Dave Albin

Dave Albin is the world's #1 Firewalk expert/instructor. Dave spent 19 years with Tony Robbins as his Firewalk captain before venturing off on his own to start Firewalk Adventures. We chat about overcoming addiction, what is firewalking and the life-altering impact it could have on your life. You can find Dave's content via his website firewalkadventures.com.

Transcript

Intro 

Rob Valincius: And, you know, normally I do this show on Thirsty Thursday. I figure, you know, Drink the Clock Podcast, Thirsty Thursday, it kind of goes hand in hand together. Um, but you know what? Today's Friday, which is just as much of a party day. Um, and it's a special day because I have with me, and I probably should have asked you before I hit record, but your last name is, so it's Dave Albin.

Dave Albin: You killed it. You did

Rob Valincius: yeah. Uh, I have Dave Albin on the show today. Dave Uh, I'm your host, Rob Valincius. And, uh, you know, I'm cited because you're the world's number one fire walking expert slash instructor. Welcome to the show,

Dave Albin: told you that? What's going on with that?

Rob Valincius: I did a little research. I guess I got to do a little bit of a little bit of shit before we hit

Dave Albin: right, fine. I'll take it.

Rob Valincius: Now, now I know, I know you're, you're 35 years sober, right? Is it 35?

Dave Albin: Yeah, I got, yeah.

Rob Valincius: I ask my hosts if they're drinking or not. For you, I'm gonna cheers you because that's a fucking awesome achievement, brother. Uh, and this is coming from someone, my brother is a recovering heroin addict. He is three years sober.

Uh, and, shout out to him. He is actually going to have a kid on, by

Dave Albin: Ooh, look at you, Uncle, Uncle, Uncle Rob getting down.

Rob Valincius: First time uncle and I'm, and I'm a godfather on

Dave Albin: that's, ooh,

Rob Valincius: It's, uh, my, mom's freaking out. It's probably the most exciting thing that she's had in a while. Uh, because you know, I got to tell you, me and the wifey, we're going to stick to dogs. I don't, we're not kids people. I thought growing up, I'd have a bunch of kids.

It's a lot of fucking work, man. And, uh, I don't know. I don't know if it's for me. Uh, you know, I thought I wanted it, but after the years it's just like, You know, I like being able to like, have someone that I don't know stay at my house and watch my dogs or put them in a crate and we could just be spontaneous, which is nice.

You know, we like to travel. You can't do that shit when you have kids. You know, you gotta plan like years in

Dave Albin: I found that there's things you can do. You know, uh, that's why we're grandparents. That's why it's the golden years. You know, I'm all about being the grand, the grandpa, man. You know, I, I take the kid, I take the grandkids. I have a great time with them. I get them all sugared up and I give them back.

Rob Valincius: Free labor. He's free labor over there.

Dave Albin: And you know, and like my daughter, they do, they do date night every week. And so there's lots of people around and they've got two youngest man. She's got a seven year old and a 15 month old. So, you know, they, you can find a way.

Rob Valincius: We're not out of the realm yet, but I just turned 38. I honestly don't even know if the swimmers work. I'm gonna be honest with you. We don't know what's going on there. Uh, but Ha ha ha

Dave Albin: There you have it.

Rob Valincius: Uh, we don't, it's, you know, it's the Olympics. I figured I'd throw some, some, uh, some Olympians out there, but I don't, I don't think that that's what's happening.

So, uh, but this podcast, listen, this podcast is all about you, right? Um, when I started this, I just, I wanted to talk to people from all walks of life, all around the world. And look, I've interviewed people from. Australia, Japan, Germany, uh, the UK, obviously plenty of Americans, but I don't know if I've ever interviewed somebody of your stature with the firewalking, which I thought was really freaking cool.

So when, when Betsy reached out to me, shout out to Betsy, uh, you know, I was, I was all in to have you on the show. So I wanted to start off because I think reading your bio, you have a very, um, tumultuous, we'll say early years. So I like talking about that because I really think it sets up for what you're doing now.

So can you talk a little bit about your early life? Um, I know you had it pretty tough, so you could go into in as much detail as you like or as little, but tell us a little bit about kind of what brought you to where you

Dave Albin: well, let's tear this gab off. Um, a couple of months before I was born, Rob, my biological father, uh, we don't really know what happened. Uh, we do know that he hurt his head, um, at some point. And to save his life, they put a plate in his head. And this was in like 1953. So there was a lot of pain associated with that plate.

Well, two months, two months before I'm born, man, he turns to mom and says, Hey, I'm going to the grocery store. We never saw her from him again. And so when I was born, I was born to a single mom. She already had two boys. Um, and we were all living in a one bedroom apartment with my grandmother and another cousin.

So there were six of us. Now my mom, my biological mother. came out of what I believe is the greatest, hardest working generation ever, right? Because not only did they go through the Great Depression, they went through World War II. And a lot, I don't, you know, many youth today have no idea what that was like.

Because while the men were fighting both wars, like, like my dad, Army, he was in Europe fighting the Nazis. My best friend's dad was in the Pacific in the Navy. fighting the Japanese. Well, what do you think the women were doing when all this was going on? Everything.

Rob Valincius: had to be taking care of the kids

Dave Albin: yeah, but who do you think, who do you think built the jeeps and the trucks and the tanks and the planes?

My mom was known as Rosie the Riveter. She was working for Donald Douglas. She was out on the wing, man, driving rivets. They were making munitions. They were doing everything. Without women, we'd have lost the war. Because again, they took care, they took care of all the medical, the nurses, most of all that, the medics.

You know, the USO, all of it. So they were a generation that knew how to get stuff done and they knew a hell of a lot about adversity and struggle. And when shit goes down,

Rob Valincius: Yeah. I'm fascinated with world war two, man. Fascinated. I mean, just You know, and look, I will tell you this, uh, my generation. So I was born in 86. I just turned 38. Um, we've been through a lot, uh, not a world war, but we we've seen some fucking crazy stuff, Dave. Um, and I got to tell you, I think we're, you know, I guess I'm technically a millennial.

I don't consider myself a millennial. Um, but. You know, based on the years, that's where I kind of fall. I feel like I, I'm more of a, the older generation. So what's that gen? I don't know if it was gen X. Um, I don't fucking, everything's a new gen something,

Dave Albin: you know, but

Rob Valincius: but I feel like we're, we're in a unique set of generations where we seen, we seen some shit go down, you know, um, wars, 9 11.

You know, obviously then you had the pandemic, you've had other wars, like just a bunch of crazy stuff. So I always say on this podcast and I have young listeners, I always say to these guys, it's like, you, you know, you got it fucking good, man. You know, there was some crazy stuff that has happened and you know, people just complain now over the dumbest littlest shit and it drives me insane.

But, but go ahead. I'm

Dave Albin: the Great

Rob Valincius: had to vent a little bit.

Dave Albin: the Great Depression was, that was a rough one, man, because the shit fell through the, through the pavement, man. Everything went down. The whole financial system crashed. And so there were soup lines, man. You had, and you know, the way my parents were brought up was, you had to be able to do everything.

