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Enjoy the show. Welcome to Soul Decodes. Join
us as we wander off the path to find the ideas
that fascinate. We talk about spirituality, the
mind, the ego, wellness and hidden history with
tips, travels and tales. Charms for a better
life. Hello everybody and welcome to Soul Decodes
episode 66. We have a special guest today and
I'm excited. This is like our fourth or fifth
guest. Yes. We're having a good time doing it.
Loving it. This is like really, really cool.
Put some spice in the mix. Yeah, boy. You know,
I don't even know where to start with this one.
We have in the house Carlos Solis. And for those
of you who listened to the past couple shows,
we've interviewed... his daughter and one of
his sons. So, Sarah, did you take a look at this
man's book? I haven't because I've only just
received it like 10 minutes ago. But I'm going
to read it. So you might have to come back on
because I'll have a lot of questions. But this
is a political refugee story. And what a premise.
Yes. Because that's, it's just a lot without
even knowing anything about it. Yeah, so just
not to spoil this thunder, but, you know, I've
just talked to him briefly before the show offstage.
And we... You know, he's an athlete. He was a
boxer. You know, he's from Cuba. So he's he's
he's come into America through legal channels.
That's a conversation. Yeah. You know, he's a
great musician. I looked at his Reverb Nation.
Very well established. Plus, he's done a great
job with his kids. It's like we could talk about
like a thousand things, but. Why don't you tell
us what's on your mind and then let's... Well,
I just wanted to say, I listened to your album
because Tia Jolie sent it to me and I was in
my cabana and I was writing and I loved it. It
was absolutely, it was so beautiful. Thank you
so much. Really, really nice. And how long have
you been singing? Well, you know, I started playing
music. I knew I loved music when I was a kid.
When you were a kid, yeah. But of course, we
had nothing. You know, we came here. Refugees
had nothing. So there was no way I was going
to get a guitar. So it took me years to finally,
my poor dad, wind up getting me a guitar on Christmas.
And I was in heaven. And I started playing. And
I realized how bad I was. Oh. I thought you were
going to say you realized how brilliant you were.
But it took me a while. And then I started listening
to James Taylor. Oh, yes. And I started listening
to his style of guitar playing. And I said, I
like this better than just strumming. So eventually
I picked it up. As a teenager, we got pretty
popular in Miami. We were on live television.
We were in a recording studio. We were recording
an album. It would have been my first album.
And it was with the producer, the guy that produced,
I don't know if you remember, Cornelius Brothers
and Sister Rose. Yes, I do. Like a lady. Yes.
So he produced us and wanted to sign us. But
when you look at the contract, it was all one
-sided. Yeah, and it was back then, wasn't it?
Oh, my goodness. It doesn't happen today. All
this effort to make 10 cents. So we didn't do
anything. So I started getting better and better
and better. And I love writing music. Oh, so
you write your music. All the songs you heard,
I wrote everything. Music and lyrics. But the
interesting thing is I couldn't make a living
because when you go play at bars or restaurants
or coffee houses, they want to hear the top 40s.
Right. I didn't play anybody else's songs. You
didn't cover. But mine. And nobody knew who the
hell I was. So it just turned out that way. But
I played until I was 21 or so. And then I met
my to -be wife. And I said, well, I better put
down the guitar and get a real job. Right. Which
I did. And it was an interesting story. I never
picked it up again. Until 2007. Oh. My wife was
diagnosed with breast cancer, a very serious
one. So I decided that I'm going to sell the
business. We own a very successful graphic design
company and billboard company. And I said, I'm
going to sell the business, and I'm going to
take care of her full -time, 24 -7. For two years,
I took care of her. But we lived in a nice house
on a lake. And we were told she had cancer. And
we made that decision of selling the business.
Three days after that decision was made, a guy
walked into my office and asked me if I would
like to sell my business. Yeah, that's unbelievable.
There's no coincidence. Wow. We negotiated, and
it worked out that he bought it. So I took care
of my wife. We bought a motorhome in between
chemo. Chemo's every third week. And we would
go camping so she can be out. Yeah, in nature.
In nature. And a year and a half or two later,
when she finally got a clean bill of health,
I get a phone call. a week later, that the people
we sold to went under. It's almost, it's defied
belief, doesn't it? It's unheard of. So I called
the bank, and I said, I got a deal for you. So
I gave them, not even 50 cents on the dollar,
more like 10 cents on the dollar. I bought it
back. Wow, what a gift for you and your wife.
And I bought it back with the condition that
Michael, my son, who started in the business
when he was little with us, would take it over.
And when the business was built up again strong
enough, I said, I'm done. Here's the keys. And
my wife and I have been retired. And that's your
legacy now, isn't it? Yes. Yeah. And they're
doing a great job doing it. I'm a little, they're
doing better than I do. So let's go ahead and
back up. Let's spend five or ten minutes. You
know, you didn't come from Cuba with this bags
full of money. And you didn't come like, I'm
going to buy a business in America. Wouldn't
that be nice? Well, I'm looking at this beautiful
cover. And it's, the name of your book is called
From Cuban Shores. to new horizons and it's a
beautiful it looks like a sunset but it could
be a sunrise yeah yeah and it's got the cuban
flag and you know i know i've been down to to
key west and i've been i've actually been to
cuba too yeah and it's you know i know what this
represents but i think that we need to dive into
your journey just a little bit yes so so go back
to your earliest memories in cuba before you
left so my grandparents were originally from
spain from astutia spain Up in the mountains.
And they went to Cuba with financial wealth.
To make a better life for themselves. And they
opened a big pasta company. And my dad lived
in a mansion. They were very well off. Were you
raised in a mansion? I don't remember it. But
you were? No, I don't think so. I think what
happened, the mansion, one of the first things
that the communists took, they made it into a
school. And then they took the factory. So what
I do remember is, and it's funny because you
go to your memories and sometimes after years
and years of... listening to all this, you don't
recall if it was that really my memory or was
that the stories my uncles used to say that I
created my... Yes. But either way, it's a true
story. So remember the tanks coming into Havana,
the gunshots, the screaming, the... What years
are we looking at here? 1959. It was November
or December of 1959. How terrifying. Some were
celebrating because they thought this was going
to be better than what we had. Some were scared.
Some were assassinated. So it was a total mess.
Chaos. And we left in November of 61, two years
after Castro had taken over. We arrived here
on a plane, Pan Am, with nothing. Our clothes
we had. My sister had a doll and my father had
a carton of L &Ms and we just landed. What were
you told? Were you just told we're going to a
new country to live? Well, I think my parents,
I think everybody was under the impression this
is going to be six months, eight months and we'll
be back. Not to happen. We're still here. Not
yet. Things are changing. Yes. So we wind up
in what we call the projects, Little Havana.
In Miami. In Miami and a bunch of apartments.
Typical, you see the movies, all the apartment
kids running everywhere. And that's, you know.
And then there's things that stick to you. I
remember. The favorite word was speak. Everybody
would call, here comes a speak. And then, of
course, you've got to kick his ass or they kick
your ass. It depends. So we went through a lot
of that. Did you have brothers and sisters with
you? Excuse me? Did you have brothers and sisters
with you? I had two brothers and a younger sister.
And so I went to school, learned English quickly.
