July 23, 2024 • 70 mins
Key Takeaways:
- Don't stare at what you fear. Focus on moving through it.
- The life changing, paradigm shift of fire walking.
- What doesn't challenge you, doesn't change you.
Dave Albin's journey from addiction to becoming the leading firewalk instructor in the US is nothing short of awe-inspiring. Imagine deciding to turn your life around on a fateful day- of which feels like your lowest point, only to find purpose through Tony Robbins' "Personal Power" program. That's exactly what happened to Dave, the founder of Firewalk Productions, who has since used his experiences to inspire thousands, helping them face their fears through the ritual of fire walking.
Dave's Firewalk Adventures
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kertia (00:00):
Recently, I spoke with Dave Albin, who's known as the
number one firewalk instructorin the US, having worked with
Tony Robbins for over 19 years,and he tells an empowering story
of tenacity and resilience and,briefly touching on his early
struggle with addiction, it issuch a reminder of how life can
(00:23):
unfold for us when we get inalignment with our purpose.
Dave has facilitatedfirewalking for thousands of
individuals, helping them tomove through their fears.
So if you're up for thechallenge, check out Dave's work
at Firewalk Productions.
Dave (00:52):
So that's quite a show you've got there.
Kind of um aligns with mycareer, that's for sure you know
, I know you're you'readdressing um fear.
Yeah, so I spent three decadesshowing people how to deal with
fear.
So, yeah, it should be a funinterview.
Kertia (01:08):
So all right, let's get into it, dave Sure.
Dave (01:13):
Rock and roll.
Kertia (01:13):
So you're the number one firewalker expert in America,
right?
So I'm really curious to knowwhat that journey was like,
leading up to you becoming afirewalker, because that's not
something like I can't imagine.
I haven't heard a lot of peoplesay they aspire to be a
(01:37):
firewalker, right.
That is something that usuallythe people that I know that has
gotten into it.
It's something that they fellinto unexpectedly along your
journey, so I'm really curiousto know what that journey was
like what it entailed for you.
Dave (02:04):
And it literally started in 1988.
In 1988, I woke up.
In June of that year.
I was pretty messed up.
I was grossly addicted toheroin and cocaine and alcohol
and making a lot of bad choices,hanging around with a lot of
(02:27):
wrong people, and I don't knowwhat it was about that
particular day on June 8th 1988,but I said that's it, I'm done,
I can't do this anymore.
I was in a lot of physical pain, a lot of emotional pain, and
so I decided that that day wasit.
(02:51):
That was the breaking point forme, and I'm contemplating
taking my own life that day.
Well, I'm married to a womanwho's got three kids.
They were my stepkids and Iloved them dearly.
And I remember thinking you know, if you take your own life,
guess who's got to clean it up?
They do.
I was living in the basement,they were living upstairs, and I
(03:14):
remember thinking, no, youcan't do that, that's wrong,
you're going to ruin their life.
And I didn't even know whatPTSD was back in those days, but
it certainly would have causedit for them.
And I just remember thinkingall the hell that they would
have to go through if I was totake my own life.
So I was like OK, so you can'tdo that, so what are you going
(03:36):
to do?
You need help.
So I ended up callingAlcoholics Anonymous.
And you know, kershaw, what'sinteresting about that moment
was I didn't even know who AAwas.
I had no references right, I'dnever been to a meeting.
I didn't know anybody in AA.
I didn't know any of that.
Yet there was the thought callAA.
Kertia (03:57):
Wow.
Dave (03:59):
And I did.
And I got this wonderful womanon the phone and over the years
I've affectionately nicknamedher Madge.
And the reason I did is becauseshe talked like this.
You know, she probably smokedtwo packs of Pomo non-filters a
(04:19):
day, so her voice was real raspy, but what a sweetheart.
You know, she was thegatekeeper, so her job was real
raspy, but what a sweetheart.
She was the gatekeeper, so herjob was to interview you.
Her job was to ask you theright questions and if you
answered them correctly, shewould call somebody to come get
you.
Kertia (04:37):
Yeah.
Dave (04:38):
And that's what she did.
And so I went to my first AAmeeting on June 8th of 1988.
And it stuck.
I've never had a drink or adrug since, and what happened
was at the same time I wasgetting sober.
I was up late at night all thetime because my sleep patterns
(05:01):
were all over the place.
Kertia (05:03):
Yeah.
Dave (05:04):
And there he was, you know , late night.
Gunthy Ranker back in the 80s,a young, vibrant Tony Robbins,
is selling his program PersonalPower.
And he did it on an infomercialwith Gunthy Ranker.
And I'm listening to the guyand, quite candidly, I didn't
like him.
I thought he was a pompous ass.
(05:25):
To be candid with you Right, Idid not, I didn't like him at
all.
But he said a couple of thingsthat got me.
The first thing he said waswe'll do more to avoid pain than
we will to gain pleasure.
And I went whoa, dude, are youtalking to me?
I mean, because that's why Iwas doing drugs and alcohol.
(05:49):
I was either running from painor I was chasing some pleasure,
and so that resonated with me.
The next thing he said that gotme was how we as humans make
decisions.
We make them out of inspirationor desperation, and I went well
(06:09):
, okay, well, you've got to betalking to me now, and that
desperation really hit home withme and so right, so he got me,
and so I I called up.
Yeah, I called and ordered theprogram.
It was called Personal Powerand you did it at home and it
(06:32):
came in a big box and it came onthese little white things
called cassette tapes.
Yeah Right, some of yourlisteners are going to go what
are?
those Go to the Smithsonian.
They're there, they're rightnext to 8-track and reel-to-reel
tapes.
So, anyway, kershaw, I pluggedhim in, I did what the man
(06:54):
taught me to do and it worked.
And so this was in 1988.
Well, one of my buddies in AAwas watching me really closely
and he's like so, dude, what'sgoing on with you?
You've got this realmotivational, inspirational side
to you.
And what's going on?
I go well, I've been listeningto this guy named Tony Robbins,
(07:18):
and my buddy goes I know whoTony Robbins is.
I bought his book but I neverread it.
Yeah, and I went well, howoften does that show up in your
life?
And so I said look, I'll tellyou what.
I'll loan you my program.
You can borrow it If youpromise me you're going to
listen to it and go through it.
He said I promise, and so hedid.
(07:39):
He went through it and hecalled me back.
This was in 88, 89.
Kertia (07:47):
Yeah.
Dave (07:48):
And he called me in 1995.
And he said hey, man, did youknow that Tony Robbins is coming
to town?
And I'm like, no, I had no clue.
And he said dude, come on, yougot me into this.
We got to go see this guy.
And I went sure, I'll do it.
Yeah, I'd love to go see TonyAbsolutely.
And he's like great, let mecall you back, I'll make all the
(08:10):
arrangements.
So he called me back like anhour later and he said done, we
pick up the tickets at Will Call.
And here's what they told us todo Number one bring water.
You've got to hydratethroughout this four-day event.
Bring snacks, because you'regoing to spend a lot of time in
(08:30):
the room.
And then he said be ready toplay full out and bring a good
attitude.
I said okay, how much was theticket, dan?
He said $695.
In 1995.
Kertia (08:43):
Wow, that's a lot of money.
Dave (08:46):
What, yeah, what's that worth today?
Like 1.1, 1.2 million?
I mean right, it's crazy.
Kertia (08:55):
That's a lot.
Dave (08:56):
Right, it was.
You know, buy Bitcoin, right?
So, um, yeah, the big day came.
Oh, by the way, let me back up,I almost forgot.
He goes the same thing to me.
He's like hey, by the way,before you get off the phone,
let me tell you the mostimportant part we're going to be
doing a fire walk.
What does that mean?
(09:20):
I don't know what that means.
I've never heard the term firewalk in the same sentence.
Yeah, I don't know what thatmeans.
I've never heard the termfirewalk in the same sentence.
Yeah, I don't know what thatmeans, but it didn't sound like
anything I wanted to be doing.
I can tell you that becausefear is like controlling my life
, yeah, and fear to me at thatpoint is forget everything and
(09:40):
run.
So, no, I'm not doing thefirewalk now, but I'm not saying
anything to my buddy.
In fact, I'm not doing thefirewalk now, but I'm not saying
anything to my buddy.
In fact, I'm doing the opposite.
I'm like oh, yeah, sure, dan,firewalk.
Yeah, sounds interesting.
Sure, no problem, all right,brother, see you then hung up
the phone and went no, no,that's not just, it's a hell.
(10:07):
No, as a matter of fact, I'mnot doing this firewalk thing.
Well, the big day comes and weget there and tony takes the
stage at two o'clock in theafternoon.
We're with 3 500 people at thisevent and the next thing we
know it's after midnight.
We've been in a room with tonyrobbins for 10 hours oh my god
(10:31):
yeah, um, in fact, when theytold you, you know, drink a lot
of water, uh, make sure youhydrate and bring snacks.
Well, yeah, otherwise you'llstarve to death.
Kertia (10:43):
Oh, my goodness.
Dave (10:48):
So 10 hours later we're in the room.
Tony goes, take your shoes off,and I'm like oh no, no, no, no,
no.
I see where you're going withthat pal.
You're not tricking me by thistime.
I know what's going on.
I know what the firewalk isright.
Kertia (11:04):
Oh my.
Dave (11:05):
God.
So he's explaining itthroughout those 10 hours, and
so I'm like I'm not taking myshoes off.
I got a problem though my buddythat I'm with and the other
3,500 people guess what they'redoing?
They're taking their shoes off.
They're taking their shoes offand I'm like people, no, don't
(11:26):
fall for it, you know, don't gotowards the light.
It's kind of a thing.
And so now I got a dilemma whatam I going to do?
Yeah, not take my shoes off,and everybody's going to know,
going out there, the guy thatstill has his shoes on.
Hey, look at that guy, he's a,he's a coward, right?
So I'm like all right.
So here's the plan Take yourshoes off and when you get out
(11:48):
there, go hide in the back,ditch your buddy which should be
pretty easy to do and then gohide in the back.
Nobody's going to know.
Well, other than you, otherthan me, right?
So that's my plan.
You know, you go out there and3,500 people it was pretty easy
to navigate and, you know, losemy buddy, which I did exactly.
(12:12):
I went, I went in the back.
Well, I've got a huge problem.
Number one when Tony haseverybody going out there, he's
got them clapping and chantingLike yes, yes, yes.
3,500 people are chanting I'mwalking out there going no,
(12:33):
uh-uh, ain't going to do it.
No, I'm not, I'm not going todo this.
Yeah, maybe you are, but I'mnot.
Well, it gets worse.
He's got African drummers.
Kertia (12:47):
Oh nice.
Dave (12:48):
Oh, it really is nice, because when you get out there,
it's dun-dun,dun-dun-dun-dun-dun.
Kertia (12:53):
You can't resist that.
You can't resist that.
Dave (12:57):
Well, you can and you can't.
I can't, I'm still not doing itright.
But you're right.
The vibration, everybody'schanting.
How do you walk?
3,500 people?
How do you fire walk 3,500people?
Well, you start in the middleof the day and you build a big
(13:18):
fire.
And there's this huge fireburning and you know, they build
a pit.
It's probably 35 feet long, 70feet, excuse me, 35 feet wide,
35, 70 feet long, yeah, and theyjust keep adding wood to it all
day long.
Well, at the end of the nightit renders and you have this big
, giant pile of blue coal.
(13:39):
So what they do, kershia, isthey take wheelbarrows over to
that pit and they load the coalsin a wheelbarrow.
Kertia (13:50):
Yeah.
Dave (13:50):
And then they bring a wheelbarrow in between two lanes
of sod of grass.
Yeah, and it's about you know.
Three feet wide, 18 feet long.
Kertia (14:00):
Mm-hmm.
Dave (14:01):
And they just take a flathead shovel and they
sprinkle those coals on top ofthat grass.
It's called a fire lane.
Kertia (14:09):
Yeah.
Dave (14:10):
And that's what you walk on.
Well, you know, I found my wayto the back.
I'm hiding out because, again,nobody's going to know.
Well, Tony Robbins knows thatthe firewalk experience is
probably, without a doubt, themost life-changing paradigm
shift experience any human willever go through.
(14:30):
It's been around a thousandyears.
Cultures all around the worldhave used firewalking for years
for a lot of different reasonsRite of passage reasons, right
right of passage marriages,births of children, graduations,
you name it.
So he knows that if you don'tfire walk that you're not gonna
(14:55):
participate in the paradigm shipyeah so what's he do?
he also knows there's peoplelike me.
He knows we're hiding out inthe back.
So what's he do?
Right, so what's he do?
You might see this coming hetrains people to come find you.
So there I am, minding my ownbusiness, thinking I got it all
(15:18):
figured out, hiding out in theback.
Here comes this guy out ofnowhere and he makes eye contact
with me and then once he didthat, he wouldn't take his eyes
off.
He got 15 to 20 feet from meand he's looking dead into my
eyes and he's kind of looking atme funny, like you know, when a
(15:40):
dog hears a funny noise yeahtwist their head.
Well, that's how he's looking atme and all of a sudden he goes
hey man, are you okay?
And when we're not okay, whatdid I do?
I lied I'm like yeah, sure, I'mfine, no problem here, move
(16:01):
along, pal.
He probably saw the panic.
Yeah, right, he's got me.
And as soon as I said that, youknow, hey, I'm fine, no problem
, move along, he went right forthe kill shot.
He's like so, hey man, are yougoing to walk tonight?
And I'm like absolutely not,like duh.
(16:24):
Why do you think I'm hiding inthe back, you fool.
And all of a sudden he goes hey, man, that's no problem, we
don't want you to do anythingyou don't want to do.
Yeah.
And I went oh, okay, this guy'sgoing to get me out of here.
No, he's not, he's setting meup.
(16:48):
Because the next question heasked me was well, wouldn't you
at least like to watch?
And I thought, sure, why not?
Let's watch these idiots burntheir feet off, yeah.
And so I said sure, and well,you know, you can't see anything
from back here.
I'm a hundred yards away, right?
(17:10):
I got 3,500 people standing infront of me.
