Man Who Flirts With Death Wire Walking Over An Active Volcano Opens Up
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Summary
Nick Wallanda is a 7th generation wire walker and holds 17 Guinness Book of World Records. He has walked across Niagara Falls, across Times Square, across a volcano, and across the top of the Empire State Building. He s been a member of the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus for over 200 years.
Transcript
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He said, life is on the wire and everything else is just waiting.
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I was going to go off to college to become a pediatrician,
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but I always had this passion of walking a wire.
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In fact, before my children could even stand up,
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I was holding them up walking on a wire two feet off the ground.
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Did your mom ever wire walk with being pregnant with you or no?
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She did, six months pregnant, and she was still walking the wire with me.
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What you go through, that balancing pole weighs 45 pounds.
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It's not just stable, it's moving the entire time.
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So the amount of forearm strength is fairly overwhelming.
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We talk about Chicago, Times Square, Niagara Falls, Dennis Volcano.
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Nick, your margin for error is worse than golf.
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I think our family has just turned that fear into respect.
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I mean, I'll spend six to eight hours a day on the wire often, five, six days a week.
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It's truly a battle, a battle of the mind leading up to this.
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But once I get onto that wire, all that goes away.
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You guys call it the pyramid walk and there was an accident.
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How were you able to recover from that single event that happened to your family?
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That was when my worst nightmare became a reality.
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It got to the point where I told my wife and I said, I'm done.
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You know, in a time where a lot of people are dealing with anxiety and panic attack and
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trying to manage your fear and all this imagination that you lose control over and, you know, you
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think about what if this happens and what if that happens and what if this happens?
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My guest today may help you with that because my guest today is Nick Wallanda.
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He holds 17 various Guinness Book of World record.
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Let me kind of give you an idea of what these crazy records are.
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He's the first man ever to walk across Niagara Falls.
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He walked across Chicago, Times Square, and recently in March 4th of 2020, he walked across
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With that being said, Nick, thank you so much for being a guest on Valuetainment.
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First of all, you know, I was telling you earlier when I spoke to Robert Kennedy, one
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of the things I was very curious about was the lineage in his family and what they talked
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about at night and what were the questions and how did they get people to get mentally so
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strong and in one interview, I think in the book, Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger
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talks about the fact he met the Kennedys and he asked me, he says, so, hey, John, tell me
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He says, the Kennedys seemed so united when I was around them.
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When I read and study your family, I mean, how does a family get folks to believe for
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seven generations that we're all going to be wire walkers?
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So if we can go back to where that tradition, the values and principles, who is the original
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Take us from there and then we'll go to all the different experiences that you've had.
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So well over 200 years, my family has been wire walking.
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My great grandfather is the one that really made our family famous.
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He brought our family from Germany, originally Bohemia in the 1780s, into Germany and brought
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our family over to the United States from Germany in 1928.
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In fact, he was actually performing and they were headlining on a show in Havana, Cuba, and
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they were making headlines around the world for doing these amazing pyramids on the wire.
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And John Ringling, the founder of Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus, heard that he
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So he made his way over to Cuba on a ship, got off, went to see the show.
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And that evening, my grandparents were great grandparents, were getting ready to get on
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And as they got ready to perform, the show owner in Cuba came up to them and said, this
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And my family sort of looked at themselves and scratched their heads and said, this doesn't
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Well, the reason he was giving the night off was because John Ringling was in the audience and
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he knew he was going to lose this amazing performance group to the United States and
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But John Ringling, being an astute businessman, snuck in the next day, saw my family perform
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and signed him to come over to the United States to perform on Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey
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So they made their way over to the United States, 1928.
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The net, the safety net that they had used was lost in shipping.
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And the story is told that they were set up so high in Madison Square Garden for that
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opening night that John Ringling came into the arena hours before the show and said, there's
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absolutely no way I'm going to let them perform that high and made them lower the rigging some.
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But the story goes that they got on the wire and they did this amazing performance of heart
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And immediately afterwards, the audience went crazy and they were whistling and screaming
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But my family was scared to death because whistling and screaming and foot stomping was the same
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as being booed off the stage back in that time in Europe.
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They were failures and that they were going to get kicked out of the country.
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But little did they realize the ringmaster ran to the door and called them back to the
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arena where they received a 15-minute standing ovation for their first performance in the
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He said, life is on the wire and everything else is just waiting.
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And for, I think, everybody in the world, especially with this virus we're facing, we're
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My mom was six months pregnant and still walking the wire.
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I started walking a wire when I was 18 months old.
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Like the Kennedys, like Red, the Wallenders are wire walkers.
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Now, but that part, like when you, so if I'm in your house and I had a camera, because
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your grandfather died in 78 at the age of 73 with the horrific event that, by the way,
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before even doing the interview with you, I've seen that video, God knows how many times
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And he's doing a walk and I won't show the video, but I'm sure the viewers are going
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I don't want to show while you and I are talking.
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And so he, he dies in 78 when he's doing this stunt, walking across two waterfront hotels.
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I think it's like a, not a big distance that he went across, but he did it and he falls
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and hits the car and, uh, uh, dead on arrival to the hospital.
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So you never really had a chance to spend time with him.
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What, what mindsets from your grandfather and your family was passed down to you?
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Like what stories have you heard about how he was at the dinner table?
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There are 17 of us that still walk the wire to this day.
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Uh, but I have a different drive than the rest.
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And, and I would say the reason is, is because of that drive, I've had the drive to walk across
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the Grand Canyon, for instance, I've had the drive to continue to, to push, you know, walking
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across Niagara Falls took changing two laws in two countries that were over a hundred years
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That was just to get permission to do the walk.
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So that process takes a lot of tenacity and, and a lot of grit.
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And, uh, that is something that he certainly passed on to me.
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My, my parents say it's so interesting how within a nine month span of his death, I was born
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and there are so many similarities and I never met him, but I will tell you that
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growing up, I was always told of these stories on how he was always willing to push the limits,
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how he was always willing to step out of his comfort zone, how he would, he would return
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to the wire 1962 fatal accident, two family members killed one paralyzed in Detroit, Michigan.
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My great grandfather, not only was he injured severely, but he snuck out of the hospital
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against the doctor's orders just to get back on the wire the following day, because he had
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And there are so many parallels between his life and mine.
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And, and by the way, crazy data is he was born, I think January 21st and you're born
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You do, you probably don't even look at the data matching, all that other stuff.
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But for me, my entire life, I asked people about birthdays and it's amazing how you guys
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have a similar personality and your birthday is three days apart.
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So, you know, when I see the video, I've seen it multiple times.
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I have to tell you, I can't help myself, but my stomach gets, it gets uncomfortable.
