Loading summary
Transcript125 lines
- [00:00]
Laird Hamilton
We probably got blown a couple football fields underwater in. And when I came up, he was floating face down. That was the day that changed my life, actually.
- [00:08]
Randall Kaplan
You guys revolutionized the sport of surfing by inventing toe in surfing, paddleboarding, whaling, and today it's a 1.8 billion dollar industry. And it's expected in 2034 to be a 2.8 billion dollar industry.
- [00:22]
Laird Hamilton
Yeah.
- [00:23]
Randall Kaplan
How good does that make you feel?
- [00:24]
Laird Hamilton
Well, it just makes me feel like I'm not crazy. How can you do real, actual dangerous things? You do them safely.
- [00:30]
Randall Kaplan
You don't, and you don't enter competitions. But how can you be considered the greatest surfer of all time without winning.
- [00:39]
Laird Hamilton
Competitions, subjecting your performance to judges? I just didn't like that. My idea was just like, if you could surf the best in the biggest waves, then what's there to say?
- [00:49]
Randall Kaplan
You were Kevin Costner, stunt double in Waterworld 1995, and he nearly died. Tell us about that.
- [00:56]
Laird Hamilton
I decided I would go home on the weekend after one of the weeks of shooting and then drive a Jet Ski back. I left in the dark that morning and I ended up just going off course and eventually put myself in the middle of the ocean. It was super emotional.
- [01:26]
Randall Kaplan
You're listening to part two of my.
- [01:28]
Gabby Reece
Incredible interview with Laird Hamilton.
- [01:30]
Randall Kaplan
If you haven't yet listened to part one, be sure to check that one out first. Now, without further ado, here's part two of my incredible interview with Laird. You know, a lot of people want to be in Hollywood. It's kind of cool. It's kind of fun. You were Kevin Costner, stunt double in Waterworld 1995. He nearly died. Tell us about that.
- [01:49]
Laird Hamilton
Well, I was working on Waterworld as a stuntman. There was a big stunt department, and they had all these Jet Skis. One of the reasons why they hired me was to ride this, this motorized surfboard in this scene where there's a knee scene, there's these devices, and if you surfed, it made it a lot easier to ride a device, otherwise it would have had a sun guy doing it. And so then I. But they had Jet Skis as well. Anyway, they ended up breaking all the Jet Skis. And so I wanted to Jet Ski for some of these films. So I decided I would dry. I would go home on the weekend after one of the weeks of shooting and then drive a Jet Ski back from Maui, where I was living, to the Big Island. And that channel was, you know, 30, 30 or 40 miles across, maybe a little further. And I left in the dark that morning. The the current was unusually strong. I talked to a helicopter pilot friend of mine. I told him what, you know, what course I was going to go on. He's like, well, that's way too low. You should go on this course. And I was. That seemed too high to me. So I kind of just took the middle course. And. And because of the volcano, the visibility was about one mile from the bog, from the. From the smoke from the volcano. And I ended up just going off course and eventually just put myself in the middle of the ocean off of the Big island. Like, I was 60 miles north of Hilo, and. And I didn't. I. Only I didn't have. I had, like, maybe a half gallon of gas left in my machine, which I didn't want to run out because I knew that it'd be nice to just have a little bit of fuel in case I saw a shark came to bug me or if there was a boat or something. So I didn't want to incapacitate myself. And fortunately, I had an epirb, which is an emergency locating device like they have on airplanes and fishing boats. I'm smart enough to bring that. Probably without that, I don't know if I'd be here at this point. Pulled that, you know, right around midday just because I had been there. I'd been out there for, you know, seven or eight hours by the time. You know, by the time it was noon, you know, I'd been there since I went. I think I launched it for something in the morning, and I was like, okay, well, I'm. And I could see the Big island came into view at that point, and it was about that big, and that's the biggest island in Hawaii. So I knew I couldn't swim there, and I wasn't going to leave the craft, and. And I wouldn't. Couldn't. You know, I couldn't get there in a half gallon. And so I waited, and I had some makeshift ores and some other stuff, and I waited and waited and waited and waited. And then eventually, probably like, you know, six. Six or seven hours after I pulled the device, not knowing if it was working or not, a Coast Guard C130 down low because there was a canopy of clouds over me that just came flying straight at me. And I was waving. I had some oars. I was waving them, and as they went by, I was like, hey, all right, they're here. And then it was like, oh, yeah? Well, how am I going to get in an airplane? You're not. So, you know, he just flew over and they had the. The back end dropped, and the guy threw out a. Like, a canister that was a. Probably a bigger epirb. And it had a. Like, some smoke on it. And then they just turned and they. You know, the guy waved and threw the thing out. And then they split. And so I was like, okay, well, that's. That sucks. And so, I don't know, like, is a boat coming? And. And then right at dark, probably another. I don't know if it was another hour or two. Hour and a half. Two hours long enough. It's just at that point, you know, minutes seemed like hours. And helicopter showed up and dropped the basket. First. They dropped a radio in the water. There was. And some Ziplocs told me, don't touch the basket before it touches the water because the static electricity can kill you. So good not to get, you know, killed by the static electricity on your. On the rescue mission. And just. And then I end up. They ended up pulling me off, pulling me out in the basket, taking me up and put. You know, I came up and the guy and somebody I knew, I think, or friend of mine is like, hey, Larry, what are you doing out here? I go, you don't want to know. And gave me a T shirt and a tiger's milk bar. And then we split and they took me back to the airport. My mom was waiting there and a bunch of friends, and it was super emotional.
- [06:13]
Randall Kaplan
You have a unique view on suffering. I don't like to suffer, but tell us about Hawaii 5.0. You've also said that pain is both a teacher and a friend.
