October 13, 2025 • 18 mins
In this diverse world it's not about who you are. It's about who you are helping. Author Brad Sedillo emphasizes humility and shared humanity. He shifted from pessimism to positivity through friendship and travel. “Friendboats” illustrates two converging paths. A unique perspective on diversity and differing views.
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Episode Transcript
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Brad Sedillo (00:00):
What you live in, your bubble is not the world.
(00:02):
It's not about who you are,
it's about who you're helping.
Your positive, positive, positiveimprint, imprint, imprint,
imprint stories are everywhere.
People and their positive actioninspire positive achievements.
Your PI could mean the world to you.
Get ready for your positive imprint.
Catherine (00:23):
Hello there.
I'm Catherine, your host ofthis Variety show podcast.
Your positive imprint istransforming how we live today
for a more sustainable tomorrowthrough education and information.
Your own positive actions inspire, change.
Follow me on Instagram and brilliant.
I'm updating my YouTube channel,your Positive Imprint, and you
(00:46):
can also follow me on Facebookand connect with me on LinkedIn.
Check out my website, yourpositive imprint.com, where you
can learn more about the podcastand sign up for email updates.
Thank you so much for listening onApple Podcast, Spotify, Podbean,
Pandora, Amazon Music, well, yourfavorite podcast platform, and of
(01:08):
course, an updated YouTube channel.
Music by the legendaryand talented, Chris Nole.
ChrisNole.com C-H-R-I-S-N-O-L-E.
Thank you again for listeningand for your support of this
podcast, your positive imprint.
What's your P.I?
(01:28):
Well, I am absolutely delighted tointroduce my guest here on today's show,
and he's sitting next to me live here.
I'm
Brad Sedillo (01:35):
yes,
Catherine (01:36):
as an educator, I have had the honor of nurturing his critical
thinking skills throughout his childhood.
I fondly remember reading hiscaptivating stories in class,
watching him lead the student council,
listening to him address the mayor aboutissues that matter to middle schoolers.
I cheered him on as heachieved his Eagle Scout rank.
(01:59):
His leadership has allowed him tonavigate various paths to success
making lifelong friends along the way.
In his own words, he discoveredhimself through his group of friends.
He has committed himself to fitness.
Training for his next competition.
And authored a book titled Friend Boats.
(02:20):
He occasionally co-hostsyour positive imprint.
I could go on and on and on aboutmy remarkable former student, I
am so excited to welcome theabsolute incredible Brad Sedillo.
Brad Sedillo (02:33):
I'm excited to be here.
The tree of your seedsthat you've been planting.
I am the tree.
My friends call me a tree.
So here we are.
Catherine (02:41):
I love that
Brad Sedillo (02:42):
they describe running into me, like running into a tree.
So there you go.
Catherine (02:46):
Well.
You are incredible.
Speaker 5 (02:49):
continue now with part two.
Catherine (02:50):
Traveling has always been a dream of yours Yes.
As well.
Especially because you do havethat background of loving history.
Brad Sedillo (02:58):
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Catherine (02:59):
And so now you have friend boats.
Brad Sedillo (03:03):
Yes.
Catherine (03:04):
I want you to just read this part for listeners, because this was
interesting how you chose the title.
Brad Sedillo (03:10):
Yeah.
Catherine (03:12):
By your friend John.
Brad Sedillo (03:13):
Yes.
So there is, uh, a toast that weused to do, and I'm sure many of
you have heard this before at allof the parties that we used to have.
Um, and it goes, there are goodships and there are wood ships.
There are ships that sail thesea, but the best ships are
friendships and may they ever be,
and that's a, I think it's a fun toastand if you're with your friends, you
can say it in sort of with the, uh,tongue in cheek manner and it's fun.
(03:34):
And so I, I wrote this then John madefun of me for using the same thing over
and over, so he made his own version.
There are good boats andthere are wood boats.
There are boats that sail thesea, but the best boats are
friend boats and may they ever be,
I love that.
There you go.
Friend boats.
Yeah.
I feel like it's a good sort ofinsider joke that encapsulates my,
(03:56):
uh, relationship with my friends.
So,
Yes.
Catherine (03:59):
Which is much of the book,
Is your friendship with your friends.
You made a statement and you said, withyour group of friends, you found yourself.
Brad Sedillo (04:11):
Right.
Catherine (04:12):
So I always thought, well, you know, Brad, being in.
Third grade, my goodness.
He has found himself forthe rest of his life.
Brad Sedillo (04:22):
Yeah,
Catherine (04:23):
because you were always anchored.
Brad Sedillo (04:25):
Mm-hmm.
Catherine (04:26):
And grounded with logic and you went towards opportunity,
but then you made that comment.
Yeah.
So why do you think you didn't
know yourself or find yourself until,
Brad Sedillo (04:39):
right.
You
Catherine (04:40):
found your friends, so can you.
Brad Sedillo (04:41):
Yeah, I think it goes back to what I was saying in terms
of what I thought I wanted to be interms of politics, and then eventually
finding out what it actually wasthat I liked about that whole thing.
And so I think in terms of
what my friends helped me do when Imoved into the dorms, that was, I, all
of the friends that I wrote about inthe book are the friends that I made
in the dorms when I moved, to college.
