WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.320
You have to realize what it is you want and what

00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:08.480
it is you're willing to risk. Because nothing

00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:11.859
in life that's worth anything comes with no risk.

00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:14.980
And yeah, there was a risk that could have taken

00:00:14.980 --> 00:00:17.500
my business and taken it away and confiscated

00:00:17.500 --> 00:00:20.120
stuff. But I'm sure if that happened, God would

00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:21.420
have had something better for me on the other

00:00:21.420 --> 00:00:24.679
end. My message to people is, we are stronger

00:00:24.679 --> 00:00:39.810
together than we are by ourselves. Yet another

00:00:39.810 --> 00:00:43.210
great guest on the Erased podcast. We have Louis

00:00:43.210 --> 00:00:47.310
Uredale, otherwise known as Big Lou, outspoken.

00:00:47.869 --> 00:00:52.869
gym owner in california who spoke his mind during

00:00:52.869 --> 00:00:56.270
the covet era and they took him out by his knees

00:00:56.270 --> 00:00:58.490
or at least they tried to i intentionally didn't

00:00:58.490 --> 00:01:01.750
share a lot with you about lou's story because

00:01:01.750 --> 00:01:03.850
you're gonna just fall in love with him you guys

00:01:03.850 --> 00:01:06.849
you're just so freaking aligned you're gonna

00:01:06.849 --> 00:01:09.250
have a lot to talk about so i just i sometimes

00:01:09.250 --> 00:01:12.310
like to set up the atmosphere I put you in front

00:01:12.310 --> 00:01:14.129
of other people and just sit back and watch and

00:01:14.129 --> 00:01:15.989
let the sparks fly. Well, I like it already.

00:01:16.189 --> 00:01:20.049
I have a feeling I know what happened. Communist

00:01:20.049 --> 00:01:23.030
California during that time. Oh, yeah. Nice to

00:01:23.030 --> 00:01:24.930
meet you, Lou. Thanks for coming on our show.

00:01:25.469 --> 00:01:28.549
Nice to meet you, Big Dave. Yeah. So, yeah, we

00:01:28.549 --> 00:01:30.670
have an understanding. He's Big Lou and I'm Big

00:01:30.670 --> 00:01:32.510
Dave. But everybody here in Miami knows me as

00:01:32.510 --> 00:01:34.629
Big Dave, so that shouldn't be a surprise to

00:01:34.629 --> 00:01:38.469
most people who know me already. So, you're a

00:01:38.469 --> 00:01:42.079
gym owner in California. And how did the idea

00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:43.739
even come about? How did you even get into the

00:01:43.739 --> 00:01:48.900
business? Were you a personal trainer? Tell us

00:01:48.900 --> 00:01:51.159
what prompted you to want to open up your own

00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:55.519
gym. Yeah, so I started off when I was a lawyer.

00:01:55.980 --> 00:01:58.939
And I worked in the legal field, but I just didn't

00:01:58.939 --> 00:02:01.200
feel a passion for it. But I felt a passion for

00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:02.799
fitness and helping people, helping them get

00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:05.620
in shape. So I started bodybuilding competitively.

00:02:05.950 --> 00:02:08.469
started to train people i got i felt very good

00:02:08.469 --> 00:02:10.889
feeling about helping people get into shape and

00:02:10.889 --> 00:02:12.949
the dream was always on a gym i just could never

00:02:12.949 --> 00:02:15.330
make it work out i always tried and tried myself

00:02:15.330 --> 00:02:19.030
as hard as i could and then in 2016 i was saved

00:02:19.030 --> 00:02:22.169
by grace and gave myself completely to jesus

00:02:22.169 --> 00:02:24.969
and you know god's like hey listen um you should

00:02:24.969 --> 00:02:26.990
try this gym and i was like listen i tried this

00:02:26.990 --> 00:02:28.889
before it's not gonna work and he said you haven't

00:02:28.889 --> 00:02:32.669
tried it with me and by the end of 2017 the gym

00:02:32.669 --> 00:02:35.680
was open We had about 300 people in pre -signs.

00:02:36.620 --> 00:02:39.620
Never turned back since then. Well, I'm curious

00:02:39.620 --> 00:02:41.460
about this being saved by grace. I love these

00:02:41.460 --> 00:02:43.860
stories. Can you share briefly what happened?

00:02:45.099 --> 00:02:48.620
Yeah, I mean, I was in a, I don't like saying

00:02:48.620 --> 00:02:50.360
a dark place because I think some people think

00:02:50.360 --> 00:02:52.400
that's like suicidal. I was just in an empty

00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:54.060
place, I guess I could say. There's a lot missing

00:02:54.060 --> 00:02:57.699
in my life. I didn't feel complete. My mom is

00:02:57.699 --> 00:03:00.159
a very devout Christian. She says, what you're

00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:01.780
missing is Jesus. And I was like, blow her off.

00:03:01.780 --> 00:03:04.509
Come on, Mom. I believe in God and all like that,

00:03:04.550 --> 00:03:06.509
but what's this? Christian stuff's not going

00:03:06.509 --> 00:03:09.150
to help me. So she stayed on me every day for

00:03:09.150 --> 00:03:12.389
two months to go talk to a local pastor. And

00:03:12.389 --> 00:03:14.610
finally, one day I was like, you know, if you

00:03:14.610 --> 00:03:16.409
stop calling me every day to do this, I'll go

00:03:16.409 --> 00:03:18.689
there and talk to the guy. So I went there and

00:03:18.689 --> 00:03:20.469
talked to the guy, and the guy was probably the

00:03:20.469 --> 00:03:23.069
best person to talk to me. He just started talking

00:03:23.069 --> 00:03:26.069
to me, started sharing scripture with me. And

00:03:26.069 --> 00:03:28.889
by the end of the little time we were talking,

00:03:28.949 --> 00:03:32.270
I was broken down in tears saying the sinner's

00:03:32.270 --> 00:03:35.400
prayer. and gave myself to Jesus. Next week,

00:03:35.419 --> 00:03:37.000
I came back to talk with him. He said I had a

00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:38.879
completely different aura about me. You know,

00:03:38.919 --> 00:03:40.979
I was just on fire, glowing. I just wanted to

00:03:40.979 --> 00:03:43.840
read as much as I could about Jesus and what

00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:46.860
he can do. And it just kind of flowed and compounded

00:03:46.860 --> 00:03:49.780
in my life as the Holy Spirit just started working.

00:03:50.020 --> 00:03:52.759
You were in a flow state. Wow. And then I must

00:03:52.759 --> 00:03:54.939
open a gym. I just feel like this is my calling.

00:03:55.419 --> 00:03:59.319
In 2017, you did actually open your gym. We went

00:03:59.319 --> 00:04:00.979
through a lot of trials and tribulations opening

00:04:00.979 --> 00:04:03.060
it too, just with the city permitting and stuff.

00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:06.000
We got to a point where we were going to be bankrupt

00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:07.539
and not be able to open because we had to wait

00:04:07.539 --> 00:04:09.639
like two months for these permits to get through.

00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:12.000
I remember throwing myself in the ground in the

00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:14.020
house I was renting. And I was like, listen,

00:04:14.099 --> 00:04:16.040
Jesus, you want me to go on the street and preach

00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:18.500
to people about your existence and I'll wear

00:04:18.500 --> 00:04:20.819
a burlap sack, I'll do it. But I really think

00:04:20.819 --> 00:04:22.699
that I can reach a lot more people at this gym

00:04:22.699 --> 00:04:24.759
and testify to my testimony of your greatness.

00:04:25.379 --> 00:04:28.310
That Monday, I got a call from the... planning

00:04:28.310 --> 00:04:30.069
department saying that everything was approved

00:04:30.069 --> 00:04:32.610
ahead of time and they were going to go ahead

00:04:32.610 --> 00:04:34.310
and let us get our building premise going. So,

00:04:34.389 --> 00:04:37.610
but for that, but for God, we would have never

00:04:37.610 --> 00:04:57.470
been open. outdated info, and straight -up lies

00:04:57.470 --> 00:05:00.389
from search engines. Your past shouldn't be a

00:05:00.389 --> 00:05:02.870
permanent headline. Erased .com gives you the

00:05:02.870 --> 00:05:05.170
reset button that the internet forgot to include.

00:05:05.550 --> 00:05:07.790
So don't let the web define you. Go to Erased

00:05:07.790 --> 00:05:10.689
.com, use code ERASED for 10 % off, and start

00:05:10.689 --> 00:05:13.449
owning your story today. Links in the description.

00:05:13.629 --> 00:05:17.269
Click it. Your future self will thank you. And

00:05:17.269 --> 00:05:20.930
specifically, in California, which township or

00:05:20.930 --> 00:05:24.430
village or city were you in? Oceanside. Oceanside.

00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:28.079
Oceanside in Santa Monica? Oceanside in California.

00:05:28.180 --> 00:05:30.379
It's in North San Diego. It's just outside of

00:05:30.379 --> 00:05:34.100
Camp Pendleton, the Marine Base. Okay. Leila's

00:05:34.100 --> 00:05:36.560
from California. I'm from California. So, okay,

00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:40.399
so you got the gym open. You have over 300 members.

00:05:41.019 --> 00:05:45.980
You're rocking and rolling. 2017, 2018, 2019,

00:05:46.420 --> 00:05:52.910
COVID. Uh -oh, 2020. 2020. Yep. 2020 hits. 2020

00:05:52.910 --> 00:05:56.750
hits. Gym owner in the beginning of COVID. Yeah,

00:05:56.750 --> 00:05:59.810
they started talking about like, oh, yeah, I'm

00:05:59.810 --> 00:06:02.189
a bodybuilder. So what they did was they canceled

00:06:02.189 --> 00:06:04.589
the Arnold Classic, which was in Ohio. This is

00:06:04.589 --> 00:06:06.649
kind of like the foreshadowing because they didn't

00:06:06.649 --> 00:06:08.069
want people coming in from all over the world

00:06:08.069 --> 00:06:12.310
bringing this new virus that was out. And I was

00:06:12.310 --> 00:06:13.810
like, well, that's silly, you know, canceling

00:06:13.810 --> 00:06:15.170
something like that. And they were talking about,

00:06:15.209 --> 00:06:16.689
well, we may have to shut businesses down. And

00:06:16.689 --> 00:06:19.850
I said, they'll never do that. And sure enough.