Yeah, the drums are going,people are chanting, people are
already firewalking when theyget to the celebration in there,
jumping up and down andscreaming and celebrating.
I mean it's intense.
And so he goes look, just getin line Right, and eventually
(17:33):
you'll get up there.
Kertia (17:35):
Yeah.
Dave (17:36):
Okay, I took the bait, I got in line and I'm kind of
walking along and the next thingI know, another stranger comes
up to me and he whispers in myear and he says he knows when
you're ready.
When he says go, you go and pew.
This guy just disappeared intothe night.
Kertia (17:58):
Oh, my God.
Dave (18:00):
And I'm like what do you mean?
What are you talking about?
What do you mean?
He knows when you're ready,when he says, go you go.
What does that mean?
Right, I don't know what thatmeans.
And so I'm kind of walkingalong and all of a sudden I get
to a point where I can't see infront of me.
I got a thousand people infront of me, but I can see at an
angle and Kersaw, they're doingit.
(18:25):
They're firewalking every race,every creed, every color.
They're doing it.
And my mind is going why arethey doing this?
What's wrong with them?
We're mammals.
We're taught to run from fire,not walk on it.
Kertia (18:39):
Yeah.
Dave (18:40):
And so now I'm just, I'm mesmerized, I'm, you know, I'm
like staring at the car wreckthat we're not supposed to look
at Right, and I'm staring at itand I'm moving along and boom,
next thing, I know, guess whereI am?
Kertia (18:54):
It's your turn.
Dave (19:01):
My turn.
I'm at the front of the lineand I'm saying to myself how the
hell did you get here?
And so I'm.
I'm looking down at the firelane.
Right.
It's three feet wide, 18 feetlong.
The coals are on the top yeahthey're glowing bright red.
The wheel barrels there.
You can feel all the heatcoming off.
My heart is beating so hard I'mpretty sure it's going to jump
out of my chest man and there'sa trainer standing right there
(19:26):
and all of a sudden the trainergoes eyes up.
Oh okay, that's right, keep youreyes up.
10 hours in a room with TonyRobbins.
What did he teach me?
Keep my eyes up, don't stare atwhat I fear.
Hmm, interesting metaphor.
Don't stare at what you fear.
And all of a sudden the trainergoes, squeeze your fist and say
(19:47):
yes, and I went yes.
And he went stronger and I wentyes.
Well, he could tell.
He could tell that I wasleaving a lot on the table.
I was not in a peak state.
So he got in my face andscreamed at me Stronger and I
(20:10):
threw my fist in the air andsaid yes, and he goes.
Go, go, go, boom.
I took off.
Remember the guy.
He knows when you're ready,when he says go, you go.
Kertia (20:24):
Yeah.
Dave (20:25):
I went, I fell for it.
Well, tony positions two guysat the end of the fire lane to
catch you.
Kertia (20:34):
Yeah.
Dave (20:35):
And they catch you and it's like stop, wipe your feet
and celebrate.
And now I'm celebrating like alittle kid at Christmas.
I just walked on coals 1,000degrees.
Have no idea how I did it, butI did it and I was successful.
And, I might add, I didn't burnmyself.
Kertia (20:54):
Amazing.
Dave (20:57):
And it was, without a doubt, one of the most
exhilarating moments of myentire life.
It was phenomenal.
And I will tell you, in thatmoment, when you're down there,
with 3,000 people jumping up anddown, screaming, celebrating,
it's exhilarating.
Yeah, in fact, I'm like, hey,where's the bus?
(21:20):
Let's go get on the bus.
And you know, let's go to MountEverest, people, and go climb
it, because literally, you know,let's go to Mount Everest,
people and go climb it, causeliterally, that's what you're
experiencing.
Kertia (21:30):
Yeah.
Dave (21:30):
Here's where it gets.
Here's where it gets reallyinteresting.
And to your question, you knowhow did I get to this
firewalking position that I amwas the next day.
This is a four-day event.
That was day one that night.
Now we're on day two.
The next morning you got 3,500people pretty fired up, getting
(21:52):
ready to go into the venue,standing in the foyer, and I've
never seen or witnessed anythinglike it in my life.
I've never seen people getalong like this because they're
laughing, they're communicatingat a really high level.
Um, uh, you know, some of themare crying, they're hugging,
(22:14):
they're connecting, they'retalking about the firewalk,
they're talking about theirfears.
It was a beautiful thing toexperience that next morning.
Well, later in the event, I metone of Tony's trainers, a guy
(22:36):
by the name of Ted Macy, him andhis wife, mary.
Incredible people, super, superpeople.
And I'm just talking to Ted andI asked him.
I said so what's it like beingin this environment on a regular
basis?
He goes dude, it's absolutelyphenomenal because we are who we
(22:57):
spend time with.
And so, um, I'm just talking tohim and he said hey, by the way
, you see those people standingover there with the black shirts
and the pink writing on theback, I'm like, yeah, he goes.
Dude, those are volunteers,they're people just like you.
They came to an event and filledout the application and we
brought them back to helpfacilitate these events.
(23:17):
So when you get home, callRobbins Research, ask them for a
crew application.
They'll send it to you and then, who knows, maybe you'll get
chosen.
Yeah, well, that's exactly whatI did.
Nice, oh yeah.
(23:37):
And so you know, like nineweeks after I sent that letter
in, I got a letter in the mailthat said Dave Albin,
congratulations, you've beenselected to crew with the
Anthony Robbins Companies.
Well, there I was, man, my footwas in the door, and when you
fill out the application it'spretty extensive.
They want to know quite a bitabout you.
So they found out I had amilitary background.
(23:59):
They found out I had a securitybackground.
They saw I lived on a farm.
Found out I had a securitybackground.
They saw I lived on a farm.
So I knew what a log splitteris.
I know how to split wood, Iknow what kindling is.
I know the difference betweenhickory and oak and locust and
these different types of woods.
So they did two things.
One, they put me on thesecurity team to help take care
(24:21):
of Tony's celebrities and theyput me on the fire team because
I had the experience of beingliving on a farm and that's
where I found the home.
That's where I was like okay, Ilove doing this.
And I started right, I startedlearning all the logistics of
being on the fire team.
The challenge was I wasspending my own money to get
(24:45):
there, so I was.
You know I was dropping 1500bucks every time I went.
Well, my wife at the timewasn't real thrilled about that,
you know, cause she didn't knowanything about Tony Robbins.
Who's this Tony Robbins guy?
I don't but.
And you're spending 1500 bucksevery time you go.
Kertia (25:02):
That's a lot at that time.
Dave (25:04):
It was $95?
Yeah, yeah.
So they ended up offering me asubcontractor's position, which
meant they paid my way, theypaid my airfare, they paid my
hotel, they gave me a per diemfor food.
And they also did somethingreally smart they gave me a free
(25:25):
ticket for my spouse.
So I got to take her, and whenshe graduated on day four, uh,
we were walking on the beach andshe goes okay, I get it, I
drank the kool-aid.
This.
This guy's pretty awesome.
If you want to roll with him,you go ahead.
(25:45):
As long as you're going to payyour way and pay us a small
salary and pay your food andyour hotel and airfare, we're
good.
And so that all happened in 96,97.
Kertia (26:02):
Yeah.
Dave (26:03):
In 2003, moving this forward, robbins offered me the
captain's position, and whatthat meant was I would take over
all of Tony's firewalksglobally.
Oh right, so that was prettycool, and because I was
(26:24):
homeschooling my kids at thetime, they paid for my kids to
go on the road with their dadand their mom and travel around
the world with Tony Robbins.
Kertia (26:38):
Oh my God, that's so good.
Dave (26:41):
In fact, yeah, the first event for my family and kids was
Sydney, australia, that is sick.
Right, yeah, I mean pray forthem, right.
I mean, my kids were prettyabused, so it was a beautiful
thing.
So that happened in 2003.
In 2005, we set the worldrecord in London.
(27:07):
We firewalked 12,300 people andthat was the largest group that
had ever been walked today, in2005.
Now I do want to disclose I saya world record, but Guinness
Book of World Records was notthere, However still the biggest
(27:28):
firewalk in our planet'shistory 12,300 people.
Kertia (27:33):
That's amazing.
Dave (27:34):
It was so.
That happened in 2005 in London, and then in 2014,.
I'm driving down the road andmy phone rings, and it's a
company called Google.
Maybe you've heard of them.
Kertia (27:52):
Yep.
Dave (27:52):
Yep, and they're like hey, are you the Dave Albin that
does the firewalks for TonyRobbins?
Yeah, what can I do for you?
Well, if you're not under anycontractual obligation or
non-compete, we'd like to talkto you about hiring you.
Okay, well, homeboy's, a freeagent, what you got.
(28:15):
And they ended up hiring us,hiring me, and that's really
when the light bulb went off.
And that's really when thelight bulb went off.
I recognized that that was apretty significant phone call.
In fact, one of the executivesthat was at the event set me
(28:36):
down when we were at lunch andwe were having a conversation
and she said hey, dave, listen,I'm not here to tell you what to
do, but you may want to thinkabout starting your own business
.
And the reason is is corporateAmerica will be all over you.
They will eat you alive,because this is exactly what a
(28:56):
company is looking for aparadigm shift, something where
you can take a whole group ofpeople and you can change their
lives collectively as a group.
Pretty phenomenal, and weresearched you.
We know who you are.
You're at the top of your game.
So, again, I'm not telling youwhat to do, but you may want to
(29:19):
think about starting your ownbusiness, and so I did.
2014, bar Walk Productions wasborn and you know no pun
intended, but we've been goinghot and heavy ever since.
Kertia (29:32):
That is an amazing, incredible journey.
Like and the way you told thestory was cracking up, because I
could literally imagine thepanic in your whole body
language.
Dave (29:51):
Oh, and there was a lot of panic.
Trust me, it's hilarious.
Kertia (29:57):
But you know that is such an incredible life-changing
experience.
How did that change youpersonally?
You know, I know it opened up alot of doors for you, right,
working with Tony Robbins,google, and then I know you also
worked with NASA, heineken, awhole slew of companies, right,
yeah, but how did that changeyou?
(30:19):
You know your mind, internally,your heart.
What did that do for you?
Dave (30:27):
Well, I realized that I had this skill set to really
affect people in a profound way,I mean literally changed their
lives forever, and so I justfelt an incredible
responsibility, if you will.
(30:48):
You know, aa taught me,alcoholics Anonymous taught me
early on.
You know, you have the 12 stepsthat show you how to put your
life back together.
You have the 12 traditions thatshow you how to put your life
back together.
You have the 12 traditions thatshow you how to operate within
the group.
And then in the middle, youhave what I call the preamble,
and the preamble says whenanyone anywhere reaches out, I
(31:10):
want the hand of AA to be there,and for that I'm responsible.
So when new people would walkin the door, I knew their life
was on the line.
So again, it's a tremendousresponsibility, and that kind of
spilled over into the wholefirewalking thing, because I
realized that the experienceitself has been around for over
(31:34):
a thousand years and culturesall around the world have used
it for incredibly magicalmoments, from everything from a
graduation to manhood womanhoodmarriages yeah.
(31:55):
Yeah, all of it Right of passageBig time.
And so there I was, at the topof my game and I realized, hey,
if Google's going to call you,then who else can you do
business with?
And then, shortly after Google,I was at NASA, like you said,
notre Dame, chick-fil-a,virginia Tech, remax, microsoft,
(32:21):
heineken, the YMCA I mean everylevel, everything from a junior
high school to Fortune 100companies were getting a hold of
you, getting a hold of us.
And you know, we recently justmade another big turn in what we
(32:44):
do.
I was on a podcast a couple ofmonths ago and I got interviewed
and I got asked a question andthe question was have you ever
done a firewalk for veterans?
And I said, you meanspecifically?
And she said yeah, and I go no,why?
And she said well, you know, wehave 200 vets, uh, for this
(33:06):
gala event and we'd love to talkto you about doing the firewalk
for them, because we believeit's not only a life-changing
but it's a life-savingexperience and you know, the
suicide rate amongst veterans isreally high.
Kertia (33:24):
Yeah, very.
Dave (33:25):
And I said, yeah, it's like what I heard 22 a day.
And she said, no, that's noteven close, that's only if they
leave a note.
What yeah, they only count itif they leave a note.
What yeah, they only count itif they leave a note.
So it's closer to mid fortiesto fifties.
Every single day, men and womenare taking their life and I
(33:47):
went okay, you got me.
I'm a vet, I was raised by avet, I grew up during the
Vietnam era.
Lots of friends and family thatwe lost to Vietnam.
What can I do?
I'm in, I'm all into health.
Kertia (34:00):
Yeah.
Dave (34:01):
And so we literally scheduled our first event in
Modesto, california, april 12thand the 13th.
We just did it, and so we wentout to Modesto and the uh, the
Rotary Club, the, the SunshineRotary Club, sponsored us and we
(34:22):
had a couple of corporationsthat came out and sponsored it
C3 Insurance out of San Diego,the American Weed Company, who's
creating a cannabis productspecifically for depression and
PTSD and veterans, and they'redoing an incredible job and they
(34:43):
have a heck of an uphill battlebecause it's cannabis, it's
been demonized.
Kertia (34:50):
Yeah.
Dave (34:51):
And so I'm like well, what would you rather have your
loved one on Cannabis orfentanyl?
Pretty easy decision, if youask me.
So, anyway, we went, we did it,we pulled it off.
It was absolutely phenomenal.
Uh, we had a really, reallygreat time.
And now that we've done thefirst one, we've got the model,
(35:14):
um, we're going to, uh, do themall over the country.
So, you know, corporate Americahas been really, really good to
me.
They, you know, they've hiredme and I come in and create this
incredible experience and youknow it brings people back
together.
It unites people.
(35:34):
When you take a group of peopleand they firewalk together, it
connects them in a way that'sunbelievable.
And so now corporate Americacan hire us and it's a nonprofit
, so they can hire or make adonation.