And got in a ton of trouble. I joined the local
street gang when I was in eighth grade. Were
you selling drugs? No. No. It wasn't. You know
what? That was like at the beginning. Now, I
grew up with major drug players. Right. Yes.
If you remember, there's a gentleman named Willie
Falcone. Went to prison. He served 20 years and
he's out. Gisela Blanco. Oh, yes. There's been
a biography about her. She was in the neighborhood.
She grew up in the neighborhood. Well, she didn't
grow up. She came from Colombia, but she was
in the neighborhood. So that's what I dealt with.
So you were in a street gang and that was where
you hung out. Your parents were working, I guess.
So was the gang, was that because there was some
familiarity or was there objective? It was just
guys that came in like us. We lived in the same
neighborhood. We kind of protected each other.
So you had a common interest. Yeah. You had a
common interest, like you're living in the same...
Yeah, I think when I hear the word gang, I automatically
go to drug and violence, but this was not like
that. No, yeah, this was just different. We had
drive -by shootings where people would come to
our neighborhood. You did or did not? No, we
did. We had people come to our neighborhood.
And everybody. You'd have to shoot back or hide.
No, because we didn't know what was coming. But
yeah, it was a tough upbringing. I went to three
middle schools and three high schools. Wow. I
did not last more than a year in each school.
It was rough. And this was because you were rebellious,
were you? You didn't pay attention. You didn't
do what you were told. I couldn't sit in that
chair long enough. I couldn't listen to this
crap. I just wanted to go out with the prettiest
girls. But yeah, there were some great times.
You don't know that you don't have anything.
everybody was living the same way. I remember
my mom used to take a shoe box and cut the bottom
and put it under my shoes so my holes, you couldn't
see the holes in my shoes. To get you through
another day. Yeah. Oh my, that's resourceful,
isn't it? Yeah, she was, very. But it was a tough,
Miami was a tough place to grow up. Yes, I've
lived there. But, you know, I was, I remember
in high school, I met two, uh police officers
and uh they helped me they helped me a lot i
still talk to them today what they meant to you
yeah yeah they were a youth resource officer
um uh and and they were and with If they would
have done today what they did to us back then,
they would be in jail. Yes. They beat the hell
out of us. Yes. And we deserved it. Corporal
punishment. Yeah. And your parents were okay.
Everyone was okay with it. Yeah. We had the cane
at school. I never got it. My brother did. But
they bend you over and had a long cane and they
whack you on the ass with it. Now they'd be arrested.
These cops, they were... They gave it to us.
So I went to work early. I was 17. Doing what?
I worked for a billboard company. And I started
at the bottom. I remember the salesman and the
sales manager would drive in, and they had their
own gas pumps in the company, and I would be
pumping their gas. And I said, damn it. I said,
one day they're going to be pumping my gas. Oh,
really? You affirmed that to yourself? And I
worked my way up all the way to lower management.
So you had an objective. Yeah. And they were
pumping my gas. Yeah. And then I went and. Took
a chance and just started my own billboard company.
So when you got this job at the billboard company,
was it because you wanted to learn a trade or
it just happened to be a job that you stumbled
upon? It just happened to be a job. Isn't it
funny that? And then it just transformed your
life. You know, it's funny because kids nowadays
have so many choices. I could be this, I could
be that, I want to be that. I have a choice.
This is where I'm at. I'm going to make the best
out of this. And did you just watch everything
that was going on and learn? Was that how you
were able to be competent enough to think you
could do it? Every time there was an opening,
I would apply for it, as long as it's a step
up. Yeah, good for you. And I learned, and eventually
I went from being a worker to going up and being
in the front office. I worked my way to a lower
management position. And one day I just said,
man, I can do this my own. Yeah. I didn't realize
how hard that would be. Oh, really? If I would
have tried, if I would have known at the time,
I might have not done it. Yeah. I started, what
you do is you go out and you find properties
that would allow you to build billboards. that
are zoned correctly. You get the city, the state,
everything. So I did. I went out and I found
about 12 or 14 of them. I signed a contract,
and my contract would say, I don't pay any rent
until the billboard's up. I didn't have the money
to pay rent. Yes, you need the money coming in.
So it took me maybe two months calling R .J.
Reynolds Tobacco because they were the biggest.
buyer of billboards back then and i couldn't
i didn't get an answer back and back finally
one day he calls and he says carlos you've been
hounding me for two or three months i said i'm
gonna be in miami you come pick me up at the
airport and i'll take a look at what you have
the only problem is we're driving a pinto now
i can't pick him up in a pinto I was thinking
about stealing a Lincoln, but I said, no, those
days are gone. So I wound up renting a car, picked
them up. The only problem was none of the billboards
were built. I didn't have the money. And that's
what he was expecting. Right. So I put little
signs on the properties and I said, R .J. Reynolds.
And every time I got to one, I say, this is this.
And he says, you haven't built any? I said, no,
sir. I said, to be very honest with you, I don't
have the money to build them. And that's why
I need some help. So he said, let's go look at
the rest of them. So we drove all over Miami,
took them back to the airport. About a month
and a half later, I get a big contract for every
single one. And he says, go ahead and bill. And
then he paid you some in advance? No, no. He
just sent me three -year contracts on each billboard,
which represented maybe $50 ,000, $60 ,000 a
month. Back in the 80s. Whoa. So I went to the
bank. Couldn't get anywhere. Wouldn't lend me
a penny. So I wound up having to get a partner.
And we did it. Built all the billboards. Then
he would call me and ask me, hey, you know where
Lake City, Florida is? I said, sure do. I said,
I need billboards there. Would you go up there?
Got a motor home. Lake City. Spent a month or
two. Found property. I had sale already made.
Yeah. And I went all over the state of Florida,
all the way to North Carolina, building billboards.
And did you actually do any of the building part?
I mean, did you? I did when I was younger and
when I worked for the other company. I did the
welding and all that. So you've done every kind
of capacity. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So that's basically.
And then I decided I'm done with traveling. I'm
done. I want to raise my kids. Came to Claremont
in 86. Ten years before I got here. Yeah, that's
a long time. So it's just a dirt road coming
in, wasn't there, at 50? Yeah, it was nothing.
Orange groves and a dirt road. So we came to
Claremont. I decided I'm going to sell. What
made you come to Claremont? Was it because it
was beautiful and the lakes? No, not necessarily.
I think because it was just about the center
of the state and I could get to Panama City or
anywhere else quicker than trying to go from
Miami to Panama City or, you know. So, and it
was beautiful. I mean, you had the hills, the
lakes. It was nice. But eventually, I had a difference
of opinion with my partner. Things didn't go
very well. I sold, started the local company,
and been self -employed ever since. That's great.
That's a great story. Yeah, you just went in
as an apprentice, learned the ropes and then
just took over. That's wonderful. So I'm super
excited to read your book. So you came over,
you followed all the rules, you worked hard,
rags to riches. You nudged up against, you know,
the drug world and the police world. You bumped
it, but you didn't really have any issues. No.
You kept yourself pretty clean. I get myself
free of drugs. I don't drink. I don't smoke.
I don't take drugs. I never have. You're like
me. You're pretty boring. I mean, it's just I
am what I am. But most of my friends were. You
know, they were dealers. They were getting up
in the... drug world and and it and it created
a conflict for a while and then finally they
you know when i started my billboard business
when i needed the money i was approached multiple
times for uh laundering you know bill i'll pay
for the billboard you pay i was tempting and
it was no it was but but i said nah you know
i got a wife i'm gonna have kids i said i don't
need this it's very responsible of you yeah well
i that's that's amazing yeah i also scared the
shit out of me to be in jail so yes exactly yeah
so i i is the billboard company that you had
a name that we would recognize well it's it's
uh It was in the 80s called Outdoor Displays.
