The 30,000 Foot Lightning Bolt of Inspiration

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What happens when a lightning bolt of inspiration hits you at 30,000 feet? For Russ Rogers, it transformed him from landscaper and personal trainer into a children's book author and movement creator dedicated to reconnecting families through physical activity.

In this heartfelt conversation, Russ takes us from his childhood on a Modesto farm to his college baseball career at Cal Poly Pomona, where influential coaches helped shape his life philosophy. His journey winds through coaching softball at Bethany University, where he learned a powerful lesson: his least talented team won the most games because they were unified, while his most talented team struggled due to division. This insight about human connection would later fuel his mission.

The true magic happens when Russ shares the origin story of Move Today 365. After carrying an empty journal for over a year, a mysterious "download" experience on a flight to New York compelled him to write for hours, capturing ideas about movement and family connection. Through a chance meeting with a publisher at a birthday party (one of many serendipitous moments in his journey), these musings evolved into a series of children's books encouraging families to disconnect from devices and reconnect with each other through outdoor activities.

Russ's authentic passion resonates throughout as he discusses his upcoming wellness event "Impact Santa Cruz Today" and his newest books—"Unplugged" and "Imagine If"—that extend his mission beyond physical movement into intentional living. His story reminds us that staying open to unexpected opportunities and embracing intentionality can lead to profound personal fulfillment and positive community impact. 

Listen for a dose of inspiration that might just move you to close your laptop, put down your phone, and rediscover the joy of being present with those you love.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is the Broken Tiles Podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Here we are.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Back at it.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
It's um, well, it's what I say every time.
The only thing we have is wehave a really sweet hook, a
professional hook that we don'tdeserve, and when we say back at
it there's no schedule to thispodcast.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
No.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
It's been a while.
Yeah, hawaii, mm-hmm, we got aspecial guest we have a great
guest sitting here with russ,rogers move today three, six,
five I always kind of.
For me it's like I think theseries of books were today,
today that's it.

(00:43):
He done a lot.
Why don't we do this right outof the gate?
Um, I think for our audienceit's best if you just kind of
tell us a little bit aboutyourself, your story, and we'll
kind of give you the floor alittle bit.
We've met you a few times, dida nice little article in last uh
edition of Santa Cruz vibes inthe spring issue.
That's been super well receivedbecause I think it's um issue.

(01:06):
That's been super well receivedbecause I think it's um, what
you're doing, um, and you'llexplain it right now when you
talk about yourself.
I think it uh, it's notcontroversial.
The world has a lot of thingsgoing on right now.
I think what you're doing has avery simple, organic message
positive, positive yeah, boy, dowe need that, we do need it all
right, take a do the uh, do thehumble brag.
Let's talk about you.
I think there's somelandscaping we can connect on in

(01:28):
life and things like that, butuh, let's just hear who you are
and uh, your story a little bit.

Speaker 3 (01:32):
Yeah, Russ Rogers, from Modesto, California,
Originally grew up on a farm.
Mom, dad, three siblings uhspent a lot of time outside
playing.
My next oldest brother wasseven years older than I.
Okay, so a lot of what I didwas independent from everybody
else because of that age gap.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:54):
I spent a lot of time playing on my own out in the
front yard, doing what boys doand playing the dirt.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:03):
We had cats, we had dogs many of them we had cows,
we had horses.
We did all that kind of stuff.
You know we, we fed them, weran around, we chased them, we
went in the cornfields acrossthe street and we played tag,
hide and seek, we hunted forpheasants, even though I wasn't
really a big hunter, but mysiblings and my older brothers
and my dad were.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Yeah, hunter, but my siblings and my older brothers
and my dad were yeah, and youdid it in the Modesto in the 117
degree heat in August, whichmade it maybe you were already
ahead of the game as far ascross training and my kid lives
in Turlock now and anybodythat's from here or been around
here.
You start drawing a line downthe middle of California and
you're a different breed to makeit through those three months
of the year.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
Oh, man, it gets warm .
You know, I just came back fromMiami a week ago and of course
we didn't have the humidity yetback there.
Right, but you could feel itthe next day after the rain Like
okay it's intense.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:56):
In Modesto you don't get that intense.
It's hot, it's dry, hot it.
You know, when it's that hot itdoesn't feel good, but you stay
near the air conditioner or ina pool.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
Yeah, I mean it's we all adapt, you know we adapt,
and so so your kid, you'rehunting, you're playing around,
you're you're running.
The sun comes up, you're outplaying, the sun goes down,
you're coming in for dinner.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
Not interested in hunting.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
Not interested in hunting and now I feel like
we're.
I don't know.
We're going into junior high,high school.
Did you stay in that area ofthe woods?
I did.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
I stayed in Modesto all the way until same house,
until I was 17.
Oh right, on and off to college.
My mom still lives there tothis day.
They built the house when I wassix months old.
That's amazing, so we have beenliving in that house for a long
time.
Just Just was there Mother'sDay visiting mom.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
She's 86, doing well working in the garden.

Speaker 3 (03:46):
Incredible.
She lives the exemplary lifethat an older person should live
, because they say thatgardening is one of the best
things.
When you age for exercise, youget the vitamin D.
Of course you don't want anenormous amount, yeah, but
you're out there, you'resqueezing tools, you're raking,

(04:08):
you're moving your arms.
You know you're not running, ofcourse you know, at 86,.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
You probably shouldn't be running, but you're
moving.

Speaker 3 (04:11):
That's a functional movement, a lot of functional
movement.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
It's a real sore subject for me, in a way, and
because I I mean agreeing withyou 150%, and there's only my
mom, who's 77, lives back Easton Lake Ontario.
Mom who's 77, lives back Easton Lake Ontario, watertown, new
York, and what you're sayingright now it's um, uh, she's a
different human for about sevenmonths a year when she's
gardening.
Yeah, and I feel so much betterabout her.

(04:35):
She's a different person.
We talked to her in the morning.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
Um, and her whole face is lit up this time of year
and it lasts until winter andthen it goes away.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
And I know she's moving, I know she's picking up
stone, she's she's putting downvaults, she's doing all those
small things.
Um, the hardest part about usmy dad passed away three years
ago but is, um, you know, thethree, four or five months is as
brutal as this back winter.
Um, I just can't think of amore stagnant lifestyle and a
tougher you know kind of thing.
But I'll let you keep going.
But that kind of hit with me alittle bit when you, when you

(05:06):
talk about there's studies andit's, it's a part of moving and
healthy aging.
Yeah, there, it is Smart words.

Speaker 3 (05:15):
Stacy has the words.

Speaker 2 (05:17):
Russ, usually what happens on this podcast is I
stumble around and I hover and Iuse a lot of meaningless words
and ums and things like that,and then, in two words, she'll
set me straight a little bit.
So and I already forgot whatthey were you write them down
healthy, what Aging?

Speaker 1 (05:33):
I knew it Stacey, I just don't do that to me, all
right.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
So keep going.
Mom's mom's still there and thehouse is there, and so you're
there till 17.
Where'd you go to school?

Speaker 3 (05:43):
Went to in high school, the college College Cal
Poly, pomona.
Oh, right on, yeah, I was goingto go to Fresno State and play
baseball.
I was all signed up, got all myyou know, all of my to-do lists
done and it was accepted.
Yeah, I was going to go playbaseball.
And that summer in 85, I wasapproached by another local

(06:04):
coach in Modesto and he said hey, have you ever heard of Cal
Poly Pomona?
And I said no, I haven't.
And he said, oh well, I havesome contacts there and I'd like
for you to check it out.
And I go well, I'm going toFresno State to play ball.

Speaker 1 (06:15):
Yeah, and he's like well, why don't you know?

Speaker 3 (06:17):
just check it out and I said, all right, I'll, dad
had his pilot's license and heactually got his pilot's license
in lieu of the fact that Imight be traveling to go play
you know baseball gotcha.
so he got his you know smallpilot's license and flew around
as a cessna 182.
So we got hot in the plane andwe flew down to southern

(06:37):
california and I was picked upin this baby blue 1967, the year
I was born station wagon beateryeah, Faded blue by the coach,
John Sklenas, who was thewinningest baseball coach in
college baseball history.
There was a stack of newspapersin the back seat where I was
seated.
My dad was in the front and myknees were all the way up to my

(06:58):
chin.
I was like I'm sitting therethinking what in the world am I
doing?
You know what I mean?
Wait, was your coach deliveringnewspapers?
No, these were just sports.
I'm tracking you.