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We had one of our guys just walked in here before doing the interview and he watched a
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couple of the videos and he has vertigo and he lost it right there.
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Like how often, like when's the last time you saw the video of you, your grandfather
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And when people want to play it for you, do you look away or are you comfortable seeing
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I would tell you that that is a video that I've seen hundreds of times.
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In fact, I had a series on the discovery channel and it was really the science and
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And in that series, I had the honor of recreating that walk that he fell and lost his life from.
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In fact, he was, he was on the sidewalk and was interviewed by a reporter moment.
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I was interviewed by that exact same reporter on that same sidewalk moments before I went
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But during that series, we did a bunch of research and we had a bunch of geriatric specialist
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doctors watch that video in slow motion over and over again.
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And what we've always were told is that the reality of why he lost his life was because
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In fact, the way it was stabilized was improper rather than that wire being rock solid, which what
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he was, was what he was accustomed to, it actually moved quite a bit because of those stabilizer
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And, uh, he was trained and prepared for any stable wire.
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But the reality was at 73 years old, your heart isn't prepared to take the amount of
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adrenaline and the adrenaline rush that he would have gotten from an unstable wire.
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And they say that he didn't notice that it was unstable.
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In fact, in fact, my father was supposed to be there to rig it as well as my uncle.
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Actually, my dad had to stay home because my mom had just had a miscarriage and he was
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So he had a couple other guys on his crew set it up and they, they took a couple of shortcuts.
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And in the end, what that did was it caused his adrenaline to go up to the point where we
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believe he went into cardiac arrest, went down to the wire, which is what we're all trained
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And we'll talk about the accident in 2017, where I did just that he went down to the wire to
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hold on and at that point in cardiac arrest, he couldn't hold on.
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And that's in the end, what caused him to lose his life.
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It was actually, we believe it was an unstable wire.
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And then of course, the fact that he couldn't take that amount of blood pressure into his
00:11:01.020
So, so let me ask you, do you do this professionally yourself or do you do anything else?
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So for most of my career, this is what I've done professionally.
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I will tell you that there was a lot of back and forth early on in my, in, in,
00:11:14.960
In fact, my great grandfather in his book that he wrote in the seventies, he said in
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the circus world and the circus world is my background.
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One day you eat the chicken and the next day you eat the feathers.
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My mom wrote a book in the mid to late eighties called the last of the Walendas because she
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didn't think there was a future in the industry.
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So there was a time where I worked in a restaurant where my parents really pushed me off and wanted
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me to go to college and do something different.
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I was accepted at a university and I was going to go off to college to become a pediatrician was
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It was another dream of mine, but I always had this passion of walking a wire.
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So to answer your question, it is my main source of income.
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I do run other businesses locally in Florida where I live.
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I know you're in Tallahassee yourself and I got a couple office in Tallahassee myself as
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I know the areas are very different kind of a Florida than a South beach, Florida, but
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you know, so you run other businesses out of the 17, you said we have 17 family members
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How many of them do it for the purpose of entertainment?
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How many of them do it as a purpose of a showman?
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Like I'm going up there and I'm doing a show and other people are watching it.
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Yeah, I would tell you that all 17 do it with the intent and the aspirations of being able
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However, because the circus world has changed so much and that is their primary source of
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income, they have had to take other on other occupations meanwhile.
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So all of them though, including my mother, we just actually did a walk between two skyscrapers
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in Tampa, Tampa Bay at the Hard Rock Casino where my mom, who's 67 years old, got on a wire,
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walked out to the middle, 150 feet up, no safety devices, sat down, I stepped over her and
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So it's similar to telling Tiger Woods to put down the golf club because he's retired from
00:13:06.540
In fact, that's what defines Tiger Woods in a lot of senses.
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That's the same with wire walking and for our family, it is very hard to put down the
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balancing pole, if you will, and move on because we're so passionate about it.
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So how soon, how early on, if I'm a Wallanda, by the way, can you pronounce the name?
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My accent is hurting me from pronouncing it properly.
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So if I'm in your family, if I'm born in your family, if somebody is born in a Wallenda family,
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In fact, before my children could even stand up, I was holding them up, walking on a wire
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My mom tells the story of when I was a child and the first time that she grabbed my hand
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I have one that's 50 feet long, all different heights.
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And just for training, of course, and preparing for these events that I take on.
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But from a young age, I saw my parents doing this and how passionate they were about it,
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So I would reach up to them, just like a child who sees another kid on a swing set.
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He goes up or he sees his father with a hammer driving a nail.
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So my mom said from about 18 months old, the first time she put me on the wire, she said
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it was fascinating the fact that I knew exactly how to put my feet on the wire as though it
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She said that the first time I got on a bicycle on a wire, there was no assistance whatsoever.
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I got on that bicycle and I rode from one side to the other.
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What was awesome is I have a nephew and he's about nine now.
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But when he was four years old, he came to visit me and he was in my backyard and he wanted
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And I grabbed his hand and I get goosebumps telling you this story, but it was the same
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I put him on the wire and it was as though it was second nature.
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He knew how to place his feet and has that drive.
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In fact, at this point, he's nine years old and he is an awesome wire walker and we're
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working on maybe breaking a world record or allowing him to break a world record, obviously
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considering all safety issues with minors, et cetera.
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But he'll be able to set his own world record at nine years old because he's so good on the
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Did your mom ever wire walk with being pregnant with you or no?
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Six months pregnant and she was still walking the wire with me.
1.00
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So circus women as a whole are extremely fit and my mom didn't even show that she was
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So she walked the wire performing in front of an audience until she was six months pregnant
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But by the way, how much of it is when you were saying, you know, hey, you see what your
00:15:57.380
If your dad hits a hammer, you want to go hit the hammer.
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How much of it is I want to do what dad is doing?
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How much of it is, hey, Nick, get on that wire?
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How much of it is pushing you to get on that wire?
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You know, in the circus industry as a whole, it was very much, you better get on that wire
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He's got an amazing family, six siblings that are all engineers.
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Two of them are, in fact, head engineers at NASA.
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So he has a different mindset than the history of my family and the way I was raised.
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My dad, if anything, pushed me away from it and said, don't get into this, man.
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You'll fall in love with it, but you got to be able to support a family.
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So it was actually just the opposite with me is they didn't want me to do it.
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Did you catch yourself wanting to know more about your grandpa constantly?
00:16:51.240
Did he want to watch all the videos, read all the articles, learn everything about the
00:17:02.780
But there is a fascination that I have with him.
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And people often ask me, you know, 10 quick questions.
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And who would you want to meet if you could meet anyone in the world?
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I mean, there is there is there would be no one more incredible, at least for me, opportunity
00:17:16.540
in the world than to spend time with my great grandfather and tell stories.
