Summary
Have you ever felt like life is falling apart all around you? Sometimes we can have a string of “bad luck”, and how we react really makes all the difference in the world.
Today’s guest Cary Judd had a much worse 2020 than most (and that is saying a lot considering the global circumstances in 2020), and the way he processed his grief was to start something new. He took on a new challenge that starting opening doors he didn’t even realize existed before. He is now about to leave for Iceland where he will ride an electric skateboard over 800 miles! Yes, you read that right! Soon you will be able to watch a documentary chronicling this journey. You will have to watch to learn more, but trust me, it’s worth it!
You can learn more about the documentary here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax6TYxHS1_U
and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/caryjudd/
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Transcription
Phil Salter 0:01
All right, welcome to no better time. This is Phil Salter, I’m here. So excited to be here with Kerry Judd, someone that we connected with on Facebook, at least two or three years ago at least. We have a mutual connection, Todd barley, who kind of made you aware of my real estate photography, and you kind of gave me some feedback? Do you remember that? Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, took the time, which really meant a lot to me. Okay. No, you’re It was nice. I hope you’re very nice about it. But you’re also worth direct, which I appreciated. Yeah, no, that’s great. Yeah, which can be hard. You know, if you’re, if you’re a little too precious about what you do, he might not be in a mental place sometimes to get that feedback. But you even give me examples of similar images, and you made changes. And I was like, I’ve utilized what you taught me every time since I’ve done a photo shoot. So it’s been hugely important to me. And it was meant so much to me that someone like you would take the time to do that. And you’re just like, we had the back and forth for a bit there on like, messenger. And I was like, Wow, I can’t believe you just give me all this information in time. So that’s something that really impressed me about you. And it’s put you obviously, in a very high place, in my mind is a lot of respect, and appreciation for you. So as I’ve seen you kind of posting things and doing things you know, on social media, I’ve always been it always caught my eye since then. And can you kind of the thing that stood out to me recently, actually, I was gonna ask you a question I’ve been trying to ask people carry is because the premise of my podcast is, it all started with me wanting to like, take on take risks and learn things that kind of intimidated me. And that can go a lot of places. And one of the places that intimidated me was learning about budgeting, not budgeting, but like investing in like growing wealth. And one of the things I wonder about with everyone, like what was your relationship to money when you were a child? And has it evolved over the years? Or how has it evolved?
Unknown Speaker 1:58
Well,
Cary Judd 1:59
my relationship to money when I was a kid, I went after it very early on, I had some good friends in the street I grew up on, we were probably around six or seven years old. And we had this idea. And the neighborhood where I grew up, was surrounded by just open space. And so they were developing it. And me and two of my buddies thought, you know what, let’s go start a lemonade stand, where they’re starting to develop where these construction workers are. And they were, they started coming down to us, this is on a main road. I know, it sounds like a lemonade stand sounds like you know, some kids out in the front yard. We went over a couple blocks, we set up the stand. We started with lemonade, and the construction workers would come down and be like, you know, 25 or 50 cents thing. And they’d be like, well, how much to fill up my thermos and be like, Okay, well, that’s $1.50. And so these, these three, seven year old kids were pulling in, you know, 30 $40 a day and then blowing it that afternoon going out to the arcade the afternoon or the donut shop, or just doing whatever we wanted. And then the second summer we did we got serious we we I mean, I don’t know how serious you can be over the lemonade stand at seven. But I remember we started thinking, well, if we expanded, there’s some things we could do. We could go buy a brownie mix and make a pan of brownies and see how that does. Right away. Like we would sell it to the brownies, like first thing in the morning. And so for me, it’s always been especially where we live in, you know, the US with capitalism, everything. If you have an idea, there’s just 100 ways to succeed, I think and that was from a very early age. And I think that was from my mom having her own business, running her own business and using hers very specific skill sets. And that’s kind of just bled over I think in most of my adult life. I just turned 45 a few months ago. And I think three, maybe five years of that I’ve had an actual job where I had a boss. So Wow, that’s amazing. Yeah, that’s really cool relationship with money is that? Yeah, yeah, I don’t, I don’t it’s it’s and money doesn’t equal stuff, or money equals freedom. It buys you time to do things that you care. Yeah. And that’s, that’s always been my attitude, I think, from very early age.
