Latest / Finding New Waters / Turning Tragedy into Purpose: The Story Behind Live Like Braun
Transcript
- 0:00With a drunk person driving with a suspended license on probation
- 0:06struck and killed him. I think it's important that we
- 0:09educate people about the dangers of impaired driving.
- 0:13You know, marijuana is legal in many states.
- 0:16You can't drive when you take marijuana gummies, bait,
- 0:19whatever. You can't drink and drive.
- 0:22And if you're taking a bike or a motorcycle or you're walking,
- 0:27you also have to think about all those people that are out there
- 0:29drinking and driving. All right.
- 0:31Welcome back everybody to another edition of Finding New
- 0:34Waters, sitting here with our CEO, Justin McClendon.
- 0:37And out in California, we have a very special guest today.
- 0:40We're very lucky to have her, Jen Levy.
- 0:43Welcome, Jen. Thank you.
- 0:44Thank you for having me. Thanks for coming on.
- 0:47We appreciate you for. Being here and just quickly just
- 0:50wanted to say kind of how you ended up being here with us
- 0:53today as far as kind of getting you on the on the podcast.
- 0:57I, and correct me if I'm wrong, a recent guest who's a friend of
- 1:02ours and a friend of New Waters, Greg Champion at startup
- 1:06recovery out in the Palisades at Slash Santa Monica, came on the
- 1:11show and he was wearing a live like brown hat.
- 1:15And I basically just asked him what tell us about your hat.
- 1:17And I didn't know. And I'd heard something about
- 1:21the story before, but did not know what the hat meant.
- 1:23He explained it next. You know, our friend and
- 1:27colleague Jen Hogshead, who went to Carolina, has a daughter at
- 1:31Carolina, knew your story. Next thing you know, we're
- 1:34connected. So that's my version of it.
- 1:38Will you tell us? Tell us what, what, what, what
- 1:40happened and, and what's going on.
- 1:42And you know how people can help you, but start with just kind of
- 1:45what happened. Well, if you want to go the very
- 1:48beginning, you know we, we raised our family in Pacific
- 1:51Palisades, CA for 20 years. We had 20 beautiful, perfect
- 1:55storybook years raising our children in the community.
- 2:00Then the wildfires hit in January and we lost we lost our
- 2:04home, we lost everything. So as a family we moved to the
- 2:09South Bay, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, CA along with
- 2:13many, many, many families from the Palisades.
- 2:16So our community kind of transplanted together.
- 2:20Then unfortunately, about four or five months later, the worst
- 2:24thing that could ever possibly happen to a parent, a drunk
- 2:30driver hit and killed instantly our 18 year old son, Braun.
- 2:36He was just shy of graduating Loyola High School.
- 2:39He was set to attend the University of Virginia.
- 2:42He was an extraordinary person, student, athlete, friend.
- 2:48He led with kindness and inclusivity.
- 2:51And we always say beyond the academic and athletic accolades
- 2:56that he had, many were most proud of the way he treated
- 3:00people and the way he lived his life.
- 3:04And his life never should have been taken from him.
- 3:07And it's the worst. It's the worst phone call a
- 3:12parent can ever receive in their life, and it's the worst pain
- 3:17put upon any parent ever. It's just a constant devastation
- 3:22and heavy, sad backpack that we're wearing.
- 3:27But after he was killed, you know, we made the commitment on
- 3:32how we were going to like, grief shape us.
- 3:36Were we going to be a victim to it or were we going to do
- 3:40something that that actually made us feel better and and made
- 3:43the world a better place? And, and that's the way Braun
- 3:47would have wanted it, because that's how he lived his life.
- 3:49Braun made everything better. He was just magnetic
- 3:53personality. Every time he walked into the
- 3:56room, it just got better. So we started to live like Braun
- 4:00Foundation and that was, it's turned into a movement and it's
- 4:08how to live your life, to lead with love, to leave with
- 4:11kindness, inclusivity, curiosity.
- 4:14Ron was a little bit mischievous and that's a fun thing to throw
- 4:19into the mix at all times. But he really cared about other
- 4:23people. He saw other people, he saw
- 4:26beyond himself. And we are inspiring kids and
- 4:30people to live their best life and not not to stand in a
- 4:35corner, but but to to be your presence.
- 4:41Well, well, thank you for sharing that, and I'm so sorry
- 4:46for your loss. I mean, I, I, their words, you
- 4:49know, they don't do anything here.
