Audacity, Relationships, and Reinventing Yourself | RR380

Hello, hello, and welcome to this week's episode

of A Relationships Rule. My guest today is Audley Stevenson,

and Audley has interviewed himself over 3000 people across

nearly two decades of podcasting. I should be nervous,

but you know what? I'll do it my way. But his own story is just

as compelling as any guest that he's had on. When the pandemic

shut down professional basketball and took his role as

a Canadian basketball league commission commissioner with it,

Audley found himself searching for what came next. What he

found was audacity. I love that word-a thread he now sees

running through every chapter of his life, from coaching his own

kids to building the Audacious Living podcast into a show with

over 650 episodes and a book on the way. Today we're talking

about relationships-the ones that carried him through hard

seasons, the ones that show up in his family, and the ones he's

built one conversation at a time, so welcome to the show.

Oh,

thank you. Thank you for the wonderful

introduction, Janice. That was a pleasure to be here. Truly,

truly is. So thank you. Well, it's my pleasure. And not to

worry, 3000 interviews, no big. It's nothing,

right? Yeah. And you're you're 650 episodes on

this current podcast. I haven't quite got there yet, but I'm

getting there. I'm at 380, so I'm getting 700

now. But who cares? I love it. Okay,

so we know you've interviewed over 3,000 people.

When you think back to how this all started with an NBA podcast

back in 2008, yeah, what surprises you most about where

it led,

and I never saw it coming. Like I just

really, really didn't. Like I, I think where I've benefited

myself throughout this entire journey is this, this

willingness to remain open to opportunities. Beautiful. Also,

also to be able to recognize them, opportunities too. Like

because, because you know in life I think opportunities

always avail themselves, but we don't always see them until we

actually do need to see them. If that makes sense, and so it

does because I remember like there's a quote,

there's a a little adage about you can't see the forest for the

trees, yeah, right, yeah,

and that or there's another one when when

when when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. That's

something too,

yeah.

Right, it's another all those along those

lines. But yeah, it was very much about being ready. So I

think it's a combination of being ready, like myself, from a

emotional psychological standpoint, and also be able to

recognize it. So I think that's been the key, where it's like,

oh wow, because really, when when you think about it, our

life truly is is a collection of experiences. And when you stop,

there's a there's there's expression that says when you

when you when you're living life forward, it's an art, right?

Because in the moment you're going with what you got, you're

going just how you feel. You're going kind of how in the moment,

but when you stop and look back, you can see where it's a

science. Where I went here, if I didn't go there, then I couldn't

go there, and I couldn't go there. So the dots actually

connect, so it all makes sense. But in the moment, you don't

know, right? You're just like, well, that's

right, that's right. You don't. But okay, so

when when this happened and the pandemic hit, and you were

defined really a lot by basketball, right? There's no

question, right? And by the way, for my audience, when when

Audley and I first met, we were introduced by by somebody, and

when I looked at his LinkedIn profile and I saw basketball

over there. I thought, "Oh, there's no problem. We're going

to have lots to talk about because that's in my in my

experience in my life as well. So I loved that. But but

actually, when um, what would you say? Because you knew that

you had to do something else. You had to find that other

something new at that time because it wasn't happening.

Although I do remember watching, wasn't it the wasn't that 220 19

was the year that the the Raptors won, but the following

season when they were all indoors in Miami practicing and

all of that. That was the beginning of COVID, right?

That's right, 2020 March. It was

just the weirdest time. Weirdest time. Okay, so

what's interesting is I don't think I

knew I had to do something. Like I'm, I I just knew I wasn't

right. I I wasn't right. I just knew that. And and and and for

me, the it's really important, and we're all different how we

attack problems and how we you know deal with them. But for me,

the key is knowing what is the cause of this. So, because once

I know what the cause of it is, I can go full force and go,

okay, now I know what to do. Others might just go out full

force without doing the investigation. That part's

important for me to understand because once I understand. It

helps me sort of figure out how not to do it again, if that

makes sense, right? But did you feel

like something was missing?

