November 25, 2024 • 30 mins
Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to an inspiring episode of Fat, Dumb, and Happy! This episode we are going to talk about the people that inspire us. Whether it be the amazing innovation someone has or their superhuman kindness, we are going to highlight these individuals and you will probably relate to many of them or share in how they inspire you. We will be getting into our feels, and we’ll be having some fun along the way. Glad you are here to join us! **In part 1 of this 2-part episode, we go share a food that goes with the them and then we go through our lives from heroes when we were kids to those who inspires us now!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Whatever really happened to dudes calling each other best friends?
(00:04):
Dave and John grew up in the 80s in New Jersey and they did everything together.
They were the quintessential best friends until they became teenagers and Dave moved away.
Fast forward to today and these two 40-somethings reconnected and decided to not only be besties again,
but to put on a podcast and share their reunion with anyone who will listen.
Welcome to Fat, Dumb and Happy.
(00:28):
Alright, it's Thursday night. We are back, Fat, Dumb and Happy style.
Welcome back ladies and gentlemen. This is going to be an inspiring episode of Fat, Dumb and Happy.
Thanks for joining us.
This episode we're going to talk about the people that inspired us throughout our childhood all the way through adulthood.
Whether it be the amazing innovation someone has or their superhuman kindness.
We're going to highlight these individuals and you'll probably relate to many of them or share in how they inspire you.
(00:53):
We're going to be getting a little bit into the feels maybe with some of these selections here,
but we're going to have some fun along the way.
Glad you're here to join us and of course I've got here my bro-host Dave.
Hey, hey.
What's going on?
How's it going?
Alright, alright. And of course the super inspirational special guest expert, Ben.
Ben, what's up buddy?
Oh, thanks. I'm doing well. How are you doing, man?
(01:14):
I'm good. I'm good. I feel like it's been forever, guys.
Yeah, it's been a minute.
Alright, well I got a disclaimer up front real quick that I wanted to say.
You know, it seems like whenever there's somebody that does something amazing, they're inspiring, they're famous,
they're a leader, whatever, that's when the door opens for folks to be real critical and try to find the skeletons in their closet.
So if we happen to mention somebody that you disagree with them having some praise for the things that they've done
(01:40):
because of some other things that they've done in their life, please forgive us. We're sorry.
And understand, right, nobody's perfect. We all have stuff that we're not proud of.
So if you want to tell us anything about it, just write us a five-star review.
That's how we read comments is if you write it in a five-star review, good or bad, we'll take it seriously and we'll get back to you.
Alright, the other thing I want to say real quick up front is that Ben and I would like to highlight our wives.
(02:04):
Obviously, they inspired us since we met them, since we've been married.
We can put them in every single one of these categories for things that they inspire us with.
And so just want to say it up front rather than mention them multiple times throughout the show.
So we love them. Yeah, we're grateful for them for sure.
Alright, let's get over to the food portion of the episode.
If you're new to Fat, Dumb and Happy, we always share a food that's related to the theme.
(02:27):
And I think this was a fun one to try to think about, you know, people that inspire us.
What food would you go with for that? So we'll start with John, how about you?
I'm inspired by the potato, bro. Oh, yeah.
Like for real, like it's so ridiculously versatile. Yeah, man.
Even my favorite bread is potato bread. Like come on. Hot dog rolls or potato hot dog.
(02:50):
Like for real. Yeah, seriously. So many things to do with the.
It is nuts. So I'm going to mash potatoes.
OK, so that's my little thing for tonight. But it's got cooking purposes.
It's got other purposes, non food uses as well.
You know, animal feed, fuel cleaning products, gardening, biodegradable plastic can be made from potatoes.
Like what can't you do with a potato, dude?
(03:14):
It's amazing. And then not just that, but you got your sweet potato fries.
I feel like, oh, yeah, they do some forest gum. Yeah.
Yeah. But you get your sweet potato fried, curly fried, waffle fried,
crinkle fried steak fries, tornado fries. Oh, my goodness gracious, man.
Yeah. Well, hold on. What's a tornado fry?
So a tornado fry is like where it's spiraled and they stick it on a skewer and then deep fry.
(03:39):
Whoo. Yeah, it looks amazing.
I've never had one. I'm trying some new kind of fry.
Yeah. Yeah. So it looks kind of like this. I'm going to show you.
Oh, yeah. Look at that. Oh, OK. So it's kind of like it's like I feel like it's a carnival type food.
You know, yes, it looks like a corn dog, but like, you know, yeah, like a tornado.
But it's a French fry. But it's a French fry.
(04:02):
Like you can't get better than a potato, man. And then you get your cheese fries, your shoestring, man.
You get everything, dude. So this is my appreciation post and my food for tonight.
The potato. Very well done. Good choice for sure.
All right, Ben, what about you?
So one of the things I think about when I think about people eating is I think about my sister, Rachel and Dave.
(04:26):
There was a time when we were on and everybody's gone and the two of them were home and they just decided
let's make brownies, like a whole pan of brownies and just eat it ourselves.
You know, you might have mentioned this one in a previous episode.
I can't remember. But, man, that inspired me to be like, oh, wow, I could just like get a treat, like whatever I want.
(04:47):
I could make it myself. Yeah.
It was funny because when I was really young, I do remember like, I don't know, four or five or something.
I remember one of my sisters, I think it was Sue, tell me like, go ask mom if we can make brownies.
And I'm like, no. And I was one of those weird kids that sometimes I like treats, but sometimes I'm just not in the mood.
(05:10):
And so I'll actually pass up on ice cream once in a while and stuff. And so I'm like, I don't really want it.
It's just like, it doesn't matter if you want it. Just ask her if she'll make it.
Because if you ask, then she'll make it.
But if we ask, because these are my older sisters, you know, that can make it themselves.
If she said, if we ask, she's just going to tell us to make it ourselves.
(05:33):
So she's like, you ask and then mom will make it for us. You know, and I'm like, I don't even want it.
I remember going up to mom and being like, hey, Sue wanted me to ask if you could make brownies.
And she's like, go tell Sue that she could make it herself if she wants it.
(05:54):
I know I've sent Liz in to ask for ice cream before.
You've done the same thing. Oh my gosh.
If I really want to be cute about it, my parents, you remember on Full House how Michelle Tanner would always ask for elf cream.
She didn't say ice cream. So I tried to say it like that, real cute just to get some ice cream.
Nice. Oh, the genius powers of older siblings.
(06:15):
I made these brownies, right? And they're like cookie brownies.
And I don't know what it is. You make the brownie part and it's like easy.
It's like these Betty Crocker things. And it's like you just add some water and an egg or something, right?
Yeah. Yeah.
Someone said like for the cookie portion of it in a separate bowl, mix it with some softened butter.
I'm like, this butter is soft enough.
