Sneaker Impact News

Andrew Otazo: Miami's Eco-Warrior & Author Cleaning Mangroves & Shaping Cuban American Policy

• Bryan The Botanist, Bryan Huberty • Season 1 • Episode 39

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Transforming Miami: Andrew Otazo on Mangrove Cleanups, Policy, and Community Impact

 Join us on Sneaker Impact News Episode 39 as we sit down with Andrew Otazo, an award-winning Cuban American author, environmental activist, and communication expert from Miami. In this episode, Andrew shares his inspiring journey from working at global agencies and prestigious universities to making a tangible impact by removing over 30,000 pounds of trash from South Florida's mangroves. Discover the challenges and rewards of his environmental work, how he leveraged social media to amplify his message, and get practical tips on how you can make a difference in your community. Dive deep into Andrew's passion for storytelling, policy work, and his adventurous pursuits in Miami. Don't miss this comprehensive conversation filled with insights and motivations to help you take action for a better environment.

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CBS 4 Article

1_Bryan the Botanist:

​welcome back to Sneaker Impact News. My special guest today is Andrew Otazo. Andrew, how you doing?

2_Andrew Otazo:

I'm doing great. Really happy to be here.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Awesome. Well guys, Andrew is an award-winning Cuban American author, environmental activist and communication expert from Miami. He wrote the Miami Creation Myth and runs ARO Communications, a firm specializing in PR and executive strategy. Andrew has worked at top global agencies serving as the executive director of the Cuba Study Group, and has conducted research at Harvard and the State Department, a passionate environmentalist. He's removed 30,000 plus pounds of trash from South Florida's mangroves and raised over 30,000 for coastal protection. He's been honored with multiple awards and spoken at top universities like Harvard, Columbia, and University of Miami. Andrew, it's an honor to have you today. Yeah, it's great to be here. Yeah, man, we're so excited. Um, you were sent and given. As a referral to us by one of our dearest friends, Frankie Ruiz. Yeah. So let's start off, how do you and Frankie know each other?

2_Andrew Otazo:

Frankie and I go way back. Um, he was my camp counselor, um, when I was, I think I was 10 years old. Um, and then he was my track coach. Um, so I'm an, I'm an endurance athlete. I'm a long distance runner. Um, but at the time I was a sprinter, but, uh, he was also my track coach. And then over the years, as I got more involved with my environmental work, he's been a big proponent and a big supporter of it. So for example, um, I walked the 2019 Miami marathon carrying 35 pounds of mangrove trash on my back. Wow. Which was awful. Yeah. Awful experience. Um, but he helped facilitate that and then. The next year I came back with a team and we had a 135 5 pound trash cart that looked like a fish. It was on four wheels. And I had a team this time'cause I learned, hey, spread the misery around. So we had I think seven people and we, we dragged that all 26 miles as my marathon again.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Wow.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

I've done the, my marathon in 2010 myself one time so far about 50 plus marathons. So you and I are kindred spirits and Frankie is like, um, one of my mentors, I did

2_Andrew Otazo:

2010, um, that was my pr it's a hot year. That was a hot, that was the finish line. And when it went underneath the bridge, that's the, like there's no shade.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah, I think it's the same course, but they gave more cheer stations in the second half. Yeah. Yeah. There's not much shade out there. Right. In the second half in Tiger Tail and yeah. So you did 2010? I did 2010. You would've been probably just out of college then, or high school or,

2_Andrew Otazo:

uh, I was, I was about to graduate with my master's degree at the time. Okay. Yeah.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

So let's take the 35,000 foot overview of Andrew Otazo. Um mm-hmm. When you introduce yourself, you know, I gave you a fairly light introduction there, but I know you've worked with some of the top government agencies in the world, and you're also an award-winning author. So tell us, you know, about your background and your, um, your services that you offer.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Sure. Um, I was born and raised in Miami, um, Cuban American. I went to high school here. And then after high school I went to West Point. Um, I spent two years there. That's the US Military Academy. And then, um, as we were discussing before the podcast began, I broke my shin and I had some permanent hearing damage. So after two years, I came back to Miami. Mm-hmm. And I went to the University of Miami. I graduated with my bachelor's degree. Okay. I started getting my master's degree, took a break, went down to South America. Lived in Buenos Aires, lived in Sao Paulo for a bit, picked up Portuguese. I'm a native Spanish speaker. Um, then I went to the US State Department and I worked in the office of and Dean Affairs, so primarily with Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia. Um, then I finished my, my tenure there and I came back to Miami, graduated with my master's degree. Then I went up to Boston and it happened that the former president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, had just finished his term of office and he was given a, uh, fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School, and they hired me to be his assistant. And he, yeah. And he went from a staff. I know who Felipe

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Calderon

2_Andrew Otazo:

is. Yeah. I, I

1_Bryan the Botanist:

read a lot and I That's, and I saw that on your resume. I'm like, wow. I wanna ask you a lot of questions just about that.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah. Yeah. So, um, interesting thing about that is that when they put the job, I didn't have any connections to get this job, but when they put the job description out. They just said it was an assistant to a former Latin American policymaker. And I had applied to it. And when I came in for the interview, the lady said like, oh, are you still interested in this position? I'm like, no, I really wanna do more research. She's like, oh, okay. Well it's for Felipe Calderon. And my jaw, my jaw dropped. Wow. Because this was a man who's policies I had studied like a year previously in my master's.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

A world leader.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah, absolutely. Of one, you know, one of the G 20 countries. And I was like, no, no, no, I want that job. Um, and so, you know, a, a million interviews later, um, I got to sit down with him and I think what clinched it? Was that one, I knew his policies'cause I had studied them, and two, I spoke Spanish to him. Mm. Um, so like, I think that's what set me apart from the other. And also, so, yeah, sorry. I also knew the diplomatic protocol. Okay.'cause again, my time in the State Department, I knew how to address him. Okay. Um,

1_Bryan the Botanist:

and the etiquette and

2_Andrew Otazo:

the Yeah, exactly. Boundaries you have to have. Yes. What, what specifically, how did you help him? Well, I did everything. Um, I handled, I, I, I managed his schedule. Um, all his correspondence, including his diplomatic correspondence. So like, yeah. So, so typing

1_Bryan the Botanist:

up his notes or typing up his words and like, uh, I'll give you an example. I'll give you an

2_Andrew Otazo:

example. Like, um, he got a letter from the then president of Haiti and he's like, how's your French? And I'm like, I don't speak French. He's like, okay, tell me what's in this letter that's in French. This was before Google Translate. This was before Chachi pt. He is like, tell me what's in this letter. Type it up in Spanish and send it to the Mexican Congress. And like. Okay. So I would do stuff like that. I'd like, you know, and it would be much like, much more like quotidian things with his family, like taking care of his kids. Um, I don't know. Uh, there's the things they need for school, essentially. Some domestic things. Yeah. But also professional. Yeah.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah. Yes. And like, but you accompanied, accompanied him around DC then, or? Oh, no, this was

2_Andrew Otazo:

up in Boston. This in Boston? Yeah. This was at the Harvard Kennedy school. Okay. And at the same time I was also a researcher for the Kennedy School. Um, so I was doing these two jobs at the same time. Um, but yeah, and I would organize all of his, um, his lectures, um, whenever he was invited somewhere. Um, like I had to, you know, put together a guest list of like all, you know, a, a giant diplomatic guest list of, you know, the relevant diplomats and the, uh, business leaders and the academic leaders and whoever he wanted to be there. So I'd put that together. So like, basically just organizing his life. Okay. Um, other than his wife, I was the person he interacted with most.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Wow. Yeah. And how long was that role for?

2_Andrew Otazo:

That was for, I think it was eight months. Okay. And then he went back to Mexico. So I went over to the Harvard Business School and I was hired as a case writer. Um, so I was, I basically wrote the, the curriculum that Harvard Business School uses, um, to teach business Wow. To their students. Um, and it's also like used internationally, like my bestselling case has been sold more than like 11,000 times. Um, so what they would do. Is that like a, a professor would have a particular issue that he wanted to study. So for example, um, how do you, how does a company enter an emerging market? And then he's like, oh, well I know the, um, he'd get a connection to like the CEO of Walmart or something. And then I would get flown to, you know, uh, the Walmart headquarters and interview their CEO and they'd send me all of their, like financials. Mm-hmm. And you know, all the details of what they're doing. And I would fly to Latin America and I'd do interviews there, and then I'd do library research on the industry and I'd put it all together in a case study. And, um, yeah. And we would publish that. So that's what I did. Um, and I did that for two and a half years. Um, I published 17 different app, uh, 17 publications. Right. And then after that, I went to DC. Uh, for the second time, and I worked as the executive director of the Cuba Study Group. And what I did there was basically, um, I worked for this organization that, uh, supported the Cuban Civil Society sector, and that also advocated for greater diplomatic and commercial ties between the US and Cuba. Okay. So I would talk to, you know, congress, people on the hill. I would talk to, um, different agency heads, uh, treasury, at commerce, at state, whatever. Um, and I work with, you know, Cuban American groups. Um, and yeah, I would just, I would, I would basically advocate for this and I would educate policy makers. Um, then after I was done there, I came back to Miami, essentially reinvented myself and started working in public relations. And I worked for several different international and national firms. So I worked for Jeffrey Group, which focuses on Latin America. I worked for kivit, which is, is national and international as well. Um, and, you know, I would work on all sorts of things, but what I, I found my niche doing was more environmental communications. Um, so your typical media relations, right? So you put out a press release, you wanna get coverage. There's that, there's activations, which is, you know, essentially you put on events and stuff. Mm-hmm. There's executive position, which is like, you wanna be presented as the thought leader in your industry. Um, you know, there's a social media component to it. There's the paid media component to it. But what I would do is that I'd be brought in as a consultant for specifically clients that had, um, uh. Whatever issues or interests in, say, plastic pollution or like, for example, uh, battery recycling. I had, I had a plastic recycling client. I had a battery recycling client. I had a magnet recycling client. Um, and because of my knowledge of the sector, which we'll get into later, I was able to bring an extra value in that. And then, uh, two years ago I went off on my own and now I'm doing my own consulting, my own communications consulting. Um, and I work with environmental clients, but also, um, with, uh, governmental clients and with for-profit clients. So it's the gamut. Mm-hmm. And that's my professional career. And then there's a creative side, which is I'm an author, as you

1_Bryan the Botanist:

said.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah. Yep.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

And we were talking and I'm so curious about that. Yeah. I wanna take a deep dive into your book. So tell us, uh, how that got started and the name of your book.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah. So I've been, I've, I've written for a long time. Um, I wrote a book called The Miami Creation Myth, and it's basically, you know how the Greeks, Romans, the Egyptians have their own pantheons of gods and goddesses. I did that before Miami. So like, I, my, my universe that I created is literally just Miami-Dade County. Wow. And there's like a giant chasm at the Broward County border. No one knows what's on the other side. Um, and so you have all these different gods that come together and they create the universe and then they create the sun of the moon of the stars and the animals and all these different waves of people come into the city. And the first half are these standalone myths explaining how and why Miami is how it is. Um, and then the second half is called the Cafecito Odyssey, where my two hero twins travel to the different parts of Miami and collect the constituent parts of Cafecito to wake everybody up, essentially. Speaking of Cafecito. There it is. There it is. Yes, there's, and let's flash that cover of the book

1_Bryan the Botanist:

of Andrews, the Miami creation myth up on the screen right now. Mm-hmm. I saw it, uh, on your Instagram earlier and you were at books and books yesterday? Yes. On panel, yes. I was at

2_Andrew Otazo:

books and Books. It was awesome because I was on a panel about satire. I'm a satire writer. Um, and I was on with the legendary Dave Berry.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Who was the, he has that book about Florida, is it the Florida duh, or, uh, he's,

2_Andrew Otazo:

yeah. He writes a lot about Florida, A lot of Florida books. I have one

1_Bryan the Botanist:

at home on my shelf, I can't

2_Andrew Otazo:

remember. Absolutely. Yeah, he's, he's, he's the goat. Um, and then I was on with a couple of other. Uh, friends and fellow satis who I really respect, Ash Elias and Andrew Riga, and we had a great conversation. Amazing. Yeah. So when

1_Bryan the Botanist:

did the book come out? A couple years ago.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah. In 2023. And it won an international Latino book award for best fantasy novel. Congrats. Thank you. Yeah, that was amazing. Um, that was really, really cool. So I'm very proud of that. You said

1_Bryan the Botanist:

it got published in a bunch of languages.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Oh, so it, it incorporates 11 different languages and dialects. Oh, okay. Yeah. But it's got English, uh, uh, footnotes so you, anyone can follow along. So there's

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Creole in, as you were saying, and there's Jamaican Patois.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yep. Two dialects of Jamaican Patois, Crole and ect. There's, um, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French Creole, uh, Micki Hebrew. Um, yeah. All the languages

1_Bryan the Botanist:

of Miami. Wow. So history, political science, environmental activism. You sound like a modern res renaissance man. Are you a good cook? Uh, no,

2_Andrew Otazo:

I'm not. I'm, I can feed myself. Um, I can, I can meal prep once a week. Yeah. And I can eat healthy. Um, but I'm not a good cook. Well,

1_Bryan the Botanist:

you can do everything else. Sure. And you ran the marathon and that all started in high school and middle school it sounds like with um, yeah. Yeah. I've been running since I was 13. Wow. And how many marathons have you done now?