Oh yeah. Oh oh yeah. Oh, without question, was

missing. I I I often talk about these feelings of not wanting to

get out of bed, being lethargic, and a guy who's generally upbeat

and positive to talk about being in depression just seemed very

odd to me. Like it's like I'm depressed. What do you mean I'm

depressed? Like that's what it was, and it was literally,

literally, and and this and this speaks to the power of words. It

wasn't. I was. I remember being in a conversation with a friend

of mine once. We're just talking on the phone, and I and I

remember I literally said, ever since I lost basketball, and the

moment those words came out of my mouth, I was like, "That's

it. That's what's going on with me. Like I didn't see it before.

I couldn't see it before. I didn't understand it before. And

the moment I said those words, Janice, it was crystal clear

what was going on. I don't have basketball. The thing that

inspires me, as you said, the thing I'm known for. Yes, yes.

My whole persona as this basketball guy is not there

anymore. Now what? Exactly. Fortunately for me. Fortunately

for me, I've always kind of dabbled and experimented and

tried different things, and podcasting was one of those

things in my past that I tried before and I had done, and I'd

done for several years. In addition to having a basketball

podcast, at one time I had started an old school hip hop

podcast where I was talking to guys like Run DMC and just like

just going way back. So so I had that experience in talking.

That's one of my 3000 people, right? Yeah, but that

that was back in the day before podcasting was as

saturated a market as it is now. Yeah,

we're we're talking like I mean, the the NBA

started what in 2008. That was the first year, right? And so,

but it's very very different landscape now.

Totally.

But what I knew though, I knew that I had

that in my back pocket is something I'd done before. Yeah.

So so you know, and and I think I think past experiences are a

wonderful thing because they give us evidence. Because if

you've done it before, you can do it again.

Yes, of course. And that

and and that was my approach. I said, okay,

kind. Let's let's do it again. But this time, I knew I didn't

want to do basketball because I had done that already. Yeah. I

want to do some, and and because of how I was feeling, I wanted

to be very intangible what I chose to discuss and talk about.

And it was in that moment I kind of did this analysis. I

literally look back at my life, and I'm like, okay, what have I

done? Where have I been? What my experiences have? And what I was

able to see quite clearly is that in every every win,

accomplishment, milestone, there was that red thread of audacity.

Literally, like if I didn't, if I wasn't audacious enough to do

this, that wouldn't have happened. So if I didn't go,

hey, let's try a podcast. No one's ever heard of it before.

Let's try it. Oh, great! We're now doing a podcast. Hey, let's

see if we get in the NBA locker rooms and talk to guys like Kobe

Bryant. Great, we're doing that. Hey, there's no basketball.

Maybe I can go to this basketball league and ask me,

and because I'm an NBA podcaster now, maybe they take me on

board. Great, let's happy. Let's do that. Oh, you're offering me

a job as commissioner. I've never ever done that before.

Great, let's try that again. So that that it came up time. That

was a thread. Yeah, it's a big, big. I say a big thing of yarn.

I should say thread. It was a you know piece of yarn, and it

was at that point. I'm like, it's audacity. That it came as

clear as day.

So that's interesting. I'm sorry, I have

to interrupt you because that's very interesting because I

couldn't quite. Well, I could get the word, but the word that

that makes me think of is in in I'm in my I'm Jewish, and and in

the Jewish faith, there's we always talk about having

chutzpah. Yes, that's exactly what you're talking about,

hutzpah, and having audacity is exactly the same. And now I get

it because if you don't stop and think about it, you just forge

ahead and do it. You never know what's going to happen, so it's

amazing.

So I mean, I potentially this could have been

the hutzpah living podcast. Potentially, it could have been

right. Yeah,

yeah, yeah. Exactly. No, no. This works for

you. It's good. It's good. But okay, let me ask you. So you've

you've said that every guest leaves a piece of themselves

behind. They do. Can you share a story of a conversation that

changed how you see something in your own life?

Um. One of the most powerful. I'm literally

getting as I'm saying. I'm literally I'm getting

goosebumps. I'm not even exaggerating. Like I am. There

was a gentleman who appeared on my podcast. He had gotten gotten

through significant depression, addiction. He was suicidal on

more than one occasion. He overcame that, and he he tells a

tremendous story of adversity and perseverance and getting

through challenges. And I started to talk about there's

this concept I have called the bold framework, and bold is.