- [06:26]
Laird Hamilton
Well, there's a great saying, you know, you're going to have to sacrifice, and so you can choose it or it'll be chosen for you. I think I like to choose mine. You know, I mean, Hawaii 5O was just. That was just to do the whole chain, you know, that was the. Are you talking about the paddling and the biking? Yeah, yeah. So I devised a, you know, five Ironmans. Yeah, four or five Ironmans. Yeah. Yeah. It was the. Well, first of all, I had a friend that had an autistic son, and he was making a movie. And I did a thing in Europe. I did a crossing in Europe, the English Channel. I biked from London to Dover, paddled from Dover to Calais, and then biked from Calais to Paris as part of the kind of, like, fundraiser thing for autism. And so my idea for Hawaii was just to do all Hawaiian islands and start on the southernmost point of the southernmost island and finished on the northernmost Point on the northernmost island and do it all manually and like this. No stand up. Oh, a stand up paddle and bicycle. Okay, so the first, the first day was like 120, 130 mile bike into a 38 to 42 mile paddle the next morning and then another like 40 or 50 mile bike, then like another 16 or 18 mile paddle, then another and then eventually there was a, there was a 22 hour paddle which was the last paddle of the thing. And we started at like 11 at night, 10 or 11 at night, and paddled all through the night into the morning and then all the way into the next night. And that was after we paddled all the other channels first, so. And biked all the other islands.
- [08:13]
Gabby Reece
I hope you're enjoying this video so far. But before we jump back in, I want to know if you've ever thought about what you need to do to reach the next level of success in your life. Over the last 25 years, I've been an advisor to more than 50 companies. I've invested nearly 100, including Google, lift and Seagate. And I also co founded a company that today is worth more than $15 billion. I've been incredibly blessed in my journey and at this stage of my life, I want to give back. I want to share the lessons I've learned so you can reach incredible success way faster than I did in my own journey. I've learned that having the right mentor is a massive advantage to achieving our goals. I'm hugely passionate about mentoring others and I'm looking for a few hungry entrepreneurs who are excited to take action on their journey to incredible future success. So if that's you, I've got an opportunity. In the description of this video, there's a link where you can apply to work with me. All you need to do is answer a few simple questions and if you're a good fit, my team will reach out so we can build a game plan together. All right, now let's get back to the video.
- [09:06]
Randall Kaplan
You don't like competitions and you don't enter competitions. But how can you be considered the greatest surfer of all time without winning competitions?
- [09:16]
Laird Hamilton
Foreign.
- [09:21]
Gabby Reece
This video so far, but before we jump back in, I want to know if you've ever thought about what you need to do to reach the next level of success in your life. Over the last 25 years, I've been an advisor to more than 50 companies. I've invested nearly a hundred, including Google, Lift and Seagate. And I also co founded a company that today is worth more than $15 billion. I've been incredibly blessed in my journey and at this stage in my life. I want to give back. I want to share the lessons I've learned so you can reach incredible success way faster than I did my own journey. I've learned that having the right mentor is a massive advantage to achieving our goals. I'm hugely passionate about mentoring others, and I'm looking for a few hungry entrepreneurs who are excited to take action on their journey to incredible future success. So if that's you, I've got an opportunity. In the description of this video, there's a link where you can apply to work with me. All you need to do is answer a few simple questions, and if you're a good fit, my team will reach out so we can build a game plan together. All right, now let's get back to the video.
- [10:16]
Laird Hamilton
Well, I guess. I mean, I'm. Again, I. Like I said earlier, I think these are. This is people's. This is the people that have watched me surf and watch my surfing, you know, being the. The judgment, they've. They've made that. That if they say that, then they've said that. So, you know, my goal in surfing was just to do what, you know, what no one did. That was my thing. Like, I just. I felt like, you know, growing up because I watched my dad surfing competition. He was a free surfer. And in the beginning, when I was a kid, free surfing and competitive surfing were actually. There was more free surfers and less competitive surfers. And slowly but surely, competition surfing became the bigger and bigger and bigger thing. And then eventually the free surfing kind of dwindled away. And then there's still here and there. You have. And it goes through phases, but. So you had free surfing, which is just. You go surf how you surf, and, you know, and it'd be like being artists, like having an art competition. And then. And then somebody just. You have painters and they paint, and people go look at their paintings and be like, hey, I love that. I don't like that. And so I grew up when that was still at its infancies, and I watched my dad surf and surf beautifully and. And should have won an event that at the time, and everybody said he won and he lost by, you know, you know, whatever eight tenths of a point or whatever, that allowed the other guy to be the, you know, crown the world champion and stuff. And so for me, I just felt like, you know, subjecting your performance to judges, I just didn't like that. I just. That didn't sit well. With me, I don't mind racing, like paddleboard racing on your market. Set, go. I got no problem with that. You know, I don't mind speed sailing and clocks and time and distance. That's beautiful stuff. But when you get into judgment, you know, you get into man's. Man's judgment, it just. It never seems to work out right. It's always confusing, how did this guy win and that guy? And sometimes it's obvious, sometimes it's not. Sometimes people win when they shouldn't have won, but then they get to the spot and they win, but they shouldn't even been there, but then when they actually get there, they win. So it's just all that stuff. And I just figured my. My idea was just, like, if you could surf the best in the biggest waves, and what's there to say? Like, if you're. If you can go out in the biggest surf and surf the best. When I say surf the best, I mean just surf in a way that's distinctly better than everybody else. I just thought that that would. That would be kind of. That's my idea of having a time or a distance. That's my idea of a measurement. Like, you want a measurement? Here's your measurement. You know, we're not. Not some crappy serve, not some, you know, not. But big and as big as it can be, and then. And then perform in that in a way that. That separates you from the other surfers and just try to, you know, use that as your. As your, you know, your barometer.
