#23 - 'The Mulletlord' Dan Brown Entrepreneur, Surfer, & Folk Hero

[Music] Dan Brown, the the Mullet Lord. Thanks for coming. Good to see you, brother. I was going to call you the myth, the legend, the survivor and thriver. Is that sounds pretty much like you? I've been called way worse. [Laughter] We'll go on. That was a lifetime ago. Yeah, yeah. Just with that. I mean, where you are now, do you feel like you look back and go? Holy shit, how have I got here? Pretty much. Do you look back a lot? I know you are someone that looks forward in every day's and your day, but is it important for you to look back and pay homage to that hard slogan or every gift done, which we will get into? 100%. Yeah, I don't do it enough to be honest. It's, I achieve what I achieve just through natural progression, consistency and hard work. And my wife's gone, just sit back and smell the roses. And I feel like, honey, I can't. We've got more to do. I just want you to be happy about what you've achieved. And she's, I'll tell you, you're so tiny, honey, I'm going to go on a podcast this morning. You just going to just keep serving coffee today. So is that the case? She's serving two kids, our three and a half year old and five and a half year old. We're three and a half. Yeah, people say terrible twos. I reckon it's terrible threes. Oh my gosh. I do too. Our daughter. It's like this smart. Two year olds are smart, but when they get through, we'll say, is that cunningness comes in? Personality. She's got a strong personality. She's intense. Now, as you know, well, you don't know, I'm not a surfer. I've never tried to be a surfer. In fact, every time I go to the beach, something happens to me. I get sunburned. I got sunburned yesterday when I honestly, I had that much 50 plus on under an umbrella. I still got burned. But we've got something, we've got something in common that you probably wouldn't know. Maybe one or two things. Now, that's a good picture by, do you know, Conselvo? How did you meet him? How did I meet him? That feels like a long time ago. It's a friend of a friend. Yeah. And once we met each other, we just got along like a house on fire. He loves to cure your people. He loves anything he sees. He goes, I need to paint that person. So what I'm saying, he got you at that moment, but he also got me. Unreal. So that was back in 2014. Well, at first I didn't want to do it. But he's on it, it's okay. So when someone says they want to paint a portrait of you, you got how many times in your fucking life would you ever get asked that? Not many. Just one of many experiences I've had in variety. Dino, if I'm not mistaken, when I met Dino, he actually rented a shop straight across from Lords at Baymont Street. He really? It was just for an exhibition. That's I walked in to do a story on the exhibition. Oh my god. You've walked in with a presence. I've got to capture this. But some of the stories he's got, he was telling me that he once had to somehow, he was doing an exhibition in mainland on a pub that had a biker gang that went to the pub. And he wasn't doing it like a painting about the outside of the pub. He was doing it about the people who went to the pub. So there was biker gangs. There was an old lady that used to come for a sherry three o'clock every afternoon. Everything was like clockwork. It was like the cheese bar. It was like everyone in there was a family. Didn't matter what walk a life, you were part of them. So he painted them on the foot from the inside. Anyway, he got to know this biker gang really well. And the sergeant of arms. So he actually painted the sergeant of arms out the back in the beer garden in a chair like this, the gold drip and off him, you know, which is really. Wow, I'd like to say that. Oh, it was brilliant. But this sergeant of arms was so taken by him. He said, Dino, I want you to do, I want to pay you for something else. He said, we've got a Christmas party at our clubhouse. And in every chapter in Australia is going to be at this Christmas party. And I want you at the top painting from the bleachers, painting this Christmas party. This is like a sea of bikies. But the interesting thing about you did such a great job that after that, he said, I want you to, I've got to know that I want to do another painting. So what's it now? He said, I want you to paint me in a deck chair on a deck. I want my daughter on a white pony off the side. I want a can of VB in my hand. I want you to paint an Adolf Hitler. Mo on me. And I want the Nazi swastika in the background. Wow. And Dino's like, I did you do it? He said, well, would you say no to these guys? Yes, I don't, I didn't put my name on it. I don't know where it is. I just don't want it to surface. You've got to see that. Man, do you sort of think yourself, what are you going through the minds? That's amazing. Just in regards to the shit that's happening in your life, is it now in the review mirror now, in regards to the tough times? I don't ever want to forget those tough times and what happened. But at the same time, I'm a born again and feels like a bloody long time ago. Yeah. And to try and think about what happened, intellectualize it, it's just a waste of time. It's more about how I felt, remembering how I felt, and understanding life's just one big mystery. And I might not understand what happened, but it got me to where I am today. And I get to live each day, maybe not like the average person, where when I did have that near death experience and I passed on, it's like oil to water, what mattered rose to the surface and everything else was underneath that. And I carry that through my days today. We all talk about that a little bit later, but just stay on that a bit. But looking back, do you, is it that worry that it's important to have to look back that you don't fall back? What do you feel that I feel like I could never happen? I don't think it could never happen. No way, not with the life I live today and the practices I have in place. The mullet still looking brilliant. Is it hard, upkeep? No. But I'll be walking in public. People's jaws will drop and I'll think, wow, people looking at me strange today. And then I go home and look in the mirror and go, oh, that's why. Look at that head. So it hangs back. The reason why I got it was because when I'm as a surfer, it doesn't get in my eyes. It's just flapping back behind me. I forget all about it. Your mum did it, didn't she? Yeah. Yeah. So that was early sobriety. So it's quite symbolic too. I've had the mullet as long as I haven't had a drink, which has come in on 12 years. Could you ever say it coming off? Not anymore. Just like the biker gang. I'm in too deep. But really, I mean, there's mullets everywhere. It's come back in your style. It hasn't a wall back. Look at that. Now it's almost like it's second nature. 100%. What about the behind every brand? There's the character. Behind our brand. I'm the character. Yeah. Yeah. And also, I mean, even back when I was playing soccer, it was a time when you had to have a mullet. It was the 80s. It was like a permed curly mullet. Everyone had one. And you did a calendar. That was probably the first time I actually saw you in regards. I went into the cafe and all of a sudden there was this calendar. And I'm like, wow, that's balsy. That was been great to me. Yeah. You do want every year, don't you? Yeah. But there's also a lot of calendars circulating on Timo. Yeah. The Chinese style photos and selling millions of them. On Timo and Etsy. Yeah. Maybe one day I'll get a royalty. but I've been used to abuse my whole life, I'm used to it. (laughing) - I mean, Marlott Fest is also something that's on every year and you've been a judge a few times haven't you? You enjoy the fact that people are out there trying to do that in regards to it. And I suppose they've been themselves. I mean, it sort of shows a true character of who they are. - Yeah, well, I remember the founder of Marlott Fest got in contact with me before Marlott Fest was a thing. And she was like, "Brownie, can you help us start Marlott Fest? Do you think it's a good idea? We're gonna have it at Curry. It's gonna be great for the area. Revenue wise, that is. And at the Chelmsford hotel. So that whole mix, I said to her, I'm in. And the first couple of years was amazing. And it still is. But after that first two years, the momentum carried on and I felt like my job was done. - Yeah. - And I had a newborn at home. So I had to pick and choose where I could put my time. - Yeah, yeah. Well, what we got you talking about this, I'm gonna give you some spirit of the moment judging. - Nice. - We've got up it. - What would the first one, here we go? - Oh wow. That's dead set of nine out of 10 for me. - I actually love the shooters in the background. - Oh, that, the chain, the sonnies, the skeleton, the curls. - That's pretty good. - The truck is single. - Yeah. - Now we're gonna go into younger heat. Look at this. - Yeah, nice. Look, there could be more length on the back. But the look he's got is eight out of 10 for sure. - The chunky chain. - Yeah. - So many kids doing it now, isn't it? - Yeah, but yeah, for me, a mullet like that could be good. It looks like he could have that for the day and shave it off his parents would get him to shave it off. - Yeah. - That's what it's telling me. (laughs) - So yeah, do your time and I'll be a little bit more impressed. - This looks like a real treat, it's normal. - That's unreal. - That's a real. - I haven't given myself much room to move with the last nine. (laughs) But that's unreal. - You should've done it with that, nine out of eight. - Six and work your way up. - Yeah. - Nine point eight. - We're gonna go back to a younger. This was a little rainy but like. - That's so cute. - Yeah, I think there was a, this was 2024, it was mullet fest. I think it might've been in Canberra, they did a heating Canberra and this is the, the age is not to three category, got through. - Unreal, how adorable. A six for sure. - And the good thing about after that photo, we went straight to the mind site and started excavating. - Totally. (laughs) - Got the high fizz on. - High fizz already. No one's gonna be asking questions out there anyway. - Yeah, this next one. - Just give him a drug test and away you go. (laughs) - Well, he's probably on Riddlin' Bunny. - Yeah, it's true. - Yeah, so he's done for. Maybe he'd better stick to unpacking a dishwasher for 50 cents. - Yeah, this one. - Oh wow. Wow, is that a, is that a skunk? - It's, I don't know what you could call it a mullet, but I just, I swear it. - That's unreal. - It's, yeah. - The live lizard on your head, look. - A for effort there. - And I thought, - But maybe they should, you know, I'm into prevention, lock him up before he doesn't commit to crime. (laughs) - Oh yeah. - Looks like the type to have a prince Alfred do. - Oh my. (laughs) - Well, it's funny enough, the next photo day. (laughs) - Oh. (laughs) - Hey, is that a true Aussie