December 20, 2024 • 63 mins
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Today’s guest has spoken in 38 different countries and generated over $150 million dollars in sales. What does it take to become the person who is capable of all those things? How do you lead with courage while also being human? How do you release old ways and step into who you're called to to be to lead well and live well. That’s what we are diving into in this week’s episode with Founder & CEO of NABA Austin Tice.
Want to join our NABA community? Check out this link: https://naba.com/lunden
Who is Austin Tice?
Austin Tice is the Founder and CEO of NABA, a community committed to shifting the paradigm of health and wellness of the world, starting with the individual. NABA stands for the Natural Art of Being Alive.
Timestamps to help you navigate this episode
0:00 Intro
0:24 FREE Self Love & Sweat MONTHLY Calendar
2:51 Scaling Global Heights: Leadership Through Communication
11:02 Leading With Courage
28:53 Embracing Your Past, Present, and Future Self
33:11 The Evolution of NABA
51:10 Creating Healthy Communities for Unity
Connect with Austin & NABA:
@thehouseofnaba
@myprimelife
Lunden's NABA Link
https://naba.com/lunden
FREE Self Love & Sweat Monthly Life Coaching Calendar: http://lifelikelunden.com/calendar
2 FREE HIGH INTENSITY RESISTANCE TRAINING WORKOUTS: https://lifelikelunden.activehosted.com/f/169
One-On-One Life Coaching & NLP with Lunden:
http://lifelikelunden.com/vip
Connect with Lunden:
IG: @lifelikelunden
YouTube: https://youtube.com/lundensouza
LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lundensouza/
Twitter: @lifelikelunden
Use code LUNDEN25 for a discount on Snap Supplements: https://bit.ly/snapsweat
Podcast Sound Design Intro & Outro: https://hitspotaudio.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lunden Souza (00:00):
Welcome to Self Love and Sweat the podcast, the
place where you'll get inspiredto live your life
unapologetically, embrace yourperfect imperfections and do
what sets your soul on fire.
I'm your host, Lunden Souza.
Hey, before we jump into thisepisode, I just want to make
(00:27):
sure that you get all the freethings possible, if you haven't
already.
You need to get your self-loveand sweat free monthly life
coaching calendar.
Honestly, the way to experiencedeep change in your life is by
doing small little things overtime, and so that's what you'll
(00:48):
find in this free calendar.
You can get it by going tolifelikelunden.
com/calendar.
Get yours for free and let'sget into today's episode.
Welcome back to Self Love andSweatat the podcast.
Today we're talking to AustinTice, one of my friends, for a
(01:09):
long time, also CEO of NABA,which is our community that I
talk a lot about.
I've had a lot of guests on thepodcast, so I'm super excited
to have you today, Austin.
It's about
Austin Tice (01:20):
It's nice to be here with you finally.
Lunden Souza (01:23):
It's nice to be here with you.
Finally, tell us a little bitmore about you.
When I look at your IG bio, itsays you've spoken in 38
different countries.
You've done over $150 millionin sales.
There's also a really cute picof you of little Austin.
For those of you watching youcan see.
(01:45):
Look how cute he is.
Did you think that you weregoing to speak in 38 countries
and that you were going to do$150 million in sales when you
were this little guy?
What was he dreaming of when hewas little?
Austin Tice (01:59):
Speaking for sure, the $150 million that showed up,
and just the way that it showedup, I don't know I my
relationship with numbers haschanged a lot.
A million used to seem like alot.
I still value it, but myrelationship with you know, my
ability to obtain it in a lot ofdifferent ways has changed.
(02:21):
But I've always thought I wouldspeak the country thing is just
a fun number to keep count of.
Honestly, I've thought whatnumber 40 might be, but we
hadn't got there yet.
But I don't think a whole lot'schanged, other than maybe my
vision's gotten bigger.
Lunden Souza (02:38):
Yeah, 38 countries is a lot.
That's a lot.
I've hosted workout events in13, which I felt like was a lot,
but 38 countries is a lot tospeak in, and you always knew
you wanted to be a speaker.
I feel like I know you haven'ttalked a lot here since we
pressed start, but I've knownyou for a long time and you're
definitely a skilledcommunicator.
(02:58):
Where did you learn that?
Austin Tice (03:12):
um, you know, I probably starting with athletics
and I think the adjustments youmake personally at least I have
are remembering the ways I wascommunicated with that I didn't
like, so I've always been reallymindful of what I didn't like,
to make sure that I didn't do itso that other people wouldn't
feel like that.
I don't know that I've shot ahundred percent, but at least I
try, I'm mindful of it.
So, on the baseball field, howdifferent coaches communicated
(03:32):
with me, even how differentteammates did or didn't watching
other people's leadershipstyles I don't know that they
would ever have really called ita leadership style, but to me
that's what I would label it andthat hasn't always necessarily
meant that it was in a settingthat required their leadership.
(03:55):
It's just how they showed up,and whether they did or didn't
lead is really what I'm speakingtowards.
So that could be a teammate,that could be be a classmate,
that could be a friend.
Um, and for me, in in amentorship style setting, a
coach or a pastor or evensomeone facilitating or running
a yoga uh, you know, class um, II always take away how they
(04:20):
made me feel and I've, I'vetried to take the good and apply
it to my repertoire in hopesthat, in people's experience
with me, that they feel good.
But probably more so than that,I'm really mindful as I want.
I want to make them proud tohave known me and I feel like
that in the all encompassingumbrella of a relationship, if
(04:41):
I've checked that box, that Iprobably you know, I might not
have always made them feel good,but they grew and they knew I
cared about them, and so thoseare always things I think about.
Lunden Souza (04:55):
Leadership is a word that you use a lot and I
kind of want to come back tothat.
But first I want to talk aboutand I'll let you tell the story
because I also know that itincorporates.
You know where you've been beenbut how we met the businesses
that you've created.
And I'll let you kind of tellthat story, because I met Austin
during his last company, primemy Body, and tell us more about
(05:18):
that, what you've learned onthat journey and kind of where
you're at now.
Austin Tice (05:23):
It was a very different time in my life.
That was 2000.
You and I met in the summer of2013.
And Brian and I were advised tolaunch our company by going to
a trade show.
And while I think the personthat advised us had the greatest
of intentions and to this day,would probably argue that it was
(05:45):
a great advice the best, one ofthe best things that came out
of that event was meeting you.
I don't I don't know ofanything else that came out of
it other than having theknowledge that I wouldn't have
done that again, but we werethere.
We were in Las Vegas at a tradeshow launching our company.
We had a plant-based proteinwith a lot of our favorite
(06:06):
superfoods in it that we'dcreated and um fun trade show
had no business going,considering the amount of money
it costs to be there, especiallywhen you looked at our booth.
It looked like the little boothcharlie brown had, uh, compared
to others.
But it was a great experience.
You and I met and you know thatthat company was more than just
(06:29):
the start of a company.
It was the start of a of an eraof my life that I'm still in it
, in some ways a differentchapter, but still within.
I'm on my own eras tour, Iguess you could say, in
entrepreneurship.
I think a lot of people areafraid to start and they find a
(06:49):
very intimate relationship withthinking about starting and in
fact they justify not startingbecause of the comfort they find
in thinking about starting andthat eventually becomes their
identity and I can equate thatto so many different areas in my
life.
So it's easy to point at theentrepreneur one and laugh and
point at.
But I was really proud, lookingback on Younger Austin, that he
(07:12):
started and Brian as well, oneof my good friends that was a
co-founder of that project andultimately went through a litany
of different emotions wheneveryou're putting something
together.
You know Brian and I in thattime in our life were
professional best friends.
We were professional roommates,we were professional stoners,
(07:36):
we were really good at a lot ofstuff and the thing that we had
never done, that we assumed wewould immediately be great at
done, that we assumed we wouldimmediately be great at, was
business partners.
And you know, at first we were.
But then whenever the rubbermeets the road and you have to
deal with real challenges, youknow you didn't have someone to
(07:56):
come home at the end of the dayto talk to, like your boy that
hadn't been involved in thenuances of what takes place in
starting a business.
You're sharing a checkingaccount.
That same checking account isalso the company account.
It's the same account that paysfor any extracurricular
activities any date you go on,the food you put on your table,
(08:18):
the bottle of wine you have, andthat time of our lives and that
time of our lives you know allof the weed we were smoking,
which was way too much, and itwas a season of growth for both
of us and we learned a lot fromit.
We grew from it, by the grace ofGod, that company, through grit
(08:39):
and just the old adage ofbootstrapping.
We grew it to a six-figureannualized company, just under
probably a million dollars ayear.
We were really proud of that.
In the midst of this transition, we sold the company, stayed on
and played a big role and wereresponsible for doing $150
(09:00):
million the next three and ahalf years.
So a really great time in ourlives.
We learned a lot and ultimatelystepped away from that project
because the people we sold it tohad a different interpretation
of culture than we did, one thatwe were willing to be a part of
, and, while I wish them well,one of the greatest gifts they
(09:21):
gave me was an opportunity tostep away, and I did, and I took
some time for myself, and,years later, here I am, but that
was a really sweet time and onethat I'll always be grateful
for.
Lunden Souza (09:35):
Yeah, same.
I'm excited that whosoever ideait was to go to the trade show
decided that Because, yeah, wegot to me and then through you,
I've met so many amazing people,I've learned so much.
I know we're talking on thepodcast here, but we talk off
recording and you're the personthat I call sometimes and I'm
(09:56):
like what do you think happenswhen you die?
Or let's talk about the stuffthat we could just talk about
everything.
So I'm very grateful for thatand whosever idea that was I
think it was Buddy's right.
Austin Tice (10:09):
It was Buddy.
Yeah, I don't know if you'veconnected with him since, but
it's Buddy, and Buddy and I arestill friends and communicate
and love him to death and wewould always give him a hard
time about that, but yeah, he'sa really great guy.
Lunden Souza (10:23):
Yeah Well, shout out to Buddy.
Thanks to Buddy.
Let's talk about leadership,because I remember when you and
I reconnected in 2020, after wehad met in 2013, we were doing
all of our things and I remember, through a lot of conversations
we had, you would often say,like this country lacks
leadership.
(10:44):
What we need is good leadership, and the version of me at the
time I mean I knew what thatword was.
Obviously I knew when I hadgood leaders, or ones that were
not my favorite, whether it wasin business or in sports or
whatever.
But now it takes on a differentmeaning for me, because now I'm
(11:06):
in a position of leadership.
I run teams here for thecompany I work for here in Utah,
and so it's something I've beenthinking about and learning
about even more.
What do you feel like goodleadership is?
How do you become a good leader?
Let's go there.
Austin Tice (11:33):
The times in my life that I'm most proud of are
the times that, either when Ididn't feel like doing something
or I was scared, I still did it, and I think that you could
look at that and say that'sleadership.
I think sometimes in the faceof courage or, in some ways, in
the face of fear, it takescourage to show up in society or
(11:56):
in the world when a lot ofpeople are telling you one thing
and that's just not somethingyou can get down with.
Look no further than what weall watched take place the
better part of the last halfdecade in the United States.
There were a lot of people that, through different media
channels, were being gaslitaround certain things that they
(12:18):
wanted you to do with your body,and I do think it took a lot of
leadership on a very intimateand deeply personal level for
people to say you know what?
That doesn't feel good.
I'm not going to have a channelon social media for just
(12:48):
telling people what they thought, which at the time, they may
have been called certain names,and now what they're being
called is a truth teller.
And so sometimes leadership ishow you show up for yourself
when no one else will ever knowthat you're doing it and then,
on the other hand, leadership isshowing up when everyone sees
(13:10):
it.
