Latest / Cristy M. Diaz Podcast Conversations from the Heart / Heart to Heart | Miami Born, Miami Raised: Fatherhood in the Next Great City

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Heart to Heart | Miami Born, Miami Raised: Fatherhood in the Next Great City · Cristy M. Diaz Podcast Conversations from the Heart

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  Heartto-Heart is where real stories meet
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  real connection. Hosted by Christy Diaz,
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  founder of Heartful Living, this podcast
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  opens the door to honest, unfiltered
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  conversations about life's most
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  meaningful and sometimes messy chapters.
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  From personal journeys of resilience and
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  healing to experiences with love, loss,
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  family, and finding purpose.
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  HearttoHeart is a space for the stories
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  that deserve to be heard. Every episode
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  is rooted in authenticity, empathy, and
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  the belief that when we share our
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  stories, we remind each other we're not
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  alone. Join the conversation because the
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  best talks always come from the heart.
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  Hi everybody and welcome to another
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  episode of our heart-to-he heart
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  podcast. I'm Christy Diaz and I am here
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  with a whole bunch of new friends of
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  mine that you probably have not seen on
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  the podcast before, but I'm pretty sure
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  you've spoken or heard from their
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  spouses before because your spouse was
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  here at one point. Um, it takes a
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  village to raise kids. I'm always saying
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  that. And I had the privilege of hearing
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  Adam Newman speak at the America
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  Business Forum earlier this week. He has
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  six kids. I don't know how he and his
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  wife Rebecca do it, but they once said
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  that Miami's superpower is community. I
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  could not agree more because this is my
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  extended community here today. Um my
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  extended tribe that we are all raising
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  our kids together and I am so excited.
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  It's taken a lot of timing for them to
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  come into the studio. Number one, I
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  wanted to make them proud. And number
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  two, to get on their schedules is just
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  damn impossible. So without further ado,
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  I'd like everyone in this room to
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  introduce themselves. Starting with my
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  Media Nadanga over here,
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  >> Danny Diaz Leva, the proud uh spouse of
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  Christy Diaz.
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  >> And what do you do, Danny Diaz? How many
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  kids do you have?
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  >> I am an attorney and I have two
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  children, 13 and 11, Danny and Adriana.
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  Hi, I'm Jose Felix Diaz, also known as
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  Pepe, born and raised in Miami. I have
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  three amazing kids, a 15year-old son, a
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  13year-old son, and a seven-year-old
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  daughter, which keeps me up at night.
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  >> And uh I am a lawyer and a lobbyist. So,
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  I do a lot of government affairs work uh
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  here in Miami and in Washington and
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  Tallahassee.
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  >> Nice. Uh Ryan Holtzman. Uh my beautiful
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  wife is Sophia Holtzman, who's been on
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  your show. It was an excellent episode,
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  so thank you for that. and I have three
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  beautiful kids, Luke and Gabrielle,
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  12-year-old twins, and Cruzy who's four
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  years old and basically runs our house.
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  So,
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  >> yeah. So, if you haven't had the
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  opportunity to listen to the foundations
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  leading up to Heartful Living, our first
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  season, you can find his beautiful wife
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  Sophia Holtzman in our two episodes.
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  Part one was uh 121 days in the NICU
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  from their beautiful twins, and then
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  part two was their co surprise, which
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  was baby Cruz.
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  >> That's right.
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  >> That's right. So, um, without further
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  ado, let's get started. We have so much
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  ground to cover, gentlemen. I want to
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  start by saying that something that is
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  very uniquely Miami is that when you ask
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  a Miamiian born and raised, where did
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  you go to school? It has nothing to do
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  with their university. It has to do with
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  where did they go to school in Miami.
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  And it's something that only Miami
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  natives today can really understand. And
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  you're you're smiling and nodding
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  because that's all we really care about.
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  Where'd you go to school? It kind of
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  puts the identity on the map, if you
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  will. So, I want to start by saying,
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  where did you go to school?
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  >> So, I went to Palmer Trinity School. Uh,
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  graduated in 1998. Um, proud Palmer
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  alum, where my children now go to
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  school.
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  >> Um, I a St. Brendan Highrad, which um
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  I'm very proud to be on the board of. I
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  think you're on the board of Palmer
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  also.
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  >> And it was a very middle class school in
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  Westchester where 98% of the kids I went
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  to school with were Hispanic. most of
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  those were Cuban and I had a a blessed
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  four years in high school and that's why
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  I'm still very involved in the school.
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  >> Let's back up a minute because Danny
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  didn't mention I've known Danny since
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  middle school, since the Carver days.
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  Yes, sir.
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  >> When Danny had a shaved head and that's
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  a whole different life. We'll talk about
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  that maybe another episode. Um, but
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  yeah, my my growing up it was amazing
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  because my parents put me at Sunset
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  Elementary where I believe you started
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  as well. That's right. and you know from
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  a gringo family and I was fluent in
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  Spanish within three years and it was
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  one of the best things my parents ever
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  did and went to Carver and then from
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  Carver to Ransom and I was on the board
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  of Ransom for 12 years and finally got
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  turned out but amazing friends amazing
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  experience and uh my three kids are now
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  at Culver so we have a Raider fight
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  >> but Danny Danny's much older than you
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  >> I think like six or seven years actually
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  >> easy
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  >> me too he's much older than me
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  >> that's not very nice so I'm a Guliver
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  lifer. Um, K through 12. Very hard to
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  find those these days. Um, it's very
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  interesting because Miami then and Miami
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  now are two completely different cities.
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  And that's what I want to dive into
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  today. The Miami that we're raising our
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  children in is a much different place
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  than the Miami we grew up in. And
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  there's so many added layers to that.
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  And with your backgrounds and your
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  knowledge, I want to know how we got
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  there to there. But without getting to
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  the end, we need to start at the
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  beginning. And I want to know what it
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  was like for you guys growing up in
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  Miami in the 80s and 90s.
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  >> Well, I'll start. I um I had a great
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  childhood. Uh blessed um my parents uh
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  both Cuban exiles,
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  born in Havana, left when they were
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  eight and six. And you know, you can't
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  have a conversation about Miami without,
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  you know, starting there uh you know,
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  the Cuban exile experience. Uh, and you
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  know, all of us, uh, grew up in a Miami
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  that, you know, uh, were very proud of,
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  uh, in spite of its, you know, humble
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  origins. A lot of the Cuban exile
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  community came with the clothes on their
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  back and kind of started over again.
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  And, you know, just brought their their
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  culture of hard work and and dedication
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  and family and faith and and restarted
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  and and I'm a product of that. And so,
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  um, you know, I went to a a very small,
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  you know, preschool, uh, Coral Gables
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  Congregational Church across the street
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  from the Builtmore. Uh, my mother, uh,
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  went to St. Teresa up the street, uh,
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  when she came from Cuba. And so, you
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  know, we we really have, you know, had a
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  sense of community around this area. Um,
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  you know, my mother grew up Catholic. um
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  you know, she instilled those values of
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  of faith and and you know, religious
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  tradition in me and it was it was
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  wonderful. I mean, it's really kind of
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  rooted me in this community. Um but, you
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  know, it was fun. I mean, we we played
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  sports. Um I played baseball and soccer.
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  My dad coached my teams. Um you know, my
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  my mother obviously helped my father u
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  tremendously around the house. They were
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  both very active, present parents.