Acronym B O L D B stands for better than yesterday O stands

for Outlast Adversity L is Live Your Truth and D is Disrupt the

Norm. Actually, it's over my shoulder there. You can see it

there, bold framework, and so and so as we we had talked, we

we conversation got into that, and he said, Oh, oh, Outlast

Adversity. I really like that, and I said, Well, yeah. I mean,

that's exactly what you've done. Like, if you didn't do that, we

wouldn't be talking now, right? Because he'd been, and he said,

and he paused and goes, "You know something? You're right.

And he said, "Hold on, hold on, hold on. I said, "Okay, sure. I

mean, we're in a podcast. If he tells me to hold on, okay, he

gets up, and he leaves. He comes back with his son. His son was

like eight or nine years old, and he's bringing son a really

cute kid, and you know, and the cut, and he's making faces at

me. So, and he said to his son, because you know, yeah, Audley

and I, we were just talking about we were talking about

outlasting adversity, and I realized that if I didn't

outlast adversity, you wouldn't be here now because I wanted to

take my life, and I didn't. And honestly, Janice. Oh yeah, I

just got a shiver too.

Like, what do you? Yeah. Now, what do you say?

I tell. I mean, that that probably happened three years

ago, but it's like it's like I feel like it was yesterday,

right? It was that powerful, and he and he went on just to talk

about how important it is to keep fighting through

challenges, and and he wanted to use that moment as an

opportunity to teach his son about the significance of

perseverance and resiliency. And I think really, and and and

obvious, it stands out for obvious reasons. But but it was

just so raw, and the emotion was so real. What it did, what it

did, not maybe not necessarily changed anything or changed my

learning, but what it did do is reinforce the work I was doing.

Like you know, we're always looking for evidence to right.

And now, were you working

with him?

Pardon me.

Were you working with that man?

No, he was just a guest. He was a guest. He

was just a guest. Oh wow!

Simple as a guest. That's all it was. He and

I don't know who made the connection or how it came about,

but he was a guest, and we had again a wonderful conversation.

But it just reinforced in my mind because because again it

was a marker. Yeah, oddly, this is where you're supposed to be,

and here's another example of that. And so that's beautiful,

powerful moment. Powerful moment. There was there was

another instance where another another gentleman he talked

about his father. So his father had passed away, and so he had

the unenviable task of going through his father's things and

his belongings and cleaning up, throwing out what have you, and

he told a story about how his father had a dream about

starting a small engine repair business, and that and he was

really passionate about engines and it's something he wanted to

do, and so he was doing a lot of research, and I think I

purchased items or had things in preparation of this business,

and the business never launched and never got off the ground for

whatever the the reason why I don't matter just didn't happen.

And he's describing literally throwing away his father's

dreams because I'm right like that. And that's those were his

words. I feel like I'm throwing away my father's dreams, and and

and and but the message he takes from that is the importance and

the significance of acting now. Like we sometimes run into

situations and we say, "Oh, now's not the time. We're

waiting for that perfect time. Oh, I don't know how to do this,

or I'm afraid to do this, or whatever it is we come up with,

and we don't take action. And this instance, his father didn't

take action on this thing that was definitely a dream for him,

and he did move forward. And as a result, his son now is

throwing his dreams away, and that was also a really powerful

moment too. I would say,

yeah, definitely. I I just get a sense from you

that that you could be and are very inspirational to people

because you have been audacious and done those things that you

you didn't stop to think that maybe you couldn't do it. You

just did it, right? Yeah,

yeah. I I want to joke and say maybe I was just

too ignorant or didn't stop to look or maybe I was smart enough

to realize. I don't know what it was, but I think a part of it

was I just I I think what I think for me I've never lived in

a place of limits. It's beautiful, yeah. And and and and

and I attribute that I I have to I have to attribute that to to

my mother. You know I was raised in a single parent home as a

child, and at no point did she ever make me feel like my idea

was bad, or give me put up walls to why I shouldn't do this, or

try this, or give this a shot? And she's a natural problem

solver by nature. Like it's like she's like, yeah, bring on

problems, I'll fix them. Like that's literally her attitude.

And so she doesn't stop. So I that I know that. Piece of me

definitely is part of her, but the piece that I think that

really is how I was raised. Like I was just raised to just go and

try and see.

Yeah, that's that's beautiful. So I noticed

something in reading about about some of the things that you've

done that you coached both your son and your daughter in

basketball.

