31:53.740 incident. And we're seeing it around the world 00:31:53.740 --> 00:31:58.940 to this day. Yeah, I remember there was a point 00:31:58.940 --> 00:32:02.359 in time where it didn't matter if you were a 00:32:02.359 --> 00:32:05.420 Democrat or Republican, you could have. hard 00:32:05.420 --> 00:32:08.660 conversations. You could talk to people. You 00:32:08.660 --> 00:32:10.980 could have friends who were on whatever political 00:32:10.980 --> 00:32:13.640 side. It didn't matter. And for some reason now, 00:32:13.920 --> 00:32:21.859 you can't, God forbid, you talk to someone on 00:32:21.859 --> 00:32:24.079 the other side, your family will disown you now. 00:32:24.519 --> 00:32:27.640 I mean, I don't know what's happening with this 00:32:27.640 --> 00:32:31.980 country, but it makes me sick to my stomach. 00:32:32.779 --> 00:32:35.099 And I have a very hard time talking about it 00:32:35.099 --> 00:32:40.160 because, again, it's back to people watch the 00:32:40.160 --> 00:32:44.019 silly ass news, base their opinions off of whatever 00:32:44.019 --> 00:32:47.380 these reporters and commentators are saying. 00:32:47.480 --> 00:32:51.579 When I was at the Pentagon, I had a TSSCI clearance. 00:32:52.160 --> 00:32:57.960 And I just remember being privy to many things 00:32:57.960 --> 00:33:02.140 that were highly classified. And you knew the, 00:33:02.140 --> 00:33:03.960 you knew the real story of what was going on. 00:33:04.380 --> 00:33:06.339 And then all of a sudden, a couple of days later, 00:33:06.380 --> 00:33:07.900 you see it trickle out in the news and you're 00:33:07.900 --> 00:33:11.799 like, it's not what the fuck happened. Like it's 00:33:11.799 --> 00:33:14.579 got a little bit of it, you know? So it's, it's 00:33:14.579 --> 00:33:19.839 like, we're just being played. I don't know, 00:33:19.839 --> 00:33:21.759 man. I'm just so grateful to live in this country 00:33:21.759 --> 00:33:26.099 and I'm, I'm grateful to have served. I would 00:33:26.099 --> 00:33:28.180 do it over again and again and again and again. 00:33:29.339 --> 00:33:32.079 I just wish that we as a society would wake up 00:33:32.079 --> 00:33:34.099 and understand how good we have it here because 00:33:34.099 --> 00:33:39.299 I don't know what the future looks like. It kind 00:33:39.299 --> 00:33:43.140 of terrifies me knowing what my daughters are 00:33:43.140 --> 00:33:45.819 going to have to go through and what their kids 00:33:45.819 --> 00:33:47.980 are going to have to go through if there's even 00:33:47.980 --> 00:33:51.359 going to be anything left. I'm what I always 00:33:51.359 --> 00:33:55.319 say, an incurable yet angry optimist. I feel 00:33:55.319 --> 00:33:57.980 like the wheels are coming off the illusion that's 00:33:57.980 --> 00:34:01.039 created this recently. You know, like you said, 00:34:01.079 --> 00:34:03.759 news, I mean, CNN, Fox, same exact blueprint. 00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:06.299 I mean, you've got, I mean, just take one step 00:34:06.299 --> 00:34:08.320 back and look, you know, the screen's divided. 00:34:08.440 --> 00:34:10.199 There's four assholes arguing with each other. 00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:11.739 It's not news. As you said, it's commentary. 00:34:12.159 --> 00:34:14.880 It doesn't matter if it's left or right. I had 00:34:14.880 --> 00:34:18.019 a guy on a couple of times now, Larry Doyle, 00:34:18.039 --> 00:34:21.190 who was one of the. Last really respected journalist, 00:34:21.269 --> 00:34:23.909 he interviewed Nelson Mandela, the first interview 00:34:23.909 --> 00:34:26.130 when he came out of Robben Island. That says 00:34:26.130 --> 00:34:29.610 the kind of trust that this man had. And he was 00:34:29.610 --> 00:34:32.269 talking about there was a turning point. I think 00:34:32.269 --> 00:34:35.889 it was either late 80s or early 90s where the 00:34:35.889 --> 00:34:38.789 news went from being owned by an organization 00:34:38.789 --> 00:34:41.289 and was just given a massive budget to go and 00:34:41.289 --> 00:34:44.630 report the news, period. That's it. to, oh, now 00:34:44.630 --> 00:34:46.650 we need the news to start making money. I think 00:34:46.650 --> 00:34:48.809 it was Robert Maxwell, Rupert Maxwell, that kind 00:34:48.809 --> 00:34:52.250 of era. And so we saw the shift where it was 00:34:52.250 --> 00:34:56.329 all the clickbait and all the pieces that got 00:34:56.329 --> 00:34:58.630 people angry. And then it got more and more divisive. 00:34:58.989 --> 00:35:01.230 And then you look at the political system, where 00:35:01.230 --> 00:35:04.590 I don't care, again, what you lean towards. If 00:35:04.590 --> 00:35:07.369 we have a system where cigarette companies, weapons 00:35:07.369 --> 00:35:11.190 manufacturers, fast food, alcohol, big pharma. 00:35:11.639 --> 00:35:14.920 can pay these people to become president that's 00:35:14.920 --> 00:35:17.960 also a broken system so you know to me i think 00:35:17.960 --> 00:35:20.219 we're starting to see finally like the general 00:35:20.219 --> 00:35:22.559 public is seeing the corruption that's behind 00:35:22.559 --> 00:35:25.019 the way we choose these air quotes leaders and 00:35:25.019 --> 00:35:27.460 you know the the things that are behind the news 00:35:27.460 --> 00:35:29.199 like you said you've got the truth and then you've 00:35:29.199 --> 00:35:32.619 got this facade of the truth i hope that the 00:35:32.619 --> 00:35:35.219 jenga blocks are starting to come down i think 00:35:35.219 --> 00:35:38.460 documentaries and podcasts and books are starting 00:35:38.460 --> 00:35:41.619 to be cool again. So I hope that we're going 00:35:41.619 --> 00:35:44.699 to begin a new revolution where, as you said, 00:35:44.739 --> 00:35:48.440 your daughter's going to go into an era of awakening. 00:35:48.699 --> 00:35:51.940 I really do. Because all these things that have 00:35:51.940 --> 00:35:54.099 been put in front of us have got so extreme now 00:35:54.099 --> 00:35:56.059 that even the extremists are starting to scratch 00:35:56.059 --> 00:35:59.420 their heads. So I find that encouraging. Yeah, 00:35:59.460 --> 00:36:07.170 I pray we get our shit together. Yeah, that's 00:36:07.170 --> 00:36:12.909 really it. I mean, we're weak, fat, sick, and 00:36:12.909 --> 00:36:16.110 lazy. Like, let's go out and move. Let's get 00:36:16.110 --> 00:36:20.349 healthy. Let's eat good food. Let's have gratitude 00:36:20.349 --> 00:36:24.090 for how good we have it here. Because I can guarantee 00:36:24.090 --> 00:36:25.909 you, you can get on a plane and go somewhere 00:36:25.909 --> 00:36:29.710 tomorrow that you're going to realize how good 00:36:29.710 --> 00:36:31.989 you have it here in this country. And I always 00:36:31.989 --> 00:36:35.210 say it, wherever I was in the world. I couldn't 00:36:35.210 --> 00:36:38.210 wait to get back home. Absolutely. I literally 00:36:38.210 --> 00:36:40.889 went to Crescent Beach yesterday with my wife 00:36:40.889 --> 00:36:44.170 and was walking on the beach. And there was a 00:36:44.170 --> 00:36:47.949 pod of dolphin swimming, I mean, 100 feet from 00:36:47.949 --> 00:36:50.170 where we were. So we watched them for a while, 00:36:50.269 --> 00:36:53.090 carried on up the beach, came back. And a different 00:36:53.090 --> 00:36:56.250 place, the same pod, I'm assuming, were now surfing 00:36:56.250 --> 00:36:59.190 the waves, literally like catching waves and 00:36:59.190 --> 00:37:01.250 coming into like 50 feet from where we were. 00:37:01.510 --> 00:37:04.010 And I said to my wife, I'm like, this is America. 00:37:04.699 --> 00:37:06.780 Whether you're sitting in a forest in Seattle 00:37:06.780 --> 00:37:08.820 or on a mountain in North Carolina, wherever 00:37:08.820 --> 00:37:11.579 it is, this is the country. And there are beautiful 00:37:11.579 --> 00:37:14.480 people. But the people on Fox News and the people 00:37:14.480 --> 00:37:16.500 that show up every four years to get your vote, 00:37:16.579 --> 00:37:20.380 that's not America at all. And this whole, well, 00:37:20.440 --> 00:37:22.400 then if you don't like it, get out. No, don't 00:37:22.400 --> 00:37:25.460 get out. Stay here. Fix it. This is worth fighting 00:37:25.460 --> 00:37:29.260 for. But I truly believe that there is hope. 00:37:30.750 --> 00:37:32.170 You mentioned strength and conditioning. It's 00:37:32.170 --> 00:37:34.289 kind of a good transition then. You find yourself 00:37:34.289 --> 00:37:38.489 in Louisiana. Talk to me a bit about that transition. 00:37:38.750 --> 00:37:41.389 You're outside the Marine Corps now. You've come 00:37:41.389 --> 00:37:44.550 back from Iraq. Was that jarring or were you 00:37:44.550 --> 00:37:47.170 able to just kind of keep your mind busy with 00:37:47.170 --> 00:37:53.550 the next step? I had a plan in mind and it just 00:37:53.550 --> 00:37:56.829 backfired massively. I went through a bad divorce 00:37:56.829 --> 00:38:00.300 too while I was over. Well, it was overseas, 00:38:00.380 --> 00:38:02.519 which didn't help the matters when I came back 00:38:02.519 --> 00:38:08.820 to transition. But the plan I had, it didn't 00:38:08.820 --> 00:38:11.800 work out like I had thought. And it just left 00:38:11.800 --> 00:38:13.960 me in a place where I was trying to find work. 00:38:15.099 --> 00:38:18.099 Couldn't find work, burning through all my money, 00:38:18.219 --> 00:38:22.440 having financial responsibilities. Realized that, 00:38:22.480 --> 00:38:26.420 hey, no one can read a veteran's resume, which 00:38:26.420 --> 00:38:31.449 was a big problem. So long story short, I ended 00:38:31.449 --> 00:38:34.829 up losing everything I had. Filed for bankruptcy. 00:38:36.230 --> 00:38:40.829 Ended up living out of my car. Lost my purpose. 00:38:40.909 --> 00:38:43.510 My soul was broken. I'm like, how the hell did 00:38:43.510 --> 00:38:49.510 I go through this entire Marine Corps process, 00:38:49.969 --> 00:38:53.349 this career I was able to have at the highest 00:38:53.349 --> 00:38:55.210 level? And then all of a sudden, here I am now, 00:38:55.369 --> 00:39:01.269 just broken with nothing and nobody. So there 00:39:01.269 --> 00:39:02.929 were a lot of hard moments where I had to pull 00:39:02.929 --> 00:39:06.530 my head together and try and figure out, where 00:39:06.530 --> 00:39:09.449 do I go from here? What happens next? What's 00:39:09.449 --> 00:39:12.750 my pivot? Or is there a pivot? Or do I just end 00:39:12.750 --> 00:39:18.610 it? So out of desperation, I turned to the one 00:39:18.610 --> 00:39:21.710 thing that I never wanted to share with anybody, 00:39:21.909 --> 00:39:25.650 and that's my fitness. I was known throughout 00:39:25.650 --> 00:39:28.710 my entire Marine Corps career for my fitness. 00:39:29.420 --> 00:39:31.860 No matter where I was or what I did, everyone 00:39:31.860 --> 00:39:37.340 just knew me for fitness. And in turning to that 00:39:37.340 --> 00:39:40.639 out of desperation, I landed right in the middle 00:39:40.639 --> 00:39:43.820 of Hollywood South. I didn't realize in New Orleans, 00:39:44.079 --> 00:39:48.739 specifically Louisiana, there were more TV shows 00:39:48.739 --> 00:39:50.820 and movies being shot there than anywhere else 00:39:50.820 --> 00:39:54.300 because of the tax credit. So the gym. that I 00:39:54.300 --> 00:39:56.239 started personal training at, ended up being 00:39:56.239 --> 00:39:59.079 a really hot spot for a lot of celebrities because 00:39:59.079 --> 00:40:02.500 it was a small boutique gym in uptown New Orleans 00:40:02.500 --> 00:40:06.460 that was 24 -7, very private place. That's where 00:40:06.460 --> 00:40:08.519 I met Zac Efron when he came in actually doing 00:40:08.519 --> 00:40:11.019 a movie about a Marine Iraq veteran. And that's 00:40:11.019 --> 00:40:15.920 where we met. They brought me to set. And they 00:40:15.920 --> 00:40:18.340 brought me on board as technical advisor for 00:40:18.340 --> 00:40:21.119 this movie called The Lucky One. And that was 00:40:21.119 --> 00:40:23.650 my entrance into film and TV. And from there, 00:40:23.690 --> 00:40:29.090 I started making relationships. And yeah, that 00:40:29.090 --> 00:40:35.730 was the infancy of, I don't even know what to 00:40:35.730 --> 00:40:39.190 call this thing. I really don't know. It was 00:40:39.190 --> 00:40:41.250 like, you know, I could just call it destiny, 00:40:41.269 --> 00:40:44.570 part of God's plan. You mentioned when you were 00:40:44.570 --> 00:40:47.110 younger that you just trained. There wasn't any 00:40:47.110 --> 00:40:48.809 strength and conditioning component. What was 00:40:48.809 --> 00:40:51.170 that evolution? I'm assuming obviously when you 00:40:51.170 --> 00:40:54.550 entered the Marine Corps from really not understanding 00:40:54.550 --> 00:40:57.710 that world at all to being known for your fitness 00:40:57.710 --> 00:41:04.130 and strength at the end of it. I just did what 00:41:04.130 --> 00:41:06.210 I saw other people doing when I was a kid. I 00:41:06.210 --> 00:41:07.530 didn't know my ass from a hole in the ground. 00:41:08.530 --> 00:41:13.719 When I joined the Marine Corps, I mean, it's 00:41:13.719 --> 00:41:17.019 not a whole lot to do outside of drinking when 00:41:17.019 --> 00:41:20.940 you're off. I don't party. I don't drink. I don't 00:41:20.940 --> 00:41:23.460 do any of that stuff. The Marine Corps zapped 00:41:23.460 --> 00:41:27.800 all that out of me. So I started training at 00:41:27.800 --> 00:41:29.820 the gym, reading the muscle magazines. I fell 00:41:29.820 --> 00:41:31.619 in love and got bit by the bug when I was in 00:41:31.619 --> 00:41:33.880 Okinawa. That's when I really started to transform. 