- [13:23]
Randall Kaplan
Let's talk about what makes us successful. And I want to start with something I call extreme preparation, which means preparing more than anybody else. So if someone prepares for a podcast one or two hours, I'm usually 14 or 15 on average.
- [13:35]
Laird Hamilton
I know that about you. First of all, Gabby already warned me. She said, yeah, you're going. He does. Because she's super. Because she does it. She knows about the effort it takes, and she knows that your work is. The level of your research is very high. You spend a lot of time, and it shows. I could just tell by the questions that you asked. You know, you take the effort and it makes a difference. That's why it. That's why you get what you get, because you put the time in. There's no secret. Just put the effort in.
- [14:07]
Randall Kaplan
Awesome. Thank you. So how important is extreme preparation? Preparing for a big surf where you're going out and you're leaving town and you're mapping what you're going to do?
- [14:24]
Laird Hamilton
What's everything? I mean, that is the performance is the preparation. Like, that's your. The achievement is the preparation. That's. That's the whole, like. I mean, and. And it's everything. When I, and when I say everything, I don't just mean, like, being in shape. I mean, making sure your house is clean and straight, your relationships are good, like, trying to avoid where you can. Trying to make sure that everything's good, you know, and learning that process about, you know, the mental, the physical, the spiritual, all those preparations and how. How. How important that is. Right. Like, I look at it more like in a holistic approach. Like, look at it in the. In its entirety, because it will affect your performance. It's going to affect it somewhere. The thing. The least thing is going to affect it. You know, for me, I think a big piece of it is the regimented, ritualistic approach where I'm just. You just do the same thing all the time, even when it's not giant. You know, you just. You're just doing it. You do it the same way every day. And then. And then all of a sudden it's not like a. You know, it's not a deter. You know, you're not deterring yourself on the given day. You're not going, okay, today it's giant. I'm going to do something different. No, you just do this every day real diligently. And so then it's. Then it's. Then it becomes a little bit more. You've taken care of that part of it. You know, you've taken care of the parts that you can control. Because one thing about the ocean is you. There's a lot you're not going to control. So. Right.
- [16:11]
Randall Kaplan
I mean, today we're sitting here. Gabby texted me last week and said, hey, I don't think there to make it. There's a big swell coming up somewhere. So what's involved tactically? Garrett McNamara was on the show, and on TV, he talked about. I mean, they had him planning, they had maps, they had 10 people around. When's the wave coming? I think it's Thursday next week, and they went out waiting for it. So what's involved tactically as it relates to extreme preparation?
- [16:45]
Laird Hamilton
Well, I mean, of course, there's. There's, like. When you're talking about, you know, looking at conditions, right, And. And having, you know, for me, I have kind of a group of people that I work with, that I've worked with for a very long time that have a lot of wisdom, and so I rely on some of that. That wisdom as well. I don't. I don't. You know, I have friends that have specific knowledge and skills for specific locations. As one. As one aspect. You know, it's what you're looking for as well. Like, what kind of, you know, you're looking. I mean, there's weather apps and all these other things that we're using. You know, we have a seeing. Not until you see the whites of the eyes. A lot of this stuff is just giving you a forecast of the potential of it happening, but it's not happening until you're there in the water and you're. And. And you see it. I mean, because there's just so many variables. And so, you know, and then you have to be in a position to be able to be available, right? You just have to be able to have that freedom that you can go and move. I mean, you have to have the desire to want to move. They, you know, if you're going to a remote location that you don't know. I mean, usually when I go into some place that I haven't been, I usually go on a scout run first before I call all the boys in. You know, it's like you send out a. You send out a. You know, you send out a scout. You know, you send your scout out, the scout scouts it and goes, okay. And I'm the scout. I'll scout myself and be like, okay, is it. You know, this will stay. This is a thing. This is, you know, like, this is what we're gonna do. That's more interesting for me, going and doing the same thing over and over at the same place. I'm so not interested that. That has. I have no interest in that. There's some places that I've continued or to. To go to that I've been riding. But. But having. Having a new frontier and looking for a new frontier, that's the part that's got me interested. I'm. I have no interest in, okay, going to Jaws, going to Nazaree. I mean, they got more people in Nazareth than. Than. Than they need. Like, it's like you don't need another, you know, and I've been to Nazarea and I've, you know, I went foiling at Nazaree on one of the bigger days that they've had there, according to them. And, you know, I mean, it was. It was great. We had fun, and. But it wasn't something I was like, oh, my gosh, I got to come back here and, you know, I'm gonna put all my attention on it, but Also, I've been through that. That discipline. I'm not, you know, towing in on a surfboard for me is not exciting. Me towing in on a surfboard, I'm just not. I'm not. That's not got. That doesn't have. That doesn't keep me up at night. That doesn't keep my. You know, I'm not. I'm not like. Like, I am for some other things. So I have some other things that are got me like, you know, I got talents for. So I just keep looking for that. You know, I've done that throughout my whole career that I just every. At a certain point, I just look for a new thing to get my. And you know, sometimes it's the coincidence that it happens to be that when it gets popularized is when I get out. But it's. It's just that I've already been through the process. I've had the six or eight years in it, and then. And then, and then it gets popular and. But I'm already not interested. I'm not not interested because it's popular. I'm just kind of already have been through the process. I went through the cycle. So normally, you know, in my career, I found myself doing new disciplines continually. And once I go through the cycle, kind of the. The cycle of it, I go on to the next one. And sometimes that just coincides with the popularization of it. Right. The coincidentally. But it's really about my interest into the. And that I've gotten to a level in it where I'm fighting for inches. And I like that beginning of the curve. I like that steep part of the curve when you're really getting a lot out of everything. And once you get to the top and you're starting to polish the stone, I just start to go, okay, I'm good. Like, I just. I lose interest because I'm not getting that, you know, that, that. That feeling of, you know, of accomplishment that I get early in that thing when you're really, you know, making big leaps.
