#200 - Trevor Witt, Social Media Manager for USAT Project Podium - Behind the Lens: The Trevor Witt Story - Stupid Questions with Seth Hill

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
How's it going everyone? And welcome back to another
edition of the Stupid Questions podcast.
My name is Seth, I'm your host. And today on the pod, we're
going to be talking with Trevor Witt.
He is the social media manager for USA TS Project Podium.
If you remember, I had on ParkerSpencer in the past couple of
times talking about Project podium.
So make sure to check out Trevor's Instagram because he

(00:20):
does all of the social media creation videos.
They just did a recap video for the end of the year for all of
things Project Podium with USA Triathlon.
So make sure to go check that out.
Yeah, he's a great guy, younger guy who is fresh in the
industry, is no stranger to triathlon by any means because
he has a bit of a history in there as well.

(00:41):
But yeah, we just talk about a number of different things, from
religion to photography to innercritic voices.
I nothing too out of the ordinary, but always trying to
go deep. So really appreciate you ever
taken the opportunity to be on the show and giving me that
honor and pleasure. So make sure to check out the
show notes again if you're here.Thank you so much appreciate it.
Like comment subscribe on YouTube.

(01:02):
If you're on Spotify or Apple podcasts, leave a review, leave
a comment, follow the show. 75% of you guys who listen to this
regularly actually don't even subscribe.
So please do that on any of the platforms.
All right, thank you so much forbeing here again.
And without further ado, want tointroduce you to Trevor Witt.
Excited to do this. Yeah, I'm in.

(01:22):
So where are you at right now? I'm in Tempe, AZ.
Nice out there with the project podium, Is that where
everybody's placed at right now?I guess because it's kind of
offseason. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So we are here. Are we in?
Have we started? Yeah, we're in.
OK, all right, let's let's tap. So we get that, get that audio.
Yeah, true, true, true all. Right. 321.

(01:46):
Cool. Yeah, I think that's close
enough. Yeah.
Yeah. So Project Podium is based here
in Tempe, AZ from the months of January until June.
Then we moved to Park City, UT for the summer, get some good
altitude training and yeah, and it's also not nearly as hot in
Park City. And then we come back here

(02:09):
after, you know, finishing all of our races at the end of the
year. We're really spread out like
around like August till maybe like November.
Yeah, like middle November. Yeah, Yeah.
And then we come back here and everyone just left either
yesterday or today, and I'm headed home today as well.

(02:31):
So nice. Where's home for you?
Oregon Corvallis, OR Yeah. Corvallis OR so how far?
So? I'm in Redding, CA, Northern
California, so Oregon's not too far away.
Where are you at? If I was to try to drive there,
You think so? Pretty far.
Reading. Reading is.
It's like right South of Mount Shasta.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know exactly.
I've driven through. I've driven through reading

(02:54):
dozens of times. Yeah, it's probably, probably
about 5-6 hours. Yeah.
Cool. I have to hit you up.
I hit you up if I come through that area.
Did you grow up? Did you grow up in Oregon?
I sure did. Yeah.
I grew up in Oregon and, you know, I I used to do triathlons

(03:14):
as well. Cool.
So this is the the way that I got into the the sport.
And like, the way that I've thatI have, the job that I have is
through Keller in Orland. He's one of the guys on our
team. We've been best friends like our
entire lives. And so we did some team together
cross country and then we also used to race triathlon and went

(03:36):
out to Xterra Worlds four years ago for fun after shooting some
weddings. And I decided I didn't want to
shoot any weddings anymore. And I was really trying to find
something else to to shoot. And thankfully, Parker Spencer,
he, he saw my work, he thought it was cool and I got brought on

(03:57):
as an intern. And yeah, so I've been was an
intern for one year. And so now this is the end of
the third year. So things are good.
Yeah, man. So how old are you Trevor, if
you don't mind me asking? Yeah, I'm 23. 23 sick, so three
years ago, 20 years old. I assume you were in college.

(04:19):
So I out of high school, I went to Rocky Mountain School of
Photography, which was a photography trade school.
Yeah, that's awesome. And unfortunately they shut down
due to lack of people going, I guess.
But it was, it was an awesome school.
Really liked it. It was a nine month program, six

(04:41):
days a week, very intensive. And funny enough, after I
graduated, I didn't get a degreeor anything like that.
But after graduation I started shooting weddings and then
started started doing this. Yeah.
What What do you think's more important, Getting the degree or
having the skills? Having the skills for sure.

(05:04):
I mean in in the photography andvideography space, I've never
heard of anybody ever asking fora degree.
Doesn't really. I mean, would you ask him as a
musician for their degree? Probably not.
Yeah, definitely. Not can you play?
Yeah, I mean it, it doesn't matter if like, you know, like
all the technical specs, that's great.

(05:25):
But like, if you can't deliver agood product then it doesn't
matter. Yeah, Going back a little bit,
you were mentioning triathlon being something you've been
doing from a relatively young age.
I guess I'm curious to know, whydid you decide to step away from
it from a more of an athletic perspective and move more toward
where you are now? Triathlon's hard.

(05:50):
It's a hard sport. And you know, I grew up swimming
and doing cross country and track and stuff like that.
And you know, I had a great timeswimming.
Cross country was never really my favorite thing.
I've always had foot problems. So I was, I felt like I was just
constantly injured and so. Can you hear me?

(06:12):
I think I lost you. Let me see here.
Let me do a little speed test onmy end.
Technical difficulties. I'm getting a tremendous amount
of download cuz I'm hardwired in.

(06:47):
No testing. Testing.
We're gonna give it a stop. No.
Back. Nope.
There it goes. Here we go.
The last thing I heard was you were saying triathlon is hard
and then it. Kind of Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So yeah, triathlon's a hard sport.
I swam, I ran throughout cross country.
I felt like I was just always injured.
So it wasn't my favorite thing to do.

(07:08):
Something was great, except for the fact that, you know, like
swimming takes up so much time. It's also a year round sport,
just like triathlon. And so the COVID hit and the
pool was closed for seemingly forever.
And I started getting into lifting weights and I was like,
oh, my gosh. Not only am I like seeing

(07:28):
progress in, like, my physical state, like, this is just making
me happier. Like, I genuinely like going to
the gym rather than I I used to have this joke with my friends
on swim team. It's like there's nobody that
hates swimming more than swimmers.
Yeah. And, you know, I think there's
some truth and there's a lot of truth.

(07:49):
There's some truth to that, for sure.
I think that's kind of just the same for like, any endurance
sport. But yeah, it was hard.
And I was like, you know what? I don't really feel like I want
to swim anymore. I don't really want to run.
I'm not going to go to college for either of it.
So triathlon was always just something that I did with my
family for fun. Like I would, you know, we would

(08:12):
choose a destination and we would try to find a triathlon
there and then that's how we'd plan our trip.
So if you wanted to go to Tahoe,we would go to Tahoe when there
was a triathlon around that area, or San Francisco.
I did Alcatraz when I was 14. That was pretty cool.
But it was always just like, it was just your fun.

(08:34):
It was never to like be fast. Yeah, you mentioned family, so
I'm assuming like mom and dad were big into triathlons and
stuff. Did they do the Ironman stuff
or? Yeah, yeah.
So my dad did Ironman Canada or Ironman Whistler.
Wow. Yeah, so he was, he was really
stoked about that. And so, you know, he he did the
classic, you know, he got his TTbike and he, you know, really

(08:58):
locked in for a year and was able to go and get that done.
And then my mom has raced triathlons her whole life, and
so it's just kind of just been like a family thing, yeah.
Do you have siblings? I do.
I have three brothers. And so I'm glad that you
actually brought that up becausewe would, when we would go to
these races, these destination races, it was specifically with

(09:19):
my brother Lenny. And that's, that's what we would
do. That's where we would go and we
would be, you know, my parents and then my brother and his
family. But my, my three brothers are
different father and they're significantly older than I am.
So, OK, I was a uncle when I wasthree years old.
Oh, congratulations. That's awesome.