00:41:35.519 --> 00:41:37.219 And then when I went to the body bear section, 00:41:37.559 --> 00:41:40.679 that was part of the daily duty. I mean, we had... 00:41:41.989 --> 00:41:45.329 waivers to eat as much food as we want. We had 00:41:45.329 --> 00:41:49.670 waivers for our uniforms to be able to get elastic 00:41:49.670 --> 00:41:51.570 put in them so that we didn't rip them when we 00:41:51.570 --> 00:41:54.309 were carrying caskets. We were just big dudes. 00:41:54.730 --> 00:42:00.789 And so I just, you know, when people would go 00:42:00.789 --> 00:42:02.909 out on the weekends, I was at the vitamin shop 00:42:02.909 --> 00:42:05.670 or bookstore reading books, trying to educate 00:42:05.670 --> 00:42:09.599 myself. I was just immersed. in nutrition and 00:42:09.599 --> 00:42:12.559 fitness. And I would come up with all these different 00:42:12.559 --> 00:42:15.400 protocols and try them on myself and experiment 00:42:15.400 --> 00:42:17.280 and see how I liked it. I would run different 00:42:17.280 --> 00:42:21.860 training blocks. I would, I would copy, you know, 00:42:21.860 --> 00:42:24.960 bodybuilders who I liked their style of training 00:42:24.960 --> 00:42:27.639 and just started learning all these different 00:42:27.639 --> 00:42:31.500 modalities of hypertrophy training and strength 00:42:31.500 --> 00:42:33.360 training and different nutritional protocols 00:42:33.360 --> 00:42:36.440 and all this stuff. So I just got really good 00:42:36.440 --> 00:42:40.940 at understanding how to manipulate the body through 00:42:40.940 --> 00:42:43.300 training and exercise and then obviously sleep 00:42:43.300 --> 00:42:47.360 and all that stuff. But that was kind of the 00:42:47.360 --> 00:42:50.739 evolution throughout my Marine Corps career, 00:42:50.880 --> 00:42:55.800 which prepared me for Hollywood because Hollywood 00:42:55.800 --> 00:43:00.559 South was a transient place. It was where actors 00:43:00.559 --> 00:43:02.480 came into film and then they left and went back 00:43:02.480 --> 00:43:06.039 home. So I didn't necessarily have long workups 00:43:06.039 --> 00:43:08.599 to be with an actor. I was like the crunch time 00:43:08.599 --> 00:43:12.780 guy. So I had to really be good and confident 00:43:12.780 --> 00:43:16.960 in my abilities. And I was, and I still am. I 00:43:16.960 --> 00:43:19.039 made some massive transformations in very short 00:43:19.039 --> 00:43:22.099 periods of time, but it required a lot of discipline 00:43:22.099 --> 00:43:25.679 and it required a lot of communication with production, 00:43:25.860 --> 00:43:28.340 with the actor's assistant, and really with the 00:43:28.340 --> 00:43:31.090 actor too. And I think it's what really brought 00:43:31.090 --> 00:43:33.030 me into the action genre more than anything, 00:43:33.170 --> 00:43:34.989 because those are the guys that are more serious 00:43:34.989 --> 00:43:38.449 about training than anyone else. If you're working 00:43:38.449 --> 00:43:42.170 with someone who's just got to do a bedroom scene, 00:43:42.329 --> 00:43:45.070 chances are you're not going to get a lot of 00:43:45.070 --> 00:43:47.510 intensity out of them. But if you've got someone 00:43:47.510 --> 00:43:51.269 who's in an action film, let's just say a Marvel 00:43:51.269 --> 00:43:55.610 movie or something, and their character is a 00:43:55.610 --> 00:44:01.320 superhero. I mean, all this, like everything 00:44:01.320 --> 00:44:04.780 I did fits right into that, you know, that wheelhouse. 00:44:05.199 --> 00:44:07.199 So it was great. You know, I loved working with 00:44:07.199 --> 00:44:09.699 these action guys because they were all in. The 00:44:09.699 --> 00:44:13.139 Rock, cut from the same cloth, man. Like, it 00:44:13.139 --> 00:44:16.139 was cool training him because we both live it. 00:44:16.199 --> 00:44:18.280 You know what I mean? So when you run across 00:44:18.280 --> 00:44:20.480 people like that, it's a really fun time. But 00:44:20.480 --> 00:44:26.059 some actors, they just, you know, they wear discipline 00:44:26.059 --> 00:44:29.440 like a costume. I have sushi envy with The Rock. 00:44:29.699 --> 00:44:31.860 To be able to afford that much sushi all the 00:44:31.860 --> 00:44:39.039 time. I wish. Zach Efron, I remember him. I forget 00:44:39.039 --> 00:44:40.679 where it was. I don't know if it was one of his 00:44:40.679 --> 00:44:43.420 things he did with Darren or Lean or it was somewhere 00:44:43.420 --> 00:44:46.699 else. But he was talking about, I'm assuming 00:44:46.699 --> 00:44:49.039 it was Baywatch. He said preparing for a film 00:44:49.039 --> 00:44:52.719 and he got so, so lean and dieted to a point 00:44:52.719 --> 00:44:55.099 where it actually made him sick for a long time. 00:44:55.440 --> 00:45:02.170 I talk about. the, the danger of, um, driving 00:45:02.170 --> 00:45:04.650 our children in, you know, high school, college 00:45:04.650 --> 00:45:07.429 to a high level of performance at the detriment 00:45:07.429 --> 00:45:09.710 of their wellness and longevity, whether it's 00:45:09.710 --> 00:45:12.090 through injury, burnout, et cetera. But if you 00:45:12.090 --> 00:45:14.170 think about Hollywood, whether it's Daniel Day 00:45:14.170 --> 00:45:16.570 Lewis, you know, starving himself for, for a 00:45:16.570 --> 00:45:18.429 role, or whether it's someone like Zac Efron 00:45:18.429 --> 00:45:20.829 getting, you know, insanely lean for a specific 00:45:20.829 --> 00:45:25.719 part, there's gotta be that kind of, um, moral 00:45:25.719 --> 00:45:27.420 compass as well as a trainer. They'd be like, 00:45:27.460 --> 00:45:29.539 look, I can get you to a certain point, but there 00:45:29.539 --> 00:45:31.800 is a level where it's going to be dangerous for 00:45:31.800 --> 00:45:34.139 you, your kidneys or whatever it is. So how have 00:45:34.139 --> 00:45:36.059 you been able to kind of navigate that? Have 00:45:36.059 --> 00:45:38.099 you had people wanting to push further than is 00:45:38.099 --> 00:45:43.980 ethically responsible for a trainer? Yeah. Yeah. 00:45:44.119 --> 00:45:47.920 Well, you got to figure too, one thing that actors 00:45:47.920 --> 00:45:54.789 have to deal with is they, not all actors, when 00:45:54.789 --> 00:45:57.250 you're at the upper echelon of your career, you're 00:45:57.250 --> 00:45:59.929 basically going from movie to movie, movie to 00:45:59.929 --> 00:46:02.949 movie to movie to movie. You never know what 00:46:02.949 --> 00:46:04.489 you're going to have to look like from one movie 00:46:04.489 --> 00:46:08.389 to the next. So you might have to be out of shape 00:46:08.389 --> 00:46:10.929 for this movie and then literally roll right 00:46:10.929 --> 00:46:16.730 into this next movie and be in shape. Well, there's 00:46:16.730 --> 00:46:20.969 got to be some proper planning and structure 00:46:20.969 --> 00:46:23.030 to the routine to be able to make that happen. 00:46:23.900 --> 00:46:26.860 I did a movie with Josh Brolin called Old Boy, 00:46:26.960 --> 00:46:33.139 the Spike Lee remake. And what we did there was 00:46:33.139 --> 00:46:36.559 a really crazy transformation because he had 00:46:36.559 --> 00:46:43.099 to put on all this weight. And it would be comparative 00:46:43.099 --> 00:46:46.639 to similar to like what Tom Hanks did in Castaway, 00:46:46.719 --> 00:46:49.460 although that movie they had like the whole year. 00:46:49.880 --> 00:46:51.800 you know, it's like they did part of it, they 00:46:51.800 --> 00:46:55.440 broke and then they came back and finished. We 00:46:55.440 --> 00:46:57.340 didn't have that opportunity because of the budget. 00:46:57.760 --> 00:47:01.900 So you're within the constraints of whatever 00:47:01.900 --> 00:47:04.980 the production budget is too. So that movie, 00:47:05.079 --> 00:47:08.079 I remember sitting down with the producers and 00:47:08.079 --> 00:47:11.420 the director talking all this through and I was 00:47:11.420 --> 00:47:14.559 confident I can do it, but I knew there was a 00:47:14.559 --> 00:47:18.760 certain level of risk associated with it because... 00:47:19.799 --> 00:47:22.500 Essentially, I fluctuated his body weight by 00:47:22.500 --> 00:47:27.739 close to 60 pounds over just a few weeks. So, 00:47:27.820 --> 00:47:31.059 you know, in Josh's mind, when he was finishing 00:47:31.059 --> 00:47:33.980 the movie up in Massachusetts, we were talking. 00:47:34.059 --> 00:47:35.760 He's like, should I start eating pizza and burgers? 00:47:35.860 --> 00:47:38.099 And I'm like, no, I need you to get in the best 00:47:38.099 --> 00:47:40.340 shape you can get into before you come here. 00:47:40.920 --> 00:47:44.599 And he was like, and then when he got to New 00:47:44.599 --> 00:47:47.320 Orleans and the producer saw him, they were like. 00:47:48.119 --> 00:47:49.800 he's supposed to be out of shape. And I'm like, 00:47:49.840 --> 00:47:52.579 you gotta, like, you gotta trust me. So if he 00:47:52.579 --> 00:47:55.099 came, if he came into the production fat, like 00:47:55.099 --> 00:47:57.780 literally fat, there's no way we could have stripped 00:47:57.780 --> 00:47:59.980 all that off. So this is where you had to get 00:47:59.980 --> 00:48:02.400 creative. And I did, I consulted with doctors 00:48:02.400 --> 00:48:04.800 and nutritionists and everything, but essentially 00:48:04.800 --> 00:48:08.119 it was like food sensitivity testing. We did 00:48:08.119 --> 00:48:10.559 that. I had all, I had everything ready to roll. 00:48:10.679 --> 00:48:13.260 By the time he got here, we loaded him up on 00:48:13.260 --> 00:48:15.420 all the stuff. His body did not want to create 00:48:15.420 --> 00:48:19.789 inflammation. Once we created all the inflammation, 00:48:20.190 --> 00:48:25.150 we did like some sodium loading and had him on 00:48:25.150 --> 00:48:28.570 creatine and stuff. So it was a lot of water 00:48:28.570 --> 00:48:33.150 weight, just super puffy, not healthy. And then 00:48:33.150 --> 00:48:35.050 obviously stripping all that water weight off 00:48:35.050 --> 00:48:38.309 over the weekend or over the course of a few 00:48:38.309 --> 00:48:42.210 days when he left set at the end of the week 00:48:42.210 --> 00:48:45.320 and came back to set the following week. There 00:48:45.320 --> 00:48:47.480 was actually some, I forgot what his name was, 00:48:47.519 --> 00:48:50.820 James Ransom. They did some big interview and 00:48:50.820 --> 00:48:52.420 he was talking about it. He's like, dude, he 00:48:52.420 --> 00:48:54.900 looked like a different person when he came. 00:48:57.659 --> 00:49:00.460 It's cool, but at the same time, I remember with 00:49:00.460 --> 00:49:05.159 Josh, I was on him every day. I was calling him. 00:49:05.320 --> 00:49:07.840 I was at his house. I was making sure everything 00:49:07.840 --> 00:49:11.159 was on point because when you're doing something 00:49:11.159 --> 00:49:14.139 on the riskier side, you want to make sure that 00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:17.880 uh there aren't there aren't any anything's hap 00:49:17.880 --> 00:49:21.079 there's nothing happen happening that's going 00:49:21.079 --> 00:49:25.559 to put him in an even more risky situation than 00:49:25.559 --> 00:49:27.219 he he's already in you know what i mean yeah 00:49:27.219 --> 00:49:30.079 you just there's no way you can feel good putting 00:49:30.079 --> 00:49:32.519 on that much weight that much water mate and 00:49:32.519 --> 00:49:35.599 inflammation yeah we actually became friends 00:49:35.599 --> 00:49:38.480 and it was after he did um only the brave so 00:49:38.480 --> 00:49:41.099 then he's doing you know rocking and getting 00:49:41.099 --> 00:49:43.039 ready to be you know have the same kind of fitness 00:49:43.039 --> 00:49:45.420 and he was a volunteer wildland firefighter for 00:49:45.420 --> 00:49:49.420 three years in arizona years prior josh josh 00:49:49.420 --> 00:49:54.059 is like he's one of the best dudes man like he's 00:49:54.059 --> 00:49:56.019 literally one of the best dudes i freaking love 00:49:56.019 --> 00:50:00.119 him him jk simmons i mean they don't get all 00:50:00.119 --> 00:50:03.539 caught up in that you know bs environment of 00:50:03.539 --> 00:50:06.860 superficial stuff no i mean he literally became 00:50:06.860 --> 00:50:08.980 friends with a random firefighter that started 00:50:08.980 --> 00:50:12.500 a podcast you know in ocala so uh yeah that's 00:50:12.500 --> 00:50:14.159 the humility that he had he ended up writing 00:50:14.159 --> 00:50:16.440 the ford for my first book so there we go i mean 00:50:16.440 --> 00:50:19.199 that's that kind of shows shows who he is exactly 00:50:19.199 --> 00:50:21.460 well just before we progress another interesting 00:50:21.460 --> 00:50:23.599 thing you're talking about all this deliberate 00:50:23.599 --> 00:50:29.280 um nutritional skewing to project a form of faux 00:50:29.280 --> 00:50:32.539 obesity in an actor. I've heard this a lot in 00:50:32.539 --> 00:50:36.559 these kind of before and after, you know, Instagram, 00:50:36.980 --> 00:50:39.760 whether it's nutritional supplements, whether 00:50:39.760 --> 00:50:42.679 it's training systems. And few people have told 00:50:42.679 --> 00:50:44.619 me that actually the before is the after and 00:50:44.619 --> 00:50:47.139 vice versa. They get in great shape and then 00:50:47.139 --> 00:50:50.219 they fake, you know, the before. I'm assuming 00:50:50.219 --> 00:50:51.679 is that the same kind of thing that you're seeing 00:50:51.679 --> 00:50:57.429 here? Well, no, we had to legitimately do it 00:50:57.429 --> 00:51:01.429 from getting big to getting lean. Yeah, no, what 00:51:01.429 --> 00:51:04.309 I mean is the influencers are usually in great 00:51:04.309 --> 00:51:06.969 shape and they fake being out of shape for that 00:51:06.969 --> 00:51:11.550 after picture. Yeah, so we see things from a 00:51:11.550 --> 00:51:14.590 movie perspective. We're like, oh, he's fat and 00:51:14.590 --> 00:51:16.469 then he gets in shape. But what's the easiest 00:51:16.469 --> 00:51:19.050 way to film that? Well, let's get him in shape 00:51:19.050 --> 00:51:21.130 so he knows he's getting in shape. We'll film 00:51:21.130 --> 00:51:23.690 that part of the movie first. And then he can 00:51:23.690 --> 00:51:26.170 start getting out of shape, which is going to 00:51:26.170 --> 00:51:30.130 be easier to film that way because there's no 00:51:30.130 --> 00:51:34.429 real way to flip that and be on the same timeline. 