2_Andrew Otazo:

Oh, man. Not including the, uh, fundraiser, marathons. Uh, I think I've done five folds and two halves. I haven't. All in Miami or other? No, no. I've done the DC marathon. I did the Gainesville Marathon. Is that the, what's it called? The, this was way back back. This isn't

1_Bryan the Botanist:

the, um, oh gosh. I'm drawing a blank right now. The, uh, the Marine Corps? No, no, not that one. No, not that one. One that one's its

2_Andrew Otazo:

own thing. Yeah. Um, that one I Washington. See that did, okay. So that's a hilly area. It was very hilly, but it was really beautiful. Um, where else? Dc, Gainesville and then Miami. Okay. Yep.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Cool. Uh, well that's something we share in common that we could talk about for hours. Oh, yeah. But let's focus on environmental activism right now. How did that come about in your life? Like, where do you think that started?

2_Andrew Otazo:

Um, I think the roots of it were because the way I was brought up by my dad. Mm-hmm. So like, we would spend our weekends with my grandfather, um, uh, planting tropical fruits in our yard. Okay. Um, and so he taught me this love of nature, I think. Um, but like, it, it kind of laid dormant for a long time. Mm-hmm. I didn't start. I wasn't, I didn't grow up in like an activist family. Mm-hmm. And I didn't, I wasn't in activist circles or environmental circles at all, and I kind of just stumbled into it. Mm-hmm. Because when I turned 30, um, like I would go into the mangroves Right. Since I was a kid. And I love this environment'cause it is. Completely unique. A mangrove forest is its own different world. Coastal Yeah. Wetlands. Right, right. Those

1_Bryan the Botanist:

sorts that protect our from her. Exactly. Yeah. So

2_Andrew Otazo:

for your listeners who, who aren't sure what a mangrove forest looks like, basically, um, a mangrove, a red mangrove specifically is these trees that live right on the coastline. Um, and you know, they're very salt water tolerant and they've got these big sweeping roots and they hold down that coastline essentially, and they act like this giant sponge. So when hurricanes come through with their storm surges, they absorb all that water so it doesn't get transferred onto land. Mm-hmm. And also they act as a really important rookery for birds. And something like 80% of the reef fish have their juvenile stages in the mangroves. That's right. They're protected. Yeah,

1_Bryan the Botanist:

exactly. Little fish can live in there. Exactly. And a lot of animals. Yeah. Unfortunately, a lot of'em have been destroyed. Like in Miami Beach and Coastal. Yes.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yes, exactly. And that, that, um, you know, it's illegal to, to chop down a mangrove. Oh, wow. Are they they're federally protected. Yep. Yeah. And the state of Florida, I believe, I don't know about federal. Maybe. Maybe

1_Bryan the Botanist:

So state.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Um, and so like, this is really important environment, and I would go in there and I, I loved it. But like, the thing is that as years went by, I would go in there seeking some sort of like solace and like peace. And I'd come out really, really, really upset because it looked like a landfill. Mm-hmm. There was trash dating back from the 1940s. There's like, um. You know, they're, and I'll give you an example of what I find out there is, uh, during World War ii, there are German U-boats that blew up a bunch of oil tankers off of my beach. And then there's these globules of oil, of crude oil Whoa. That you will find everywhere. Yeah. And I still find'em out there. So like stuff from that all the way to the present. And it, I kid you not, when I tell you that I couldn't take a step anywhere in the mangroves without stepping on a piece of trash and sometimes like multiple layers of trash. Um, and, and this

1_Bryan the Botanist:

is deep off the roads, like I know Virginia Key you go to mm-hmm. But also Bear Cut, I think you work. Yep. Bear Cut Preserve. You go out in the Everglades National Park. Absolutely. Yep. You're hiking in miles. Yeah, yeah, I do. With just you in the trash bags and just

2_Andrew Otazo:

over the shoulder. Um, hiking out must be tough. The hardest part, the easy part is picking up the trash and putting it in a bag. Mm-hmm. The hardest part is carrying it out. Yeah. Hands down.'cause I could carry out, you know, a couple weeks ago I did 500 pounds. Wow. Um, and one day, one day my, my, um, one day solo, uh, PR was 1090 pounds.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Wow.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah. Um, so it's like 10 of you?

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah. Five or six. Yeah. Yeah. And you're carrying

2_Andrew Otazo:

this like, mind you, these are like. This is 10, 12 bags. And then it's also like a lot of branches. Yeah. You're doing this, this CrossFit, crazy obstacle course where you're engaging in all of these muscles that, you know, these lateral muscles and these like stabilizing muscles that you never otherwise use. And the root systems are all very intense. Its not

1_Bryan the Botanist:

like you're walking on a flat surface. Not at

2_Andrew Otazo:

all. Not at all. No, no, no. It is an obstacle course. Um, and like you sinking in and then you're Oh, and there's the mud, of course. Yeah. Um, but like, you know, I could have 10, 12 bags and I might have to walk half a mile with each bag. Wow. So, you know, you do the math. The worst was I had 10 bags. I had to walk a mile to take it to the location where I was dropping off. So that's 10 miles without a bag and 10 miles with the bag. So 20 miles, miles one day. Yeah.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Hiking through a intense wetland. Yes. That some people would probably be scared to go into like, yes, there's. Potentially pythons and No, no, no pythons. No. That's more than the Everglades. No.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yes. Um, you do have crocodiles. Mm-hmm. But like, I'm not really that afraid of CROs. They're not as dangerous

1_Bryan the Botanist:

as alligators.'cause I've encountered CROs. Yeah, they're skittish. You gotta give'em some space. Yeah, sure. They don't, they don't eat humans here.

2_Andrew Otazo:

No. They're not interested in, you're not on the menu. Um, unless you like jump on one or something. What

1_Bryan the Botanist:

about, uh, leeches or no?

2_Andrew Otazo:

Leeches? The biggest, there's tons of bugs. There's tons of mosquitoes. Nats, you wearing mosquito jacket? I used to have one, especially now I'll wear the, the mosquito netting. Yep. And I have long sleeve shirt on and, and pants. Okay. Um, and the winter, it's nice. I'll wear shorts, but like, we're past that. I can't do that. Um, but the biggest danger out there by far is, uh, heat stroke and dehydration hands. So if you wear like a water pack. Yeah. So I have, I have a, a, um, countback with three liters of water. And in the summer I can go through that in three hours. Um, like that. And like you, you have to stop working between the hours of about one and three mm-hmm. Or three 30 because you will die. Wow. Like there's no if, ands, or buts about it. Like you can feel your brain frying. Like, I'll, I have my watch on and I'm just standing, and my heart rate's at 140. Wow. Yeah. Wow. So like my, my goal is to keep it under 150 uhhuh. Um, and so like if you're doing something really strenuous, you could die.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

You could get heat exhaustion, heat stroke in

2_Andrew Otazo:

a second

1_Bryan the Botanist:

pass out from, and I've

2_Andrew Otazo:

been close, like losing fine motor skills, losing balance, losing the ability to speak like you're getting there. Mm-hmm. And like, I've been very close quite a few times.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Okay. Well take your cell phone so you can hopefully

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah, no, I've learned, I've learned since then. Beacon, an

1_Bryan the Botanist:

alert beacon.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Because I remember hearing about you years ago, Frankie Ruiz put you on his Facebook. Oh yeah. And like was talking about how you're selflessly going out there into these deep parts. You know, of the, of Miami that are my people think of Miami, they think of Big City. Yeah. They think of Miami Beach and they think of downtown Brickle. They don't think of necessarily Everglades National Park. Mm-hmm. Or, um, I was just out yesterday at the Zuki tribe doing a 5K with them. Nice. Well, I was helping produce the 5K. Mm-hmm. I worked for a production company that, so we were with the Micki yesterday out by, um, shark Valley. Oh. It can get hot out there. Yeah. So I know that these are areas most people don't know about. Mm-hmm. And he featured you because at that time you didn't get the press that you've been getting recently. Um, has the Miami Herald picked up on this or anyone else? The

2_Andrew Otazo:

Miami Herald has published one of my op-eds, which is great. Mm-hmm. Which when I hit 20,000 pounds. Um, and they also did a feature that wound up on the front page. Um, when I did the 2019 marathon. Okay. That was really cool. So when

1_Bryan the Botanist:

did you start cleaning the, um, did you start in Virginia Key or where did you start?

2_Andrew Otazo:

I started in Bear Cut Preserve in

1_Bryan the Botanist:

2017. Is that by Ki Biscay?

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah, Soran Park, the northern most part of Cran Park. I know. The

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Bear Cut Bridge,

2_Andrew Otazo:

it's a run over, basically, basically on your left hand side, you're coming, you're going south on the bar. Cut bridge to your left. That's where I'm cleaning. So

1_Bryan the Botanist:

the ocean is after the mangroves? Yes. Yeah. The Bay would've been more towards the city bay's

2_Andrew Otazo:

on

1_Bryan the Botanist:

the right side.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Mm-hmm. Yeah, on the west.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Wow. Yeah. So you're getting all the trash coming in off the ocean.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah. And that's where the majority of the trash comes from. People think they're, let me get, let me, let me set the record straight. There's a lot of dumping, um, in these areas. Uh, like I've been, I picked up something like 32 tires just from Virginia Key. Yeah, yeah. And they're, they don't show up there, but with the ocean, like they, they, they sink. I, I picked up a 220 pound tractor trailer tire, like this tall, um. You know, so people

1_Bryan the Botanist:

just dump em off the bridge or something? Or How do,

2_Andrew Otazo:

so it, wherever you have like easy road access and like an area that's kind of off limits, like, and next to a wilderness area, that's where, where you'll find the dumping. Mm-hmm. Um, so like in Virginia Key for example, like, you'll find it just off the road.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah. That's a shame. You know, I was just in Guatemala about three weeks ago and you know, deep in the mountains and they don't have the same type of, um, sanitation system we have. Mm-hmm. So people do just dump their trash, but they put up signs in a lot of places. But they have sinkholes and gorges and sometimes it's right outside the village and they'll just put it in a ravine, but then it empties into the ocean through the river, river systems. And

2_Andrew Otazo:

in Central America, a lot of, like you said, they don't have a solid waste management system. Yeah. So like it has to go somewhere, so it goes in a river or it goes in a stream and that goes into the ocean. Like, yeah, I found stuff from Mexico. I found stuff from Louisiana, from Cuba, from the Dominican Republic, from Haiti. Like it just winds up here.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah. Probably stuff off of boats, but also stuff from the city.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah. Yeah. Like, um, the majority, so what I, I got off topic for a second, but the majority of the trash actually comes from urban, um, environments. Mm-hmm. So, um, what'll happen is that somebody litters on the side of the street and then when it rains, that goes into a gutter and that goes right out into the bay. There's no filtration. And then that goes into the mangroves. That's the majority of the trash that I find. Wow.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

And our bay has so much problems right now.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Tell me

1_Bryan the Botanist:

about it. With the fish kills, the low oxygen levels, the fertilizers running off. Yeah. Um, I live right off the bay about a quarter mile off on the Upper East side, right off the, you know about it. Yep. And, uh, really close to Sneaker Impact. And I told you before the podcast that picking up trash is near and dear to my heart. Mm-hmm. That I've been helping clean the little river where the manatees live. That's, that's a,

2_Andrew Otazo:

that's a lot of trash there. Yep. There's a Miami

1_Bryan the Botanist:

River, which is our big river that, you know, the, um, bigger boats go in and then there's a little river. Right. And most people don't know about the Little River. Mm-hmm. But, um, I was paddleboarding on it and similar story to you, you know, I used to do some trash cleanups in Miami Beach too with like debris free Ocean and Oh, they're one of my clients. Yeah. I love debris. Maddie. Yeah. Maddie and Katie.