- [20:58]
Randall Kaplan
I think part of being successful is being able to motivate people.
- [21:02]
Laird Hamilton
Yes.
- [21:02]
Randall Kaplan
That's the reason of my show having amazing people like you on the show. I've been doing some personal paid coaching for the last 20 years. If anyone's interested in my coaching, please go to randall kaplan.com and you can click the link. Tell us about what you did for Tom Jones, which was a crazy, crazy feat.
- [21:22]
Laird Hamilton
Yeah, well, Tom. Tom is a special guy. Tom just approached me randomly. I didn't know who Tom was. Tom Jones, who, if you don't know him, is an incredible Muay Thai world champion and survived a tough upbringing and, and came to me one day and wanted to, you know, paddle the whole eastern seaboard or the western seaboard or some, you know, ridiculous because he's an endurance monster. So he's. One of his feats was he, he ran a marathon before. He had a title fight in the morning and then he knocked the guy out like in three rounds. He's ran across the country, I think twice now. He ran to the Boston Marathon, I think, or Manhattan anyway, they ran all the way like 150 marathons. I don't know what the amount is, but a lot of marathons in a row. So he's, he's an endurance mind savage. He came to me and just wanted to paddle board, you know, lay down, prone paddle and, and I'm like, have you ever prone paddle? He's like, I'm like, well that's, that'll hurt. You like it. I mean he's good at dealing with the hurt, but that'll hurt you in a way that, you know, better to. So and I, at the time we had been doing stand up paddling. So that's, you know, standing on a board and paddling with an oar, which.
- [22:39]
Randall Kaplan
You co invented as well. And everyone hated it.
- [22:42]
Laird Hamilton
Yeah. And it's now I'd actually like to say I alone reenacted something that I, I do believe may have been around in the past, but I paddled for probably five or six years alone. So I, I was actually paddling on, doing stand up for at least five or six years alone. And then I got one or two friends of mine to adopt it. And then after that it slowly went. And then it was, you know, it's like, was all over the world. It's in Middle east, it's in people.
- [23:13]
Randall Kaplan
Everywhere, people all over it.
- [23:15]
Laird Hamilton
Yeah.
- [23:15]
Randall Kaplan
And today it's a 1.8 billion dollar industry.
- [23:19]
Laird Hamilton
Yeah.
- [23:20]
Randall Kaplan
And it's expected in 2034 to be a 2.8 billion dollar industry.
- [23:24]
Laird Hamilton
Yeah.
- [23:24]
Randall Kaplan
How good does that make you feel?
- [23:26]
Laird Hamilton
Well, it just makes me feel like I'm not crazy because you know, for me I, I really enjoy it and enjoyed it. And so sometimes when you're alone enjoying something, you're kind of like, hey, what I think it is. And that's just proof again about the idea that the idea was big. You know, I always, I talk to my daughters about it too. I'm like, you know, the success of the ideas really, you know, proves how good the Idea was. And you know, you see like pretty good idea because people love that, that sensation. People can do it. They can. There's all different disciplines, you know, stand up foiling, stand up, you know, stand up racing, stand up surfing, stand up down the river. I mean, it's like. So there's a lot to do in stand up.
- [24:09]
Randall Kaplan
So just quickly we'll go back to Tom. What did you.
- [24:13]
Laird Hamilton
So Tom. So Tom, I just turned Tom, I told Tom, I go, okay, stand up paddling, you know, I think that's a better way for you to do it. And, and I taught Tom how to do. How to. Didn't take long because he's, you know, he's an incredible athlete. And I taught him how to stand up, paddle, and then he was like off to the races. And then I think he paddled the whole eastern seaboard, you know, from like Maine to Florida or something. And then he came back and paddled the western seaboard, like Oregon to, you know, San Diego.
- [24:42]
Randall Kaplan
So, you know, but that one day, what, what did, what did he do where he did something in the morning, he did something at night, the, where.
- [24:50]
Laird Hamilton
He ran a marathon in the morning. And then he, and then he fought a world, like a Muay Thai world championship and knocked the guy out. He actually asked the guys, hey, can I run a marathon before the fight? Like the, the union or the, the fight group? And they're like, well, we don't have any rules against it. You know, we don't have any rules against you running a marathon, but we don't recommend running a marathon before you, you know, fight Muay Thai. But yeah, Tom, Tom is a, you know, he's a special man.
- [25:18]
Gabby Reece
I hope you're enjoying this video so far. But before we jump back in, I want to know if you've ever thought about what you need to do to reach the next level of success in your life. Over the last 25 years, I've been an advisor to more than 50 companies. I've invested nearly 100, including Google, lift and Seagate. And I also co founded a couple company that today is worth more than $15 billion. I've been incredibly blessed in my journey and at this stage in my life, I want to give back. I want to share the lessons I've learned so you can reach incredible success way faster than I did in my own journey. I've learned that having the right mentor is a massive advantage to achieving our goals. I'm hugely passionate about mentoring others and I'm looking for a few hungry entrepreneurs who are excited to take action on their journey to incredible future success. So if that's you, I've got an opportunity.
- [25:59]
Randall Kaplan
Opportunity.
- [26:00]
Gabby Reece
In the description of this video, there's a link where you can apply to work with me. All you need to do is answer a few simple questions. And if you're a good fit, my team will reach out so we can build a game plan together. All right, now let's get back to.
- [26:09]
Randall Kaplan
The video foil industry.
- [26:13]
Laird Hamilton
Yeah.