00:06:20.360 --> 00:06:23.079
They issued this thing where all business had

00:06:23.079 --> 00:06:25.079
to close down because they show all these videos

00:06:25.079 --> 00:06:26.899
of people just collapsing in China or something

00:06:26.899 --> 00:06:30.100
like that. And so we decided, you know, we'll

00:06:30.100 --> 00:06:33.000
go ahead and close down because I don't know

00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:35.180
anything about this virus. This could be a real

00:06:35.180 --> 00:06:38.279
virus that kills people. I have no idea. So we

00:06:38.279 --> 00:06:40.560
stayed closed for about, they said it's just

00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:43.680
a month of April, right? And after April. No,

00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:47.040
it was March. Well, it started in mid -March.

00:06:47.079 --> 00:06:49.670
Two weeks slow spread, right? two weeks and they

00:06:49.670 --> 00:06:51.389
said well we're gonna also close down for april

00:06:51.389 --> 00:06:53.410
so i started thinking i mean this is ridiculous

00:06:53.410 --> 00:06:55.329
i gotta start thinking about what i need to do

00:06:55.329 --> 00:06:58.589
so i started planning ahead of time right and

00:06:58.589 --> 00:06:59.970
i went out to all these businesses that were

00:06:59.970 --> 00:07:03.170
open and i thought it was a huge injustice that

00:07:03.170 --> 00:07:05.810
say like the jewelry department in costco could

00:07:05.810 --> 00:07:08.290
be open but a mom -and -pop jewelry store couldn't

00:07:08.290 --> 00:07:10.769
be open like why can costco sell jewelry and

00:07:10.769 --> 00:07:12.370
clothes but a clothing store can't sell clothes

00:07:12.370 --> 00:07:14.589
because oh they're not essential and the whole

00:07:14.589 --> 00:07:16.129
meaning of essential non -essential really got

00:07:16.129 --> 00:07:20.060
into my skin so i started uh Probably mid -April,

00:07:20.060 --> 00:07:23.060
I started planning a reopen. So I did everything

00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:25.199
I could. I hired these doctors, these biologists

00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:28.160
to come in to make sure I had it on paper that

00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:31.279
this place was an A -plus rating for not catching

00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:34.160
a virus. I had little sprayers I put out on stuff,

00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:36.319
which turned out to be pointless. We had fans

00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:39.019
blowing open door, air blowing through. So there's

00:07:39.019 --> 00:07:42.519
really nothing they can do or say. And, you know,

00:07:42.540 --> 00:07:44.600
of course. We never got due process out here.

00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:47.000
We didn't get a chance to present each everyone's

00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:48.899
business. It was just shut down. We're taking

00:07:48.899 --> 00:07:51.500
away from you, but not giving due process. So

00:07:51.500 --> 00:07:53.879
it was like one of those California gyms where

00:07:53.879 --> 00:07:57.279
it's wide open, doors are open, sort of working

00:07:57.279 --> 00:07:59.660
out outside. Kind of like a tunnel. Air could

00:07:59.660 --> 00:08:01.060
just blow straight through this tunnel, you know?

00:08:01.240 --> 00:08:06.000
Okay. Yeah, so it came around May 8th. I decided

00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:09.620
I was going to reopen it on a Friday. The police

00:08:09.620 --> 00:08:11.220
came out and they said, hey, why are you open?

00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:14.379
And I was like, you know what? We just decided

00:08:14.379 --> 00:08:16.160
we need to be open. We put all these precautions

00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:18.040
in place. The officer that came out was really

00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:19.240
cool. He's like, yeah, I'm not going to file

00:08:19.240 --> 00:08:23.060
anything on this. It's not really my part. There's

00:08:23.060 --> 00:08:27.259
no crime going on here. So that was that. Were

00:08:27.259 --> 00:08:30.060
you the only business open at that time in your

00:08:30.060 --> 00:08:33.379
home or what? We were the only business open

00:08:33.379 --> 00:08:38.019
that wasn't supposed to be open. You know what

00:08:38.019 --> 00:08:39.860
I'm saying? We were the only one. We were the

00:08:39.860 --> 00:08:43.149
only gym. Indoors, we were open indoors. Can

00:08:43.149 --> 00:08:45.649
you imagine if all the businesses stood together

00:08:45.649 --> 00:08:49.549
and said, we're all staying open? They wouldn't

00:08:49.549 --> 00:08:51.769
have been able to do that. No, they wouldn't

00:08:51.769 --> 00:08:54.090
have been able to. But people at the time were

00:08:54.090 --> 00:08:59.350
very scared. They were very worried about fines.

00:08:59.649 --> 00:09:01.809
They were threatening to take away people's business

00:09:01.809 --> 00:09:04.549
licenses, threatening to confiscate all the property.

00:09:04.769 --> 00:09:06.789
You'll find out about it. They came at me with

00:09:06.789 --> 00:09:11.620
a lot. On Saturday, or it was uh yeah the next

00:09:11.620 --> 00:09:13.440
day i got a call from a lieutenant who said if

00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:15.659
you reopen we're gonna we're gonna issue a citation

00:09:15.659 --> 00:09:17.899
and try to close you down i was like well all

00:09:17.899 --> 00:09:21.320
due respect i'm gonna be open tomorrow um now

00:09:21.320 --> 00:09:23.779
that group they have like different sounds sounds

00:09:23.779 --> 00:09:27.059
reasonable to her yeah so uh definitely so the

00:09:27.059 --> 00:09:29.720
uh the next day it was sunday i remember i was

00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:33.620
around 11 30 cop car pulls in and uh this guy

00:09:33.620 --> 00:09:36.960
comes in very just arrogant Probably the only

00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:39.080
arrogant police officer in Oceanside because

00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:41.080
every single officer has come up to me and talked

00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:42.899
to me, said they did not agree with that decision

00:09:42.899 --> 00:09:48.200
to arrest me. The guy comes in and he's like,

00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:50.080
you were told to be closed. Why aren't you closed?

00:09:50.360 --> 00:09:52.379
Like, because it's my business. And I'm putting

00:09:52.379 --> 00:09:55.740
food on the table for my family. We're good here.

00:09:55.820 --> 00:09:57.620
We're good. And he's like, if you don't close

00:09:57.620 --> 00:10:00.179
down right now, I'm going to arrest you. And

00:10:00.179 --> 00:10:03.379
did you have customers? They were all like, they

00:10:03.379 --> 00:10:04.659
all crowded around, you know, and he's like,

00:10:04.659 --> 00:10:06.360
I'm going to arrest you. I'm like. arrest me

00:10:06.360 --> 00:10:10.039
i'm like with handcuffs in jail he's like that's

00:10:10.039 --> 00:10:12.620
what that's what arrest you means i'm looking

00:10:12.620 --> 00:10:14.879
at him and it felt like 20 minutes went by but

00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:16.500
it was probably like 10 seconds and i'm just

00:10:16.500 --> 00:10:18.120
standing i'm like i don't know what to do i've

00:10:18.120 --> 00:10:20.720
never been arrested before you know i i so i

00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:22.620
put my hands out i'm like what was all doing

00:10:22.620 --> 00:10:26.320
what do we do like what do we do he's like really

00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:30.159
i'm like uh yeah really so they take me outside

00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:32.159
handcuff he put me back in the cruiser take me

00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:35.080
to the jail and it's unlawful to do that it's

00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:38.919
so unlawful yeah well i mean you're talking about

00:10:38.919 --> 00:10:41.259
it was a health ordinance that the police are

00:10:41.259 --> 00:10:43.980
enforcing they don't have the jurisdiction the

00:10:43.980 --> 00:10:45.740
two you know but it didn't matter at that time

00:10:45.740 --> 00:10:49.100
it was it was just full -on full -on uh martial

00:10:49.100 --> 00:10:51.580
law at that time communism they wanted to do

00:10:51.580 --> 00:10:55.090
and the name was so they take you Did you call

00:10:55.090 --> 00:10:57.950
your, I guess you get a phone call. So take us

00:10:57.950 --> 00:10:59.070
through this. I've never been in this situation

00:10:59.070 --> 00:11:02.029
as well. So you're in the cop car. By the way,

00:11:02.049 --> 00:11:04.649
like we were very, you know, I was prepared.

00:11:05.210 --> 00:11:08.490
She said, I am prepared to be chained to the

00:11:08.490 --> 00:11:11.210
front of the school, you know, and go to jail.

00:11:11.350 --> 00:11:13.769
And I was like, I will definitely get you out

00:11:13.769 --> 00:11:18.809
after a little while. I was like, you know, mine

00:11:18.809 --> 00:11:20.950
was really because I didn't want to mask any

00:11:20.950 --> 00:11:23.909
of our kids. That's ridiculous. And there were

00:11:23.909 --> 00:11:26.889
gym owners that were arrested for not masking

00:11:26.889 --> 00:11:31.070
people trying to work out. Mm -hmm. You know?

00:11:31.590 --> 00:11:33.450
Okay, so take us through what happened. So you're

00:11:33.450 --> 00:11:36.289
in the cop car. You're on your way to jail. And

00:11:36.289 --> 00:11:39.789
then what happened? Did somebody shut down the

00:11:39.789 --> 00:11:42.370
location? Did everybody leave? What happened?

00:11:42.370 --> 00:11:44.909
When I left, the cop told anyone that stays in

00:11:44.909 --> 00:11:46.529
here is going to get arrested, and I'll take

00:11:46.529 --> 00:11:48.899
you in the paddy wagon. So everyone left. Because

00:11:48.899 --> 00:11:51.059
there's Marines in there. They get arrested.

00:11:51.139 --> 00:11:54.820
They get kicked out of the Corps. So, yeah, I

00:11:54.820 --> 00:11:56.759
went. I had no idea what was going on back at

00:11:56.759 --> 00:12:00.620
the gym. And they processed me and got me out

00:12:00.620 --> 00:12:01.740
of there in about an hour and a half because

00:12:01.740 --> 00:12:04.460
there was no one being held in jail because of

00:12:04.460 --> 00:12:06.480
COVID. They were letting out – if you were a

00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:08.820
child molester, you were getting out. They just

00:12:08.820 --> 00:12:11.779
didn't hold anyone for any crime. They opened

00:12:11.779 --> 00:12:14.320
the back door out. I came out in this grass field.

