Ep 32: Cary Jack on the Happy Hustle & Finding Balance

Welcome to the Rewild Gear Podcast. Modern life, society, and responsibilities have domesticated us, but now it's time to rediscover your adventurous side. Whether that's camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, or just spending time in the great outdoors, this is the podcast for you. Join us as we get back to the wilderness and rewild. Welcome to the Welcome to the Venture Made Podcast. I'm your host, Seth Spears, and I'm here today with Kerry Jack. Kerry is a lifestyle entrepreneur, author, podcast host, professional actor, model, biohacker, eco-warrior, martial artist, humanitarian, and philanthropist striving to make a positive impact on this planet. That's a lot of things right there. Kerry grew up— he grew up splitting split time growing up between the beaches of Sarasota, Florida, and the mountains of Red Lodge, Montana, where he first learned the art of a balanced lifestyle. His passions include traveling, martial arts, soccer, entrepreneurship, and selfless giving. He is the founder and host of the Happy Hustle podcast, whose mission is to educate, inspire, and entertain while reminding you to enjoy the journey, not just the destination. As you— as for you, happy hustle for a life of passion and purpose. Kerry Jack, welcome to the show. I am very excited to have this conversation because that is probably the most diverse bio that I have ever read on the show.

Yeah, man. Thank you for having me. Uh, honored to be here.

Yeah, great. Well, I'd like to just kind of get into a little bit of your background, um, how you got started, you know, how you showed up to where you are today, because you've done so many different things over the years. And I really want to dig into the outdoor side and some of the adventurous side that we've had a chance to talk about, talk about a little bit. But let's just kind of hear your origin story.

Yeah, so as you mentioned, I was born in Sarasota, Florida, but then grew up on my dad's ranch in Red Lodge, Montana. So I split time half surfing, skate, half camping, fishing, hunting, hiking. And, some people call me a hippie cowboy. I don't know. If you saw me right now, I look more like the GEICO caveman. But, it's been an interesting diverse upbringing just having these 2 extremely different locations and the activities from both of them. But yeah, I grew up You know, just big into sports, big into the outdoors, love nature, and just thought at an early age that I was going to play professional soccer.

Ah.

That was kind of my goal, play for the USA national team. And, my ACL didn't agree nor did my ankle. Broke the ankle and tore the ACL pretty early on in my career and just kind of plagued me. So, I played in college, but yeah, I've always loved sports. just kind of love competing, really. I guess that's why I'm an entrepreneur. We're constantly competing out there in the business realm. And, yeah, now I'm the founder of The Happy Hustle. This is a business that is truly aligned with my passion and my purpose. And, I know those are cliché buzzwords, but I truly feel more in sync and synergistic with my life's calling than ever before. It wasn't always this way, man. I was burned out as an entrepreneur. I was hustling but not happy before this. I was working 100+ hour weeks, getting roughly 5 hours of sleep. I had an NYC tech startup, my brother and business partner and best friend and I, we were getting after it, pounding the pavement. And, we had this massive— I know I don't look it now, but at one point, I was wearing the suit and tie and doing it. But, we got this 7-figure VC funding deal after a year and a half of hard work. And then, we got partnerships with Microsoft and IBM. And, we had the opportunity to really go all in on this business and we had the capital and we just kind of lost passion for it. We lost the fulfillment that came with the mission that we were serving. It kind of morphs once you start talking to VC investors and partners and whatnot, you really can kind of start to create their version of success. And, that was so far from when we started the business, what our actual purpose was. So, we folded the company. Long story short, we said no to the 7-figure VC funding deal and the 5-year commitment clause that came with it, rightfully so. If someone's going to give you that much money, they want to make sure you're in it to win it, right?

Of course.

But yeah, basically I moved to Bangkok, Thailand for 10 months and I just kind of figured out a better way to work and live and, you know, put the happy in my hustle. And that's kind of where the Happy Hustle was born.

Got it. No, that's fascinating. So I'd like to dig into a little bit more as far as your background, especially when it comes to growing up half the time in Montana and being in the wilderness and how that affects kind of your outlook today when it comes to business and connecting and all of those things.

Yeah. I mean, nature has always been my remedy for any type of stress or anxiety that the world or the business realm may throw at me. And, I've always loved just getting outside and plugging into Pachamama, Mother Earth, and just camping and fishing and hiking. Hunting and just being outdoors is really my happy place. So, I use that as a solitude to foster deep thought and creative thinking and to help me create the vision that I see for myself.

Sure. And so, that had to have been a big change when you were living in New York and in startup mode. And, you know, taking on VC money.

Oh yeah.

How, knowing that you appreciate nature and solitude and the wilderness so much, that's a big change, you know, pounding the pavement and being in a concrete jungle like NYC is. So how did, how did you handle that and find balance there?

Oh, I hated it. It was, it was gut-wrenching. It was, I don't know how people do it. It's, you know, and I'm grateful they do because, you know, We want people to live in cities and keep nature beautiful and pristine. But yeah, it was just, it was soul-sucking, man. Just riding the subway, you know, 5:30 in the morning next to just filth on all sides of the spectrum. And then you get to the office and it's like you're breathing in recycled air and toxic blue light. And, you know, you just got these fake conversations. Everyone wants something from you. Yeah, it's just not a way for me to live personally. So I found balance the best I could by going to the parks and working out and just getting outside as much as possible. But truthfully, that was a key reason why I didn't take the money is because I wasn't happy and my environment was largely the cause of that.

