From Surfer To The Redwoods
- colin7931
- Aug 15
- 26 min read
Today Colin sits with OG Rock Fighter Justin Housman to discuss his career pivot from a journalist in the human powered outdoor media world to his new role in conservation at Save the Redwoods League.
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Episode Transcript:
Chris DeMakes
00:00:00.080 - 00:00:07.200
Rock Fight. Rock Fight. Rock Fight. Rock Fight. Rock Fight. Rock Fight.
Colin True
00:00:08.560 - 00:05:19.600
Welcome to the Rock Fight, where we speak our truth, slay sacred cows and sometimes agree to disagree. This is an outdoor podcast that aims for the head. I'm Colin True, and today I'm joined by an old friend.
Justin Hausman is here to talk about his new role in conservation. But some programming reminders first, come back to the Rock Fight. This Monday we're to going well.
I'll be joined by brand and creative expert producer Dave Outdoor industry Insider, AKA the consigliere Owen Comerford. And we'll have your weekly dose of outdoor industry discourse on Tuesday.
We are once again going to open the container with host Doug Schnitzman, who will be his guest this week. You know, I honestly can't remember, so you'll have to come back on Tuesday to find out.
And lastly, sign up for News from the Front, which will hopefully be out by the time you're hearing this episode. It's been a busy week, you know, here at Rock Fight hq. Okay. And as I'm recording this, I'm behind on the newsletter. So you know what?
I don't know and I hope this that you have your newsletter by the time you're listening to this and. All right, let's get into it. So for the better part of this show's history, Justin Hausman was a weekly co host.
He was there when we broke the news about a new show called Switchback Spring. He was there when we broke the news about Yeti's plan to shutter Mystery Ranch.
And he was there for the million times I asked him questions about outdoor tech, just so I could hear that big frustrated sigh of his.
And if you aren't familiar with Justin, either on the Rock Fight or otherwise, he has spent the majority of his career as a journalist working for titles like Surfer and Adventure Journal.
But if you have heard him on this show, then you know he has a soft spot for conservation and for protecting our wild places, the places we all love to go to do the things that we love to do.
So a few months ago, when he landed a job at the Save the Redwoods League, it wasn't at all surprising that he was able to use his incredible skill as a writer to move on from his outdoor media days and into doing work to help save those places that he loved so much. And the redwoods were a perfect place for him to land, given his affinity for his home in the Bay Area.
After dozens and dozens of conversations with Justin about outdoor industry topics and the gear and apparel that dominates the topics we discuss the most here on the Rock Fight.
Him ending up at a non profit focus on conservation was eye opening because the outdoor industry isn't simply the making and distribution of outdoor stuff. There are guides and tourism boards and content creators all who consider what they do to be part of the outdoor industry.
So since it's been a few months, I asked Justin to come back on the show with an update about his new gig and particularly to ask him how he ended up there.
The career paths of those who work in our industry are rarely traditional, so I was excited for him to impart the wisdom of his journey on our lucky listeners.
And Justin is here today, although he was a bit rusty because even though he had his trusty podcast mic instead of rolling, he managed to record himself using his laptop microphone. So that's why he sounds a little different then you probably remember him sounding. And right now he's listening to this and getting really mad at me.
Love you Justin. So let's get into it. Welcome back to the Rock Fight, where today it's the side of the outdoor industry we rarely discuss with our guy Justin Hausman.
And that's coming up right after a few words from our partners. Liz and Royal Robins were known as American Climbing Royalty.
Part of the first group of Yosemite based climbers that would scale routes yet unclimbed climbed, who would promote the ethic of clean climbing, and who with a core group of startup brands would serve as the foundation of our modern outdoor industry.
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Available for streaming everywhere, you find actual water based tributaries being Royal Robins because nature and adventure are good for the soul. Hey everyone, before we keep going here, I need to tell you about our teammates at Darby Communications.
Like I've been telling you, if you run an outdoor, an endurance or an active lifestyle brand, there is no better PR and digital marketing belay partner or drinking buddy than Darby. They can help your business reach new heights, and they might just keep you from falling on your ass.
Since we started working with Darby, more and more people. And this is an important point now. Guys, I want you to hear me on this.
More and more people have reached out to us here at the Rock Fight because of that messaging. Look, guys, I'm dead serious. If they can help us, they can help anybody. Hit them up@darbycommunications.com do it today.
All right, everybody, I'm here with an OG rock fighter, my friend. Your friend. First time in the pod. In a minute. It's Justin Halsman. He's back.
