Hey fellow dads and sports enthusiasts, Kyle Graham here—your chief navigator through the wild journey of fatherhood, with a side of high-flying sports action. Today's DadBodcast episode is one for the books as we sit down with the legendary wakeboarder Harley Clifford. Imagine having your life flipped upside down by the pitter-patter of little feet; that's exactly what happened to Harley as he shares his shift from wakeboarding fame to the adventures of daddy duty. Expect tales of Easter egg hunts with a twist and how his own childhood escapades in Medowie paved the way for a family steeped in the love of sports.
Get ready to ride the wave of emotions as we tackle the ups and downs of a champion's life. We cover Harley's breathtaking journey from clinching his first world title at the tender age of 14 to grappling with the physical and emotional tolls of injuries. Harley gets real about the pressures of international competition, the sweet taste of victory, and the behind-the-scenes effort it takes to maintain a top spot in the wakeboarding world. But it's not all smooth sailing; we also delve into how marriage and the arrival of his daughter Elodie amidst a global pandemic brought new challenges and profound changes to Harley's life trajectory.
As we wrap up the session, we get an honest look into the Clifford household's laughter-filled chaos. From the comedic trials of bedtime routines to the surprising contemplation of adding another munchkin to the mix, Harley's life is a lesson in adaptation and growth. He doesn't shy away from discussing the anxieties that come with hanging up the competitive wakeboard for a more grounded family life, and the steps he's taking to navigate the tides of change. So, buckle up and join us for this heart-to-heart that's as thrilling as it is relatable, because whether you're shredding waves or changing diapers, we're all in this ride together.
Hey fellow dads and sports enthusiasts, Kyle Graham here—your chief navigator through the wild journey of fatherhood, with a side of high-flying sports action. Today's DadBodcast episode is one for the books as we sit down with the legendary wakeboarder Harley Clifford. Imagine having your life flipped upside down by the pitter-patter of little feet; that's exactly what happened to Harley as he shares his shift from wakeboarding fame to the adventures of daddy duty. Expect tales of Easter egg hunts with a twist and how his own childhood escapades in Medowie paved the way for a family steeped in the love of sports.
Get ready to ride the wave of emotions as we tackle the ups and downs of a champion's life. We cover Harley's breathtaking journey from clinching his first world title at the tender age of 14 to grappling with the physical and emotional tolls of injuries. Harley gets real about the pressures of international competition, the sweet taste of victory, and the behind-the-scenes effort it takes to maintain a top spot in the wakeboarding world. But it's not all smooth sailing; we also delve into how marriage and the arrival of his daughter Elodie amidst a global pandemic brought new challenges and profound changes to Harley's life trajectory.
As we wrap up the session, we get an honest look into the Clifford household's laughter-filled chaos. From the comedic trials of bedtime routines to the surprising contemplation of adding another munchkin to the mix, Harley's life is a lesson in adaptation and growth. He doesn't shy away from discussing the anxieties that come with hanging up the competitive wakeboard for a more grounded family life, and the steps he's taking to navigate the tides of change. So, buckle up and join us for this heart-to-heart that's as thrilling as it is relatable, because whether you're shredding waves or changing diapers, we're all in this ride together.
This episode of the DadBodcast is proudly brought to you by Bud. The Label Bud is a kids clothing line that offers simple, wearable and versatile pieces. If you are looking for clothing for your kiddos with quality and comfort at the core, then look no further. Thank you, bud, for making this episode possible. Go get your dad from Bud with Dads From Bud. Howdy ho, daddy-o's. And welcome to the Dad Podcast. This is brought to you by myself, kyle Graham. This is a place where all types of dads or dads-to-be can tune in, cop a giggle or learn something new about life as a parent. Follow along as we interview dads of all types and undercover some wisdom to help us be the best dads and partners we can be. So get comfy and listen in your big deals, because the next episode of the dad podcast is about to go down. Let's get into it. So, guest on the potty this week is Harley Clifford, probably not really known for his dad life stuff, but more so in the wakeboarding scene. Eight times world champ, champ, is that right?
Speaker 1:yeah, a couple yeah yeah, um, mate, welcome on the show. Appreciate you coming on. Yeah, stoked to be here, mate. Thanks for having me yeah, you're welcome, mate.
Speaker 2:How's the fam going? Fam is going good. Um, yeah, we got our daughter elodie. She's about three and a half now. Uh, we had a little boy six months ago. His name's koa and my beautiful wife is 30 years old. I'm 30 years old. Yeah, we're just cruising, enjoying life. How was Easter? Easter was good. I definitely did my quota in chocolates, but this year was cool. You know my little daughter. She's like three and a half now, so she's kind of like grasping the concept and she knows what Easter now like is. Like this year the-up was really cool because she was super excited and she's like I'm gonna get so many chocolates and um, so it's cool to kind of like watch her grow and and really get into those traditions.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's pretty cool to see kids, like you know as they grow older, like transform into that. These just like just bundles of joy, you know, with like those times of the year, whether it's like easter and christian stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 100, I mean it was the same for us growing up. You know, every, every time that that time of the year would come around, I'd just like the anticipation would build and I'd be so stoked. So it's cool to see that like those traditions kind of live on, you know, because you get older and it kind of doesn't mean anything. And for the last, like I don't know, 20 years of 15 years of my life, it hasn't meant anything to me, you know yeah.
Speaker 2:And now to like reinvigorate that in the kids is like a really cool.
Speaker 1:Bring you in a big kid back.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely yeah, yeah, like a funny story.
Speaker 1:Actually. It was um, uh, just the other day actually, my ballet history. He was um putting all of his like easter eggs into the freezer and he put in like one one side of the door and then was like shifting him over to the other. You know, kids just need to move things and I was just cleaning up something or whatever, and I just said it's fucking hell he said that I was like what did you say he goes fucking hell, and I was like well, yeah, I was trying so hard not to laugh yeah but it's like oh man, I don't know.
Speaker 1:I was like when did you hear that he blamed his older brother? But I haven't really heard him say that. Yeah, well, I mean I've heard.