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  um you know they just instilled a
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  certain uh level of of love and and
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  appreciation in me. Uh my grandmother
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  was very present in my life which is
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  another unique thing that um you know
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  grandparents uh because of the exile
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  community everybody pitched in and
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  supported each other and created an
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  incredible sense of community at home
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  and and she was kind of like a second
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  mom, right? So she drove me to school
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  while my mom and my dad both worked um
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  you know for several years and uh my mom
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  actually didn't stay at home until my my
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  uh my sister was born 9 years later. So
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  um you know we had a very different
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  experience and a different upbringing
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  but but it was amazing. I mean I never
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  um you know complained once about about
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  my childhood. I would leave the front
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  door uh hop on a bike and I was gone
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  most of the day. Um, you know, my
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  parents didn't have any way to connect
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  with me or call me or text me or beep me
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  or anything like that. That came much
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  later.
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  >> Those were the days.
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  >> And and it was it was awesome. I mean,
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  obviously we got into a you know,
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  healthy amount of trouble and and you
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  know, that I think that's part of
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  growing up, but um you know, obviously
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  the the you know, values that your
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  parents instilled in you kind of created
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  uh guard rails around, you know, what
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  you did and you didn't do. So, uh it was
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  great. I had an incredible upbringing.
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  It was free. It was independent and and
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  full of full of love. Pepe, I love when
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  you refer to your childhood as the
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  Sandlot days. It makes me very
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  nostalgic. Um, can you elaborate on
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  that?
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  >> Very much like Danny, like it sounded
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  like he was describing my childhood just
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  like in a much nicer neighborhood.
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  >> So, I uh I grew up in Westchester kind
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  of heading towards the unincorporated
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  part of Dade County. I think I had less
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  neighbors and more alligators than
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  anybody I knew. I actually thought that
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  the world ended kind of like where I was
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  and like you know Coral Gables and
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  Little Havana, all these vibrant
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  neighborhoods now. I had no clue they
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  existed cuz everybody I knew was west of
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  the Palmetto. But I grew up very much
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  like Danny in a very sports centric
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  environment. My dad was a baseball coach
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  at Tamiami Park. He coached me for 10
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  plus years. I think that they made him
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  the coach because I was so bad at
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  baseball that the only way I can get on
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  a team was if my dad was the coach and
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  my parents were the sponsors. But I
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  eventually learned to love baseball and
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  became uh pretty good at it enough to uh
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  you know play early through the early
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  part of my high school. And uh I I just
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  had this amazing group of friends. We
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  all went to different schools. We all
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  grew up in in in the same way and we
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  lived on a bicycle, you know, we would
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  get on a bike in the morning in the
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  summer and you wouldn't see your parents
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  again till night and you would show up
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  at your friend's house. You call your
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  parents and you say, "Hey, I'm at
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  Mario's house. I'm at Danny's house. at
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  MC Carlos's house and I don't think
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  parents questioned much other than do
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  you need me to make food or are you guys
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  going to come back here. Uh, you know,
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  we jumped into each other's pools. I got
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  a ton of ear infections uh in the
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  neighborhood from from poorly cleaned
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  pools. And we loved that experience. I I
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  remember the movie Sandlot and it felt
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  like what we went through. And there's
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  like a line at the end where they're
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  like reminiscing and doing like a
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  montage of them playing and like the
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  narrator says something like, "We didn't
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  know it then, but that would be the last
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  game we played together." And so that's
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  always like a like a very emotional
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  thing to think of because we spent so
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  much time together. Now we're grown
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  adults with kids. Um, and I had a
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  neighborhood reunion at my house about a
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  month and a half ago. And everybody from
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  the neighborhood came and we played
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  basketball and we played baseball and we
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  went in the pool and the kids had a day
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  very much like the one we grew up with.
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  >> And it felt amazing. like there was just
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  such vibrant feelings of nostalgia and
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  positivity that we were almost
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  reclaiming our youth in a way that I'm
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  sure you're going to ask about later
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  that our kids haven't been able to
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  experience the same wholesome
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  >> um free um environment and we'll
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  definitely talk about that later because
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  I think that that is part of the reason
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  why we have uh kids with more anxiety
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  and kids with nature deprivation
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  syndrome and all these kids that are
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  growing up with a lot more mental health
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  issues because they're more connected to
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  their phone than they are to their
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  neighborhood and their friends.
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  >> Right. Ryan, you must have been a very
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  active child just knowing you like I
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  know you today. And you were also the
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  baby of the family. I can't even imagine
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  the trouble you must have gotten into as
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  a child running a muk in your community
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  in your neighborhood. Aren't you glad
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  there's no cameras back then that could
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  share that story? Thank God social media
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  didn't
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  >> I mean I couldn't get away with anything
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  with this white pack first and foremost.
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  So um yeah I mean my childhood was
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  amazing similar to you guys. Uh grew up
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  in in the Kendall area and moved to the
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  Gables. I think I was like nine or 10
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  years old and just it was just like Pepe
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  described riding our bikes every day
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  hanging out with our neighbors almost
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  like it was when we had co here where
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  you're outside you're hanging out with
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  like with everyone you know in your in
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  your neighborhood
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  >> without mask.
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  >> Without masks.
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  >> Yeah. And um and I think you know those
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  were the days like it was the Sandlot
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  days like like you said and I think it's
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  changed a lot and I and I think that we
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  need to put more emphasis on doing that
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  with our kids and getting more involved
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  with our communities like that.
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  >> And I I think that that story the
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  Sandlot movie
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  >> Yeah.
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  >> really appeals to everybody in our
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  generation, but then you show it to your
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  kids and they gravitate towards it also
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  because it feels so foreign to them.
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  >> Absolutely. No phones, no way of
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  communicating, no rings on the cameras
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  that's reporting if they're running
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  behind a peacock or, you know, throwing
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  a mango off of a tree. There was no
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  accountability almost. They could do
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  whatever they could throw the rock and
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  nobody knew which hand had thrown it.
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  That's right.
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  >> I think that has a lot to do with it,
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  too. They were much simpler times.
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  >> I I wonder the level of connection that,
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  you know, our kids will have kind of
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  going forward, right? Because I I think
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  that one of the incredible things that
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  we have is is our connection, right?
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  Like over the course of our life, like
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  we've spent so much time together and it
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  wasn't, you know, communicating through
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  a phone and text messaging or social
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  media. Like we actually played sports
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  together. We were in the trenches, you
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  know, competing together. And I think
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  that that really helps you develop
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  relationships.
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  >> Dude, when you needed an answer, you'd
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  be like, "Oh, I think I know who could
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  give me the answer. I'm going to call
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  Danny." And these kids now are asking AI
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  all day. And so one of their strongest
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  friendships in life is their
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  relationship with Chad GPT or Grock or
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  whoever AI they're using. Yeah.
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  >> Like that is now replacing human
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  connection. And I I think that if you
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  study it,
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  >> they're starting to see that,
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  >> you know, I IQ's are being affected,
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  proficiency and language skills are
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  being affected because people have easy
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  answers at the palm of their hands. It's
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  like they're gods. It's the critical
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  thinking skills that the kids are are
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  missing out because instead of trying to
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  solve the problem, they're just going to
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  to attach
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  >> to BT
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  >> and and that, you know, obviously
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  problem solving is resilience, right?
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  Like, you know, having a problem, facing
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  it, figuring out how to solve it. I
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  mean, that's such a huge, you know,
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  critical thinking, you know, skill that
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  you need to have.
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  >> People don't realize that jumping on a
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  bike and having to find your friend's
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  house is actually a critical uh thinking
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  skill. And in today's world, if you drop
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  any of our younger kids off on a street
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  corner, they'll never find the house.
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  >> Um, I've run little tricks on my kids
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  of, "Okay, everybody, I'm stopping the
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  car. You guys have to get me home."
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  >> And that
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  >> Oh, yeah. It's You'd be surprised where
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  you end up when they're not looking out
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  the window.