2_Andrew Otazo:

I love them.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah, they were on the podcast too, and they're, oh, we try to do as much as we can with them. I love that. Um, yeah, four Ocean Clear Miami Beach. We love all of these groups outta South Florida. Yeah, yeah. Um, but I, you know, also got very frustrated at Miami Beach, you know, running on the boardwalk and seeing styrofoam right in the dunes and. In the sand. Oh yeah. And every time I would go to the beach with my friends, I would always commit to picking up some trash. Mm-hmm. And never leaving any of my own trash, you know?

2_Andrew Otazo:

Mm-hmm.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Um, and then in the little river, you know, there's a manatees and so seeing the styrofoam floating in there is heartbreaking. Um,'cause it's coming right off the roads. Yep. You know, and which is a little different than the, you know, I don't wanna take it off topic, but the Pacific Ocean patch, the gyres that I read, that's more from fishermen and from like, commercial vessels than from

2_Andrew Otazo:

consumers. Yeah. So we have that too in Miami. Yeah. We have, we have a big problem specifically with, I'm gonna get a little nerdy here. Yeah. Um, go ahead. They're called ghost traps. Um, so essentially you have these, uh, lobster and crab trappers. So if you've never seen a lobster or a crab trap, it's this big thing like, um, probably like,

1_Bryan the Botanist:

like a metal cage.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah. It's, it's either made outta plastic or wood. It's like three, four feet wide by like two, three feet high. Mm-hmm. And so. The trappers will put these things down, you know, offshore and they'll be strung together with miles. I'm talking 10 miles of trap lines. It's just a rope. It's like a black rope. Um, you know, I'm sure your listeners have seen it, um, with buoys. And what happens is that when there's a storm, those traps get tossed about. Um, and, and they're basically wrecking balls. Um, and they just smash into the coral reefs and they smash into, you know, all sorts of different environments and they tear up the sea grass and then they get smashed apart. And what's left are the crab trap or the, they're called the trap mouth. So they're just like these square plastic pieces, um, that float around. And then you have all that trap line again, miles and miles and miles of trap line that just gets washed ashore or gets tangled up in the coral reefs. And you'll just see like, you know, these giant like. A hundred pound tangles of rope. Wow. Tied up in the mangroves. Yeah. Um, especially like I work with, uh, my friend MJ Algar, who runs, uh, clean the Beach up. She'll do, she'll partner with a national park service and they'll go out to LA Key and Sands key and Old Roads Key, and they'll go down there and like, you'll just see these giant tangles of rope and not just a, the, the, the trap line, but also like these big container ship ropes that are like the size of my thigh. Wow. And each foot weighs five pounds.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Sure.'cause it's got like algae and what? No, just

2_Andrew Otazo:

dry. Just dry. It's that heavy. And then, wow. And then you'll have, you know, a hundred feet of that easy. Um, that's what they used to like, if you, if you've ever been on a cruise or if you've ever looked at a cruise, the, the giant rope that's holding the cruise to the dock is this rope. Okay. Um. So like you have a lot of that going on as well. It's

1_Bryan the Botanist:

buried in the mangroves. Yeah, absolutely. So you're digging it out, you're literally digging it out. You're not just kicking little pieces of trash. No, no,

2_Andrew Otazo:

no, no, no, no. Huge pieces of trash. Huge pieces of trash in,

1_Bryan the Botanist:

in the little river. I got my, uh, picker, you know, Uhhuh.'cause I, I actually herniated three diss in the last year, somehow after Achilles surgery. So I recently got some injections at Cortisone so I could run Boston this week. And uh, I have to be careful when I'm picking up trash now. So I am committing on this podcast to coming with you on one of your cleanup missions. Okay. Into the bring your picker. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm gonna bring my picker, but I'm also just gonna bend from the knees. Because I think it was No, no, you

2_Andrew Otazo:

can't bend. You can't, you can't bend from the, from the back. You can't bend from the back. Yeah. Because I did that for

1_Bryan the Botanist:

too long in my life. I, they say, you know, your grandma and your mom say the knees and then you think you're invincible. So I want to Yeah, that's good that you're bending at the knees.

2_Andrew Otazo:

I am, I am. Because like I've learned, like, yeah, yeah, you'll herniate

1_Bryan the Botanist:

a disc if you Absolutely no one's invincible. And you know, concrete is undefeated. That's true. So, but wow. Miami has such a, you know, pollution problem. But at least we have some very committed individuals like you in these organizations and a lot of individuals too, who mm-hmm. You know, go out on a daily basis and, you know, but I see too often people throwing trash outta their car when they're driving around. It breaks my heart because it's so simple to just wait until you get to the trash can or to recycle. But a lot of people don't separate their recycling.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah. It's a cultural issue. Yeah. Um, so like, you know, you're from Madison, Wisconsin and it's a much more outdoorsy town than. Then Miami, or if like you go, you know, I go every year. I spend a lot of time in, in North Carolina, um, in Western North Carolina. And it's just, it's a very different culture when it comes to nature. It's, you know, leave no traces, however, leave no trace. Yeah. That's it. Like it is anma to leave a candy wrapper or a Gatorade bottle or whatever on a, on the side of a trail, and if you do, somebody will pick it up. Um, there's a guilt too. Yeah. Yeah. And it's also a stewardship, a sense of like, I'm responsible for this environment. I love it. We don't have that here. We have that in certain pockets and certain senses, and it's growing and people are becoming more aware of it. Mm-hmm. But, because this is the, the funny thing is that people, like you said, think that Miami is this hyper urban environment, and it kind of is, but it's surrounded on three sides by, you know, Biscayne Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Everglades. It's actually a

1_Bryan the Botanist:

sliver if you look at it on that. Exactly, exactly, exactly. That. It's only like. Three to five miles in off the coast or something. And then it just becomes Everglades. Exactly. There's a boundary where they don't want you to build

2_Andrew Otazo:

past. Right. The urban development boundary. Exactly. That we're surrounded by nature, but we're disconnected from it.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

And the Everglades is essential for our water supply. Mm-hmm. And for everything from hurricane protection, global warming, and sea level rising. And but it used to be a sea of grass, you know, a river of grass. And it still is in a sense, but it's been chopped up and Absolutely right. Trying to put all those canals in and, but the whole point is that, you know, we've developed a lot of the coast mm-hmm. Which is the protection from the hurricanes. Right. And then also there's a lot of animal life and plant life that depends on this. And it's becoming, I mean, they've done studies of how much of the sand and the ocean is becoming plastic. I know. You know, in our bodies. Yeah.

2_Andrew Otazo:

And there's a famous study that by 2050, by weight, there'll be more plastic in the fish, in the ocean.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Wow.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah,

1_Bryan the Botanist:

it's sad. Yeah. I mean, all the animal life deserves better than that, so we can do it one person at a time. Mm-hmm. And I'm really proud of you for what you've done. And uh, it means probably even more than. Finishing a thousand marathons is picking up that 30 pound thousand pounds of trash. Because if you hadn't done that, it would still be out there for a thousand years. Yeah. That's the thing. And you're also a role model. Thank you. Appreciate that For the Cuban Americans, but also for everyone. But you're Cuban Americans, so tell me, not if, and if you wanna switch gears. Sure. I would love to hear about your youth in Miami Yeah. And growing up here and what it's like where you grew up in Miami, the Cuban culture.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Sure, sure. Um, yeah, I grew up in Coral Gables. Um, my parents are both, uh, Cuban refugees. My dad came with Pedro Ban, Peter Pan. Mm-hmm. Um, and it was a program that brought, the Catholic church brought, I think it was 13,000 Cuban children, um, to the United States and to other parts of the world as well. Um, and yeah, uh, Jesus, my family struggled when they got here. Um, my, my dad would, you know, basically was child labor. Like his first job was at a, a car or, or a body shop. And, uh, the guy who ran the body shop was so cheap that he wouldn't let, he had a bunch of children working there. He had a bunch of 14, 13-year-old children working there, and he wouldn't give'em like an automatic sander to sand the paint off the cars. He would give them pieces of sandpaper and they would have to physically sand it off with their hands. And my dad tells the story that he was sanding this car, and he looks back and there's this streak of red behind him. It was all blood. So he'd sanded off his palms, essentially. Wow. And then he goes up to the owner and he is like, Hey, you know, this is happening. Can you do something about it? And the guy grabs both his hands by his wrists and dunks, dunks them into a, uh, a five gallon drum of paint thinner. And like my dad passed out. Wow. Yeah. And so to this day, he has no feeling on, on the palms of hands.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Oh my God.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah. Um, and then, you know, my, and he, he, they didn't have

1_Bryan the Botanist:

gloves for him?

2_Andrew Otazo:

No, no, no, no, no, no gloves, no, no. Nothing. Um, but like, he would work all night. He would then work at a, uh, a bakery with my grandfather all night, and then he'd get up and go to school and I don't know how the hell he did that. The hardest

1_Bryan the Botanist:

