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Hi guys, it's Tony Robbins. You're listening to Habits & Hustle. Crush it! Today on the podcast, we have Zion Clark. Zion is an extraordinary man. He was born without legs, but that did not stop him from becoming a Guinness World Record holder for walking on his hands and becoming a successful wrestler winning national championships.
If you want to hear somebody that doesn't take any excuse or use any excuse to hold you back, this is the guy for you to listen to. He's inspirational. He's motivational. He does motivational speaking across the country. His story is extraordinary. Like I said, he was born without legs, bullied. He was unfed.
And with every single obstacle, he was able to persevere. And I really loved this conversation. I really believe that you will as well. Enjoy.
We have today one of the, I think you're just like a crazy inspiration to like everybody. Zion Clark, if you guys don't know who Zion is, Zion, am I pronouncing your name even correctly? I mean, you are wearing sunglasses. I mean, did you have a hard night last night is why you're wearing those sunglasses? Nah, I got good sleep last night. Slept in this morning, actually. Oh, really? I took a shower and came here.
Oh, okay. So you just like, it's more of a look then, right? Yeah. I like, I like to dress like swag. Yeah, you are. You dress really swag and you're really fit. How do I tell, like, what do I, how do you describe yourself? You're a motivational speaker. You are someone who's like a pro wrestler, but like in your, if I, if you were to say your bio yourself, what would you say it is? Uh, just to sum it up, I would say I'm an entertainer and I'm motivated.
Okay, that sounds good, actually. That's much better than what I have written down over here. So that's amazing. So what I...
what I think is amazing about you and that's what I, why I was so desperately wanting to have you on is that I think you're so inspirational to everybody because no matter what you, you basically are the definition of someone who doesn't play victim, doesn't let things that have adversity stop you from, uh, going after something. I mean, you obviously, I mean, you, you don't have any legs and, but your arms make up for it and, you know, it's,
And times a million. Can you just kind of talk about like, just like the origin of like who you are, what your life was like, you know, the beginnings of you basically before you became you. I mean, you being a super athlete, you know. I'm from Massillon, Ohio, originally born in Columbus. And I spent the first 17 years of my life in the foster care system. And I was living in the streets, like in the ghetto.
So, you know, life was really rough with all the gang violence and on top of that, going through the system, jumping from different homes throughout the area. In turn, a lot of things happened that really tested the temperament of my mentality. And it just, I had to grow up and probably grew up a lot earlier. I started thinking more maturely by the time I was like 15, 16 to the point where
where by the time I got to college, I was living by myself, paying my own rent, really just working a job, laying brick. It was like a thing I had to work towards from my experiences of growing up rough. And it kind of built either it's going to fold or it's going to consume you, or you're going to take it and build off of it. And that's what I ultimately ended up doing.
And somewhere in there, I started wrestling. Somewhere around there. Okay. So even before that, so like you, you were born without legs, right? What is it called? Like, can you talk about like that? Like where your mom or your dad or biological? So I don't know my biological parents, but I was born with, uh, it's called a caudal regression syndrome. It's a very rare disease, um, or syndrome, I guess, disease. I don't get the terminology completely. That's okay. But, um,
In short, it's like a lot of, if you're born with it, a lot of kids, if they are, they can have different things wrong with their body as they come out, depending if they're missing a, it could be, you could be missing a finger or you could be like me and be missing both legs. I mean, so what causes that? A lot of drug abuse. Is that really what causes it? It could be at random or it could be caused by drug abuse.
And was your mom on drugs? Yep. Yeah. So when I was born, I was born with every party drug that was available back in the 90s. Every party drug being like cocaine, I guess. Yep. I had cocaine, molly, meth, perks, zans, all in my system. And I had that, what's that alcohol deficiency called? Oh. You know what I mean? When a mother drinks, what's that called? Able.
Yeah. I have a little brother and he was born with it too. So we made life really hard. And sometimes you're born early, which is my case. I was born two and a half months early. So then I was really underdeveloped already. So then I had to like, I don't know, I was just really small. First of all, the story is unbelievable. People thought I was slow too.
Because I was developing at a little bit of a slower rate. I was really behind the rest of the kids to the point where they were going to put me in those special classes they had. Really? Yeah. And then I did not want to go there. In my head, I knew I wasn't like that, but I just had that block.
where I couldn't, I even had like an assistant, like a helper following me around. And it was, I never liked it because I was that kid that always liked to do things on my own. But at the time I was still like a little too weak to do anything. So how old are you? I'm talking about like five, six years old. And you, and you remember like in your head, this is like first grade. And it was just terrible because like, I really had, I had such a problem learning.
Even learning how to walk on my hands was like a struggle. I didn't start walking until I was about four. I used to just drag myself around four or five when I finally got enough strength to stand up. Did they put you through some type of program for the fetal alcohol syndrome or to get rid of the drug? Me, I don't remember too much of that part because I also had two surgeries right off rip when I was born.
I have a giant scar on my stomach and a giant one going up my back. Why? What kind of surgery? One to remove one of my rib bones that was impeding into my intestines, and then one to correct my spine on my back. I have these two tiny little pins in my back. So you've been a fighter literally from day one in every way, shape, and form. Yeah.
You've always had something like that. I mean, still breathing. Yeah. No kidding. I mean, you don't let anything stop you. Like it doesn't matter what, whatever, like any type of like negative thing that comes your way. It seems like you've like fought through all of it, even from such a young age. So,
Well, I mean, even with the, so how did you get rid of the, how did they get rid of the fetal alcohol syndrome? Is it just, I don't really know the details of it. Um, I've talked to my little brother as he was like growing up and named Sam, by the way. Are you guys close? Yes. We play call of duty all the time, every day. And did you guys stay together? Yeah. Well, no, I, I got in contact with him when I was a little kid and then I lost contact until I was like a senior in high school. And then,
I've been in contact every day since. - Since, like for how many years? - Yeah, I think he just like texted me like just now 'cause I saw a little PlayStation icon pop up. That's how he texted me. He's still in school. He's a sophomore in high school. - Really? - Yeah. He's a wrestler like me. - So how did you even find him? Same mom? - Oh yeah, no, same mom. I just looked, I went to the agency 'cause I was like, I need to find my little brother. - And you never found your brother? - Nah, I know where she's at. She's in prison. But my little brother,
I'm his only brother, you know what I mean? So I had to go. Totally. I had to make sure I really established that connection. And I have. He always be bragging to his friends and shit about like, "Oh, dude, look at my big brother. This is my big brother." Because his mom be telling me. His foster mom be telling me. So it's like having an impact on somebody like that, especially my little man, I really want to spread that to everywhere else.
That's amazing. So you have a relationship with your brother. Yeah. And so how did you go from, when you say you're living on the streets though, like how was that? So did you leave the foster care and be like, screw this? Some families would just lock me out of the house and then I would just have to figure shit out. So then I made friends. So how did you find this wonderful woman that? I was at the, at that point I was fighting all the time and I was in a really shitty foster home.
When you say shoulda, what happens in there? Like, everybody, every other foster boy in that house was out for my head. And I was low-key out for theirs, too. What do you mean? Like, what does that mean? Like, if I caught you slipping, I'm going to punch you in the back of the head. Or if they catch me slipping, they're going to punch me in the back of the head. Like, it would get so bad. Like, I'd be in my sleep, and then I'd wake up to somebody punch me in the face.