Speaker 2 (07:10):
I'm like man, this is a hardworking coach.
I thought he was going to pickyou up and take you on the route
.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
I was lost in that conversation and I did have to
pause for a moment and say yousaid your knees are up to your
chin.
Is this because you're such atall guy in the back of a car.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
No, it's because the stack of newspapers were below
my feet and I had no place toput my feet except on top of the
newspapers.

Speaker 1 (07:32):
And kids sat in the back.
Exactly, dad was up front.

Speaker 3 (07:35):
Yeah it didn't matter .
So he was this Italianbow-legged.
At that time he was a near70-year-old coach who had won a
lot of baseball games.
So we went to the stadium, wechecked it out, Got the tour.

Speaker 2 (07:49):
You know I loved it.

Speaker 3 (07:49):
I mean Fresno State.
It's a Division I right.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
What position did you play?
Third base?
Okay, man, that's a hot corner.

Speaker 3 (07:54):
Hot corner, yep, and it got hotter in college, you
know.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
Stacey.
A lot of action, that's pretty,God dang it.
I thought I had her.
I thought I had her.
That was my, I was trying to.

Speaker 3 (08:05):
She went to the cue cards.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
She's 1-0.
She was 1-0 on me.
I was trying to even it up, soright now I think I'll go 1-1
right now.
But I really thought I had youthere.
I thought I had to keep going.

Speaker 3 (08:17):
Hot corner, yeah, um.
So I went back and reallybasically made the biggest
decision of my life a week laterand I opted not to go to Fresno
state and go to Cal Poly.
Big decision, yeah, um.
And I really felt bad becausethen I had to phone call the
coach at Fresno state.

Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:39):
And it just so happened at the beginning of the
next season we did a three gameseries at Fresno State.
They ended up having about fiveguys on that team.
That went pro.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
I mean this team was stacked.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
Tom Goodwin is one of the names who went on to play
professional baseball for a verylong career, played with the
Dodgers and a couple other teams, but anyway, so yeah, it was a
great experience though.
So I made that decision andended up going to Cal Poly
greatest decision I ever made.
And this was the reason why isbecause I knew even at 17, when

(09:15):
I was leaving home to go toSouthern California, this man
was going to help form and shapemy life.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
Interesting.

Speaker 3 (09:21):
More than, not more than, but in addition to that's
a better phrase, but in additionto.
That's a better phrase, but inaddition to what my parents had
already implemented into my life.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
Yeah, a good coach can do that, yeah, and he did.
Stacey would make the argumentas far as the worlds are
different and things like that,but I think she had some music
teacher and teachers, and eventeachers through college Doesn't
have to be a coach, but you canhave a mentor come out of left
field that you didn'tnecessarily see coming.
Yes, and you kind of knew itright away.
Like in that visit, even I feltit Like this is something

(09:51):
different.
Yeah, I felt it.

Speaker 3 (09:53):
You know, the other coach at Fresno State.
I mean, he's going to do hisown style and I'm sure guys
today look back in wereformative years that they were
just so happy to play.
But I just, I don't know.
I just felt something insidelike this is the place for me,
and made some very meaningfulrelationships there.
Um, great coaches.
Um, had a great stint, you know, playing baseball there.

(10:15):
Um, and just love my time atCal Poly.

Speaker 2 (10:18):
Most people don't finish out.
Do you play four years?
Play four years you did?
Yeah that it doesn't work outthat way.
As far as like the ideaespecially of athletics
transitioning out of high schoolinto college, academics, life,
maturity, things like that,especially playing at that level
, it doesn't always work out toan entire four-year career.

Speaker 3 (10:40):
Well, I had a couple of buddies, one that I went to
high school with.
He transferred from one of thelocal high schools over to our
school, Modesto Christian, hisjunior year, Yep, and he ended
up going to Merced JuniorCollege, Okay.
And then after two years therehe transferred down to Cal Poly,
ended up playing with me and weended up rooming.
And then another guy that weplayed with in our younger years

(11:00):
in Little League and stuff likethat, he ended up coming down.
So the three of us, you know wehung out together.

Speaker 2 (11:06):
We just had our 40th anniversary last weekend, so we
had a lot of stories beingthrown around you know it was,
it was great.
I'm going to draw a line incollege right now and see if I
don't even know if oursoundboard works here.
Stace, let's see here.

Speaker 1 (11:16):
Hold on, I don't know you were supposed've got
backups.

Speaker 2 (11:21):
I mean I can play transitional music anytime.
This can be our music,transitional.
I'll keep pausing it through.
This sounds upbeat.
Sounds exciting.
For Stacey's first question.
I don't know where this song'sgoing.

Speaker 1 (11:32):
You know where it's going Question one, question one
.
So this is how we do it, russ Ipose questions, we each take
turns answering and then we talkabout it and we always make
Stacy go first while we thinkabout really good answers.
We, we.

Speaker 2 (11:49):
I love that we're teamed up.
Now we're here.
He's here.
I'm telling him how the game'splayed.

Speaker 1 (11:53):
I'm going to ask you to go first.
Okay, when you're down, whatmakes you feel better?

Speaker 3 (11:59):
Hmm, sunshine.

Speaker 1 (12:01):
Ooh, I love that.

Speaker 2 (12:03):
This guy's super good at the game.

Speaker 1 (12:04):
Yeah, he is, he's quick.

Speaker 3 (12:06):
We call it the sunshine vitamin.

Speaker 2 (12:08):
Oh.

Speaker 1 (12:09):
Yeah, think about that.

Speaker 2 (12:10):
Keep going Right Exposition now.
So the first thing.

Speaker 3 (12:13):
I live in a studio in Capitola, yeah, and my door
faces the east.
So the first thing I do when Iwake, even though the sun is not
up, first thing I do is openthe door, and my bed faces that
direction.
And so when that sun does comeup like well, like today, it was
foggy but still I open the doorand you get that fresh air.

Speaker 2 (12:35):
No doubt Ocean's right there.

Speaker 3 (12:37):
You can smell it, you can hear it, you know people
are coming and going, fishermenare already coming in, so
there's life immediately.
And that's the first thing I doyear round is open that door.
So even if the sun is notshining, I know it's there still
shining on the other side ofthat totally get that so it's
just for me it's a sunshinevitamin.

Speaker 1 (12:58):
I like it I like that a lot repeat the question,
please when you're down, whatmakes you feel better?

Speaker 2 (13:07):
um, uh, vision quest in the sauna heat.
Oh yeah, that is your thingheat.
If I'm feeling like a littlefunky and it's kind of
counterintuitive, um, actuallythe reality of it is all the way
out is is heat cold and so forme it started when I was a
teenager.
Over on 41st Avenue, um at spafitness it used to be called in

(13:30):
the in the seventies andeighties, um, I think it's in
shape now, over there the bigone.
They got a very unique spot.
There was the sauna, the umsteam room and then the 55
degree dip tank which is um is.
When I was playing football inhigh school, one of my freshman
year, I think my coachrecommended it because we had a
membership there that you know,with some of the soft tissue

(13:50):
stuff, go over there and get inthe dip tank and kind of like it
was before we had an ice bath.

Speaker 1 (13:55):
It's part of your healing.

Speaker 2 (13:56):
Yeah, before we had the ice bath my junior year, so
I went over there.
I really enjoyed it,no-transcript.
But then I don't think I'd everbeen in a sauna when I was 13
for any reason, right, I justdon't think I'd ever found my
way in.

(14:16):
But I found my way in there andreally almost fell asleep in
there for a long time, but stillhad to do my little therapy and
that for me was just atransformative moment, like
being, you know, in 190 degreesfor 30, 40 minutes and then
going into that tank wasshocking.
Yeah, go ahead.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
I just want to ask you to elaborate on the vision
quest, because you said thatvery quickly but maybe not
everybody knows what you mean,Stacey is an international man
of mystery.
I threw that out there.

Speaker 2 (14:45):
I was going to circle back around to that.
And you know that's how youbuild a narrative.

Speaker 1 (14:50):
You build a narrative by, like you know, teasing the
audience in Leaving a little bitout.

Speaker 2 (14:55):
Russ doesn't know this, but you know, we've
occasionally been number 17 withthis podcast in Venezuela, and
so I'm not playing to thisaudience.
You so I'm not playing to thisaudience.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
you or Russ, or Santa Cruz or the vibes?

Speaker 2 (15:06):
This is how I can connect with my Venezuelan
audience right now Okay.
Meandering narratives thateventually come back to what I
was talking about.