(06:39):
It just would not stir very good. It would not blend. It was just like, you know, all this powder and little teeny lumps of butter all over in it.
Like, yeah, it'll work out. Ben enjoying his, they call them brookies, right? Like a brownie cookie, brookies.
I didn't know that name for it. But yeah, I think like if you go to like a cookie shop, that's what they call them.
(07:04):
Ben realizing that as an adult, he can just have snacks. He doesn't have to always ask for them.
That's like me as an adult realizing I'm not required to eat vegetables. And it's just an amazing feeling.
You guys are both inspiring me right now for sure. That's awesome.
What about you, Dave?
So for me, it was when I was a kid, the very first cookbook that I got, which was kind of weird that I got a cookbook.
(07:28):
But I remember my mom got me this Disney cookbook when I was like, I don't know, eight or nine.
And I'm like, I'm going to be a chef. I got this thing. I'm going to make the stuff in there. And they were all super simple recipes.
One of them was brownies. I almost thought about doing that. And let's see if I had the picture of it. This guy.
Anyways, yeah, yeah, super old, like from the 70s, I think, at least. But yeah.
(07:51):
Anyways, one of the recipes was for spaghetti. And so I got spaghetti and meatballs, you know, a la Lady and the Tramp. And it's been a staple.
We have spaghetti like once every couple of weeks at least.
Made the same way from the book?
No, I couldn't find the actual recipe. I was just inspired by it, you know.
For the record, everybody, he pulled up a picture of that book that he got when he was eight or nine. And that thing cost 90 bucks now on eBay.
(08:13):
That's true.
Absurd for spaghetti.
And so today we actually have a couple Disney recipe books for our kids and they've been inspired to make meals.
In fact, tonight we had Little John's beef stew from Robin Hood. It was pretty good.
Oh, all right. Ben, why don't you kick us off with the main portion of the podcast.
All right. Now, if you guys remember one of our past podcasts, we had one on movies that inspire us.
(08:38):
Well, today we're talking about people that inspire us from childhood on up, different kinds of ways that we can be inspired.
So let's start off with when we were kids. Dave, who are some of the people or things that inspired you when you were a kid?
Awesome. So I was always into cartoons and drawing and animation.
And I think they're the top of the list. I just mentioned, you know, Disney. Walt Disney was one of those people loved all Disney movies and he really was a pioneer in animation and movie making.
(09:09):
So he was definitely inspiring. Along those same lines is Bill Watterson, you know, the artist for Calvin and Hobbes.
We've talked about it in other episodes that I used to draw Calvin and Hobbes all the time.
And the artwork was always so good and the story and the things that went on with Calvin Hobbes was so creative and fun.
Another one actually, you know, I mentioned the movie, but for real, like Rocky the character, he was aspiring to me.
(09:31):
I mean, I felt like he was kind of a little bit shorter guy, a little bit, you know, especially compared to Drago and Rocky IV.
But and he was ripped and like I always wanted to be like that. And just this little workout montage scenes and things. I was always into that.
My mom, I got to throw her out there as a kid. She definitely inspired me too. And then Ernest, you know, Ernest scared of stupid. Ernest goes to camp.
No, I'm just kidding. Not her. That guy was the worst. What about you? Yeah, mom of tea. What about you, John?
(09:58):
So a couple that come to my mind when I was a kid anyway, my sister Jen and I, the years apart that we have, it was able to let me see while I was growing up her starting her high school into her adult life.
And one of the very first things I remember her doing was she joined the Maplewood First Aid Squad as a volunteer.
I thought that was super cool, man. Like, they're willing to want to go out there and help people and stuff.
(10:23):
I just thought that was inspiring. And to the point where I think for a field trip when I was in Maplewood Middle School, I volunteered her without telling her that I needed her to be a chaperone because she had medical background.
But and she went, dude, she did it. I was like, all right. So that's one.
And then again, you inspired me. And then a dude that all three of us know and care and love for and maybe with a little bit of hindsight, growing up that inspired me was Ralph.
(10:50):
I don't think I've ever heard that guy complain, to be honest, to me anyway. Yeah. Just him growing up being the example of hard work and humility.
And I just remember one day he and I went out trying to earn some money shoveling snow. And it was a long day, man. But we pushed through it.
And Ralph, you inspired me growing up, dude. Yeah, you're awesome, man. I hope you know that. So those are just kind of the two growing up that I thought of.
(11:16):
This was hard. You know, there were so many people that have inspired us throughout our lives, right? Even day to day.
And so to narrow down to just a few, this doesn't necessarily mean like it locked in stone. These are the only people that inspired us, you know, at this time frame or whatever because, man, there's so many people.
Yeah. Hey, look, if you guys didn't make the list, doesn't mean you didn't inspire us. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly.
(11:39):
What about you, Ben? Yeah, I mean, it is hard. You know, it's funny. I listen to you guys and you have like a lot of meaningful people even outside of like outside of your family and stuff.
For me, as a kid, I feel like I was in this little bubble with my family and I didn't, you know, like we watched movies or something and I wouldn't remember a character's names. I wouldn't remember like who the actor was or who the writer was of, you know, like I didn't probably didn't even know who Disney was until it was like 12 or something.
(12:12):
I was oblivious to a lot of that, you know, but I do know that my siblings inspired me all the time. And I think like, for instance, even Dave was my younger brother. He's four years younger than me. And he'll just be climbing a tree, getting real high.
He'll be like, Hey, mom, look at me, you know, looking at that like, I could do that. And so I would have to like do everything or try to do everything that he would do. He would show off to like show what he could do. He was a little kid. He's five years old or whatever.
(12:43):
And I was like nine, you know, and it's like, wait a minute, I could do that.
Yeah, I thought the same thing, man. Just real quick. I thought I could do a lot of the same stuff turns out I could. I just followed him and got stuck. Yeah, when you started climbing up the walls and hanging upside down. I was like, dude, that's not my thing.
I want to climb up a laundry shoot faster than this kid.
(13:08):
I was a monkey and I had ADHD before it was popular. So, you know,
I'm not a fan center buddy. But Ben you inspired me too for sure. I got to say that upfront too man. Ben and John, you guys both inspired me for sure. I always have. Yeah.
Anyway, you know, like my sisters, I had a sister, Rachel was into sign language and karate and fencing and you know, so many different things that were like unique and quirky and different.
(13:35):
Dang, and she's kind of a quieter person. She's not really like, just goes off and does her own thing and was involved in so many more things than I like I was ever involved in, you know what I mean?
And, you know, like I could really go down the list of every one of my siblings, honestly, and there were things about them that inspired me. I don't go into all of them, but that's just suffices for this.
(13:59):
But outside of my family, there wasn't a whole lot. Like when I was really little, I idolized the Hulk. Man, I can do mad and I know I get stronger when I'm mad.
So like, if I could do it as good as the Hulk could do it, like I would be huge strong buff.