icon or what? - That was truly, that was December or November. - Hmm. (laughs) - The funny thing, controversial thing was that that was in the backyard of a church as well. (laughs) - A good friend of mine lives there though. - Yeah, she bought an old church, it's beautiful. - Yeah, you love sort of doing things that shock people today. - Yeah, I love the shock factor, definitely. With the mullet, that's shock factor comedy. There's got to be that level of shock factor as well. - Well, Hamish Blake did a bit of a shock factor in Lego Masters because I think, hey, you even, - Oh well. (laughs) - Decided to put a mullet in. - Well, we were seeing man scathing and found some Lego cord up in there, did he? (laughs) - It was actually, it was actually Hamish's real hair that he glued onto that. - Yeah. - All right, where's the video of him cutting it off and putting it on there, I wanna know. - Oh, I'm sure it's in Channel 9 somewhere. - I know you were in Sydney for a long time. We were just gonna get onto coffees, food and bad coffees. And I lived in Sydney for five years, working for Channel 10. And I never really, I can't remember having a bad coffee anywhere. Like, especially those little pop-up ones, little holes in walls, all that sort of stuff, ran those little areas, decent suburbs. - Sure, when was that? - That would have been 2015 to 2021. - Okay. - So I was the sports reporter for Channel 10, I was the inner role reporter. So we'd always be doing stoke outs in front of houses 'cause players doing something wrong. - Oh yeah, especially then. - Especially the rooster. - The rooster, and the reindeer, we're here, and kudgy and all that sort of stuff. But in that time, it's almost like, it didn't matter where you went to get a coffee. They'll always bang on. And I don't think at the time I paid anything more than $3.50. - 100% I remember those days. - Yeah. - Yeah, at the same time you could come to Newcastle 'cause I was sort of back and forth a bit. You were paying at least $6 and it was garbage. - Yeah. - And you go, "You guys don't get this." Like, you wouldn't survive in Sydney. - Is it because it's so competitive? You're just so competitive, you have to bring your age game every. - That's what the type of coffee making I was used to. - Yeah. - There's cafes on every block. So you have to be efficient and it had to be good. All that custom would go next door. - Yeah. I mean, just regarding that, is it about the bean? Is it about the roasting? Is it about the poor? What's the secret? You don't have to give us the 11 herbs, the spices from a cot from Lord. I'm an open book. There's certain things that aids in our speed at Lord's, where I'm completely transparent about still. No one does it. But when it comes to Sydney, I think that place for making me a well-rounded barista. And I didn't do much research when I moved to Newcastle just around the coffee scene. - Yeah. - I got here and a bloke. I did a bit of networking. And within two weeks, I was in sub-leasing a shop. And I've got contacts within the industry, had a machine, grind a setup, little hole in the wall setup. And got the media involved. And I had a line out the door from day dot. Because the Sydney Melbourne style coffee hadn't hit Newcastle yet. I think I was one of the only coffee shops open on a Sunday back then. - Yeah. - 15 years ago. - Yeah. - How crazy is that? - Well, it is. That's crazy. - It's a free kick, isn't it? You see some places, especially in areas where, you know, especially on a weekend, good thoroughfare, and then they're not open. You go, what are you doing? You know, like it's crazy. 100%. - Also down the other end of Baymont Street, there's suspension. And they used to go there a fair bit. Because again, it was the same sort of thing. It was like, it was something different though. It was like, it was like you were going there and you were getting a different coffee every time. But they were nailing it. And a lot of other coffee shops, they stick to the same sort of, this is what we do. But to sort of do something completely different every day. Pretty baldy. But if you can pull it off, you know? - 100%. So I'm a true believer with coffee shops. They've got to be owner operated. Or there's got to be some sort of, like in incentivized program within the business to aid in growth. - Yep. - Also treating people the way you wish to be treated. It's a big one. Completely being transparent with the whole business. And not putting yourself on a pedestal. Understanding that if it wasn't for everyone within the business, there'd be no business. So to meet everyone on the same level. And that's what my, spirituality allows me to do. - Now that you're doing a lot of roasting and stuff like that, do it take you away from being on the tools? Or is it happy that you're off it a bit, but when you get back on, that feels so good. - Yeah, so I have, especially with the challenge that we did, I feel disconnected from the coffee shops. And what the coffee shops, what the coffee shops for Newcastle has provided is amazing community. So, Lords has been around for going on nine years. So, you know, the pandemic happened. We got busier through that because everyone closed, but it was a great place for people to come then. The only day we've ever shot was my wife and I's wedding day. - Still kills us. - Blue house, do you put it past me that you guys would have been in there serving? - I still don't know why we didn't close off Beaumont Street and keep the cafe open. It's a conversation my wife and I have every night. - Well, this place kills us, biggest regret of our lives. - Well, it's funny too. The few times I've been in, and it's always packed. - The thing I've noticed now is that the people are so much regular that they're actually getting the F-Post machine and they do it in themselves. And I'm sort of like, I don't know that. I felt out of place because I didn't know how to use the F-Post. It's almost like everyone just comes in and just feels so it's like they're walking into the round of the Andrew. - 100%. A lot of people, you know, good on them. Everyone's in China and encourage community. There's true, true authentic community coming from that place. - Yeah. - It's not, I was never in there focusing on how much money that place could make. - Yeah. - It's about building relationships. Like we've had, I was there seven days a week for the first three years. So the community and relationships and the things that have happened to, you know, life happens. It's a rollercoaster. Terrible things happen to good people. And I don't want to call myself a Councillor, but people go through a lot of things. And they come in and that coffee just makes things a little bit better. And being the person I am, I'm truly there for every individual. - Yeah. And it also shows too, you don't have to have a massive permit premises to survive. And you probably, some people might have said, "You get a bigger place on that." You're probably going, "Oh, this is working. What would you do that?" I think I love the fact that it's so small. - It's unreal. It's like a can of sardines. [silence] - I feel like I'll let you down, Lord. Let's be farther for I've seen calls. - I'm really going to do this here. - A call service station. Press the button. It was shit. - Yeah, look. Like the invisible hula hoop is just going to drop down. And whatever's outside of that is out of my control. [laughter] - There's another guy that does some good coffee. I was working up at Skane for a fair while, up and back every day. So I was going on the Hunter Express by, so you're going off from wall to end. You get that first roundabout. There's a roundabout there that is a dead end on what day knows. Dead end on what end, dead end. Just like they're having one day they're going to build a road that's going to use this roundabout. But this guy's got this little coffee van. And he's got this, he's a surfer. He's got graffiti, all over it, all that sort of stuff. He's there from 4.30 a.m. every morning. And he's just getting, he's nailing that miner's crowd every morning. It's plenty of room to pull in. And he's just, you know, and I said to him once I said, "What time do you finish up?" He said, "Oh man, I'm probably about 4 to 8 o'clock and I'll go surfing for the day." And I said, "How much would you have to answer?" And I said, "What else did you do?" Don't rip me off a bit of my whole coffee again. You were smelling your mobs. I'll take it back. Sorry. I'll change. But is it, is it right? Whenever you get some sort of business premises and I know in television newsrooms you always know how cheap as television station is the brand of "Shit House Instant Coffee" they have. I went to one where they had international roast. And international roast is almost like, you know, it looks like a bad batch from a Colombian cartel. It's like the doughnut. You'd still give it a go. (laughter) Isn't it right? It's almost like when you say desperate, you'll go off to Scotty, it's something into me. You know, whether it's a bad owner or a good one. 100% yeah. That's caused for desperate measures. I'd still say, if I was out camping and that's all that was available, I'd smash in Escafe still. Yeah. Tastes like coffee. (laughter) I just made one. I was a carpet lay for 20 years. And a friend of mine who was a, the other apprentice at the time. It's a shit job. Been a carpet lay. Pulling up whole carpet and moving stuff like that. On your knees as well. On my knees. Anyway, this other apprentice to me. Taking place. Let's move it along, Bernie. This other apprentice said to me, "Man, I'm not doing this fucking anymore. I've had a gut fall. I'm going to go work for my dad. I said, "What do you do dad? Do we go?" He's got a coffee distribution business. It was in Hamilton too, down the road and around the corner on Chew District. And he's named Adrian Regan. And within three years, this kid started Peebries. And it's just like. You're going back. But he had a passion. That was the thing. He was everything you just talked about coffee the whole time. It was like coffee, coffee, coffee. And in the end, I just fuck off and make it. Just do coffee. That was passions an important thing in anything, isn't it? Especially a business. Oh, 100% and having to show up every day. I remember showing up. And I made. So jobs I didn't like. Just chasing the dollar signs. It was miserable. As soon as I'm doing something that I like to do, it doesn't feel like work. What was the worst job you've ever done? I can show up every day. What was the worst job? Oh my gosh. Oh, now stripping was all right. That would pay more money than that. I lasted 10 days doing concreting. Yeah. I'm not stocky enough. I was too slender. Yeah, the gravity distribution on my body just was shot. I tried to surf after the 10th day. I couldn't even paddle. Mum pushed me into a year, 11 plumbing, early plumbing apprenticeship. Mate. Shocking. It was just sad how bad I was at it. But then far out. I worked as a. Like a valet belly for five years. Yeah. And I learned a lot from working there. But that was a terrible employee. Park, park, I came naturally to me, everyone loved, loved me, loved what I did, very welcoming, like everything. I was great, but I was still suffering with alcoholism. Yeah. So I was on when I was on, but when I was off, I was thought I was on, but I was off. Yeah. And also, it was only four days. So four four days on three days off, would it? Yeah. And so which, which allowed for a nice bend are between between, but yeah, I think it was more just I hadn't, didn't have any jobs. I hated a lot, but at the same time, I wasn't living out my true vocation. I was, I had a low self-esteem and getting to work due to that negative self talk and my intuition wanting something, but me ignoring that and just doing a pointless duty for five or six years. I was depressed. Yeah. Because for a long time, you felt like you wanted to prove to people. It was almost like you didn't feel like you were worthy. 