- [26:14]
Randall Kaplan
Allowed you again. People hated it, right? It's not surfing. They criticize you.
- [26:18]
Laird Hamilton
You know, back to, back to like what? Let's define what surfing is. You know, you go to Makaha. So there's a beautiful beach on, on the north shore, I mean on the west side of Oahu called Makaha. It's. And it's where all these great Hawaiians live. And they surf at a, at this wave. And, and you go there, and there's a, there's a great man named Buffalo Kealana who has Rusty and Brian and a bunch of beautiful sons. And these are Hawaiians. Like these are Hawaiians and they do every discipline and they have this thing called the Buffalo event where you go there and they have canoe surfing, tandem surfing, they have bullyboarding, they have guys like division. They have divisions with guys over 350 pounds. Like, like that's over 350 pound division they have. So. And they ride every board, every single thing. So when people start defining what surfing is, you go to Makaha and like if I go to Maka with a foil board, they'll be like, what even is that? That thing's awesome. If you go there with a stand up paddle, they're like, stand. You know, their openness to. I mean, these are just tools. Like Brian Keelana has a great saying, don't define me by my equipment. Right? Like this is just a tool. I mean, when we were kids, we would get those McDonald's lunch trays and we would ride them on the ways with our hands. We would go get these, those plastic trays and use our hands and ride. I mean we use anything. Like you use a piece of plywood, you use whatever's available. And that's how I grew up. So my mind was always open to, hey, not this one. You know, like we ride this board and this is the board we use. And you know, that whole thing. So our, our openness to being able to ride different things is. So whenever I ran into resistance about people making judgments about stuff, I just laugh. I'd be like, whatever. Like I again back to how I grew up. I wasn't discouraged. You know, they have a great saying that they asked this woman entrepreneur who was really successful, you know, what, what she, what you do when you have a really good idea. And she said, just don't tell anybody for a year because they'll just discourage you. And so. Which is true. So. And people can be easily deterred. I think it has to do with the fact that people aren't always going after their own ideas. You know, they have an idea, but they don't follow through. They don't pursue it. Right. They don't pursue their own ideas. And so that in return, when they see someone with an idea, they're going to discourage them because indirectly they're maybe wishing that they went after theirs or they're mad that they didn't go after. So, you know, it's like almost like a reminder to them, like, hey, why didn't you pursue yours? So, but yeah, don't tell anybody or just don't be discouraged. And I, and I. So I've had plenty of times to be discouraged with all these ideas. Hey, that's not surfing. Hey, that's not surfing. Hey, that's not surfing. I'm like, feels like surfing to me. Like, I don't know what you guys are doing, but I'm riding a wave right now and this feels amazing. So. And you just go with that. And then you get a couple friends to make sure that you're not completely crazy. Because if you're all alone, you, maybe you are crazy and maybe it's not as great as you think, but if you have a couple people telling you, tell you this is great, then, you.
- [29:30]
Randall Kaplan
Know, they might be $1.68 billion, 20, 24 industry.
- [29:36]
Laird Hamilton
Yeah.
- [29:36]
Randall Kaplan
Tells you it's not crazy.
- [29:38]
Laird Hamilton
It's not crazy. And foiling is the next. That thing has really taken off everywhere. So foiling is, people understand it's a, it's a, it's a hydrofoil, but it's like an airplane that flies in the water and lifts you up. And there's seven or eight disciplines within that. There's kite foiling, wing foiling, electric foiling, stand up paddle foiling, prone foiling, toe foiling. I mean, there's, you know, we have a bunch of disciplines within that, those devices and those are allowing us to do things that we never dreamed so we can. Guys are flying, you know, Kylani when it, you know, and these guys are flying in her island, you know, they're riding swells all the way in between the islands. Faster than anybody's ever gotten across those channels. We're riding the longest waves in the world. We're riding giant waves where. Yeah, we're, we're. That, that's. Yeah.
- [30:28]
Randall Kaplan
I mean, the human condition, like you said, it's. People will discourage you. They're envious. They didn't think of it themselves. They're not going to do it. Tell us about the, the T shirts with the paddle boarding T shirts against you. And then tell us about the T shirts that you wrote back.
- [30:45]
Laird Hamilton
Yeah, yeah. Well, at one point there was such a strong force against stand up paddling. They. It's like a schmear campaign, you know, so they had this, they had a picture of Thoreau and then they said, they said, blame Laird. Right? They had the blame. There was like, blame Laird. And so I just took that as a compliment. I mean, like, I'm like, okay, cool. Blame that. You know, blame. Blame me for all that fun you're having. So I just kind of turn it on its head and end up, you know, trademarking it and making church out of it. I mean, Thoreau is beautiful because I don't know if they read Thoreau, but, you know, one of my favorite lines from Thoreau is disobedience is the true foundation of liberty and the obedient shall be slaves. So I'm okay with the disobedience part and going against the grain, but. But yeah, again, back to my upbringing, you know, I think hard to discourage. You know, Gabby talks about when I have an idea, I just bite in like a. I just, I did. It's. It's kind of ridiculous in a way. I think it's hard. I'm glad somebody will live with me through it all, but. Yeah. Because I just won't let it go. I'll just. It's just back to the bone. Back to the bone. It's like a dog with a bone. I just, just did not let the thing go. And it's not easy to be that way. It's just the nature of how I approach it. I'll just be, you know, it's just, I'm sleeping it, I'm living it, I'm eating it, I'm drinking. I'm just, I'm. It's in me. And I've gotten better at dealing with that. I think as I've, you know, as I also having the family and, you know, the, the priority of that, you know, it's like that's becoming a. You know, I'm putting that kind of intensity into how important that is, for me, like, I just think that that's part of your. You know, that's part of what I'm here to do. And I look and I measure my. My success and my achievement. Like, I can. I can ride waves, but if my family is just a debacle, then what good am I? And so. So I think that that's, you know, I mean, family and, you know, being a good father, getting a good husband, having all those things, those. That's such an important part of what I measure, how I measure success. I go. I mean, because that's the big. I'm playing the big game. I'm playing the long game, you know, and so there's, you know, there's achievement and thing. And there's this. There's a lot of. It's a long game. It's a. You know, we're in a. It's a marathon. This is not a sprint. And so for me, I'm in the long game. And what. What I consider important changes, you know, and it doesn't. I don't. I don't stop having those other pieces. But. But, yeah, it's. It's. It's. It's a. You know, I'm in for the long game. I'm looking at it. There's a great saying, the victory through attrition. I like that. You know, you don't have to be any good if you're the last guy standing. You just win. So that's the game I'm trying to play right now. I'm trying to play the, you know, last guy standing, you know, Tell us.