Speaker 1 (15:15):
All right, let's hear it, but can I finish what I?

Speaker 2 (15:17):
love about Kate.
Can I finish my story please?
You can, you can, and what Ifound, though, though, is that
I've never stopped doing that.
I'll go out of my way to to um,even extend that heat.
You know, find that cold um it.
It just balances me out.
The vision quests are, uminnumerable amounts, I found I

(15:41):
really push myself, sometimes upto an hour and 15 minutes,
sometimes an hour hour.
I don't ever overdo it.
I basically just let my heartrate tell me when it's time to
get out of the sauna.
Sometimes it's 35 minutes, 40minutes, sometimes it's an hour
and 15.
Um, but at that peak of sort of,when I'm at my maximum, um, I
ended up getting some reallygood ideas in there, and I don't

(16:04):
know, I know there's some, youknow there's some tenants of
that.
There's some places you can gowhere you can, and even there's
some dangerous stories.
I know that have occurred.
But it is a little bit of aseparation, it's a little bit
outside of my normal.
You know, kind of like, youknow, frame of reference, and
I'm fighting the heat, I'mfighting my blood pressure a

(16:25):
little bit, but I'll walk out ofthere a lot of times and write
down ideas for a storybook,ideas for vibes, and sometimes
it's very just clinical, abusiness idea, something to do
smarter in business.
And she's the first one toalways hear it, you know.
I had an idea in there.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
Well, it's either in a vision quest or when you're
dreaming is when it happens foryou.
But I think that says a lot,where you're in a total state of
relaxation and you're notforcing anything, so it just
happens.

Speaker 2 (16:57):
I feel like you're giving me a lesson, right.
I think there was more in thatthat I was supposed to grab onto
that, no.

Speaker 1 (17:05):
Do you want me to repeat the question to you?
Stacy's very deep.
She is very deep.
No, you don't have to repeatthe question to me Because I
couldn't.
Okay, then let's try, let's seewhat you got.

Speaker 2 (17:14):
I don't know what makes you happy.
I don't know what.
I can't remember what it waswhen you're down.

Speaker 1 (17:19):
What makes you feel I ?
Already know your answer, ohtell me, what do you think?
My answer is here.

Speaker 2 (17:26):
This is like the Chris Angel Mind Freak magic.

Speaker 1 (17:31):
Oh, you're writing it down, okay.

Speaker 2 (17:34):
What makes you happy when you feel down?

Speaker 1 (17:36):
Being in the forest.

Speaker 2 (17:38):
Walk in the woods.
There it is right there.
Yeah, you know me, go aheadExpand.

Speaker 1 (17:44):
Wow.
Well, this really startedbecause I grew up in the
mountains in Colorado andwhenever I was stressed actually
I spent so much time out thereI would just our back door
literally was at the base of amountain and I'd just walk out
and I'd walk to my favorite spotthat my sister and I
inexplicably named Teddy BearSqueeze, which is a big, huge

(18:07):
rock and a couple of other rocksaround it in the midst of all
these trees, and that's where Ihung out and we played.

Speaker 2 (18:15):
It's your jam.
It really is, and I think Idon't care what the circumstance
is If you're in a good mood, itputs you in a better mood.
If you're in a good mood it putsyou in a better mood If you're
in a terrible mood for her.
And I think by assimilationeven having the luck to grow up
here so close to these redwoods,so close to the water we find

(18:37):
our different things, but Ithink by assimilation, through
the relationship, I found aplace more in the woods than I
did before I met you.
Yeah for sure.

Speaker 1 (18:46):
Yeah, it means a lot to me.
So now I'll just go up toNicene Marks and take a walk
there.
It's so convenient andaccessible and it's like
immediate peace.
Uh, my goal when I uh retire isto be, uh, a forest therapist.
You may have heard of I can'tremember what it's called right

(19:07):
now, but the Japanese art offorest bathing.
So there's a lot of research tosupport the calming effect of
being in the midst of a forestand I feel that, and I think I
would love to be able to supportother people doing that.
Yeah, and do a guided walk andtalk about different things,
point different things out andreally help them experience what

(19:29):
it feels like to be in theirbody in this state of calm.

Speaker 3 (19:33):
Nice, love that.

Speaker 1 (19:35):
I love that.

Speaker 3 (19:35):
It's my goal, you know being that we're so close
to the forest, I don't takeadvantage a lot of times because
I'm really a beach guy, yeah.

Speaker 1 (19:46):
And I find that at the beach I like that I get that
.

Speaker 2 (19:47):
Yeah, this is our bumper music going back in as we
slowly listen.
This is the.
Do you recognize the song yet?

Speaker 1 (19:53):
I sure do.

Speaker 2 (19:53):
That's right.
Well, this is the Bard.
This is the Bard.
This is.
Take On Me.
It's like Bard music from likea medieval festival of.
Take On Me.
We'll tell them about that alittle bit later, but really
right now this is just a simplewistful transition back into we
just graduated college and we'reback with Russ.
I can't wait to see whathappens next.

Speaker 1 (20:12):
Agreed.

Speaker 2 (20:15):
So there you are.
That's awesome.
So you leave Cal Poly, and thenwhere are we at?

Speaker 3 (20:19):
Leave Cal Poly After finishing four years of ball.
It kind of took a year just tokind of hang around LA for a
year.
Same area Pomona Ended upvolunteering at a church,
volunteering as a junior highpastor.
Oh, right on yeah getting in alot of trouble with the junior
high kids, meaning we'd go onsnow trips and we were coming

(20:41):
back down.
We had a 15-passenger van and Ididn't have a license to drive
the van.
So the college pastor said I'lldrive the van because he's got
the license.
We had six extra so we decidedwe'll just throw the six extra,
made it 21 in the van to go upon this trip.
You know, it's just about anhour and a half away.

Speaker 2 (21:03):
Something you could not do these days.

Speaker 3 (21:04):
No, no no, not at all .
So we packed them in.
I mean, they were in every nookand cranny of that van.
So I'm in the front passengerseat.
He's driving.
We got kids between us on theground and the floor of the van,
and so we go up this bend andthere's a bankment up to my

(21:28):
right.
We come around the bend,there's a rock, a good size, you
know, one and a half by one anda half foot rock.
Yeah, sitting right on thewhite line, on the edge.
Oh shit, and I'm in my head I'mthinking, ah, he sees that.
I mean it's right there in frontof us yeah, nope, my tire
underneath me hit that rock it,you know, just busted in the

(21:49):
whole wheel, drum tire,everything.
We went right up thatembankment upside down in the
middle of our lane well, luckilythere wasn't 21 kids in it
without seatbelts.

Speaker 2 (22:00):
Without seatbelts oh, I mean, at least that didn't
happen, right, thank god, thankgod, this story, this is where I
don't listen to anything you'resaying, but I mean.

Speaker 3 (22:06):
Seatbelts Without seatbelts.

Speaker 2 (22:07):
That didn't happen, right, goodness, thank God.
Thank God, this story.
This is where I don't listen toanything you're saying, but the
only thing I'm thinking rightnow is thank God there's not 21
kids without seatbelts in there,so keep going.

Speaker 3 (22:16):
So the 19 kids were on the roof of the van and Mark
and I are dangling fromseatbelts in the front and we
had help from, you know, peoplethat were coming up and behind
us, that you know broke out thefront and the back and we all
crawled out and we got to theside and the only damage that
was done besides the van beingtotaled, was we had a broken
pinky.

(22:36):
That's amazing.

Speaker 2 (22:38):
A broken pinky?

Speaker 3 (22:38):
Yeah, that is a, and so we're standing, you know
we're standing on the side ofthe road and we're like, all
right, kids disperse, Becausewhen the police get here we
don't want to have a head count.
You know, no doubt.
But anyway, yeah, that's justone of those.
You know, young and dumb andcrazy things, you know.
Yeah, Just go into the snow forthe day.
That's it, we would be safeRight.

Speaker 1 (23:00):
Right yeah, right right yeah.
You don't even think aboutnothing, no, you just seize the
rock going there.

Speaker 3 (23:07):
he sees the rock.
Oh my god, no, he didn't seethe rock.
But um, yeah.
So we, you know, went out, youknow, after that, and I had met
a gal at cal poly, and we endedup moving north, coming up to
modesto okay and we ended upgetting married, having kids,
and then I ended up working as adevelopment director at bethany
university in scot Valley.

