1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,440 All right, welcome to the Ocean Water Podcast, the voice for indigenous water rights. 2 00:00:08,440 --> 00:00:09,920 We'll talk about that a little bit today. 3 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:13,280 I have my good friend Justin Spire on with us today. 4 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:16,360 Justin and I have been friends for 13 years. 5 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:22,720 Justin was a United States Marine from 1991 to 1995. 6 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:27,480 He was a professional baseball player in the big leagues, major league baseball for 15 7 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:28,480 years. 8 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:33,560 He spent 10 years in the big leagues, meaning that he played 10 full seasons, full time 9 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:35,720 in major league baseball. 10 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:39,880 He had over 600 games pitched. 11 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:45,320 Former Athletic Action Board member for the West Coast, public speaker for the Angels, 12 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:47,840 military, churches, youth groups. 13 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:52,200 He's a father and a husband of two boys and one of my best friends. 14 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,000 So just an honor to have you on today, brother. 15 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:56,960 How are you doing today? 16 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:57,960 I'm great, man. 17 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:01,800 I'm doing good and excited to be on, excited to see you. 18 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:02,800 It's great, man. 19 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:03,800 It's great to have you on. 20 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:06,520 We've been talking about this for a while. 21 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:11,240 So you've been retired for a while now. 22 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:15,720 You packed a full life into a 15 year professional baseball career. 23 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:20,560 And so when you're at home these days, where do you and where do you like to go and what 24 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:22,660 do you like to eat? 25 00:01:22,660 --> 00:01:24,060 You know how I do it, bro. 26 00:01:24,060 --> 00:01:27,000 I mean, I could go straight to the Prince or the Popper. 27 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,920 I could go to a nice steak from Goldstream. 28 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:39,400 But don't kid me, I could enjoy a Kronik Carnasada burrito better than anyone. 29 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:41,760 So Kronik is my go to. 30 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:43,560 I could eat there almost every day. 31 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:45,920 Just give me a Carnasada and we're good to go. 32 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:46,920 That's true. 33 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:51,480 We've been to that place many times, man, many times. 34 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:53,120 So what are you doing these days, brother? 35 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:56,400 What are you doing these days and how did you get into it? 36 00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:04,760 Well, I like how you use that word retired, but I'm going to use that term loosely because 37 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:09,560 I always joke around saying I pitched with the game on the line in Yankee Stadium against 38 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:13,400 Jeter and A-Rod and all those guys many a time. 39 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:19,160 And I went through Marine Corps boot camp and those things were tough. 40 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:25,620 And I had my own personal demons and personal things to overcome in my life. 41 00:02:25,620 --> 00:02:26,960 And they were all tough. 42 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:31,040 But raising kids is the toughest thing, I'll tell you that. 43 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:33,160 But it's the biggest blessing. 44 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:36,400 You know, it's the biggest blessing, but it requires the most patience. 45 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:41,760 But yeah, I don't really feel retired. 46 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:43,720 You're working harder now, dude. 47 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:45,880 I'm working harder now with less, bro. 48 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:46,880 That's how we do it. 49 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:48,920 The older we get, we do more with less now. 50 00:02:48,920 --> 00:02:49,920 You know what I mean? 51 00:02:49,920 --> 00:02:51,480 Less sleep. 52 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:53,040 Kids eat. 53 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:54,720 Wife eats than I eat. 54 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:56,400 And we do more with less. 55 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:02,580 But it's a good thing because we're, especially right now, we're trying to live on our basic 56 00:03:02,580 --> 00:03:04,400 needs instead of our wants, right? 57 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:05,400 Yeah. 58 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,200 Yeah, it's been an interesting season, man. 59 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:09,200 But it's been awesome. 60 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:13,520 I know you're loving life with Brittany and Chase and Brock and life's good. 61 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:14,960 It's awesome, man. 62 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:24,440 So if current Justin could say something to 20-year-old Justin, what might he say? 63 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:26,080 Oh, man. 64 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:35,120 I still tell myself this to the day because I'm so task-oriented and I'm so destination-oriented 65 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:36,120 person. 