One of the things that I realized isthat I think I, I was putting a lot
(05:04):
of pressure on myself to be what I hadalready told people I wanted to be,
whereas I had already begun thinkingthat I don't want to be the thing.
I told people that I want to be, so Ineeded to sort of get out of the sort
of self-imposed prison really of what Ihad thought that I wanted my life to be.
And that also extended to my personalityand how I sort of comported myself.
(05:26):
I feel like in high school I was,for a lot of the time, if I wasn't
with my closest friends, reallybuttoned up and you know, and
sort of almost full of myself.
It was sort of thinking back on it.
Think that I was full of myselfwhen I was in high school, which is,
you know, people hate high school.
And I think I hate a high schoolin my memory because I'm like,
God, I wish I was a better personin high school sort of thing.
(05:48):
I could have had so much morefun if I had just let myself
not be perfect all the time.
Catherine (05:52):
You did strive for that.
Yeah.
You really, even in third grade,you would get so frustrated,
Brad Sedillo (05:57):
right?
Catherine (05:57):
If.
Everything wasn't perfectAnd you had to redo papers,
Brad Sedillo (06:01):
right?
Catherine (06:01):
Not because I said so,
Brad Sedillo (06:03):
right?
Because you said so.
'cause I messed it up.
Yeah.
So that whole, whole pressurethat I was put, that's why
my hair is prematurely gray.
It was 'cause I put way too muchpressure on myself to have everything
be perfect and fit a mold that I wastelling others that I wanted to be.
And so what they did in high school,I in college and sort of why they
became my, my closest friends isbecause they showed me that, hey.
(06:24):
You can be who you really want tobe and who you are and it's fine.
That was the whole thing.
I learned that it's fine to justexist and have fun and not be
so buttoned up all the time.
So, and that, you know, here we are,we're talking about all these things that
I've done since I learned that lesson.
And so look at how much more productive
I've been because of thatas opposed to trying to
be the president of UNM Student Councilor whatever, you know, so it, I think it
(06:48):
was a , a godsend that I sort of veeredoff of that path that I had set for myself
and found one that was still good andalso I think better than would have been.
So, and
Catherine (06:57):
I agree.
You are fabulous andyou are I the old Brad.
Brad Sedillo (07:02):
Uh.
Catherine (07:03):
I believe would never have come on to co-host your positive imprint.
Brad Sedillo (07:08):
Yeah.
Yeah.
'cause
Catherine (07:09):
you wouldn't have felt comfortable
Brad Sedillo (07:11):
uhhuh
Catherine (07:11):
in trying to be on the fly
Brad Sedillo (07:13):
banter.
Yeah.
Catherine (07:14):
Yes.
Brad Sedillo (07:15):
Yeah.
Not at all.
'cause
Catherine (07:16):
you, you would want the script
Brad Sedillo (07:19):
uhhuh.
Right.
Right.
Catherine (07:20):
How long did it take you to write this book?
Brad Sedillo (07:22):
Hmm.
So I, I feel really bad saying that Ienjoyed COVID, but you know, obviously
COVID was a terrible thing and bad thingshappened and a lot of those things should
have been avoided and so on and so forth.
But for me personally, I'm anintrovert through and through.
I love working from home,which I've now been working
from home since March of 2020.
And I love it.
And, uh, despite the travel aspect ofit, 'cause obviously I want to travel,
(07:46):
I got back into it very quickly, but.
When I was stuck at home during COVID,I didn't have anything to do, and so it
became very much a COVID project when Iwasn't doing something else, I was just
sitting there on my couch typing my book.
I remember the specific day, Iwas like, okay, I need to set
this number of pages a day.
This is old Brad talking, and you saidthis number of pages a day and I have
to hit them, or I'm not allowed to doanything fun until I hit that quota.
(08:09):
So once I set that quota, it took memaybe six months to write the book.
And that was in 2020.
So it took me a while to get itto a point where I figured I could
try and look at publishing I theneventually self-published it in 2024.
So, I mean, it was a, it was ajourney to get there for sure.
Catherine (08:26):
It was a journey on your trips and you learned Yes.
So much about the world,
Brad Sedillo (08:29):
right?
Catherine (08:30):
Places that you got to see, museums mm-hmm.
That you got to visit thatyou'd only read about before.
Brad Sedillo (08:35):
Right.
Catherine (08:36):
You talked about your dreams.
One of the dreams comingtrue was traveling.
Brad Sedillo (08:40):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Catherine (08:41):
And then another dream.
Dream was that you wanted to dosomething for yourself, which
turned out to be the bodybuilding,
Brad Sedillo (08:46):
right?
Catherine (08:47):
So what are some of the other dreams?
, Brad Sedillo (08:49):
I think that one of the, one of the interesting things about what
this book does, the, the premise of thebook that it, it, it's, uh, essentially
a, an autobiography of my time in collegeinterspersed with my first trip to Europe,
which was in my sophomore year of college.
And so one of the things that I'vecome to learn is that my career.
I, I am very, very thankful for mycareer and I enjoy my job, but it's
(09:14):
not what I would envision myselfdoing for the rest of my life.
My biggest dream would be ableto be a travel writer that
is paid to travel and write.