working people.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah. Um, but he did it. Um, my, my mother, meanwhile, she grew up in Long Island. Um, she went from Cuba to Long Island. Wow. Um, and, uh, that was just like, she was the only Latina in her school. Like full stop. No one knew what to make of her. Like Yeah. Like she was this alien. Um, but you know, she eventually wound up back in Miami and, and, and met up with my dad. And my dad became an architect. He got his master's, he's got two master's degrees. Wow. What a story there. Yep. My mom has two master's degrees as well. Um, yeah. And he, he, they ran a successful, um, environmental construction company together. Okay. Um, so that's probably also where I get my environmental side as well. Uh, but yeah, I grew up here. I didn't speak English till I went to kindergarten. And, you know, nool for me, no. You know, it was just like, you know, kick me in the deep end and figure it out. So I did. Wow. Yeah. Uh, but I, I, you know, I'm glad that's how it went because I picked it up. It was fine. Yeah. Um, and I just grew up in a very Latino environment. Um, so like brothers and sisters? I have a twin sister. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and, uh, yeah, I mean, I went to, uh, an all boys school here in, in Miami called Belen. And it was just like super, it was like the OAS, it was like people from all over Latin America. Um, and I think it was like 97%, my, my graduating class was like 97% Hispanic and like 3% Haitian. And that was it. Um, wow. And, uh, yeah, it was a great environment to, to grow up in. I, I had a very strong sense of self, but the thing is, I, having grown up in Miami, I didn't realize that it was, Miami was very different from the rest of the country. Um, so like going from. From this environment where like it's totally freaking normal to talk Spanish all the time. To West Point was, which is a military school, right? Military school, yes. Yeah, it's US Army. That was a gigantic culture shock. And that's in upstate New York? New York. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So that was huge. Um, that was at 18. That was at 18. And so like I went through basic training. Um, I went through advanced field training. I went through two years, the two hardest years of the school. Um, and it was just like a completely different world. And it helped me understand that no, Miami isn't like the rest of this country. Yeah. At all. Um, it is, it's very, it is, it is globally unique.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Um, there's nothing like it in the world. It's a melting pot. I always say too, it's Gateway to America. Absolutely. Latin America to Latin Americas. Absolutely. There's so many different cultures here. I mean, you could name any culture in the world, almost just like New York City and yeah, you'll find it here. Yeah. Yeah. Like here at Sneaker Impact we have a huge Haitian mm-hmm. Um, component. Yeah. And you'll hear Creole more than you'll hear English sometimes. Yeah. I believe it. I believe it. And you also hear Spanish and Portuguese and everything. Mm-hmm. And you'll hear Lebanese'cause our founder Lebanese. That's right. Yeah. You, it's amazing.'cause you know, I grew up in Wisconsin where. I didn't know even a black person until I was in fifth grade. Sixth grade. Whoa. Sixth grade I met my, I made my first black friend. I met my first black person. Oh my God. So I grew up so segregated. Not segregated, sheltered in, in a city called Cottage Grove, Wisconsin. Uh, 20 minutes outside of the Cottage. Cottage. That's how you know that's how you cottage. Yeah. You get your bag. Yeah. Yep. Up there in the Yep. And I would go up to the up and um, you know, Wisconsin is more white than anything. We have a lot of Mexicans up there too. Mm-hmm. Which I have many Mexican friends and love and they worked so hard and I worked with them in the forestry industry, but we didn't have Cubans up there necessarily. Yeah. Know they didn't go up there. I had a girlfriend I met up there who was Nicaraguan and Cuban actually, uh oh. Met her when I was about 30. And that's actually what brought me to Miami was'cause we were in a relationship. I moved down here. She's from Coral Gables too, so. Okay. She was up there studying, but that was like the first Nicaraguan. And she's half Nicaraguan. Half Cuban. Yeah. And so that's a good combo. Before that didn't know anyone that was from down here. And then when I moved down here, I, oh boy. I'll never forget one time I was at the DMV and this was like in 2010.'cause I moved here in 2008 and someone came up to me and asked me if I was the last white person in, in Miami. And, but I, I don't know how to classify white. I don't look at people as white versus black versus mm-hmm. I mean, of course when you're a kid you are, yeah. You know, you see a black person and you're like, you don't, but my parents taught me to not look at people and judge them by their skin color. Yeah. My mom talked a lot about Martin Luther King and my dad and John F. Kennedy was a big, you know, role model and hero to us, and so is Martin Luther King and other black leaders. Um, so I was instantly open to meeting everyone. But you didn't meet as many people from different cultures. Yeah. So when I came to Miami and I made friends from Russia, from Jamaica, from Haiti, yeah. You know, I worked in the restaurants for a while. Oh yeah. You'll get, you'll get everybody there. And the point being is now, you know, I realize. That this is a very special place. Yeah. Miami and I was just in Boston a couple days ago for the marathon and it's completely different in Boston. Of course. You know? Yeah. Completely different. I know it. I live there. Yeah. People will say hi to you on the streets maybe a little bit more, but it's also, which is another interesting thing about my, I think it's a language barrier. I once read, like online, like in the Miami Herald there, Uhhuh, it's not a rude city, it's just that people don't know each other's languages. So Whoof,

2_Andrew Otazo:

uh, oh my God. Whether or not Miami is a rude city that is its own podcast, well, it can be seen that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Certain parts

1_Bryan the Botanist:

of the city. Yeah, probably. Yes. And there's a lot of tension with the traffic and with the survive, just survival mode for so many people here. You know, you're absolutely right. So it's an interesting place. It's a beautiful place. It's, it's a paradise. Mm-hmm. But we have to protect it. I agree. But I also am so curious about your policy work and your government work, also your work as a consultant now, so mm-hmm. Like your policy work, how, how did you get involved in that again and like. Why did you decide to move past that? I loved, I

2_Andrew Otazo:

loved international relations. Um, like again, I think part of it was my, how I grew up, where I just knew it was completely, totally normal to know a ton of people, you know, not Mexican American born in Mexico, or from Bolivia or from Argentina or Colombia or wherever. Like that was normal. Um, and I, and specifically I'm a Latin Americanist, like, you know, I speak Spanish and Portuguese and a little bit of French. Um, but I think that just translated into a, a fascination with how countries interact with each other, which is what took me, you know, initially to, uh, pursue a career, uh, an academic career in foreign policy, and then work at the State Department and then work for President Godon and also at the Cuba study group. Where I was focused on policy and I, I had a weird break in the middle where it was business. It was very odd that I ever, I got, um, I was hired by the Harvard Business School'cause I had no background in business whatsoever, but they were like, ah, this guy's smart enough, he'll catch on. And I did. I basically googled my way into an MBA. Um, and then the thing is, when I left TC in 2019 after leaving Cuba Study group, none of those skill sets were applicable in Miami. No one gives a damn, if you like, are a foreign policy expert. Like, that's not, that's not how the city runs. So I had to reinvent myself. I had to, I had to start at the bottom of this public relations agency and learn the ropes of how to do communications. Um, and like I built a new career for myself essentially. Um, and as a, you know, communications is telling stories like, you know, um. When you drink a, a, a bottle of Coke, you're not just, you're not drinking, you're, you're literally drinking sugar water, but that's not what you drink it. You drink it because there's this whole story associated with it that, you know, is tied up with its brand that's like, about fun and family and whatever, and all these different things that they've, they've like invested into the brand. Basically. When you are communicating to an audience about any sort of company or organization or, uh, policy, you're telling them a story. Mm-hmm. And I'm a storyteller, like, um, so I have, you know, I get to use the creative side. That of, of my brain, right? Mm-hmm. Or, you know, I'm a writer and I'm a satirist and I can make people laugh and I can make people connect with the story. And I get to use the more analytic side of my brain, which is like that Harvard Business School policy side, um, where I can take apart these big, uh, seemingly intractable problems. My favorite thing in the world, I love doing this is taking what is ostensibly a super boring, super esoteric issue and making it funny and compelling. That's awesome. I love, love doing that. Um, like, so for debris free oceans, for example. Yeah. Um, one of my clients, like they're trying to bring in new audiences to care about, uh, marine trash. Mm-hmm. And I said, okay, what's an audience that you haven't targeted before Miami singles. So we did a Miami's trashiest singles event, um, in Peacock Park where like we got a bunch of singles together and we did a red flag, green flag capture the flag event. And then that was paired up with a, um, with a cleanup of the mangroves and a meet and greet and there was like a, a happy hour aspect to it and we sold out. That's amazing. Yeah. I remember

1_Bryan the Botanist:

hearing about it and I think I was going through my surgeries and injuries at the time and bedridden and. I'm single. Ah, okay. We'll do And I wish I would've been there. We'll do more. We'll do more. Do more.'cause I wanna come to the next one. And I missed their workshop last week that they did the Oh, is zero A waste A couple weeks ago I was there. Yeah. I wanted to come so bad. I registered, but we've been doing so many events with Sneaker Impact. Yeah. That I couldn't break away that day to go down there, but if I would've known and I would've carpooled or I would've, I'm gonna come to the, I debrief the ocean. I'm sorry I've been a little absent lately, but they, they, they know how much I love them. I'll send, I'll send, send them your love. I did an acai bowl cleanup with them with Under the Mango Tree in Miami Beach about eight years ago. Okay. Long before the pandemic. Yeah. And, uh, I, I love what they're up to. Yeah. And Maddie, Amanda, they've sent us some really cool guests and they're just working so hard to get the word out there about it. So I really love that you're, and I, I also understand branding, working for a wellness company, Miami Beach. It was, it was a startup. Mm-hmm. And, um, you know, we're all about the story. Right. You know, which is some could see as marketing, but it's also the experience. It's also communicating that this is more than just. Um, a superfood powder you're taking, this is about living your best life possible. What's the value you're providing, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is about connecting with the plant. This is about understanding the history. Mm-hmm. So there's so much more to every product in every company, like Sneaker Impact, you know, um, we are, um, more than just recycling. Mm-hmm. You know, we're also education. We're also, um, health Yeah. Health. Mm-hmm. Tied into ecology, tied into, um, Miami's history, you know, tied into economic opportunities. Yeah. So there's always so much more to tell, uh, through Instagram and through other ways. Um, so do you, where do you share a lot of your, um, information?

2_Andrew Otazo:

So, oh, we didn't get to Yeah, I, I didn't get to talk about really what's driving my, no, let's take a step back then. Yeah. Yeah. What's driving my, um. Uh, environmental efforts Is that, so, you know, I'm, I'm on your show because, you know, Frankie saw my, my, the post that I put on social media. This is Why You, you, a little light bulb went off when he mentioned Instagram. Um, so like, I'd go into the mangroves with a, uh, GoPro on a tripod and you GoPro can't wait to use it. Um, and I recorded myself cleaning up in the mangroves, and initially I didn't think anybody would care, uh, because I'm in a swamp picking up trash. But to my surprise, people connected with it. So I took that as an opportunity to educate them, um, on, on this issue. Right. And so basically this became an eight year long public relations campaign. Wow. Um, so, you know, I would put out all this, uh, all this content and I, you know, I'm on Instagram, I'm on Twitter, I'm on LinkedIn, I'm on Facebook, um, on Threads as well and, and Reddit. Um, and that would. Um, create enough impressions and, and put enough eyeballs on this issue to elevate it right among the general population. But also it allowed me, it opened doors for me to say, like, talk to the Harold or I Runner's World, for example. Mm-hmm. Did a feature on me. Um, or, you know, use my language skills also like to talk to Santa and, or to, um, like different outlets in Latin America. And I got to get the word out to a much larger audience that way.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Wow. Yeah.'cause I mean, it's really hard to get the word out sometimes if you don't have that skill. Mm-hmm. Um, kudos to you because I feel like you have the gumption and the stubbornness. Stubbornness. Yeah. Uh, when did you start recording it from the

2_Andrew Otazo:

get

1_Bryan the Botanist:

go? The very

2_Andrew Otazo:

first day you started recording the with Yes. Every single day that I've been out there, all 164 days I've recorded. Wow. And I've also recorded the amount of trash that I picked up.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Wow. And then that you carried in the Miami Marathon. 30 plus pounds. 35 pounds. 35 pounds for 26.2 miles in this heat. It's awful. It was, that was,

2_Andrew Otazo:

I mean, I've done marathons before. I've done, I've done like, you know, 30 plus mile hikes, you know, with like 18,000 feet in elevation gain. Mm-hmm. I've done really, I, I biked around Lake Okeechobee one day. Wow. Um, that was 114 miles on gravel and on trail and some asphalt. And the hardest thing physically, I, I mean like, I forget anything I've ever done in like basic training, the hardest thing I've ever done physically was that freaking marathon with 35 pounds of trash. Wow. That destroyed me.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Was it the weight or the smell?

2_Andrew Otazo:

So, so if you have, if you're carrying a pack, right? Yeah. You're carrying a hiking pack. The weight is, should be well distributed. So like, it should be on your shoulders and like, it depends if you've got it cinched on your waist. So it's well distributed, but this is 35 pounds. It was like, it's actually the, the bag is in the history of Miami Museum right now. It's in, it's on exhibit, but like the bag itself is like three feet deep. So like it's a lot of light material and it's. Distributed in this way so that it's like bending your back at a weird angle and like your neck and your shoulders. So it was the distribution of the weight, so not your average

1_Bryan the Botanist:

backpack?