Speaker 2 (23:24):
Oh, I remember Bethany Right up kind of go
right up the hill there a littlebit right on the right-hand
side, correct?
I remember that I feel likethere was a basketball.
Was there a basketball court upthere?
There was.
We used to practice up there, Ithink in high school.
But go ahead.

Speaker 3 (23:37):
Yeah, I know it.
So I was there as a developmentdirector and then when the
softball coach had learned aboutmy background in baseball he
had asked.
He said, hey, why don't youcome out?
And you know, if you want togive some of your time and your
expertise in helping out thekids, that'd be great.
So I would go out there everyonce in a while.
Well then, the year after thathe ended up taking a pay raise

(23:58):
in his electrician job and sothey asked me, kind of as
deferred, you know uh, to takeover the coach.
And so I did a developmentofficer, raising money for the
school, redeveloping the campus,and then also head softball
coach for seven years.
And it was it was, uh, it was anamazing experience and you know
the bond you know with, uh, the, the girls of the team and you

(24:19):
know year after year you'rerecruiting, and the parents and
the relationship.
You know, cause it's a smallschool, there was about 400
students on campus, so you knowthat was it was very tight knit
group you know from year afteryear, but the you know I had one
of the years we had thegreatest talent of players that
I had ever had.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (24:37):
And we had the worst year that we ever had.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
There's a lesson in there somewhere, right, that's a
major lesson.
There's a major lesson in theresomewhere, right, that's a
major lesson.

Speaker 3 (24:44):
There's a major lesson in there, because we were
, the team was divisive.
Yeah, like you know, they werejust, we were fragmented, we
weren't a team, right, and thatwas my lesson.
It's like doing whatever youcan do to bring the team in, but
there was a few littlecancerous people that were
players that you know weredivisive to the team and we were

(25:07):
fragmented.
The very next year I probablyhad the least talented team and
we won the most games that I hadever coached in the seven years
at Bethany because that teamwas bonded.
They wanted to spend as muchtime as they could together
outside.
We went to one of the parents'house up in Placerville.

Speaker 2 (25:22):
We would do team events and just bonding, you
know, hanging out and building,and it was the greatest time I
remember that I coached 20 yearsback East varsity football and
kind of the saying goes it'slike you'd be at a coaching
conference.
You'd be talking with everybodyand they'd be like, how's it
look this year?
And you'd be like, it's apretty good locker room.
It's a pretty good locker room.
Yeah, it's a pretty good lockerroom.

(25:42):
And if the locker room's good,the rest of it sort of I'm not
saying it ever takes care ofitself, but if you've got a good
locker room, those are theteams.
It's a handful 20 years probablysix teams that sort of bought
in.
Six teams that sort of wereeasy to be with, had leaders
that weren't overwhelming.
You know vocal slash by example, um, but yeah, man, as a coach,

(26:07):
when you have a, when you havea comfortable, good kind of
cohesive locker room, it's um,uh, it's almost like that
earlier conversation that wetalk about it Like that's
inclusive sometimes.
But we go through the samething with our work life right
now.
Right, like, as far as like, ifyou have a good team and you,
have a good group it translatesto chemistry culture.

(26:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (26:30):
Well, and I think um, we have to remember that as
human beings, I think we'veevolved to live in community and
we need to do what we can toemulate that and to create
opportunity for it to grow.
It's important.

Speaker 3 (26:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (26:46):
And we do well with it.
How old are your kids?

Speaker 3 (26:49):
36, 31, 29.
Girl, girl, boy.

Speaker 2 (26:52):
Yeah, you got, you, got me beat you, you it's.
It's hard because we're, youknow, I think you got me beat by
one year, but I think we'rewhat?
34, I think that's right.
It's nice to find a brother inarms that got started early and
has kids more towards AARP thanaway from it.
That's a whole, as we say inthis weird business.

(27:15):
It's a whole different podcasttalking about how trippy it is
to see your kids, because I'msure here's the deal.
You were probably in your late,what, mid, late 20s, early 30s
coaching at Bethany, yes, yeah.
And now your kids are, whateverthey're doing right now.
You have this little frame ofreference.
We're talking here in 2025, inour 50s, about these little

(27:36):
moments that are vivid, and thenyou look down at your kids and
they're living it right now.

Speaker 3 (27:41):
They're living it, they're in it.

Speaker 2 (27:42):
Yeah, yep, so after Bethany.

Speaker 3 (27:44):
So after Bethany, so after Bethany, what did I do?
Okay, so after Bethany, Icoached, and while I was
coaching, because of where I wasas a coach, people in the
community are coming to you andsaying because of your position
like hey, can you help my kidyou know, get better at hitting.

Speaker 1 (27:59):
Yeah, you know.

Speaker 3 (28:00):
Yeah, so I started this little side business of
personal training and it wasreally, really fun.
So I would do, you know, a fewhours here, a few hours there,
and then you know, people starttalking and then then it kind of
grew and grew and grew.
Well then the developmentoffice was ending.
We had, you know, basicallymaxed out our funds and
everything that we're going todo for eight years, so it was
like all right, it's time toleave.

(28:20):
Well, part of working at Bethanywas developing the outside,
which is the landscaping part ofit.

Speaker 2 (28:26):
Interesting.

Speaker 3 (28:26):
So I started when I left Bethany.
I started a landscape companyand I started a personal
training business, and I didthem simultaneously.

Speaker 2 (28:34):
Never have those two been combined before in the
history of mankind.
That's a.
That's a.
I like it, though, because Ithink what you did is you found
a way, and I'm sure we'll get tothis after the second question,
as we go into more of the, the,the subject of the day, which
is your company now, but you've.
You seems like you're the kindof dude that keeps on finding
your way where you're going towork, but you also want to be

(28:55):
going to work.

Speaker 3 (28:56):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (28:57):
Yeah, that's interesting.
Yeah, how'd landscaping go foryou?
Awesome, did you have a smalllike were you?
Did you do some commercial orjust residential?

Speaker 1 (29:04):
All residential, all residential.

Speaker 3 (29:05):
Even to this day, yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:06):
You're still doing it now.
Still doing it now.
How many houses-ish?

Speaker 3 (29:10):
Well, we have maintenance, we do installs, we
do decks, fences, everything Allof it.
Yeah, we do it all.
It's a rewarding job.
It is rewarding, and the reasonit's rewarding is because you
can take a piece of dirt andmake something beautiful, you
know, and by putting in somehardscape or some lawn or
synthetic grass and some flowersno doubt about it Just beautify

(29:30):
.

Speaker 2 (29:31):
There's so many, um, I talk about it cause I did it
in high school and I came backand I've been working for
Emerald city landscaping sincewe came back for like last 10
years and, um, there's so manydifferent jobs, you have so many
different things you do, um,but there's not a lot of them
where you look back and you'relike that's different than when
I showed up, yeah, and thatthat's super rewarding.
So there's a lot of times, evenin vibes, where it's just off

(29:52):
into the ether yes, yeah, that'sit, the magazine the payoff
takes so long.
Yeah, the magazine's a moment.
It looks great there it is, butit still sort of have made a

(30:17):
difference there.

Speaker 1 (30:18):
Yeah, and I think it's that, that feeling of the
physical work that you did tooand you see what that did for
you, and that's that is it feelsgood yeah.

Speaker 3 (30:27):
And, and I enjoy the process.

Speaker 2 (30:30):
Right yeah, I enjoy the process.

Speaker 3 (30:32):
So when you think about the process of landscaping
through a, a job that maybetake one to three months, you
know, depending on the job.
So one to three months, it'sthe same, you know.
It's that same feeling when youtake a kid and you train them
from having struggles in aspecific part of their game,

(30:52):
taking them through the processand then seeing the outcome.

Speaker 2 (30:56):
And it's really the same thing.
For me it is, and I think,taking a kid training them.
I think that's going to begoing to question too, but also
I think it's a good hook, for Ithink I know where we're going
next with this whole trainingand health and things like that.
Give it a little room here,stace, before you jump on it.
I will, I will the um.
The story behind this is that mymusical taste is all over the

(31:18):
place.
Um, you know, it can be super,it can be screamo metal, it can
be reggae, remo metal, it can bereggae.
It can be um, uh, you knowviolin, agnes, so, but I mean
it's, it's truly.
And then everybody says that,but mine's kind of all over.
But um, aha in 1981 was a bandand they had this song, take on
me, which everybody knows thatsong, but um, it's uh, for me it

(31:40):
was a, it was a signaturemoment.
I felt like I found this littlerecord that nobody was
listening to in 80 or 81 down atLogos Record Store and it's
kind of an ongoing joke in ourfamily that this is sort of my
jam and it's a weird one, but italso makes a way to every
single podcast that we have.