That would be my ultimate.
Bill Bryson is my favorite.
He's my, he's my literary hero if youhaven't read any of his books, they're
all hilarious and very informative.
, and so that would be my ultimate dream is.
Being able to write and travel fora career, I think is sort of where I
(09:36):
envision myself eventually ending up.
Catherine (09:38):
It's a great book to talk about traveling, but also I think in
another is showing that it's okay to.
Come out of the shell
Brad Sedillo (09:52):
Yes.
Uhhuh and
Catherine (09:53):
have a good time.
Yeah.
But still be responsible.
Brad Sedillo (09:56):
Yes.
Yes.
So a lot of the book is aboutmy debauchery as a younger man.
Yeah.
Uh, which I think is, was fun forme, uh, to write and then for.
My family to read.
'cause I'm sure that they knew, I mean,I've not, I'm not secretive about my
debauchery, you know, obviously not.
Yes, no, my, uh, my parents knewthat I was out and drinking with
(10:17):
friends when I was in college.
But the thing is, is as youmentioned, we were all very,
we're all very nerds at heart.
That's the thing is, so we're notout there doing awful things or
drinking and driving, God forbid.
We're very, you know, all of thosethings we're like, no, we're just
gonna go and get a bottle of somethingand go to a house and talk about Star
Wars and history and have debates.
And drink.
(10:37):
And that's what we did.
So, um, I, I was very thankful thatI have a very, very wholesome group
of friends when they're not drunk.
So there you go.
Yeah, yeah,
Catherine (10:45):
absolutely.
There you go.
So there is
Brad Sedillo (10:46):
debauchery in the book if you want it.
So,
Catherine (10:48):
yeah.
So, with just a fewwords you summarized.
It takes an open heart to live.
Brad Sedillo (10:57):
Yeah.
Catherine (10:57):
I elaborate on that.
Yeah, I, I love that quote, by the way.
Yeah.
Brad Sedillo (11:01):
One of the things that I think is very important for anybody
to realize, and I think most of usdo eventually realize it, is that you
can't be an island unto yourself interms of your life and how you live
and how you interact with others.
It's more about the people aroundyou as opposed to yourself.
And so you obviously need an open heart tobe able to understand all of the different
perspectives of the people around you.
(11:21):
And life is built of so many differentthings that you as an individual can't
represent or be aware of all of them.
So in order to get a full life,you need to be able to experience
the great diversity of things in theworld, and that involves being able to
talk to people who don't agree with you,being able to break out of your shell
in terms of, oh, I think it would bescary to go to X place for X reason.
(11:43):
You need to be able to go thereand see that they're just people,
you have to be aware of the fact that.
What you live in, yourbubble is not the world.
And you have to have the ability to behumble enough to know that in order to
actually see the world and live, you needto be able to go out and see these other
things and accept them into you as part ofwhat makes you human and defines the human
(12:04):
experience, which is common to all people.
So it's one of those things that youneed to be able to have not only an
open heart, but an open mind, really.
But a, a. It's aboutalso enjoying yourself.
And that's, I think, where it's more yourheart than your mind because you have to
have fun while doing all of these things.
Right.
So,
Catherine (12:20):
I, I really liked the part, it was just a paragraph about
visiting barbershops and salonsuhhuh, but not because you just
wanted to see what they're doing,but you wanted to see the diversity
Brad Sedillo (12:31):
Right, right.
Catherine (12:31):
Of our culture.
Brad Sedillo (12:33):
Right.
Right.
Catherine (12:34):
And so you kind of took those drives and, and
went around and I think that.
You're seeing the worldfrom a very logical
Brad Sedillo (12:44):
mm-hmm.
Catherine (12:44):
Point of view and perspective.
And you're seeing it from apoint of view of acceptance.
Brad Sedillo (12:51):
Right.
Right.
Catherine (12:52):
And that is a great positive imprint.
You were in Boy Scouts and you.
Yeah.
Anything you wanna share about someof the things you do outside of work?
Brad Sedillo (13:02):
Yeah.
I, once I started my master's degree,my, my, uh, time definitely fell off.
Yes.
And I graduated with that a year ago.
So I'm now getting to the place where Ihave starting to get more free time back.
But before that, I was on the, the boardof the Great Southwest Council of the Boy
Scouts of America now just scouting BSA.
, and that was a very interesting thingto sort of see the, the high level,
, behind the scenes, how, how the scoutswork and function, which was really
(13:25):
an interesting full circle moment.
, so now I rely on, , , my stepbrotherFrankie, he's on a, a charitable board
and he has a lot of very interesting,
, opportunities for involvement . So I doa lot of my volunteering through him now
because he's , oh, this thing's happening.
I'm like, I'll do that.
So we were planting, , treesabout a month ago with, oh, I
think it's called Tree New Mexico.
Nonprofit that, uh, essentially plants,trees for free all across the city.
(13:50):
And you know, people volunteer totake these trees, but they don't wanna
have to buy the trees themselves.
So they say, I'll take careof it once you plant it.
So it involves planting trees for people.
So yeah, I like looking for littlethings like that to sort of be in the
in Albuquerque and make it a betterplace and make other people realize how
much of a cool place Albuquerque is.