For me, the most challengingpart of leadership is showing up
for myself in the areas that noone else knows I do, and that's
an area that's been distinctlyevolutionary for me in the last
five years, coincidentally aswell.
But you know, when I look at theworld today, I feel that a lot
(13:34):
of the challenges we face arereflective of people being
complacent and comfortable, andI feel that in order to create a
new world, it's going torequire courage and sometimes
discomfort or doing things thatare a bit unfamiliar or out of
routine and in some capacities,might be referred to as
courageous, which who would havethought?
(13:55):
Just being unique and yourselfand speaking your heart would be
courageous.
But that's exactly what'sneeded in the world today is
showing up as your own uniqueself, and in the advent and
creation of what we're watchingtake place within different
technologies, particularly AI,the one thing that no one can
(14:18):
replace is you, your wisdom,your experiences, your
perspective, the vantage pointand consciousness that you
create and contribute to thecollective because of what
you've gone through in your life.
Man, that is uniquely yours andtogether, if we all bring that
to the table.
It no longer becomes aboutbeing right.
(14:39):
It becomes about creating atapestry that ultimately moves
us along in a really beautifullyunique, healthy and
constructive way, and that's thetype of leadership.
When I think about where we'reat in the world is to me really
inspiring to see so many peopleshowing up in that capacity.
Lunden Souza (15:03):
You talked about how you handle.
I don't know if this is exactlywhat you said, but how to
handle what's hard, even whennobody is looking.
And from my perspective, you'rean excellent leader.
We're going to talk about NABAand everything that we've
created and that community andthe way that you lead that.
And I often ask you thisoutside of podcast recording
(15:26):
like you seem cool and likethings are all good and you're
pretty even.
How do you do that?
What are things that you havein your daily routine or weekly
or whatever?
Like how do you emotionally,like, metabolize and digest what
you're going through and yourstuff so that you can be a
(15:49):
better leader?
What are things that you do?
Austin Tice (15:54):
I break down pretty fucking regularly.
I mean more than people wouldprobably think that I do.
Yeah, I mean, I don't expect orask anyone else to carry the
burden of what it is I'm dealingwith.
I don't, you know, pick up thephone and call a lot of people
(16:15):
and drop it in their lap.
There's a handful of peopleI'll share certain things that
I'm going through, to hear theiradvice or if I feel they could
help, I'll ask for it.
But ultimately, in this seasonof my life, I think what makes
it very different than otherseasons is I've taken full
(16:37):
responsibility for the stuff I'mdealing with.
And if there's something I'mdealing with that can feel heavy
or is uncomfortable in thesense that I wouldn't wish it
upon anybody else, thenultimately I have to kind of
zoom out and look at the boardand go what did I miss?
(16:57):
Clearly I fucking missedsomething here.
And I go okay, I see where Icould have done better there and
I see that I didn't just missit, it kind of kept on and I can
see how now, why there's alittle bit of water in the boat
here or whatever, right.
And so the first thing I do isI know that I got to deal with
(17:21):
whatever emotion that I'mcarrying in my self,
particularly for me, just on myheart and my chest.
I've got to deal with that.
I became an expert and still am.
I don't know that I'll ever notbe an expert at not dealing
with stuff Really fucking goodat that.
This season, though, with whereit is, I feel both qualified and
(17:46):
called to go.
There's no way I'm going to getthere unless I'm light and
nimble and able to makeadjustments on the go, and you
can't do that if you're carryingthings that you don't have to
carry, and so every single day,I really do, whether it be my
meditation work, mindful of anyalcohol I'm drinking, that will
(18:11):
always sort of you'll eventuallycatch back up and get on the
other side of whatever hangoveror whatever may come from it,
but you're losing time, or howI'm eating or if I'm traveling.
There's a lot of things, butultimately, I have to stay in a
really productively awesome,exciting routine that serves me
(18:35):
and my interest productivelyawesome, exciting routine that
serves me and my interest.
And when I feel like I'mcarrying a lot in my heart, I go
back to square one and startchecking boxes and get on the
other side of whatever it is I'mcarrying and remember hey look,
you created this, this is yourworld.
None of these people wouldexist in your experience if it
(18:56):
weren't for you, and so just areally abundant level of
ownership of every single detail, abundant level of ownership.
I like that.
That doesn't always come easy.
That might sound surprising topeople that work with me.
That might sound surprising topeople that work with me.
(19:20):
Some people think I might be alittle hard on them, although I
think I could be much harder,you know, compared to the people
that have coached me in my life.
I try and be really, reallykind with my words and the tones
I use and everything.
I would never want to hurtsomeone, but sometimes when you
say things, it doesn't matterhow you say it.
(19:42):
If you're coaching someone upin a step into the potential of
what you see in them that theiractions are not leading them to
become, then man, sometimes it'sjust it's not going to be like
one of those cheesecakes at theCheesecake Factory in 2002.
It's going to hit a littledifferent.
So, yeah, I just try and be anexample for myself every day and
(20:05):
for others and show up the bestway that I know how.
Lunden Souza (20:09):
Abundant level of ownership.
I might steal that.
I'll give you credit, but Ilike that.
Austin Tice (20:16):
I don't know that I've ever said it until today,
but ultimately, Lunden.
I find a lot of comfort in thefact that I know I'm doing my
best.
It's not perfect, but I want tomake the people I'm around
proud.
I want to make a difference inthe world.
(20:38):
I want to make my mom and dadproud, my brother proud,
whenever things get difficultand sometimes I feel like I
can't do something or I want toquit or I'm looking for
emergency exits, which is not anuncommon feeling.
When I go through that list, Idon't have to get too many
(21:00):
people down to know that I can't.
I could do it for me, noproblem, but there's no way I
could let them down.
And so I'm sure everybody hastheir own reasons for why they
stay in the hunt and stay in thegame and stay engaged, even
when it's hard.
Mine start with my parents, myfriends, that future version of
(21:20):
me that I know is cheering me on, and then I go from there and I
go all right, let's regroup,let's take a deep breath, do
what you need to do.
You've never not figuredanything out before.
What's going to stop now?
So let's figure it out andthat's, and that's, that's,
that's the routine.
Lunden Souza (21:39):
Well, good on you being an expert.
You said I was an expert at notfeeling and you also said
looking for that exit.
I think a lot of people maybethey don't realize it but, just
like you said are experts atpushing it down or pushing it
away, are experts at taking thatquick exit when things get hard
(22:05):
or uncomfortable.
What would you say to somebodywho's continuously taking that
exit, even especially men I knowthat we're getting into a
different era and men and thattopic of expressing more of how
(22:25):
they feel and, when things arehard, not taking the exit, not
numbing, not putting things awaybut what would you say to that
person?
The expert and maybe a personlistening is aware of their
expert level of avoiding thingsand wanting to not avoid them
(22:46):
and, like you said, get beyondthat feeling.
How do you do that?
What would you say to someonewho's right at that point of not
wanting to be an expert at theexit?
Austin Tice (23:00):
I don't know.
I don't know that.
I think the first thing ittakes is self-awareness and the
second thing it takes is a lotof energy and it's difficult,
it's very difficult, it's reallyhard to change, it's very
difficult, it's really hard tochange.
(23:20):
And it's hard to change because, even though you probably know
you want to where maybe it's nothorrible but maybe it's you're
sacrificing good for great,whether it's horrible or whether
it's a good for great sacrifice.
You're still moving throughthis transition of letting go of
(23:40):
something that is familiar andstepping into something that is
completely unknown to you.
And that's very scary for mewhen I evaluate the things that
I've moved through, gotten onthe other side of let go of to
(24:01):
create something new.
It wasn't because it was anaccident.
I was't.
I didn't want to continue toshow up in a way that wasn't
(24:28):
honoring the gifts that I feelthat being born into this world
that I had.
You know what was?
What's the saying?
God doesn't call the qualified,he qualifies the called.
And I look at all of the stuffI've gone through in my life and
(24:52):
I feel like that moment whenyou have that moment that you
just wake up and all of a suddenyou have.
Step one is, I'm aware whatyou're aware of is that you want
to change, but the beauty inthat and this is where there's
such grace and gratitude and thegift of everything you've ever
(25:15):
done and gone through, eventhough you might not be proud of
it it helped shape andcultivate and create within you
everything you needed to becomethat person that you've always
said you would.
It just wasn't convenient toaccept the responsibilities and
(25:35):
disciplines of, and so it's abeautiful experience, but at the
same time, you know you have toreally want it and you have to
labor for it.
You know, sometimes I'll do ameditation and I don't feel like
it, and it's you may.
(25:57):
What don't you feel like doing?
You close your eyes and you sitthere, and there's a lot of
things I could say I don't feellike doing, like I would maybe
rather go get coffee or goshower, and what I really rather
go do is expose myself tofamiliar patterns that create
familiar thoughts, that createfamiliar emotions around
(26:20):
familiar environments, and allof that's familiar even though I
might not exactly desire tohave that in my life.
Whereas in the meditation, whenI close my eyes, not only am I
dealing with the thoughts andthe feelings that are creating
(26:42):
my state of being.
But in order to get on theother side of those thoughts and
feelings to create somethingnew, I have to work for it.
I have to, very mindfully andwith intention and with my
attention, get on the other sideof that.
And you're laboring for that,you're working for that, and
(27:04):
that's the part that requiresenergy.
You have the awareness and youhave the energy.
And in my own life, I have beenreally lucky to learn a lot of
these techniques from Dr JoeDispenza, as have you, and you
know I'm really thankful to havebeen taught and still learning
(27:27):
new stuff from him all of thetime around how empowered we
actually are to be the creatorsof our lives.
And so to the person that'swondering you know how do I
change?
You know?
The first thing I would say iseverything's on you, you can do
whatever you want.
(27:48):
You're the ultimate creator Allof the tools and resources,
you're surrounded with them.
And the second thing I wouldtell them is there's like.
You're completely worthy tochange.
I think a lot of us hold on toconvictions of the way we may
(28:10):
have lived our lives in the past, the things we did that we
didn't feel like were adequate,of you know, maybe the world
knowing about you know, in otherwords, we hold ourself to a
standard that's impossible toever meet, and so you have guilt
and shame and that keeps youfrom stepping into this place of
worthiness and flow to reallybe a creator.
(28:33):
And so, as you step into thispath of creation, you'll develop
a really beautiful relationshipwith yourself, the person you
were, the person you are and theperson you're becoming, and
you'll learn to love all of themthe same, and it's a really
nice moment when that starts tohappen.
Lunden Souza (28:53):
Yeah, love all of them the same.
And I love what Dr Joe saysabout if you are feeling a
certain type of way and youdon't want to feel that way,
well, you're already practicing,being that every single day.
You have that memorized.
Now it's time to practice andshow up as the person that you
(29:14):
do want to be.
How do you want to feel?
And that's the hard part thatyou mentioned is like it takes
energy to break that habit ofwho you once were to then become
who you want to be, being drawntowards that future self and
practicing that over and over.
How would they feel?
What would they do?
How do they wake up?
(29:35):
What do they drink, eat?
Who are they around?
And my dad always told me as akid he would ask me Lunden, what
are the five most importantwords?
And we had there's one, two,three, four and five most
important words.
But the five most importantwords are surround yourself with
(29:55):
good people, and as a kid thatwas the kids that were paying
attention in school, or maybe inhigh school.
Those were the kids that werenot leaving school at lunch to
get high, which I may or may nothave participated in, but good
has always evolved right andI've talked with my dad about
(30:19):
this before of like, okay, well,what does good people mean?