And eventually it sold and it sold again. And
now either Clear Channel has it or Lamar. It
just got absorbed. Yeah, it got absorbed. What's
interesting is, and Sarah doesn't even know this,
but when I was not flying airplanes up in Detroit,
I was an advertising and promotions officer for
the Air Force. And I interacted with the billboard
companies all the time, like Lamar and these
companies. And the reason is because... I actually
got millions of dollars of free advertising for
the Air Force. You know, the AMI Air Force with
the jets and everything. I remember the billboard.
Because they could sell billboards easier if
there's something on it and it's not blank. So
it was a win -win. So I could take them. It's
like, look, I'll give you all the paper. You
can do the hanging. It benefits the Air Force.
It benefits them to not have a blank billboard.
And I was driving the whole state. Any blank
billboard there was, was an Air Force. Wow. I
literally, if I had a commander that was worth
anything, I would have been promoted just based
on that. But are billboards still a thing today
with all the technology of advertising? Well,
yeah, you know, you've got to understand everybody
talks about radio, television. That's all fine
and good, but there's a lot of wasted ad. I mean,
you're advertising on a regional, I mean, I see
ads at my house. From a car dealer in Jacksonville.
You think I'm going to go to Jacksonville? So
at least a billboard. Yeah. You know, McDonald's.
10 miles for the ride. Next exit, yeah. And people
shop that way, too. We have a captive audience
driving down the turnpike. Well, on the turnpike
in 75, you want to see a billboard. You want
to know where you're going to stop. Clean restrooms.
Yeah, yeah. You want to know where you're going
to stop. So you sold your business to your son.
And by the way, we love your family. We only
met, we got to meet Charlie still. That's going
to be something. So I'm going to read your book.
Thank you for the gift. Oh, you're welcome. Yeah.
For those of you listening, Carlos gifted us,
he's going to sign them over to us, two books.
I'm excited to dive in there. Is your book available
on Amazon? Yes. Yes. So I'll put a link. From
Cuba Shaw's New Horizons. Yeah. I'll put a link
from the show notes. So that's good. So what's
next for you? You're into music. Well, let's
touch on your athletic, because you said, I was
making you a coffee earlier, and you said you
had some experience boxing. We don't have to
go deep, but I'm an athlete, so I love hearing
these stories. When I was in high school, instead
of going to school, I would go over to Coconut
Grove to Elizabeth Berry Gym and do a little
training. I don't exaggerate the training, learn
how to throw a punch, learn how to do certain
things and, and try to get some discipline and,
um, boxing. I'll discipline. Oh, absolutely.
Absolutely. Boxing was the best four years of
my life because it was, you will be disciplined.
Yes. Yes. And, uh, uh, so I did that. And, uh,
I think like I told you earlier, my, my dad.
My dad worked at a hotel by the airport, and
he started as a busboy, and he wound up being
the assistant manager. And Roberto Duran, who
was the lightweight and then middleweight champion
of the world, would stay in that hotel when he
trained. And I get a call one day at 11 o 'clock
at night at the house, and I said, hello, and
he says, Carlos says, yes, this is Roberto Duran.
And I said, yeah, sure. Yeah, sure it is. And
I'm Alexis Arguello, and I help him. He calls
back, and it turns out it was Duran. And he says
to go down to Tropical Park, where he was training.
And so I go over there, and I tell them, the
bounce big guy, I give him my name, and they
let me in. And as soon as I walk in, They throw
a couple of gloves at me, headgear. Were you
expecting that? No, shit, no. And I'm out here.
Suit up. And I said, all right. And I'm cocky,
you know. So I get up there. And I was taller
than he was. So I start jabbing, and I'm hitting
him. And I'm saying, shit, maybe I'm better than
I thought. And about 40 seconds, he goes in and
he says, hey. Are you ready now? And I said,
oh, shit. Oh, God. One punch. Really? One punch
in the stomach. And I took my gloves off. I said,
fuck you. I'm out. So I tell everybody I went
40 seconds with Roberto Duran. And he knew that
as well. He was toying with you, wasn't he? Oh,
no, he was messing. He was letting me hit him.
And here I am. And you were thinking, oh, I'm
good. Hey, man, huh? So where do I sign up? And
for anybody in martial arts or boxing, everyone's
got this great idea. Until you get your head,
your head. Oh, yeah. Your first head, you get
your bell rung. Oh, yeah. Okay. It's just a very
different. I can still literally remember the
first time I got my bell rung. I'm like, what
happened? That's where the discipline comes in.
It's like, what just happened there? And that
just spurred you on to get better because I would
have quit if I can't stand pain. If someone had
belted me in the kidneys, I just walked away.
Well, it depends on your thing because like I
was at the Air Force Academy as a freshman and
I was a smart ass. So you don't get a choice
of what sports you're going to do. They put all
the smart asses in to boxing because you're going
to get your... Oh, wow. So I deserved everything
I got. Oh, no. Because I was... If you were mouthy.
If you're... telling me that my uniform sucks
and you've got dirt on your brim of yours, I'm
going to tell you about that. And you weren't
popular. I was not popular because I said what
needed to be said. You were respected, though,
probably. And they did the same thing. They put
me in team handball, and all they do is just
pelt you with these, just you're the goalie.
I was the goalie. It just pelt, pelt. It was
just being attacked. But you know what? I deserved
everything I got. I own it. I own it. But I admire
anybody who says they boxed. It's such a good
sport. Because my middle son, the one you haven't
met, when I took him to enlist in the Navy, and
I told him, okay, now you need to try out for
the Navy boxing team. Oh, wow. Oh, yeah, okay,
Dad, okay. Of course he didn't. And now he regressed
it because at the time, When we started boxing,
he was 85 pounds when he was whatever, 12, whatever
we started. I don't know what age. And he was
ranked third in the state of Florida. So as he
got into teenagers, he started getting real good.
And I said, here's your opportunity. You want
to go in the Navy, join the tryout for the boxing
team. I'm sure you're going to make it. And you
might even go to the Olympics with the Sphinx
brothers. People don't understand the opportunity.
The military is very unique. Oh, yes. Because
you can get, like, I did music. I was a bugler.
And I was able to play. They flew me to Tokyo.
They flew me. I played in the Pentagon. We competed.
We went to every ballgame and had front row seats
at every ballgame. Wow. So if you do boxing or
you do music, you can get in these different.
Even my previous band I was with was a Phil Collins
tribute band. one of my two guitar players just
left. He was the lead guitar for the Army Band.
What stories he has. If I'm fortunate, I'll get
him for my next band. But nobody knows that if
you're a sports or musician, even if you're a
color guard, like we used to get for all the
Detroit games, we had four tickets for the color
guard and their guests. I got eight tickets for
every game, every hockey game, every football
game, wherever they needed a color guard. So
there's a lot of opportunities. These are just
tangential. I mean, it's a sacrifice. You're
still in the Navy, you're still in the Air Force,
still in the Army, but there's still some really
cool things. There's some really cool things.