Phil Salter 4:09
Oh, for sure. That’s something I’m realizing too is, the more I can get in control of money, the more I can make choices with my time and do the things that I feel are most valuable. So it’s not that money makes or buys happiness, but it gives you the power to make choices for sure. That’s really cool. Because you think about like limited, Stan, what’s more cliche than that? And you could say, it kind of is another proof of all the fountains. Yeah, yeah, that shows you more proof of the abundance in the world around us that even eliminates down if you do it well. And you find the right place to do it. It’s going to be successful. Like you didn’t have to dig super deep to think of the most creative thing in the whole world is just a good idea. That worked. That’s something that like, that’s something that I’m starting to realize is it’s like there’s opportunities everywhere. You know, it’s just all around us. So yeah, that doesn’t surprise me though. About your that you started so young with that attitude, because it seems like you’re always doing things like you’ve been a musician. And I’ve listened to your music, I really like it. You’ve been a photographer, a cinematographer. And that kind of leads into something that you’re doing right now, which is really amazing. You’re, you’re in the midst of creating a documentary called eight to eight, or a 28. I guess, I don’t know how you would say it. Can you talk about that? And what led you? What led you to that? And kind of,
Cary Judd 5:29
yeah. One of one thing that I think probably, if you let it will bring out a lot of inspiration is burnout and failure. And I was kind of tired of juggling, you know, commercial clients. And then now I’m over here, you know, I was doing all kinds of different things. I was doing some sort of documentary research for Honda. And then I was doing commercials, I was working on commercial shoots for like, auto manufacturers and Blue Cross and then and making my own fun short films, in the meantime, just sort of build my portfolio as a cinematographer. And then in the last year, I kind of started burning out on it. And I mean, 2020, I can’t say that my 2020 was any worse than anyone else’s. But it just got worse and worse as time went on. And I just didn’t feel like doing anything. And so I think that sort of burnout led to me having this idea that I was going to go to Iceland with an electric skateboard, and ride all the way around the ring road, which is 828 miles. And a lot of other things get into that. I think you’re aware of some of it. In April, my mom passed away, which was, which was rough, you know, the pandemic was going on, along with a really vicious election. And then, let’s see, let me remember the sequence of events I’m I passed away in April, the morning of her funeral, about a week later, I got a call that a friend of mine had taken his own life. Wow, a few months later, I lost my job, one of the one of the jobs I’ve had as an adult, and then as a creative director for a company here in Boise. And then my cat got killed by a car in August. I mean, I shouldn’t be laughing, but sometimes that’s humor is my humor is my armor.
Phil Salter 7:18
We can’t judge how anybody processes these things, right?
Cary Judd 7:21
That’s, that’s the whole premise of this. And the bottom dropped out for me when my dad passed away a few days. And so it was like, you know, I had this money, a little bit of money in savings. Apparently, my parents left me a little bit of a nest egg, but I kind of just moved that over into investments to not really mess with. And I just thought, What do I, what can I get motivated to do, and I had an electric skateboard. And, and this is in winter in Boise, which isn’t a terrible winter, but it’s pretty chilly. And one day, that was I just decided I was gonna go out and ride it. And then that was like, the only thing that was getting me out of the house. And so I upgraded to a bigger one with more range, and then upgraded again, and then started talking to my friend Drew, who’s going to be directing the documentary. And I was like, What about if Iceland opens up? Like, would you want to go do that? And he was like, absolutely, let’s go do that. And so that’s sort of been my, it’s like you said, You can’t judge how anyone grieves. And this is, this is my, my way of working through it.
Phil Salter 8:17
So amazing. I mean, that it comes up. In fact, I just had a recorded interview with Todd, our mutual connection, Todd barley, just yesterday. And one of the things he said that really stands out to me is that sometimes, you know, what, make what makes us change, right? What, what’s the catalyst like is this did make a big move, or go for that thing. That is a risk, or just that we’ve been wanting to do, or make a thing to make us aware of an opportunity is sometimes a lot of pain and a lot of failure or different things that kind of acts as the catalyst. Sometimes we just, it doesn’t always need to be that. But that seems to be many times that like, really hard times, lead to really big changes. It’s like another example of my wife telling me she learned cuz she’s, uh, she danced. She did study ballet in college, this idea of, sometimes we feel like we’re moving backwards, and we’re losing ground. That’s really where if we’re in a slingshot, it’s like the pressure is building and we’re about to be launched forward to places we never even expected or thought we could be. That seems to be kind of what happened with you here. And I’m really sorry about all the tragedy that happened to you. It’s like, really, really rough time.
Cary Judd 9:27
Yeah, yeah. And it’s, I mean, there’s just a lot in a short period of time, and I think I already knew that I needed to Yeah, I needed to, I needed to lose that job. I think My only regret was not leaving on my own terms. You know, they started scaling Oregon, and I and I had been, you know, it. I was, I was a creative director. The very little the job was creative. So I was very unhappy. So it was, as I was walking out the door, I didn’t think oh, that was a blessing in disguise. It was just a blessing.