66 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:37,360 I like to get things done. 67 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:39,720 I'm type A by nature. 68 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:43,820 I would have said enjoy the journey and not the destination. 69 00:03:43,820 --> 00:03:50,880 And so even in the middle of this pandemic, what I would say is enjoy what you have and 70 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:56,120 be grateful for what you have because when it all comes back to you, you'll have a deeper 71 00:03:56,120 --> 00:04:00,360 sense of humility and gratitude. 72 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:02,520 I wish I would have enjoyed my baseball career more. 73 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:09,520 I was so focused on that next outing, the next challenge, the next hill to climb, the 74 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:11,480 next team to beat. 75 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:18,540 And I wish I had enjoyed myself or took some time to really stop and stay in the present 76 00:04:18,540 --> 00:04:23,160 moment instead of future trip a little bit on the next thing. 77 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:28,280 And I even tell myself to the day, even right now, like, hey, enjoy your kids right now. 78 00:04:28,280 --> 00:04:31,520 They're going to be in school before you know it. 79 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:34,840 I have a lot of interest besides just my family. 80 00:04:34,840 --> 00:04:40,120 I love my kids and I love my wife and I love my life, but I have so many other interests 81 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:41,720 that are on hold right now. 82 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:43,280 So I tried a little. 83 00:04:43,280 --> 00:04:48,560 I tried not to focus too much on the things that I can't control right now, just really 84 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:54,680 stay in the moment and not focus on the destination so much. 85 00:04:54,680 --> 00:05:00,240 So that's what I would tell younger Justin is just live each day and enjoy what you got 86 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:01,240 in front of you. 87 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:02,240 Those are good words, man. 88 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:03,240 Those are wise words. 89 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:09,240 It doesn't matter if you're 10, 20, 30, 40, that'll play right across the board, man. 90 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:14,680 I think there's the tension between being driven and just enjoying your day and enjoying 91 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:15,680 your life. 92 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:21,680 It's Thursday right now and we're just trying to enjoy Thursday and having a nice chat. 93 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:25,280 There's a lot of legs to what you're saying there. 94 00:05:25,280 --> 00:05:34,400 So you play, you spend, to provide a little bit of context, it's about 1% of athletes 95 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:36,680 that actually ever make it into Major League Baseball. 96 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:44,320 And then there's about 1% of that 1% of guys that pitch that actually pitch 600 innings 97 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:49,520 and actually play 10 full years in Major League Baseball. 98 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:50,520 So it's like the 1%, 1%. 99 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:52,520 I've known you a really long time. 100 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:54,480 You've always been really focused. 101 00:05:54,480 --> 00:06:01,200 You've applied that same focus now to Brittany and your family and Chase and Brock and it's 102 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:03,640 been a wonderful thing to see as your friend. 103 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:08,000 So the question is, what are you curious about right now? 104 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:09,560 What are you interested in? 105 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:15,200 All that drive and all that motivation and all of that passion that you have, it doesn't 106 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:18,120 go away, it just gets rechamped. 107 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:21,960 So what are you interested in now, man? 108 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,840 Oh man, so many things. 109 00:06:24,840 --> 00:06:29,520 I'll get to the question really quick to inspire some of the kids that I hope are watching 110 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:32,960 this is I was drafted in the 56th round. 111 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:37,520 And the crazy thing about it is I signed for no money and I wasn't that good in high school 112 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:43,040 or college and I had a dream and a passion and a belief that I could get to the big leagues. 113 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:48,200 And I went through seven different levels of the minor leagues to get to the major leagues 114 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:50,440 and ended up sticking there. 115 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:54,680 And what I would say is God does big things to small people and I was that small person 116 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:56,180 with a dream. 117 00:06:56,180 --> 00:07:05,680 So I would inspire the, I would just inspire the youth that may watch this and say, hey, 118 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:10,080 if you have a dream and right now is a time to be dreaming, it's not a time to give up 119 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:13,960 hope right now is a time to cultivate dreams. 120 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:20,640 And when things start to go, which hopefully soon is a time to attack your dream. 121 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:26,540 So I'm a living proof that dreams can come true and good things can happen. 