I was never like trying to get myself mad, seeing like what big thing I could pick up or throw.
(14:29):
Little Lou Ferrigno right there, yes.
Yeah, and then like just random things that I would see kids at school. There was this kid that could grow pencils really good and throw them into the ceiling. You know those ceilings where they had the little holes?
You know, you could just pull that material, but it sticks in the ceiling for like, you know, 15 seconds and then falls down again. I tried to do that. At half the time, it would just like hit the eraser or just like hit horizontally across it.
(14:56):
Yep, the timing.
I would watch that kid do that and he inspired me.
Yes.
All kinds of stuff like that, man.
Yeah, that's awesome.
I also felt about Lou Ferrigno, that was me watching American Gladiators.
Yeah, man. That was me watching Rocky. Exactly. Same, same all around.
(15:17):
American Gladiators was awesome too for sure.
Alright, so let's talk about as teenagers. John, why don't you go first?
So I mean not exactly who inspired me, but what inspired me. And as a teenager, that was the 90s, right?
Yeah, yeah.
For me, 90s music as a whole is still my go-to music today, man. I absolutely, look, I'm even me too. I'm wearing my Nirvana shirt right now.
(15:42):
There we go.
And I prefer it over everything else when I listen to music, though it did provide us the Seattle grunge look, which I did try to mimic with the flannel and the jeans, the jinkos.
You know, that was transcending in its own. It was inspiring to people just the look of it, but that music, man, I just turn it on, man. It takes me right back there to a great time in my life.
(16:06):
Heck yeah. That's awesome, man.
For me, 90s music.
I feel you, for sure. That's a good pick. Alright, Ben, what about you?
Dude, I was like, I mean I know I'm a little bit older than you, but I always liked older music, honestly.
And so Billy Joel was one of those people that inspired me. By that point, he had already had three greatest hits albums and they were chock full of really good songs, to me at least anyway.
(16:30):
And so there was a period, you know, when I was a teenager where I'd fantasize about being amazing and something, I don't know that I ever really thought I'd be a great singer or anything like that.
But I was impressed with like, he always seemed cool. You know, he always had this cool feel about him.
But you know, one of the people that really inspired me was somebody in my church. And he, every time somebody gave a talk or did something even slightly impressive, he was a principal actually and he had these little note cards that he would hand out to people and just tell them, hey, I think you're pretty awesome.
(17:05):
I liked your talk or you'd say some positive thing about people and hand those things out all the time.
And I was like, dude, this guy sees good in everybody. He does. It was so inspiring to me, you know, just, I wanted to be more like that because I was, as a teenager, at least early teens, I was a negative person, man.
I saw the flaws in everybody. I was a little bit more critical than I should have been. And seeing him be like that was really inspired me to be a better person.
(17:34):
I still have one of these cards. Yeah, like he gave it to a lot of people. I just aside from that, one of the things I thought it was Ralph at that time in my life too. I was close to him at that point and he did show things that were, you know, hard for him.
And so I knew what hard things were going through in his life, but he really inspired me and how he just pushed through it and was really kind to people and saw the positive people the same way.
(17:56):
Outside of that, there was a girl, it's funny, in middle school who was so buff. She could beat any of the boys in arm wrestling. I remember they had, they measure you in seventh grade to see how many sit ups you could do, how many pull ups you could do and things like that.
And she did like 15 or something like that. And most of them couldn't even do like one pull up, you know. And I thought I was pretty decent. I could do a few, you know, but there's no way. I tried to try to beat her and I was no way.
(18:27):
That's awesome.
All right. So for me, you know, John and I went to EFY, especially for youth, there were these week long church youth week, youth conference type thing that we would go to. And they were hosted at university. They were really cool, really fun.
And a couple of the speakers and authors that were there, John, by the way, and Brad Wilcox, that were so funny and like so down to earth that I just really looked up to them and thought they were inspiring for sure.
(18:55):
And I got into this is embarrassing, but you know, I had my skater haircut and I did inline skating and I never really, I'm not good skateboard, but I couldn't really do any tricks on them.
So, but Tony Hawk and the other, you know, ex game athletes at that time were totally inspiring to me how they would shred it up and do crazy tricks. And yeah, it was really cool to me.
Sean White, Sean White yet snowboarding stuff. Yeah, exactly. And then more personally, I had a Sunday school teacher at church that was before he was our Sunday school teacher. He was a higher up leader in the church.
(19:27):
And so he went from that to being our Sunday school teacher and we were a bunch of obnoxious teenagers for sure. And he was like so humble and so cool and like, and so like praising of us and things like that, that he made me want to be better because of how he, you know, talked to me, how he treated me,
how he inspired me. So, and then one last guy from high school. I can't honestly, this is terrible. I can't even remember his name, but I can picture him. He was this really funny, really cool and popular guy, super good at soccer.
(19:57):
And the thing was, like he had all these things that normally would put him in this class of like elitist, you know, snobby popular kid, but he was like cool with everybody, like everybody.
And so I thought that was pretty inspiring to say, like, you know, be good at things, be popular even, but also be a cool, friendly, nice guy, you know. So anyways, that was one last guy for me as a teenager.
(20:20):
Yeah, just one quick note for you, Dave. In three years, it'll be 30 years since we graduated, went to high school. So it's cool you don't know his name.
Yeah, I'm forgetting all kinds of stuff in that old, and it's terrible. That's hilarious.
All right, so we talked about people that inspired us as kids, grown up as teens, what about as a young adult? So when you put this out there, Dave, let's say a young adult, like, you know, in your 20s, your 20s, right?
(20:43):
Yeah.
Around that range. Yeah, exactly.
Okay, cool. So Ben, what about you, you kick it off.
You know, first of all, I need to make a disclaimer, I have gone through periods of my life where hardly anyone inspired me, just because, I don't know, maybe I became a little pessimistic about life. You know, my headaches got really bad and I fell out, dropped out of college for a while.
(21:06):
It just felt like I was a loser living in my parents basement kind of thing. You know what I mean? And just felt like maybe a little bit assuming that everyone is hiding something bad. You know what I mean?
Yeah, yeah.
Even when I saw people that had strengths, sometimes I took them for granted and just didn't really appreciate them. But I had a handful of friends here and there that I got to know on a deeper level. And because they kind of let me in, and I got to see some of their struggles that inspired me be like, you know what, when I see their struggles, it helps inspire me to get through my struggles.
(21:45):
And one person that I think of that wasn't a friend, but one person that was kind of like that in my life was our previous church leader Howard W. Hunter. He had a lot of health challenges in his life. He was in pain a lot. And he was only president of our church for just a few months.
But he was inspiring the way he just pushed through it. He pushed through the pain. He just tried to serve as best he could. And when I meet people like that, that I know are struggling, but still try to be positive, try to reach out to others, think outside themselves, even though their life is really hard.