And so, yeah,
Catherine (14:10):
You've also inspired, as I recall, it's been a
number of years, some girls.
To join, scouts of America,
Brad Sedillo (14:18):
right.
I was a board member, charged withtrying to help sort of their social
media impact and all of these things.
So I knew of, , some women that I hadknown younger when I was in Boy Scouts
myself, and they, I brought them along totry and help me do this, the whole thing.
So it was, it was an interesting,an interesting sort of way to view
how anybody can become involvedin these great organizations.
It's not about who you are, you know?
(14:39):
It's about who you're helping.
So
Catherine (14:41):
there you go.
I love that.
Yeah.
It's not about who you are,but who you're helping.
Brad Sedillo (14:44):
Right.
Catherine (14:44):
Excellent.
So we will get close to ending,but is there anything you wanna
talk about that we missed?
Brad Sedillo (14:51):
Oh man, I don't think so.
I would say is just please go buy thebook at a local bookstore from online,
and hopefully I have a, a couple of newbooks coming your way in a few years.
Catherine (15:01):
Well, the book Brad said you, and by the way, it's S-E-D-I-L-L-O.
Brad Sedillo (15:07):
Yes.
Catherine (15:07):
So friend boats and it's on indigo.
Brad Sedillo (15:10):
Mm-hmm.
Catherine (15:11):
And Amazon.
And,
Brad Sedillo (15:13):
uh, yeah.
Ingram.
Ingram.
Ingram.
Yes.
Ingram.
Ingram Spark.
Yeah.
So it's, you can buy it onlinealso through Bookwork, which
is a local Albuquerque store orpage one, which is also, , an
Albuquerque store if you want it.
A, uh, Kindle version.
It is available on Kindle as well.
Catherine (15:28):
Yes.
On Amazon.
Yeah.
As well.
So, uh, internationallythere's a lot of listeners.
International.
It's a great book and they,Brad talks a lot about Europe.
His European travels
Brad Sedillo (15:37):
Yes.
Catherine (15:38):
Before we get to your inspirational words,
your last words, let's have a quick toast.
We both love.
Toasts.
Brad Sedillo (15:49):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
We
Catherine (15:49):
both love Scotland.
And
Brad Sedillo (15:51):
Love Scotland.
Catherine (15:52):
Yeah.
I love Scotland.
That will have to be
Brad Sedillo (15:54):
in another book.
I'll tell you about my trip toScotland and the distilleries.
Yeah.
Catherine (15:57):
Oh, absolutely.
So we have a little bit of whiskey tocelebrate our little rendezvous here.
Yes.
Here on your positive imprint.
Lan.
Mm.
Brad Sedillo (16:13):
That is yummy.
Catherine (16:14):
That is scotch whiskey,
Brad Sedillo (16:16):
debauchery.
Catherine (16:18):
Mm-hmm.
to learn more about Brad,
Brad Sedillo (16:20):
I have two Instagrams.
So it's @bradsedillo or@bradsedillofitness if you
want the fitness part of it.
Catherine (16:25):
Yeah.
Okay.
Excellent.
There you go.
But when you Google bradsedillo, you'll find all sorts.
S-E-D-I-L-L-O.
So last inspiring words.
Brad Sedillo (16:37):
Oh, interesting.
To share
Catherine (16:38):
with listeners.
Brad Sedillo (16:38):
Yeah.
My biggest thing is, again, I'mstarting another book on the Holocaust,
, it's weird to think about it that.
Obviously I, I don't look at the worldthrough the Holocaust, but it's one of
the things that I always keep in the backof my mind that look at what people are
capable of doing to one another, and alsolook at how what you're going through
right now can be put into perspectiveby the suffering of people in the past.
(17:02):
And that will help you look at theworld in a way that will help you be
more productive and more constructive.
Because you have to realize, Hey, whatI'm going through right now can pass.
And I need to be able to be the bestperson that I can be to keep that
from happening ever again essentially.
So it's something that I think aboutall the time and people asking me
what is the, the lens that I have?
(17:23):
I'm say, well, I'm both cynical 'causeI can see what people are capable of.
But I'm also very, very,, positive about what people are
also capable of doing that.
Is good because I mean, that's the wholething about reading about people in the
past is you learn about incredible peoplethat you maybe don't always think about,
but that allowed us to get to where weare because obviously the evil didn't win.
(17:46):
, that's the big takeaway is that therewere a lot of millions of individual
people who did very nice things to helpone another, and that's just something
that I think makes the world a muchbetter place to look at it through that.
So read history and I think that's thethe best that you can do for yourself.
. Catherine (18:02):
Brad Sedillo you're awesome.
Yeah.
This was fun.
You get together.
Yes.
Yeah, . Thank you so much.
Brad Sedillo (18:09):
Thank you.
Very nice.
Yeah.
Good.
That was fun.
Catherine (18:12):
again, it takes an open heart to live
This is part two with Brad Sedillo.
Listen to part one, episode 228 whereBrad discusses his bodybuilding journey.
your Positive Imprint is a free podcast.
If you'd like to buy me a coffeeto help fund the production
of this podcast, here's how.
(18:33):
Go to buymeacoffee.com/Yourpositiveimprintand any support you offer
will be greatly valued.