122 00:07:26,540 --> 00:07:32,280 So I just, I would encourage all your young viewers not to give up on their dreams that 123 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:34,040 I'm living proof of that. 124 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:36,080 What am I curious about now? 125 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:40,320 I'll flip on that and say, number one, I'm a people person. 126 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:42,440 I'm a social person. 127 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:43,560 I don't like zoom. 128 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:44,720 I don't like FaceTime. 129 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:48,280 I like meeting with people in person. 130 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:54,080 I don't like the fact that my kids are learning virtually right now. 131 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:59,120 I think there's a big, I think there's a, there's a big disconnection with that. 132 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:06,800 You can't, you can't, you can't know social skills and, and team skills from a distance. 133 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:14,480 So my biggest concern is for the youth of our country on coming out of this thing and 134 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:21,440 making sure that they, yeah, are equipped tech, not technically, but also don't lose 135 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:27,800 their social drives and their team drives and their ability to look someone in the face 136 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:28,800 and shake their hand. 137 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:32,280 And, you know, that's what I'm concerned with through, through this pandemic, but it was 138 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:34,400 also a concern before this happened. 139 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:40,660 I think that I hope that we don't get lazy and, and lose those social interactions because 140 00:08:40,660 --> 00:08:41,660 of this. 141 00:08:41,660 --> 00:08:42,660 That's my concern. 142 00:08:42,660 --> 00:08:46,240 That's good, man. 143 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:56,480 So what's something that in the last 12 months, you feel like you have failed at? 144 00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:01,560 I failed at a lot of things, but you know, it's good when I do. 145 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:02,960 I fail at being a father. 146 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:05,280 I lose my patience with my kids. 147 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:08,800 I lose my patience with my wife sometimes. 148 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:13,280 And the good thing about it is we have a very forgiving family and a very, I'm teaching 149 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:17,120 my kids forgiveness and learning that, hey, you don't have to be perfect, which is a good 150 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:23,840 thing because I think that through our failures and lack of patience and self-centeredness 151 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:33,400 or sin, whatever you want to call it, we learned to be more others incorporated and team incorporated. 152 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:37,840 So we have a very forgiving family, which I hope will play out with our, my boys in 153 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:42,440 knowing, hey, I could go full steam ahead and I'm not worried about if I'm going to 154 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:47,440 fall and scrape my knee because, you know, I have a mom and dad that love me, that forgive 155 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:54,440 me, that, that are going to empower me to continue to pursue, allow me to pursue my 156 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:55,440 dreams. 157 00:09:55,440 --> 00:10:00,800 So, you know, failure for me is, is, is a great measuring stick of where you're at, 158 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:04,440 but it's also, you know, I've, I've lost my patience. 159 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:10,960 Yeah, I mean, I fail all the time daily, you know, but, you know, I'm continuing, I get 160 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:14,360 up every day trying to be better, you know, as a husband and a father. 161 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:17,200 So, you know, that's what keeps me driving. 162 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:22,920 And you know, I'm, I'm a second, I think that I'm at the finish line is, is a, where, 163 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:24,240 is where I get in trouble. 164 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:28,800 So trying to stay and enjoy the journey and stay in the present moment, continue to try 165 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:32,720 to get better in those aspects right now. 166 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:38,520 So good, and I think part of our development is like, just figure where we fallen short 167 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:43,160 and, and then trying to learn from that, trying to, trying to better ourselves. 168 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:48,120 You were always really good in your, in your career about kind of quick down, quick up. 169 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:51,440 You'd be able to shake off, shake off mistakes quickly. 170 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:55,800 You had to for, for preservation, you know, to, to pitch as long as you did. 171 00:10:55,800 --> 00:11:00,440 In fact, I never forget the time you took me to Angel Stadium, you took me out of the, 172 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:04,800 took me out on the mound and you're like, Hey man, I want you to show me, I want to 173 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:05,800 show you where I work. 174 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:07,680 And you walked me out to the mound. 175 00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:13,160 And then I think it was three days later, I got to see you strike out the side. 176 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:16,920 So I saw an empty stadium where you got to work. 177 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:21,940 And then a couple of days later, I got to see, I actually saw you get a standing ovation. 