Justin Housman
00:05:19.760 - 00:05:27.820
You know, listener. I'm also. I'm just as surprised as you are that Colin's been making the show without me for the past, like, six months. I just sort of got shut down.
Colin True
00:05:27.820 - 00:05:31.340
I. Frank, are you feeling rusty? Are you feeling like a little pod rusty?
Justin Housman
00:05:33.260 - 00:05:47.260
You know what? I hate to admit it, but I guess a little bit. I mean, I listen to 45 minutes of 45 minutes, you know, 45 hours of podcasts a week. So.
Yeah, you have a community listening to it. Exactly. Yeah. It's all smartless. Smartless all the time. That's it. Just back to back.
Colin True
00:05:47.260 - 00:05:51.780
That's your go to for the commute. Gets the right time every time. Nails it.
Justin Housman
00:05:51.780 - 00:06:02.040
It's by far the best podcast that you could possibly listen to. Rock Fight. I'm sorry. I mean, how dare you? Jason Bateman's not on this. Will Arnett's not on it. Sean Hayes aren't on it. God, it's good.
Colin True
00:06:02.520 - 00:06:04.240
He's kind of the weakling, don't you think? Sean Hayes.
Justin Housman
00:06:04.240 - 00:06:09.000
Oh, 100%. But show wouldn't be the same without him. You have to have. You absolutely have to have him.
Colin True
00:06:09.080 - 00:06:11.240
That's your celebrity podcast. That's the one you like the most?
Justin Housman
00:06:11.400 - 00:06:17.680
Like, there's nothing. Even. I didn't even think of it as a celebrity podcast, but, I mean, I guess it is. But like, holy smokes, it's good.
Colin True
00:06:17.680 - 00:06:20.280
I like Polar Spot. Amy Poehler's new podcast is pretty good.
Justin Housman
00:06:21.240 - 00:06:24.280
Happy hour, good hang. Yeah, it's a great name. Yeah, great name.
Colin True
00:06:24.360 - 00:06:30.320
It is. She's great. And then the other one is the Lonely island with Seth Meyers. That's a good podcast.
Justin Housman
00:06:30.320 - 00:06:34.840
Okay, I'll try that one. I, I, I want to get into the Ted Danson, Woody Harrelson one because that.
Colin True
00:06:34.840 - 00:06:37.480
Oh, I didn't know they were doing. They do. Are they Doing a Cheers rewatch?
Justin Housman
00:06:37.560 - 00:06:39.880
I don't. I don't think so.
Colin True
00:06:40.040 - 00:06:40.960
Oh, I just assumed.
Justin Housman
00:06:40.960 - 00:06:42.200
Yeah. By the way, I am.
Colin True
00:06:42.360 - 00:06:43.160
That's amazing.
Justin Housman
00:06:43.480 - 00:06:47.800
Absolutely. How are you? I'm not, like, jumping around or. I'm jumping around.
Colin True
00:06:48.330 - 00:07:06.090
Oh, okay. Well, so Justin's back.
Because, you know, most of the time on the show, we're talking about, you know, when it comes to the outdoor industry, the making and distribution of outdoor things. But the definition of the industry is kind of much large. Larger than just simply gear and apparel. Right.
So Justin recently left his old career behind and started working at the Save the Redwoods League.
Justin Housman
00:07:06.090 - 00:07:09.930
I'm not sure if I would say I left my career behind, Colin. That's a bit extreme.
Colin True
00:07:10.410 - 00:07:12.490
Well, you kind of did. I guess not. You're still writing.
Justin Housman
00:07:12.490 - 00:07:13.330
Exactly. Yeah.
Colin True
00:07:13.330 - 00:07:16.010
Okay. All right, fine. Justin pivoted in his career.
Justin Housman
00:07:16.010 - 00:07:16.440
Thank you.
Colin True
00:07:16.590 - 00:07:23.870
To join Save the Redwoods League. I want to know what the league is that Save the Redwoods is part of. Well, who are you competing against?
Justin Housman
00:07:23.870 - 00:07:27.430
No, well, yeah, good point. Gosh, you know, it's funny.
Colin True
00:07:27.430 - 00:07:28.110
I did use.
Justin Housman
00:07:28.430 - 00:07:53.220
I wrote something recently, and I wasn't referring to us as referring to this, like, this, like, group of organizations that does some work in the Sierra. And I called them like a sort of a Avengers of, like, conservation groups. And I, for a long time, struggled. Do I.