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And truly, everything I do is really to shine light on him.
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He's the one who paved the road to get to where I am.
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And that's why I walk over these crazy places, always trying to honor and respect him.
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That's what's so beautiful about the way you talk about him, man.
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It's you know, you've been able to do stuff that he was never able to do during your time.
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But every time it's so much about honoring him, lifting him up and lifting God up.
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And the way you go about doing it, everybody is rooting for you to do it because indirectly
00:17:49.420
you're doing it for you and you're doing it for your grandpa.
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But let's talk about some of the stuff that you've been able to do.
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I mean, we talk about Chicago, Times Square, you know, Niagara Falls.
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I know it started up with Niagara Falls in June 15 of 2012.
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You know, which one was the first official big one you did in your eyes where you say
00:18:10.400
this is when people said this guy is going to be doing stuff like his grandpa did and
00:18:22.000
And I had an opportunity to break a world record live on the Today Show.
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And it's one that's not not very, very much talked about.
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But I rode a bicycle on a wire 135 feet above the streets of Newark, New Jersey for a distance
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of about 200 feet, which set two world records.
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In fact, the record prior to that was about 40 feet.
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So I tripled that record both ways and actually almost five times as far as length goes.
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So that was the one that sort of launched my career in a sense.
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However, I would tell you that after that walk, I got off on the other side and Matt
00:18:54.460
Lauer said, what are you going to do next, Nick?
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And I said, I want to be the first person to walk across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope.
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And within six weeks, I signed a contract with NBC to be the first person to walk across
00:19:07.140
And you look at my timeline, it doesn't match up.
00:19:10.240
And the reason being was about six months into that process, all the engineering was
00:19:19.080
NBC fired the head of specials that contracted me to do that.
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And when that happened, my special went out the door with him.
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So we got a call and said, hey, sorry, Nick, this ain't happening.
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And they told my managers, we're going to take this off of our slate.
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And I remember the wind being knocked out of my sails because here I thought that this
00:19:35.220
is what our family needed in order to be able to actually support, stop eating the feathers
00:19:43.000
And again, six months into that, literally three months from that special happening live,
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And I remember just going back and thinking, and I often think to my great grandfather,
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And just like he got back on the wire after that accident in 1962, the following day,
00:20:03.500
he continued on against all odds and all these tragedies.
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My great grandfather would keep pushing and I'm not going to give up, but I'm going to
00:20:13.400
And I knew that Niagara Falls, A, there was a lot more business in that area that would
00:20:18.860
be able to help fund this because it was going to cost, it ended up costing over a million
00:20:24.160
And through that process, I realized I was going to have to change two laws, one in the
00:20:28.180
United States over a hundred years old and one in Canada in order to get permission.
00:20:31.820
And I felt like if I can get the government behind this and through that process, we can
00:20:36.760
get a bunch of momentum behind us, then a network will sign on and we can get a bunch of sponsors
00:20:42.020
and endorsements that will actually cover the cost.
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After a year of trying to get permission and going through senators, Governor Cuomo signed
00:20:49.780
legislation, giving me an exemption to that hundred year old law to walk across Niagara
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Then I still had to go to Canada and that was another process that was a nightmare, but
00:21:00.760
And through that process, I got a tweet from Good Morning America and ABC and she said,
00:21:07.680
So I flew to New York City, was on the show and she said, will you stay after your interview?
00:21:11.560
The president of news division here at ABC would like to speak with you.
00:21:15.100
And we sat down and they ended up agreeing to cover the costs.
00:21:18.520
But what people don't realize was that in the end, that walk over Niagara Falls cost me
00:21:23.280
$30,000, over $30,000, $30,000 to $40,000 out of my own pocket when I didn't have it in
00:21:29.420
But I knew it was an investment that would take me into my future.
00:21:32.600
In fact, we had a GoFundMe that helped cover some of those costs prior to back when that
00:21:36.660
was a brand new thing prior to me taking that walk because the network didn't cover all the costs.
00:21:41.960
So what was the $30,000 to $40,000 cost for you?
00:21:49.180
In fact, about two weeks before that walk, I was walking over the Inner Harbor in Baltimore.
00:21:53.500
Another parallel of my great-grandfather, he walked over that Inner Harbor back in the
00:21:59.800
But again, I always try to honor him and do something unique.
00:22:02.040
So I decided I was going to walk from the land to a crane that was on a barge.
00:22:06.360
So as I was walking, that wire was moving quite a bit because, of course, in that harbor,
00:22:10.280
there's waves, smaller waves, but enough movement on a barge that that crane was moving.
00:22:15.920
About three-quarters of the way up, there was about 30,000 people in attendance live and
00:22:22.480
And I made my way up three-quarters of the way and one of my best friends was in a basket
00:22:27.800
And I looked at him and I said, hey, Chris, do you want to see 30,000 people scream?
00:22:32.100
And he goes, yeah, because he knew exactly what I was going to do.
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And I acted like I was going to fall and I slipped, I did a fake slip on the wire and
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30,001 people screamed because it wasn't just the 30,000 in attendance, but the president
00:22:45.900
And what happened was before I got on the wire, my manager had a text from the president of
00:22:55.200
And that turned into a tailspin of them saying, we're not going to air this.
00:22:59.520
So here I am again, this is two weeks from walking across Niagara Falls.
00:23:06.320
A long story short, what it came down to was we negotiated with him and they said, we'll
00:23:13.220
So my biggest fear walking over Niagara Falls was that tether because I'd never worn one in
00:23:22.220
And my concern was, is this going to trip me up?
00:23:24.960
My great grandfather always taught that safeties are a false sense of security.
00:23:28.580
And the reason he said that was he had an older brother that bounced, fell into a net,
00:23:33.680
So even though you have a safety device, it makes your mind think, oh, everything's fine.
00:23:40.480
And if you can become, if you become complacent because you have a net, that's when you,
00:23:46.260
That's, I mean, a big part of our audience are entrepreneurs and business people.
00:23:51.640
A big part of what you're saying right now has to do with folks who start a business and
00:23:55.620
they have an plan B, plan C option, all this other stuff, safety.
00:23:59.560
And you hear all these great stories of people not having it.
00:24:03.180
And they're the ones that end up building a story that the world ends up reading about.
00:24:09.440
One of the stats that I saw was you were walking over 600 gallons per second, roaring over
00:24:20.760
I mean, the Wraith is, it's a very small percentage of people that survive if they fall in there.
00:24:29.000
While you're going through Niagara Falls, for you, 13 million people are watching on ABC.
00:24:37.060
We're not talking 30,001, you know, 30,001 people.
00:24:41.440
13 million people are watching you go through this.