00:51:34.530 --> 00:51:38.010 It's impossible. So yeah, that part happens a 00:51:38.010 --> 00:51:40.690 lot. You'll see a lot of films where when you 00:51:40.690 --> 00:51:42.610 see that transformation, a lot of time that's 00:51:42.610 --> 00:51:45.730 flipped. That's correct. What is your perspective 00:51:45.730 --> 00:51:49.599 on... the fitness world when it comes to social 00:51:49.599 --> 00:51:52.340 media the nutritionists you know all the so -called 00:51:52.340 --> 00:51:54.659 experts now i just had a great conversation with 00:51:54.659 --> 00:51:57.719 julian pano who's uh you know revere strength 00:51:57.719 --> 00:52:00.559 and conditioning coach unfucked a lot of crossfitters 00:52:00.559 --> 00:52:03.219 back in the day um and he was saying like this 00:52:03.219 --> 00:52:06.280 is you know kind of at covid and then that has 00:52:06.280 --> 00:52:08.019 really destroyed the industry because people 00:52:08.019 --> 00:52:10.139 the average person doesn't even know who to trust 00:52:10.139 --> 00:52:14.750 anymore Exactly. It drives me nuts. It makes 00:52:14.750 --> 00:52:16.829 me sick to my stomach because everyone's a coach 00:52:16.829 --> 00:52:23.110 now. And I look at this whole fitness piece from 00:52:23.110 --> 00:52:25.949 a different perspective, right? There's all this 00:52:25.949 --> 00:52:30.369 biohacking stuff. There's peptides. There's all 00:52:30.369 --> 00:52:34.849 these different nutritional protocols. There's 00:52:34.849 --> 00:52:38.070 all these different training protocols. No one 00:52:38.070 --> 00:52:40.769 ever agrees on anything. It doesn't matter how 00:52:40.769 --> 00:52:44.309 successful you are. It's just a controversial 00:52:44.309 --> 00:52:47.829 shit show. You can't open your social media without 00:52:47.829 --> 00:52:50.010 seeing someone bashing someone else or someone 00:52:50.010 --> 00:52:52.110 creating a video talking smack about someone 00:52:52.110 --> 00:52:54.630 else. There's no camaraderie in the community. 00:52:54.809 --> 00:52:56.969 Everyone's out to make a buck. Everyone's trying 00:52:56.969 --> 00:53:01.309 to create their own system. For me, the approach 00:53:01.309 --> 00:53:05.210 that I have is that's great. There are all these 00:53:05.210 --> 00:53:09.420 different things, but fitness has levels. and 00:53:09.420 --> 00:53:14.199 to the mainstream let's just say mainstream america 00:53:14.199 --> 00:53:19.619 you could give the most optimal elite program 00:53:19.619 --> 00:53:24.300 to the average american and they'll still fail 00:53:24.300 --> 00:53:29.940 because their lifestyle habits aren't right their 00:53:29.940 --> 00:53:33.800 mindset's not right So it's like there's foundational 00:53:33.800 --> 00:53:36.380 things that you need to tackle and work on before 00:53:36.380 --> 00:53:40.960 you even get into all that other stuff. So it's 00:53:40.960 --> 00:53:43.219 partly why I'm not on social media talking about 00:53:43.219 --> 00:53:45.619 all this. And there's a reframe that's about 00:53:45.619 --> 00:53:47.340 to happen right now because I'm about to relaunch 00:53:47.340 --> 00:53:49.760 my business and talk about what I'm talking about 00:53:49.760 --> 00:53:51.679 now to the people who need to hear what I'm saying 00:53:51.679 --> 00:53:57.260 now. Because all these people yapping on social 00:53:57.260 --> 00:54:00.880 media. are talking to the fitness community or 00:54:00.880 --> 00:54:03.719 talking to people who are a little more dialed 00:54:03.719 --> 00:54:06.119 in than the average American. Well, I want to 00:54:06.119 --> 00:54:08.260 help the average American. I want to help them 00:54:08.260 --> 00:54:11.920 unfuck their nasty habits because they're so 00:54:11.920 --> 00:54:14.000 lost and confused right now based on everything 00:54:14.000 --> 00:54:16.659 that you're saying. You read one thing, you're 00:54:16.659 --> 00:54:18.800 like, oh, great. And then you turn the page and 00:54:18.800 --> 00:54:20.280 it contradicts what you just read. And you're 00:54:20.280 --> 00:54:23.610 like, shit, where do I, well, what do I? I look 00:54:23.610 --> 00:54:25.250 at this guy and he's saying this. And then I 00:54:25.250 --> 00:54:26.809 turn and I look at this guy and he contradicts 00:54:26.809 --> 00:54:29.309 everything he just said. And it just keeps going 00:54:29.309 --> 00:54:33.030 and going and going. It's horrible. I mean, I 00:54:33.030 --> 00:54:39.150 love fitness, but I cannot stand the fitness 00:54:39.150 --> 00:54:42.230 industry because it's just so corrupt with everyone 00:54:42.230 --> 00:54:46.969 trying to make a buck. I had James and I'm blanking 00:54:46.969 --> 00:54:49.150 on his last name. UFC fighter was behind the 00:54:49.150 --> 00:54:51.889 movie Game Changers. It was the plant -based 00:54:51.889 --> 00:54:55.340 movie. And it was funny because I went to L .A. 00:54:55.480 --> 00:54:59.659 and interviewed him. And on the Joe Rogan podcast, 00:54:59.840 --> 00:55:01.980 I think it was Chris Kresser, who I believe is 00:55:01.980 --> 00:55:04.639 an acupuncturist, a chiropractor. I think he's 00:55:04.639 --> 00:55:06.619 an acupuncturist. But they were tearing apart 00:55:06.619 --> 00:55:09.019 the Game Changers movie the first time. Three 00:55:09.019 --> 00:55:11.380 hours of just talking shit. And don't get me 00:55:11.380 --> 00:55:14.960 wrong. I love Joe Rogan's podcast overall. So 00:55:14.960 --> 00:55:17.280 James has actually said, well, hey, can you not 00:55:17.280 --> 00:55:19.179 put this out yet? Because I'm about to go back 00:55:19.179 --> 00:55:21.940 on the Joe Rogan podcast and defend my movie. 00:55:22.780 --> 00:55:24.820 And so I don't want to give him any secrets in 00:55:24.820 --> 00:55:26.760 the conversation that we had. So I held it for 00:55:26.760 --> 00:55:30.420 a bit. He went on the Joe Rogan podcast. And 00:55:30.420 --> 00:55:32.380 I listened to both of these. And the second one 00:55:32.380 --> 00:55:34.960 was them just going back and forth and arguing. 00:55:36.000 --> 00:55:38.219 And what I had talked to James about is, and 00:55:38.219 --> 00:55:41.139 this is ironically underlined by six hours of 00:55:41.139 --> 00:55:44.380 this conversation prior, was the problem is you've 00:55:44.380 --> 00:55:46.159 got the carnivores arguing, just like you said, 00:55:46.219 --> 00:55:49.880 with plant -based or keto or whatever the thing. 00:55:49.940 --> 00:55:52.960 And in the nutritional world, for example, No 00:55:52.960 --> 00:55:55.480 one's talking about where they all agree. If 00:55:55.480 --> 00:55:57.840 you are on carnivore, if you're on keto, if you're 00:55:57.840 --> 00:56:00.820 most of these, there is a common denominator 00:56:00.820 --> 00:56:03.320 where you are removing processed shitty food 00:56:03.320 --> 00:56:06.500 from your diet. So you might be the right kind 00:56:06.500 --> 00:56:09.659 of genotype where veganism works for you. You 00:56:09.659 --> 00:56:11.840 might be for carnivore. But the point is, if 00:56:11.840 --> 00:56:14.639 you're removing all the shit food. you're going 00:56:14.639 --> 00:56:16.659 to make a huge impact. And I think this is, you 00:56:16.659 --> 00:56:18.780 know, what you're talking about is we're confusing 00:56:18.780 --> 00:56:21.260 people with, Oh, my way is the best way rather 00:56:21.260 --> 00:56:24.480 than we'll hold on. What are we all doing that 00:56:24.480 --> 00:56:26.559 would work for someone, no matter which way they 00:56:26.559 --> 00:56:31.239 lean as far as diet type of diet. What I, what 00:56:31.239 --> 00:56:36.280 I say is adherence. What can you be like, what 00:56:36.280 --> 00:56:39.179 can you maintain adherence to? Because whatever 00:56:39.179 --> 00:56:44.000 that is, is what you need to do. At the end of 00:56:44.000 --> 00:56:48.380 the day, all the diets work if you can be adherent 00:56:48.380 --> 00:56:52.380 to them. And it's as simple as that. It's about 00:56:52.380 --> 00:56:54.119 finding the one that makes you feel the best, 00:56:54.219 --> 00:56:57.940 that gives you the results you want, that you 00:56:57.940 --> 00:57:00.400 can stay adherent to. It's as simple as that. 00:57:01.139 --> 00:57:03.400 And for the people who are saying, you got to 00:57:03.400 --> 00:57:05.420 do it this way, bullshit. There's no such thing 00:57:05.420 --> 00:57:07.960 as a cookie cutter diet, just like there's no 00:57:07.960 --> 00:57:09.780 such thing as a cookie cutter training program. 00:57:10.550 --> 00:57:13.050 Everybody's different. Everybody's biology is 00:57:13.050 --> 00:57:15.710 different, especially in this day and age when, 00:57:15.710 --> 00:57:18.989 you know, everyone's loaded up on processed foods 00:57:18.989 --> 00:57:22.190 and medication. You know what I mean? Like you 00:57:22.190 --> 00:57:25.809 start getting into a place where you can feel 00:57:25.809 --> 00:57:27.829 good, get your blood work done, see what your 00:57:27.829 --> 00:57:33.230 internal biology is, your hormones, address those, 00:57:33.449 --> 00:57:36.550 and then start like baby stepping into it and 00:57:36.550 --> 00:57:38.969 figure out what you like, what makes you feel 00:57:38.969 --> 00:57:41.650 good. Um, and that's going to be the route that 00:57:41.650 --> 00:57:44.610 you want to go down. But I say, try, try all 00:57:44.610 --> 00:57:46.769 of it, you know, try all of it and see what you 00:57:46.769 --> 00:57:48.849 like best. A hundred percent. Yeah. They say 00:57:48.849 --> 00:57:50.610 that was the best training routine is the one 00:57:50.610 --> 00:57:53.050 you stick to. So, I mean, triathletes are fit, 00:57:53.150 --> 00:57:54.789 power lifters are strong, you know, there's, 00:57:54.789 --> 00:57:56.349 you got to find the thing that you love to do. 00:57:56.409 --> 00:57:58.070 And then, yeah, if there's some deficit in some 00:57:58.070 --> 00:58:00.690 areas, mobility, whatever it is, then just work 00:58:00.690 --> 00:58:03.070 on that as well. But I mean, you know, I've always 00:58:03.070 --> 00:58:05.849 said to the people when I coach them, it's like 00:58:05.849 --> 00:58:08.090 the hardest thing you did was walk through the 00:58:08.090 --> 00:58:09.949 door. That's it. Once you're here, you're going 00:58:09.949 --> 00:58:13.730 to get swept away with a workout. Exactly. Yeah, 00:58:13.829 --> 00:58:16.670 exactly. And when you think about the training 00:58:16.670 --> 00:58:18.389 programs and you think about the nutritional 00:58:18.389 --> 00:58:21.289 protocols, there's success stories behind every 00:58:21.289 --> 00:58:23.389 single one of them. So obviously they all work, 00:58:23.489 --> 00:58:27.349 but do they work for you? Absolutely. Well, you 00:58:27.349 --> 00:58:30.190 mentioned the film industry in Louisiana. You 00:58:30.190 --> 00:58:33.250 started off as a technical advisor, then you're 00:58:33.250 --> 00:58:35.250 doing some strength and conditioning work. How 00:58:35.250 --> 00:58:38.219 did you find yourself in the other? profession 00:58:38.219 --> 00:58:41.059 i did aside from firefighting which was the stunt 00:58:41.059 --> 00:58:46.960 world i got into uh training some some bigger 00:58:46.960 --> 00:58:49.940 name actors pretty quick which brought a lot 00:58:49.940 --> 00:58:52.559 of notoriety and with the notoriety i got to 00:58:52.559 --> 00:58:55.800 meet a lot of directors and producers and you 00:58:55.800 --> 00:58:59.659 know a lot of people behind the cameras who make 00:58:59.659 --> 00:59:02.539 a lot of decisions and call a lot of shots And 00:59:02.539 --> 00:59:04.659 when they were training with me, they were asking 00:59:04.659 --> 00:59:06.460 if I ever thought about getting in front of the 00:59:06.460 --> 00:59:09.739 camera because of my my physique and my presence 00:59:09.739 --> 00:59:11.639 and my look and just the way I carry myself. 00:59:11.860 --> 00:59:15.400 And I I said I told all of them like, no, I didn't 00:59:15.400 --> 00:59:18.320 even like this. Me training you wasn't even in 00:59:18.320 --> 00:59:19.920 the cards. You know what I mean? Like I had no 00:59:19.920 --> 00:59:22.460 idea I would have anything to do with Hollywood. 