But what's the purpose? Like, why? Because we hated each other. But why? I don't know. You guys are all in the same situation. I know. And I never understood that. I remember being in there and I would recognize that I already didn't like these guys because like in school, we weren't the greatest friends. Oh, right. But like, I was, I've always been the type of dude that's just like, I'm just going to mind my own business. Yeah. And go do whatever I do.
And somehow they always ended up in my face about some stupid thing. And then the last time we fought, somebody got hurt and a chair got stuck in the ceiling. In the ceiling? Yeah. Oh, my God. Okay. And for some reason, it all got blamed on me. So then I got thrown out and I was about to get shipped to Cincinnati to a group home. And if the group home didn't take me, then that was it.
I'd be homeless at 16, 17. So that's what was happening. And then they asked my mom, 'cause like I said, they didn't have any options. So they asked my mom and she was only fostering girls at the time. And they asked her if she could do like an emergency placement. And she said, yeah. And then boom.
Wow. Things actually worked out and have been constantly working out ever since. And you're close with her? Yeah, that's my mom. I saw it in an interview with you guys back when, I think it was on Ellen maybe, I don't remember. She seemed like a really lovely, nice woman. Yeah, my mom from the streets too, shit. If my mom grew up rough, that's why she is the way she is today. Right, exactly. Growing up a harder life, you can still come out really kind on the other end.
There are a lot of people I know that have like the craziest backstories and they're the nicest people. Isn't that always the way it is? It's like either it's one way or the other, right? Yeah. It's never like in the middle. What I find interesting is that like all these other foster parents
even yours or otherwise, like why are they even taking kids if they're such, like if they're so brutal with them? Like I don't understand. - Because they get paid. - But I mean, yeah, but like-- - No, like you can make good money having five to 10 foster kids in a house. It doesn't mean you have to take care of them. It doesn't mean that money's getting put back into the kids. - Right, but isn't there, I guess my question is, isn't there supervision around it? Like isn't there someone overseeing it? - No, not really.
And if the kid says something, most parents, you know, they're adults. They're not alive. That's so terrible to hear. And yet, so this woman, when this woman took over and you became a family, how did it change your life? Like, how did it start to change your life? It was fun. We butted heads so many times. Really? Yeah, I had a bad attitude. At that point, I didn't say I'd given up on life, but I definitely...
Hated everything and everybody. And I just minded my business, messed with my music, and kept to my sport and my few friends I had. And that was it. Aside from that, if you stepped to me wrong, something was going down. And that's just how it was. Because you got to think, going through, you experienced almost about 17 years of just pure shit. Totally. From the moment you opened your eyes for the first time. Yep. You know what I mean? So when you experienced that, at least for me, I had...
I was, I just give like not giving up, but like, I just lost hope for any type of peace. So I was always ready for action all the time. And my mom kind of toned me down. And then the rest of my family, they toned me down. Cause like my family, I mean, now they're like, we have musicians, we have rappers, we have, we have gangbangers. I'm not mentioning their names, but like, you know what I mean? Like we got my family, like we're, we're, I would say, yeah,
your average African-American family. You know what I mean? Right, right. No, I know what you mean. You mean like- Everything, food good, family good. But like when it's time to step up and step for real, we all step together. And I didn't have that type of sense. My thing was, if you're going to step, I'm just going to step because you're stepping. Right. You know, and I saw, and my whole mentality changed. Now, only time I actually do step is when it's about people I actually care about and people-
that have meaning and value in my life. - So then, were you ever into drugs at a young age or because of what happened to you when you were born, you stayed away from them? - I kind of actually stayed away except for smoking weed, honestly. - And that's the only thing, do you do that still or is that still? - Oh, absolutely. - But everything else you don't do? - No. - Okay, is that why you're wearing the sunglasses? Are you high right now? It's okay, you can be honest with me. - No, I smoke, but I'm not high.
You're not. You are. I can tell your eyes look a little like happy right now. What? They do. And that's why you're wearing those sunglasses. Don't lie to me. It's okay. I don't care. You're not, it doesn't affect me in any way. But no, um,
- Yeah, no, like I grew up around like weed and like cocaine and all these like hard drugs. Like where I was at, like when I get locked out of a house, guess whose house I'm going to? - Yeah. - Big homie down the street that got the trap house 'cause he has an extra room. - Yeah, what kind of house? - Trap house. - What's the trap house? - A drug house. - Oh, it's called a trap house? - Yeah. - You're gonna teach me some stuff now, okay. And so you went to the trap house.
- And then you did the drugs at the trap house. - Yeah, and I started that at 13. It was crazy. - But can I ask you a question? Okay, so let me ask you this. How are you gonna be living on the street? You don't have legs.
Like, it sounded like you were, like, so tough, even at a young age. I was taught how to fight. Even at a small age? I was taught how to street fight when I was young. And then I learned how to fight for real. With no legs, even? Yeah. Like, were you ever scared? When I was 16, I would hit somebody in the chest, and I'd knock the air out of them. But your arms didn't look like that. They didn't. That's the thing. I'm stronger now. But, like, I hit somebody. It's like I was already... I was forever been, like, doing damage. No kidding. Yeah. And it was...
I don't know, they mess with me because of that. They're like, "Oh, this strong ass dude." Yeah. But you were never scared? Were you ever fearful of your life? Did you ever feel scared because the fact that you didn't have legs and this one did have legs and you couldn't run? Nah, because growing up, I had been punched in the face so many times and just had the crap beaten out of me to the point where I was like, "Shoot, they hit me. I'm going to still hit them back. I'm used to this. Let's go."
It wasn't that, but until like, unless somebody like pulled a gun or something. And that's happened a couple of times too, coming up. I remember the first time I was 15. Dude, I thought we were taking, like we, like we gypped him on like a pack of weed. We're like, we're high schoolers, freshmen in high school. And he pulls out a little pocket rocket and points it right in my dome and said, "I'm going to give him more weed." And I was like, "No."
I was like, "You need to just chill out." I said, "If you want me to go wait, I'll go wait." It was really one of those real situations where you don't want to upset nobody or say the wrong thing because one wrong word could mean you're going to hear us. Those real moments really taught me how to stay calm in really tense situations. Right. I've been in some tense situations. The tense situations I get in now.
I won't even sweat. You know, so I'm just sitting there, chilling. Even in my fighting, like I'll get put in a choke or something and I don't get choked out 'cause I'm calm. And I'm still digging your shit up. I'm still getting out of your move countering it to get to what I want because I'm calm. Being calm is like key important thing for me. 'Cause when I'm not calm,
I mean, it could be good, but like most times it's not. - I think it's with everybody, right? Like when someone like loses their cool, their shit, like that's when real problems happen, right? - 'Cause the only time I think that's okay, like it's happened like is during competition. Like during competition, if I accidentally break something or like mess you up really bad, I'm still scoring points. So it's okay. So you know what I mean? - Yes.
