Valuetainment - Man Who Flirts With Death Wire Walking Over An Active Volcano Opens Up

00:00:00.520 My great grandfather, he said it best.

00:00:02.400 He said, life is on the wire and everything else is just waiting.

00:00:05.200 For our family, it's in the literal sense.

00:00:07.080 Life is on the wire.

00:00:08.200 That is where we feel alive.

00:00:09.960 The Walendas are wire walkers.

00:00:11.600 Is this it?

00:00:12.240 This is all you do professionally today?

00:00:13.760 I was going to go off to college to become a pediatrician,

00:00:16.040 but I always had this passion of walking a wire.

00:00:18.440 Somebody is born in a Walenda family.

00:00:20.160 How soon am I getting on the wire?

00:00:21.760 As soon as you can stand up.

00:00:22.920 In fact, before my children could even stand up,

00:00:26.000 I was holding them up walking on a wire two feet off the ground.

00:00:28.680 Did your mom ever wire walk with being pregnant with you or no?

00:00:31.520 She did, six months pregnant, and she was still walking the wire with me.

00:00:34.520 What you go through, that balancing pole weighs 45 pounds.

00:00:37.200 It's not just stable, it's moving the entire time.

00:00:39.840 So the amount of forearm strength is fairly overwhelming.

00:00:42.520 We talk about Chicago, Times Square, Niagara Falls, Dennis Volcano.

00:00:46.440 Nick, your margin for error is worse than golf.

00:00:50.800 How do you stay sane on that road?

00:00:52.920 If you fall, it's over.

00:00:54.440 I think our family has just turned that fear into respect.

00:00:57.480 I mean, I'll spend six to eight hours a day on the wire often, five, six days a week.

00:01:01.120 We're risking our life with our passions.

00:01:02.760 It's truly a battle, a battle of the mind leading up to this.

00:01:05.680 But once I get onto that wire, all that goes away.

00:01:08.760 You guys call it the pyramid walk and there was an accident.

00:01:12.240 How were you able to recover from that single event that happened to your family?

00:01:15.480 That was when my worst nightmare became a reality.

00:01:17.520 It got to the point where I told my wife and I said, I'm done.

00:01:20.280 I'm not getting back on the wire ever again.

00:01:21.840 I'm done.

00:01:26.240 You know, in a time where a lot of people are dealing with anxiety and panic attack and

00:01:29.920 trying to manage your fear and all this imagination that you lose control over and, you know, you

00:01:35.320 think about what if this happens and what if that happens and what if this happens?

00:01:38.200 My guest today may help you with that because my guest today is Nick Wallanda.

00:01:42.840 Let me tell you what Nick Wallanda does.

00:01:45.560 He's a seven generation wire walker.

00:01:48.600 These are folks that walk on wire since 1780s.

00:01:52.480 They've been doing this.

00:01:53.460 He holds 17 various Guinness Book of World record.

00:01:56.760 Let me kind of give you an idea of what these crazy records are.

00:01:59.440 He's the first man ever to walk across Niagara Falls.

00:02:03.340 Yes, I've been there before.

00:02:05.000 It's crazy wind.

00:02:06.220 He walked across Niagara Falls.

00:02:07.580 He walked across Chicago, Times Square, and recently in March 4th of 2020, he walked across

00:02:14.400 a volcano.

00:02:15.920 With that being said, Nick, thank you so much for being a guest on Valuetainment.

00:02:19.720 Thanks for having me on.

00:02:21.200 First of all, you know, I was telling you earlier when I spoke to Robert Kennedy, one

00:02:25.340 of the things I was very curious about was the lineage in his family and what they talked

00:02:30.740 about at night and what were the questions and how did they get people to get mentally so

00:02:35.660 strong and in one interview, I think in the book, Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger

00:02:40.400 talks about the fact he met the Kennedys and he asked me, he says, so, hey, John, tell me

00:02:44.640 what's your favorite color?

00:02:45.940 And his answer was, we like the color red.

00:02:48.940 He says, no, but what's your color?

00:02:50.540 He says, no, we like red.

00:02:51.840 He says, the Kennedys seemed so united when I was around them.

00:02:55.540 When I read and study your family, I mean, how does a family get folks to believe for

00:03:02.080 seven generations that we're all going to be wire walkers?

00:03:04.580 So if we can go back to where that tradition, the values and principles, who is the original

00:03:10.420 founder that started this tradition?

00:03:12.420 Take us from there and then we'll go to all the different experiences that you've had.

00:03:15.880 Absolutely.

00:03:16.520 So my family history dates back to the 1780s.

00:03:19.060 So well over 200 years, my family has been wire walking.

00:03:23.020 My great grandfather is the one that really made our family famous.

00:03:26.500 He brought our family from Germany, originally Bohemia in the 1780s, into Germany and brought

00:03:31.560 our family over to the United States from Germany in 1928.

00:03:35.420 In fact, he was actually performing and they were headlining on a show in Havana, Cuba, and

00:03:39.860 they were making headlines around the world for doing these amazing pyramids on the wire.

00:03:44.340 And John Ringling, the founder of Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus, heard that he

00:03:48.900 needed to see this amazing wire troupe.

00:03:50.960 So he made his way over to Cuba on a ship, got off, went to see the show.

00:03:55.720 And that evening, my grandparents were great grandparents, were getting ready to get on

00:03:58.980 the wire to perform.

00:04:00.360 And as they got ready to perform, the show owner in Cuba came up to them and said, this

00:04:04.260 evening, we're giving you the night off.

00:04:05.960 And my family sort of looked at themselves and scratched their heads and said, this doesn't

00:04:09.220 add up.

00:04:09.640 We're headliners.

00:04:10.380 We're featured here.

00:04:11.400 The audience, this is a full house to see us.

00:04:13.340 Why are you giving us the night off?

00:04:14.860 Well, the reason he was giving the night off was because John Ringling was in the audience and

00:04:18.660 he knew he was going to lose this amazing performance group to the United States and

00:04:22.960 Ringling Brothers Circus.

00:04:24.080 But John Ringling, being an astute businessman, snuck in the next day, saw my family perform

00:04:29.200 and signed him to come over to the United States to perform on Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey

00:04:32.760 Circus.

00:04:33.560 So they made their way over to the United States, 1928.

00:04:36.440 The net, the safety net that they had used was lost in shipping.

00:04:40.020 And they thought, this is our debut in the US.

00:04:42.200 There's no way we can avoid this.

00:04:43.560 We've just got to go on without a safety net.