00:59:22.539 --> 00:59:26.340 I just watched movies and watched TV shows. But 00:59:26.340 --> 00:59:29.420 now I'm going to I'm going to listen to you and 00:59:29.420 --> 00:59:32.360 I'm going to I'm going to go explore that. So 00:59:32.360 --> 00:59:37.019 I got an acting coach, started getting into the 00:59:37.019 --> 00:59:42.639 acting stuff and realized how much of a craft 00:59:42.639 --> 00:59:45.179 and art it actually is, which most people are 00:59:45.179 --> 00:59:49.340 completely ignorant to. And that actually was 00:59:49.340 --> 00:59:51.860 something that started helping. We're talking 00:59:51.860 --> 00:59:54.159 about all those emotions and stuff. It became 00:59:54.159 --> 00:59:56.619 another source of therapy for me. That's a big 00:59:56.619 --> 00:59:59.340 reason why I like acting is you can take all 00:59:59.340 --> 01:00:02.380 these jacked up emotions that you would never 01:00:02.380 --> 01:00:05.000 be able to do anything with. And now you can 01:00:05.000 --> 01:00:11.079 start to use them and you can really have an 01:00:11.079 --> 01:00:15.239 unlock with all of it, right? Because when you 01:00:15.239 --> 01:00:17.300 get all that shit out, it's like, man, you just 01:00:17.300 --> 01:00:19.500 feel so good. And then the stunt community is 01:00:19.500 --> 01:00:24.659 a whole different beast because it kind of reminds 01:00:24.659 --> 01:00:26.820 me of the military a little bit, the stunt community, 01:00:27.000 --> 01:00:32.280 because it's so close -knit. you can't just say 01:00:32.280 --> 01:00:33.539 you want to get stunts and you're automatically 01:00:33.539 --> 01:00:36.039 in you i want to do stunts all right here here 01:00:36.039 --> 01:00:38.000 here's a roll it doesn't even work like that 01:00:38.000 --> 01:00:40.599 you like you gotta you gotta work your way in 01:00:40.599 --> 01:00:42.099 you gotta prove yourself because at the end of 01:00:42.099 --> 01:00:45.960 the day the stunt world is a very dangerous place 01:00:45.960 --> 01:00:50.139 and not only can you get hurt or killed but you 01:00:50.139 --> 01:00:53.039 can get someone else hurt or killed and i think 01:00:53.039 --> 01:00:56.969 that's a huge piece of why you have to work with 01:00:56.969 --> 01:00:59.809 people who you trust and want to be around. Because 01:00:59.809 --> 01:01:03.329 if someone's just lackadaisical and wants to 01:01:03.329 --> 01:01:05.489 get in stunts just because they want to say they're 01:01:05.489 --> 01:01:08.730 a stunt performer or a stunt double, well, you're 01:01:08.730 --> 01:01:11.130 going to get someone hurt if not killed. And 01:01:11.130 --> 01:01:13.630 you're not going to represent what the stunt 01:01:13.630 --> 01:01:16.969 community really stands for. Did you ever get 01:01:16.969 --> 01:01:21.139 told? by your Marine friends or your military 01:01:21.139 --> 01:01:23.420 friends, how cool it was that you were a stunt 01:01:23.420 --> 01:01:25.519 person and then by your stunt friends, how cool 01:01:25.519 --> 01:01:27.079 that was your Marine. Cause I remember getting 01:01:27.079 --> 01:01:29.440 those two opposing things. And like you said, 01:01:29.500 --> 01:01:32.500 yeah, there are some really kind of interesting 01:01:32.500 --> 01:01:35.199 elements of stunt work, but I've always said 01:01:35.199 --> 01:01:37.139 to the fire side, no, you, we do, we do stunts 01:01:37.139 --> 01:01:38.699 for real in the fire service. You know, there 01:01:38.699 --> 01:01:41.360 is no choreo practice and that kind of thing. 01:01:41.400 --> 01:01:43.800 There is no, you know, script, but you know, 01:01:43.800 --> 01:01:46.219 there is even, even with the professions that. 01:01:46.480 --> 01:01:48.300 deal with real danger there's still this kind 01:01:48.300 --> 01:01:50.980 of allure of the stunt world from the first responders 01:01:50.980 --> 01:01:54.420 in my profession yeah yeah there was there was 01:01:54.420 --> 01:01:56.599 a lot of back and forth talking about that kind 01:01:56.599 --> 01:02:00.380 of stuff for sure because it's it's there's there's 01:02:00.380 --> 01:02:02.960 a relatability there that you can you can speak 01:02:02.960 --> 01:02:06.760 to specifically in the camaraderie side it's 01:02:06.760 --> 01:02:09.739 it's it's unlike any other part of of the industry 01:02:09.739 --> 01:02:13.530 in my opinion The new Naked Gun film just came 01:02:13.530 --> 01:02:15.690 out with Liam Neeson and a bunch of my stunt 01:02:15.690 --> 01:02:17.769 friends posted that they worked with it. And 01:02:17.769 --> 01:02:20.349 I was looking at the credits at the end. And 01:02:20.349 --> 01:02:22.530 it's amazing through the last 20 years. And I 01:02:22.530 --> 01:02:24.769 just did live stunt shows. I didn't do the films 01:02:24.769 --> 01:02:27.349 or the television as a stunt person. But so many 01:02:27.349 --> 01:02:29.590 people I've worked with were in that film. So 01:02:29.590 --> 01:02:31.750 just like you said, it's a much smaller group 01:02:31.750 --> 01:02:36.469 than people realize. Yeah, I always, if I'm watching 01:02:36.469 --> 01:02:39.170 a movie, I always watch the credits because I 01:02:39.170 --> 01:02:41.639 want to see who's in it that I know. Absolutely. 01:02:41.840 --> 01:02:44.659 That's pretty cool. So what about Bright? I actually, 01:02:44.699 --> 01:02:46.780 ironically, haven't seen it. It always pops up. 01:02:46.860 --> 01:02:48.300 I mean, it's one of those ones that's on my list, 01:02:48.360 --> 01:02:50.719 but I have not seen it yet. But was that one 01:02:50.719 --> 01:02:54.820 of the bigger opportunities for you? Yeah, Bright 01:02:54.820 --> 01:03:00.599 was a bigger one for me. I remember being into 01:03:00.599 --> 01:03:04.679 or going into David Ayer's office. It was a big 01:03:04.679 --> 01:03:07.360 group of us and we're all standing around. He 01:03:07.360 --> 01:03:09.519 was just looking at us and he could tell like, 01:03:10.090 --> 01:03:13.809 He knew the type of person he wanted. He just 01:03:13.809 --> 01:03:20.369 knew. It was like, you, you, you. It's like if 01:03:20.369 --> 01:03:26.050 you're in the right company with the right stunt 01:03:26.050 --> 01:03:28.230 guys, there's some pretty great opportunities 01:03:28.230 --> 01:03:33.369 you can have. One thing on the stunt side for 01:03:33.369 --> 01:03:38.349 me is, especially being the newer guy, I just 01:03:38.349 --> 01:03:40.699 kept my mouth shut. I'm not trying to yap and, 01:03:40.699 --> 01:03:43.480 you know, trying to fit in and trying to make 01:03:43.480 --> 01:03:47.659 myself stand like you got. I was hired to do 01:03:47.659 --> 01:03:50.179 a job. I'm going to do that job the best I can 01:03:50.179 --> 01:03:53.340 do. And hopefully when I leave that show or that 01:03:53.340 --> 01:03:55.840 movie, that production, someone else will want 01:03:55.840 --> 01:03:58.119 to work with me again because I did a good job 01:03:58.119 --> 01:04:02.119 and I was easy to work with. And I think that 01:04:02.119 --> 01:04:06.269 makes a. a big difference because you see a lot 01:04:06.269 --> 01:04:08.269 of the guys new guys come in and they're they're 01:04:08.269 --> 01:04:10.630 trying to fit in and they can't stop talking 01:04:10.630 --> 01:04:12.909 and they're all they're doing is asking questions 01:04:12.909 --> 01:04:15.889 and they're trying to trying to stand out and 01:04:15.889 --> 01:04:17.710 do stuff in front of the director and it's like 01:04:17.710 --> 01:04:19.170 the stunt coordinator's like what the fuck are 01:04:19.170 --> 01:04:21.190 you doing like go sit down and shut up you know 01:04:21.190 --> 01:04:26.250 um it was cool bright was the first time that 01:04:26.250 --> 01:04:29.809 i wore prosthetics and that that that sucker 01:04:29.809 --> 01:04:32.650 was extensive When we were doing the camera test 01:04:32.650 --> 01:04:35.010 the first week, I mean, the first day we were 01:04:35.010 --> 01:04:38.630 in the chair for like over 12 hours, maybe 12, 01:04:38.710 --> 01:04:42.409 13 hours, just trying to get all the makeup right. 01:04:42.489 --> 01:04:45.429 Once we finally got it dialed in, it was three 01:04:45.429 --> 01:04:47.869 and a half hours application and about 30 to 01:04:47.869 --> 01:04:51.190 45 minutes to remove it, plus the duration of 01:04:51.190 --> 01:04:55.250 filming. So kudos to Joel Edgerton for wearing 01:04:55.250 --> 01:04:58.230 that for the entire production because, you know, 01:04:58.230 --> 01:05:02.070 for the stunt team. We were in and out. It's 01:05:02.070 --> 01:05:03.710 not like we were there the whole duration like 01:05:03.710 --> 01:05:08.730 he was. Cold glue on your face at 5 a .m. and 01:05:08.730 --> 01:05:14.469 trying to chew food through these big fake lips. 01:05:17.389 --> 01:05:21.030 But it was a good time. I enjoyed that one. What 01:05:21.030 --> 01:05:24.949 about near misses? One of my guys I used to do 01:05:24.949 --> 01:05:27.150 the pirate stunt show with in Orlando years ago 01:05:27.150 --> 01:05:31.059 literally broke his back. falling from a, we 01:05:31.059 --> 01:05:33.179 had a sword fight on a mast and he transitioned 01:05:33.179 --> 01:05:34.699 to a crow's nest and he was supposed to climb 01:05:34.699 --> 01:05:36.780 down and it was a high fall, but that was later. 01:05:37.320 --> 01:05:40.000 He ends up tripping, falling all the way down, 01:05:40.039 --> 01:05:42.739 missing the mat, hitting the concrete pad, you 01:05:42.739 --> 01:05:45.559 know, near a fatal injury, to be honest. So our 01:05:45.559 --> 01:05:48.019 industry, obviously, it happens sometimes. Like 01:05:48.019 --> 01:05:50.139 you said, it is a dangerous job and, you know, 01:05:50.159 --> 01:05:55.840 one slip, one loss of... focus can, can be deadly. 01:05:55.940 --> 01:05:58.079 So, you know, were there any kind of near misses 01:05:58.079 --> 01:06:03.059 in your career that you remember? No, not for 01:06:03.059 --> 01:06:07.639 me personally. And then also to not, I mean, 01:06:07.659 --> 01:06:11.159 you get the, you get, you get beat up doing stunts. 01:06:11.159 --> 01:06:14.199 That's inevitable, but no, no, nothing, nothing 01:06:14.199 --> 01:06:17.880 detrimental where, you know, for any productions 01:06:17.880 --> 01:06:20.480 I was involved in or me personally, there were, 01:06:20.500 --> 01:06:23.670 there was nothing to that degree. you know other 01:06:23.670 --> 01:06:26.750 than you know when you're taking a fall down 01:06:26.750 --> 01:06:29.309 who knows how many flights of stairs or when 01:06:29.309 --> 01:06:32.929 you know when you gotta jump out of a window 01:06:32.929 --> 01:06:34.409 or you're getting beat up and you got to keep 01:06:34.409 --> 01:06:36.289 taking a fall and you can't wear the pads you're 01:06:36.289 --> 01:06:37.329 supposed to be wearing because you don't have 01:06:37.329 --> 01:06:39.230 a shirt on and you know it's stuff like that 01:06:39.230 --> 01:06:42.929 but that's just that's part of doing stunts Absolutely. 01:06:42.969 --> 01:06:44.889 Yeah. I never, like I said, I never had that 01:06:44.889 --> 01:06:47.250 repetitive element. Ours was live. So no matter, 01:06:47.329 --> 01:06:49.429 you know, if you got a sword stuck in you or 01:06:49.429 --> 01:06:51.230 something, you had to keep carrying on and just 01:06:51.230 --> 01:06:53.550 try and play it off. If it wasn't, it wasn't 01:06:53.550 --> 01:06:57.110 terrible. All right. Well then you talked about 01:06:57.110 --> 01:06:59.530 the healing element of acting. Cause it's interesting. 01:06:59.610 --> 01:07:02.670 I went to drama school for a year. a fucking 01:07:02.670 --> 01:07:04.949 awful actor which is what made me go into stunts 01:07:04.949 --> 01:07:07.530 instead i was good at that um and but where i 01:07:07.530 --> 01:07:09.969 found the catharsis ironically was writing and 01:07:09.969 --> 01:07:12.309 it was my own story and then doing the audiobooks 01:07:12.309 --> 01:07:14.610 and the acting training ultimately did kind of 01:07:14.610 --> 01:07:17.070 pay in in a very different area where i wasn't 01:07:17.070 --> 01:07:20.289 really acting acting but i was kind of articulating 01:07:20.289 --> 01:07:23.389 stories that i'd written myself you have this 01:07:23.389 --> 01:07:25.250 kind of healing element you fall in love with 01:07:25.250 --> 01:07:28.789 this this profession and then covid hits so talk 01:07:28.789 --> 01:07:31.349 to me about again that jarring transition of 01:07:31.349 --> 01:07:34.429 this next phase that you're in yeah that was 01:07:34.429 --> 01:07:37.670 that was a tough one for me because 2020 was 01:07:37.670 --> 01:07:40.230 mapped out to be a very big year on the acting 01:07:40.230 --> 01:07:43.489 side oddly i was actually transitioning out of 01:07:43.489 --> 01:07:45.449 fitness because things were going so well with 01:07:45.449 --> 01:07:48.610 the other two and i was happy about it because 01:07:48.610 --> 01:07:51.750 i'll you know it's nice it would have been nice 01:07:51.750 --> 01:07:58.000 to have fitness back to myself um but God's plan, 01:07:58.079 --> 01:08:03.400 man. COVID hit, industry shut down. Not only 01:08:03.400 --> 01:08:07.360 did it shut down, it just turned into a cesspool 01:08:07.360 --> 01:08:12.380 of political nonsense. And that for me was a 01:08:12.380 --> 01:08:15.119 point where I knew I needed to pivot a little 01:08:15.119 --> 01:08:18.659 bit again, because up to that point, everything 01:08:18.659 --> 01:08:22.600 that I was doing was reliant on my work in Hollywood. 01:08:22.819 --> 01:08:25.500 I graduated high school, joined the Marine Corps. 