100%. So, but that just came down to dysfunctional household and a lack of communication with my, with my parents and left alone with my, my wild imagination. And it just turned into a negative spiral. But you always say that, you know, people think you're an extrovert, but you're really an introvert. Yeah. That people, when they look at a lot of your stuff on, on, you know, socials, you go, oh, no, you know, is that a, I mean, that's you being you, but then people go, is that an act? Because if you're an introvert, you're doing that. Yeah. Yeah. 100%. It's definitely, I love watching people laugh. I love making people laugh. Yeah. I love hopefully it makes people not take their life too seriously. Yeah. So I feel like it's, uh, it's my true authentic self. But at the same time, there's times and places for, for every character I put on. Yeah. I wouldn't be acting that way. Um, in, in another setting. Mm-hmm. So the, the thing is about being an entertainer. It's like, it's, it's a creative outlet. And now that I don't have, I'm a thrill seeker as well. So I never thought of this before leading into this, but why are you, you're talking, I feel like you're the modern day Paul Hogan. The Paul Hogan show was almost like, it's this guy, this regular guy that all of a sudden became famous, but he was just doing things, you know, he went on a, I think, called red faces and did a comedy skit. Um, and it sort of catapulted him. It just feels like, and he was just doing what he wanted to do and had a later age in life. It's feel like that's, that's, that's you because you're, you're a busy man, but you're still getting to do things that the average person, a lot of people are trapped in their jobs these days. They haven't got time to do what you do, you know, one o'clock at, yeah, one o'clock, one p.m. doors are shut. It's my time. Yeah. It's definitely, I've creatively, as I've, as I've matured and coming to the, ah, you know, I've had a, a fair few epiphany as I've, yeah, I'm through my recovery. But it's, there's come to a point where the videos I was making early days, I was definitely still really out there. And, um, trying to find my, my groove and those types of videos that I was making were maybe not the, the best for the, you know, the next generation coming up. I want to, um, now be a positive role model for, for the next generation. So when I get to this, um, I'm still creative. And I want to be comical, but there's now with the business where it's out. There's got to be that fine line that I, yeah, that I tread because there's a lot of, um, things that in jeopardy, yeah, yeah. And with today's society and how sensitive a lot of people are, one falls, one falls move. And then there goes, yeah, you know, everything I've worked so hard for, you, um, you're busy. I've got to be smart with, and everything I do, I go to my team and we, we structure the, the video and walk that fine line that we never tip over anymore where I used to tip over. And that was really hard for me. Yeah. To, to mold into, into that. Yeah, yeah, well, you're, you're a busy man. I think you, you shared a real in regards to just a typical day in the life of the mullet Lord. And we've got it here. Wake up, had my vitamins, had my breake, had a coffee or before the kids woke up, sorted it their breake, outfins, ready. Is that house in devil? Alright, kids are sorted now to work. Drop the prep to war, our straight to hammer, made some birches. Oh, I'm in the paper, better take out the trash, straight to the warehouse to roast a few hundred kilos of coffee. Oh, hey, Josh, anyone keen for a brew back to war, a tart, a drop some coffee off. Pick up the barbecue from yesterday's fundraiser, back to mind for some lunch and to call the winners for the raffle tickets. Off to equilibrium to try our batch brew, roast to our singles on the bullet for orders to be ready by 230. And that's a day. Ooh, had to spare our, let's go to Pilates. Oh my god, thank you, peaches. That was amazing. 15 minutes to walk the dog before the kids come home, preparing dinner, doing puzzles with the kids, cook the kids spaghetti bolognese, play some games with the kids, put on load of washing, goodnight rubble, moisturised my face, brush the kids teeth, threads and books, meditated, goodnight. That looks great. Oh, my god, I'm fucking exhausted just watching that. Yeah. So is that a typical day? That's a typical day. So I've got to be on point. Where could, where would I get the time to, to, to drink? I feel that in regards to the way that the your life's changed, it's almost like you've created a monster in all the sudden that becoming busy, where I didn't see any surfing in there. 100%. Where before, you know, you would have been, it would have been closed the door, having a surf, do we whatever. No, is it, is it important for you to keep busy? Definitely not. I can sit with myself and, and not be busy, easy. But the way things are, I can see the bigger picture. And the, I don't, I don't go just sleep the night before going, I've got to do this, this, this, this, this, this and this. So I wake up and things are thrown at me. I don't know what's going to get thrown at me first. And it's just about, all right, get that done. All right. What's next? Come on. What's next? What's next? All right. I've got to, I've got to look after myself. What's it? All right, 40 minutes. I'll go and do a workout. I can't surf today. Oh, well, I'll take that into consideration. And I'll surf the next day. Yeah. Kind of deal. And working towards getting the freedom to, to surf more and achieve my dreams in the big wave sector. Before we get into that bit, but you also mentioned once that you want to be in a position where you don't have to rely on money. 100%. I was very confused as a, as a child. And society and the, the system, I just thought, what, why? And I guess that's why I drank. I had that nervous disposition that I felt like I did not fit in. So working out the system and letting the system work for me through, through trial and error, consistency and hard work, I now get to, to live my life like currency doesn't exist. Yeah. And that's the true blessing for, for myself. And we could talk about, you know, levels of abundance, the whole podcast, but that could be another episode. But that's the thing too. There's so many people that feel like they're, like I just mentioned, with their change of their job, their change of their career, sometimes too frightened to step out of the, the realm, you know, where, to you, it feels like looking up from people looking from the outside, you just live in the dream. Oh, yeah, it's like people want as well, you know, I don't, my, I've got an in touch with how many good people there are on this earth. So many. And it's very easy though for me to, you know, look at the, the, the negative things that are happening in the world. And becoming resentful at that small minority, where is the piece I work so hard for, you know, worth giving to these, to these people. know what am I in control of my own thoughts and emotions? Okay, I'll work on that. And as soon as I see the people in my life as angels, like my wife, my business partner, my tribe, I actually have nothing to worry about because I've got these gods working through these people, whether they are open to that or not. And it's my job to facilitate these people and just to love, let go of control, give people creative freedom, just like they do with me, and let everything flow. So everyone's got a role. Yeah, and once I tap into that divinity, that goes to ego and things will happen in God's time, not mine. It's just my job to be grateful and to be of service. It's pretty cool. We've got some more of your promotions of law. It's because again, it's an important part of promoting the brand, you know, regardless of getting it out there and obviously doing more. I love this one. The. You're probably wondering how does your coffee look as she's just this? If you like it, coffee is all washed up as I am. It's so, like, we're super happy. And get it back in the heart. He's lost his hands. Is this ever the stop? It's time to pass some scribble at the salt. It's time to do a coffee with this. I've got down, down, down, down. Lord, the classic stalker thing gets him all the time, doesn't it? That's unreal. I don't want to be biased, but can anyone else make. Can someone try and challenge us with some good ads, please? That is a fucking super bowl commercial. I always loved the old beer ads. They were so extra back in the 90s, back when NRL was great. You know what I mean, though? Totally. I'm sure you can relate. Totally, but again, it's blockbusters. Oh, man. I think it was the same company that sort of did that, especially the World Series Cup cricket, those jingles that they used to do. I sent all these videos to Davey as today, and he's not true of him. And he came, you guys, man. He was frothing. Just. I hardly. I don't even watch half of them. Yeah. I do my part. And as you could see, my life is so busy. I actually can't sit back and appreciate the finishing product. I already moved on to the next time. Oh, you watch in that, like you watch in it for the first time. Yeah. Ask the crew. I'm too flat out with everything. I won't sit back and watch. I'll hardly ever watch anything that I perform in. Yeah. And it's so easy, too. I mean, really, you nail that. But for these big businesses, these other coffee brands that's been so much time in marketing and all that sort of stuff, and you punch that out. That's more entertaining than anything they do. And it just reminds me, when was it channel 10? This would be a show one in the morning. It was called Studio 10, like a talk show. And they actually got a. They got Gloria Jeans to sponsor the show, a major sponsor. But not only did they do that, they had a barista in the corner on the set. And I think there's another wide shot. There he is. And they just kept on crossing to the barista. This barista become a celebrity. I think it's from Sutherland Shire. Gloria Jeans paid channel 10, $1 million a year to have that on the set. Really? Yeah. Wow. That's how crazy. Back when there was money in making coffee, eh? Yeah. And money in television, too. 100%. Yeah, tons of changed. You're not shy of me, your attention, as we were mentioned, you're being the hero plenty of times television catwalks, icebergs. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. How did that come about? Oh my gosh. Mate. That was such a bright spot in my life, to be honest. So, Mark Vassalu, he's one of the biggest directors in Fashion Week as I'm talking global globally. And he saw my rate as haircut and whatever else he saw. And he approached me on Instagram. And so I got scouted for it. And I think far out, was there three years in the sobriety? Mate, I was feeling good at this point where in between the one and the five years, for about five, the fifth year, I got really tested and it was make or break. But before that, it's like this honeymoon period where you feel what it's like to feel good. Yeah. And one thing led to another. And that wasn't my only appearance on stage. My rule was to never say no to an opportunity, even though it scared the heck out of it. Push in the boundaries. Oh my gosh. So it's like seeing away, you figure, I'll go catch a look at me. 100% because prior to that, I'd let fear, fear robbed me of so many amazing opportunities when I was younger. And that was one thing that I strove to never let happen again. And gee, the big man upstairs threw some stuff at me. And yeah, so when I was up on stage, my self-esteem, I'd built that, not all the way up. Bit of, you go thrown in there as well at that part of my life. I remember hitting the gym every day. I was feeling jacked and I was on a roll in that entertainment industry here. And I remember waiting to get up on stage and it was a really a pinnacle moment for me because all the trials and tribulations I had, and you know, the who's who's that we're there and the close-ups of modeling, I'll look up to in the hospitality industry. And I remember just going, here I am on back, brownies back. And I remember walking that route, cameras flashing, people going on, how much can we get that outfit for and getting interviewed after by the news and the memes after what I said popping up on Facebook and the people I met. So it was a really exciting time. What was it you mentioned that that wasn't long after, you know, sobriety, was it a bit of a worry for you because we had a fellow member of Craig Hamilton on a few weeks ago. He's a mental health speaker, he had bipolar and he got out of it. You know, he became, you know, he was living clean. But all of a sudden he was doing a lot of stuff, being a rubbly commentator and living this quick high life, you know, everything was fast and he was, is he's manic on top of the world thing and it actually pushed him back into the depths again because he went too fast too early. Was that a worry that you were doing this? Because again, you go into icebergs, there would have been alcohol, there would have been, you know, a lot of things where you would have been tempted like before. Was it was it hard for you or did you, at that point, was it like I'm done? No, definitely I couldn't subject myself to pubs or clubs at that point. I didn't want to risk it. So, yeah, it was definitely test after test to be honest, but the thing is about what I've come to realise throughout my journey is there's definitely a battle of, when some people can see it, some people can't and some people have lying to it, but there's definitely a battle of, you know, the good and evil on this earth and it was just another test to see if, you know, is he going to make or is he going to break in this moment? And when I've gotten in touch with just the impact I'm having, [BLANK_AUDIO] you know, on society and I plan on making a big impact on this earth. So the evil forces out there want to take me down. And as focus focuses that is, for me that's just been so apparent. So yeah, I was definitely, I didn't have God in my life. I was still getting to know God at that point. So my, my higher power and my strength beyond myself was quite minimal. So yeah, definitely the tests were there. There you go. I was very present. I'm going to, we're going to talk about God and the devil very soon. But, um, there's a headline of you. I think it's the greatest headline of all time. This was on the, um, in the, the beachgrip.com, Newcastle folk hero and famed sex pot, Lutmullet Lord saved from certain death during catastrophic wipeout by 20 year old surf film. That could have been a, sorry, I'll just wrap my head around all those words. I was like from the pituit or advocate that was, but I mean that, that day there, that could have went really bad for you if it wasn't for that little skid lid. 100%. Yeah, I've always been in God's hands. Even when I wasn't, uh, open to it, back when I was living that wild reckless life. Now hindsight's just an amazing thing, because I look back on the way things worked out, the way things didn't work out. And I was just divinely cradled into rehab. Then rehab suggested I do other certain things and I found God. So we all find God in our own divine way, whether it be in this life or the next, when you say you found God. I mean, when you say you're born again, are you religious or you just spiritually? My spirituality is all encompassing. I've got no doubt that Jesus existed. I've got no doubt that any face of any religion existed. The thing is about Jesus and God is, I believe there are all disciples of one big entity. The cool thing about is all of mystery. When I passed over, I wasn't even a believer. I was a sinner and I was still divinely rocketed with all the other souls passing up into heaven. That gives me a lot of, and hopefully everyone else that listens, reassurance and security, whether they are believers or not. However, whatever staircase you want to take to heaven, whatever gets you there, we all meet up there sooner or later together as one big human race. You feel it, but before this, you're probably disrespecting your life. Big time. Not just yourself, but others around you. You look back and go, it's like this repenting now of, I've got to make good now. Yeah, definitely. It makes me sad. The self-destruction that I was doing to such a divine innocent being. Yeah, it was more of a case of also for the people around you, having to watch you, looking like we're going to get a phone call one day. Yeah, mum had me on life insurance. Yeah, that was sad. Tide of missing out on the best properties, stop searching, start winning. At Optima Buyers Agency, we work for you, not the seller. We negotiate harder, we move faster, we find the home's others don't. Optmarket deals, smart strategy, real results. Whether it's your first home or your forever home, we make it happen. Optima Buyers Agency, your edge in a competitive market. I suppose giving back to the community in that you're in a position now to give back to the people that are not as fortunate. Soul Hub is one. And obviously there's a 5000 wave challenge which turned into 7000. Was a massive thing in your life, I feel. I think you even mentioned this was the biggest thing that's happened in your life that months of surfing. Tell us a bit about that. So I got in touch with service, I suffered with depression and anxiety and my mentor at that stage, I think I was two years sober. So, Brownie, you're just so self-centered, it's not thinking about yourself and go out and help someone else and then come back to me and see how you feel. And I remember going to an AA meeting with a different perception that afternoon. I remember walking into that meeting to find someone that was like me that needed lifting up and guidance. But prior to that, I was going into that meeting to pull, to suck the energy out of that meeting for myself to feel better. So me walking into those meetings, when that first perception I explained was the cure for my alcoholism. Listening to other people's stories, did that help? Listening. Yeah, having my ears open and remaining teachable. But also understanding that, yeah, I hadn't drank for two years, that was like that'd be something that someone that's just trying to get off alcohol would aspire to. So I had an experience to get myself from ground up to that two year mark. So I saw it as my job to lift that person up because that person that was trying to get sober. If they heard the person with 15 years up talking, I know for sure that I'd be like, "That's just impossible for me." But if this half crazy bloke with a mullet with two years up came up to help me, "Oh, look, that kind of seems achievable." So that's the attitude I had to have when I moved into the meetings. And then my sobriety just started taking off and my depression and anxiety. I had moments of it, but it was relieved because I could actually project myself outwards, be open to opportunities. And it wasn't all about me. "Oh, well, you're actually all right, Brownie. How about the person that's just suffering crying in the corner?" Go on, try and help that person. So then I've brought that now into, for instance, the challenge. So Josh had the idea, Josh Levy. Josh Levy? He had his own challenge. Okay, 5,000 waves and raising 100k for Sol Hub. All right. So as a facilitator, what's my challenge? Okay. I've got a disregard, you know, everything that's going on in my life and be of service to Josh. Is he getting adequate electrolytes? What's his nutrition looking like? Is he going to bed? Does he need advice? The other way you also, I say, you made Josh do this. And he's a great surfer in his own right. But you sort of like, step back from the light. You know, it's like, I'm going to be behind the scenes guy and let someone else do that. You could have quite easily probably done that yourself. But you were the support guy and even just leading into that, just getting sponsors to come on board. That wouldn't have been something he's rocked up yet. Let's do it in a month. It would have been a bit of hard work leading up to that whole challenge. I took three months of preparation. Yeah. So for us, we have crazy ideas. This is just one of them. And we bring it to the team. All right, how are we going to execute this? Because we're doers. Josh, you're really serious about this because this is what we're going to have to do. We're going to have to stop our Facebook ads to fund this first up to start. Yeah. Or only a small company. All right. Now we've got some capital. to aid in this. Oh, okay, we're gonna have to put stuff in the shops to, so I can become available for you. - Yeah. - So there's a lot of logistics behind something like this. Josh has gone, "Oh, I wanna raise some." What's a good number to raise is only, you know, 21. Like 10 