I get the words right, but alsosomething I've learned from you
is when we were first talkingabout NABA and you were creating
this community, you were likeit's not about what people have
done or their celebrity or theirsuccess, it's about their heart
.
And so for me, now, surroundyourself with good people are
(30:43):
people that lead from theirheart, that lead that are
authentic and are just veryheart-driven.
And to your point of what yousaid before of how you have to
get beyond yourself, get beyonda lot of these feelings.
I know from the change in mylife.
(31:04):
You sometimes have a new teamright.
There's people that leave,there's relationships that no
longer can come with you to thisnext version of yourself, that
no longer can come with you tothis next version of yourself.
And in this change processthere's been many group chats of
(31:28):
friends that I've left, justpeople in relationships that
just don't serve this version ofwho I'm becoming, which is also
not easy.
It's really sad.
I felt like I've mournedrelationships of people through
this change work and so throughNABA, through you specifically,
because I've met a lot of people.
Through you, I've met so manyamazing people, so many good
(31:48):
people, so many people that leadwith their heart and are truth
seekers and change makers andcreatives and just want to go
out in the world and be that.
And so I think that's just along story of saying, like that
change process and surroundingyourself with community and
people that you know will holdspace with you and are, I often
(32:11):
feel, like in NABA, we're likelinking arms.
It's like a Red Rover momentwhere it's like let's link arms
and, like, you know, look sideto side and let's do this
together.
And so what is the?
You know?
Let's talk about community andthe power of community and also,
when we're growing and changingand becoming, not everybody
gets to come with us and that'sa little bit hard, and I think
(32:33):
that's why a lot of people takethe exit when it comes to change
, because then someone's like oh, you used to be that way or you
used to say this, and I've hadconversations like that, whereas
now, within our NABA community,I love it because I'm having
conversations with people,getting to know them, and I'll
often say like, oh, I'm excitedto get to know that version of
(32:55):
you.
Okay, you want to be this waynow.
Great, okay, you're this.
You're sad, you know this monthis a little bit darker for you.
Awesome, this month is, youknow, amazing, joyful, full of
gratitude.
Great, Like people that meetyou right where you are and that
want to do this change, workwith you and I know that's what
we've created here in NABA andcreated here in NABA and like,
let's talk about the power ofcommunity and cultivating that
(33:24):
especially through change.
Austin Tice (33:24):
Yeah, you know, I think a lot of people want to
see a lot of stuff.
Change in the world is thefirst thing I think about.
I quote this gentleman prettyregularly and have for the
better part of the last probably10 years.
But there's a gentleman namedEugene Cho.
He wrote a book calledOverrated.
I heard him speak at a church Iwas at years ago and he said
everybody wants to talk aboutchanging the world, but nobody
(33:45):
wants to talk about changingthemselves.
You know, when you look at thepolitical landscape in the
United States, no one considersthemselves a part of that story.
They consider themselves avictim of it.
The reality is is that we areall characters in that
unbelievably greatest show onearth, play that we're all
witnessing, observing in frontrow seat, and are a part of
(34:08):
right now.
And I think the question to askyourself is not how do we
change the political landscape,but how do we change ourselves
so that we never get to a pointthat would ever allow any of
what's taken place to betolerated.
And that kind of goes back towhat you and I were discussing
earlier about being complacentversus being courageous, like
(34:29):
there's a lot of things that areup for debate all of a sudden
that 10 years ago you would havebeen institutionalized if you
would have said anything otherthan that.
Right, and we won't get intothe specifics.
You can make some assumptionsif you'd like not you, but
someone listening and I'll nevertell you whether or not that
was what I was referring to.
But the point is is there'ssome wild things being set out
(34:50):
in the world, and I think,ultimately, when I think about
change and I think aboutcommunity, I think that it's not
about changing everyone's mindto think and feel the way you do
.
It's about seeing in themanother person that has lived a
life that's probably a littlebit different than yours, to say
(35:12):
the least, so it's to beexpected that they're going to
think and feel differently aboutstuff than you are, whereas
right now, a lot of people inmedia are teaching people
through their insinuations andoutright statements that you
know.
It should be normal for peopleto agree with you wholeheartedly
(35:37):
, and if they don't, they areyour enemy.
And what it's creating arethese echo chambers, and that is
what's radicalizing people.
It's what's creating this,these extreme situations in
these polarized environmentsthat exist on just about every
(35:59):
platform, and so it's afascinating time to be alive.
I think it's an awesome time tobe on the planet right now and
I look at what I feel my role is.
I grew up very I'm very lucky tosay that I grew up in a home
(36:21):
that when it came time to talkabout God and it came time to
talk about politics, those arethings that we talked about all
the time, and everyone thatstepped into our home those are
the things we talked about, andthe people that were having the
conversations didn't alwaysagree.
They would probably agree on80% of stuff.
(36:43):
Quite honestly, nothing haschanged.
I think most people probablyagree on 80% of stuff, and I
have a.
I have a an uncanny level ofcomfort talking about politics.
I have an uncanny level ofcomfort talking about God,
(37:04):
discussing why I'm here, what'sgoing on in the world, what's
going on in the universe, all ofit, and I'm not going to get
angry.
And I'm not going to get angry,ill-tempered, triggered or
(37:41):
cancel someone because they fuckyou to someone or call someone
less than or evil because thereis a particular piece of
material or a subject matterthat they think differently than
you do on.
That in and of itself isevidence that there are spells
that have been cast whoseintention behind them is to
divide, not to bring peopletogether.
If you want to bring peopletogether, I think it's important
to highlight the differences,because it's the differences
(38:05):
that make us unique and it's howwe grow and evolve.
And so I think, if you're goingto lead a community, I think if
you're going to lead a companywhatever that is that it might
be there will always be politicsinvolved, there will always be
nuance involved and there willalways be people involved that
represent different genders,different ages, different sexual
(38:26):
orientations, differentpolitical makeups, different
geographic locations, so manydifferent things.
But that's the beauty in it.
But that's the beauty in it,and I, in today's world, find so
(38:51):
much enthusiasm and excitementto remind people that this is
the opportunity, this is thegold that we get to pursue at
NABBA, and I'm really thrilledto be bringing people together
that don't think the same, thatdon't hold necessarily the same
politics, that maybe didn't votefor the same person for
president, but through all ofthat, they're really great
people.
They want to see people begreat, they want to love people,
(39:14):
they want to go have dinner, aglass of wine, iced tea, coffee,
whatever.
They want to make a differencein the world, and I think the
common denominator is they feelwe can do better than we have
been.
And so when I think aboutcommunity and change, I think
first, how can I show updifferently, to be an example of
the one I want to see happentake place in the world?
Happen take place in the world.
(39:34):
And then, in addition to that,you know, how can I, how can I
be more loving, more tolerant,more kind and more understanding
of someone that doesn't thinkor feel the way I do, and I
don't really put a lot of stockin what most people would look
(39:56):
at and point at and saytraditional or mainstream media.
I think they've really failedus and I don't think that they
have shown that they have thegreatest interest in mind of
bringing people together.
To put it very pointedly, eventelling the truth, sometimes I
think there's some agendas atplay and they don't have our
country or even humanity's bestinterest in mind.
(40:18):
So I think it's about trustingyour intuition, getting really
present with yourself, yourheart, having conversations with
people and letting that be theguide, not something you hear on
television.
Lunden Souza (40:32):
Yes, and I feel like when I lived in Europe and
worked with Adidas a lot, Iremember there would be moments
we would go to Adidasheadquarters in Germany and
there'd be a lot of people,influencers, athletes, whatever
and everyone would do like anInstagram check.
It was so wild to me.
I would just like kind onesthat had the most followers.
(40:56):
They would go, hang out andeveryone would like click up
based on their follower amount.
It was wild.
I would just love to observe ithave like two or three times,
but I don't feel like that'swhat we're doing here in NABA.
It's like I don't care whatit's not about.
Let me find the group that Ihave the most in common with in
(41:18):
terms of beliefs or all thosethings, but let me go into this
common room of people that arejust here to get to know others
and to learn and to just tell memore about you.
What sets your soul on fire,what's your compelling vision of
the future?
Whether I'm with it or not,we're just here to express that
and to have a space to do that,and to me, that's what.
(41:42):
For those listening that don'tknow, NABBA stands for the
natural art of being alive, andI find that that's what the art
is of being alive is not findingthe ones that you have the most
in common with, but that arethere with you while you're
discovering more of who you'rebecoming, et cetera.
So it doesn't feel like that.
(42:02):
It feels like a place where wecan just all come as we are,
express where we're at.
It doesn't always have to bejoyful rainbows and butterflies.
It can also be dark, shadowstuff too.
We're just all here for all ofit, all the things and I love
that about NABA and I know fromknowing you and the evolution of
(42:25):
what NABA could have been.
I think the other day we weretalking on the phone and I'm
like remember when you wanted todesign candles and that was
going to, you know, and then itbecame like courses and then
it's this whole community.
So talk about that and theevolution of NABA and where
we're at now and all the things.
Austin Tice (42:43):
Well, I think we'll probably still make some
candles one day and maybe someJapanese incense.
I was actually testing some outthis weekend.
Lunden Souza (42:53):
I'm not against the candles.
I'm excited about the candles.
It was just fun thinking aboutthat and remember looking at
logos and it was like a candlewith a playlist and then it was
like court.
So anyways, just the journey ofit is so beautiful and
fascinating to me.
Austin Tice (43:09):
Yeah, I think the answer I will give you is one
that I think that many peoplewho want to create could place a
lot of stock in.
And I think a lot of peoplestart a journey of creation, or
you know in particular abusiness as an entrepreneur, and
(43:31):
they have an idea of what'sgoing to happen, of what's going
to happen, and ultimately,probably way more times than not
, that original idea of what isgoing to happen ends up maybe
not happening at all, or it does, and you move through it pretty
quickly and it evolves.
I think the heart of why youcreate something probably
(43:56):
remains the same.
The heart of why you createsomething probably remains the
same the intention, the fervor,the desire to want to do good in
the world, to satiate thecalling you feel you have on
your life, to fucking own it, toprove to yourself, your friends
, to do it for yourself and yourfriends, to be a part of a team
.
All of that stays the same, butultimately there's a bullseye
(44:20):
that exists that you're nottrying to hit.
Maybe at the beginning you'rejust happy to land it on the
damn board, but ultimately youwant to hit the bullseye and I
suppose you could rest on yourlaurels because you care more
about being right than gettingit right.
So perhaps there are peoplethat exist in the world who just
(44:43):
landing the dart somewherearound the board, or maybe even
slightly on it, would be enough,and they get stuck on being
right.
But, ultimately, winners do notrest on their laurels, and they
certainly are not okay withjust being right, because that's
not why they started.
(45:03):
They're interested in gettingit right because there is
something that takes place alongthe path of creation within you
that has to die in order foryou to ultimately hit that
bullseye, and that part of youthat dies is the part of you
(45:23):
that came up with the idea tostart, that had an
interpretation of what wouldwork.
So, for every iteration thattakes place in creating a brand
place, in creating a brand,there's a new version of you
(45:44):
that coincides with thatperspective, and so it's a
really beautiful experience ofgrowing not your IQ, but your EQ
and your ability to handle thejourney, and I don't think it is
for everyone.
It is very challenging, and Iwill tell you, though, it's one
of the most rewarding thingsthat you could ever imagine when
(46:08):
you do reach back and it hitsright in the middle and there's
a vertical that takes place.
It hits right in the middle andthere's a vertical that takes
place.