(22:20):
Man, I needed that in my life. I needed people like that to inspire me. And I could go down a list, a number of different friends, but honestly, it wouldn't be fair to some of the ones that I'd miss, honestly. So I'm just going to talk generically about them.
But I think you guys out there listening, you know who you are, man. You know, if you were a part of my life and you shared who you were with me, you made a difference, even though you might not have thought you did because seeing people progress in their life when they're going through hard times was something I really needed to have that experience.
(22:49):
I really needed at that point in my life. What about you, Dave?
Oh man, I appreciate that disclaimer, Ben, and being real. Like, you know, obviously I didn't always have somebody that I was inspired by or was like a mentor or a hero to me. You know, I had times like that too. I think that's relatable to everybody for sure.
And so, you know, at this time in my life, I was going to college. I started off as an art major. You know, I had talked about that earlier, always being into art, wanting to be a cartoonist or an animator, and then realizing that I wasn't quite good enough probably to support a family.
(23:21):
I changed to architecture, which was also creative and things. And long story short, I moved to civil engineering. So I had three somewhat different yet overlapping majors in college. And with that, I had a lot of folks that inspired me and all the Renaissance artists, more modern artists, like I mentioned earlier, architects like Frank Lloyd Wright, the father of physics for engineering, you know, Sir Isaac Newton.
(23:45):
It's crazy how much influence and how much these folks changed history and created amazing things. So they were all inspiring to me at school, and I guess outside of school too.
And then similar to Ben, I did a mission for my church. And so the leader of our church at that time was Gordon B. Hinckley. And he was so optimistic and positive and had a good sense of humor.
(24:07):
And anybody that's funny and is good in other things, other areas of their life, I'm inspired by them because I love to laugh and I love people that are well-rounded like that. So he definitely was somebody that inspired me for a long time. How about you, John?
So, you know, we're talking 20s, 23, 25, whatever. Yeah. Well, in that time, that's kind of when the smartphone came out. So we're talking smartphones and Facebook.
(24:32):
Now we had at the time, zero clue what that was all going to lead to today. Yeah. Yeah. And now I don't even do Facebook. But, you know, just knowing that that's what I'm inspired by.
So Steve Jobs and Zuckerberg for their vision. Yeah. Just kind of like Dave said, it didn't leave me down a nice little career. But, you know, and I'm glad a day for Dave.
(24:56):
But yeah, so I think the phone, like who could have seen that the phone would one day encompass a computer, a camera, a calculator, everything you could ever possibly need at your fingertips.
It's pretty insane if you think about the overall function of what they can do. Yeah. Yeah. The prices are so stupid, but, you know, it's amazing. It really is. I'm just going to throw those two names out there.
(25:22):
I think what they did for society is inspiring. I think we're talking strictly their inventions or creations. Nothing further than that about censoring stuff. We won't get involved at.
But, you know, I just think it's amazing what they did. So that was kind of mine during my young adulthood. Yeah. Good ones for sure.
Well, what about now? You know, I mean, now that we're all grown up and stuff, we're getting to be older people. We have different priorities in our life, maybe a little bit.
(25:49):
Who are the people that inspire you now, Dave? Yeah. You know what? I think I actually had a little bit tougher time, only because, I mean, there's just so many people.
I think it's, I've gotten in a stage of my life right now where I'm just, I'm reading books like crazy. And so there's just a lot of people. One that stands out, that's done a lot.
I don't know how people feel about her in general, but Brene Brown. She is this really amazing, really smart person that teaches a lot about empathy and about relationships and about vulnerability.
(26:21):
And she's really inspiring. That's something that like, I don't want to say typical male, but like I haven't been really that into that until somewhat recently in my life.
And she's inspired me and I've seen how important that is really to be, yeah, more in touch with your feelings, more vulnerable, more empathetic to others.
So definitely that's somebody. Another person is our current leader of our church right now, Russell M. Nelson. I mean, he's a hundred years old. He's still going strong.
(26:51):
He's this world renowned heart surgeon. He's so kind. He had, I think 10 kids. He just has done so much and so much for our church. So it's just definitely very inspiring for me now.
And then there's just others out there that I, there's so many that I, it's hard to list. So I'll just leave it at that for now. How about you, John?
Nothing for me. People that inspire us right now is watching my dad live his best life is pretty sweet. Yeah. Like knowing that he's worked so hard, raised six freaking kids and that he's at where he's at is, it's awesome.
(27:25):
Like, you know, every time I call him, it's like, Hey, we're going to this country. We're going to this country. We're going to this country. I mean, raising six kids, having gone through the air force, continental frontier and retired from all of them.
And to know that he did things right, that financially he did things right. And like, that's a big takeaway for me that he taught me a lot and inspired me. I'd be financially better and one day I'll start listening.
(27:53):
You know, so him along the same line, man, my brother, Jeff, you know, looking back where he was back in the day to where he is today. I mean, I don't think he wants me saying this, but he's making over six figures and he's doing dang well for himself, man.
And I could be prouder of the guy. Yes. Super inspiring to me on how to overcome adversity and to get your life to where it should be at their age. And it's just, it's really amazing to watch and hear and listen to him every time I talk to him.
(28:23):
You know, when we actually get a chance to talk, it's like an hour and a half at a time, man. And that's just, it's awesome. It is awesome.
What about you Ben? So for me, I don't know. It's funny because like I started off as a kid, just like learning so much and being inspired by my family. And I feel like it's coming back to that again now.
Like I get inspired by my wife, by my kids all the time. It's like, oh my gosh, like I see my kids and I'm like, why wasn't I like that when I was a kid? It's funny how I learned from my kids.
(28:55):
And also as I learned about my pioneer ancestors and stuff, just seeing the sacrifices they made that they wouldn't ever really get to appreciate in their whole life. Like the work they made to help their children or maybe their grandchildren or maybe their great great grandchildren.
Like they knew it would help things down the road, but they settled new towns. They really put down roots and made so many sacrifices to help other people so that down the road, their kids would know what was the most important things in their life, you know.
(29:26):
And so that always inspires me. And just on a little humorous note, I'm doing a lot more of the cooking now in my life and I am not the best cook. And so when I see people on YouTube, they do these fancy things. I'm like, holy cow. I wish I could do that.
I know some cooking YouTube videos are like junk, you know, like they're just like, let's just put a whole bunch of stuff on here. I feel like it's maybe a joke, you know, but there's that are like, holy cow. It's like a beautiful work of art.
(30:00):
It makes me actually think of your wife, Dave Cathy. I'm like, I bet Cathy could do that. Yeah, I couldn't do that. You know, like here's my version and what theirs look like. I'm like, I can't make mine look like that. It's like, I'm gonna draw like, you know, some
fantasy art or something, you know, really like detailed and like there's just like a stick figure. Mine's like the stick figure of cooking.
(30:25):
Nice.