00:04:45.000 And the story is told that they were set up so high in Madison Square Garden for that

00:04:50.480 opening night that John Ringling came into the arena hours before the show and said, there's

00:04:54.880 absolutely no way I'm going to let them perform that high and made them lower the rigging some.

00:04:59.780 But the story goes that they got on the wire and they did this amazing performance of heart

00:05:03.600 stopping feats.

00:05:04.400 And immediately afterwards, the audience went crazy and they were whistling and screaming

00:05:08.000 and foot stomping.

00:05:08.840 But my family was scared to death because whistling and screaming and foot stomping was the same

00:05:14.580 as being booed off the stage back in that time in Europe.

00:05:17.060 So they thought they were horrible.

00:05:18.620 They were horrendous.

00:05:19.260 They were failures and that they were going to get kicked out of the country.

00:05:22.080 But little did they realize the ringmaster ran to the door and called them back to the

00:05:25.600 arena where they received a 15-minute standing ovation for their first performance in the

00:05:29.920 old garden.

00:05:31.240 So that's sort of the legacy that I inherited.

00:05:33.640 But my great-grandfather, he said it best.

00:05:37.040 He said, life is on the wire and everything else is just waiting.

00:05:40.740 And for, I think, everybody in the world, especially with this virus we're facing, we're

00:05:44.180 all on a wire.

00:05:45.280 But for our family, it's in the literal sense.

00:05:47.880 Life is on the wire.

00:05:48.960 That is where we feel alive.

00:05:51.080 My mom was six months pregnant and still walking the wire.

00:05:54.060 That's crazy.

00:05:54.840 I started walking a wire when I was 18 months old.

00:05:58.060 It is truly life to us.

00:05:59.860 It is not a decision.

00:06:01.700 It is not a choice.

00:06:02.640 It is truly who we are.

00:06:04.720 Like the Kennedys, like Red, the Wallenders are wire walkers.

00:06:09.000 Now, but that part, like when you, so if I'm in your house and I had a camera, because

00:06:14.700 your grandfather died in 78 at the age of 73 with the horrific event that, by the way,

00:06:20.560 before even doing the interview with you, I've seen that video, God knows how many times

00:06:23.560 in Puerto Rico when that event took place.

00:06:25.400 Yes.

00:06:25.780 And he's doing a walk and I won't show the video, but I'm sure the viewers are going

00:06:29.520 to see it.

00:06:29.880 I don't want to show while you and I are talking.

00:06:31.260 And so he, he dies in 78 when he's doing this stunt, walking across two waterfront hotels.

00:06:37.880 I think it's like a, not a big distance that he went across, but he did it and he falls

00:06:41.800 and hits the car and, uh, uh, dead on arrival to the hospital.

00:06:45.760 You're born a year later.

00:06:47.840 So you never really had a chance to spend time with him.

00:06:50.020 Cause I think you're a 79 baby.

00:06:51.300 And he passed away in 78.

00:06:52.780 That's correct.

00:06:53.700 What, what mindsets from your grandfather and your family was passed down to you?

00:06:58.260 Like what stories have you heard about how he was at the dinner table?

00:07:01.700 What are the family talking about?

00:07:03.520 They talked about that.

00:07:04.600 He was just an amazing man of inspiration.

00:07:06.380 He was a very driven individual.

00:07:08.860 A lot of his traits were passed on to me.

00:07:11.060 It's interesting.

00:07:11.800 There are 17 of us that still walk the wire to this day.

00:07:15.800 Uh, but I have a different drive than the rest.

00:07:18.140 You've heard of Nick Walenda.

00:07:19.200 And, and I would say the reason is, is because of that drive, I've had the drive to walk across

00:07:23.620 the Grand Canyon, for instance, I've had the drive to continue to, to push, you know, walking

00:07:27.900 across Niagara Falls took changing two laws in two countries that were over a hundred years

00:07:31.460 old.

00:07:31.780 That was just to get permission to do the walk.

00:07:33.500 So that process takes a lot of tenacity and, and a lot of grit.

00:07:38.280 And, uh, that is something that he certainly passed on to me.

00:07:41.220 My, my parents say it's so interesting how within a nine month span of his death, I was born

00:07:45.520 and there are so many similarities and I never met him, but I will tell you that

00:07:49.160 growing up, I was always told of these stories on how he was always willing to push the limits,

00:07:53.320 how he was always willing to step out of his comfort zone, how he would, he would return

00:07:57.960 to the wire 1962 fatal accident, two family members killed one paralyzed in Detroit, Michigan.

00:08:03.240 My great grandfather, not only was he injured severely, but he snuck out of the hospital

00:08:07.000 against the doctor's orders just to get back on the wire the following day, because he had

00:08:11.000 that drive.

00:08:11.920 And there are so many parallels between his life and mine.

00:08:15.280 And, and by the way, crazy data is he was born, I think January 21st and you're born

00:08:21.000 January 24th.

00:08:22.000 You guys are three days apart.

00:08:23.440 That's correct.

00:08:24.200 I know you're, I know you're a Christian man.

00:08:25.900 You do, you probably don't even look at the data matching, all that other stuff.

00:08:28.440 But for me, my entire life, I asked people about birthdays and it's amazing how you guys

00:08:32.560 have a similar personality and your birthday is three days apart.

00:08:35.920 So, you know, when I see the video, I've seen it multiple times.

00:08:41.200 I have to tell you, I can't help myself, but my stomach gets, it gets uncomfortable.

00:08:47.080 We had one of our guys just walked in here before doing the interview and he watched a

00:08:53.140 couple of the videos and he has vertigo and he lost it right there.

00:08:57.340 He's like, I can't even watch it.

00:08:58.400 Like you have to step away.

00:08:59.240 Like how often, like when's the last time you saw the video of you, your grandfather

00:09:04.380 in Puerto Rico.

00:09:05.080 And when people want to play it for you, do you look away or are you comfortable seeing

00:09:09.120 that one?

00:09:10.000 I would tell you that that is a video that I've seen hundreds of times.

00:09:13.520 In fact, I had a series on the discovery channel and it was really the science and

00:09:17.180 engineering behind what we do.

00:09:18.620 And in that series, I had the honor of recreating that walk that he fell and lost his life from.

00:09:23.840 And there again, many parallels.

00:09:25.440 In fact, he was, he was on the sidewalk and was interviewed by a reporter moment.

00:09:29.220 He went up to the wire.

00:09:30.600 I was interviewed by that exact same reporter on that same sidewalk moments before I went

00:09:34.760 up on the wire.

00:09:35.460 So, so many parallels.

