Embracing Your Past, Present & Future Self with NABA CEO Austin Tice

Today’s guest has spoken in 38 different countries and generated over $150 million dollars in sales. What does it take to become the person who is capable of all those things? How do you lead with courage while also being human? How do you release old ways and step into who you're called to to be to lead well and live well. That’s what we are diving into in this week’s episode with Founder & CEO of NABA Austin Tice.

Want to join our NABA community? Check out this link: https://naba.com/lunden

Who is Austin Tice?

Austin Tice is the Founder and CEO of NABA, a community committed to shifting the paradigm of health and wellness of the world, starting with the individual. NABA stands for the Natural Art of Being Alive.

Timestamps to help you navigate this episode
0:00 Intro
0:24 FREE Self Love & Sweat MONTHLY Calendar
2:51 Scaling Global Heights: Leadership Through Communication
11:02 Leading With Courage
28:53 Embracing Your Past, Present, and Future Self
33:11 The Evolution of NABA
51:10 Creating Healthy Communities for Unity

Connect with Austin & NABA:
@‌thehouseofnaba
@‌myprimelife

Lunden's NABA Link
https://naba.com/lunden

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:24 FREE Self Love & Sweat MONTHLY Calendar
• 2:51 Scaling Global Heights: Leadership Through Communication
• 11:02 Leading With Courage
• 28:53 Embracing Your Past, Present, and Future Self
• 33:11 The Evolution of NABA
• 51:10 Creating Healthy Communities for Unity

Transcript

Lunden Souza: 0:00

Welcome to Self Love and Sweat the podcast, the place where you'll get inspired to live your life unapologetically, embrace your perfect imperfections and do what sets your soul on fire. I'm your host, Lunden Souza. Hey, before we jump into this episode, I just want to make sure that you get all the free things possible, if you haven't already. You need to get your self-love and sweat free monthly life coaching calendar. Honestly, the way to experience deep change in your life is by doing small little things over time, and so that's what you'll find in this free calendar. You can get it by going to lifelikelunden. com/calendar. Get yours for free and let's get into today's episode. Welcome back to Self Love and Sweatat the podcast. Today we're talking to Austin Tice, one of my friends, for a long time, also CEO of NABA, which is our community that I talk a lot about. I've had a lot of guests on the podcast, so I'm super excited to have you today, Austin. It's about

Austin Tice: 1:20

It's nice to be here with you finally.

Lunden Souza: 1:23

It's nice to be here with you. Finally, tell us a little bit more about you. When I look at your IG bio, it says you've spoken in 38 different countries. You've done over $150 million in sales. There's also a really cute pic of you of little Austin. For those of you watching you can see. Look how cute he is. Did you think that you were going to speak in 38 countries and that you were going to do $150 million in sales when you were this little guy? What was he dreaming of when he was little?

Austin Tice: 1:59

Speaking for sure, the $150 million that showed up, and just the way that it showed up, I don't know I my relationship with numbers has changed a lot. A million used to seem like a lot. I still value it, but my relationship with you know, my ability to obtain it in a lot of different ways has changed. But I've always thought I would speak the country thing is just a fun number to keep count of. Honestly, I've thought what number 40 might be, but we hadn't got there yet. But I don't think a whole lot's changed, other than maybe my vision's gotten bigger.

Lunden Souza: 2:38

Yeah, 38 countries is a lot. That's a lot. I've hosted workout events in 13, which I felt like was a lot, but 38 countries is a lot to speak in, and you always knew you wanted to be a speaker. I feel like I know you haven't talked a lot here since we pressed start, but I've known you for a long time and you're definitely a skilled communicator. Where did you learn that?

Austin Tice: 3:12

um, you know, I probably starting with athletics and I think the adjustments you make personally at least I have are remembering the ways I was communicated with that I didn't like, so I've always been really mindful of what I didn't like, to make sure that I didn't do it so that other people wouldn't feel like that. I don't know that I've shot a hundred percent, but at least I try, I'm mindful of it. So, on the baseball field, how different coaches communicated with me, even how different teammates did or didn't watching other people's leadership styles I don't know that they would ever have really called it a leadership style, but to me that's what I would label it and that hasn't always necessarily meant that it was in a setting that required their leadership. It's just how they showed up, and whether they did or didn't lead is really what I'm speaking towards. So that could be a teammate, that could be be a classmate, that could be a friend.

Austin Tice: 4:06

Um, and for me, in in a mentorship style setting, a coach or a pastor or even someone facilitating or running a yoga uh, you know, class um, I I always take away how they made me feel and I've, I've tried to take the good and apply it to my repertoire in hopes that, in people's experience with me, that they feel good. But probably more so than that, I'm really mindful as I want. I want to make them proud to have known me and I feel like that in the all encompassing umbrella of a relationship, if I've checked that box, that I probably you know, I might not have always made them feel good, but they grew and they knew I cared about them, and so those are always things I think about.

Lunden Souza: 4:55

Leadership is a word that you use a lot and I kind of want to come back to that. But first I want to talk about and I'll let you tell the story because I also know that it incorporates. You know where you've been been but how we met the businesses that you've created. And I'll let you kind of tell that story, because I met Austin during his last company, prime my Body, and tell us more about that, what you've learned on that journey and kind of where you're at now.