Sure. Yeah. And that can be a really tough decision to make when you have— you're looking at a big payday or so much opportunity or potential, whether it's in business business or a job or career, what have you, and something that your soul is calling you to do, to take time away or be in nature or travel or what have you. And, you know, there's a lot of people, I think, that fall into that, and that can be really tough to navigate and find that balance because, you know, on the one hand, we have responsibilities and, you know, bills and all those things, whether that's family or whatever. But then also this other thing that is drawing you to that. What advice would you give for someone that's kind of in that same position and that's trying to figure out how to balance it all?

Yeah, I mean, well, first of all, your environment largely dictates your happiness. And that was something I realized. So, if you're not happy right now and you're listening to this with where you live in your environment, make a change. Life's short. You don't want to sacrifice your happiness. I see a lot of my fellow entrepreneurs, especially, they're sacrificing their happiness, their balance for profit and success. And I was in that boat, so I know this intimately. However, I would just give all the listeners out there just a little inspiration and also a little kick in the ass and say, there is a better way. There's a way to be happy and hustle. And I've cracked the code.

Do tell. Let's hear more about the code.

Well, for me, it just started scratching my own itch, man. But, I figured out that I had these 10 areas of my life. So, I call them the Soul Mapping System. It's 10 alignments to achieve blissful balance and avoid burnout. So, I'm happy to run through each of those just briefly. Yeah, love to hear it. You could think of the acronym Soul Mapping. This is your soul's map to the blissful balance promised land. Alright. So, if you're feeling a little burnout or a a little stressed or a little anxiety or just feel like you're not getting the full zest of life, listen up because I'm going to walk you through an exercise right now that's going to show you where you may be lacking and then where you can prioritize change accordingly.

Great.

And, this is what I do with all the happy hustlers that come in my realm. And, it's made life-changing results happen for everyone who actually goes through it and takes it serious. So, as I go through these 10 alignments, and Seth, I'd like to hear yours too because I know you got a lot of it figured out, but we all are constantly improving.

I don't know about that. I'm definitely in a transitory phase with that, trying to figure out a whole lot of shit.

Well, we all are. So, fear not. So, here we go. The 10 Alignments, the Soul Mapping framework. As I go through it, I want you to rank yourself 1 to 5. So, 5 is an A, 1 is an F, okay? I wasn't much for school, but I do know the grading scale. So, you can think of it like that. 5, it means you're crushing it in this alignment. It means you're happy hustling. It means you're really stepping into your full power in this alignment. 1 is you're failing. And then, 3 is a C and you guys can figure out the rest. But—

Sure.

The first one is called selfless service. And this is Are you giving to others or are you just living for yourself? S, the soul mapping framework. The first one is selfless service. Rank where you're at. Are you volunteering for causes and helping people that need help or are you just kind of focused on your bottom line? Rank 1 to 5. O is optimize health. So, Are you mentally and physically at your peak? Are you dialed in? Are you cognitively sharp and performing at your best? 1 to 5, where do you rank? Okay. And, be honest with yourself here too. U stands for unplug digitally. And, this is a big one for especially a lot of entrepreneurs. Unplug digitally. We're constantly tapped into our devices. We're constantly on our cell phones and watching Netflix streaming shows and listening to podcasts. And, there's a time and place for all of it, but I find we are out of balance in this alignment. Most of us are not a 5. Most of us are really severely lacking in— we have this addiction to our phone. And, that's one of the things that I love about you, Seth, and Rewild Gear is because you love the outdoors and this is a big this is a big remedy for this alignment, getting outside and disconnecting to reconnect.

So, that's the U.

And then, the L is loving relationships. So, what's it all for if you don't have love in your life? If you're not having plentiful pleasure at home and really enjoying your family and your friends to the fullest, rank where you're at, 1 to 5. Okay. So, that was the soul part. So, you currently have 4 scores, you should. Seth, you want to run through yours? You feeling froggy and vulnerable or you want to keep it on the down low? There's a lot of work that needs to be done, I'll be honest. Well, it's good to recognize. It's like what you measure, you can manage. And, this is a way to measure it. So then, we get to the MAP part, okay? M stands for mindful spirituality. Alright. Are you tapping into a higher power? Do you believe in God or Allah or Buddha or whatever it is? Just do you have faith, right? 1 to 5, where are you at? A, abundance financially. And, you know, this one, people think this is all that matters, right? And, you know, it doesn't, Seth. But truthfully, are you spending and saving and investing wisely? Or, you know, are you living paycheck to paycheck kind of in fear of your finances? Rank where you're at, 1 to 5. The first P, personal development. Are you growing and evolving or are you shrinking and dissolving, right? And, I like to focus on a 90-minute system of personal growth every day, at least Monday through Friday, where I do 30 minutes of reading in the morning, 30 minutes of listening in the afternoon to a podcast like this one, or 30 minutes of— and, not or, And watching 30 minutes of something visually inspiring or educational in the evening. So, there's 90 minutes right there. And, if you just focus on those 90 minutes every single day, you'll be growing, right? So, that's the first P. The second P is passionate hobbies. Passionate hobbies is one I think most entrepreneurs lack. They're just not doing fun things. They're just not focused on what's filling their cup. They're worried about their family and their their spouse and the business. But then, when it comes down to going fly fishing or training in martial arts, which I really prioritize, they don't actually have any time for themselves. And this is one that can really skyrocket your happiness. So, that was the second P, rank where you're at. I, impactful work. So, this is, are you actually infusing passion and purpose to make a positive impact? In your life with your work, or are you just focused on the bottom line and profit and success? I mean, you'll find too, if you're not working or serving people that you actually want to be around, that you'll lack fulfillment with your work. So, you have to think about who you actually want to serve, who you actually want to help, and that's how you can create impactful work. One of my good buddies, Rory Vaden, he's co-founder of Brand Builders Group, he asked this question, what one-word problem do you solve?