Phil Salter 9:56
You say you saw that pretty? For what it was right then hey, this is better for me cuz sometimes we don’t realize that Yeah. Until retrospect, right, but
Cary Judd 10:04
yeah, yeah. And it’s and that’s the thing too is sometimes I think one of my bigger weaknesses is that I’m slow to make big decisions. And so I’ll be very passive. And so it was kind of, yeah, it was just it was just a blessing. And I knew at the minute I knew that the minute I was getting in my car to go home.
Phil Salter 10:21
So then it sounds like you’re you’re still planning this whole experience of going to Iceland, right? You’re Yeah, it looks like you’ve been doing a lot of training because it’s a very physically difficult thing. Like you’d mentioned recently, on Facebook, people think, oh, what’s so hard you’re standing on that longboard is like no. imagined skiing down the hill all day or something, right? You’re saying?
Cary Judd 10:41
Yeah, imagine you pull off the left, and you come around the corner that that ski run is 100 miles long, you’re gonna have a different attitude about it. So it’s not heavy cardiovascular, but it’s like I’m doing a four hour leg workout pretty much. And yes, amazing. It’s it’s kind of fun, though. Because I’ve needed to get in shape. And like, my leg muscles have just turned into like, nuclear missiles. And they’re just like, hard. And it just feels like it feels good to have that kind of agility. I mean, I’m 45 it’s, it should be I should be on the decline right now. And I’m approaching as good a shape as I’ve ever been in. So
Phil Salter 11:14
let’s, let’s, I mean, that’s the thing that’s never like, by the way, my podcast is no better time any no better time than present to do something. And you could say, oh, man, I would have thought of this. 10 years ago when I was 35. You Nope, no, man. Let’s do it. Now. This is the time. Nothing to you know, nothing to stop you.
Cary Judd 11:31
I was I would, I would. And that’s the thing. That’s the great thing about ages. Like is you do gain wisdom with age. And I know I’m, I’m not 60 I’m not 75. I’m not like a wise old man. But like, I can cut through the crap a lot faster. I know. Okay, this is a good idea. This isn’t a good idea. This has a better chance of this doesn’t it’s, that’s that’s the nice thing that comes with age. And I’m just, yeah, yeah. Fortunately, I haven’t had any major injuries or anything slowing me down.
Phil Salter 11:57
That’s awesome. So what would you say so far, as you’ve been training and planning, and I’m sure it’s a lot of logistics around preparing for the trip itself and where you’re going to go and the whole process, but what things would you say you’ve been learning during this process of training physically, or planning or moving forward with the idea that maybe there’s things you’re surprised you’ve learned? Or maybe things? I don’t know?
Cary Judd 12:21
Yeah. Well, and I don’t know if this is where you want to go with this. But one of the things that’s really surprised me that I’ve learned is, these boards when you when you get into the big boards that you can get, you know, 4050 100 miles range out of which is what I’m reading now. These are not, these are not Toyota’s these are Ferrari. So every so many, so many miles, you have to go through and make sure everything’s tight, everything’s synced up the right way, or your gear drive and everything. So I’ve actually been learning a lot of basic engineering and electrical engineering stuff, which is not something I’ve never, you know, spent any time around. I never even worked back when I was a musician, I never even worked on my own guitars. And so learning that has been really, it’s been really like a surprise skill set that I’m starting to build. And I’ve got a long way to go. But once we’re in Iceland, I can’t, I can’t call a friend to come, you know, do some soldering. For me, I’ve had to learn how to do all of these things, and how to just maintain a piece of electrical engineering, which has been really kind of cool. It’s been a nice surprise. And I was intimidated by it. But after I started getting some grease on my fingers, I was like, This is cool. Like I can, I can like, I’m to the point where I could like modify a board or you know, just go into the speed controller inside, which is like a small computer and set my own settings for my acceleration speed and, you know, put a limiter on my top speeds, don’t anything stupid. And yeah, things like that. So that’s been, that’s been one thing that I’ve really, really enjoyed about the process and something new that I’ve learned,
Phil Salter 13:49
oh, that’s, that’s so relevant, actually. Because this idea of I’m sure, it’s been really empowering for you to to learn this new skill or this new things that maybe previous you would have thought, Oh, I’m probably no good at that kind of thing. It’s, it’s, we can surprise ourselves, we can really, if we put in the time, and we have enough motivation, we can learn all kinds of things we never thought we were capable of. And so it’s gonna feel really empowering and be really, and that’s going to translate into other areas of your life. I’m sure as you take on other challenges, like I have enough evidence from my previous experiences, that even though it seems like I have no idea how to install a toilet, for instance, I can find this out and do it or, you know, whatever, you know, that’s a weird example. But because I need to install a toilet Yeah.