- 4:51But be remiss if I didn't say it.
- 4:55And one thing, you know, when we talked the first time we spoke
- 4:58briefly about you coming on was just how we commend you for not
- 5:03curling up in a ball and just isolating and hoping the pain
- 5:10goes away. And what you're what you
- 5:11immediately you and your family and Bronze Orbit set out to do
- 5:16was to get into action and immediately saw that sitting
- 5:20still wasn't going to do any good.
- 5:22But being able to be an advocate and be of help and of service
- 5:25and be able to share this experience with people was going
- 5:28to be able to help others and you in the process.
- 5:30So that's that's amazing. Well, I I I do want to be clear
- 5:34that there are some days and hours where I'm curled up into a
- 5:37ball with a wave of grief that feels just inhumane.
- 5:46Yeah. I mean.
- 5:46How could you not? I mean, yeah.
- 5:50I mean, I can't imagine. I mean, being a parent myself, I
- 5:52just, I cannot imagine the the pain and the loss that you guys
- 5:55have suffered. So as B said in all of our
- 5:58condolences, we're very sorry for your loss.
- 6:01So what is? Go ahead.
- 6:04I was just saying it's a fight. It's a fight every day to find
- 6:10joy and to live a productive life and to live a life without
- 6:16Braun and to live a life Braun would have wanted us to live.
- 6:21And I I say that the worst day of my life has now turned into
- 6:26my life's work. I love that.
- 6:30Yeah, turning pain into purpose is starting to get a little old
- 6:32for me. I was, I was like, I can't say
- 6:37that anymore. It because what's really true is
- 6:39the worst day of our life is now my life's work.
- 6:43And I do that in honor of bronze legacy.
- 6:45And I also do it for our 20 year old daughter who is beautiful
- 6:50and has a bright future ahead of her.
- 6:53And it's unfair to her, too. How is she doing?
- 6:59I think she's doing remarkably well.
- 7:01She's she's at the University of North Carolina and she's
- 7:07excelling. She's got a great group of
- 7:09friends. She's doing the best you can
- 7:11hope for. I mean, she's a young person.
- 7:13She's 20 years old. And her brother was, like, her
- 7:15twin. They were 20 months apart and
- 7:18the best of friends. So she's doing the best you can
- 7:22hope for. Yeah.
- 7:25Well, I'm not going to pretend to understand what you're going
- 7:29through and you and your family, but I do know that in my, in my,
- 7:32from my own personal experience and the experience of millions
- 7:35of other people, been able to share our, you know, our
- 7:38experience, our strength and our hope is, you know, I wouldn't be
- 7:42alive without being able to do that.
- 7:43You know, and I've been to some dark places, but not nothing
- 7:45like this. So I, but I, but I, I just again
- 7:48want to commend you on, on the work you're doing and you know
- 7:52it. I see.
- 7:54I've, I mean, I, when Greg was on here with his hat, once he
- 7:57explained it, I was, and I knew what he was talking about.
- 7:59I mean it, it's everywhere. And I, I mean, I used to be a
- 8:02big, big tennis fan. I played, you know, some
- 8:04competitive tennis. I played in high school, played
- 8:06some tournaments and I used to be really into watching it.
- 8:09And I don't watch as much anymore, but in a little bit of
- 8:11watching I was doing over the summer, I mean, I was seeing
- 8:14live like bronze. So you're doing good work and
- 8:18it's, it's everywhere. And that's that's the point.
- 8:20So what all entails? The foundation?
- 8:23What are? What are you doing exactly?
- 8:25Well, first of all, I think a lot of it is Braun.
- 8:29He was such a magnetic person and he had so many friends.
- 8:33There was a there's a Harvard study that was recently
- 8:36released. You know what makes people
- 8:38popular or likable? And it's that they like
- 8:41everybody and Braun liked everybody.
- 8:46It's amazing, the foundation. Once we created the Live Like
- 8:51Bronze mantra and hats and merch, it snowballed into this
- 8:55movement and this inspiration for people and kids to take
- 9:02chances, to live their life, to go for it, not to be scared, to
- 9:07be compassionate, to see other people, to lead with kindness
- 9:11and love. And I'm so proud of of the way
- 9:16it's taken. It's taken off.