Hmm.

What one-word problem do you solve? I solve the problem of imbalance. Imbalance is the problem that people come to me for. Who do I exactly solve that problem for? Well, purpose-driven online male entrepreneurs, 28 to 38 typically, right, who are just grinding their face off where I once was. Although, I help plenty of females and older and younger generations too. And then, what is your uniqueness and how can you exploit that in the service of others? These are 3 questions that Rory asked and I urge all your audience, if you're lacking impact in your work, ask yourself those 3 questions, okay? What problem do you solve in one word? Who exactly do you solve it for? And then, what is your uniqueness and how can you exploit that in the service of others? And then, N, bringing it home with probably our favorite, nature connection. So, are you getting outside? Are you tapping into our beautiful planet and Mother Earth? And, oh, by the way, are you actually protecting it? Are you doing your part to take care of our beautiful planet for the future generations? And, now, I really don't believe there's any room for companies to be operating without the ecological impact at the forefront.

Yeah.

And, especially with our eco-conscious consumers, these next generation. This is what they want to see. They want to see the impact on the environment. And, if you aren't making that pivot with your business, you are going to miss the boat, right?

Yeah.

So, nature connection. Are you tapping into nature? Are you getting outside or maybe not so much? Are you living like a zoo animal inside your cage, high-rise office cage, and then you transition on your cage on wheels to your indoor home cage, right? Anyway, those are the 10 alignments. They make up the Soul Mapping framework. So now, everyone listening should have 10 different scores. And now, what I do is I do this every Sunday. I rank myself in these different areas every single Sunday. And then, the week ahead, I prioritize change accordingly. If I know I didn't volunteer enough and I was lacking in selfless service, well, next week, I make sure that I volunteer. And here's the secret to all this, Seth. If you want to actually become a happy hustler and achieve this blissful balance, You must give equal importance to each of these different alignments, but you must focus at one at a time.

Got it.

So, you must give equal importance to each of them, but you have to focus on one at a time. See, what most people do, man, is when they're working, they're thinking about their family. When they're with their family, they're thinking about work and they're not doing either effectively.

That resonates.

Yeah, man. Like, I don't come to you as the guru by any means. I'm just a reporter. I figured it out with my own life, how I can actually have it all. And that's one of the biggest things is measuring myself regularly and then giving equal importance. That means this episode with Seth gets the same importance as my date night with my lover tomorrow, gets the same importance as my fly fishing date with myself, right? Each of these get equal importance, but I focus on one at a time.

Yeah.

So there you go. That was a lot, but—

Yeah. So I want to dig into that a little bit more and kind of ask how, how you're able to do that, how you're able to focus so completely on each of those things when, you know, modern life and day-to-day responsibilities. And it seems like, at least for me anyway, and I think a lot of people are like that, where you're thinking about the next thing, what else do we have to do? And so it's often very hard to be fully present, uh, just because there's so many things that are vying for our attention and, you know, the next ding, the next email, the next phone call or appointment or what we're supposed to be doing. How do you get fully present there and how do you find that balance?

Well, I mean, it's about discipline. You know, it truly comes down to discipline.

Isn't it all?

Yeah. And, that's just something I repeat to myself twice a day in my mantras. I just say, I am focused. I am disciplined. You know, I'm the world's greatest happy hustler. Like, and I go through my mantras, but that's one of the first things I always say is because you have to have discipline if you want success, if you want balance, if you want a life worth living, you have to have discipline.

Yeah, that's great. I'm just tallying up my scores here and, you know, I got a lot of work to do. I'm a 27 total, so there's a— out of 50.

So, you know, yeah, 30, 37 and above. Means you're a happy hustler. 36 and below means we got some work to do. And, I just, if all the listeners out there are interested, you can just take this. I have a whole free assessment and you could just put it at your bookmark on your laptop, thehappyhustle.com/assessment.

Okay.

And, that'll just get you all those questions. And, again, I take my own medicine. Every week. And I actually, in my upcoming book, it's launching next month, I parlay it with a fridge magnet. So, it's a whiteboard fridge magnet. So, this is a way to track your balance in real time. You have a daily action item for each of the 10 alignments and then you check off, did you do it or not?

Yeah.