Thank you so much for your support andfor listening to your positive imprint.
And until next time, enjoy listeningto over 200 episodes of your positive
imprint, your positive imprint.
(18:55):
What's your P.I.?
What you live in, your bubble is not the world.
(00:02):
It's not about who you are,
it's about who you're helping.
Your positive, positive, positiveimprint, imprint, imprint,
imprint stories are everywhere.
People and their positive actioninspire positive achievements.
Your PI could mean the world to you.
Get ready for your positive imprint.
Catherine (00:23):
Hello there.
I'm Catherine, your host ofthis Variety show podcast.
Your positive imprint istransforming how we live today
for a more sustainable tomorrowthrough education and information.
Your own positive actions inspire, change.
Follow me on Instagram and brilliant.
I'm updating my YouTube channel,your Positive Imprint, and you
(00:46):
can also follow me on Facebookand connect with me on LinkedIn.
Check out my website, yourpositive imprint.com, where you
can learn more about the podcastand sign up for email updates.
Thank you so much for listening onApple Podcast, Spotify, Podbean,
Pandora, Amazon Music, well, yourfavorite podcast platform, and of
(01:08):
course, an updated YouTube channel.
Music by the legendaryand talented, Chris Nole.
ChrisNole.com C-H-R-I-S-N-O-L-E.
Thank you again for listeningand for your support of this
podcast, your positive imprint.
What's your P.I?
(01:28):
Well, I am absolutely delighted tointroduce my guest here on today's show,
and he's sitting next to me live here.
I'm
Brad Sedillo (01:35):
yes,
Catherine (01:36):
as an educator, I have had the honor of nurturing his critical
thinking skills throughout his childhood.
I fondly remember reading hiscaptivating stories in class,
watching him lead the student council,
listening to him address the mayor aboutissues that matter to middle schoolers.
I cheered him on as heachieved his Eagle Scout rank.
(01:59):
His leadership has allowed him tonavigate various paths to success
making lifelong friends along the way.
In his own words, he discoveredhimself through his group of friends.
He has committed himself to fitness.
Training for his next competition.
And authored a book titled Friend Boats.
(02:20):
He occasionally co-hostsyour positive imprint.
I could go on and on and on aboutmy remarkable former student, I
am so excited to welcome theabsolute incredible Brad Sedillo.
Brad Sedillo (02:33):
I'm excited to be here.
The tree of your seedsthat you've been planting.
I am the tree.
My friends call me a tree.
So here we are.
Catherine (02:41):
I love that
Brad Sedillo (02:42):
they describe running into me, like running into a tree.
So there you go.
Catherine (02:46):
Well.
You are incredible.
Speaker 5 (02:49):
continue now with part two.
Catherine (02:50):
Traveling has always been a dream of yours Yes.
As well.
Especially because you do havethat background of loving history.
Brad Sedillo (02:58):
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Catherine (02:59):
And so now you have friend boats.
Brad Sedillo (03:03):
Yes.
Catherine (03:04):
I want you to just read this part for listeners, because this was
interesting how you chose the title.
Brad Sedillo (03:10):
Yeah.
Catherine (03:12):
By your friend John.
Brad Sedillo (03:13):
Yes.
So there is, uh, a toast that weused to do, and I'm sure many of
you have heard this before at allof the parties that we used to have.
Um, and it goes, there are goodships and there are wood ships.
There are ships that sail thesea, but the best ships are
friendships and may they ever be,
and that's a, I think it's a fun toastand if you're with your friends, you
can say it in sort of with the, uh,tongue in cheek manner and it's fun.
(03:34):
And so I, I wrote this then John madefun of me for using the same thing over
and over, so he made his own version.
There are good boats andthere are wood boats.
There are boats that sail thesea, but the best boats are
friend boats and may they ever be,
I love that.
There you go.
Friend boats.
Yeah.
I feel like it's a good sort ofinsider joke that encapsulates my,
(03:56):
uh, relationship with my friends.
So,
Yes.
Catherine (03:59):
Which is much of the book,
Is your friendship with your friends.
You made a statement and you said, withyour group of friends, you found yourself.
Brad Sedillo (04:11):
Right.
Catherine (04:12):
So I always thought, well, you know, Brad, being in.
Third grade, my goodness.
He has found himself forthe rest of his life.
Brad Sedillo (04:22):
Yeah,
Catherine (04:23):
because you were always anchored.
Brad Sedillo (04:25):
Mm-hmm.
Catherine (04:26):
And grounded with logic and you went towards opportunity,
but then you made that comment.
Yeah.
So why do you think you didn't
know yourself or find yourself until,
Brad Sedillo (04:39):
right.
You
Catherine (04:40):
found your friends, so can you.
Brad Sedillo (04:41):
Yeah, I think it goes back to what I was saying in terms
of what I thought I wanted to be interms of politics, and then eventually
finding out what it actually wasthat I liked about that whole thing.
And so I think in terms of
what my friends helped me do when Imoved into the dorms, that was, I, all
of the friends that I wrote about inthe book are the friends that I made
in the dorms when I moved, to college.
One of the things that I realized isthat I think I, I was putting a lot
(05:04):
of pressure on myself to be what I hadalready told people I wanted to be,
whereas I had already begun thinkingthat I don't want to be the thing.