Speaker 2:I've heard that from my daughter a few times, yet Not that word, but she says the word shit now and then yeah, and lately she says like things suck. She's always like I'll be like babe, we've got to go to Daycare and she's like Daycare sucks. I'm like, where did you learn that? She's like you Dad.
Speaker 1:Straight out of the bus.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, straight under the bus. But she did drop the shit bomb the other week and I was like where'd you learn that one?
Speaker 1:She's like mom, oh, that's good, yeah, yeah yeah, I got over that one. Yeah, so, mate, tell us a little bit about your childhood, like where did you grow up?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I grew up in Medawi, which is like a little town just outside of newcastle, and it was a small town like I think when I grew up there there was only three or four thousand people that lived there and yeah went to a small little primary school and everybody kind of knew everybody, um, and yeah, I grew up, um, I have two brothers, an older brother, ty, um, a younger brother, ethan we're all about like two years apart and we grew up like really close and when we were young, um, we kind of got into water skiing and wakeboarding. My dad grew up as a professional ski racer and um, and then from there, like we always had a boat and then, uh, I mean we just discovered we have a mutual friend, cory harris.
Speaker 1:Yeah, who um?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, we love your brother um, yeah, his parents owned a wakeboard store in Sydney and and our parents were really good friends and, um, we just borrowed a wakeboard from them one weekend and we all started wakeboarding and kind of that was it. The rest was history. We never touched the skis again, didn't tube, didn't do anything, and we just grew up wakeboarding. We grew up on the water and yeah, um, that's what we all kind of love to do as a family, and we would go on big camping trips to Mile Lakes for sometimes four weeks at a time, and we'd take the boat and we'd just go on the boat all day, every day, and then my old man would pick us up from school most days with the boat hitched up to the back of the car, and we'd head straight to the river and just wakeboard every afternoon. And I mean, really my childhood was just like we started wakeboarding and that was like our main thing that we did.
Speaker 2:And then I was like competing. By the time I was six, seven years old and kind of working my way up the ranks and, yeah, that was. Was that just in Australia? Yeah, just in Australia. The first time I went overseas and competed. I was only nine years old though. Yeah, when I went and did like the Junior World Championships and yeah, I guess from like the age of seven I started like getting some sponsors and getting some credit and that sort of stuff and just kind of worked my way up through the ranks there.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So who kind of acknowledged that you had the ability? Who was sort of the one that sort of said, hey, you've got something special here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, it was kind of like it would go in waves, because my brothers were quite good at it as well, yeah, and like there was different points where my older brother would shine and he'd be winning events and that sort of stuff and yeah, and like um, and then my younger brother, he'd be pushing it and learning new tricks and doing that sort of stuff and and I would say I didn't really like break out of my shell the first couple years until maybe I got to like um, maybe like eight. I started like shiny and doing pretty well, yeah, um, and and my parents were great, like they never like pushed us too hard or did anything like that. They always gave it like all three of us that the same opportunity. It was never like, oh, you're doing better, so we're going to give you more opportunity, um, but yeah, as we got older and and by the time I don't know, I was probably about 13, 14 my brothers like kind of started to shy away from it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, and then it just kind of kept going with me and I kept on my path and kept wakeboarding, and I guess that's when maybe it was like a little bit different because my parents kind of had to put a bit of time into me, you know, to like keep my wakeboard career going and that sort of that sort of thing. Um, but yeah, I mean it was probably, I don't know, from the age of seven. Like, really, I started to like get some credit. I started to get sponsors. I think when I was nine I got sponsored by like Quicksilver or something and they started paying me, so it was like my parents were like my kid's nine he's already making money.
Speaker 2:This is crazy. We should probably put some more effort and time into this thing and see where it goes. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, nice, and then did, was it like sort of, from that point onwards, was it like just us trips all the time, or yeah, I mean my wakeboarding career.
Speaker 2:I mean my life revolved around it. That was kind of what I did, and and from a young age, like that was established and um, yeah, at nine years old I went to the states for the first time and did the junior world championships over there and and um, I think I only got like third place or something, which is okay, but um, yeah I mean, but I like expected to go over there and win because I was like doing quite well, but I just like blew it and, um, it took me a while to like come to grips with nerves and like competing on the bigger stage and that sort of stuff, yeah, um.
Speaker 2:But yeah, like I've been going to the States since I was nine years old and basically living there six months a year until the age of like 27. So I've spent a fair amount of my upbringing over there, which is pretty crazy. So whereabouts in the States, Orlando, florida, was kind of always my home base.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, is that the hub of wakeboarding? That is the hub of wakeboarding.
Speaker 2:That is the hub of wakeboarding. I would say now that, like social media is kind of like nearly taken over. It's all diversified and everyone has their own little pockets. But the states, I kind of think, is like the hub of wakeboarding. But yeah, while I was growing up and while wakeboard, like competitions and all that stuff were really relevant and that's what everyone kind of pushed to. If you weren't in orlando, you weren't doing anything. Yeah, right yeah, and then like why so while you're living?
Speaker 1:over there.
Speaker 2:Obviously, as a kid, were your parents with you um, not really to be honest, I mean the first couple years I went over like I guess, like from like 9 to 12 I would just go over and do a couple week trips and my parents would come with me. And then, from the age of like 12, I started going there for like big stints um. In the first couple years I lived with a family um, and that changed. Like. Both years um lived with like one wakeboard family um, one of my good friends, adam errington and his family, and then the next year I lived with this girl wakeboarder, nicola butler, and her family um, and I did that for six months both years. And then, when I was like 14, turning 15, I actually bought a house over there which is crazy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's like your earnings and stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah I was quite young and, um, yeah, I bought a house over there and then I just lived in my own house with my mate, who was 18 his name is sam thompson um, who's a guy from australia that my parents loved and trusted, and we just lived together in this house in the States and ran a market.
Speaker 1:Oh, I mean not to be honest.
Speaker 2:I was like pretty grounded. I was pretty like on the straight and narrow and like focused on wakeboarding and not not like the kids I knew back home like getting up to mischief and that sort of stuff. I wasn't like out partying or doing anything stupid. I mean, maybe by the time I was like 16, 17, I started like drinking and that sort of stuff, but I was pretty, pretty tamed, yeah. Yeah, I kept it all to a minimal and like I was pretty focused on what I was doing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So on that, like tell us some highs and lows of your career, yeah, um, if there is any lows, I mean there is definitely lows.