So, it's like, okay, optimize health. Did you work out today, 25 minutes? And did you drink a gallon of water? Check. And then, you tally up your scores at the end. That's how you could track your balance in real time.

Cool. Okay. No, that's great. We'll definitely include a link to the show notes there. This is a fascinating process. And like, I'm, I'm definitely going to dig into this further myself just because I know there's a lot of things that can help with that balance side.

Yeah, man.

Kerry, I'd love to hear a little bit, a little bit more from you, you know, growing up, splitting time between both the beach and the mountains and what that was like for you and what you prefer, because this is something that I wrestle with being in Florida currently and loving the beach, but also loving the mountains. And, you know, there's, kind of a lack of seasons here. And, you know, especially this time of year, fall, when the leaves are changing colors and not experiencing that. Um, and so curious as far as how you experience both of those, um, polar extremes to an extent.

I prefer the mountains personally. I, um, I love the beach, don't get me wrong, but there's no place like the mountains. And even when I travel, you know, I lived abroad for a while. I lived in Barcelona, Spain for about a year and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for a while and Bangkok, I mentioned, for a while. And, I got to travel around these different continents and the countries in them. And, I would always seek out forests and nature and mountains.

Yeah.

And, there's no substitute for a Mai Tai on the beach, but let's be honest, then what? There's just so much more to do in the mountains, I feel like.

Sure. Do you feel like that is a personality thing? Because, you know, I've heard some people say that we are human beings and not human doings. And I know that I struggle with that because I always want to be on the go and active, and it can be hard to just sit and relax. You just sit on the beach and just do nothing, as opposed to being in the mountains where, you know, you can sit by the stream for a while, but then you can hike and do all these other things. And so do you think that something is how we're wired, maybe as entrepreneurs or business owners, we're always trying to do and not just be?

Yeah, it's a good point. I mean, I think again, when I'm in the mountains though, I can truly slow down. I'll journal, I'll focus on gratitude, I'll meditate. That allows me to tap into that just be mentality rather than constantly doing, especially when there's no service. Most of the mountains that I go in, there's no service.

Yeah.

Usually the beach is their service.

Yeah, exactly. And it's interesting in different states like Montana, it's a lot easier to get out of cell phone service as opposed to Colorado where it seems like there's service throughout. And so even though you're in very similar and very beautiful mountainous regions, uh, but there you could still connect, uh, digitally easier in one versus the other.

Yeah, no, and I recommend everyone go to Colorado. When people say, oh, I think about moving to Montana, I say Colorado is the best. You should go there instead. No, just kidding. Yeah. We love having outsiders here, but I'm just saying, you know, it's getting a little overran. Yeah.

Yeah. Because you're in the Bozeman area, right?

Technically right now I'm in Red Lodge, but I live outside of Bozeman. And yeah, we, I mean, it's outside of Yellowstone National Park and there's a lot of, apparently there's like 3 million people that come through Bozeman every year. So it's good for the economy, but it's, yeah, it's a lot for the nature and the trails and The animals and the fishing, you know, we have really top-notch fly fishing. So I love fly fishing. And that's just, uh, it's tough when you look around the bend and there's a guy wading every single rock, you know, it's like, come on, get out of here. Yeah, but they want to enjoy it too. So I get it.

Yeah, that can be tough trying to find that balance. And, you know, that's one of— it seems like it has been one of the downsides with everything with COVID where both good and bad, uh, where people are, they're trying to experience nature and get outside more and do all those things. But it's also, it's pushing the limits and the boundaries as far as nature and humans and everything goes. And so there's less wild spaces and wild places where we can go and really have solitude.

Yep. Amen. That's why it's really important to protect what we do have still.

Yeah, 100%. So, Kier, you speak a lot about balance. How, how does nature really help you to get in alignment and find that balance?

Well, I mean, nature allows me to ground myself to just a higher energy, a greater frequency, especially when I'm barefoot rocking some camo pants and no shirt and just strutting through the wilderness.

Yeah.

There's no substitute for just getting out there, getting connected, drinking fresh mountain water. And, you can hunt your own small game or big game if you want. I wouldn't go probably hunting barefoot, but for big game at least. But yeah, it's just one of those things that it allows you to tap into a higher frequency.

So, you mentioned before about detoxing digitally. What does that look like for you? How often do you do it? And make some recommendations for our audience as well if that's something that they're interested in.

Yeah. I mean, I'm not perfect, but I do my best. 60 minutes in the morning device-free when I wake up and then 60 minutes before bed device-free. So, as soon as I wake up, I do my best to not reach for my phone or put on any type of YouTube or any type of check emails. You want to tap into your higher self. And especially when you come out of that dream state, your body and your brain is in a heightened Frequency and you really want to make sure that you capitalize on it. So, it's a great time for journaling and gratitude and meditation and breathwork and yoga or whatever stretching. And then, another thing I like to do is a 24-hour digital detox on Sundays. So, no phones, no TV, no nothing on Sundays. Now, again, I haven't been perfect in this, but when I'm on point dialed in and my routine is flowing, That's, that's my, like, my go-to.