Austin Tice: 5:23

It was a very different time in my life. That was 2000. You and I met in the summer of 2013. And Brian and I were advised to launch our company by going to a trade show. And while I think the person that advised us had the greatest of intentions and to this day, would probably argue that it was a great advice the best, one of the best things that came out of that event was meeting you. I don't I don't know of anything else that came out of it other than having the knowledge that I wouldn't have done that again, but we were there. We were in Las Vegas at a trade show launching our company. We had a plant-based protein with a lot of our favorite superfoods in it that we'd created and um fun trade show had no business going, considering the amount of money it costs to be there, especially when you looked at our booth. It looked like the little booth charlie brown had, uh, compared to others. But it was a great experience.

Austin Tice: 6:25

You and I met and you know that that company was more than just the start of a company. It was the start of a of an era of my life that I'm still in it, in some ways a different chapter, but still within. I'm on my own eras tour, I guess you could say, in entrepreneurship. I think a lot of people are afraid to start and they find a very intimate relationship with thinking about starting and in fact they justify not starting because of the comfort they find in thinking about starting and that eventually becomes their identity and I can equate that to so many different areas in my life. So it's easy to point at the entrepreneur one and laugh and point at. But I was really proud, looking back on Younger Austin, that he started and Brian as well, one of my good friends that was a co-founder of that project and ultimately went through a litany of different emotions whenever you're putting something together. You know Brian and I in that time in our life were professional best friends. We were professional roommates, we were professional stoners, we were really good at a lot of stuff and the thing that we had never done, that we assumed we would immediately be great at done, that we assumed we would immediately be great at, was business partners. And you know, at first we were.

Austin Tice: 7:52

But then whenever the rubber meets the road and you have to deal with real challenges, you know you didn't have someone to come home at the end of the day to talk to, like your boy that hadn't been involved in the nuances of what takes place in starting a business. You're sharing a checking account. That same checking account is also the company account. It's the same account that pays for any extracurricular activities any date you go on, the food you put on your table, the bottle of wine you have, and that time of our lives and that time of our lives you know all of the weed we were smoking, which was way too much, and it was a season of growth for both of us and we learned a lot from it.

Austin Tice: 8:34

We grew from it, by the grace of God, that company, through grit and just the old adage of bootstrapping. We grew it to a six-figure annualized company, just under probably a million dollars a year. We were really proud of that. In the midst of this transition, we sold the company, stayed on and played a big role and were responsible for doing $150 million the next three and a half years. So a really great time in our lives. We learned a lot and ultimately stepped away from that project because the people we sold it to had a different interpretation of culture than we did, one that we were willing to be a part of, and, while I wish them well, one of the greatest gifts they gave me was an opportunity to step away, and I did, and I took some time for myself, and, years later, here I am, but that was a really sweet time and one that I'll always be grateful for.

Lunden Souza: 9:35

Yeah, same. I'm excited that whosoever idea it was to go to the trade show decided that Because, yeah, we got to me and then through you, I've met so many amazing people, I've learned so much. I know we're talking on the podcast here, but we talk off recording and you're the person that I call sometimes and I'm like what do you think happens when you die? Or let's talk about the stuff that we could just talk about everything. So I'm very grateful for that and whosever idea that was I think it was Buddy's right.

Austin Tice: 10:09

It was Buddy. Yeah, I don't know if you've connected with him since, but it's Buddy, and Buddy and I are still friends and communicate and love him to death and we would always give him a hard time about that, but yeah, he's a really great guy.

Lunden Souza: 10:23

Yeah Well, shout out to Buddy. Thanks to Buddy. Let's talk about leadership, because I remember when you and I reconnected in 2020, after we had met in 2013, we were doing all of our things and I remember, through a lot of conversations we had, you would often say, like this country lacks leadership. What we need is good leadership, and the version of me at the time I mean I knew what that word was. Obviously I knew when I had good leaders, or ones that were not my favorite, whether it was in business or in sports or whatever. But now it takes on a different meaning for me, because now I'm in a position of leadership. I run teams here for the company I work for here in Utah, and so it's something I've been thinking about and learning about even more. What do you feel like good leadership is? How do you become a good leader? Let's go there.

Austin Tice: 11:33

The times in my life that I'm most proud of are the times that, either when I didn't feel like doing something or I was scared, I still did it, and I think that you could look at that and say that's leadership. I think sometimes in the face of courage or, in some ways, in the face of fear, it takes courage to show up in society or in the world when a lot of people are telling you one thing and that's just not something you can get down with. Look no further than what we all watched take place the better part of the last half decade in the United States. There were a lot of people that, through different media channels, were being gaslit around certain things that they wanted you to do with your body, and I do think it took a lot of leadership on a very intimate and deeply personal level for people to say you know what? That doesn't feel good. I'm not going to have a channel on social media for just telling people what they thought, which at the time, they may have been called certain names, and now what they're being called is a truth teller. And so sometimes leadership is how you show up for yourself when no one else will ever know that you're doing it and then, on the other hand, leadership is showing up when everyone sees it.

Austin Tice: 13:12

For me, the most challenging part of leadership is showing up for myself in the areas that no one else knows I do, and that's an area that's been distinctly evolutionary for me in the last five years, coincidentally as well.