You had to grow your own food. You had to sew your own clothes. You got your happy ass out of bed when the sun came up and you went to bed when the sun went down. And you did it day after day for survival. You didn't go to freaking McDonald's. There was nothing. There was none of that. No, no internet. You know, most people didn't have cars.

They walked everywhere. You walked to school, you walked home, you know, you, you worked out in the fields. Um, yeah, it was a, it was a whole different way of life. And it, it created a culture of let's get shit done. So when World War II came around, they'd already gone through the great depression. So, you know, when something broke back then you didn't throw it away, you fixed it or you didn't have it.

And so, you know, the resourcefulness of those times in that generation is really, is really substantial. So the bottom line is that my mother that was, you know, my biological mother, she was a hard worker. All those, those people worked their asses off. Um, and so even though she was, you know, and I was born in Hollywood, so mom was working up the street at the Roosevelt hotel as a server.

Well, she just couldn't, she couldn't feed six mouths, man. She couldn't do it. So literally when I was five, she went to her oldest sister. Pat, who's my aunt by, you know, by, um, my blood, right? And she said, Hey, we can't feed David. Will you adopt him? And Pat and Bob Alvin said, absolutely. So my dad is a highly decorated officer in World War II.

He's career military. So he had a good job, right? He was an officer. So we had a nice house. We always had nice things. I never had to worry about anything. As far as it was always food on the table, the bills were paid. And so that was at five. And the transition of that, I don't, people ask me, so what did that, what was that like?

And I'm like, man, I don't really remember all that much. I just don't, I was five. So on the first day of summer, 1964, now I'm 11, the very first day of summer, 1964, I'm in the TV room and it's, I'm in Long Beach, California. Now, you know, I'm going to the beach and it's outside and you were never inside. That was a punishment.

Uh, you were always outside with your friends doing shit. And so, uh, my mom comes up, she comes in and she goes, David, come to the kitchen. Your dad and I need to speak with you. And so I come in and I sit down, what I think is going to happen. We did, we went camping a lot. So I'm thinking, they're going to tell me where we're going to go camping this year.

Where are we going? Big bear, Lake Arrowhead, you know, uh, uh, who knows? Yosemite. I mean, you know, we went all over. And so she, I sat down and my dad's here and my mom's here. And my mom puts her hand on my hand and with tears in her eyes, she goes, David, what we need to tell you is, We're not your parents.

What? What, what the hell do you mean? What do you mean? You're not my parents. That's like walking somebody outside and going, I know the sky looks blue, but it's not blue. Well, sure it is. And so that was a very, very, very trauma mystic, you know, very confusing. What, what, what is, what do you mean? And so she went on to tell me that I was adopted and that when she goes, you know, your, your aunt Dean.

And I go, yeah, she goes, she's actually your, your, your biological mother. And I remember thinking, I don't even like her. And the reason I didn't like her, Rob was because when she was around me, she was around me. She wanted to sit next to me, hold me, hug me, kiss me, you know, well, duh, I'm her son, but I didn't, I didn't know that.

Right. I just thought she was my affectionate. And, and by the way, it was never inappropriate, ever. It was just, she just wanted to coddle me all the time. So that was an interesting moment as well. So a couple of weeks after they told me this, and by the way, when they adopted me at five, they both stopped drinking.

Well, shortly after they told me this, they both started drinking and man, my life took a hard right turn. And uh, Pat was more of a happy drunk. She'd kind of drink and pass out at the kitchen table. Bob, he was vicious, man. He's mean, you know, he had PTSD from the war and shit. So, you know, he'd never dealt with any of that.

And so he drank, he, he was not a nice guy. And so I'm watching these two amazing people that I love dearly turned into just what the hell's wrong with you. So one day they went to the grocery store. Well, back in those days, you left your kids home. It's no big deal. And you didn't even lock your doors at night when you went to bed.

Um, And so you leave a kid home and all you had to do is, I grew up on a street of like 30 kids, literally. So my mom would call Joanne across the street who had three kids. And she said, Hey Joanne, Bob and I are going to the grocery store. If David needs anything, can he come knock on your door? Sure.

Always. In fact, tell him to come over now and make him a fried bologna sandwich. I'll never forget her fried bologna sandwiches. They were so good. Um, so I'm waiting for it. I'm waiting for him to leave. And I know where the booze is and they're hiding it in plain sight and I want to know what this shit is I don't know.

I just know they drink it. They turned into these people that I was unrecognizable for me And so sure enough man, they left and I walked over and I grabbed a cup and I grabbed a bottle was brandy And I filled it about half full that in that coffee cup and boom I drank it the whole thing Nasty tasting and you know what rob?

It was like pouring rocket fuel in me. I never had a chance I totally believe I was an alcoholic right there on the spot, 11 years old, because I started acting out right from the very beginning. I wanted, I mean, you know, again, I felt this superhuman kind of power, if you will. And I wanted more of it. And it helped me deal with the stuff that was going on that I didn't want to deal with.

Right. So it was helping me, you know, deal with the pain. Um, yeah,

Rob Valincius: I ask you this? Did you ever find out why they started drinking again? At that age? Yeah.

Dave Albin: working in the Pentagon. You know, we'd just come out in 1963. 1963 was probably one of the most critical times in our planet's history. The Russians had put all the missiles in Cuba. So it was called the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Bay of Pigs is what it was called. Kennedy, President Kennedy had just been assassinated in November of 63.

So there was a lot of shit going on militarily in the world, and my dad knew about it. So there was a lot of pressure on him. And he was an alcoholic. He just, he just went sober. He went dry sober for, you know, that when they adopted me at five for six years, though he might've been drinking a little and I didn't really know it or even recognize it.

But, but that, you know, once mom started drinking, I, I, he was drinking at home every night. You know, he was, he was getting DUIs. He, you know, he was losing his license. He was riding his bicycle to the bar. I mean, so all of that shit. And so I became the gatekeeper. My mom would drive me down to the bar and go, go inside and get your dad.

I had to go in the damn bar at 11, 12 years old and go get my dad out. Um, so, and so again, so for me, it was a way of dealing with, dealing with their alcoholism and the change, the radical change and to just amazing people. And though, however, when you poured alcohol in, man, you know, shit got ugly fast. So yeah, it progressed.

It just got worse and worse and worse. But at the time I was a junior in high school. They called me into the principal's office one day and said, Alvin, out. You're out of here. You're a danger to this school. Okay. See ya. I don't give a shit. I already had an entrepreneurial spirit at a young age. When I, even back at, you know, when all this was going on, uh, nine, 10 years old, I was already doing things that were driven by an entrepreneurial spirit.

Spirit, right? Number one, I had a paper route. Well, that's a seven day a week job, man. You've got to do it all. You had to go pick up your papers. You had to fold them. You got to put them in your saddlebags. You had to drive your route. You had to deliver them. You had to collect the money. You had to knock on doors when people would move in to see if they wanted the paper.

You had to turn all your money into your den mother. I mean, it's a full time job and I loved it. Um, uh, I worked, I lived across the street from a golf course and here's what I learned about golfers. They suck. So I'm riding my bike, I had a stingray bicycle, and right across the street is the, there's a golf course and a huge park.