Yeah, it seems that just gets harder and harder to do, especially if you want to spend time with family or friends and trying to make plans, and then something changes. And, you know, you're— say you're locking your phone in a safe or putting it, you know, on the shelf and turning it off, and then if something happens or changes, and then you're like, oh, I don't— they're not here, we're supposed to be meeting, or whatever. Um, so I can see how that could be a challenge for sure.

It can. It is. Again, comes down to discipline.

Yeah. Kerry, so you've spoken a little bit earlier about being an eco-warrior and being very environmentally conscious and focusing on the conservation side. And, that's something that's near and dear to my heart as well. What do you think is the biggest threat to conservation and the environment today?

Well, I mean, the easy answer would be climate change obviously, but breaking it down into its separate parts, one issue that I'm passionate about solving and I do so with my company that my brother runs but I'm an investor investor in and help run marketing. And, it's called Ecopreneur Evolution and we're fighting the plastic pollution epidemic. So, there's a ton of plastic out there just flooding our ecosystems, our oceans, our beaches. And, the problem with plastic, people don't realize it has a 600-year lifespan, most plastic. Now, there is different types, but most plastic will outlive us 6 times over. And, that's crazy to think about.

Yeah.

We have this resource that we could actually monetize and we could do something productive with, but we haven't. We just keep producing more and more and then we just keep throwing it into landfills and to oceans. And so, what we focus on is actually upcycling this plastic waste. And we have this eco-lab. You can kind of picture a 40-foot shipping container and We drop these off in, you know, third-world countries. We just did the pilot in Uganda. But basically, this 40-foot shipping container is outfitted with a shredder, a melter, an extruder, and a 3D printer. And what you do is you drop these shipping containers off and then you empower the local community to clean up their environment, bringing in this plastic, then putting it through the upcycling process, making it into 3D printer filament, and then you can make anything from these 3D printers. And now what we're focusing on is creating bicycles, because bicycles are the key for a lot of these third world countries that are in poverty to get out of poverty, because they can travel more, they can create commerce and business. So we are creating these plastic upcycled bicycles, um, using this process. And then what we also have is this eco lab That it's— you could picture like a kind of like 10 computers in the side of the shipping container. And we have these entrepreneurs or these, you know, aspiring entrepreneurs create innovative ideas using this plastic waste. We had people in Uganda building wind turbines, solar panels, fishing reels, all sorts of stuff. And we fund them in a competition style and then it becomes the seed investment. for like this VC funding, you know, equity play. So we actually have a lot of different irons in the fire when it comes to this. But that's one way that we're really focusing on, you know, using the power of business as a force for good.

Wow, that's fascinating. So are you actually 3D printing bicycles then?

Yeah, yeah. We're 3D printing the parts.

Amazing.

You know, it's not— it doesn't come out in like a full, full bike. It's the parts. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, sure.

And then we also have a sheet press one where it's like a sheet press. So we're— yeah, we do both.

Got it. In our day-to-day lives, how can we as individuals— and, you know, speaking for people that across the country, across the world, in different environments— how can we live more harmoniously with nature just in our day-to-day lives?

Yeah, I mean, you can focus on the impact That each decision makes, right? I mean, one easy way to actually make a positive impact on the planet is to become a conscious consumer, you know, voting with your dollar. So, if you choose to go on Amazon and buy a, you know, whatever, a microphone, and you look at the supply chain of one, Versus the other and all the emissions that go into creating that microphone, and then you choose the one that has less ecological impact, then you're becoming a conscious consumer. One easy way is just to buy from B corporations. You know, like, B corporations are the most transparent entities out there. And if you just focus on— you're going to spend a little bit more money, but it's worth it. It's worth it for our planet, it's worth it for the future generations. Another easy way is bring your own water bottle, don't buy plastic garbage water bottles. They're bad for you anyway with all the BPAs and crap. Using recycled or reusable grocery bags, the stuff you hear. We have these sporks that we take camping and we make them.

Yeah.

And, they're a way to just reduce the cutlery that gets created every single year, the plastic cutlery, and you just have your own spork with you or stainless steel straw. And then, listen, I'm a meat eater, don't get me wrong, but decreasing your meat consumption in some capacity or making sure that when you do eat meat that it is ethically sourced, it's not coming from a factory farm because those are a big issue, especially too with GMOs in our food supply. Those are a big issue on climate change and with the ecological impact. So, if you focus on making these conscious choices with your consumerism, it'll make a big impact. Yeah.

No, that makes a lot of sense. And, a couple things that I'd like to touch on. B Corp, that's obviously a big long process. So, one of my other companies, Wellness, we actually went through that process and are certified B Corp. There's a lot of paperwork—

Amazing. I love that. Hoops that you have to jump through.

Yeah, we did too. Yeah, which is great. But yeah, it is a lot of work. But then that does have some oversight to make sure that, you know, you're not just focusing on profit only. You're looking at the supply chain, you're looking at the sustainability and the ingredients and all of those things, which is, which is so important.

Amen.

And then I know you guys are 1% Certified for the Planet, which is another option there as far as companies you can look at. And for Rewild Gear, we're certified by 2% for Conservation. So we dedicate 1% of our time and 1% of our dollars for conservation projects and And things that to give back and to help our, you know, our natural environment.

Love it.