So that's awesome. So what did we not talk about?
I had a question for you about the police. We
talked about, you said the police, they were
different then than they are now. They had a
little bit more leniency, but they used to be
called... peace officers but now they're called
the enforcement officers right i mean they're
it's like this there's this paradigm shift yeah
and so i just wanted to get your opinion on you
know you've been in america since well pretty
much as long as i've been alive i was born in
63 so yeah so you know you've been here for 60
61 61 years well in 1961 so game so not not just
the police but just america in general like this
is fascinating because I was born in America.
She came here from England. You came from Cuba.
This is a very different conversation. We have
three different paradigms about the same entity.
So my question is simply this. When I talk about
America, I'm not talking about a country. I'm
talking about an idea. Second of all, I've never
had to import myself into this country. So I'd
like to hear the two of you talk about your experiences.
So why don't you start? Well, you know, there's
a lot of people that hate America. They're commenting
always about it. The people that hate America,
to me, haven't seen the rest of the world. So
how could you? When I was growing up, I did not
confuse our country. with the racism people had
about me. Those were individual people. It had
nothing to do with America. We have a constitution.
We have certain things that are superb. They're
fantastic. I grew up, people hated us. We dated
a lot of American girls, and I guarantee you
those parents didn't want to see us, but we showed
up anyway. The opportunities this country gave
me, to be able to fail when I had to fail, to
succeed, to work hard, nobody gave me anything.
Nothing. You just worked hard. You were honest.
You tried to do the best you can. And honestly,
I don't know any other country in the world.
And do you think that's still like that today?
I think the opportunities are there. I think
we have too many naysayers and too many people
sticking their hand out. Right. You've got to
be prepared to work hard, have a vision. It's
funny because people talk about racism. You know,
to work and not get paid is part of maybe, a
racial problem. You're Hispanic. But to get paid
and not work, it's just as bad. I mean, to be
giving stuff. Now, I believe there's certain
people that need help, that need assistance.
Yes. But people take advantage of it. So let
me ask. This is a good question because you don't
know much about us, but neither of us. would
walk by somebody in need and not help them. And
you did the same. So there's three of us. Do
you think we're unique? Or do you think most
Americans would, if they saw somebody with a
need, a legitimate need, wouldn't stop to help
them? I think a lot of people would. Most people
would. I see videos of this all the time. People
stopping, pulling in homeless, feeding the homeless
people, taking care of people. What do you need?
What can we help you with? This is normal. We
don't need a government to do this. No. And one
thing I liked what you said, Carlos, was that
coming to America, you were allowed to fail.
Correct. So what I like is that America is the
land of, it's an opportunity. That's all you
want. A lot of people, they feel like, oh, I'm
going to America because of equality. Well, equal
outcomes is different than equal opportunity.
Absolutely. Because if you take the floor, you
take the ceiling too. Yeah. That's why I always
say, just give me a chance. I always say, give
me a chance. If I fail, it's on me. If I succeed,
it's on me. But I'll tell you a quick story about
giving. My middle son, Charlie, had a friend
from England. In fact, he was from... I don't
remember. Wherever it was, the accent was, I
couldn't understand. No, it's probably North.
Newcastle. Okay, North, yes. Newcastle. 12 years
old, whatever. He would come to the house every
day, play with my son. And all of a sudden, I
didn't see him anymore. And I asked Charlie,
I said, hey, what happened to Luke? And he says,
oh, they put him in a children's home. And I
said, what? I said, the father had come with
him, got remarried, or got married to stay here,
basically. The new mother didn't like the kid.
So I told Charlie, I said, when did this happen?
It was about a week ago. So I went over to the
children's home, and he was in tears. He used
to call me Gijo. And he was crying, Gijo, please
get me out of here. Help me. And I said, okay,
I'll be back. So I went over to his father's
house, and I sat down with him and his stepmother
or whatever. And I asked him, I said, what's
the problem? I said, how come he's in a home?
And she started and I said, well, I said, nothing
to do with you. I'm talking to the dad. Good
for you. And he started, well, I said, listen,
are you a man or what are we dealing with here?
Wow. I said, so I'll tell you what I'm going
to do. I'm going to go see my attorney. I'm picking
you up tomorrow and you're going to sign him
over to me. And he did. Wow. I went and got him.
Wow. Got him out of the children's home. Gave
him a place to live for eight, nine months, and
then they didn't renew his visa or whatever papers
he had. She had to go back to England. But, and
I've got several stories like that. I'm not going
to mention them all, but that's giving. That's
what we have to do. I see cops or military, I
pay for the dinner. Yeah, unless there's 20 of
them. But I usually do. And I see a homeless,
I don't give them money. I'll go over to a restaurant,
buy a lunch thing or food, and hand it to them.
And you're right what you said. I think there's
a lot of Americans that... people in this country
that would do that i think i think you taking
a kid in is absolutely is admirable because a
lot of people wouldn't do that i mean that is
above and beyond i was fostered at age 14 someone
took me in very much like your story and um i
loved her and she died 10 years ago and she was
my heroine all my life because she rescued me
not a lot of people would do that so that that's
amazing and you change this kid's life even though
he had to go back to england he saw what it meant
to step in and that would have framed his life.
So that's amazing. So over the years, over the
decades, America's changed. Yes. I see it changing
back. I think America's about to be better than
ever, especially knowing what's... I see things
in the background that nobody else sees, because
I study this. But your optimism is just what
I think we need, just to be optimistic. If you
know what's really going on right now in the
backdrop, You're going to be infinitely optimistic
because the idea of America is going to go worldwide.
It's going to go worldwide. And the idea is that,
you see, we're not a democracy. We're a republic.
And the republic doesn't stand for a blue party,
a red party. A republic stands for the individual.
It's about his right to say what he wants. As
long as he's not hitting you or stealing things
or breaking a contract. So the idea of America
is going to be a worldwide phenomenon. Make the
distinction between a republic and a democracy.
What is the key difference? So if the two of
us, here's three of us, we're going to vote on
something. The two of us say that you're going
to shave your head. You have no choice. You're
going to shave your head. And that's a democracy.
Yeah, because we're a majority. We win. The majority
wins. Majority wins. And a republic. We just
voted and you lost. We have representatives.
In other words, we vote for a senator, a commissioner,
and they represent. They're not representing
51%. They're representing everybody. And this
would be a. We're not going to talk about this
here in my Studio 17. I'm going to deep dive
about the Constitution. Not the way you think.
We're going to deep dive way beyond the Constitution.
But the idea of America is about you, your sovereignty,
your divine spark, and your permission to be
everything you can possibly be. That's America.
So if somebody in our number one country listening
to this is in Singapore, if somebody in Singapore
is listening to this, The idea of America in
Singapore is that you're beautiful, you're powerful,
you're free. Your divine spark deserves whatever
you can reach as long as you're not transgressing,
as long as you're following God's rules, God's
structures. You have this basic, I'm not going
to lie, cheat, steal, just basic stuff. Don't
break contracts. Honor your word. Here's the
basic structure. If you're living that way, then
you're an American. in singapore now the whole
idea of government whether there's see everyone
thinks oh we have we're america's great because
of a constitution no no we don't have rights
from the constitution all the constitution is
it's a it's a warning to the government the constitution
is a warning it's like we the people we own you
correct you don't play you don't play ball for
anyone but us and if you play ball for somebody
else we are going to come get you That's what
the Constitution is. I don't get my rights to
carry arms or to say what I want from a stupid
piece of paper. I was born with those rights.