00:09:36.520 But during that series, we did a bunch of research and we had a bunch of geriatric specialist

00:09:41.300 doctors watch that video in slow motion over and over again.

00:09:44.460 And what we've always were told is that the reality of why he lost his life was because

00:09:49.180 that wire was rigged improperly.

00:09:50.820 And, and we know that for sure.

00:09:52.220 In fact, the way it was stabilized was improper rather than that wire being rock solid, which what

00:09:56.620 he was, was what he was accustomed to, it actually moved quite a bit because of those stabilizer

00:10:01.240 ropes that were coming off of it.

00:10:02.880 And, uh, he was trained and prepared for any stable wire.

00:10:06.500 But the reality was at 73 years old, your heart isn't prepared to take the amount of

00:10:10.920 adrenaline and the adrenaline rush that he would have gotten from an unstable wire.

00:10:14.820 And they say that he didn't notice that it was unstable.

00:10:17.740 In fact, in fact, my father was supposed to be there to rig it as well as my uncle.

00:10:21.200 And they both had previous engagements.

00:10:23.040 Actually, my dad had to stay home because my mom had just had a miscarriage and he was

00:10:26.340 there with her.

00:10:26.940 So he had a couple other guys on his crew set it up and they, they took a couple of shortcuts.

00:10:31.120 And in the end, what that did was it caused his adrenaline to go up to the point where we

00:10:35.940 believe he went into cardiac arrest, went down to the wire, which is what we're all trained

00:10:39.880 to do.

00:10:40.180 And we'll talk about the accident in 2017, where I did just that he went down to the wire to

00:10:44.280 hold on and at that point in cardiac arrest, he couldn't hold on.

00:10:47.640 And that's in the end, what caused him to lose his life.

00:10:50.340 It wasn't the wind.

00:10:51.480 It wasn't a lack of balance.

00:10:53.380 It was actually, we believe it was an unstable wire.

00:10:56.720 And then of course, the fact that he couldn't take that amount of blood pressure into his

00:11:00.140 heart.

00:11:01.020 So, so let me ask you, do you do this professionally yourself or do you do anything else?

00:11:05.380 Is this it?

00:11:06.000 This is all you do professionally today.

00:11:07.920 So for most of my career, this is what I've done professionally.

00:11:10.740 I will tell you that there was a lot of back and forth early on in my, in, in,

00:11:13.880 in my younger years.

00:11:14.960 In fact, my great grandfather in his book that he wrote in the seventies, he said in

00:11:18.600 the circus world and the circus world is my background.

00:11:21.260 One day you eat the chicken and the next day you eat the feathers.

00:11:23.840 And that was very true for me growing up.

00:11:25.860 We went through a lot of setbacks.

00:11:27.200 My mom wrote a book in the mid to late eighties called the last of the Walendas because she

00:11:30.860 didn't think there was a future in the industry.

00:11:33.040 So there was a time where I worked in a restaurant where my parents really pushed me off and wanted

00:11:36.820 me to go to college and do something different.

00:11:38.640 I was accepted at a university and I was going to go off to college to become a pediatrician was

00:11:42.580 sort of my thoughts.

00:11:43.300 It was another dream of mine, but I always had this passion of walking a wire.

00:11:47.200 So to answer your question, it is my main source of income.

00:11:49.840 I do run other businesses locally in Florida where I live.

00:11:53.380 Got it.

00:11:53.880 I know you're in Tallahassee yourself and I got a couple office in Tallahassee myself as

00:11:58.240 well.

00:11:58.420 I know the areas are very different kind of a Florida than a South beach, Florida, but

00:12:02.360 you know, so you run other businesses out of the 17, you said we have 17 family members

00:12:07.660 today who still a wire walk.

00:12:11.040 How many of them do it for the purpose of entertainment?

00:12:13.960 How many of them do it as a purpose of a showman?

00:12:16.420 Like I'm going up there and I'm doing a show and other people are watching it.

00:12:19.700 What's the breakdown between the 17?

00:12:21.820 Yeah, I would tell you that all 17 do it with the intent and the aspirations of being able

00:12:27.740 to support their family and as a business.

00:12:30.120 However, because the circus world has changed so much and that is their primary source of

00:12:34.740 income, they have had to take other on other occupations meanwhile.

00:12:38.480 So all of them though, including my mother, we just actually did a walk between two skyscrapers

00:12:43.620 in Tampa, Tampa Bay at the Hard Rock Casino where my mom, who's 67 years old, got on a wire,

00:12:49.560 walked out to the middle, 150 feet up, no safety devices, sat down, I stepped over her and

00:12:54.740 we walked into opposite ends.

00:12:56.040 So it's similar to telling Tiger Woods to put down the golf club because he's retired from

00:13:01.360 the PGA or the PGA Senior Tour at one point.

00:13:03.980 He's still going to golf.

00:13:04.900 It's his passion.

00:13:05.600 It's what he loves doing.

00:13:06.540 In fact, that's what defines Tiger Woods in a lot of senses.

00:13:09.280 That's the same with wire walking and for our family, it is very hard to put down the

00:13:13.320 balancing pole, if you will, and move on because we're so passionate about it.

00:13:17.580 Yeah, I mean, it's obviously felt.

00:13:20.560 So how soon, how early on, if I'm a Wallanda, by the way, can you pronounce the name?

00:13:25.160 My accent is hurting me from pronouncing it properly.

00:13:27.620 It's Wallenda.

00:13:29.100 Wallenda.

00:13:29.660 Wallenda, yes, sir.

00:13:30.480 Wallenda.

00:13:31.020 Okay, I'm going to get it right.

00:13:32.600 Excuse my Assyrian and Persian accent here.

00:13:35.100 Wallenda.

00:13:35.580 So if I'm in your family, if I'm born in your family, if somebody is born in a Wallenda family,

00:13:40.680 how soon am I getting on the wire?

00:13:43.220 As soon as you can stand up.

00:13:44.620 In fact, before my children could even stand up, I was holding them up, walking on a wire

00:13:49.480 two feet off the ground.

00:13:50.960 It's amazing.

00:13:51.800 My mom tells the story of when I was a child and the first time that she grabbed my hand

00:13:56.340 and helped me onto the wire.

00:13:57.980 And it was in our backyard.

00:13:58.860 To this day, in my backyard, I have 15 acres.

00:14:01.340 I have a wire that's 700 feet long.

00:14:03.060 I have one that's 50 feet long, all different heights.

00:14:05.760 And just for training, of course, and preparing for these events that I take on.