00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:16.039
I had to walk around the building. My wife picked

00:12:16.039 --> 00:12:18.450
me up up front. went back to the gym reopened

00:12:18.450 --> 00:12:22.950
it up wow i love it i was like why are we close

00:12:22.950 --> 00:12:26.649
same day same day no yeah we just opened the

00:12:26.649 --> 00:12:28.529
doors up and that was that you know and then

00:12:28.529 --> 00:12:32.509
and then we the next day um we didn't reopen

00:12:32.509 --> 00:12:35.110
the next day because i actually talked to some

00:12:35.110 --> 00:12:36.669
lawyers and they wanted to figure some stuff

00:12:36.669 --> 00:12:38.850
out about the ways that we could do it better

00:12:38.850 --> 00:12:42.549
so i listened to them for that one day and then

00:12:42.549 --> 00:12:44.090
i said you know what we're gonna have a rally

00:12:44.090 --> 00:12:47.639
at the gym and we're going to reopen and we call

00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:50.740
all the news stations so we called all the news

00:12:50.740 --> 00:12:52.820
stations out there they all covered it and uh

00:12:52.820 --> 00:12:55.379
i had people testify the biggest thing about

00:12:55.379 --> 00:12:58.700
it was before i opened i prayed on it to god

00:12:58.700 --> 00:13:00.919
i said this is this something i need to do i

00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:02.240
don't want to hurt people i don't want people

00:13:02.240 --> 00:13:03.960
to die because i'm doing something and god said

00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:06.480
i remember this strong conviction in my chest

00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:08.950
him saying not only do you You should do this.

00:13:08.970 --> 00:13:10.269
You need to do this. They're going to try and

00:13:10.269 --> 00:13:11.970
take your money away. They're going to try and

00:13:11.970 --> 00:13:13.509
take your business away. They're going to try

00:13:13.509 --> 00:13:15.809
and incarcerate you. But don't worry. I got your

00:13:15.809 --> 00:13:18.029
back. Wow. That's before you reopened or before

00:13:18.029 --> 00:13:21.409
you opened? Just before I opened. The first.

00:13:21.629 --> 00:13:24.789
The grand opening. The grand reopening. Yeah.

00:13:24.830 --> 00:13:28.669
I prayed on it, and I just knew. I knew nothing

00:13:28.669 --> 00:13:30.450
could happen. Nothing they're going to do for

00:13:30.450 --> 00:13:34.470
me. No man on this earth. I'm not scared. Wow.

00:13:35.590 --> 00:13:38.730
So we did it. and uh they were they were gonna

00:13:38.730 --> 00:13:41.129
have they're gonna come out in like force right

00:13:41.129 --> 00:13:43.110
they had like i heard that police and riot gear

00:13:43.110 --> 00:13:45.690
were coming they're gonna like raid the place

00:13:45.690 --> 00:13:49.389
barricade it up tear gas but i was over i was

00:13:49.389 --> 00:13:52.889
over the news everywhere ap ap news came out

00:13:52.889 --> 00:13:55.429
to interview me and i'll never forget this lady

00:13:55.429 --> 00:13:59.309
she was so nice and of course at the time i was

00:13:59.309 --> 00:14:01.950
i was really in shape i was wearing like short

00:14:01.950 --> 00:14:04.669
shorts and a tank top and he's just and she's

00:14:04.669 --> 00:14:07.809
like wow you're like the typical southern california

00:14:07.809 --> 00:14:10.570
surfer guy here you are just trying to have a

00:14:10.570 --> 00:14:12.789
gym and they're trying to close you down and

00:14:12.789 --> 00:14:15.470
she starts interviewing me and the police drive

00:14:15.470 --> 00:14:17.549
by and she said are they going to try and arrest

00:14:17.549 --> 00:14:19.309
you i go maybe they just drove by because you're

00:14:19.309 --> 00:14:22.149
here so she asked if she could wait out in the

00:14:22.149 --> 00:14:24.860
car And when they came back, could she run in

00:14:24.860 --> 00:14:27.320
and interview the police? Wow. I'm like, for

00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:30.320
sure you can do that. It'd be great. So the cops

00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:32.000
came back in, you know, they take my license.

00:14:32.059 --> 00:14:34.000
And the one guy inspector is walking around.

00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:36.879
She comes bustling in that her husband's with

00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:40.080
her with the camera, you know, and she's like,

00:14:40.120 --> 00:14:42.779
I'm, you know, Sonia, someone, somebody with

00:14:42.779 --> 00:14:45.000
AP news reporting around the nation. Are you

00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:46.720
going to arrest Louis Yerdel for opening his

00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:50.799
gym and trying to feed his family? And he's like,

00:14:51.179 --> 00:14:53.240
he has the ID in his hand. He's like, no, we

00:14:53.240 --> 00:14:54.639
were just coming by to check things out here.

00:14:54.860 --> 00:14:59.779
And hands it back to her, hands it back to me.

00:14:59.799 --> 00:15:02.580
And they leave. And the next day, OPD comes out.

00:15:03.159 --> 00:15:06.320
And they said, from this point on, OPD was not

00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:07.940
going to make any arrests. They weren't going

00:15:07.940 --> 00:15:11.519
to come by. They would come by one time or calls

00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:14.879
me. Because every day I got so many calls. At

00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:17.960
one point. i think i had around 14 000 calls

00:15:17.960 --> 00:15:21.879
in one weekend people against you or for you

00:15:21.879 --> 00:15:24.139
against calling in saying this gym's open shut

00:15:24.139 --> 00:15:26.919
it down like just calling in you know they see

00:15:26.919 --> 00:15:30.340
them the news because i'd have a news uh piece

00:15:30.340 --> 00:15:34.000
would drop and they would call and uh so they

00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:36.419
said we'll take a report we'll send it to da

00:15:36.419 --> 00:15:38.080
the da can handle it this is san diego county

00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:40.279
business it's not oceanside business so we're

00:15:40.279 --> 00:15:42.340
not going to do anything to you but just just

00:15:42.340 --> 00:15:44.940
pause for a second just think about that what

00:15:45.870 --> 00:15:49.470
Stupid, stupid people. Instead of people banding

00:15:49.470 --> 00:15:52.509
together to stop the insanity, you have all these

00:15:52.509 --> 00:15:56.750
cowards that are scared of, you know, all the

00:15:56.750 --> 00:15:59.750
man -made fabrication nonsense, and they band

00:15:59.750 --> 00:16:02.190
together to try and get him to shut down. All

00:16:02.190 --> 00:16:03.769
over the world, I'm sure these people are coming

00:16:03.769 --> 00:16:05.070
from. That's the problem. That's the problem.

00:16:05.509 --> 00:16:10.559
San Diego started an anonymous tip line. for

00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:12.519
people to call in and report businesses that

00:16:12.519 --> 00:16:14.860
were open. It's just like the Third Reich, man.

00:16:15.299 --> 00:16:17.580
You're like calling in and reporting people.

00:16:18.460 --> 00:16:22.679
Jeez. Wow. But even in the gyms, so we're fortunate

00:16:22.679 --> 00:16:24.419
enough to be in Florida. Florida had one of the

00:16:24.419 --> 00:16:27.899
easier COVID experiences, but I used to belong

00:16:27.899 --> 00:16:32.279
to a gym that I just loved going to. And we reopened

00:16:32.279 --> 00:16:34.159
really fast. I don't know if you probably know

00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:36.940
better than me when gyms in Miami opened up.

00:16:36.980 --> 00:16:39.419
I think it was before elsewhere in the country.

00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:43.840
Yeah. But you had to wear masks. And, of course,

00:16:43.940 --> 00:16:47.659
the way that I expressed my freedom is I would

00:16:47.659 --> 00:16:50.519
have it under my nostrils. And people would tell

00:16:50.519 --> 00:16:53.480
the management. You also had the see -through

00:16:53.480 --> 00:16:55.659
mask. And I had all these giant holes in it,

00:16:55.679 --> 00:17:01.629
you know, with sparkles. people in the gym would

00:17:01.629 --> 00:17:03.769
rat on me, you know, and they would come and

00:17:03.769 --> 00:17:05.789
say, sir, you need to put your mask on fully.

00:17:05.970 --> 00:17:07.190
And I was like, you know what, I'm out of here.

00:17:07.250 --> 00:17:09.309
And I think I started working out at home, you

00:17:09.309 --> 00:17:12.029
know, for the next few years. Yeah, we never

00:17:12.029 --> 00:17:14.150
required anyone to wear masks. And that was one

00:17:14.150 --> 00:17:17.190
of the hit pieces that Union Tribune wrote on

00:17:17.190 --> 00:17:20.009
us that actually was probably the best thing

00:17:20.009 --> 00:17:22.230
that ever happened to the gym. The title of the

00:17:22.230 --> 00:17:24.589
article, I think, was something like Oceanside

00:17:24.589 --> 00:17:27.549
Gym Order Defies Order. And then the subheading

00:17:27.549 --> 00:17:30.539
was Allows. gym members to work out inside without

00:17:30.539 --> 00:17:34.720
masks on the next day scandalous number of people

00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:37.799
that were lined up i saw i read the article in

00:17:37.799 --> 00:17:40.079
the tribune are we allowed to work out inside

00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:41.839
with no masks i'm like yeah like i want to sign

00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:45.440
up there's so many people that came out i couldn't

00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:47.119
be like where are all these people coming from

00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:49.079
and they've all read the union tribune hit piece

00:17:49.079 --> 00:17:51.660
that's a fascinating parallel with our school

00:17:51.660 --> 00:17:55.319
when our controversy came out our schools had

00:17:55.319 --> 00:17:59.230
a very divided polarized a parent community and

00:17:59.230 --> 00:18:01.269
teacher community. And when the controversy started

00:18:01.269 --> 00:18:04.150
happening, so many people ran for the hills.

00:18:04.329 --> 00:18:06.890
And we lost many, many of our teachers, most

00:18:06.890 --> 00:18:09.549
of the families. But it did, all the negative

00:18:09.549 --> 00:18:11.130
attention attracted people from all over the

00:18:11.130 --> 00:18:13.769
world who heard about our school and knew this

00:18:13.769 --> 00:18:15.309
is the only place they could put their kid in

00:18:15.309 --> 00:18:17.609
school. And we had people moving from all over

00:18:17.609 --> 00:18:20.289
the world, London, Australia. You found people,

00:18:20.630 --> 00:18:22.630
really, right? You found more people that were

00:18:22.630 --> 00:18:25.210
aligned with you because of the media piece.

00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:28.799
We had a couple that drove down from Pasadena.

00:18:28.819 --> 00:18:31.299
It was a two -plus -hour drive every day to work

00:18:31.299 --> 00:18:33.279
out because there were no gyms in L .A. open.

00:18:34.019 --> 00:18:35.539
Nothing. You go to the gym, you got to come.

00:18:35.900 --> 00:18:39.680
Did you get bigger? Did the gym get bigger? Yeah,

00:18:39.700 --> 00:18:43.819
so around 20, I think in October of 2020, we

00:18:43.819 --> 00:18:47.240
had to expand into a 4 ,000 -square -foot place.