(09:41):
So you know, because they're a bit older, what's your
relationship like with them? Have they served as like mentors
of yours? Do you look up to them a good
bit or would you say? Yeah, yeah, I mean, definitely
my brother Lenny, he's been, he's been huge.
He was a Marine and just a just a really solid person to look up
to, very successful kind of guy.And, you know, not only just

(10:06):
him, but his kids as well. Like in my family, there's only,
you know, really two people thatare similar to my age and it's
his two kids. And so yeah, that part of my
family has been super influential.
And my other two brothers I haven't been like the closest
with, but we're going home for Thanksgiving and everyone's
going to be there. So it's it's actually really

(10:27):
exciting. We haven't had all three
brothers or I guess all of us together in since I was 14 I
think. Wow.
Yeah, 10 years almost. That's amazing.
Are you nervous at all? No, no, I'm, I'm excited.
The most amount of people we've ever had for Thanksgiving, for
sure. Yeah.

(10:49):
But you said going back home. I assume this is all happening
in Oregon. Yeah, yeah.
So at my parents house and we'llhave like, we're going to have
like close to 20 people. Yeah.
Wow. See, that is going to be big.
Yeah, for sure. Do you want a big family when
you get older or next year? I don't know where you are in
that stage. No, no, I don't know about a big

(11:12):
family. I think that I think family is
super important and I, I wish that my personal family was a
little bit more connected because I feel like it's just so
much fun when you have a lot of family to be with and be a part
of and go to social events. But I don't know, growing up,
like I never like had much family around me.

(11:33):
Like it was my parents. And then I guess like my one of
my grandparents lived about 3 hours away, but then everyone
else was in Texas and California.
So it was like nobody close. But to answer your question, I
don't know a couple kiddos, but nothing crazy.
Yeah, 10 of them or something like that.
Yeah, yeah. It's interesting you say that

(11:53):
about, you know, having a smaller family and not having
the big family feel. Growing up, I was very similar,
but I got lucky and married my wife who has, I think between
all of them there's, I want to say 10 cousins, all from, you
know, they're all first cousins.So getting to go for
Thanksgiving or Christmas, especially for the first few
years when everybody's still in college and whatnot because I'm
graduating college now. Obviously it was, it was really

(12:15):
cool. So we'll see.
I don't know if I want a big family not or either or not.
I don't know if I want a big family or not yet either, but we
got one on the way. So I'll let you know and then
maybe you can draw some inspiration.
All right. Congratulations.
Thanks. I appreciate it.
So you know, we mentioned parents a little bit, a little
bit in the triathlon. You obviously like the sport,

(12:35):
but with what you're doing now in the in the life path that you
are currently choosing, where doyou feel like your parents sit
on the spectrum of Proud of Trevor?
Oh, probably 10 out of 10. I mean, it's, it's always so
exciting to talk to them. They have been my biggest
supporters throughout my entire life.
And so, you know, when I said I wanted to go to photography

(12:57):
school, I feel like, you know, maybe maybe some other families
might be a little bit more hesitant, like, well, I mean,
all right, that's, that's cool. But what if we, what if we
choose something a little bit more safe?
And they didn't, they didn't askme that one time.
They said, this is what you, what you really want to do.
We're going to make it happen. And, you know, when I was an

(13:18):
intern for this team for that entire year, they, they helped
me, You know, they, they, they, I mean, I couldn't, I, I, I
worked as much as I could outside of, you know, the work
that I was already doing. But I mean, they've always been
my biggest supporters. They have never doubted me and
I, you know, I wouldn't be whereI am today without them.
So they are by far my biggest heroes in my life.

(13:42):
And yeah, thank you. That's phenomenal.
That's so cool to hear. Heart warming even.
What do your parents do? Well, they own a tax and legal
practice. OK, that'll that'll be more
useful older you get, I can tellyou that.
Oh yeah, Oh yeah, it already hasbeen pretty useful.
You know, first couple of years of doing taxes and everything.

(14:03):
It is but a major help. So yeah, they own a tax and
legal practice. My dad is also a, he's not a
defense lawyer. He's a type of lawyer.
Not totally sure, but their mainpractice is tax and legal.
And that's 100% what my mom does.
But my dad, he's, he's kind of just a, a general entrepreneur

(14:27):
of everything. I can't think of a the subject
matter that he hasn't gotten into and have just tried to
build something off of it. He had this we, we, he invented
this board game called Pajagal. And when I was in middle school,
we traveled across the country going to game shows, debuting
this board game and the game of the year in 2016.

(14:51):
That's. Kind of.
He's a hustler. Yeah, not bad.
I think it sold like 50,000 units, 60,000 units, something
like that. Wow.
And so that was, you know, that was fun.
That was an interesting time in our life.
And then right now he's working on writing a children's book and
he's getting really into music, surprisingly.

(15:13):
My mom plays piano and I used toplay piano and play trumpet.
And then my dad just seemingly like, he, he was like, oh, I've
been writing songs my whole life.
And I'm like, what are you talking about?
I was like, I've told you this. You haven't no, no, you haven't.
So he's, he's getting really into music and he's, he's

(15:35):
writing a play right now. And so he's, he's, you know, he
just, he, he sourced some, some,some band members and A and a
singer, a vocalist and, you know, rented out some studio
time and putting together an album, putting together a
screenplay, not a screenplay, a like, just like a play, like a

(15:55):
like a play. But it's, it's about the,
forgive me if I'm wrong. I'm sorry, dad, if you're
watching this, but I could be totally wrong.
It's about when Jesus came out of the tomb and it's from the

(16:16):
guards perspective. So for when Jesus Jesus rose.
And then it's, it's just kind ofthe, it's, it's kind of, it's
telling the story of the, you know, the, the death and
resurrection of Christ. But from the perspective of a
guard, who's guarding his tomb? Yes, I think so, yeah.
I could be wrong, but I'm prettysure that's what it is.

(16:38):
Yeah, he likes it. That's some heavy source
material. A few questions there.
First question, do you think you're more like your mom or
your dad? Definitely more like my dad
100%. So, entrepreneurial risk taker,
get out. Make it happen.
Yeah, yeah. And yeah, we we look pretty Dang
similar as well. Yeah.
So that's awesome. We, we share so many tendencies

(17:00):
and it's, it's actually kind of funny.
When I was younger, I used to, I, I, I don't want to say get
mad, but I, I always, I wanted to be my own person.
And so when people would say like, oh, you look exactly like
your dad. I'm like, dude, don't tell me
I'm my own person. Like, come on, man, I look like
me. Yeah.
And, you know, the older that I've gotten, I've realized how

(17:22):
much that's a compliment becausemy father is very successful.
He's an amazing businessman, great husband, you know, all
around a fantastic guy. And so, you know, being compared
to him is it's, it's an honor. That's awesome.
What what role does I'm wondering because you mentioned,

(17:42):
you know, from the perspective of this play that he's writing,
what role has or does God play in your in your life?
Yeah, So, you know, I was born and raised Christian.
I got confirmed into the Presbyterian Church when I was
in middle school, I think. OK, so I used to go, I mean, my

(18:03):
family and I were never like we we wouldn't go to church like
super consistently, like maybe acouple times a month.
And then obviously on Easter, Christmas.
The big ones. The the big ones.
So I would say that I'm definitely a believer, but I
don't know if you know, I like Ihaven't, I haven't been to
church in months or yeah, so. Outside of church, do you feel

(18:28):
like, like, do you pray or is it, does it play a role in like
how you, I don't know, think about your future or the steps
that you take or any of that stuff?
You know, I, I, I pray every single time I get on an
airplane, that's for sure. I'm not scared of flying, but I
do. I do pray, you know, So when
you're walking through like thatboarding bridge, you're going

(18:51):
through the door. I put my hand on the outside of
the aircraft and then like, and that's where I start my prayer.
And then I kind of like good in my head.
You sound like a pilot, man. That's like something a fire
pilot would do before he's aboutto drop in.
Yeah, yeah. And so, you know, I just kind of
like I walk in. I'm like, hey, man, thank you,
God, for, like, putting me in the position that I'm in.