00:14:10.000 But from a young age, I saw my parents doing this and how passionate they were about it,

00:14:13.520 how much they enjoyed it.

00:14:14.460 And I wanted to be a part of it.

00:14:15.840 So I would reach up to them, just like a child who sees another kid on a swing set.

00:14:19.840 He goes up or he sees his father with a hammer driving a nail.

00:14:22.460 He grabs that hammer.

00:14:23.480 Well, for my family, that was wire walking.

00:14:26.000 So my mom said from about 18 months old, the first time she put me on the wire, she said

00:14:30.340 it was fascinating the fact that I knew exactly how to put my feet on the wire as though it

00:14:35.040 was in my DNA.

00:14:35.980 It was in my nature.

00:14:37.260 She said it was mind boggling.

00:14:38.700 She said that the first time I got on a bicycle on a wire, there was no assistance whatsoever.

00:14:43.120 I got on that bicycle and I rode from one side to the other.

00:14:45.880 Mind you, low, about two feet off the ground.

00:14:47.960 But no help whatsoever and I rode across.

00:14:50.460 What was awesome is I have a nephew and he's about nine now.

00:14:55.240 But when he was four years old, he came to visit me and he was in my backyard and he wanted

00:14:59.760 to get on the wire.

00:15:00.520 And I grabbed his hand and I get goosebumps telling you this story, but it was the same

00:15:03.920 exact thing.

00:15:04.920 I put him on the wire and it was as though it was second nature.

00:15:07.560 It was in his blood.

00:15:09.100 He knew how to place his feet and has that drive.

00:15:11.760 In fact, at this point, he's nine years old and he is an awesome wire walker and we're

00:15:15.500 working on maybe breaking a world record or allowing him to break a world record, obviously

00:15:19.420 considering all safety issues with minors, et cetera.

00:15:21.920 But he'll be able to set his own world record at nine years old because he's so good on the

00:15:25.660 wire.

00:15:26.100 Oh, cool.

00:15:26.800 Did your mom ever wire walk with being pregnant with you or no?

00:15:29.960 She did.

00:15:30.500 Six months pregnant and she was still walking the wire with me.

00:15:33.160 So honestly, longer than I've been on the-

00:15:35.320 Show or in a backyard?

00:15:36.420 Like, is it show or-

00:15:37.220 No, no.

00:15:37.940 So circus women as a whole are extremely fit and my mom didn't even show that she was

00:15:43.480 pregnant, barely showed at six months.

00:15:45.300 She barely had a bump in her belly.

00:15:47.300 So she walked the wire performing in front of an audience until she was six months pregnant

00:15:51.140 with me.

00:15:51.660 Respect, man.

00:15:52.340 That's just unbelievable.

00:15:53.320 But by the way, how much of it is when you were saying, you know, hey, you see what your

00:15:56.780 parents are doing.

00:15:57.380 If your dad hits a hammer, you want to go hit the hammer.

00:15:59.240 How much of it is I want to do what dad is doing?

00:16:01.520 How much of it is, hey, Nick, get on that wire?

00:16:03.780 How much of it is pushing you to get on that wire?

00:16:05.780 You know, in the circus industry as a whole, it was very much, you better get on that wire

00:16:10.640 and practice.

00:16:11.140 This is how you're going to pay your bills.

00:16:12.600 My mom is the Walenda.

00:16:14.020 My dad married into it at 18.

00:16:16.020 He's got an amazing family, six siblings that are all engineers.

00:16:19.220 Two of them are, in fact, head engineers at NASA.

00:16:21.560 That's just how brilliant his family is.

00:16:23.180 So he has a different mindset than the history of my family and the way I was raised.

00:16:27.160 So my dad was opposite.

00:16:28.580 My dad, if anything, pushed me away from it and said, don't get into this, man.

00:16:32.120 It's addictive.

00:16:33.060 You'll fall in love with it, but you got to be able to support a family.

00:16:35.280 And we're struggling to do so.

00:16:36.640 So it was actually just the opposite with me is they didn't want me to do it.

00:16:40.840 Yet it was my passion.

00:16:42.500 It was what I love doing.

00:16:43.620 And I can't imagine not doing it.

00:16:45.900 Did you catch yourself wanting to know more about your grandpa constantly?

00:16:49.500 How was he like this?

00:16:50.480 What did he do here?

00:16:51.240 Did he want to watch all the videos, read all the articles, learn everything about the

00:16:54.460 guy?

00:16:55.160 Absolutely.

00:16:55.820 And I don't really know why.

00:16:57.480 I mean, obviously, he's been my inspiration.

00:16:59.360 I've looked up to him.

00:17:00.440 He was an incredible role model.

00:17:02.780 But there is a fascination that I have with him.

00:17:06.220 And people often ask me, you know, 10 quick questions.

00:17:08.440 And who would you want to meet if you could meet anyone in the world?

00:17:10.920 It would be my great grandfather.

00:17:12.020 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.

00:17:20.120 And truly, everything I do is really to shine light on him.

00:17:23.500 He's the one who paved the road to get to where I am.

00:17:26.120 And that's why I walk over these crazy places, always trying to honor and respect him.

00:17:30.940 That's what's so beautiful about the way you talk about him, man.

00:17:35.040 It's you know, you've been able to do stuff that he was never able to do during your time.

00:17:39.600 But every time it's so much about honoring him, lifting him up and lifting God up.

00:17:44.240 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.

00:17:51.180 It's a beautiful thing to see.

00:17:52.160 But let's talk about some of the stuff that you've been able to do.

00:17:55.360 I mean, we talk about Chicago, Times Square, you know, Niagara Falls.

00:18:00.120 I know it started up with Niagara Falls in June 15 of 2012.

00:18:03.260 Then it's Chicago.

00:18:03.980 Then it's Times Square.

00:18:04.720 Then it's Volcano.

00:18:05.280 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

00:18:15.280 doing big stuff in his life?

00:18:16.300 Which one was it for you?

00:18:17.600 I would tell you it was in 2000.

00:18:20.260 Let's see, it was 2008.

00:18:22.000 And I had an opportunity to break a world record live on the Today Show.

00:18:26.720 And it's one that's not not very, very much talked about.

00:18:29.740 But I rode a bicycle on a wire 135 feet above the streets of Newark, New Jersey for a distance

00:18:34.980 of about 200 feet, which set two world records.

00:18:37.560 In fact, the record prior to that was about 40 feet.

00:18:39.880 So I tripled that record both ways and actually almost five times as far as length goes.

00:18:44.820 So that was the one that sort of launched my career in a sense.