00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:49.740
We had like a 4 ,000 -square -foot. We knocked

00:18:49.740 --> 00:18:52.619
the wall out. We had to expand because we grew

00:18:52.619 --> 00:18:56.420
so much. We had so many members sign up. to be

00:18:56.420 --> 00:18:58.200
a part of it. We still have members to this day

00:18:58.200 --> 00:19:00.740
who are members there because of what we did

00:19:00.740 --> 00:19:05.559
and standing up against everything. Wow. That's

00:19:05.559 --> 00:19:07.460
a beautiful story. So your story is a little

00:19:07.460 --> 00:19:10.039
lucky because, you know, there were other parts

00:19:10.039 --> 00:19:12.099
of California and other parts of the country

00:19:12.099 --> 00:19:16.420
where the government was issuing insane fines.

00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:20.400
So they threatened us. So the second lockdown

00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:26.170
happened in July. Perfect irony. Two days before

00:19:26.170 --> 00:19:28.210
the second lockdown, there's a small business

00:19:28.210 --> 00:19:30.109
appreciation month. Wait, hold on, hold on. You

00:19:30.109 --> 00:19:31.829
guys had a second lockdown? We didn't have a

00:19:31.829 --> 00:19:33.529
second lockdown. We had three lockdowns. So they

00:19:33.529 --> 00:19:36.210
raised the lockdown in June. So from June to

00:19:36.210 --> 00:19:39.970
July, it was open. And then they re -locked down

00:19:39.970 --> 00:19:42.170
from July until probably October. I'm sorry.

00:19:42.289 --> 00:19:43.990
There's a third lockdown. Sorry, one second,

00:19:44.049 --> 00:19:49.049
one second. Oh, no. Okay. Just ask your question

00:19:49.049 --> 00:19:52.519
again. Okay, sorry. So wait a minute. We were

00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:55.680
fully out of lockdown here. Everybody was free

00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:58.980
in July. And even before July, it was still very

00:19:58.980 --> 00:20:02.660
loose. California actually had a second and a

00:20:02.660 --> 00:20:06.279
third lockdown? So there was no working out inside

00:20:06.279 --> 00:20:09.839
gyms until about, I would say, April of 2021.

00:20:10.299 --> 00:20:14.079
You was not allowed to work out. When the mask

00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:17.420
mandate was lifted in April or May of 2021, you

00:20:17.420 --> 00:20:20.579
still couldn't work out in gyms. So we had never

00:20:20.579 --> 00:20:23.359
stopped. And so the second lockdown happened

00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:25.420
and there was an outbreak in one of the other

00:20:25.420 --> 00:20:28.160
gyms that was staying open. So they started cracking

00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:29.960
down on all the gyms and everyone just folded.

00:20:30.019 --> 00:20:35.339
Everyone just folded like teacups. Myself, however,

00:20:35.619 --> 00:20:39.920
did not. So they threatened us with, I think

00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:43.400
I had 21, they threatened us with 21 misdemeanors.

00:20:45.069 --> 00:20:47.769
they want a 1500 a day fines and they would be

00:20:47.769 --> 00:20:49.769
applied retroactively but they were open so the

00:20:49.769 --> 00:20:53.450
instant 90 000 fine and then 1500 a day after

00:20:53.450 --> 00:20:59.670
uh you reopened um wow of course thrown in jail

00:20:59.670 --> 00:21:01.509
until they closed down you know that type of

00:21:01.509 --> 00:21:04.430
stuff was all threatened and i was like well

00:21:04.430 --> 00:21:07.809
this is getting kind of serious and uh so i had

00:21:07.809 --> 00:21:11.970
to i had to dig into my uh legal background So

00:21:11.970 --> 00:21:13.930
I started looking. I realized that this whole

00:21:13.930 --> 00:21:16.230
thing wasn't very well thought out. They didn't

00:21:16.230 --> 00:21:19.250
write the order well. There weren't lawyers I

00:21:19.250 --> 00:21:21.089
don't think were involved in this. They issued

00:21:21.089 --> 00:21:23.829
an immediate closure order for my gym, but they

00:21:23.829 --> 00:21:25.910
didn't put a time on it when I could reopen.

00:21:26.130 --> 00:21:27.970
So I closed down at 8 p .m. that night, which

00:21:27.970 --> 00:21:30.069
I normally was going to, and reopened the next

00:21:30.069 --> 00:21:31.890
morning at 6. I immediately closed, and you didn't

00:21:31.890 --> 00:21:32.970
say anything about reopening, so I'm reopening

00:21:32.970 --> 00:21:36.890
the next day. So I realized that this wasn't

00:21:36.890 --> 00:21:38.890
a very well -oiled machine. It wasn't thought

00:21:38.890 --> 00:21:40.690
out. So I started going through the California.

00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:43.900
what the health order was. And I found something

00:21:43.900 --> 00:21:46.059
very peculiar. All the things like dental offices,

00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:49.000
they said no more than like 10 people in there,

00:21:49.099 --> 00:21:50.960
no more than like five clients, blah, blah, blah.

00:21:51.500 --> 00:21:53.480
When it got to physical therapy, there were no

00:21:53.480 --> 00:21:56.299
requirements listed for physical therapy. It

00:21:56.299 --> 00:21:58.059
just says physical therapy can be done indoors,

00:21:58.420 --> 00:22:03.140
period. So I talked to a member of our gym who

00:22:03.140 --> 00:22:06.640
was a doctor of physical therapy. And I asked,

00:22:06.680 --> 00:22:08.440
is it something that physical therapists do to

00:22:08.440 --> 00:22:10.990
write preventative workouts for people? to prevent

00:22:10.990 --> 00:22:12.869
injuries and work with that. She's absolutely.

00:22:13.470 --> 00:22:15.369
I go, would you be willing to write a prescription

00:22:15.369 --> 00:22:20.869
for this for all 1500 members? Workouts indoors.

00:22:21.589 --> 00:22:23.349
She said, absolutely. I can do that. No problem.

00:22:23.910 --> 00:22:29.369
So she got a free membership. And when, when

00:22:29.369 --> 00:22:32.589
I talked to the emergency services people and

00:22:32.589 --> 00:22:35.549
the attorney, I said, you guys, we can just drop

00:22:35.549 --> 00:22:37.990
all this stuff right now. From now on, members

00:22:37.990 --> 00:22:39.609
of my gym are doing physical therapy. And under

00:22:39.609 --> 00:22:41.650
the order, Physical therapy is a lot. They go,

00:22:41.690 --> 00:22:43.690
well, you're limited to 10 % capacity. No, no,

00:22:43.710 --> 00:22:46.809
no, no. Read the order. I didn't write it. The

00:22:46.809 --> 00:22:48.890
order has no limitation on capacity. So actually

00:22:48.890 --> 00:22:52.609
I can put full capacity in my gym as opposed

00:22:52.609 --> 00:22:54.470
to before where I was limited to like 40, 50

00:22:54.470 --> 00:22:57.549
people. Now I'm going to put 390 people. Where

00:22:57.549 --> 00:22:59.509
did you say this? Was this on the phone or you

00:22:59.509 --> 00:23:01.630
had a hearing? It was a conversation with my

00:23:01.630 --> 00:23:04.150
lawyer and them. And they're like, well, we're

00:23:04.150 --> 00:23:05.589
concerned they're going to have too many people.

00:23:06.210 --> 00:23:08.910
I'm like, then you should take it to the state

00:23:08.910 --> 00:23:12.250
of California. and have them redo the wording

00:23:12.250 --> 00:23:16.150
on this wow because right now we go to court

00:23:16.150 --> 00:23:18.750
on this i'm winning like this it's right here

00:23:18.750 --> 00:23:22.490
so the prosecuting attorney was actually she's

00:23:22.490 --> 00:23:25.529
actually i would definitely say more right -leaning

00:23:25.529 --> 00:23:29.450
and she's like that's good enough for me wow

00:23:29.450 --> 00:23:32.630
you know reminds me of the story um the second

00:23:32.630 --> 00:23:36.670
controversy that we ran into Well, we did something

00:23:36.670 --> 00:23:37.809
similar. Yeah, that's what I'm going to say.

00:23:38.250 --> 00:23:42.349
Well, I'm not sure which one, but there was a

00:23:42.349 --> 00:23:45.190
period of time where there was a belief anecdotally

00:23:45.190 --> 00:23:47.829
that the you -know -what was transmitting to

00:23:47.829 --> 00:23:51.029
people who did not get the you -know -what. And

00:23:51.029 --> 00:23:55.589
so she was very concerned about this, and so

00:23:55.589 --> 00:23:58.410
she made a policy in the school that anybody

00:23:58.410 --> 00:24:02.480
who gets it... needs to stay home for 30 days,

00:24:02.680 --> 00:24:05.220
as opposed to somebody who's sick needs to stay

00:24:05.220 --> 00:24:06.880
home for 30 days. Somebody who actually gets

00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:10.119
it needs to stay home for 30 days. As a private

00:24:10.119 --> 00:24:12.839
school, we're allowed to make any policy that

00:24:12.839 --> 00:24:16.299
we want. And the media got a hold of this and

00:24:16.299 --> 00:24:18.890
just... they they didn't know what to do with

00:24:18.890 --> 00:24:21.289
themselves like they didn't and at the very last

00:24:21.289 --> 00:24:23.950
second somebody a legislator tried to pass emergency

00:24:23.950 --> 00:24:27.930
legislation um at the state level saying you

00:24:27.930 --> 00:24:31.549
can't you can't allow this to happen that a school

00:24:31.549 --> 00:24:34.390
cannot make somebody or business cannot make

00:24:34.390 --> 00:24:36.670
somebody stay home for actually getting the you

00:24:36.670 --> 00:24:38.809
know what you know it's just like their mind

00:24:38.809 --> 00:24:41.630
was blown they didn't know what to do it failed

00:24:41.630 --> 00:24:43.809
by it going back on them you know they don't

00:24:43.809 --> 00:24:45.589
like that yeah they didn't even know how to get

00:24:45.589 --> 00:24:48.440
their head around it I'm like, okay, you want

00:24:48.440 --> 00:24:51.859
to send people home for not getting it. I'm going

00:24:51.859 --> 00:24:55.480
to send people home for getting it. No, but what

00:24:55.480 --> 00:24:57.000
I wanted to talk about. You had a different story?