All right. That's awesome. You guys. And like we said, you know, there are so many people to choose from. If we missed you, it's not because you didn't inspire us. It's just we had to pick a few just for the conversation.
Hey, thanks so much for listening to part one of this episode. Stay tuned for more fun in part two.
Whatever really happened to dudes calling each other best friends?
(00:04):
Dave and John grew up in the 80s in New Jersey and they did everything together.
They were the quintessential best friends until they became teenagers and Dave moved away.
Fast forward to today and these two 40-somethings reconnected and decided to not only be besties again,
but to put on a podcast and share their reunion with anyone who will listen.
Welcome to Fat, Dumb and Happy.
(00:28):
Alright, it's Thursday night. We are back, Fat, Dumb and Happy style.
Welcome back ladies and gentlemen. This is going to be an inspiring episode of Fat, Dumb and Happy.
Thanks for joining us.
This episode we're going to talk about the people that inspired us throughout our childhood all the way through adulthood.
Whether it be the amazing innovation someone has or their superhuman kindness.
We're going to highlight these individuals and you'll probably relate to many of them or share in how they inspire you.
(00:53):
We're going to be getting a little bit into the feels maybe with some of these selections here,
but we're going to have some fun along the way.
Glad you're here to join us and of course I've got here my bro-host Dave.
Hey, hey.
What's going on?
How's it going?
Alright, alright. And of course the super inspirational special guest expert, Ben.
Ben, what's up buddy?
Oh, thanks. I'm doing well. How are you doing, man?
(01:14):
I'm good. I'm good. I feel like it's been forever, guys.
Yeah, it's been a minute.
Alright, well I got a disclaimer up front real quick that I wanted to say.
You know, it seems like whenever there's somebody that does something amazing, they're inspiring, they're famous,
they're a leader, whatever, that's when the door opens for folks to be real critical and try to find the skeletons in their closet.
So if we happen to mention somebody that you disagree with them having some praise for the things that they've done
(01:40):
because of some other things that they've done in their life, please forgive us. We're sorry.
And understand, right, nobody's perfect. We all have stuff that we're not proud of.
So if you want to tell us anything about it, just write us a five-star review.
That's how we read comments is if you write it in a five-star review, good or bad, we'll take it seriously and we'll get back to you.
Alright, the other thing I want to say real quick up front is that Ben and I would like to highlight our wives.
(02:04):
Obviously, they inspired us since we met them, since we've been married.
We can put them in every single one of these categories for things that they inspire us with.
And so just want to say it up front rather than mention them multiple times throughout the show.
So we love them. Yeah, we're grateful for them for sure.
Alright, let's get over to the food portion of the episode.
If you're new to Fat, Dumb and Happy, we always share a food that's related to the theme.
(02:27):
And I think this was a fun one to try to think about, you know, people that inspire us.
What food would you go with for that? So we'll start with John, how about you?
I'm inspired by the potato, bro. Oh, yeah.
Like for real, like it's so ridiculously versatile. Yeah, man.
Even my favorite bread is potato bread. Like come on. Hot dog rolls or potato hot dog.
(02:50):
Like for real. Yeah, seriously. So many things to do with the.
It is nuts. So I'm going to mash potatoes.
OK, so that's my little thing for tonight. But it's got cooking purposes.
It's got other purposes, non food uses as well.
You know, animal feed, fuel cleaning products, gardening, biodegradable plastic can be made from potatoes.
Like what can't you do with a potato, dude?
(03:14):
It's amazing. And then not just that, but you got your sweet potato fries.
I feel like, oh, yeah, they do some forest gum. Yeah.
Yeah. But you get your sweet potato fried, curly fried, waffle fried,
crinkle fried steak fries, tornado fries. Oh, my goodness gracious, man.
Yeah. Well, hold on. What's a tornado fry?
So a tornado fry is like where it's spiraled and they stick it on a skewer and then deep fry.
(03:39):
Whoo. Yeah, it looks amazing.
I've never had one. I'm trying some new kind of fry.
Yeah. Yeah. So it looks kind of like this. I'm going to show you.
Oh, yeah. Look at that. Oh, OK. So it's kind of like it's like I feel like it's a carnival type food.
You know, yes, it looks like a corn dog, but like, you know, yeah, like a tornado.
But it's a French fry. But it's a French fry.
(04:02):
Like you can't get better than a potato, man. And then you get your cheese fries, your shoestring, man.
You get everything, dude. So this is my appreciation post and my food for tonight.
The potato. Very well done. Good choice for sure.
All right, Ben, what about you?
So one of the things I think about when I think about people eating is I think about my sister, Rachel and Dave.
(04:26):
There was a time when we were on and everybody's gone and the two of them were home and they just decided
let's make brownies, like a whole pan of brownies and just eat it ourselves.
You know, you might have mentioned this one in a previous episode.
I can't remember. But, man, that inspired me to be like, oh, wow, I could just like get a treat, like whatever I want.
(04:47):
I could make it myself. Yeah.
It was funny because when I was really young, I do remember like, I don't know, four or five or something.
I remember one of my sisters, I think it was Sue, tell me like, go ask mom if we can make brownies.
And I'm like, no. And I was one of those weird kids that sometimes I like treats, but sometimes I'm just not in the mood.
(05:10):
And so I'll actually pass up on ice cream once in a while and stuff. And so I'm like, I don't really want it.
It's just like, it doesn't matter if you want it. Just ask her if she'll make it.
Because if you ask, then she'll make it.
But if we ask, because these are my older sisters, you know, that can make it themselves.
If she said, if we ask, she's just going to tell us to make it ourselves.
(05:33):
So she's like, you ask and then mom will make it for us. You know, and I'm like, I don't even want it.
I remember going up to mom and being like, hey, Sue wanted me to ask if you could make brownies.
And she's like, go tell Sue that she could make it herself if she wants it.
(05:54):
I know I've sent Liz in to ask for ice cream before.
You've done the same thing. Oh my gosh.
If I really want to be cute about it, my parents, you remember on Full House how Michelle Tanner would always ask for elf cream.
She didn't say ice cream. So I tried to say it like that, real cute just to get some ice cream.
Nice. Oh, the genius powers of older siblings.
(06:15):
I made these brownies, right? And they're like cookie brownies.
And I don't know what it is. You make the brownie part and it's like easy.
It's like these Betty Crocker things. And it's like you just add some water and an egg or something, right?
Yeah. Yeah.
Someone said like for the cookie portion of it in a separate bowl, mix it with some softened butter.
I'm like, this butter is soft enough.
(06:39):
It just would not stir very good. It would not blend. It was just like, you know, all this powder and little teeny lumps of butter all over in it.
Like, yeah, it'll work out. Ben enjoying his, they call them brookies, right? Like a brownie cookie, brookies.
I didn't know that name for it. But yeah, I think like if you go to like a cookie shop, that's what they call them.