They kind of met right where my house was. And so I would ride my, there's a lake and you could go fishing and shit. And I, I'd ride my bike over there all the time and I'm riding over there and I'm kind of riding my bike and all of a sudden, BINK! Right in front of me, a golf ball goes BOOM! And it bounces over my head.

I'm like, what the, where did that come from, right? So I ride over there and I pick up the ball, well, the ninth hole coming into the clubhouse was a dog leg left. And so if you were right handed, you had a slice, you'd hit the balls over the fence all the time. And so all of a sudden, here's this guy who goes, hey kid, bring me my ball, I got a quarter for you.

Oh, okay. Rode my bike over there. He gave me a quarter. I gave him a golf ball. 25 cents will buy me a big giant plate of french fries at, at the clubhouse, right in, in the cafe. So I'm like, well, there's gotta be other balls out here. So I started riding the perimeter and I'm fighting golf balls everywhere.

I probably found a couple of hundred. And so I went home and I cleaned them, washed them. I went back to the golf course and In the pro shop, when they would sell new balls, they come in boxes. Well, they didn't need the boxes, so they'd throw them out. So I'd go into the trash and get them. Go back, go get my golf balls, fill them up.

You know what I did? I went back to the, to the parking lot and guess what I was doing? Selling golf balls back to the golfers.

Rob Valincius: that's awesome,

Dave Albin: Right? It was awesome. Yeah, it was brilliant. Until other kids found out. I got a little competition and then I said, okay, well, I'll just, I'll come back at nine o'clock tonight, jump the fence and go in the lake.

Because the lake was only this deep. And so I'd find them in the lakes and none of the other kids wanted to do that, right? Of course, it wasn't really the most honest thing, but I didn't really, you know, am I stealing? Well, yeah, I was. So the bottom line is, um, I ended up getting a job. Uh, I started caddying and I started doing a whole bunch of stuff at the golf course.

Um, my mother, my adoptive mother, again, very resourceful. She grew thousands of flowers in the backyard. Thousands. She had a green thumb. She'd grow anything. And, uh, so she would take them, she would cut them and she'd arrange them for me. And here's what she'd do. Instead of cutting them at the bottom, she cut them at an angle.

And I found out the reason she did that is because it opens up more surface area for water to get into the flower. And then she had a beautiful eye for color. She'd arrange them. She put a twist tie around them and then she put them in a bucket and she put water in it. And then she put a little bit of seven up in the water.

And my flowers would outlast the local florist three to one. Now, I don't know what happens when you put seven up or bubble up or any clear liquid in, in the water for your, you know, if you go get, go get flowers for your wife, bring them home, cut them at an angle. Don't cut them at the bottom, cut them at an angle, put some good water in there and put a little seven up in there and watch how long they last.

It's in

Rob Valincius: I learned that a little while ago that the angle cutting But the 7up is interesting. I wonder I wonder if it has to do with the sugar

Dave Albin: I think it must.

Rob Valincius: Because obviously you know plants with photosynthesis and shit that that actually makes it makes a lot of

Dave Albin: Yeah, but you have to you,

Rob Valincius: But that's

Dave Albin: she told me you have to use a clear, uh, you have to use seven up. Can't use a Mountain Dew or Coke or root beer or any of that. It's got to be seven up. So, so I was selling, I learned how to negotiate out on the street selling flowers because every man that came up to me, most of them wanted to negotiate with me.

However, when women would come up, look at the cute little boy, give him what he's asking. Right And then I literally had like guys that would say hey, how much 50 cents about a bundle tell you what? I'll give you 75 cents for two and I go. No, thanks. Why not? Well, because the next guy that pulls up will give me 50 cents.

So why do I want to discount it to you? I look at him like what are you nuts? You think I'm stupid and then when you did that with them? Guess what they do. They take two dollars out of their pocket and give you two bucks to go. Good job, kid Like they were teaching me. They were grooming me Which I thought was pretty fascinating.

So anyway, my junior year, right, I get to my junior year, they kicked me out of high school and I went out and got a really good job and I needed a good job because I had a drug problem in junior high school. And you know, you know, you know the story of this, Rob, it just got worse and worse and worse and worse and worse.

Uh, I got married, got divorced, got married, got divorced, got married, married a woman that had three kids. I'm in my third marriage. And on June 8th of 1988, I woke up that morning and I said, that's it. I'm done. I am not doing this shit anymore. I, I, I had so much physical and emotional pain. I just, I can't stay.

I can't take it. And so what are you going to do? My idea in that moment was get your pistol, load it and, and, and, and, and take care of business because your pain will stop instantly. And I wasn't thinking about, oh, there's a heaven or hell, or I didn't give a rat's ass about any of that. All I wanted was the pain to stop.

I couldn't, I was so sick and tired of being sick and tired. And so, and then it dawns on me, Hey, hold on a minute. You pull that trigger. You're going to ruin those kids life. I had three stepkids. I loved them. And so I'm like, who do you think is going to clean up this mess in the basement with your brains blown all over the basement?

No, you can't do that, man. It's wrong. You've got to figure out another way. And so after contemplating that for a minute, having a moment of compassion, if you will, for my, for my stepkids, um, um, I was like, well, why don't you call, um, uh, you know, uh, Alcoholics Anonymous. And you know, what was interesting about that moment, Rob, I didn't even know who the hell AA was.

I've never been to AA. I didn't know anybody in AA. Where did all that thought come from? But there was, and I did. And I got this really, I got this wonderful, wonderful human being on the other end of the line. And she was just answering the phones for AA that day. And, and, and I've affectionately nicknamed her Madge.

And the reason I did is because she talked like this. She probably smoked, right? Probably smoking two packs of Pawball non filters a day. And she was a badass, bro. She was a gatekeeper, man. It was her job to interview you. And if she thought it was warranted, she would literally, excuse me, she would call somebody, a guy in AA to come pick you up and take you to a meeting.

Pass the test. Next thing I know, there's a guy at my door named Lauren from AA to take me to my first AA meeting. And that was on June, the morning of June 8th, 1988. Went to four meetings that first day and my whole life changed. I, I, you know, back in those days, I used to say all the time, I've only felt at home two places, some shitty little bar somewhere where I could sit in the back and drink like crazy and cry and, and, and act out or an AA meeting.

I went to an all men's group, man. And they loved me, man. They, they, they brought me in. They knew I was serious. They knew I was suicidal. Uh, they knew I was a sick kid. And, uh, so they loved me until I. To learn to love myself and it worked, man. And I, you know, and so I haven't had a drink or a drug since.

And as you mentioned at the beginning of the show, I, uh, in June, I celebrated 36 years. Now that's at the same time, that's where the personal development industry showed up in my life at the same time, because I had insomnia, right? So I'm up at, I'm up at night, late all the time. Can't sleep. And there I am one night, three o'clock in the morning.

There he is, man. Mr. Mr. Motivation himself, right? Tony Robbins, a young, enthusiastic, obnoxious, pompous shit. Tony Robbins, you know, talking about personal power, a 30 day program for total success. Well, shit, I couldn't stand it. I was literally turning it off. I turned it back on. I turned it off. But he said two things that really got me.