Speaker 1 (31:57):
Yes, it does In many different forms.
Question two babe, Okay, I justchanged it out.

Speaker 2 (32:01):
I noticed that.
What it?

Speaker 1 (32:03):
was was.
Would you rather live by thebeach or in the mountains?
And I kind of think we alreadyanswered it so that one's gone
and I just pulled this out.
What would you most like to dofor somebody else if you had the
money and the time?

Speaker 2 (32:19):
Ooh, stacey, you go first.
I let's see Money and time.
I guess this is more money.

Speaker 1 (32:30):
That no Okay.
So really I would.
I would like to have a homenear our kids and Brian and I
disagree on this, and so itmight mean three different homes
, because they all live in threedifferent places, and I would
like to go spend time with themand I think I'm like hoping to

(32:50):
someday be a grandparent andthen I'll be able to have, you
know, opportunity to help themwith that.
But even if that doesn't everhappen, I I love spending time
with them and I miss them, um,but they also need to have their
own home and their own life.
So for me to have a home nearthem so I could support them,

(33:10):
that would be awesome.

Speaker 2 (33:12):
Right, that's beautiful.
Yeah, that's.
That's a really good answer.
I think mine's going to be.
Give me that card.
I feel like you went.
What would you most like to do?
For someone else if you had themoney and the time.
Yeah, oh, you would do that.
So in theory, you else if youhad the money and the time.

(33:32):
Yeah, oh, you would do that.
So in theory, you're doing thatfor the kids, for them, yeah,
again, there you go.
Here's the thing it's like.
This is what now we're going tocouples therapy here is that I
just know.
Our argument is this, that italways kind of comes down to
that, even in this question, andfor me, I just think there's a
folly in chasing these kids asthey're chasing their dreams,
because right now, if we weredoing that card and moving it,

(33:55):
they'd be gone.
One would be in brooklyn, onewould be back here in california
.

Speaker 1 (34:01):
We might be it's three houses what's that?
That's why I want to buy threehouses.

Speaker 2 (34:05):
And they move again.
Six Sure.

Speaker 1 (34:10):
Money and time.

Speaker 2 (34:11):
Money and time for someone else, and that's a huge
assumption that they'd alwayswant us crawling all over their
shit wherever they move, so theymove.
And then there we are again.
Maybe it's more for me thanthat, I think that's what I was
trying to organically get atCorrect.

Speaker 1 (34:22):
He's struggling with this one.
That's what I was trying toorganically get at Ruska.

Speaker 3 (34:29):
He's struggling with this one.

Speaker 2 (34:31):
I struggle with every one of these questions every
time.
This is really great having aguest, though.
Because you go Russ, you candefer, you can defer, you go.

Speaker 3 (34:39):
Well, stacey, I want to play off of what you said.
Okay, going back to mychildhood, even to this day, is
that my parents had establisheda home.
Nobody lived in this home oncethey left.
It was their home.
We grew up into it.
We all left when we're 17, 18,only to come back and visit
parents in their home.
But now, having my mom, havinggrandkids and great grandkids,

(35:06):
you know, there's like if we allgot together, there's like 54
of us with my brothers and theirkids and on down, and so there
is a home, there is a place,there is a hub, there is love in
this place that everyone wantsto return to, you know.
And so, going off of what youjust said, that is, that's

(35:28):
amazing, that is, it's very rare.

Speaker 1 (35:31):
It is very it's very rare.

Speaker 3 (35:32):
But you know, like my nephew, he works in the air
force in Nebraska.
He flew out to Moffett field.
They had a training.
They were supposed to come andthen just take off, but there
was a storm between here andNebraska on the return, so they
stayed the night.
Guess what he did?
He went around, he visited hisbrother, he visited his sister,
and then he went to my mom'shouse.

Speaker 1 (35:51):
That's amazing.

Speaker 3 (35:52):
Because that is home.

Speaker 2 (35:53):
Yeah, I love that Like he never he lived.

Speaker 3 (35:56):
They actually lived in the back.
They have another house in theback and they lived there for a
number of years when he workedat Travis.
Yeah, but my point is is thatit's just, it is home and there
is love in that home, and myparents always had open arms,
they always wanted to serve,they always wanted to give, and
so we have within us that.
So, when my answer to yourquestion is to basically

(36:18):
implement that and exemplify toother people that same I really
like that yeah.
And it's beyond and it's beyondfamily, but it's two families.

Speaker 2 (36:28):
Yeah, now, that that's.
Those are two really goodanswers.
Um, you guys must really likeyour kids detached from this
whole conversation.

Speaker 1 (36:38):
He's still struggling with his answer.

Speaker 2 (36:40):
No, I know, I know what my answer is Mine's more,
mine's broader, but it's it'sand it's recent, it's okay, I've
got some recency bias.
Here is I think I would pourall of that into um, this same
thing, even the meeting beforethis, I think I would pour it
into this whole militant sort ofmission I'm on right now is
putting these nonprofits in afor-profit space and I think you

(37:04):
know it's a singular thing forsomeone else because, here's the
thing.
There is some selfishness in itIn doing this.
There is a minimum three to onereward for this.
It feels, like personallypartnering the way we did and

(37:27):
sort of going on this missionthrough our platforms and things
like that.
To simply put nonprofits in afor-profit space is sort of the
mission of it.
I would just love to have moreresources, more money into that,
because I think it would makeme more whole.
Because I think it would makeme more whole and if I'm more

(37:47):
whole, like and fulfilled thatway, then I think I'm just a
better person for things likethis or like in person, like
this, and so the selfish part ofit would be that.
But I think if it was unlimited, I think my first instinct is
to pour it in there and it's notso much as just dumping it

(38:08):
somewhere else.
I think my gut feeling is it'sgoing to make me more complete.

Speaker 1 (38:12):
I think it's interesting that you bring up
it's selfish, because every oneof us landed on something that
would make us feel good and ifyou think about supporting
different nonprofits, you know,supporting different causes,
what drives us to do that One?
It might be we really want toameliorate the stressors of

(38:36):
somebody else, but also we feelgood because we can do it, and I
think that is I don't know ahuman characteristic that moves
us to do these things.
Yeah, and that's not a badthing.
I don't know a humancharacteristic that moves us to
do these things yeah.
And that's not a bad thing.
I don't know that it's selfish.
It's interesting to think about.

Speaker 2 (38:54):
I don't even realize.
I don't think I thought of it.
Did I say selfish?
I think you did, or maybethat's just you said.

Speaker 1 (39:03):
well, I think, when I said, oh, maybe this is for me
than for the kids Tracking you.
Yeah, and then you saidsomething along those lines, but
I don't remember exactly whatword you used.

Speaker 2 (39:13):
Maybe it's because you're distracted because you're
using big, huge words likeameliorate, oh, my gosh.
Maybe the fact that you havethat word like queued up for 20
minutes, like you're completelydisengaged from, like the
humanity of this conversation?
Cause you're like did you planon using that this whole time?
Did you have even helped likeweeks?
No, Just waiting to drop offameliorate.

Speaker 3 (39:34):
I think it was in that.
I think it was in those cards.

Speaker 2 (39:37):
He did Clearly, clearly.
Clearly, you used it the rightway, because I get the gist of
it.
I wouldn't have known if shewas the right way or not, I
wouldn't either, but it was theway she said it.
It made sense.
Yeah, it seems like you makeroom for, or make space for,
what does ameliorate.

Speaker 1 (39:53):
Lesson something.

Speaker 2 (39:56):
Lesson something Ameliorate.

Speaker 1 (39:58):
I want to lessen the suffering of another person.

Speaker 2 (40:01):
Yeah, Can you ameliorate Like?
Can you help me right now?
Can you lessen my sufferingright now by using much smaller
words?
Lesson.

Speaker 1 (40:10):
That's lesson.
That's the thing.
Did we all answer yes?

Speaker 2 (40:16):
I won that one right.

Speaker 1 (40:17):
This is not a contest .

Speaker 3 (40:21):
We have to go with ameliorate.
I'm putting down three too.

Speaker 2 (40:24):
No, that's Mark's off .
It was only between you and meat the end there.
All right, so I think we'regetting to the fun part here,
which is, I think we get a senseof who you are, and I always
kind of like to just like themagazine.
I think we can get right to itand say what are you here to

(40:46):
sell, and all that stuff.
But, um, I think we get down tothis part now and, um, we're
moving through life a little bit, we're getting closer to where
it is now, um, so I think we'relandscaping, we're doing some
personal training and then, um,within the last how many years
now, did you make the?
Did you make the big change?