Cary Judd 14:33
No, no, but especially in this day and age, you know, my, my, my old my older sisters just started restoring this house and she’s learning all these things, you know, and she’s, here’s, you know, telling you all this stuff about real estate and what happens in drywall on the order the framing, the electric and the drywall go in and things like that. And she’s I mean, she’s got a few years on me then and it’s I think that’s what keeps you happy to be alive is continue You’re going to progress and learn things. And I know it sounds like such a cliche platitude. But as long as you’re learning and growing like you’re still alive, it’s when you It’s when you stop and give out that just, you know, clock in and clock out for 40 hours until you’re 65 that you’ve probably, you know, you’re sleeping in a coffin at that point.
Phil Salter 15:18
Yeah, you don’t want to wait until you’re that age to think that’s when I start living my life. You know, you want to be living your life now. Yeah. And so that’s something I’m learning. It’s because like I said, this whole podcast thing has evolved. And these are skills and things that translate to like, how we make money, but it doesn’t have to be just about making money that could be a byproduct, or could be unrelated, even, but learning how to find our passions and grow.
Cary Judd 15:44
Yeah, if money is your number one motive that’s gonna get I just seems really disappointing. But you can do better than that. You can have a bigger motivator. I think that’s always been been my thought. So and again, it’s money is freedom. And that’s, that’s where money comes into play for me.
Phil Salter 16:02
Yeah, it seems like if but if you’re following passions, it’s not. It’s not far behind that there’s going to be some kind of payoff. And but yeah, it’s not always going to be the exactly in a bunch of money. But yeah, that’s, that’s not unrelated either. So yeah, totally. I think that makes a lot of sense. Yeah, I’m really excited for this. And I can’t wait, what’s the timeline? Go ahead, you’re gonna say something else,
Cary Judd 16:24
maybe leave for Iceland on July 28. And that gives me 11 days to skate 828 miles, and then we will be back. Wow, August 13 13th, I think and then, from there, we’ll go, we’re gonna jump right into editing. So we want to have a finished cut by the end of the year. And then Drew’s who’s directing it, Drew Garcia, he’s, he’s represented through APA, one of the holly, like he said, I was I was a Hollywood agent. So from there, we’re going to go to shopping to Netflix, and Hulu and HBO and all the all the streaming services. And we hope to be ready to have a finished product, product in hand ready to shop by end of the year.
Phil Salter 17:03
That’s fantastic. Because I was gonna say, I mean, that’s just part of it, filming it, doing it, but then all the editing and like getting those deals in place. So it’s gonna be some time, but I’m really excited for when I can watch this on whatever platform it’s on. It’s gonna be really amazing. And of course, I’m gonna brag to everyone that I knew this guy and I interviewed him before he even went to Iceland. Iceland’s got to someplace I really want to go. It’s such such a beautiful place. But well, if people wanted to
Cary Judd 17:32
everyone who has a camera wants to go,
Phil Salter 17:34
Yeah, that’s true. If people want to learn more about this project, or other things that you’ve you’re a part of, or in the past, like your music or other things, where can they find you?
Cary Judd 17:44
They can Google my name is probably easiest way. Yeah. For the 828 documentary, we have an Instagram page. That’s just 8828 documentary. And then my personal Instagram page, which is just Kerry Judd, one of those, you’re gonna see a lot of what’s going on behind the scenes.
Phil Salter 17:59
Car. Why and ca r y? j udd? Yeah, correct. Excellent. Yeah. So check them out, check out because he does have a trailer right now, for the documentary. And I’m sure you’re posting. I’m seeing a lot of these clips that you post on Facebook, because we’re friends there. But obviously, for people who aren’t your friend on Facebook, I’m sure it’s on Instagram and all those things as well. In fact, I need to follow your channel. Yeah, I’m gonna follow that right away. And yeah, but on YouTube, I believe is where you posted the the trailer for this kind of teaser where the word for it a teaser of your
Cary Judd 18:35
Yeah, that was just a daily from training and that’s on ice cream entertainment YouTube channel. That’s Drew’s YouTube drew and his brother, Nate’s YouTube channel.
Phil Salter 18:44
Excellent. Yeah. So look for that coming out. But check that out in the meantime, and you can get some, some pieces of that as it’s coming together through those channels. Like we said, I want to thank you again, just for the time you’ve given me something I’ve been really excited. And just really grateful that you put aside this time to talk with me about this, just these ideas of seizing the day taking risks like this is all related. Like I said, Yeah, the premises, learning finances, but Dude, it’s all related if we want to be related. Yep. All right. Well, thanks so much. You have a great day. You bet.
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No Better Time 