- 9:20And that's all Braun because people that knew Braun are
- 9:25inspired by him. And I, I hope maybe this is
- 9:29Braun's way of guiding me through grief, that we now have
- 9:35a movement that's hitting the country, especially on college
- 9:39campuses. And I get texts and pictures and
- 9:43emails and DMS everyday about people saying, you know, I did
- 9:47this because I was wearing a live like Bron hat.
- 9:49And I thought Bron would do this.
- 9:50And I can do this because Live like Bron.
- 9:52And I love that. I think that's so inspiring.
- 9:55And I think that's what the world needs right now.
- 9:59Yeah, I couldn't agree more, that's for sure.
- 10:02I think as you just mentioned, I think the world could could use
- 10:06a lot more of that. So that, that is absolutely
- 10:08amazing. Well, tell us a little bit about
- 10:11the go ahead. I was going to say, you wanted
- 10:13to learn a little bit more about the foundation, right?
- 10:16Yeah. So the foundation was set up
- 10:20with a few different arms. 1 is to continue the movement live
- 10:24like Braun, the inspiration for people.
- 10:27Another arm is to provide academic scholarships to kids
- 10:32graduating from high school that want to go on to postgraduate
- 10:35work, and not necessarily just a four year undergrad program, but
- 10:40kids who want to go to the locational school or trade
- 10:42school or Community College. Because four year college isn't
- 10:47meant, four year college undergrad program isn't meant
- 10:49for everyone. So we're looking to identify
- 10:52teenagers who are passionate, who live like Braun, who share
- 10:56the same qualities as Braun, that have an academic dream or a
- 11:01plan, but they need a little bit of academic assistance.
- 11:04And that's what we're here to do.
- 11:06We're also donating to other charities.
- 11:09That felt organic to Braun. He spent a lot of time as a
- 11:12counselor at Rad Camp, which was a is a camp for kids that have
- 11:16Down syndrome. And then we're also raising
- 11:20awareness of drunk driving. And not only don't drink and
- 11:26drive, which I feel like our society knows, you don't drink
- 11:32and drive, right? There's Ubers, there's Lyfts,
- 11:34there's cell phones. You can call people, but also
- 11:37you need to be defensive. Ron walked home the night he was
- 11:42killed. And he walked home because he
- 11:44thought that that was the safe option to do.
- 11:49I called him at 12:15 and said, time to come home, time to start
- 11:54thinking about coming home. And he said, all good, I'm going
- 11:56to walk home. And I thought, great, he's
- 11:58walking home. He walked home with a group of
- 12:01kids and he, I don't, I don't think any of them thought, oh,
- 12:07well, we're walking home. But there's drunk people all
- 12:10over the place. There's drunk people driving
- 12:12every day, doesn't matter what time of day.
- 12:16And that's what happened. A drunk person driving with a
- 12:19suspended license on probation struck and killed him.
- 12:27So I think it's really, really important that we, I think it's
- 12:32important that we educate people about the dangers of impaired
- 12:37driving. You know, marijuana is legal in
- 12:40many states. You can't drive when you take
- 12:42marijuana gummies, bait, whatever.
- 12:45You can't drink and drive. And if you're taking a bike or a
- 12:49motorcycle or you're walking, you also have to think about all
- 12:53those people that are out there drinking and driving.
- 12:57So exactly and without having an opinion on anything, I just know
- 13:04that our country's drunk driving laws are very loose compared to
- 13:08some of our kind of western other western counterparts.
- 13:11I mean, I think in Australia you go, I mean 11 DUI, I mean,
- 13:15you're, you're in prison. I mean, in in Europe similar.
- 13:22And this is coming from somebody who got 2 Duis when I was 20
- 13:27years old in 1997, something I'm not proud of, but I'll share it
- 13:31here. And another incident, I totaled
- 13:35a car after I've been drinking and nobody, nobody was hurt, not
- 13:37even me, that there was just my car involved.
- 13:39But you know, it's something that I've there that I think
- 13:43about all the time and especially now talking to you.
- 13:47And I do think that it's and and the irony is it's easier than
- 13:51ever to get a ride. Uber's kind of cabs have existed
- 13:56forever, but self there's just no excuse anymore, not that
- 14:00there ever was, but there is literally no excuse now and but
- 14:04then, but even to but to your point, you know, he was doing
- 14:07the right thing and walking home and not driving and it's still
- 14:11there. We are, you know, and again,
- 14:14without having to try not have an opinion on it.
- 14:15I mean, it sounds like, you know, the, the, the our laws
- 14:18probably are too loose and people are like this person
- 14:22suspended license on probation out there driving.