Speaker 3 (40:56):
here Um.
Started in 2020.
2020.
Pivoted in 2020.

Speaker 2 (41:01):
And what was the tipping point for all of this?
And let's name it what it is.
It's moved today 365, right, itis.
And was it a?
Were you in a sauna?
Were you possibly is there anychance you were possibly
overheated terribly?

Speaker 3 (41:16):
when this idea came.
Well, fortunately the engineswere not, because I was 30 000
feet in the air.
Oh, when it all happened yeah,really tell us the story.
Yeah, so you know it allstarted in 2020 when covet hit
and everything and no parks, noschools to do training, right.
So months go by, we're stilldoing the landscaping, still
doing the landscaping today.
So I just said, you know, maybeafter after about six months of

(41:38):
that, I was like maybe I'lljust focus on landscaping and
then just put training to theside for now.
So which I did Then, after abouta year, I was like, you know, I
think I'm done, I'm done withcoaching, I'm done with training
.
I've done, you know, a fewlessons here and there, but not
many.
But now I do, I don't do any atall.
So in 2020, 2020 I pivoted andthen, a year and a half later, I

(42:04):
was on a flight, 30,000 feet up, heading to New York City, and
I had bought this journal abouta year prior and carried it
everywhere I went and I did notwrite one word in that journal.
It sat empty for a year, over ayear.
I was on that flight and all ofa sudden, I had this download
that came lightning boltexperience and I opened up that.
I reached into my backpack, Iopened up that journal and I

(42:25):
wrote the word move.

Speaker 2 (42:27):
First word yeah.

Speaker 3 (42:28):
Right at the top of the journal, drew a little
rectangle around it, and thenstories, life experiences,
family experiences, familystories, things that I've
witnessed, beach stuff, anythingthat just was a download into
my brain.
I was writing for the nextthree and a half hours.
I really couldn't stop and itwas just flowing into me.
But all I thought I was doingwas journaling.

(42:49):
Sure, right, effectivejournaling All around movement.
So over the next several monthsI continued to just write, not
every day, but just periodically.
Something would hit me, I wouldwrite it.
Something would hit me, I wouldwrite it.
Eight years ago today and I wasat the beach with some friends

(43:10):
and we were sitting out therehaving a good time, like we
always do, and there were about15 of us.
This lady who was sitting offto my right I was at the end of
the row of chairs she comes upand she goes.
You guys have such a great time, like you just enjoy life, you
know, you play games, you havefun, you know and said come join
us next time.
So the next weekend she did.
She came and joined us.

(43:31):
She was from Florida, she hadjust moved there, so fast
forward a couple of years.
We got to know Sue and then shegot married.
She ended up moving in acrossthe street from me and so I was
invited to go to her birthdayparty.
It was a small gathering, andin that birthday was a lady
named Indiana Rivera, who livedmaybe a quarter mile away from

(43:52):
me, who I never knew, lived inthe community for years, author
publishing company.
We connected, we had coffee.
Three days later I shared withher all in my journal all these
stories she teared up and shesays you really have something
here.
And I'm like what?
Yeah, she's like you have abook.
You could put a book and make abook out of this.

(44:13):
So started she.
She encouraged me to take thisprocess of getting eight and a
half by eight and a half papersyou know, cutting them up,
stapling together and createthis blank landscape.
Amazing, we go back tolandscape and start to fill in
these things.

Speaker 2 (44:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (44:30):
And so I ended up creating five books out of this.
I took her thought and andcreated five different books,
and it's basically the firstfive years of a kid's life, and
over the next year and a half,her and her team and I, we
Zoomed every week, going overand over and over the writings,
the drawings, the animation,what the baby looked like, what

(44:52):
the parents look like, oh, wow,Eye color, you know, you name it
everything in the landscape.
And I had already createdimages and stuffed them in on
each page.
Right, I taped them to thepages.
In fact, I was just asked this,this question, a week and a
half ago in Pittsburgh.
I opened it up, I was speakingto 260 kids and one of the kids
said how long did it take you,you know, to write your first

(45:13):
book?
And you know how did you createyour first book?
Yeah, those kinds of things,and so I was able to share with
them what I'm sharing with younow, which was really an amazing
experience you know, and sothere was.
There were pictures in therethat were of my family that I
wanted in there, and then herartists down in Mexico ended up
putting together this book, andthen we went over these books

(45:33):
for a year and a half andcreated the today series.

Speaker 2 (45:36):
Did they all drop at the same time, or do you kind of
stagger them?

Speaker 3 (45:43):
I dropped them all at the same time, or do you kind
of stagger them?
I dropped them all at the sametime.
Is it staged like?
Is it one of the names of thebooks?
Is it one, two, three, four,five, or they each have their?
Their today, and then they havea subtopic title subtitle,
which are what which is like, umyou know, today my first steps
okay, you know my baby steps, myfirst, my first you know, yeah,
here we go, here we go.

Speaker 1 (45:59):
yeah, I love it, so they're all titled today.

Speaker 3 (46:00):
Yeah, it's a little subtitle, yeah, so it was really
amazing.
And then you know it took usthe longest to get that first
book because, we had to createeverything from scratch.
Then the next year the baby's alittle bit older, parents stay
the same, but the scenerychanges.
The activities change, okay, so, yeah, us.
The activities change okay, so,um, yeah, and so we launched
that in june of 2023 amazon andall that, all that, and then any

(46:23):
love here at lake santa cruz.

Speaker 2 (46:24):
Do you get it down there?
Local author kind of stuff,yeah, and what was the um
outside?
That sounds like you know yougave us a little prelude in
there as far as the kids inpittsburgh, but um, I guess
there's two parts of thisquestion.
One of them is from that planeride to the execution to human
consumption.
You know, I guess the firstpart first is what was that

(46:49):
journey like for you, from theplane to all of that, to
actually knowing you're startingto get reviews back and people
are talking to you a little bitabout your journal, yeah, I'll
answer that in a, in a quick,and then I'll go back and and
and span it out, but the quickof it is is that this was
launched in June of 2023.

Speaker 3 (47:08):
Okay who is Russ Rogers.

Speaker 2 (47:10):
Nobody knows Russ Rogers except the locals right
People that I hang out withfamily and all that.

Speaker 3 (47:14):
I kept everything that I had done from everybody.
Nobody knew it.
And then, about three monthsbefore, I had a launch date, a
launch party, I just sent outall these text messages and then
all my friends are like what?
You're a writer?
You're just like this beach bum, you know and um, but but the
funny thing is it's 2023.
I'm a no name when it comes toauthor right, being an author

(47:38):
last a week and a half ago wentto this marathon in Pittsburgh
and we had a tent there, my, mydual coast partner from the East
coast.
We're there, we have a tent,and this gentleman walks up and
he goes hey, you're Russ Rogers,like I am, and I look at Dan.
I'm like how does he know?

Speaker 2 (47:57):
I don't know him Like you know what I mean, but he
knew whether it was on socialmedia, he would you know, it was
an amazing experience for meand luckily you have a
distinctive look and that does Imean again, the book's, the
book, you have that one, butthere's so many little passersby
, but you do have that.
If you connect with the book,you see it A lot of those ones.

Speaker 3 (48:21):
You just it'll pass you right by.
But, yeah, what a feeling itwas.
I mean so on that level, thengoing back and going through the
process, because the processit's not about me, it's about
the process of going throughthat.
But going through that timebecause I knew nothing about
writing a book.
I never desired to write a book, it was nothing I was aspiring
to do.
I didn't go to school to geteducated in English and writing

(48:44):
and all this right, journalism,nothing.
That was not my background atall, but it was something of a
passion that was in me and itwas that experience 30,000 feet
up when it hit me and I had thatdownload.
This is it.
But then things have evolvedover the last two and a half
years that I never dreamed ofWell, writing the books I never

(49:05):
dreamed of, and then puttingthem into Spanish, then taking
those five books, putting themin an anniversary book, which is
a hardback, 120 suggestedactivities in there, but it's
just all about encouragingfamilies to get outside as we
talk about nature right, andgetting outside, getting vitamin
D and spending more timetogether.
Because now that I'm involvedand engrossed in this and

(49:28):
passionate about it, I'm alwayson the lookout for, like, how do
people families, how do theyconnect?
You know human connection,people you don't know, how do
you?
You know when you cross paths,it's all of those things.
How do?
How do families, people youdon't know, how do you you know
when you?
cross paths it's all of thosethings.
How do?
How do families at the beach?
How, how do they, you know,converse with one another?
How do they play with oneanother?