(07:04):
Ben realizing that as an adult, he can just have snacks. He doesn't have to always ask for them.
That's like me as an adult realizing I'm not required to eat vegetables. And it's just an amazing feeling.
You guys are both inspiring me right now for sure. That's awesome.
What about you, Dave?
So for me, it was when I was a kid, the very first cookbook that I got, which was kind of weird that I got a cookbook.
(07:28):
But I remember my mom got me this Disney cookbook when I was like, I don't know, eight or nine.
And I'm like, I'm going to be a chef. I got this thing. I'm going to make the stuff in there. And they were all super simple recipes.
One of them was brownies. I almost thought about doing that. And let's see if I had the picture of it. This guy.
Anyways, yeah, yeah, super old, like from the 70s, I think, at least. But yeah.
(07:51):
Anyways, one of the recipes was for spaghetti. And so I got spaghetti and meatballs, you know, a la Lady and the Tramp. And it's been a staple.
We have spaghetti like once every couple of weeks at least.
Made the same way from the book?
No, I couldn't find the actual recipe. I was just inspired by it, you know.
For the record, everybody, he pulled up a picture of that book that he got when he was eight or nine. And that thing cost 90 bucks now on eBay.
(08:13):
That's true.
Absurd for spaghetti.
And so today we actually have a couple Disney recipe books for our kids and they've been inspired to make meals.
In fact, tonight we had Little John's beef stew from Robin Hood. It was pretty good.
Oh, all right. Ben, why don't you kick us off with the main portion of the podcast.
All right. Now, if you guys remember one of our past podcasts, we had one on movies that inspire us.
(08:38):
Well, today we're talking about people that inspire us from childhood on up, different kinds of ways that we can be inspired.
So let's start off with when we were kids. Dave, who are some of the people or things that inspired you when you were a kid?
Awesome. So I was always into cartoons and drawing and animation.
And I think they're the top of the list. I just mentioned, you know, Disney. Walt Disney was one of those people loved all Disney movies and he really was a pioneer in animation and movie making.
(09:09):
So he was definitely inspiring. Along those same lines is Bill Watterson, you know, the artist for Calvin and Hobbes.
We've talked about it in other episodes that I used to draw Calvin and Hobbes all the time.
And the artwork was always so good and the story and the things that went on with Calvin Hobbes was so creative and fun.
Another one actually, you know, I mentioned the movie, but for real, like Rocky the character, he was aspiring to me.
(09:31):
I mean, I felt like he was kind of a little bit shorter guy, a little bit, you know, especially compared to Drago and Rocky IV.
But and he was ripped and like I always wanted to be like that. And just this little workout montage scenes and things. I was always into that.
My mom, I got to throw her out there as a kid. She definitely inspired me too. And then Ernest, you know, Ernest scared of stupid. Ernest goes to camp.
No, I'm just kidding. Not her. That guy was the worst. What about you? Yeah, mom of tea. What about you, John?
(09:58):
So a couple that come to my mind when I was a kid anyway, my sister Jen and I, the years apart that we have, it was able to let me see while I was growing up her starting her high school into her adult life.
And one of the very first things I remember her doing was she joined the Maplewood First Aid Squad as a volunteer.
I thought that was super cool, man. Like, they're willing to want to go out there and help people and stuff.
(10:23):
I just thought that was inspiring. And to the point where I think for a field trip when I was in Maplewood Middle School, I volunteered her without telling her that I needed her to be a chaperone because she had medical background.
But and she went, dude, she did it. I was like, all right. So that's one.
And then again, you inspired me. And then a dude that all three of us know and care and love for and maybe with a little bit of hindsight, growing up that inspired me was Ralph.
(10:50):
I don't think I've ever heard that guy complain, to be honest, to me anyway. Yeah. Just him growing up being the example of hard work and humility.
And I just remember one day he and I went out trying to earn some money shoveling snow. And it was a long day, man. But we pushed through it.
And Ralph, you inspired me growing up, dude. Yeah, you're awesome, man. I hope you know that. So those are just kind of the two growing up that I thought of.
(11:16):
This was hard. You know, there were so many people that have inspired us throughout our lives, right? Even day to day.
And so to narrow down to just a few, this doesn't necessarily mean like it locked in stone. These are the only people that inspired us, you know, at this time frame or whatever because, man, there's so many people.
Yeah. Hey, look, if you guys didn't make the list, doesn't mean you didn't inspire us. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly.
(11:39):
What about you, Ben? Yeah, I mean, it is hard. You know, it's funny. I listen to you guys and you have like a lot of meaningful people even outside of like outside of your family and stuff.
For me, as a kid, I feel like I was in this little bubble with my family and I didn't, you know, like we watched movies or something and I wouldn't remember a character's names. I wouldn't remember like who the actor was or who the writer was of, you know, like I didn't probably didn't even know who Disney was until it was like 12 or something.
(12:12):
I was oblivious to a lot of that, you know, but I do know that my siblings inspired me all the time. And I think like, for instance, even Dave was my younger brother. He's four years younger than me. And he'll just be climbing a tree, getting real high.
He'll be like, Hey, mom, look at me, you know, looking at that like, I could do that. And so I would have to like do everything or try to do everything that he would do. He would show off to like show what he could do. He was a little kid. He's five years old or whatever.
(12:43):
And I was like nine, you know, and it's like, wait a minute, I could do that.
Yeah, I thought the same thing, man. Just real quick. I thought I could do a lot of the same stuff turns out I could. I just followed him and got stuck. Yeah, when you started climbing up the walls and hanging upside down. I was like, dude, that's not my thing.
I want to climb up a laundry shoot faster than this kid.
(13:08):
I was a monkey and I had ADHD before it was popular. So, you know,
I'm not a fan center buddy. But Ben you inspired me too for sure. I got to say that upfront too man. Ben and John, you guys both inspired me for sure. I always have. Yeah.
Anyway, you know, like my sisters, I had a sister, Rachel was into sign language and karate and fencing and you know, so many different things that were like unique and quirky and different.
(13:35):
Dang, and she's kind of a quieter person. She's not really like, just goes off and does her own thing and was involved in so many more things than I like I was ever involved in, you know what I mean?
And, you know, like I could really go down the list of every one of my siblings, honestly, and there were things about them that inspired me. I don't go into all of them, but that's just suffices for this.
(13:59):
But outside of my family, there wasn't a whole lot. Like when I was really little, I idolized the Hulk. Man, I can do mad and I know I get stronger when I'm mad.
So like, if I could do it as good as the Hulk could do it, like I would be huge strong buff.
I was never like trying to get myself mad, seeing like what big thing I could pick up or throw.
(14:29):
Little Lou Ferrigno right there, yes.
Yeah, and then like just random things that I would see kids at school. There was this kid that could grow pencils really good and throw them into the ceiling. You know those ceilings where they had the little holes?