2_Andrew Otazo:

No. No. So if I had like a good hiking bag with a 35 pound plate in it, it would've been so much easier Yeah. Than what I did. It's

1_Bryan the Botanist:

like literally three feet tall. Like going over your head. Yeah. Literally. Wow. It was awful. So that probably threw your back off Absolutely. And your legs and everything. Yeah. For 26, just the mechanics of it were, and this was authentic Everglades trash or, uh, mangroves. Mangrove trash. Yeah. All

2_Andrew Otazo:

of it was picked from the mangroves. Yep. Mm-hmm. And the bag itself, we took rope, we took that trap line, we created this like mesh that we put over it. Yeah. Yep. The

1_Bryan the Botanist:

runners get curious what you were doing. Oh, it was

2_Andrew Otazo:

really cool. Yeah. Like so many people stopped to take selfies with me to like, and I didn't like, I, I, the, the, the piece came out on the Herald. Um, this was before, like I had a large audience on social media. Mm-hmm. And um, like I didn't know if anybody would see it or care, but like people read the article or they saw the article. And so like a lot of people were coming up to me during the race and like congratulating me and like taking pictures with me. So that was really cool.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Did you have a sign on you or were you more humble about it? You were just carrying the bag and

2_Andrew Otazo:

I had a shirt that said the ocean is not your trash can. Okay. Um, and but the thing is, once you pass that half marathon point. I was alone. That's right. Yep. It

1_Bryan the Botanist:

splits off'cause it's a full and a half. Right. Right. And it splits in downtown and all the full marathoners had gone. About 90% of the race is half marathoners. Mm-hmm. It's about a 25,000 person they sell out now. And I know they, they have a hell of a waiting list too. Yeah. 2010, I remember when I did it. And it splits and it's ghost town all of a sudden.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Absolutely. Absolutely. And I, because I had been walking Yeah. I was completely, completely alone. And that sucked. Yeah. And it wasn't until I got to like mile 18 that I had some friends who joined me and like, gave me food and Gatorade. I had an entire box of, um, girl Scout cookies. Wow. On the course. Yeah. Yeah. On rail. You need those calories. I, I, because you were out there

1_Bryan the Botanist:

probably, probably like five hours, nine hours and 59 hours Angela minutes. Oh my God. Yeah. So they kept it open for you.'cause traditionally it's like a six hour time limit. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Frankie, but you knew Frankie's.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Frankie was at the finish line. They had disassembled the finish line, like, I don't know, whatever it's called, like

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah, this framework.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah. And Frankie was standing there with the metal that he put over my neck when I crossed the finish line. Amazing. I was the last person to finish the marathon. Wow. Nine and a half

1_Bryan the Botanist:

hours.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah. Nine hours and 50 minutes. Wow. Mm-hmm. Nearly 10 hours. Unreal. Yeah, it was really rough. Hey, I was almost, I was close to three miles an hour, you know, you know, it's not, that's not bad,

1_Bryan the Botanist:

but it got you a lot of exposure for what you're up to.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Um. How did you come up with that idea?

2_Andrew Otazo:

I'm an idiot. So you

1_Bryan the Botanist:

dreamed it up one night. Were you in the shower? Were you

2_Andrew Otazo:

It was, um, because I wanted to physically take the trash outta the mangroves mm-hmm. And expose Miami to it. Mm-hmm. Because mm-hmm. Um, Miamians don't go into these environments. They don't know what's in there. So I wanted to actually parade it around the city of Miami so that they saw it. Wow. And this was all a fundraiser for my, for Miami Waterkeeper. So, yeah. Yeah. So the two, um, the two fundraisers, 2019 and 2020 put it together. We raised more than$30,000 for'em. Unreal. Yeah.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Unreal. Wow. Andrew. Um, yeah, that's just such a great idea too.'cause when most people are doing the marathon, they're either going for time. Mm-hmm. Or Instagram Glory. Yeah. And they wanna look cute and they wanna be, you know, like have their fancy, I wanted

2_Andrew Otazo:

to, I wanted to accomplish something personally that I knew was very difficult. So I picked 35 pounds.'cause I, to me that was just like, just the right amount where like, people were like, are you insane? And yeah, you could have picked a hundred and then, yeah.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Uh, you might've had to drag it the last six months. Yeah. No, I don't

2_Andrew Otazo:

think I would've made it. Also, I think I was younger then. I don't think my body could do that much. Did you practice it ahead of time? Yeah, a lot. Yeah. I, I put weights in a bag and, you know, I walked, I would do, you know, I went up to like 20 something miles. But the thing again is that it's so different between having that plate in your bag versus Sure. Some people wear the

1_Bryan the Botanist:

weighted vest too.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Exactly. But like, that's ergonomically designed so that you can carry it. Not, it's not this massive monster that you have strapped onto. Unreal.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

So, yeah.'cause even the weighted vests are a little hard on your knees and your hips and your lower back. So the un the bag being so big, it's just, I personally. It would've been something I would've wanted to do when I was 30 or 25, but now at 46, I'm gonna just, I'm gonna, I'm gonna donate to the cause and I'm gonna hype it up as much as I can, um, to all my friends because it's an inspiring story. It's something bigger than you, and I think that's a very honorable thing. Thank you. Yeah. So, and again, I please invite me out on your next call. Yeah, no, you're welcome to join me on your next, uh, when are you gonna go out again?

2_Andrew Otazo:

I go out every Saturday. Okay. Yeah,

1_Bryan the Botanist:

so probably let's do it in three Saturdays.'cause this Saturday I'm getting ready for a big work trip to go to Atlanta next week for a run summit conference. Mm-hmm. And then I'll be gone until the following Monday. Mm-hmm. But three Saturdays from now, I would love to come out with you, so we'll make sure to trade phone numbers. I use the help. Yeah. Because we have each other's email, but I wanna stay close contact with you. Absolutely. Um, and I started following you today on Instagram and um, I saw just on a daily basis you're, you know, sharing, you know, your love for the environment and also for policy. Mm-hmm. Um, I want to keep continuing this conversation. Um, but, uh, what, what, um, do you wanna pivot now to, uh, to some other stuff? Or do you want to continue? Um,

2_Andrew Otazo:

I would say so. A lot of people ask me, you know, what can I do in my daily life? Yeah. To what can everyone else do? Yeah. So there, there are things that you can do, right. Um, to consume less plastic. Right. So you can, the classic example is take a tote bag to the grocery store or just like, you know, what you guys are doing is incredible. So like, you know, I'm gonna show the camera my, my shoe, which is extremely worn out'cause this is what I do with my running shoes. I just wear'em out to like, they're literally gone. But you take what is a waste product and you create something valuable out of it. Um, that's incredible. So donating

1_Bryan the Botanist:

even destroyed shoes, which we call end of life Yeah. Can go into our grinding program and make new sandals now. Like these sandals are made outta 85% post-consumer recycled materials. Amazing. And we have shoes that are gonna be coming out this year where we're making the midsole a hundred percent. And the whole shoe will be 90% or so post-consumer, which has meant it's been used versus That's incredible. Pre-consumer, which is scraps left over. That's like if you get like, um. You know, they used to make it more with pre-consumer stuff. Now we're getting into post-consumer. Mm-hmm. Um, it's complicated. You gotta separate the materials, which takes so many different types of material. Like these are all foam and rubber uhhuh. Actually this is rubber. These are, uh, coasters. But, um, you know, our floors you saw earlier. Yeah. And, uh, we also make yoga mats coming soon. And we are making energy out of the, um, recycled shoes too. Those are just for end of life. We'll never grind a shoe that has a second life, and there's a whole grading process. Our founder says every shoe is accounted for.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Mm-hmm.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

So about 90% or 85% of our shoes get a second, like life after they've been repaired. Stitched up like at the top, just has a hole in it. We can, it's in, it's all about the tread on the bottom. Yeah. Yeah. Unfortunately, those would probably go in our grinding program. Yeah. But. Um, you know, there's so many. It's, it's getting diverted from the landfill and then it makes perfect

2_Andrew Otazo:

sense. Um, like I take my, you know, my leather shoes to the cobbler and I get them resold. Why wouldn't you get your running shoes resold?

1_Bryan the Botanist:

You could do that. Yeah, you could, you could put new rubber on the bottom. Mm-hmm. Absolutely. And that would be a way to keep extending. Um, X loss is called extended extending the life mm-hmm. Of shoes. I think it's E-X-L-O-S. So it's like a fancy term, but upcycling. But you know, back to what people can do, you know, like Right,

2_Andrew Otazo:

right. So there are things they can do in their daily lives, consume less plastic. But here's the thing. So like, if you as a individual disappear today and you consume no more plastic for the rest of your life, it doesn't make any meaningful impact whatsoever on the greater issue of global plastic. Um, like, you know, every day, I don't even know I had this figure in my head, but it's like. Uh, literally tens of, I think it's like tens of, tons of, of plastic go into the united, go into the ocean just from the United States every single day. Um, and so like, if you want to solve this issue, you have to do it at its source. So if I were to come into your kitchen and I see the faucet overflowing in the sink and the water coming on to your, to your floor and just flooding your sink, the first thing I do is not grab a mop. I turn off the faucet. And that's what we need to do. We need to like, get involved so that the manufacturers of these plastic products like either switch to other materials, inert or organic or whatever, or we ch it's a systems problem. It's, it, the, the issue is that you cannot distribute the, um, for lack of a better term, the guilt or the responsibility of this issue from the sources of it to the consumers. Um, because that'll get you nowhere. Um, because you can, it's just a drop in the bucket. Yeah. You shouldn't be buying

1_Bryan the Botanist:

plastic water bottles. Like as a cross country coach. I stopped years ago. Amazing. And I just. By like the large containers or we fill up the big coolers. Right. And I tell the kids to bring their, their, their reusable bottles. Yeah. That's what I used to do in track two. I haven't bought, I mean, but I, I've bought plenty of plastic in my life. Yeah. And we all get plastic packaging, so there's no way we can, there's nothing you can

2_Andrew Otazo:

do to purify yourself other than go to the woods and live out there for the rest of your life. Yeah. One of our

1_Bryan the Botanist:

people here said, there's no way anyone can ever be perfect. No. And so we don't ever pass guilt on anyone and you

2_Andrew Otazo:

shouldn't. Like, I get it, that if you wanna do that to make yourself feel better, cool. Yeah. But like, you're not actually making a difference. If you want to make a real difference, you have to, and I hate to say this, you have to get involved with policy. You have to talk to, you know, your local elected officials, and you have to make it a priority for them. Like you have to, like, these people are solely focused on reelection. And if they understand that, if they don't move on an issue, say plastic pollution, and by the way, plastic pollution, it is nonpartisan. I have, this is one of the most wonderful things that I've learned in all of my efforts, is that it's not democratic, it's not republican. Everyone understands that our mangroves and our coastal ecosystems and our oceans should not be full of plastic. Um, so like if those individuals make it clear to the elected officials, you need to pass regulations and legislation in order to address this, or we're gonna find someone to elect in your position, who will, they will move on it. That's how you treat it at its source. Otherwise we can, you know, feel great about ourselves. Like, great, I brought a tote bag, I'm doing my thing, but you're not actually making a global difference. Yeah,

1_Bryan the Botanist:

I like that. I mean, it can help with your health to buy organic and to support local farmers. Mm-hmm.'cause but to address the global issue, we need to demand change from our politicians and from the companies like Coca-Cola and a hundred percent PepsiCo and all the big manufacturers. And, um, yeah, because I mean, I read the other day that if you just stop buying plastic water bottles, you reduce your microplastic intake by 90%, but you're never gonna reduce it a hundred percent.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Mm-hmm.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

You know, um, you're never gonna be perfect. You touch a receipt for 10 seconds. The other day I read and you exceed the amount of, uh, pollutant from the state of California that they mandate in 10 seconds. You, you, you, you, you go past the limit of, I don't know if it was best phenol, but it was something that you, you exceed what California considers to be toxic. That's insane. Just from holding a receipt.'cause it's covered in like chemical. Yeah, it's, yeah.