- [33:48]
Randall Kaplan
About Don Wildman and the importance of mentors. Can we be successful without a great mentor?
- [33:54]
Laird Hamilton
No. Be successful without a great mentor?
- [33:57]
Randall Kaplan
Yes.
- [33:59]
Laird Hamilton
I mean, I think there's. Well, listen, I think there's an exception to every rule, but having a good mentor, I mean, there's a reason why we have wise men, you know, and there's a reason why we have mentors and why they're so important and why, you know, having a, you know, being a good father is important, but, you know, and that can be to other people, like, being a good man. But having mentors is mandatory, and Don Wildman's one of the greats, you know, Don was one of my mentors that I've been blessed to have. I've had some great ones. He was one of the greatest. His actual name was Donahue. Wild Man. Just take that for whatever you want. Fought in Korea when he was 17. Went to war, started Bally's Health clubs. Largest health club chain in the country. Sold it at the peak of it around fitness. He was a genius marketer. Incredible, you know, people person. I met him helicopter snowboarding randomly. I was invited with some other people and met him. And then when I moved to Malibu, I coincidentally moved next like down the street. So he just took me in. He did the Ironman ten times and, you know, and did a bunch of crazy stuff. Him and I did helicopter, snowboard, you know, snowboarded all over the world. Don was the kind of guy that no matter what you're doing, like, you go, hey, you know, I was thinking about diving with sharks next week. I'm in. Let's go. Like, yeah, I think I'm gonna go skydot. Oh, yeah, I'm in. Let's go. Like, he would, no matter what, he would just, he would go. He was always so appreciative. He'd come over the house for dinner and be like, oh, this is the best I've ever had. And then the next we could come over that. This is the best that, you know, it's like his, his, his enthusiasm for life, you know, his, his just his. It was contagious and beyond. Generous, crazy generous and, and a bare knuckle fighter to just, you know, didn't tolerate stupidity. But again, as a, As a, you know, as an inspiration, as a mentor, really a special guy, him and I had a very unique relationship, and I'm so thankful that I had that opportunity. I've had some other great ones, you know, some other great men in my life, but those, those, you know, those men are so important as a reference to give you, you know, you. Because you can take what you like and leave out what you don't or, you know, you just. And you can become your unique self is pieces of all these other things that create your uniqueness. Right? You take a little bit from there. I like that. Oh, I don't like that. I like this. And then you put it all together and then you can, you know, take the things that you admire and throw the things out that you don't and try to be your own man.
- [36:53]
Randall Kaplan
Speaking of generosity, your daughter's friends with my son Charlie on his 20th birthday. You took him foiling. He was so pumped. He doesn't want me to share the story, but I'm gonna share the story. I'm gonna share part of the story that you don't know. And you were out there. He was struggling. He was sucking wind a little bit. And then when it was time to come in the stones on the, on the sand were so painful that he was just suffering so badly. He said, man, I need to be a man. Larry's so tough, so tough, so tough. And he was struggling. And so he said that you just came and you got him, just picked up that foil like it was a two pound weight and just put it in the back of the truck. But it was so generous of you and really made a huge impact on his life.
- [37:44]
Laird Hamilton
Well, for me, I feel like that's an opportunity. You know, I have a. I look at that as a responsibility and myself personally, I take it as a responsibility that I can, if I can, mentor. I've been so mentored in my life. If I can mentor, like, that's. I go, that's my, that's my shot. And so I have all daughters, so whenever I get young men around and I can, you know, I can boost them a little bit or, you know, be the dawn for them in a way, because I, like I said, I had so many beautiful men that I've aspired and looked up to. And so, you know, try, try to be the thing that you, you know, that you respect.
- [38:27]
Randall Kaplan
I think being a hero is also important. Not many people have the chance to be a hero. Tell us about your naked swim and how you saved your good friend's life.