Do I talk about Save the Red Wins League and then mention Justice League, But I couldn't quite bring myself to do it. I think it's because I have just an intense distaste for DC Comics.
Colin True
00:07:53.700 - 00:07:55.300
I like Superman. You didn't like Superman as much?
Justin Housman
00:07:55.300 - 00:07:56.580
Not nearly as much, no.
Colin True
00:07:56.660 - 00:08:06.660
But League, I think I'm either thinking sports or I'm thinking comic books. There's no other really more accepted, I think, use of that word, except maybe in this context of Saint the Redwoods League.
Justin Housman
00:08:06.660 - 00:08:11.780
You're right, though. It's a good point. Is there a group of things doing this? Yeah.
Colin True
00:08:11.780 - 00:08:16.140
Like, are you competitive against, like, the Save the Douglas Firs? You're like, fuck you, Douglas Firs. You know?
Justin Housman
00:08:17.260 - 00:08:20.300
Yeah, that's actually exactly right. Yes, that's exactly right.
Colin True
00:08:20.700 - 00:08:32.660
All right, so we mentioned you pivoted off of your career. You didn't just leave it behind, but, like, what took you down the path, though, man? Because you.
If longtime listeners will know that you were interested in science. You were an archaeologist. Excuse me. Yeah. No, archaeologist.
Justin Housman
00:08:32.660 - 00:08:33.180
That's correct.
Colin True
00:08:33.260 - 00:08:34.980
I almost said paleontologist, which I don't.
Justin Housman
00:08:34.980 - 00:08:36.460
Understand why people confuse those two.
Colin True
00:08:36.540 - 00:08:39.300
I don't either. Why does that say they're not even close. Except for the ologies.
Justin Housman
00:08:39.300 - 00:08:40.660
They're studying old things. I don't know.
Colin True
00:08:40.660 - 00:08:41.060
Maybe.
Justin Housman
00:08:41.060 - 00:08:43.770
Yeah. Okay. Nothing. Sorry, Digit. There's digging.
Colin True
00:08:44.250 - 00:08:57.530
You were an archaeologist, and then you went down the road of writing in the outdoor industry, surfing, those kinds of things, journalism. Knowing you as well as I do, I see the synergy for you in protecting places.
So what was the journey that was like for you to find yourself where you are now?
Justin Housman
00:08:57.530 - 00:08:59.050
This sounds a little bit like a job interview.
Colin True
00:08:59.530 - 00:09:00.010
It is.
Justin Housman
00:09:00.010 - 00:09:03.730
Are you interviewing me for. Have I applied for a position? Is that what's happening? I'm tired.
Colin True
00:09:03.730 - 00:09:11.370
You don't need to know the answer to that question. We need a starting first baseman in the Save the Ferns league.
Justin Housman
00:09:12.410 - 00:09:20.000
I'm so in. God, I would love to play some baseball or softball. Anything. I'm sorry, what now? Conservatism? What are you asking me?
Colin True
00:09:20.000 - 00:09:26.480
Yeah, what was the journey, man? Like, you know, why. Why were you. Why'd you pursue. You were. You were. You were an outdoor journalist. Why'd you.
What made you interested in conservation?
Justin Housman
00:09:26.800 - 00:11:05.080
It's a good question. I think that there's Comes a point. I mean, I've been writing about things I love doing for my entire career, right? Like, for. Since I started that.
Writing about surfing. And at a certain point, I think you. Not everybody, obviously. Plenty of writers just write whatever they want to write the rest of their lives.
But at a certain point, it just felt like it wasn't. I wasn't, like, doing anything, you know, like, you're writing stories and people are enjoying them, but for what, you know?
And like, that wasn't enough for me. And again, it is for tons of people. I mean, most writers, I would guess. But in some ways, it felt like I was spinning my wheels.
In some ways it felt like. Not that I was wasting my time, but it was like, how many more articles can I write about someone climbing something or.
Or surfing something or wearing something, or me wearing something, or you wearing something or whatever. It just felt like I couldn't. I was just. I needed something else. I wanted it to be more meaningful. And I think, you know, a lot of us.
One of the things.
One of the wonderful things about being a journalist is that you can kind of pretend to be something, like any job you want, like, any profession, right? Like, if you're writing about something, you can kind of pretend to be that thing.
And so I always found myself attracted to writing nature stories and science stories. You know, how. How do animals work? How do. How do mountains work? How do rivers work? Do fish Feel pain, you know, like all.
Whatever, just anything like this.