01:08:26.380 --> 01:08:30.100 I was all military, got out, lost everything, 01:08:30.340 --> 01:08:33.600 boom, right into Hollywood, straight into the 01:08:33.600 --> 01:08:36.000 spotlight doing fitness and then acting and stunts. 01:08:36.079 --> 01:08:39.159 I never had time to work on myself really, but 01:08:39.159 --> 01:08:41.560 I didn't really understand business. I wasn't 01:08:41.560 --> 01:08:45.319 very business savvy, business minded. I was just 01:08:45.319 --> 01:08:47.399 kind of, I was hustling, trying to get my life 01:08:47.399 --> 01:08:52.199 back on track. And looking back on it now, it's 01:08:52.199 --> 01:08:56.680 not like. Many people go through a pandemic in 01:08:56.680 --> 01:08:58.359 their lifetime. It's not something you put on 01:08:58.359 --> 01:09:02.239 your calendar and plan for. So it definitely 01:09:02.239 --> 01:09:07.840 took me by surprise and brought me into a whole 01:09:07.840 --> 01:09:10.899 new world of fitness. It pulled me straight back 01:09:10.899 --> 01:09:13.659 into all fitness. I started doing online coaching 01:09:13.659 --> 01:09:15.220 because I'm like, I need to have something that's 01:09:15.220 --> 01:09:17.600 mine. I need to do something that's mine. And 01:09:17.600 --> 01:09:21.060 that's when I launched my online coaching business, 01:09:21.140 --> 01:09:23.430 started working with... you know, executives, 01:09:23.649 --> 01:09:26.930 CEOs, founders, just high performers, because 01:09:26.930 --> 01:09:30.609 I'm good at custom stuff. I'm good at being able 01:09:30.609 --> 01:09:33.289 to take a program and create something that you 01:09:33.289 --> 01:09:35.109 can implement into your life rather than giving 01:09:35.109 --> 01:09:37.489 you a program that you have to figure out how 01:09:37.489 --> 01:09:40.750 to adapt to. And, you know, because that's where 01:09:40.750 --> 01:09:44.149 most people fail. So that's, that was the beginning 01:09:44.149 --> 01:09:46.710 of this whole new space I'm in now in the, in 01:09:46.710 --> 01:09:48.689 the business side, but from, from what we were 01:09:48.689 --> 01:09:51.829 talking about before. what makes what I'm doing 01:09:51.829 --> 01:09:55.529 now more difficult and maybe not as enjoyable 01:09:55.529 --> 01:10:00.810 is because everybody's a freaking online coach. 01:10:00.909 --> 01:10:02.489 It doesn't even matter what industry you're in 01:10:02.489 --> 01:10:05.670 anymore. So that's the hard part of it now is 01:10:05.670 --> 01:10:08.050 I don't want to represent that coaching space. 01:10:08.289 --> 01:10:09.869 I'm trying to represent something different. 01:10:09.949 --> 01:10:13.489 I want to be authentic. I want to be real. I'm 01:10:13.489 --> 01:10:16.489 not trying to sell you some fake shit. It's like 01:10:16.489 --> 01:10:18.550 I really do have your best interest at heart. 01:10:20.940 --> 01:10:24.739 I know what it's like to not have a lot of money. 01:10:24.800 --> 01:10:27.539 I know what it's like to not have any direction. 01:10:27.760 --> 01:10:30.859 So there's a lot of things that I can speak to 01:10:30.859 --> 01:10:33.279 that are relatable to a lot of people based on 01:10:33.279 --> 01:10:35.800 my life experiences. And I feel like that's a 01:10:35.800 --> 01:10:39.239 big part of why I went through what I went through 01:10:39.239 --> 01:10:41.239 is to be able to have that knowledge, to be able 01:10:41.239 --> 01:10:44.859 to be relatable and be able to impact people 01:10:44.859 --> 01:10:48.670 on that level. Was there a jarring element, as 01:10:48.670 --> 01:10:50.850 you mentioned, you know, the healing began with 01:10:50.850 --> 01:10:52.890 the acting. Now the acting is kind of, you know, 01:10:52.930 --> 01:10:55.750 pulled from you. Did you hit a wall again or 01:10:55.750 --> 01:10:57.909 were you able to lean into the creation of the 01:10:57.909 --> 01:11:05.050 fitness space? You know, I still feel like I'm 01:11:05.050 --> 01:11:09.329 on the verge of something bigger. And I have 01:11:09.329 --> 01:11:11.109 a business mentor who I'm working with right 01:11:11.109 --> 01:11:15.069 now. We're building out some very cool stuff. 01:11:16.109 --> 01:11:18.390 I'm getting more into the speaking side of things. 01:11:18.510 --> 01:11:22.569 I'm flying out again next, oh, tomorrow to Wisconsin 01:11:22.569 --> 01:11:25.170 for a speaking engagement. I was just in Pennsylvania 01:11:25.170 --> 01:11:29.149 doing a VFW groundbreaking ceremony. So it was 01:11:29.149 --> 01:11:33.329 like, there's the acting stuff helped out tremendously 01:11:33.329 --> 01:11:38.729 because it forced me to be able to speak better 01:11:38.729 --> 01:11:41.770 and just be able to articulate things better. 01:11:41.829 --> 01:11:48.220 And also to kind of Part of acting is doing homework 01:11:48.220 --> 01:11:52.220 and a lot of the homework is on people, like 01:11:52.220 --> 01:11:55.640 people watching and character development and 01:11:55.640 --> 01:11:58.659 all that stuff. So you start to understand human 01:11:58.659 --> 01:12:00.680 nature a little bit differently than you would 01:12:00.680 --> 01:12:03.260 otherwise. So all those things have helped me 01:12:03.260 --> 01:12:09.479 tremendously. And I'm still in the film and TV 01:12:09.479 --> 01:12:12.020 space. I'm just in it a little more strategically 01:12:12.020 --> 01:12:17.180 now. I don't want to. have to rely on it i want 01:12:17.180 --> 01:12:19.220 to work in it and i want to work with people 01:12:19.220 --> 01:12:22.199 who want to work with me and i'm still obviously 01:12:22.199 --> 01:12:25.220 doing my thing on the back end to to be ready 01:12:25.220 --> 01:12:27.720 for when the calls come because i'm signed on 01:12:27.720 --> 01:12:29.279 to some different projects right now hopefully 01:12:29.279 --> 01:12:31.340 that kick off later this year in the next year 01:12:31.340 --> 01:12:34.819 but at the same time knowing that i have something 01:12:34.819 --> 01:12:37.119 that's my own now gives me more peace of mind 01:12:37.119 --> 01:12:39.539 i can i can sleep a little better at night breathe 01:12:39.539 --> 01:12:44.060 a little better The film industry is brutal, 01:12:44.140 --> 01:12:48.340 man. Unless you make it to the top, you got to 01:12:48.340 --> 01:12:50.840 hustle for every job. And that's what a lot of 01:12:50.840 --> 01:12:53.119 people don't understand. From the outside looking 01:12:53.119 --> 01:12:57.100 in, everyone wants to be in it. But man, they 01:12:57.100 --> 01:12:59.060 don't understand that hustle. When you finish 01:12:59.060 --> 01:13:01.800 that project and you're like, all right, now 01:13:01.800 --> 01:13:03.479 I got to find the next one. I got to pay the 01:13:03.479 --> 01:13:06.199 bills. What's the next one? Hustle, hustle, hustle, 01:13:06.340 --> 01:13:09.260 hustle, hustle. Yeah, that was one thing when 01:13:09.260 --> 01:13:12.739 I came back from... Because when I worked in 01:13:12.739 --> 01:13:14.520 Japan, it was as a stuntman. I opened Universal 01:13:14.520 --> 01:13:16.979 Studios. And we came back and I was learning 01:13:16.979 --> 01:13:18.720 now about this industry. And yeah, you've got 01:13:18.720 --> 01:13:20.239 to go on set and you've got to try and find the 01:13:20.239 --> 01:13:22.439 stunt coordinator and give them your resume. 01:13:22.560 --> 01:13:26.199 And I kind of transitioned into realizing I could 01:13:26.199 --> 01:13:27.960 become a firefighter in America once I moved 01:13:27.960 --> 01:13:29.479 there. And so then I'm like, well, I'm in the 01:13:29.479 --> 01:13:32.180 Orlando area. There's numerous theme parks. I'm 01:13:32.180 --> 01:13:33.979 just going to stay with this. But it was understanding 01:13:33.979 --> 01:13:36.479 how hard it would be and then also not be able 01:13:36.479 --> 01:13:38.300 to take all that time off when you were filming 01:13:38.300 --> 01:13:40.380 if I'm supposed to be. you know in a fire station 01:13:40.380 --> 01:13:43.100 so but yeah i don't think people realize you 01:13:43.100 --> 01:13:45.140 know unless you are as you said that top tier 01:13:45.140 --> 01:13:46.899 where now you're with a team and you just get 01:13:46.899 --> 01:13:49.979 asked to work on a film you know these guys are 01:13:49.979 --> 01:13:52.460 just grafting and grafting and then on the side 01:13:52.460 --> 01:13:54.399 you know waiting tables working in theme parks 01:13:54.399 --> 01:13:56.199 whatever it is so they can get their next gig 01:13:56.199 --> 01:13:59.800 yeah no one most people don't see that part of 01:13:59.800 --> 01:14:04.250 it no not at all And go to the social media point, 01:14:04.390 --> 01:14:06.670 most people won't put that out there that they're 01:14:06.670 --> 01:14:08.430 doing that. They want it to look like they're 01:14:08.430 --> 01:14:11.270 just movie to movie. Yeah, exactly. What I'm 01:14:11.270 --> 01:14:14.189 actually working on is beginning stages yet, 01:14:14.229 --> 01:14:17.229 but I'm turning my second book into a TV show. 01:14:17.750 --> 01:14:19.829 I'm not saying if it's going to happen, period. 01:14:20.250 --> 01:14:22.770 So it's interesting because I'm looking at the 01:14:22.770 --> 01:14:24.609 film industry, the TV industry a little differently 01:14:24.609 --> 01:14:27.390 now. I'm about to enter that and turn the page 01:14:27.390 --> 01:14:32.250 in this new chapter of my life. And seeing the 01:14:32.250 --> 01:14:35.430 need now for real storytelling, like The Pit 01:14:35.430 --> 01:14:38.010 is a perfect example of real gritty drama, you 01:14:38.010 --> 01:14:41.430 know, technically advised to a T perfectly, you 01:14:41.430 --> 01:14:44.890 know, the medical side is spot on there. And 01:14:44.890 --> 01:14:46.550 I'm talking to all these people in the industry, 01:14:46.630 --> 01:14:49.470 and there sounds like everyone is sick and tired 01:14:49.470 --> 01:14:52.010 now of the kind of woke -ism, the PC element. 01:14:52.369 --> 01:14:55.569 And I remember hearing, why am I blanking on 01:14:55.569 --> 01:14:58.649 his name? God, the guy that played Iron Man just 01:14:58.649 --> 01:15:02.050 fell out of my head. Robert Downey Jr. Thank 01:15:02.050 --> 01:15:04.289 you. On Joe Rogan. And they were both saying 01:15:04.289 --> 01:15:06.210 that they could never do Tropic Thunder today 01:15:06.210 --> 01:15:08.890 with his kind of, you know, blackface character. 01:15:09.470 --> 01:15:12.170 And it's ridiculous because the whole point of 01:15:12.170 --> 01:15:14.869 that character was to show the ridiculous racism 01:15:14.869 --> 01:15:17.050 that used to occur in Hollywood. It's saying 01:15:17.050 --> 01:15:19.250 the very thing that people are then turning around 01:15:19.250 --> 01:15:21.909 and stopping it. So with that, you mentioned 01:15:21.909 --> 01:15:25.800 cesspool. You know what? What was that darkness 01:15:25.800 --> 01:15:28.239 of Hollywood and where do you hope the next evolution 01:15:28.239 --> 01:15:30.460 is going to take, you know, the film and television 01:15:30.460 --> 01:15:41.380 industry? Oh man. I see, I see the industry changing 01:15:41.380 --> 01:15:45.960 a lot from a social media perspective, but also 01:15:45.960 --> 01:15:51.380 too, from the standpoint of California is not 01:15:51.380 --> 01:15:54.630 the place anymore. LA is not. not necessarily 01:15:54.630 --> 01:15:58.630 home base anymore. So a lot of these well -known 01:15:58.630 --> 01:16:02.310 actors, these powerhouses in their craft are 01:16:02.310 --> 01:16:06.810 living in different states and pushing their 01:16:06.810 --> 01:16:11.149 politicians to incentivize being able to film 01:16:11.149 --> 01:16:16.029 there, have those tax credits. So I see everything 01:16:16.029 --> 01:16:19.510 opening up more across the country to film and 01:16:19.510 --> 01:16:25.149 TV, which is great. The social media side is 01:16:25.149 --> 01:16:29.189 very interesting because we've seen the evolution 01:16:29.189 --> 01:16:34.130 of the way things were when you went to the theater. 01:16:34.810 --> 01:16:36.729 When you went to see a movie, you went to the 01:16:36.729 --> 01:16:39.210 theater. And then streaming came out and then 01:16:39.210 --> 01:16:42.909 it was like, oh, there was all these loopholes 01:16:42.909 --> 01:16:47.069 about how they could not pay you what they would 01:16:47.069 --> 01:16:49.210 normally have to pay you if it was theatrical. 01:16:50.170 --> 01:16:52.350 And then now with social media, they're looking 01:16:52.350 --> 01:16:55.970 for, well -known names with followers that they 01:16:55.970 --> 01:17:00.449 can pay a quarter of the cost and save money. 01:17:00.529 --> 01:17:03.710 So it's like, everything's about freaking greed 01:17:03.710 --> 01:17:07.890 and money. And it just, so I don't, I don't know 01:17:07.890 --> 01:17:09.670 where this thing is going to go. I love seeing 01:17:09.670 --> 01:17:12.130 a lot of these actors, you know, pushing to, 01:17:12.149 --> 01:17:15.350 to have a little more diversity, you know, Wahlberg 01:17:15.350 --> 01:17:19.270 and, and McConaughey and those guys just kind 01:17:19.270 --> 01:17:24.590 of Mel Gibson, Stallone, just. pushing to have 01:17:24.590 --> 01:17:30.909 some non -woke nonsense I mean it's like trying 01:17:30.909 --> 01:17:36.590 to find a good movie these days is I mean sometimes 01:17:36.590 --> 01:17:38.930 you can't even find you can't even find one because 01:17:38.930 --> 01:17:41.130 it's like it's just tattered with politics and 01:17:41.130 --> 01:17:43.970 identity politics and everything's got to be 01:17:43.970 --> 01:17:48.189 about race and I don't know man I don't know. 01:17:48.630 --> 01:17:51.649 I'm, again, quietly confident that there is this 01:17:51.649 --> 01:17:54.550 new bloom coming out. The Pit did an amazing 01:17:54.550 --> 01:17:57.149 job. It portrayed people of all walks of life 01:17:57.149 --> 01:17:59.069 the way it was supposed to be portrayed. There 01:17:59.069 --> 01:18:01.829 might have been a slight leaning in some topics, 01:18:02.050 --> 01:18:04.890 but I think this is what people want. It's storytelling. 