- [38:36]
Laird Hamilton
Naked swim? Yeah, that was always that one. Sometimes they blend together, all those things. But we were, you know, we rode it. There was. The surf was giant, as big as we've ever, as big as we've ever surfed. And he put me, he towed me onto wave and then I was unable to descend. And then I had to like dive into the face of the wave. And when I came up, he was there to get me, but behind him was like a. Just a big, dark, you know, creature. Looked like a creature. And so I got on the ski with him and we tried to run away. And when we ran away, when we were running away from the next wave, we went into where the wave that I was on broke and the water was aerated. And so we got run over by that next wave and, and we've probably got blown a couple football fields underwater in. And when I came up, he was floating face down and I swam over to him and he was still conscious, but there was, there was like red, you know, the whole water was red around him. And he had split the back of his leg from right about his knee, a little bit above his knee, all the way down to the heel. And. And so I had, I needed a tourniquet and I didn't really have any rope on me. And so I just had a flotation device. And he had one on. That's why he was floating. I gave him another one so he could kind of float higher. And then I took my wetsuit off and tied his leg with my wetsuit to tourniquet his leg. And then I had to swim to the Jet Ski that had gotten washed in. And I don't know how, how far it was, but it was far enough. I had to swim in to it, get it, kind of jury rig it. It lost the lanyard, so I wasn't able to start. I had to get some like, little piece of wire, start it, go back to him. He was still conscious. Got him on the ski and then crash landed on the beach. I was calling, I. I had the. I had a radio. I was calling the. I ended up calling the Coast Guard. And then indirectly I got the. I got them to meet us at the beach. And then I crash landed on the beach naked in front of a bunch of people in a parking lot. Because you come in with the Jet Ski going full speed and you can slide up the sand. And there was. The surf was really giant, so the whole park was washed out. And so the cars were way in the back and the people were probably just watching the way the lifeguard stand, I think was either knocked over or, you know, kind of tipped over. But I flew up and landed naked. And somebody ran out and threw me some shorts. And I put the shorts on and then got my friend into, into the ambulance. My friend Brett Lickle got him in the ambulance. And, and then, and then, and then we went, we went back out again. That was the day that changed my life. Actually, one of them that changed my life that day is when I stopped tow surfing. I put away my boards after that because I realized that they weren't gonna. They weren't gonna work if it really got giant. And that's when I completely focused on foiling and have been focused on foiling since that day because it was. I realized that we wouldn't be able to ride the biggest waves that could come on a conventional surfboard. And so that was a big. That kind of changed everything. I ended up moving off of Maui and kind of just everything after that was like a monumental day.
- [42:08]
Randall Kaplan
You know, you've been known to be a controversial guy. How important is not giving a shit what other people think to our success?
- [42:14]
Laird Hamilton
I think it's mandatory. I think you can't care what people think except for the people that you respect and that you love, you need to care about that. But as far as everybody else, because people don't care about you like you think they do.
- [42:28]
Randall Kaplan
Let's talk about work, life, balance. And I want to talk about. First, I want to talk about your marriage.
- [42:33]
Laird Hamilton
Yep.
- [42:34]
Randall Kaplan
You're high profile. Gabby's high profile. You've spoken publicly that you had marital troubles many years ago. How difficult is it being in the public eye where everyone's watching you, what you're doing? Is it embarrassing when everybody knows that you're having trouble?
- [42:51]
Laird Hamilton
I'm not embarrassed by it, but again, it's back to that same thing I use everywhere else, which is I don't really care what. You know, it's my big thing is how it has been between us. I mean, I think. I think being in a relationship is. Is. Is work. You know, it's called a ship and you're sailing it, and so it takes effort, and everybody's got to participate. So I don't think. I don't think being in the public eye made our relationship any harder or made it any easier. I just think it was just one of the. One of the factors. But. But yeah, we're. We're. I mean, Gabby and I are. Are have a. You know, we've put a lot of time and effort into our love, and we are being rewarded for that because we're, you know, we're not. We weren't quick to just give it up, which is pretty common. And we could have easily. We could have easily just been, ah, this is too hard. I'm good. And so that seems to be very popular in this day and age. Just, it's too much for me. I don't want to deal with this. And so, you know, we had that for a moment, and then we realized maybe not. Maybe. Maybe this is not. Maybe this is much more precious than we realize. And so we need to. And, you know, and make it work, but you both have to want to do that.
- [44:08]
Randall Kaplan
Before I married my wife, Madison is the most incredible, special person in the world. I was single for seven and a half years, and the last girl I dated before I met Madison said she was posing for Playboy. And I said, if you do that, we can't date anymore. Just didn't go with my image. It wasn't good on the west side of la. I mean, I had taken her to four seasons of Mountley Short. She's string bikini. I'm getting calls from people in LA who weren't even there. Oh, my gosh. The wives all hated me. Gavin and I talked about this on the show as well. And as a husband, were you supportive of your wife posing naked where men would look at her body? I think that's something that a lot of men, including me, would never want.
- [44:51]
Laird Hamilton
Yeah. I mean, I think that that's. Again, you know, it's. I think. I don't know. It's. It's. It's. I think it's a personal. You're, of course, your ego. Your ego doesn't want that. But if you're. If you're. I mean, in Gabby's layout, it's done tastefully. I know the photographer, and by the way, if she wants to do it, am I going to stop her? Probably not. So. And if I am at the end, is that going to work out? So I think for me, I feel like these are choices. There are certain choices that people are going to make, and you're going to be in a relationship with them, and if you think that you're going to control that, then you're going to end up. You're going to pay somewhere later. And I don't want to be in that kind of relationship, too. I want her to have the freedom to do and be what who she is and who she wants. And if I have a problem with that, then I won't be with her. And if I can handle it. And, you know, it's not easy, I think, for any man to be with a strong woman that has, you know, their opinion and their. Their desires and, you know, again, don't, you know, don't love it. Like, don't. Of course you don't love that. Like, oh, you know, but. And I'm not, like, off where people go, oh, yeah, it's like, you know, having maybe men like their wives, that their wives are desirable. I don't have any of that stuff on either side. But, yeah, I think it's. It's her choice. I mean, this is. This is.
- [46:23]
Randall Kaplan
She's.