Austin Tice: 13:30

But you know, when I look at the world today, I feel that a lot of the challenges we face are reflective of people being complacent and comfortable, and I feel that in order to create a new world, it's going to require courage and sometimes discomfort or doing things that are a bit unfamiliar or out of routine and in some capacities, might be referred to as courageous, which who would have thought?

Austin Tice: 13:55

Just being unique and yourself and speaking your heart would be courageous. But that's exactly what's needed in the world today is showing up as your own unique self, and in the advent and creation of what we're watching take place within different technologies, particularly AI, the one thing that no one can replace is you, your wisdom, your experiences, your perspective, the vantage point and consciousness that you create and contribute to the collective because of what you've gone through in your life. Man, that is uniquely yours and together, if we all bring that to the table. It no longer becomes about being right. It becomes about creating a tapestry that ultimately moves us along in a really beautifully unique, healthy and constructive way, and that's the type of leadership. When I think about where we're at in the world is to me really inspiring to see so many people showing up in that capacity.

Lunden Souza: 15:03

You talked about how you handle. I don't know if this is exactly what you said, but how to handle what's hard, even when nobody is looking. And from my perspective, you're an excellent leader. We're going to talk about NABA and everything that we've created and that community and the way that you lead that. And I often ask you this outside of podcast recording like you seem cool and like things are all good and you're pretty even. How do you do that? What are things that you have in your daily routine or weekly or whatever? Like how do you emotionally, like, metabolize and digest what you're going through and your stuff so that you can be a better leader? What are things that you do?

Austin Tice: 15:54

I break down pretty fucking regularly. I mean more than people would probably think that I do.

Austin Tice: 16:01

Yeah, I mean, I don't expect or ask anyone else to carry the burden of what it is I'm dealing with. I don't, you know, pick up the phone and call a lot of people and drop it in their lap. There's a handful of people I'll share certain things that I'm going through, to hear their advice or if I feel they could help, I'll ask for it. But ultimately, in this season of my life, I think what makes it very different than other seasons is I've taken full responsibility for the stuff I'm dealing with. And if there's something I'm dealing with that can feel heavy or is uncomfortable in the sense that I wouldn't wish it upon anybody else, then ultimately I have to kind of zoom out and look at the board and go what did I miss? Clearly I fucking missed something here. And I go okay, I see where I could have done better there and I see that I didn't just miss it, it kind of kept on and I can see how now, why there's a little bit of water in the boat here or whatever, right. And so the first thing I do is I know that I got to deal with whatever emotion that I'm carrying in my self, particularly for me, just on my heart and my chest. I've got to deal with that. I became an expert and still am. I don't know that I'll ever not be an expert at not dealing with stuff Really fucking good at that.

Austin Tice: 17:39

This season, though, with where it is, I feel both qualified and called to go.

Austin Tice: 17:49

There's no way I'm going to get there unless I'm light and nimble and able to make adjustments on the go, and you can't do that if you're carrying things that you don't have to carry, and so every single day, I really do, whether it be my meditation work, mindful of any alcohol I'm drinking, that will always sort of you'll eventually catch back up and get on the other side of whatever hangover or whatever may come from it, but you're losing time, or how I'm eating or if I'm traveling.

Austin Tice: 18:25

There's a lot of things, but ultimately, I have to stay in a really productively awesome, exciting routine that serves me and my interest productively awesome, exciting routine that serves me and my interest. And when I feel like I'm carrying a lot in my heart, I go back to square one and start checking boxes and get on the other side of whatever it is I'm carrying and remember hey look, you created this, this is your world. None of these people would exist in your experience if it weren't for you, and so just a really abundant level of ownership of every single detail, abundant level of ownership.

Austin Tice: 19:10

I like that. That doesn't always come easy. That might sound surprising to people that work with me. That might sound surprising to people that work with me. Some people think I might be a little hard on them, although I think I could be much harder, you know, compared to the people that have coached me in my life. I try and be really, really kind with my words and the tones I use and everything. I would never want to hurt someone, but sometimes when you say things, it doesn't matter how you say it. If you're coaching someone up in a step into the potential of what you see in them that their actions are not leading them to become, then man, sometimes it's just it's not going to be like one of those cheesecakes at the Cheesecake Factory in 2002. It's going to hit a little different. So, yeah, I just try and be an example for myself every day and for others and show up the best way that I know how.

Lunden Souza: 20:09

Abundant level of ownership. I might steal that. I'll give you credit, but I like that.

Austin Tice: 20:16

I don't know that I've ever said it until today, but ultimately, Lunden. I find a lot of comfort in the fact that I know I'm doing my best. It's not perfect, but I want to make the people I'm around proud. I want to make a difference in the world. I want to make my mom and dad proud, my brother proud, whenever things get difficult and sometimes I feel like I can't do something or I want to quit or I'm looking for emergency exits, which is not an uncommon feeling.

Austin Tice: 20:56

When I go through that list, I don't have to get too many people down to know that I can't. I could do it for me, no problem, but there's no way I could let them down. And so I'm sure everybody has their own reasons for why they stay in the hunt and stay in the game and stay engaged, even when it's hard. Mine start with my parents, my friends, that future version of me that I know is cheering me on, and then I go from there and I go all right, let's regroup, let's take a deep breath, do what you need to do. You've never not figured anything out before. What's going to stop now? So let's figure it out and that's, and that's, that's, that's the routine.