Speaker 2:I mean, like when I was young, I would have to like just leave my family for six months a year, yeah, which when you're like 12, 13, like I mean your family's everything, yeah, and I would just like go to the states and I remember like always going to the airport and that was the worst because my family would come and for like the two days before I was just dreading that, like I was about to leave them and it's going to be this like giant emotional breakdown when I leave and like, of course, my mom was hysterical every time, yeah, um.
Speaker 2:So that was kind of like something that was tough and something I had to overcome when I was a kid and learn to, I guess, be my own human being at like a young age, which a lot of people don't get to do, that like you're not out on your own to 18, 19, yeah, and some kids don't even leave home till they're 25, you know, yeah, um, so I was leaving home at like a really young age and that was something that I kind of had to, yeah mature pretty quickly.
Speaker 1:Hey, yeah, which I think I did a good job.
Speaker 2:Like I'm not on the streets, yeah yeah, I'm not a raging drug addict or anything. So, yeah, we're still alive, we're still going. Um, that was quite hard. And then obviously, like I went pro at a young age I was 14 and the first year I went pro I ended up winning the world tour, yeah, which is pretty nuts at 14 years old, like I don't know if I had pubes yet, like you know and I ended up winning the world tour, um, and then it kind of just like skyrocketed from there.
Speaker 2:But being so young and going from like that massive high to like the next year's coming maybe, like having events where I tripped up and didn't do really well, and like I'm on the other side of the world and I'm a kid and the only thing I care about is wakeboarding, yeah, and like if I lost an event or something, it was kind of like the end of the world, even though I would kind of suppress that and not show that to the public. But like I found those moments like really hard to kind of overcome and deal with.
Speaker 1:Uh, family support around you or anything like that.
Speaker 2:I mean like my family obviously like on the phone all the time, but they weren't there to like be, like just grab me and hug me and like help me deal with those situations, which was hectic, um yeah, so that was kind of like some of the low points growing up. I guess like another kind of low point was like I don't know like oh, I mean within wakeboarding, like when I had my first big injury. That was kind of hard yeah, yeah, which is that I like blew my acl.
Speaker 2:But I wasn't like it wasn't quite young or anything, I was probably like 24 when it happened. Okay, yeah, yeah, maybe 23 when it happened. So I'd had like a long stint without having any injuries or any upsets and that sort of thing. But yeah, at that point I mean I just kind of wasn't ready for it. Like I went into the year feeling strong, feeling healthy, and ended up blowing my knee at the start of the year and that was a big recovery, like 10 months of working hard and going to the gym and learning to overcome that.
Speaker 2:But I guess at the end of the day, like when I look at that and look back on that, it was kind of a blessing. So I'd done so much wakeboarding, so much traveling and all that sort of stuff for a long time. It gave me like, yeah, 10 months of my life back to like be home with my family and kind of reestablish like a life back here in Australia which I had not really had, you know, for a while. I was just living that like Miley Cyrus, hannah Montana life, like I was just two different people.
Speaker 2:I would come back to Australia and I'd go to school and I'd be humbled by all my school friends and my brothers and stuff, cause they just like, didn't give a fuck. They're like are we going to bash you and we're gonna have fun with you and that's it? And then I would go to the stage and I was kind of like this little superstar, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker 1:Hey, yeah, it's weird, weird upbringing, yeah, and then like winning world title, how did that feel like? I mean was and you've won a few, but like yeah I mean, which one was like? I guess like the biggest shock, or you know the best feeling, or they all just is equally.
Speaker 2:I mean they're all like they're all big feeling because it's something you're like hunting for the whole year. It's not like you just go to one event. You win a world title, like you gotta. It's like the surfing you gotta, yeah, be doing, like being getting consistent results all year long and then whoever has the most points at the end of the year is the overall world title winner. Um, it's a pretty long journey, yeah, but I would say like the coolest moment was I.
Speaker 2:So I ended up winning like the first ever pro tour event that I went in in the states, yeah, and like I had year before was in the juniors. I didn't really do that well, like I got third overall, but during the off season I learned a bunch of tricks and I knew that I had the tricks to go pro, but like whether I had the confidence or the consistency, we didn't like we didn't really know, um, and I ended up like going pro and I and I rocked up at the first event and I remember like making it through the first round like the, the qualifying or whatever, and I called my dad and I was dad. I made it through qualifying and then, like the event was spread over a couple days, so like the next day it was quarterfinals and I like ended up, ended up making it through that. I called my dad. I'm like Dad, I made it through quarterfinals, I'm in the semis. And then, like I think that afternoon we had the semifinals Same thing I get done, win my heat in the semifinals. Call my dad.
Speaker 2:I'm like Dad, I made it through the semifinals. I made it through the finals. Next day, the finals is on and like we had no expectations, like I just expected to blow and get lost in the finals, I'm like I'm out of the finals and we get done with the finals and the scores come out and I called my dad. I'm like dad, I've won the fucking event, yeah, and I'm like a 14 year old kid on the other side of the world and like that was my absolute dream come true. Yeah, um, so that was a cool moment.
Speaker 1:I'll remember that moment forever for sure, yeah, I'll remember that moment forever. For sure, yeah, I'll remember that moment forever. I can imagine your parents just would have been.
Speaker 2:Oh, they just were flabbergasted.
Speaker 1:They couldn't believe it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's incredible. Yeah, we couldn't believe it.
Speaker 2:that made the finals in the first place and then to win the event and yeah, that was cool. But I guess that was like when the wakeboarding thing like really became super real you know it's like all right, you're 14, you just want a pro tour stop. And then I started getting sponsors and getting paid a bit more money and all that sort of stuff, and it kind of has been snowballed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. So we're not necessarily here to talk about wakeboarding. Yeah, yeah, background of like for sure yeah yeah, um, your career and things like that. But, um, right, tell us about life now and you know like, yeah, give us a bit of a rundown of what you're up to now and yeah yeah, family, yeah.