The first thing he said was, we'll do more to avoid pain than we will to gain pleasure. And I went, holy shit, he's talking to me because that's why I did drugs and alcohol. I was either running from pain or us chasing some pleasure. And then what really got me, he said, do you know how humans make decisions?

Like he was talking directly to me. I'm going, I don't know, Tony, he goes, they make them one of two ways. Inspiration. or desperation. And I'm like, holy shit, I'm pretty desperate. Maybe I should listen to this guy. And the next thing I, yeah, he got me. He was telling the truth. He was very congruent with what he was saying.

I just didn't like him because he was all motivated and I wasn't very motivated. I was freaking miserable. And so I bought his program and he sent it to me. It came in a big old box and it came on these little white things called cassette tapes. You'll have to look that one up. They're at the Smithsonian.

They're right next to eight track tapes in reel to reel.

Rob Valincius: I remember age, track and cassettes. Man.

Dave Albin: Right. It's funny.

Rob Valincius: we had an, we had a, uh, set up, he had a Firebird in the nineties and I was young and he had a, uh, I think it was either eight or 10 disc CD changer that was like in the trunk, and he would pre. Put in the CDs, but he also had a subwoofer that would blow our fucking eardrums.

I was me and my younger brother and it was awesome. But also, uh, I'm pretty sure I'm, I'm slightly deaf now because of it, but

Dave Albin: I have no problem admitting that, uh, in 1973, I think it was, uh, the, the Led Zeppelin came to the forum and I think it was four nights in a row and I donated about 20 percent of my hearing to those concerts. So I, I, I got you brother. So,

Rob Valincius: I can only imagine how fucking awesome it would have been to see those

Dave Albin: Oh Jesus. Yeah, back in those days, and I'm in Southern Cal, right? So we got concerts everywhere, at the Long Beach Arena, at the Forum, you know, at Anaheim Stadium, all downtown in Hollywood, and the Greek Theater, and the Aquarius, and, uh, yeah. We had it made. So, where it went from there was, um, I, I just you know, the personal development industry and AA were working in my life really, really well.

One of the things, you know, in AA, you've got the 12 steps and that teaches you how to put your life back together. And then on the other side, you have what's called the 12 traditions and the 12 traditions are there to kind of help you navigate through the group and operate, you know, in AA itself as a group.

And so they kind of govern what you do and what you don't do. And in the middle, it's called the preamble. And the preamble said, when anyone anywhere reaches out, I want the hand of AA to be there. And for that, I'm responsible. Well, I took that to heart because those men took me in. Um, you know, they spent time with me.

They took me out to lunch. Uh, they, you know, we started playing music together and it was a whole bunch of things. And so I, you know, I, I learned what camaraderie was all about. I learned what integrity was and what honor and code and things of this nature were. And, uh, and so I took that to heart. I, you know, I became a hell of a gatekeeper in AA.

I loved it when a new guy would walk in the door, man, because I knew that that man's life was on the line. That dude's gonna die if you don't get to him. It's kind of triage, if you will. And, um, yeah, right. So it was, it was spectacular. And then a few years later, like seven years later, I had loaned my tape program to a buddy in AA.

And so my buddy Dan called me like seven years later and he goes, Hey man, did you know that Tony Robbins is coming to town? And I go, no, man, I had no idea. And he goes, dude, come on, you got me into this shit. Come on, you got to go with me. I want to go. I'll go. I'll go. What's the date? Yeah, I can go. Great.

He goes, let me call you back. Boo. Dan goes away. Calls me an hour later. He goes, done. We pick up the tickets at will call. Here's what they told us to do. Number one, drink a lot of water. You got to stay hydrated. This is a four day event. You got to drink a lot of water. Number two, bring snacks to every event because.

You're going to spend a lot of time in the room. And I laugh because that's an understatement. Um, and then they said, be ready to play full out and bring a good attitude. All right. All right, Dan. Well, well, how much was the ticket? 695. What? 695 in 1995. What the hell is that worth?

Rob Valincius: It's a lot of fucking money in 95,

Dave Albin: what's, you know, what's that worth today?

Like 1. 2, 1. 3 million. I mean, by Bitcoin, hell, I don't know. Um, and he goes, don't worry, pay me back. I got you. I'll pay you back. So anyway, the big day comes. And, uh, Oh, by the way, just as he's getting ready to get off the phone, he goes, Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait. I got it. I forgot to tell you the most important part.

We're going to be doing a fire walk. And my brain immediately said like, hell we are bullshit. We're not doing a fire walk. And you know what's funny about that, Rob? I don't know what that means. I have no references. I have no idea what the word fire walk means, but it didn't sound like anything I wanted to do when you take fire and walk and put it in the same sentence.

But I'm not saying anything to my buddy, right? I'm just like, yeah, Dan, sure. Yeah. Firewalk. Yeah. Cool. Sounds interesting. Hung up the phone. I went, hell no, but that's okay. I, you know, I'm sure you get there. You don't have to do it. We'll let the crazies do it and we'll be done with it. Well, again, the big day comes and, uh, Tony took the stage at two o'clock in the afternoon.

And the next thing I know it's after midnight, 10.

hours in a room with Tony Robbins. And guess what? Nobody's leaving. People didn't even want to go to the bathroom. People would go up the bathroom and they'd run and they'd run back. And all of a sudden it's after midnight. And Tony says, take off your shoes. And I'm like, Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I knew where you're going with that shit, pal.

You're not fooling me. I'm not taking my shoes off. And, uh, but I got a problem. First of all, I'm in a room with 3, 500 people. Guess what? They're doing shoes off. You idiots like stop, don't you're falling for it. And then my buddy, guess what he's doing. His shoes are coming off. And so now what am I going to do?

Not take my shoes off because they're going to know, Hey, look at that guy over there, man. Didn't take his shoes off chicken shit. So I go, okay, so here's the plan. What's the plan? What are we going to do? All right. Take your shoes off. And when you're walking out there, we're going to take you out in this big parking lot where the firewalk is.

Lose your buddy and go hide in the back. Nobody's gonna know. Pretty easy to do. So that's my plan. Well, so when Tony's got everybody going out there, guess what he gets everybody to start doing? They're clapping and chanting. So you got 3, 500 people walking out there going, yes, yes, yes. And I'm walking out there going, no, uh uh, ain't doing it.

Rob Valincius: no.

Dave Albin: it gets worse, Rob. Because when you get out there, he's got African drummers. Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun. It's, it's, it's a summer night. The moon's out. It's beautiful. What a dog and pony show. So I'm walking out there and I go, boop, make a little sidestep. Boom, I lost my buddy. He, he lost me. Well, I lost him.

And so then I sneak off and I go hide in the back. That's my plan, right? Great plan. Or at least I thought. Well, Tony Robbins knows that the firewalk is probably, Nuh uh. Undoubtedly, one of the most life changing experiences any human will go through. It's been around a thousand years, used for all kinds of different purposes.

Tony wants to get you through it because he knows it's going to create a paradigm shift. He also knows if you don't do it, you won't, you know, you won't be part of that paradigm shift. So he also knows there's people like me and he knows where we are.