00:18:49.260 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?

00:18:56.280 And I said, I want to be the first person to walk across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope.

00:19:00.440 And within six weeks, I signed a contract with NBC to be the first person to walk across

00:19:05.880 the Grand Canyon.

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

00:19:14.420 done.

00:19:14.760 The site was prepped.

00:19:16.500 The cable was purchased.

00:19:17.720 We were ready to go.

00:19:19.080 NBC fired the head of specials that contracted me to do that.

00:19:22.640 And when that happened, my special went out the door with him.

00:19:25.320 So we got a call and said, hey, sorry, Nick, this ain't happening.

00:19:28.700 And they told my managers, we're going to take this off of our slate.

00:19:32.040 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

00:19:38.840 and start eating chicken full time.

00:19:40.740 And so I thought this was the big break.

00:19:43.000 And again, six months into that, literally three months from that special happening live,

00:19:47.660 it got pulled out from under me.

00:19:49.000 And I remember just going back and thinking, and I often think to my great grandfather,

00:19:53.140 I'm like, what would he do here?

00:19:54.380 I just feel like giving up.

00:19:55.780 I don't feel like carrying on.

00:19:56.820 And I always looked to him for inspiration.

00:19:58.880 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.

00:20:07.320 I thought, you know what?

00:20:07.920 My great grandfather would keep pushing and I'm not going to give up, but I'm going to

00:20:11.100 kind of change my direction a little bit.

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

00:20:22.080 dollars to rig that wire to do this walk.

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.

00:20:44.260 And in fact, that's what happened.

00:20:45.840 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

00:20:54.180 Falls.

00:20:54.760 Then I still had to go to Canada and that was another process that was a nightmare, but

00:20:59.120 eventually got through that.

00:21:00.760 And through that process, I got a tweet from Good Morning America and ABC and she said,

00:21:05.160 would you be willing to come on our show?

00:21:06.600 And I said, of course.

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

00:21:28.560 order to do that walk.

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?

00:21:45.140 It was just an addition to the rigging.

00:21:47.140 There was extra stuff that was mandated on me.

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

00:21:57.460 60s and I went back to recreate it.

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

00:22:20.300 Good Morning America was covering it live.

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

00:22:25.720 at the top ready to take my balancing pool.

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.

00:22:34.120 Somebody I grew up with.

00:22:34.960 And I acted like I was going to fall and I slipped, I did a fake slip on the wire and

00:22:39.420 30,001 people screamed because it wasn't just the 30,000 in attendance, but the president

00:22:44.340 of ABC was watching.

00:22:45.900 And what happened was before I got on the wire, my manager had a text from the president of

00:22:51.800 ABC News in all caps saying, what was that?

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.

00:23:03.180 ABC says, we're pulling the plug on this.

00:23:04.780 And they're funding it.

00:23:06.320 A long story short, what it came down to was we negotiated with him and they said, we'll

00:23:10.500 allow him to do it.

00:23:11.360 But if he does, he has to wear a tether.

00:23:13.220 So my biggest fear walking over Niagara Falls was that tether because I'd never worn one in

00:23:18.140 my entire career until that day live on ABC.

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,

00:23:32.760 bounced out and was killed.

00:23:33.680 So even though you have a safety device, it makes your mind think, oh, everything's fine.

00:23:37.660 I'll be okay.

00:23:38.120 I got a safety device.

00:23:39.060 But the reality is it isn't.

00:23:40.480 And if you can become, if you become complacent because you have a net, that's when you,

00:23:45.140 you can be a grave danger.

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.

00:24:06.360 And here's one of them being you.

00:24:07.540 So now you end up doing Niagara Falls.

00:24:09.440 One of the stats that I saw was you were walking over 600 gallons per second, roaring over

00:24:15.080 the Horseshoe Falls.

00:24:16.600 History tells us many have fallen in there.

00:24:19.700 Very few come out.

00:24:20.760 I mean, the Wraith is, it's a very small percentage of people that survive if they fall in there.

00:24:26.040 If you fall, it's over.

00:24:27.600 We're not going to have this interview.

00:24:29.000 While you're going through Niagara Falls, for you, 13 million people are watching on ABC.

00:24:36.540 Okay.

00:24:37.060 We're not talking 30,001, you know, 30,001 people.

00:24:40.920 Are you talking?

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?

00:24:51.640 How do you do that part?

00:24:52.940 Because, you know, you watch basketball.

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?

00:25:08.960 You can get lucky with a three-pointer.

00:25:10.720 You can get lucky with a Hail Mary, throw it up there.

00:25:13.480 The margin for error is not this big.

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.

00:25:24.480 How do you stay sane on that rope?

00:25:26.960 Yeah, it is.

00:25:27.700 You're absolutely right.

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.

00:25:37.060 This is life to me.

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.

00:25:48.740 In fact, I've done that before.

00:25:50.240 I am just calm.

00:25:51.540 Uh, we'll talk about the accident in 17.

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.

00:26:01.320 There's something peaceful about it.

00:26:02.780 And the reason is all the troubles of the world that we're dealing with, whether it be political

00:26:06.760 or who knows what's going on in our minds.

00:26:08.680 It could be family, it could be finances.

00:26:10.480 That's all gone.

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.

00:26:18.160 It was just, this is freedom.

00:26:19.720 This is peaceful.

00:26:20.840 And again, I think it's because I've done it so long.

00:26:23.440 It is often very calming.

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.

00:26:41.500 Wow.

00:26:41.900 Why is that?

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.

00:26:49.700 What makes you calm about the seeing the wire?

00:26:52.660 What makes you calm about it?

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

00:27:03.380 grab onto it and hold on.

00:27:04.740 I also know that I have an incredible team surrounding me and that that wire is rigged

00:27:08.100 safely.

00:27:08.660 So the rocks might crumble under my feet as I'm standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon.

00:27:12.560 However, that wire is not coming down.

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?

00:27:32.460 No, there aren't.

00:27:33.540 Not that I have met that are actually afraid of heights.

00:27:36.600 Look, you're born with two fears.

00:27:38.040 They say the fear of falling, which is obviously related to the fear of heights and the fear

00:27:42.000 of loud noises.

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.

00:28:02.680 And that's the same with us on that wire.

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

00:28:08.880 so strongly leading that walk.

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,

00:28:24.580 Times Square and the Volcano?

00:28:27.320 You know, they're all very similar.

00:28:29.200 I try not to compare any of them.

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

00:28:38.260 plays with my mind.

00:28:40.220 Up until the walk, it's a mind game.