(19:12):
And I pray for, you know, the pilot, everyone on board.
Hopefully we have a, you know, nice flight to wherever you're
going. And so, yeah, that's when I pray
the most. And I've been on 70 flights this
year. So wow, I guess I pray
relatively often in that sense. Yeah.
So let me ask you this question from it's a pretty deep 1/3

(19:34):
perspective. According to you, who is Trevor?
You know, it's funny enough, I, I knew you were going to ask
this question. Good.
I, I talked to a couple other people about this and I they're
like, you better be ready for this question in particular.
You know, I think, you know what, maybe I should have

(19:55):
actually thought about it before.
You know, I kind of like, it's like that is a question.
Oh. Good off the cuff take as long
as you have to think about. It too, who am I?
Who am I? I'm a I'd like to say I'm a
dreamer. I'm a dreamer, I'm a dancer.
I don't actually like to dance, but I think it, you know, being

(20:17):
a dancer in like the theoreticalsenses, like I like to live life
freely. And So what my favorite quote of
all time is to see the world, things dangerous to come to, to
see behind walls to what is it called?
I have a tattooed on my leg right here to see the world.

(20:37):
Things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer to
face, to find each other and to feel.
That is the purpose of life. Feel.
Yeah. So I don't, I don't think if I'm
talking to the third perspective, I don't think
Trevor regrets anything. Yeah, I've definitely made

(20:59):
mistakes. I've definitely done things
where I look back and I'm like, man, I really wish I didn't do
that. But, you know, if I didn't do
that, maybe I wouldn't be in theplace that I am today.
And I love where I'm at today. And so I can't, I can't think
about the past and want to change the past because if I, if
I did, then I might not be here.And so I'd say I'm a person that

(21:24):
does his best to not try to takethings for granted and to, you
know, smell the roses. Yeah.
So with the type of life that you're currently find yourself
in 70 flex a year, life is moving by at a tremendous rate.
And with that comes the ability to, I don't want to say
calloused, but become less, lessin tune with maybe your emotions

(21:49):
and others with like the lower energy potentially.
I'm just making assumptions here, but the work you do like
takes a lot of energy and focus and whatnot.
So I'm curious, do you ever findyourself in a place where you're
realizing it's becoming a littlemore difficult to feel?
Difficult to feel. I'm I'm kind of confused by that

(22:11):
that question. Yeah, no, it's probably not
asked very well. So for example, we go through
life, the more hardship we encounter sometimes if we're
not, I think working through those things, we can kind of
become jaded. Our empathy goes down towards
others. So with the life that you're
living that's requiring a lot ofenergy, do you ever find or have
you found at all that it's been difficult to feel certain

(22:35):
things? Like enjoy the little moments,
like the thing, oh, I'm in a different country today.
Oh, this is a beautiful place. That water is amazing.
Whatever this cool moment. Yeah.
People or something like that? Yeah, yeah, totally.
Yeah. And so, you know, like I said,
when I was describing who I am, you know, I said that I like to,
you know, smell the roses. And so I'm sure that I have

(22:56):
definitely taken things for granted and I have had less
emotion towards those things. But I really try to, you know,
stop myself and really enjoy thelittle moments, you know, So
even though I've been on, you know, 70 flights this year, when
I'm on the last flight that I was on, I was just flying from
Los Angeles to Phoenix, very short flight, but I looked out

(23:18):
the window the entire time and just listen to like chill music.
Looked out the window the whole time.
And I was just like, man, it's so incredible that, you know,
not only I have the job that I have, but like, I'm in the air.
Like, that's crazy. That's crazy.
I'm super high up in the sky. And, you know, you might think
it's like, Oh yeah, planes have been around for so long.
But like, it is a, it is truly a, you know, it's a, it's an

(23:40):
amazing feat. And so whether I have, it
becomes a little bit more callous to the craziness of
traveling. I think when I go into an
airport, I'm pretty emotionless when it comes to like people
think like we're going to miss our flight.
I have never thought that. Like I walked to the airport 5

(24:00):
minutes until boarding, boardingstarted, 5 minutes till door
close, mind. I mean, I'll get there.
It's totally, totally unfazed byany kind of airport things.
Yeah, that's a beautiful thing to be able to like you're
saying, have the the discipline to look out the the window for

(24:21):
that long even though it's probably what like a 3545 minute
flight, I don't know how long itis, but like an.
Hour and a half. OK, so even even more so an hour
and a half, that takes a lot of I guess.
Yeah, it's just really is discipline.
I don't know that many people who can do one thing for that
long, like especially in the generation that we live.
Do you find that to be a true statement or a false statement?
100% true. And you know, I, I find that

(24:42):
with myself is that I, I definitely noticed that I find
it harder and harder. I love watching YouTube.
I would probably watch YouTube more than I watch anything else.
So, you know, I, I like watchingvideo docs and so but then I
find myself like going on my phone during a 20 minute video.
I'm like, dude, like you clickedon this video.

(25:04):
You you wanted to watch this video on purpose.
And so like, why can't you lock in focus on that one thing?
Yeah, so I totally, I totally agree.
I mean, short form content is it's a drug easily, definitely a
drug. And it's very addictive.
Yeah. So while while I do think it's a
problem, I'm definitely conscious of it.

(25:26):
And I I try to not go on my phone even though, you know, if
I'm getting up off the couch to go to the refrigerator to get
something, it's like, well, I have to bring my phone.
I got to scroll while I'm walking 10 feet over here so.
Yeah, it's interesting. One thing I'll just share with
you because I think it's also really stupid, but it is what
I've got into a habit of doing and I'm trying to get out of it.

(25:49):
But it's like even taking my phone and have, if I have a
YouTube video going like something usually educational,
really interesting. I even like have that thing in
the meet with in the bathroom when I'm going to take a shower.
It's like I need to just learn how to have some quiet space and
moments more often than not, because that thing is like
every, every second of the day, like in our face, tracking what

(26:09):
we're saying, watching what we're doing.
Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
And it's crazy, Yeah. Yeah, I, I would love to see my
podcast analytics. Unfortunately, the podcast Apple
App doesn't give you analytics like Spotify does.
But I listen to podcasts all daylong.
Yeah, like podcasts scroll, Instagram watch YouTube edit,
YouTube, Instagram podcasts editand then, I don't know, screen

(26:35):
all the time or audio all the time.
Yeah. So, changing gears a little bit,
when is the last time you cried?I, I, I will cry pretty easily.
Not at sad things, but at happy things.
Like man, like one of one of thethings that gets me the most

(26:57):
emotional is watching someone like at the Olympics, right?
And they have a really powerful story and you know, against all
odds, they were able to overcomeit and they took home gold,
right? They won.
And so and you know, to to see them accomplish their lifelong
goal and like the people around them that get to experience it

(27:19):
with them. That is I'll I'll definitely cry
over that. So, but to answer your question,
I'm sorry, I guess I didn't really ask answer that question
last time. I don't know, probably a couple
nights ago watching someone on Instagram, there's like, I don't
know, father coming home from war or something like that.
Yeah. So you're pretty in touch.
Would you say you're pretty in touch with your emotions?