Rob Valincius: Crafty.

Dave Albin: And so what's he do? He trains people to come find you.

Well, son of a bitch. I'm back there. Got it all figured out. All of a sudden here he comes, man. Here comes this guy out of nowhere. And he locks eyes with me, which I'm sure he was trained to do. And he won't take his eyes off me. And he gets, I don't know, maybe 15 feet from me. And he's looking at me, tilted his head, like a dog that hears a funny noise.

Right. And he's like, Hey man, kind of points at me, goes, are you okay? And when we're not okay, what do we do? We lie. Right? Oh, yeah. Oh, I'm good, man. No problem here. Nothing to see. Move along, right? And the guy goes right for the kill shot. He goes, Hey, man, you're going to walk tonight? And I'm like, absolutely not.

Like you idiot. Why do you think I'm hiding in the back? What's wrong with you? And, and here's this stranger, by the way, Rob, I don't know who this guy is to this day, but he asked me, he asked me one question, one stranger, one question changed my life forever and everything about it. And the question was this.

Wouldn't you at least like to watch? And I'm thinking, well, yeah, sure, why not? Yeah, that's that. It'll be entertaining. Let's go watch these people burn their feet off the fools. And he goes, well, hey, man, listen, you can't see anything from back here. I'm a hundred yards away. I can't see anything. I can hear it.

Oh my God. You know, people are clapping, they're chanting and the drums are going, they're already firewalking. When they get to the celebration end, they're celebrating, they're jumping up and down like crazy. Um, there's a giant fire over here going, right? How do you fire walk 3, 500 people? You start off, you build a big ass fire.

And what they do is it burns all day. And they keep throwing hardwood on it. Seasoned hardwood. And after 10 hours, it renders. And so what they do is they take a wheelbarrow over there and they fill the wheelbarrow with coals. And then they take the wheelbarrow and they put it in between two lanes of sod, of grass.

which is about three feet wide, 18 feet long. They take a flathead shovel man and they sprinkle those coals on top of that grass. They pat it down and that's what you walk on. That's the fire lane. Well again, so I'm kind of walking along right and I can't see anything. I got 33, 000 people in front of me and all of a sudden I'm walking along and I'm walking and another stranger comes up to me and he whispers in my ear, And he said, he knows when you're ready.

When he says go, you go. And poo, this guy just disappeared into the night. And I'm like, what, what, what, what do you mean? What the hell does that mean? He knows when you're ready. When he says, go, you go. What does that mean? And so now I'm like, I mean, your brain's going nuts. Right. And all of a sudden I get to a point I can't see in front of me, but I can see at an angle.

Right. And Rob, they're doing it every race, every creed, every color. They're firewalking and my brain is going why what's wrong with them? We're mammals We're taught to run from fire not walk on it. And so now i'm mesmerized, right? It's like the car accident you say you're not going to look at well I'm staring at it and I can't take my eyes off it and i'm not paying attention where i'm going and the next thing I know guess where I am the front of the line and all of a sudden i'm like how in the hell did you get here?

and so

Rob Valincius: Ah, fuck.

Dave Albin: Fuck

Rob Valincius: Can't hide. You can't hide when

Dave Albin: and I'm staring at the coals and the lane and they're bright red the wheelbarrows are you can feel the heat coming off my heart is beating so hard I know it's going to jump out of my chest any second well there's a trainer right there and all of a sudden the trainer goes eyes up and he like scares me right I'm like holy shit okay yeah yeah yeah eyes up well when I was in the room for 10 hours with Tony guess what he teaches you to do keep your eyes up don't stare at what you fear you want to focus on the Other end, the celebration end.

That's where the reward is. And so now my eyes are up and all of a sudden the trainer goes, squeeze your fist and say yes. And I went, yes. And he went stronger. And I went, yes. Well, he could tell I wasn't in a peak state. I was leaving a lot on the table and he knew it. So he got in my face and screamed at me.

So now I'm kind of pissed, right? So I threw my hands in the air and I'm like, yes. And he goes, go, go, go. Boom. I took Remember the guy. He knows when you're ready. When he says go, you go. I did.

Rob Valincius: Yeah.

Dave Albin: here's the very first thing I learned about fire walking. When you take the first step, oh, you'll take the second, third, fourth, and fifth.

I promise you, you are not going to stop. Well, Tony positions two people at the end, two guys typically, and they lock arms and they catch you. And, um, they're like, stop, wipe your feet and celebrate. And I'm wiping my feet and I celebrate. I even thought I burnt myself, you know, when I first got finished, but I didn't.

My feet are dirty. I'm not even looking at them like no, there's no burns, man. You're just they're just dirty. And I can tell you, Rob, without any reservation whatsoever, it was one of the most exhilarating moments of my entire life, as well as 3500 other people. It's all going on simultaneously. We all just did something extraordinary.

We walked on coals that are 1000 degrees and we didn't burn ourselves. And how the hell did you do that? And so in that moment, you think you could do anything. It's like, Okay, people, where's the bus? Let's go, let's go climb Everest, you know, that's next. And so it was really spectacular. And this is day one of a four day event right that night of day one.

So I'll tell you where it got really interesting the next day. So the next day we're in the foyer getting ready to go into the venue with 3, 500 firewalkers. And to this day I've never seen or witnessed anything like it. humanistically unlike any time I anything I've ever seen. They're talking to each other.

They're communicating. They're laughing. I saw people crying. They were emotional. They're talking about their fears. They're talking about the firewalk. There was such a camaraderie connection. And I'm like, Holy shit. I mean, did we drink the Kool Aid last? Yeah, we did. And that's right where Tony wants you.

He's got you right where he wants to have you going into day two. Well, later in the event, I met one of Tony's trainers, a guy by the name of Ted Macy. I love this guy to this day, him and his wife, Mary, wonderful people out of Atlanta, Georgia. And I'm talking to Ted and, uh, and you know, we're just kind of hanging out.

Like we're buddies. Right. And I said, so Ted, let me ask you something, man. What's it like being in this environment on a regular basis? And he said, are you kidding me? Can you imagine?

Rob Valincius: It's gonna be

Dave Albin: It's intoxicating for sure. And so, uh, he goes, Hey man, you see those people standing over there? They get the black shirts with the red writing on, on them.

Right. And I go, yeah. And he goes, dude, those are volunteers. Those are, those are people just like you. They came to an event, wanted to come back, and so here's what you do. You want to come back? You want to be part of this environment? When you go home, call Robbins Research and ask them for a, a volunteer crew application.

I did it. Nine weeks later, I got a letter in the mail. It said, Dave Albin, congratulations, you've been selected to crew with the Anthony Robbins Companies. Well, color my ass happy. There I am. In Tony's environment. Now they do a really good job of asking you in the application, you know What do you do for a living your job this and that why do you want to come?

How do you want to serve blah blah blah? So I had a military background had a security background So because of that they said hey guess what? We could put him on the security detail to have to take care of of tony's celebrities The other thing is he lives on a farm So he probably knows tools and tractors and everything And he knows what hardwood is and, you know, he knows what a log splitter is and how to, what kindling is and all that, which I did.