00:24:45.520
How are you in your own mind staying sane and calm to know that you can get through this?
00:24:55.200
You watch somebody shoot a three-pointer and it hits the backboard, goes off the rim,
00:25:01.520
goes to the top, drops down like the Kawhi Leonard shot last year with the Toronto Raptors,
00:25:05.840
and eventually goes in, they beat the Philadelphia 76ers, right?
00:25:10.720
You can get lucky with a Hail Mary, throw it up there.
00:25:15.880
Like, you can be three feet off, six feet off, receiver's going to catch it.
00:25:19.880
Nick, your margin for error is worse than golf.
00:25:28.660
There is very little margin for error and it is life and death.
00:25:32.220
But, you know, I think it really, it dates back to my, it goes back to my family history.
00:25:38.120
So I'm able to stay calm in stressful situations in life as a whole.
00:25:42.840
Generally, if I see a car accident, I'm the first to get out.
00:25:45.720
If that car's on fire, I'll walk right up to that car and pull someone out.
00:25:53.420
Eventually I stay cool and calm in very stressful situations.
00:25:56.560
And I can attribute that to the way I was raised to me being on that wire.
00:26:02.780
And the reason is all the troubles of the world that we're dealing with, whether it be political
00:26:11.820
You know, when I was younger and worried about paying my bills, I would get on that wire and
00:26:15.320
I can promise you there was no thoughts of paying my bills at that point.
00:26:20.840
And again, I think it's because I've done it so long.
00:26:25.480
Often leading up to a walk, I'll walk up to the edge of that, that volcano months before.
00:26:31.360
And I will look down and my heart will start racing.
00:26:35.080
When I walk up to the edge of that volcano, the night that I'm going to walk across and
00:26:38.740
there's a wire there, my heart rate slows down.
00:26:42.760
Is the, is the trust, I said rope earlier on wire.
00:26:45.960
This is a wire that you're walking across most of these platforms.
00:26:54.240
Because I've been, I've, I've known and been trained and it's been fed into my mind over
00:26:58.420
and over again, that that wire is a safety net that as long as that wire is there, I can
00:27:04.740
I also know that I have an incredible team surrounding me and that that wire is rigged
00:27:08.660
So the rocks might crumble under my feet as I'm standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon.
00:27:14.720
So if I'm standing on that wire, I'm more safe than I am on that rock on the edge because
00:27:18.800
that rock could give way again, but I have full confidence in my team and the engineers,
00:27:22.740
my father, my uncle who oversee all my rigging and the fact that that wire is stable and safe.
00:27:27.440
Anybody in your family who walks wires afraid of heights?
00:27:33.540
Not that I have met that are actually afraid of heights.
00:27:38.040
They say the fear of falling, which is obviously related to the fear of heights and the fear
00:27:43.220
I think our family has just turned that fear into respect.
00:27:46.620
I talk about it in this latest book, but basically I take what you would consider fear.
00:27:51.440
You walk up to a poisonous snake rather than being fearful and turn around and scream and run.
00:27:57.000
The best thing you can do is stay calm and respect that snake and slowly back away.
00:28:04.420
When I get up to the edge, I respect the fact that it's dangerous, but that's why I prepare
00:28:11.400
That's why I go through the rigorous training that I do that is specifically detailed and
00:28:15.940
laid out like a map before every one of my special events and big walks.
00:28:20.480
Now, Nick, what is the biggest difference for you between Niagara Falls, between Chicago,
00:28:31.080
And they were all stressful leading up to it one way or another.
00:28:34.800
In fact, it seems like before every event, there's something that goes wrong that just
00:28:43.800
Three days before that walk, it is a mental battle.
00:28:46.300
My mind is trying to talk me out of doing this.
00:28:51.120
And I have to continually counter that negative with positive.
00:28:53.860
So when my mind says that volcano is going to erupt, I can say, well, we've done studies
00:28:57.960
and the odds of that, the chances of that happening are slim to none.
00:29:01.480
I can say that, you know, well, the winds are going to be strong.
00:29:05.900
So it's truly a battle, a battle of the mind leading up to this.
00:29:09.100
But once I get onto that wire, moments before, all that goes away.
00:29:15.060
It's sort of a surreal moment where I get into this zone.
00:29:18.300
In fact, we have set up a precedent that if there's lightning, if there's a reason why
00:29:23.500
I shouldn't get on that wire, my dad literally has to step in and physically stop me from
00:29:27.540
getting on that wire because I get in such a mental state that I'm going to walk across
00:29:31.080
it, whether it be a hail storm, a lightning storm, treacherous thunderstorm, heavy winds,
00:29:38.360
And once I'm determined to do something and I've proven it on and off the wire, I'm going
00:29:44.760
The volcano, when you went through the volcano, some of the stuff I saw you talking about,
00:29:50.040
Lava was 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, one inch wire.
00:29:57.100
You know, you went there a day before and there was no wire and you're kind of looking
00:30:01.740
You could tell you were a little bit nervous about it before, before the wire was being
00:30:05.320
When you went up there, are you feeling the smoke?
00:30:08.240
Are you feeling like, what are you feeling when you're going through it?
00:30:10.780
Yeah, so my training for the volcano specifically was a training because I knew I'd have to wear
00:30:16.200
an oxygen mask and that oxygen mask could deprive, I'm sorry, a gas mask.
00:30:20.720
And that gas mask could deprive my oxygen levels down to about 75% most likely.
00:30:27.220
So in training, I trained with an oxygen deprivation mask that would pull out about 75%.
00:30:31.440
I was breathing only 30% oxygen while training.
00:30:39.440
However, I'll walk it about six or seven times.
00:30:45.340
And I walked that, I walked over a mile on a cable in training every single day for months
00:30:51.000
I walked that entire length forward and backwards.
00:30:55.120
I was doing everything I could, walked it in heat suits so that I was prepared for the heat
00:31:00.580
so that again, when I get there, I can look at it and go, yeah, it might be 180 degrees
00:31:05.080
or 150 degrees where I'm walking at times with drafts of wind, but I know it's going to pass
00:31:14.760
I know I can walk this without being able to see.
00:31:16.680
And all of that is the reason why I'm able to, once I get to that cable, stay calm.
00:31:23.260
Physically, is there a exercise that's the most important exercise for you to do outside
00:31:32.880
Because when you're holding this, you need a little bit of shoulders.
00:31:39.160
What's the main exercise or body part you guys focus on working out on?
00:31:55.200
And I decided I was going to teach him how to walk the wire.
00:31:59.220
And I remember putting him on the wire and giving him that balancing pole.
00:32:01.320
And he was just blown away because he'd never picked it up.
00:32:03.920
He trained me for these events, but never really spent time on the wire.