- 14:25I mean, yeah. Well I I have big opinions on
- 14:30it. I'm sharing, you bring it.
- 14:34Well, we live in California. The drunk driving or DUI with
- 14:40deaths is up 44% since 2019 in California, and that's gross.
- 14:47Yeah, significant. One of the issues is the the
- 14:51lenient laws in California and it's my goal and it's my life's
- 14:56work to have DUI sentencing reform in California and to
- 15:01require the Watson warning to be read to any reckless behavior.
- 15:05What's that woman who so the I'm, again, I'm not a lawyer.
- 15:10So anyone out there listening you is going crazy, 'cause I'm
- 15:14not saying something right, I apologize.
- 15:16But the Watson warning is read to somebody who gets a DUI that
- 15:21says you are a danger and if you go out and drink and drive again
- 15:26and something happens, you can be charged with murder.
- 15:29Basically. That's kind of layman's terms.
- 15:33The woman who killed Bron, she had a previous DUI, but it was
- 15:38made into a plea deal, hit and run misdemeanor with no Watson
- 15:42warning. That's, in my opinion, bogus and
- 15:48insulting and people don't care if their license is suspended.
- 15:53They have checkpoints around Hermosa Beach and Manhattan
- 15:55Beach and Redondo Beach various Saturday nights for two or three
- 15:59hours and they get 1011 suspended licenses.
- 16:03They get quite a few Duis and that's just in two hours.
- 16:08So I feel that the laws need to be much stricter.
- 16:12They need to be like Australia, a bigger deterrent so that
- 16:15people think twice. There's also been, I work with
- 16:21MAD and I went to Washington, DC for the 45th anniversary and
- 16:25there is a, a law called the Hall to Act, which has been
- 16:28passed but not implemented by the automotive industry.
- 16:32And that is, there are there, it exists artificial intelligence
- 16:36that goes in cars that when you put your hands on the wheels and
- 16:39you look forward and you breathe, it can tell if you're
- 16:42impaired and if the car won't start.
- 16:46So that exists that, that, that that technology exists.
- 16:49It just has not been implemented yet.
- 16:52And that could have saved my son's life.
- 16:56And that's really frustrating to me.
- 17:00I mean, it could, and it some people argue that it's a privacy
- 17:04issue, but Mad doesn't care. What all the all Matt cares
- 17:11about is that the car won't start.
- 17:13You're not getting reported. You're not getting reported for
- 17:15trying to drive drunk. We're just happy the car won't
- 17:18start. Yeah.
- 17:20And I'm with you on that, right. I mean, regardless of the
- 17:23technology or changes in laws, I mean, I think that that I mean
- 17:26that is obviously the goal, right.
- 17:27I mean to, to reduce the amount of people that are out there
- 17:30driving impaired that could potentially cause some, some
- 17:32really bad things to happen. Jen, I'm curious, you mentioned
- 17:37not to change the subject, but you mentioned trying to educate
- 17:41individuals more along the lines of like what your son was doing,
- 17:45like you know, even though you're making the right
- 17:48decision, being aware that there's a danger out there.
- 17:52I wonder what you guys are doing or, or kind of what that side of
- 17:57it looks like. I'm curious about that.
- 18:00Well, I'm working with CHP and our local law enforcement on
- 18:08educate on education programs at high schools.
- 18:13So we're, and we're trying to get into high schools and talk
- 18:15about not only impaired and drunk driving, but defense being
- 18:19defensive because I think that that's something that has not
- 18:22been hit over the head. And I, every day, I, every day
- 18:27I, I, I kick myself for, because when I was on the phone with
- 18:31Ron, when he said I'm going to walk home, why didn't I say, OK,
- 18:36well, be really careful or really look both ways or maybe
- 18:41can I just come and get you? Or why don't you take an Uber
- 18:44instead of walking? And I, I'm so mad at myself for
- 18:49not, you know, as parents, that's what we do all the time,
- 18:52Like look both ways or, you know, be careful or, you know,
- 18:56be cautious if you're on a boat, you know, be care.
- 18:58You know, we're always telling our kids to be careful and make
- 19:01and make smart decisions. And Ron did make a smart
- 19:04decision. He walked home.
- 19:06It was somebody else that didn't make a smart decision.
- 19:08And I wish I would have been able to say to him, hey, listen,
- 19:11you're making a smart decision, but there's people out there
- 19:14that aren't. Yeah, exactly.