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  >> Yeah.
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  >> Um, it's funny cuz my daughter, who has
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  a keener sense of direction, she's like,
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  "Okay, stop at the McDonald's and go to
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  CVS." I go, "How do you get to CVS?" She
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  goes, "Um, I don't know." Right?
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  >> One one of the things that they say is
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  you you conquer fears by falling. Right.
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  So, if you look at somebody that falls
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  off a tree as a kid, they're less likely
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  to be afraid of heights.
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  >> Yeah.
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  >> But that's why you have a predisposition
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  to anxiety because these kids have never
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  fallen.
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  >> Hey, my friends, it's Christy from
• 14:52
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  Right. So, how do you think the anxiety
• 15:25
  of dads, our dads,
• 15:29
  has changed to the anxiety you as dads
• 15:32
  have in Miami today? Because parenting
• 15:35
  in Miami has changed
• 15:37
  so much in 30 years. And why do you
• 15:40
  think that is, Ryan? You have a much
• 15:42
  older father as well. So, do you feel,
• 15:45
  for example, that your dad, by the time
• 15:47
  he got to you, was just tired?
• 15:49
  >> Uh, definitely. I mean, he was 52 when I
• 15:52
  was born.
• 15:52
  >> I mean, that's crazy.
• 15:53
  >> He's a bull. He's 95 and going strong.
• 15:56
  >> Yeah. I just think I think the
• 15:57
  relationships for back then is different
• 15:59
  than it is now. I think we're a lot more
• 16:01
  involved in our kids' lives uh in every
• 16:03
  aspect. I mean, we whether it's
• 16:06
  homework, we're all over our kids for
• 16:08
  homework. My parents never were never on
• 16:10
  me for homework. I just kind of figured
• 16:11
  it out on my own. Again, critical
• 16:12
  thinking and, you know, doing it on your
• 16:14
  own. Um I think we're more involved in
• 16:17
  our kids sports. I think we're more
• 16:19
  involved with our our our kids' friends
• 16:21
  and then their parents. I think we're
• 16:22
  just we're more invol I think I mean I
• 16:24
  think they're going to be our best
• 16:25
  friends, you know, when they're adults,
• 16:27
  which is I think the true definition of
• 16:29
  success is when your kids want to hang
• 16:31
  out with you when you're older.
• 16:32
  >> I love that.
• 16:33
  >> And that's that's my goal. I don't care
• 16:35
  how well I do in my career. I don't care
• 16:37
  how much money I make. It's will my kids
• 16:39
  be hanging with me when I'm older.
• 16:40
  >> So the the negative version of that is
• 16:41
  the helicoptering. Right.
• 16:43
  >> Right.
• 16:43
  >> Which is very prevalent. And I think
• 16:46
  that you actually have to consciously
• 16:49
  strive to let them fall. Let them fall.
• 16:54
  Let them fail.
• 16:55
  >> I I think that the overzealous parenting
• 16:58
  um is detrimental to children. My
• 17:01
  13-year-old son lives on his bike like I
• 17:04
  did. Like the other day,
• 17:07
  he had a funny incident at home and and
• 17:10
  uh he said, "I think I saw a ghost." And
• 17:14
  I and I talked to him about it. We had a
• 17:16
  conversation and it was like a like a
• 17:18
  Saturday. On Sunday, he takes off in his
• 17:21
  bike. He comes home later. I'm like,
• 17:22
  "Where were you?" He's like, "Well, I
• 17:23
  went to St. John Newman to talk to a
• 17:25
  priest."
• 17:26
  >> Wow.
• 17:27
  >> He was like 5 miles away from my house.
• 17:30
  And he figured out how to get there. He
• 17:31
  went, he met with a priest. He told him
• 17:33
  what happened to him the day before. The
• 17:35
  priest told him he was going to be fine.
• 17:36
  And he came back home and he had like a
• 17:39
  totally adjusted, perfect situation. And
• 17:41
  like, you know, I think that most
• 17:43
  parents would freak out about that. Oh
• 17:45
  my god, you crossed 107th and you
• 17:47
  crossed Kendall.
• 17:48
  >> But like, I did that. I did that a
• 17:50
  million times over. And I I'm alive. And
• 17:53
  like look,
• 17:55
  >> there are horrible things that happen.
• 17:56
  And Miami is a much more unsafe place
• 17:59
  >> for pedestrians and for bicyclist than
• 18:01
  it was when we were growing up.
• 18:02
  >> But, you know, I think he's going to be
• 18:04
  a better adult and a better human being
• 18:07
  because he's bold.
• 18:09
  >> He's unafraid. and he lets his passions
• 18:13
  and convictions guide him and we I'm
• 18:16
  trying not to stifle that because he's
• 18:17
  such an impressive human being. So, you
• 18:20
  know, that might that might be an
• 18:21
  exception.
• 18:22
  >> That's an exception to the rule. Apart
• 18:24
  from the fact that we've got way too
• 18:26
  much traffic today to get to where he
• 18:29
  was going, right? Are you not fearful?
• 18:32
  And do you think that because we know
• 18:35
  too much today, that's why we're more
• 18:37
  scared? I think that if you if you
• 18:39
  listen to the again and I I've read a
• 18:41
  lot of parenting books, Anxious
• 18:44
  Generation and Glow Kids and all these
• 18:46
  things is we've never lived in a more
• 18:48
  safe time than now. When we were growing
• 18:50
  up, it was infinitely less safe than it
• 18:53
  is now for everything that you're
• 18:54
  mentioning and not saying, right?
• 18:56
  >> And Miami in particular because Miami
• 18:58
  was not safe when we were growing up.
• 18:59
  >> Yeah, there were I mean there were bad
• 19:00
  people, bad things were happening. Now
• 19:03
  we have life 360 and cell phones and
• 19:06
  other things. The one thing I ask my son
• 19:09
  is not to be alone. You know, he
• 19:10
  typically goes with a neighbor or a
• 19:12
  friend. That gives me some comfort if
• 19:14
  something were to happen. The other one
• 19:15
  could immediately call for help. Um it's
• 19:17
  a struggle. I'm not saying that like I'm
• 19:20
  uh totally okay with him going five
• 19:23
  miles, but I'm just saying I I'm not
• 19:24
  also punishing him for doing that
• 19:27
  because there was a really cool part
• 19:30
  about what he did. Yeah.
• 19:31
  >> And I I I rode 5 miles a lot.
• 19:34
  >> Yeah.
• 19:35
  >> If it was your daughter, all three of
• 19:37
  you, would you have been more concerned
• 19:39
  that it my 13-year-old son's a giant
• 19:42
  gorilla,
• 19:43
  >> right?
• 19:43
  >> You know, like he's a big boy. He could
• 19:45
  defend himself
• 19:46
  >> and his friends, right? I mean, my
• 19:48
  daughter's seven and she's little and
• 19:50
  tiny and very, very susceptible to
• 19:52
  force, right?
• 19:53
  >> So, for sure, she cannot do that. Maybe
• 19:56
  if she's older and she's traveling with
• 19:57
  her male cousins that could help defend
• 19:59
  her, like we would have a different
• 20:01
  conversation. But my childhood was very
• 20:03
  different than my sisters even then.
• 20:05
  >> Sure.
• 20:05
  >> Like my sisters weren't going on a bike
• 20:07
  all day and coming back at night.
• 20:08
  >> Sure.
• 20:09
  >> And my kids aren't doing that. I mean,
• 20:11
  >> right.