And all the Constitution does is says, you F
around with me? Bad idea. First of all, I'm going
to use my words to tell you that this is not
okay. And by the way, my weapons are not to defend
against my next door neighbor. They're to defend
against a tyrannical government. Right. What
happened in Cuba? Yeah. So let's double back.
We didn't have weapons. Let's double back to
that because this is very relevant. So I wanted
my question to you, Carlos, is, you know, how
has America changed and how does what are you
looking at? What would you like to see in America
moving forward? I personally would love to see.
I want to go to Cuba. I want to own property
in Cuba. I think it's going to happen. I think
it's going to happen in 36 months. Really? Yeah.
God, I bless you. Until recently, when Al Marco
Rubio was there, I would have said that I probably
won't see it in my lifetime. We need to have
you live longer because you're going to see it.
I hope so. I hope so. But you asked me about
what I thought. I think our biggest mistake.
And not as a country, but as people. You come
to this country, first of all, you should be
grateful. Number two, assimilate. Don't tell
me you've been here 15 years and you can't speak
the language. Don't tell me you don't understand
anything. There's no excuse. You come in to live
here. Listen, I speak Spanish fluently. But if
there was three Spanish people here and one American,
don't talk to me in Spanish. You know what's
fascinating about that? Both Sarah and I have
been to numerous countries. I've been to 50 countries
in the military, plus afterwards probably 60
total. Every country I went to, I tried to learn
at least a few of the words. The idea that the
home people... saw this American at least trying
to speak their language. But the difference is
you go to visit for vacation or to visit or for
work, but when you come here to live here permanently,
And you're trying to change the deal, yeah. Yeah,
don't change America. That's why you came here.
Yeah, I know. That's always puzzled me. It doesn't
make any sense. Yeah, it doesn't make any sense.
You know, I see people, and I'm not going to
mention anybody, I see people driving around
with little flags from their country and all
of these flags and waving the flag. No, wave
the American flag. That's why you're here. So
that, to me, it always gets me when I see that.
I mean, I have one employee. He was in the military,
not from here, but it doesn't matter where he
was from. I hired him, and I said, listen, I
need you to speak English. So what I want you
to do, I'm going to give you 12 months. I need
you to learn the language because there's only
certain people here. My wife and I are gone.
Somebody's got to answer the phone. So you need
to speak to her. So 12 months, he didn't. I fired
him. Let him go. It's fascinating because I just
opened up business in Puerto Rico like five months
ago. That's what I was talking about. And I don't
speak Spanish much, but I don't have to. But
if I was in Puerto Rico, I'd learn it. But I
saw that as an opportunity to go into Central
and South America. So I brought on a whole bunch
of people that speak Spanish. Bilingual Spanish?
Yeah. Because I don't. I think it's a very valuable
thing. So I think you have to know your audience
and you have to know. But you're correct. There's
a difference between visiting someplace. Right.
And actually, like if I were to go to France
or Germany and I was going to live there or Russia.
I would immerse myself, and I'd figure it out.
Well, you respect their culture. You don't go
to change things. You respect their culture.
My next trip, and me and my wife, and I travel
a lot, not other countries. We always travel
in a motorhome. We travel the country. Our next
trip is Spain, and we're going to Astudia, where
my grandparents are from. I speak Spanish, but
I'm going to destroy it up there. It's very different.
Yeah, it's just different, but I'm going to do
it. But, yeah, bottom line, I love this country.
It gave me the opportunity, what you were saying,
that's all anyone should ever want from this
country is to be protected in the military. Yes,
free. And it gave us the opportunity to excel.
And it's there. And you'd mentioned gratitude
right out the gate. Oh, absolutely. I mean, and
unless you've been, I feel sorry for people.
I mean, with Tia Jolie, we traveled the world.
Thank God I did because I know how amazing this
is. I've been to Africa. I've been to India.
I've been to South America. And this is absolutely
fantastic. And I think gratitude spiritually
is a spiritual mindset because I believe that
more is supplied. So gratitude is a big one for
me. Grateful means that you've got a higher energy,
that you're more loving and that you'll give
back. So I really like the fact that you had
said that. And then the people are not, they're
always angry. They're angry. They hate this.
Don't wave the flag. Don't hate us. It's just
crazy. Now, are we poisoned to think that? Is
that the media doing that? Yeah, there's that.
Let's not get with the media. It's called the
mockingbird media. So that's terrible, isn't
it? Because we're told how terrible this country
is, and it's really not subjective. Look at communist
countries. Cuba, okay? What is Castro? What's
the first thing he did? He took over properties,
people's properties. He controlled the media.
He controlled the schools. He was teaching the
kids to make them little Marxists. It's pure
control. And there's no freedom. I remember I
was on a radio show one time discussing a similar
topic, and a guy who... called in and he says,
yeah, but they got the highest literacy rate
than most countries. And I said, if that's true,
that's great. But what good is it if they tell
you what to read? Client. Yeah, you can read
all you want, but here's what you're going to
read. So right now we have this big thing. The
past five years, there's been... Open borders,
pretty much. It's, come on in. We're going to
give you a $5 ,000 credit card or debit card.
That's the story. And a hotel room. That's the
story. A $500 a night hotel room. That's the
story. But if the story is true, we've got all
these people coming in, doing what they want,
when they want. You came in legally. You paid
your dues. How does this make you feel? It's
disgusting. I'm sorry. So you believe in immigration?
Listen, I believe in immigration. If there's
a problem with our immigration system, then change
the law. Make it easier. Make it whatever you
want to do. But to open the floodgates without
knowing who's... Can you imagine how many potential
terrorists are in here without us knowing? How
many people hate this country that are coming
to destroy it? I feel sorry for those, I even
feel sorry for those who came in illegally and
are hardworking with kids and now have to pay
the price because of the administration before
us. They opened the floodgate. I feel sorry for
them. I wish they could have, there could have
been a way that you say, okay, listen, you've
been here 40 years. I don't believe, I can't
believe. You haven't done anything about it,
but we'll try. But we're at a point where it's
too late for that. Estimates say, what, 10 million?
I don't know. Yeah, I've heard up to 10 million,
yeah. But let me ask you, let me give you a little
bit of hope. I'm a former military special operator.
Sun Tzu, with the art of war, says don't let
your enemies know what you're doing, right? You
appear strong when you're weak and appear weak
when you're strong. What if the borders weren't
really opened? What if we needed to put a honeypot
out there so that they come into the border and
we give them a credit card, a debit card, and
we could literally use the Space Force to track
every place they went and map it out? and find
out exactly who they were, where they were, how
they transacted business, so that we can then
use special operators to get them all at once,
drain the whole swamp. What are your thoughts
about it? Would you be encouraged if that proved
to be the case? I would, but I'll be honest with
you, I don't think the Biden administration is
smart enough to come up with that. So do you
think, and we'll talk, this is a Studio 17 topic,
but have you ever taken a look at the pictures
of Joe Biden from 20 years ago? versus the one
that they put up in the show, do you think it's
the same person? I don't know. I'm just saying.
I'm not telling you the answer. I don't know.
I'm not saying it, but when you look at the two
images, they don't look a lot alike, my friend.