I should say to Operation Do noHarm, and then Operation Do no
(35:56):
Harm will hire FirewalkProductions, and then we come in
, we create this incredibleexperience for the participants
and we do all the work, we doall the heavy lifting, and then
that company that hired us getsall the credit Right, gets all
the credit Right, and so theycan bring their employees and it
(36:19):
creates a magical experiencefor that group that you know
that company or group of whoeverand, yeah, it was absolutely
magical.
So now that we got our firstone under our belt, we've got
calls coming in to do more ofthem.
So we're in a position rightnow where we're pretty sure this
(36:44):
is going to go viral, becauseit's already starting to show
signs that it's going to do that.
And so the other thing we didwas we know veterans there's a
high suicide rate there.
But there's three othercategories as well.
One of those is firstresponders.
Kertia (37:05):
Yeah.
Dave (37:06):
High suicide rate there, especially amongst firefighters.
And then single moms and thenkids that have been abused and
neglected.
So now we have four categories.
So a company can come in and gohey, you know, we're this
company here and we makeplaygrounds, so we'd like to do
something with kids and singlemoms.
(37:28):
Another company could come inand go hey, we're, you know, we
want to do first responders orwe want to do vets, or both at
the same time.
We had vets and firstresponders at our event in
Modesto.
So now again, a company cancome in and hire us and make a
(37:50):
donation right, it's a completewrite-off for them.
And then again they just hireFirewalk Productions, and
Firewalk Productions comes inand takes care of everything.
So that's what we did inModesto, and now we're talking
about doing one in Colorado,we're talking about doing one in
Annapolis for a bunch of NavySEALs, and so we're real excited
(38:13):
that you know we're at thispoint where we can go save as
many of these men and women'slives as humanly possible.
Kertia (38:24):
That is just incredible.
I'm so, so happy that it's allcoming together Like everything
is like full circle for youright now.
That is amazing.
Dave (38:35):
For sure.
Kertia (38:36):
You know, you mentioned that you yourself you dealt with
addiction.
You started drinking andexperimenting with drugs at a
very young age, right.
So, of course it is expected,starting out that young, that it
would be much easier for you todevelop an addiction issue and
(38:57):
you've managed to be sober for areally long time.
How many years is it this year?
Dave (39:04):
This year it'll be in June it'll be 36 years 36 years.
Kertia (39:08):
So you know, I'm just thinking about this journey that
you've been on and I'm justlike you know your journey being
sober and everything thatyou've experienced.
You know your journey beingsober and everything that you've
experienced.
You know working with TonyRobbins, the firewalk and the
opportunities that werepresented to you Because of that
(39:29):
.
I can imagine how important allof that was as well, playing
into your journey, just stayingsober and staying on the path.
Dave (39:37):
Yeah, well, you know, I had a lot of help.
Kertia (39:41):
Yeah.
Dave (39:42):
AA is really, really good in that regard.
They were fantastic.
They took care of me from thefirst day that I showed up and
they knew I was sick.
They knew I was hurting really,really bad, and so they just
latched on to me and they cameto my house.
They knew I was hurting really,really bad, and so they just
latched onto me and they came tomy house, they picked me up,
(40:02):
they took me to lunch, they tookme to meetings.
They made sure I was workingthe steps.
They made sure I got a sponsor.
They made sure I had theliterature so I could read at
night when I'm home.
It resonated with me, it worked.
Um, it just.
It resonated with me, it worked.
You know, I've said before I'veonly, I've only really felt at
(40:26):
home in a couple of places.
One was an AA meeting.
The other one was a gringy,crappy little bar somewhere in
the middle of nowhere where Icould go in the back and hide
out and drink.
And so it just.
Aa just opened me up to lifeand the possibilities.
And again, you know, I gotsober and the personal
development industry kind ofcollided in my life at the same
(40:49):
time, and so that's why it wassuch a transitional part of my
life?
Um, cause, it was like bothright, I had the best of both
worlds or I was an AA.
And you know when somebodywalks in the door of AA.
You know, like I said, thepreamble says, when anyone
anywhere reaches out, I want thehand of AA to be there, and for
(41:11):
that I'm responsible, that's me.
So I took that to heart and soyou know that dynamic.
And then the personaldevelopment industry.
It just took over.
Kertia (41:27):
Yeah.
Everything just kind of alignedfor you.
Dave (41:30):
It was what.
Kertia (41:31):
Everything just came into alignment.
Dave (41:34):
Yes, yeah, oh yeah.
On many occasions, going wayback into my childhood, same
thing.
Kertia (41:44):
Yeah.
Dave (41:45):
Because I was adopted when I was five years old, a couple
of months before I was born.
My biological father we're notreally sure what happened,
grisha he hurt his head.
And in 1954, they put a plate inhis head to save his life.
Well, it also took his life.
(42:05):
Oh no, a lot of pain, a lot ofpain.
And he complained to mom allthe time about the pain and
saying things like I'm not surehow long I can take it.
And so, two months before I wasborn, he turned to mom and said
I'm going to the grocery store.
And we never saw or heard fromhim again.
So we don't know what happened,but mom seemed to think that he
(42:30):
definitely took his lifebecause he talked about it a lot
.
So when I was born, I was bornto a single mom.
She already had two boys fromanother man and they were living
.
We were all living in aone-bedroom apartment.
I had another cousin and mygrandmother, so there were six
of us living in a one-bedroomapartment.
And mom was working up thestreet at the Roosevelt Hotel,
(42:54):
nice hotel.
She had a decent job.
She just couldn't feed sixpeople.
So when I was five, she went toher older sister, pat, and said
Pat, I can't feed David, willyou adopt him?
And Pat and Bob Albin said yeah, absolutely.
And they did so.
They moved me from Hollywood toLong Beach, california, and
(43:18):
everything was great.
It was fantastic for many years, until the first day of summer
1964.
Literally the very first day ofsummer I'm sitting in the TV
room watching, probably,cartoons, eating Cap'n Crunch or
whatever cereal I'm eating.
Mom comes and gets me and shesaid, david, come into the
(43:40):
kitchen.
Your father and I need to speakwith you.
Kertia (43:42):
Yeah.
Dave (43:43):
Now what I think is going to happen is she's going to tell
me where we're going campingthat year, because we did a lot
of that.
We went to Yosemite and BigBear and Yellowstone I mean, we
went all over the place, yeahand she sets me down, down, and
I'm like here and dad's here andmom's here, and she puts her
hand on my arm and she goesDavid, what we need to tell you
(44:05):
is we're not your parents.
What, what do you mean?
What, what does that mean?
That's like taking somebody outand saying yeah, I know the sky
looks blue, but it's not reallyblue.
Yeah, looks pretty blue to me.
Kertia (44:23):
The confusion right oh yeah, big time.
Dave (44:26):
What do you mean?
You're not my parents.
And then she even went on totell me she goes, by the way,
your Aunt Dean, yeah, she'sactually your biological mother.
She gave birth to you.
And I was like, I don't evenlike her, and you know why?
Because she was.
(44:47):
I thought she was weird.
Yeah, because every time shewanted to be around me, or that
every time she was around me,she was, was around me.
She wanted to sit next to me,she wanted to put her arm around
me, she wanted to hold me, shewanted to hug me.
Well, duh, I'm her son, nokidding.
And, by the way, it was neverinappropriate, it was just she
(45:12):
overshadowed me with love andaffection, because she only got
to be around me, you know,during certain times.
Poor thing, yeah, exactly.
And so I grew up with that.
Well, and then, shortly afterthey told me this, both of them
started drinking and that's whenmy life went boop, hard turn.
(45:32):
What's going on here?
And so things got bad.
What's going on here?
And so things got bad.
You know, pat, when she woulddrink she was more of a I call
her kind of a happy drunk.
She'd pass out at the kitchentable.
She wasn't mean, bob Bob.
On the other hand, bob Albin,no, he was mean, he was violent.
(45:55):
And so I had to start livingwith that and I became a
gatekeeper for both of them.
No-transcript, pat would driveme to the bar and I'd have to go
in and go get my dad, and itwas ugly, it wasn't fun, and
again, he was pretty violent.
(46:16):
So they went to the store oneday and when they left I knew
where the booze was and I'm likewhat is this stuff?
Well, let's find out.
And I'm 11 years old and I tooka coffee cup and I poured it
into a coffee cup.
I knew where they were hidingit.
They were hiding it in plainsight and it was brandy, big old
, half gallon of it, poured itinto the coffee cup.
Kertia (46:39):
You drank the brandy.
Dave (46:42):
I drank a half a glass or a half a cup of brandy in a
coffee cup and you know whatKershaw.
I never had a chance.
I believe I was an alcoholicright on the spot.
I started acting out right thenand I was 11.
(47:02):
By the time I was a junior inhigh school.
They kicked me out.
They brought me into theprincipal's office and said
Albin out, you're a danger toour school.
And I was.
They did the right thing andthe good news was, when they
kicked me out, I had anentrepreneurial spirit.
(47:24):
It was, like you know, when Iwas in high school it wasn't
like I was learning anythingthat was going to make me money.
I didn't believe that I learnedhow to make money when I was a
kid.
Like one job I had, I was apaper boy seven days a week, so
the paper would drop the papersoff underneath the San Diego
freeway overpass and we would gothere because it was dry.
(47:48):
And we would load our papersinto our saddlebags and then we
would ride our bikes and wewould throw them and deliver our
papers and of course, you hadto collect the money.
You had to knock on doors whennew people moved in.
It was a business, you were anentrepreneur.
I lived across the street froma golf course and here's what I
(48:09):
learned about golfers early onthey suck, they're horrible and
they would hit balls over thefence.
And I'd get on my bicycle andgo ride the perimeter and guess
what?
I'd find Golf balls and I'dtake them home and clean them.
Then I'd go back to the golfcourse and in the trash where
the clubhouse was, the box thatthe new balls would come in,
(48:32):
they threw them out.
Well, I'd take them and thenI'd take the balls that I found
and I'd put them in these boxesand I'd organize them.
Kertia (48:41):
You know Titleist, Max Fly, Dunlop, Wilson's and I'd go
back to the parking lot on thegolf course and you probably
know what I did.
Oh my God.
Dave (48:52):
I love that, that's resilience right there.
Yeah, I sold golf balls back tothe golfers.
Kertia (48:58):
Oh, my goodness.
Dave (49:00):
And mom grew beautiful flowers in the backyard.
Let's keep in mind my parents,I believe, were the greatest
generation of all time.
They went through World War II,they went through the Great
Depression.
Kertia (49:12):
Yeah.
Dave (49:13):
They were some of the most resourceful kick-ass people on
earth, and mom knew how to doeverything.
You name it Cook clean, sew,grow flowers, grow food.
You know she could do anythingshe had to.
She was the oldest of sevenkids and so, yeah, she grew
(49:33):
beautiful flowers.
Well, she would arrange themfor me, she'd go and cut them.
She had a beautiful eye forcolor and when she would take
the flowers, she'd cut it at thebottom, at an angle, at an
angle, and that opened up moresurface area for the flower to
get water.
Kertia (49:50):
Yeah.
Dave (49:51):
And then she'd arrange them, put a rubber band around
them, put them in a bucket, putwater in it and then she would
put a splash of 7-Up in thatwater and that caused the
flowers to outlast the florist3-1.
So it must be something in thesugar in the 7-Up that would
cause those flowers to outlivethe florist.
(50:14):
So she sent me out on thestreet corner.
I learned how to negotiate withadults at a young age selling
flowers on a street corner, andhere's what I learned Women
would never negotiate Ever.
How much are you charging?
50 cents, a bundle Boom.
Here you go, kid.
I want two Men wanted tonegotiate all the time.
(50:37):
Let's beat up the kid, so true.
Right, and I would negotiatewith the men.
I'm like, no, they'd offer meless than I was asking yeah, and
I would say no, no, they'doffer me less than I was asking
yeah, and I would say no.
And they'd say, well, why not?
And I'd say, because the nextguy that pulls up will pay me
what I'm asking, yeah, so whywould I give them away to you?
(51:00):
You're a smart kid.
Here's two bucks, you know.
So if I gave them good reasonsand stuff, sometimes they'd pay
me more than I was asking.
Women never did that.
Kertia (51:12):
Women never did that, they just what do you?
Dave (51:14):
how much you want?
Great here's, here's, I'm goingto pay you what you're asking.
But men would try to negotiateyou, and when you wouldn't you
know cut them a deal, they'd payyou more, which I thought was
interesting too.
Yeah, so the bottom line is,when I got kicked out of high
school, I was like I don't care.
Kertia (51:33):
Yeah.
Dave (51:34):
They're not teaching me anything that's going to make me
money.
Kertia (51:37):
You already had practice at life, man.
Dave (51:40):
I had practice at life.
I you know I was anentrepreneur.
Here's what I learned early onas a kid there's money out there
, go get it.
And so that's just carried onmy entire life.
Kertia (51:53):
That is amazing, like just thinking about everything
that you're talking about.
It's a really specialexperience because you literally
get to witness people in amoment of panic, high anxiety,
and then, on the other side, youget to see them overcome all of
that, overcome their fear, andwork through that.
So what has it been like?
(52:15):
What are the reactions onpeople's faces?
In your body language?
What do you notice?
When people have done the walk,have been through it and
they've gotten to the end of theline, what is that like for
them?
Dave (52:32):
Well, you know, their whole life changes in four
seconds.
Yeah, I mean, when they'restanding in front of the fire,
it's fight or flight.
Yeah, Fear is like at anall-time high and you're
watching them.
And then there's like thismoment, this moment of reckoning
, where they go boom, and youknow we help them along the way.
(52:54):
When Tony's got them in insidefor 10 hours, obviously he's
doing his job.
When they get outside, there'sa trainer there to help with
that process.
There's people you know, like Isaid, to come up to you and say
you know, he or she knows whenyou're ready, when they say go,
go, and then they disappear.
So you've got that implanted inyour head a couple of minutes
(53:15):
before you actually firewalk.
Kertia (53:17):
Yeah.
Dave (53:18):
And then they're watching everybody else do it.
Typically, there's three typesof people that firewalk.
There's ones that go nope,ain't doing it.
No, thank you, that was you,that's me, that's this guy.
And then you've got the otherpeople that go.