You know, you could just pull that material, but it sticks in the ceiling for like, you know, 15 seconds and then falls down again. I tried to do that. At half the time, it would just like hit the eraser or just like hit horizontally across it.
(14:56):
Yep, the timing.
I would watch that kid do that and he inspired me.
Yes.
All kinds of stuff like that, man.
Yeah, that's awesome.
I also felt about Lou Ferrigno, that was me watching American Gladiators.
Yeah, man. That was me watching Rocky. Exactly. Same, same all around.
(15:17):
American Gladiators was awesome too for sure.
Alright, so let's talk about as teenagers. John, why don't you go first?
So I mean not exactly who inspired me, but what inspired me. And as a teenager, that was the 90s, right?
Yeah, yeah.
For me, 90s music as a whole is still my go-to music today, man. I absolutely, look, I'm even me too. I'm wearing my Nirvana shirt right now.
(15:42):
There we go.
And I prefer it over everything else when I listen to music, though it did provide us the Seattle grunge look, which I did try to mimic with the flannel and the jeans, the jinkos.
You know, that was transcending in its own. It was inspiring to people just the look of it, but that music, man, I just turn it on, man. It takes me right back there to a great time in my life.
(16:06):
Heck yeah. That's awesome, man.
For me, 90s music.
I feel you, for sure. That's a good pick. Alright, Ben, what about you?
Dude, I was like, I mean I know I'm a little bit older than you, but I always liked older music, honestly.
And so Billy Joel was one of those people that inspired me. By that point, he had already had three greatest hits albums and they were chock full of really good songs, to me at least anyway.
(16:30):
And so there was a period, you know, when I was a teenager where I'd fantasize about being amazing and something, I don't know that I ever really thought I'd be a great singer or anything like that.
But I was impressed with like, he always seemed cool. You know, he always had this cool feel about him.
But you know, one of the people that really inspired me was somebody in my church. And he, every time somebody gave a talk or did something even slightly impressive, he was a principal actually and he had these little note cards that he would hand out to people and just tell them, hey, I think you're pretty awesome.
(17:05):
I liked your talk or you'd say some positive thing about people and hand those things out all the time.
And I was like, dude, this guy sees good in everybody. He does. It was so inspiring to me, you know, just, I wanted to be more like that because I was, as a teenager, at least early teens, I was a negative person, man.
I saw the flaws in everybody. I was a little bit more critical than I should have been. And seeing him be like that was really inspired me to be a better person.
(17:34):
I still have one of these cards. Yeah, like he gave it to a lot of people. I just aside from that, one of the things I thought it was Ralph at that time in my life too. I was close to him at that point and he did show things that were, you know, hard for him.
And so I knew what hard things were going through in his life, but he really inspired me and how he just pushed through it and was really kind to people and saw the positive people the same way.
(17:56):
Outside of that, there was a girl, it's funny, in middle school who was so buff. She could beat any of the boys in arm wrestling. I remember they had, they measure you in seventh grade to see how many sit ups you could do, how many pull ups you could do and things like that.
And she did like 15 or something like that. And most of them couldn't even do like one pull up, you know. And I thought I was pretty decent. I could do a few, you know, but there's no way. I tried to try to beat her and I was no way.
(18:27):
That's awesome.
All right. So for me, you know, John and I went to EFY, especially for youth, there were these week long church youth week, youth conference type thing that we would go to. And they were hosted at university. They were really cool, really fun.
And a couple of the speakers and authors that were there, John, by the way, and Brad Wilcox, that were so funny and like so down to earth that I just really looked up to them and thought they were inspiring for sure.
(18:55):
And I got into this is embarrassing, but you know, I had my skater haircut and I did inline skating and I never really, I'm not good skateboard, but I couldn't really do any tricks on them.
So, but Tony Hawk and the other, you know, ex game athletes at that time were totally inspiring to me how they would shred it up and do crazy tricks. And yeah, it was really cool to me.
Sean White, Sean White yet snowboarding stuff. Yeah, exactly. And then more personally, I had a Sunday school teacher at church that was before he was our Sunday school teacher. He was a higher up leader in the church.
(19:27):
And so he went from that to being our Sunday school teacher and we were a bunch of obnoxious teenagers for sure. And he was like so humble and so cool and like, and so like praising of us and things like that, that he made me want to be better because of how he, you know, talked to me, how he treated me,
how he inspired me. So, and then one last guy from high school. I can't honestly, this is terrible. I can't even remember his name, but I can picture him. He was this really funny, really cool and popular guy, super good at soccer.
(19:57):
And the thing was, like he had all these things that normally would put him in this class of like elitist, you know, snobby popular kid, but he was like cool with everybody, like everybody.
And so I thought that was pretty inspiring to say, like, you know, be good at things, be popular even, but also be a cool, friendly, nice guy, you know. So anyways, that was one last guy for me as a teenager.
(20:20):
Yeah, just one quick note for you, Dave. In three years, it'll be 30 years since we graduated, went to high school. So it's cool you don't know his name.
Yeah, I'm forgetting all kinds of stuff in that old, and it's terrible. That's hilarious.
All right, so we talked about people that inspired us as kids, grown up as teens, what about as a young adult? So when you put this out there, Dave, let's say a young adult, like, you know, in your 20s, your 20s, right?
(20:43):
Yeah.
Around that range. Yeah, exactly.
Okay, cool. So Ben, what about you, you kick it off.
You know, first of all, I need to make a disclaimer, I have gone through periods of my life where hardly anyone inspired me, just because, I don't know, maybe I became a little pessimistic about life. You know, my headaches got really bad and I fell out, dropped out of college for a while.
(21:06):
It just felt like I was a loser living in my parents basement kind of thing. You know what I mean? And just felt like maybe a little bit assuming that everyone is hiding something bad. You know what I mean?
Yeah, yeah.
Even when I saw people that had strengths, sometimes I took them for granted and just didn't really appreciate them. But I had a handful of friends here and there that I got to know on a deeper level. And because they kind of let me in, and I got to see some of their struggles that inspired me be like, you know what, when I see their struggles, it helps inspire me to get through my struggles.
(21:45):
And one person that I think of that wasn't a friend, but one person that was kind of like that in my life was our previous church leader Howard W. Hunter. He had a lot of health challenges in his life. He was in pain a lot. And he was only president of our church for just a few months.
But he was inspiring the way he just pushed through it. He pushed through the pain. He just tried to serve as best he could. And when I meet people like that, that I know are struggling, but still try to be positive, try to reach out to others, think outside themselves, even though their life is really hard.
(22:20):
Man, I needed that in my life. I needed people like that to inspire me. And I could go down a list, a number of different friends, but honestly, it wouldn't be fair to some of the ones that I'd miss, honestly. So I'm just going to talk generically about them.