So I think all of those things are important. And then when you mentioned having a spork, so that's one of the products that, that we have launching that was supposed to have launched already, but due to supply chain issues, we do not have it in stock yet, but hopefully within the next 3 weeks is our, our trailside utensil, which is a foldable titanium utensil. So one side is a fork and one side is a spoon. And that's something that's great, obviously, when camping, but you can take it in your car. So if you're either you're going out to eat or getting takeout or something instead of getting those plastic utensils that are just going to end up in a landfill somewhere that you're being a little more sustainable there.

Love it.

I think those are all little things that we can do.

Yep.

Yeah. Gary, so you spent a lot of time in nature in the outdoors. I know you mentioned fly fishing. What other outdoor activities or passions of yours?

Yeah, I love snowboarding, shredding some fresh pow pow. Getting out there. If I'm going to be talking board sports, I like wakeboarding too and surfing. I'm not very good at surfing, but I try hard.

Oh, yeah.

Then, definitely just hiking and camping. And, I enjoy— I'm not a bloodthirsty hunter by any means, but I definitely appreciate the component of eating meat that I killed and that sacred process. And, I always pray over the animal and that's sort of an outdoor activity I enjoy. Horseback riding, got some horses out here. So, I love horseback riding and just getting after it on a horse. And yeah, just Being outside, really, you kind of put any of those activities in front of me and I'm a happy guy.

Yeah. No, that's great. Regarding the hunting side, I heard this analogy used recently. A friend was having a conversation with someone who said that they didn't hunt and they were kind of criticizing the guy for hunting. And he's like, so you're just a mafia hitman. He's like, what? Mafia hitman? What are you talking about? It's like, you won't actually go procure your own food, you know, whether that's hunting or foraging or fishing or hunting gathering. You're just going to hire someone to go do it for you. So you're basically a mafia hitman where you're getting your meat. I'm like, oh, that's an interesting analogy on it.

Yeah, it's pretty true.

Yeah, not wrong. Carrie, what's an adventurous experience that you would never want to repeat and why? Maybe one of your craziest stories.

Well, probably the time when We were about 10 miles deep in the wilderness and we packed in 5 horses, my dad and his buddy and I. And, we were in for about 5 days. And, on the last day or the last night, the horses broke through the hot fence due to a grizzly bear in camp.

Oh.

And, it spooked all these horses, all these 5 horses. And so I popped up at the crack of dawn, like kind of listening to this, you know, stampede and hearing this, you know, this bear just sniffing all around our tent and whatnot. And I'm, you know, nudged my dad in the tent in his sleeping bag and he's, what is it? I said, the horses are gone. He said, we'll go get them. Back to bed. So I, So, I stupidly ran out. I threw my hat and my cowboy boots on and I grabbed one halter, which is like a horse leash basically, for those of you who don't know what a halter is. And, I ran down this 10-mile trail over valleys and crossing rivers and I'm following the poop trail and I'm chasing these horses all the way back towards the trailhead. And, on my way, I shit you not, I came across a mountain lion hissing, I jumped over a snake. It was one of those experiences like, oh my gosh, I almost lost my life 6 times today. And, I get down to the trailhead and here's these 5 horses just casually grazing by the truck and trailer, but they're on the other side of the river. So, I crossed the river, tried to get them to come back to the trailer. Well, as I crossed the river, they went back across. So, I'm playing cat and mouse with these Freaking 5 horses. And then they start taking off down the main road towards, towards the highway. And I'm like, oh, great. So I grabbed the truck and trailer and I tried to like pin them in. I tried to like shuffle them all into the trailer. And I realized this was not working. Like, this was like the worst strategy. And this is a metaphor too for what I teach as well in The Happy Hustle. You know, You have to focus on one horse at a time, and just like the alignment, you have to focus on one alignment at a time. So I started off; I got the lead mare Dixie, then I got Dot, then Zane, then Milo, then Jazz, and I got them all in, drove them back up to the trailhead. Well, here was the problem: I didn't have any saddles. I you know all all the saddles and all the packs were up at the the camp ten miles. So I had to really cowboy up here, and I pulled some hay string from the top. top of the trailer, um, and I tied them nose to tail with hay string, leaving the one, um, horse free, Jazz, because I knew he would just follow the other 4. And I rode bareback 10 miles up this damn ravine, down the mountain, over the freaking river.

Oh my God.

Oh my goodness, man, I was so smoked. I got there at like 3, 4 o'clock in the afternoon after this exhausting day, and my dad's just casually taking a nap in the damn Wow. In the grass there. Oh shit, I thought you'd never make it. You know, tips his cowboy hat up. I'm proud of you, son. And I didn't hear that very much growing up, so I was grateful and it made it all worth it, you know. But that was one of those experiences that I could do without ever having to do again.

Sure. It's funny how some of those that are the toughest experience and we're like, I would never want to experience that again, but it can also define us and realize how tough we are and can push us through different barriers and limits. Have you experienced that in other areas of your life?

Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean, definitely I got stories for days. How much time you got?

Yeah, let's hear some more. Yeah.

I mean, it just depends on what you want to hear. I mean, I have a lot of adventures from traveling and just kind of getting out there and making mistakes.

We are the Adventure Made Podcast. So any adventurous stories you have surrounding that, For travel, we'd love to hear some.