2_Andrew Otazo:

It's like laminated. Yeah. So I

1_Bryan the Botanist:

just read that yesterday and I was like, whoa. And there's a lot of fear out there and a lot of people are like, where do I start? I can't be perfect. Obviously don't throw your trash out the window. Yeah. Please. Step one. Sorting. Like I get a little frustrated in my neighborhood'cause I have my recycling bin out front. I do a good job and then I look in it some days and it's, I have an apartment building across the street and I have neighbors and they'll put stuff in my recycling bin that isn't a recyclable. I know. And I get frustrated. Yeah. And I get trash in my lawn and I get frustrated. Mm-hmm. But then I have to take a deep breath and realize that, you know, it wasn't that they are trying to hurt the earth. Mm-hmm. They might be in survival mode. They might not have care as much or they might not have the, I don't know. There's, there's reasons and it's not that they're trying to, it's not

2_Andrew Otazo:

the majority of the times. It's not nefarious. It's not malignant. It's just like, it's just not part of the way you were brought up. It might, it just, you're not educated on it. So we need to get

1_Bryan the Botanist:

it more into the news, which is what you're helping a lot with Miami, which I'm grateful for. Yeah. Uh,'cause people think of bachelorette parties and they think of 11 and club space and they think of Jesus. And even club space has gone more green. All these people. They have.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah. They have. And, and even and um, uh, ultra, yeah. Ultra's done a good job. Yeah, yeah,

1_Bryan the Botanist:

yeah.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Uhhuh.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah. All these entities now are starting to get wise and also consumers are demanding it and they notice that they're responsible. They're making a lot of money. Right. A lot of these groups so they can give back to Miami. Mm-hmm. Which we're a very sensitive ecosystem here. Mm-hmm. Um, but the whole earth is sensitive. We're one organism. Right. You know, we're all interconnected and it just is. Yeah. I feel like it's slowly changing, um, the consensus, but, um, so what, what are some more of the challenges you're facing, you know, with, with your policy and PR and everything that you're doing? With the

2_Andrew Otazo:

challenges I'm facing?

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Um, besides maybe getting the word out, are there other, is there political challenges in this current climate? Is there, I'm sure there's political challenges.

2_Andrew Otazo:

There's, oh man, that's, um, that's a whole not to get Yeah. That's a very different podcast. There are a lot of issues. Um, uh, the defunding of the National Park Service mm-hmm. Is insane. Um, because for example, you know, I, I work, I partner a lot with, um, Biscayne National Park. Okay. They're, they're, you know, a in the, the whole of the United States, it's the only park that's 90% aquatic. Um, and they were essentially all of their. Ability to, you know, use discretionary funds was completely canceled. And so they don't, they didn't have enough, uh, money to put gas in their boats and whoa, this is a park that's 90% aquatic and that's how they

1_Bryan the Botanist:

enforce things like pollution and Yeah.

2_Andrew Otazo:

That's how they do their conservation efforts. Yeah. That's how they get people onto these different keys. Um, onto Ellie Key or Rhodes Key or all these other keys. Yeah, exactly. And

1_Bryan the Botanist:

enforcement, which is important because some people like Overfish in the Keys. Absolutely. You know, they take too many lobsters. Yeah.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah. So they didn't have enough money to even fill their tanks up or to, um, to empty out their dumpster. Mm-hmm. Um, and so like, you know, I was part of a group of, you know, these different individuals and organizations that are. Uh, involved in, you know, these oceanic cleanups that we put together, A fundraiser that raised, I think is like$10,000 for them. Like the, the community is having to raise money Wow. For the National Park Service. Yeah. For them to be able to take care of our parks. It's our parks. Yeah. Like this is our, this is,

1_Bryan the Botanist:

it's part of our communities. Yeah. This is

2_Andrew Otazo:

part of the public's like, um, like I don't, it's not our property, but it's like, it's something that we are responsible for and something that's there for us. Mm-hmm. Uh, so that is insane to me.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah. Park rangers have been laid off throughout the country. Absolutely. I know a bunch of taking away from when a visitor from any political party goes and visits the park. Yeah. Where's the park ranger to helping you when you go, what's gonna

2_Andrew Otazo:

happen when there's a forest fire? Yeah. What's gonna happen when somebody gets injured and you need to put together a group of people to go find that person. This is, this is not just for. Um, you know, the, the people that are using the parks, but everything surrounding those parks. Yeah. Like maintenance too. Absolutely. But like this affects everybody. Mm-hmm. Um, this is going to affect everybody. Yeah. Um, and that is to me absolutely insane.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah. Um, so. Do you want to pivot to like some of your Miami favorites or, sure, sure. Let's suck Miami favorites. You can always come back to policy. Yeah. Um, what's your favorite thing to do in Miami outside of, uh, policy work and running?

2_Andrew Otazo:

I love being outdoors. Yeah. I love, love being outdoors. Um, I kayak, um, I've got a Hoyes, uh, kick drive, 11 footer. And, um, a couple months ago I paddled 35 miles, um, you know, wow. From Kiska all the way up to hall over inlet all the way around Miami Beach, back down to Kiska along the ocean. So I went up, I went up the, the Intercoastal, I went up through the bay. Mm-hmm. So I, I visited every single spoil island in the Bay. Wow. There are 32 spoil islands. Yeah. By the way, in the Bay. Oh, I didn't know that. Um, yeah. And so like I went all the way up and then right back down, um. I love, uh, open ocean swimming. Um, oh wow.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

We have to do that together. Yeah.'cause I recently, in the last year really got into swimming and I have gone Do you do

2_Andrew Otazo:

dolphins and rainbows? No. On Miami Beach? No.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

It's a really good group. I have the, the bag you, you fill up. Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I bought that about a year ago. For safety. It's like bright orange. Yeah. And my ex-girlfriend's a decent swimmer and we'll go swimming together. We swim about a mile, but we go to like haulover or to like ball Harbor and we swim about a mile back and forth from like the little, uh, lifeguard stations. Okay. And I swim in the pool every day. I can swim about a mile. Nice. But with a group, I would feel more confident. Oh yeah.'cause I never go alone in the ocean. Yeah. Ever. Yeah. In the pool you can go alone, but in the ocean I always go with one person at least. But I don't have many friends that like to swim. So Dolphins

2_Andrew Otazo:

and rainbows. Dolphins and rainbows every single day. In Miami Beach, is that on Instagram too or how? Yeah, you can find them. You can find them online. Um, it's a really very welcoming group. You've got all sorts of people that are different levels. Um, they do different distances. They're really good.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah. That's awesome. I lived in Miami Beach for a good 16 to 18 years, so Yeah. You live in the city?

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah. They'll, they'll, they'll go parallel to the shoreline.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Okay. Mm-hmm. Uh, so swimming is a passion.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Swimming, um, I love, um, uh, gravel biking. So we have all these levees on in Western Miami-Dade County along the Everglades. Mm-hmm. And those are great areas to bike, like Ham Park, Uhhuh.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yep. That's so many places I've really gone so far is the, um. You know, on the edge of Markum it takes you out. Oh yeah. Everglades, I did like a 20 mile run out there. Nice. Yeah, that's, you just see nothing for like, it's gorgeous. Just out in the middle of nowhere. It's beautiful as far as I can see Everglades, um,

2_Andrew Otazo:

yeah.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Wow. So you're a really active guy and in the outdoors. Uh, what do you do at night? Are you studying? Are you writing?

2_Andrew Otazo:

I'm writing, I'm going out. I dunno. A little bit about to dance. I, I was a former salsa teacher, so Oh wow. Yeah,

1_Bryan the Botanist:

I wouldn't have guessed. Right. But I mean, with your Cuban background I can see that.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Um, so yeah, I mean I love o is a great place. Ball and Chains classic. Um, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Uh. The corner is this weird dive divey place that I really love. That's just a really weird group of people that go there. Is

1_Bryan the Botanist:

that the one right by, uh, space right next to it? I've been there, yeah. Years ago in my, uh, I'm a DJ as well, so I, no way. Yeah, I'm a house dj, but I play hotels mainly. Yeah. But I have friends who are full-time, like play space and do not sit in all these places, so. Wow. Plane space.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah. That's insane.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah, I used to go more and now I'm more focused on, I've kind of. Focused, well, I focused so much on recovering from two Achilles surgeries and the herniated disc that like, oh my God, I kind of, in the last two years of my life hit like a midlife crisis with my body in my mid forties. And so I'm kind of just getting back on track and then once I get my lifestyle on track, I can yeah. Go back out into the nightlife.'cause it was kind of not allowing me to stay fit or not stay fit, but to like run in the mornings. Yeah.'cause I would, you're too late. I used to actually dance in until 7:00 AM and then go to after parties, but I only did that for a couple years in my late thirties.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Oh, in your thirties? Yeah.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

I can't do that. I didn't ever go to club space until I was about 37 and I moved to Miami when I was 28 or so.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Good lord. Actually, I have a question for you. So like I am, I am in my late thirties currently. Yeah. Um, and so like I am like literally every time I go run, I'm expecting my body to like give, I'm expecting my knees to give or my ankles or my back or something to happen. Yeah. Like what, what was the point at which like you realized, oh, like I'm. Like, was there, was there a threshold that you hit where your body just said, oh no, we're not going any further than this?

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah, I think it was training at run clubs and I had my own track club at Flamingo Track at Miami Beach for 10 years, and I think it was just nonstop seven days a week. I didn't give myself a rest day. No rest. I, and I was doing upwards of 90 to a hundred miles a week and I was competing year round in half. That's a lot. And Foss and even five Ks and that's a lot. But it was just like running with so much of my life that I didn't have balance and I wasn't going to physical therapy enough and getting the massages and also, um, doing the things like Pilates and yoga, which in the last three months I really got into Pilates. I'm worried about my flexibility. Yeah. So staying flexible, doing things Besides running, like in the last year with my Achilles surgeries, I wasn't able to run most of the last year. So I did swimming every single day. And the um, Normandy Isles pool became my second. Did you kick off the wall? I do kick flips uhhuh. So yeah, I do the kick flips. I wear a nose clip. Yeah. And I kick flip. Um, so like you could do that with your achilles messed up. Yeah. Yeah. It doesn't hurt at all to do that. Interesting. What hurts is the, um, the torque and the, you know, from running is the foot movement and it just happens over five to 10 miles. But what's interesting is, you know, in Boston, which was like four days ago, um, I didn't have any achilles pain or sciatica pain in the entire race or after. Interesting. What was the temperature? My hip flexor hurt after the race and

2_Andrew Otazo:

Oh, I used to get hip flexor pain. Yeah. So I still get

1_Bryan the Botanist:

hip flexor pain in my right hip. Yeah. And I'm gonna be completely transparent. My mom's a pharmacist and I was, I still had a couple Tramadol left over from, after my second Achilles surgery, which was in December of 2024. So I was a little worried about, I went to Boston by myself and I had a flight home within four hours after the marathon. Same day. Jesus Christ. So I was like, I'm worried about getting back to my rental car.'cause when you finish, you're not done. Done. You're dead. You have to walk to the T. Yeah. You know, the MBTA. Uh, and just to get to the MBTA station is like almost a mile from the finish line of the Boston Marathon. And then get your car, and then get your hotel clean up and then the next day you're in, you're, you're actually in more soreness the day next two days after the marathon than right after. Oh yeah. But my hip flexor was in so much pain after that marathon. I wasn't ready for that. It was screaming like nine outta 10. Yeah. And I needed help getting to my recovery bag, my gear check bag, and I had put one Tramadol in my gear check bag. And for those that don't know what that is, it's a powerful opiate painkiller. Yeah. And I have never taken anything in my life for pain except for a little ibuprofen and meloxicam, which is what they gave me after my surgeries for. You know, the Achilles, um, because the inflammation was located just in the Achilles. But I, my mom said she's a retired farm. She's, she's like, you know, if you're that worried and this much anxiety about after the race, um, and just getting to the airport and being able to get home because I couldn't afford to stay in Boston another day and I wanted, I actually came back and worked the next day at Brickell Run Club for Earth Day. Earth Day was the day after the Boston Marathon, and that's our Super Bowl for Sneaker Impact. So we have a lot of stuff going on. Mm-hmm. I'm getting a lot of emails from partners. This isn't the time to take a vacation. So I took a Tramadol right after when I got to my year check bag and within 10 minutes all the pain was gone. But that was the only one I took. Mm. And then I was just sore the next day and it allowed, it took all the pain away. But I'll be honest, without that, I probably would've been in the medical tent or I would've had to be put a, on a wheelchair.'cause it was Marathon 51, which again, is too much in the amount of time I did it. And I wanna keep running when I'm a hundred, when I did my first marathon, when I was 20 years old, I. Did four and a half hours. That's how old I was when I did my first marathon. Yeah. The year 2000. I did the Madison Marathon. It was four and a half hours. I didn't know what I was doing. Ah, yeah. I didn't do another race for days. Did you run Walk It, run, walked it?'cause I didn't train enough and I didn't have any friends that were runners. There were no run clubs back then.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Oh

1_Bryan the Botanist:

yeah. Not in Wisconsin at least, right? No, no. And like, no, even down here, there were no run clubs.