So I'm just going to suggest that maybe we ask
good questions about who was this four -year
president and who was the real president. And
when you look at President Trump for the past,
since his first term, And you look at his cap
and it says 45 -47. Maybe he was the 46th president,
too, behind the scenes. Maybe I'm wrong, but
that seems very, very suspicious to me. I think
maybe the 46th might have been Obama. But there's
so many. And even the Obama you see. We don't
know. So it's not this show. This is a different
show. Yeah. But because this is about your journey,
but I'm just giving, I'm saying that we need
to ask better questions about what we think happened
over the Biden administration. Oh, just not repeat
it. Quick comment, and we'll switch topic if
you like. I believe that the people were kind
of waking up. They were realizing that what's
been told to them has been a lie for many years.
And I think the Democrats needed voters. I think
they opened the gate. They started handing out
social securities and licenses for potential
voters. So what I hear you saying is they spent
four years waking people up, waking people up.
They spent four years waking people up. Is that
pretty fair? Well, no, I think people woke up.
So you think it was accidental or not intentional?
Well, I think the waking up was probably Trump's
fight for this country. Whether you like Trump
or not, listen, he was aggressive. I guess the
bottom line, and put the name Trump aside. But
the man proved that this country would probably
run better with a businessman than with politicians.
Yeah, I don't put Trump aside. I'm unapologetic.
I call him Commander Trump because we're in a
military operation right now. I did not vote
for him. I voted for the libertarian because
I wouldn't vote for Hillary. I wouldn't vote
for her. And I wanted to vote for the person
that was the most disruptive, which would have
been the independent libertarian. So I voted.
But immediately thereafter, in fact, I sent a
letter to President Trump when he came down the
escalator. I sent a letter saying, I read that.
Saying, you got a pretty stout. Wrote ahead of
you. I'll be your vice president. That's a great
letter. That's good advice for him. And I said,
I got some tips for you. I'll tell you a quick
story. I wrote a song called USA. Oh, good. Is
that the one you sent me? I sent you two. Red,
White, and Blue is about my journey from Cuba
to the United States. USA is about our country
in general. There we go. And it was a great song.
And it's funny because the... Catch to the song
is USA and people singing USA, US. So I get a
call from a prominent television station in South
Florida. And he said, hey, we heard your song.
I said, we have a project. Would you mind us
using the song? And I said, well, you know, they
couldn't reveal who it was, but I said. Listen,
I've gotten calls from the liberals, and I refuse.
I don't want to step into it. He says, no, this
will be the total opposite. So I said, okay.
So two months later, I get a YouTube video, and
it was President Trump with my song. Oh, beautiful.
So for those of you listening to this broadcast,
you heard 20 or 30 seconds of music prior to.
the, the podcast, but then, uh, at the end, right
after this discussion, you're going to hear the
entire song. Yeah. Uh, one at one that Carlos
made. Let me, so I was going to say, let's, I
was going to share my music experience if you
like, cause I don't think we'd touch. Yeah. I
was going to say, let's, since we're talking
about music anyway, like, is that okay with you,
Sarah? Yeah. Right. So let's talk about music.
Cause we all love music. And you know, I was
a big fan. Of course, when I was growing up,
I was a big fan of James Taylor, uh, the young
rascals. I mean, This is some beautiful music.
And while my wife was going through cancer, 2007,
2008, 2009, I picked up the guitar again, and
I started writing music. And I said, you know
what? I said, I got extra money now. I'm doing
well. I said, I'm going to go record an album.
So I drove down to Miami with an old friend that
has been very successful. This man has recorded
with Barbra Streisand. He's recorded with, oh,
I mean, he toured with Barry Gibbs. The guy was,
four Grammys. I mean, awesome. And I say, well,
if I can just get him to say, hey, okay, this
is good enough. I'll help you produce and I'll
be happy. And had you been singing throughout
that time? Like in the shower? You hadn't used
your voice? No, I started all over again. And
so I go down to Miami. I go to his studio. And,
of course, we hug. Hey, how you been? I'm so
proud of you. You've done so well. Because the
guy is on the top of his field. And I said, so
I grabbed the guitar and I played. And I played
two or three songs. He said, play me a couple
more. And so I play and he says, well, I said,
why don't we do this? Let's get my brother in
line and let's go ahead and do the album. And
I said. But I want to be part of the band. And
I said, what band? I said, the band we're going
to form. And it's the Soulless Bravo Band. His
last name is Bravo. So it's the Soulless Bravo
Band. So here I got a four -time Grammy Award
winner that's played with everybody. You sounded
amazing. I listened to a lot of your tracks.
They were just really amazing. So I put this
band together. There's 10 of us. And I got the
best of the best in South Florida. My horn section
was some of the guys from Miami Sound Machine.
Oh, gosh. It's just amazing. So we start playing.
I start performing. And I'm saying, wow. I never
thought in my later years that I'd be doing this.
And every venue was full. And what I did was
something a little different than most musicians.
I didn't need the money. I mean, I wanted to
pay my band. So I would find four or five sponsors,
right? Each sponsors gave money. I got the location
and we play only in theaters, big theaters. I
didn't do local stuff. So I pay my band and all
the ticket sales went to cancer. This is freaking
me out a little bit. I'm just going to be honest
because I can't see the name of my new band.
Okay. But that business model is identical. Yes,
it works. To what my new band's business model
is. No, it works. Listen, the big companies are
happy because their money went to the cancer.
Not only that, but they let everybody in town,
you know, we had full house, full house. And
then my biggest night was going back to Miami.
There's a place called, it was called the Parrot
Jungle. It was a big, and it had a big theater,
Pinecrest Gardens, big, big theater, outdoor
with a dome. And so I'm going to perform. And
I'm sitting in the green room in the back, and
I'm listening to all these laughters and people
laughing. And it's just packed, standing room
only. And I go out there. And I started bawling.
I started crying. I looked, and they are all
the kids I grew up with. Elementary, junior high.
That's so beautiful. Three different gangs. They
used to fight each other. A bunch of old farts.
They were all there. And I'm just saying, I can't
believe this. Wow. And an incredible night. So
what's the status of your band right now? Well,
what happened, COVID came. And, of course, everything
stopped. I kept writing. And then after COVID,
I got a phone call from Richard, my drummer.
Is he down in Miami still? Oh, yeah. He travels.
There's a very well -known, popular Latin singer
called Juanes. He tours with Juanes, and he tours
with Barry Gibbs. And he's calling me, hey, we
got to start. We got to start again. We got to
start. And I said, shit, I can't do this again.
I just tired. Yeah. Because I had to do it all.
I found the venue. I negotiated the contract.
I promoted the, I found the sponsors. Yeah. You
know. Wrote, played, sung. And I told Rich, I
said, you come and. and you leave. You do everything
else. And that's one thing people don't get,
because I had a band down in Jupiter, Florida,
and I did everything. And that's a lot of work,
plus play bass. People have no idea, if you're
going to play out with a band, how many moving
parts there are, even just the stage set up and
the venue and all this. But I admire what you
did, and I get it. So what I was going to do,
our business model diverges a little bit. Because
I'm not going to have corporate sponsors. I avoid
corporations, but I do want to support charities.
So I have a mechanism for that. Also, I'm going
to be treating my business manager as if he or
she is a member of the band. And you have to.
Absolutely. Whatever the drummer gets, you get.