Like if it's not that situation, then I stay away. Okay. So, so how did you get serious about wrestling and what is the type, what's the title called that you hold or what you have? What's the, in wrestling? Like what's the. Oh, I'm an all American. All American. Like in, is it what category is it just. 125 pounds. Overall. Like what's the, what other, give me the other categories. Like the weight classes. Yeah. Yeah. So the 125, 133 pounds, 141 pounds.
Uh, 147, 157. So you're just in the, you're the, you're the all American. I'm the smallest weight class. But you're the, but you are the champion in that weight class. No, I actually wasn't a champ. I was among the top 10. Oh, is this what I saw on the Netflix special? Like you lost it by something. Oh, that was, no, that was high school. Oh, that was high school. So high school, I never even made it to the state championships. College, I made it to the national championships.
So are you fighting people with legs? Yeah. All the time? Yeah, every day. But you have like, I mean, don't they, isn't that like a disadvantage if you? No, I have a 6'5 arm span. I can still punch you in the mouth if you're standing straight up. Oh my God. And if you've got to kick me, I can still just grab your leg.
and get you to the ground and still punch you in the face while you're hitting the ground. Wow. So it's like, there's a, there's like, it's just how like wrestling is what really gave me the groundwork for all of this because I,
I had to figure out how my body works, not how yours works and coloration might know how mine works to dominate you. So I'm able to go select punches, select picks. Like sometimes if somebody goes to kick, I will get out the way of the kick. And as a pulling their leg back, catch the ankle, grab the wrist. Wow. So how, where did you start to take this
More so by the way, can I ask you a question? So you don't have legs Where does it stop and start with you? Like oh, I just don't have legs. Can you go to the bathroom? Yeah, like do you go to the bathroom like like not like me cuz I'm a girl but like any other guy goes to the bathroom Yeah, so you have like all your parts. Yeah, everybody always gets that mistake and it's been it's been so hilarious I remember I remember a while ago. Hey, you remember that manscape? Oh
- Tell me, tell me, tell me. I want to know. - Manscaped offered to pay me for just like a little promotion thing. So I did it and I was like, everybody lost their shit because everybody just been constantly asking. So they were like, "How do you-" - Yeah, that's what I want to know too.
But no, I pretty much shut the internet up on that one. Nobody's really said it since. So wait, so Madscape paid you a sponsorship thing to do that? Advertise their fucking raising. Wait, did you show your parts? I fucking just shaved my chest. I fucking shaved about this long thing of chest hair.
And that's what they paid you for? Yeah. Okay. So they didn't pay you to shave anything else or do anything else? Nah. So you have all of your parts intact? Yeah. And so when you go to the bathroom, what do you do? Use the toilet just like anybody else does. Like both? Yeah. Peeing and pooping and everything? Yeah. Everybody completely always gets that misconception about me. My thing is, if I can eat and drink,
That's true. And you're not wearing a colostomy bag. Yeah. And I don't have a colostomy bag. Yeah. Where is it going? That's what I was curious. I wanted to know. I wanted to know that. And so is it like normal? Like when I say normal, that's not the right word. Normal being like how I would do it or Craig would do it or Will or whoever. Yeah.
And so can you have sex? Yeah. Do you have sex? Yes. Like on the regular? When I'm not working. Wait, do you have a girlfriend? I do not. Okay. Do you have lots of girlfriends? Do you meet girls once in a while? Every day. And like, are girls like sometimes like fascinated by you and like? Yeah. I mean, I don't know what it is. Ever since I was like young, it's been kind of like,
So girls are not a problem? No. Never been a problem? Like getting girls or? I remember I might not have been the most liked person at my school, but I was always pulled up with the sexiest chick at like homecoming and prom. Really? Everybody would want my girl every time. Really? Yeah. So I was that dude. But I didn't like nobody. So nobody liked me. I only had a couple of friends. So I was okay. Are you serious? Yeah. So what's your type? Like what kind of girl do you like?
I'm waiting. I want to know. Craig's not even paying attention. Don't look at Craig. He's on his phone. Craig is his manager who's sitting here. Craig's not even paying attention. He's probably texting some girl right now also. He's not even listening to your stories with girls. Well, there you go. But no, I like...
Honestly, I like white women, Brazilian chicks, Puerto Rican chicks. Okay. Do you like young, old, fit, voluptuous? I like big, like a little... I want to know the details, Zion. I'm not here to fuck around. I don't want to hear about all the wrestling without hearing this. You're real. You're real. I am real. I don't want to talk about the other, you know, the weather. Yeah. All right. So...
I like a nice butt. A butt? Okay. That's okay. That's not... Why are you so shy about that? That's like everybody. Oh, no, no, no. It was just like... That was like a... Doesn't everybody like a nice butt? I thought that was kind of a known thing, right? Yeah. I like fit girls, though. Fit girls. I would imagine. Because you're fit. I don't like lazy people. Yeah. Well, exactly. Join the club. So you like that. And then... So when was the last time you had a girl... Have you had a girlfriend? Because you're young. You're 24. Yeah, like...
Two months ago. Two months. So for a long time or for just. For a little bit. Then I kicked her out. Like told her to go kick rocks. Go get crocs. Go kick rocks. Oh, go hit kick rocks. Okay. But so you have no problem meeting girls and going out with girls. And I just went out like last weekend. That's amazing. I love it. I love it. And it's you. Who's the one who's like, well, I'm not so crazy, but this one or that one or the other. I mean, I'll pull up to the John. Yeah.
I'm the- You're good? I'm the man. I pull up. Anytime I pull up, people get excited. Well, of course. Yeah. Because you're different. Yeah. Right? But you drive also. Mm-hmm. I saw in one of these videos. So you just drive with your arms, right? Yeah. That's my car that I drive with. So what's interesting is there's nothing really- You've worked your life out, and we're going to get to this whole part soon, but if
It feels like everything that someone would do with legs as a everyday person, you figured out and managed a way to do it also and yet do other, and excel at so many things as well. Yeah. You know, it's not even like excelling, but if I want to drive a car, I have to figure it out or I'm not going to drive a car. If I want to ride a bike, I have to figure it out because no one's going to be able to teach me how to ride a bike, but I can ride a bike. I have to figure it out. Are you riding a bike? Yeah, I can ride a bike. I
I have a BMX bike back in Ohio. How are you riding a bike? It's easy. I just post the bike up, put my arm on the handlebar, kick the bike up. Like I said, I got long arms. Pedal with one arm, steer with the other one. So you're using your arm to pedal. Yeah, and I have like really insane balance. So it's like easy. You need to record this.
- You've never seen the video of me doing it? - Would you ride my bike afterwards? - No, I like my bike and only my bike. That's why you don't see me ride bikes. - Why is it? 'Cause you figured out your bike? - 'Cause I have the handlebars twisted to a certain angle and shit so I can rest my arm across. And then my pedals, I sanded them down so they're soft, so they don't have that grip on them, so I don't destroy my fingers.
That's amazing. And Craig, you didn't know this? Yeah, dude. Dude, you should ask, bro. Next time I'm on the phone with my mom, bro. Be like, design his bike in the garage. You'll be like, yeah, he used to ride that thing everywhere, every day. Bro, I would ride my bike two miles down the street to my boy Kyle's house just to hit dabs.