• 20:11
  >> And I think they're missing out on some
• 20:13
  things all at the same time. We're so
• 20:15
  busy. I mean, they come home from school
• 20:17
  and we're going straight to practice,
• 20:19
  >> right? So it's like they don't have
• 20:20
  time. and that kind of innocence where
• 20:22
  you just kind of go hang out with your
• 20:23
  friends nowadays. I think with with with
• 20:26
  it whether it's sports, whether it's
• 20:27
  music or art, whatever the kids are
• 20:28
  into, their schedules are packed. I
• 20:31
  mean,
• 20:31
  >> do you think this is local to Miami or
• 20:34
  nationwide?
• 20:34
  >> It's everywhere in the world.
• 20:35
  >> I think it's everywhere. Me, too.
• 20:36
  >> I think it's everywhere. But at the same
• 20:38
  time, I it's like great bonding time.
• 20:39
  So,
• 20:40
  >> twice a week, I I drive Luke to
• 20:42
  Columbus. He's on a Brothers United
• 20:44
  lacrosse team. He's also on the Gul
• 20:45
  lacrosse team. And I get, you know, 45
• 20:48
  minutes with him in the car. I get to
• 20:50
  coach him and be with him and and see
• 20:52
  his friends and meet his friend's
• 20:54
  parents from all walks of life, right?
• 20:56
  And then I also get, you know, half an
• 20:58
  hour back with him. And same with
• 21:00
  Gabrielle. So these are these are
• 21:01
  moments that we make in the car and we
• 21:04
  deep dive into a lot of topics that, you
• 21:06
  know, kids aren't really comfortable
• 21:07
  talking about, you know, when they're
• 21:08
  just busy busy going and going. So,
• 21:10
  >> well, I heard um a wonderful story from
• 21:14
  your wife that she ended up having to
• 21:16
  tell your children about the birds and
• 21:18
  the beads in a car ride home
• 21:20
  >> just facing the street forward.
• 21:22
  >> I'm glad I wasn't there for that.
• 21:24
  >> And they were like, "Ew." And it was all
• 21:26
  three all the way from their his
• 21:28
  four-year-old on. But, you know, those
• 21:30
  are the best conversations that went in
• 21:31
  the car.
• 21:32
  >> Yeah.
• 21:32
  >> Yeah. I drove carpool for five years.
• 21:35
  Um, and the days that it was my turn,
• 21:38
  you know, I do have videos, uh, DVDs in
• 21:41
  my car, but I always made sure that the
• 21:43
  movie that was on was something that
• 21:44
  would prompt a conversation. And lo and
• 21:46
  behold, it did. We had tons of
• 21:48
  conversations about Harry Potter and his
• 21:49
  coming of age because that was the movie
• 21:52
  that they were constantly playing. Did
• 21:53
  you know that?
• 21:54
  >> No, I did not know that.
• 21:55
  >> Yeah.
• 21:55
  >> And it's a great way to introduce him to
• 21:57
  music.
• 21:57
  >> Absolutely.
• 21:58
  >> That's kind of my thing. Taking him to
• 21:59
  school or picking up
• 22:00
  >> and to wizards.
• 22:01
  >> Wizards. Very important to wizards.
• 22:04
  So, I want to talk about because you all
• 22:08
  have such um a keen ear as to what's
• 22:11
  going on in this city. This is, you
• 22:13
  know, the next great big city in the
• 22:15
  United States. Our our city's on fire,
• 22:18
  but because our city's on fire, which is
• 22:20
  a wonderful thing for us watching Miami
• 22:23
  as Miami natives, we are growing out of
• 22:25
  our city. And as a result of the influx
• 22:28
  of people that are coming in, people
• 22:30
  like us that were born and raised here
• 22:32
  cannot afford to live here anymore. And
• 22:35
  what's kind of sad in my eyes is that
• 22:37
  they can't afford to go to the schools
• 22:39
  we went to or there's no space.
• 22:42
  Talk to me about that, Danny.
• 22:44
  >> Yeah, I mean, again, I I've said this
• 22:47
  publicly, you know, these are growing
• 22:49
  pains, but they're positive growing
• 22:51
  pains, right? I look at the benefit to
• 22:53
  all of those things. Um, you know, I
• 22:55
  have colleagues across the country that
• 22:57
  have, you know, a very different
• 22:58
  experience. Uh, you see the people from
• 23:00
  the Northeast, you know, fleeing.
• 23:02
  Obviously, we have an election that that
• 23:04
  happened, you know, earlier this week
• 23:05
  that will potentially provoke more
• 23:07
  migration from New York, um, outside of
• 23:09
  New York. It's not necessarily to
• 23:10
  Florida, but just generally away from
• 23:12
  New York, uh, because of certain
• 23:14
  policies, right? And so, you know, I
• 23:16
  think that that that is a good thing,
• 23:18
  right? That we are growing as a
• 23:20
  community. Um, you know, I think it's
• 23:22
  important that we put in, you know,
• 23:24
  plans for that growth and part of that
• 23:26
  is school, right? Um, I think, you know,
• 23:28
  one is is affordability and the other is
• 23:30
  education, right? Those are two critical
• 23:32
  components that I think that we need to
• 23:33
  face. Um, and, you know, creating jobs
• 23:36
  that people can actually earn enough
• 23:38
  money to continue to live here and to
• 23:40
  sustain themselves here. And so those
• 23:42
  are like our main challenges, I think,
• 23:44
  you know, here in in our community. Uh,
• 23:46
  and I think we're up to the task. I
• 23:47
  mean, we've we've really uh come a long
• 23:49
  way. I think the growth that we've
• 23:51
  experienced here has been exponential.
• 23:53
  Um, you know, especially in the last 5
• 23:55
  years. And I think the Miami that we're
• 23:57
  seeing today, uh, we won't even
• 23:59
  recognize 5 years from now.
• 24:01
  >> Yeah. I think we're in the second inning
• 24:02
  on what we're going to see right now
• 24:04
  with Miami's growth.
• 24:05
  >> Ryan, you're in commercial real estate
• 24:07
  and you have a lot of New York in your
• 24:10
  rolodex. Talk to me about what you're
• 24:12
  going to see in the next 5 years,
• 24:15
  especially with the elections that just
• 24:16
  took place. Um you are constantly
• 24:20
  telling me that we're going to be well
• 24:22
  actually you're telling me always that
• 24:23
  we're the fifth burrow of New York. Do
• 24:25
  you agree or disagree?
• 24:26
  >> Six.
• 24:27
  >> Six burrow. Sorry.