2_Andrew Otazo:

When, when I started, I started running when I was 13 years old. I It must have been 2001 and nobody was running. No, you, it was this weird like little society of people that were running, but like the way it blew up in like the, the 2010s, it's a phenomenon. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

It's now Diplo has his own run club. I mean, that's crazy. Like Chris, Chris Hart, all these, um, celebrities now are getting into it. And um, I actually saw something the other day on Facebook where in the late sixties and seventies, if you ran it all like. Or were serious about it, which there were some people back then serious about it. Sure. Like you, they on the news, they'd be like, featured like, this person's out running 10 miles, like, what's going on? You know, like, so, so I, whereas now it's like a whole lifestyle and runner's world has become such a super, you know,

2_Andrew Otazo:

my, neither of my parents are a particular, well, my mother was a ballerina, but, um, neither of them, uh, like did sports Really? Mm-hmm. Um, like, and they never pressured me into doing sports. I just started running on my own naturally.'cause like, I wanna do this. Yeah. And I always wondered where it came from. It turns out that my maternal grandfather in the seventies was running Wow. Yeah. In Long Island. This Cuban man Yeah. Was running and like, he was literally the only person doing it then. Wow. Mm-hmm.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah. I was gonna ask how you got started running? Was it, did you play any other sports growing up and,

2_Andrew Otazo:

uh, no. No. I mean, like, not until I did track. Um, but you started cross country in sixth grade or in seventh, or, Nope. Nope. High school. High school. Okay. High school was when I started Trek. I think I was a freshman. Um, and, or it might have been a sophomore even, but I started running on my own at 13. Um, and I don't, I'm not sure why.'cause it's, and I just kept at it. Just I would do two miles, liked it, and then four miles. And then six miles.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

And then the funny thing is, coincidentally you went to the best program in the US for running. Yeah. Jesuit. Like you guys are now ranked like every year in the top four in the nation.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Frankie has built a factory. Yep. It is insane. You just bring in these kids. Yeah. There's nothing, it's not like they're, they're like recruiting children. There's nothing special

1_Bryan the Botanist:

about these kids, to be honest. You could be taking kids from any literally anywhere. And it's his program.

2_Andrew Otazo:

And I'll, when I ran track with Frankie. There were times where I thought I was going to die. Yeah. Tell us some Frankie

1_Bryan the Botanist:

story. Oh my God. Because he is, I've known him since 2008, but you've known him even longer. I, I met him at Nike Run Club on South Beach.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

And I went to the first Bricka Run club, uh, in 2013, Uhhuh. Now it's a thousand people every week.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Mm-hmm.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Back then I was 50, but, and I, I know that Frankie is very disciplined.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

And he doesn't make any excuses. His hashtag is Don't stop. Yeah. And he doesn't give you guys a shortcut. I'm a cross country coach in Miami Beach for the Hebrew Academy. And the parents, there are, they won't let me take the kids out if there's lightning within 13 miles. And I told Frankie last week in our group chat, oh my God, are you kidding? I said, Frankie, the canceled practice today'cause of the thunderstorms. But there was no rain in Miami Beach, Uhhuh, it was just threats uhhuh. Right. But they canceled practice. And he's like, Nope. He, he said, he said in the chat, he said, I would go crazy if I was at that school. Yeah. And. I said, yeah, the parents like they're worried and like the kids are priceless. I get it. We, we use WeatherBug and if there's lightning within seven miles, we can't take the kids outside of the buildings. Mm-hmm. And you know, there was an, an unfortunate story of a child of a 20 year, a 19-year-old who was unfortunately hit by Lightning and killed in Vista View Park. So you have to be very careful with lightning. I've actually gone out sometimes on my long runs training for Boston where there was lightning and it got so bad. I'm looking at WeatherBug shows you, which by the way, do you use WeatherBug? I do. I do. Yeah. So weather Bug is more comprehensive than AccuWeather and it shows you how close the strikes are by the minute. So over Biscay Bay, they're coming down Miami Beach and seven miles away, you can still get hit by lightning. You can, um, and I know the mom of someone who was unfortunately killed at VistaView, so it's a reminder. But Frankie has built this program where his mentality is so tough. There were 10. Okay. There's no, like, he didn't let you guys ever out if it was raining? No, no, no, no. And actually takes you on the Everglades and you're doing these 10 Yeah, he's doing doubles.

2_Andrew Otazo:

I was, I was a sprinter. Yeah. Okay. I was a 100, 200, 400 meter sprinter. Yeah. And I was doing the endurance runs. And there was one time that I don't know what happened, but he got upset with the entire team and he was like, you know what? You're going to do ladders until you actually think you're going to die. Um, and so it started off like 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, all the way up to half a mile, then back down to 100, then right back up to half a mile and then back down. I don't know how many times we did it. It, but I actually thought I was going to die. Wow. And I remember being in basic training and thinking to myself, wow, this really sucks. But at least it's not as bad as that one time in, you know, track practice where like, wow. He put us, you guys

1_Bryan the Botanist:

be so mentally tough. Yeah. The kids are doing morning runs at like five or six in the morning. And then I would go out and do my track club in Miami Beach at the Track, Flamingo Park, and he'd bring the whole team out there for the second run. And they're doing like a four to five mile warmup. Then they're doing track workouts. They're doing like 5K repeat on track. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. And so they're doing like 15 miles a day. Yeah. This is high schoolers. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

2_Andrew Otazo:

yeah.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Like no

2_Andrew Otazo:

one else

1_Bryan the Botanist:

is doing

2_Andrew Otazo:

this. You start with a warmup. Yeah. You'll, you'll warm up a mile and then you'll run five miles and then you come back and then you do your track workout. Mm-hmm. And then you might do, like, you know, you might switch it up with a gym day or whatever, but Yeah. No, like it's, it doesn't pamper anyone. No. And the thing about running is that it. It's, it's physical. Obviously. You need to like, you have to have a strong heart and strong cardio and a good VO two max, and you have to understand your body. You have to listen to it. You know, I'm every second of every run. I'm constantly monitoring how everything feels and how I feel, but it's mental toughness. It's like you feel like you're, you feel like death. But that's okay. You're not gonna die. Yeah. There's not more I can give, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, you're gonna be fine.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah. You're gonna be fine. Mm-hmm. It's just your body trying to tell you to stop, be like, yeah. It's trying to make you feel comfortable. Yeah. Like, it's almost like laziness, uh, programming kicks in, not laziness, but like, it's self, it's take a break. It's okay. But it's like the military also teaches you, I think that the Marines or the Navy Seals that like, you only give about 20% of your potential before you want to quit. Mm-hmm. Something like that. I don't know. I was Army man. There's still another 80%. Yeah. There's always a ultra marathon. There's a reservoir Show this, there's been, they're doing a hundred to 200 mile runs. Yeah. My friend, hot chocolate, you know, he, he does, he started running in his forties. And he is 52 and he's doing 200 mile runs out in like Moab and stuff. That's a different death valley. That's a different level. Yeah. Um, it's the mentality. Yeah. It's, it's the mentality and it's also that you don't have, you have to pace yourself. You don't need to rush. Yeah. Patients

2_Andrew Otazo:

also understand. Yes, exactly. You don't rabbit it out of the starting line. You, you have to understand your pace. You have to understand your body and like we were saying, it's okay if you feel like everything sucks. The lactic acid's building up, you can't get in that good breath. Like, you know, your legs are tired, everything feels tired, but guess what? You can keep going and it's okay to be uncomfortable. Yeah. It is okay to not feel great.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

I always used to say, as a coach, get comfortable feeling uncomfortable. Absolutely. Or welcome to uncomfortable V

2_Andrew Otazo:

Right, right. Welcome home. Uh, absolutely.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah. Yeah. Well, we, we are kindred spirits when it comes to that, and I think Frankie, uh, has been a big part of your background. He's been a big part of mine and my adult life, but since a kid you. He helped shape what it sounds like your, your youthful years in sport.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Absolutely. And my mentality now, which is like when you're in the mangroves

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah.

2_Andrew Otazo:

And like what. N nobody's there to cheer you on. That's true. Like nobody's making me go wake up. I'm gonna wake up tomorrow at six 30 in the morning and bike myself over to Virginia Key and I'm gonna spend seven hours at the mangroves picking up several hundred pounds of trash and no one's going to boo me or cheer me on for picking up that extra 40 pound bag and putting it on my shoulders and walking out with it. It's something I want to do. It is my internal motivation. It is my love of that physical challenge and taking care of an environment that I love that. That's why I'm there.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

What do your parents think about? They think I'm insane. They think you're insane. Yeah.

2_Andrew Otazo:

They think I'm crazy, but they support it. But they're legislate probably

1_Bryan the Botanist:

grown on them a little bit when they see you getting some. They're

2_Andrew Otazo:

very proud of me. They're

1_Bryan the Botanist:

proud of me. Miami Herald featuring you? Yeah. These big things. But at first they probably were like, why, why worried? Why don't you just, uh, focus on stocks and, uh, I'm not making some more money? Oh

2_Andrew Otazo:

man, I wish I could make money from trash. Um, but there's no money in trash. Well, there should

1_Bryan the Botanist:

be, there should be a reward system for that. I'd love it. The idea, I'd

2_Andrew Otazo:

love it. Tokenize it. Sure, sure.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

NFTI don't know, man. Like whatever. Yeah. Maybe we can create some type of crypto that, you know. Sure. The trash that you generate that's pegged to reducing your footprint. I like that. Yeah.'cause everyone has an ecological footprint. Mm-hmm. You know, the more you buy, the bigger your footprint is. Right. You need two or three cars. Do you really need two or three cars?

2_Andrew Otazo:

No,

1_Bryan the Botanist:

you don't. Do you need a 5,000 square foot house or can you get by with a tiny house or a 1500 square foot or whatever. It depends how big your family is, but I want to build a tiny home someday, but those are cool. That'd be nice. Yeah. Um, man, this has been such a fun podcast, Andrew. I'm not sure what the next question should be, but, um, what, what's your favorite restaurant and food in Miami? Being a Cuban American?

2_Andrew Otazo:

Um, so like for me, a restaurant experience is not necessarily just the food, but it's also like the entire experience. Mm-hmm. So one of my favorite places in Miami is Gram's Getaway on Virginia Key.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Oh, wow. I've never heard of it.