And so, you know, in retrospect, gosh, I wish I could have gone back to school to become, or I guess, you know, I wish I'd studied, like biology, or I wish I could have become like a fisheries biologist, or I wish I could have become a forest.
Colin True
00:11:05.160 - 00:11:07.000
A forester instead of archaeology.
Justin Housman
00:11:07.240 - 00:11:28.530
Yeah, I didn't even study that. You don't need to. Turns out you don't need a degree in archeology to be an archaeologist. But hot tip, kids. I.
You know, it's like at a certain point, it just became, you know, clear to me that I cared more about trying to save the places that I love than I did telling. Just telling people how great they are, if that makes sense.
Colin True
00:11:28.930 - 00:11:39.970
Dude, there's. I guarantee you in the hundreds of episodes you did with me that we talked multiple times about the.
Not only the csamness of outdoor stuff, but probably about outdoor journalism too.
Justin Housman
00:11:40.050 - 00:11:40.330
Right?
Colin True
00:11:40.330 - 00:12:02.830
I mean, it is a little. And it's not. That's not really to put the blame on anybody. These stories have been being written since the 70s, right?
I mean, like, it's like, how many more ways can you spin it around and to find a new angle on a tragedy or a triumph or emotional growth that happens, that takes place in a wild place. Right. There's a lot. There's a lot out there.
Justin Housman
00:12:02.910 - 00:12:37.420
You cannot continue to make it new. I mean, you need new voices. You need new people for people who are experiencing, talking about these things for the first time.
My very first day at Surfer magazine, the editor that hired me, Brendan Thomas, who now runs the Golfers Journal, a really successful golf publication and events brand podcast, probably almost, almost certainly anyway. But he was the editor of Surfer and he hired me. And during our.
My very first day, I went down to San Clemente to meet everybody at the office and he said something he made some sort of reference to, you know, we make 12 issues a year. This is back when it was a monthly.
Colin True
00:12:37.820 - 00:12:38.300
Yeah.
Justin Housman
00:12:38.540 - 00:12:58.630
And there's only so many ways you can wrap a burrito. And like, that's always stuck with me, you know, it's like, that's. That's the thing.
I mean, I don't even know if he came up with that, but it's like, that's true.
I mean, how many times can you say, you know, and we looked at maps and we found a point that nobody had surfed before, and we showed up and the waves were perfect and we were ripping. You know, it's just like, dude, I mean, Right.
Colin True
00:12:59.110 - 00:13:02.150
It's true. Zero adventure. But there's only, like, three choices, you.
Justin Housman
00:13:02.150 - 00:14:07.800
Know, and it's like, that's the same way with outdoor journalism more broadly, for me, anyway, you know, and, you know, I'm sure anybody out there who's doing it understands. I mean, it's like there's really. You can tell new stories about new people to the. To. To the scene. Right. Like, some.
Someone's doing something interesting, no one really knows who they are. There's a story that's great. But anyway, I don't even think it would have mattered. It just felt like I wanted action.
I wanted to be doing something that was. That was meaningful to me. And.
And especially because, you know, I live in Northern California, and our organization is based in Northern California, and most of our work is in Northern California.
So it's like, these are places that I dearly love, and I get to actually have a hand in directly protecting them and restoring them and all the work that the league does. And it was just a really, you know, very obvious attraction to me. I mean, you can.
It's so important to write stories that illuminate, and they get people interested in the outdoors, and they get people interested in these sorts of things. I mean, of course it is. Yeah. And that's. That's very worthwhile, and it's. Can be just as meaningful. I just wanted a more direct hand in it.
Colin True
00:14:07.950 - 00:14:39.480
Well, I want to talk a bit about what you guys do specifically there, but before we get to that, like, you looked at a few different things along the way, right? I mean, you know, you looked at some mountain biking kind of conservation groups, so definitely a few things that you were interested in.
What was intriguing about the different ways you could build a career in conservation? As you were sort of looking at the landscape, you ultimately landed in a place that makes a lot of sense.
But you were thinking about this for a while, so, like, what was. As you were sort of like, looking at this career pivot, you know, what was intriguing about that? How did that kind of. How did that fire get fueled?
By looking at, you know, what you could be doing in a role like.
Justin Housman
00:14:39.480 - 00:15:26.640
This, literally entirely the fact that it's.
Well, at least for my organ, like, what, you know, what drew me to this organization in particular entirely is just because the redwoods are my favorite place in the world. I mean, that's why I live where I do. It's. You know, and so it really is that simple. And the organization is fantastic.