You know what I'm going to dothis?
I'm going to watch Kershaw, andif she does it, then I'll do it
(53:41):
.
Kertia (53:42):
Yeah.
Dave (53:43):
Right, you wait for somebody else.
And then you got the otherpeople that come out there and
go I'm doing it.
They're just going to pushthrough that fear and again, it
is one of the most life-changingexperiences ever and we know
that because the next morning welook at them.
You got 3,500 people that comeinto the venue on day two after
they do the firewalk and youwant to see them.
(54:04):
Their confidence level, theirself-belief, their
self-confidence, theirself-worth is raised up.
And it's done as a group.
So you moved as a unit andthat's the beauty.
That's why people hire me isbecause if they want to
influence the entire company,then the firewalk experience is
(54:27):
a way to do it.
We also do the board break.
So I combine two reallypowerful experiences.
So we take a board it's amartial arts move.
They do it in dojos all aroundthe country and I have them
write something on front of theboard they want to move towards.
I have something they writesomething on back of the board
they need to move away from, andthen I have them write anything
(54:50):
on the board anybody's name onthe board that they've lost,
yeah.
And then I have them writeanything on the board if
something they need to move awayfrom.
And then I also have them writeanybody's name on the board
that they're in conflict with.
So if forgiveness orreconciliation is part of that
(55:11):
relationship, then I have themwrite that on the board as well.
So then they break the board,we go outside, they do the
firewalk, they throw the boardinto the fire, I do a heart hug
at the event, which putseverybody together and their
hearts start beating at the sametime.
(55:32):
Yeah, so I do that like sixtimes with the whole group and
the next thing, you know, theentire group's heart are beating
at the same time.
So we do that.
And so again, I'm trying tocreate one of the top 10
experiences in their life.
Kertia (55:48):
Yeah, it's really life-changing because you know
there's just so much that wehave to work through.
But when you do thatcollectively, as a group.
It's so impactful.
Dave (56:01):
Yes.
Kertia (56:02):
Right, Extremely impactful.
So I can only imagine right,Because you speaking about the
experience that you had and nowjust like retelling some of the
stories of how you've also ledother people through that
experience.
When you come out of somethinglike that, your energy is just
different right.
You're all the way up here.
Dave (56:23):
And if you want to see that with your own eyes, go
Google Oprah's firewalk, you cansee it for yourself.
Kertia (56:32):
Yeah.
Dave (56:32):
Because before she walks, she's losing her shit.
I will tell you, she's all overthe place, she's scared to
death.
It's like should we do it,should we not do it?
Oh my gosh, we've got to go toAfrica, we've got this going on.
So she's looking, for all thesereasons, not to do it.
(56:56):
And then there's this moment,sherry, who's there with her,
which, who, at the time, was incharge of Harpo?
And Sherry's like come on,oprah, we need to do this.
Tony Robbins isn't going to letus get hurt.
And then, all of a sudden, shegoes you're right, sherry, come
on, let's do this.
And then Sherry's like well,wait, wait a minute.
Maybe we should think aboutthis a little more.
It was so funny.
She convinced her.
And then it was like oh my god,I went too far with it.
But then you watch her and thenshe firewalks and within four
(57:20):
seconds she goes from scared todeath.
I'm not going to do it too.
This is one of the greatestmoments of my life, and she
literally walks over and thecameras go with her and she
makes one of the biggestbusiness decisions of her entire
life right there on camera, andso that's indicative of what a
(57:43):
firewalk will do.
Kertia (57:44):
What doesn't challenge you, doesn't change you right.
Dave (57:46):
That's exactly right.
Yeah, you know, I write that, Isay it all the time, and when
you're in that type of a state,in a peak state like that,
that's the best place to makemajor decisions from.
Kertia (58:00):
Yes, yes.
Dave (58:02):
A hundred percent.
So you're way, way, way, wayabove the line, as we like to
say, and that firewalk got herthere.
So she literally started thenext chapter, which was part of
Harpo, again within a minute orso of her firewalking.
Amazing, so you can see it liveon camera.
(58:23):
You don't have to take my wordfor it, you can go watch it for
yourself.
Kertia (58:27):
I love that.
I love that.
I love that.
Thank you for reminding me ofthat.
Dave (58:31):
Well, part of the lesson is you know, you can walk on
coals that are a thousanddegrees and not hurt and burn
yourself.
So if that's the case, whatelse can you do?
Yeah, when I do my seminars, Iput a picture of a guy on the
screen behind me and his name isEric Weinmeier, and so where
(58:51):
he's standing in the world itlooks pretty obvious.
So I'll talk for 20 minutes andthen I'll say hey, by the way,
who here can tell me where myfriend Eric is standing?
And somebody in the crowd willgo Mount Everest and I'll say
that's correct.
And, by the way, eric hasclimbed the seven highest
(59:12):
mountains on earth and he got tothe top, to the summit of all
seven, and what you're seeinghere is Mount Everest.
Now, put the boy on a mountainbike and he can ride it down the
mountain.
Put him on a kayak he cannavigate it down the mountain.
Put him on a kayak he cannavigate it down the river.
But here's what you don't knowabout Eric, that you should know
(59:33):
he's blind, really.
So I don't want to hear it.
I don't want to hear yourlame-ass excuse about why you
can't do something If a blindman can climb the seven highest
mountains on this planet.
What do you think you can do?
You know.
Viktor Frankl, I think, left usone of the greatest clues any
(59:59):
human being has ever left usabout life and how to live it
and what to do.
Viktor Frankl, if you don'tknow, he wrote the book Man's
Search for Meaning and he was inAuschwitz, and here's what he
learned early on.
By the way, they assassinatedhis family.
They take everything from you.
(01:00:19):
You'd be standing outside witha bunch of other people, naked,
cold, haven't eaten in days.
And here's what you don't knowevery day Are you the next one
to go to the chamber?
You're living with that everysecond.
Imagine how stressful that is,not knowing whether you're going
to die a horrible death thatday.
And so what Victor figured outwas they can take everything
(01:00:41):
from you except one thing yourattitude.
You have to give that up, youhave to relinquish that.
And so Victor said nope, Iain't doing it.
And here's why, because someonehas to tell this story.
And so he tapped into thenumber one driving force in our
(01:01:05):
lives.
And that's purpose.
He had purpose, and that'spurpose.
He had purpose, and that's whatgot him out.
That's why he lived.
Kertia (01:01:14):
Yeah.
Dave (01:01:14):
Same thing for all your listeners.
There's the key when thepurpose is high enough, when the
why is big enough, oh, you'llfind a way.
Yeah, that's the way the humanbrain works.
And again, if a man can climbthe seven highest mountains on
this planet and he could do itblind then there's probably not
(01:01:36):
much any of your listeners can'tdo, and that goes for you and I
as well.
So, yeah, you want to changeyour life, change your story.
Kertia (01:01:49):
Yes.
Dave (01:01:50):
Because everything that happens to you, whether it's
good or bad, you assign a storyto it, you make it up, you want
to change your life, change yourstory, and so it just comes
down to that.
It's really quite that simple.
Kertia (01:02:06):
That's exactly what it is.
Dave (01:02:08):
Yeah, that's why I put a picture of Eric on the wall when
I'm doing my events.
I do it to purposely mess withtheir head.
Come on, stop.
Look, if you don't want tosucceed, don't.
But my thing is stopnegotiating with yourself.
Yeah, if you say you're goingto get out of bed at 7 o'clock
in the morning and go to the gym, then get your happy ass up and
go.
Don't negotiate with yourself.
(01:02:30):
Well, I'm just going to sleepfive more minutes.
Yeah, well, I got news for you.
That's a really bad thing andplace to get yourself.
I'm 70 years old, guess?
Kertia (01:02:44):
how many medications I'm on None Zero.
You look great, though, well,thank you.
You look great, though, well,thank you.
You look great, dave, wellthank you.
Dave (01:02:54):
That's amazing, oh shucks.
And I follow a guy, one of mymentors is a guy by the name of
(01:03:15):
Gary Brecka.
Gary's a very interesting dude.
Go look him up, go Google him.
Gary Brecka, b-r-e-c-k-hmm.
So he worked for the insurancecompanies.
So if Kershaw wanted a $50million policy, the insurance
company would say, sure, noproblem, give us your blood.
We're going to send it off toGary.
(01:03:36):
Let's take a look at what wegot.
Kertia (01:03:38):
Yeah.
Dave (01:03:43):
Gary could tell you when you were going to die to the
month.
Wow, he's that good.
And the challenge with Gary wasthe insurance company wouldn't
let him help those people,Because he could look at their
blood and say hey, you know, ifyou do this, this and this, you
could add 10 years to your life.
Kertia (01:04:00):
Yeah.
Dave (01:04:01):
They wouldn't let him do that.
So one day he went that's it,I'm done.
I quit and he started his ownorganization.
And now that's what he does.
That's it, I'm done.
I quit and he started his ownorganization.
And now that's what he does hehelps people live lives like a
superhuman.
So how do you do that?
Well, like Dave, what's thefirst thing you do when you get
(01:04:22):
up in the morning?
Make my bed First thing.
Always I go outside and whenthe sun's coming up, I expose my
upper torso to that morningsunlight First 45 minutes.
There's no ultraviolet rays.
(01:04:43):
I'm influxing and infusing, Ishould say, my body with vitamin
D.
Naturally, while I'm doing this, I do deep diaphragmic
breathing.
So I do, I take 30 breathsBecause they're really intense,
like and I do 30 of those, andit's not easy, I'm going to tell
(01:05:09):
you.
Then, after I do 30 of thoseand it's not easy, I'm going to
tell you Then, after I do 30 ofthose, I hold my breath.
I do that three times 90breaths, hold my breath three
times after each set of 30.
Kertia (01:05:25):
And I influx my body with oxygen.
Dave (01:05:26):
It's the best thing you can give your body, because
guess what?
Disease can't hang out whereoxygen's present Can't do it.
They say that cancer won'tsurvive in an oxygenated
environment, so oxygen isliterally one of the most
important things we can give ourbody.
Kertia (01:05:43):
Yeah.
Dave (01:05:44):
Then, when I'm done with that, I go to the other side of
my cabin and I do earthing,grounding, grounding, yeah.
Then when I'm done with that, Igo to the other side of my
cabin and I do earthing,grounding, grounding, yeah.
I put my bare feet on theplanet and I go put it on the
grass.
Kertia (01:05:59):
I love that you know.
Dave (01:06:00):
Yeah, it's really good for you.
Kertia (01:06:02):
So good, so good.
Dave (01:06:04):
Nine minutes every morning and then I'm doing some other
breathing and meditation.
When I do that, then I comeinto the house.
I read my 10 pages in a goodbook every day.
Want to change your life?
Read 10 pages in a good bookevery day.
10 pages a day times a year is3,650 pages.
Kertia (01:06:25):
How many?
Dave (01:06:26):
books.
Is that a year?
Kertia (01:06:28):
10?
.
That's really that a year 10?
, 11?
Dave (01:06:30):
12?
It just depends.
Do you think if you read 12really good books every year,
that might influence your life?
You think.
And then I do some soundtherapy, and then I go take my
shower.
I take a really hot shower.
I soap up, do everything likewe all do, and then at the end I
(01:06:51):
turn it off and I set a timerfor three minutes and I take a
cold shower.
Now I live in the AppalachianMountains.
The mountain water coming intomy cabin is 57 degrees.
That's pretty cold, yeah.
And when it hits me in the facein the morning it takes my
(01:07:13):
breath away, literally.
Oh my gosh, yeah, I do it everymorning and I've been doing it
for over a year.
Kertia (01:07:21):
Yeah, I heard that cold baths are really good for you.
Dave (01:07:24):
They're super good.
Kertia (01:07:25):
Yeah.
Dave (01:07:26):
I was on a podcast here a couple weeks ago and the guy
goes hey, dave, let me ask you.
So when you do those coldshowers, it gets easier, right?
And I'm like, no, no, it doesnot.
It takes my breath away everytime.
My body doesn't like well, itdoes like it, but I don't like
it because it doesn't feel good,it takes you out of your
(01:07:49):
comfort zone, especially whenyou've taken a really hot shower
.
So you went from hot to coldand so, yeah, stand there for
three minutes with cold waterpouring on you at 57 degrees.
But what it does for your body?
Because it takes all yourcapillaries and your veins and
arteries and it causes them toconstrict and it moves all the
blood to the inside to protectyour vital organs in your brain.
(01:08:12):
And then your liver releases anenzyme, yeah, and it pushes
inflammation out of you likecrazy.
Yeah, you're right, it's super,super good for you.
Kertia (01:08:23):
And your metabolism too.
Dave (01:08:25):
Yeah, and, by the way, those are all free.
Not one of those things.
If you listen to Gary and gostudy what he teaches, that's
free.
Go outside and breathe thediaphragmic breathing that's
free.
Go expose yourself to thesunlight that's free.
Go put your feet on the planetbarefooted that, and then you
(01:08:47):
know your cold water.
Now I'm lucky.
I live in the appalachianmountains.
I live at 3500 feet.
I've got mountain water cominginto my cabin, yeah, so I get to
shower and drink mountain wateryeah, look at you yeah, look at
me, go look at you, dave, Ilove it.
Mountain water out of a masonjar.
Don't ever, ever, ever, ever,ever, ever, ever drink tap water
(01:09:10):
from a municipality, everPeriod.
And I can talk for 45 minuteson your show.
I won't.
Kertia (01:09:22):
We yeah.
Dave (01:09:23):
Right, and I don't drink water out of plastic containers
if possible.
Right, and I don't drink waterout of plastic containers, if
possible.
So when I'm traveling, if I canfind water in a glass container
, then I know that the plastichasn't leached into the water,
because when water gets to 120degrees in, a plastic bottle.
Kertia (01:09:45):
Guess what happens.
Dave (01:09:46):
It leaches into the water.
Okay, I don't want to drinkthat, because I know that water
is one of the most importantthings that we do every single
day.
Our bodies are 70% water.
Kertia (01:09:58):
Yep.
Dave (01:09:59):
So do you think the quality of the water that you
drink might be important?