What? Yeah. And you can't ride my bike though. But then he had to take me back home because it was all back up hill. Why can't you ride mine though? Is it because you haven't configured it yet? Well, no, because like I'd have to like break your bike down just to. To fix it, right? Yeah, to my specific thing. Like size and all that stuff. Yeah. Because I did see. So like my bike, it's not like a big bike. It's like probably about. My bike is not a big bike.
It's like a, like I said, it looks like a BMX bike. Yeah. But still, it's a bike for crying out loud. Like you're using your arms to pedal. I mean. Explain to her how you use, how you play the drums.
Oh, Craig, we're not there yet. Don't ruin it. Don't ruin it. It's the climax of everything. We haven't gotten to that yet. Of course, we're going to get there, Craig. We're going to talk about all of this. This is like, this is just like, it's like a, that's a crescendo, right? Like we need to get to all the other stuff, like the sex and the, and the parts of the body. And then we get to that stuff. You're jumping ahead, Craig, please.
- This is my little brother, by the way. He's big as hell. - Oh, wow. - Yeah, he's a big kid. A really big kid. - He is a big kid. Are you gonna show me the BMX? - That's what I'm doing. - Oh my God, he's a big kid actually. - Yeah, he's almost six feet tall. He's like 16. - Wow. - And you gotta think, he's probably not gonna stop growing for a few years. He might be 6'6". - He might be. Maybe you would have been 6'6". - Oh yeah.
Because you know what I'm looking at? Your arms, right? Yeah. The way they are in terms of the proportion to your body, I mean, they are pretty long. Yeah, my phone's being slept. Okay, you don't want to show it to me right now? Okay, so let's get into the rest. Let's just talk first about how did you become serious with the wrestling and how did you start to build? Did you already have the...
the adversity down where you knew you were never playing a victim. You were always kind of like, you were always kind of playing defense. So what happened then with the wrestling? Like at what point were you like, you know what? I want to try doing this more seriously and I want to become more like, what did you do? It was never that I was like, I'm trying more seriously. I just, I was still learning, you know, going up to the sport. I was getting my ass kicked because I was still progressive learning and each match, even though I would lose, I'd
First match, I would say, first match, get blown out. Second match, don't get blown out as much. Third match, good competition. But why wrestling? What made you even think of wrestling? I don't know. My friends are doing it. Oh, okay. No, no, that makes sense. Honestly. Sometimes it's that easy. My friends are doing it. My coach at the time gave me a flyer because he's my art teacher.
It was just literally just things worked out. That's why. So then you just kind of practice and practice to become better and better at it, right? Yeah, it took me like 10 years.
That's a lot. I mean, how much were you practicing? I was wrestling every day, every season. So when you moved in with your mom at 16, what was your schedule like for wrestling? Were you just hours a day? I mean, I'm still going to high school at the time. And practice would be like from 2.45 to 5.30. And that would be that. And then...
We go do the same thing the next day. And then on Saturdays, we'd have a double practice. On Sundays, we'd have a practice. If you weren't at church at the time we had practice, you had to be at the wrestling room. So...
Yeah, we were just always getting it in. Me and my best friend, Jake, who's my coach's son, one of my best friends, this dude would always invite me and be like, hey, do you want to come wrestle? My dad will come pick you up and drive us there. And I was like, yeah, I'd always be like, yeah, dude, like you want to, like if you can pick me up, yeah, that'd be fucking awesome every time.
So then me and my boy, his name is Coach Donahue. He would take me and Jake to these tournaments and stuff as we were all through elementary school, middle school. And just had a good time. And we were building experience. Jake was obviously the complete superior wrestler to me growing up. But then as time went on and I got older, I've definitely closed the gap. And now we're on the same level, both doing really extreme big stuff at a very high level.
And so that went into then after high school, you did what? Like you kind of, did you go to college? Yeah, I went to Kansas City University for two and a half years and I dropped out. Oh, why did you drop out? Because I thought it was bullshit. Why? I mean, here you what? Were you on a scholarship? Yeah. And you still dropped out? Yeah. Yeah.
Not to be like your mother, but why did you do that? Oh, my mom was mad. Oh, I'm sure. I'm mad. And I'm not even your mom. She was mad. Oh, I never. I remember I told her that within 30 minutes. The college is like 50 minutes away. Why was my mom there in 30 minutes? And I was like pounding on my door.
telling me like i'm not and i and i okay had already done it like filled out the stuff to like not go back why because i was taking a gamble but you did take a gamble yeah but he's not like it at all no i mean it was cool no offense to kent state but i didn't really like some of my teammates um and i was a cat i was one of the captains on the team and it's i just i just i had enough
And there was so much opportunity presenting itself in California at the time. And all through me going to college, I was a college athlete. And then at the same time, I'm like at the beginning of my professional track and field, like my professional track and field career.
So I'm like always flying to California, always flying to Phoenix, always going to Colorado, like always going like to all these different parts of the country. - Right. - And I'm missing out on school and then professors get mad, but I'm like, I'm a pro athlete. Fuck you want me to do?
But just how Olympic athletes, when they get to, when they got to go race, what was the difference for me doing that? And Kent State had a little thing about it because I was the only pro athlete that was actually going to the school. Could you do it online? Nah, because if I did it online, I'd just cheat and then I wouldn't learn nothing. I'd just be paying to waste my time. So...
At least you would have had a nice, at least you're being honest. I appreciate that. But like, at least you would have had a piece of paper, I guess. Right. Like they were paying for it anyway. Yeah. But you can tell him. I was studying business management. I was studying business management. And why? Like, I still don't have a degree, but I'm working with a lot of these companies, like helping with like development and ideas alongside Craig.
Like to a point where like at some point we're going to be part owners of a lot of these different companies.
And without a fucking degree. Well, yeah. We'll wait and see. And it drives me crazy because my mom was always telling me, she was like, by the way, my mom, she understands that now. It's like she understands what I'm doing now because I took that chance and actually made something. And you're actually doing something with it. Yeah. I get it. But at that moment, making that decision, I have $50 in my pocket. Wow.
So who is paying for you to go back and forth to school and like, and all these events, all these events. So team USA was doing it. So wait, so, okay. That's just because I want to make sure people understand this all. So basically you do the wrestling, you're at, you're at Kent state, you're doing, you're like a college athlete doing that. Where are these opportunities? Like, were people starting to get to know who you were? Like, how did you start getting all these, like, what did that part happen when you started to kind of become like more well-known?
Oh, like to get to college? In general. Oh, no, it was just... No, I mean actually in college when you were going, you spent all these opportunities in California and everywhere. Oh, yeah, because in college, my Netflix thing dropped. Oh, that dropped while you were in college. It was 2018, right? Yeah, that was...