You look under the hood a little bit. You're like, oh, wow. They're like telling wonderful stories about these places. They're trying to connect people with these places.
They're trying, I mean, obviously they're protecting and preserving these old growth forests and helping restore roadward ecosystems and all these sorts of things, but at the same time making it like something I want. Like you want to do, right? Like it's a very people oriented organization.
Colin True
00:15:27.510 - 00:15:41.190
Okay, so what does Save the Redwoods do? Like what is.
You know, so, and I'm not saying it's one for one that this conservation group is the same as any other one, but like, you know, you're saving the redwoods. Clearly it's in the name to your point. It's like this is a special place. How does that work happen? Like what do you guys do?
Justin Housman
00:15:41.750 - 00:16:48.510
Well, it kind of depends. So you know, we have like three pillars, Protect, connect and restore, which are kind of the mainstays of the organization at the moment.
But it's been different historically.
You know, originally it was about just acquiring land, acquiring redwoods and protecting them that way and helping establish parks and things like that. And we still do a little bit of that, but you know, recognizing the what's coming down the road.
You know, we have a huge commitment to restoring forests.
So whether that's forests that we hold, although we don't hold a lot of lands, but collaborating with, with regional parks, state parks, national parks, on, on, on restoring redwood forests. And so we have an army of, of, you know, professional foresters and a big science team and that's what they do, you know.
And so, you know, we help advise different organizations on, on best practices.
We, we do a lot of cultural burns with indigenous groups and things like that, just helping to try and improve the like fire resiliency and just the health of these ecosystems.
Colin True
00:16:49.220 - 00:16:50.900
And so it's an old organization too?
Justin Housman
00:16:51.700 - 00:16:55.620
Yeah, yeah, yeah. 100 year party was, you know, a few years back, but yeah.
Colin True
00:16:55.700 - 00:17:04.340
What do you think? I mean, obviously a lot of differences, but like is the mission relatively the same? Is it kind of. Is there, is there.
Do you think there's a lot of differences between what, what you guys do now versus how it all got.
Justin Housman
00:17:04.340 - 00:18:18.720
That's an interesting question in some ways, I mean for, for sure from the founding, but I mean, just over the decades. Yes. I mean in the sense that, you know, there's only like you run into a limit with how much land you can acquire. Right.
Like, you know, one of the things that, you know, over the year, over the decades, the league is predicting something like 220,000 acres of redwood forest, which is a huge amount. We'd like to. We'd like to get that to like 800,000. That's our. That's our 100 year plan. And.
But at a certain point, you know, land acquisition only goes so far, you know, and so.
And so we've, you know, I would guess that now versus, like in, you know, 40 years ago, our science program is really developed in terms of, you know, like, funding studies, doing our own, all that sort of stuff. So it's not as much just about buying a plot of redwood trees and making sure they don't get cut down.
It's much more about how do we establish the health of the entire redwood range. And for us, that means the. All the redwoods on the California coast, but also the giant sequoia in the Sierra. They're related trees.
They're both redwoods. So we do a lot of work with the giant sequoia as well.
And so our vision is reviving the entire range to what it was before logging, before industrial logging. I mean, that's the goal.
Colin True
00:18:18.800 - 00:18:21.800
If I paint a tree red, will it count? Will you protect it and save it?
Justin Housman
00:18:21.800 - 00:18:27.440
What a good question. Well, no, maybe. Come on. Is it a redwood already?
Colin True
00:18:28.080 - 00:18:30.240
I could make some dye in there.
Justin Housman
00:18:30.240 - 00:18:34.880
It's not the color necessarily of the tree that's important. Colin, what are you doing?
Colin True
00:18:34.880 - 00:18:38.160
I mean, we didn't even talk about your role. What would you say you do here?
Justin Housman
00:18:40.720 - 00:19:04.960
Yeah, good question. So obviously, one of the most crucial parts of. It's a nonprofit. You know, one of the crucial parts is getting your message out. So that's what.
That's what I do. So I get to. I get to. It's. It's incredible. I get to write about my favorite trees and my favorite places in the world.
So in some ways, it's an extension of what I've always done where I just, you know, I've been really fortunate to cover the things that I care about the most. And this is. This is that again. So.
Colin True
00:19:05.320 - 00:19:05.440
Right.
Justin Housman
00:19:05.440 - 00:19:32.790
We just wrapped up. Well, we didn't just wrap it up. It just arrived in the mail today. For me, Redwoods magazine, we make. We used to do two a year. We do.
We did one this year. I don't know if we're gonna do two next year or not.