Yeah,

and even did something that I don't know if I

shared this with you before, but you switch teams to coach a

rival school, and my husband taught or coached boys

basketball in high school for 28 years, and then all of a sudden

our daughter was coming into junior junior year, and he had

the opportunity to coach her. So changing to girls, but also

changing to a rival school. So going from red shirts to blue

shirts, and he was beside himself. And of course, I said,

"Well, you can't not do it because you coached everybody

else's kids. So, what happened for you in that situation?

You know, you know what it was. It was. It

was. It was just more than anything. Was just the

opportunity. So me again. You know, me being true to self. Oh,

a chance to coach. I'll go over there. Like that's that's

literally.

But you were teaching at that school, right?

You were just no, no, no. I was, I was

all, I was always. I've always been just a

volunteer coach, and I followed my kids wherever they went.

Yes,

and it was just. It's

a little easier in that respect. Yes,

that's right. Right, but

still, it is different, you know, than

absolutely. And I

think it was more. It was more just. It was

just another opportunity, and that's how I saw, and that's how

I dived into it. Now, the other thing that helps is I got pretty

good relationships in the basketball community, and so

everyone kind of knew me, and and they know what they're going

to get with me, right? Like as a coach on the sidelines,

regardless which team I'm on, animated, I'm jumping up and

down, I've energy. They know that, right? Yes, you know, I I

was acting true to form right from the beginning.

So speaking of your son and daughter, yeah,

does that audacity go down to the next generation? Has it

rubbed off on them?

So I I tell them that all the time, and

they're they're the kinds of kids like no, and like and and

I'll I'll help with that time you did that and

yeah and

and and what what's and so so without

question, all three of my children, I can see my red

thread through them throughout. No question about it. And that's

good.

I think I think my son is probably, I

think yeah, my eldest daughter. So I've got three children. My

son, he's the boy. He's the last child, and so I think my son and

the eldest daughter are pretty close in terms of of me. But at

the you know about my middle, I can see my middle daughter too.

She's got like they they all have it. They all they all troy.

Okay, well that's good. That's good because you want

them to, right? Do any of them still play

basketball? Are there any of them still playing basketball?

So no, my son now has got into coaching, which

for me is just really I love that he actually went back and

coached his old high school team.

Love it, love it.

His so his last two years of high school,

he came well in his second last year. He came to me and said,

"Hey, Dad, you know what? We need a coach, and if you don't

come and coach, we can't have a team.

Yeah.

But okay, cool. So we I went and I found

ways in my crazy schedule to make it fit, and I coach. And

then the then the cool thing in the second year, I knew it was

going to be challenging scheduling wise. Yeah, and so

when they asked, I was like, "It's hard. And my son kind of

stepped in, and he sort of played that player coach role,

right? Nice. And that, and then what happened is, as he's in

this role, I just stop showing up. Like you got this, Mike. Go

ahead. And so then you know, so so then he coached. Then he then

he graduated. He goes university, but then he went

back and coached for three years. I want to say maybe two,

two for sure. I know that he's gone back and coached his old

high school at least two years in a row. And so, so coaching is

something that he's really, really inspired him, and he now

is interested in reffing as well too. So he wants to. So my

husband

did that too. That's interesting. Yeah. Okay.

So I know this goes back a ways, but I think it'll light you up

too. So what was it like stepping into the NBA locker

rooms early in your career, and how did those relationships open

doors you didn't expect?

I was so giddy. I

bet you were.

I was giddy beyond belief. So my buddy Dave

and I we started this NBA podcast. Now I'm watering up

because I'm just tearing up a little bit because that's how

I'm still emotional. I think about it. So my buddy Dave and I

saying to start this NBA podcast, we one of the players,

former player Tracy Murray, we became good friends with through

the podcast.

Okay,

and and Tracy was always a popular former

Raptor here. Toronto had really good relations, and we actually

approached the Raptors one time before, and they didn't allow

us.

And we said, "Okay, cool, and we went off into some stuff. And we

and Tracy was involved with us for a bit, and I'm not to this

day. I don't know if he was the difference maker, or in terms of

allowing us, that gave us the passing, but but it worked, and

um and it's funny because without relationship, that was a

very cool and silly, is a great relationship to this day. I

every time I touch every often I touch base with him, and I and I

do think he was integral part of us getting into the locker room.