00:32:07.840
My family does all of the training on the wire.
00:32:10.160
And then we have a trainer to do the training off the wire.
0.81
00:32:22.240
So the amount of forearm strength is fairly overwhelming.
00:32:32.040
So what he started doing with me, which was unique, right before our Times Square walk,
00:32:35.820
was he would have me run half a mile and then get on the cable and walk half a mile
00:32:43.040
In fact, part of my training is to do push-ups on the wire.
00:32:51.340
So a lot of my training is done on the wire, even though you would think, how do you do
00:32:59.800
And all of that, knowing that, hey, I can walk this length doing squats and push-ups.
00:33:03.620
I can sure as heck do it without doing squats and push-ups.
00:33:06.080
We've spent a lot of time talking about this stuff.
00:33:07.780
But your book, Facing Fear, that just came out September 15, 2020, and by the way, you
00:33:12.000
wrote it with a guy that I'm very familiar with.
00:33:16.680
That's a New York Times bestseller, Don Yeager.
00:33:21.560
And Thomas Nelson, I'm very familiar with them out of Tennessee.
00:33:31.980
You know, they tend to worry with this pandemic, election, protesting, riots, fires.
00:33:38.900
There's so much going on where, you know, the world is overwhelmed a little bit right
00:33:44.880
We haven't gone through this stuff, and it's all hitting at the same time.
00:33:47.740
Is there a formula your family or yourself follows for you to not get overwhelmed or
00:33:57.000
Like when you are about to have a panic attack or anxiety or get nervous or afraid, what are
00:34:04.880
I'm curious because I think that's something a lot of people can pick up from, including
00:34:11.080
Yeah, I think it very much comes down to the power of our minds and really the simplicity,
00:34:15.700
the fact that we are in control of our thoughts, we're in control of our minds, our minds aren't
00:34:19.780
in control of us, and we can decide where we're going to allow our mind to go, and we
00:34:25.280
can stop our mind when it starts to go down that negative path.
00:34:28.840
I am very, very, and my family as a whole are very careful on what we allow into our minds,
00:34:33.100
what we listen to, what we watch on TV, the news that we listen to.
00:34:37.500
In fact, I choose to read all of my news because then I can sort of control at least, because
00:34:42.560
you're right, if we were to just dwell on what's going on in our world today, it's
00:34:48.460
I don't care how powerful you are, I don't care if you've been a Walenda for 200 years
0.99
00:34:53.860
So my great-grandfather, again, always taught us in the way that we think and passed it
00:34:59.040
on from generation to generation where you allow your mind to go.
00:35:05.280
And look, I equate it to simple things like an argument with my wife.
00:35:09.120
If I get in an argument with my wife, immediately my mind wants to, I get really mad, I'm pissed
00:35:14.660
off, my mind wants to go to places like 20 years of arguments with my wife rather than
00:35:19.900
saying, no, I've had 20 amazing years with my wife, I've had a few arguments along the
00:35:24.920
Let's focus on the good things, not the bad things.
00:35:27.560
And early on in my life, I was the first to roll my eyes at this stuff saying, this is
00:35:32.460
goofy, you can't control your thoughts, your mind goes wherever it's going to go and that's
00:35:35.760
Well, with maturity and wisdom, I've learned that that's not true at all.
00:35:38.640
We truly can control our thoughts and where we go.
00:35:41.620
And there is so much power in visualization, visualizing ourself, whether it be me walking
00:35:48.980
across the volcano, me speaking in front of a crowd.
00:35:51.600
I would tell you, interestingly enough, one of my great fears was public speaking.
00:35:57.940
And this is the most ironic thing about it is I would be nervous speaking in front of
00:36:02.580
a crowd, but put me on a wire in front of a crowd, which I started doing, these corporations
00:36:07.280
started running out arenas and I'll walk a wire 150 feet up and I'll motivate you from
00:36:13.780
I am way more calm leading up to getting on that wire and speaking to them than walking
00:36:20.140
There is something about the psyche of a calm and peacefulness about being on that wire.
00:36:27.260
As crazy as that sounds, and it's just the opposite of that, that is my safe haven.
00:36:32.000
So again, I encourage people to think, not overthink things and control where you allow
00:36:39.620
And again, if we could capture that, I believe we could fulfill the greatest dreams that we
00:36:43.960
have, whether it be climbing Mount Everest, whether it be leaving that job that you're
00:36:47.860
miserable and fears holding you back from actually pursuing the dreams and passions that you
00:36:52.120
have, whatever that might be, our minds are powerful tools.
00:36:56.340
So, so that's powerful what you just said right there, but how many total hours would
00:37:04.440
Well, I know I've walked thousands of miles on a wire.
00:37:08.020
I would tell you that I have probably spent at least a quarter of my life, maybe a little
00:37:15.120
I mean, I'll spend 68 hours a day on the wire often, five, six days a week.
00:37:23.340
Did you say four to six hours a day, six days a week on the wire?
00:37:31.200
It is, it is something that we, it's just like anything, the more practice, the better
00:37:36.200
And with us, the reality is it's life and death.
00:37:39.880
So it is even more important that we spend that much time on the wire that we're that familiar
00:37:44.100
with it, that, you know, what I've learned is when I become complacent is when it becomes
00:37:47.800
very, very dangerous and, and those times where I go, okay, I don't need to practice
00:37:52.720
And then I'll get up on a wire between two skyscrapers in Pittsburgh.
00:37:56.080
And all of a sudden it'll start pouring down rain and I'll go, oh my gosh, I wish I would
00:38:00.820
I wish I would have been more prepared for this.
00:38:02.360
I just did the math, by the way, if you spend six hours a day on the wire on average times
00:38:07.640
six days a week, times 52 weeks in a year times 25 years, because you and I are the
00:38:15.480
If you do that for 25 year average, it's 47,000 hours on the wire.
00:38:25.780
But just tells you, you know, whatever you, you hear the 10,000 hour, uh, rule, you've
00:38:32.700
taken a 10,000 hour rule on a whole, a whole different level.
00:38:36.260
When, when are you planning on stopping this whole thing?
00:38:39.060
Like, when are you going to stop walking on wires?
00:38:40.660
I know you're, you're the, the, the man that gave you a big source of your, you know, inspiration
00:38:46.020
and the level of ambition that you have, the fire that you have, uh, uh, your grandpa,
00:38:52.820
And is, is there a time that you have where you say, I think I'm going to, you know, stop
00:39:01.180
And I think about it because of my great grandfather losing his life.
00:39:03.880
And I even think about it when my mom at 67 is getting on the wire going, mom, you shouldn't
00:39:10.060
In fact, she told me specifically, she pulled me to the side one day and she said, Nick, I
00:39:22.100
And she said, I want to make this clear on my 70th birthday.