• 24:27
  >> Six burrow 1,000%. But we're also the
• 24:30
  hub for LAM and for Europe and we're
• 24:32
  seeing a lot of that as well. So I
• 24:33
  represent owners of office buildings and
• 24:36
  over since postcoid there was an
• 24:38
  incredible migration mostly from New
• 24:40
  York, Chicago and California. And I mean
• 24:43
  there's been over 1.6 6 million square
• 24:44
  feet of new to market tenants to this
• 24:46
  market and we're really only 45 million
• 24:48
  feet. That's a lot. That's it's never
• 24:50
  happened before. And these companies are
• 24:52
  are massive. It's it's Orlando Bravo
• 24:54
  moving his headquarters. It's Ken
• 24:55
  Griffin moving Citadel to Miami. Um
• 24:58
  there's 20 different groups I can tell
• 25:00
  you about. And I think that um now that
• 25:03
  these groups have moved here, you know,
• 25:05
  young kids that graduate from college
• 25:07
  and they want to go into finance or they
• 25:08
  they they want to go into whatever, you
• 25:10
  know, food group, it would either be New
• 25:12
  York, Chicago, or the big cities. Now,
• 25:14
  Miami is like top of their list. And for
• 25:18
  all the reasons that we know growing up
• 25:19
  here, I mean, the quality of life, I
• 25:21
  mean, just it's unbelievable. And so,
• 25:23
  we're seeing that happen more and more
• 25:25
  where the the companies are here and now
• 25:27
  the talent's here and it's just going to
• 25:29
  scale tremendously. So I had a
• 25:31
  conversation this morning at breakfast
• 25:32
  with with Jim Cassell. Um you know so
• 25:34
  his family has been here since 1908 he
• 25:36
  told me um and you know he
• 25:39
  >> so they were here when it was Miami
• 25:40
  >> when it was Miami. So so he was telling
• 25:42
  me interestingly that um you know he
• 25:44
  used to write an op-ed in the Herald for
• 25:46
  like 10 years and one of the
• 25:47
  commentaries that he made was about and
• 25:50
  he served as a resource you know to to
• 25:52
  families at at his time during his
• 25:54
  generation and I know his kids went to
• 25:56
  school with you at ransom. So, so it was
• 25:58
  an article that he wrote about trying to
• 26:01
  convince our generation to come back to
• 26:04
  Miami cuz you had folks that were
• 26:05
  graduating from the schools here going,
• 26:07
  you know, the best and brightest would
• 26:09
  go away like you did, you know, go to
• 26:10
  Colombia and then, you know, they'd
• 26:12
  start their careers in New York, you
• 26:14
  know, New Jersey, Connecticut, you know,
• 26:16
  Chicago, San Francisco, and it was
• 26:18
  hardressed to see them come back. And
• 26:20
  so, you know, that article then was
• 26:22
  trying to convince them to come back.
• 26:23
  today. A lot of people, to your point,
• 26:26
  they want to stay here. They want to
• 26:27
  stay here for college. They want to go
• 26:29
  away and come back.
• 26:30
  >> And I'm actually having conversations
• 26:32
  with folks who have their kids. They're
• 26:34
  from the Northeast. Their kids have been
• 26:35
  going to M. And these are big people,
• 26:37
  big families, um that they don't want to
• 26:39
  go back to New York. They want to stay
• 26:41
  here in Miami. So, that that kind of
• 26:42
  addresses one of the comments that
• 26:43
  you're asking about. Um you know, how do
• 26:46
  people afford to live here? I mean,
• 26:47
  obviously that it's important to have
• 26:48
  jobs here that generate enough income
• 26:51
  for people to stay here, right? And so,
• 26:54
  that's one of the major issues that I
• 26:55
  think, you know, we need to address and
• 26:56
  you're seeing it.
• 26:58
  >> Pepe, the private school voucher, is it
• 27:00
  helping a Miami native or not?
• 27:03
  >> I have mixed feelings about it. I think
• 27:05
  it's very good for a lot of people. Um,
• 27:08
  the StepUp scholarship
• 27:11
  uh was expanded in recent years to allow
• 27:14
  anybody that's putting their kids in
• 27:16
  private school, so long as a private
• 27:18
  school accepts it, to get somewhere
• 27:20
  between 7 and $9,000 a year, depending
• 27:22
  on the child's age. And a lot of people
• 27:25
  are taking it. But a lot of schools are
• 27:27
  also raising their costs,
• 27:29
  >> right?
• 27:29
  >> So, I can tell you that in a lot of the
• 27:31
  private schools, you have north of 95%
• 27:33
  of the parents that are taking advantage
• 27:35
  of the scholarship. But if the
• 27:37
  scholarship $7,000 and the tuition's
• 27:39
  gone up $7,000,
• 27:42
  you know, what was the benefit?
• 27:44
  >> So, you know, I've been a voice uh with
• 27:47
  the schools that I'm affiliated with and
• 27:49
  that I know well trying to convince them
• 27:52
  to keep the cost low. Um I've also been
• 27:54
  an advocate for board members of schools
• 27:57
  that are not accepting the scholarship
• 27:58
  to accept it because it does make a
• 28:01
  significant impact and levels the
• 28:03
  playing field for a lot of people. And
• 28:06
  you know, it's a little bit of a
• 28:07
  controversial scholarship. You know, if
• 28:09
  if you're making $5 million a year, do
• 28:12
  you really need a scholarship to send
• 28:13
  your kid to private school? But the
• 28:16
  counter is that person who's paying $5
• 28:17
  million a year is paying tens of
• 28:20
  thousands, if not hundreds of thousands
• 28:22
  of dollars in taxes that are being
• 28:23
  injected into the public school system.
• 28:26
  And if you're not taking advantage of
• 28:27
  the public school system, is that
• 28:29
  equitable? So, it's it's a conversation
• 28:31
  that continue to happen in Tallahassee.
• 28:34
  It's been very successful. Uh but
• 28:38
  schools are capped. It's not like
• 28:39
  Columbus or St. Brendan's or Benn can
• 28:42
  accept 500 new students, you know. So,
• 28:46
  you know, you still have a log jam of
• 28:48
  people that want their kids to go to
• 28:49
  these schools and you're seeing a
• 28:51
  massive uh amount of new people
• 28:54
  applying. So, the wait lists are getting
• 28:56
  longer. The schools are being more
• 28:58
  selective. uh that part of it becomes
• 29:01
  more of a meritocracy because now it's
• 29:03
  not only about whether you could afford
• 29:04
  the school, it's about
• 29:06
  >> whether you deserve to be
• 29:07
  >> whether you deserve to be there and
• 29:08
  whether you're an exceptional student
• 29:09
  with from an exceptional family.
• 29:11
  >> And that's going to be the challenge
• 29:12
  that I see when I speak to, you know,
• 29:14
  groups out of New York that are thinking
• 29:16
  about either expanding down here or
• 29:18
  relocating completely. families in New
• 29:21
  York are not going to pick up when, you
• 29:23
  know, leave their their clubs, leave
• 29:25
  their schools, leave their friends
• 29:26
  unless they're guaranteed they're going
• 29:28
  to get a spot. I mean, during COVID, um,
• 29:30
  I was on the ransom board, I probably
• 29:32
  had 25 emails and 50 calls of random
• 29:36
  cold calls saying, "Hey, how much can I
• 29:37
  pay you to help get my kid into ransom
• 29:39
  or into Guliver?"
• 29:41
  >> And it's it's a real issue.
• 29:43
  >> I believe it.
• 29:44
  >> And and we got to find space. Right. So,
• 29:46
  like today
• 29:47
  >> So, how much did you charge?
• 29:49
  Um,
• 29:51
  >> not enough.
• 29:52
  >> If he did charge, he would not be
• 29:55
  complaining about tuition for his three
• 29:57
  kids.
• 29:57
  >> Yeah. Three kids with tuition stuff.
• 29:58
  >> Exactly.
• 29:59
  >> But today, I'm meeting with the head of
• 30:00
  school ransom uh at 2:30 to talk about
• 30:03
  an opportunity to perhaps expand at
• 30:05
  Freedom Park, which is um an incredible
• 30:08
  project that's happening uh with the
• 30:10
  Moss family in Beckham. It's it's a
• 30:12
  gigantic area where they're building the
• 30:14
  stadium. There's going to be office
• 30:15
  space and there's a parcel for a school.
• 30:17
  So we're negotiating right now with
• 30:20
  major schools out of New York, private
• 30:22
  um charter schools and seeing if some of
• 30:24
  these local schools like a Ransom,
• 30:26
  Palmer, Goliver, etc. would want to
• 30:28
  expand.
• 30:29
  >> Yeah. So um as far as the vouchers are
• 30:33
  concerned, you know, obviously I think
• 30:34
  it's been, you know, productive in a
• 30:36
  sense that it's given people who did not
• 30:38
  have the option of parochial schools or
• 30:41
  private schools the option to, you know,
• 30:43
  to pay for it, right? they just wouldn't
• 30:45
  be able to do it, you know, because of
• 30:46
  their economic conditions or economic
• 30:48
  circumstances. But to your point,
• 30:50
  >> you know, it has created a log jam in
• 30:52
  terms of of seats, right?