Lunden Souza: 21:39

Well, good on you being an expert. You said I was an expert at not feeling and you also said looking for that exit. I think a lot of people maybe they don't realize it but, just like you said are experts at pushing it down or pushing it away, are experts at taking that quick exit when things get hard or uncomfortable. What would you say to somebody who's continuously taking that exit, even especially men I know that we're getting into a different era and men and that topic of expressing more of how they feel and, when things are hard, not taking the exit, not numbing, not putting things away but what would you say to that person? The expert and maybe a person listening is aware of their expert level of avoiding things and wanting to not avoid them and, like you said, get beyond that feeling. How do you do that? What would you say to someone who's right at that point of not wanting to be an expert at the exit?

Austin Tice: 23:00

I don't know. I don't know that. I think the first thing it takes is self-awareness and the second thing it takes is a lot of energy and it's difficult, it's very difficult, it's really hard to change, it's very difficult, it's really hard to change. And it's hard to change because, even though you probably know you want to where maybe it's not horrible but maybe it's you're sacrificing good for great, whether it's horrible or whether it's a good for great sacrifice. You're still moving through this transition of letting go of something that is familiar and stepping into something that is completely unknown to you. And that's very scary for me when I evaluate the things that I've moved through, gotten on the other side of let go of to create something new. It wasn't because it was an accident. I was't. I didn't want to continue to show up in a way that wasn't honoring the gifts that I feel that being born into this world that I had. You know what was? What's the saying? God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called. And I look at all of the stuff I've gone through in my life and I feel like that moment when you have that moment that you just wake up and all of a sudden you have. Step one is, I'm aware what you're aware of is that you want to change, but the beauty in that and this is where there's such grace and gratitude and the gift of everything you've ever done and gone through, even though you might not be proud of it it helped shape and cultivate and create within you everything you needed to become that person that you've always said you would. It just wasn't convenient to accept the responsibilities and disciplines of, and so it's a beautiful experience, but at the same time, you know you have to really want it and you have to labor for it. You know, sometimes I'll do a meditation and I don't feel like it, and it's you may. What don't you feel like doing? You close your eyes and you sit there, and there's a lot of things I could say I don't feel like doing, like I would maybe rather go get coffee or go shower, and what I really rather go do is expose myself to familiar patterns that create familiar thoughts, that create familiar emotions around familiar environments, and all of that's familiar even though I might not exactly desire to have that in my life. Whereas in the meditation, when I close my eyes, not only am I dealing with the thoughts and the feelings that are creating my state of being. But in order to get on the other side of those thoughts and feelings to create something new, I have to work for it. I have to, very mindfully and with intention and with my attention, get on the other side of that. And you're laboring for that, you're working for that, and that's the part that requires energy. You have the awareness and you have the energy.

Austin Tice: 27:09

And in my own life, I have been really lucky to learn a lot of these techniques from Dr Joe Dispenza, as have you, and you know I'm really thankful to have been taught and still learning new stuff from him all of the time around how empowered we actually are to be the creators of our lives. And so to the person that's wondering you know how do I change? You know? The first thing I would say is everything's on you, you can do whatever you want. You're the ultimate creator All of the tools and resources, you're surrounded with them.

Austin Tice: 27:55

And the second thing I would tell them is there's like. You're completely worthy to change. I think a lot of us hold on to convictions of the way we may have lived our lives in the past, the things we did that we didn't feel like were adequate, of you know, maybe the world knowing about you know, in other words, we hold ourself to a standard that's impossible to ever meet, and so you have guilt and shame and that keeps you from stepping into this place of worthiness and flow to really be a creator. And so, as you step into this path of creation, you'll develop a really beautiful relationship with yourself, the person you were, the person you are and the person you're becoming, and you'll learn to love all of them the same, and it's a really nice moment when that starts to happen.

Lunden Souza: 28:53

Yeah, love all of them the same. And I love what Dr Joe says about if you are feeling a certain type of way and you don't want to feel that way, well, you're already practicing, being that every single day. You have that memorized. Now it's time to practice and show up as the person that you do want to be. How do you want to feel? And that's the hard part that you mentioned is like it takes energy to break that habit of who you once were to then become who you want to be, being drawn towards that future self and practicing that over and over. How would they feel? What would they do? How do they wake up? What do they drink, eat? Who are they around?

Lunden Souza: 29:39

And my dad always told me as a kid he would ask me Lunden, what are the five most important words? And we had there's one, two, three, four and five most important words. But the five most important words are surround yourself with good people, and as a kid that was the kids that were paying attention in school, or maybe in high school. Those were the kids that were not leaving school at lunch to get high, which I may or may not have participated in, but good has always evolved right and I've talked with my dad about this before of like, okay, well, what does good people mean? I get the words right, but also something I've learned from you is when we were first talking about NABA and you were creating this community, you were like it's not about what people have done or their celebrity or their success, it's about their heart. And so for me, now, surround yourself with good people are people that lead from their heart, that lead that are authentic and are just very heart-driven. And to your point of what you said before of how you have to get beyond yourself, get beyond a lot of these feelings.