178 00:11:21,940 --> 00:11:22,940 You struck out the side. 179 00:11:22,940 --> 00:11:24,480 That was pretty cool. 180 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:29,160 So it's been nice to see not just success on the mound for you, but, but success at 181 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:32,800 home, which is hard, which is kind of what we've already talked about. 182 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:34,400 You know, it's really good. 183 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:40,920 So I want to hang a bit of a right here and want to kind of go into the world of water. 184 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:47,920 Kind of what's your, what's sort of your understanding of the world of water in the States? 185 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:52,400 There's a problem with water. 186 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:58,520 So I say that I said that intentionally, hopefully to get a response because most of us Americans 187 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:02,080 don't, you know, if we live in a bubble, we don't really think there's a problem with 188 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:03,080 our water. 189 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:04,960 You know what I mean? 190 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:08,720 Our homeless, our homeless here, you know, God bless them. 191 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:12,600 We, you know, they're not going to miss a meal and they're going to have water because 192 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:16,800 we have a lot of great organizations that supply for the poorest of the poor here in 193 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:18,120 this country. 194 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:26,600 So but my understanding of the water in, you know, other third world countries is devastating. 195 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:27,840 You know what I mean? 196 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:32,880 You know, I'm very grateful when my kids have food and have clean water here because I know 197 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:40,000 there's kids that have major issues in all across the globe with water. 198 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:44,320 So it's a huge problem. 199 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:46,640 And there's a, there's a great solution. 200 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:51,000 You know, I mean, you're, you're part of the great solution, you know, and I do work in 201 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:55,720 India with a buddy of mine, Suresh Harvest India. 202 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:59,140 They do great work there and water wells and that's great. 203 00:12:59,140 --> 00:13:04,000 And you're doing great work at turning, you know, salt water into drinking water. 204 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:05,000 It's huge. 205 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:10,080 It's huge to be able to accomplish both those, both those things, you know, inland and on 206 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:11,080 the coast. 207 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:14,240 So, you know, it takes, it takes both. 208 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:15,240 It's a hybrid approach. 209 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:17,240 It's not one or the other, it's both. 210 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:24,960 So I'm glad to know you and I'm glad that you're, you know, tackling this huge epidemic. 211 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:29,600 That's the true pandemic in my, in my opinion, it's a true pandemic of people that are suffering 212 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:32,800 from lack of water more than anything else, you know? 213 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:33,800 Yeah. 214 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:39,420 Globally kind of the landscape is, you know, roughly one in nine have an, have an access 215 00:13:39,420 --> 00:13:44,760 and quality problem and kind of what that looks like and how it manifests itself is 216 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:52,240 there's sort of these, what I call the pockets of forgotten people and, and the pockets of 217 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:57,440 forgotten people look very much like the work we've done in El Salvador where, take for 218 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:03,720 example, Palmer Cedar, where we've been for the last six years, we've sent over 120 people 219 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:05,600 there, 13 different trips. 220 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:09,440 We've done 13 different feedback loops of learning. 221 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:19,040 And what we found was that there were 38 families in this area and that's about a 250 to 300 222 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:20,040 people. 223 00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:28,000 And what we found was that they didn't have access or quality. 224 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:33,560 So through our friendship and through our relationship, we came alongside them and we'd 225 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:39,840 install a system that now turns 360 gallons a day of, of ocean water into drinking water 226 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:40,840 using solar. 227 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:45,220 And a lot of people, when I do this podcast, they think that this, this photo behind me 228 00:14:45,220 --> 00:14:46,840 is sort of the Guinequí photo. 229 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:51,440 Like I, I surf and it's a good wave and actually this is a very personal photo. 230 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:57,120 Not only is this a picture of a wave right in front of where our water system is, but 231 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:04,580 this is a picture of Simpapo who helps lead ocean water in Palmer Cedar. 