I told people that I want to be, so Ineeded to sort of get out of the sort
of self-imposed prison really of what Ihad thought that I wanted my life to be.
And that also extended to my personalityand how I sort of comported myself.
(05:26):
I feel like in high school I was,for a lot of the time, if I wasn't
with my closest friends, reallybuttoned up and you know, and
sort of almost full of myself.
It was sort of thinking back on it.
Think that I was full of myselfwhen I was in high school, which is,
you know, people hate high school.
And I think I hate a high schoolin my memory because I'm like,
God, I wish I was a better personin high school sort of thing.
(05:48):
I could have had so much morefun if I had just let myself
not be perfect all the time.
Catherine (05:52):
You did strive for that.
Yeah.
You really, even in third grade,you would get so frustrated,
Brad Sedillo (05:57):
right?
Catherine (05:57):
If.
Everything wasn't perfectAnd you had to redo papers,
Brad Sedillo (06:01):
right?
Catherine (06:01):
Not because I said so,
Brad Sedillo (06:03):
right?
Because you said so.
'cause I messed it up.
Yeah.
So that whole, whole pressurethat I was put, that's why
my hair is prematurely gray.
It was 'cause I put way too muchpressure on myself to have everything
be perfect and fit a mold that I wastelling others that I wanted to be.
And so what they did in high school,I in college and sort of why they
became my, my closest friends isbecause they showed me that, hey.
(06:24):
You can be who you really want tobe and who you are and it's fine.
That was the whole thing.
I learned that it's fine to justexist and have fun and not be
so buttoned up all the time.
So, and that, you know, here we are,we're talking about all these things that
I've done since I learned that lesson.
And so look at how much more productive
I've been because of thatas opposed to trying to
be the president of UNM Student Councilor whatever, you know, so it, I think it
(06:48):
was a , a godsend that I sort of veeredoff of that path that I had set for myself
and found one that was still good andalso I think better than would have been.
So, and
Catherine (06:57):
I agree.
You are fabulous andyou are I the old Brad.
Brad Sedillo (07:02):
Uh.
Catherine (07:03):
I believe would never have come on to co-host your positive imprint.
Brad Sedillo (07:08):
Yeah.
Yeah.
'cause
Catherine (07:09):
you wouldn't have felt comfortable
Brad Sedillo (07:11):
uhhuh
Catherine (07:11):
in trying to be on the fly
Brad Sedillo (07:13):
banter.
Yeah.
Catherine (07:14):
Yes.
Brad Sedillo (07:15):
Yeah.
Not at all.
'cause
Catherine (07:16):
you, you would want the script
Brad Sedillo (07:19):
uhhuh.
Right.
Right.
Catherine (07:20):
How long did it take you to write this book?
Brad Sedillo (07:22):
Hmm.
So I, I feel really bad saying that Ienjoyed COVID, but you know, obviously
COVID was a terrible thing and bad thingshappened and a lot of those things should
have been avoided and so on and so forth.
But for me personally, I'm anintrovert through and through.
I love working from home,which I've now been working
from home since March of 2020.
And I love it.
And, uh, despite the travel aspect ofit, 'cause obviously I want to travel,
(07:46):
I got back into it very quickly, but.
When I was stuck at home during COVID,I didn't have anything to do, and so it
became very much a COVID project when Iwasn't doing something else, I was just
sitting there on my couch typing my book.
I remember the specific day, Iwas like, okay, I need to set
this number of pages a day.
This is old Brad talking, and you saidthis number of pages a day and I have
to hit them, or I'm not allowed to doanything fun until I hit that quota.
(08:09):
So once I set that quota, it took memaybe six months to write the book.
And that was in 2020.
So it took me a while to get itto a point where I figured I could
try and look at publishing I theneventually self-published it in 2024.
So, I mean, it was a, it was ajourney to get there for sure.
Catherine (08:26):
It was a journey on your trips and you learned Yes.
So much about the world,
Brad Sedillo (08:29):
right?
Catherine (08:30):
Places that you got to see, museums mm-hmm.
That you got to visit thatyou'd only read about before.
Brad Sedillo (08:35):
Right.
Catherine (08:36):
You talked about your dreams.
One of the dreams comingtrue was traveling.
Brad Sedillo (08:40):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Catherine (08:41):
And then another dream.
Dream was that you wanted to dosomething for yourself, which
turned out to be the bodybuilding,
Brad Sedillo (08:46):
right?
Catherine (08:47):
So what are some of the other dreams?
, Brad Sedillo (08:49):
I think that one of the, one of the interesting things about what
this book does, the, the premise of thebook that it, it, it's, uh, essentially
a, an autobiography of my time in collegeinterspersed with my first trip to Europe,
which was in my sophomore year of college.
And so one of the things that I'vecome to learn is that my career.
I, I am very, very thankful for mycareer and I enjoy my job, but it's
(09:14):
not what I would envision myselfdoing for the rest of my life.
My biggest dream would be ableto be a travel writer that
is paid to travel and write.
That would be my ultimate.
Bill Bryson is my favorite.
He's my, he's my literary hero if youhaven't read any of his books, they're
all hilarious and very informative.
, and so that would be my ultimate dream is.