grand sounds like a lot. And we thought, "Oh, Josh, it's costanous "a lot more to do this challenge than that, mate." You better raise more than that. We may as well just donate what it's costing us to sell up right now. - Just place your time away from the work as well, you know? - And then he was like, "All right, 100 grand." And we thought, "Oh, all right, let's do it, brother." If you want it, you put it out there. You want it, you got it, let's do it. - If 5000 went to 7,000? - Yeah, so the boy that Josh started out, I feel like for Josh, we haven't spoken about this, but it feels like it was his initiation into manhood because the first couple of days, he was doing 162 waves, which was the minimum daily for 5000. - Yeah. - And then he was having a good cry after. And you know, he had to move through a bit. And I'm good with my words as well and not telling anyone to do anything, but I can fire people up pretty easily. And hey, I watched this guy grow in this month and we had, you know, we wanted a challenge and we got it. The last day was already tough. Throw some food poisoning in the mix. We were crying on my bed together before the last day, just trying to muster up the strength to get off that bed to finish the last day. And I was just thinking, this is fucking unreal. - Do you think Josh? - And he did it. - Yeah. - So the growth, he was, yeah, the growth that he had within that month was just a pleasure and a privilege to experience. - That last day was like, it was like he'd won a World Championship, you know, when they put he's still on the shoulders and taking him up the beach. - I know David was, I think he was filming surf, first up there. - And we were on the Kim Birdson, Jr. Pro at Maryweather and you guys were at Bar Beach, I'm pretty sure. And yeah, we could see the scenes from our broadcasts. It was sick. - So cool. Yeah, he's a competitive surfer and he was yearning for something more because with surfing and competitive surfing, fire, it's awesome. Push yourself to, you know, to your limit and see how good you can get and whatnot. But Josh and I were very godly people and he was yearning for more out of life. - Yeah. - And getting in touch with him and him experiencing what Lord's is all about encouraged him to step outside of the competitive sector. - Yeah. - And once again, stop thinking about himself and start thinking about others and how can I use my skill to raise money for these guys that the surf could be pumping. But those doors are open seven days a week and these guys are at the front line helping the less fortunate that it down and out. - Because surfing is a really individual sport. Is that it? - And this is sort of like, is opened up to a team effort. - There would have been also been some days where there was no sort of surf with shit. And you go getting those 162. - Oh, it was, yeah, it was the right, some days. We were subjected to the Australian climate each day. There was some sort of extreme patch of weather, whether it be strong winds, extreme rain, like whatever weather pattern you could think of, we experienced it. So the harshness of the sun combined with all three, maybe in one day, subjected to that was just, oh, I feel like my eyes are still recovering. - Yeah. I think we got a video of Josh. Do we, this one didn't sort of end well at the end? - Oh my gosh. There's a funny story behind this. - Go. So, Blakey Johnson, top, top bloke from Crannella, offered us to come down and do a sunrise to sunset session. - Okay, all right, let's do it. That sounds great. You're at the beach from sunrise to sunset. That's a freaking long time to be surfing. - Yeah. - They did that. We had to wake up the next day and he had to get 200 and, I think the quota at that point was 260 waves. So here, here I am. You know, come on Josh. I gotta get out of bed. We'll go surf the same wave, which is that one. And he needed a bit of a J up. And I was like, look man, I know you're feeling terrible. But this is, seriously, this is where champions are made. In moments like this. Not many people would back up a day like you had yesterday. Fight him up to get out there and get his quota. And we saw this little left that was breaking into the pool and it was mechanical and Josh and I, you know, come up with a plan, all right. If you can sit on that left and pull off before the pool, your clocky waves up, you're gonna really clock him up. But just pull off before the pool. And yeah, sure enough, he's on a 20. So he tried to pull off, but he's slid out because of the two fins and pushed him onto the pool and I feel in the whole sense, oh my gosh, this is gonna go viral. Hope it's okay. (laughing) There's the other way. - Pro-yore. - So he come in, oh my gosh, did you get that? That was crazy. Oh, yeah, that was nuts, I'm so glad you're okay. And I get your other board and get back out there. You're on 100 waves, just keep doing what you're doing. Just don't do that again. (laughing) He did it again and he snapped his board in three places. - I think, yeah, yeah, I think I saw that video. I didn't send that one through, but yeah. - Just imagine that. All you need to do is imagine that, but his board's snapping in three places. - Yeah. - And I couldn't believe my eyes when it happened. You never know what the day's gonna bring. And that was after Sunrise's sunset with Blakey Johnson the day before. - Do you think going forward for Josh, that experience that one month will steer him in good stead going forward. He'll make him a better surfer and maybe appreciate, you know, the fact I mean, at the top, doing that for a month, it's almost like, I've gotta catch away, I've gotta catch away, I gotta catch away. Now it's almost like he can sit back and pick and choose a lot easier than taking anything on and probably to a point where in bad surf and knowing you have to clock up numbers, he'd be able to surf in anything. - That's that like Bruce Lee perfecting his kick. The smack in that bag, smack after smack. That's what Josh was doing, wave after wave. - Did you feel, I mean, I need you to-- - Repetitions. - I know, yeah, you haven't spoken to him, you haven't been feeling even used to come. He probably doesn't realize it now, but looking back at that, he'll go, wow, that was something that he's achieved that not many people do. - Yeah, he'll always be, that's what I said doing. He'll always be the guy that caught 7,000 waves and raised $110,000 for local charity. That's pretty cool. - That local charity, I'm Sol Hubb, I'll mention again, they do a lot of food hampers and stuff like that. Take you back to when your mum relied on food hampers. - Yeah, definitely, the whole, everything that they supply reminds me of the crisis time in my life, because what they're doing is exactly what my mum did for me as her son. So I was, I'm just so fortunate to have just had her to fall back on. A lot of people don't have family. - Yeah. - And there's somewhere like the Sol Hubb for them or one stop shop for them to get well if they want it. - You were originally from Singleton? - Farmer, yeah, the only person that surfs in my whole life. It's not a big family, but. - Well, two years old, you moved to Capacabana. It's a big terrible actually. - Was it terrible? - And then Capacabana. - Okay. So I mean, that was, at the time, it was domestic violence in your life, something that you had to live through with your mum and dad. Your dad left when you were at 11. The farm went bad and you had to move to the central coast. Did you, Do you ever think if that farm didn't go bad, you would never have seen the surf? - 100%. Yeah. - And your life totally changes. - Isn't that just. It's just a spin out because I remember when we moved to Terry Gold as soon as we got to the ocean, I didn't wanna get out. It was a magnetic attraction to be honest. So I feel like I would have been drawn to it. But when can you move out? - Yeah. - Not like 18, I would have learnt so much just about way, the way the water moves, tides, rips and through nippers. I wouldn't have had all of that lived experience. It has made me the waterman I am today. So through adversity, today adversity still occurs. It's not bad thing. The adversity led me to the ocean. - Yeah. - Is another point, had you were stayed in Singleton, do you feel that you still would have found alcohol in some way to put you on that bad path? - Yeah, for sure. Definitely. I was destined to find that stuff and I was destined to fail at life. And I'm just so grateful that I failed at 24. Because I really did think that I was washed up and my life was over. But little did I know was just about to begin. - Yeah. I mean, you split up with your mum and dad, was your dad still angry about the farm? Was that a big part of the split? - Yeah, I feel like it was like taking me away from the ocean. - Yeah. The same thing, dad was a farmer through and through. It was in his blood. So to cope, he went down that path. And now that I look back, I can see everything for what it is. And I've got so much empathy towards him because for me, he feels like he's a star seed as well. And he can't kind of mold into society just like I had trouble with. So I can see a lot of me in him. - And it's taken your experience to look back and see that. Probably at the time, you're probably angry with him. - Totally. - But now it's almost like after the path you've tread or trodden, you see he's and go, "I understand that now." - Yeah, and the-- - Maybe the divine. - The divine way in this world works is our relationships the best that's ever been. - Yeah. - Now. - I was gonna say to you still see. - How cool is that? - That's divine. - Yeah. - You take on the role of man of the house as well, the age of 11, that's like a kid's shoulders. - Yeah. - Do you feel that this is like that catalyst of leading you down that road in regards to having too much responsibility that early? - Yeah, and I thrived with that responsibility. I felt like I was the golden child. - Yeah. - Even when early days of school, I was a teacher's pet, I was so enthusiastic. And then just the weight of the vibration that I was subjected to took over. And it just crushed that enthusiasm, crushed my sense of humor, and just pushed me into the darkness. - And pushed into that. - For that part where you were talking about earlier, where you wanted to be accepted. - Yeah, like I felt like our alcohol just washed everything away. - Yeah. - And I could just fit in. - Really nuts what it does. - You see your grandfather's beer at the age of 13, his golden glistening cup of nectar and your mesmerized and your skull of cup. Was that the start of it? - Pretty much. I got to feel that the elusive feeling that it gave me at such a young age. I may have been more sensitive than others, but it completely warped my perception. And for me, it's amazing. It's called spirits. - Yeah. - Because I felt like I was having a spiritual awakening when I had that stuff. Alcohol and I got along