232 00:15:04,580 --> 00:15:09,680 So right now during the, this pandemic, the guy on this wave here that I surfed with just 233 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:14,600 a few months ago before they went on lockdown, him and his family have personally been distributing 234 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:22,240 water to 38 families in, in Palmer Cedar and also providing for them food. 235 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:27,360 And you know, that's really important because I think a lot of times we, we sort of lose 236 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:30,840 sight of, of how we can help. 237 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:35,520 And really we don't, we don't really need to help the entire world. 238 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:40,280 If we'll just, if we'll just get excited about helping a few people, a lot of beautiful things 239 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:42,480 can come out of that. 240 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:43,800 Oh, big time. 241 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:48,680 What I love about your story is God's done something really big and came from a very 242 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:49,980 small dream. 243 00:15:49,980 --> 00:15:50,980 You know what I mean? 244 00:15:50,980 --> 00:15:55,360 Actually a really big dream, but it was just an idea of riding your bike across the United 245 00:15:55,360 --> 00:16:01,320 States and then a couple of buddies deciding like, Hey, let's, let's support Ryan in riding 246 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:02,320 his bike. 247 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:06,140 And then he rides across the U S and then he rides, you know, and then you ride on into 248 00:16:06,140 --> 00:16:07,140 Mexico. 249 00:16:07,140 --> 00:16:09,760 And then, I mean, what are the stats on that? 250 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:11,960 You, you, how many countries did you ride? 251 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:15,680 And then how many people ended up getting water just from that one thing? 252 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:16,680 Yeah. 253 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:22,560 Well, it goes back to when, when we became friends and I had just finished up grad school. 254 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:29,000 I had finished my master's degree and I had, I had $700 in my, in my checking account. 255 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:30,600 I sold all of my stuff. 256 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:31,600 I sold my house. 257 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:32,600 I sold everything. 258 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:33,600 I liquidated everything. 259 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:40,640 And I decided that I was going to ride my bike across Canada with my friend. 260 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:43,400 And that is how I started learning about water. 261 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:45,200 I got a phone call from a friend of mine. 262 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:47,800 He said, Hey man, do you, do you need to raise money for this NGO? 263 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:48,800 I'm like, what are you talking about? 264 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:51,800 He's like, yeah, they're doing this water stuff. 265 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:53,520 I got very interested. 266 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:56,640 Uh, it really, that phone call really opened my eyes. 267 00:16:56,640 --> 00:16:59,960 And then, then I rode across the U S and then I rode through Mexico. 268 00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:05,120 I ended up riding for a year and I rode through 10 countries all the way down into South America 269 00:17:05,120 --> 00:17:07,680 and to Columbia. 270 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:09,400 And then I relocated to San Diego. 271 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:11,960 That's when I started my, my doctorate in public health. 272 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:16,840 But, but going back to when it started, yeah, it just started with, I was, I had, I was 273 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:18,840 coming, coming out of a broken season. 274 00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:20,800 You know, I had gone through a divorce. 275 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:25,040 I had gone on this bike ride and I think sometimes God does his best stuff when we're just kind 276 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:28,680 of at the end of ourself, you know, we don't have anything left. 277 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:35,800 Maybe we might just have a bicycle or, or a, or a job or, or, or this idea. 278 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:41,000 And sometimes when we're, when we're finally at the end of our rope, you know, fresh breath 279 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:44,840 can come into us and God can start to kind of do something new in us. 280 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:45,840 That was certainly my story. 281 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:51,200 And that's been my journey now for 10 years, really feeling like this is a kind of a lifelong 282 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:55,800 commitment now to, to helping people source their water from the ocean. 283 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:58,920 You know, we don't have a water problem in the world. 284 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:01,600 We have a water access issue. 285 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:02,600 We have plenty of water. 286 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:04,680 It's just all out in the ocean. 287 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:10,160 So we're, we're really excited now at Ocean Water to find the forgottens, to find those 288 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:16,560 forgotten people, those 20 families, those 30 families, those, those 40 families and 289 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:20,680 come alongside them and help them get their water from the ocean. 290 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:23,080 And at the same time, we invite them into God's family. 