Being able to write and travel fora career, I think is sort of where I
(09:36):
envision myself eventually ending up.
Catherine (09:38):
It's a great book to talk about traveling, but also I think in
another is showing that it's okay to.
Come out of the shell
Brad Sedillo (09:52):
Yes.
Uhhuh and
Catherine (09:53):
have a good time.
Yeah.
But still be responsible.
Brad Sedillo (09:56):
Yes.
Yes.
So a lot of the book is aboutmy debauchery as a younger man.
Yeah.
Uh, which I think is, was fun forme, uh, to write and then for.
My family to read.
'cause I'm sure that they knew, I mean,I've not, I'm not secretive about my
debauchery, you know, obviously not.
Yes, no, my, uh, my parents knewthat I was out and drinking with
(10:17):
friends when I was in college.
But the thing is, is as youmentioned, we were all very,
we're all very nerds at heart.
That's the thing is, so we're notout there doing awful things or
drinking and driving, God forbid.
We're very, you know, all of thosethings we're like, no, we're just
gonna go and get a bottle of somethingand go to a house and talk about Star
Wars and history and have debates.
And drink.
(10:37):
And that's what we did.
So, um, I, I was very thankful thatI have a very, very wholesome group
of friends when they're not drunk.
So there you go.
Yeah, yeah,
Catherine (10:45):
absolutely.
There you go.
So there is
Brad Sedillo (10:46):
debauchery in the book if you want it.
So,
Catherine (10:48):
yeah.
So, with just a fewwords you summarized.
It takes an open heart to live.
Brad Sedillo (10:57):
Yeah.
Catherine (10:57):
I elaborate on that.
Yeah, I, I love that quote, by the way.
Yeah.
Brad Sedillo (11:01):
One of the things that I think is very important for anybody
to realize, and I think most of usdo eventually realize it, is that you
can't be an island unto yourself interms of your life and how you live
and how you interact with others.
It's more about the people aroundyou as opposed to yourself.
And so you obviously need an open heart tobe able to understand all of the different
perspectives of the people around you.
(11:21):
And life is built of so many differentthings that you as an individual can't
represent or be aware of all of them.
So in order to get a full life,you need to be able to experience
the great diversity of things in theworld, and that involves being able to
talk to people who don't agree with you,being able to break out of your shell
in terms of, oh, I think it would bescary to go to X place for X reason.
(11:43):
You need to be able to go thereand see that they're just people,
you have to be aware of the fact that.
What you live in, yourbubble is not the world.
And you have to have the ability to behumble enough to know that in order to
actually see the world and live, you needto be able to go out and see these other
things and accept them into you as part ofwhat makes you human and defines the human
(12:04):
experience, which is common to all people.
So it's one of those things that youneed to be able to have not only an
open heart, but an open mind, really.
But a, a. It's aboutalso enjoying yourself.
And that's, I think, where it's more yourheart than your mind because you have to
have fun while doing all of these things.
Right.
So,
Catherine (12:20):
I, I really liked the part, it was just a paragraph about
visiting barbershops and salonsuhhuh, but not because you just
wanted to see what they're doing,but you wanted to see the diversity
Brad Sedillo (12:31):
Right, right.
Catherine (12:31):
Of our culture.
Brad Sedillo (12:33):
Right.
Right.
Catherine (12:34):
And so you kind of took those drives and, and
went around and I think that.
You're seeing the worldfrom a very logical
Brad Sedillo (12:44):
mm-hmm.
Catherine (12:44):
Point of view and perspective.
And you're seeing it from apoint of view of acceptance.
Brad Sedillo (12:51):
Right.
Right.
Catherine (12:52):
And that is a great positive imprint.
You were in Boy Scouts and you.
Yeah.
Anything you wanna share about someof the things you do outside of work?
Brad Sedillo (13:02):
Yeah.
I, once I started my master's degree,my, my, uh, time definitely fell off.
Yes.
And I graduated with that a year ago.
So I'm now getting to the place where Ihave starting to get more free time back.
But before that, I was on the, the boardof the Great Southwest Council of the Boy
Scouts of America now just scouting BSA.
, and that was a very interesting thingto sort of see the, the high level,
, behind the scenes, how, how the scoutswork and function, which was really
(13:25):
an interesting full circle moment.
, so now I rely on, , , my stepbrotherFrankie, he's on a, a charitable board
and he has a lot of very interesting,
, opportunities for involvement . So I doa lot of my volunteering through him now
because he's , oh, this thing's happening.
I'm like, I'll do that.
So we were planting, , treesabout a month ago with, oh, I
think it's called Tree New Mexico.
Nonprofit that, uh, essentially plants,trees for free all across the city.
(13:50):
And you know, people volunteer totake these trees, but they don't wanna
have to buy the trees themselves.
So they say, I'll take careof it once you plant it.
So it involves planting trees for people.
So yeah, I like looking for littlethings like that to sort of be in the
in Albuquerque and make it a betterplace and make other people realize how
much of a cool place Albuquerque is.
And so, yeah,
Catherine (14:10):
You've also inspired, as I recall, it's been a
number of years, some girls.
To join, scouts of America,
Brad Sedillo (14:18):
right.