00:28:42.640 It is a battle.

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.

00:29:04.000 Well, you've walked in 90 mile an hour winds.

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.

00:29:13.780 The stress 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,

00:29:35.960 it doesn't matter.

00:29:36.920 I have made my mind up.

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

00:29:41.920 to fulfill that determination and that drive.

00:29:44.760 The volcano, when you went through the volcano, some of the stuff I saw you talking about,

00:29:48.180 it was a thousand feet.

00:29:50.040 Lava was 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, one inch wire.

00:29:53.460 This is in Nicaragua, March 4, 2020.

00:29:57.100 You know, you went there a day before and there was no wire and you're kind of looking

00:30:01.360 on you.

00:30:01.740 You could tell you were a little bit nervous about it before, before the wire was being

00:30:04.860 up.

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.

00:30:34.140 I train with heavy sandbags and weights on.

00:30:36.760 I train on a wire that is shorter.

00:30:39.440 However, I'll walk it about six or seven times.

00:30:42.500 In fact, that walk was 1800 feet across.

00:30:45.340 And I walked that, I walked over a mile on a cable in training every single day for months

00:30:49.920 leading up to that.

00:30:51.000 I walked that entire length forward and backwards.

00:30:53.720 I walked it with my eyes closed.

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

00:31:09.740 and I know I can withstand that.

00:31:11.100 I know I can walk five times further.

00:31:12.640 I know I can walk with much less oxygen.

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

00:31:28.640 of walking on a rope or wire?

00:31:30.520 Meaning, is it legs?

00:31:32.060 Is it shoulders?

00:31:32.880 Because when you're holding this, you need a little bit of shoulders.

00:31:35.080 You need a little bit of biceps, forearms.

00:31:37.220 What keeps you in balance?

00:31:38.560 Is it core?

00:31:39.160 What's the main exercise or body part you guys focus on working out on?

00:31:43.640 So it's very much core and arm strength.

00:31:46.760 In fact, I have an awesome trainer.

00:31:48.760 And just recently, he's from the Marines.

00:31:51.140 He had one of his legs amputated, in fact.

00:31:53.600 And he is a Marine.

00:31:55.200 And I decided I was going to teach him how to walk the wire.

00:31:57.920 And he's extremely fit.

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.

00:32:06.820 And he picked it up.

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.

00:32:12.200 And he picked it up.

00:32:13.240 And he was like, oh my gosh, this is insane.

00:32:15.580 I had no idea what you go through.

00:32:17.880 That balancing pole weighs 45 pounds.

00:32:19.760 It's not just stable.

00:32:20.700 It's moving the entire time.

00:32:22.240 So the amount of forearm strength is fairly overwhelming.

00:32:25.160 And again, he was just blown away.

00:32:27.360 But very much core, very much forearm.

00:32:29.760 And then I do a lot of cardio training.

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

00:32:40.200 while I was still out of breath.

00:32:41.720 He would have me stop.

00:32:43.040 In fact, part of my training is to do push-ups on the wire.

00:32:46.120 I can lay down and sit up on the wire.

00:32:48.560 I can stand up.

00:32:49.400 I can do squats 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

00:32:55.500 a push-up on the wire?

00:32:56.780 How do you do a squat on the wire?

00:32:58.460 Again, that's all part of training.

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.

00:33:13.940 We met multiple times years ago.

00:33:15.500 I think he's written 11 books.

00:33:16.680 That's a New York Times bestseller, Don Yeager.

00:33:18.940 He's a great writer.

00:33:20.320 He's done a lot of sports stories.

00:33:21.560 And Thomas Nelson, I'm very familiar with them out of Tennessee.

00:33:23.700 See, today, people are afraid.

00:33:26.420 There's a lot of people that are concerned.

00:33:29.820 They have anxiety.

00:33:30.620 They have panic.

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

00:33:44.700 now.

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

00:33:55.380 control your anxiety or panic?

00:33:57.000 Like when you are about to have a panic attack or anxiety or get nervous or afraid, what are

00:34:02.020 you telling yourself?

00:34:02.880 What's the formula?

00:34:03.860 Where do you go to?

00:34:04.880 I'm curious because I think that's something a lot of people can pick up from, including

00:34:08.580 myself, at any phase you're at.

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

00:34:47.220 overwhelming for anyone.

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

00:34:51.900 or not, it is overwhelming.

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.

00:35:02.480 We have to be in control of that.

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

00:35:24.300 way.

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

00:35:35.560 it.

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.

00:35:56.160 It's something that I do a lot now.

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

00:36:11.340 that wire for half an hour, 45 minutes.

00:36:13.780 I am way more calm leading up to getting on that wire and speaking to them than walking

00:36:18.680 on the stage and speaking with them.

00:36:20.140 There is something about the psyche of a calm and peacefulness about being on that wire.

00:36:24.560 It is sort of my, again, it's a safety net.

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

00:36:38.800 your mind to go.

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

00:37:01.220 you say you've spent on a wire or rope?

00:37:04.440 Well, I know I've walked thousands of miles on a wire.

00:37:07.400 Certainly.

00:37:08.020 I would tell you that I have probably spent at least a quarter of my life, maybe a little

00:37:13.940 bit less than that, a lot.

00:37:15.120 I mean, I'll spend 68 hours a day on the wire often, five, six days a week.

00:37:18.920 You got to be kidding me.

00:37:19.760 No, I'm, I'm on the wire a lot.

00:37:21.920 Let me, let me get this straight.

00:37:23.340 Did you say four to six hours a day, six days a week on the wire?

00:37:27.440 Yeah.

00:37:27.740 Six to eight hours a day often.

00:37:29.080 And sometimes seven days a week.

00:37:31.200 It is, it is something that we, it's just like anything, the more practice, the better

00:37:35.440 you're going to get at it.

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

00:37:51.700 today.

00:37:51.960 I don't need to rehearse.

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

00:38:00.160 have rehearsed more.

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

00:38:13.160 same age where three months apart, you're 41.

00:38:15.480 If you do that for 25 year average, it's 47,000 hours on the wire.

00:38:20.420 Does that sound about right?

00:38:21.820 That's, that's a lot of hours, but it does.

00:38:23.820 I have spent a lot of my life on a 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,

00:38:50.820 Carl, 73 years old was him.

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

00:38:57.340 at such and such age.

00:38:58.500 Do you even think about that?

00:39:00.040 Yeah, I do think about it.

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

00:39:08.020 be doing this.

00:39:08.580 And my mom will argue with me.