So they put me on the fire team and, uh, I crewed, I don't know, maybe a half a dozen times. And then they literally offered me a subcontractor's position. So they could use me two ways. They could use me on the fire team and they could use me in a security role to help take care of Tony celebrities. So that was all going down in 95 and And then in 2003, Tony, uh, Robbins, offered me the captain's position, which meant I would take care of all of Tony's firewalks globally.

And because I homeschooled my kids, he paid to have my kids go on the road and their mom. So now my family is on the road with Tony Robbins traveling around the world, um, with me and I'm in my captain's role and my security role. And I will tell you, yeah,

Rob Valincius: because you took a leap of faith. Yet a lot of omens, man. Like when you talk about it, you know, the, the random thought to call AA, the, the random guy that showed up that said, you know, listen to him. He knows when you're going to go. Like, that's pretty wild. And I've talked about this on the podcast.

I'm not, I'm not like the biggest, uh, religious person. I believe that there's a higher power. I don't, I don't, I don't know what that is, what that looks like. I'm still learning that, you know, Um, but, but shit like that, man, that's pretty wild, you know, because those are life altering little things that just kind of jumped into

Dave Albin: Yeah, it's very divine. There's no doubt about it. I mean, shit like that doesn't happen very often, right? Or does it? Or does it? When you're open to it. That's the interesting part. You know, when you open yourself up, you'd be surprised what you could see. Um, and, so that was all going down. That happened in 03 when I went on the road, when the Alban family went on the road.

And in 2005, we went to London. That's where we set the world record. We firewalked 12, 300 people. Now let me disclose something. Guinness Book of World Record was not there. However, that's the largest firewalk in the world. It's never, you know, nothing comes close to 12, 000 people other than maybe another Robbins event at 9, 000 or whatever.

So that happened in 2005 when we went to London, uh, out at the Excel Center. And then, uh, To kind of move forward in 2014, I'm driving down the road and my phone rings and it's Google. And they're like, so hey, uh, you're Dave Albin. Are you the Dave Albin that does the firewalks for Tony Robbins? Yes. What can I do for you?

They said, well, if you're not under any contractual obligation or non compete, I'd like to talk to you about hiring. We'd like to talk to you. And I'm like, I'm just happy again. Homeboy's a free agent. What you got? And, uh, the next thing I know, Google's hiring me. And so I went to Mountain View at their corporate headquarters, did an event for them, met some executives.

One of the executives said straight up, you ought to start your own business, man. Corporate America will be all over you because you, you're, you're the guy that can create the paradigm shift and this is exactly what companies are looking for. Why do you think we called you? And I was like, holy shit, good point.

And so I ended up doing Google twice. And that's when Firewalk Productions was born, 2014. And they were right, because right after Google, I went to NASA. Then I went to Notre Dame, and then Virginia Tech, and then REMAX, the insurance, uh, the, the real, the big real estate company, and then Microsoft, and Heineken, and the YMCA, and the Entrepreneurs Organization.

Rob Valincius: Chick

Dave Albin: A, yeah baby, right? Yeah, I got free chicken, you better believe I did. Um, and so all these big corporations and companies started hiring me. And you know, pun intended, we've been going hot and heavy ever since.

Rob Valincius: So, um, That's, I mean, that's a really fucking inspiring story, I gotta tell you. Um, you just read your bio, I was like, oh my god, like, uh, and it hits home because, like I said, you know, my brother's a recovering addict. You know, you see, you see, like, the worst of people and then you see the best of people if, if they come out of it.

You know, my brother's died probably seven times, you know, uh, Narcan, you know, has, uh, saved his life a lot and, and, uh, now he's at the Um, he, he's a dad to his, his baby's mom's kid that they, you know, that's not his. And now they're going to have their own. And, uh, that saved his life. Honestly, it, it, it just changed him as a human.

Um, and I think, um, people, if you're listening to this, especially if you're a younger, uh, male, especially, um, there's certain situations, certain things that you go through in life that you might think are just, uh, you know, Uh, Um, trivial, but I think even the smallest things can really have a life changing impact on you.

Um, did you ever find out what happened to your biological dad, or that was

Dave Albin: no. Um, you know, when my biological mother, she was, uh, when I had moved from the west coast to the east coast, my, my biological mother was living in Bellflower, California. And, um, when she got sick, I brought her, brought her, we were living on a farm in Virginia and I brought her there. Brought our stuff and she told me that my father was a pilot in Korea Well when she passed away, I found a flight book With the names of all the pilots in in this certain squadron and I went oh my gosh, here it is I'm gonna see a picture of my dad for the first time.

I Went through the book Rob and he was not there. I have his name on my birth certificate It's the reason I know right Um, you know, and I've looked through it like two or three times. In fact, I gave it to my, to my kid's mom. I gave it to Stacia and I said, Hey, will you look through there? You're good at finding stuff.

And she looked, she goes, David, he's not in there. And I thought, well, then what the hell is she doing with that book? I don't get it. So no, I've never seen my dad. Don't know what he looks like. Don't know much about him. Um, but here's, here's the decision I made. I love him. I'm thankful for him and I'm grateful for him.

Um, and I forgive him for having to take his own life because I wasn't there. I don't know what he was going through. It was probably pretty damn painful for him to have to take his own life. And so I loved him and I forgave him. And so that created the relationship that I have with him, you know, for the rest of my life.

And it paid off and I'll tell you how it paid off. A few years ago. I'm here. I live up in the Boone area of North Carolina. I live up here in the Appalachian mountains. And so my son and I, my son was going to App state. Appalachian county. And so, uh, we've got a seafood restaurant over there. We like, so, um, I said, Hey, let's go to dinner.

So we went to dinner that night. And when I go out, I treat the servers like crazy. Awesome. I I'm super nice to them. I'm very, you know, I tip really well. I talk to them. I encourage them. I inspire them. And you know, my mom was a server, right? So she always told me if I ever catch you treating a server, I'll whip your head.

Right. So I always have a really good time with them. And so we're doing that and everything's going kind of going and I'm sitting there with my son We're having a great time like we always do and and uh, I'm looking at him and I look down and i'm eating and all of a sudden I go I look at him and I go Holy shit.

I'm having dinner with my dad's Grandson, and I saw my dad. I mean just as clear as a bell. There he was right there I could see it in his eyes. I could see the mannerisms. I could see everything About it and that right there my son's looking at me like dad. Are you okay? You know and i'm going yeah, i'm having a moment

Rob Valincius: Did you have a stroke, dad?

Dave Albin: Oh, yeah, you're right dad, you know, i'm like, yeah, i'm, okay, man And you know I teared up and you know It was such a beautiful beautiful moment and the and the reason I love to share that is because I made a decision to love my dad. I made a decision to forgive my dad. I I I I opened my heart up to all of that and because I did that I would have never had that moment No way It's no way in hell, just it wouldn't have happened.

I just don't believe that at all. I had to be prepared and ready for that moment and recognize that I was having dinner with my dad's grandson. And so it was a beautiful thing. And so it was, it is, it was such a gift. You know, it just kind of like, wow, okay, that worked really well. Let's, let's keep doing that.