00:24:57.140 --> 00:25:00.299
Yeah, I had a different story. My story was I

00:25:00.299 --> 00:25:03.279
had our lawyer. So there was a little loophole

00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:07.740
somewhere in the Florida law that said if somebody

00:25:07.740 --> 00:25:10.019
can't breathe, they shouldn't be forced to wear

00:25:10.019 --> 00:25:14.480
a mask. So our lawyer drew up a whole document.

00:25:15.579 --> 00:25:18.619
referenced this code and said, and had the parents

00:25:18.619 --> 00:25:23.019
check a box, check one of these boxes. If your

00:25:23.019 --> 00:25:26.539
child can't breathe, check here, and then they'll

00:25:26.539 --> 00:25:29.500
be allowed to not wear a mask. So we had all

00:25:29.500 --> 00:25:32.440
the parents sign it who didn't want their kids

00:25:32.440 --> 00:25:34.000
to wear a mask because they couldn't breathe.

00:25:34.339 --> 00:25:37.660
So that was one of the legal documents that we

00:25:37.660 --> 00:25:40.440
put together to say, you know, hey, we're not

00:25:40.440 --> 00:25:42.660
doing anything wrong. They can't breathe. You

00:25:42.660 --> 00:25:46.319
can't force a child to not breathe. And then

00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:49.819
it goes to another level. In the story that I

00:25:49.819 --> 00:25:51.279
shared, it went all the way to the state level.

00:25:53.019 --> 00:25:55.559
It didn't pass. And so they were left with this

00:25:55.559 --> 00:25:58.480
rogue school that somehow was working the system

00:25:58.480 --> 00:26:00.640
and the angles and is allowed to keep operating.

00:26:00.900 --> 00:26:02.720
What do we do now? So then they tried to get

00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:05.920
the Department of Education involved. And she's

00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:09.900
so great. And they call her up and basically

00:26:09.900 --> 00:26:12.160
says, we need you to basically... The Department

00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:14.559
of Disabilities Act. Yeah, it was the Department

00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:17.200
of Education, though. No, Department of Disabilities.

00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:21.000
Yeah. They called. They were upset with me because

00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:23.059
I didn't want the teachers to get this thing

00:26:23.059 --> 00:26:27.880
because they had a disability and I wasn't allowing

00:26:27.880 --> 00:26:30.079
them to get what they needed for their disability.

00:26:30.380 --> 00:26:32.960
It was totally garbage. So they wanted you to,

00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:35.140
I guess, admit you were wrong and pay a fine

00:26:35.140 --> 00:26:38.220
and stop the practice. Yeah, $80 ,000. And she

00:26:38.220 --> 00:26:41.079
basically told them to go and pound sand over

00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:43.700
my dead body. Am I ever going to allow that?

00:26:43.779 --> 00:26:46.019
And you guys can go crawl up in a ball and go

00:26:46.019 --> 00:26:47.960
somewhere. Yeah. Never heard from them again.

00:26:48.220 --> 00:26:51.480
You have to do that. You have to. Can you imagine

00:26:51.480 --> 00:26:55.039
if more people did what you did? That they got

00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:59.119
away with this because so many people. There

00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:04.200
were businesses that came to me before the second

00:27:04.200 --> 00:27:08.220
lockdown. And they just came up all day the day

00:27:08.220 --> 00:27:09.839
before. And they're like, are you staying open?

00:27:09.940 --> 00:27:12.160
I'm like, yeah, I'm staying open. They go, well,

00:27:12.220 --> 00:27:13.859
what are you going to do? I don't know. I'm going

00:27:13.859 --> 00:27:15.819
to open my door and just have people come in.

00:27:16.109 --> 00:27:17.609
They go, weren't you worried about the fines?

00:27:18.109 --> 00:27:20.349
Aren't you worried about, like, getting shut

00:27:20.349 --> 00:27:24.869
down? I'm like, I go, this is a fight. You ain't

00:27:24.869 --> 00:27:27.089
going to get punched in the face. You can't go

00:27:27.089 --> 00:27:30.130
to a fight and not expect to get hit. These fines,

00:27:30.410 --> 00:27:32.670
this stuff, it's all getting hit. You just got

00:27:32.670 --> 00:27:34.349
to decide whether it's worth it or not. If you

00:27:34.349 --> 00:27:36.210
want to close your business down and, you know,

00:27:36.230 --> 00:27:38.890
put on your panties and go home, then do that.

00:27:40.069 --> 00:27:42.869
Or you stand with the big boys, have your business

00:27:42.869 --> 00:27:45.480
open. and take taking a fight and no one no one

00:27:45.480 --> 00:27:48.559
no one stayed open none of them now one of those

00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:50.759
people came out and talked to me about it because

00:27:50.759 --> 00:27:52.319
they didn't want a fine they didn't want a one

00:27:52.319 --> 00:27:56.079
thousand dollar fine it blows my mind and meanwhile

00:27:56.079 --> 00:27:58.500
many of them had to shut down because you still

00:27:58.500 --> 00:28:02.420
had to pay rent right yeah i got yeah well yes

00:28:02.420 --> 00:28:06.440
well we stayed open so we can pay our rent What

00:28:06.440 --> 00:28:09.119
I'm saying is, is that they expected businesses

00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:11.740
to shut down and still have to pay all their

00:28:11.740 --> 00:28:14.660
bills. So many businesses during that time in

00:28:14.660 --> 00:28:17.660
California went bankrupt. There were many, many

00:28:17.660 --> 00:28:19.680
restaurants went bankrupt because they couldn't,

00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:22.339
they can't just do carry out. They, people, they

00:28:22.339 --> 00:28:25.420
sell all their stuff on dining services, you

00:28:25.420 --> 00:28:27.480
know, so they can't, they couldn't survive. A

00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:30.960
lot of gyms. I remember a news person for NBC

00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:33.380
came out to interview me and she's like, there's

00:28:33.380 --> 00:28:36.119
a lot of. these gym studios that are complaining

00:28:36.119 --> 00:28:39.079
about you being open saying it's unfair that

00:28:39.079 --> 00:28:40.880
you have to that you get your gym open indoors

00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:43.279
and they have to spend twenty thirty thousand

00:28:43.279 --> 00:28:45.539
dollars to build an outside facility so they

00:28:45.539 --> 00:28:47.059
take all their equipment out their equipment's

00:28:47.059 --> 00:28:49.339
getting damaged by the weather and they have

00:28:49.339 --> 00:28:50.700
to do this in order to stay open and you don't

00:28:50.700 --> 00:28:53.380
have to and it's not fair i said they have a

00:28:53.380 --> 00:28:55.960
choice to make they chose to spend their money

00:28:55.960 --> 00:28:58.259
on that outdoor thing they chose to do that they

00:28:58.259 --> 00:28:59.880
could choose to also keep their business indoors

00:28:59.880 --> 00:29:03.259
but they didn't They chose Howard's way out and

00:29:03.259 --> 00:29:05.920
went along with the system. I didn't. And, of

00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:10.680
course, that created a lot of backlash. Of course,

00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:15.859
they put that part up, for sure. So you made

00:29:15.859 --> 00:29:17.819
yourself very available to the media, it sounds

00:29:17.819 --> 00:29:21.980
like? I did until that piece where they really

00:29:21.980 --> 00:29:25.200
tried to bury me with it. From that point on,

00:29:25.259 --> 00:29:28.240
I only did live interviews. So if they weren't

00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:29.799
going to do an interview live, I wasn't going

00:29:29.799 --> 00:29:31.640
to let them cut and hack it. We didn't even do

00:29:31.640 --> 00:29:33.740
live interviews any longer. We would only take

00:29:33.740 --> 00:29:36.440
questions in writing beforehand. No, no, no.

00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:38.680
What we did is we did do some interviews and

00:29:38.680 --> 00:29:41.779
we recorded it as well. Yeah, but they do a live

00:29:41.779 --> 00:29:44.200
interview and they would try to just get you,

00:29:44.299 --> 00:29:46.839
you know, really trip us up, get you emotional.

00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:48.920
Like, you know what? This is not, they're not

00:29:48.920 --> 00:29:50.579
on our side. Why are we doing this? It would

00:29:50.579 --> 00:29:53.400
do things like, it'd be, are you worried about

00:29:53.400 --> 00:29:55.039
the police? You know, coming in, I go, I'm not

00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:56.759
really worried about it. Then they'd say, are

00:29:56.759 --> 00:29:59.490
you worried about people? uh dying from this

00:29:59.490 --> 00:30:01.549
stuff that would be horribly tragic if that happens

00:30:01.549 --> 00:30:04.930
but they take my answer of i'm not really worried

00:30:04.930 --> 00:30:06.869
about it and apply it to am i worried about people

00:30:06.869 --> 00:30:09.930
dying you know so it's like like i'm i don't

00:30:09.930 --> 00:30:13.430
i don't care let people die you know like so

00:30:13.430 --> 00:30:15.170
i was like you know what guys i'm never doing

00:30:15.170 --> 00:30:17.829
an npc nbc interview ever again Yeah, they're

00:30:17.829 --> 00:30:20.309
horrible. They're the worst. We had Good Morning

00:30:20.309 --> 00:30:23.049
America, which I think is NBC, when our controversy

00:30:23.049 --> 00:30:25.369
first broke out. We did a beautiful interview,

00:30:25.609 --> 00:30:27.809
had all the right answers. It was literally like

00:30:27.809 --> 00:30:30.829
45 minutes. Not one minute aired. They had nothing

00:30:30.829 --> 00:30:32.250
to work with. There was nothing they could take

00:30:32.250 --> 00:30:34.250
to work with. Never even saw the light of day.

00:30:35.109 --> 00:30:36.950
We still have it recorded on our phone, though.