Well, that makes sense. You know, when you talk

about trust and with relationships, they had to have

some trust, and they didn't know you from Adam, but they knew

him. Correct,

correct. But they knew we talked a lot. We we

they knew we were affiliated to Tracy, right? Exactly. And Tracy

spent a lot of time on our podcast in the early days,

right? And so we we got in, and I we were like like I said,

giddy for sure, and we acted like we belonged. We felt it was

important. You were audacious, right? Yeah, yeah. Of course,

and I and I always remember, and I have a photo where it was a

media scrum with Kobe Bryant, and you had the ESPN reporter

there, and they had their microphone with their mic flags

on it. Yes, and the other, and the other, and I remember, I

remember saying, "My buddy Dave, I'm putting it in. Make sure you

take a picture of us. I was front, and he, and and I, and

you see, I got my hand right in Kobe's mouth, and he took that

photo, and he saw our little mite flag, right? Because I

wanted to act like we belong, right? Yes, yes.

I love it. And

I remember, and it was always comical in the

locker. You never knew what happened. So Dwight Howard

played for the Orlando Magic back in those days, and he was

always-I mean, early his career-he was just a joke. He

was

Dwight Howard spent a lot of time up in

Vancouver hustling a young girl that lived that went to school

with my daughter.

Wow! Yeah, yeah, he certainly has an

off-court reputation. That's for sure. We we don't, but but on

the court he was you know he was a comical guy, and I remember

one of the producers from one of the sports channels. They were

they were trying to get, they were trying to, they they wanted

they wanted a funny. They were trying to get him do something

animated, funny, and but he just I guess in that moment he wasn't

interested, he wasn't into it or whatever, and me and my buddy

Dave were there, and we were we we would wake up these trivia

games. So that's one of one of our things that we made up these

trivia games, and we'd have fun with it. Well, we started

laughing with Heidu Turkaloo, right? That's who was and he's

and he's and if you remember him, he's a really straight

player. He's very deadpan. What he's Hedo Turkaloo, he played.

Yeah, he was in Sacramento. He played for Atlanta. He played

some time in Toronto as well at the tail end of his career.

Anyhow, he was actually laughing. So Dwight heard what

was going on, and he came over, and then and then it just went

off the rails. He was very ridiculous. And I remember the

producer goes, "How did you do that? He wouldn't talk to us,

right? But we were just kind of being ourselves, and you know,

showing energy and love and passion, respect at the same

time. And those are sorts of little things I remember that

that that really made that experience so worthwhile.

Oh, that's that's amazing. So, let's fast forward

to today, and you're writing this book, and oh,

it's written already.

Oh, yeah, you've written. Yeah, it's coming out

december

1. Well, it's on pre-order now. It's available

for pre-order now, but december 1 officially releases.

Okay, what's it called again?

Living your best audacious life ever. How

unleashing your inner greatness can change the world.

And you say it with that big smile you have.

I'm sure that it's going to be a great one. Living your best

audacious life ever, yeah. I see the cover of it on your LinkedIn

profile. It's perfect.

Yes, over my shoulder as well too. Yeah,

yeah,

exactly. So give me the the the top three things

that why why do I want to read that book?

Because well, in fact, the top three things I

will provide you the top three myths of audacity.

Okay.

There is a belief that unless I'm doing big

things like skydiving, climbing Mount Everest, wrestling with

alligators in the Florida swamp, if I'm not doing those big

audacious things, then I'm not being audacious.

Got it.

And I'm saying no. Audacity is everywhere. If

you do anything to step outside of your comfort zone to try

something new, use that. I call it quiet courage. To maybe maybe

maybe you're in a meeting and you're speaking up, and your

point differs from everyone else. A quiet confidence, a

quiet courage, rather that gives you the confidence to speak up.

Perhaps you know you've got family members or close friends

that you need to establish boundaries with because they're

constantly being violated. There's a level of audacity

required to step up and say, "No, I'm not accepting this

anymore, or "No, things are changing." And so, yeah, it

doesn't have to be big things. Audacity can be very, very

small.

Okay.