So what happened? Did Netflix come to you? Like, what was the... How did that happen? I worked with these producers from New York City, and they submitted this thing we filmed for about a week to the Sundance Film Festival. Ended up winning Best Short Documentary at Sundance in almost every film festival across the planet. And it was absolutely... Just blew everything out the water, and Netflix wanted their hands on it. And for the last five years, it's currently been on Netflix. I have...
the one of the longest running short documentaries on Netflix up to date. So that's how it happened. So these producers did a thing with you and it went to Sundance and went to everywhere else. Yeah. But like, that wasn't, that wasn't even it. Oh no, I don't even want to talk about all that. I got, I drew the short stick in that deal because I was an idiot kid. Well, if you went to school to finish your degree, maybe you would have been able to like negotiate better. There wasn't, there was a time to finish the degree when you're, you're a sophomore and,
In college and you're at Sundance and you're in the middle of fucking Salt Lake and the outside Salt Lake City in a car and you're signing a piece of paper without either a parent or a mom or an agent or a lawyer. So you had nobody representing you for that? Nah, I didn't know what I was doing. And so you never made a dollar off of that?
So now what? Like it's on Netflix and you're just not getting anything from it. I definitely took the opportunity from that to build my own thing. And now I'm making money doing other things because I have that notoriety. Even without Netflix,
shit was starting to blow up anyways like what because like like i said i'm a two-time all-american right and like i was like when it came to when you heard like the top guys in the country my name was one that one of the ones that popped up every time i'm on espn i'm on sports senate moss and cats just what's it called moss and cats oh that means just beating them up oh okay okay you're gonna like give me the english version of that i don't know what that means but okay okay
But like, you know, it's like I was doing so well for myself.
Like just like going against Ohio State, going against Michigan, going against all these different schools. Right. And. That you were all over ESPN anyway and all these places. Yeah. Like, but that's even more why it's weird that you never had an agent or someone, a lawyer to even like look at a contract. Yeah, you can't because in college and at the time under NCAA rules, you weren't allowed to get paid nothing from anything. Not for the, but Netflix is separate. I know it's separate, but like.
Like most things, like the colleges, they didn't really support. All that other stuff, right? Because they wanted you to be 100%, right? Like that's what happens, you know, unless you have good representation. Yeah, no, we had a little dispute with, I'm not going to say his name, but we had a little dispute with old bumpy ass. And now what? Like, I guess, can you, so basically you've leveraged that opportunity. Oh, no, we had to get the, we had to like fight for the rights back to my own name and likeness on a film.
Oh my gosh. Are you able to do, or have you ever thought of doing your own like documentary, like docu-series? That's already, that's already something that's potentially in the works. I don't know how much I can talk about it, but I'm really excited. And this time, like I said, bumpy assing is getting his hands on it because this is something that he's calling it. Yeah. It's just short. Cause I really don't like this dude. Oh, apparently not. Yeah.
He tried to say he made me famous. Let's just say that. And I don't even care about that. But you're trying to say you made me, bro. Right. You know what's interesting about you? You hung out with me for a week. You didn't make shit. See, this is what's good about you, Matt. I bet your best quality is also probably your worst qualities because how you were raised and grown up, you had to be like, have like a chip, not a chip on your shoulder, but like have like some kind of like
toughness built into you, right? Where you're not afraid of anything. You're not afraid of anything or to say anything. Sometimes it could really be. It could like, it could bite you in the butt sometimes. I was on TMZ with Deebo Samuel. With who? He's a really big, really good football player. Okay. What's his name? Deebo? Deebo Samuel. Oh, Deebo. Okay. Okay. Yeah. And yeah, every other word was like bleeped out. You couldn't understand what I was saying like the whole time.
But because I was actually really excited. You know what I mean? I was like, oh, shit, you're fucking too. Yes. Remember, by the way, we're going to edit this part out too, Will. Just kidding. Just kidding. But for real, it's like you got to learn when to do it.
right and wrong places are to say certain things. - Well, especially if you want to be like, you do a lot of motivational speaking. Who are you speaking to? - All ages. You know, if I speak to kids, obviously I'm going to speak different than I'm speaking to you right now. - Well, yeah. - And then if I'm speaking to high schoolers, I'm going to speak a little bit different from those kids. College students, I'm going to say whatever the fuck I want. - Right. - You know what I mean? - Are you doing a ton of the kids stuff? - I'll be more professional, huh? - Yeah. No, do you do a lot of the circuits for kids?
for everything i do for kids is for free like colleges and no colleges pay me colleges yeah they got money when you a lot of them do but when you go into like huh like when you do high schools and high schools depending on what kind of high school it is would be depending on how i go about it but to me high schoolers they're kids yeah i agree yeah uh so
If it comes down to it, like my old high school, I want to go back and speak there for free. I just want them to give me the time, you know? Right, right. So stuff like that, it's not about the aspect of going somewhere, speaking, making profit. No, it's actually about going somewhere and making an impact and sharing your story to inspire somebody else to do something great. Right. So how often are you doing – do you do a lot of corporate stuff?
No, I mean, I've been I've been definitely building up my speaking. You know, I mean, I went from I've definitely like build it over the last couple of years. COVID really put it on the back burner. Yeah. With everybody. Right. Because I was starting I started off with a bang speaking at the F45 World Convention. And I was doing I was going around to all these different colleges flying. I was I'd be on I'd be in Arizona one day.
And then I'd be in Rhode Island one day. And then the next day, I'm in Los Angeles. Right. It was going crazy. And then COVID happened. So I went back to Ohio and played Call of Duty for like six months straight. Wow. Are you kidding? There was really nothing to do. No. Yeah, there was very much nothing to do. Yeah. So I was like, if I can't do, if I really can't do anything, I'm going to get really good at this video game. Did you get good at it? Yeah. Now I'm in the video game.
You're in the video game? Yeah, I'm in Call of Duty. What do you mean? I'm in the game. How did you become a person? How did you get in the game? So I helped with the zombie animations and some of the... So they're going to be releasing a wild animal. I'm not going to say which, but I helped with this animal ripping people apart and stuff. Are you serious? Yeah, I worked with Activision Studios last summer. And they paid you?
That's cool. That's a big game to be in. I know, right? Wow, your brother must be super impressed with you. Oh, he plays it all the time. Yeah. That's all he plays. Every time I say his username is GLG, he'll be like, GLG is playing Call of Duty. GLG is playing Call of Duty. If I look at the last 10 notifications of him just on the game, it's Call of Duty or Fortnite.
He's a kid. He's like Fortnite. So you play a lot of video. So wait, so then when you got after, so when COVID kind of started to open up a little bit more, is that when you came back to Los Angeles? You came back to LA and started? Yeah, I came to LA and I moved to San Diego and I just recently moved back up to LA. Oh, you moved to San Diego? Yeah. Oh, why? I was down, I don't know. It's quiet. I liked it. It is quiet. Beautiful women. More beautiful in San Diego than in LA? Yeah.
LA, you gotta be careful. Some of them are super fake. They have ratchet nasty ass attitudes. - A lot of them do. - Yeah. - That's true. And not so much in San Diego? - No. - So why did you move back? - 'Cause I don't care about that. I came, I got work to do. - So what kind of work? Okay, that's good. What kind of work are you doing now? Like what have you spent? Like give me a day in the life of you.
Like what time do you wake up? Give me exactly what you do. I wake up at 6 a.m. Every day? Every day. Okay. I smoke a joint. Every day? Every day. I swear, like either 6 or the time that I wake up, it's sometime early morning. Okay, 6 a.m. And then I'll go take my dog outside. I have a little blue-nosed pit bull named Kana. So I take her outside. She's six months old, so she's still a baby. Oh, really? So yeah, I take her out for a walk. I'll sit there, let her do her business for like 20 minutes or so.