00:39:34.460
Just knowing that my mom still wants to walk the wire at 70.
00:39:36.720
But like I said earlier, tell Michael Jordan to put the basketball down because he retires
00:39:43.660
And every house that he owns, cause that's, that's his passion.
00:39:49.320
So for us, that's a, that's a challenge, you know, don't walk the wire.
00:39:53.500
Michael Jordan's not risking his life shooting a basketball.
00:39:59.620
Hopefully I've done a good job of maybe 55 is what I've said, uh, that I would, I would
00:40:05.420
I don't, I hope I'll be able to accomplish that.
00:40:08.580
I don't know that I'll be able to, because I'm so passionate about it.
00:40:11.180
I will tell you that no matter what, I will always have a wire in my, in my backyard.
00:40:16.600
My mom's still on the wire five days a week training.
0.83
00:40:18.960
And, uh, for, again, she does one walk every several years maybe with me.
00:40:23.800
But the reality is she still is on the wire every day.
00:40:27.920
I think the over under is you're going to go past 55.
00:40:33.360
So if you've done volcano, you've done time square, Chicago, Niagara falls, what's, what's
00:40:40.200
It is a challenge when you get to that point in your career where you have very little,
00:40:44.840
if any competition, and you're only pushing yourself and driving yourself to go further
00:40:51.340
Um, so at this point, to be honest with you, a lot of them are about parallels.
00:40:54.540
How do I parallel the Grand Canyon or Niagara falls?
00:40:57.680
And I'm working on a walk in the UK is something that I've wanted to do for a long time.
00:41:01.220
Again, my great grandfather did a walk over there by the, the London bridge.
00:41:04.500
And I want to do something bigger, bolder, broader, but all to, to pay respect and honor
00:41:09.560
Uh, and then the other one that gets a lot of people excited is I'm, I'm working on something
00:41:15.820
It won't be wire walking, but in outer outer space, actually.
00:41:25.580
There's, there's a few other things that I'm working on that are stunt related, uh, that
00:41:29.380
of course, no one in the world has ever done, uh, that would be pretty awesome and, and make
00:41:34.500
And, and truly what we do and what we've done for 200 years is inspire people that nothing's
00:41:39.720
And, and that's why I continue to do what I do.
00:41:42.260
That is, that is truly what drives me at this point is to inspire when somebody says,
00:41:46.440
wow, when people come up to me after I get off of a wire, the size of a nickel, 300 feet
00:41:51.000
above between skyscrapers, and I've got teenagers coming up to me and touching me just to see
00:42:01.600
So, you know, in sports, you in boxing, you see a George Foreman get knocked out by Muhammad
00:42:09.920
Uh, you saw Sugar Ray Leonard go against Roberto Duran and, you know, he beat him psychologically
00:42:18.100
You see it happening in sports where somebody goes to the finals or world series or Super
00:42:23.560
And it's a very, you know, traumatic loss, public loss.
00:42:29.900
What did the 2017 event do to you when your family was doing the, uh, uh, the, you guys
00:42:37.280
call it the pyramid walk, I believe with eight of you, you can highlight what that means.
00:42:41.680
And there was an accident and where, you know, uh, most people fell except for three of you,
00:42:47.520
I believe that didn't fall and you were able to hold on.
00:42:51.220
And how were you able to recover from that single event that happened to your family?
00:42:56.240
So we were training for about six weeks here in Florida, in my backyard for that eight
00:43:01.320
person pyramid and, uh, everything went pretty good.
00:43:07.000
Went up 15 feet and then decided we were going to go up to the height to break that world
00:43:10.760
record, which was for this four layer, eight person pyramid, 28 feet above the ground.
00:43:16.000
And, uh, basically what it is, is four people standing on the wire, two people on their
00:43:19.700
shoulders, and then a person on their shoulders.
00:43:21.900
And then a person stacked on a fourth layer on top of that.
00:43:24.520
So the top person being my aunt was about 50 feet above the ground at the apex of that
00:43:29.980
And as we made our way out in a rehearsal at full height, it was the second time we were doing
00:43:35.220
The next day we were premiering it for Guinness and in front of a live audience.
00:43:39.240
That was when my worst nightmare became a reality.
00:43:41.560
We were walking our way out on the wire and, uh, not sure what happened, lost our balance.
00:43:47.220
My five of my family members and friends fell to the ground.
00:43:50.560
And as you mentioned, I caught the wire, my cousin caught the wire and one other gentleman
00:43:53.960
stayed standing, but the other five hit the ground.
00:43:56.660
Statistics say 30% chance of living from a fall of that height or greater without any safety
00:44:01.020
devices, my sister not only fell, but she fell on her head.
0.55
00:44:06.080
Uh, she has 73 screws and plates in her face alone at this point, uh, was in a coma, internal
00:44:14.240
And I remember sitting in the hospital the day after that accident and in the waiting
00:44:20.640
room, not knowing whether people are going to be able to walk anymore, not knowing whether
00:44:25.900
We knew the other four were, were going to live, but they weren't out of the woods yet.
00:44:29.220
And I remember sitting there and my dad looking at me and saying, Hey, you're supposed to speak
00:44:34.600
at Amelie arena in Tampa to a, to a corporation tomorrow.
00:44:45.200
It was, it was the fact that I didn't want to disrespect those that had fallen.
00:44:49.940
And I thought, you know, are they, how are they going to look at me?
00:44:52.580
I, I certainly had survivor's guilt at that point.
00:44:54.900
I felt horrible that I was in the hospital that I couldn't trade places with any one of
00:44:59.480
And my dad looked at me and he said, well, if you're going to do it, I'll be there for
00:45:02.880
He said, I'll make sure your rigging is safe and I'll make sure it goes off without a hitch.
00:45:06.700
And, and, and I get goosebumps when I say that because here his baby girl, his only daughter
00:45:10.420
may not live, but he supports his son to the point where rather than being bitter, he says,
00:45:17.660
And I remember, I remember going, you know what that thinking back to my great grandfather,
00:45:22.460
the legacy, him, him going back to the wire the day after that accident and saying,
00:45:28.760
I said, but I'm going to take it a step further.
00:45:30.700
I'm going to go visit the other four that are in the hospital and talk to the other two,
00:45:36.020
Couldn't talk to my sister at that point and get their blessing.
00:45:39.300
I made the rounds through the hospital and said, what is your opinion?
00:45:42.120
And every one of them looked at me and said, you have to do it.
00:45:48.620
I performed in fact for the next five weeks straight with only four days off all the while
00:45:53.140
my sister's still in the hospital and in the process of recovering at that point.
00:45:56.700
And after that five weeks, I took six weeks off.