It's almost as if in thosemovies, when someone closes
their eyes, and all these flashbulb experiences and little
scenes throughout their journeyjust show up and you look back
(46:32):
and you think about howcourageous that person was that
kept going, that didn't take theback door, exit and slide out.
No one knew, but kept at it,and you think about how proud of
you, of that person you are,and that you stuck with it and
you figured it out.
(46:52):
That creates the type of leaderthat's capable of leading the
person and the company that'shitting the bullseye.
It's why you oftentimes youcouldn't just plug someone in
that hadn't been on that journey, because they hadn't gone
through what was necessary forthem to handle the outcome that
(47:15):
they seek.
Many people are seduced by theoutcome, but they're not
obsessed with what it takes tocreate within them the person
capable of handling its presenceand that is really, really
important to be romanced by.
(47:36):
That's the person that wins.
That's the person that it goesundefeated.
There is something to be saidabout the person that has a
tolerance for ambiguity and theendurance to deal with the
unknown, and who you become inthat process is something that's
(48:00):
really fucking cool.
But, man, it's challenging.
It every single day moves youto a place, to.
You have a lot of opportunitiesto close off.
You have a lot of opportunitiesto close off, to contract, to
(48:23):
lock your heart up and, at thatsame junction on the road, an
opportunity to not do it too.
And I've done both.
I still do both all the time.
Ultimately, I fall back on whatI know I have to do in order to
make it happen.
But that's the type of personthat is being called into the
world to lead right now, theperson that has endurance, the
(48:46):
person that's willing to bereally, really patient in their
long game and operate with asense of urgency on the day to
day, sense of urgency on the dayto day.
And those are the type ofpeople I want to be around.
That's the type of person Iwant to do dinner with, have a
(49:08):
glass of wine with, chill outwith.
And yeah, you know that's whatI've learned on my own journey
and you know, creating NABA,it's been the most challenging
one I've been on, without adoubt.
But, it's because I haven't beenwilling to settle for anything
less than I know what this iscapable of becoming, and so I'm
(49:33):
really blessed to be around alot of great people who have
that same mindset.
Lunden Souza (49:38):
Yeah Well, I'm grateful for your relentless
pursuit of who you're becomingand the endurance game that
you're in.
That was.
One of my words for this yearwas integrity and endurance.
I don't know what my word is.
Austin Tice (49:54):
What's your word for 2025?
Lunden Souza (49:57):
I haven't know what my word is.
What's your word for 2025?
I haven't decided yet, buttrust is one that's been hitting
.
When I say it, I like the wayit hits, but I haven't decided
yet, so I'll let you know once Idecide that.
I know that you said yours wasRebirth.
You wrote that on my Instagrampoll.
Austin Tice (50:19):
Well, that's not mine, but it was one that came
to mind whenever I read yourpost, and it certainly is a
season of rebirth for me, asgeneric as that might sound, but
I am calling 2025 the season ofcourage, courage.
Lunden Souza (50:41):
Yeah, well, whatever you choose is perfect
Didn't mean to say that that wasyours, but that's one that you
sent over to me and I thought,yeah, I love words of the year.
I think they're so much betterthan New Year's resolutions or
things like that, and I thinkthe version of me that decided
integrity and endurance was whatI wanted to embody at the
(51:02):
beginning of this year is alsodifferent in the way that I
interpret that and the way thatI embody that.
What I love about NABA and Iwant to kind of close with
sharing more about our communityand inviting those listening to
join us if they feel like thisis a place where they want to be
(51:22):
I love the community.
I love the space that we'vecreated our own social media
platform as a space where we canexpress where we're at and
connect with others who want toconnect um based on the
struggles, the strengths, thetriumphs, the hard times all of
(51:42):
that.
Um, I recently loved the postfrom from one of our favorite
guys, kevin KJS um aboutsurrender so like posts on what
it means to surrender.
Um, you know, I was on Snapchatfor like a hot minute until I
started getting dick pics andthen my grandpa's on Instagram
and he's like Lunden.
How do you turn this part off?
(52:03):
Because he's getting all thesesexual messages from women
trying to get him to join theselive chats and all these
different things.
I've had even friends reach outto me lately about other family
members and they're like what'sgoing on in so-and-so's life?
They're posting all this stuffin a very passive, aggressive
(52:23):
way and I love that.
That's not where we're at inNABA.
We don't have to worry aboutall the other periphery fringe
dumb shit.
We're literally just there toconnect and to grow on our own
and together.
And I've learned so much fromall of the courses that we have
in the community.
(52:44):
I mean I was lucky enough to beable to create one, but like
I've been doing Dr ErinPollinger's manifesting magic
course and oh my gosh, I feellike so much stuff has coming up
.
I told her I'm like your courseis like Jumanji, you have to
finish it.
You can't just be halfway inand then not complete, right,
and being able to connect inthose ways is so beautiful and I
(53:06):
love it so much.
And in one of the videos thatyou shared I can't remember it
was like clips of differentcommunity members but one guy
said he's like I can't reallydescribe NABA.
You have to just feel it.
You have to feel that callingto want to be around people that
(53:28):
are going to give you thatspace to become exactly who you
want and not have to worry aboutall the other stuff.
And not to say that I'manti-social media.
I mean, I love it.
I've built this podcast andbusinesses on Instagram.
I'm super grateful for it.
But I'm also grateful that NABAis not, that.
It's a different place.
It's a place where I love tojust go in and check their first
thing in the morning.
What are people sharing, whatare people working through?
(53:49):
What can I learn?
How can I grow?
And by anyone listening whofeels like this is a place that
they want to be, to join us andto have that conversation.
And I love the way that we'vebeen doing it, which is just
personal invite.
It's not like oh, click thislink, sign up, see you there.
It's literally one-to-oneinvitations.
(54:11):
It's opportunities ofconnection and resonance and I
love the way that we've grownand all the things.
But did I miss anything?
What else is so great aboutNABA, besides not having all the
extra stuff?
Austin Tice (54:27):
No, I think you hit on everything.
You know.
When we started developing NABA, little did we know that.
You know there would.
Of course we knew there wouldbe, you know, a presidential
election, but this was a ratherunique one.
You know, one of the candidateswas shot, nearly assassinated,
(55:00):
candidate RFK Jr.
Bobby Kennedy, who was runninga really successful independent
campaign for president, decidedto team up with Donald Trump,
and one of the tenets of BobbyKennedy's campaign that whenever
he joined forces with Trump washe never really called it this.
And then, when he teamed upwith Trump, he called it Maha,
make America healthy again.
Now, irrespective of what sideof the aisle you fall on, is
(55:28):
irrelevant to the fact that oneof the things we can all agree
on is that it doesn't matterwhich one of the low hanging
fruit talking points that wasdiscussed in the presidential
election that swayed you to voteone way or another.
None of that stuff mattersunless we address the mental,
(55:53):
emotional, physical andspiritual health of our country.
So for me, long before anyoneever uttered the word Maha, I
was on that mission.
It's one of the reasons I putNABA together.
What is the natural art ofbeing alive?
It's the adventure of creatingsomething new and we're an
(56:16):
American company and I love thiscountry and I think we can do
better.
And in one of the areas thatare interrelated and interwoven
are the things I just mentionedMental health, emotional health,
physical health, spiritualhealth, financial health, health
(56:41):
, spiritual health, financialhealth.
These are nonpartisan issuesand if you're hearing me talk
and you're triggered at the factthat one party or another is or
isn't doing things that shouldtranscend blue or red, then that
in and of itself is somethingyou should check yourself on and
say maybe I have beencaptivated by words and spells
(57:02):
that have been cast my directionthat want me to not align
myself with certain peoplebecause I disagree with them on
other things, so I can't agreewith them on certain other
things.
That's nonsense.
So I don't align myself withpeople because I agree with them
on everything.
I align myself with peoplebecause I agree with them on
(57:26):
something, so they're not myenemy and nor are they.
Can they not be my friendbecause we do or don't see eye
to eye on a hundred percent ofeverything.
That's one of the biggestconstraints of bringing people
together in the world.
So really I couldn't care lesswhether it was Donald Trump,
whether it was Bobby Kennedy,whether it was Joe Biden,
(57:49):
whether it was Kamala, I don'tcare.
What I do care is that we'reapproaching 40 trillion in the
hole.
That's not good for anybody.
What I do care is that 91% ofthe people in this country are
metabolically unhealthy.
One out of every two people inthis country are pre-diabetic or
diabetic.
I care that children under 18,nearly 30% of them, are obese.
(58:11):
Fatty liver disease used to bethis outlier of a problem with
people who drank too much.
Now it's just happening acrossthe board.
The list goes on and on and onand on.
What I care is that people arewilling to have the courage to
step in and out in front of thenonsense that you're going to be
(58:34):
categorized as some extremistbecause of the people who are
leading in this area,irrespective of party.
And so for me, if you want tocategorize me as something,
because I happen to care aboutthe same things that other
people do, go right ahead,because I'm not the problem in
this equation, and what I'masking for people that want to
(58:56):
be a part of NABBA is to movethrough and get through and, on
the other side of the thingsthat are keeping us divided and
keeping us separated and cometogether in this very unifying
fashion around the things thatare for the good of everybody.
(59:17):
And in those areas that youdisagree, that's okay.
Have a conversation, get toknow that person's heart, get to
know their character, get toknow what's taken place in their
life that's formed that opinion, and you know what, at the end
of that conversation you mightagree and at the end of that
conversation you might stilldisagree.
(59:39):
Some of the people I love andvalue most in life are the
people that I get to go head tohead with and we get it on and
we disagree.
But you know what?
I'll kiss that guy or girl onthe cheek and hug them and it's
all good at the end of it.
That's the fun part, that's thebeauty in all of it, and so a
(01:00:02):
part of how we make Americahealthy again is get on the
other side of the bullshit thatmainstream media has cast
towards everybody, leading themto believe that if you're a
Republican you can't be friendswith the Democrat, and if you're
a Democrat you can't be friendswith a Republican.
Or if you think and feel thisway about the Ukraine war and
(01:00:23):
someone else thinks differentlythan you, then you're a
conspiracy theorist and you'renot Go down the list.
All of that stuff's absolutenonsense.
One of the tenets of how we makeAmerica healthy again is
getting America talking to eachother again and not objectifying
them and categorizing them, butgetting to know who they are as
(01:00:43):
a human being, getting to knowtheir character, getting to know
their heart and in that process, having a friend doesn't mean
you have to be best friends Hell, maybe you're just an
acquaintance, but they're damnsure not an enemy.
And I think that that's stepone, and I feel that NABA can
play a role, if not remindingpeople, but showing them that
(01:01:06):
this is possible and that thisis the way, and that's what I
want to see happen in 2025 andbeyond.
Lunden Souza (01:01:14):
Snaps.
For that.
I appreciate you so much.
Thank you for um, thank you foryou and thank you for being
here, um, on the podcast today.
I really appreciated thisconversation and I know our
listeners will too.
And if you guys listening arecurious about NABA um, you can
go to NABA.
I'll put the link in thedescription and show notes and
(01:01:35):
please reach out to me directly,whether it's a DM on Instagram
or an email.
If you're on my email list, allreplies go directly to me, so I
see everything that you replyto, any of the newsletters or
emails that I send out.
Reach out and connect if thisis something that has a calling
on your heart.
And, Austin, thank you forbeing here.
I know your time is supervaluable.
We appreciate you, and do youwant to share anything as
(01:02:01):
closing in your social mediahandles so people can see
pictures of your little?
Austin Tice (01:02:03):
self and all the things.
I'll let you put it on thebottom.
But it was good to be here.