I was a board member, charged withtrying to help sort of their social
media impact and all of these things.
So I knew of, , some women that I hadknown younger when I was in Boy Scouts
myself, and they, I brought them along totry and help me do this, the whole thing.
So it was, it was an interesting,an interesting sort of way to view
how anybody can become involvedin these great organizations.
It's not about who you are, you know?
(14:39):
It's about who you're helping.
So
Catherine (14:41):
there you go.
I love that.
Yeah.
It's not about who you are,but who you're helping.
Brad Sedillo (14:44):
Right.
Catherine (14:44):
Excellent.
So we will get close to ending,but is there anything you wanna
talk about that we missed?
Brad Sedillo (14:51):
Oh man, I don't think so.
I would say is just please go buy thebook at a local bookstore from online,
and hopefully I have a, a couple of newbooks coming your way in a few years.
Catherine (15:01):
Well, the book Brad said you, and by the way, it's S-E-D-I-L-L-O.
Brad Sedillo (15:07):
Yes.
Catherine (15:07):
So friend boats and it's on indigo.
Brad Sedillo (15:10):
Mm-hmm.
Catherine (15:11):
And Amazon.
And,
Brad Sedillo (15:13):
uh, yeah.
Ingram.
Ingram.
Ingram.
Yes.
Ingram.
Ingram Spark.
Yeah.
So it's, you can buy it onlinealso through Bookwork, which
is a local Albuquerque store orpage one, which is also, , an
Albuquerque store if you want it.
A, uh, Kindle version.
It is available on Kindle as well.
Catherine (15:28):
Yes.
On Amazon.
Yeah.
As well.
So, uh, internationallythere's a lot of listeners.
International.
It's a great book and they,Brad talks a lot about Europe.
His European travels
Brad Sedillo (15:37):
Yes.
Catherine (15:38):
Before we get to your inspirational words,
your last words, let's have a quick toast.
We both love.
Toasts.
Brad Sedillo (15:49):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
We
Catherine (15:49):
both love Scotland.
And
Brad Sedillo (15:51):
Love Scotland.
Catherine (15:52):
Yeah.
I love Scotland.
That will have to be
Brad Sedillo (15:54):
in another book.
I'll tell you about my trip toScotland and the distilleries.
Yeah.
Catherine (15:57):
Oh, absolutely.
So we have a little bit of whiskey tocelebrate our little rendezvous here.
Yes.
Here on your positive imprint.
Lan.
Mm.
Brad Sedillo (16:13):
That is yummy.
Catherine (16:14):
That is scotch whiskey,
Brad Sedillo (16:16):
debauchery.
Catherine (16:18):
Mm-hmm.
to learn more about Brad,
Brad Sedillo (16:20):
I have two Instagrams.
So it's @bradsedillo or@bradsedillofitness if you
want the fitness part of it.
Catherine (16:25):
Yeah.
Okay.
Excellent.
There you go.
But when you Google bradsedillo, you'll find all sorts.
S-E-D-I-L-L-O.
So last inspiring words.
Brad Sedillo (16:37):
Oh, interesting.
To share
Catherine (16:38):
with listeners.
Brad Sedillo (16:38):
Yeah.
My biggest thing is, again, I'mstarting another book on the Holocaust,
, it's weird to think about it that.
Obviously I, I don't look at the worldthrough the Holocaust, but it's one of
the things that I always keep in the backof my mind that look at what people are
capable of doing to one another, and alsolook at how what you're going through
right now can be put into perspectiveby the suffering of people in the past.
(17:02):
And that will help you look at theworld in a way that will help you be
more productive and more constructive.
Because you have to realize, Hey, whatI'm going through right now can pass.
And I need to be able to be the bestperson that I can be to keep that
from happening ever again essentially.
So it's something that I think aboutall the time and people asking me
what is the, the lens that I have?
(17:23):
I'm say, well, I'm both cynical 'causeI can see what people are capable of.
But I'm also very, very,, positive about what people are
also capable of doing that.
Is good because I mean, that's the wholething about reading about people in the
past is you learn about incredible peoplethat you maybe don't always think about,
but that allowed us to get to where weare because obviously the evil didn't win.
(17:46):
, that's the big takeaway is that therewere a lot of millions of individual
people who did very nice things to helpone another, and that's just something
that I think makes the world a muchbetter place to look at it through that.
So read history and I think that's thethe best that you can do for yourself.
. Catherine (18:02):
Brad Sedillo you're awesome.
Yeah.
This was fun.
You get together.
Yes.
Yeah, . Thank you so much.
Brad Sedillo (18:09):
Thank you.
Very nice.
Yeah.
Good.
That was fun.
Catherine (18:12):
again, it takes an open heart to live
This is part two with Brad Sedillo.
Listen to part one, episode 228 whereBrad discusses his bodybuilding journey.
your Positive Imprint is a free podcast.
If you'd like to buy me a coffeeto help fund the production
of this podcast, here's how.
(18:33):
Go to buymeacoffee.com/Yourpositiveimprintand any support you offer
will be greatly valued.
Thank you so much for your support andfor listening to your positive imprint.
And until next time, enjoy listeningto over 200 episodes of your positive
imprint, your positive imprint.
(18:55):
What's your P.I.?
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