Covering all the work that we've done in the years past also just fun stories, just generally speaking. And so like that. That just. That just showed up. We give it to all of our members. So, you know, if you want to read more of My work.
Become a member of, say, the Red Ones League. Get the magazine in the mail.
Colin True
00:19:33.100 - 00:19:41.020
Is. Is it? Well, we just got done saying that there's no more outdoor stories to tell. Right.
So there's clearly stories to tell from the conservation world, though it's a little different because it's purpose driven for 100%.
Justin Housman
00:19:41.020 - 00:19:50.860
Yeah. And it's also, we're also not, it's not like that's the other thing too.
It's not like a daily fire hose of news that you either have to cover or responsible for pumping out. You know, we tell a story when we need to tell a story.
Colin True
00:19:51.260 - 00:19:54.540
Are you hoping Killian Journey eventually climbs a redwoods so you can write about it?
Justin Housman
00:19:54.780 - 00:20:00.180
The worlds collide. Yeah, he climbed all the redwoods, fashion anyone's ever done. I mean, that would be pretty.
Colin True
00:20:00.260 - 00:20:03.780
He's probably already done that. Let's be honest. You know, he didn't decide to talk about that one.
Justin Housman
00:20:03.780 - 00:20:23.700
No, there's, I mean, there, like, there's, there's so much. I mean, it's, it. I mean, there's. People study these forests their entire lives, you know, so there's, there's just so much and it's just different.
It's not, you know, it's, it's, it's hard to explain. It's. It's just everything about it is more meaningful, impactful. And there's a reason that you're writing every story rather.
You're not chasing traffic, you're not chasing clicks, nothing like that.
Colin True
00:20:24.590 - 00:20:43.790
No, I mean, and this, this word may sound like I'm trying to cheapen it, but it's not, it's, it's a little, it's edutainment in a way. Right. It's kind of like you, you really, you're learning something while you're also kind of being entertained.
And there's something, there's something special about it and it's like fascinating, but also like, oh, this is, this is something that kind of is, you know, elevating my app. My, my outdoorsy knowledge as well as my science knowledge.
Justin Housman
00:20:43.790 - 00:20:50.510
Well, sure. I mean, like, I think all of us want to know more about the areas that we, that we, that we recreate and that we love. I mean, I was just up in the.
Colin True
00:20:50.700 - 00:20:51.500
Yeah. Sierra.
Justin Housman
00:20:51.500 - 00:21:12.140
The last week, you know, I did what I always do, which is like, immediately just bone up on that. On that place. Who were the first people to come here? Who, you know, like, what were they doing? Like, why is this here? Why are these roads here?
Why are these places called this like, what happened, you know, because I love spending time there and riding bikes where I was and paddling the lakes and all that stuff. I want to know everything about it. So it means the same thing here.
Colin True
00:21:12.860 - 00:21:27.800
Well, Kelly was saying you, you have. I mean, honestly, man, you made a career out of like, passionate things pretty much from the get go.
Even if that is archaeology, which you didn't have to have a degree for, that's amazing to know. But also to get into as a lifelong surfer, well, you had to have a degree. You don't have to have an archeology degree.
Justin Housman
00:21:27.960 - 00:21:35.800
Connections, you know, exactly how many times have you seen Indiana Jones? Can you hum the theme? Can you get the jokes? Can you get the reference, rank the.
Colin True
00:21:35.800 - 00:21:38.240
Movies for me, by the way, can you.
Justin Housman
00:21:38.240 - 00:21:48.830
Have you seen enough Sylvester Stallone movies to make it through an entire day digging holes where all you have to talk about is like your favorite 80s movies? Like, if you can do all that, you can beat archaeologist.
Colin True
00:21:49.070 - 00:21:53.630
I'd be a great archaeologist. Having all the qualifications. Oh, my God, I missed my call.
Justin Housman
00:21:53.630 - 00:21:58.270
100%. No, they're always looking, always looking for somebody to dig a hole.
Colin True
00:21:58.350 - 00:22:02.590
Well, the point is, like, you've been able to kind of take your passions and turn them into your career. Right. Your life.
Justin Housman
00:22:02.590 - 00:22:06.190
I wouldn't do it any other magazine, frankly. That's. Why would you not?
Colin True
00:22:06.670 - 00:22:27.030
Well, right. And so this is just another example of that. So I think, you know, beyond just bringing, you know, my friend and a former voice.
Not a former, but a voice that the listeners will recognize, you know, what's advice you would give listeners, right? To get involved in something they're passionate about.