Maybe we can do a futurepodcast, since this is the Self,
love and Sweat podcast and Inever thought of the acronym
being SLS.
But the SLS Hotel in BeverlyHills cool hotel, smells really
(01:02:23):
good too, really cool lobby,swanky.
So SLS podcast live from theSLS Beverly Hills has a nice
ring to it.
We may have to make that happen.
Lunden Souza (01:02:35):
Cool.
Well, thank you for being here.
Thank you, guys, for listeningand we'll see you at the next
episode.
Bye.
Thank you so much for listeningto this episode of self love
and sweat the podcast.
If you enjoyed this episode orwere inspired by it, or
(01:02:55):
something resonated with you, orwere inspired by it or
something resonated with you, dome a favor and share this
episode with a friend, someonethat you think might enjoy this
episode as well.
That's the ultimate complimentand the best way to make this
podcast ripple out into theworld of others.
And also you can leave us areview up to five stars wherever
(01:03:17):
you're listening to the podcast.
Thank you so much for listeningand we'll see you at the next
episode.
I appreciate you.
Welcome to Self Love and Sweat the podcast, the
place where you'll get inspiredto live your life
unapologetically, embrace yourperfect imperfections and do
what sets your soul on fire.
I'm your host, Lunden Souza.
Hey, before we jump into thisepisode, I just want to make
(00:27):
sure that you get all the freethings possible, if you haven't
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You need to get your self-loveand sweat free monthly life
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Get yours for free and let'sget into today's episode.
Welcome back to Self Love andSweatat the podcast.
Today we're talking to AustinTice, one of my friends, for a
(01:09):
long time, also CEO of NABA,which is our community that I
talk a lot about.
I've had a lot of guests on thepodcast, so I'm super excited
to have you today, Austin.
It's about
Austin Tice (01:20):
It's nice to be here with you finally.
Lunden Souza (01:23):
It's nice to be here with you.
Finally, tell us a little bitmore about you.
When I look at your IG bio, itsays you've spoken in 38
different countries.
You've done over $150 millionin sales.
There's also a really cute picof you of little Austin.
For those of you watching youcan see.
(01:45):
Look how cute he is.
Did you think that you weregoing to speak in 38 countries
and that you were going to do$150 million in sales when you
were this little guy?
What was he dreaming of when hewas little?
Austin Tice (01:59):
Speaking for sure, the $150 million that showed up,
and just the way that it showedup, I don't know I my
relationship with numbers haschanged a lot.
A million used to seem like alot.
I still value it, but myrelationship with you know, my
ability to obtain it in a lot ofdifferent ways has changed.
(02:21):
But I've always thought I wouldspeak the country thing is just
a fun number to keep count of.
Honestly, I've thought whatnumber 40 might be, but we
hadn't got there yet.
But I don't think a whole lot'schanged, other than maybe my
vision's gotten bigger.
Lunden Souza (02:38):
Yeah, 38 countries is a lot.
That's a lot.
I've hosted workout events in13, which I felt like was a lot,
but 38 countries is a lot tospeak in, and you always knew
you wanted to be a speaker.
I feel like I know you haven'ttalked a lot here since we
pressed start, but I've knownyou for a long time and you're
definitely a skilledcommunicator.
(02:58):
Where did you learn that?
Austin Tice (03:12):
um, you know, I probably starting with athletics
and I think the adjustments youmake personally at least I have
are remembering the ways I wascommunicated with that I didn't
like, so I've always been reallymindful of what I didn't like,
to make sure that I didn't do itso that other people wouldn't
feel like that.
I don't know that I've shot ahundred percent, but at least I
try, I'm mindful of it.
So, on the baseball field, howdifferent coaches communicated
(03:32):
with me, even how differentteammates did or didn't watching
other people's leadershipstyles I don't know that they
would ever have really called ita leadership style, but to me
that's what I would label it andthat hasn't always necessarily
meant that it was in a settingthat required their leadership.
(03:55):
It's just how they showed up,and whether they did or didn't
lead is really what I'm speakingtowards.
So that could be a teammate,that could be be a classmate,
that could be a friend.
Um, and for me, in in amentorship style setting, a
coach or a pastor or evensomeone facilitating or running
a yoga uh, you know, class um, II always take away how they
(04:20):
made me feel and I've, I'vetried to take the good and apply
it to my repertoire in hopesthat, in people's experience
with me, that they feel good.
But probably more so than that,I'm really mindful as I want.
I want to make them proud tohave known me and I feel like
that in the all encompassingumbrella of a relationship, if
(04:41):
I've checked that box, that Iprobably you know, I might not
have always made them feel good,but they grew and they knew I
cared about them, and so thoseare always things I think about.
Lunden Souza (04:55):
Leadership is a word that you use a lot and I
kind of want to come back tothat.
But first I want to talk aboutand I'll let you tell the story
because I also know that itincorporates.
You know where you've been beenbut how we met the businesses
that you've created.
And I'll let you kind of tellthat story, because I met Austin
during his last company, primemy Body, and tell us more about
(05:18):
that, what you've learned onthat journey and kind of where
you're at now.
Austin Tice (05:23):
It was a very different time in my life.
That was 2000.
You and I met in the summer of2013.
And Brian and I were advised tolaunch our company by going to
a trade show.
And while I think the personthat advised us had the greatest
of intentions and to this day,would probably argue that it was
(05:45):
a great advice the best, one ofthe best things that came out
of that event was meeting you.
I don't I don't know ofanything else that came out of
it other than having theknowledge that I wouldn't have
done that again, but we werethere.
We were in Las Vegas at a tradeshow launching our company.
We had a plant-based proteinwith a lot of our favorite
(06:06):
superfoods in it that we'dcreated and um fun trade show
had no business going,considering the amount of money
it costs to be there, especiallywhen you looked at our booth.
It looked like the little boothcharlie brown had, uh, compared
to others.
But it was a great experience.
You and I met and you know thatthat company was more than just
(06:29):
the start of a company.
It was the start of a of an eraof my life that I'm still in it
, in some ways a differentchapter, but still within.
I'm on my own eras tour, Iguess you could say, in
entrepreneurship.
I think a lot of people areafraid to start and they find a
(06:49):
very intimate relationship withthinking about starting and in
fact they justify not startingbecause of the comfort they find
in thinking about starting andthat eventually becomes their
identity and I can equate thatto so many different areas in my
life.
So it's easy to point at theentrepreneur one and laugh and
point at.
But I was really proud, lookingback on Younger Austin, that he
(07:12):
started and Brian as well, oneof my good friends that was a
co-founder of that project andultimately went through a litany
of different emotions wheneveryou're putting something
together.
You know Brian and I in thattime in our life were
professional best friends.
We were professional roommates,we were professional stoners,
(07:36):
we were really good at a lot ofstuff and the thing that we had
never done, that we assumed wewould immediately be great at
done, that we assumed we wouldimmediately be great at, was
business partners.
And you know, at first we were.
But then whenever the rubbermeets the road and you have to
deal with real challenges, youknow you didn't have someone to
(07:56):
come home at the end of the dayto talk to, like your boy that
hadn't been involved in thenuances of what takes place in
starting a business.
You're sharing a checkingaccount.
That same checking account isalso the company account.
It's the same account that paysfor any extracurricular
activities any date you go on,the food you put on your table,
(08:18):
the bottle of wine you have, andthat time of our lives and that
time of our lives you know allof the weed we were smoking,
which was way too much, and itwas a season of growth for both
of us and we learned a lot fromit.
We grew from it, by the grace ofGod, that company, through grit
(08:39):
and just the old adage ofbootstrapping.
We grew it to a six-figureannualized company, just under
probably a million dollars ayear.
We were really proud of that.
In the midst of this transition, we sold the company, stayed on
and played a big role and wereresponsible for doing $150
(09:00):
million the next three and ahalf years.
So a really great time in ourlives.
We learned a lot and ultimatelystepped away from that project
because the people we sold it tohad a different interpretation
of culture than we did, one thatwe were willing to be a part of
, and, while I wish them well,one of the greatest gifts they
(09:21):
gave me was an opportunity tostep away, and I did, and I took
some time for myself, and,years later, here I am, but that
was a really sweet time and onethat I'll always be grateful
for.
Lunden Souza (09:35):
Yeah, same.
I'm excited that whosoever ideait was to go to the trade show
decided that Because, yeah, wegot to me and then through you,
I've met so many amazing people,I've learned so much.
I know we're talking on thepodcast here, but we talk off
recording and you're the personthat I call sometimes and I'm
(09:56):
like what do you think happenswhen you die?
Or let's talk about the stuffthat we could just talk about
everything.
So I'm very grateful for thatand whosever idea that was I
think it was Buddy's right.
Austin Tice (10:09):
It was Buddy.
Yeah, I don't know if you'veconnected with him since, but
it's Buddy, and Buddy and I arestill friends and communicate
and love him to death and wewould always give him a hard
time about that, but yeah, he'sa really great guy.
Lunden Souza (10:23):
Yeah Well, shout out to Buddy.
Thanks to Buddy.
Let's talk about leadership,because I remember when you and
I reconnected in 2020, after wehad met in 2013, we were doing
all of our things and I remember, through a lot of conversations
we had, you would often say,like this country lacks
leadership.
(10:44):
What we need is good leadership, and the version of me at the
time I mean I knew what thatword was.
Obviously I knew when I hadgood leaders, or ones that were
not my favorite, whether it wasin business or in sports or
whatever.
But now it takes on a differentmeaning for me, because now I'm
(11:06):
in a position of leadership.
I run teams here for thecompany I work for here in Utah,
and so it's something I've beenthinking about and learning
about even more.
What do you feel like goodleadership is?
How do you become a good leader?
Let's go there.
Austin Tice (11:33):
The times in my life that I'm most proud of are
the times that, either when Ididn't feel like doing something
or I was scared, I still did it, and I think that you could
look at that and say that'sleadership.
I think sometimes in the faceof courage or, in some ways, in
the face of fear, it takescourage to show up in society or
(11:56):
in the world when a lot ofpeople are telling you one thing
and that's just not somethingyou can get down with.
Look no further than what weall watched take place the
better part of the last halfdecade in the United States.
There were a lot of people that, through different media
channels, were being gaslitaround certain things that they
(12:18):
wanted you to do with your body,and I do think it took a lot of
leadership on a very intimateand deeply personal level for
people to say you know what?
That doesn't feel good.
I'm not going to have a channelon social media for just
(12:48):
telling people what they thought, which at the time, they may
have been called certain names,and now what they're being
called is a truth teller.
And so sometimes leadership ishow you show up for yourself
when no one else will ever knowthat you're doing it and then,
on the other hand, leadership isshowing up when everyone sees
(13:10):
it.
For me, the most challengingpart of leadership is showing up
for myself in the areas that noone else knows I do, and that's
an area that's been distinctlyevolutionary for me in the last
five years, coincidentally aswell.
But you know, when I look at theworld today, I feel that a lot
(13:34):
of the challenges we face arereflective of people being
complacent and comfortable, andI feel that in order to create a
new world, it's going torequire courage and sometimes
discomfort or doing things thatare a bit unfamiliar or out of
routine and in some capacities,might be referred to as
courageous, which who would havethought?
(13:55):
Just being unique and yourselfand speaking your heart would be
courageous.
But that's exactly what'sneeded in the world today is
showing up as your own uniqueself, and in the advent and
creation of what we're watchingtake place within different
technologies, particularly AI,the one thing that no one can
(14:18):
replace is you, your wisdom,your experiences, your
perspective, the vantage pointand consciousness that you
create and contribute to thecollective because of what
you've gone through in your life.