Well, here was really like one of the lowest moments of my life. And yeah, it really was one of those like, I need to just fix my life kind of moments. I was on an adventure in Amsterdam. I don't know if anyone out there listening has been to Amsterdam, but it's a beautiful city. It's more than just the red light district and drugs and sex and all that, although there's plenty of that too. And, I was very broke. I was in Ibiza, Spain the week prior and I was at a foam party where basically there's 3 meters of foam in the nightclub and I lost my phone, my wallet, my dignity, everything.

Ooh.

And, I then had this trip to Amsterdam, but I had no money, I had no keys, no— I couldn't even get into the homestay that I was staying at. You know, I was staying with a Spanish family in Barcelona. So I said, oh, whatever, I'm just gonna go to Amsterdam anyway and just figure it out. And, you know, long story short, got into some trouble. There were some guys like, who were being very aggressive with these girls that were on the pub crawl with us, and they were like groping them. And so we got in a fight. I was like, beating the shit out of this dude in the middle of this nightclub for a long while. I ended up getting his scarf out of the deal, which is a great scarf I still have in my closet today. But, but I then went back to my buddy's house, or to my buddy's hostel. And mind you, this was after wandering the red light district for like 2, 3, 4 in the morning. You see some unforgivable things in that area at that time of night. So here I am, just got in an altercation in the pits of, you know, the earth, like this freaking red light district. And then I got to the hostel and I had to sneak into his hostel because I didn't have a room or a bed. I was just going to sleep under his bunk bed and just bum a night there. Well, I crawled under the bunk bed And I woke up and there was 8 other guys in the hostel bedroom. And I woke up to a log, yes, a turd bobbing against my head. One of the guys overflowed the bathroom and there was about 6 inches of water in the whole room and I was sleeping on the floor. So, I had shit all over me. It was definitely one of those lowest moments of my life. And I woke up the next day like, I got to figure something else out. Like, I gotta be better because this is ridiculous. But that was an adventure, let me tell you.

Oh my gosh, that's amazing. What was the takeaway from that? What did you learn from that experience?

Well, I realized don't sleep on a floor with 8 dudes in a hostel for fear of turds floating next to your head. But also just like, you can't You can't— like, all your choices catch up with you, basically. Like, you have consequences to your actions. Um, but that, that was a, you know, definitely a consequence that I didn't foresee.

Sure, that's a great point. That reminds me of a saying that I've used a lot over the years, is that proper prior planning prevents piss-poor performance.

Right you are.

I tend to use that in business and, you know, as a, as a father as well. Talking to my kids and things like that. So, can always be interesting there. Yep. Carrie, with all these adventures that you've been on, whether that's in the outdoors or traveling, what gear or equipment do you consider essential?

I don't leave home without my knife. So, I always carry a knife. Usually, I carry my concealed weapon as well, but that, my knife, my boots, good solid hiking boots, Waterproof zip-off shorts, you know, and pants, waterproof jacket, and, you know, a good ball cap, usually branded with the Happy Hustle. That's, yeah, that's all pretty much my go-to.

Talk to me about brands that you like, some of the companies that you like as far as that you always carry with you as far as some of that equipment or clothing. And, brands, companies who you feel are doing a great job just with their environmental standards or their conservation ethic and things like that?

Well, first comes to mind Patagonia. They're doing good work out there in the nature community. And, I also like Carhartt. They make good solid gear. And, North Face is pretty solid too. Kelty, got a Kelty backpack. But yeah, Keen boots, usually Keen or Rock Keen boots. Those are some of my go-tos.

Yeah, got it. Cool. Any other companies that maybe you don't necessarily carry yourself but who you feel like just do a great job on the environmental side?

I have this shoe company that I buy from called Tropicfeel. And each shoe is made of like 7 plastic bottles. So, I like to support them. They're—

Cool.

Yeah, they're kind of expensive, but it's, again, it's worth it for the ecological impact.

Yeah, it's interesting to me how many companies are getting into that side of things. You know, you've got ones like 4ocean where they're pulling plastic out of the oceans and making the bracelets and selling that and helping developmental— developing countries and things like that. So, I think anytime we can support those types of companies, it's just I agree.

However, I know some of the 4ocean guys and some of their practices aren't 100% ethical. And there's a lot of greenwashers out there. Yeah, I'm not trying to bash anyone, but I just would say do your research. You know, like they're doing a lot of good things, but then when it comes down to it, like you have to look at the full picture, not just the overall mission, but like how do they actually get those beads made? Most of them aren't actual recycled plastic, or at least from when I was deep in Florida.

Yeah. So you bring up a great point. How does one actually determine whether someone's environmental stance or what they say that they're doing, they're actually following through on? Because, you know, that when— whether you're a B Corp or, you know, you're— you've got one of these other certifications and, you know, that's kind of a promise to the end consumer. But how do you make sure that those companies are actually delivering on that promise? How can we research to really know the truth?