Lunden Souza: 31:01

I know from the change in my life. You sometimes have a new team right. There's people that leave, there's relationships that no longer can come with you to this next version of yourself, that no longer can come with you to this next version of yourself. And in this change process there's been many group chats of friends that I've left, just people in relationships that just don't serve this version of who I'm becoming, which is also not easy. It's really sad. I felt like I've mourned relationships of people through this change work and so through NABA, through you specifically, because I've met a lot of people. Through you, I've met so many amazing people, so many good people, so many people that lead with their heart and are truth seekers and change makers and creatives and just want to go out in the world and be that.

Lunden Souza: 31:59

And so I think that's just a long story of saying, like that change process and surrounding yourself with community and people that you know will hold space with you and are, I often feel, like in NABA, we're like linking arms. It's like a Red Rover moment where it's like let's link arms and, like, you know, look side to side and let's do this together. And so what is the? You know? Let's talk about community and the power of community and also, when we're growing and changing and becoming, not everybody gets to come with us and that's a little bit hard, and I think that's why a lot of people take the exit when it comes to change, because then someone's like oh, you used to be that way or you used to say this, and I've had conversations like that, whereas now, within our NABA community, I love it because I'm having conversations with people, getting to know them, and I'll often say like, oh, I'm excited to get to know that version of you.

Lunden Souza: 32:55

Okay, you want to be this way now. Great, okay, you're this. You're sad, you know this month is a little bit darker for you. Awesome, this month is, you know, amazing, joyful, full of gratitude. Great, Like people that meet you right where you are and that want to do this change, work with you and I know that's what we've created here in NABA and created here in NABA and like, let's talk about the power of community and cultivating that especially through change.

Austin Tice: 33:24

Yeah, you know, I think a lot of people want to see a lot of stuff. Change in the world is the first thing I think about. I quote this gentleman pretty regularly and have for the better part of the last probably 10 years. But there's a gentleman named Eugene Cho. He wrote a book called Overrated. I heard him speak at a church I was at years ago and he said everybody wants to talk about changing the world, but nobody wants to talk about changing themselves.

Austin Tice: 33:48

You know, when you look at the political landscape in the United States, no one considers themselves a part of that story. They consider themselves a victim of it. The reality is is that we are all characters in that unbelievably greatest show on earth, play that we're all witnessing, observing in front row seat, and are a part of right now. And I think the question to ask yourself is not how do we change the political landscape, but how do we change ourselves so that we never get to a point that would ever allow any of what's taken place to be tolerated. And that kind of goes back to what you and I were discussing earlier about being complacent versus being courageous, like there's a lot of things that are up for debate all of a sudden that 10 years ago you would have been institutionalized if you would have said anything other than that. Right, and we won't get into the specifics. You can make some assumptions if you'd like not you, but someone listening and I'll never tell you whether or not that was what I was referring to. But the point is is there's some wild things being set out in the world, and I think, ultimately, when I think about change and I think about community, I think that it's not about changing everyone's mind to think and feel the way you do. It's about seeing in them another person that has lived a life that's probably a little bit different than yours, to say the least, so it's to be expected that they're going to think and feel differently about stuff than you are, whereas right now, a lot of people in media are teaching people through their insinuations and outright statements that you know. It should be normal for people to agree with you wholeheartedly, and if they don't, they are your enemy. And what it's creating are these echo chambers, and that is what's radicalizing people. It's what's creating this, these extreme situations in these polarized environments that exist on just about every platform, and so it's a fascinating time to be alive. I think it's an awesome time to be on the planet right now and I look at what I feel my role is.

Austin Tice: 36:16

I grew up very I'm very lucky to say that I grew up in a home that when it came time to talk about God and it came time to talk about politics, those are things that we talked about all the time, and everyone that stepped into our home those are the things we talked about, and the people that were having the conversations didn't always agree. They would probably agree on 80% of stuff. Quite honestly, nothing has changed. I think most people probably agree on 80% of stuff, and I have a. I have a an uncanny level of comfort talking about politics. I have an uncanny level of comfort talking about God, discussing why I'm here, what's going on in the world, what's going on in the universe, all of it, and I'm not going to get angry. And I'm not going to get angry, ill-tempered, triggered or cancel someone because they fuck you to someone or call someone less than or evil because there is a particular piece of material or a subject matter that they think differently than you do on. That in and of itself is evidence that there are spells that have been cast whose intention behind them is to divide, not to bring people together.

Austin Tice: 37:58

If you want to bring people together, I think it's important to highlight the differences, because it's the differences that make us unique and it's how we grow and evolve. And so I think, if you're going to lead a community, I think if you're going to lead a company whatever that is that it might be there will always be politics involved, there will always be nuance involved and there will always be people involved that represent different genders, different ages, different sexual orientations, different political makeups, different geographic locations, so many different things. But that's the beauty in it. But that's the beauty in it, and I, in today's world, find so much enthusiasm and excitement to remind people that this is the opportunity, this is the gold that we get to pursue at NABBA, and I'm really thrilled to be bringing people together that don't think the same, that don't hold necessarily the same politics, that maybe didn't vote for the same person for president, but through all of that, they're really great people. They want to see people be great, they want to love people, they want to go have dinner, a glass of wine, iced tea, coffee, whatever. They want to make a difference in the world, and I think the common denominator is they feel we can do better than we have been.