(49:49):
How do they, you know, dothings?
Are they cause?
I've seen it all.
No there's no doubt.
Everybody goes on, you know, tothe beach and the parents are
all on their phones.
Yeah Right, and so there isstill a disconnect to that.

Speaker 2 (50:00):
No, there's no doubt, and I think even like, um, uh,
you know, our interactionstarted, you know, just over a
cold call on, you know, socialemails.
Um, yo, I'm a dude, I wrote somebooks and I'm going down to
toots and giving the books away,you know, and then we put it on
our Instagram story and thatwas the extent of it.
But even over the short periodof time, which is probably 18 to

(50:21):
24 months, if that, um, there'sa, there's a movement, and not
to take that, that word, butit's, it's, I think, in
listening to your words, thebooks, um, you know, led to
basically, um, a focus on thewords from the books and an
intentionality that's literallybecoming an organized, you know,

(50:42):
movement of people, places,events, like I know is coming up
and things like that.
But it's, it's incredible tosee it over a very short period
of time.
And the other one thatresonates with me is talk about
it all the time is that, I think, opportunities and I think that
it's passing by in front of usquite a bit.
And are we open and receptive?

(51:03):
Are we?
Are we, you know, are wespinning so fast that, with
those opportunities go right byus and we don't see it.
But even that interaction withthe publisher, that that's key.

Speaker 3 (51:12):
It is.

Speaker 2 (51:12):
It's a key moment because sometimes, whether it be
confidence, you're a personaltrainer, you're a landscaper,
you're outside the universe ofeven the administration of being
an author, and a publishedauthor at that, but that meeting
and your ability to kind of,like you know, take that meeting
, linger in that moment.

Speaker 1 (51:32):
And connect with her in a way that she saw something
in you and saw what you werecapable of creating.
That's it.

Speaker 2 (51:40):
I think we always associate like the two ships
passing in the night to romanceand relationships.
But it can be business, it canbe a book, it can be a person,
it can be co-creation of sorts.
That's exactly right.
Yeah, ameliorate on that alittle bit.
That's incredible and so, andso let's do this, cause I want

(52:01):
to come back and we'll tie thisout with the exact thing going
on this weekend and kind ofwhere we go with that, just in.
I mean, that's exactly what Iwanted to get out of this.
Was that part?
I didn't know that part, andthat's um, that's a fantastic
story and I think now you sortof I'm glad we did it, just your
passion for it, and it's like,it's funny, like I keep on

(52:24):
thinking of this the book, theimages, the movement itself.
Then you go back to thelandscaping.
It's by design.
There's design to all of thisand that's a common theme in
what you've got going on Stace.
I'm going to get ready for this.
Is this going to be a heavy one?
Did you do our normal game oris this just random?

(52:45):
No, usually we play a hold on.
I'm going to get some mead.
I'm going to drink some meadbefore this question.

Speaker 1 (52:53):
Enjoy that.

Speaker 2 (52:54):
It's a medieval wine Stace.

Speaker 1 (52:56):
Yeah, I know we had that when we went to the
Renaissance Festival.
What was that?

Speaker 2 (53:02):
Is that it?

Speaker 1 (53:03):
That was it, yeah.

Speaker 2 (53:05):
Was that Colorado?
Yeah, we were in Colorado.
Before Ainsley moved toBrooklyn Question three.

Speaker 1 (53:13):
I'm ready, babe.

Speaker 2 (53:14):
I might even answer it first.
Let's see.

Speaker 1 (53:17):
What do you wish you were better at saying no to Wow.

Speaker 2 (53:24):
Nope, you go first days.

Speaker 1 (53:27):
You're really good at that one.
You don't need to practice that.

Speaker 3 (53:30):
Dipper.

Speaker 2 (53:33):
Do you have one?

Speaker 1 (53:34):
I think I would say Better at saying no to Saying no
to projects at work.
I I'm very much a peoplepleaser and I want to be
accommodating and helpful.
That's my nature.

Speaker 2 (53:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (53:48):
But then my plate gets too full and it gets
stressful.
Yeah, and I have.
I have people that I work withthat I can delegate to.

Speaker 2 (53:59):
Mine is so superficial, but it's a little
bit of, I think, with us.
I'm so immersed in the writing,so immersed in the human
connection part of it, that wedo tend to.
When we have a couple hours inthe evenings, we do watch some
shows.
I need to say no to thisbullshit content that I will
watch, sometimes Like, like,even like.
I think the other night I don'teven know what happened, but I

(54:21):
just turned it off in the middleand we sat there for like 45
minutes and I just looked at thewindow and it was so fulfilling
.
It was such a better use of 45minutes with I think we had like
a couple of the candles on andthe sun was setting and it was
just like, no, not that rightnow, and I just need to.
I think I see I need to find abetter pathway.

(54:41):
There's a very specific answerto that question, but no to.
I need to say no to some TVshows that we use to unwind a
little bit, that I know from thefirst minute I watched it
aren't going to meet thisstandard, but now I'm going to,
I'm going to give them the graceof my time for 10 horrible
episodes.
Yes.

Speaker 1 (55:00):
We don't need that.

Speaker 2 (55:01):
So I need to say no to that and just watch more
sunsets and listen to music orsomething like that.

Speaker 3 (55:05):
I like that.
I like that too.
What's yours, brother?
I'm going to say no to nonintentionality.

Speaker 2 (55:12):
Ooh.

Speaker 3 (55:13):
Ooh.

Speaker 2 (55:15):
Because because in 2023,.

Speaker 3 (55:18):
I was asked this question at a coffee shop called
the Hole on the East River inNew York City.

Speaker 1 (55:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (55:25):
I was asked you know what is your word for 2024?
And I was like in my head I'mthinking in a split second, well
, I don't have a word.
Yeah, like you know.
And then another split second,that word intentional came in
yeah, and it changed my life.

Speaker 2 (55:39):
That's amazing.

Speaker 3 (55:40):
And so when I think about that question, which is a
great question, it's like, okay,what is it?
You know, because there'sthings that come my way.
And this guy that I met in NewYork city, he said things are
going to come your way.
You've got to say no to,because you can't say yes to
everything.
Right.
But then when I've, when I'velearned what being intentional

(56:01):
is right, then you learn likethere's no room for
procrastination.
Wow.
And then my brother, who is apastor, he said well, I'm an
intentional procrastinator.

Speaker 1 (56:14):
Oh, wow.
He's committed to it.
It's an art form for him.

Speaker 2 (56:17):
I like that a lot.
It's an art form for him.
I like that a lot.
Let's do the.
We'll do the final circlearound here and get right to you
know, we're on May 15th, Ithink today, rolling into the
weekend, right Is that the rightdate I think it is.
That's correct.
I think we had a sense of it,and let's just talk about
exactly what's going on thisweekend.

Speaker 3 (56:41):
It's amazing, man.
You know, I sat a year ago atthis time in New York city at a
different, at several eventsover a period of several months,
and as I was sitting in thesedinners, vip dinners and whatnot
, I was sitting there thinkingto myself you know what I can do
this, like I should be doingthis, and here it is, a year
later and I'm doing it, and juststepping out stepping out on a
limb on my own, not, uh, youknow I've done fundraising

(57:03):
events and raise money for theorphanage that lived in Mexico
and you know different thingslike that, but this is, this is
something, that's all.
everything that's happened overthe last two years is all new.
Every every action is somethingnew which is really fun, Right,
Um and but it's, you know it'sa ton of work, but impact.
Santa Cruz today is happeningthis Sunday, May 18th, from nine

(57:25):
to noon at the mall, which isthe Santa Cruz art and history
museum, and it's a wellnessevent.
You know this is wellness,mental awareness month and what
a better time to have it, andI've got five speakers coming in
plus myself.
I have local personal trainer,seven time trainer of the year,
karina Reed, who does a lot ofher training at Total Fitness.

Speaker 2 (57:46):
Yeah, she's like, she's one, she wins, like those
good times awards and thingslike that.

Speaker 3 (57:52):
Yeah, and she has a phenomenal story on mental
health and she's shredded, andshe's shredded, yeah.

Speaker 2 (57:59):
And so.