And it really comes down to gratitude, man. You know, I was grateful. And, uh, you know, when, you know, I, I say all the time, fear does not exist when gratitude is present. They can't operate the same space at the same time. Doesn't, doesn't work that way. Um, and so, you know, I even talk, talk about it in some of my seminars.

Rob Valincius: Yeah, I've talked about this on my podcast before, but my, my dad's adopted as well. Um, but it was a little, I don't know the full background. So like, I never met his real, um, side of his family. So, um, we're half Puerto Rican. So his, his real, uh, like my real grandparents lived in Puerto Rico. Um, and I never met him.

And, uh, they would, were apparently sending, like, Tickets to fly to send Us down to meet them and I didn't know that I didn't find that out until you know, probably my mid teens You know, I was 15 16. I had no idea I didn't really find out to my dad that my dad was adopted until later on and You know, it's weird like it for you I think it's might be a little different because you know, it was still blood related for us.

Obviously it wasn't so like my My dad's adoptive family. They were, they're nice people. They're great people, but There was always something a little off You don't really know as a human like as a like deep in your being But there's oh, there was always just something that Made me as a kid and they were the nicest people ever Right.

I have no complaints and I still have a relationship with someone but it just it didn't feel like family To me in my in my bones. It's it's hard to explain But I think as a human you kind of feel You feel that in your bones. It's it's weird,

Dave Albin: No, I gotcha.

Rob Valincius: But growing up and I didn't really find out till later But you know when my dad told us I'm like, yeah, I just I felt that even as a kid, you know It was weird.

It was awkward You have

Dave Albin: moment was magical. And so it, it, it got me to a really good place as far as that goes. So, um, Ancestrally, you know, I don't know any of that either, you know, my grandparents or in my and of course my kids, right? They don't know their grandfather They know their grandmother, but they don't know their grandfather Or the great grandparents or any of that so we don't know any of that So that may be something I go down the road someday Take it a little farther because you know, there's a lot of You know I don't know if you call it an app or whatever you want to call it.

There's programs out there, Ancestry, all that you can, you can find all that. You can send your blood DNA and all that. And they can trace, you can trace so much back now.

Rob Valincius: to be careful now I don't know if you saw this, but I think it was, uh, of course it's the one I did. Uh, it's the, not the 23 and me. It's the other one, the ancestry. Uh, they were bought by the government or something. Um, so now the government has all of the DNA from those people. So you get, you

Dave Albin: Yeah. No, I gotcha. Oh.

Rob Valincius: for me, let's, let's kind of button this up a little bit before we get out of here. Um, For you, what was it like working with Tony Robbins? Did you get a chance to really be around him a little bit? I mean, that's gotta be

Dave Albin: Oh yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. So I can, Tony and I are good friends. Very good friends. Um, um, you know, we, we did a lot of things, you know, when, when you come off stage, um, being on his security detail and all that, um, yeah, Tony, Tony treated me and my family like gold, man. He loved my kids. You know, my kids firewalked, uh, at the age of, uh, six and nine.

My daughter was six. My son was nine years old the first time they firewalked. So he was part of that. You know, I was with him at nine 11. Um, Yeah, so we, and I, a wonderful friendship, uh, came of that and his wife, Sage, um, which I was there when they met and, uh, you know, they've been married now for many, many years.

And so, yeah, it was, it was great, man. He treated, treated me, uh, really, really well, no doubt about it. So

Rob Valincius: That's

Dave Albin: is, um, you know, one of the things that kind of developed through all of this was this whole podcasting thing. As I mentioned before you started recording, I've been on over 180 shows. And a few months ago, I was on a show and uh, we recorded and then after the recording was over, we were talking sidebar and talking about some really cool stuff.

And, and, and so Natalia asked me, she said, Hey David, let me ask you something. Have you ever done a firewalk for veterans? And I said, you mean specifically? She said, yeah. And I go, no, we've had lots of veterans come, but I've never done it specifically for veterans. You know, why, what's going on? And she said, well, you know, we have 200 vets and you're familiar with the suicide rate.

I said, yeah, you know, it's, I hear it's like 22 a day. She goes, no, that's not true. That's only if they leave a note. It's more like, it's more like 40 to 50 a day. And you might as well talk about a gut punch, man. Um, it was intense. I'm a vet. My dad, I was raised by a combat veteran officer. So I said, okay, well, you know, what do you, I'm in, what do you want to do?

And so we kind of went over some details and I said, look, let's do this. Let me have a couple of days to think about this. Cause this is huge. This is unlike anything I've ever done. And so I went to bed that night and I woke up in the middle of the night. It was plain as day operation. Do no harm. And I also realized in that moment that there's four categories of people that need massive help with suicide.

One is veterans, two first responders, three, um, um, single moms and fourth kids that have been abused and neglected. So I went on, I went on another podcast and was talking about it. He, this guy also a vet, he happened to be the president of the, uh, the Sunrise Rotary in Modesto, California. And he said, David, If my rotary brings you out here, can we do one for veterans and first responders out here?

And I said, hell yes. And so we did. We did it on April 12th and we did it on April 12th and 13th. And so what we're doing with Operation Do No Harm, it's going to be a 501c3, right? It'll be a non profit so people can donate and write it off. So, you know, obviously corporate America has been really, really good to me.

I've been hired by some of the biggest companies in the world. Now when somebody comes to hire me, I can give them an additional option. Yep. Well, you can hire me. We'll come in. We'll do the event for you. You're launching a new product. You know, you just want to do a motivational gig for your team, whatever.

That's great. We do all that. And how'd you like to add another dynamic to it? You make a donation to Operation Do No Harm. We'll add a hundred veterans or a hundred first responders to your event. So not only are you building up and encouraging and shifting the self worth of your team, but they'll get to take part in something where they're saving other human beings lives.

What do you think is going to happen on Monday morning when they come to work? So, so basically what they do is they make a donation to Operation Do No Harm. Operation Do No Harm hires Firewalk Productions. Firewalk Production comes in, does all the work, does all the training. Uh, you know, we do the event, we clean it up.

And then that company gets all the recognition. So their, their social media team can come in and meme it and put it all over the place. And it'll make that company look really, really good, not only to their employees, but to their community and their customers. So that all just happened here recently.

Yeah. Incredible. Phenomenal. The other thing I have is something that a lot of people are pretty fascinated about is I have what's called the Dave Albin Firewalk Academy. And that's where people come to me and I teach them everything I know. You know, they come from everywhere. They come from corporations to the HR department.

There's entrepreneurs, there's business owners, there's trainers, coaches, teachers, all kinds of different people come to my academy. I do it once a year in October. And they come up here to the Appalachian Mountains. They spend five and a half days with me and I rock the shit out of their world. But I teach them how to fire walk.

I teach them how to, you know, how to, how to glass walk, how to board break, brick break, arrow break, rebar bend. Um, I teach them everything so they can go back to their respective communities or companies and facilitate these experiences. And then they have me as a liaison, right? So I'm their backup in case, you know, they need some, me to help or get involved or help design or lay out the fire walk or whatever.