There's another belief. So the second

point I'll give you that audacity is only reserved for

the quiet for some. So if I'm if I'm a CEO or I'm an elite

athlete, they can be audacious, and I'm saying, well, actually,

no, we all can be audacious, and and if you think of life, so

like one of the analogies I provide is if you think of life

like a big racetrack, all of us are cars on the racetrack, and

audacity is the engine that determines how far and how fast

we go. And and and if you and if you're looking for further proof

whether what you know of where audacity lies, watch a baby

learning how to walk. Watch the determination. Watch that. And

no one, no one says to that child, "Okay, you're at the

right age now. It's time for you to get up and start walking. Or

and and and and let's say they did. Who said that's when the

baby would do it anyways, right? Or when the baby starts to try

to walk, if someone were to say to them, "No, no, now's not your

time. You're gonna do it anyways. We're not gonna let you

hold them back. And then what happens? They get. We all got

the image, right? They get up and they they wobble a little

bit and they fall down. What do they do? They stand back up

again. They try it again, and maybe they may take another step

or another step, and they fall down again, and they get back

up. That's audacity in action right in front of us, and that

happened as a child. No one taught that baby. No one gave it

any instruction. It just operated on its own. I think

what happens is life sort of weathers us down, and

experiences tell us that oh, you can't do this. People say we

shouldn't do that, and then we don't.

Yes, exactly. Beats us down. Yeah,

does. And then, so I talked about the

bigness of audacity, right? And doesn't have to be big and be

small. I talked about it being it's available to all of

us, right?

And then I also want people to understand

that audacity doesn't have to be reckless. There, there is, there

is, there is a negative connotation, or definition

rather, that audacity is. I'm not doing something. So you

know, if I, if I, I'm not happy with my job one day, and I walk

and go. I quit and get up and leave. Is that audacious for

sure? No question about that. But that's not the only

definition of audacity, right? If you take that same example of

this job, right? So, so, so picture this: you've gone to

school for many years, you studied in whatever profession

that you're in, you go and get an employment in that, you're

working there for 1015, 20 years, and then decide this

isn't happy. This isn't satisfaction. I need to leave.

Well, the and often you'll see many people do this. They'll

start to research. They'll start to do information reviews.

They'll start to network. They'll start to look at

transferable skills and where else can I go? And now after

they've done all that, then they get up and leave. That's still

audacious, right? The same scenario two different

approaches,

right? Still, yeah. It still takes guts to do

it. Well, and that's exactly it. That's what

I'm saying. It's still audacious. Those two different.

It's the same scenario. Yeah. Two different. Two different

approaches. The the you know throw my stuff in a cardboard

box and I'm out of here, right? Or let me do the research and

you know delicately take my my my mom my mom raised me off of

sayings and expressions. And one of the ones she always says is,

"How do you take your? She'll say, "The way you take your hand

out of a lion's mouth is very slowly, right? Very slowly. So

yes, if I'm not happy with my job, I can very slowly remove

myself and find a new direction. That's still an audacious act.

Of course, it is. Yeah, and and that's building

confidence in that person. So I love that. So as you look, as

you step further into this part of your life, this chapter in

your life, and you're going to start. I'm wishing this for you.

You're going to start promoting your book and be, you know, be

putting that out there soon and talking to people about it. What

role do you want relationships to play in what audacious living

looks like going forward?

I think it's important, and and and it's a

wonderful question because I think we oftentimes forget the

power of relationships. I used to for for, and I'm not

embarrassed or shy to say this because it's I I own it, but I

could I could vividly remember a time in my life where I

subscribe to this theory, and I don't know where it came from,

how I landed on it. I was a self-made man. Everything I did

with me alone, I didn't need nobody. I got on myself, and I

had my head high, and I'm proud of who I am. I don't know if I

did it in the way of pumping myself and feel good about

myself. Game, I don't know what, but I. I do remember as time

went on, going well. That's not true. Like different people have

helped me every step of the way. You know, even if even if a

stranger on the street passing by and says hi and smiles at me,

they give me a shot of confidence that feel good that

moment in that moment. That's helping me, right? Because if I

feel good, okay, I'm positive. I feel my head's clear. So, so it

was. It was. I'm. I'm so glad I woke up from that, right?

Because it is. It is the power of of relationships that helps.