Speaker 3 (58:00):
Who else?
Who are the other speakers?
So we have Jillian Rydell.
She is an ER on a helicopter in.
Sacramento Very cool RosieBallard.
She's a personal trainer.
It's in Visalia.
She's also a TEDx speaker.
She does personal training onTV in our local station.
We have Aaron Wexler from SantaMonica local station.
We have Aaron Wexler from SantaMonica.
Aaron is a musician, he's anartist, he's also an author.

(58:28):
He's a personal trainer involleyball.
We have Colette Brown withWellness by Colette, which is a
granola.
She started her own granolacompany almost the same time.
I mean, we're kind of like sideby side in this, and so she is
coming to share about nutrition.

Speaker 2 (58:38):
That's amazing.

Speaker 3 (58:39):
And so she'll have her product there Wellness by
Colette.
She's absolutely amazing.
Karina Reed, who we just talkedabout, is going to share her
story.
My buddy, dan Skoka, who iswith me on Dual Coast Podcast
that we do every Tuesday.
He's flying in from New Yorkwith his girlfriend and they're
going to be here.
We're going to do a liveinterview with Karina.
Uh, cause she doesn't?

(58:59):
She gets nervous and sweaty.
I love it, and so she's like Ican't do that and I said I got
the perfect.

Speaker 2 (59:05):
I've got the perfect solution that is so smart.

Speaker 3 (59:07):
And so we're.
We're going to be on stage withher.
That's just so brilliant.

Speaker 2 (59:11):
And you get the content, you get them in a happy
space and it's just verysimilar to what we just did and
this is easy.
There's nothing to this, and Ithink that's why I love this
platform.
I think, if you've got itdialed in and there's nothing to
, we just did one hour andthere's not much to it.
But yeah, I think it's.
You know, I see it as you know,the first of many of these I

(59:35):
think it becomes like I thinkthere's some gravity to that
idea.
I think the speakers you haveare dynamic.
I'm interested even hearingtheir story a little bit.
Yes, you know, and I thinkyou've done a good job, kind of
identifying some differentlittle spokes in the wheel.
As far as with the overallconversation, is there
eventually?
Is it all just?

(59:55):
This is just kind of in thehigh weeds.
Is it class to class to classover?
Is there going to be like akind of panel discussion on any
level, or is it just thesespeakers and then a little kind
of mixer or anything like that?

Speaker 3 (01:00:08):
Yeah, good question.
So it's best, if people arelistening to this, to get there
around 8.30 am and there'll beabout six or seven vendors that
are going to be there, some withapparel, some with you, you
know, kind of the uh, the angelsand the tarots and stuff like
that.
There's um, potentially ane-bike company.
There's also myself with movetoday, three, six, five, dual
coast will be there.
Uh, there'll be two otherauthors who are going to be

(01:00:31):
there to have their books.
My publisher will be there.
She's one of the speakers,indiana Rivera.
She's going to lead us off andshe'll have a bunch of her books
that she has published withdifferent authors that are going
to be there.
So a wide variety of thingsthat are there.
So you get there, you get tomingle around, hang out.
We start at nine and then we'regoing to have three speakers,

(01:00:52):
boom, boom, boom, and then wehave a break.
So you get a little break, alittle interaction, check out
the vendors, that kind of thing.
Then we Then we come back, wehave a speaker, we do the dual
coast podcast, and then two morespeakers and we're done Amazing
.
And then we wrap it up with,just you know, the place Ma
opens up at noon, noon-ish, andthen but you know, people aren't
forced to leave, they can hangout, we can talk, they can buy

(01:01:13):
books, they can buy apparel.
In addition to that, I have twobooks that are coming out this
Sunday as well.
You do, I do.
What do you have?
I have Unplugged, which isdisconnecting from your devices.

Speaker 2 (01:01:24):
And shitty TV shows.

Speaker 3 (01:01:26):
Bingo.

Speaker 2 (01:01:27):
I can swear on my, it's my show.
I can swear it's my resolutionsand Brian's answer.
Three Unplugged, yes, andwhat's the other one?
So?

Speaker 3 (01:01:35):
it's a.
It's basically the why of whywe need to do it.
It's not.
It's not a kid's book, but itis kid-oriented because a lot of
the ideas in here it's areading book.
It's just a small paperback,but the idea is why we need to
get out there, because weanimated it in the first series,
right, it's picturesque.
Oh, here's mom and dad playing.
Here we're rolling down thehill together with mom you know,

(01:01:56):
with our family and we'replaying at the beach.
we're building sand calls.
This is the why you need to doit.
Right, right, and so it'sunplugged, and so the picture of
the book is a family walking tothe forest Stacey, you'll love
that Walking to the forest andleaving the devices behind.
That's amazing.
So that's unplugged.
The other one is called ImagineIf, and I'm super excited about

(01:02:17):
this book because it has well,number one.
It doesn't have anything to dowith movement, it has to do with
self-awareness, and there are ahundred statements in there,
and it came as a result.
As I was on a bike ride inSouthern California, huntington
Beach, visiting my son, it was 7am on a Saturday and I was
riding on the path down there.
I turned down this path.

Speaker 2 (01:02:42):
They have these black rubber mats that go towards the
ocean because their beaches areso wide.

Speaker 3 (01:02:45):
So I rode down one.
It's seven in the morning, it'sall gray, it's all foggy, quiet
, peaceful, standing down therefor about five to 10 minutes.
I turn around and I met with afamily of just a mother and
three kids, all under the age ofabout eight, and so I rode past
them.
But I noticed they all had bagsin their hands.
So out of curiosity I stopped,spun around to see what they
were doing.
And mom had them out there on aSaturday morning at 7 am

(01:03:07):
picking up garbage on the beach.
I went back to the hotel afterI rode the bike and I just got
out the little note paper and Iwrote imagine if we as parents
exemplified to our children thatwe said let's do some community
service.
That idea of imagine if I tooka picture of that, of that and

(01:03:28):
it's in the book that math thatgoes to the grade.

Speaker 2 (01:03:31):
Model it.

Speaker 3 (01:03:31):
Modeling.
That's it, yeah, and so it's aself-awareness book, a hundred
statements to get you to thinkand to marinate on these ideas
that imagine if every day andthat's how the left page is
Imagine if every day we showedkindness to one another.
Imagine if every day we dressfor success.
Imagine if every day we sawsomeone in need and gave them a

(01:03:52):
hug.
Simple tenets, simple ideas 100.
It's not just reading throughthe book and there's a place,
there's a QR at the back wherethey can go to the QR.
It takes them just readingthrough the book and there's a.
There's a place there's a QR atthe back where you know they
can go to the QR.
It takes them to a specificpage on my website at move today
, three, six, fivecom, and onthere you can vlog and you could
leave your own little journalin there Entry of what really

(01:04:13):
resonated with you with the book.

Speaker 2 (01:04:14):
I love it that everybody.

Speaker 3 (01:04:15):
You know that we can go around and and talk about.

Speaker 2 (01:04:18):
Is there any chance, um between the beach and the
hotel room, that you wereexposed to extreme heat before
you had that great idea?
Is there any chance that youwere possibly in 195 degree heat
and had?
a vision quest, that's right.
Stace, a vision quest.
Well, this has been incredible.
Um, I think we're wrapping itup, we're right over there and I

(01:04:38):
think we got it in.
We'll drop it in the show notes.
And the other thing we'll dofrom a vibe standpoint is um,
like we talked about, we'llwe'll cover it.
Sunday station.
I'll roll down there, um, we'llbe at the event and then we'll
give it some love.
So it has some legs after theevent.
Sometimes that's that's betterthan what we'll do right here.
Hundreds of the people that mayhear it before they go.

(01:04:58):
But I know it vibes between alittle social media like post
over the weekend and then anewsletter article next week
kind of recapping the event.
We can get some quotes fromsome of those speakers and make
a little something of it, sothat we've just found that
that's kind of a way to kind ofextend the life of an event like
that.

Speaker 3 (01:05:17):
But this has been amazing dude.
Thank you, this was a reallygood conversation.

Speaker 2 (01:05:19):
Appreciate it.
Stacey, want to ameliorateanything?

Speaker 1 (01:05:22):
No, I just want to say that you're really inspiring
.
There's so much positivitycoming from you, and the
creation of your books is sortof like your way of giving back
to the world the joy that youfound.
It's pretty awesome.

Speaker 3 (01:05:38):
Thank you so much, Stacey.

Speaker 2 (01:05:41):
That's outrageous.
I've been around for 34 yearsand she's never said I'm
inspiring.
Thanks, guys, familiarity.