Speaker 2:Life is definitely a lot different to what it? Was growing up, the teenage years, um, I guess like when life really started to transition for me into like a family and all that sort of stuff.
Speaker 1:It's really like covid.
Speaker 2:All right, okay, yeah um, I mean, we got pregnant like right before covid, and then we got married. We actually got married on march 21st of 2020 um, when did you meet your partner? I met georgina when I was 17, okay yeah no, she's, she's an aussie girl, yeah, okay, yeah, I kind of learned to stay away from the us girls got a little bit more going on over there than what they do here.
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, and and uh yeah, we met when we were young 17 and then, um, we did the long distance things for ages. Like I was going to the states for six months a year and, um, she would stay back here six months a year. She would come over for like a couple of weeks during those six months every time. But we did that for, I mean, it would have been from the age of like 18 to 25, maybe I think she came over and did like a full six month stint with me over there.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, that was like a tough dynamic to deal with.
Speaker 1:I bet yeah definitely.
Speaker 2:Definitely. We had like some rocky bumps and that sort of stuff, but I mean I love kind of like overcame it all, yeah and yeah.
Speaker 1:That's it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she's a beautiful chick and she's put up with my shit over the years. Yeah, for the day, all, yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly, yeah, yeah, exactly exactly yeah. But yeah, when, like life really started to change was during COVID. We kind of got pregnant right before COVID and then, as I said, we got married March 21st of 2020, which, if you remember, like that was a Saturday night and then it was like on Monday, the world closed down. We got so lucky to have our wedding and then on the Monday, they would put in like rules saying you could only have five people at a wedding. You know, yeah, so we just snuck it in there, um, and then I decided, when that happened, like there was obviously a lot going on. Georgina was pregnant.
Speaker 2:Um, it was hard to travel, yeah, so I made the call to stay home that year and not even go over the states and compete or do anything, yeah, and just kind of like, have a year off and and settle back at home. And, yeah, that september, um, we had elodie, our little daughter, which is crazy, like welcoming her into our life. I remember, like, right before we had her, just like having this massive emotional moment of like how is this gonna work. Like how can I act? I'm no, I know I'm gonna love this girl more than anything ever, but like how is that gonna to happen? I don't understand. Yeah, and then we had Elodie. And that's when life kind of just fully changed. It was like, all right, I'm a dad now. I mean, I've been doing this wakeboard thing for a long time, but I don't want to be going over the states for six months a year anymore. Like I want to be at home with my family and grow that side of my life and work on that side of my life.
Speaker 2:And yeah, I remember, like that year she was born, I actually had to go to the States and I ended up going for three and a half months, which was insane. Like my daughter was six months old and we had to make the call because, like the year before, I didn't go to the States, I didn't really do any work and I felt like everything was kind of slipping and I needed to go to the states and kind of like, put some effort in with the sponsors and be available and be around the wakeboard scene, um, and and I had to like get granted permission from the aussie government to even leave the country at that point, which is crazy, yeah, and they wouldn't grant my wife permission to leave, even though we had a child. So I headed over the states, we made the call and I headed over there for three and a half months. I couldn't come home because I had the two-week quarantine, um, which I, I like just I couldn't do.
Speaker 2:I'm glad I didn't come home in one respect like obviously it was like the hardest moment of my life having to leave the family and leave my like six month old daughter and my wife, yeah, um, at home for three and a half months and, and you know, at that point, like your kid's six months, like it's so hard to even deal with six month old when you have two of you. And then I just had to leave my wife with our six month old daughter, um, and then it was kind of on her for three and a half months to deal with it, not sleeping and how busy you are just juggling a kid all day, every day, um, and she didn't have me to help her. So that was like that was very tough. That was probably the that was like the lowest and most toughest point of my life so far. I think, yeah, um, yeah.
Speaker 2:And then I got back from that trip. Uh, elodie was about 10, well, actually I came back and she was like nearly 10 months, but then I had to do that trip uh, elodie was about 10.
Speaker 2:Well, actually I came back and she was like nearly 10 months, but then I had to do the two-week quarantine. Which was insane. Like I got home and I was in my own country and I was like so excited to see my daughter and my wife and then I just had to go lock myself in a hotel room for two weeks, which was insane. Like I thought I was gonna be fine. I'm like, yeah, this is gonna be sweet, I'll just sleep a bunch, like I'll get an exercise bike to the room and I'll just like exercise it and like be productive, oh dude I went absolute batshit crazy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I did like a workout one day, was it like maybe day eight or something and I like woke up the next day and my abs are sore and like I don't know what. I was thinking. I was watching that show the good doctor, oh yeah, and I just was like over analyzing everything. I woke up and I was like I've got cancer my absasaur, like I must have cancer, that's it. That's it. Like a whole day, dude. I was like I've got cancer, I'm losing my mind. Like I had to call that. They have like nurses and stuff you can call. I called the nurse.
Speaker 2:I'm only telling her what's going on and she just started laughing at me thanks, yeah, yeah, but yeah that was hectic, um, and then to get out there and like be reunited with my daughter and and my wife after four months was like epic moment. Oh, such a moment, such a moment. But that was crazy because I left at six months, I came back 10 months and like, at six months, your baby's still like kind of like a blob, you know like I mean they're starting to like smile and yeah and like do things. Months, your baby's still like kind of like a blob. You know like I mean they're starting to like smile and yeah and like do things, but they're like still can barely hold themselves off and that sort of stuff.
Speaker 1:And I got home and she was like a solid little baby, yeah, yeah, she's strong, and how did you go with like kind of missing some of those milestones? You know, like that would have been? Yeah, I mean, I guess we're lucky in this day and age.
Speaker 2:Like facetime, yeah, and we lived on facetime, like every day we'll facetime, like in the morning I'd wake up, we'd do an hour facetime. In the evening, yeah, we'd do a couple hours on facetime. I mean, I was obviously tough because, like, the states has a completely opposite time zone, um, so so we made it work that way, but, yeah, I guess facetime is a blessing and we, we use facetime so much. But, um, yeah, it was, it was tough. It was so tough, you know, yeah, yeah, to miss those things and to like see my wife struggling Cause she struggled.