Austin Tice: 39:25

And so when I think about community and change, I think first, how can I show up differently, to be an example of the one I want to see happen take place in the world? Happen take place in the world. And then, in addition to that, you know, how can I, how can I be more loving, more tolerant, more kind and more understanding of someone that doesn't think or feel the way I do, and I don't really put a lot of stock in what most people would look at and point at and say traditional or mainstream media. I think they've really failed us and I don't think that they have shown that they have the greatest interest in mind of bringing people together. To put it very pointedly, even telling the truth, sometimes I think there's some agendas at play and they don't have our country or even humanity's best interest in mind. So I think it's about trusting your intuition, getting really present with yourself, your heart, having conversations with people and letting that be the guide, not something you hear on television.

Lunden Souza: 40:32

Yes, and I feel like when I lived in Europe and worked with Adidas a lot, I remember there would be moments we would go to Adidas headquarters in Germany and there'd be a lot of people, influencers, athletes, whatever and everyone would do like an Instagram check. It was so wild to me. I would just like kind ones that had the most followers. They would go, hang out and everyone would like click up based on their follower amount. It was wild. I would just love to observe it have like two or three times, but I don't feel like that's what we're doing here in NABA. It's like I don't care what it's not about. Let me find the group that I have the most in common with in terms of beliefs or all those things, but let me go into this common room of people that are just here to get to know others and to learn and to just tell me more about you. What sets your soul on fire, what's your compelling vision of the future? Whether I'm with it or not, we're just here to express that and to have a space to do that, and to me, that's what.

Lunden Souza: 41:42

For those listening that don't know, NABBA stands for the natural art of being alive, and I find that that's what the art is of being alive is not finding the ones that you have the most in common with, but that are there with you while you're discovering more of who you're becoming, et cetera. So it doesn't feel like that. It feels like a place where we can just all come as we are, express where we're at. It doesn't always have to be joyful rainbows and butterflies. It can also be dark, shadow stuff too. We're just all here for all of it, all the things and I love that about NABA and I know from knowing you and the evolution of what NABA could have been. I think the other day we were talking on the phone and I'm like remember when you wanted to design candles and that was going to, you know, and then it became like courses and then it's this whole community. So talk about that and the evolution of NABA and where we're at now and all the things.

Austin Tice: 42:43

Well, I think we'll probably still make some candles one day and maybe some Japanese incense. I was actually testing some out this weekend.

Lunden Souza: 42:53

I'm not against the candles. I'm excited about the candles. It was just fun thinking about that and remember looking at logos and it was like a candle with a playlist and then it was like court. So anyways, just the journey of it is so beautiful and fascinating to me.

Austin Tice: 43:09

Yeah, I think the answer I will give you is one that I think that many people who want to create could place a lot of stock in. And I think a lot of people start a journey of creation, or you know in particular a business as an entrepreneur, and they have an idea of what's going to happen, of what's going to happen, and ultimately, probably way more times than not, that original idea of what is going to happen ends up maybe not happening at all, or it does, and you move through it pretty quickly and it evolves. I think the heart of why you create something probably remains the same. The heart of why you create something probably remains the same the intention, the fervor, the desire to want to do good in the world, to satiate the calling you feel you have on your life, to fucking own it, to prove to yourself, your friends, to do it for yourself and your friends, to be a part of a team. All of that stays the same, but ultimately there's a bullseye that exists that you're not trying to hit. Maybe at the beginning you're just happy to land it on the damn board, but ultimately you want to hit the bullseye and I suppose you could rest on your laurels because you care more about being right than getting it right. So perhaps there are people that exist in the world who just landing the dart somewhere around the board, or maybe even slightly on it, would be enough, and they get stuck on being right. But, ultimately, winners do not rest on their laurels, and they certainly are not okay with just being right, because that's not why they started. They're interested in getting it right because there is something that takes place along the path of creation within you that has to die in order for you to ultimately hit that bullseye, and that part of you that dies is the part of you that came up with the idea to start, that had an interpretation of what would work.

Austin Tice: 45:29

So, for every iteration that takes place in creating a brand place, in creating a brand, there's a new version of you that coincides with that perspective, and so it's a really beautiful experience of growing not your IQ, but your EQ and your ability to handle the journey, and I don't think it is for everyone. It is very challenging, and I will tell you, though, it's one of the most rewarding things that you could ever imagine when you do reach back and it hits right in the middle and there's a vertical that takes place. It hits right in the middle and there's a vertical that takes place. It's almost as if in those movies, when someone closes their eyes, and all these flash bulb experiences and little scenes throughout their journey just show up and you look back and you think about how courageous that person was that kept going, that didn't take the back door, exit and slide out. No one knew, but kept at it, and you think about how proud of you, of that person you are, and that you stuck with it and you figured it out. That creates the type of leader that's capable of leading the person and the company that's hitting the bullseye. It's why you oftentimes you couldn't just plug someone in that hadn't been on that journey, because they hadn't gone through what was necessary for them to handle the outcome that they seek.