So, uh, yeah, so we do that once, once every year in October. And it's, it is absolutely spectacular because I'm up here in the Appalachian mountains to begin with. It is freaking gorgeous up here. And, um, so yeah, I do all kinds of stuff with a man. We have a river walk, river walk on day two. I put them on the river.

They all have to negotiate down the river together when they get out. I got the fire ready to go. So we call it the river walk, right? That's on day two. Yeah, man, we do some really, really cool stuff. It's a lot of fun. It's spectacular. And again, you know, they can monetize the heck out of it. You go back and you put on a firewalk, you'll make 10 times more than you get what it costs you to come to my academy.

And the cool thing about doing that too, though, is that now I have a bunch of trained people that are out there who know us. We know them. I've spent five days with them. I've got a pretty good, you know, idea who they are, what they're about, how they operate, and then they're spread around the country. So when I go do events around.

Uh, anywhere in the country now, I've got people spread out all over the place, which is also really awesome.

Rob Valincius: uh, that is an excellent business idea, man. You, you, you, you're like spreading the

Dave Albin: We are.

Rob Valincius: Um, let's, let's end with this cause we're, we're about the hour mark. Um, but this is important to me. Um, and although I've been drinking this whole podcast, I do think that there's a, an importance to sobriety. There's an importance to being able to conquer your addiction.

Do you have any tips? Yes. Um, you, you've been sober now, 36 years. Is there any tips that you can give my listeners who, uh, might be struggling with, with the addiction piece?

Dave Albin: Sure. This too shall pass. Period. One of the, one of the most intelligent things any human can do is ask for help. It's not only you helping yourself, you're helping me. As I said earlier, you know, I'm a gatekeeper, man. I love when somebody new comes in the AA because I'm on it. Because it makes me feel good.

It makes them feel good. And you don't have to do it alone. And so, you know, it works. AA works, if you work it. And, you know, I think, I think Viktor Frankl, the man who wrote the book, Man's Search for Meaning, gave us one of the greatest examples of life in his book. I don't know if you know, Viktor Frankl, uh, was in Auschwitz.

And so every single day, by the way, they assassinated his family. Now it's just him. All these people are being taken to the chambers every day. They're screaming, yelling, crying. The pain and suffering is right here in your face. And they take everything from you. They took your clothes. They don't feed you.

You're standing outside. It's freezing cold. They take everything from you, your dignity, all of it. But Victor figured something out. He said, there's one thing you can't take from me unless I give it to you. And that's my attitude. And he also realized that he created a purpose. And the purpose was someone has to get out of here and tell this story.

And he did. There's a calling for you. All of us. I believe inside every single human being there's a molecule of magnificence. It's there. You just have to let it go and let it happen. I was grossly addicted to heroin, cocaine, alcohol. Bad. I was suicidal and homicidal almost every day for two years. And I just kept thinking, you know what?

There's something better for me down the road. There's something better for me. And I was right. And so, you know, never underestimate what a small group of people can do to change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. So, you know, you can, if somebody's listening and they're struggling, they can find me through your podcast.

Obviously the show notes, I'm sure you'll put my website and all that in there and all that stuff, how to get ahold of me. And I put it out there all the time. You're struggling. You want to talk to me personally? Let's go. Uh, I'm here for you. Because again, it said when anyone anywhere reaches out, I want the hand of AA to be there.

And for that, I'm responsible. And I took that oath. That's my creed. And um, there's sobriety is a wonderful, wonderful life. Um, and so, you know, you want to change your life, change your story. Every single thing, I'll close with this. Every single thing that happens in somebody's life, uh, we create a story about it, no matter what, how good, bad, indifferent.

And we're the architect. We get to create whatever we want, right? And so again, you, you get to, you get to change your life by changing your story. My mentor said this to me one time. He said, Dave, make sure you understand something. Every single human on this planet has two lives. And the second one starts when you realize you have only one.

Make it a masterpiece.

Rob Valincius: Wow. That's awesome, man. Um, I'll admit, uh, I, I, I do think that there's a, um, there's a lot of credence to everything you said today, right? Um, it's, and that last statement is, is 100 percent true. Um, and, and not only does it, I do, I think it's true. Um, but when it comes to you as a human being, right? Um, you only have one life, but it's also when you have your family, it's theirs as well, right?

So I think that that kind of comes around full circle when you're talking about that. So if you're listening to this, you're struggling, just get help. Um, I've always been a proponent for that.

Dave Albin: Oh mom, I'm here. Come talk to me.

Rob Valincius: Dave's here. I'm here. We're all here. Um, you know, especially and, and I know it's gotten a little bit better with today's society, but we as men, I do think struggle because we're supposed to be the ones that are strong and silent and we hold our emotions and we don't talk about things. Um, talk about how you feel.

It's okay to go talk to a psychologist, a psychiatrist, whatever. It's okay to talk to your friends about how you're feeling. Um, if you're ever feeling. Um, like you are suicidal. There is avenues for you to get out there and talk it out. And I speak this for not just, uh, things I've felt, for, um, also friends and family that have discussed things like that.

So, yeah. Go talk to somebody. It's okay. It's okay to tell people how you feel. Um, I went to be a psychologist in another life. So, um, you know, whatever, but now I work in insurance. So it's, it's, you know, that's, that's the life I live. Uh, but listen, uh, it was awesome. Awesome. Dave, having you on. Can you tell everybody, uh, where they can find your content?

If you got anything coming up and, uh,

Dave Albin: Yeah, sure. And thanks for doing that, Rob. Um, yeah, just then go to my website. It's a firewalkadventures. com. All one word. Firewalkadventures. com. Everything's there. The academy's there. Uh, we don't have Operation Do No Harm up yet. We're still working on the 501C3, so we got to get that in place. Um, but, you know, everything else, you know, if a company wants to hire us to do any type of team building and paradigm shift experiences, we do all that.

Mm hmm. Come talk to us. We'll take great care of you. And, uh, again, if you want to talk about sobriety or you're struggling out there, especially you, and women too, but I mean, especially you guys, you know, cause guys are taught, you know, suck it up and, you know, be a man and don't cry. Bullshit. That's bullshit.

I can tell you, I have a circle of men that I'm really tight with. And there's Navy, there's two Navy SEALs in that group. Uh, and there's, there's a bunch of badasses. In this group and we hold each other accountable in this whole idea that you can't talk and you can't cry and you do that bullshit. We'll call you out man.

That's not, not in this group. Um, you know, we know that it's really, really good for you. Uh, it makes you a better man. It makes you stronger. It makes you, you know, more, more on your game. So again, you're out there and you're hearing me and you've got a problem. That's Providence, man. That's no accident. I'm sitting here telling you to call me.

So, okay, maybe I should do that. And by the way, it's going to help me as much as it's helping you. Just keep that in mind.

Rob Valincius: Agreed, agreed. Well look, it was a pleasure having you on, Dave. And, uh, something tells me you're gonna have a great night because you're a fucking great motivational speaker, man. You have a good night and thank you for hanging out.

Dave Albin: Carry on.

Rob Valincius: Alright, man.

Outro