- 19:17So when you say defense, being defensive, other than what you
- 19:21just said, which is kind of the obvious, which you know great
- 19:23parents like yours and mine and Justin's tell us to look both
- 19:26ways. Like what else is?
- 19:27What else is entailed there with being defensive?
- 19:37I mean, there's a lot of things that going to be defensive for
- 19:40grown-ups, college kids, teenagers.
- 19:44You know, there's a huge drinking culture.
- 19:46And just because you're not driving, you still need to be
- 19:52aware of, you know, what are you drinking?
- 19:56Did somebody put something in your drink?
- 19:58What are you taking? It could be laced fentanyl.
- 20:03Maybe defensive is the wrong word.
- 20:05You. I just think kids need and
- 20:08adults need to be overly cautious and overly aware
- 20:12because it's a scary place out there right now.
- 20:16That I mean, that's what I think of when I hear the word
- 20:18defensive, I think about the first thing that comes up is
- 20:20like a defensive driving course, right?
- 20:22Like, you know, so being on the lookout, not trusting that other
- 20:25people are going to do the right thing that but we're going to
- 20:27make sure we're not going to take somebody's word.
- 20:30So I feel like the word is very fitting.
- 20:31Another thing that came up when you were talking, you were
- 20:33talking about college kids and like the the drinking culture
- 20:36around that. I mean, there's so many nuances
- 20:38and facets, but even if somebody else is like, hey, I'll drive
- 20:42like knowing or at least having the courage to like ask that
- 20:45person, have they been drinking? And you know, I guess this is
- 20:48something I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about until
- 20:51right now in this conversation. But I guess there's just,
- 20:53there's a ton of stuff that I mean, you really just need to be
- 20:55aware of and asking questions and not making assumptions, I
- 20:59guess, right? Yeah, you have to have the
- 21:01confidence and to, you know, say to somebody, hey, you had a
- 21:08beer. Like, no, no worries, don't
- 21:09drive. We'll take an Uber or we'll walk
- 21:11or, but also the halt act, you know, would have that technology
- 21:17and cars, eventually all cars. We hope that the car just
- 21:22wouldn't start so nobody has to confront anybody.
- 21:26Yeah, I mean, I love that idea, person.
- 21:29Yeah, me too. I do too, and I'm just hoping
- 21:33that the automakers implement it.
- 21:37I don't. I'm sure it's out there, but I
- 21:40can't imagine who is lobbying to not have this implemented.
- 21:47Right. I mean, it, you would think it's
- 21:48as simple as like, hey, it's it's illegal to perform this act
- 21:51with this machine essentially like, so if you're impaired, you
- 21:55should be allowed to, you should be allowed to start it, right.
- 21:57I mean, it seems like a a short journey to get to that, yeah.
- 22:01I think the. Defense attorney industry, I
- 22:05guess I'm being honestly, that's probably the only thing I can
- 22:07think of. Well, I think one of the
- 22:10arguments is cost. It's an additional cost, but
- 22:13it's not, it's not a big cost when it's amortized over many
- 22:17cars in years. And it's a privacy issue, right?
- 22:21I mean, I think with AI there's a lot of privacy issues.
- 22:26But again, I like I said, MAD doesn't want you reported.
- 22:29MAD doesn't care what you look like or anything.
- 22:32They just want to make sure that that card doesn't start.
- 22:35And if it doesn't start, you're not getting reported, your car's
- 22:38just not starting. Yeah.
- 22:41Were there any foundations you sort of modelled what what Live
- 22:46Like Braun is like, or with inspirations or people you've
- 22:49been able to connect with and get advice from?
- 22:53Yeah, You know, it's been a runaway train.
- 22:55And we are taking our time and we are doing it with intention
- 22:59and integrity and making it feel organic to Braun.
- 23:04And we're still learning as we go.
- 23:08We're still in the very early stages.
- 23:09I'm still early stages of my grief.
- 23:14There are some foundations. There's the teak fellowship that
- 23:19is about 20 or 30 years old now. And the woman who started it,
- 23:23I've turned to her many times to say, am I doing the right thing?
- 23:28Am I moving too slow? Am I moving too fast?
- 23:31And we're just doing what feels right and trying to get as many
- 23:38people to support us as possible because there's, there's many
- 23:41different parts to live like Braun, right?
- 23:43It's the inspiration of how to live.