(27:40):
Like you're in a pretty emotional guy.
Think more with your heart than your head.
I I think I have a I'd like to think that I have a pretty
strong connection between both. I, I, I would like to think that
I'm pretty good at recognizing an emotional decision and

(28:00):
thinking logically about that emotional decision to, and
deciding whether or not it makessense for both parties, you
know, the, the heart and the mind.
And so I, I try not to, I, I mean, everyone's irrational at
times. Everyone says stuff or as do
stuffs and you know has feelingsthat they logically shouldn't
have, but heart speaks volumes. So I I try my best to have a

(28:26):
good cohesive relationship between the two thought centers.
Yeah, good answer. So with this past year, it
sounds like it's safe to assume like you have, you really enjoy
what you're doing, you are incredibly thankful for what you
are doing. But what I'm wondering is even
through that, the responsibilities that you found
yourself taking a hold of and the things you have to deliver,

(28:49):
has it ever become a source of like intense stress for you to
be able to make sure that you doyour job and do well?
Yeah. Oh, yeah, totally.
Yeah. I mean, like, but I think I
think stress is important. Stress forces you to accomplish
what you need to do. Deadlines aren't necessarily a
bad thing. Stress isn't necessarily a bad

(29:10):
thing. Or having anxiety isn't
necessarily a bad thing. I think it's how you control it
and how you're able to move on from, you know, those, those
periods of frantic energy. So like by far, like the past
month, I've been the most busy that I have all year.
I've, I mean, I just completed the project podium recap video

(29:33):
for 2025. It's a 44 minute documentary.
That's yeah, I was up editing at5:00 AM, going to bed at 1:00
AM, you know, editing all the time and still having to, you
know, shoot other stuff for sponsors.
And we just had a swim camp in Los Angeles for the national
team. And so super, super stressful

(29:56):
time. But just because it's stressful
doesn't mean that I don't like it because I would get to look
back at it and be like, yeah, I did that.
And, you know, I know that I cando that.
And so I got my, I got my one friend from back home, my buddy
Ian. And I call him, I unload, I talk
as fast as I can, I scream at the phone and then I'm done.

(30:17):
And then I'm good, I'm relaxed, I reset.
So sometimes just gotta, you know, vent to vent to somebody
that cares about you. And he says, damn, homie, that
sucks. Good luck.
So, but it's what I need. It's perfect.
And so I, I, I like the stress. The stress is good.

(30:40):
Yeah. How long could you do this job,
you think? Helping employers, not
listening. I mean, I, I love this job.
I really do. And so right now, I mean, I, I
don't, I don't want it to end anytime soon.
I'm, I'm loving what I do. I love traveling and everything.

(31:00):
I just want to be better. You know, that's, that's my main
thing. It's like I, I want to, I want
to make our team look the most professional, the fastest, the
best. I want everyone to look at us
and Ogle and amazement of not how great we are.
I don't want to like sound like a king or something like that,
but I just want, I just want theabsolute best for our team and I

(31:23):
want to be I want to make sure that I knew and I know that I'm
giving it my absolute all every single day.
And so I don't see an end anytime soon.
So, you know, I'm sure that willchange.
But for right now, I'm, I'm relaxed, I'm chilling.
And so I, yeah, I don't want change.

(31:46):
I'm I'm happy. Yeah, When you started this
journey, I I'd like to hear, I guess a little bit of like,
because you said, you know, Parker reached out to you or saw
your stuff. He's like, hey, here's what I'm
thinking from that initial conversation to where you find
yourself today in however short or long you want to give it to
me. I would love to hear what that
story is for how you initially got in and then where you are

(32:09):
today. All right, cool.
So I went to Exterior Worlds. So Keller called me and he said,
hey man, I'm going to Exterior Worlds and the Dolomites in
Italy. I was driving from Montana back
to Oregon to shoot a wedding, and he was like, do you want to

(32:32):
come? And I was like, dude, yeah, I've
never left the USI want to come so badly that I don't want
anything else than to travel theworld with my best friend.
That would be so unbelievably cool.
And I never thought that it would ever come to anything.
And so, you know, traveling to Italy with him was like, such a
culture shock. I was like, Oh my gosh, this is

(32:52):
the best place I've ever been inmy entire life.
I would move here and I've been there a couple of times.
I don't want to move there anymore, but it's still really
cool. The glasses fell off.
Still really, really cool. And so, you know, when I went
there for the first time, I was,you know, I was just having fun.
I brought my camera and I got some drone shots of him and some
photos and I made some videos and I look back on him now.

(33:13):
I'm like, man, those are terrible.
But Keller told me that Parker really liked what I was doing.
And I was like, well, that's cool that maybe, maybe a new
client, potential new client. And so when I heard about the
idea of me joining the team, it was like, what are you talking

(33:36):
about? No way.
This, this is a dream come true.I was driving to back to Montana
for photo school. I'm with my dad driving through
the snow and he's. And I'm like, we're talking
about my future. And he's like, if there's one
thing you could do, you know, dream job.
And I was like to travel the world with my camera, get paid

(33:57):
for it. Yeah, Easily.
I mean, how does that not sound awesome?
Yeah. And he's like, yeah.
And I would like to have a billion dollars and live on
Mars. And so it was like this, this
myth that that would ever be a thing.
And so when I heard that idea, Iwas like, oh, my God, this is a
real possibility. There's no way this is a real

(34:17):
possibility. And so, you know, funnily
enough, when during that summer before I went to external
worlds, I went to the Olympic Park in Utah where Keller was
living. And so that's that's where we
live during the summer at Utah Olympic Park residency building.

(34:40):
I remember going in and I was just like, how did you manage to
get the life that you have? You live here, you actually live
here like this is an incredible spot.
Like you, you're on your way to the Olympics, like the team that
you're on, everything that you get to do.
I'm so envious. That seems like an amazing

(35:00):
opportunity. And it never, not once that I
think I would ever like to be back to that, to that part.
And then one year later I was living there.
So that was incredible. And so going back to the, to the
main story at hand, Parker brought the idea up to me.
Actually, Keller's mom brought the idea up to me and I was just

(35:22):
in disbelief, didn't believe her.
Went home from Italy and Parker contacts me and sets up a, a
meeting. And I remember I was in, I was
in my living room and I was ecstatic.
I mean, hands were sweating, heart rate was 1000.
And I'm talking to Parker and like, I'm like, Oh my gosh, Oh

(35:43):
my gosh, this. But he had talked, he talked
about me coming out just for like 2 weeks.
It's like a trial period to see like if it would work.
But then he eventually decided he's like, you know what, never
mind, we're not going to do a trial period.
You're just going to come out. You're just going to move out
here in January and hopefully itworks.
And so lo and behold, I drove out there in January with Keller

(36:06):
and I moved into the apartment that I'm in right now And you
know, I had a mattress on the floor, TV on the floor, one
chair, you know, very first apartment vibes.
It was great. And I was so excited to be here.
And I remember I was like, it was like pretty, I, I wasn't

(36:28):
saying nervous, but I, I had an incredible imposter syndrome
walking onto the pool deck for the first workout that I was
ever going to shoot. And I was just, you know,
holding my camera like, dude. What am I doing here?
How am I here? They they made a mistake.
There's no way that I'm going tobe able to make anything
remotely OK. And one of the weird things, not

(36:54):
maybe not the weird things, but the very first video that I made
for this team, I look back at itand I'm like, man, that was,
that was really great. The 100 videos I made after that
first one, I was, I look back and like those ones all sucked.
So clearly a, the first one, I don't know, I, I knew something
from the future and, and then I lost it all after that first
video. But I think that first video

(37:18):
that I made, it really instilledthe confidence that I needed to
keep on pushing forward and, youknow, put the, the trust of the
team in my hands. And so that first year was, it
was awesome. It was, it was truly incredible.
And, you know, I, I feel like I,I, I fit in really fast.