Kertia (01:10:05):
You think?
Dave (01:10:06):
Absolutely so.
Anyway, that's Kershaw, that'smy story and I'm sticking with
it.
Kertia (01:10:18):
As always.
Thank you so much for listening.
We love your feedback, so keepthem coming and continue to
support the show by sharing withyour friends and family Until
next time.
Recently, I spoke with Dave Albin, who's known as the
number one firewalk instructorin the US, having worked with
Tony Robbins for over 19 years,and he tells an empowering story
of tenacity and resilience and,briefly touching on his early
struggle with addiction, it issuch a reminder of how life can
(00:23):
unfold for us when we get inalignment with our purpose.
Dave has facilitatedfirewalking for thousands of
individuals, helping them tomove through their fears.
So if you're up for thechallenge, check out Dave's work
at Firewalk Productions.
Dave (00:52):
So that's quite a show you've got there.
Kind of um aligns with mycareer, that's for sure you know
, I know you're you'readdressing um fear.
Yeah, so I spent three decadesshowing people how to deal with
fear.
So, yeah, it should be a funinterview.
Kertia (01:08):
So all right, let's get into it, dave Sure.
Dave (01:13):
Rock and roll.
Kertia (01:13):
So you're the number one firewalker expert in America,
right?
So I'm really curious to knowwhat that journey was like,
leading up to you becoming afirewalker, because that's not
something like I can't imagine.
I haven't heard a lot of peoplesay they aspire to be a
(01:37):
firewalker, right.
That is something that usuallythe people that I know that has
gotten into it.
It's something that they fellinto unexpectedly along your
journey, so I'm really curiousto know what that journey was
like what it entailed for you.
Dave (02:04):
And it literally started in 1988.
In 1988, I woke up.
In June of that year.
I was pretty messed up.
I was grossly addicted toheroin and cocaine and alcohol
and making a lot of bad choices,hanging around with a lot of
(02:27):
wrong people, and I don't knowwhat it was about that
particular day on June 8th 1988,but I said that's it, I'm done,
I can't do this anymore.
I was in a lot of physical pain, a lot of emotional pain, and
so I decided that that day wasit.
(02:51):
That was the breaking point forme, and I'm contemplating
taking my own life that day.
Well, I'm married to a womanwho's got three kids.
They were my stepkids and Iloved them dearly.
And I remember thinking you know, if you take your own life,
guess who's got to clean it up?
They do.
I was living in the basement,they were living upstairs, and I
(03:14):
remember thinking, no, youcan't do that, that's wrong,
you're going to ruin their life.
And I didn't even know whatPTSD was back in those days, but
it certainly would have causedit for them.
And I just remember thinkingall the hell that they would
have to go through if I was totake my own life.
So I was like OK, so you can'tdo that, so what are you going
(03:36):
to do?
You need help.
So I ended up callingAlcoholics Anonymous.
And you know, kershaw, what'sinteresting about that moment
was I didn't even know who AAwas.
I had no references right, I'dnever been to a meeting.
I didn't know anybody in AA.
I didn't know any of that.
Yet there was the thought callAA.
Kertia (03:57):
Wow.
Dave (03:59):
And I did.
And I got this wonderful womanon the phone and over the years
I've affectionately nicknamedher Madge.
And the reason I did is becauseshe talked like this.
You know, she probably smokedtwo packs of Pomo non-filters a
(04:19):
day, so her voice was real raspy, but what a sweetheart.
You know, she was thegatekeeper, so her job was real
raspy, but what a sweetheart.
She was the gatekeeper, so herjob was to interview you.
Her job was to ask you theright questions and if you
answered them correctly, shewould call somebody to come get
you.
Kertia (04:37):
Yeah.
Dave (04:38):
And that's what she did.
And so I went to my first AAmeeting on June 8th of 1988.
And it stuck.
I've never had a drink or adrug since, and what happened
was at the same time I wasgetting sober.
I was up late at night all thetime because my sleep patterns
(05:01):
were all over the place.
Kertia (05:03):
Yeah.
Dave (05:04):
And there he was, you know , late night.
Gunthy Ranker back in the 80s,a young, vibrant Tony Robbins,
is selling his program PersonalPower.
And he did it on an infomercialwith Gunthy Ranker.
And I'm listening to the guyand, quite candidly, I didn't
like him.
I thought he was a pompous ass.
(05:25):
To be candid with you Right, Idid not, I didn't like him at
all.
But he said a couple of thingsthat got me.
The first thing he said waswe'll do more to avoid pain than
we will to gain pleasure.
And I went whoa, dude, are youtalking to me?
I mean, because that's why Iwas doing drugs and alcohol.
(05:49):
I was either running from painor I was chasing some pleasure,
and so that resonated with me.
The next thing he said that gotme was how we as humans make
decisions.
We make them out of inspirationor desperation, and I went well
(06:09):
, okay, well, you've got to betalking to me now, and that
desperation really hit home withme and so right, so he got me,
and so I I called up.
Yeah, I called and ordered theprogram.
It was called Personal Powerand you did it at home and it
(06:32):
came in a big box and it came onthese little white things
called cassette tapes.
Yeah Right, some of yourlisteners are going to go what
are?
those Go to the Smithsonian.
They're there, they're rightnext to 8-track and reel-to-reel
tapes.
So, anyway, kershaw, I pluggedhim in, I did what the man
(06:54):
taught me to do and it worked.
And so this was in 1988.
Well, one of my buddies in AAwas watching me really closely
and he's like so, dude, what'sgoing on with you?
You've got this realmotivational, inspirational side
to you.
And what's going on?
I go well, I've been listeningto this guy named Tony Robbins,
(07:18):
and my buddy goes I know whoTony Robbins is.
I bought his book but I neverread it.
Yeah, and I went well, howoften does that show up in your
life?
And so I said look, I'll tellyou what.
I'll loan you my program.
You can borrow it If youpromise me you're going to
listen to it and go through it.
He said I promise, and so hedid.
(07:39):
He went through it and hecalled me back.
This was in 88, 89.
Kertia (07:47):
Yeah.
Dave (07:48):
And he called me in 1995.
And he said hey, man, did youknow that Tony Robbins is coming
to town?
And I'm like, no, I had no clue.
And he said dude, come on, yougot me into this.
We got to go see this guy.
And I went sure, I'll do it.
Yeah, I'd love to go see TonyAbsolutely.
And he's like great, let mecall you back, I'll make all the
(08:10):
arrangements.
So he called me back like anhour later and he said done, we
pick up the tickets at Will Call.
And here's what they told us todo Number one bring water.
You've got to hydratethroughout this four-day event.
Bring snacks, because you'regoing to spend a lot of time in
(08:30):
the room.
And then he said be ready toplay full out and bring a good
attitude.
I said okay, how much was theticket, dan?
He said $695.
In 1995.
Kertia (08:43):
Wow, that's a lot of money.
Dave (08:46):
What, yeah, what's that worth today?
Like 1.1, 1.2 million?
I mean right, it's crazy.
Kertia (08:55):
That's a lot.
Dave (08:56):
Right, it was.
You know, buy Bitcoin, right?
So, um, yeah, the big day came.
Oh, by the way, let me back up,I almost forgot.
He goes the same thing to me.
He's like hey, by the way,before you get off the phone,
let me tell you the mostimportant part we're going to be
doing a fire walk.
What does that mean?
(09:20):
I don't know what that means.
I've never heard the term firewalk in the same sentence.
Yeah, I don't know what thatmeans.
I've never heard the termfirewalk in the same sentence.
Yeah, I don't know what thatmeans, but it didn't sound like
anything I wanted to be doing.
I can tell you that becausefear is like controlling my life
, yeah, and fear to me at thatpoint is forget everything and
(09:40):
run.
So, no, I'm not doing thefirewalk now, but I'm not saying
anything to my buddy.
In fact, I'm not doing thefirewalk now, but I'm not saying
anything to my buddy.
In fact, I'm doing the opposite.
I'm like oh, yeah, sure, dan,firewalk.
Yeah, sounds interesting.
Sure, no problem, all right,brother, see you then hung up
the phone and went no, no,that's not just, it's a hell.
(10:07):
No, as a matter of fact, I'mnot doing this firewalk thing.
Well, the big day comes and weget there and tony takes the
stage at two o'clock in theafternoon.
We're with 3 500 people at thisevent and the next thing we
know it's after midnight.
We've been in a room with tonyrobbins for 10 hours oh my god
(10:31):
yeah, um, in fact, when theytold you, you know, drink a lot
of water, uh, make sure youhydrate and bring snacks.
Well, yeah, otherwise you'llstarve to death.
Kertia (10:43):
Oh, my goodness.
Dave (10:48):
So 10 hours later we're in the room.
Tony goes, take your shoes off,and I'm like oh no, no, no, no,
no.
I see where you're going withthat pal.
You're not tricking me by thistime.
I know what's going on.
I know what the firewalk isright.
Kertia (11:04):
Oh my.
Dave (11:05):
God.
So he's explaining itthroughout those 10 hours, and
so I'm like I'm not taking myshoes off.
I got a problem though my buddythat I'm with and the other
3,500 people guess what they'redoing?
They're taking their shoes off.
They're taking their shoes offand I'm like people, no, don't
(11:26):
fall for it, you know, don't gotowards the light.
It's kind of a thing.
And so now I got a dilemma whatam I going to do?
Yeah, not take my shoes off,and everybody's going to know,
going out there, the guy thatstill has his shoes on.
Hey, look at that guy, he's a,he's a coward, right?
So I'm like all right.
So here's the plan Take yourshoes off and when you get out
(11:48):
there, go hide in the back,ditch your buddy which should be
pretty easy to do and then gohide in the back.
Nobody's going to know.
Well, other than you, otherthan me, right?
So that's my plan.
You know, you go out there and3,500 people it was pretty easy
to navigate and, you know, losemy buddy, which I did exactly.
(12:12):
I went, I went in the back.
Well, I've got a huge problem.
Number one when Tony haseverybody going out there, he's
got them clapping and chantingLike yes, yes, yes.
3,500 people are chanting I'mwalking out there going no,
(12:33):
uh-uh, ain't going to do it.
No, I'm not, I'm not going todo this.
Yeah, maybe you are, but I'mnot.
Well, it gets worse.
He's got African drummers.
Kertia (12:47):
Oh nice.
Dave (12:48):
Oh, it really is nice, because when you get out there,
it's dun-dun,dun-dun-dun-dun-dun.
Kertia (12:53):
You can't resist that.
You can't resist that.
Dave (12:57):
Well, you can and you can't.
I can't, I'm still not doing itright.
But you're right.
The vibration, everybody'schanting.
How do you walk?
3,500 people?
How do you fire walk 3,500people?
Well, you start in the middleof the day and you build a big
(13:18):
fire.
And there's this huge fireburning and you know, they build
a pit.
It's probably 35 feet long, 70feet, excuse me, 35 feet wide,
35, 70 feet long, yeah, and theyjust keep adding wood to it all
day long.
Well, at the end of the nightit renders and you have this big
, giant pile of blue coal.
(13:39):
So what they do, kershia, isthey take wheelbarrows over to
that pit and they load the coalsin a wheelbarrow.
Kertia (13:50):
Yeah.
Dave (13:50):
And then they bring a wheelbarrow in between two lanes
of sod of grass.
Yeah, and it's about you know.
Three feet wide, 18 feet long.
Kertia (14:00):
Mm-hmm.
Dave (14:01):
And they just take a flathead shovel and they
sprinkle those coals on top ofthat grass.
It's called a fire lane.
Kertia (14:09):
Yeah.
Dave (14:10):
And that's what you walk on.
Well, you know, I found my wayto the back.
I'm hiding out because, again,nobody's going to know.
Well, Tony Robbins knows thatthe firewalk experience is
probably, without a doubt, themost life-changing paradigm
shift experience any human willever go through.
(14:30):
It's been around a thousandyears.
Cultures all around the worldhave used firewalking for years
for a lot of different reasonsRite of passage reasons, right
right of passage marriages,births of children, graduations,
you name it.
So he knows that if you don'tfire walk that you're not gonna
(14:55):
participate in the paradigm shipyeah so what's he do?
he also knows there's peoplelike me.
He knows we're hiding out inthe back.
So what's he do?
Right, so what's he do?
You might see this coming hetrains people to come find you.
So there I am, minding my ownbusiness, thinking I got it all
(15:18):
figured out, hiding out in theback.
Here comes this guy out ofnowhere and he makes eye contact
with me and then once he didthat, he wouldn't take his eyes
off.
He got 15 to 20 feet from meand he's looking dead into my
eyes and he's kind of looking atme funny, like you know, when a
(15:40):
dog hears a funny noise yeahtwist their head.
Well, that's how he's looking atme and all of a sudden he goes
hey man, are you okay?
And when we're not okay, whatdid I do?
I lied I'm like yeah, sure, I'mfine, no problem here, move
(16:01):
along, pal.
He probably saw the panic.
Yeah, right, he's got me.
And as soon as I said that, youknow, hey, I'm fine, no problem
, move along, he went right forthe kill shot.
He's like so, hey man, are yougoing to walk tonight?
And I'm like absolutely not,like duh.
(16:24):
Why do you think I'm hiding inthe back, you fool.
And all of a sudden he goes hey, man, that's no problem, we
don't want you to do anythingyou don't want to do.
Yeah.
And I went oh, okay, this guy'sgoing to get me out of here.
No, he's not, he's setting meup.
(16:48):
Because the next question heasked me was well, wouldn't you
at least like to watch?
And I thought, sure, why not?
Let's watch these idiots burntheir feet off, yeah.
And so I said sure, and well,you know, you can't see anything
from back here.
I'm a hundred yards away, right?
(17:10):
I got 3,500 people standing infront of me.
Yeah, the drums are going,people are chanting, people are
already firewalking when theyget to the celebration in there,
jumping up and down andscreaming and celebrating.
I mean it's intense.
And so he goes look, just getin line Right, and eventually
(17:33):
you'll get up there.
Kertia (17:35):
Yeah.