And I'd take her back up and then I would either, well, now me and Craig stay at the same spot, but I would call Craig early as fuck in the morning and be like, Craig, what do I got to do today? You guys live together now? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, he's my homie. But I'd be like, Craig, what do we got to do today? And he'd be like, he'd be telling me, he'd be like, what time? And this is what time you're calling Craig at? Sometimes it's early, early.
Depends on what time I get started. And I know how to bypass it. So I'll just call him anyways. Be like, hey, what's up? I don't even know what I got to do. I love it. Okay. But then like, for example, the other day I woke up pretty early, did the same thing I just told you is to start.
And then hung out, I went to watch Mike Tyson and Bobby Smyrna smoke a joint, hit a joint with Bobby Smyrna. - At what time now we're talking? - This is like 10. - Okay.
So for all you've done so far, this is like probably a little earlier than 10. It's like nine. Okay. So, yeah, but like, it's real good connections. Like Bobby's like, you know, Bobby's murder is right. Yes, I do. Yeah. I know this is, and Mike Tyson, who's like, I think I would, that would be, yeah, I wanted him to be on the podcast. Actually go on.
But yeah, Uncle Mike is dope, super dope. He actually gave me this. And the days, like the day before that, three, four days, five days ago, he gave me this. I saw that. That's cool. Yeah. It's a Tyson necklace for those of you just listening. Okay, go on. But then we went to some event, like this Instagram thing we got invited to because we're working directly with Metta.
Oh, you are. Okay. I want to hear about this. Oh yeah. I forgot. Oh wow. Okay. So I'm going to write that down. We're going to get back. So finish your day in the life and then we're going to get to all that stuff. But I went to this Instagram event held by Medics. We got invited. I got me and Craig got invited to it. And then we just, what did we do after that?
Smoke another joint? We did actually. See? Yeah, I swear. Listen, I might be in California. I'm from the hood in northeastern Ohio. What I like, at least you're honest and you're real, right? There's no like, I do that. But like, on top of that, sometimes if I don't have something to do in that morning, I'm training under my coaches.
Oh, okay. So wait, so, um, wait, so you finished it. Okay. You did the joint, blah, blah, blah. Another joint, another joint, and then the vent, whatever. And then do you have, do you go to bed at a certain time? I go to bed. I like to party, but like I go to bed when I'm tired. So it doesn't matter to you. Cause you're like still 24. You're a young guy. So, so when are you, okay. So can you train and smoke joints at the same, cause don't you get tired? Like, yeah, well, I don't get tired, but I move slow and my sweat feels thick.
Yeah. And then by like, you can like, you can feel it when you finally sweat it all out. But it's like, you can't, I just can't do it. You can't do it. So that's basically your day. So, you know, prior, like if you have, if you're in a training, like how often are you training a week? I train usually at 1030 every single day, Monday through Thursday. And then between Friday and Friday, Saturday and Sunday, are your days off?
Yeah, for the most part, and I'm able to get a lot of work done or like I'll get extra training in if I go to like craft boxing or if I go down to San Diego, go to the arena or go somewhere where I can get extra training or me and Craig will go to Dog Pound too. And I like using the sauna and conditioning my body and stuff on there too, just to get that extra boost for every week as we lead up to competition. And then so, okay. So then basically-
That's kind of like a daily... How do you eat? What kind of training do you like the best? And what's your... What do you like to eat? Do you care? I love rice. Rice? Yeah. Okay. Like white rice or brown rice? Yeah, I like white rice with a little bit of sugar. And I like...
I like any Chinese, Japanese, or Korean food. Okay, so you're not like... And it's actually pretty healthy, too. Like, I like eating ramen and all this other stuff. Occasionally McDonald's and Wendy's. Okay. They're limited.
Yeah, we're gonna... No we're not, okay. Poor Will. I hope you're making notes here. No, I'm just kidding. So basically then, you are... You're not a vegan or a vegetarian. You just eat meat. You saw what happened to What's-His-Face. Which one? The boxer that lost the fight because he went vegan for his whole weight cut. Remember who just lost out on something? You know the boxer from Cuba? The Mexican dude? Yeah.
Is that why he lost? I thought it was Cuba, but then I was like, no, he's Mexican. He's high. That's why he's wearing sunglasses. No, no, no. I'm like, I'm really thinking. I know. I'm hot too. It's very hot in here. Very hot in here. Canelo. Canelo. Canelo Alvarez lost because he switched his diet and his weight cut to a vegan diet. Yeah. I mean, I'm a meat eater. When you're a fighter, don't switch to vegan, bro. You need that energy. Did you ever watch Game Changers on Netflix? There were.
First of all, they picked a couple of athletes who were doing well. I mean, for every athlete who's a vegan, I can give you a thousand athletes that are not, right? Like, I know. Look, we're going to do a fun event.
I 100%. I'm a big boy. I agree. So then let's talk about meta then. Who are your deals with? Give me some, let's talk business now. Now that we know that you can have sex like a beast and you train like a beast when you're not high. Let's talk about meta and all the other, like how you conduct business stuff. So meta did a deal with you. Yeah. Okay. What kind of deal is that? I'm currently the face of FitXR on the Oculus Rift.
Okay, what? It's a virtual app you can get on, so you put the headset on. And then there's me walking you through a martial art class, like a boxing class. Oh, okay. And then I just released a cool-down session class where, like, you can help you stretch, help you recover. Right. Because, like, these things, there's levels to them. There's beginner, there's intermediate, and then there's hard, you know? Yeah. So...
You know, you can, you're able to virtually like get a workout in. And so for me, it's a lot about inclusion. It's where anybody can put the headset on. Anybody can get a workout in.
All you got to do is just give yourself a little bit of space and you can move around. And all the movements that I've helped me and FedExR together have put into this program, it's all about movements that you don't necessarily need weights for that you can still activate your sweat glands and get your blood pumping. Right, like no gym required. Yeah. And then how did that come about? Did Metta contact you? Sure.
Shoot, I forgot. Craig, how was it? I forget how these people reach out. You know how many people I meet and talk to? I mean, probably a lot. Do you get a lot of like incoming requests or do you do a lot of outreach? Like how aggressive are you? I don't, I don't like to go, I don't like to go ask people for stuff unless it's something I really want. And if it's something I really want, I tell Craig. And then he does it. Yeah. Well, how long have you guys? Most people, we've been rocking for like five years, four years. Oh, wow. That's a long time. But yeah, but like, for real, like if like,
We do things that are best circulated as best like circulated towards what my mission is and what I want to do with my life and how I want to live and how we're going to live the most comfortably and live the most successful and still give back the most we can and be as motivating and inspirational as we can. And part of that is like the way we do things. We're not, we're not going to jump on a bandwagon just because somebody said to jump. Right. What is your mission? Become one of the world's most decorated athletes.
Which I'm on my way there. You already won a Guinness. Didn't you win like the Guinness World Record? Yeah, I'm the world's fastest man on two hands. I set it like 9.4 miles per hour. Currently, I'm running like 13 miles per hour. Yeah.