Whatever the singer gets, you get. And I'll help
you. You let me know. Yeah, I'm going to ask
you. I'm happy to do it. When I shut off the
mics, I'm going to tell you the name of the band.
Okay. And you're going to laugh your... butt
off you're gonna love it and you're gonna want
to be you're gonna want to promote it because
it's i'll help you absolutely you know i i the
only thing i missed i have several things but
what i miss it's not only sharing my music but
sharing my story because my concerts were not
just music it was a relationship every song had
a story i wrote a song this i wrote a song called
you're not alone and i wrote it for my wife beautiful
song talking about I Will Be By Your Side to
These Times of Pain and Sorrow, a beautiful song.
And then we were recording it, and I get to the
studio, and my producer, I asked when my sax
player was coming. Well, Camilo could not come.
He was sick. One feeling goes, so this guy walks
in. with a sax that looks like it's from the
1940s, you know, and long hair like this. And
he walks in, and I said, who did we get? And
he says, that's Charlie Deschamps. I said, who's
Charlie Deschamps? He says, that's the sax player
for Hall & Oates. Oh, wow. So we give him the
charts, you know, because you have all the charts
on how the sax is going to sound. We give him
the charts, and one take. I pay him by the hour.
It was unfair. I paid him more because I felt
he did it so quickly. But after he plays it,
I push the button and I say, Charlie, do me a
favor. Are you comfortable? Just do your own
thing. Forget the charts. Good for you. Here
I got a Grammy Award winning. Good for you. I'm
going to control them with my stupid charts.
And so he did. And that's the take. And when
you hear the song, that was him, that was mine,
that was not me. It is amazing. And so I'm going
to tell you this story, just a very personal
story. Right here, I was here, right here was
a, there was a sax player, his name's Rob. He
used to play for, he plays the Vegas show. Okay.
And he was with my previous band, the Phil Collins
Tribute Band. He was here, I was here, and we
were playing a Phil Collins tune. And it had
a pretty complex bass line, but I'm self -taught.
I never took any lessons. Same with me. I would
literally have to. And one thing we have in common
is the James Taylor bass player was the same
one for Phil Collins, right? Yeah. So Leland
Sklar. So I would literally watch videos on Leland
Sklar, and I would see his hands. I would see
his technique. I'd see how he played. I studied
him 100 hours. for each song, just studying it.
I'm not lying. No, no, I believe you. Just every
slide, everything. And so Rob was standing here.
His name's Rob Nader. And we finished the tune
right here. And there was like nine of us in
the studio here. And he says, you played that
exactly like Leland Sklar. Wow. And I cried.
I mean, I was, I'm not going to lie. I was emotional
to have a professional like him, the sax player,
that's freaking one of the top, top 10 in the
country. Yeah. Tell you that. Tell me that I
was so emotional because I'm just a scrapper
kid, Detroit kid, right? It's just from the streets.
Cause you're in the streets of Miami. I was treated
Detroit. In fact, the movie Eminem, I don't know
if you ever saw the eight mile, eight mile. I
knew all those streets. My brother and I watched
the movie. We're laughing. We're like, Oh yeah,
that's outer drive. That's yeah. We knew. So
I get you and I admire you so much. Yeah. So,
um, so we talked about music. We talked about
sports. We talked about America. What else? What
are we missing? So it sounds to me that you've
had some hardships and some suffering, especially
with what happened with your wife. That was probably
difficult. But she's alive and well now. And
I got cancer afterwards. Oh, really? Did you?
Yeah. So tell me a bit about that. What role
has faith played? Oh, tremendous. You know, when
I was growing up, the only time that I reached
out, was when I got in trouble. When I knew either
I'm going to go to jail or they caught me or
the cop would be behind me when I had stolen
the car and I'm saying, oh shit, I'm waiting
for the lights to turn on and then I pray. But
then when everything's over, you seem to forget
it. But as you get older, you look back and you
start realizing there's no coincidence. The things
that have happened to me were... It was just
amazing how any turn, I would have been dead.
And then what really hit me was with my wife.
When she got cancer, the business, the guy shows
up. Yeah. We sell it at the price that I want
it. Then I buy it back for, oh, my God. I wish
I could. All right, listen. I sold it for enough
to be able to buy two or three houses. I bought
it back for a price of a used car. Wow. Okay?
So, and at that point, it's when I said, wait
a minute, this is too much to ignore. Yeah, the
synchronicities. And my faith just went. Yeah.
Yeah. I got baptized. So your faith was strengthened
as a result of seeing God in action, basically.
More than strengthened. I finally found it because
the rest of it was phony. You know, yeah, I need
him. I need, you know, and all of a sudden you
forget and you're out doing. It's almost like
God's transactional. Like it's. God's there when
you need God, and God's there when you don't
need God. It's just all transactional. And you
eventually realize that there's a plan. There's
something for me in this life that I'm supposed
to share, give back, whether it's my music, me
being here speaking, whatever it is. Yeah, to
answer your question. Yes, it's amazing when
you really look back and you realize that God's
always been there. I hand to God all over. I
just haven't been paying attention. Right. So,
Carlos, when you say there was a plan. Is your
idea that your soul existed and God was this
general and you were the sergeant and God said,
look, I need you to go in there and do this.
And that's the plan. Or was the plan something
that you came up with and said, yeah, you know
what? In order to make myself bigger, stronger,
a better soul, a better spirit. We agree to these
terms and you're going to immerse me into this
human experience. I mean, what's the plan? I
could have all the plans in the world. So do
you think the plan is yours or somebody else's?
No, I think that's God's plan. So you're a pawn
in God's... I'm here to serve him. In other words,
I could have all the plans I want. Listen, I
wanted to win a Grammy. Okay. There's a lot of
things. We can still do this. You know, there's
a lot of plans that I had that just didn't happen.
Well, but it wasn't meant to, you know, you know,
you know, but do you think that's part of the
plan is the idea that you, cause I always teach
my entrepreneur groups and O means new opportunity.
That means you have to rethink what's going on
here. You could take the road, but it doesn't
mean that's the road for you. And you're going
to realize that there's a dead end to that road,
and you're going to find another road. And do
you think that God gets you back on the road
if you get knocked off? Look, I think I am blessed.
I am blessed as a human being. I'm blessed because
I got a fantastic wife. She has 48 years of marriage,
up and down. She's been through hell with me.
And she came from a wealthy family. She was not
from the project. She, you know, I lived in Little
Havana in the project. She lived in Coral Gables
Estates. And that's, you know, but yet she stuck
with me. We got married. We lived in a one -bedroom
little apartment. We raised three great kids.
I got three great kids. I'm blessed. Yes, you
certainly are. I'm blessed. And so I think I've
done. Whatever God's put me here, my family probably
was number one. Yes. That's beautiful. And then
maybe my music, maybe sharing my story, because
I love sharing my story. So what's next for you?