- [46:24]
Laird Hamilton
She's a woman, and if that's what she decide. Decided to do or wants to do, okay. I mean, I could put my, you know, I mean, she's gotten me to paddle with no clothes on in a thing, so I, you know, I don't know. I don't know how that happened. I'm like, is this for real right now? Like, I'm in the middle of the thing and I'm like. I'm like, am I actually doing this? You know? You know, I guess it's. What are you going to do? I mean, at the end of the day, I mean, the funny thing is when you're in it, you think it means everything. And then when you look back, you're just like, oh, yeah, like, whatever, like. So it's just sometimes I think in the moment, we just make things so important, but in the big. In the big picture of life, and you look back, you're like, okay, well, that was a moment for a thing and a. It's like those are. You know, it's one image on a billion images. It just doesn't. It's like, I'm all clear.
- [47:19]
Randall Kaplan
We're at the end of our show. And I always conclude the end of the show with a game I call fill in the blank to excellence.
- [47:25]
Laird Hamilton
Are you ready to play or not?
- [47:28]
Randall Kaplan
The biggest lesson I've learned in my life is be patient. My number one professional goal is keep going. My number one personal goal is love. The one thing everybody should say to themselves before they go to sleep is.
- [47:44]
Laird Hamilton
Tomorrow'S a new day.
- [47:46]
Randall Kaplan
The one thing everyone should say to themselves when they wake up in the.
- [47:48]
Laird Hamilton
Morning is, today's a new day.
- [47:51]
Randall Kaplan
My biggest regret is I don't have any. My biggest fear is I don't have any. The things that keep me up the most at night are that there's not enough waves. The most prideful moment of my career.
- [48:09]
Laird Hamilton
Is thinking you're any good.
- [48:11]
Randall Kaplan
The craziest thing that's happened in my.
- [48:13]
Laird Hamilton
Career is met Gabby on an interview.
- [48:18]
Randall Kaplan
The funniest thing that ever happened in.
- [48:20]
Laird Hamilton
My career is I found myself paddling naked.
- [48:24]
Randall Kaplan
The worst advice I've ever received is to say no. The best advice I've ever received is say yes. If you could pick one trait that would lead to somebody's, it would be perseverance. The most important quality in being a successful entrepreneur is perseverance. The single most important quality that will lead most likely to failure is weakness. Ten years from now, I'm going to.
- [48:53]
Laird Hamilton
Be having a lot of fun.
- [48:56]
Randall Kaplan
Twenty years from now, I'm going to.
- [48:57]
Laird Hamilton
Be still having a lot of fun.
- [49:00]
Randall Kaplan
The biggest problem in the United States today is people are having fun.
- [49:06]
Laird Hamilton
People aren't having fun.
- [49:09]
Randall Kaplan
The biggest problem in the world today is greed. The one thing I've dreamed about doing for a long time but haven't is.
- [49:17]
Laird Hamilton
Ride the Arctic, the roaring 40s, which is down in the miserable place.
- [49:26]
Randall Kaplan
Is it going to happen?
- [49:27]
Laird Hamilton
That's when we're going in that direction. I think it's going to happen, actually. I don't know what state I'm going to Be in. But it's going to happen.
- [49:35]
Randall Kaplan
If you could go back and give your 21 year old self one piece of advice, it would be try to break less parts. If you could meet one person in the world, who would it be?
- [49:44]
Laird Hamilton
There's not too many people alive I want to meet. In fact, none really. But I'd go, Jesus, dead. I said, let me meet that guy. And as far as alive I don't. There's none. I really, I mean if I don't know him already, I'm not interested.
- [50:03]
Randall Kaplan
If you could have dinner with anyone in the world, who would it be?
- [50:06]
Laird Hamilton
I'm gonna, it's gonna happen. Whoever it is, it just happens. It's like when it seems like it just happens. When you really, if you really want to meet them or you really want to have dinner with them, who would it be? I think there's just too many. Too many. I wouldn't. Yeah, there's too many choices.
- [50:26]
Randall Kaplan
On this day, as we sit here today, if you are President Trump right now, the first thing you would do is.
- [50:37]
Laird Hamilton
I mean, the first thing I would do, I mean that can be done or that he's trying to do. That's not gonna happen. I just try to stop all the wars. I just stopped killing people first. Let's just very first thing, let's just stop killing people. Too many people are dying in the world. Even if it's not, has nothing to do with us. Just too many people are dying.
- [50:58]
Randall Kaplan
If you're on your deathbed and you're surrounded by Gabby and your family, what's the last thing you would say to them?
- [51:07]
Laird Hamilton
I'll be waiting for you.
- [51:09]
Randall Kaplan
The one question that you wish I had asked you but didn't is how.
- [51:15]
Laird Hamilton
Much do I weigh?
- [51:19]
Randall Kaplan
I'm gonna guess, by the way, I'm gonna guess 176.
- [51:26]
Laird Hamilton
215.
- [51:28]
Randall Kaplan
215, yeah. All muscle mass, thick cranium. Larry, this has been incredible. I wanted you on my show for a long time.
- [51:39]
Laird Hamilton
Thank you.
- [51:39]
Randall Kaplan
Inspiration to so many people.
- [51:41]
Laird Hamilton
Thank you, Randall.
- [51:42]
Randall Kaplan
Appreciate you.
- [51:43]
Laird Hamilton
Thank you.
- [51:43]
Randall Kaplan
Thanks for being good to my son.
- [51:45]
Laird Hamilton
Always. I'll do it again.
- [51:47]
Randall Kaplan
Gotta have you guys over the house, play some pickle.
- [51:49]
Laird Hamilton
Oh yeah.
- [51:50]
Randall Kaplan
Gabby, bring your kids.
- [51:51]
Laird Hamilton
I'll bring Etai and Viola. They're. They're wicked awesome. They got some high level pickleballers.
- [51:57]
Randall Kaplan
Love it. Thanks again.
- [51:58]
Laird Hamilton
Thank you.
- [51:58]
Randall Kaplan
Appreciate you.
- [51:59]
Laird Hamilton
Aloha. Aloha. Thank you, Sam.