00:30:36.990 --> 00:30:42.650
That's true. So was any part of this cancellation,

00:30:42.750 --> 00:30:46.890
was there any part where you were like, God,

00:30:47.069 --> 00:30:49.890
am I going to make it through this? Are you sure

00:30:49.890 --> 00:30:52.269
about this, God? Was there any point where you

00:30:52.269 --> 00:30:56.210
were like wavered in your, like, are you sure

00:30:56.210 --> 00:30:59.490
this is what I should be doing? I never questioned

00:30:59.490 --> 00:31:03.069
it for one second. There is a lot of anxiety

00:31:03.069 --> 00:31:07.190
sometimes, but that's of the flesh. But in my

00:31:07.190 --> 00:31:09.109
spirit, I never doubted that God would have my

00:31:09.109 --> 00:31:14.240
back. Not one bit. The anxiety, tell us about

00:31:14.240 --> 00:31:19.400
that, like sleepless nights, drinking, lashing

00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:21.940
out at people. What did that look like? Thankfully,

00:31:22.099 --> 00:31:26.079
I haven't drank alcohol since 2007, so thankfully

00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:30.660
on that. But no, it's just having to be there

00:31:30.660 --> 00:31:34.599
all day, having to feel the police coming and

00:31:34.599 --> 00:31:36.420
just making sure you say the right things because

00:31:36.420 --> 00:31:38.940
you just want it to go smoothly. Having to deal

00:31:38.940 --> 00:31:41.400
with the media, having to deal with people. I

00:31:41.400 --> 00:31:44.740
think at one point in time, someone came by and

00:31:44.740 --> 00:31:46.920
threw a beer bottle at me when I was staying

00:31:46.920 --> 00:31:49.619
outside. Horrible aim. Didn't even come close

00:31:49.619 --> 00:31:51.559
to hitting me. In fact, I was confused as to

00:31:51.559 --> 00:31:53.440
what they were actually throwing it at. But they're

00:31:53.440 --> 00:31:55.940
like, y 'all should close down. You're creating

00:31:55.940 --> 00:31:58.880
everyone else to be closed down because you're

00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:01.759
open. Insinuating that I'm creating a spread

00:32:01.759 --> 00:32:07.460
that no one else can be open. I'm like, I don't

00:32:07.460 --> 00:32:11.579
know what to say to that. So the second, when

00:32:11.579 --> 00:32:15.680
you found this little loophole, did that, so

00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:19.160
all violations stopped? Everything stopped? All

00:32:19.160 --> 00:32:22.319
the trouble stopped? Yeah, so they basically,

00:32:22.440 --> 00:32:26.400
we stopped getting harassed. We kept having visits

00:32:26.400 --> 00:32:29.960
from these health department officials. They

00:32:29.960 --> 00:32:33.000
come out in their little sweater with their stitched

00:32:33.000 --> 00:32:35.779
on badge and they have their taser. You know,

00:32:35.779 --> 00:32:37.839
the police would wait outside. The police wouldn't

00:32:37.839 --> 00:32:39.480
want to. Didn't want to go inside just out of

00:32:39.480 --> 00:32:41.960
respect for me. But they come in and be like,

00:32:41.980 --> 00:32:44.039
hey, I noticed no one here is wearing masks.

00:32:44.279 --> 00:32:46.859
And I'd be like, oh, it sure looks like they're

00:32:46.859 --> 00:32:52.220
wearing masks to me. No one had a mask on. And

00:32:52.220 --> 00:32:54.000
the guy's like, I don't see anyone wearing a

00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:57.119
mask. I'm like, I should look again. And then

00:32:57.119 --> 00:32:59.839
what? He just goes, well, I'm about to write

00:32:59.839 --> 00:33:02.019
this up. I'm like, all right. Do what you got

00:33:02.019 --> 00:33:05.079
to do, man. Like, well, you're not supposed to

00:33:05.079 --> 00:33:07.769
be open. I'm like, I know. And that was every

00:33:07.769 --> 00:33:11.309
time they came in, they would just not know what

00:33:11.309 --> 00:33:13.450
to do. Because I'm sure they go into places,

00:33:13.569 --> 00:33:15.230
this has to be fixed. And they're, okay, okay.

00:33:16.289 --> 00:33:20.109
We had an emergency internal system when somebody

00:33:20.109 --> 00:33:23.049
would come by to everybody get their masks on

00:33:23.049 --> 00:33:25.670
and put them on. No, no, no. We had a chain.

00:33:26.109 --> 00:33:28.369
What? There was a chain that I gave everybody

00:33:28.369 --> 00:33:31.170
a chain. Yeah. And they put the mask on the chain.

00:33:31.450 --> 00:33:34.450
And so if we had a health inspector, they just

00:33:34.450 --> 00:33:37.039
quickly. they already had she's done what big

00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:39.119
lou did and so he's not even have him yeah that's

00:33:39.119 --> 00:33:42.900
true yeah you know you had to navigate around

00:33:42.900 --> 00:33:46.980
a system and still fight at the same time we

00:33:46.980 --> 00:33:49.460
weren't going to not wear masks but sometimes

00:33:49.460 --> 00:33:52.000
you have to play their game a little bit yeah

00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:54.500
yeah i mean at the very at the very very beginning

00:33:54.500 --> 00:33:56.960
we kind of we kind of tried to but it was never

00:33:56.960 --> 00:34:00.160
we never really forced people yeah you know um

00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:04.210
but I think at the very beginning, I'm like,

00:34:04.269 --> 00:34:05.470
all right, we're going to do this the right way.

00:34:06.009 --> 00:34:07.630
We're going to wear our masks when we work out.

00:34:07.710 --> 00:34:10.309
I went and put my mask on, did two sets. I'm

00:34:10.309 --> 00:34:11.809
like, this is stupid. No one has to wear a mask.

00:34:11.929 --> 00:34:16.670
It's not going to work. I'm suffocating in this

00:34:16.670 --> 00:34:18.610
thing. Yeah, you suffocate. It's dangerous. I

00:34:18.610 --> 00:34:19.929
would get so upset with the people that would

00:34:19.929 --> 00:34:23.869
rat on me in the gym. They're far away from me.

00:34:24.349 --> 00:34:29.150
A bunch of Karens really bothered me. I just

00:34:29.150 --> 00:34:30.650
didn't want to be around that atmosphere any

00:34:30.650 --> 00:34:33.099
longer. So I imagine other businesses throughout

00:34:33.099 --> 00:34:35.739
the country reached out to you for assistance,

00:34:35.840 --> 00:34:38.699
like, tell us how to do what you did. Did you

00:34:38.699 --> 00:34:40.619
get any of that? Well, he's got that. That's

00:34:40.619 --> 00:34:42.739
what he said earlier. He got it, and they came,

00:34:42.820 --> 00:34:44.820
they got advice, and nobody did anything about

00:34:44.820 --> 00:34:49.059
it. They thought I had some special, like, oh,

00:34:49.099 --> 00:34:51.539
well, if you follow this letter, they'll just

00:34:51.539 --> 00:34:54.280
let you stay open. They didn't realize that I

00:34:54.280 --> 00:34:59.000
didn't have a plan. I just opened it, and it's

00:34:59.000 --> 00:35:03.559
like. Let's do it. And that was that. There was

00:35:03.559 --> 00:35:09.820
no plan of attack to protect myself. It was draw

00:35:09.820 --> 00:35:12.139
your sword, put your shield on, and just charge

00:35:12.139 --> 00:35:17.099
right in. I imagine your actions are so divisive

00:35:17.099 --> 00:35:19.679
that maybe you'd lost some friends and family

00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:26.500
through your actions. Opening the gym, it wasn't

00:35:26.500 --> 00:35:31.050
as bad, I don't think. There were some people

00:35:31.050 --> 00:35:32.949
that said I should have kept it closed. Actually,

00:35:33.050 --> 00:35:38.610
very close friends of mine in the medical industry

00:35:38.610 --> 00:35:43.349
did not agree with me keeping open and said that

00:35:43.349 --> 00:35:47.070
I'm going to create issues for people, overcrowding

00:35:47.070 --> 00:35:51.329
of emergency rooms and stuff like that. And I

00:35:51.329 --> 00:35:56.750
don't know what to say to that. L .A. County

00:35:56.750 --> 00:35:58.789
has, I mean, we're in San Diego County, but L

00:35:58.789 --> 00:36:03.949
.A. County has horrible hospitals. So every time

00:36:03.949 --> 00:36:06.230
of the year during flu season, they're overcrowded.

00:36:06.869 --> 00:36:12.550
It's no different than any other time. But yeah,

00:36:12.710 --> 00:36:15.269
I did lose a couple. I guess the relationship

00:36:15.269 --> 00:36:18.409
restrained. They never strong again after that.

00:36:19.849 --> 00:36:23.800
But I think as I transitioned more. This kind

00:36:23.800 --> 00:36:26.159
of what this did was it kind of woke me up, woke

00:36:26.159 --> 00:36:28.519
a sleeping lion. I never really cared about politics

00:36:28.519 --> 00:36:30.760
or anything like that. And so I started to pay

00:36:30.760 --> 00:36:33.099
attention more. And that's when they started

00:36:33.099 --> 00:36:38.219
to push this in schools. And I went and spoke

00:36:38.219 --> 00:36:40.440
at a lot of school board meetings. And so I got

00:36:40.440 --> 00:36:42.739
involved in the school and I got involved in

00:36:42.739 --> 00:36:46.139
that aspect of it, too. Do you have kids? I have

00:36:46.139 --> 00:36:50.400
three. Actually, my first was born in 2020, 2021.

00:36:50.760 --> 00:36:54.769
Oh, my gosh. So, yeah. And I have twins that

00:36:54.769 --> 00:36:57.070
are almost two years old right now. Beautiful.

00:36:57.230 --> 00:37:01.010
Wow. And how is your wife through all this? Supportive

00:37:01.010 --> 00:37:05.210
every step of the way? 100%. She actually, she

00:37:05.210 --> 00:37:08.489
manages a gym on Camp Pendleton. It's a Marine

00:37:08.489 --> 00:37:11.130
operated gym. So she's a civilian manager. She's

00:37:11.130 --> 00:37:14.750
a former vet. Or she is a vet. She's a former,

00:37:14.889 --> 00:37:20.090
was in the Air Force. They made her and the rest

00:37:20.090 --> 00:37:23.630
of the people open the gyms up in April. So it

00:37:23.630 --> 00:37:26.769
was two weeks and then they reopened. Then they

00:37:26.769 --> 00:37:28.269
were forced to go in and work. They were forced

00:37:28.269 --> 00:37:31.269
to be there. So she's like, if we're open on

00:37:31.269 --> 00:37:34.510
base and we're like six minutes away and all

00:37:34.510 --> 00:37:37.610
these Marines that are working out at these gyms

00:37:37.610 --> 00:37:41.230
live in town. So it's not like they're quarantined

00:37:41.230 --> 00:37:45.010
on base. They're living in town. So why would

00:37:45.010 --> 00:37:47.239
a gym that's... five, six minutes away from you,

00:37:47.280 --> 00:37:52.199
but it crosses into a Marine base. Be safe. But

00:37:52.199 --> 00:37:56.300
your gym isn't safe. So she was 100 % aware of

00:37:56.300 --> 00:37:59.159
it. Did you know you had this courageous lion

00:37:59.159 --> 00:38:03.679
inside of you always, or you discovered it through

00:38:03.679 --> 00:38:07.019
this process? Well, I think, you know, I had

00:38:07.019 --> 00:38:11.219
a pretty good ring man in Jesus, you know, backing

00:38:11.219 --> 00:38:15.429
me up. Like I said, I never was really that involved

00:38:15.429 --> 00:38:21.949
in it. Like they say, if there's no fear, there's

00:38:21.949 --> 00:38:28.130
never a chance to be brave. I felt good that

00:38:28.130 --> 00:38:31.690
I got tested and I feel like I rose above it

00:38:31.690 --> 00:38:36.210
and I didn't cower away when a huge majority

00:38:36.210 --> 00:38:41.340
of people did. Do you think, let's say your gym

00:38:41.340 --> 00:38:45.099
was hypothetically in Canada, and I'm sure maybe

00:38:45.099 --> 00:38:46.840
you thought about this. What would you have done

00:38:46.840 --> 00:38:51.139
in that situation? I mean, I know people that

00:38:51.139 --> 00:38:53.800
have had gyms up there, and they would just literally

00:38:53.800 --> 00:38:58.119
lock them down. They just put bars, chains, you

00:38:58.119 --> 00:39:00.280
know, lock them down. That poor guy's restaurant

00:39:00.280 --> 00:39:03.699
in Los Angeles, they literally built a wall around

00:39:03.699 --> 00:39:05.780
it and then confiscated everything inside of

00:39:05.780 --> 00:39:08.280
it, auctioned everything off from his restaurant.