2_Andrew Otazo:

It is incredible. It's where Whiskey Joes used to be. Okay. It's got the best view of the Miami skyline.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Gramps getaway.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Gramps getaway. Um, like right when you go over the big bridge, um, the Rickenbacker. The Rickenbacker, right, exactly. On your left hand side. Okay. That's where it is. And, um, it's just incredible. Like the food is, it's not expensive. It's good food. Oh, that's,

1_Bryan the Botanist:

that's cool to hear. The

2_Andrew Otazo:

drinks are good and they're not expensive. The ambiance is incredible, beautiful view of the Miami skyline. It's just a great welcoming environment. Great oysters. Um, I, I lucky oysters there. They had some of the best oysters in Florida. Mm-hmm. Um, and I can't, I can't like, like sing its praise is high enough. Um, so I love that place. And um, but yeah, that's one of my favorite spots in Miami for sure.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Is Cuban food something that you. Eat. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. For being sure. Yeah. I mean, I think, I think of Croquetas, I think of, yeah. Um, LA Car Lata. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Um, if I were to pick a La Carta, I'd probably go with the Bird Road one, not the eighth Street one. Okay. I've been to the

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Bird Road once or twice. Yeah, that's, that's probably

2_Andrew Otazo:

better. They

1_Bryan the Botanist:

have one in the airport too.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah, I know they do. I know, like, I know I'm home when I see that. Um, I like Gios, um, on Coral Way. Um, cafe Lava is a lot of fun. It's on eighth Street, it's Cuban, but it's also like, uh, like almost a little bit elevated. Um, but also they have a live band and there's dancing and there's like, you know, the bartenders have trumpets, like, it's great. Wow. Yeah. It's a lot fun. Yeah.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Miami's a really interesting place. I mean, you're gonna get any type of food you want here. Yeah. Um. Okay. That's really cool. Mm-hmm. Um, so what, what other projects are coming up that you're, that are on top of mind in the next year or two on,

2_Andrew Otazo:

let's see. Um, I wrote a new book. Okay. So that's, that's a work in progress. Um, I have it out for, they're called Beta Readers. Basically people who read it and give you feedback. Oh wow. Um, so that's going on. Um, other than that, gonna keep working in the mangroves. It's very simple work. You put trash in a bag, you put the bag on your back, carry it out.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

And a RO is your a RO Communications is, that's your public relations firm? Yes.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah, that's my firm. Um, I love the clients I'm working with. Um, I'm looking for new clients. I always, as an entrepreneur, being an entrepreneur is not easy. It is not easy at all. Um, and so, I dunno, I'm interested in working with, with organizations or with companies that are, um, trying to do that wanna be creative, that want to come at problems from. Uh, not just from a rope plug and play standpoint, but want to actually connect with their audience and wanna provide real value to their audience. And, and the bigger and the hairier and the weirder the problems, the more interesting for me.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Is it a mix of local and companies from other places too? Currently?

2_Andrew Otazo:

Let me think. Um, yes. Currently they're all local. I've worked with national brands before as well. Mm-hmm. Um, and there's a couple of possibilities that I might be working with National again, but yeah. At this moment it's local.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Was it a big risk for you to move from the policy arena where you probably had a standard salary guaranteed Everything in a sense? Never. Nothing's ever guaranteed forever. Yeah. Sure. But like, yeah. With becoming an entrepreneur. You know, I, I've been it off and on in my life. Yeah. I'm a serial entrepreneur as well. I launched a brain formula company. I, I'm a coach, I'm a dj, so I have to a lot of that. I have to do my own work course to get my clients. And, um, I had my own LLC back. I have a couple ocs, but I used to be a, I used to have a restoration company in Wisconsin that did wetland and prairie restoration for 10 years. Wow. That's cool. Years previous life. That's so cool. Before I moved here, but I had like eight employees and like no guarantee ever. And it was just so hard just to keep my employees paid. And there's no one to hold your hand? Nope. Even small business administration, you get advice, but even that, you have to reach out, you know, there's no safety net No. Will teach you.

2_Andrew Otazo:

I pay for my health insurance. Mm-hmm. Um, like I've many times had to pause my own payroll, um, and just not pay myself. Yeah. Um, there's, how do you

1_Bryan the Botanist:

survive then? I mean, do you, did you have some savings going into it? Yeah. Okay.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah, savings helped. Um, I'm on a good place now, luckily, but like, that could change at any moment. That's the thing about being an entrepreneur. Um. You know, you, you eat what you kill. Um, and if you don't, then you don't. Uh, so I love the freedom that I have. I love the ability to choose my own clients. I love that I'm building up a certain reputation for, you know, being able to come up with creative solutions and also implementing those solutions. Ideas are a dime a dozen ideas don't matter if you can't bring'em to fruition. Um, so like I do both of those things. I have that agency background. I have, you know, my academic background, I have my policy background. I can bring all this, I have that, that left brain and that right brain side put together the practical side. Exactly. Exactly. Um, but yeah, I mean, it's always, my dad was an entrepreneur too. My dad ran his own business. Um, and it's, it was always kind of like as taken as a given that I would do that one day. I do love it, but it's also extremely stressful. I'm not gonna lie. I bet. Mm-hmm.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah, there's no guarantees. And you could have stayed in the comfortable policy position and probably been walking, working on Capitol Hill still, or for Harvard? Oh,

2_Andrew Otazo:

for sure. I could have stayed the rest of my life at Harvard. I would've been set. Yeah. I would've been set. People get, people start working there, they don't leave. Sure. Because the benefits are amazing. The pays good. Like you're working to really interesting things. If I wanted to live in Boston and I didn't wanna live in Boston, I wanted to come back to Miami, I could have been set for life, but I came back to Miami.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

This is kind of a, a big question. Do you ever see yourself running for office or getting more involved again in policy? And

2_Andrew Otazo:

I haven't asked that question. Um, like right now, no. Okay. Um, maybe at some point, and I'll never say know, you get the

1_Bryan the Botanist:

city commissioner at first or as a, you know, anything I've seen in my, I've these people like you that get so passionate and have such a great background. Yeah. And then they eventually, but I know it's another selfless, you know, thing and it's a lot of war. You go to war to have to go to office, you know,

2_Andrew Otazo:

also like. I'm not independently wealthy, so like, it's not like I can, you know, these are, these are part-time positions, but they're really full-time positions. Um, so like, I can't, you know, just basically live off, I don't know, whatever passive income I have. Mm-hmm. Um, and run for offices. So devote

1_Bryan the Botanist:

time to that would take Right, right. It

2_Andrew Otazo:

and who's gonna pay me? Like, if I'm not working as a, if I'm not working for myself, I'm not, not working for my clients, who's gonna pay me to do that? Who's gonna pay my rent? It's not gonna be the salary I make as a commissioner. Mm-hmm. So that, personally I know that might seem, um, I dunno, self-centered. Um, but, you know, I, I have to think about that. Like, if I want, I would like to have a family. I don't have a family right now, um, but like, how the hell am I gonna pay for childcare or for diapers or for schooling? Sure. Um, you know, if I, if. I'm being paid nothing to be a commissioner and am I, am I really making that much more of a difference? Like I, I am a, I am a staunch believer in public's earth. Everybody should give back to the community I'm giving back to my, my community currently. And my question, it's always been, uh, about, uh, I'm weighing the different possibilities here. Am I doing more good for my community now than I would like doing something else? And I think currently I'm doing more good for Miami. I'm doing more good for these environments that I love walking to the mangroves every day and picking up trash than being a, you know, than running for a county commission.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah. Yeah. You have to examine the pros and cons and the balance and Right. The reality of the situation. It might sound good to say, I wanna run Yeah. For mayor someday, you know, mayor. Yeah. It's a thankless job. Plus, you know, you're gonna get attacked. Plus, you know, it's. Not easy. I know even Frankie, if someone's like, oh, Frankie, you know, Frankie should run Chief Wellness Officer run, he should run. One time someone advised him or thought, you know, why don't you do it? And then his dad, I know Paco was like, we don't want him to run because we don't want him to go under that assault. And it would be, it would be very, it's an assault rough, but he works with the mayor, um, right. Francis Suarez, he's the Chief Wellness officer. Yeah. So he is making a big impact with that way, with Brickle Run Club. He's also helping Frankie's making a huge to mobilize the city. Yeah. And they're also doing it in a safe way. And they're respecting the traffic even more than ever. And they're doing all these best practices now because it's kind of like critical mass, you know, the big bike ride. Right. It shuts down the whole city. The brick or run club, they shut down brick, they shut down the city. Yeah. Which is not something the city probably wants, but he's got such a close. And he also is mindful, and that's what you were saying before with running. You're checking in with your body, he's checking in with the city. You know, you're checking in with the, with the citizens to, you know, we're gonna mitigate it as best as we can, any impact we have.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Mm-hmm.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

But, you know, um, I think. You know, maybe in 10 years I think someone like you has so much to offer. You know, I don't have that skill set necessarily. Hmm. I don't understand policy. Like you and you have such a background from different experiences in your life from working with Felipe CCalderone Yeah. To working with the Harvard and the Kennedy, you know, and in DC on Capitol Hill. I mean, I could ask you some more questions about Capitol Hill. We didn't really focus on that too much. Oh

2_Andrew Otazo:

boy.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

I'm sure you saw some of the best and some of the worst there

2_Andrew Otazo:

that I did, that's for sure. But yeah, that's another podcast.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Yeah. I mean, we're coming up on an hour and a half. This is one longer podcast, but, oh, wow. I, uh, I wanna respect your time. I also wanna give you a tour of a Sneaker. Yeah. I can't wait to see it close. So let's, let's call it a, a wrap right now. But before we wrap, um, I always ask my guests, um, first I have two questions. Mm-hmm. One, if you wanna give any shout outs. I know we talked about some people throughout the podcast, but if there's anyone else you wanna shout out that you, you really want to shout out.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah. I feel like, um, I think I've shouted them all out. I've shouted out Frankie, MJ Algar, um, Katie and Maddie from Debris Free Oceans, um, clean this beach up. Um, Dave Dobler and Dara are doing great work with volunteer cleanup. Um, basically it's a platform where you can go on there and you can, uh, look for a cleanup in your neighborhood. Mm-hmm. Um, and there are dozens of cleanups every single week that you can do that. Um, how do

1_Bryan the Botanist:

people get connected with'em?

2_Andrew Otazo:

Just go to volunteer cleanup.org. It's that simple. Um, you know, Manny RDA runs Fill Aaba. He puts up these stations of, uh, basically they're just buckets all along the beach. They're all Miami Beach. Where you can grab a bucket and you can do your own cleanup and you can toss out the trash and put the bucket back. Mm-hmm. He does great work. Um, yeah. Yeah. There's, there's a lot of people in South Florida, if it's weird, we were talking about it the other day. We all kinda started at the same time, like 2017 to 2020. All of us started doing this work. Um, and, you know, love the Everglades movement, you know, with the Micki tribes, does great work out out west. Um, but like, you know, clean, trying to clean up the environment, trying to educate our, you know, our neighbors about the importance of, of these efforts.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

I love it. That's something everyone can do. Then. They can find something in their backyard or in their neighborhood. Absolutely. They don't have to drive 30 miles. Yep. Um, final question. Uh, big inspiring message to leave our audience, audience with.

2_Andrew Otazo:

There is absolutely nothing special about what I do in the mangroves. I put trash in a bag. The only thing that's special is that I've been doing it for so long, um, so, you know. You can make real change. You can make a real, real impact in your life. You don't have to be, you don't have to have a PhD. You don't have to be a scientist. You don't have to be a lifelong activist. You can start doing things in your neighborhood, in your community two day right now and keep doing it. And if you stick to it, just like running, just like anything else that's worthwhile, you will make an actual measurable positive impact.

1_Bryan the Botanist:

Awesome. I love that. Start today. Don't give up. Don't stop.

2_Andrew Otazo:

Yeah,

1_Bryan the Botanist:

don't stop. That's awesome. Mm-hmm. Well, Andrew, it's been a pleasure guys. You can find him on Instagram at Andrew Otazo,

2_Andrew Otazo:

right?

1_Bryan the Botanist:

O-T-A-Z-O. And on LinkedIn, I'm assuming LinkedIn. Twitter,

2_Andrew Otazo:

yeah. Um, on YouTube, my channel is SFL Nature. That's where I post all my adventures, all my cleanups. You follow

1_Bryan the Botanist:

that today? SFL Nature. Yeah. Yeah, I saw that on your email. That's really cool. Yeah. Yeah, now you can find him on Sneaker Impact News. Super exciting. Awesome. Well, Andrew, we're gonna have you back in the future. You're wrapping up season one. We're gonna have maybe one or two more guests. You are episode 39. Amazing. We are just hit our one year anniversary this month. Congratulations. I wanna have you back in the future to, I love catch up with you. So thank you for coming today and sharing your inspiring story with us. My pleasure. Thank you. Awesome.

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Bryan “The Botanist” Huberty

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