Dave (17:36):
Okay, I took the bait, I got in line and I'm kind of
walking along and the next thingI know, another stranger comes
up to me and he whispers in myear and he says he knows when
you're ready.
When he says go, you go and pew.
This guy just disappeared intothe night.
Kertia (17:58):
Oh, my God.
Dave (18:00):
And I'm like what do you mean?
What are you talking about?
What do you mean?
He knows when you're ready,when he says, go you go.
What does that mean?
Right, I don't know what thatmeans.
And so I'm kind of walkingalong and all of a sudden I get
to a point where I can't see infront of me.
I got a thousand people infront of me, but I can see at an
angle and Kersaw, they're doingit.
(18:25):
They're firewalking every race,every creed, every color.
They're doing it.
And my mind is going why arethey doing this?
What's wrong with them?
We're mammals.
We're taught to run from fire,not walk on it.
Kertia (18:39):
Yeah.
Dave (18:40):
And so now I'm just, I'm mesmerized, I'm, you know, I'm
like staring at the car wreckthat we're not supposed to look
at Right, and I'm staring at itand I'm moving along and boom,
next thing, I know, guess whereI am?
Kertia (18:54):
It's your turn.
Dave (19:01):
My turn.
I'm at the front of the lineand I'm saying to myself how the
hell did you get here?
And so I'm.
I'm looking down at the firelane.
Right.
It's three feet wide, 18 feetlong.
The coals are on the top yeahthey're glowing bright red.
The wheel barrels there.
You can feel all the heatcoming off.
My heart is beating so hard I'mpretty sure it's going to jump
out of my chest man and there'sa trainer standing right there
(19:26):
and all of a sudden the trainergoes eyes up.
Oh okay, that's right, keep youreyes up.
10 hours in a room with TonyRobbins.
What did he teach me?
Keep my eyes up, don't stare atwhat I fear.
Hmm, interesting metaphor.
Don't stare at what you fear.
And all of a sudden the trainergoes, squeeze your fist and say
(19:47):
yes, and I went yes.
And he went stronger and I wentyes.
Well, he could tell.
He could tell that I wasleaving a lot on the table.
I was not in a peak state.
So he got in my face andscreamed at me Stronger and I
(20:10):
threw my fist in the air andsaid yes, and he goes.
Go, go, go, boom.
I took off.
Remember the guy.
He knows when you're ready,when he says go, you go.
Kertia (20:24):
Yeah.
Dave (20:25):
I went, I fell for it.
Well, tony positions two guysat the end of the fire lane to
catch you.
Kertia (20:34):
Yeah.
Dave (20:35):
And they catch you and it's like stop, wipe your feet
and celebrate.
And now I'm celebrating like alittle kid at Christmas.
I just walked on coals 1,000degrees.
Have no idea how I did it, butI did it and I was successful.
And, I might add, I didn't burnmyself.
Kertia (20:54):
Amazing.
Dave (20:57):
And it was, without a doubt, one of the most
exhilarating moments of myentire life.
It was phenomenal.
And I will tell you, in thatmoment, when you're down there,
with 3,000 people jumping up anddown, screaming, celebrating,
it's exhilarating.
Yeah, in fact, I'm like, hey,where's the bus?
(21:20):
Let's go get on the bus.
And you know, let's go to MountEverest, people, and go climb
it, because literally, you know,let's go to Mount Everest,
people and go climb it, causeliterally, that's what you're
experiencing.
Kertia (21:30):
Yeah.
Dave (21:30):
Here's where it gets.
Here's where it gets reallyinteresting.
And to your question, you knowhow did I get to this
firewalking position that I amwas the next day.
This is a four-day event.
That was day one that night.
Now we're on day two.
The next morning you got 3,500people pretty fired up, getting
(21:52):
ready to go into the venue,standing in the foyer, and I've
never seen or witnessed anythinglike it in my life.
I've never seen people getalong like this because they're
laughing, they're communicatingat a really high level.
Um, uh, you know, some of themare crying, they're hugging,
(22:14):
they're connecting, they'retalking about the firewalk,
they're talking about theirfears.
It was a beautiful thing toexperience that next morning.
Well, later in the event, I metone of Tony's trainers, a guy
(22:36):
by the name of Ted Macy, him andhis wife, mary.
Incredible people, super, superpeople.
And I'm just talking to Ted andI asked him.
I said so what's it like beingin this environment on a regular
basis?
He goes dude, it's absolutelyphenomenal because we are who we
(22:57):
spend time with.
And so, um, I'm just talking tohim and he said hey, by the way
, you see those people standingover there with the black shirts
and the pink writing on theback, I'm like, yeah, he goes.
Dude, those are volunteers,they're people just like you.
They came to an event and filledout the application and we
brought them back to helpfacilitate these events.
(23:17):
So when you get home, callRobbins Research, ask them for a
crew application.
They'll send it to you and then, who knows, maybe you'll get
chosen.
Yeah, well, that's exactly whatI did.
Nice, oh yeah.
(23:37):
And so you know, like nineweeks after I sent that letter
in, I got a letter in the mailthat said Dave Albin,
congratulations, you've beenselected to crew with the
Anthony Robbins Companies.
Well, there I was, man, my footwas in the door, and when you
fill out the application it'spretty extensive.
They want to know quite a bitabout you.
So they found out I had amilitary background.
(23:59):
They found out I had a securitybackground.
They saw I lived on a farm.
Found out I had a securitybackground.
They saw I lived on a farm.
So I knew what a log splitteris.
I know how to split wood, Iknow what kindling is.
I know the difference betweenhickory and oak and locust and
these different types of woods.
So they did two things.
One, they put me on thesecurity team to help take care
(24:21):
of Tony's celebrities and theyput me on the fire team because
I had the experience of beingliving on a farm and that's
where I found the home.
That's where I was like okay, Ilove doing this.
And I started right, I startedlearning all the logistics of
being on the fire team.
The challenge was I wasspending my own money to get
(24:45):
there, so I was.
You know I was dropping 1500bucks every time I went.
Well, my wife at the timewasn't real thrilled about that,
you know, cause she didn't knowanything about Tony Robbins.
Who's this Tony Robbins guy?
I don't but.
And you're spending 1500 bucksevery time you go.
Kertia (25:02):
That's a lot at that time.
Dave (25:04):
It was $95?
Yeah, yeah.
So they ended up offering me asubcontractor's position, which
meant they paid my way, theypaid my airfare, they paid my
hotel, they gave me a per diemfor food.
And they also did somethingreally smart they gave me a free
(25:25):
ticket for my spouse.
So I got to take her, and whenshe graduated on day four, uh,
we were walking on the beach andshe goes okay, I get it, I
drank the kool-aid.
This.
This guy's pretty awesome.
If you want to roll with him,you go ahead.
(25:45):
As long as you're going to payyour way and pay us a small
salary and pay your food andyour hotel and airfare, we're
good.
And so that all happened in 96,97.
Kertia (26:02):
Yeah.
Dave (26:03):
In 2003, moving this forward, robbins offered me the
captain's position, and whatthat meant was I would take over
all of Tony's firewalksglobally.
Oh right, so that was prettycool, and because I was
(26:24):
homeschooling my kids at thetime, they paid for my kids to
go on the road with their dadand their mom and travel around
the world with Tony Robbins.
Kertia (26:38):
Oh my God, that's so good.
Dave (26:41):
In fact, yeah, the first event for my family and kids was
Sydney, australia, that is sick.
Right, yeah, I mean pray forthem, right.
I mean, my kids were prettyabused, so it was a beautiful
thing.
So that happened in 2003.
In 2005, we set the worldrecord in London.
(27:07):
We firewalked 12,300 people andthat was the largest group that
had ever been walked today, in2005.
Now I do want to disclose I saya world record, but Guinness
Book of World Records was notthere, However still the biggest
(27:28):
firewalk in our planet'shistory 12,300 people.
Kertia (27:33):
That's amazing.
Dave (27:34):
It was so.
That happened in 2005 in London, and then in 2014,.
I'm driving down the road andmy phone rings, and it's a
company called Google.
Maybe you've heard of them.
Kertia (27:52):
Yep.
Dave (27:52):
Yep, and they're like hey, are you the Dave Albin that
does the firewalks for TonyRobbins?
Yeah, what can I do for you?
Well, if you're not under anycontractual obligation or
non-compete, we'd like to talkto you about hiring you.
Okay, well, homeboy's, a freeagent, what you got.
(28:15):
And they ended up hiring us,hiring me, and that's really
when the light bulb went off.
And that's really when thelight bulb went off.
I recognized that that was apretty significant phone call.
In fact, one of the executivesthat was at the event set me
(28:36):
down when we were at lunch andwe were having a conversation
and she said hey, dave, listen,I'm not here to tell you what to
do, but you may want to thinkabout starting your own business
.
And the reason is is corporateAmerica will be all over you.
They will eat you alive,because this is exactly what a
(28:56):
company is looking for aparadigm shift, something where
you can take a whole group ofpeople and you can change their
lives collectively as a group.
Pretty phenomenal, and weresearched you.
We know who you are.
You're at the top of your game.
So, again, I'm not telling youwhat to do, but you may want to
(29:19):
think about starting your ownbusiness, and so I did.
2014, bar Walk Productions wasborn and you know no pun
intended, but we've been goinghot and heavy ever since.
Kertia (29:32):
That is an amazing, incredible journey.
Like and the way you told thestory was cracking up, because I
could literally imagine thepanic in your whole body
language.
Dave (29:51):
Oh, and there was a lot of panic.
Trust me, it's hilarious.
Kertia (29:57):
But you know that is such an incredible life-changing
experience.
How did that change youpersonally?
You know, I know it opened up alot of doors for you, right,
working with Tony Robbins,google, and then I know you also
worked with NASA, heineken, awhole slew of companies, right,
yeah, but how did that changeyou?
(30:19):
You know your mind, internally,your heart.
What did that do for you?
Dave (30:27):
Well, I realized that I had this skill set to really
affect people in a profound way,I mean literally changed their
lives forever, and so I justfelt an incredible
responsibility, if you will.
(30:48):
You know, aa taught me,alcoholics Anonymous taught me
early on.
You know, you have the 12 stepsthat show you how to put your
life back together.
You have the 12 traditions thatshow you how to put your life
back together.
You have the 12 traditions thatshow you how to operate within
the group.
And then in the middle, youhave what I call the preamble,
and the preamble says whenanyone anywhere reaches out, I
(31:10):
want the hand of AA to be there,and for that I'm responsible.
So when new people would walkin the door, I knew their life
was on the line.
So again, it's a tremendousresponsibility, and that kind of
spilled over into the wholefirewalking thing, because I
realized that the experienceitself has been around for over
(31:34):
a thousand years and culturesall around the world have used
it for incredibly magicalmoments, from everything from a
graduation to manhood womanhoodmarriages yeah.
(31:55):
Yeah, all of it Right of passageBig time.
And so there I was, at the topof my game and I realized, hey,
if Google's going to call you,then who else can you do
business with?
And then, shortly after Google,I was at NASA, like you said,
notre Dame, chick-fil-a,virginia Tech, remax, microsoft,
(32:21):
heineken, the YMCA I mean everylevel, everything from a junior
high school to Fortune 100companies were getting a hold of
you, getting a hold of us.
And you know, we recently justmade another big turn in what we
(32:44):
do.
I was on a podcast a couple ofmonths ago and I got interviewed
and I got asked a question andthe question was have you ever
done a firewalk for veterans?
And I said, you meanspecifically?
And she said yeah, and I go no,why?
And she said well, you know, wehave 200 vets, uh, for this
(33:06):
gala event and we'd love to talkto you about doing the firewalk
for them, because we believeit's not only a life-changing
but it's a life-savingexperience and you know, the
suicide rate amongst veterans isreally high.
Kertia (33:24):
Yeah, very.
Dave (33:25):
And I said, yeah, it's like what I heard 22 a day.
And she said, no, that's noteven close, that's only if they
leave a note.
What yeah, they only count itif they leave a note.
What yeah, they only count itif they leave a note.
So it's closer to mid fortiesto fifties.
Every single day, men and womenare taking their life and I
(33:47):
went okay, you got me.
I'm a vet, I was raised by avet, I grew up during the
Vietnam era.
Lots of friends and family thatwe lost to Vietnam.
What can I do?
I'm in, I'm all into health.
Kertia (34:00):
Yeah.
Dave (34:01):
And so we literally scheduled our first event in
Modesto, california, april 12thand the 13th.
We just did it, and so we wentout to Modesto and the uh, the
Rotary Club, the, the SunshineRotary Club, sponsored us and we
(34:22):
had a couple of corporationsthat came out and sponsored it
C3 Insurance out of San Diego,the American Weed Company, who's
creating a cannabis productspecifically for depression and
PTSD and veterans, and they'redoing an incredible job and they
(34:43):
have a heck of an uphill battlebecause it's cannabis, it's
been demonized.
Kertia (34:50):
Yeah.
Dave (34:51):
And so I'm like well, what would you rather have your
loved one on Cannabis orfentanyl?
Pretty easy decision, if youask me.
So, anyway, we went, we did it,we pulled it off.
It was absolutely phenomenal.
Uh, we had a really, reallygreat time.
And now that we've done thefirst one, we've got the model,
(35:14):
um, we're going to, uh, do themall over the country.
So, you know, corporate Americahas been really, really good to
me.
They, you know, they've hiredme and I come in and create this
incredible experience and youknow it brings people back
together.
It unites people.
(35:34):
When you take a group of peopleand they firewalk together, it
connects them in a way that'sunbelievable.
And so now corporate Americacan hire us and it's a nonprofit
, so they can hire or make adonation.
I should say to Operation Do noHarm, and then Operation Do no
(35:56):
Harm will hire FirewalkProductions, and then we come in
, we create this incredibleexperience for the participants
and we do all the work, we doall the heavy lifting, and then
that company that hired us getsall the credit Right, gets all
the credit Right, and so theycan bring their employees and it
(36:19):
creates a magical experiencefor that group that you know
that company or group of whoeverand, yeah, it was absolutely
magical.
So now that we got our firstone under our belt, we've got
calls coming in to do more ofthem.