291 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:26,000 We invite them into a, into a local church. 292 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,400 Now that church looks a little bit different here in the United States. 293 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:33,040 That church has walls and it has a piece of land and it has a parking lot. 294 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:35,560 It's very different when you get into third world. 295 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:40,920 It looks very much like back in the Old Testament when people would have a meal and they would 296 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:44,280 talk about the teachings of Jesus and they would pray for each other. 297 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:46,920 So that's kind of the space that, that's kind of the space that we're in. 298 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:52,600 And we're really excited because there's 108 countries in the world that have a direct 299 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:57,900 access to the coastline and thousands of those, of those beaches don't have churches. 300 00:18:57,900 --> 00:19:02,360 So that's, that's how we pray for God, for God to use us. 301 00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:05,400 That's what I love about your model is empowering, right? 302 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:10,760 Because we're not going to go into these countries and change their culture, change their traditions 303 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:12,600 or change them. 304 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:16,320 I mean, I love how you said, Hey, we're going to come in soup, soul, salvation. 305 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:20,560 We're going to give you water for free and we're going to tell you about one guy, Jesus, 306 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:21,800 you know what I mean? 307 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:26,080 And we're going to love on you and then we're going to leave and we're going to empower 308 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:29,520 you to continue with what you're doing. 309 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:34,680 And what I really want the viewers to know is you have a lot of success stories leading 310 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:36,960 into what you're doing now. 311 00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:42,860 And you know, you're the book that you wrote and the money that you raised and the people 312 00:19:42,860 --> 00:19:52,520 that you in fact affected for water was before even were you before El Salvador, there was 313 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:55,920 other people you were affecting for good. 314 00:19:55,920 --> 00:20:00,880 I mean, can you talk to talk about some of that like what you you rode your bike for 315 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:01,880 how long? 316 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:02,880 How many countries? 317 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:07,040 How much did you raise and how many people you got water to was 100,000 I think, right? 318 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:08,120 Yeah, yeah. 319 00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:14,080 So the first the first part of it, we I rode my bicycle 10,000 miles through 10 countries 320 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:17,960 and I wrote a book about that's on Amazon is called Ride for Water. 321 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:20,840 I completed a doctorate in public health. 322 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:26,640 We helped about 100,000 people get access to clean water using using bucket systems, 323 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,560 point of view systems, very important systems. 324 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:35,560 And then I have committed the rest of my life now to pivoting from bucket systems to ocean 325 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:36,560 based systems. 326 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:38,880 And so to me, it's all the same stuff. 327 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:43,800 We're just trying to love people and a lot of people in the world talk about problems. 328 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:47,620 But really, you know, a lot of problems aren't problems. 329 00:20:47,620 --> 00:20:51,600 You know, a lot of problems are just caused by unrealistic expectations. 330 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:53,920 But let me tell you what is a problem. 331 00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:56,200 People that don't have waters problem. 332 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:58,000 People that don't have food is a problem. 333 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:01,200 People that don't have housing is a problem. 334 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:07,040 And so those are those are three really solvable problems. 335 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:12,320 And and we're just, you know, every every good thing that's happened in my life has 336 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:15,560 happened through through a conversation kind of like we're having today. 337 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:19,960 And that's one of the reasons I'm so committed to having these conversations and in the right 338 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:24,400 time when they pop up is because everything good in my life has happened through a conversation. 339 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:28,920 A friend will call me or someone will text me or I'll have I'll meet with someone and 340 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:32,760 and then I'll go back and I'll think about what that person said and then I'll reflect 341 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:35,480 on it and then I'll want to be a different person. 342 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:36,840 That's kind of the way that I'm wired. 343 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:41,880 So my hope is that through these conversations and and through these times that we spend 344 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:47,720 together that that parts change and you know one person changes and another changes and 345 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:49,600 then that's how that's how great things happen. 