Wow. It's been a really fun time. What was the speed before you broke the speed? I don't think there was one. I think I said it and then I'm going to reset it. Oh, that's that. Okay. Yeah. But I'm the first one to ever move that fast. It's not recorded in history, which is awesome. Wow. That is super fast. What other sports? You do basketball too? A little bit. I'm terrible. I was just shooting for fun.
I'm a fighter. Yeah. Like, if you really want me to be honest, I'm terrible. At the basketball? Yeah. I can beat somebody up and I can knock somebody out or choke them out or, like, drop them on their head because I'm an aristic. That's because I've strictly done those things for almost 20 years. I can see this now. Now that I met you, I understand why you'd be a good fighter, though. Because you're a fighter. Literally. It's, like, perfectly, like, it's exactly why you should be a good fighter. And so...
Is there any other sports that you do play that you like? I'm up Paralympic track and field. I just took this past year off. I'm getting ready to get all situated up here in L.A. I'm getting ready to start hit my training full swing again. And I'm going to try to make it to the world championships this year.
And then next year, the year. When you say track and field, what do you mean? Paralympic track and field. I race in a racing chair. Yeah. Back in high school, I'm a two-time state champ, two-time state champ, four-time placer, three-time national champ, one-time world trials runner-up, one-time Team USA member. Yeah. Done a lot of stuff. Wow. Yeah. And then do you have any other spot? Like what are the companies besides Meta? How long is the deal with Meta? For a year or is it just ongoing? A year? Yeah.
Meta. Yeah, they're two separate products. Oh. Yeah, but FedExR lives on. Got it. Meta, but they're their own separate. They're their separate entities. Okay. What other companies are you working closely with? Legends, what I'm wearing right now. Oh, you're doing Legends? Yeah. Oh, okay. Actually, we're about to start. We're about to release some really cool stuff coming out here soon.
So I'm excited to do that. There's a lot of cool things with Legends that you should just be on the lookout for, honestly, because I don't know what I can technically say because I didn't really talk to Craig or Scott yet. So Legends is another partner of yours. Oh, they're a huge partner. They have some of my favorite people I grew up listening to and watching on TV. That's great. That I get to work closely with and do cool things with. Yeah, that's a good one. Other ones that you are working with as well? What's the...
We're working on partnerships with these different boxing companies. Yeah. I'm just figuring out like what my types of gloves are that best suit me. Companies like Santa Bull or what was that other one, Craig? Hayabusa. Really good gloves and stuff. But there's a lot. I know I'm probably missing a lot. A ton of them. Yeah. Because my thing is if you're with me, let's roll and run this shit.
That's the guy that asked those questions. Right. So basically, Craig is like the business brain behind everything. Yeah, and I'm the guy that goes in physically. And you're the physical beast. I'll go beat somebody up and I'll go speak and do whatever. Yeah, exactly. How has social media played a role in your success or your overall life? I don't give a damn about social media. You don't? I really don't. Because that's really surprising. That's not me all the time. That's Craig.
Oh, it's correct. Good. So you're too big. Like, that's interesting. So you're basically, you don't care one way or the other. You're not on there. You're not addicted to social media. Nah, not at all. If I, I might message somebody and not talk to them for three weeks and be like, Oh, Hey, sorry. I was busy. Cause you're just not like, so yeah. Well actually though, that's, that's refreshing to hear that. Yeah, no, I did fix that. That was actually a really bad issue. I had was like responding to people. Well, do you get a lot? Is there a, yeah.
Is there a lot of incoming stuff? Yeah, all the time. Everything. Because you do such amazing fitness stuff on there. I would think fitness people would be contacting you a lot. Fitness, fashion, athletic, women, trainers,
Everybody. Women, trainers. I love that you're saying, I love that. I'm just being honest. We get a multitude of everything going through, like even artists, painters, musicians. Oh, you're saying. Yeah. Craig was saying that you could play drums really well. Yeah, I can play drums, piano, trumpet, guitar, bass guitar, six string guitar.
Oh, you can play more than just drums. Yeah. I'm really good with my hands. Yeah, apparently. You can do a lot with those hands, it sounds like. I mean, how did you learn how to play every single instrument? I taught myself since I was a little kid. I remember my first thing was a keyboard. I would hear something on the radio. And I've always had that ear where I can hear. You can hear it and just do it? I find the bass notes. I find the relating chords. And I would...
Boom, got the whole song down. And then I would start mixing it up. So you were just musically very talented. Something like that. So why didn't you lean further into that? Because I like to fight. Yeah, we know that. I can't even deny that. Every time when I'm out and injured, like right now, I have open wounds. I can't train or nothing right now.
But when it comes to times like these and I'm sitting there, I'm just watching my teammates go at it or watch them compete, it pisses me off. Really? Yeah, like that bad. You're that passionate about it. I feel like when I get to fight and stuff, I'm no longer me. I feel like I'm a nice person. I try to be at least. But when I'm on the mat...
Especially if it's a sparring day where we're allowed to cut loose because we're practically fighting for real. I feel like my eyes gloss over. I don't hear anybody. I listen for one person's voice. And that's whoever said that they're going to be in that corner. And my body just moves. Because in the sport of MMA or wrestling, you got to be in a state of fluidity.
Or we call it like the flow state. It was almost like, I don't know if you ever heard of Dragon Ball, but Ultra Instinct or whatever. You know how Goku has the Ultra Instinct? That's practically what the flow state is when you're a fighter. When you can, just like how Anderson Silva used to do it, he'd lean his face and just move his head to the left, move his head to the right. Nobody can hit him. Yeah, his hands still down. Why can't you hit him? Because he's in the flow state.
Yeah. So like, but then he would be like down here and get out the way, get out the way, get out the way, get out the way. Boom. Cracking your shit. Yeah. This is, so this really is like your, this was supposed to, this, this basically was, is your passion and what you were meant to do. It sounds like. So the music thing was just something that you're just naturally good at. I did music first.
Right. But you were not as passionate about that. Oh yeah, I was. Oh, you were? I was the head drummer at my church. I was the head drummer for the jazz orchestra. I was a head drummer for the choir performance group and all this other crap. I would play at clubs and stuff. I would play my trumpet at a club where I get on the piano or I get on the guitar. You know, like it was like, I was like, like sometimes when you're doing, when you're doing music,
It's not like you can't just stick in school for it. And in school, they only let you choose one. Right. I could play six. And you taught yourself everything? Yeah, except for trumpet. I went to school for that one. Really? Yeah, I learned it in school. I don't think I got it. I just borrowed one from the school. For the trumpet or the? The piano, the keyboard that I had coming up. I had it since I was a little kid. Who gave it to you? I got my first drum set from this one family. It was like the third family I was ever at.
And I took it all the way with me to my mom's up in, back in Ohio. And that's why I always had drumsticks. I would always break drumsticks. You go to my mom's house and you walk upstairs in my old room and you open a closet, there's a mountain of drumsticks. Really? I've broken over 200 pairs of drumsticks. But you took that drum set from when you were a little kid all the way, no matter what. Yeah, I just kept replacing the heads. Wow. You know, like, damn drum heads, all you need is just a little corkscrew thing and you just...