• 30:54
  >> And so, um, you know, there is weight
• 30:56
  list across the community in every
• 30:59
  school. I mean, charters have had a, you
• 31:01
  know, because everybody wants to go to
• 31:02
  the charters. If they're good, high
• 31:04
  performing charters, it's free, right?
• 31:06
  Alternatively, you go to a parochial,
• 31:08
  which if you get your voucher, you can
• 31:09
  pay a certain portion if not all of the
• 31:11
  tuition and you make up the difference,
• 31:13
  right? And so people who wanted to have
• 31:15
  a faith-based education, they have
• 31:17
  access to it if they maybe weren't able
• 31:18
  to do it because of their economic
• 31:20
  circumstances. And then the other
• 31:21
  privates obviously you have some kind of
• 31:23
  conditions assuming that they they
• 31:25
  accept the the tuition um voucher which
• 31:29
  some schools don't. But you know that's
• 31:31
  the opportunity I think today for you
• 31:33
  know uh private schools or you know
• 31:37
  people that are trying to innovate like
• 31:38
  alpha schools or you know any one of
• 31:40
  these schools that's trying to do a
• 31:42
  technology- based you know learning
• 31:43
  curriculum. Um but we need it
• 31:45
  desperately right. So it's one of these
• 31:47
  things that I think we need to really
• 31:48
  try to um to find and attract more of
• 31:51
  those so that we can continue to help
• 31:54
  bring people to Miami.
• 31:55
  >> It's happening. I mean, we have we have
• 31:57
  a specialist uh at Kushman who his one
• 32:01
  of his main roles is trying to work with
• 32:02
  the county and the city to find land or
• 32:05
  older buildings that the county owns to
• 32:07
  either, you know, reposition to build
• 32:09
  new schools or what have you. And it's
• 32:10
  it's happening. There's people are being
• 32:12
  very proactive. It's just going to take
• 32:13
  some time.
• 32:14
  >> It takes time.
• 32:14
  >> Yeah.
• 32:15
  >> And it's expensive, by the way.
• 32:16
  >> Oh, no doubt.
• 32:17
  >> I mean, because real estate obviously is
• 32:18
  very expensive. So, to the extent that
• 32:20
  they're buying it or leasing it, it's
• 32:22
  going to cost a lot of money and then
• 32:23
  you got to translate that into tuition,
• 32:25
  right? One of the things I was going to
• 32:26
  mention was one of the unintended
• 32:27
  consequences of scholarship is because
• 32:29
  you have such a robust weight list at
• 32:32
  every school. What happens when you
• 32:33
  don't get into your first school? And so
• 32:36
  that's when people start really
• 32:37
  scrambling because if you are applying
• 32:41
  at Palmer or Ransom or St. Brendan's or
• 32:45
  Blet or Columbus, whatever the school is
• 32:47
  that's a private school. If your kid
• 32:49
  doesn't get in, chances are that the
• 32:51
  next school will not be excited about
• 32:53
  taking your child because they weren't
• 32:55
  their first choice,
• 32:56
  >> right?
• 32:57
  >> So, they have their own weight list. So,
• 32:59
  there's a lot of kids that are like
• 33:00
  probably on the cusp on the margins. You
• 33:03
  know, you have a 100 kids, 200 kids, 300
• 33:06
  kids in an entering class. What happens
• 33:08
  to the 301st kid that might actually be
• 33:11
  exceptional, but you know, their parents
• 33:13
  are not alumni or, you know, the parish
• 33:16
  priest didn't write a letter. Now
• 33:17
  they're on the out and they're having to
• 33:19
  go to neighborhoods very far away from
• 33:21
  them, schools that they're not familiar
• 33:23
  with.
• 33:23
  >> And it's a a scary thing for parents.
• 33:26
  Like the desperation absolutely
• 33:28
  >> of the calls that I get is is it's
• 33:30
  overwhelming. It's also crazy to see how
• 33:33
  far a parent will drive to go to the
• 33:36
  school that they want to go to. I'm
• 33:38
  still blown away by parents on Kiscane
• 33:41
  that are driving all the way down to
• 33:43
  Palmer Trinity. I don't know what time
• 33:44
  they wake up. God bless them.
• 33:45
  >> Well, they have helicopters.
• 33:48
  >> No, but seriously, in today's world with
• 33:50
  traffic, I can get to my kids school in
• 33:53
  20 minutes. And this happened to me
• 33:55
  yesterday, and I'm still very salty
• 33:56
  about it, so I am going to talk about
• 33:58
  it. My daughter has decided that she's
• 34:01
  going to take her sweet ass time in the
• 34:03
  morning to get ready because all of a
• 34:04
  sudden her hair has to be on point. So,
• 34:07
  she takes up until the last second. We
• 34:10
  missed the bus. I watched the bus pull
• 34:12
  out of the circle and I drove behind the
• 34:14
  bus the entire way to school. I was not
• 34:17
  happy. It took me an hour and a half to
• 34:19
  get home. It was the worst drive home
• 34:22
  ever. makes me laugh because when my
• 34:25
  kids were in elementary and I would do
• 34:26
  the drive home, I developed a love of
• 34:29
  podcasting because I would listen to
• 34:31
  podcasts coming home. That's a thing of
• 34:33
  the past now cuz my kids take the bus.
• 34:35
  >> Sure. Well, now you have time to have
• 34:36
  your own podcast.
• 34:38
  >> Now I come here and I record it myself.
• 34:39
  But um with that said, traffic is
• 34:42
  becoming a major issue. Major issue. And
• 34:45
  people will go anywhere to go to the
• 34:47
  right school right now. How are we going
• 34:49
  to relieve the traffic on the streets,
• 34:51
  you guys? because this is this is
• 34:52
  getting out of control.
• 34:53
  >> It's an unsolvable problem. Um the city
• 34:56
  was designed at a time where there were
• 34:57
  a lot less people. The grid was not
• 35:00
  meant for this capacity and
• 35:02
  unfortunately we're seeing budget cuts
• 35:04
  at the state and local level in a way
• 35:06
  that there will not be an easy solution
• 35:08
  anytime soon. The county has been
• 35:10
  talking for a long time about a plan for
• 35:13
  transit. It's unfunded. It's
• 35:15
  underfunded. It It's going to be very
• 35:18
  tough. I think that the future of Miami
• 35:21
  is is a, you know, a work, play, live
• 35:25
  environment where you live near where
• 35:27
  you work. That is the only thing that
• 35:30
  makes life a little easier. It's why in
• 35:32
  New York with a density as high as they
• 35:34
  have, people survive because you have
• 35:36
  your corner grocery store, you have your
• 35:38
  local restaurant, and you have your
• 35:40
  local laundry shop. in Miami because we
• 35:43
  were not planned in a way like other big
• 35:46
  municipalities. People have to drive
• 35:49
  very far and the streets are congested
• 35:51
  and that's not getting any easier
• 35:52
  anytime soon. I am optimistic that we
• 35:56
  have very smart people that are trying
• 35:57
  to figure it out. I'm pessimistic that
• 36:00
  there just isn't funding and I don't
• 36:02
  think we're in a state where people are
• 36:03
  ready to pay more taxes to get better
• 36:05
  and more roads, right?
• 36:06
  >> Uh we're a low tax state. Our state
• 36:09
  budget is half, even though we're
• 36:11
  bigger, half of a New York's, if you
• 36:13
  live in New York City, which by the way
• 36:15
  has pretty bad traffic,
• 36:18
  >> but they have options. They have public
• 36:19
  transportation.