Speaker 2:Yeah, elodie had colic for the first like nine months, so she, she was pretty up and down and she wasn't sleeping at all and my wife, like, was absolutely drained and she would call me, like once every couple days and just have a meltdown. Yeah, you know, yeah, um, which was tough, like there was so many times right nearly just through in the town, I was like I'll come home right now, and every time I did that, like I would say that all the time she's like no, babe, like you got to be over there this, I know you're over there doing this for us. Like, yeah, um, so that was very like a tough point and a tough moment in our lives for sure, um, but I mean georgina. She got through it and now she's like the toughest, most badass mom ever and she she did that for three and a half months when the baby was six months. She had colic, she didn't sleep, and now she feels like the rest of its rates.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, because you used to live in a house like, yeah, exactly, yeah exactly, and so was elodie planned, yeah yeah, elodie was planned um. Yeah, we were I guess 20, 25 yeah did you always feel as if you wanted to have kids, like growing up? Were you for sure?
Speaker 2:for sure. Yeah, and I grew up like close with my family. You know, yeah, and our family just like growing up, like everything just revolved around the family.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, and I and I, um, I knew that like growing up I wanted to have a family and um, and kind of like, yeah, yeah, have, have that family life and have kids, that I could give them a nice upbringing like I did with my family, and that I could give them a nice upbringing like I did with my family, and um, but yeah, I didn't, I actually didn't expect it to happen so soon. Yeah, you know, kind of like it was like I was still traveling to be in the states like six months a year and doing all that sort of stuff. And then, um, I came home and and I was with Georgina and I just was like I love this girl so much, like I don't know, I love this girl so much. I Like I don't know, I love this girl so much, I think it's time. And then, like I ended up popping the question and she said yes, and then it was like all right, well, let's just go for it.
Speaker 1:Your first time on the fun ride. Yeah, let's just go for it.
Speaker 2:Strong swimmers. Yeah, yeah, exactly, I mean it didn't so much happen like that. Georgina endometriosis okay, so well, actually that's kind of why we had our kid like a little bit sooner than what we thought, because she had endometriosis and she struggled with that for a while and she was in a lot of pain, so she went in. She went in and got the surgery um to like clean it up in there and, um, we took that year to like go over to the states and do a lot of traveling and like she came and lived with me over there for six months and we did like a big europe stint. We did a bunch of traveling over to canada and we ended up going to africa and going to morocco and doing some really cool things, um, but the doctor told her that like her best window to get pregnant would be within the next six months, which we waited a little bit longer than that.
Speaker 2:We took like nine months and we got back from being overseas and kind of chilled out for a little bit. And then, um, georgina went to a fertility doctor just to check on everything and, um, the doctor was like, yeah, you're doing pretty good. So we kind of I don't know just gave it a go and yeah, she was like tracking her ovulation and yeah, and um, yeah, we just gave it a go and, damn, two weeks later she was pregnant. Yeah, we kind of didn't have like a crazy yeah, a crazy journey trying to get pregnant. I mean, like georgina obviously had endometriosis and whatnot, but, um, it's so brutal, oh my god. Yeah, and it's hard to grasp that concept of what it is because it kind of doesn't make sense. No, in my mind, oh, it's just some scar tissue, yeah, inside your ovaries or or whatever, and like I don't understand how that's painful. But yeah, she struggled with it for a long time. It was in a bit of pain.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, we kind of went from there and then, yeah, it happened really quick. When it was time to like give it a go, it was like oh my God, well, this just happened, you know.
Speaker 1:It's good fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, she was like ovulating and we kind of went like rabbits for a couple days and, yeah, had fun with it, definitely, and, um, it was a great couple days. Yeah, two weeks later, she, she, I came home one day and she had a shoebox. She was like open the shoebox, open the shoebox, and the little pregnancy yeah, it was in there and it was like, oh, my god, all right. Well, this is real because I expected to try for like a year, like most people do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I yeah, I didn't think it was going to happen at all. Yeah, especially after endometriosis. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, it was pretty funny when we were trying for our first. We were on holidays in the States actually when we decided to start trying and I remember we were on a road trip with like with my sister and stuff in a camper van, so we sister and stuff in a camper van, so we like escaped to like a, you know, like one of the bathrooms or something like that.
Speaker 2:Oh, no way, just get it done. Yeah, how good is that jazz is like you know.
Speaker 1:You read up on all these theories and things that are like gonna help. Yeah, she comes out of the bathrooms. She's like doing a handstand on the walls no way, that is so funny it's hilarious.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's so funny like on the on the drive down here. I was actually listening to yours and nick's podcast yeah um, and he kind of mentions like some, oh, he just mentions like someone doing a handstand and laughing about it, but I didn't realize that he was talking about your story that is so funny um and so enough about me.
Speaker 1:You've got a second kid. I've got a second kid now, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we kind of got lucky and got the pigeon pair. We had Elodie first, which was such a blessing, you know, because I was such a man's man and like with the boys and doing that sort of stuff. But when you have a little girl, um it just like I don't know, it just slows you down and and and softens you up. Yeah, definitely soften me up, you know, um, and she's like the cutest, most beautiful, sweetest girl ever and I love her so much. So, yeah, that definitely softened me up a lot. Um, but having a girl first, I was like very hungry to have a boy, because you and I live this like cool active lifestyle and I have a little boy that, yeah, hopefully one day grows up and like wants to do cool, active things with me and yeah, um, yeah yeah, she already does.
Speaker 2:I mean, I don't know if you've seen it, but she like comes out in the circle every time she loves it, like we go tubing all the time and that sort of stuff but, um, but yeah.
Speaker 2:So I was pretty stoked to kind of find out that we're having a boy. But yeah, we got koa. He's six months now. Yeah, um, and he's, he's a. He's a different kettle of fish to elodie. You know elodie was kind of like a little bit of a difficult baby. We had a lot of problems with the colic and that sort of stuff and her not sleeping, um, but koa's, he's like a happy, healthy. You know he sleeps really good. He's like barely ever cries.