00:39:10.060 In fact, she told me specifically, she pulled me to the side one day and she said, Nick, I

00:39:15.100 need to talk to you about something.

00:39:16.120 And I thought I was in trouble.

00:39:17.680 This was only about a year ago.

00:39:18.840 And I was like, what, what mom, what happened?

00:39:20.580 Did I say something and I do something wrong?

00:39:22.100 And she said, I want to make this clear on my 70th birthday.

00:39:26.100 I want to do a walk with you.

00:39:28.260 And, uh, and it was, she was serious.

00:39:29.740 And, and again, I thought I was in trouble.

00:39:31.280 I'm like, yes, mom.

00:39:32.080 Okay.

00:39:32.280 We'll figure it out.

00:39:33.140 But that stresses me out.

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

00:39:40.380 from the NBA.

00:39:41.460 He's not going to do it.

00:39:42.440 He still has a full court.

00:39:43.360 I'm sure.

00:39:43.660 And every house that he owns, cause that's, that's his passion.

00:39:46.300 It's what he loves doing.

00:39:47.320 That's what inspires and motivates him.

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.

00:39:55.560 We're risking our life with our passion.

00:39:57.100 Yeah.

00:39:57.600 So I've tried to prepare myself.

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

00:40:04.340 retire from the wire.

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.

00:40:15.320 Uh, and I'll always practice.

00:40:16.600 My mom's still on the wire five days a week training.

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.

00:40:26.180 Cause it's, it's, it's her passion.

00:40:27.920 I think the over under is you're going to go past 55.

00:40:30.380 So what is the next big one you want to do?

00:40:33.360 So if you've done volcano, you've done time square, Chicago, Niagara falls, what's, what's

00:40:38.360 the next one you're looking at?

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

00:40:49.000 and go higher and to find locations.

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

00:41:08.960 him.

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

00:41:13.940 and a dream of mine to do a stunt.

00:41:15.820 It won't be wire walking, but in outer outer space, actually.

00:41:20.480 Okay.

00:41:20.920 Let me get this straight out outer space.

00:41:22.800 What wire walk in outer space?

00:41:24.280 No, it wouldn't be a wire walk.

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

00:41:33.340 some incredible live TV.

00:41:34.500 And, and truly what we do and what we've done for 200 years is inspire people that nothing's

00:41:38.940 impossible.

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

00:41:55.340 if I'm real.

00:41:56.340 That's when I know I'm inspiring people.

00:41:58.400 And that is really my passion and my dream.

00:42:00.640 No question.

00:42:01.020 You're doing that.

00:42:01.600 So, you know, in sports, you in boxing, you see a George Foreman get knocked out by Muhammad

00:42:07.100 Ali.

00:42:07.440 Nobody thought it was going to happen.

00:42:08.500 He went into depression a couple of years.

00:42:09.920 Uh, you saw Sugar Ray Leonard go against Roberto Duran and, you know, he beat him psychologically

00:42:15.140 and physically.

00:42:16.220 He was in depression for a couple of years.

00:42:18.100 You see it happening in sports where somebody goes to the finals or world series or Super

00:42:23.260 bowl.

00:42:23.560 And it's a very, you know, traumatic loss, public loss.

00:42:28.040 Sometimes they don't get over it.

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.

00:42:49.360 What did that do to you?

00:42:51.220 And how were you able to recover from that single event that happened to your family?

00:42:56.060 Yeah.

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.

00:43:04.220 We were, we were doing well.

00:43:05.400 We started two feet, went up 10 feet.

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

00:43:29.680 pyramid.

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

00:43:34.180 it up at full height.

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.

00:44:04.300 She broke every bone in her face.

00:44:06.080 Uh, she has 73 screws and plates in her face alone at this point, uh, was in a coma, internal

00:44:10.580 bleeding, a lot of broken bones.

00:44:11.980 My aunt, a couple other guys hurt pretty bad.

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

00:44:24.640 my sister was going to live.

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.

00:44:37.840 He said, what are you going to do?

00:44:39.380 And I said, dad, I don't even know.

00:44:40.900 I, I, I mean, it never walked the wire again.

00:44:43.100 And it wasn't fear at that point in any way.

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

00:44:58.760 them.

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

00:45:02.500 you.

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.

00:45:05.760 I've got your back.

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,

00:45:15.500 I'm there for you.

00:45:16.440 I got your back.

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,

00:45:26.620 you're right.

00:45:27.380 This is what our family does.

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,

00:45:34.040 the other two that stayed and caught the wire.

00:45:36.020 Couldn't talk to my sister at that point and get their blessing.

00:45:38.540 And I did that.

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.

00:45:45.280 Get back on the wire.

00:45:46.400 So I did.

00:45:47.060 I got back on the wire the next day.

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

00:46:03.560 going to perform the seven person pyramid.

00:46:05.020 So very similar to that pyramid matter.

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

00:46:16.620 of me on the wire.

00:46:17.260 And after about a week of that, I started to physically tremble on the wire, something

00:46:21.960 I'd never experienced in my life.

00:46:23.260 In fact, the emotion of fear, I didn't even think existed in my DNA, certainly for walking

00:46:27.620 the wire.

00:46:28.600 And I remember going through that process.

00:46:31.040 And, and after a week of that, going to my wife and saying, do you, do you know what's

00:46:36.060 going on in the pyramid?

00:46:36.880 Are you watching this?

00:46:37.620 And she goes, yeah.

00:46:38.280 I said, well, who's shaking.

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?

00:46:52.400 I was like, who's shaking?

00:46:53.420 She goes, it's you.

00:46:55.020 And I thought, there's no way it can't be me.

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

00:47:05.320 through this.

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.

00:47:11.780 And he goes, what the hell is wrong with you?

00:47:13.920 I was like, what do you mean?

00:47:14.580 What's wrong with me?

00:47:15.600 Thinking that they didn't know what was going on.

00:47:17.400 They can't see me.

00:47:18.140 They're all in front of me or on top.

00:47:19.960 And he says, you're shaking like crazy.

00:47:22.040 What is going on with you?

00:47:22.900 This isn't the Nick Walenda that we've all looked up to that, that drives us to greatness.

00:47:27.380 This is not the guy who we've respected.

00:47:30.160 And at that point, what happened was a, I had to admit that I was fearful, but at that

00:47:35.080 point I was dealing with shame.

00:47:36.160 The fact that here I am the, the, you know, the greatest wire walker of our generation,

00:47:41.880 I'm fearless and I'm not fearless.

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

00:47:57.160 down to the root of what fear actually was.