So we're in a position rightnow where we're pretty sure this
(36:44):
is going to go viral, becauseit's already starting to show
signs that it's going to do that.
And so the other thing we didwas we know veterans there's a
high suicide rate there.
But there's three othercategories as well.
One of those is firstresponders.
Kertia (37:05):
Yeah.
Dave (37:06):
High suicide rate there, especially amongst firefighters.
And then single moms and thenkids that have been abused and
neglected.
So now we have four categories.
So a company can come in and gohey, you know, we're this
company here and we makeplaygrounds, so we'd like to do
something with kids and singlemoms.
(37:28):
Another company could come inand go hey, we're, you know, we
want to do first responders orwe want to do vets, or both at
the same time.
We had vets and firstresponders at our event in
Modesto.
So now again, a company cancome in and hire us and make a
(37:50):
donation right, it's a completewrite-off for them.
And then again they just hireFirewalk Productions, and
Firewalk Productions comes inand takes care of everything.
So that's what we did inModesto, and now we're talking
about doing one in Colorado,we're talking about doing one in
Annapolis for a bunch of NavySEALs, and so we're real excited
(38:13):
that you know we're at thispoint where we can go save as
many of these men and women'slives as humanly possible.
Kertia (38:24):
That is just incredible.
I'm so, so happy that it's allcoming together Like everything
is like full circle for youright now.
That is amazing.
Dave (38:35):
For sure.
Kertia (38:36):
You know, you mentioned that you yourself you dealt with
addiction.
You started drinking andexperimenting with drugs at a
very young age, right.
So, of course it is expected,starting out that young, that it
would be much easier for you todevelop an addiction issue and
(38:57):
you've managed to be sober for areally long time.
How many years is it this year?
Dave (39:04):
This year it'll be in June it'll be 36 years 36 years.
Kertia (39:08):
So you know, I'm just thinking about this journey that
you've been on and I'm justlike you know your journey being
sober and everything thatyou've experienced.
You know your journey beingsober and everything that you've
experienced.
You know working with TonyRobbins, the firewalk and the
opportunities that werepresented to you Because of that
(39:29):
.
I can imagine how important allof that was as well, playing
into your journey, just stayingsober and staying on the path.
Dave (39:37):
Yeah, well, you know, I had a lot of help.
Kertia (39:41):
Yeah.
Dave (39:42):
AA is really, really good in that regard.
They were fantastic.
They took care of me from thefirst day that I showed up and
they knew I was sick.
They knew I was hurting really,really bad, and so they just
latched on to me and they cameto my house.
They knew I was hurting really,really bad, and so they just
latched onto me and they came tomy house, they picked me up,
(40:02):
they took me to lunch, they tookme to meetings.
They made sure I was workingthe steps.
They made sure I got a sponsor.
They made sure I had theliterature so I could read at
night when I'm home.
It resonated with me, it worked.
Um, it just.
It resonated with me, it worked.
You know, I've said before I'veonly, I've only really felt at
(40:26):
home in a couple of places.
One was an AA meeting.
The other one was a gringy,crappy little bar somewhere in
the middle of nowhere where Icould go in the back and hide
out and drink.
And so it just.
Aa just opened me up to lifeand the possibilities.
And again, you know, I gotsober and the personal
development industry kind ofcollided in my life at the same
(40:49):
time, and so that's why it wassuch a transitional part of my
life?
Um, cause, it was like bothright, I had the best of both
worlds or I was an AA.
And you know when somebodywalks in the door of AA.
You know, like I said, thepreamble says, when anyone
anywhere reaches out, I want thehand of AA to be there, and for
(41:11):
that I'm responsible, that's me.
So I took that to heart and soyou know that dynamic.
And then the personaldevelopment industry.
It just took over.
Kertia (41:27):
Yeah.
Everything just kind of alignedfor you.
Dave (41:30):
It was what.
Kertia (41:31):
Everything just came into alignment.
Dave (41:34):
Yes, yeah, oh yeah.
On many occasions, going wayback into my childhood, same
thing.
Kertia (41:44):
Yeah.
Dave (41:45):
Because I was adopted when I was five years old, a couple
of months before I was born.
My biological father we're notreally sure what happened,
grisha he hurt his head.
And in 1954, they put a plate inhis head to save his life.
Well, it also took his life.
(42:05):
Oh no, a lot of pain, a lot ofpain.
And he complained to mom allthe time about the pain and
saying things like I'm not surehow long I can take it.
And so, two months before I wasborn, he turned to mom and said
I'm going to the grocery store.
And we never saw or heard fromhim again.
So we don't know what happened,but mom seemed to think that he
(42:30):
definitely took his lifebecause he talked about it a lot
.
So when I was born, I was bornto a single mom.
She already had two boys fromanother man and they were living
.
We were all living in aone-bedroom apartment.
I had another cousin and mygrandmother, so there were six
of us living in a one-bedroomapartment.
And mom was working up thestreet at the Roosevelt Hotel,
(42:54):
nice hotel.
She had a decent job.
She just couldn't feed sixpeople.
So when I was five, she went toher older sister, pat, and said
Pat, I can't feed David, willyou adopt him?
And Pat and Bob Albin said yeah, absolutely.
And they did so.
They moved me from Hollywood toLong Beach, california, and
(43:18):
everything was great.
It was fantastic for many years, until the first day of summer
1964.
Literally the very first day ofsummer I'm sitting in the TV
room watching, probably,cartoons, eating Cap'n Crunch or
whatever cereal I'm eating.
Mom comes and gets me and shesaid, david, come into the
(43:40):
kitchen.
Your father and I need to speakwith you.
Kertia (43:42):
Yeah.
Dave (43:43):
Now what I think is going to happen is she's going to tell
me where we're going campingthat year, because we did a lot
of that.
We went to Yosemite and BigBear and Yellowstone I mean, we
went all over the place, yeahand she sets me down, down, and
I'm like here and dad's here andmom's here, and she puts her
hand on my arm and she goesDavid, what we need to tell you
(44:05):
is we're not your parents.
What, what do you mean?
What, what does that mean?
That's like taking somebody outand saying yeah, I know the sky
looks blue, but it's not reallyblue.
Yeah, looks pretty blue to me.
Kertia (44:23):
The confusion right oh yeah, big time.
Dave (44:26):
What do you mean?
You're not my parents.
And then she even went on totell me she goes, by the way,
your Aunt Dean, yeah, she'sactually your biological mother.
She gave birth to you.
And I was like, I don't evenlike her, and you know why?
Because she was.
(44:47):
I thought she was weird.
Yeah, because every time shewanted to be around me, or that
every time she was around me,she was, was around me.
She wanted to sit next to me,she wanted to put her arm around
me, she wanted to hold me, shewanted to hug me.
Well, duh, I'm her son, nokidding.
And, by the way, it was neverinappropriate, it was just she
(45:12):
overshadowed me with love andaffection, because she only got
to be around me, you know,during certain times.
Poor thing, yeah, exactly.
And so I grew up with that.
Well, and then, shortly afterthey told me this, both of them
started drinking and that's whenmy life went boop, hard turn.
(45:32):
What's going on here?
And so things got bad.
What's going on here?
And so things got bad.
You know, pat, when she woulddrink she was more of a I call
her kind of a happy drunk.
She'd pass out at the kitchentable.
She wasn't mean, bob Bob.
On the other hand, bob Albin,no, he was mean, he was violent.
(45:55):
And so I had to start livingwith that and I became a
gatekeeper for both of them.
No-transcript, pat would driveme to the bar and I'd have to go
in and go get my dad, and itwas ugly, it wasn't fun, and
again, he was pretty violent.
(46:16):
So they went to the store oneday and when they left I knew
where the booze was and I'm likewhat is this stuff?
Well, let's find out.
And I'm 11 years old and I tooka coffee cup and I poured it
into a coffee cup.
I knew where they were hidingit.
They were hiding it in plainsight and it was brandy, big old
, half gallon of it, poured itinto the coffee cup.
Kertia (46:39):
You drank the brandy.
Dave (46:42):
I drank a half a glass or a half a cup of brandy in a
coffee cup and you know whatKershaw.
I never had a chance.
I believe I was an alcoholicright on the spot.
I started acting out right thenand I was 11.
(47:02):
By the time I was a junior inhigh school.
They kicked me out.
They brought me into theprincipal's office and said
Albin out, you're a danger toour school.
And I was.
They did the right thing andthe good news was, when they
kicked me out, I had anentrepreneurial spirit.
(47:24):
It was, like you know, when Iwas in high school it wasn't
like I was learning anythingthat was going to make me money.
I didn't believe that I learnedhow to make money when I was a
kid.
Like one job I had, I was apaper boy seven days a week, so
the paper would drop the papersoff underneath the San Diego
freeway overpass and we would gothere because it was dry.
(47:48):
And we would load our papersinto our saddlebags and then we
would ride our bikes and wewould throw them and deliver our
papers and of course, you hadto collect the money.
You had to knock on doors whennew people moved in.
It was a business, you were anentrepreneur.
I lived across the street froma golf course and here's what I
(48:09):
learned about golfers early onthey suck, they're horrible and
they would hit balls over thefence.
And I'd get on my bicycle andgo ride the perimeter and guess
what?
I'd find Golf balls and I'dtake them home and clean them.
Then I'd go back to the golfcourse and in the trash where
the clubhouse was, the box thatthe new balls would come in,
(48:32):
they threw them out.
Well, I'd take them and thenI'd take the balls that I found
and I'd put them in these boxesand I'd organize them.
Kertia (48:41):
You know Titleist, Max Fly, Dunlop, Wilson's and I'd go
back to the parking lot on thegolf course and you probably
know what I did.
Oh my God.
Dave (48:52):
I love that, that's resilience right there.
Yeah, I sold golf balls back tothe golfers.
Kertia (48:58):
Oh, my goodness.
Dave (49:00):
And mom grew beautiful flowers in the backyard.
Let's keep in mind my parents,I believe, were the greatest
generation of all time.
They went through World War II,they went through the Great
Depression.
Kertia (49:12):
Yeah.
Dave (49:13):
They were some of the most resourceful kick-ass people on
earth, and mom knew how to doeverything.
You name it Cook clean, sew,grow flowers, grow food.
You know she could do anythingshe had to.
She was the oldest of sevenkids and so, yeah, she grew
(49:33):
beautiful flowers.
Well, she would arrange themfor me, she'd go and cut them.
She had a beautiful eye forcolor and when she would take
the flowers, she'd cut it at thebottom, at an angle, at an
angle, and that opened up moresurface area for the flower to
get water.
Kertia (49:50):
Yeah.
Dave (49:51):
And then she'd arrange them, put a rubber band around
them, put them in a bucket, putwater in it and then she would
put a splash of 7-Up in thatwater and that caused the
flowers to outlast the florist3-1.
So it must be something in thesugar in the 7-Up that would
cause those flowers to outlivethe florist.
(50:14):
So she sent me out on thestreet corner.
I learned how to negotiate withadults at a young age selling
flowers on a street corner, andhere's what I learned Women
would never negotiate Ever.
How much are you charging?
50 cents, a bundle Boom.
Here you go, kid.
I want two Men wanted tonegotiate all the time.
(50:37):
Let's beat up the kid, so true.
Right, and I would negotiatewith the men.
I'm like, no, they'd offer meless than I was asking yeah, and
I would say no, no, they'doffer me less than I was asking
yeah, and I would say no.
And they'd say, well, why not?
And I'd say, because the nextguy that pulls up will pay me
what I'm asking, yeah, so whywould I give them away to you?
(51:00):
You're a smart kid.
Here's two bucks, you know.
So if I gave them good reasonsand stuff, sometimes they'd pay
me more than I was asking.
Women never did that.
Kertia (51:12):
Women never did that, they just what do you?
Dave (51:14):
how much you want?
Great here's, here's, I'm goingto pay you what you're asking.
But men would try to negotiateyou, and when you wouldn't you
know cut them a deal, they'd payyou more, which I thought was
interesting too.
Yeah, so the bottom line is,when I got kicked out of high
school, I was like I don't care.
Kertia (51:33):
Yeah.
Dave (51:34):
They're not teaching me anything that's going to make me
money.
Kertia (51:37):
You already had practice at life, man.
Dave (51:40):
I had practice at life.
I you know I was anentrepreneur.
Here's what I learned early onas a kid there's money out there
, go get it.
And so that's just carried onmy entire life.
Kertia (51:53):
That is amazing, like just thinking about everything
that you're talking about.
It's a really specialexperience because you literally
get to witness people in amoment of panic, high anxiety,
and then, on the other side, youget to see them overcome all of
that, overcome their fear, andwork through that.
So what has it been like?
(52:15):
What are the reactions onpeople's faces?
In your body language?
What do you notice?
When people have done the walk,have been through it and
they've gotten to the end of theline, what is that like for
them?
Dave (52:32):
Well, you know, their whole life changes in four
seconds.
Yeah, I mean, when they'restanding in front of the fire,
it's fight or flight.
Yeah, Fear is like at anall-time high and you're
watching them.
And then there's like thismoment, this moment of reckoning
, where they go boom, and youknow we help them along the way.
(52:54):
When Tony's got them in insidefor 10 hours, obviously he's
doing his job.
When they get outside, there'sa trainer there to help with
that process.
There's people you know, like Isaid, to come up to you and say
you know, he or she knows whenyou're ready, when they say go,
go, and then they disappear.
So you've got that implanted inyour head a couple of minutes
(53:15):
before you actually firewalk.
Kertia (53:17):
Yeah.
Dave (53:18):
And then they're watching everybody else do it.
Typically, there's three typesof people that firewalk.
There's ones that go nope,ain't doing it.
No, thank you, that was you,that's me, that's this guy.
And then you've got the otherpeople that go.
You know what I'm going to dothis?
I'm going to watch Kershaw, andif she does it, then I'll do it
(53:41):
.
Kertia (53:42):
Yeah.
Dave (53:43):
Right, you wait for somebody else.
And then you got the otherpeople that come out there and
go I'm doing it.
They're just going to pushthrough that fear and again, it
is one of the most life-changingexperiences ever and we know
that because the next morning welook at them.