01:18:05.289 --> 01:18:08.789 It's not supposed to represent every single person 01:18:08.789 --> 01:18:11.050 on planet Earth in every single production. If 01:18:11.050 --> 01:18:14.390 you're portraying Harlem in this area, there 01:18:14.390 --> 01:18:16.010 might not be a single white face in the whole 01:18:16.010 --> 01:18:17.909 crowd. There might not be a single... gay or 01:18:17.909 --> 01:18:20.529 disabled, who knows, you know, but if you're 01:18:20.529 --> 01:18:22.590 portraying another area, it might be all white. 01:18:22.670 --> 01:18:25.590 And so we got to get away from that. But I think 01:18:25.590 --> 01:18:29.770 the need as well, from what I'm seeing is reality. 01:18:30.170 --> 01:18:33.029 I think people are tired of that, you know, polished 01:18:33.029 --> 01:18:36.510 Hollywood, you know, network television bullshit, 01:18:36.569 --> 01:18:39.189 you know, where every detective looks like they 01:18:39.189 --> 01:18:41.770 came out of a Miss World or, you know, the front 01:18:41.770 --> 01:18:44.250 of men's health, you know, and get back to real 01:18:44.250 --> 01:18:47.039 storytelling. And making people uncomfortable. 01:18:47.140 --> 01:18:49.020 And this is what my story is certainly going 01:18:49.020 --> 01:18:50.819 to make people fucking uncomfortable. It's a 01:18:50.819 --> 01:18:54.340 dark, dark story with a beautiful growth journey 01:18:54.340 --> 01:18:58.399 later in the story. But my world, there's nothing 01:18:58.399 --> 01:19:01.060 pretty about it. The calendars and all that stuff, 01:19:01.159 --> 01:19:03.039 the two -dimensional stuff that you'll see at 01:19:03.039 --> 01:19:04.920 firefighters and television up to this point 01:19:04.920 --> 01:19:08.069 is pretty, you know. Disney -fied, if you like, 01:19:08.189 --> 01:19:11.050 but our world that we actually exist and the 01:19:11.050 --> 01:19:13.670 people that are struggling in society that we 01:19:13.670 --> 01:19:16.689 respond to, you can't curve those edges. You've 01:19:16.689 --> 01:19:18.569 got to tell those stories the way they actually 01:19:18.569 --> 01:19:21.149 are. Otherwise, people don't even understand 01:19:21.149 --> 01:19:24.470 the magnitude of some of these issues. Yeah. 01:19:25.270 --> 01:19:28.470 I'm excited to hear your story and see it come 01:19:28.470 --> 01:19:33.449 to life. I do agree with you, though. I think 01:19:33.449 --> 01:19:36.579 things are finally turning. a little bit more 01:19:36.579 --> 01:19:38.819 in the right direction it's just a matter of 01:19:38.819 --> 01:19:40.640 you know how long is it going to take before 01:19:40.640 --> 01:19:43.020 we're there where people can stop focusing on 01:19:43.020 --> 01:19:45.819 all the stuff that they want to be offended by 01:19:45.819 --> 01:19:49.220 i mean who cares man like it's entertainment 01:19:49.220 --> 01:19:52.619 doesn't have to be so serious no exactly you 01:19:52.619 --> 01:19:54.579 know i mean god when i was growing up this is 01:19:54.579 --> 01:19:56.539 a benny hill show this creepy old dude that was 01:19:56.539 --> 01:19:58.960 chasing everyone you know what i mean this there's 01:19:58.960 --> 01:20:01.079 been that element for a long long time but uh 01:20:02.189 --> 01:20:04.649 It's not just because I don't want to. I think 01:20:04.649 --> 01:20:06.449 what I have to say is a little more important 01:20:06.449 --> 01:20:11.989 than what supplement you're taking or what type 01:20:11.989 --> 01:20:15.989 of lifting routine you're doing in the gym. That 01:20:15.989 --> 01:20:20.329 mental health piece is so under addressed when 01:20:20.329 --> 01:20:23.090 it comes to overall physical wellness because 01:20:23.090 --> 01:20:24.770 obviously we talk about it when we talk about 01:20:24.770 --> 01:20:27.970 trauma and stuff. Someone had on the show, Johan 01:20:27.970 --> 01:20:30.449 Hari told me a story. He wrote an amazing book 01:20:30.449 --> 01:20:32.590 called Chasing the Scream. And it's in his book. 01:20:33.109 --> 01:20:36.449 They did a study, obesity study, and they gave 01:20:36.449 --> 01:20:39.770 all the recipients IV nutrition. So they had 01:20:39.770 --> 01:20:41.229 no, you know, they weren't ingesting anything 01:20:41.229 --> 01:20:43.029 at all. And obviously they had some sort of movement 01:20:43.029 --> 01:20:45.529 practice as well. And there was this one woman 01:20:45.529 --> 01:20:47.789 who was the rock star of the study, lost a shitload 01:20:47.789 --> 01:20:50.909 of weight. And then one day she just stopped 01:20:50.909 --> 01:20:53.399 showing up. And they finally tracked her down. 01:20:53.460 --> 01:20:55.479 I think it was weeks later and she put on a bunch 01:20:55.479 --> 01:20:59.300 of weight. And they were able to get her to come 01:20:59.300 --> 01:21:02.220 back in and talk to her. And one of the researchers 01:21:02.220 --> 01:21:05.319 was clever enough to actually kind of ask some 01:21:05.319 --> 01:21:08.319 background questions. And in that process, he 01:21:08.319 --> 01:21:11.020 said, well, do you remember how old you were 01:21:11.020 --> 01:21:14.119 when you started eating food for comfort? And 01:21:14.119 --> 01:21:17.319 she said, I think 12. And he said, was there 01:21:17.319 --> 01:21:19.760 anything? traumatic that happened in your life 01:21:19.760 --> 01:21:21.779 when you were that age and she said yeah that 01:21:21.779 --> 01:21:23.640 was when my grandfather started molesting me 01:21:23.640 --> 01:21:27.779 and the point was that as this woman had got 01:21:27.779 --> 01:21:30.000 back down to a healthy weight she was starting 01:21:30.000 --> 01:21:32.260 to attract attention from the opposite sex or 01:21:32.260 --> 01:21:34.859 more attention from the opposite sex and in her 01:21:34.859 --> 01:21:37.960 particular unaddressed trauma story that was 01:21:37.960 --> 01:21:40.539 a huge red flag she didn't want to attract you 01:21:40.539 --> 01:21:42.640 know attention from the same kinds of people 01:21:42.640 --> 01:21:45.199 that she'd been preyed upon by so if we're not 01:21:45.199 --> 01:21:48.239 looking at that trauma Or that, you know, there's 01:21:48.239 --> 01:21:50.140 mental health struggles that, you know, whether 01:21:50.140 --> 01:21:52.300 food was just for comfort, whether it was a dopamine 01:21:52.300 --> 01:21:54.899 hit, whether God forbid, you know, being thin 01:21:54.899 --> 01:21:57.779 was actually the issue. And then, like you said, 01:21:57.840 --> 01:21:59.640 you're just throwing supplements or training 01:21:59.640 --> 01:22:02.619 plans at people. You're missing a huge part of 01:22:02.619 --> 01:22:04.520 the puzzle. And even in my class, like every 01:22:04.520 --> 01:22:08.199 like every two months or so, we'll do a sandbag 01:22:08.199 --> 01:22:10.260 walk to the top of the parking garage next to 01:22:10.260 --> 01:22:13.159 the gym. And just for the for no other reason 01:22:13.159 --> 01:22:14.779 than to get them tired a little bit and then 01:22:14.779 --> 01:22:17.090 just talk to them. but checking in with everyone 01:22:17.090 --> 01:22:19.170 how are you doing today why why are you still 01:22:19.170 --> 01:22:21.430 coming to the gym what is your goal you know 01:22:21.430 --> 01:22:23.550 and then i've had people talk about domestic 01:22:23.550 --> 01:22:26.149 abuse and all kinds of things and that's kind 01:22:26.149 --> 01:22:28.189 of been part of the healing that's why they're 01:22:28.189 --> 01:22:31.590 there so if you're not as a coach addressing 01:22:31.590 --> 01:22:35.109 exactly like you said that mental piece you're 01:22:35.109 --> 01:22:40.310 missing a huge part of that pie yeah that's that's 01:22:40.310 --> 01:22:44.449 a great that's a great example of the underlying 01:22:45.149 --> 01:22:49.229 root cause of, I would say, probably most of 01:22:49.229 --> 01:22:51.109 the countries dealing with to some degree, not 01:22:51.109 --> 01:22:54.430 the same story, but there's some underlying condition 01:22:54.430 --> 01:22:58.250 that has caused them to continue down the route 01:22:58.250 --> 01:23:00.369 that they are. And that goes back to the point 01:23:00.369 --> 01:23:05.550 of why this fitness journey that once you get 01:23:05.550 --> 01:23:11.390 the mind right, it's going to be a journey. Because 01:23:11.390 --> 01:23:15.260 if you're 40 years old, well... You just spent 01:23:15.260 --> 01:23:18.220 the last 40 years. It's going to take a little 01:23:18.220 --> 01:23:21.239 bit of time to address that and get you back 01:23:21.239 --> 01:23:26.920 physically, internal health, mentally. All of 01:23:26.920 --> 01:23:28.899 it comes together. It's going to take a minute. 01:23:29.359 --> 01:23:33.680 So I think these coaches out there pushing these 01:23:33.680 --> 01:23:39.479 hacks and these shortcuts and stuff is just completely 01:23:39.479 --> 01:23:42.359 leading people down the wrong path and taking 01:23:42.359 --> 01:23:46.390 their money. I think another area of huge irresponsibility, 01:23:46.649 --> 01:23:49.489 and I've talked about this a lot, and this spans 01:23:49.489 --> 01:23:51.609 both sides of the political aisle because we're 01:23:51.609 --> 01:23:54.850 talking about decades now, is just the environment 01:23:54.850 --> 01:23:57.909 that we've created in the states in general. 01:23:57.930 --> 01:24:01.029 Again, rural Iowa, this may not be a thing, but 01:24:01.029 --> 01:24:04.850 certainly in suburbia, urban areas. I grew up, 01:24:04.850 --> 01:24:06.449 and I say this a lot, I grew up on a farm in 01:24:06.449 --> 01:24:08.350 England. We had an orchard. We had a vegetable 01:24:08.350 --> 01:24:13.020 garden. We had livestock. I was on like... 70 01:24:13.020 --> 01:24:15.800 acres so I could ride my bike and run and do 01:24:15.800 --> 01:24:18.300 all the things. So for me to then look down my 01:24:18.300 --> 01:24:20.439 nose and go, oh, why are you overweight? Why 01:24:20.439 --> 01:24:23.399 are you out of shape? It's extremely unfair because 01:24:23.399 --> 01:24:26.159 if someone grew up in an urban setting and all 01:24:26.159 --> 01:24:28.760 they had was concrete around them and the local 01:24:28.760 --> 01:24:30.699 basketball court was where the gangs hung out 01:24:30.699 --> 01:24:32.779 and they got their food from McDonald's or the 01:24:32.779 --> 01:24:35.539 bodega, that's a very different environment that 01:24:35.539 --> 01:24:38.439 that young child grew up in. You talked about 01:24:38.439 --> 01:24:42.399 Okinawa. healthy food exercise community all 01:24:42.399 --> 01:24:44.539 these things that i've heard as far as that culture 01:24:44.539 --> 01:24:47.039 you know if you're a young okinawan i would argue 01:24:47.039 --> 01:24:48.979 you probably set up for success when it comes 01:24:48.979 --> 01:24:52.180 to longevity and health if you were king for 01:24:52.180 --> 01:24:56.380 a day what would you do culturally in this country 01:24:56.380 --> 01:24:59.680 to start creating an environment that forges 01:24:59.680 --> 01:25:02.039 health right at the beginning of someone's life 01:25:02.039 --> 01:25:08.279 it would come down to the food reading realistically 01:25:08.279 --> 01:25:13.640 where All this processed, ultra processed food 01:25:13.640 --> 01:25:17.819 that gets people addicted to food. I mean, it 01:25:17.819 --> 01:25:21.579 needs to it needs to go away. You know, it's 01:25:21.579 --> 01:25:24.579 you go into these these stores and it's like 01:25:24.579 --> 01:25:28.020 you see how much trash is in there. You see how 01:25:28.020 --> 01:25:30.140 cheap it is. And then you walk to the parts of 01:25:30.140 --> 01:25:31.859 the store that are healthy and you see how expensive 01:25:31.859 --> 01:25:34.659 it is. Yeah, it doesn't it doesn't even make 01:25:34.659 --> 01:25:40.149 sense. But. Food can literally be a drug. And 01:25:40.149 --> 01:25:43.750 food companies hire food scientists to create 01:25:43.750 --> 01:25:45.850 foods to get people addicted. I mean, we're just 01:25:45.850 --> 01:25:48.949 pawns in the game here. And at the end of the 01:25:48.949 --> 01:25:52.170 day, nutrition is the foundation of everything. 