Speaker 1:He's so smiley and yeah, yeah, something about he's been a blessing too, yeah yeah, maybe it's like.
Speaker 2:I mean, they say the babies like relate to how the parents are feeling and obviously the first kid. We didn't really know what we're doing. Yeah, we still don't know what we're doing with koa, but, um, we were definitely like less relaxed than what we are with koa this time around, um, but I think, yeah, koa is kind of feeding off that energy and, oh for sure yeah, yeah has to be something in that hey for sure our second.
Speaker 1:He's a cruiser, and yeah like, yeah, you're just, there's less anxiety around. You know um. Is this normal? Like is this should this be happening? Should bub be doing this like? Yeah, and like you're just so tense for sure first. Oh my god so tense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like I remember the first like month or two you're at home and you got your kids sleeping in the other room and like checking well, we had, we actually had led sleeping with us for the first like two weeks, and then someone was like, because we weren't sleeping at all. Every little moment growing up what's going on. What's going on yeah, and then someone suggested that we put her in another room, but still like we had the, the baby monitor set to like basically every noise she makes you still hear you know, yeah yeah, and for the first like two months, like we didn't sleep at all.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, maybe like an hour to no two hours a night. You know it was. It was really hard. Yeah, yeah, and like you look at that from like an outsider's point of view or from someone that doesn't have children, you're like, oh, I can't be that bad, like sleep's not that important. But yeah, you try and go two months of sleeping an hour a night or two hours a night and see how you feel, like it absolutely destroys you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's like, it's like being on a bender without fun. Oh my god, exactly, yeah, yeah, two months oh my god.
Speaker 1:I mean some nights it's like going into led and just like holding her and just being like shut up, like just go to sleep, yeah, yeah, oh my god yeah, and then I don't know about you, but I always find that when I'm in the trenches like that, you end up like supplementing with like you know, I drink like eight cups of coffee that next day because you've had fuck all sleep, and then it's like this vicious cycle of then becoming quite unhealthy at that time as well.
Speaker 2:100, yeah. And then you're like emotionally eating, yeah, yeah. Eating sugar, yeah, yeah yeah, the coffees I mean during that period. They're kind of a must. You can't believe. There's no, no, two ways about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's no two ways about it yeah and um, and so colin's already on the tour. I see, um, it's a fun little clip that you had up on your instagram. Oh, yeah, yeah, he's getting ready for the pro tour no, that was so funny.
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, we just we went wakeboarding the other day. One of my or our mutual mates, jay, yeah, suggested the idea. He's like you should put koha in the little ergo baby and take him wakeboarding, and I'm like I don't know if I want to do that. I'll probably get out there and I'll be like, oh, I feel comfortable, I can like start doing flips. I ended up putting like a little baby doll in there and I went out and just absolutely serious, yeah, yeah, the idea like evolved and we started chatting about the doll and yeah, yeah, yeah, um, but yeah, I went out there and like filmed that little piece of me getting ready with Koa in the Yogo Baby and then, obviously, as I jumped in the water, we kind of switched out Koa and put his stunt double in there and then got out and actually absolutely sent it to the moon with him in there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that was classic. How were the comments on that?
Speaker 2:To be honest, I was surprised there wasn't that many Karens I guess a lot of people switched on quickly. It was a doll. Um, there was a couple people that were quite concerned. Um, it was more like not the people on instagram, but like my mom called me. It was like did you actually do that with koa? And then georgina my wife's mom she called um georgina and asked georgina and and obviously georgina was like it's fake, it's fake, it's fake. But Daryl, her dad, was like oh, he's so. He's so stupid for doing that.
Speaker 2:You know yeah he was like calling me out and then I told him it was fake and he was like no way. I absolutely couldn't believe you did that. I was like you're an idiot.
Speaker 1:I definitely had to double take at it like yeah, that time. I was like wait, nah, surely not.
Speaker 2:Yeah no, to be honest, I would probably trust myself, but there's no way I was getting that one past the missus yeah yeah, no way.
Speaker 1:How have you found adjusting to two kids?
Speaker 2:um, yeah, it's, it's been different, you know I guess, like I don't know, it's crazy before you have kids. Like you think you're busy, yeah, but you're not busy at all. Like I have friends that like I mean they live like the wakeboard lifestyle, so they're just like wakeboarding once or twice a day and doing like a couple emails a day and traveling every two weeks or something for like a couple days. Like, oh, life's so busy I'm just like.
Speaker 1:You have no idea like you have no idea.
Speaker 2:Imagine doing all that and then not even having one second for yourself, like, yeah, you, you. Every night you get like chill out, watch a movie and just relax. You know it comes to like five o'clock with us and we've already done a full day of work or done a full day of things, plus like we're juggling kids as well, and then it's like all right, now we need to make dinner, we need to pack up dinner, we need to bath the kids, we need to get the kids to bed which is like a mission in itself to get them to bed all of a sudden it's like 8, 30, 9 o'clock and you're like, oh sweet, I'll just have a big 15 minutes to myself and then go to sleep.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you said that like in point form, as if it's like that straightforward and it goes that quickly and smoothly but no, you know all the arguments you have to like, get him in the bath and then, all of a sudden, while they're in the bath they're enjoying being the bath they don't want to get out exactly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's like come on, just get out. Like we're trying to make this happen, I gotta get you to bed. Yeah, yeah. And then you go to get in the bed. They're like dad, I just want you to cuddle me. And like elliot is so funny, she's so hard to put to sleep sometimes. Yeah, I'll like she'll be fast asleep. Or you think she's fast asleep and I'll make like one move and she's like duh, duh, where are you going? Yeah, and I'll feel it like I'll be like sliding out of the bed, like as, as carefully as I can, and I'll feel her little hand, just like grab my hand and she'll be duh, I'm asleep, yeah oh my god, so funny.
Speaker 1:And then I get to bed at a reasonable time yeah, I mean most nights.