- 23:45It's DUI awareness and making change.
- 23:48And then there's raising money so that we can give
- 23:50scholarships, which will start doing this spring to graduating
- 23:53seniors. And I'm so excited for that.
- 23:55I'm so excited to give gifts to children or to kids aren't
- 24:00they're not really children, right?
- 24:01They're 18. But I'm so excited to start
- 24:04being able to give back. We're also looking at helping
- 24:09rebuilding the tennis courts at Altadena and Pacific Palisades,
- 24:13which were all destroyed by the wildfires.
- 24:15And those sports recreation centers, which are so important
- 24:18to kids growing up, need to be rebuilt.
- 24:21So we would like to be a part of that, too.
- 24:24You know, Bronze spent his whole life growing up at public tennis
- 24:27courts, public Recreation Center, playing basketball,
- 24:30soccer. It's a big part of kids need
- 24:33that. Absolutely.
- 24:36They definitely. Do I love that you also make a
- 24:39point in terms of the scholarship funding that this is
- 24:41not specifically just for four year colleges, but for trade
- 24:44school, Community College that you, I think you said it's not
- 24:48for everybody. And that's becoming more and
- 24:50more apparent as as time goes on.
- 24:53And it would be, you know, it seemed like the logical step
- 24:56with your son who was going to go play Division One tennis.
- 24:58You have a daughter at the University of North Carolina to
- 25:01to just sort of continue in that that that that trajectory.
- 25:05But just to say, you know what this is, this is to help people.
- 25:07This is not to try to, you know, kind of help, you know, with by
- 25:11giving them funding to have them do kind of what we want them to
- 25:14do more like what makes the most sense for them.
- 25:15I love that. Exactly, and that's something we
- 25:18always did with our children was, you know, find your
- 25:21passion, do what you want, you know or what?
- 25:24And by the way, kids passion changes all the time, but we
- 25:27were always promoting if you do what you like.
- 25:31Exactly. And are you personally, are you
- 25:34still in Manhattan Beach now? So we are in Hermosa Beach in a
- 25:41rental house and we are rebuilding our home in Pacific
- 25:44Palisades and we're moving along.
- 25:47And it's, it's, it's bittersweet.
- 25:50It, it's I, I can't, I don't even understand what what has
- 25:55happened in my life. You know, my entire community
- 25:58and home and all our memories, our baby videos, all our
- 26:01pictures of Braun and our daughter.
- 26:03Everything is destroyed. And then we moved to a temporary
- 26:08home. And we always had the mantra,
- 26:11it's OK, we can replace our home.
- 26:13But we're all together. We're alive.
- 26:15We've got our family. Home is where your family is.
- 26:19We will rebuild. And even Braun took that mantra.
- 26:22He when we moved to the South Bay, he got all his friends that
- 26:25were displaced from fires. And then he got all his friends
- 26:27from the South Bay together and they would do these daily beach
- 26:31volleyball games and listen to music.
- 26:33And that's how Bronze Port was created as a memorial to what he
- 26:39did after the fires. He started to displace person
- 26:42support group at his high school.
- 26:44He had such a good attitude and I, we all kind of felt OK.
- 26:50We were sad that we lost our community, but we knew we could
- 26:53rebuild. But then when we actually lost
- 26:56Braun, I just, it's just so much loss.
- 27:02It's so much loss. I, I I don't even know how to
- 27:07categorize it. I hear, you know, when we had
- 27:11Greg Champion on here, who, you know, we lost everything in in
- 27:16the same fires that you did, you know, and we were talking to
- 27:19him. We all kind of agreed that
- 27:21that's just stuff. You know, as hard as it is, it's
- 27:24easy for me to say that we all kind of were talking about how
- 27:26we had been through hurricanes here in North Carolina, but you
- 27:29know it. But this was about him and and
- 27:32and start up and his his story with the fire.
- 27:35But it was all stuff. But then, like you said, I mean,
- 27:38the Braun thing is, is not just stuff.
- 27:40I mean that's that's your son. And the whole time we were
- 27:44talking right now, we've been talking now.
- 27:45And the times I've talked to you leading up to this, all I can
- 27:49think about is how you're put here for some greater purpose.
- 27:52And that's, and that's what you're doing.
- 27:54And again, I'm not going to pretend to understand what
- 27:56you're going through, but that that's what I see.