01:25:52.350 --> 01:25:59.430 I mean, if you're eating very clean, whole, nutritious 01:25:59.430 --> 01:26:04.109 foods and you're exercising, you're going to 01:26:04.109 --> 01:26:06.399 feel completely different. And you're going to 01:26:06.399 --> 01:26:08.859 think different. You're going to sleep different 01:26:08.859 --> 01:26:12.340 than if you're eating shit out of packages and 01:26:12.340 --> 01:26:17.439 wrappers and boxes that has two paragraphs worth 01:26:17.439 --> 01:26:22.380 of ingredients on it. It's like you don't have 01:26:22.380 --> 01:26:25.640 any control over the way you feel. Now that controls 01:26:25.640 --> 01:26:28.260 the way you feel. You're on an emotional roller 01:26:28.260 --> 01:26:32.409 coaster. You eat a meal, you crash. It's like 01:26:32.409 --> 01:26:36.670 every day is highs and lows. Probably every time 01:26:36.670 --> 01:26:38.310 you eat a meal, you don't know how someone's 01:26:38.310 --> 01:26:39.890 going to react. You don't know how someone's 01:26:39.890 --> 01:26:45.590 going to talk. I've had conversations with people 01:26:45.590 --> 01:26:50.810 that are very obese, chronically unhealthy, sick, 01:26:50.949 --> 01:26:55.930 chronically unhealthy. They don't even understand 01:26:55.930 --> 01:26:58.789 what it feels like to feel normal because what 01:26:58.789 --> 01:27:01.640 they feel right now is their normal. So when 01:27:01.640 --> 01:27:06.640 you start to bring them higher, it's almost like 01:27:06.640 --> 01:27:09.760 an epiphany for them. They can't believe that 01:27:09.760 --> 01:27:13.319 this is the way they could feel, that they can 01:27:13.319 --> 01:27:17.100 feel, that they are feeling. Nutrition, man. 01:27:18.279 --> 01:27:21.220 Absolutely. All right. Well, the first of the 01:27:21.220 --> 01:27:24.199 closing questions, is there a book or are there 01:27:24.199 --> 01:27:26.239 books that you'd love to recommend? It can be 01:27:26.239 --> 01:27:28.300 related to our discussion today or completely 01:27:28.300 --> 01:27:36.260 unrelated. The Mountain Is You is a great book. 01:27:37.100 --> 01:27:40.380 And I think, you know, it's about self -sabotage. 01:27:41.800 --> 01:27:45.819 But it's one of those books that you don't want 01:27:45.819 --> 01:27:47.279 to put down. It's like you want to keep reading 01:27:47.279 --> 01:27:48.439 it. And when you're done, you want to read it 01:27:48.439 --> 01:27:53.399 again. And I think a lot of people will say that 01:27:53.399 --> 01:27:58.239 I don't self -sabotage myself. I guarantee. There's 01:27:58.239 --> 01:28:01.000 some part of you that has some type of self -sabotage. 01:28:01.470 --> 01:28:04.729 self -sabotaging behavior in there. Even if it's 01:28:04.729 --> 01:28:07.369 to a minute degree, whether it's coming down 01:28:07.369 --> 01:28:09.850 to believing that you can even accomplish this 01:28:09.850 --> 01:28:12.909 tiny goal, it's still self -sabotaging behavior. 01:28:13.210 --> 01:28:15.729 But it's a very interesting book the way it's 01:28:15.729 --> 01:28:17.630 framed. I think it's Brianna West or something 01:28:17.630 --> 01:28:21.489 like that. I would recommend everyone read it. 01:28:22.170 --> 01:28:25.670 I've made three t -shirts total in the whole 01:28:25.670 --> 01:28:29.149 length of this podcast, nine years. And the most 01:28:29.149 --> 01:28:32.840 recent one on the back, It says self -care and 01:28:32.840 --> 01:28:34.840 sabotage, and it's got a heart with a grenade 01:28:34.840 --> 01:28:38.300 pin in it. Because, again, like you said, we're 01:28:38.300 --> 01:28:41.340 just one long roller coaster. You abstain, and 01:28:41.340 --> 01:28:43.319 you're super healthy, and you go to all these 01:28:43.319 --> 01:28:46.840 workouts, and then you start drinking, and then 01:28:46.840 --> 01:28:50.079 you crash. I always say it's about trending. 01:28:50.260 --> 01:28:51.840 You're going to have your ups and downs regardless. 01:28:52.119 --> 01:28:54.909 It's like V -fib. But if the line is going in 01:28:54.909 --> 01:28:57.210 the right direction, then you're right. But no 01:28:57.210 --> 01:28:59.510 one is just a straight line without any hiccups. 01:28:59.590 --> 01:29:02.050 I don't care what they say, how diligent they 01:29:02.050 --> 01:29:06.010 are on Instagram. We all have our bad days. Yeah, 01:29:06.090 --> 01:29:09.909 absolutely we do. I know I do. What about films 01:29:09.909 --> 01:29:18.649 and documentaries that you love? I'm not good 01:29:18.649 --> 01:29:27.180 at that one. I haven't really watched a whole 01:29:27.180 --> 01:29:29.020 lot of anything recently. And to be honest with 01:29:29.020 --> 01:29:32.899 you, I'm just kind of stuck in my own world doing 01:29:32.899 --> 01:29:35.659 my own thing. I kind of lost the enjoyment for 01:29:35.659 --> 01:29:41.439 watching anything. One thing I hear that's interesting, 01:29:41.539 --> 01:29:46.119 even from Josh, is these actors will do all these 01:29:46.119 --> 01:29:50.399 scenes. but they really have no idea how the 01:29:50.399 --> 01:29:52.439 film's actually going to turn out because obviously 01:29:52.439 --> 01:29:54.199 it's in the director and in the editor's hands 01:29:54.199 --> 01:29:56.100 and then the music and all the things and the 01:29:56.100 --> 01:30:00.020 way it's cut. What was the production that surprised 01:30:00.020 --> 01:30:05.119 you the most from shooting versus the final screening? 01:30:07.039 --> 01:30:17.649 Of what I worked on? In a good or bad way? You 01:30:17.649 --> 01:30:22.850 can choose. Well, I really thought Terminator 01:30:22.850 --> 01:30:24.810 Genisys was going to turn out a lot better than 01:30:24.810 --> 01:30:30.750 it did. But that was a flop. I was so excited 01:30:30.750 --> 01:30:38.930 for that one. Man, I'm sucking at these questions. 01:30:39.090 --> 01:30:41.729 It doesn't matter. There's no right or wrong 01:30:41.729 --> 01:30:48.829 answer. It's just purely my interest. Yeah. I 01:30:48.829 --> 01:30:55.829 wish Oldboy would have done better. It could 01:30:55.829 --> 01:30:59.729 have done really good, I think. Because, I mean, 01:30:59.770 --> 01:31:01.970 it's a crazy movie and that twist at the end 01:31:01.970 --> 01:31:06.130 will just completely sabotage your mind. Have 01:31:06.130 --> 01:31:07.710 you seen it? I'm trying to remember if I have. 01:31:07.789 --> 01:31:10.109 It sounds familiar. I've seen a lot of his. I'm 01:31:10.109 --> 01:31:13.439 about to go watch Weapons. This week that comes 01:31:13.439 --> 01:31:15.439 out. That's supposed to be amazing as well. But 01:31:15.439 --> 01:31:18.000 I'm sure I have. I'm just blanking as the story 01:31:18.000 --> 01:31:24.600 in my mind. The original is a Korean movie. And 01:31:24.600 --> 01:31:29.079 Spike Lee redid it with Josh. But it's about 01:31:29.079 --> 01:31:32.979 this guy who is like this alcoholic, kind of 01:31:32.979 --> 01:31:37.000 low life. No one likes him. No one wants to be 01:31:37.000 --> 01:31:41.380 around him. He has no zest for life. He's just... 01:31:42.239 --> 01:31:46.000 out there and he gets kidnapped and put in this 01:31:46.000 --> 01:31:49.100 uh this hotel room i think it was for like 10 01:31:49.100 --> 01:31:54.060 or 20 years and then while he's in there he starts 01:31:54.060 --> 01:31:56.659 getting in shape and wanting to find out who 01:31:56.659 --> 01:31:59.460 did this and then he finally gets out and goes 01:31:59.460 --> 01:32:01.840 on this mission to find out why this happened 01:32:01.840 --> 01:32:04.119 and then when you find out at the end you're 01:32:04.119 --> 01:32:07.020 like poof i did not see that coming that was 01:32:07.020 --> 01:32:10.119 crazy and there's a there's a there's a fight 01:32:10.119 --> 01:32:15.140 sequence in there It's all one take. And I mean, 01:32:15.159 --> 01:32:18.220 I forgot how, how long it is, but I remember, 01:32:18.300 --> 01:32:27.539 I remember how, uh, Josh and JJ were like, like 01:32:27.539 --> 01:32:30.000 emotional with each other for how it came out. 01:32:30.079 --> 01:32:32.380 Cause I mean, it was a hell of a fight sequence. 01:32:32.659 --> 01:32:36.760 It just goes, it goes, it just goes from one 01:32:36.760 --> 01:32:40.100 floor to another floor to another floor. I mean, 01:32:40.119 --> 01:32:46.819 just. one shot so yeah it i'm surprised it didn't 01:32:46.819 --> 01:32:49.600 do better but it's uh it's it's a it's a pretty 01:32:49.600 --> 01:32:51.340 cool movie i'm gonna have to watch it doesn't 01:32:51.340 --> 01:32:52.920 ring a bell so it's obviously one that i miss 01:32:52.920 --> 01:32:55.460 it's funny as well that when it comes out is 01:32:55.460 --> 01:32:57.760 a big part i didn't realize i had a few guys 01:32:57.760 --> 01:33:00.279 from band of brothers captain dale die and then 01:33:00.279 --> 01:33:03.960 um shane taylor who uh was the medic in band 01:33:03.960 --> 01:33:06.899 of brothers but that came out right before 9 01:33:06.899 --> 01:33:10.460 -11 So even though it's almost like the 10th 01:33:10.460 --> 01:33:12.279 anniversary is really when it started gaining 01:33:12.279 --> 01:33:15.260 momentum. Imagine working that entire project. 01:33:15.460 --> 01:33:17.399 And then obviously what happened was absolutely 01:33:17.399 --> 01:33:19.159 tragic. And of course, it's going to trump that. 01:33:19.420 --> 01:33:23.500 But what ended up being such an incredible show. 01:33:23.720 --> 01:33:25.579 I mean, you know, one of the most recommended 01:33:25.579 --> 01:33:28.399 when I asked that question at the end. But again, 01:33:28.520 --> 01:33:30.600 the timing was just awful. And then conversely, 01:33:30.640 --> 01:33:33.420 you can make a god awful documentary about a 01:33:33.420 --> 01:33:36.100 guy that has a tiger and it fucking blows up 01:33:36.100 --> 01:33:39.180 because COVID happens. You can make a shit show 01:33:39.180 --> 01:33:41.460 really popular with timing and then vice versa. 01:33:42.600 --> 01:33:45.300 Right. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Timing is everything. 01:33:45.819 --> 01:33:49.020 Absolutely. All right. Well then the next question, 01:33:49.079 --> 01:33:51.899 is there a person that you'd recommend to come 01:33:51.899 --> 01:33:54.979 on this podcast as a guest to speak to the first 01:33:54.979 --> 01:33:57.340 responders, military and associated professions 01:33:57.340 --> 01:34:03.960 of the world? You know, Oliver Stark. That rings 01:34:03.960 --> 01:34:08.149 a bell. I'm trying to remember why. He's a, I 01:34:08.149 --> 01:34:10.130 got to know him back in L .A. He was a client 01:34:10.130 --> 01:34:11.869 of mine. We became pretty good friends. But, 01:34:11.930 --> 01:34:15.529 you know, he had been an up and coming actor 01:34:15.529 --> 01:34:18.289 for a while. You know, you'd recognize him in 01:34:18.289 --> 01:34:19.909 all these different shows and stuff. And then 01:34:19.909 --> 01:34:22.029 all of a sudden he landed the big time with 9 01:34:22.029 --> 01:34:27.529 -1 -1. So he he's he's one of the leads for 9 01:34:27.529 --> 01:34:29.689 -1 -1 as a firefighter. No, that'd be brilliant. 01:34:29.890 --> 01:34:32.609 Yeah. And he's and he's from he's from your neck 01:34:32.609 --> 01:34:37.289 of the woods over over over in. Wait, where were 01:34:37.289 --> 01:34:39.369 you from again? I'm going to have to wait now. 01:34:39.430 --> 01:34:41.210 Where do you think I'm from? I'm going to put 01:34:41.210 --> 01:34:44.750 you on the spot. Well, I mean, obviously you're 01:34:44.750 --> 01:34:46.789 from somewhere over in the UK. There we go. Okay, 01:34:46.829 --> 01:34:48.949 good. Yeah, most people say Australia. You've 01:34:48.949 --> 01:34:52.590 got a better ear than most. Yeah, so he's over... 01:34:52.590 --> 01:34:54.869 I can't remember where in the UK he's from, but 01:34:54.869 --> 01:34:56.789 I mean, you guys have that commonality too. Yeah, 01:34:56.829 --> 01:35:00.710 that'd be... He's been on that show now for... 01:35:00.710 --> 01:35:05.460 I mean... um from season one until i don't even 01:35:05.460 --> 01:35:07.840 know if it's on anymore okay yeah that'd be amazing 01:35:07.840 --> 01:35:10.300 i've got another friend um i would say friend 01:35:10.300 --> 01:35:12.220 someone i work with in japan as a stunt person 01:35:12.220 --> 01:35:15.079 she's been on on chicago fire for years as a 01:35:15.079 --> 01:35:17.239 stunt person too so it's interesting but yeah 01:35:17.239 --> 01:35:18.520 i mean if you're able to help me connect that 01:35:18.520 --> 01:35:21.840 would be amazing yeah i'll reach i'll reach out 01:35:21.840 --> 01:35:24.680 to him and see if i can get him for you and you 01:35:24.680 --> 01:35:28.100 ever you know eddie fernandez i heard you talking 01:35:28.100 --> 01:35:30.579 to christian about it on their podcast but i 01:35:30.579 --> 01:35:33.680 don't know if i recognize that name uh he's a 01:35:33.680 --> 01:35:36.640 big stunt guy he's been he's been doing it now 01:35:36.640 --> 01:35:40.079 for i think over 30 years but his his his uh 01:35:40.079 --> 01:35:44.060 one of his staples is fire so the first time 01:35:44.060 --> 01:35:47.020 i got lit on fire was by him i need a fire guy 01:35:47.020 --> 01:35:50.100 for my show there's a lot of fire in this story 01:35:50.100 --> 01:35:55.479 so that'll be interesting yeah yeah it's interesting 01:35:55.479 --> 01:35:57.220 actually because i love getting stunt people 01:35:57.220 --> 01:35:59.479 on again like i said i was i was uh you know 01:35:59.770 --> 01:36:04.289 a uh weekend warrior live show guy but i don't 01:36:04.289 --> 01:36:07.369 hear stunt people on podcasts very often you 01:36:07.369 --> 01:36:09.149 know what i mean so there's so many people i 01:36:09.149 --> 01:36:11.069 got katie taylor coming on who's like a world 01:36:11.069 --> 01:36:14.350 -class um skydiver stunt woman you know there's 01:36:14.350 --> 01:36:17.149 just there's the people that are in that that 01:36:17.149 --> 01:36:19.329 profession are phenomenal most of them are you 01:36:19.329 --> 01:36:22.250 know masters of their craft as well but i it 01:36:22.250 --> 01:36:25.010 blows me away that they're not in all these podcasts 01:36:25.010 --> 01:36:26.970 being interviewed all the time so i love being 01:36:26.970 --> 01:36:29.590 able to talk to to that group because i mean 01:36:29.590 --> 01:36:32.130 people are missing you know incredible life stories 01:36:32.130 --> 01:36:35.529 from these men and women yeah not only that you 01:36:35.529 --> 01:36:38.369 figure what a movie or a tv show would be like 01:36:38.369 --> 01:36:40.369 without stunts oh absolutely i think this is 01:36:40.369 --> 01:36:42.310 the first time ever wasn't it that the uh the 01:36:42.310 --> 01:36:44.850 oscars actually had a nod for stunt performers 01:36:44.850 --> 01:36:49.689 well i mean i had heard them talking about it 01:36:49.689 --> 01:36:53.010 forever you know it's like how how like how can 01:36:53.010 --> 01:36:55.649 there not be a category for stunts but there's 01:36:55.649 --> 01:36:58.430 a category for everything else Yeah. I mean, 01:36:58.510 --> 01:37:00.890 you can't, it is impossible to make a good movie 01:37:00.890 --> 01:37:02.770 without stunts. I don't even know how that happened. 