really well. - Yeah. - Well, since you drink in hot, home brewed long necks underneath the house. - No, I've expected any of that to be drank. So I just got to smash, I think, two crates full of it. It tastes like veggie mire, a couple of blown up. - And how old are you at this stage? - 16. - Yeah. I mean, - Maybe you've got. - But this is the thing that people will back at some things like that and they go, oh, boys will be boys, but there was definitely something more than that. - I felt like it was medicine for the nervous disposition that I had. - Also too, it's the surfing community also has a real drinking culture too, hasn't it? - That's the crazy thing. You see everyone else drinking, say you think it's okay, but I wasn't drinking like they were. - So, I mean, you're a fear surfer. You're on the junior pro tour. Before your life detoured. Do you feel, if it wasn't for alcohol, do you feel that your career would have been, it would have been again, a total different direction in regards to being a pro-surfer? - Yeah, I wouldn't, just like Josh and his surfing, I felt like I would have wanted more as well. And I wouldn't change anything. My whole experience, not change a thing, I'm just so grateful for the way my life unfolded, but at the same time, if I had positive guidance and encouragement, I believe I could have made it for sure, because I'm not like a usual person. If you're listening, I'm an extreme case. - I'm an extreme person. - Did you feel, oh, just sort of come to me that, did you feel that you're pushing Josh into becoming the person you wanted to be? - I feel like he's come into my life at such an amazing time where my wife and I prior to the rebrand of Lord Supplier, which is coming on a year, we'd always like, oh, be so good to sponsor a couple of juniors and facilitate their growth. And I have a lot of passion as well, due to my misguidance. And look, I've, he was, I've been seven years now, I was in the foster system, I fostered a boy, he still lives with us today. I got that one, that one guy. And I've guided him to the point where he just finished his apprenticeship as a hairdresser. - Oh, well. - Bright spot of my life. All right, Josh comes in. He wants to be a pro-surf, that's great. All right, what can I do to facilitate that? He's just let me know that he wants to take a year off competitive surfing after what he achieved. And we are full supportive of that, if he doesn't want to do the tour. That's great. We're going to support whatever you want to do anyway as a team rider. That we sponsor Josh and we also sponsor a sparring UFC for Jake, he's 18 and Josh is 21. So it's just divine. - Well, I have a look at a little bit of a training session yourself and Nicola did with the MMA fight a little bit later. But it sounds like you're pushing him into becoming a great surfer, but you're really making him into a great human. - That's the goal. I have stars shine bright. And that's exactly what Josh he does. - You moved to the Eastern suburbs of Sydney. That would have been like throwing a caracene onto a bonfire. - Oh yeah, like me going to Bali. Rasting, I need his encouragement. But all right, here we go. I mean, what sort of drugs were you taking? - All right, whatever I wanted. - I mean, we've done a few things with Craig Boxham, the lead singer from Spy versus Spy. And he was addicted to heroin. And he said the first time he had, it was in that scene, you know, the music scene in Sydney and it was like trying to push drugs onto him. He was taking drugs. He said, "But not heroin and finally you went, "I'm going to take him, I'm going to take it." And he said, "That one time I took it, he went, "That was so amazing." I was always like, "Was it like that in regards to it?" Yeah, it was like I was more of a depressant, you know, like alcohol or down. So I'm just glad that I never took to heroin and injecting. But I was, you know, completely open to anything that came my way. So I'm just grateful that I didn't get mixed up with anyone that was doing heroin because that would have sounded like a great idea. But yeah, definitely, when I smoked ice, that stuff didn't do it for me. It was great and fun, but it sharpened me up too much. And no matter how much I drank, I felt, I didn't feel how I wanted to feel, I felt way to alert and on where I'm trying to do the opposite. That's how I'm alert and on. I'm trying to, I don't know what to do with all this energy. I've got to depress it through alcohol or opioids. And so today, I'm that highly energetic outgoing person. And it's funny because like, you know, in the Bible, when they talk about God turning water into wine, like, I don't think you when turned, turned water into wine, his disciples were drinking water and he would, they were, they were practicing with Jesus. And, and that water that they were drinking and the practices that they were implementing made them feel drunk on the spirit of God. And that's what I drink from today. Do you, at the time when this was happening, what was a, did you feel invincible? Oh, well and truly. I was delusional and invincible. What was it? What was the typical night for you? Oh mate. So I, to be honest, I really despised people that went out looking for fights. Like, I was that one that would choose Oxford Street over Kings Cross any day of the week. Purely because of the vibe, being able to go out, you know, get on the airkeys and not have to worry about someone starting me. And I purely chose Oxford Street because of the vibes and being able to have a good night. But any, any time I'd ever go out on in the central coast or Kings Cross, there was always that person that was looking for a fight. And, you know, we'd run into each other. And my rule was like, if I'm, if anyone ever tries to ruin my high, I'm not, they're going to, they're going to yeah, copy King here or an elbow to the face. And I'll end it. I'll try and end it before it even starts. Yeah. You would have been banned from a few night clubs and pubs and yeah, like Kings Cross didn't really want to know about me or the central coast. There is a downed. This isn't just a gym. It's where limits get broken. A place where community comes together sweat turns into strength and every drop is progress. No excuses, no we goes just results. Join Fittstop Newcastle today, a start to a better you. There was a night too where you received a pill, a very potent one. You got it from it. You say a Russian. And he said, this is the, you can't just take this one. You've got to find it out. It was an experience I never, I'll never forget it was just like a movie where like we'd been on the bandar at a place in Bondi. And a made a mind, it was like, I'll just go down to Bondi Road Hotel and get some pingers. Pretty standard weekend. And he just came back with one. And he said he was asking around and these Russian blokes took him back to his place. And they just gave him one. And he said, well, I made this like five of us back there. We need more than that. And they said to him, no, you don't. Just, I don't know, just go home and divide it up. You'll be right. And we'll, I don't know if we're all right, but the heat is straight away though. Yeah, it was, it was something I never experienced in my life. The strength of this line I did was so strong that I'm so glad when I came up on this stuff, the cops were there to arrest me. Such a spin out. What were you doing when the cops got there? I was, I had my shirt off like caving the roof of my, I had to shurate in feeling when I, when I'm, I say invincible, there was like another level of invincible on top of that. Was that the amazing out of that terribly years of experience? Was that the peak? Was that the, the summit of, of as bad as it got? I guess from a, O D perspective for sure. I still have like heart palpitations today because of the stress that my, my body went through. I can't believe I'm, I, my heart didn't explode. Anyone should have just died. How were the other guys? Yeah, not good. So it was a mixture of, I don't know what it was, synthetic, what, what I've researched online is definitely very similar. The same as, as bath salts that was going around in the States that, that people took for a little bit, but I think avid the, you know, people got in touch with just how fucked up that stuff really is and they don't touch it anymore. But a lot of synthetics were getting through the border, look undetected. No one knew what it was. So that's why they were doing it. But it's true when they say it's 100 times stronger than anything. Any other ecstasy pill. And you're in hospital and next year, you know, you're in heaven arguing your case to get back. Yeah, yeah, full on. And I've taken, you know, a lot of police and agents loved it. But this was on a whole nother level. I was like, I was experiencing what we experienced today. And then waking up the next day and trying to convince myself it didn't happen. No, it happened. And the last thing I want to do, after, well, it took me another two weeks to completely be done with, with alcohol. And I was in rehab. No way I was going to tell the psychs about what happened to me. That was, that would have locked me up. It tells the process. The mental institution. Yeah. It tells the process when you were up there. It was like you were having a plead. Oh, yeah. So you had to do a dance in front of the devil to get back down. But you met the devil as well. Yeah, both aspects. Heaven and hell. So the crazy thing was as, as I left my body, I was just zooming. But as I was zooming up, there was, I wasn't lost at all. There was just this feeling like I knew exactly where, where I was going. And I felt, now we work for serenity on this earth, but I felt this belonging, this feeling of belonging and this feeling of serenity that was so pure. But I don't think I'll ever experience until I truly pass on again. So that was just like unreal to experience. And then meeting the, the guides, I just call on my spirit guides. I've got on with my life and tried to forget it because it's too much to intellectualize. I still remember the feelings and the connections that I had with these spirit guides and them getting me in touch with my true strength and the side that I was on like prior to drinking. I was just this pure innocent, beautiful boy. And that's how I felt again. And that's who I got in touch with again. And everything was amazing. But mind you, this feels like a lifetime up there. I wasn't one day. This was building, I built a strong relationship with these other souls. And I was circulating up there, living another life. And it come to a point where I was like, they approached me and wanted to keep me there. And then that's when my desire for life kicked in. And I basically had to show them that I'm not done here on earth. And I remember having that this strong connection to this one spirit. And I remember the feeling I had between that spirit myself and speaking through like