You just loosen it all the way, take the covering off, put a new one on, tie it back up, test it, tune it. You got to flick the side of the drum on the wood because whatever sound that resonates from it
is the sound that the toms, what the heads that you hit are supposed to sound like. So it's a process, but if you're able to do that, you get a perfect sounding set consistently. - And you taught, okay, so you taught yourself the drums, the guitar, everything except the trumpet. - Yeah. - But then where did you find, did you pay someone for lessons? - No, I learned it in school with everybody else in band.
Oh, that's what you meant by your trumpet bus school. But everything else was like me doing it on the outside. Oh, I see. So the trumpet was the one instrument that you did in school. Yeah. Because you had to pick one. Yeah. But by the time I started playing trumpet, I already knew how to read music because I taught myself how to read music.
So do you think like when you're older or later in life, like after fighting is kind of gone and kind of been there when you're older, do you think that you're going to maybe take music again much more seriously? I'm taking it much more seriously right now. Oh, you are? Yeah. What are you doing with it? I can't. I'm not going to tell you.
Oh my gosh. Why am I telling me everything else? Now, now you're, now this is it. This is the, the, the breaking point. My music, my music, my music is like, what I'm like trying to build right now. I don't want to like tell everybody about it. Cause like, you know, people do steal ideas. That's very true. Okay. But you are doing something. I'm doing something. I'm working on stuff right now. Okay. And you like, how good are you in the music world? Like, like surprisingly good. I've, um,
Do you know who King Joel is? Nigerian rapper in Atlanta. Was that album him and Big K.R.I.T.? Big K.R.I.T. is involved in it. Him and Big K.R.I.T. produced an album and he had me come out and I drummed for him, acted for him, did a whole bunch of stuff. Got a legit drum set for me to go ham on to be part of the video.
Oh, we got it. Okay, you're doing a music video? Oh, yeah, I already did it. Oh, okay. I thought you were going to... I thought you were like, damn. This video is something else. No, no, something different? Okay. Craig, I wish Craig, man. Craig, you left that one scene, bro, at the dinner table, bro.
You know, you remember me telling you about that, right? He's talking to you, Craig, in this podcast. He talks to you a lot. You guys are obviously very close. You should have brought Craig on. I was going to say, Craig, you right here? He experiences most of these things I do. I was going to say, do you guys spend all the time together? Yeah. Speak all the time over the podcast.
- Like when it comes to like the work and the working and traveling, cause he's my agent. So like when it comes to like the working stuff and all that, cool. Like don't get me wrong, I have my own life. I do my own thing. - Are you sure? Do you guys spend 24 hours together, you and Craig? - No, because I'll disappear for like 10 hours with like a whole bunch of women. - 10 hours?
I've done it multiple times. A whole 10 hours without Craig. Oh my God. What are you going to do? The other times we were like working, you know what I mean? Like, cause mostly when I'm with Craig, we're, we're working on something and we're trying to get stuff done. Yes. But you rely on Craig. You love, it looks like you have a very nice personality.
rapport with Craig. You like him very much. I don't mean like that. I mean, like you love him. You're a go-getter. So how did you, how did you get Craig to be part of your pot? Like not only like your, your, your partner in crime, like how did this whole relationship even transpire? I gave him some quarters.
Okay. Craig, how did you get involved with this cat over here? We met like five years ago. My best friend met him backstage at the Ellen DeGeneres show. Yeah. My friend was working with Jason Momoa at the time. They recorded the episode the same day. We saw it a week before on social media. And...
We owned a supplement company and my best friend, we're like, "Man, this guy is a freak." Our supplement company was all about promoting authenticity and being yourself. And if this world, you know, be yourself, it was community driven. We're like, "We'd love to get him a part of the community." And the next minute, my friend's calling me like, "Dude, Zion's here." And then Zion freaks out because Aquaman's there.
It was super cool how it happened and that just progressed into like a friendship over the years and I saw the potential and started working with him part-time. And then a little over a year ago, I was like, you know, let's do things full-time. Mentally, it was like, let's do things full-time. In my head, I was like, I'm going to help him level up. I understood from running a startup what it takes to build a brand. Essentially, when you're working with talent, it's building a brand. It's the same concepts, same structures, same nuts and bolts.
And then I figured that out through running a startup that failed and was like, all right, let's, you know, level up and use that experience to then build the next brand, which is Zion's brand. That was really great for people to give context of what we're talking about. Right. But I'm sure we can, that will work. Is there anything else Zion that you want to talk about besides not talking about the project you have coming up with the music?
Like where do people find you? You can find me at BigZ97 on Instagram. And on TikTok? Yeah, and TikTok. And then you can find me as BigZ1997 on Snapchat. Look up Zion Clark on YouTube. But don't expect him to respond because he doesn't go on Instagram. Just kidding.
Yeah, they expect me not to respond. Right. Someone will get back to you. Somebody will get back to you now. I'm a lot better. Just not him. It's a lot better. Sometimes it is me. Sometimes it's you? Sometimes it actually is me. Okay. Especially if it's like somebody I really want to work with or talk to.
- But how do you know? Because you're not on there to even check. - 'Cause like I still get the notifications, I just don't answer my phone on purpose. - Oh, so you look at the notifications? - Yeah. - Okay, okay, just make, I don't know. - Like unless it like, to me, unless like Craig tells me like, oh, this is actually really important, I don't spend time on the phone, I walk on my hands. - Yeah, that is true. - And I use my hands for everything. I don't like to get on my phone.
Like, especially when I'm out. I might not talk to somebody for 10 hours because I'm actually active doing stuff. You're walking on your hands. And I'm on my skateboard and I'm lit. You're good for you. Listen, I'm...
I am so happy that you came over and did this podcast. I feel honored that you did it. I know you said you didn't want to do many more podcasts. So this was a fun one. Thank you. I appreciate it. Some of your questions threw me for a loop. That's good. Then I'm keeping you on your toes or your fingertips. I'm keeping you on your fingertips, but, um, close enough. Whoops. But, um, I'm
No, but I really love this podcast. You're like, I think that you're awesome. And I think what you're doing is great. And your attitude and spirit are just infectious. And so if anyone deserves success, quite frankly, it is you in my opinion, and I'm sure in a lot of other people's opinions. I appreciate that. No, it's the truth. And Craig, who I feel like I know, like, very well now, just because every time anything happens, I hear I see a head go like, Craig, what do you
think of this? Because like you were asking me them business questions. I like to stay out of that. You know that this is a business podcast, right? Yeah. Well, I
I'm here for inspiration, not business. You are. And by the way, you gave inspiration. And sometimes it's not so much business. It's actually about leveling up your life and habits and how to have a healthy, successful mindset and actually don't let limitations stop you. And how at the end of the day, it's about resilience. And you, my friend, are the poster child for resilience. Yeah.
Seriously. Thank you. It's the truth. You really are. I think it's the optimal performance in anything you do. If that's business. Back to you, Craig. Next time you're coming on the podcast. Yeah, go for it. Okay, so that's how you find Zion. He also has a book coming up, but not for a year. And check out his documentary. And I currently have a book out right now called Zion Unmatched. It's currently still an editor's pick on Amazon. So if you want to go look up Zion Unmatched, I'd love the love and support. Thanks.
There you go. Perfect. All right. And we're out. Thank you.