01:37:03.310 --> 01:37:05.069 How did that, how did that even become a thing? 01:37:05.170 --> 01:37:07.189 I mean, I mean, I grew up with James Bond films 01:37:07.189 --> 01:37:09.329 that, you know, that was the pinnacle of stunt 01:37:09.329 --> 01:37:11.229 performance. Like without stunts, there is no 01:37:11.229 --> 01:37:13.789 James Bond film. I don't understand how you can 01:37:13.789 --> 01:37:18.010 not recognize that profession. I don't know. 01:37:18.270 --> 01:37:21.449 Insecurity maybe. Yeah. Yeah. Probably the ego 01:37:21.449 --> 01:37:23.529 of the leads back in the day, I would imagine. 01:37:25.050 --> 01:37:29.409 Yeah. All right. Well, the last question before 01:37:29.409 --> 01:37:31.369 we make sure where people can find you and then 01:37:31.369 --> 01:37:33.890 ultimately this platform you're building, what 01:37:33.890 --> 01:37:40.210 do you do to decompress? I'm a homebody, man. 01:37:40.310 --> 01:37:47.810 I love being at home. I love playing pool. I 01:37:47.810 --> 01:37:49.869 love going in the pool. I love getting in my 01:37:49.869 --> 01:37:54.229 sauna. I love doing my cold plunge. I love going 01:37:54.229 --> 01:37:57.000 on walks. Just all the, all the really simple 01:37:57.000 --> 01:38:01.100 stuff. That's, that's my jam. I don't, I don't 01:38:01.100 --> 01:38:04.800 like to go out, you know, I don't really hang 01:38:04.800 --> 01:38:09.279 out at all. I don't put myself in situations 01:38:09.279 --> 01:38:12.600 where I could potentially get in trouble. I just, 01:38:12.640 --> 01:38:17.119 I like a no drama, easygoing life. Watch, watch 01:38:17.119 --> 01:38:20.819 a good, watch a good movie, kick back, get a 01:38:20.819 --> 01:38:24.260 massage. Like that's my, that's my decompression. 01:38:25.260 --> 01:38:27.340 What genre of film do you normally like watching? 01:38:30.279 --> 01:38:36.159 Pretty much all action. I love action. But again, 01:38:36.319 --> 01:38:38.579 going back to what we were talking about earlier 01:38:38.579 --> 01:38:45.579 with filmmaking then versus now, I remember if 01:38:45.579 --> 01:38:49.960 the content is good, if the storyline is good, 01:38:50.140 --> 01:38:53.760 if the acting is good, I can watch anything. 01:38:54.890 --> 01:38:58.989 it's just not the case these days so i just typically 01:38:58.989 --> 01:39:03.430 trend towards uh action because that's my i don't 01:39:03.430 --> 01:39:07.890 know this is what i like or even you know coming 01:39:07.890 --> 01:39:10.250 from a profession that deals with fire so obviously 01:39:10.250 --> 01:39:11.949 we're pretty familiar what it looks like and 01:39:11.949 --> 01:39:15.180 what it's supposed to look like deviating to 01:39:15.180 --> 01:39:18.340 cgi for fire now you see it with explosions and 01:39:18.340 --> 01:39:21.340 it just looks so shit even in high budget films 01:39:21.340 --> 01:39:24.520 so you know there's some areas where i'm sure 01:39:24.520 --> 01:39:27.079 that part of the stunt world felt threatened 01:39:27.079 --> 01:39:30.500 by you know cgi etc but you know some things 01:39:30.500 --> 01:39:32.739 absolutely make it a lot safer you know not flinging 01:39:32.739 --> 01:39:35.380 a fire a human being off a skyscraper for example 01:39:35.380 --> 01:39:38.500 but there's other areas i think where computers 01:39:38.500 --> 01:39:41.520 still can't take the place of for example a live 01:39:41.520 --> 01:39:47.880 burner on a show No, and the fire, but, and also 01:39:47.880 --> 01:39:50.140 too, when they're, when they're not really firing 01:39:50.140 --> 01:39:54.779 rounds, it's kind of the CGI after effects, post, 01:39:54.939 --> 01:39:59.520 you know, post -production effects. Yeah. Absolutely. 01:39:59.680 --> 01:40:02.399 Yeah. I would say fire is probably one of the 01:40:02.399 --> 01:40:05.739 funnest stunts I've done. There's something very 01:40:05.739 --> 01:40:09.420 surreal about it. It's almost like you're, it's 01:40:09.420 --> 01:40:14.369 like you're in a tunnel. You can't hear anything 01:40:14.369 --> 01:40:18.829 except the flames. I don't even know how to describe 01:40:18.829 --> 01:40:24.329 it. It was very serene. It is. The crazy thing 01:40:24.329 --> 01:40:27.250 is my backstory, when I was four years old, I 01:40:27.250 --> 01:40:29.229 was in a house fire and my eight -year -old sister 01:40:29.229 --> 01:40:32.970 got us out. Talking about paths, either you go 01:40:32.970 --> 01:40:34.770 one way or the other, you'd think I'd be terrified 01:40:34.770 --> 01:40:36.729 of fire, but instead I became a firefighter, 01:40:36.750 --> 01:40:39.270 which is bizarre. But I have that very thing. 01:40:39.449 --> 01:40:42.689 I always remember feeling, unless it was super 01:40:42.689 --> 01:40:45.670 dangerous and you're in a bad spot, I thought 01:40:45.670 --> 01:40:47.590 it was beautiful. And it was a shame to put it 01:40:47.590 --> 01:40:49.210 out almost in a way you have to, otherwise you 01:40:49.210 --> 01:40:52.029 burn up and die, but that's your job, firefighter. 01:40:52.029 --> 01:40:54.970 But it is, I mean, it is kind of almost mesmerizing 01:40:54.970 --> 01:40:58.930 in a way when you're surrounded by fire. Yeah, 01:40:58.949 --> 01:41:04.710 it's a very indescribable thing. And it's probably 01:41:04.710 --> 01:41:06.930 one of the, if I had to say what my favorite 01:41:06.930 --> 01:41:11.029 stunts were, I would say it's fire, driving, 01:41:11.069 --> 01:41:15.470 and swimming, water work. Absolutely. Yeah, I 01:41:15.470 --> 01:41:17.869 actually auditioned for Waterworld, the live 01:41:17.869 --> 01:41:21.069 show, when I was in Japan. But it was me and 01:41:21.069 --> 01:41:22.770 one of my good friends, and he was, you know. 01:41:23.069 --> 01:41:25.390 we were equal. He was already embedded with that 01:41:25.390 --> 01:41:28.310 group. He got the role and rightly so, but that's 01:41:28.310 --> 01:41:30.850 a fun show. You know, there's a, there's a fire 01:41:30.850 --> 01:41:34.770 dive 30 foot, um, I think 30 foot, I think about 01:41:34.770 --> 01:41:36.729 that. Right. Um, they're on fire and these are 01:41:36.729 --> 01:41:38.329 like, you know, world -class high divers doing 01:41:38.329 --> 01:41:40.529 that. There's jet skis and all kinds of stuff. 01:41:40.569 --> 01:41:42.810 But yeah, that, that from a stunt show point 01:41:42.810 --> 01:41:44.390 of view, that's one I would have loved to have 01:41:44.390 --> 01:41:49.409 done was the water show. So. What is your full 01:41:49.409 --> 01:41:52.569 time right now? So now I am in the adrenaline 01:41:52.569 --> 01:41:55.609 infused world of podcasting and writing books. 01:41:56.869 --> 01:41:59.770 So this is your whole gig? This is it, yeah. 01:41:59.869 --> 01:42:02.109 So you talk about struggling with identity. Yeah, 01:42:02.149 --> 01:42:04.890 there's no podcast calendars around where you 01:42:04.890 --> 01:42:07.170 take your shirt off, that's for sure. So yeah, 01:42:07.250 --> 01:42:09.430 you have to really be able to settle your ego 01:42:09.430 --> 01:42:12.460 because now you're literally... known for what 01:42:12.460 --> 01:42:14.380 you do. It's not who you are anymore. It's not 01:42:14.380 --> 01:42:17.220 that identity. So being a stuntman is cool. Being 01:42:17.220 --> 01:42:19.840 a firefighter is cool. Paramedic. But yeah, this 01:42:19.840 --> 01:42:22.720 is what I'm doing now. But it's a force multiplier. 01:42:23.060 --> 01:42:25.020 You're taking that journey that you've had and 01:42:25.020 --> 01:42:26.680 now you're kind of older and wiser. It's like, 01:42:26.699 --> 01:42:29.439 well, how can I use that and help lots of people 01:42:29.439 --> 01:42:31.960 rather than, for example, just respond to one 01:42:31.960 --> 01:42:34.920 person at a time on a fire engine? So it's a 01:42:34.920 --> 01:42:39.539 really interesting new chapter. But as far as 01:42:39.539 --> 01:42:41.819 humility, you've got to let that ego go. because 01:42:41.819 --> 01:42:43.739 you're not that thing that you identified before. 01:42:43.880 --> 01:42:45.359 You're just not. And you couldn't be further 01:42:45.359 --> 01:42:47.720 from it now. You're sitting, talking to a microphone 01:42:47.720 --> 01:42:50.680 or writing books. So it's powerful. I think it's 01:42:50.680 --> 01:42:52.180 the medium that really makes a difference in 01:42:52.180 --> 01:42:55.079 the world. But yeah, from an ego point of view, 01:42:55.159 --> 01:42:57.220 you've got to have a kind of ego death to move 01:42:57.220 --> 01:43:00.579 forward from that. Yeah, I can understand that. 01:43:01.220 --> 01:43:03.800 That's awesome, man. Thank you. Well, for people 01:43:03.800 --> 01:43:06.279 listening then, firstly, where can they find 01:43:06.279 --> 01:43:11.739 the coaching platform that you're building? So 01:43:11.739 --> 01:43:13.579 I'm going to launch it probably in about another 01:43:13.579 --> 01:43:19.180 week or two, but it'll be on my website, AaronWilliamson 01:43:19.180 --> 01:43:25.140 .net or in any of my social media links in the 01:43:25.140 --> 01:43:28.859 handle. Brilliant. Aaron V. Williamson on Instagram 01:43:28.859 --> 01:43:32.859 is where I'm most active. I'm still trying to 01:43:32.859 --> 01:43:34.600 get the hang of the social media stuff. I mean, 01:43:34.640 --> 01:43:36.279 if I didn't have to be on it, man, I wouldn't 01:43:36.279 --> 01:43:39.659 be on it. It's literally a double -edged sword. 01:43:39.899 --> 01:43:42.399 Of course, it allows you to get things out into 01:43:42.399 --> 01:43:45.500 the real world. But from, you know, for example, 01:43:45.500 --> 01:43:47.859 the air quotes influencer thing, I had an Instagram 01:43:47.859 --> 01:43:51.520 account at one point that had 220 ,000 people 01:43:51.520 --> 01:43:53.539 on. And it was just from sharing the podcast, 01:43:53.739 --> 01:43:56.380 sharing, you know, stories of positivity. And 01:43:56.380 --> 01:43:58.899 it got shut down, like not even a warning, just 01:43:58.899 --> 01:44:03.279 smited from the earth. But before it did, you 01:44:03.279 --> 01:44:05.260 know, that's a lot of people really in this platform. 01:44:05.960 --> 01:44:10.319 And this kind of impression that people have 01:44:10.319 --> 01:44:12.399 that, yeah, if you've got this large following, 01:44:12.500 --> 01:44:13.920 then you just go on there and you talk about 01:44:13.920 --> 01:44:15.619 a product or whatever, and then all of a sudden 01:44:15.619 --> 01:44:18.109 everyone's going to buy it. It's bullshit. It 01:44:18.109 --> 01:44:19.869 really is. Otherwise, I would have sold a lot 01:44:19.869 --> 01:44:22.829 of books and I didn't. So, you know, I think, 01:44:22.829 --> 01:44:24.789 you know, being honest and genuine on social 01:44:24.789 --> 01:44:27.750 media is, you know, is powerful and it is a way 01:44:27.750 --> 01:44:30.329 of disseminating information. But what I've learned 01:44:30.329 --> 01:44:33.170 is ultimately it's still, you know, is what you've 01:44:33.170 --> 01:44:36.149 got good. It's that simple. If it is good and 01:44:36.149 --> 01:44:39.050 honest, then word will get around. That's ultimately 01:44:39.050 --> 01:44:41.569 is going to be what what spreads it. And as you 01:44:41.569 --> 01:44:44.310 alluded to earlier. If you are a two -dimensional 01:44:44.310 --> 01:44:47.630 person touting whatever because that company's 01:44:47.630 --> 01:44:49.750 paying you, you might make a little money for 01:44:49.750 --> 01:44:51.869 a little bit, but the longevity isn't going to 01:44:51.869 --> 01:44:56.890 be there. Yeah. And it waters your brand, waters 01:44:56.890 --> 01:45:00.810 your name. Absolutely. Waters down. Well, Aaron, 01:45:00.869 --> 01:45:02.630 I want to say thank you. It's been such an amazing 01:45:02.630 --> 01:45:05.390 conversation, such an interesting journey that 01:45:05.390 --> 01:45:08.880 you've had. within uniform itself and then obviously 01:45:08.880 --> 01:45:11.479 you're transitioning to to the acting and stunt 01:45:11.479 --> 01:45:13.399 space and then now you know what you're building 01:45:13.399 --> 01:45:15.859 with the coaching so i want to thank you so much 01:45:15.859 --> 01:45:17.939 for being so generous with your time and coming 01:45:17.939 --> 01:45:21.119 on the behind the shield podcast today i appreciate 01:45:21.119 --> 01:45:23.199 you it's a pleasure to be on thank you