Speaker 2:I mean colin's good. He's like like clockwork at the moment, just down at 6, 30 to 7, and then he sleeps pretty good, like he might wake up. Or georgina will dream feed him at about 10, 30, yeah, um, and a lot of the nights he'll sleep through. Or maybe he'll wake up at like three or four and give him, put the dummy back in or give him a cuddle or something and he'll go back to sleep just like 6 or 7, yeah, which is great, it's just so great. And then Elodie's great. She sleeps all night long. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:But I guess like the adjustment to like one kid to two kid, two kids it hasn't been as big of an adjustment as what it was from no kids to one kid. I feel like that was a big of an adjustment and that was a big life change for us. But now we're like settled as a family and we love it. And when we had Cole, like we waited longer, like a lot of people try and have, like the two year gap, but we pushed it out and kind of made it like a three year gap just so we could have that time, especially that last year with elodie. She was kind of like past the hump and she was a little bit more like self-sufficient and independent. Yeah and um, and we didn't have to like look over a 24-7, you know, and we needed that time to ourselves because we just did two years of like non-stop looking after a kid and and like the hecticness of that really wears on you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, so to have that kind of it's not really a grace period, but like a little bit of like a year like grace period, before we hunted back into another one and had another one. But yeah, we were kind of quite ready for core and then, um, obviously, the fact that he's just been a good kid, it's been such a blessing. It's made this, this first six months of like introducing a second kid, a lot easier.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah yeah, and like elodie's, at an age now where she she can like kind of help us. I mean she's not like cooking him dinner or doing anything like that, but like we can put car on the ground and she can kind of play around with him. You know, yeah, yeah, and we can sit on the on the table and have an adult conversation and yeah. So that that's been a blessing as well for about 30 seconds yeah, yeah, exactly, and it's like oh, dad or co is crying.
Speaker 2:What happened? I don't know. I fell off the couch on top of him.
Speaker 1:I don't know yeah, yeah, and so any plans for a third? I don't know um, georgina has uh, endometriosis and things, but yeah, thinking about third or, um, I don't know, it's not so much on the cards right now.
Speaker 2:Like we're pretty grateful that we got the pigeon pair and the girl and boy, but we're not. I'm not like going to get this if anytime soon you never know like yeah, um, I would say what's hectic now and and what deters us from thinking about having a third, it's just how busy life is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, I don't know if we have time for to put another one in at the moment. Yeah, and I was gonna, I was gonna ask you actually, like you're pretty ambitious kind of guy and like, yeah, you're pretty driven in terms of like your career and things like that. Like how do you juggle, uh, those ambitions?
Speaker 2:and then like also being there and looking after your kids and things like yeah, well, I guess like doing what I'm doing, my line of work gives me a fair bit of free time. To be honest, yeah, like when I'm home I get to be home. Like I might duck out and go wakeboard for half an hour or something, but we live on the water so the boat's out the backyard, so it's like quite convenient. Um, so when I'm home I get to like be home, which makes it easier to kind of juggle that lifestyle um, and we have, like our house pretty set up so everything's close, like my gym's close. Um, like nowadays I'm just doing like a lot of content and whatnot, so I can kind of do that from home and then I can wakeboard straight from my home.
Speaker 2:So I get to like come home and just be home, you know yeah yeah, even if it's for like a quick hour or two just to help george, so she can go off and do something really quick and yeah, and we can kind of like keep that balance, um, but that's how it kind of works. When it gets a bit hectic is when I like jet off to the states for a couple weeks at a time. Yeah, you know, yeah, and then I can't really do any juggling. It's all on george, um, which is super hectic on her. But yeah, she's an absolute saint and like I mean, if I I don't know what I would do without it, you know, like I definitely wouldn't be able to do what I, what I'm, what I'm doing.
Speaker 1:You know, yeah, and how have you felt, I guess, like transitioning from like professional sports person into like having to say no to quite a few things and, like you know, just more dad life things, like has that been?
Speaker 2:has that been something that's like I don't know, like playing on your mind a little bit, like you know definitely like that's been I mean, that's been the last four years of my life is trying to figure out, like, what life is now. Yeah, um, and it's been something that I've like struggled with over the last four years, like anxiety, wise, wise, and mentally like thinking about what's next, and it's like, I mean, it's a daunting feeling. Like there's other athletes out there and they know that when you come to the end of your career, it's like giving up what was your career and what you've done for your whole life and you're so established in that world is like giving up your identity. Yeah, it's a hard thing to come to terms with. I guess I've been lucky, like with the last like five years, where really five years ago my life revolved around like competing and traveling and being the best wakeboarder in the world yeah um, and over the last five years, like social media has become really relevant.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, and I've been fortunate enough to be able to have a following and kind of have a following in like a niche little world that not many people do, and that's kind of like helped me with the transition because I haven't so much have to like I've like given up the traveling and I've given up like the competing and that side of things, but I haven't had to give up the wakeboarding yet, which has been amazing, you know, because it's the thing I love doing the most. And all my brands have been amazing. They've been super supportive and I'm still working with all the brands that I was working with five, six years ago when I was beating the world and winning world titles. And yeah, they've stuck by me and they're kind of I don't know, it's been a hard adjustment to figure that out and figure out that that's even a pathway that I can take, but really I would say like the last six months that's kind of I don't know, it's like solidified myself in that pathway, you know, and I'm having a lot of fun with it.
Speaker 1:all again Hasn't necessarily felt like you've had to fully disconnect from that world.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but for a while, like I was thinking, thinking like what am I going to?
Speaker 2:do next year, like I'm going to get to the end of the year, like I'm not going to have any sponsors, no one's going to pay me, and then I mean, the only skill I have is wakeboarding. You know, I left school at bloody 14 years old. Yeah, yeah, I didn't really go to school. I kind of like left school at 14 years old and just wakeboarded my whole life and, um, it's done me well up to now. But if I have to give it up tomorrow and I got nothing else to do?
Speaker 1:what do I do? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You and I spoke briefly um on insta about like you mentioned some things on your story about going through like having a tough week and things like that was that some of the? Things that were popping up for you or for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure, yeah, it's been yeah I mean like it. Like I said, it's played on my mind for years and it's been something that I've kind of struggled with and I go in and out of it. But I'm like way more open about it now, where I used to just suppress it all the time, like no, I'll just figure it out.