00:45:59.600
And then we headed to New York city where I was headlining on a new show where we were
00:46:07.480
And in fact, uh, peripherally the same as, as that eight person pyramid for me.
00:46:11.760
So, uh, we started training and I started visualizing that, that pyramid falling in front
00:46:17.260
And after about a week of that, I started to physically tremble on the wire, something
00:46:23.260
In fact, the emotion of fear, I didn't even think existed in my DNA, certainly for walking
00:46:31.040
And, and after a week of that, going to my wife and saying, do you, do you know what's
00:46:39.320
And the reason I asked that is as the leader of that pyramid for, for years, I've done it
00:46:43.600
thousands of times I would, there's always somebody who has jitters early on.
00:46:47.620
And when they shake, you feel them, you're all connected together.
00:46:50.440
And she looked at me and she said, what do you mean?
00:46:57.540
I was still denying the fact that I was dealing with fear at that point.
00:47:01.580
And, uh, I said, uh, well, I'm going to get back on the wire and see if I can work
00:47:05.680
A couple of days later, one of my guys in my troop who's been with me, my whole life grabs
00:47:09.060
me, literally grabs me after rehearsal and shakes me.
00:47:15.600
Thinking that they didn't know what was going on.
00:47:22.900
This isn't the Nick Walenda that we've all looked up to that, that drives us to greatness.
00:47:30.160
And at that point, what happened was a, I had to admit that I was fearful, but at that
00:47:36.160
The fact that here I am the, the, you know, the greatest wire walker of our generation,
00:47:44.300
And people are realizing this and people are recognizing this.
00:47:47.660
And at that point I had to actually back up further and deal with the pride that led to
00:47:52.980
shame, the pride that I was too good to be fearful, deal with the shame and then dig
00:48:01.100
It got to the point where I told my wife one evening, I said, I'm done.
00:48:06.660
And I remember that conversation like it was right now.
00:48:09.820
And my wife looked at me now, mind you, my wife comes from eight generations of circus
1.00
00:48:13.860
on one side, seven of the old, uh, of the other.
00:48:22.360
And that's how she can understand my passion for doing these things.
00:48:25.300
And she looked at me and she said, for 200 years, your family has lived by the
00:48:34.820
You're inspiring people that nothing's impossible.
00:48:37.260
And you're going to give up because of something in your head.
00:48:42.280
And I remember sitting back, feeling defeated, literally sitting back in the couch and tears
00:48:51.220
I walked across some of the craziest places in the world without safety devices, risking my life.
00:48:56.020
And this small four letter word fear is, is going to ruin the rest of my career and possibly my life.
00:49:02.980
And I started going down this route of depression.
00:49:05.880
And as I started going down that, that path, which many people do, I remember just sitting
00:49:13.040
there and I always reflect on my great grandfather and his book and his stories that I've been told
00:49:17.060
and the videos I've watched and the tapes that I've listened to.
00:49:20.580
And I thought, you know what, this isn't what my family does.
00:49:28.300
And I remember thinking, you know what, everything my great grandfather did, he was able to overcome
00:49:33.000
and he was able to prove that the impossible was possible.
00:49:35.900
And even though this feels impossible, I'm going to overcome it.
00:49:39.380
And when I overcome it, I'm going to write about it.
00:49:41.460
I'm going to tell the story and I'm going to use this.
00:49:43.180
So other people that are dealing with fear don't have to go so down deep into that valley like I did
00:49:47.460
and don't have to go into that deep depression.
00:49:49.220
And that's when I set off on this journey of going, and really it was about stepping out
00:50:00.200
And it really came down to the power of the mind and where I allowed my mind to go
00:50:03.940
and controlling those thoughts and drowning out that negativity and continually focus on positive.
00:50:10.100
Rather than thinking you're going to fall while you're holding this pyramid,
00:50:12.920
I would think you've held it more than anyone in the world successfully.
00:50:18.880
One accident and you're going to focus on the one, not the thousands.
00:50:22.180
And I started just telling myself that and working through this process.
00:50:25.580
And again, with the help of psychologists and psychiatrists and spending time with people
00:50:28.940
that really could teach me to relearn who I was and relearn how I do and have done what I do.
00:50:36.480
You know, the question I have for you is obviously, one, I can tell affirmations is a big part of your life.
00:50:42.540
It sounds like affirmations are a big part of your life.
00:50:44.480
When you were walking across Chicago, at the end you said, in the middle of it, you said,
00:50:55.360
I mean, you're talking and this is a form of affirmation.
00:51:00.320
So blessed for these opportunities while you're walking on the wire.
00:51:04.840
Who says that while they're doing like, imagine somebody's playing basketball saying,
00:51:08.560
God, thank you so much for allowing me to make the last shot or, you know, shoot the last shot.
00:51:12.620
Or thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to build a business and raise millions of dollars
00:51:16.560
and, you know, try to take it to the next level.
00:51:19.040
How much of a role does faith play in your life?
00:51:24.500
How much of it is mental and emotional toughness?
00:51:28.420
I would say it is probably split into thirds evenly.
00:51:34.380
The mental aspect is part of the training is the mental training as well.
00:51:38.360
The physical training is what lines up the mental training and preparation.
00:51:42.540
And then my faith plays a key role in just who I am.
00:51:50.500
Again, Niagara Falls, the process of getting permission.
00:51:53.620
No one in the world will likely ever do that again.
00:51:56.200
A hundred years ago, there was a guy named Charles Blondin who walked, and people say over Niagara Falls,
00:52:01.060
but he walked a third of a mile down from the falls just over the river.
00:52:06.380
He never walked over the precipice of Niagara Falls.
00:52:08.440
So I know that I'm in positions where no one in the world will ever be.
00:52:12.280
These natural wonders are breathtaking that I'm able to walk over.
00:52:20.760
You know, it is like somebody who wants to play in the NFL, who gets drafted into the NFL and saying,
00:52:27.160
thank you, God, this has been my dream my entire life, and my dream is coming true.
00:52:32.020
Every time I get on that wire, that's the way I see it.
00:52:35.700
And especially in these bigger walks, which are the televised ones, there's a lot of them where,
00:52:39.440
of course, I'm very thankful, but it's not as meaningful as what the process of changing two
00:52:43.920
laws in two countries and going through all of that to get permission, then finally achieving
00:52:48.500
that dream, which was seemingly impossible, not because of the defeat itself, because of
00:52:55.700
Again, I am extremely grateful for those opportunities, and I don't take it lightly, and I consider
00:53:05.300
One of my passions and dreams is to revitalize the circus, and I believe that everything comes
00:53:10.100
in full circle, and that is something that I've challenged myself with is how do we reinvent
00:53:15.200
It is one of the oldest forms, the purest forms of family entertainment that inspires
00:53:22.100
When I walked over the Grand Canyon, 23 million people watched live in the U.S. alone, breaking
00:53:26.800
rating records on the biggest network in the world.