I mean, like, because it wasn't, you know, it still took you a minute to figure this one out too, after doing a lot of other interesting things as well. I mean, is there something you wish you had known?
Justin Housman
00:22:28.870 - 00:23:04.020
In some ways, it's hard.
This is such a personal question because I've had such a personal, like a unique upbringing and environment to where I didn't have anybody I could disappoint. I didn't have any expectations, you know, I've basically been on my own since I was 16 years old.
So I literally, at no point other than like the crowd have I thought about what other people think. So it's. It's just different. I never expected to be a writer, you know, I really didn't. I guess my first career choice was professor.
And you know, along the way, I.
Colin True
00:23:04.020 - 00:23:05.740
Really been a good professor, sure.
Justin Housman
00:23:05.740 - 00:23:25.460
But there's like nine jobs every year for professors. In the entire country, you know? Yeah, right. And I didn't want to be in school anymore, so writing made sense.
I loved surfing, you know, so I reached out to people that, that did that, you know, I didn't. I knew I didn't want to pour beer anymore. I knew I wasn't gonna. You know, I thought for other people.
Colin True
00:23:25.460 - 00:23:27.540
To be clear to people who didn't know that you used to be a bartender.
Justin Housman
00:23:27.540 - 00:23:44.070
Yes, I was a beer tender for many years. You know, I, I thought I would probably go down the beer world, which. But also I love beer. So, like, that would have also worked.
I just, I've never had the patience to be. To, to clock in, clock out for something I don't like to do. I've just never. I've never. I've just never done that.
Colin True
00:23:44.390 - 00:23:44.790
Yeah.
Justin Housman
00:23:44.790 - 00:24:31.580
And so I guess that would be. The advice would be unless your singular joy in life is clowning or something, you know, like, it's, It's. I don't know.
I mean, I just feel like you keep your options open and you, and you and you move toward the things that, that, that excite you, you know? And then for me, that's always been surfing and being outdoors and, and protecting the places that I love.
And so I guess had I exhausted all those possibilities, then maybe I go work for Google or, you know, like, or whatever, you know. I don't know. I don't. I don't really. Who knows why people choose to do what they do?
But I've never been motivated by money specifically, and I've never had the patience to spend all day doing something I don't want to do. So it's kind of just kind of worked.
Colin True
00:24:31.580 - 00:24:34.450
Which of your jobs afforded you the most flexibility to go surfing?
Justin Housman
00:24:35.000 - 00:25:11.210
Working at Server magazine, as you probably expect. I mean, that was pretty sweet. That was pretty sweet. I mean, it was like three articles a week, I think was my, on my, my first retainer gig.
I think it was three articles a week. And then one feature in each magazine was my role.
And so if I wrote three articles on Monday, hello Santa Cruz for four days, you know, like, it would just surf whenever I wanted. And like, also, hey, I can't turn that in because it's. Firing is always a good excuse to Surfer magazine or was. Sure. Yeah.
So, you know, that was pretty. That one was. Yeah, pretty good.
Colin True
00:25:11.450 - 00:25:13.810
How's the Ocean beach summer school for you right now?
Justin Housman
00:25:13.810 - 00:25:14.970
Don't know, don't care. Don't.
Colin True
00:25:14.970 - 00:25:15.250
What?
Justin Housman
00:25:15.250 - 00:25:23.650
No, just don't. I just. You haven't been surfing no, no. Talk to a big game about, like, falling in love with it again or just. Yeah, whatever.
Colin True
00:25:23.650 - 00:25:26.650
But now you're so calm and relaxed and content.
Justin Housman
00:25:26.890 - 00:25:27.450
This is.
Colin True
00:25:27.450 - 00:25:29.930
This is crazy. I'm so. We're so happy for you, man.
Justin Housman
00:25:30.100 - 00:25:36.900
I mean, not surfing is a good way to be calm and content and relaxed, right? I mean, if I didn't have mountain biking, I don't know what I would do.
Colin True
00:25:37.060 - 00:25:39.660
But you're not riding your E bike anymore, are you?
Justin Housman
00:25:39.660 - 00:25:42.180
Hell yeah, dude. Hell yeah.
Colin True
00:25:42.660 - 00:25:46.100
I ranted hard about it. Hasn't come out yet, but you'll hear it on Wednesday.
Justin Housman
00:25:46.180 - 00:25:47.180
You're kind of an idiot.
Colin True
00:25:47.180 - 00:25:50.380
I mean, I get so mad at a pack of E bikers.