(37:40):
And they, the team was, it was like home.
And so Parker and I meshed really, really well together.
And yeah, yeah. And so after after those nine
months of being on the team, youknow, our sponsors were happy,
our donors were happy, the athletes were happy, Parker was

(38:01):
happy, I was happy. And we had it in the budget to
add me to the team as a full time employee.
And so I was no longer a intern.And so I got my first paycheck
at the end of those nine months and.
How'd that feel? It was incredible.

(38:21):
I mean, I was like, it was such a feeling of like success.
Maybe not like success, but likeI I felt like I was wearing the
like reading the epilogue to a fantastic book and I just on a
chapter 1. That's phenomenal, dude.
Well, I should say congratulations because that's
not easy work, what you're talking about doing.

(38:42):
I mean, there's obviously a skill involved and it's an an
artistic thing on top of gettingthe story and then, you know,
having your vision and putting it out there.
How good do you think you've gotten so far at looking at a
situation, kind of knowing, OK, this is the general story arc or
the the thing I want to tell? And then you have maybe even in
your mind like how you want the video to be cut and edited and

(39:04):
then bringing that into reality.Was that more difficult before?
Is it easier now? Oh, it's yeah, far easier now.
But I mean, with that being said, I don't know if you can
ever perfect being an artist. That's what if you could, I
guess. Yeah.
And so while I think I'm definitely better than I was
before, I still look at the content that I make.

(39:28):
And I guess I feel like not necessarily disappointed in
myself every day, but it's like a feeling of like, man, I just,
I want to be better so badly andI'm not.
And the the better that you get,the more that feeling is it
comes to light. And so, you know, I'll make,
I'll make something and, you know, pat myself on the back and

(39:49):
like, man, I made that. That's amazing.
That's so great. One day later, I'm like, well,
you know, it's fine. It could be better, but how is
it going to get better? And so it's a constant wrestling
of internal emotions of wanting to be better and just, you know.
There's a lot of delayed gratification in progress.

(40:14):
How do I want to say this? This is there's a lot of delayed
gratification in feeling successful about the art that
you create. And I don't know if that
gratification will necessarily ever come, but that's OK.
That's that's the beauty of it. How do you get their
gratification in your eyes? Is it someone telling you like

(40:35):
this is amazing? Or are you looking at your work
and being like, that's amazing. Yeah, so I was actually talking
to my dad recently about this and, you know, he's he's making
all of this music, right? And you know, it's, he likes it,

(40:56):
but he's like, man, like it justdoesn't seem like the, you know,
when I send it out to the family, they don't really, I
don't really seem to like care or, you know, like my friends
say it's good, but like, I don'tknow, it just doesn't, it's
whatever. Like, I don't know.
And I was like, you got to, you got to stop caring about what
everyone else thinks. And I know it's, it's not

(41:16):
necessarily cliche, but it's, it's definitely a worn term.
So I, I think when you're an artist, you, you make things for
yourself. Obviously you make stuff for the
clients because you got to get paid.
But at the end of the day, you're doing this for you.
And so I don't know where that gratification exactly comes

(41:40):
from, but you know, it's, it comes and goes.
I'd say it comes in waves. And I think that's, I think it's
perfectly OK. You can feel gratified and you
can feel hungry at the same time.
So like I said, I don't think it'll ever be a constant feeling

(42:02):
and I don't want it to be. Taking photos is so fascinating
to me because I think everyone does it for different reasons or
has their own unique reason or thing that they're trying to
capture. Because there's there's those
people who take photos because they want it to look cool or
whatever. And it's like an Instagram
thing, but there's those who take photos and then they have a

(42:23):
real story behind it. And so like being able to tell
the story, take a photo in such a way, even a video in such a
way where it kind of tells its own story.
I feel like it's a harder thing to do sometimes.
It can be as subtle as the angleyou choose or the lighting you
choose and whatnot. But as you find yourself like
continually, because you've studied this, you know way more
about this. So I'm curious just what is the

(42:43):
what is the overwhelming story that you want to come away with
the with the work you do? I know you talked about Project
podium being like you want everybody to be like Google and
Ogle like we are the best, the coolest, the greatest ever.
But is there? Is that like the sole purpose or
is there anything else in there too?

(43:04):
I mean, I might. I'm not an athlete, but I want
to win, you know, I want to be apart of the team that goes to
the Olympics and wins the gold, and I want to be able to tell
that story. Right on, dude.
That's I don't think you can. I think that's what it takes to
have everybody around a team to,to have that mindset, even if

(43:26):
you're not the athlete, because if you don't, I don't think it
works as well. So they're super fortunate to
have that. Do you feel like that is also
true of everyone else on the team?
Like aside from just the athletes?
Totally, yeah. I mean, when you have, I mean,
that's such a big part of team cohesion that if we go to a race
and we do terrible and you just don't care about it.

(43:47):
Like, are you really on the team?
And, or if we go to a race and you absolutely crush it and you
are not ecstatic, then why are you here?
You gotta like, I mean, I feel like if you, if you wanna, I'm,
I give 100% everything I have tothis team and to guys that are
on this team. And so when we lose, like I'm

(44:08):
crushed. I'm genuinely upset that we
didn't perform the way that I know we can.
And you know, exactly vice versa.
You know, when we win, I am overthe moon.
And so I think it you want to bea part of the team and you want
to be able to tell the story of winning at the highest degree, I
think you got to be 100% into it.

(44:29):
Yeah. What are your chances of success
you think if you guys get in there and making that happen,
getting the gold? There's not a doubt in my mind
that we'll have somebody from this team win gold.
Yeah, that's a lot of confidence, man.
I like it. I don't think that it's I, I

(44:52):
don't know who I would be if I didn't believe that.
I mean, if I, I don't think there's any reason to doubt
that. And you can say like maybe
you're being a little bit too proud or too like overconfident
or something like that. But why?
Why should I not be? You know, I want them to win and
I believe in them. And I mean, if I, if I doubt

(45:16):
them, then I don't know. I feel like there's, there's
something, there's a bigger, bigger, there's a bigger thing
happening, you know, within me maybe that like I don't fully
believe in them. So no, I believe in them and I
want it so badly. And sometimes I feel like I want
it more than they do so. I'm getting a little bit of that
injury with that. I mean, that's not a bad thing.