body language was just so extreme. Like imagine someone putting a gun to your head and going, how badly do you want to live? Yeah. Fucking fight. How hard you would fight. And I don't think people realize how hard they would fight until they're subjected to that situation. And that's the fight that I had to put up to prove that I wanted you, I wanted earth. And once they, you know, once I put up my fight, it was like there was no negotiation through that feeling that I expressed towards them. And giving it my all, I just basically just fell into hell. And I was just aimlessly walking around a desert, which felt like another at a lifetime. Yeah. Bumping into people. And it was, it was just a sandy dark fiery, pointless, desolate area. And where you're not wondering how long you've been down there for. And that's the thing about hell. Other sinners that have experienced, you know, the performed terrible acts on earth. I could hear the screams coming from segregated areas. Yeah. But they're being punished for what they did here. And they're not think there you go left. And they're not, they're there for a long time. So the fraternity. So so people that do do bad things that still think God will forgive obviously that he doesn't. Yeah. It's such a spin out because yeah, they're being punished. And my time was up. I never actually harmed. I harmed others. I harmed myself mostly. I never performed any terrible sins. So what my life felt like an eternity. Like long story short, I got to a point where I was purging in front of like a colosseum. This might sound crazy. And every time I'd vomit, it was sharing up and sharing over me. And at the start, I was like worrying about kind of what everyone was thinking. I felt like another eternity. And over time, as I was purging, I got to a point where I didn't give a shit what anyone thought. And as soon as those thoughts left me, I'd just wake up in the hospital bed. So yeah, it was another divine experience where I believe that these sinners will be, I don't know what was happening in those segregated areas. But though their soul will be primed to a point of letting go or a point of purge. And it will take longer because those those souls are a lot more tortured. You feel you feel you were close to staying there? No, I never believed that there was not one thought that I was ever going to stay stay in hell. But as well as heaven though, like I experienced for all I knew, like I was up there for good. It wasn't until they wanted to keep me as when that desperation kept in. But as well as I could have been purging. I wasn't thinking about how long that was going on for when it was happening to me. Which is the crazy thing. That could have been happening for a lot longer. And I could have made I could have made me flatlined in the hospital and put my souls over here paying for what I did. But through that pain and that that cleanse, who knows what would have happened. I may have just shot back up into the Milky Way and circulated and being reincarnated. That's another mystery that I, that's way out of my pay grade. Yeah. But that's for another podcast. Far out. But after all that, you come back down. You must be thinking, geez, I was, I was right on the brink then. Like every day now is a bonus. Is that the way you feel? No, I felt the crazy thing is like I was still so unwell and delusional and alcohol kind of was made me insane. So and all I knew was like that's my medication. And it's so I just didn't tell the doctors or the nurses what happened just so I could get out and go to the bottle shop. So to deal with what what happened I, I drank for another two weeks straight. But we get much sleep every time I shut my eyes. I could see like the devil. Do you remember your last drink? Yeah. So an amazing story. I remember going through the, the DTs and so I knew of a line on alcohol. It was as soon as it's hard to stop because it started hallucinating and hearing voices and whatnot. So that got me to a point, a jumping off point. I was on the edge of my mates balcony and I was going to dive off. And then I, there's beers in the fridge. I'll just go smash a few beers before I jump off here. See, I feel after that. And it quietened the nerves just enough for me to walk down to the beach and not jump off the balcony. You know why beer saved you at that point? Yeah. Yeah, it's crazy. So I got a, I just need to get in the water. I got such a psychological thing when you get to that point. I got to get in the ocean. I'll just, that's all I need. I just got to get back to the surf. And I remember just diving into a rip and laying back like this and just feeling the ocean level and level out my brain. Because right at that point, I was just sizzled, falling down rabbit holes, talking gibberish. Like it was scary for the people that were there. And yeah, you know, there's mind over matter. I told myself that that moment queued me. Sure as hell didn't, but I remember getting back onto the beach and a friend that I called arrived with a power pack along next. And I remember him opening up the, the plastic that kept the three together. And he just went like that. There you go. He didn't realize how fucked I was. And I just looked at it and went, oh, I'm like, if I'd, I'd like a little moment of clarity. In the insanity, if I drink this long neck, that'll set me off for another, another spree. Yeah. Because I've already had three carton drafts at 9am. And I said, no, I can't have it. I mean, it just looked at me like never denied a beer in my life. Did you know then? That was the last, even while you saying that, you knew that was it. Well, it was the last thing is my mum's brother was the head psych south Pacific private. And I was already on life support with the psychological box tick. So I had like I could I could get into a rehab and it was covered by my private health. And she called him up and was like, you know, my son's cooked. Can you get him in? And he said, I like if there's a cancellation, I'll let you know. It took two weeks for me to get into that rehab, which is unheard of. People have to wait a lot longer than that, but a bed came free. So they call me up and said, I'm brownie, you can go. But that two week period I was drinking, my mum was monitoring me. Yeah. And I was just having a few wines today. It was like we're like a weaning off. Yeah, yeah. Because to stop, I could already had a seizure for when I tried to stop called Turkey. Yeah. So I just had to I didn't even want it. I could hardly sleep anyway every time I shut my eyes. I could I was just like, took me back to the hell. So I hardly slept and I'd just be drinking red wine until I got into the rehab. And your mum, you must have looked at it and you go, God, your mum had a hard life at the start and she's going through this. She's a saint herself. Yeah. Yeah, she's just doesn't have a bad bone in her body. Mum, she's just adorable. I've got so much respect for her, everything she's been through. And what she's done for me. Well, I mean, she's starting the business too. And when she's starting in the shop, she let you. $50,000, didn't she? Yeah. I mean. And she didn't have much money. So that was a big deal. But crunch the numbers, believed in myself. Well, after everything you've been through, she probably gone, you know what, if she makes something of this, yeah, this is almost like, I need to give in this to letting go on his way. Yeah. That's the thing. I just needed one person to believe in me. And I don't know if she completely believed in me. We haven't spoken about that. But all I needed was that $50 grand. And that's that $50 grand. I knew it was going to work. Yeah. I wasn't recreating the wheel. I had a new oil's good at making coffee. I had a great business model. I knew that you know, there was a gap in the market with what I was going to provide. And she lent it to me. And you paid it back in those on? Yeah. We, at that point, my brother, I taught him how to make coffee too. So he was with me. And my sister was, it was a family affair. So, but, mate, together we paid that loan off. Yeah. Like within six months. And mum was just, mum was wrapped. Looking back, I mean everyone says that you put on earth for a reason. Do you feel? Now that you're giving back in regards to charities and stuff like that and helping other people, it's almost like you'll put on earth to go through those scenes to come out the other side and be helpful for others. Yeah. I feel like I've never been to uni. But you're street smart. That's it. But that's the cool thing about myself. I haven't tried to recreate the wheel. I've invested in my spirituality and I'm just a good person. And I can show up every day and do my best. And I've, I'm not making choices based around fear. I've actually listened to my intuition, okay, what do you enjoy? All right, on yourself. Do what you love. Fuck it's so hard on the opposite way. Fuck that. Yeah. So it's like for someone that, you know, has been to uni or someone that is suffering with alcoholism. It's like, well, I feel like people could see what I do and go, oh, he's really kept it simple. And he's look where he's at. Where it's like, you know, if I did have the double degree or if I did, you know, recreate the wheel, it would be for those people that are still suffering or just hating their life, whatever they're doing. What? That this is just what he did and now he's here. Maybe I can do that too. Dave does a lot of corporate events live and not so live. But Dave would, would my Lord Lord be a great corporate speaker? I think definitely, especially a reference to your team, having that support group around you, that really brings home for a lot of people and you see a lot of people don't have that. So I would, that's where I would be. If I was, if I was your guy, getting into that sort of business, that's where I'd go with you. Do we look in you and giving you another genre together? Yeah, totally. So it is, I really feel like with my qualifications, which are minimal. That's inspirational for people. We're all people. I'm sure as hell know if I went to uni and did something that my parents wanted me to do, or I didn't even enjoy it, is that successful? No. Well, I just said, you need a grise now. Like what about a business degree? If your state is a plumber, you'd be making a fortune too. What do I be? What do I do? I'll turn to you at a drainpots. Look, yeah, the thing is, that's, we need everybody. That just wasn't me. I gave it a good shot. And the smell of that mccona and the cigarette, I had to quit the sigis. But that smell, I remember, it did something to me. It just got my senses going at an early age, and I was in awe of just that scent. And I'm just so grateful that my senses take to the largest commodity going on this earth. I'm just a lucky guy. Because I could have smelled like the, you know, anything. It could have been someone cutting open a watermelon. Oh, that watermelon's great. I might