346 00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:51,080 So it's just it's been really fun. 347 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:52,080 Yeah. 348 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:53,400 Well, that's what I love. 349 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:59,080 And that's what I really wanted to impress upon your viewers is this is not just happened 350 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:00,080 overnight. 351 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:04,280 This has been you know 13 this has been a lot of years in the process of this great 352 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:07,120 development that's happening with ocean water. 353 00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:09,460 And there's a huge backstory with all of it. 354 00:22:09,460 --> 00:22:15,560 And there's tons of conversations and ideas that are percolating to this situation right 355 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:18,200 now that you're that you're doing which is mind blowing. 356 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:19,200 It's unbelievable. 357 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:20,200 It's awesome. 358 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:22,680 And so I'm excited about it. 359 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:24,520 It gives me great hope. 360 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:30,800 You know if we could change one life two lives I mean get people what we take for granted. 361 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:32,840 It's a beautiful thing to take the blinders off. 362 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:39,160 So you know and look outside you know our bubble in the United States. 363 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:43,400 And so you know that's that's what I always say. 364 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:48,740 I don't travel much because I travel so much for baseball and I say my my my time and my 365 00:22:48,740 --> 00:22:53,160 talent stay here in Orange County but my treasure will go. 366 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:54,480 Yeah. 367 00:22:54,480 --> 00:23:02,520 I try my treasure may travel but yours truly will try to impact the the people closest 368 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:03,520 to me. 369 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:07,520 So you know you don't you don't travel much these days but you've put you've put more 370 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:11,280 miles on the airplane than most people would do in five lifetimes. 371 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:13,160 So you get a pass bro. 372 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:19,920 But I want to I want to thank you for taking time to to chat today and talk today and you 373 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:23,080 what you're a very very very interesting guy. 374 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:26,440 You wear a lot of hats. 375 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:28,000 You're good at a lot of things. 376 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:34,400 And so just promise me that at some point in the future we'll do something totally different. 377 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:40,640 You're one of the funniest people I know you and Drew Tevez. 378 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:43,960 And so you know we'll do this again man. 379 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:48,600 And just thank you so much brother for for just for taking some time out today to do 380 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:49,600 this. 381 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:50,600 Oh it's my pleasure dude. 382 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:51,600 I love what you're doing. 383 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,720 I love who you got who you got doing it with. 384 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:58,700 And I love the people that are inspired to go out with you to do what you're doing. 385 00:23:58,700 --> 00:24:04,480 So yeah man always there for you and and your organization and well our organization right. 386 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:05,480 So yeah yeah. 387 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:06,480 I love I love that. 388 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:12,540 I love the team thing that we got going on and I love the teammates that you've put together. 389 00:24:12,540 --> 00:24:13,540 You know what I mean. 390 00:24:13,540 --> 00:24:14,540 That's really the word. 391 00:24:14,540 --> 00:24:21,640 I mean what we basically spent 10 years now putting a team together putting a strategy 392 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:27,560 together learning lessons the important lessons of how to how to do it right how to scale. 393 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:31,800 And so I think in the next 10 years now we're going to see all of the hard work and the 394 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:34,600 team we put together really help a lot of people. 395 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:36,720 So it's just a really really exciting time. 396 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:38,160 Be fun. 397 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:39,160 I love it man. 398 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:40,160 Love it. 399 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:43,680 Are there any last words any last words we need to hear from you dude. 400 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:46,000 I shaved that mustache bro. 401 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:47,000 Never. 402 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:52,400 Justin thank you so much for your time brother and we'll do this again. 403 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:53,400 All right. 404 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:54,400 Love you man. 405 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:55,400 Love you bro. 406 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:56,400 Thanks so much. 407 00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:21,960 Thank you most.