(45:38):
That's that's a rare thing to have somebody take, you know who
Jocko Willikas, Willikas I I would imagine Navy SEAL.
He has this book, I think it's Jocko that has this book about
extreme ownership. So it's this whole concept of
you take extreme ownership of everything, the wins and the
lose, the losses, whether or notit was your direct hand that

(46:00):
affected it or not. And so having people on the team
that can do that, like that's, that's an invaluable skill that
you can't really, I guess you can teach someone that, but
they're not necessarily born with it.
And it takes experience and hardwork overtime, which it sounds
like you got a lot of that from your dad.
I would say your mom, too, but especially your dad in the way
that he conducts himself, like sitting you down, talking about

(46:20):
your future in the car. Like, not many sons, I think,
have those conversations with their dad.
So, like, that's super cool. But it looks like that that's
one of the things that kind of pushed you in this direction of
extreme ownership. Yeah.
Yeah. And so, you know, I think, you
know, not only has my dad taughtme to work hard, but I mean, my
my mom has definitely played a equally impressive and

(46:44):
meaningful role in my life. And, you know, just like my dad,
I wouldn't be where I am withouther.
Yeah, you know, she has. I think I related a lot more to
her when I was maybe more my juvenile years, but my dad is
much more focused on, on the ball.

(47:05):
He's got his eye on the ball. And my mom, she smells the
roses. And so my entire viewpoint on
life of enjoying the little moments is 100% for my mom.
She grew up in a small town in, in California in Bishop, CA and
she used to ride her horse to school.
And so you know, and she is, shewas a, she was a wild heart.

(47:27):
And you know, I wouldn't be in triathlon if it wasn't for her.
And that's, that's definitely when I said I'm a dancer in the
theoretical sense that I live freely, it's definitely because
of her. So it's a, it's an equal bond of
good work ethic and being creative and smelling the roses

(47:49):
and enjoying the the fruits of life to incredibly influential
people. Yeah, there's an important piece
of life. If you can't enjoy where you're
at right now or the things you've just experienced, then it
kind of it cheapens them. So you got to definitely have
that, which is awesome that you have that.
But I'm curious also along the lines of the work that you have

(48:10):
to do and thinking about, you know, going into 2026, what's
taking up the most mental bandwidth for you right now?
Planning and scheduling for sure.

(48:31):
Yeah, very bad at it. My girlfriend likes to tell me
I'm bad at it too. So I, I try, I do my best.
I try to make a schedule. I try to stick to the schedule.
I try to be timely. I like, I like, I wish so badly
that I had this skill set of being like, OK, I'm gonna work
on this for one hour. And then I'm gonna work on this
for two hours. And then I'm gonna have lunch

(48:52):
and then I'm gonna go to the gymand I'm gonna be back.
I'm gonna do this for an hour, Do that for an hour and be just,
you know, really on the ball with getting exactly what I need
to get done in a timely fashion.But no, no, no, no, no.
I start working on a video five hours later.
I should probably do that other thing, but I'm kinda hungry and
I should work out. So I'm gonna go to the gym and
then eat and then, well, I'll dothe other thing later.

(49:14):
And then I'm up at like 2:00 AM still working.
I'm like, no, if I just, if I just planned this better and
stuck to the plan, maybe I wouldsleep more.
I would eat on time, I would go to the gym on time, I would get
all my stuff done much more timely.
And so it's a constant mental battle of like, bro, you got to

(49:35):
stop. You got to stop messing around
with all this other stuff. So what can you?
Do. What can you do to make that
happen? What?
What's in the way of like you planning?
Is it lack of time? You don't know when to do it.
You don't know how to do it. I think it's just me.
I think I'm, you know, I'm my I'm my biggest enemy when it
comes to keeping to the schedule.

(49:58):
You know, I have, I have two planners over there.
I have thousands of notes in my phone.
I have reminders set every single day.
My entire Google Calendar is completely chock full.
You know, so I have ChatGPT thatgives me notifications every
single day. That what you know, what things
that I've told it to remind me to do, you know, I've made

(50:18):
dozens of plans and timelines and to do lists and all sorts of
stuff and I'm still, I'm still all over the place.
So I I you know, I don't know where the answer is, but maybe.
You need to hire an assistant, huh?

(50:38):
I don't know, maybe, maybe, maybe somebody to just stand
behind me and, you know, smack me upside the head when I'm
screwing around. Yeah, how are you sleeping?
You know, with my eyes closed. Sorry.
What is the quality of? Your I don't know.

(51:00):
I don't wear my Apple Watch whenI sleep so I can't tell you.
When you do you go. When you go to bed, is your mind
is your mind going or? Oh yeah, Oh yeah, I'm terrible.
I mean, I'm, you know, I'm watching YouTube until I fall
asleep. You know, I got my got my phone
right there. And so, you know, what's
actually really great is that when I say at my girlfriend's
house, she doesn't let me do that.
And so cuz we have to talk about.

(51:23):
Gonna put a ring on it. No, no, no, no, I'm 23.
I'm, I'm not, I'm not looking for marriage, but she's great,
very impressive person. And so, but she we like to talk
a lot, especially like when we eat, we have to talk.
And so like, personally, like lunchtime, lunchtime is a time

(51:46):
where I watch my YouTube video and I eat my sandwich when she's
here, No. None of that.
Conversation. So getting back to sleep.
I don't know. I always, I think I'm really
good at going to sleep, but I think I get woken up pretty
easily. So I don't know how much REM
sleep I'm getting. But like sleeping on an

(52:08):
airplane, no problem. Sleeping in the car, no problem.
I've fallen asleep at dozens of movies, concerts, sporting
events. So it doesn't really seem to
matter like where it is. But like, maybe the quality of
sleep is not the greatest. I don't know.
How are you sleeping? Lately it's been OK.
I would say I get plenty of likesleep, but in terms of like the

(52:31):
quality of sleep, I've always struggled to get the deep sleep.
And I think it's, I'm a light sleeper, but I'm pretty
convinced that it has to do withwhat's going on in my conscious,
subconscious of just kind of processing through things.
I consider myself an entrepreneur.
I have to be very careful about the number of things that I
number of irons I stick in the fire because while I do have

(52:52):
somewhat of a skill of juggling,when there's so many of them
going on, that means that up here, they're all being thought
about or planned for. And like there's just a lot
going on. So I have to make sure to keep
things at Bay and certain times a day, turn certain things off.
Like if I see a Slack notification after a certain
time and it has any level of stress attached to it, it's like

(53:12):
I have to go do that thing rightnow, whether it's at 9:00 PM or
whatever, to get out of the way in order to, like, exit it from
my brain. So a lot of that mentality can
affect how I sleep. I haven't figured out a way to,
like, make it super. I don't know.
I haven't figured out how to completely disconnect.
I mean, I do disconnect at a certain time, but it still
follows me into my dream states,into my subconscious.

(53:35):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
I don't know if that's going to leave.
Yeah. I mean, like, I, I mean, I
definitely don't think that's going to leave for me.
Yeah. You know, the constant thinking
about the next thing and like, you know, what you need to do
and what you got to do and what you want to do.
Yeah. I don't think that's going to

(53:55):
leave for me anytime soon. It hasn't.
It hasn't left my dad, that's for sure.
So I'm OK with it not. Yeah, Yeah.
We'll see. I don't know.
I want to push back on that a little bit because I think that
there's a season to everything. You're 23, you're single, you're
traveling the world doing this job that requires a lot of your
attention and and discipline to get it done and a lot of time

(54:18):
and arguably like hours that arepretty ungodly.
But at the same time, like that's the season you're in.
You love doing it. If I was 23 and in your shoes, I
would love doing it as well. I do believe that if as we get
older as man, I don't know how old your dad is, but I have
observed some of the more successful people who I would
deem successful, not necessarilyin monetary success, but in are

(54:38):
do they have a good marriage? Are they, do their friends like
them? Do they have good friends?
You know, whatever. A lot of those men have found a
way to be at peace amidst the storm.
And I mean like real peace whereif we probably put on a sleep
tracker, they'd probably sleep pretty well.
So I don't know exactly what that looks like.
I don't have the answers. But if you ever figure it out, I
expect you to tell me so I can figure it out.