- 27:58And I think, you know, lots and lots and lots of other people
- 28:02see that too. I appreciate you saying that I
- 28:06don't feel that way. I'm just don't know any other
- 28:11way, you know? I don't want grief.
- 28:15I don't want to hide behind grief.
- 28:16I don't want to be a victim to it.
- 28:18I don't want to start drinking heavily, doing drugs, you know,
- 28:24imploding what little life I have left with my, with my
- 28:28husband and daughter. I just want to make the life
- 28:31that we have now as big and good and bright and hopeful as
- 28:37possible because there's no other choice.
- 28:39Just it's the only way to survive.
- 28:42You know, I'm constantly thinking I have, you know, a, a
- 28:45husband and a daughter with a bright future.
- 28:47And I, I don't, I don't want to mess anything up for them
- 28:51either. And Bron wouldn't want that.
- 28:54Bron would want us to lead a meaningful life.
- 28:57And I'm I'm trying to figure out what that is.
- 29:02Yeah. And I think that's more of that
- 29:04same message, right? I mean, to live like live like
- 29:06Bron, right, Just to, you know, he would have wanted you guys to
- 29:09continue on and to find a way. And, you know, and, and and
- 29:13that's, I mean, one of many things I think that are ringing
- 29:15loud and clear with, with all of this movement is exactly that,
- 29:18right? Like, how can we all just
- 29:20capitalize and be the best versions of our self and do good
- 29:24for others? And, and again, we started with
- 29:27this conversation with the statement that I think, I think
- 29:29the world needs more of that. So we really appreciate you
- 29:33being the the light and and the shadow of such a massive
- 29:37tragedy. Yeah, well said.
- 29:41I mean, I was just thinking, you know, I it for me, it could seem
- 29:44like if I were in your shoes and I was doing all this for this
- 29:48foundation and and advocacy that sometimes I would need to remind
- 29:52myself I need to to like you just said, live like Braun also,
- 29:56you know, well, what, what? So we touched on kind of the
- 30:01scholarship, the the awareness, the foundation.
- 30:04Is there anything else you want us to know about Live Like
- 30:07Braun? Well, I wish all of you could
- 30:11have met Bron and I hope that through following us on
- 30:15Instagram and visiting our website, you can learn more
- 30:19about him. I'm working on a book called The
- 30:22Bronicles, an inspirational book for moms and dads or parents,
- 30:28grandparents to read with kids. I just wish everyone would have
- 30:31met him, but I think by becoming part of the Live Like Bron
- 30:36Foundation, everyone's feeling a bit of bronze magic and, and
- 30:41moving that forward. And I hope that people continue
- 30:44to support us and follow us. We're just getting started.
- 30:49We're just getting started. We have so much to give and to
- 30:54do in the space of DUI awareness and prevention that I hope you
- 31:02just continue the journey with us.
- 31:04That's my my, my greatest hope. On that note, will you tell our
- 31:11listeners we're going to post in our show notes and everywhere,
- 31:14everywhere we can, all your information and live like Braun,
- 31:17but just, you know, so people can hear it as well.
- 31:20How does it? How do people find you?
- 31:23Well, they can go online to www.livelikebraunbraunfoundation.org.
- 31:34You can also go to Instagram and follow live like Braun
- 31:38Foundation. You can also follow my
- 31:42Instagram, which is Jen Levi JENNLEVI 2016.
- 31:49And those are the three places right now.
- 31:52If you go to our website, you can scroll through, you can
- 31:56cruise the website. You can see all the press we've
- 31:58done in the stories, pictures of Braun, part of Braun's personal
- 32:02statement that he wrote to Virginia.
- 32:05You know, just enjoy, you know, enjoy the experience of getting
- 32:09to know Bron. And we really, really appreciate
- 32:13everyone who's supporting us and and keeping Bron's legacy alive
- 32:19and strong because he was such a great kid.
- 32:23He was a really magnetic, special, special kid.
- 32:29Well, thank you so much. It's been an honor to have you
- 32:32on here today and telling, you know, telling us about Live like
- 32:36Bron and your story and we just keep up the good work and thank
- 32:41you, thank you, thank you. I really appreciate the
- 32:44opportunity. I love the North Carolina
- 32:47connection. Thank you for letting me tell
- 32:51our story and to talk about Bron.
- 32:54Thank you. Thank you, Jen.
- 32:56If you liked what you heard today or just want to know more,
- 32:59give us a call on 9196708119 or visit us at
- 33:04newwatersrecovery.com. Thank you.