Man, that is uniquely yours andtogether, if we all bring that
to the table.
It no longer becomes aboutbeing right.
(14:39):
It becomes about creating atapestry that ultimately moves
us along in a really beautifullyunique, healthy and
constructive way, and that's thetype of leadership.
When I think about where we'reat in the world is to me really
inspiring to see so many peopleshowing up in that capacity.
Lunden Souza (15:03):
You talked about how you handle.
I don't know if this is exactlywhat you said, but how to
handle what's hard, even whennobody is looking.
And from my perspective, you'rean excellent leader.
We're going to talk about NABAand everything that we've
created and that community andthe way that you lead that.
And I often ask you thisoutside of podcast recording
(15:26):
like you seem cool and likethings are all good and you're
pretty even.
How do you do that?
What are things that you havein your daily routine or weekly
or whatever?
Like how do you emotionally,like, metabolize and digest what
you're going through and yourstuff so that you can be a
(15:49):
better leader?
What are things that you do?
Austin Tice (15:54):
I break down pretty fucking regularly.
I mean more than people wouldprobably think that I do.
Yeah, I mean, I don't expect orask anyone else to carry the
burden of what it is I'm dealingwith.
I don't, you know, pick up thephone and call a lot of people
(16:15):
and drop it in their lap.
There's a handful of peopleI'll share certain things that
I'm going through, to hear theiradvice or if I feel they could
help, I'll ask for it.
But ultimately, in this seasonof my life, I think what makes
it very different than otherseasons is I've taken full
(16:37):
responsibility for the stuff I'mdealing with.
And if there's something I'mdealing with that can feel heavy
or is uncomfortable in thesense that I wouldn't wish it
upon anybody else, thenultimately I have to kind of
zoom out and look at the boardand go what did I miss?
(16:57):
Clearly I fucking missedsomething here.
And I go okay, I see where Icould have done better there and
I see that I didn't just missit, it kind of kept on and I can
see how now, why there's alittle bit of water in the boat
here or whatever, right.
And so the first thing I do isI know that I got to deal with
(17:21):
whatever emotion that I'mcarrying in my self,
particularly for me, just on myheart and my chest.
I've got to deal with that.
I became an expert and still am.
I don't know that I'll ever notbe an expert at not dealing
with stuff Really fucking goodat that.
This season, though, with whereit is, I feel both qualified and
(17:46):
called to go.
There's no way I'm going to getthere unless I'm light and
nimble and able to makeadjustments on the go, and you
can't do that if you're carryingthings that you don't have to
carry, and so every single day,I really do, whether it be my
meditation work, mindful of anyalcohol I'm drinking, that will
(18:11):
always sort of you'll eventuallycatch back up and get on the
other side of whatever hangoveror whatever may come from it,
but you're losing time, or howI'm eating or if I'm traveling.
There's a lot of things, butultimately, I have to stay in a
really productively awesome,exciting routine that serves me
(18:35):
and my interest productivelyawesome, exciting routine that
serves me and my interest.
And when I feel like I'mcarrying a lot in my heart, I go
back to square one and startchecking boxes and get on the
other side of whatever it is I'mcarrying and remember hey look,
you created this, this is yourworld.
None of these people wouldexist in your experience if it
(18:56):
weren't for you, and so just areally abundant level of
ownership of every single detail, abundant level of ownership.
I like that.
That doesn't always come easy.
That might sound surprising topeople that work with me.
That might sound surprising topeople that work with me.
(19:20):
Some people think I might be alittle hard on them, although I
think I could be much harder,you know, compared to the people
that have coached me in my life.
I try and be really, reallykind with my words and the tones
I use and everything.
I would never want to hurtsomeone, but sometimes when you
say things, it doesn't matterhow you say it.
(19:42):
If you're coaching someone upin a step into the potential of
what you see in them that theiractions are not leading them to
become, then man, sometimes it'sjust it's not going to be like
one of those cheesecakes at theCheesecake Factory in 2002.
It's going to hit a littledifferent.
So, yeah, I just try and be anexample for myself every day and
(20:05):
for others and show up the bestway that I know how.
Lunden Souza (20:09):
Abundant level of ownership.
I might steal that.
I'll give you credit, but Ilike that.
Austin Tice (20:16):
I don't know that I've ever said it until today,
but ultimately, Lunden.
I find a lot of comfort in thefact that I know I'm doing my
best.
It's not perfect, but I want tomake the people I'm around
proud.
I want to make a difference inthe world.
(20:38):
I want to make my mom and dadproud, my brother proud,
whenever things get difficultand sometimes I feel like I
can't do something or I want toquit or I'm looking for
emergency exits, which is not anuncommon feeling.
When I go through that list, Idon't have to get too many
(21:00):
people down to know that I can't.
I could do it for me, noproblem, but there's no way I
could let them down.
And so I'm sure everybody hastheir own reasons for why they
stay in the hunt and stay in thegame and stay engaged, even
when it's hard.
Mine start with my parents, myfriends, that future version of
(21:20):
me that I know is cheering me on, and then I go from there and I
go all right, let's regroup,let's take a deep breath, do
what you need to do.
You've never not figuredanything out before.
What's going to stop now?
So let's figure it out andthat's, and that's, that's,
that's the routine.
Lunden Souza (21:39):
Well, good on you being an expert.
You said I was an expert at notfeeling and you also said
looking for that exit.
I think a lot of people maybethey don't realize it but, just
like you said are experts atpushing it down or pushing it
away, are experts at taking thatquick exit when things get hard
(22:05):
or uncomfortable.
What would you say to somebodywho's continuously taking that
exit, even especially men I knowthat we're getting into a
different era and men and thattopic of expressing more of how
(22:25):
they feel and, when things arehard, not taking the exit, not
numbing, not putting things awaybut what would you say to that
person?
The expert and maybe a personlistening is aware of their
expert level of avoiding thingsand wanting to not avoid them
(22:46):
and, like you said, get beyondthat feeling.
How do you do that?
What would you say to someonewho's right at that point of not
wanting to be an expert at theexit?
Austin Tice (23:00):
I don't know.
I don't know that.
I think the first thing ittakes is self-awareness and the
second thing it takes is a lotof energy and it's difficult,
it's very difficult, it's reallyhard to change, it's very
difficult, it's really hard tochange.
(23:20):
And it's hard to change because, even though you probably know
you want to where maybe it's nothorrible but maybe it's you're
sacrificing good for great,whether it's horrible or whether
it's a good for great sacrifice.
You're still moving throughthis transition of letting go of
(23:40):
something that is familiar andstepping into something that is
completely unknown to you.
And that's very scary for mewhen I evaluate the things that
I've moved through, gotten onthe other side of let go of to
(24:01):
create something new.
It wasn't because it was anaccident.
I was't.
I didn't want to continue toshow up in a way that wasn't
(24:28):
honoring the gifts that I feelthat being born into this world
that I had.
You know what was?
What's the saying?
God doesn't call the qualified,he qualifies the called.
And I look at all of the stuffI've gone through in my life and
(24:52):
I feel like that moment whenyou have that moment that you
just wake up and all of a suddenyou have.
Step one is, I'm aware whatyou're aware of is that you want
to change, but the beauty inthat and this is where there's
such grace and gratitude and thegift of everything you've ever
(25:15):
done and gone through, eventhough you might not be proud of
it it helped shape andcultivate and create within you
everything you needed to becomethat person that you've always
said you would.
It just wasn't convenient toaccept the responsibilities and
(25:35):
disciplines of, and so it's abeautiful experience, but at the
same time, you know you have toreally want it and you have to
labor for it.
You know, sometimes I'll do ameditation and I don't feel like
it, and it's you may.
(25:57):
What don't you feel like doing?
You close your eyes and you sitthere, and there's a lot of
things I could say I don't feellike doing, like I would maybe
rather go get coffee or goshower, and what I really rather
go do is expose myself tofamiliar patterns that create
familiar thoughts, that createfamiliar emotions around
(26:20):
familiar environments, and allof that's familiar even though I
might not exactly desire tohave that in my life.
Whereas in the meditation, whenI close my eyes, not only am I
dealing with the thoughts andthe feelings that are creating
(26:42):
my state of being.
But in order to get on theother side of those thoughts and
feelings to create somethingnew, I have to work for it.
I have to, very mindfully andwith intention and with my
attention, get on the other sideof that.
And you're laboring for that,you're working for that, and
(27:04):
that's the part that requiresenergy.
You have the awareness and youhave the energy.
And in my own life, I have beenreally lucky to learn a lot of
these techniques from Dr JoeDispenza, as have you, and you
know I'm really thankful to havebeen taught and still learning
(27:27):
new stuff from him all of thetime around how empowered we
actually are to be the creatorsof our lives.
And so to the person that'swondering you know how do I
change?
You know?
The first thing I would say iseverything's on you, you can do
whatever you want.
(27:48):
You're the ultimate creator Allof the tools and resources,
you're surrounded with them.
And the second thing I wouldtell them is there's like.
You're completely worthy tochange.
I think a lot of us hold on toconvictions of the way we may
(28:10):
have lived our lives in the past, the things we did that we
didn't feel like were adequate,of you know, maybe the world
knowing about you know, in otherwords, we hold ourself to a
standard that's impossible toever meet, and so you have guilt
and shame and that keeps youfrom stepping into this place of
worthiness and flow to reallybe a creator.
(28:33):
And so, as you step into thispath of creation, you'll develop
a really beautiful relationshipwith yourself, the person you
were, the person you are and theperson you're becoming, and
you'll learn to love all of themthe same, and it's a really
nice moment when that starts tohappen.
Lunden Souza (28:53):
Yeah, love all of them the same.
And I love what Dr Joe saysabout if you are feeling a
certain type of way and youdon't want to feel that way,
well, you're already practicing,being that every single day.
You have that memorized.
Now it's time to practice andshow up as the person that you
(29:14):
do want to be.
How do you want to feel?
And that's the hard part thatyou mentioned is like it takes
energy to break that habit ofwho you once were to then become
who you want to be, being drawntowards that future self and
practicing that over and over.
How would they feel?
What would they do?
How do they wake up?
(29:35):
What do they drink, eat?
Who are they around?
And my dad always told me as akid he would ask me Lunden, what
are the five most importantwords?
And we had there's one, two,three, four and five most
important words.
But the five most importantwords are surround yourself with
(29:55):
good people, and as a kid thatwas the kids that were paying
attention in school, or maybe inhigh school.
Those were the kids that werenot leaving school at lunch to
get high, which I may or may nothave participated in, but good
has always evolved right andI've talked with my dad about
(30:19):
this before of like, okay, well,what does good people mean?
I get the words right, but alsosomething I've learned from you
is when we were first talkingabout NABA and you were creating
this community, you were likeit's not about what people have
done or their celebrity or theirsuccess, it's about their heart
.
And so for me, now, surroundyourself with good people are
(30:43):
people that lead from theirheart, that lead that are
authentic and are just veryheart-driven.
And to your point of what yousaid before of how you have to
get beyond yourself, get beyonda lot of these feelings.
I know from the change in mylife.
(31:04):
You sometimes have a new teamright.
There's people that leave,there's relationships that no
longer can come with you to thisnext version of yourself, that
no longer can come with you tothis next version of yourself.
And in this change processthere's been many group chats of
(31:28):
friends that I've left, justpeople in relationships that
just don't serve this version ofwho I'm becoming, which is also
not easy.
It's really sad.
I felt like I've mournedrelationships of people through
this change work and so throughNABA, through you specifically,
because I've met a lot of people.