00:47:59.020 And then, then work through that fear.

00:48:01.100 It got to the point where I told my wife one evening, I said, I'm done.

00:48:04.400 I'm not getting back on the wire ever again.

00:48:05.940 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

00:48:13.860 on one side, seven of the old, uh, of the other.

00:48:16.420 She has two Guinness world records herself.

00:48:18.380 She's an amazing aerialist and daredevil.

00:48:20.200 And, and she supports me because of that.

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

00:48:29.000 words, never give up.

00:48:30.300 The show must go on.

00:48:31.860 That's the way you've lived.

00:48:32.860 You do what you do all the time.

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.

00:48:39.640 She goes, nah, that's not you.

00:48:41.080 You're not going to give up.

00:48:42.280 And I remember sitting back, feeling defeated, literally sitting back in the couch and tears

00:48:46.520 rolling down my face.

00:48:47.400 Like I'm defeated.

00:48:49.060 I changed two laws in two countries.

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.

00:49:22.980 I'm not going to go down this path.

00:49:24.560 And my mind was deep.

00:49:25.800 It was in the gutter at that point.

00:49:27.100 I was in the valley.

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

00:49:54.680 and going, okay, how were you raised?

00:49:57.020 What were you taught?

00:49:58.040 And what are you doing differently now?

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.

00:50:16.940 Thousands of times you've held this pyramid.

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,

00:50:48.340 so blessed for these opportunities.

00:50:50.500 And then at the end you said, God is so good.

00:50:53.340 And praise you, God.

00:50:54.660 Thank you, Jesus.

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.

00:51:04.020 God is so good.

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?

00:51:23.340 How much of it is training?

00:51:24.500 How much of it is mental and emotional toughness?

00:51:27.000 What would you say?

00:51:28.420 I would say it is probably split into thirds evenly.

00:51:32.940 I mean, my training is important.

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.

00:51:44.860 And the truth is, I am so grateful.

00:51:47.380 I see it as surreal.

00:51:48.980 I have been able to do things.

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.

00:52:15.960 And I do see it as an amazing opportunity.

00:52:18.320 A, this is me living my dream.

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.

00:52:34.980 This is my dream.

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

00:52:53.940 the permitting process of it.

00:52:55.700 Again, I am extremely grateful for those opportunities, and I don't take it lightly, and I consider

00:53:00.380 myself extremely blessed.

00:53:02.180 I look at my family.

00:53:03.540 I look at our industry as a whole.

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

00:53:14.600 the circus?

00:53:15.200 It is one of the oldest forms, the purest forms of family entertainment that inspires

00:53:20.020 people.

00:53:20.880 People clearly love it.

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.

00:53:45.660 It's about that fear of feathers.

00:53:47.480 My great-grandfather said in the circus, one day you eat the chicken, the next day you eat

00:53:50.480 the feathers.

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

00:54:18.340 never able to work together.

00:54:19.500 We see each other at televised events, et cetera, and we celebrate together, but we're

00:54:23.140 never able to perform together.

00:54:24.660 Well, because of this virus, none of us have contracts.

00:54:26.800 Entertainment, live entertainment's dead.

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

00:54:45.300 hard to be inspired.

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?

00:54:53.340 I have not.

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

00:54:58.480 million copies.

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

00:55:09.580 before.

00:55:09.840 Gives you the exact formula in it, and the main story that the consultants and the author talk about

00:55:14.580 is Cirque du Soleil.

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

00:55:21.300 saying you want to reinvent the industry.

00:55:23.160 But yeah, I got a technical question for you.

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.

00:55:40.420 Hey, dad, 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

00:55:57.260 are.

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

00:56:00.860 real.

00:56:01.140 You walked across a volcano, you know, Times Square, Chicago, Niagara Falls.

00:56:06.500 How do you prevent yourself from being cocky?

00:56:10.020 Yeah, that's a great question.

00:56:11.380 I would tell you my wife does a great job at preventing me from being cocky.

00:56:14.660 She always keeps me in check.

00:56:16.300 But you know what?

00:56:17.040 I was raised to always be humble and kind, no matter what, never forget where I came

00:56:20.800 from.

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

00:56:31.060 time you meet him.

00:56:32.020 And that's the reality.

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.

00:56:38.680 We all have the same opportunities.

00:56:40.400 And I think what keeps me humble is to continue to reach down to those people and say, look,

00:56:44.640 I made it up here.

00:56:45.660 Now it's your turn.

00:56:46.320 If I can do it on a wire, then you can do it in your business, in your corporation.

00:56:50.540 I don't care.

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

00:56:59.760 of your ability.

00:57:00.360 You work as hard as you possibly can and you make your boss's job as easy as possible

00:57:04.900 and you will eventually have his job.

00:57:07.240 And because of that, they are extremely confident in life, not bold, not cocky, not arrogant,

00:57:12.220 but extremely responsible.

00:57:13.700 In fact, I couldn't be more proud of my 22-year-old Marine who's serving our country.

00:57:17.840 He didn't have to do that.

00:57:19.120 Dad has money.

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

00:57:29.720 stuff.

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.

00:57:39.760 It was their decision.

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

00:57:46.900 what?

00:57:47.100 We want to serve our nation.

00:57:48.360 And to me, the most rewarding thing, a job, opportunity I've had in my life is raising

00:57:55.500 children.

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,

00:58:19.960 today's the time.

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.

00:58:42.460 And I've really enjoyed talking to you.

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.

00:58:55.880 Thanks so much for having me on.

00:58:57.120 It was an honor.

00:58:58.080 Appreciate you.

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

00:59:09.040 or a volcano.

00:59:10.240 Where do you have to go mentally to do that?

00:59:12.200 I was fascinated by the interview.

00:59:13.680 I'd be curious to know what you took away from it.

00:59:15.420 Please comment below your thoughts.

00:59:17.120 And if you want to watch more things having to do with the mindset of somebody that's able

00:59:22.200 to compete at that level.

00:59:23.240 I did an interview with Tim Grover, who was a trainer to Michael Jordan.

00:59:27.340 He was in The Last Dance.

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.

00:59:35.460 I think we counted 100 F-bombs.

00:59:37.620 He drops the entire interview.

00:59:38.820 But he will give you a certain way of thinking that got him to write this book called Relentless

00:59:45.200 that most athletes have read.

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.

00:59:52.580 But thanks for watching, everybody.

00:59:53.580 Take care.

00:59:54.040 Bye-bye.

Valuetainment - September 30, 2020

Man Who Flirts With Death Wire Walking Over An Active Volcano Opens Up

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