Austin Tice: 47:17

Many people are seduced by the outcome, but they're not obsessed with what it takes to create within them the person capable of handling its presence and that is really, really important to be romanced by. That's the person that wins. That's the person that it goes undefeated. There is something to be said about the person that has a tolerance for ambiguity and the endurance to deal with the unknown, and who you become in that process is something that's really fucking cool. But, man, it's challenging. It every single day moves you to a place, to. You have a lot of opportunities to close off. You have a lot of opportunities to close off, to contract, to lock your heart up and, at that same junction on the road, an opportunity to not do it too.

Austin Tice: 48:29

And I've done both. I still do both all the time. Ultimately, I fall back on what I know I have to do in order to make it happen. But that's the type of person that is being called into the world to lead right now, the person that has endurance, the person that's willing to be really, really patient in their long game and operate with a sense of urgency on the day to day, sense of urgency on the day to day. And those are the type of people I want to be around. That's the type of person I want to do dinner with, have a glass of wine with, chill out with. And yeah, you know that's what I've learned on my own journey and you know, creating NABA, it's been the most challenging one I've been on, without a doubt.

Austin Tice: 49:20

But, it's because I haven't been willing to settle for anything less than I know what this is capable of becoming, and so I'm really blessed to be around a lot of great people who have that same mindset.

Lunden Souza: 49:38

Yeah Well, I'm grateful for your relentless pursuit of who you're becoming and the endurance game that you're in. That was. One of my words for this year was integrity and endurance. I don't know what my word is.

Austin Tice: 49:54

What's your word for 2025?

Lunden Souza: 49:57

I haven't know what my word is. What's your word for 2025? I haven't decided yet, but trust is one that's been hitting. When I say it, I like the way it hits, but I haven't decided yet, so I'll let you know once I decide that. I know that you said yours was Rebirth. You wrote that on my Instagram poll.

Austin Tice: 50:19

Well, that's not mine, but it was one that came to mind whenever I read your post, and it certainly is a season of rebirth for me, as generic as that might sound, but I am calling 2025 the season of courage, courage.

Lunden Souza: 50:41

Yeah, well, whatever you choose is perfect Didn't mean to say that that was yours, but that's one that you sent over to me and I thought, yeah, I love words of the year. I think they're so much better than New Year's resolutions or things like that, and I think the version of me that decided integrity and endurance was what I wanted to embody at the beginning of this year is also different in the way that I interpret that and the way that I embody that. What I love about NABA and I want to kind of close with sharing more about our community and inviting those listening to join us if they feel like this is a place where they want to be I love the community. I love the space that we've created our own social media platform as a space where we can express where we're at and connect with others who want to connect um based on the struggles, the strengths, the triumphs, the hard times all of that. Um, I recently loved the post from from one of our favorite guys, kevin KJS um about surrender so like posts on what it means to surrender. Um, you know, I was on Snapchat for like a hot minute until I started getting dick pics and then my grandpa's on Instagram and he's like Lunden. How do you turn this part off? Because he's getting all these sexual messages from women trying to get him to join these live chats and all these different things. I've had even friends reach out to me lately about other family members and they're like what's going on in so-and-so's life? They're posting all this stuff in a very passive, aggressive way and I love that. That's not where we're at in NABA. We don't have to worry about all the other periphery fringe dumb shit. We're literally just there to connect and to grow on our own and together.

Lunden Souza: 52:40

And I've learned so much from all of the courses that we have in the community. I mean I was lucky enough to be able to create one, but like I've been doing Dr Erin Pollinger's manifesting magic course and oh my gosh, I feel like so much stuff has coming up. I told her I'm like your course is like Jumanji, you have to finish it. You can't just be halfway in and then not complete, right, and being able to connect in those ways is so beautiful and I love it so much. And in one of the videos that you shared I can't remember it was like clips of different community members but one guy said he's like I can't really describe NABA. You have to just feel it. You have to feel that calling to want to be around people that are going to give you that space to become exactly who you want and not have to worry about all the other stuff.

Lunden Souza: 53:31

And not to say that I'm anti-social media. I mean, I love it. I've built this podcast and businesses on Instagram. I'm super grateful for it. But I'm also grateful that NABA is not, that. It's a different place. It's a place where I love to just go in and check their first thing in the morning. What are people sharing, what are people working through? What can I learn? How can I grow? And by anyone listening who feels like this is a place that they want to be, to join us and to have that conversation. And I love the way that we've been doing it, which is just personal invite. It's not like oh, click this link, sign up, see you there. It's literally one-to-one invitations. It's opportunities of connection and resonance and I love the way that we've grown and all the things. But did I miss anything? What else is so great about NABA, besides not having all the extra stuff?

Austin Tice: 54:27

No, I think you hit on everything. You know. When we started developing NABA, little did we know that. You know there would. Of course we knew there would be, you know, a presidential election, but this was a rather unique one. You know, one of the candidates was shot, nearly assassinated, candidate RFK Jr. Bobby Kennedy, who was running a really successful independent campaign for president, decided to team up with Donald Trump, and one of the tenets of Bobby Kennedy's campaign that whenever he joined forces with Trump was he never really called it this. And then, when he teamed up with Trump, he called it Maha, make America healthy again.