Through you, I've met so manyamazing people, so many good
(31:48):
people, so many people that leadwith their heart and are truth
seekers and change makers andcreatives and just want to go
out in the world and be that.
And so I think that's just along story of saying, like that
change process and surroundingyourself with community and
people that you know will holdspace with you and are, I often
(32:11):
feel, like in NABA, we're likelinking arms.
It's like a Red Rover momentwhere it's like let's link arms
and, like, you know, look sideto side and let's do this
together.
And so what is the?
You know?
Let's talk about community andthe power of community and also,
when we're growing and changingand becoming, not everybody
gets to come with us and that'sa little bit hard, and I think
(32:33):
that's why a lot of people takethe exit when it comes to change
, because then someone's like oh, you used to be that way or you
used to say this, and I've hadconversations like that, whereas
now, within our NABA community,I love it because I'm having
conversations with people,getting to know them, and I'll
often say like, oh, I'm excitedto get to know that version of
(32:55):
you.
Okay, you want to be this waynow.
Great, okay, you're this.
You're sad, you know this monthis a little bit darker for you.
Awesome, this month is, youknow, amazing, joyful, full of
gratitude.
Great, Like people that meetyou right where you are and that
want to do this change, workwith you and I know that's what
we've created here in NABA andcreated here in NABA and like,
let's talk about the power ofcommunity and cultivating that
(33:24):
especially through change.
Austin Tice (33:24):
Yeah, you know, I think a lot of people want to
see a lot of stuff.
Change in the world is thefirst thing I think about.
I quote this gentleman prettyregularly and have for the
better part of the last probably10 years.
But there's a gentleman namedEugene Cho.
He wrote a book calledOverrated.
I heard him speak at a church Iwas at years ago and he said
everybody wants to talk aboutchanging the world, but nobody
(33:45):
wants to talk about changingthemselves.
You know, when you look at thepolitical landscape in the
United States, no one considersthemselves a part of that story.
They consider themselves avictim of it.
The reality is is that we areall characters in that
unbelievably greatest show onearth, play that we're all
witnessing, observing in frontrow seat, and are a part of
(34:08):
right now.
And I think the question to askyourself is not how do we
change the political landscape,but how do we change ourselves
so that we never get to a pointthat would ever allow any of
what's taken place to betolerated.
And that kind of goes back towhat you and I were discussing
earlier about being complacentversus being courageous, like
(34:29):
there's a lot of things that areup for debate all of a sudden
that 10 years ago you would havebeen institutionalized if you
would have said anything otherthan that.
Right, and we won't get intothe specifics.
You can make some assumptionsif you'd like not you, but
someone listening and I'll nevertell you whether or not that
was what I was referring to.
But the point is is there'ssome wild things being set out
(34:50):
in the world, and I think,ultimately, when I think about
change and I think aboutcommunity, I think that it's not
about changing everyone's mindto think and feel the way you do
.
It's about seeing in themanother person that has lived a
life that's probably a littlebit different than yours, to say
(35:12):
the least, so it's to beexpected that they're going to
think and feel differently aboutstuff than you are, whereas
right now, a lot of people inmedia are teaching people
through their insinuations andoutright statements that you
know.
It should be normal for peopleto agree with you wholeheartedly
(35:37):
, and if they don't, they areyour enemy.
And what it's creating arethese echo chambers, and that is
what's radicalizing people.
It's what's creating this,these extreme situations in
these polarized environmentsthat exist on just about every
(35:59):
platform, and so it's afascinating time to be alive.
I think it's an awesome time tobe on the planet right now and
I look at what I feel my role is.
I grew up very I'm very lucky tosay that I grew up in a home
(36:21):
that when it came time to talkabout God and it came time to
talk about politics, those arethings that we talked about all
the time, and everyone thatstepped into our home those are
the things we talked about, andthe people that were having the
conversations didn't alwaysagree.
They would probably agree on80% of stuff.
(36:43):
Quite honestly, nothing haschanged.
I think most people probablyagree on 80% of stuff, and I
have a.
I have a an uncanny level ofcomfort talking about politics.
I have an uncanny level ofcomfort talking about God,
(37:04):
discussing why I'm here, what'sgoing on in the world, what's
going on in the universe, all ofit, and I'm not going to get
angry.
And I'm not going to get angry,ill-tempered, triggered or
(37:41):
cancel someone because they fuckyou to someone or call someone
less than or evil because thereis a particular piece of
material or a subject matterthat they think differently than
you do on.
That in and of itself isevidence that there are spells
that have been cast whoseintention behind them is to
divide, not to bring peopletogether.
If you want to bring peopletogether, I think it's important
to highlight the differences,because it's the differences
(38:05):
that make us unique and it's howwe grow and evolve.
And so I think, if you're goingto lead a community, I think if
you're going to lead a companywhatever that is that it might
be there will always be politicsinvolved, there will always be
nuance involved and there willalways be people involved that
represent different genders,different ages, different sexual
(38:26):
orientations, differentpolitical makeups, different
geographic locations, so manydifferent things.
But that's the beauty in it.
But that's the beauty in it,and I, in today's world, find so
(38:51):
much enthusiasm and excitementto remind people that this is
the opportunity, this is thegold that we get to pursue at
NABBA, and I'm really thrilledto be bringing people together
that don't think the same, thatdon't hold necessarily the same
politics, that maybe didn't votefor the same person for
president, but through all ofthat, they're really great
people.
They want to see people begreat, they want to love people,
(39:14):
they want to go have dinner, aglass of wine, iced tea, coffee,
whatever.
They want to make a differencein the world, and I think the
common denominator is they feelwe can do better than we have
been.
And so when I think aboutcommunity and change, I think
first, how can I show updifferently, to be an example of
the one I want to see happentake place in the world?
Happen take place in the world.
(39:34):
And then, in addition to that,you know, how can I, how can I
be more loving, more tolerant,more kind and more understanding
of someone that doesn't thinkor feel the way I do, and I
don't really put a lot of stockin what most people would look
(39:56):
at and point at and saytraditional or mainstream media.
I think they've really failedus and I don't think that they
have shown that they have thegreatest interest in mind of
bringing people together.
To put it very pointedly, eventelling the truth, sometimes I
think there's some agendas atplay and they don't have our
country or even humanity's bestinterest in mind.
(40:18):
So I think it's about trustingyour intuition, getting really
present with yourself, yourheart, having conversations with
people and letting that be theguide, not something you hear on
television.
Lunden Souza (40:32):
Yes, and I feel like when I lived in Europe and
worked with Adidas a lot, Iremember there would be moments
we would go to Adidasheadquarters in Germany and
there'd be a lot of people,influencers, athletes, whatever
and everyone would do like anInstagram check.
It was so wild to me.
I would just like kind onesthat had the most followers.
(40:56):
They would go, hang out andeveryone would like click up
based on their follower amount.
It was wild.
I would just love to observe ithave like two or three times,
but I don't feel like that'swhat we're doing here in NABA.
It's like I don't care whatit's not about.
Let me find the group that Ihave the most in common with in
(41:18):
terms of beliefs or all thosethings, but let me go into this
common room of people that arejust here to get to know others
and to learn and to just tell memore about you.
What sets your soul on fire,what's your compelling vision of
the future?
Whether I'm with it or not,we're just here to express that
and to have a space to do that,and to me, that's what.
(41:42):
For those listening that don'tknow, NABBA stands for the
natural art of being alive, andI find that that's what the art
is of being alive is not findingthe ones that you have the most
in common with, but that arethere with you while you're
discovering more of who you'rebecoming, et cetera.
So it doesn't feel like that.
(42:02):
It feels like a place where wecan just all come as we are,
express where we're at.
It doesn't always have to bejoyful rainbows and butterflies.
It can also be dark, shadowstuff too.
We're just all here for all ofit, all the things and I love
that about NABA and I know fromknowing you and the evolution of
(42:25):
what NABA could have been.
I think the other day we weretalking on the phone and I'm
like remember when you wanted todesign candles and that was
going to, you know, and then itbecame like courses and then
it's this whole community.
So talk about that and theevolution of NABA and where
we're at now and all the things.
Austin Tice (42:43):
Well, I think we'll probably still make some
candles one day and maybe someJapanese incense.
I was actually testing some outthis weekend.
Lunden Souza (42:53):
I'm not against the candles.
I'm excited about the candles.
It was just fun thinking aboutthat and remember looking at
logos and it was like a candlewith a playlist and then it was
like court.
So anyways, just the journey ofit is so beautiful and
fascinating to me.
Austin Tice (43:09):
Yeah, I think the answer I will give you is one
that I think that many peoplewho want to create could place a
lot of stock in.
And I think a lot of peoplestart a journey of creation, or
you know in particular abusiness as an entrepreneur, and
(43:31):
they have an idea of what'sgoing to happen, of what's going
to happen, and ultimately,probably way more times than not
, that original idea of what isgoing to happen ends up maybe
not happening at all, or it does, and you move through it pretty
quickly and it evolves.
I think the heart of why youcreate something probably
(43:56):
remains the same.
The heart of why you createsomething probably remains the
same the intention, the fervor,the desire to want to do good in
the world, to satiate thecalling you feel you have on
your life, to fucking own it, toprove to yourself, your friends
, to do it for yourself and yourfriends, to be a part of a team
.
All of that stays the same, butultimately there's a bullseye
(44:20):
that exists that you're nottrying to hit.
Maybe at the beginning you'rejust happy to land it on the
damn board, but ultimately youwant to hit the bullseye and I
suppose you could rest on yourlaurels because you care more
about being right than gettingit right.
So perhaps there are peoplethat exist in the world who just
(44:43):
landing the dart somewherearound the board, or maybe even
slightly on it, would be enough,and they get stuck on being
right.
But, ultimately, winners do notrest on their laurels, and they
certainly are not okay withjust being right, because that's
not why they started.
(45:03):
They're interested in gettingit right because there is
something that takes place alongthe path of creation within you
that has to die in order foryou to ultimately hit that
bullseye, and that part of youthat dies is the part of you
(45:23):
that came up with the idea tostart, that had an
interpretation of what wouldwork.
So, for every iteration thattakes place in creating a brand
place, in creating a brand,there's a new version of you
(45:44):
that coincides with thatperspective, and so it's a
really beautiful experience ofgrowing not your IQ, but your EQ
and your ability to handle thejourney, and I don't think it is
for everyone.
It is very challenging, and Iwill tell you, though, it's one
of the most rewarding thingsthat you could ever imagine when
(46:08):
you do reach back and it hitsright in the middle and there's
a vertical that takes place.
It hits right in the middle andthere's a vertical that takes
place.
It's almost as if in thosemovies, when someone closes
their eyes, and all these flashbulb experiences and little
scenes throughout their journeyjust show up and you look back
(46:32):
and you think about howcourageous that person was that
kept going, that didn't take theback door, exit and slide out.
No one knew, but kept at it,and you think about how proud of
you, of that person you are,and that you stuck with it and
you figured it out.
(46:52):
That creates the type of leaderthat's capable of leading the
person and the company that'shitting the bullseye.
It's why you oftentimes youcouldn't just plug someone in
that hadn't been on that journey, because they hadn't gone
through what was necessary forthem to handle the outcome that
(47:15):
they seek.
Many people are seduced by theoutcome, but they're not
obsessed with what it takes tocreate within them the person
capable of handling its presenceand that is really, really
important to be romanced by.
(47:36):
That's the person that wins.
That's the person that it goesundefeated.
There is something to be saidabout the person that has a
tolerance for ambiguity and theendurance to deal with the
unknown, and who you become inthat process is something that's
(48:00):
really fucking cool.
But, man, it's challenging.
It every single day moves youto a place, to.