I would say every when I look back again, when I talk about

those major successes, right? It's power relationship. I

talked about Tracy Murray, right? Being integral and us

getting into the you know NBA locker rooms. As much as I talk

about, you know, I started an NBA podcast. I had a friend who

I did it with together. My buddy Dave. If he wasn't there, it

wouldn't have happened. And and and this is key because it's

it's not just about well, just start a relationship.

Relationships are formed by commonalities and connections.

The reason why Dave and I were able to come together the way we

did is because he was he was an on-air reporter at a sports

station. I was the internet, and the commonality that we shared,

and we we both loved basketball at a time when the Raptors

weren't popular. At a time they thought the team would be lost

that we wouldn't keep the team any longer. Way before they won

a championship, way before they even made the playoff, we were

like, "Go Raptors, going. We felt that you know, and I get

we're a hockey country. I get it. I know Harry. But we felt it

should be the same level as hockey. Well, that was never

going to happen, at least at that time. Right. But that was.

But that was so that we that shared commonality allowed us to

develop a relationship, allowed us to talk about working

together, allowed us to be friends, allowed us to have

great experiences together. So relationships, it's I'm not

doing nothing great without any relationship. I'll tell you that

right now.

I believe that too, and I think that's that's

great. So I'm going to ask one, a couple of quick-fire

questions, and then we'll wrap it up. So, I believe in my

favorite word is curiosity.

I do. I love it.

So I'm going to ask you: Do you believe that

curiosity is innate or learned? And secondly, what are you most

curious about today?

I I I think it's innate, and we learn how to

develop the skill, learn how to develop it. So I think we're

naturally a child. You think I go back to child? Children are

just naturally curious about the world around them. Why is the

sky blue? Why is the light yellow and like they're just

naturally curious, and but again, life sort of don't ask

those questions. You'll get that, or you're not supposed to

know that, or that's not you for you. So I think life kind of has

a part to play in why we lose our sense of curiosity, that

childlike curiosity. But I, but I think it's innate to all of

us, but just has to nurture and develop like any other skill,

and and in terms that I'm most curious about, it's it's. I live

each day with this general excitement about what's next,

right? And how far will this go? And if I mean, Janice, if you if

you haven't picked up by now, I'm very very passionate about

this thing called audacity. Extremely extremely passionate

about it, and it's it's something that I want everyone

to experience and everyone to understand, and and especially

the significance that it can make in our lives. And so I'm

always excited about. Well, how? What else can I do to push the

needle? What else can I do to move things forward? I remember

once I was listening to a podcast, and a woman talked

about. She she actually was talking about the word audacity,

but she was giving the definition in a very reckless

sense and was describing it very negatively. And I remember being

personally offended. Like I literally was personally

offended. Like you got it wrong. That's not what it is.

Literally, I'm screaming into my my my phone. Like, no, you have

no idea what you're talking. This is what, and so it's it's

that it's that level of passion I have for this word, but not

just for the word itself. It's what it can do for other people.

Oh, I can tell for sure. Who who do you listen

to? Do you listen to podcasts?

Yeah, I I I don't necessarily have one. It's

a wide array. I very much I very much tune into topics. Like I

like I I I love to hear the topics. Okay. Um, and and I love

stories, right? I love stories of of overcoming and

perseverance. Okay. Wow, this is what I learned when I got to the

other side. That because I love those stories, and so okay.

See, that's never where I go, but that's

interesting because yeah. Well, this has been amazing. So your

your story is a reminder to me that audacity isn't about

chasing the spotlight. It's about showing up fully in the

reality. Relationships that matter, even when the path

forward isn't clear. Whether it's family, career, or the

guests who have shaped your book, connection has been the

constant. So thank you for spending time with us, and to my

audience, check out Audley's book. Check. Do you have a

website, Audley? I do.

So my website is bestaudaciouslife.com.

Surprise, surprise.

Yeah, yeah, I'll put that in the show notes.

Okay, and then

the book the book has we're just fishing cup

pages on the book website, and the book website is

livingourbestaudaciouslifeever.com.

Perfect, and they can pre-order it now, and it's

coming out in December. Okay. Well, I wish you well with that,

and to my audience, thank you again for being here, and

remember to stay connected and be remembered. There we go.