(55:00):
OK, OK. I see.
I see what you mean. I see what you mean there.
Yeah. OK.
I can agree with that. Yeah.
So, you know, you're talking about planning, getting ready
for 2026. There's a lot coming down the
Pike. 2028's going to be here intwo years.
And I mean, it's like not very far away.
What is something that you want to see growth in yourself for

(55:23):
this next year? Growth in myself, growth in
myself. So I'm assuming that probably
cannot be like, I don't know, going or Instagram followers
like another couple thousand or times 1000 that's going to.
Happen no matter what bud. So I mean if you want to use
that One Cup voucher. Growth in myself?

(55:48):
Yeah, I don't know. Yeah.
Getting better at planning. Yeah.
I feel like it was a lot better at, like, reaching out to the
people that I used to be closer with, you know, old friends, you
know, reaching out to my grandparents more often,
reaching out to my family members more often, seeing what
they're up to, you know, replying to their texts instead

(56:11):
of just leaving them unread. Not a good thing to do, not a
good trait. Yeah.
So I'd say yeah, getting better at time management.
Yeah. I don't know how I'm going to do
that, but yeah, I want to do that so bad.
For a guy who struggles with making a plan, coming up with a

(56:33):
plan of how to execute planning.Yeah, yeah.
Which, you know, being the fact that being a planner is not my
strong suit, it really makes me have trouble with directing.
So like if I need to like shoot a video that has like structure,
right, that has like a directionthat it has to go into,

(56:56):
especially like an ad man, that is so hard.
I feel like if I'm shooting a race super easy, no stress, none
very good. I feel like I'm very good at it
and I feel like I know exactly what to do when it, when it
comes to coming up with a shop list and coming up with a

(57:17):
storyboard and coming up with, you know, how's it going to
look, how's it going to feel? And I feel like I come up with
the idea and I see it in my mind.
But putting it into a physical representation is hard, man.
That's super hard. So yeah, I wish I was better at
that. Do you think?

(57:38):
I was going to ask you, do you think it's hard because it's
just not your personality and you're not necessarily the as
much of the visionary as you arethe executor or do you think
that's false? That's a good question.
I think, I think there's, there's some disconnect between

(58:02):
the two. I haven't figured out how to put
them together entirely. Like I, I feel like I'm pretty
good at coming up with the idea and selling the idea, but then
like I said, putting that idea to paper to print, there's a
disconnect between the initial creation and the physical

(58:27):
creation of the thing of whatever it is I'm making.
So. So which makes you more excited,
this or this? The first is I'm coming to you
and I'm saying, hey, Trevor, we're going to do this video
with John Reed and Ryan Bolton and we're going to highlight,
you know, whatever aspect of therelationship and something

(58:48):
they're working on. Here's your shot list.
Here's the storyboards. Let's look at it for 45 minutes,
however long you need, and then you go and do it.
Or is is that sound more attractive than hey, I want you
to like showcase Ryan and and John doing this thing.
I don't really know how, but youknow, make a video out of it.
Like which one are you more excited to go towards?

(59:14):
Yeah, I, I like, I like the first one to a degree.
I think it's really important tohave structure when you're a
client, you know, giving just total reins to the to the to the
artist can lead to problems. I think in the sense that it's
like, OK, I don't know what I want, so I'm just going to give

(59:37):
you the reins and hopefully you'll make what I want.
That I mean, that doesn't really, that is just doesn't
really make a lot of sense because there's such a large
chance that you make it and it just isn't what they had in
mind. But the problem is they didn't
tell you what they had in mind. So to a degree having structure,

(59:57):
but definitely not complete freereign, Yeah, at least for me.
Yeah, good answer. I like the hypotheticals.
I'm trying to get to understand you.
What are some of the like biggest inner critic voices that
you have you think? Yeah, I'd say the biggest one

(01:00:21):
is, you know, it's, it's the same like 2 sentences or not 2
sentences, but like 2 phrases. It's what are you doing?
Try harder. And yeah, I'd say those are,
those are by far the most critical things that I think of
myself often, you know, or, or you know, why are you not better

(01:00:48):
like you like, you know how to do this?
You've done it before. Why is why are you not the
person that you think you are? Yeah.
If I may pry on this, where? Go ahead.
Where do those come from now? Who told you those things when
you were younger? Where do you think you felt
that? I think it honestly comes from

(01:01:14):
myself. I think, you know, I grew up in
a really great family that oftengave me praise.
You know, like you are good, Youyou like the things that you do
are fantastic. This is the best I've ever seen
and I see it in the graph on like relatively often.
It's amazing to get compliments saying like this video is
amazing. You're the best videographer
I've ever met. And so that's that's fantastic.

(01:01:36):
I really enjoy those compliments, but it is it's, you
know, somebody's got to keep youin check.
And so it's it's definite, I think, I think almost all of it
stems from being put on a pedestal, like being told that
I'm so great. I got to tell myself I'm not.

(01:01:56):
And so also Instagram, Instagramdoes a really good job of that.
I think it does for everyone in any kind of creator space.
You go on Instagram and you justsee people that are better than
you and seemingly every single way and like you scroll and
you're like, dude, I can't do that.
I don't know how to do that. I can't make that.
Like, why can't I make that? I don't know how I can't make
that. I have the gear to do it, but I

(01:02:16):
still can't do it. What am I doing?
That is not what is what am I doing that's different from
them? Why am I doing it different from
them? And so it's, it's a thing where
you it's a, it's an app to look for inspiration.
But so much of the time, insteadof finding inspiration, you find
out in yourself. So it's kind of a frustrating

(01:02:40):
situation, for sure. That is frustrating, yeah.
But just striving for greatness,you know, just want to be
better. When someone comes up to you and
they say, hey, I really appreciate like how you did this
video or whatever, Maybe it's the right recap video.
Hey, I really like how you laid that out.
And they say that was a really good job.

(01:03:01):
Do you believe them? Yeah, yeah.
I mean, yes, I do. But there's always going to be
the voice in my head saying likethey're only saying that because
they don't know what's better. Like, you know what's better,
but they don't. So it's great that they think
that you're amazing, but you know that it could be better and

(01:03:23):
you know that there's other people that are better than you.
Do you think it's possible that you could stand up ever to that
inner critic and be like, actually hold on?
Because if you create the pattern now I'm wondering if you
will suddenly wake up one day. You're 33, you're pretty damn
good at what you do, and somebody's still coming up to
you and saying, hey, that was really good job.
And you're like, no. Yeah, I don't know.

(01:03:49):
I mean, I guess he'll attack that problem when it becomes the
time. But at the moment, I think that
it's not a unhealthy thought process.
It may be hypercritical, but at the end of the day, I try to be
a perfectionist in the work thatI create.
Yeah. And so I don't, I don't feel

(01:04:12):
like it's unhealthy. And I I've never, you know,
really gotten down on myself. I've never like had like, I
guess depressive states is I think that's pretty hard for
every single person. Sure.
Like, I don't think I've ever been depressed.
Yeah. In sense of like, depression is
a thing that lasts a long time. So it'll be, like, for maybe an

(01:04:38):
hour. Yeah.
Like, oh man. What brings you out of it?
Yeah. Also myself, I think it's like a
it's interdaddle. I look, I look at it and like,
OK, dude, like, well, cry about it.
I don't know, like pull, pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
That's, that's definitely how I was raised in it.