Austin Tice: 55:20

Now, irrespective of what side of the aisle you fall on, is irrelevant to the fact that one of the things we can all agree on is that it doesn't matter which one of the low hanging fruit talking points that was discussed in the presidential election that swayed you to vote one way or another. None of that stuff matters unless we address the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health of our country. So for me, long before anyone ever uttered the word Maha, I was on that mission. It's one of the reasons I put NABA together. What is the natural art of being alive? It's the adventure of creating something new and we're an American company and I love this country and I think we can do better. And in one of the areas that are interrelated and interwoven are the things I just mentioned Mental health, emotional health, physical health, spiritual health, financial health, health, spiritual health, financial health. These are nonpartisan issues and if you're hearing me talk and you're triggered at the fact that one party or another is or isn't doing things that should transcend blue or red, then that in and of itself is something you should check yourself on and say maybe I have been captivated by words and spells that have been cast my direction that want me to not align myself with certain people because I disagree with them on other things, so I can't agree with them on certain other things. That's nonsense. So I don't align myself with people because I agree with them on everything. I align myself with people because I agree with them on something, so they're not my enemy and nor are they. Can they not be my friend because we do or don't see eye to eye on a hundred percent of everything. That's one of the biggest constraints of bringing people together in the world. So really I couldn't care less whether it was Donald Trump, whether it was Bobby Kennedy, whether it was Joe Biden, whether it was Kamala, I don't care.

Austin Tice: 57:51

What I do care is that we're approaching 40 trillion in the hole. That's not good for anybody. What I do care is that 91% of the people in this country are metabolically unhealthy. One out of every two people in this country are pre-diabetic or diabetic. I care that children under 18, nearly 30% of them, are obese. Fatty liver disease used to be this outlier of a problem with people who drank too much. Now it's just happening across the board. The list goes on and on and on and on.

Austin Tice: 58:24

What I care is that people are willing to have the courage to step in and out in front of the nonsense that you're going to be categorized as some extremist because of the people who are leading in this area, irrespective of party. And so for me, if you want to categorize me as something, because I happen to care about the same things that other people do, go right ahead, because I'm not the problem in this equation, and what I'm asking for people that want to be a part of NABBA is to move through and get through and, on the other side of the things that are keeping us divided and keeping us separated and come together in this very unifying fashion around the things that are for the good of everybody. And in those areas that you disagree, that's okay. Have a conversation, get to know that person's heart, get to know their character, get to know what's taken place in their life that's formed that opinion, and you know what, at the end of that conversation you might agree and at the end of that conversation you might still disagree.

Austin Tice: 59:39

Some of the people I love and value most in life are the people that I get to go head to head with and we get it on and we disagree.

Austin Tice: 59:49

But you know what?

Austin Tice: 59:50

I'll kiss that guy or girl on the cheek and hug them and it's all good at the end of it. That's the fun part, that's the beauty in all of it, and so a part of how we make America healthy again is get on the other side of the bullshit that mainstream media has cast towards everybody, leading them to believe that if you're a Republican you can't be friends with the Democrat, and if you're a Democrat you can't be friends with a Republican. Or if you think and feel this way about the Ukraine war and someone else thinks differently than you, then you're a conspiracy theorist and you're not Go down the list. All of that stuff's absolute nonsense.

Austin Tice: 1:00:31

One of the tenets of how we make America healthy again is getting America talking to each other again and not objectifying them and categorizing them, but getting to know who they are as a human being, getting to know their character, getting to know their heart and in that process, having a friend doesn't mean you have to be best friends Hell, maybe you're just an acquaintance, but they're damn sure not an enemy. And I think that that's step one, and I feel that NABA can play a role, if not reminding people, but showing them that this is possible and that this is the way, and that's what I want to see happen in 2025 and beyond.

Lunden Souza: 1:01:14

Snaps. For that. I appreciate you so much. Thank you for um, thank you for you and thank you for being here, um, on the podcast today. I really appreciated this conversation and I know our listeners will too. And if you guys listening are curious about NABA um, you can go to NABA. I'll put the link in the description and show notes and please reach out to me directly, whether it's a DM on Instagram or an email. If you're on my email list, all replies go directly to me, so I see everything that you reply to, any of the newsletters or emails that I send out. Reach out and connect if this is something that has a calling on your heart. And, Austin, thank you for being here. I know your time is super valuable. We appreciate you, and do you want to share anything as closing in your social media handles so people can see pictures of your little?

Austin Tice: 1:02:03

self and all the things. I'll let you put it on the bottom. But it was good to be here. Maybe we can do a future podcast, since this is the Self, love and Sweat podcast and I never thought of the acronym being SLS. But the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills cool hotel, smells really good too, really cool lobby, swanky. So SLS podcast live from the SLS Beverly Hills has a nice ring to it. We may have to make that happen.

Lunden Souza: 1:02:35

Cool. Well, thank you for being here. Thank you, guys, for listening and we'll see you at the next episode. Bye. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of self love and sweat the podcast. If you enjoyed this episode or were inspired by it, or something resonated with you, or were inspired by it or something resonated with you, do me a favor and share this episode with a friend, someone that you think might enjoy this episode as well. That's the ultimate compliment and the best way to make this podcast ripple out into the world of others. And also you can leave us a review up to five stars wherever you're listening to the podcast. Thank you so much for listening and we'll see you at the next episode. I appreciate you.