00:39:08.860 --> 00:39:14.159
because he was smart. He was just a good guy.

00:39:14.599 --> 00:39:17.780
And they eventually, years later now, have won

00:39:17.780 --> 00:39:21.239
a lawsuit that it was wrong what they did, and

00:39:21.239 --> 00:39:23.360
now the money is going to start coming back to

00:39:23.360 --> 00:39:24.860
them for everything that happened to them. City

00:39:24.860 --> 00:39:28.340
of Burbank. City of Burbank in L .A. That's crazy,

00:39:28.559 --> 00:39:31.880
right? Yeah. Build a wall around your place and

00:39:31.880 --> 00:39:35.400
sell everything. I mean, does it sound like the

00:39:35.400 --> 00:39:39.070
U .S.? No. Or does it sound like China? None

00:39:39.070 --> 00:39:41.829
of this sounds very draconian. How did we get

00:39:41.829 --> 00:39:43.929
to that even? How do you think we got to that?

00:39:44.250 --> 00:39:46.070
I think it was a test. I think they were just

00:39:46.070 --> 00:39:48.250
testing to see how compliant Americans would

00:39:48.250 --> 00:39:51.409
be. And they found out exactly how compliant

00:39:51.409 --> 00:39:53.670
Americans would be. That we failed miserably.

00:39:53.949 --> 00:39:56.510
Yeah. They know that they do this again. The

00:39:56.510 --> 00:39:58.650
next time this happens, I don't think it'll be

00:39:58.650 --> 00:40:00.610
a virus because we're already conditioned now.

00:40:00.650 --> 00:40:02.690
We know that's not, we shouldn't do this. There'll

00:40:02.690 --> 00:40:05.090
be something else that comes up, you know, something

00:40:05.090 --> 00:40:07.150
else. Oh, we have to lock down for this reason.

00:40:07.949 --> 00:40:10.730
And people will be, oh, yeah, this is different.

00:40:11.250 --> 00:40:15.210
Now we trust you. So you were getting death threats

00:40:15.210 --> 00:40:20.670
too, right? So, yeah, there was a time I came

00:40:20.670 --> 00:40:24.030
home and there was one of the news articles that

00:40:24.030 --> 00:40:27.110
was written and it was tacked to my front door

00:40:27.110 --> 00:40:29.550
and written in red on it. It wasn't blood, it

00:40:29.550 --> 00:40:30.809
was red paint, but it was written on there in

00:40:30.809 --> 00:40:35.110
murderer. And I was just like. I was like, this

00:40:35.110 --> 00:40:37.369
is crazy. And then some of the emails that came

00:40:37.369 --> 00:40:40.230
across, like none of them were like, I'm going

00:40:40.230 --> 00:40:42.670
to come kill you. But they're like, it would

00:40:42.670 --> 00:40:47.050
be a shame if someone would to invade your house

00:40:47.050 --> 00:40:50.349
in the middle of the night, you know, and do

00:40:50.349 --> 00:40:52.349
unspeakable things to your wife while you watched

00:40:52.349 --> 00:40:54.849
and then, you know, killed her and then killed

00:40:54.849 --> 00:41:01.150
you. And like, I'm like, what is. thinks like

00:41:01.150 --> 00:41:03.610
this what society we live in and this is where

00:41:03.610 --> 00:41:08.650
are we that's horrible you have a gun yes yeah

00:41:08.650 --> 00:41:12.869
yes i do yeah i have i have multiple firearms

00:41:12.869 --> 00:41:18.269
yes yes so where is your gym at now your how

00:41:18.269 --> 00:41:20.690
many members do you have now right now we're

00:41:20.690 --> 00:41:24.090
probably around 1600 members wow we're doing

00:41:24.090 --> 00:41:29.369
we're doing good um we've remodeled um it's It's

00:41:29.369 --> 00:41:32.949
really a gem of a place. People love it. The

00:41:32.949 --> 00:41:36.829
atmosphere there is great. And you never had

00:41:36.829 --> 00:41:41.949
any financial downturn in any of this? If anything,

00:41:42.250 --> 00:41:46.409
this is a crazy story. So it's funny, in January

00:41:46.409 --> 00:41:51.429
of 2020, I prayed to God. And I was like, God,

00:41:51.469 --> 00:41:53.789
I need a way to bring more people to my gym.

00:41:56.300 --> 00:41:58.639
to try it out. Because a lot of people are just

00:41:58.639 --> 00:42:00.579
complacent working out in their corporate gyms.

00:42:00.619 --> 00:42:02.000
They don't want to come work at an independently

00:42:02.000 --> 00:42:04.579
owned family gym. They just want to stay where

00:42:04.579 --> 00:42:06.539
they're at in their little rut. How can I find

00:42:06.539 --> 00:42:08.059
a way to market to these people, get them tried

00:42:08.059 --> 00:42:12.039
out? So in a way, this whole thing happened.

00:42:12.460 --> 00:42:14.539
I took a stand, I listened to God, and these

00:42:14.539 --> 00:42:18.199
people came to me. God says, whatever they take

00:42:18.199 --> 00:42:20.699
away from you, I will multiply it and give it

00:42:20.699 --> 00:42:23.679
back to you. What the enemy takes, he will give

00:42:23.679 --> 00:42:27.099
you back in tenfold. And it's really what happened.

00:42:27.500 --> 00:42:31.539
Wow. I hope that, you know, really viewers listening

00:42:31.539 --> 00:42:36.920
to our show, you know, the next scandemic that

00:42:36.920 --> 00:42:38.579
comes around the corner, you know, maybe they've

00:42:38.579 --> 00:42:41.480
watched Erase and they could be better prepared

00:42:41.480 --> 00:42:46.239
to stand firm. Because when you stand firm and

00:42:46.239 --> 00:42:48.199
you do what's right and you're in integrity,

00:42:48.500 --> 00:42:51.380
even though, like you said, you got to take the

00:42:51.380 --> 00:42:53.280
punches because it's going to hurt. It hurts.

00:42:53.440 --> 00:42:56.719
It does not feel good. There's no easy way out.

00:42:56.860 --> 00:42:59.380
When you come out on the other side, you come

00:42:59.380 --> 00:43:01.880
out much stronger. So that's a message that I

00:43:01.880 --> 00:43:05.900
feel like I really hope that our viewers get.

00:43:05.980 --> 00:43:10.420
Just stand firm and stand together. If the government

00:43:10.420 --> 00:43:13.239
is pushing something on you, they don't have

00:43:13.239 --> 00:43:17.400
your best interest at heart. They don't. They

00:43:17.400 --> 00:43:20.000
don't care about you. They don't give two rats

00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:23.630
ass about you. So stop thinking that they do.

00:43:23.849 --> 00:43:27.949
And stop ratting on your neighbors. You know,

00:43:27.949 --> 00:43:30.849
just stand firm. If we all stood firm holding

00:43:30.849 --> 00:43:34.309
hands, they would have never gotten away with

00:43:34.309 --> 00:43:37.730
this. If you think about it, if you look at New

00:43:37.730 --> 00:43:41.030
York, who was very similar to California, who

00:43:41.030 --> 00:43:43.769
was very similar to other blue states, right?

00:43:43.889 --> 00:43:47.010
And then there were states like Florida. What,

00:43:47.110 --> 00:43:51.289
did the virus just not come to Florida? No. It's

00:43:51.289 --> 00:43:53.949
just that the amount of brainwashing and stupidity

00:43:53.949 --> 00:43:57.610
wasn't going to happen in Florida. We said no.

00:43:59.110 --> 00:44:03.409
And our government was, you know, on our side

00:44:03.409 --> 00:44:05.769
for the most part. Not the whole time, but I

00:44:05.769 --> 00:44:08.989
mean, you know, more so than New York and California,

00:44:09.289 --> 00:44:13.630
right? And so people should have looked around

00:44:13.630 --> 00:44:16.909
and said, geez, if Florida's open and nobody's,

00:44:16.909 --> 00:44:22.159
you know. You know, like they show on these fake

00:44:22.159 --> 00:44:26.920
media clips of people just dying. Like, use your

00:44:26.920 --> 00:44:30.320
brain to do more research. Don't just blindly

00:44:30.320 --> 00:44:34.940
follow. You know, I guess that's my message.

00:44:34.980 --> 00:44:36.820
What message would you give anybody watching

00:44:36.820 --> 00:44:39.739
this show that is needing to stand firm? What

00:44:39.739 --> 00:44:45.300
message would you give them? You have to realize

00:44:45.300 --> 00:44:50.449
what it is you want. and what it is you're willing

00:44:50.449 --> 00:44:54.630
to risk. Because nothing in life that's worth

00:44:54.630 --> 00:44:57.909
anything comes with no risk. And yeah, there

00:44:57.909 --> 00:45:00.110
was a risk that could have taken my business

00:45:00.110 --> 00:45:03.230
and taken it away and confiscated stuff. There's

00:45:03.230 --> 00:45:06.670
that chance. But I'm sure if that happened, God

00:45:06.670 --> 00:45:08.010
would have had something better from the other

00:45:08.010 --> 00:45:10.110
end. I wasn't worried about it. That's why I

00:45:10.110 --> 00:45:12.150
wasn't worried about whatever happened, because

00:45:12.150 --> 00:45:16.190
God would handle it. But my message to people

00:45:16.190 --> 00:45:18.880
is... We are stronger together than we are by

00:45:18.880 --> 00:45:22.519
ourselves. And I carried a big burden during

00:45:22.519 --> 00:45:25.599
that because I was like the only one. And people

00:45:25.599 --> 00:45:28.420
eventually started to get on board. But for a

00:45:28.420 --> 00:45:30.860
large part of the beginning of that, it was a

00:45:30.860 --> 00:45:34.639
lonely place. And if every business has said

00:45:34.639 --> 00:45:36.860
no, right from the start, like you said earlier.