• 36:19
  >> They do have that they inherited, right?
• 36:21
  They have
• 36:21
  >> because it was smartly planned and it
• 36:23
  was, you know, we have limestone under
• 36:24
  us,
• 36:25
  >> right? So, we can't go under. We can't
• 36:27
  go underground.
• 36:28
  >> We're not sending our kids on the metro
• 36:30
  at this point in time. So Danny and I
• 36:32
  were in Asia in January and we learned
• 36:35
  the story that a young person, I don't
• 36:37
  know if you remember the story clearly
• 36:38
  about how their ferry came to be that
• 36:41
  connected the the islands.
• 36:44
  >> Why aren't we using water fairies in
• 36:46
  Miami yet?
• 36:47
  >> Because that is uncharted territory. We
• 36:49
  can get so much so faster if we were on
• 36:52
  a ferry and everybody else does it. Why
• 36:54
  can't we?
• 36:55
  >> So I I think it's a combination of
• 36:56
  things, Chris. It's it's a multimodal
• 36:59
  system of transportation, right? It's
• 37:01
  not just ferry. I think we should
• 37:02
  absolutely have that as an alternative
• 37:04
  to your point about like Kiscane for
• 37:06
  instance or even Miami Beach. You know
• 37:08
  the barrier islands. It would be great
• 37:09
  to have a passenger ferry. By the way,
• 37:12
  just like San Francisco, right? You have
• 37:13
  the Embaradero. You can hop on it and go
• 37:15
  to Salelo or go to as far as Neato
• 37:17
  today, right? So, uh it would be amazing
• 37:19
  for us to have that and you could hop on
• 37:21
  the ferry from Kiscane and go to
• 37:23
  Palmetto Bay or go down to North Kargo
• 37:25
  or whatever have you. That would be
• 37:26
  amazing.
• 37:27
  >> Um but it's not just that. it's have,
• 37:29
  you know, uh, you know, again, train
• 37:32
  stops. We're I think we're fixing it on
• 37:34
  the eastern periphery of the county
• 37:36
  where you have Bright Line that goes
• 37:38
  obviously all the way now to Orlando.
• 37:40
  You're having more stops along the urban
• 37:42
  core uh, in the Windwood Design
• 37:44
  District, Little River area. But again,
• 37:47
  that doesn't solve the problem for the
• 37:48
  people out in the western portion of
• 37:49
  Miami Day County. We don't have rail
• 37:52
  spurs that run along 8th Street, along
• 37:54
  Flaggler, along Miller, along, you know,
• 37:57
  Sunset. And that will never get done. I
• 37:59
  mean, the reality is we're not going to
• 38:01
  exercise eminent domain one cuz we don't
• 38:03
  have the money to pay for what the value
• 38:04
  of real estate is along those corridors
• 38:07
  for sure and people will go crazy,
• 38:09
  right? So, I don't think that's ever
• 38:10
  going to get solved. Um, but what we're
• 38:12
  seeing is, and I'm sure you can talk a
• 38:14
  little bit about it in terms of like
• 38:15
  office and kind of where people work,
• 38:17
  but you know, we are going now and
• 38:19
  creating urban centers and urban cores
• 38:22
  in different parts of the community so
• 38:24
  that you can do what Pepy's suggesting,
• 38:26
  right? is live, work, and play in the
• 38:28
  western part of Miami date county.
• 38:30
  That's one of the things that's being
• 38:31
  discussed now, you know, and you're
• 38:33
  seeing that in the Gables, you know, the
• 38:34
  the business improvement district in
• 38:36
  Coral Gables, you know, and you're
• 38:37
  seeing that in different parts of the
• 38:38
  county where now you can actually stay
• 38:41
  close to where you live.
• 38:42
  >> Well, that's that's what we're seeing on
• 38:43
  the office front.
• 38:45
  There's all these Perry urban locations
• 38:47
  like The Grove, you have Winwood, you
• 38:49
  have Design District, you have you know
• 38:51
  Bickl downtown Coral Gables and you know
• 38:54
  decision makers that are coming in and
• 38:55
  leasing office space and paying crazy
• 38:57
  rates. They want to work where they
• 38:59
  live. They want to be able to leave
• 39:00
  their office and go to their kids
• 39:02
  baseball game or lacrosse game and not
• 39:04
  you know be downtown and have to leave
• 39:06
  an hour and a half earlier to to fight
• 39:07
  the traffic. And so to your point, it's
• 39:10
  like how do we build these these
• 39:12
  communities in all these different
• 39:13
  periods where you have the schools,
• 39:15
  where you have the the fields. It's just
• 39:18
  it's a it's a major problem right now.
• 39:19
  >> Yeah.
• 39:21
  >> I'm concerned because you didn't give me
• 39:24
  an answer to how you're going to fix my
• 39:26
  traffic.
• 39:27
  >> It's not going to get fixed. Look,
• 39:28
  again, it's it's a it's
• 39:30
  >> I have one. I have one. Um there has
• 39:33
  been some talk I'm not part of it but I
• 39:36
  know of it uh with a boring company uh
• 39:38
  which is Elon Musk company and they had
• 39:41
  the capability to bore tunnels deep
• 39:43
  underground and have autonomous vehicles
• 39:45
  go through it.
• 39:46
  >> Yeah.
• 39:46
  >> If that were to happen here that could
• 39:48
  be a significant addition to Miami's
• 39:51
  >> traffic solution.
• 39:52
  >> We're not going to see that in our
• 39:53
  lifetime. You don't know.
• 39:54
  >> They're doing it now.
• 39:55
  >> They're doing it now in Vegas. You can
• 39:56
  go right now and there's boring tunnels
• 39:58
  that people are using for autonomous
• 40:00
  driving. I mean, I would love to get
• 40:01
  into that with you and how our city
• 40:04
  might be sinking and how that's going to
• 40:06
  come into play, but we could just talk
• 40:08
  for hours about that because that would
• 40:10
  be a concern for many. If we're a
• 40:11
  sinking city, why are we going
• 40:13
  underground?
• 40:15
  >> I mean, I I I don't just enough to be
• 40:17
  dangerous. Um, and I can tell you that
• 40:20
  limestone is limestone, right? So,
• 40:23
  >> you know, if you reinforce it when you
• 40:25
  build it,
• 40:26
  >> it actually probably is stronger than
• 40:28
  what was there before. Um, and I I I
• 40:31
  don't think that we're sinking per se. I
• 40:34
  mean, we're not going down. The water's
• 40:36
  coming up, right? The water level is
• 40:37
  coming up,
• 40:38
  >> right?
• 40:38
  >> Um, and so, you know, whether
• 40:41
  whether that penetration from from the
• 40:44
  ocean, which, you know, we have a water
• 40:46
  table,
• 40:47
  >> um, gets affected or not by a boring. I
• 40:50
  I I it's yet to be seen, but from
• 40:52
  everything I have heard and everything
• 40:53
  I've learned, I don't think that would
• 40:55
  be one of the reasons for us to stop
• 40:57
  doing it.
• 40:58
  >> Cannot do Let's dig.
• 40:59
  >> Yeah.
• 41:00
  >> So, question for you. For my kids, Miami
• 41:04
  will be what?
• 41:05
  >> For your kids or for my kids? For your
• 41:06
  kids?
• 41:06
  >> For our kids.
• 41:08
  >> Um,
• 41:08
  >> for the next generation.
• 41:09
  >> Yeah. Look, for our kids, Miami will be
• 41:12
  a bastion of opportunity. It'll be a
• 41:15
  gateway to Latin America in the world.