Yeah. I mean, checks and balances like with the B Corp and their transparency, I think that's a great way. There's a lot of companies out there who are doing the right thing, but then there's a lot of companies out there that say they're doing the right thing and then they're actually not. You even look at— I don't know if you've watched that documentary Seaspiracy, but it's worth the watch. Seaspiracy, I recommend everyone. I just heard about it. Yeah. But, you'll see how many greenwashers are out there. Even these certification bodies for dolphin-safe tuna, it's a bunch of crap. It's actually not. They have tons of bycatch and they're getting paid by the seafood companies. So, you have to look at who's funding these different companies, who's actually putting money in these different NGOs because that will tell you. You just follow the money.

Mm-hmm.

That's what it comes down to.

Yeah, it's a great point and doesn't— not necessarily the easiest thing to do at times, but yeah, I agree. Kerry, is there a book or books that have had a huge impact on your life?

Yeah, The Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman. That was a— that was a book that changed the trajectory of my life early on. Um, you know, it's all about The 2 different sides we have, and it shows this journey of this young gymnast and his choices and the consequences. And, you know, up until the point where I was reading that, I was up to no good, Seth. I'll tell you straight up, I was like doing bad things. And, you know, I was probably headed for prison or death, you know, like, but by just making mistakes. And that book kind of showed me that I can still harness the warrior in me, but I also have this peaceful side. And I actually have it tattooed on my biceps, um, just as a constant reminder, this peaceful side and this warrior side. But that was a, that was a positive catalyst in, in my life. And I actually became close with, uh, Dan Millman afterwards, and I've read all his 17 books. And—

Wow.

You know, he's become somewhat of a mentor, um, a loose mentor now. I haven't contacted with him in a while, but really powerful guy, and that book is definitely— I recommend.

Oh, great. I'll add that in the show notes for sure. Yeah, I think when you speak about that, kind of that, that yin and yang, you know, that the fighter and the lover and the person who has that balance that is wild and crazy but also calm and complacent, and trying to find that balance can be really tough, especially in this day and age, and because you've got all these sides as far as, you know, both women and men and polarizing things. And I think there's a lot of confusion today surrounding all of that. Other than, you know, reading through this book and how big of an impact that had on you, was there anything else that kind of helped you make that transition to find that balance in your own life and not going from one extreme to another?

I think, you know, again, just realizing that there There's always consequences to your actions. And, you know, when I, I did end up getting arrested and I went to jail for a bit, and that was like another catalyst for me where I realized, whoa, okay, I, I'm going to, you know, be in here for a while. And definitely this could be my future if I don't change my ways. And so, it's just making smart choices, making sure that you think 5 steps ahead and realizing that you have consequences to your actions. And then, obviously diving in back to the 10 Alignments, that was another positive catalyst to achieve balance because then up until that point, people just think balance is a finite destination. But truly, it's a never-ending journey. You know, there's constant tweaks and adjustments and pivots required. And so I realized, oh, okay, this is how I could make those tweaks and adjustments and pivots regularly by measuring myself. So that was obviously bringing it full circle, another big part. Yeah.

So there's a lot of people that have been in that position as well, and many of them, they don't tend to make that adjustment. And so they double down on what got them into that place to begin with. So what was it in you that enabled you to see that difference and not let your ego get in the way and realize that changes needed to be made if you wanted to live the life or a better life and not just go down that path of self-destruction?

Yeah. I mean, it comes down to ultimately defining what you want, like what success looks like for you. And, I don't think enough people ask themselves that question, but I realized success wasn't slanging drugs or, you know, being in a gang or like doing illegal shit. Like that wasn't success for me. I was just caught up, you know?

Sure.

And so, I realized I want freedom, financial freedom, creative freedom, time freedom, and what's going to get me there, you know? And I've always been an entrepreneur. I've always been a hustler, but that kind of flipped it to the happy hustler, you know? And that was Yeah. Just realizing what success actually looks like.

Got it. No, I like that. That's great. Carey, is there a podcast other than your own that you really enjoy listening to or you feel like puts out just great info?

I like listening to Entrepreneurs on Fire with John Lee Dumas, a buddy of mine. And I actually just got on it for the first time. So I'm super excited about that. It comes out November 9th. So yeah, just, I like listening to that though, because it's very tactical, you know, being an entrepreneur, I'm always looking for tactical strategies to enhance my income and my impact.

Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah, for sure. Kerry, what's one piece of advice that you would give to our audience?

Get outside.

Yeah, that is good advice and one thing we're super passionate about here.

Yep.

Well, this has been a lot of fun, Kerry. I really appreciate your time today. Where can our audience learn more about you online?

Yeah, everything. Is at kerryjack.com. That's just, you know, my main hub website. If you guys want my new book, it's coming out in November and that will be at thehappyhustle.com. So, you could check that out. But yeah, you could follow me on social media, Kerry Jack, or, you know, if you want that assessment, I recommend doing it regularly. thehappyhustle.com/assessment. So those are some links. And then the podcast, I know Seth's coming on, but, uh, we're gonna rock the mic together on my show too. And it's— that's just the Happy Hustle Podcast.

Super great, Kerry. Thanks so much for your time today. Really appreciate it. It's been a lot of fun. And until next time, stay wild.

Thanks for listening to the Rewild Gear Podcast. You can check out the show notes for today's episode at rewildgearpodcast.com. If you're ready to spend more time in the wild, our line of high-quality, minimalistic outdoor gear can help you do just that. Check us out at rewildgear.com.