You have a lot of opportunitiesto close off.
You have a lot of opportunitiesto close off, to contract, to
(48:23):
lock your heart up and, at thatsame junction on the road, an
opportunity to not do it too.
And I've done both.
I still do both all the time.
Ultimately, I fall back on whatI know I have to do in order to
make it happen.
But that's the type of personthat is being called into the
world to lead right now, theperson that has endurance, the
(48:46):
person that's willing to bereally, really patient in their
long game and operate with asense of urgency on the day to
day, sense of urgency on the dayto day.
And those are the type ofpeople I want to be around.
That's the type of person Iwant to do dinner with, have a
(49:08):
glass of wine with, chill outwith.
And yeah, you know that's whatI've learned on my own journey
and you know, creating NABA,it's been the most challenging
one I've been on, without adoubt.
But, it's because I haven't beenwilling to settle for anything
less than I know what this iscapable of becoming, and so I'm
(49:33):
really blessed to be around alot of great people who have
that same mindset.
Lunden Souza (49:38):
Yeah Well, I'm grateful for your relentless
pursuit of who you're becomingand the endurance game that
you're in.
That was.
One of my words for this yearwas integrity and endurance.
I don't know what my word is.
Austin Tice (49:54):
What's your word for 2025?
Lunden Souza (49:57):
I haven't know what my word is.
What's your word for 2025?
I haven't decided yet, buttrust is one that's been hitting
.
When I say it, I like the wayit hits, but I haven't decided
yet, so I'll let you know once Idecide that.
I know that you said yours wasRebirth.
You wrote that on my Instagrampoll.
Austin Tice (50:19):
Well, that's not mine, but it was one that came
to mind whenever I read yourpost, and it certainly is a
season of rebirth for me, asgeneric as that might sound, but
I am calling 2025 the season ofcourage, courage.
Lunden Souza (50:41):
Yeah, well, whatever you choose is perfect
Didn't mean to say that that wasyours, but that's one that you
sent over to me and I thought,yeah, I love words of the year.
I think they're so much betterthan New Year's resolutions or
things like that, and I thinkthe version of me that decided
integrity and endurance was whatI wanted to embody at the
(51:02):
beginning of this year is alsodifferent in the way that I
interpret that and the way thatI embody that.
What I love about NABA and Iwant to kind of close with
sharing more about our communityand inviting those listening to
join us if they feel like thisis a place where they want to be
(51:22):
I love the community.
I love the space that we'vecreated our own social media
platform as a space where we canexpress where we're at and
connect with others who want toconnect um based on the
struggles, the strengths, thetriumphs, the hard times all of
(51:42):
that.
Um, I recently loved the postfrom from one of our favorite
guys, kevin KJS um aboutsurrender so like posts on what
it means to surrender.
Um, you know, I was on Snapchatfor like a hot minute until I
started getting dick pics andthen my grandpa's on Instagram
and he's like Lunden.
How do you turn this part off?
(52:03):
Because he's getting all thesesexual messages from women
trying to get him to join theselive chats and all these
different things.
I've had even friends reach outto me lately about other family
members and they're like what'sgoing on in so-and-so's life?
They're posting all this stuffin a very passive, aggressive
(52:23):
way and I love that.
That's not where we're at inNABA.
We don't have to worry aboutall the other periphery fringe
dumb shit.
We're literally just there toconnect and to grow on our own
and together.
And I've learned so much fromall of the courses that we have
in the community.
(52:44):
I mean I was lucky enough to beable to create one, but like
I've been doing Dr ErinPollinger's manifesting magic
course and oh my gosh, I feellike so much stuff has coming up
.
I told her I'm like your courseis like Jumanji, you have to
finish it.
You can't just be halfway inand then not complete, right,
and being able to connect inthose ways is so beautiful and I
(53:06):
love it so much.
And in one of the videos thatyou shared I can't remember it
was like clips of differentcommunity members but one guy
said he's like I can't reallydescribe NABA.
You have to just feel it.
You have to feel that callingto want to be around people that
(53:28):
are going to give you thatspace to become exactly who you
want and not have to worry aboutall the other stuff.
And not to say that I'manti-social media.
I mean, I love it.
I've built this podcast andbusinesses on Instagram.
I'm super grateful for it.
But I'm also grateful that NABAis not, that.
It's a different place.
It's a place where I love tojust go in and check their first
thing in the morning.
What are people sharing, whatare people working through?
(53:49):
What can I learn?
How can I grow?
And by anyone listening whofeels like this is a place that
they want to be, to join us andto have that conversation.
And I love the way that we'vebeen doing it, which is just
personal invite.
It's not like oh, click thislink, sign up, see you there.
It's literally one-to-oneinvitations.
(54:11):
It's opportunities ofconnection and resonance and I
love the way that we've grownand all the things.
But did I miss anything?
What else is so great aboutNABA, besides not having all the
extra stuff?
Austin Tice (54:27):
No, I think you hit on everything.
You know.
When we started developing NABA, little did we know that.
You know there would.
Of course we knew there wouldbe, you know, a presidential
election, but this was a ratherunique one.
You know, one of the candidateswas shot, nearly assassinated,
(55:00):
candidate RFK Jr.
Bobby Kennedy, who was runninga really successful independent
campaign for president, decidedto team up with Donald Trump,
and one of the tenets of BobbyKennedy's campaign that whenever
he joined forces with Trump washe never really called it this.
And then, when he teamed upwith Trump, he called it Maha,
make America healthy again.
Now, irrespective of what sideof the aisle you fall on, is
(55:28):
irrelevant to the fact that oneof the things we can all agree
on is that it doesn't matterwhich one of the low hanging
fruit talking points that wasdiscussed in the presidential
election that swayed you to voteone way or another.
None of that stuff mattersunless we address the mental,
(55:53):
emotional, physical andspiritual health of our country.
So for me, long before anyoneever uttered the word Maha, I
was on that mission.
It's one of the reasons I putNABA together.
What is the natural art ofbeing alive?
It's the adventure of creatingsomething new and we're an
(56:16):
American company and I love thiscountry and I think we can do
better.
And in one of the areas thatare interrelated and interwoven
are the things I just mentionedMental health, emotional health,
physical health, spiritualhealth, financial health, health
(56:41):
, spiritual health, financialhealth.
These are nonpartisan issuesand if you're hearing me talk
and you're triggered at the factthat one party or another is or
isn't doing things that shouldtranscend blue or red, then that
in and of itself is somethingyou should check yourself on and
say maybe I have beencaptivated by words and spells
(57:02):
that have been cast my directionthat want me to not align
myself with certain peoplebecause I disagree with them on
other things, so I can't agreewith them on certain other
things.
That's nonsense.
So I don't align myself withpeople because I agree with them
on everything.
I align myself with peoplebecause I agree with them on
(57:26):
something, so they're not myenemy and nor are they.
Can they not be my friendbecause we do or don't see eye
to eye on a hundred percent ofeverything.
That's one of the biggestconstraints of bringing people
together in the world.
So really I couldn't care lesswhether it was Donald Trump,
whether it was Bobby Kennedy,whether it was Joe Biden,
(57:49):
whether it was Kamala, I don'tcare.
What I do care is that we'reapproaching 40 trillion in the
hole.
That's not good for anybody.
What I do care is that 91% ofthe people in this country are
metabolically unhealthy.
One out of every two people inthis country are pre-diabetic or
diabetic.
I care that children under 18,nearly 30% of them, are obese.
(58:11):
Fatty liver disease used to bethis outlier of a problem with
people who drank too much.
Now it's just happening acrossthe board.
The list goes on and on and onand on.
What I care is that people arewilling to have the courage to
step in and out in front of thenonsense that you're going to be
(58:34):
categorized as some extremistbecause of the people who are
leading in this area,irrespective of party.
And so for me, if you want tocategorize me as something,
because I happen to care aboutthe same things that other
people do, go right ahead,because I'm not the problem in
this equation, and what I'masking for people that want to
(58:56):
be a part of NABBA is to movethrough and get through and, on
the other side of the thingsthat are keeping us divided and
keeping us separated and cometogether in this very unifying
fashion around the things thatare for the good of everybody.
(59:17):
And in those areas that youdisagree, that's okay.
Have a conversation, get toknow that person's heart, get to
know their character, get toknow what's taken place in their
life that's formed that opinion, and you know what, at the end
of that conversation you mightagree and at the end of that
conversation you might stilldisagree.
(59:39):
Some of the people I love andvalue most in life are the
people that I get to go head tohead with and we get it on and
we disagree.
But you know what?
I'll kiss that guy or girl onthe cheek and hug them and it's
all good at the end of it.
That's the fun part, that's thebeauty in all of it, and so a
(01:00:02):
part of how we make Americahealthy again is get on the
other side of the bullshit thatmainstream media has cast
towards everybody, leading themto believe that if you're a
Republican you can't be friendswith the Democrat, and if you're
a Democrat you can't be friendswith a Republican.
Or if you think and feel thisway about the Ukraine war and
(01:00:23):
someone else thinks differentlythan you, then you're a
conspiracy theorist and you'renot Go down the list.
All of that stuff's absolutenonsense.
One of the tenets of how we makeAmerica healthy again is
getting America talking to eachother again and not objectifying
them and categorizing them, butgetting to know who they are as
(01:00:43):
a human being, getting to knowtheir character, getting to know
their heart and in that process, having a friend doesn't mean
you have to be best friends Hell, maybe you're just an
acquaintance, but they're damnsure not an enemy.
And I think that that's stepone, and I feel that NABA can
play a role, if not remindingpeople, but showing them that
(01:01:06):
this is possible and that thisis the way, and that's what I
want to see happen in 2025 andbeyond.
Lunden Souza (01:01:14):
Snaps.
For that.
I appreciate you so much.
Thank you for um, thank you foryou and thank you for being
here, um, on the podcast today.
I really appreciated thisconversation and I know our
listeners will too.
And if you guys listening arecurious about NABA um, you can
go to NABA.
I'll put the link in thedescription and show notes and
(01:01:35):
please reach out to me directly,whether it's a DM on Instagram
or an email.
If you're on my email list, allreplies go directly to me, so I
see everything that you replyto, any of the newsletters or
emails that I send out.
Reach out and connect if thisis something that has a calling
on your heart.
And, Austin, thank you forbeing here.
I know your time is supervaluable.
We appreciate you, and do youwant to share anything as
(01:02:01):
closing in your social mediahandles so people can see
pictures of your little?
Austin Tice (01:02:03):
self and all the things.
I'll let you put it on thebottom.
But it was good to be here.
Maybe we can do a futurepodcast, since this is the Self,
love and Sweat podcast and Inever thought of the acronym
being SLS.
But the SLS Hotel in BeverlyHills cool hotel, smells really
(01:02:23):
good too, really cool lobby,swanky.
So SLS podcast live from theSLS Beverly Hills has a nice
ring to it.
We may have to make that happen.
Lunden Souza (01:02:35):
Cool.
Well, thank you for being here.
Thank you, guys, for listeningand we'll see you at the next
episode.
Bye.
Thank you so much for listeningto this episode of self love
and sweat the podcast.
If you enjoyed this episode orwere inspired by it, or
(01:02:55):
something resonated with you, orwere inspired by it or
something resonated with you, dome a favor and share this
episode with a friend, someonethat you think might enjoy this
episode as well.
That's the ultimate complimentand the best way to make this
podcast ripple out into theworld of others.
And also you can leave us areview up to five stars wherever
(01:03:17):
you're listening to the podcast.
Thank you so much for listeningand we'll see you at the next
episode.
I appreciate you.
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