• 41:18
  It'll be a fun and sexy place to tell
• 41:21
  people that you're from. I think that
• 41:23
  it'll be a much more entrepreneurial
• 41:26
  city with more tech innovators and AI
• 41:30
  centric companies than we can ever
• 41:33
  imagine. I think more people will be
• 41:35
  entrepreneurs in the future including
• 41:37
  our kids
• 41:38
  >> than what currently exists now. That is
• 41:40
  that is the difference in my mind
• 41:43
  between
• 41:45
  the industry of today and the industry
• 41:47
  of tomorrow. Um you know the industrial
• 41:49
  revolution everything changed. We are in
• 41:52
  an AI revolution and everything will
• 41:53
  change again. Yeah. Not just here but
• 41:55
  everywhere. But Miami just happens to be
• 41:57
  one of the epicenters where that
• 41:59
  conversation is really happening.
• 42:00
  >> Right. Danny, what do you think Miami
• 42:03
  secret sauce is?
• 42:04
  >> Um I think our secret sauce is our
• 42:07
  entrepreneurial drive. Um mostly driven
• 42:11
  by immigrants. Uh, I think our immigrant
• 42:13
  heritage, uh, whether you're Cuban,
• 42:16
  Venezuelan, Colombian, um, you know, you
• 42:18
  come from someplace else and you were
• 42:20
  fleeing some kind of restrictive
• 42:23
  environment, whether that was political
• 42:24
  or economic, and you came here trying to
• 42:26
  make it happen, right? And so I think
• 42:28
  people that are are, you know, growing
• 42:31
  up here in Miami, they tend to innovate
• 42:33
  and they tend to have the grit um, to
• 42:36
  get things done. And I think that's
• 42:37
  really our secret sauce here in Miami.
• 42:40
  Ryan, what does a good Miami dad do
• 42:42
  today?
• 42:43
  >> Good Miami dad take your kids to every
• 42:45
  Kane's football game.
• 42:48
  >> That's a bad dad.
• 42:50
  >> Especially after losing to SMU last
• 42:52
  year.
• 42:52
  >> The worst dad is to take him to Dolphins
• 42:54
  game,
• 42:54
  >> which is what I do,
• 42:56
  >> which is what you do. You never miss a
• 42:57
  game. You, your dad, your
• 42:59
  >> My dad had season tickets to Miami
• 43:00
  Dolphins for 50 long years.
• 43:02
  >> Wow.
• 43:03
  >> That's amazing.
• 43:03
  >> Does he have like a special plaque on
• 43:05
  the seat?
• 43:05
  >> Not a thing.
• 43:06
  >> Not a thing. But uh the last
• 43:08
  championship was in 74.
• 43:10
  >> My dad got his tickets in 75.
• 43:12
  >> So there might be a Jose Diaz senior
• 43:14
  curse in the Miami Dolphins.
• 43:15
  >> Oh my gosh.
• 43:16
  >> He's just a glutton for punishment.
• 43:18
  >> That's funny. Um closing closing
• 43:21
  questions. Poor Pepe is so sick here
• 43:24
  today and we're just so grateful he's
• 43:26
  here. I I know I'm going to owe him one.
• 43:28
  >> Well, I'm gonna owe you all one when I
• 43:30
  get you sick.
• 43:31
  >> So,
• 43:32
  >> poor Ryan. How about that one?
• 43:33
  >> Poor Ryan.
• 43:34
  >> Sophia, she'll be upset. Um,
• 43:37
  Sophia,
• 43:39
  >> how do you personally uh keep the
• 43:41
  perspective of gratitude without guilt
• 43:46
  in front of your kids today?
• 43:49
  >> Look, I I um I'm incredibly grateful of
• 43:54
  the life that I've had. I I feel blessed
• 43:56
  to have grown up here and, you know,
• 43:58
  exposure to the outdoors and water and
• 44:01
  and just great people. And you know, I
• 44:04
  I've tried to project that onto my kids.
• 44:07
  Um, and I don't think that there should
• 44:09
  be a level of of guilt. I think that
• 44:11
  that's, you know, living with gratitude
• 44:13
  to your point and kind of one of the
• 44:14
  things that you project is just being
• 44:16
  grateful for every connection that you
• 44:18
  have, for every experience that you
• 44:20
  have. Uh, and I try to do that, you
• 44:23
  know, uh, with happiness and with grace
• 44:25
  with my kids, you know. So, I I try not
• 44:27
  to even focus on the guilt aspect of it.
• 44:30
  Um and then you know when you get around
• 44:33
  the community and you you do realize
• 44:34
  that that there is obviously a very
• 44:36
  different part of Miami where there is a
• 44:39
  lot of need um is just making them you
• 44:42
  know giving them exposure to that and
• 44:44
  realizing that you know the the the life
• 44:47
  that they live for the most part is very
• 44:49
  different than other people and you know
• 44:52
  to whom much is given much is expected
• 44:53
  and the fact that you know you have
• 44:55
  access to all of these things uh you
• 44:57
  need to be grateful and you need to give
• 44:59
  back and So that that's that's how I try
• 45:01
  to offset that, you know.
• 45:03
  >> Well, I'm so grateful that you guys are
• 45:05
  part of my tribe and you guys are
• 45:07
  helping us raise our children. Um you're
• 45:09
  the uncle you're the Jewish uncle in my
• 45:12
  house, the Cuban Jewish uncle. You're my
• 45:14
  daughter's godfather. Without you guys,
• 45:16
  you know, it takes a village to raise
• 45:18
  these kids. And I like Adam Newman said
• 45:21
  the other day at the American Business
• 45:22
  Forum, he says that when he moved to
• 45:24
  Miami, he was so happy because he loved
• 45:26
  this community and this atmosphere to
• 45:28
  raise his he has six kids, you guys. Him
• 45:31
  and Rebecca have six kids. And he says
• 45:33
  that raising my Miami secret sauce is
• 45:35
  community. And I couldn't agree more.
• 45:37
  >> I totally agree with that. And that's I
• 45:38
  think that's that is the secret sauce
• 45:40
  because I've I've met you know a ton of
• 45:43
  families that have come down from
• 45:45
  different cities and the first thing
• 45:47
  they say is that everyone can't you know
• 45:48
  have their arms open. They're welcoming.
• 45:51
  Everyone's an ambassador to the city and
• 45:53
  they're ingraining they're entrenching
• 45:54
  themselves in our community whether it's
• 45:56
  philanthropic whether it's just getting
• 45:58
  involved in the community in any other
• 46:00
  way supporting hospitals supporting
• 46:02
  charities. And I think that's a very
• 46:03
  special thing for Miami because I know a
• 46:05
  lot of cities they they it doesn't work.
• 46:06
  It doesn't happen. Yeah. Right. And so
• 46:08
  we have the old Miami now with the new
• 46:11
  Miami. It's kind of like tides coming in
• 46:13
  together and we're all growing in rowing
• 46:15
  in the same direction now. So I think
• 46:17
  it's very special.
• 46:18
  >> Well, thank you guys for being here
• 46:19
  today and taking times out of your busy
• 46:22
  schedules. I hope we can do this again
• 46:23
  soon. I don't know when everybody's
• 46:25
  calendars are going to collide and you
• 46:27
  will be able to give me an hour of your
• 46:29
  time again. So I'm so grateful. Thank
• 46:31
  you guys for being here.
• 46:32
  >> For love being here. Thank you for the
• 46:34
  invite.
• 46:34
  >> Thank you so much. Thank you all for
• 46:36
  joining us today and we will be back in
• 46:38
  the coming weeks with another episode.
• 46:40
  Bye everybody.