(01:05:01):
And I know that, you know, that's maybe not a healthy state
for for different people, but for me, it works really well.
Yeah. And so dwelling on things that
make you upset or make you sad, I feel like it's just a waste of
time. Yeah, no, I would agree.
I think you had to process through things and it takes some
time, whether it's an hour or sometimes even a few days,

(01:05:23):
depending on the severity of whatever The thing is you're
feeling or experience. But yeah, dwelling.
I think the greatest form of selfishness, actually, this is
going to be an unpopular opinion, but I think the
greatest form of selfishness is actually depression because by
very definition, it's like it's kind of this self woe vision
that you just constantly have over and over again.

(01:05:45):
And you know, I say that I had afather who was very depressed,
took his life when he was when Iwas 16 from that.
But at the same time, it's like whether it was clinical, you
know, though it was clinical andhe had like some very real
chemical chemistry problems. I don't think I had the answers
for all this yet and I don't have a limited understanding,
but I think that even still, I call it what it is, a lion to

(01:06:07):
lion when it roars like selfishness, the selfishness of
like that, those depressive states that we can get him by
viewing Instagram and going on and on and on.
It's like it kind of puts us back in that place to kind of
remind us, oh, we're not as goodas them.
We're not as good as looking as them.
We're not as fast as them. We don't take as good vote
photos or videos of them. Yeah, I think it's I think it's
super interesting, But that's really admirable that you're

(01:06:29):
able to pick yourself up and be like, tap to make that click
happen. Like, oh, I need to do something
else or find something else to be thankful for.
I think that's like one of the big things for me that helps me
to click out of those moments. It's like, hold on, this might
be a hard moment, but you make your own hours.
You're getting paid to do what you do.
Whatever, you know, like, yeah. Yeah, yeah, to continuing on

(01:06:53):
that point, you know, when you asked originally, like how big
of a role does Christ play in your in your life?
And I think that in the sense offorgiveness, it is that is a
driving factor in my life. Easily the top three things
that, like motivates me is forgiveness.
You know, having the forgivenessof yourself, having the

(01:07:15):
forgiveness of others. And, you know, if someone makes
a mistake, I think it's important to recognize, you
know, that whatever they did wasmaybe not the correct thing to
do or whatever it is. But also having the humility to
realize that, you know, everyonedeserves forgiveness.
Absolutely. Yeah.

(01:07:37):
What's the hardest thing you ever ever had to forgive?
Oh man, dude I don't know. Hardest thing I've ever had to
forgive. That's a crazy question.
Welcome to the Stupid Questions podcast man.

(01:08:00):
Man, not therapy or something, Idon't.
Know did I lose him right as I'masking that?
Oh no, I can still hear you. OK, no, I can hear.
You. Yeah, Yeah.
OK. Yeah, I don't know.
I don't think I have an answer for that.

(01:08:20):
That's OK, I'll have you on again around 2 and you better
come with that because I'm goingto ask it again.
OK, OK. Yeah, and that's good.
The reason I ask is because whatthe, the amount of, I think that
it, there is a correlation between your ability to forgive
and the amount of people on earth that you can love.
Because if you can forgive someone for the like, the the

(01:08:41):
greatest atrocity that you can even think up, if you can truly
forgive that person and see the humanness in them, then you
could arguably say like, yeah, I, I could love or I do love
everyone here on earth. But there's plenty of things
that's hard to forgive people for.
Excuse me. And but, you know, and I think
it, it also tells us what we would forgive ourselves for, you

(01:09:02):
know? Yeah, yeah, totally.
Well, Trevor, I really appreciate you taking the time.
Let me ask all these questions of you.
I will say, just because I enjoyed it when people said this
kind of thing to me when I was alittle bit younger in 21/22/23,
you are much wiser than I was at23.
So I'm very excited for your future.
You're doing some pretty awesomestuff.

(01:09:24):
Thanks. Yeah, man, you do good work.
It's very beautiful. And make sure to link the show
notes and your recap video so people can check that out over
at Project Podium on your stuff.Yeah, Yeah.
But I'm excited for you. I'm happy you.
Have good parents. I'm excited for your future,
truthfully. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much. And just to, you know, just to
end this, I, I was, I was, I wasvery surprised when you reached

(01:09:47):
out to me to to say the least, you know, when I had looked at
your, your account and, you know, heard people talk to you,
it was very much like coaches and athletes predominantly.
And so like what? What made you reach out to me?
Yeah, I like reaching out to anybody who I find is
interesting. So I had a podcast with Ryan
Bolton and afterwards we were talking about all kinds of

(01:10:09):
different stuff, just about things that they've got going
on. Some things I'll tell you off
air as well. But he brought your name up and
he's like, yeah, there's this guy Trevor.
He's been doing such an awesome job with the project podium
thing. You know, I'd love to somehow
figure out how to do something at that here with the high
development team sometime, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Anyway, he mentioned your name and I was like, oh, I should

(01:10:30):
reach out to him. And I knew you were connected
with Parker, obviously. And I've had Parker on and a few
other guys from Project Podium over the years.
And so I was like, Oh yeah, I'lldefinitely reach out.
And I loved your stuff. And so it cure it drove my
curiosity. So I won't have anybody on
unless they I'm like curious about them.
So you sparked my interest. Yeah.
Sweet. That's good.
That's good. Awesome.

(01:10:51):
Yeah, yeah, dude. Cool all.
Right. Thank you.
Thank you so much. This is my first podcast so I
hope I did OK. Nah, you did great, man.
You did great. I ask hard questions.
See. Awesome.
Thank you. Awesome.
All right, that's a wrap. Really good conversation with
Trevor. If you guys listen to this
podcast regularly, you may pick up on the pattern that when I

(01:11:11):
talk to younger guys, especiallywho are doing something cool, I
often try to affirm them and be like, hey, when I was 21, I was
23. When I was 20, whatever.
My life was not great and was not doing smart things, but you
are doing a lot of those. So I always try to offer that
affirmation up because when I was 21 years old, when people

(01:11:31):
who I looked up to in any sort of a way said those kind of
things to me that affirmed me and what I was doing and trying
to figure out life. I honestly think it impacted me
for the better and helped me to figure out just the path before
me on how to make something of myself other than just being a
deadbeat and doing nothing but playing video games and doing
some drugs. So yeah, I really thankful to be

(01:11:52):
here. Really thankful for Trevor,
really thankful for the network I've been able to build with
this podcast. And most importantly, I'm
thankful to you guys who listen because without you, this would
be, it wouldn't be the same. It wouldn't be pointless.
I don't want to say that becauseall the networks and connections
I've made are super impactful. But again, I don't know if

(01:12:13):
people would be as interested ifit wasn't a growing thing.
So thank you for being here and making this possible for little
owe me. So whenever this comes out, it's
already past Thanksgiving. But I do want to say a Merry
Christmas to you soon. A few more episodes to round off
this season and then be taking abreak for all.
But yeah, appreciate you guys and we'll catch you in the next
one. Peace.

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#200 - Trevor Witt, Social Media Manager for USAT Project Podium - Behind the Lens: The Trevor Witt Story

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}#200 - Trevor Witt, Social Media Manager for USAT Project Podium - Behind the Lens: The Trevor Witt Story