be a, I might start a fruit stall. It would smell the flower. Or you're next to your flower. Yeah, you know, I just love the smell of coffee. Like, and here we are. You've also made a character, sure of yourself. I think it's on your, there you go. Oh, sick. You drew that one up. So that was Jake. He was the old graphic designer for Mullet Boards, who I'm sponsored by. So they did that graphic. So all the boards they sold, that was on the surfboards. I think Dave loves that one because he looks a bit like Hulk Hogan. Yeah. Yeah, I'm part of the Hulk Hogan era. Dave, don't get him onto wrestling. He loves his wrestling. But you would say we could wrestle after this. Well, you're going to have to get your kid off because what happens? What happens when you take your piece off? What do we see if we take your kid? Yes. Unreal. Yeah, so. If the tattoo artists just go, what the fuck? Well, no. He basically pigeonholed me into doing it. Yeah, he'd come in and get coffee every day. And he had the tattoo studio across the road from Lords. Early days. Brownie, come on, let me give you a tattoo. Every time. Let me give you a tattoo. Everyone got, oh, you come on, brownie. Get one. All right. So I really like just, you know, not having tats in visible areas. So I thought, oh, you know, look, I'll give you my right buck cheek. Or is it my left? Whatever side it is on, whatever side you're on, that's whatever side it is. Right. You know what I mean? Well, you're going to even it up. So you're going to even it up in the other side. But yeah, he's no longer with us. He suffered from addiction and took his own life. So, just another one. Did you know? Didn't even know. Couldn't have been just sitting there going, I could have helped you. Yeah, so he'd lend me boards. He was an old, old, old surfer. And yeah, he tattooed me. And we've had a really great relationship. That tattoo would mean so much more now. Yeah, so I can remember him by that tattooed and the last we had because he did throughout the drugs. I think he, you know, got a great, a big owed a lot of money and got himself into a lot of trouble that he felt like he couldn't get out of. So. Do you also think that could have been you? Oh, 100%. Well, drugs that's taken people was a five, five, a man a day, commits suicide. I wonder how much, you know, drugs and alcohol involved in those. And that's probably most likely. And that's not reported of how many people attempt per day. That's right. Just staying on the character, the Codine. You could make a Codine out of that. I could see a Mullet Lord Codine. You know, be careful what you put out there. Because you've got. Just don't put your ass out there like that. But you've got like a mind in regards to. I mean Dave Hughes, he came to you to ask for you to write a skit. That was classic. I wasn't surprised. I was making some pretty classic comedy skits back then. And once again, someone from whatever channel he was from approached me. Yeah. And said, "Have you heard of Dave Hughes? We've got a problem. They want you to make a skit for it." And sure enough, I just played on the Mullet and the car. I had it at the time, which was a mad car. Toyota Salika with the pop-up lights. Sunroof. It was so low. I think it was a 1999 model. And I just basically introduced the car. "Check out me, Salika. I've got bought it for 900 bucks, by the way." Such so much character. And I said, "Check it out. It's got the sunroof and the pop-up lights." And I did all my facials in it. And they loved it. And basically they played the skit. And then they basically just ripped on me the whole time. But I love it. You know, it's the best. I don't do it. But I can really appreciate that type of comedy. Yeah. I've got thick skin. I tell you what Dave Hughes, when I was a channel 10, they tried to rev-mic-manage, try to reboot the old tonight live show. Rove tonight. And it failed after three shows, just bombed in the ratings. And so they just said, "We've got to get rid of it." So they said, "We've got to get rid of the set." They built this set. But we can't just keep it here because it's gone. So they took it out the side. And what they used to do with these old sets. They used to have this set. They used to get a fork lift and just drive through and just break up the set and put it in the skit bin. So I went out, had to go out the back, because there was a cafe next door to the channel 10. It was attached to the building. And I thought, "Well, past this happening." And while I was there, this fork lift was crushing up rope set. Dave Hughes was there filming it. And I said, "What are you doing?" And he goes, "I'm going to fucking send this to Rove." Nice. Nice. You've asked it, but it's just that human. And yeah, Rave would have gotten it and gotten it. I've gotten it easy. It's important to see the human in everything. Yeah. Yeah. MMA fighting. You've your sponsor, Phillip. Is it Jake Young? Jake Young. Yeah. You've done a bit of training with him. You and your beautiful other half, Nicola. I think we've got a bit of that. Oh, unreal. This is going to train like an MMA fighter just so they can see how hard it is. We've got a cardio session. That's from the UFC Performance Institute. And it sucks. We've got this free bucket ready. 10 seconds is hard. It's just hard to see. Yeah. I'm going to go. Wow. What if we got ourselves into? This is fucking easy, Jake. I don't know what he's doing. Next I'll make sure it's right. Right? 60 seconds all out. I think someone sparked my drink. My drink wasn't enough. It was up like that. That was the longest minute of my life. Oh. Pastest men about that have done on the earth. The fatials are gonna be so funny. (man screaming) (laughing) - Cool. - This is not a happy one, that's your girl. And if you're not, why, you're not doing a hub. (upbeat music) - Or when it's as hard as you can. (upbeat music) - It's cool again, mate. - Nothing never felt so good. - I'm gonna get back to work. - I need two and a half times, bring me, put you in. - 2.4. - How can that go to going part of it? - CC second intervals, mate. - Very good. - Next week. - Listen to my Josh. - It's hard to get in. - Let's see how I watch Josh guys. - Right. - That's a lunch break. (laughing) - Pretty cool. - It gives a new found respect for what he's doing as well. - Yeah, let alone getting, having to keep up that level of fitness, but also getting punched in the face. (laughing) - Oh, too much. He's pretty marketable that young, J. Gini, good looking. He's too good looking to be a bloody MMA fighter, isn't he? - Yeah, he's a unique character because he's got that. So for instance, no one saw what he did behind the scenes for the challenge. He was editing every video. So we'd have an ICloud folder and everything we filmed, we'd share it to that. And at the end of the day, he would edit it. So he's really savvy with his editing. And he's very marketable. He's got his own active-wear company, - Fightwear. - Fightwear, cage. - And he's only 18. So he's at a point too, every other 18-year-old, 18, it's time to hit the clubs. So it can be, I've been there, been there done that. It took me 19 of, I completely gave up on myself, but he's only 18. And if we can catch him before he's influenced by whoever we've done our part. So we believe in him, like in a stars shine bright. We, my business partner, Alex got in touch with Jake's old coach. Would have been a good three years ago. And his old coach said, "I'll make sure you look after Jake for me while I'm gone." And my business partner, Alex wasn't really in a position to do that. But he kept it in, he said he would. And sure enough, the years went by. Posto, they call, well, everyone calls him. Alex apostolues his name. So Posto for short, Nico, myself started Lord's supply with the cafes that we have. We can facilitate it. And he thought, "Oh, we sponsored Josh." My passion, and I love MMA. And there's a kid that my old friend, who's his ex-trainer, said to look after him and it kind of popped into his mind that we were in a position to just sponsor Jake. And we were actually in a position to look after him all those years after. I just find it incredible. I find it not incredible. It is brilliant that this coffee business, this coffee shop, it's just spawning, you're helping people, your charities, your MMA fighters. So far, making them into good people. It's almost like the end of the day, the hub, the headquarters, is that coffee shop that's spawning all this happening? - Yeah, it's pretty cool. So we're getting these guys, before the world's pressures and what not gets to them. We've gotten to them at an early age. And what I'm all about, we had soren as ice baths yesterday. I'm talking, we're building them up. We're building them up and we've got a great foundation to do that. And we've got really big plans for the future in that area. - Beautiful. You just celebrated your six wedding anniversary with the lovely Nicola, best friend soul mate. - Yeah, lovely. - Yeah mate. Stoked. Yeah, married my best friend. She just walked in off the street and wanted a job, didn't she? Yeah. She poured a half decent coffee, and I was like. She got better. There's room for improvement, and she doesn't suck. We're gonna cut that bit. No, it's all right. No, no, no, she'll love it. So I mean, some people find it's hard to work with your partner wife. It's certainly not for you. Yeah, as soon as she came along, everything got better. My life improved. Like, out of sight. Was it love at first sight? No, no, I definitely. When I was employing her, I definitely did not think, "Oh, I could marry this girl." It was. Yeah, over time, we worked intensively together for three weeks while my brother was in Europe. And we finished a shift, and gee, we'd get along through that shift, worked really well together. Well, I'm going for a wave, or if there was no surf, I'm gonna go to hot yoga, because I was in love in the hot yoga back then, no kids. And she was like, "Oh, can I come along?" "What beach are you going to?" She lived at Maryweather. Let's go for a wave. And she really jumped on, like, as the lifestyle I live, I basically just let go of my old life and started doing my own thing. And she was the first one to really jump on board with my energy. And. You think what I was doing? Do you think it was love at first sight for her? Nah, she said it wasn't. And I understood. But once she got to know me and what I was all about, she was like, we kind of both come up with the conclusion. Like, "What's going on here?" Like, "Oh, we really, really like each other." What a beautiful ending. You know, who else would we want to be with? And six years later, two kids, two cafes, the roastery, everything else we've been through. It's just been a joy. My Lord Brownie, it's been a pleasure to be on the incredible lives with Caini. And good luck in the future. And I'm sure there's plenty more future to come. Yeah, 100% last long, until it's not. [Music]