Justin Housman
00:25:50.380 - 00:25:55.620
Well, sure, A pack of. I'll get mad at a pack of any cyclists. Pack of anybody.
Colin True
00:25:56.260 - 00:25:59.820
I mean, I'm currently going through a full on, like, fuck E bikes mode.
Justin Housman
00:25:59.820 - 00:26:08.820
Why you don't have one is part of the reason I never will. You know what else you're never gonna do? Ride two laps of where I wrote on Sunday because you can't do it on a regular bike.
Colin True
00:26:09.140 - 00:26:11.780
Why is that a plus?
Justin Housman
00:26:11.780 - 00:26:14.660
Why is riding more fun trails a plus?
Colin True
00:26:15.140 - 00:26:21.620
Why is riding further? Who cares? I still get out and rode for three hours. You rode for three hours. I got to do multiple laps.
Justin Housman
00:26:23.300 - 00:26:28.350
Super fun downhill. Multiple laps that I wouldn't be able to do on a regular bike because I wouldn't have had the time.
Colin True
00:26:28.350 - 00:26:32.710
I got rid of my. I got rid of the Timberjack. I'm only riding the fully rigid karate Monkey right now.
Justin Housman
00:26:32.710 - 00:26:33.230
Good Lord.
Colin True
00:26:33.230 - 00:26:35.070
Fully. I'm going to turn it into a single speaker.
Justin Housman
00:26:35.550 - 00:26:37.910
It's going to turn into a Rivendell before you even know.
Colin True
00:26:37.910 - 00:26:41.510
I'm going to see if there's any ways to take while you're riding these days.
Justin Housman
00:26:41.510 - 00:26:45.550
Or can you see with all the mustache wax getting in your eyes.
Colin True
00:26:47.390 - 00:27:01.040
Well, I can tell you that you are the whole. I speak for Dave and Doug and Shantae. Oh, and everybody. We all love you and Messini as often as we used to.
And we're proud of you and we're happy that you're doing things that are making you happy.
Justin Housman
00:27:01.040 - 00:27:03.560
Well, I am lurking. You know, I do lurk.
Colin True
00:27:04.520 - 00:27:07.320
Hey, man, you swooped in on my LinkedIn page this week. It was great.
Justin Housman
00:27:07.320 - 00:27:14.280
Yeah, I'll do that from time to time. And I'm listening to all the shows, so, you know, you got notes. I'm kind of saving all my notes for, like, a six.
Colin True
00:27:14.280 - 00:27:17.790
Justin's not just. You're gonna be hearing Justin again. Don't worry, he's.
Justin Housman
00:27:17.790 - 00:27:20.790
Well, once that appearance fee gets gets all wrangled.
Colin True
00:27:20.870 - 00:27:23.110
Yeah, well, I'm working with the league.
Justin Housman
00:27:23.990 - 00:27:24.630
Okay, great.
Colin True
00:27:26.790 - 00:27:31.270
When are you gonna form the league softball team? That's what I want to know. I figured that was the last one.
Justin Housman
00:27:31.350 - 00:27:41.030
I did notice on my colleague's desk this morning, she had a trophy that was skeeball champion Save the Redwoods League. So apparently there was a skeeball tournament at some point.
Colin True
00:27:41.670 - 00:27:42.710
Hey, man. Good seeing you.
Justin Housman
00:27:42.710 - 00:27:46.640
Yeah, you too. Good. Good to hear my own voice on the Rock Fight again.
Colin True
00:27:47.760 - 00:27:50.240
I'm glad you dusted the mic off. It looks good.
Justin Housman
00:27:50.240 - 00:27:52.480
Yeah, yeah. I'll dust it off again in six months.
Colin True
00:27:54.080 - 00:28:11.000
All right, that's the show. We want your emails, send them to myrockfightmail.com, the Rock Fight's a production of Rock Fight LLC for our good friend Justin Hausman.
I'm Colin True. Thanks for listening and here to take us out, it's Krista Makes with the Rock Fight Fight song. We'll see you next time, Rock fighters.
Chris DeMakes
00:28:11.000 - 00:29:11.350
Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Roc. Rock Bike. Rock Fight. Welcome to the Rock Bike? Where we speak our truth.
Slay sacred cows and sometimes agree to disagree.
We talk about human powered outdoor activities and big bites about topics that we find interesting like pop culture, music, the latest movie reviews, ideas that aim for the this is where we speak our truth. This is where we speak our truth. Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Welcome to the Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Welcome to the Rock flight.
Rock flight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Welcome to the Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight.