You got 3,500 people that comeinto the venue on day two after
they do the firewalk and youwant to see them.
(54:04):
Their confidence level, theirself-belief, their
self-confidence, theirself-worth is raised up.
And it's done as a group.
So you moved as a unit andthat's the beauty.
That's why people hire me isbecause if they want to
influence the entire company,then the firewalk experience is
(54:27):
a way to do it.
We also do the board break.
So I combine two reallypowerful experiences.
So we take a board it's amartial arts move.
They do it in dojos all aroundthe country and I have them
write something on front of theboard they want to move towards.
I have something they writesomething on back of the board
they need to move away from, andthen I have them write anything
(54:50):
on the board anybody's name onthe board that they've lost,
yeah.
And then I have them writeanything on the board if
something they need to move awayfrom.
And then I also have them writeanybody's name on the board
that they're in conflict with.
So if forgiveness orreconciliation is part of that
(55:11):
relationship, then I have themwrite that on the board as well.
So then they break the board,we go outside, they do the
firewalk, they throw the boardinto the fire, I do a heart hug
at the event, which putseverybody together and their
hearts start beating at the sametime.
(55:32):
Yeah, so I do that like sixtimes with the whole group and
the next thing, you know, theentire group's heart are beating
at the same time.
So we do that.
And so again, I'm trying tocreate one of the top 10
experiences in their life.
Kertia (55:48):
Yeah, it's really life-changing because you know
there's just so much that wehave to work through.
But when you do thatcollectively, as a group.
It's so impactful.
Dave (56:01):
Yes.
Kertia (56:02):
Right, Extremely impactful.
So I can only imagine right,Because you speaking about the
experience that you had and nowjust like retelling some of the
stories of how you've also ledother people through that
experience.
When you come out of somethinglike that, your energy is just
different right.
You're all the way up here.
Dave (56:23):
And if you want to see that with your own eyes, go
Google Oprah's firewalk, you cansee it for yourself.
Kertia (56:32):
Yeah.
Dave (56:32):
Because before she walks, she's losing her shit.
I will tell you, she's all overthe place, she's scared to
death.
It's like should we do it,should we not do it?
Oh my gosh, we've got to go toAfrica, we've got this going on.
So she's looking, for all thesereasons, not to do it.
(56:56):
And then there's this moment,sherry, who's there with her,
which, who, at the time, was incharge of Harpo?
And Sherry's like come on,oprah, we need to do this.
Tony Robbins isn't going to letus get hurt.
And then, all of a sudden, shegoes you're right, sherry, come
on, let's do this.
And then Sherry's like well,wait, wait a minute.
Maybe we should think aboutthis a little more.
It was so funny.
She convinced her.
And then it was like oh my god,I went too far with it.
But then you watch her and thenshe firewalks and within four
(57:20):
seconds she goes from scared todeath.
I'm not going to do it too.
This is one of the greatestmoments of my life, and she
literally walks over and thecameras go with her and she
makes one of the biggestbusiness decisions of her entire
life right there on camera, andso that's indicative of what a
(57:43):
firewalk will do.
Kertia (57:44):
What doesn't challenge you, doesn't change you right.
Dave (57:46):
That's exactly right.
Yeah, you know, I write that, Isay it all the time, and when
you're in that type of a state,in a peak state like that,
that's the best place to makemajor decisions from.
Kertia (58:00):
Yes, yes.
Dave (58:02):
A hundred percent.
So you're way, way, way, wayabove the line, as we like to
say, and that firewalk got herthere.
So she literally started thenext chapter, which was part of
Harpo, again within a minute orso of her firewalking.
Amazing, so you can see it liveon camera.
(58:23):
You don't have to take my wordfor it, you can go watch it for
yourself.
Kertia (58:27):
I love that.
I love that.
I love that.
Thank you for reminding me ofthat.
Dave (58:31):
Well, part of the lesson is you know, you can walk on
coals that are a thousanddegrees and not hurt and burn
yourself.
So if that's the case, whatelse can you do?
Yeah, when I do my seminars, Iput a picture of a guy on the
screen behind me and his name isEric Weinmeier, and so where
(58:51):
he's standing in the world itlooks pretty obvious.
So I'll talk for 20 minutes andthen I'll say hey, by the way,
who here can tell me where myfriend Eric is standing?
And somebody in the crowd willgo Mount Everest and I'll say
that's correct.
And, by the way, eric hasclimbed the seven highest
(59:12):
mountains on earth and he got tothe top, to the summit of all
seven, and what you're seeinghere is Mount Everest.
Now, put the boy on a mountainbike and he can ride it down the
mountain.
Put him on a kayak he cannavigate it down the mountain.
Put him on a kayak he cannavigate it down the river.
But here's what you don't knowabout Eric, that you should know
(59:33):
he's blind, really.
So I don't want to hear it.
I don't want to hear yourlame-ass excuse about why you
can't do something If a blindman can climb the seven highest
mountains on this planet.
What do you think you can do?
You know.
Viktor Frankl, I think, left usone of the greatest clues any
(59:59):
human being has ever left usabout life and how to live it
and what to do.
Viktor Frankl, if you don'tknow, he wrote the book Man's
Search for Meaning and he was inAuschwitz, and here's what he
learned early on.
By the way, they assassinatedhis family.
They take everything from you.
(01:00:19):
You'd be standing outside witha bunch of other people, naked,
cold, haven't eaten in days.
And here's what you don't knowevery day Are you the next one
to go to the chamber?
You're living with that everysecond.
Imagine how stressful that is,not knowing whether you're going
to die a horrible death thatday.
And so what Victor figured outwas they can take everything
(01:00:41):
from you except one thing yourattitude.
You have to give that up, youhave to relinquish that.
And so Victor said nope, Iain't doing it.
And here's why, because someonehas to tell this story.
And so he tapped into thenumber one driving force in our
(01:01:05):
lives.
And that's purpose.
He had purpose, and that'spurpose.
He had purpose, and that's whatgot him out.
That's why he lived.
Kertia (01:01:14):
Yeah.
Dave (01:01:14):
Same thing for all your listeners.
There's the key when thepurpose is high enough, when the
why is big enough, oh, you'llfind a way.
Yeah, that's the way the humanbrain works.
And again, if a man can climbthe seven highest mountains on
this planet and he could do itblind then there's probably not
(01:01:36):
much any of your listeners can'tdo, and that goes for you and I
as well.
So, yeah, you want to changeyour life, change your story.
Kertia (01:01:49):
Yes.
Dave (01:01:50):
Because everything that happens to you, whether it's
good or bad, you assign a storyto it, you make it up, you want
to change your life, change yourstory, and so it just comes
down to that.
It's really quite that simple.
Kertia (01:02:06):
That's exactly what it is.
Dave (01:02:08):
Yeah, that's why I put a picture of Eric on the wall when
I'm doing my events.
I do it to purposely mess withtheir head.
Come on, stop.
Look, if you don't want tosucceed, don't.
But my thing is stopnegotiating with yourself.
Yeah, if you say you're goingto get out of bed at 7 o'clock
in the morning and go to the gym, then get your happy ass up and
go.
Don't negotiate with yourself.
(01:02:30):
Well, I'm just going to sleepfive more minutes.
Yeah, well, I got news for you.
That's a really bad thing andplace to get yourself.
I'm 70 years old, guess?
Kertia (01:02:44):
how many medications I'm on None Zero.
You look great, though, well,thank you.
You look great, though, well,thank you.
You look great, dave, wellthank you.
Dave (01:02:54):
That's amazing, oh shucks.
And I follow a guy, one of mymentors is a guy by the name of
(01:03:15):
Gary Brecka.
Gary's a very interesting dude.
Go look him up, go Google him.
Gary Brecka, b-r-e-c-k-hmm.
So he worked for the insurancecompanies.
So if Kershaw wanted a $50million policy, the insurance
company would say, sure, noproblem, give us your blood.
We're going to send it off toGary.
(01:03:36):
Let's take a look at what wegot.
Kertia (01:03:38):
Yeah.
Dave (01:03:43):
Gary could tell you when you were going to die to the
month.
Wow, he's that good.
And the challenge with Gary wasthe insurance company wouldn't
let him help those people,Because he could look at their
blood and say hey, you know, ifyou do this, this and this, you
could add 10 years to your life.
Kertia (01:04:00):
Yeah.
Dave (01:04:01):
They wouldn't let him do that.
So one day he went that's it,I'm done.
I quit and he started his ownorganization.
And now that's what he does.
That's it, I'm done.
I quit and he started his ownorganization.
And now that's what he does hehelps people live lives like a
superhuman.
So how do you do that?
Well, like Dave, what's thefirst thing you do when you get
(01:04:22):
up in the morning?
Make my bed First thing.
Always I go outside and whenthe sun's coming up, I expose my
upper torso to that morningsunlight First 45 minutes.
There's no ultraviolet rays.
(01:04:43):
I'm influxing and infusing, Ishould say, my body with vitamin
D.
Naturally, while I'm doing this, I do deep diaphragmic
breathing.
So I do, I take 30 breathsBecause they're really intense,
like and I do 30 of those, andit's not easy, I'm going to tell
(01:05:09):
you.
Then, after I do 30 of thoseand it's not easy, I'm going to
tell you Then, after I do 30 ofthose, I hold my breath.
I do that three times 90breaths, hold my breath three
times after each set of 30.
Kertia (01:05:25):
And I influx my body with oxygen.
Dave (01:05:26):
It's the best thing you can give your body, because
guess what?
Disease can't hang out whereoxygen's present Can't do it.
They say that cancer won'tsurvive in an oxygenated
environment, so oxygen isliterally one of the most
important things we can give ourbody.
Kertia (01:05:43):
Yeah.
Dave (01:05:44):
Then, when I'm done with that, I go to the other side of
my cabin and I do earthing,grounding, grounding, yeah.
Then when I'm done with that, Igo to the other side of my
cabin and I do earthing,grounding, grounding, yeah.
I put my bare feet on theplanet and I go put it on the
grass.
Kertia (01:05:59):
I love that you know.
Dave (01:06:00):
Yeah, it's really good for you.
Kertia (01:06:02):
So good, so good.
Dave (01:06:04):
Nine minutes every morning and then I'm doing some other
breathing and meditation.
When I do that, then I comeinto the house.
I read my 10 pages in a goodbook every day.
Want to change your life?
Read 10 pages in a good bookevery day.
10 pages a day times a year is3,650 pages.
Kertia (01:06:25):
How many?
Dave (01:06:26):
books.
Is that a year?
Kertia (01:06:28):
10?
.
That's really that a year 10?
, 11?
Dave (01:06:30):
12?
It just depends.
Do you think if you read 12really good books every year,
that might influence your life?
You think.
And then I do some soundtherapy, and then I go take my
shower.
I take a really hot shower.
I soap up, do everything likewe all do, and then at the end I
(01:06:51):
turn it off and I set a timerfor three minutes and I take a
cold shower.
Now I live in the AppalachianMountains.
The mountain water coming intomy cabin is 57 degrees.
That's pretty cold, yeah.
And when it hits me in the facein the morning it takes my
(01:07:13):
breath away, literally.
Oh my gosh, yeah, I do it everymorning and I've been doing it
for over a year.
Kertia (01:07:21):
Yeah, I heard that cold baths are really good for you.
Dave (01:07:24):
They're super good.
Kertia (01:07:25):
Yeah.
Dave (01:07:26):
I was on a podcast here a couple weeks ago and the guy
goes hey, dave, let me ask you.
So when you do those coldshowers, it gets easier, right?
And I'm like, no, no, it doesnot.
It takes my breath away everytime.
My body doesn't like well, itdoes like it, but I don't like
it because it doesn't feel good,it takes you out of your
(01:07:49):
comfort zone, especially whenyou've taken a really hot shower
.
So you went from hot to coldand so, yeah, stand there for
three minutes with cold waterpouring on you at 57 degrees.
But what it does for your body?
Because it takes all yourcapillaries and your veins and
arteries and it causes them toconstrict and it moves all the
blood to the inside to protectyour vital organs in your brain.
(01:08:12):
And then your liver releases anenzyme, yeah, and it pushes
inflammation out of you likecrazy.
Yeah, you're right, it's super,super good for you.
Kertia (01:08:23):
And your metabolism too.
Dave (01:08:25):
Yeah, and, by the way, those are all free.
Not one of those things.
If you listen to Gary and gostudy what he teaches, that's
free.
Go outside and breathe thediaphragmic breathing that's
free.
Go expose yourself to thesunlight that's free.
Go put your feet on the planetbarefooted that, and then you
(01:08:47):
know your cold water.
Now I'm lucky.
I live in the appalachianmountains.
I live at 3500 feet.
I've got mountain water cominginto my cabin, yeah, so I get to
shower and drink mountain wateryeah, look at you yeah, look at
me, go look at you, dave, Ilove it.
Mountain water out of a masonjar.
Don't ever, ever, ever, ever,ever, ever, ever drink tap water
(01:09:10):
from a municipality, everPeriod.
And I can talk for 45 minuteson your show.
I won't.
Kertia (01:09:22):
We yeah.
Dave (01:09:23):
Right, and I don't drink water out of plastic containers
if possible.
Right, and I don't drink waterout of plastic containers, if
possible.
So when I'm traveling, if I canfind water in a glass container
, then I know that the plastichasn't leached into the water,
because when water gets to 120degrees in, a plastic bottle.
Kertia (01:09:45):
Guess what happens.
Dave (01:09:46):
It leaches into the water.
Okay, I don't want to drinkthat, because I know that water
is one of the most importantthings that we do every single
day.
Our bodies are 70% water.
Kertia (01:09:58):
Yep.
Dave (01:09:59):
So do you think the quality of the water that you
drink might be important?
Kertia (01:10:05):
You think?
Dave (01:10:06):
Absolutely so.
Anyway, that's Kershaw, that'smy story and I'm sticking with
it.
Kertia (01:10:18):
As always.
Thank you so much for listening.
We love your feedback, so keepthem coming and continue to
support the show by sharing withyour friends and family Until
next time.
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