Speaker 1:We'll be sweet like we'll be sweet, we'll just yeah, what are some of the things that you do to like? Either help you, I guess, be more open about it, or, like, just even help like with your own sort of internal monologue, like?
Speaker 2:talking yourself out of like those negative thoughts and things um I guess, nowadays, like I've really just learned to be more open about it and not suppress it, and talk to my friends, talk to my wife, talk to my parents, um, and and like I feel like through social media and I'm meeting different people within that community, kind of like I don't know, you put something on social media and you and you talk about it and you get a lot of feedback and people that reach out saying they're going through similar things. So, like now, I'm not so like embarrassed about it and I'm not so like set in the mindset of like I can't talk about, like this, this is something that I'm just going to have to deal with internally and and um, it can be vulnerable.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It can be vulnerable, and talk to people about it and like it's cool to see that other people are going through similar problems. And yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not the only one out there.
Speaker 1:And is there, is there anything you do like, I guess, like physically, or anything to, like you know, stay, I guess, mentally?
Speaker 2:The last two months, I've really kind of been like all right, it's time to focus, I need to stop doing stupid things. I've cut out drinking, I've cut out all the silly stuff and gotten back into the gym and started to work on my health and fitness, which is something I kind of let go. I feel like a lot of people do that when they first have kids, because it's so hard to manage everything. How am I going to fit this in? But really, like I think those sort of things are the most important things and that's what gives you the, the tools and the ability to be able to kind of, um, take care of the rest of the stuff you have to take care of. You know like it's important to be mentally fit and physically fit and be healthy and, yeah, yeah, give you clarity and and and kind of helps you focus.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I've really been focusing on those sorts of things and little things that I like doing that a little like I would call them like biohacks for me to get me in like a good mental state. Um, I've been doing like meditations a lot. I have a sauna at home now, which my wife bought my 30th birthday last year, so I love getting in that thing like just 20 minutes in. That makes me feel great. Um, I have an ice bath at home as well. That, um, that's, that's like a great thing to get in and like get your day started and get that kind of get your focus going, you know, yeah um so good yeah, and even just like little, like going through those little, I guess, panic anxiety attacks.
Speaker 1:I don't know if I'd call that, but like mini ones, you know, like um, just learning to kind of cut out the thoughts and just breathe for a couple minutes, yeah yeah yeah, ways that I kind of like overcome those, those mini stresses and yeah, did you talk to anyone professionally, or is it just something that you've kind of, like you know, worked out on your own, or yeah, I would say it's been like a little bit of working out on my own.
Speaker 2:I was like fortunate enough um years ago to train with this guy, taylor, on the gold coast yeah, well, actually when I blew my knee, yeah, um, I met taylor.
Speaker 2:You probably know taylor as well but he's the guy you know and he opened me up to like a a whole new um realm of kind of like taking care of my body and taking care of my mental clarity and yeah, um and yeah. So like, yeah, through him I I got introduced to the tools of like ice bathing and breathing and taking care of your body. But before that, like I actually don't even know how I was as good of an athlete as what it was, because, like I didn't go to the gym a day in my life like I would go. Yeah, I was like when I blew my knee I was actually pretty fat to be honest.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I probably want to blow my knee. I was actually pretty fat to be honest yeah, I probably won a deep blow my knee.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was pretty fat. And then I like blew my knee and I had that 10 months off, and that was when I kind of like started to focus on all that sort of stuff and I came back and I was like stronger and fitter than I'd ever been and better at wakeboarding than I'd ever been, and I hadn't ridden for 10 months. So that was when I really learned the advantages of kind of being healthy, being fit, being like mentally clear, focusing on what you need to be doing and taking care of your body. Yeah, yeah. And now that's something that I get to like I've learned from one of the best, yeah, and I practice it every day and it really helps me in my everyday life nowadays.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. Is there anything you listen to when you're meditating, or is it just on your own? I don't know if you've been introduced to him yet but yogi brian, yogi brian yeah, actually I think through nick, yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 2:So I like kind of put it on my story that I've been listening to him and then nick kind of picked up on it and and um, but I, I love his uh meditations. Eh just, he has guided meditations on um on spotify. Look it up if you want. It's just yogi brian. Yeah, um, and he has like one for every scenario, like for anxiety, for stress, for focus, for relaxation, um, and he just has a good, a good voice. I like his voice. Yeah, a lot of these like uh meditations you listen to they're just like so soft and I'm like I can't listen.
Speaker 1:This is like sounds robotic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, exactly yeah but he just kind of has like a husky, nice voice and, yeah, he guides you through like a lot of the a lot of them. He like does breathing techniques at the start, which I love like. That kind of like really settles me down, because I would say I'm like an adhd person, yeah, and I um, I find it hard to like calm down and settle down, yeah, but going through those breathing exercises really lets you relax and get into the mindset to be able to focus and do a proper meditation and get the benefit out of it if you want to get out of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yes, you can. Well, you've been fast and calm in your time. You're a pretty busy guy and it was epic to get an insight you know about yourself and your family and things and how you're adjusting to dad life. So, yeah, I appreciate you coming on, man.
Speaker 2:Yeah, stoked to be here, man. Thanks for having me and thanks for letting me open up on a public space about being a dad?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's all about. Yeah, really cool man, and where do people find you to follow your journey?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I guess you want to come follow my crazy antics. Instagram is kind of like the main thing that I do at the moment, so that's just my name at Harley Clifford. Check it out on there. And yeah, if you've got any questions or you guys need help with anything, make sure you reach out to me.
Speaker 1:Man, I'm happy to have a chat and help you guys through anything you're going through. Harley's part of the dad bod community now, so yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to lose the dad bod right now. Come on, I appreciate having you on. Yeah, good to see you, man. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1:Sick. Thanks so much for tuning into this episode, you bunch of legends. If you enjoyed the show, could I please get you to show me some love by subscribing and leave a really nice review, also for loads of extras and to stay up to date with all things? Dad podcast. Head on over to at dad underscore podcast on instagram and give us a follow. Huge love to you all, daddy o's. Catch you soon.