You've checked the boxes. I mean, look at all
the things he's checked in his life. So what's
next? I've got another book coming out. It's
about my wife and I's travels throughout the
Southeast United States. Oh, beautiful. It talks
about we went to Savannah. uh helen georgia and
and uh and we talk about our travels what restaurants
we went to what we did and and so it's like a
travel guide so i'm almost done with that i'm
continuing to write i have i have a book a huge
book of music the problem is i don't have the
kind of money that i can spend thirty thousand
dollars on an album you know uh You have to look
at AI technology to assist you. No, I want live
musicians. So when you're writing music, where
do you get your inspiration? Is this something
that's planned or is it happening as you're sitting
down? No, it's traveling. When I travel the country,
like for instance, a little town up in northern
Tennessee called Mountain City, Tennessee. Small
little town, which we love the small towns. I
don't do the big. Call out to Mountain City,
Tennessee. Yeah. And there's a little campground
there on a stream. And I go sit down by the stream,
grab my guitar. I just start plugging away. And
all of a sudden. chord progression comes, and
a melody comes, and the lyrics are the last.
They're the last for me. I'm not the type that
does the lyrics and then puts a song to it. In
fact, we were in Kentucky, and we were driving
to Tennessee, and we're on a road, and I was
teasing my wife. I told my wife, I said, you
know, I got lucky in Kentucky. And she started
laughing. And I said, damn, that's a song. Yes,
it is. And I wrote a song. I got lucky in Kentucky.
That's really sweet. But isn't that the way things
work? Yeah. I mean, you know, you don't know
much about our podcast, but we started off a
year and a few days ago, maybe 14 months ago.
We had no idea. We didn't think we'd have guests.
Now having guests is like, it's a gas. I mean,
I love meeting people like you. So what questions
do you have for us? My goodness. And maybe none.
No, I mean, I think we shared your story. You
shared your story. I just hope your podcast just
takes off. Well, we're not doing it for money.
We're not doing it for notoriety. No, but we
want to reach people. We just want to send good
stories to the people. I think our message is
one of hope. How has your thought with this podcast,
how has it morphed over the past? Year and a
half. I think we started out as two women wanting
to get to know each other. And we decided to
do that over the mic because we didn't really
know each other. We'd been introduced. So our
friendship has evolved over lifetime, over 66
episodes. And we surprised each other. We did.
And we don't always agree. And we can get pretty
heated over subjects. But we talk about ideas,
solutions to problems. And we just go anywhere.
I mean, there's not really a subject that we
haven't covered. I have one. One last question
I wanted to ask you. So parenting, that's quite
a difficult job to get right, isn't it? Absolutely.
And there's no education for it. There's no school
for it. Yeah. You know, my, I guess what helped
me was the fact that I probably did everything
that we're going to do. And I, and I will catch
them. Yes. That's fascinating. Because I've got
four children in the same thing. You got to let
them get away with some things. Give them the
boundaries. Could you tell if they were lying
to you? Excuse me? Could you tell if they were
lying to you, your children? Could you tell if
they were lying? Oh, yeah. My wife was real good
because my wife, they would come home and we
hadn't heard anything. And my wife would say,
you want to tell me something? Nothing had happened.
Interrogation. Isn't there something you want
to tell me? Well, who are you talking to? Just
tell me. There's something you want to tell me
before you get in trouble. All of a sudden, I
didn't mean to do that. Yeah, I know. But I was
firm. I was firm with her friends. My house was
full of kids. Was it? Yes, mine was too. They
must have been very comfortable then. Well, I
have one kid that, of course, he was taking drugs.
I didn't want my kids messing with any of that.
And they knew it. And they knew I never did.
So the guy comes over, oh, Mr. Sola, is Charlie
home? And he's all red -eyed. And I said, hey,
what have I told you? He says, what do you mean?
I said, you're high. And, oh, no, man, no, man.
I said, yeah, you're high. I said, don't. Don't
come to my house high. Now, you go back home,
and when you get feeling a little better and
something, you can come back. So he comes back
the second time, and he's high again. So he makes
a comment. So I slapped him. Oh, yes, I dropped
to the floor. And he says, shit, Mr. Sawyer,
I'll tell you what, go. Go home, tell your daddy
what I did, and if he wants some of it too, tell
him to come see me. So a father called three
days later, and he thanked me. Oh, did he? Yeah,
he said, thanks. I said, maybe you should do
some of that too. Yeah, that little shit. You
should have listened to me the first time. And
my kids will never let me forget it. That's it.
I speak for myself, and I think Sarah would agree.
This has been a great, great opportunity to get
to know you better. I enjoyed meeting you all.
It's been fun. And I'm looking forward to reading
your book. Please do. I love biographies and
memoirs. I've written one myself. Reach out to
me after you read it. I'd like to get your...
Let's do that. And you have some friends, too.
You said you have a friend that you want me to
interview on my other show. Yes. That would be
for military. Rick Prado was in the street gangs
that are involved with me in Miami. And he went
and... was a rescue, first EMS, and then he wound
up being a pararescue. Then the CIA recruited
him. He went over to Nicaragua to train. He spent
two or three years in the jungle training. Then
from there, he went to two or three other places.
He was in the task force to go find Osama bin
Laden. Just a hell of a guy. Is he here locally?
He's in St. Augustine. I might have to go and
interview him because I'm relaunching my Studio
17, but that would be the type of person I would
interview. But you could do that because I have
a radio station and I do broadcasts. You could
do it over the phone. I'll reach out to him.
Is he the two -star general you're talking about?
Yes. Okay, great. Retired as a two -star general.
Tough kid, tough kid in Miami, tough kid, you
know, you have to be. That's beautiful, yeah.
You have to be. But you could do it over the
phone. Frank and I record, and I do it from Claremont.
He's down at Deerfield Beach, and it's wonderful.
It just goes on the phone through the panel.
And I'm going to be doing, there's a new technology
that'll record on his computer, so there's no,
it's going to be. Very, very high fidelity on
his computer. And then the whole file gets sent
to me after the recording. He sounds like an
interesting one. It's going to be good. You can
look him up. He's on YouTube. He's done interviews.
Sure, I'll find him. Everywhere. Well, there's
another podcast that I have in the works. It's
not launched yet, but it's called We the People
Florida. Oh, okay. So that's going to be awesome.
But it's not what you think it is. You see, I
won't go there now. It's the close of the show.
But We the People Florida is... It's not about
America. It's not about Constitution. It's literally
about individual sovereign souls, sovereign souls
navigating this earth space in Florida. It's
like a microcosm of this, but I get to go off
outside the sandbox a little bit. Sometimes Sarah
rolls her eyes. She's like, no, you're not saying
that right now, are you? Did you just say that?
Okay, so Sarah, close us out. Any last final
thoughts? Well, it's been a pleasure talking
to you. Thank you so much. I'm going to read
your memoir and then we can talk again because
I'm very curious. I'll have a lot of questions,
I'm sure, and I'm looking forward to that. You've
got amazing kids. They would love to talk to
you as well. Thank you, they are. You're a wonderful
person. Proud of them. Yeah. Carlos, how can
people find out about your books, your music,
your plans, your travels? I think the best way
is if they go to soullessbravo .com. Okay, I'll
put the link in the show notes. Yeah, that's
my website. And from there, you can hear the
music, you can get the book, you can see my life
story. Everything's there. Okay, so I'll put
that just one link on the show notes. Yeah, thank
you. Soullessbravo .com. Great. And for those
of you listening, you've been listening to Soul
Decodes. This is episode 66. Our listenership
is starting to grow, and we couldn't do it without
you listening, and thanks so much. And now you're
going to enjoy some beautiful music from Carlos
and his friends. Thank you. All right, thanks.
I hope you enjoy the music and come back and
hear us next week. God bless. To say I'm free
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