00:45:37.610 --> 00:45:39.949
just said, no, we're not doing this and opened.

00:45:40.090 --> 00:45:42.650
They can't go around and take everyone's business

00:45:42.650 --> 00:45:44.949
license. They can't take 5 ,000 business license

00:45:44.949 --> 00:45:47.230
away. They can't close down 5 ,000 businesses.

00:45:47.449 --> 00:45:49.889
Small businesses are the backbone of this country.

00:45:50.010 --> 00:45:53.630
They can't shut us down like that. You're absolutely

00:45:53.630 --> 00:45:57.789
right. Yeah. I look at it as we're here by the

00:45:57.789 --> 00:46:00.269
grace of God, really. And we don't know what's

00:46:00.269 --> 00:46:03.329
coming next for us. Our life's trajectory could

00:46:03.329 --> 00:46:08.679
change on a dime. I mean, I'm an experienced

00:46:08.679 --> 00:46:12.039
cancellation victim now, so I know. And I'm ready

00:46:12.039 --> 00:46:15.940
to go now. If I'm in another controversy, I'm

00:46:15.940 --> 00:46:19.460
ready to fight. I wasn't like that before. Now

00:46:19.460 --> 00:46:21.579
I'm ready. I would hope that people that are

00:46:21.579 --> 00:46:25.530
watching this show get that message. You have

00:46:25.530 --> 00:46:28.210
to stand up for yourself. You have to. You must.

00:46:28.449 --> 00:46:31.469
You must. And it's super scary. And you don't

00:46:31.469 --> 00:46:33.869
know the outcome. At the end of the road, everything

00:46:33.869 --> 00:46:36.170
might be taken away. But there is a greater purpose

00:46:36.170 --> 00:46:38.230
to all of it. And we don't know what that is.

00:46:38.269 --> 00:46:40.510
And it's really not for us to determine anyway.

00:46:41.010 --> 00:46:44.130
So that's the way I look at it. The big takeaway

00:46:44.130 --> 00:46:48.269
is don't trust the government. I trust the government

00:46:48.269 --> 00:46:50.969
about as far as I can shot put Jupiter. That's

00:46:50.969 --> 00:46:53.480
about how far I trust them. We live in arguably

00:46:53.480 --> 00:46:55.719
the greatest country on earth with the most freedoms.

00:46:55.980 --> 00:46:57.800
I can imagine what it's like to live in another

00:46:57.800 --> 00:46:59.920
country, really. You know, if everybody stood

00:46:59.920 --> 00:47:03.610
together, I'd think about those. trucker convoys

00:47:03.610 --> 00:47:05.409
in Canada I don't know why I'm thinking about

00:47:05.409 --> 00:47:08.230
Canada a lot which we supported I remember them

00:47:08.230 --> 00:47:10.250
they were all traveling toward Ottawa and they

00:47:10.250 --> 00:47:11.869
really locked together and you know what Canada

00:47:11.869 --> 00:47:17.389
shut them down so fast they shut down their bank

00:47:17.389 --> 00:47:20.949
accounts they shut down the GoFundMe Canada is

00:47:20.949 --> 00:47:23.389
way more communist than I ever imagined that

00:47:23.389 --> 00:47:26.500
was crazy Yeah, but at least in this country

00:47:26.500 --> 00:47:29.519
and even in California, people can get together.

00:47:29.599 --> 00:47:32.260
People can stand up for what they believe is

00:47:32.260 --> 00:47:34.800
right and work the system. Right now, if we don't

00:47:34.800 --> 00:47:37.480
continue to fight for it, it will be taken away.

00:47:37.519 --> 00:47:40.039
It will be taken away. Absolutely. In the name

00:47:40.039 --> 00:47:42.559
of another emergency. That's what I'm saying.

00:47:43.019 --> 00:47:45.099
There's going to be some other emergency come

00:47:45.099 --> 00:47:47.360
up, whether they say there's an environmental

00:47:47.360 --> 00:47:51.219
emergency. No one can drive. No one can do this.

00:47:51.219 --> 00:47:52.980
No one can do that because the environment is

00:47:52.980 --> 00:47:56.369
under attack. or there'll be, I don't know what

00:47:56.369 --> 00:47:58.150
it is because I didn't know what this would be,

00:47:58.190 --> 00:48:00.550
but they'll have something else other than a

00:48:00.550 --> 00:48:03.710
virus that people will say, well, this is different

00:48:03.710 --> 00:48:06.849
now. The government does care about us because

00:48:06.849 --> 00:48:08.829
this is something new and it won't be something

00:48:08.829 --> 00:48:11.429
new. It'll be the same thing to a much larger

00:48:11.429 --> 00:48:14.559
level. That's right. It's guaranteed. It will

00:48:14.559 --> 00:48:17.659
happen. Almost like clockwork, every bunch of

00:48:17.659 --> 00:48:21.219
years, some major global thing happens that impacts

00:48:21.219 --> 00:48:24.320
all of us, every man, woman, and child on Earth.

00:48:24.579 --> 00:48:27.579
They were close to building, there were these

00:48:27.579 --> 00:48:30.599
rumors of concentration camps being built to

00:48:30.599 --> 00:48:35.179
put people who wouldn't get the thing in. The

00:48:35.179 --> 00:48:38.079
rhetoric and talk against people who wouldn't

00:48:38.079 --> 00:48:41.699
do that. was almost reminiscent of what happened

00:48:41.699 --> 00:48:45.460
in germany to people you know like oh these people

00:48:45.460 --> 00:48:47.380
are these people are the problem they're the

00:48:47.380 --> 00:48:49.800
disease they're that like whoa you're calling

00:48:49.800 --> 00:48:51.659
people a disease you're calling people the problem

00:48:51.659 --> 00:48:56.239
that's terrorists terrorists yeah so It's very

00:48:56.239 --> 00:49:01.320
concerning that that rhetoric was going around.

00:49:02.340 --> 00:49:04.800
What's the next chapter going to be? They're

00:49:04.800 --> 00:49:06.619
going to wait until it calms down, and we have

00:49:06.619 --> 00:49:10.400
to be ready for the next round of government

00:49:10.400 --> 00:49:13.159
shenanigans. Well, on that note, I think I can

00:49:13.159 --> 00:49:17.139
safely say that Big Lou Uredale, Layla Centner,

00:49:17.340 --> 00:49:20.039
and me, we're ready to go. We're ready to fight,

00:49:20.159 --> 00:49:23.820
fight, fight. Bring it on. Thank you, Lou. Thank

00:49:23.820 --> 00:49:25.639
you for coming on our show. What a great story.

00:49:25.800 --> 00:49:27.699
What an inspiration to all of us. And I hope

00:49:27.699 --> 00:49:30.159
people that are watching find that courage at

00:49:30.159 --> 00:49:32.500
those times that it's really needed and they

00:49:32.500 --> 00:49:34.619
step into their power because we all have it.

00:49:35.079 --> 00:49:38.880
Find your cojones. Find your cojones. Yeah, exactly.

00:49:39.199 --> 00:49:41.179
Thank you. Thank you, Lou. Thank you for being

00:49:41.179 --> 00:49:44.960
the one business in your town that stood up and

00:49:44.960 --> 00:49:47.860
said, no, I will not close down. Thank you for

00:49:47.860 --> 00:49:50.300
that bravery. Good for you. Amen. Thank you.

00:49:50.360 --> 00:49:53.730
Thank you. Have a great day. Thank you. Oh, wait,

00:49:53.750 --> 00:49:55.469
we forgot to ask the question. Hold on. We forgot

00:49:55.469 --> 00:49:57.489
to ask the question. Oh, keep going. Keep rolling.

00:49:57.550 --> 00:50:00.550
We like to ask this at the end. Okay. Okay. So

00:50:00.550 --> 00:50:03.130
as you know, our show is about giving people

00:50:03.130 --> 00:50:07.130
a platform to share the story because we did

00:50:07.130 --> 00:50:09.269
not get to share our side of the story because

00:50:09.269 --> 00:50:11.750
the media really wanted to hear what they wanted

00:50:11.750 --> 00:50:13.730
to hear. And even then, so they would chop it

00:50:13.730 --> 00:50:16.489
up. How did you feel today about being able to

00:50:16.489 --> 00:50:19.909
share your story? What did you think of the experience

00:50:19.909 --> 00:50:21.710
of being on Eraseless? What do you think of the

00:50:21.710 --> 00:50:24.949
show? So I think it's great to have a forum where

00:50:24.949 --> 00:50:27.690
you give a voice to the voiceless. Throughout

00:50:27.690 --> 00:50:31.389
a lot of the things I've been through, there

00:50:31.389 --> 00:50:33.969
weren't many outlets where you could be heard.

00:50:34.150 --> 00:50:36.570
There were many outlets that would want to talk

00:50:36.570 --> 00:50:39.130
the opposite about you, about the problems you're

00:50:39.130 --> 00:50:40.969
causing. But there weren't many outlets that

00:50:40.969 --> 00:50:43.230
would let you speak freely and openly where your

00:50:43.230 --> 00:50:45.409
whole story could be heard. So I think it's a

00:50:45.409 --> 00:50:50.199
testimony to... to giving people a chance and

00:50:50.199 --> 00:50:53.380
a platform to be able to speak out. And you can

00:50:53.380 --> 00:50:56.559
hear the truth of what happened to them, as opposed

00:50:56.559 --> 00:50:59.139
to what you may have heard in news reports or

00:50:59.139 --> 00:51:01.780
stories about that person. So I think what you

00:51:01.780 --> 00:51:05.079
guys are doing is wonderful. And I think it needs

00:51:05.079 --> 00:51:10.679
to be more broadcast to more people. And your

00:51:10.679 --> 00:51:12.800
guys' story needs to be shared as well. Thank

00:51:12.800 --> 00:51:14.909
you, brother. Appreciate it. Thank you so much

00:51:14.909 --> 00:51:16.389
for your time today. Thank you.