00:53:29.460
People love what we do in the circus, but the reality is I don't think that they quite understand
00:53:33.760
it, and now I've had the platform and opportunity to present it to them in a whole new spotlight
00:53:37.800
with the dream of getting them to come to the circus and see this amazing stuff.
00:53:42.200
So I have set that goal on myself the last chapter I talk about it.
00:53:47.480
My great-grandfather said in the circus, one day you eat the chicken, the next day you eat
00:53:51.220
Well, I've had that fear, and I've had that fear to take on this challenge of reinventing
00:53:54.640
the circus, but it is something that I'm passionate about, and I'm hoping once we, in fact, I was
00:53:58.820
well on the pathway when we got hit with this virus and actually turned a little bit because
00:54:03.300
I'm all about reinventing the wheel and ended up creating this awesome drive-in thrill show that
00:54:08.780
we've been touring with, where I've called all of my Daredevil friends, over 27 Guinness
00:54:13.080
World Records held by just the performers on this show that's touring, and normally we're
00:54:19.500
We see each other at televised events, et cetera, and we celebrate together, but we're
00:54:24.660
Well, because of this virus, none of us have contracts.
00:54:28.620
So I was able to call all my friends up and say, let's go put on this incredible show
00:54:32.880
and let's bring it to people's backyards where they can drive into their car, turn into our
00:54:36.280
radio station, I'll motivate them from the wire, you can shoot out of a cannon, and you can do a
00:54:40.500
double backflip on your motorcycle, and we can inspire these people during a time where it's very
00:54:46.680
You know, there's something very attractive about your personality.
00:54:49.100
By the way, a book that, have you ever read the book Blue Ocean Strategy or no?
00:54:54.220
Okay, I think Blue Ocean Strategy is a great book for you because it's sold over four and a half
00:55:00.200
It's about how to create a unique, how to disrupt an industry and do something that's never been done
00:55:09.840
Gives you the exact formula in it, and the main story that the consultants and the author talk about
00:55:16.620
So if you've never read Blue Ocean Strategy, it's a phenomenal book for somebody like you since you're
00:55:25.680
I'm curious to know what you're going to say about this one here.
00:55:27.760
You know, sometimes when you're winning, and for some, it comes in different levels, right?
00:55:34.000
Oh, you start making more money than your mom and dad.
00:55:36.220
It's like, oh, I'm making more money than my mom and dad.
00:55:38.780
I'm like, hey, mom, you don't tell me what to do.
00:55:41.380
Do you know your son is making a quarter million dollar income?
00:55:44.040
And maybe sometimes you're running a business, and you become the best in your office in sales,
00:55:49.420
or you're running the best business in the local community, or you're in sports, and you start
00:55:53.800
winning, and you're getting a lot of accolades, and people are telling you how amazing you
00:55:57.780
Here's a guy that no matter where you go, you said kids are touching you to see if you're
00:56:01.140
You walked across a volcano, you know, Times Square, Chicago, Niagara Falls.
00:56:11.380
I would tell you my wife does a great job at preventing me from being cocky.
00:56:17.040
I was raised to always be humble and kind, no matter what, never forget where I came
00:56:21.060
I was also raised in a world where, you know, I told my children all along, my father used
00:56:26.680
to always tell me, the person who's sweeping the floor might be running the company next
00:56:33.100
And I think that everybody deserves, everybody's created equally.
00:56:35.620
All of us are on a level playing field and a level platform.
00:56:40.400
And I think what keeps me humble is to continue to reach down to those people and say, look,
00:56:46.320
If I can do it on a wire, then you can do it in your business, in your corporation.
00:56:51.500
I've told my kids when I raised them, I don't care if you work at McDonald's or if you work
00:56:55.740
for the Pentagon or if you're the president of the United States, you do it to the best
00:57:00.360
You work as hard as you possibly can and you make your boss's job as easy as possible
00:57:07.240
And because of that, they are extremely confident in life, not bold, not cocky, not arrogant,
00:57:13.700
In fact, I couldn't be more proud of my 22-year-old Marine who's serving our country.
00:57:19.840
Dad could have sent him to college and done, he could have taken on businesses that I've
00:57:23.160
started locally and he could have done great that way.
00:57:25.220
But he chose on his own to serve our country for four years before he moved on to do that
00:57:30.060
19-year-old in the Army, I get goosebumps, why are my children in the military?
00:57:34.660
They were raised to respect our nation and they do so, again, out of choice.
00:57:40.780
It wasn't as though they didn't have any choice.
00:57:43.220
It wasn't as though they didn't have other opportunity, but they literally said, you know
00:57:48.360
And to me, the most rewarding thing, a job, opportunity I've had in my life is raising
00:57:56.220
And there's nothing more rewarding than seeing the fruits of what you've worked so hard on.
00:58:00.900
Well, I got to tell you, man, my hat's off to you.
00:58:03.060
For anybody that's watching this, if there's ever been a time where you want to read a book
00:58:08.120
on fear, I mean, if there's ever been a time where you want to get good at controlling your
00:58:13.400
emotions, your imagination, how to overcome fear, how to deal with anxiety and panic attacks,
00:58:21.100
We're going to put the link below to Nick's book that just came out.
00:58:25.380
You'll be one of the first people that ever orders it.
00:58:27.240
The link will be below Facing Fear by Nick Wolenda with Don Yeager.
00:58:34.880
Nick, I've had a blast studying about your family.
00:58:38.900
I've had a blast watching a bunch of your videos, which is fascinating.
00:58:44.340
I felt more the depth of your character, your family's character.
00:58:48.160
And I think it's something a lot of people can use as a source of inspiration.
00:58:51.880
So having said that, thank you so much for making the time for being a guest on Valuetainment.
00:58:58.920
What a great time to be studying this whole mental toughness and emotional toughness mindset,
00:59:02.940
especially coming from somebody that walks on wires across Times Square or Niagara Falls
00:59:13.680
I'd be curious to know what you took away from it.
00:59:17.120
And if you want to watch more things having to do with the mindset of somebody that's able
00:59:23.240
I did an interview with Tim Grover, who was a trainer to Michael Jordan.
00:59:28.820
He was a trainer to Kobe Bryant and Dwayne Wade and many others.
00:59:32.380
If you've never watched this interview, I just want to prepare you.
00:59:38.820
But he will give you a certain way of thinking that got him to write this book called Relentless
00:59:47.500
If you've never watched that interview before, click over here.
00:59:50.260
And if you've not subscribed to the channel, please do so.