But I think you guys out there listening, you know who you are, man. You know, if you were a part of my life and you shared who you were with me, you made a difference, even though you might not have thought you did because seeing people progress in their life when they're going through hard times was something I really needed to have that experience.
(22:49):
I really needed at that point in my life. What about you, Dave?
Oh man, I appreciate that disclaimer, Ben, and being real. Like, you know, obviously I didn't always have somebody that I was inspired by or was like a mentor or a hero to me. You know, I had times like that too. I think that's relatable to everybody for sure.
And so, you know, at this time in my life, I was going to college. I started off as an art major. You know, I had talked about that earlier, always being into art, wanting to be a cartoonist or an animator, and then realizing that I wasn't quite good enough probably to support a family.
(23:21):
I changed to architecture, which was also creative and things. And long story short, I moved to civil engineering. So I had three somewhat different yet overlapping majors in college. And with that, I had a lot of folks that inspired me and all the Renaissance artists, more modern artists, like I mentioned earlier, architects like Frank Lloyd Wright, the father of physics for engineering, you know, Sir Isaac Newton.
(23:45):
It's crazy how much influence and how much these folks changed history and created amazing things. So they were all inspiring to me at school, and I guess outside of school too.
And then similar to Ben, I did a mission for my church. And so the leader of our church at that time was Gordon B. Hinckley. And he was so optimistic and positive and had a good sense of humor.
(24:07):
And anybody that's funny and is good in other things, other areas of their life, I'm inspired by them because I love to laugh and I love people that are well-rounded like that. So he definitely was somebody that inspired me for a long time. How about you, John?
So, you know, we're talking 20s, 23, 25, whatever. Yeah. Well, in that time, that's kind of when the smartphone came out. So we're talking smartphones and Facebook.
(24:32):
Now we had at the time, zero clue what that was all going to lead to today. Yeah. Yeah. And now I don't even do Facebook. But, you know, just knowing that that's what I'm inspired by.
So Steve Jobs and Zuckerberg for their vision. Yeah. Just kind of like Dave said, it didn't leave me down a nice little career. But, you know, and I'm glad a day for Dave.
(24:56):
But yeah, so I think the phone, like who could have seen that the phone would one day encompass a computer, a camera, a calculator, everything you could ever possibly need at your fingertips.
It's pretty insane if you think about the overall function of what they can do. Yeah. Yeah. The prices are so stupid, but, you know, it's amazing. It really is. I'm just going to throw those two names out there.
(25:22):
I think what they did for society is inspiring. I think we're talking strictly their inventions or creations. Nothing further than that about censoring stuff. We won't get involved at.
But, you know, I just think it's amazing what they did. So that was kind of mine during my young adulthood. Yeah. Good ones for sure.
Well, what about now? You know, I mean, now that we're all grown up and stuff, we're getting to be older people. We have different priorities in our life, maybe a little bit.
(25:49):
Who are the people that inspire you now, Dave? Yeah. You know what? I think I actually had a little bit tougher time, only because, I mean, there's just so many people.
I think it's, I've gotten in a stage of my life right now where I'm just, I'm reading books like crazy. And so there's just a lot of people. One that stands out, that's done a lot.
I don't know how people feel about her in general, but Brene Brown. She is this really amazing, really smart person that teaches a lot about empathy and about relationships and about vulnerability.
(26:21):
And she's really inspiring. That's something that like, I don't want to say typical male, but like I haven't been really that into that until somewhat recently in my life.
And she's inspired me and I've seen how important that is really to be, yeah, more in touch with your feelings, more vulnerable, more empathetic to others.
So definitely that's somebody. Another person is our current leader of our church right now, Russell M. Nelson. I mean, he's a hundred years old. He's still going strong.
(26:51):
He's this world renowned heart surgeon. He's so kind. He had, I think 10 kids. He just has done so much and so much for our church. So it's just definitely very inspiring for me now.
And then there's just others out there that I, there's so many that I, it's hard to list. So I'll just leave it at that for now. How about you, John?
Nothing for me. People that inspire us right now is watching my dad live his best life is pretty sweet. Yeah. Like knowing that he's worked so hard, raised six freaking kids and that he's at where he's at is, it's awesome.
(27:25):
Like, you know, every time I call him, it's like, Hey, we're going to this country. We're going to this country. We're going to this country. I mean, raising six kids, having gone through the air force, continental frontier and retired from all of them.
And to know that he did things right, that financially he did things right. And like, that's a big takeaway for me that he taught me a lot and inspired me. I'd be financially better and one day I'll start listening.
(27:53):
You know, so him along the same line, man, my brother, Jeff, you know, looking back where he was back in the day to where he is today. I mean, I don't think he wants me saying this, but he's making over six figures and he's doing dang well for himself, man.
And I could be prouder of the guy. Yes. Super inspiring to me on how to overcome adversity and to get your life to where it should be at their age. And it's just, it's really amazing to watch and hear and listen to him every time I talk to him.
(28:23):
You know, when we actually get a chance to talk, it's like an hour and a half at a time, man. And that's just, it's awesome. It is awesome.
What about you Ben? So for me, I don't know. It's funny because like I started off as a kid, just like learning so much and being inspired by my family. And I feel like it's coming back to that again now.
Like I get inspired by my wife, by my kids all the time. It's like, oh my gosh, like I see my kids and I'm like, why wasn't I like that when I was a kid? It's funny how I learned from my kids.
(28:55):
And also as I learned about my pioneer ancestors and stuff, just seeing the sacrifices they made that they wouldn't ever really get to appreciate in their whole life. Like the work they made to help their children or maybe their grandchildren or maybe their great great grandchildren.
Like they knew it would help things down the road, but they settled new towns. They really put down roots and made so many sacrifices to help other people so that down the road, their kids would know what was the most important things in their life, you know.
(29:26):
And so that always inspires me. And just on a little humorous note, I'm doing a lot more of the cooking now in my life and I am not the best cook. And so when I see people on YouTube, they do these fancy things. I'm like, holy cow. I wish I could do that.
I know some cooking YouTube videos are like junk, you know, like they're just like, let's just put a whole bunch of stuff on here. I feel like it's maybe a joke, you know, but there's that are like, holy cow. It's like a beautiful work of art.
(30:00):
It makes me actually think of your wife, Dave Cathy. I'm like, I bet Cathy could do that. Yeah, I couldn't do that. You know, like here's my version and what theirs look like. I'm like, I can't make mine look like that. It's like, I'm gonna draw like, you know, some
fantasy art or something, you know, really like detailed and like there's just like a stick figure. Mine's like the stick figure of cooking.
(30:25):
Nice.
All right. That's awesome. You guys. And like we said, you know, there are so many people to choose from. If we missed you, it's not because you didn't inspire us. It's just we had to pick a few just for the conversation.
Hey, thanks so much for listening to part one of this episode. Stay tuned for more fun in part two.
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