Ep. 20: an Interview with SPIDERMAN

The Fed+Fit Podcast | Nurturing a Healthy Mindset for a Healthy Lifestyle

We’re back with our 20th episode of the Fed+Fit Podcast! Remember to check back every Monday for a new episode and be sure to subscribe on iTunes!

Find us HERE on iTunes and be sure to “subscribe.”

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Episode 20 Topics:

• Introducing SPIDERMAN
• Doing good, regardless of how scary it may seem.
• Spiderman’s favorite moment in this last year.
• Heart of a Hero

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Ep. 20: An Interview with SPIDERMAN

This is the Fed and Fit podcast starting your week off with motivational thoughts on real food and fun fitness activities with Cassy Joy Garcia and co-host, Charissa Talbot. Remember our disclaimer; the information and opinions shared in this podcast are solely those of any given individual, and not a substitute for medical advice. Here are the ladies.

Attention boys, girls, and adults who refuse to grow up! Everybody gather around, because today we’re interviewing: Spiderman!

Topics
1. Introducing our guest, Spiderman [2:17]
2. What it’s like to be Spiderman [5:18]
3. Spiderman’s most recent favorite story [8:42]
4. Spiderman’s advice in making a difference [14:.06]
5. How does Spiderman stay Fit? [21:37]
6. What’s next for Spiderman and Heart of a Hero [25:37]

Cassy Joy: So, this is probably the biggest interview of my life, Charissa.

Charissa Talbot: What?!

Cassy Joy: It is. I don’t even think an interview with Oprah could top the excitement I have for our episode today.

Charissa Talbot: I have to agree with you. I’m pretty excited. I don’t think this person has ever done a podcast interview; I don’t know. We’ll see.

Cassy Joy: This might be the first one. Oh my goodness!

Charissa Talbot: Oh my goodness!

Cassy Joy: We’re going to go down in comic book history.

Charissa Talbot: I think so. I think so. And can I just say how crazy is it that we’re already at episode 20?

Cassy Joy: That’s nuts.

Charissa Talbot: Didn’t we just have our sweet 16? I feel like I can’t believe this year has already gone by so fast. Because we started the first week of January.

Cassy Joy: Mm-hmm.

Charissa Talbot: Ugh, the year just, I feel like the older I get the faster the years go, and I’m like, wait, can you slow down? {laughs}

Cassy Joy: Yep. That’s what they say. But I think the person that we’re interviewing today might have the secret to just life ever after.

Charissa Talbot: {laughing} Possibly.

Cassy Joy: I’m putting a lot of pressure.

Charissa Talbot: A lot of pressure, a lot of pressure. Our guests are like, well who is it? What’s going on. So, on our, Cassy do you want to say? I don’t know, I’m kind of excited.

Cassy Joy: Charissa I’m going to give you the honors. Who is on our podcast today?

1. Introducing our guest, Spiderman [2:17]

Charissa Talbot: It’s our friendly neighborhood Spiderman, folks.

Cassy Joy: Wohoo!

Charissa Talbot: The real deal. Very excited.

Cassy Joy: He is the real deal.

Spiderman: Yes.

Charissa Talbot: {laughing}

Cassy Joy: Spiderman, are you there? I just wanted to say hi real quick.

Spiderman: Yes I’m here.

Cassy Joy: Oh, goodness!

Spiderman: I don’t know if I’m better than Oprah. You guys gave me a large stage to stand on right now.

Charissa Talbot: {laughs}

Cassy Joy: Are you kidding? You’re Spiderman!

Charissa Talbot: What?

Cassy Joy: I just want to really quickly give you guys the scoop.

Charissa Talbot: Yeah.

Cassy Joy: Spiderman’s real name, and we kind of have to keep this on the down low.

Spiderman: {laughs}

Cassy Joy: Because you know, Spidy has all those villains out there who kind of want to stop his awesomeness. But Spidy’s real name is Ricky Mena, and he is Spiderman by day and the founder of Heart of a Hero by night. His real job description, aside from cruising through downtown buildings on his web shooter things. {laughs}

Charissa Talbot: {laughs}

Spiderman: {laughs}

Cassy Joy: I don’t know what those are called.

Charissa Talbot: We don’t know what they’re called.

Cassy Joy: His real job is to inspire, motivate, and empower children in need. He dons the costume of a superhero and visits children who are terminally ill in hospitals and schools to speak on bullying. So, from what you’ve seen in the movies and what you’ve read in comic books, this Spiderman, there’s a whole lot more to the story. And I’d like to make another clarification, Ricky/Spiderman.

Charissa Talbot: {laughs}

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: {laughs}

Cassy Joy: Before we get into some of our questions.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Ok.

Cassy Joy: The movies really have it all wrong.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: They do.

Cassy Joy: You weren’t bit by a spider; that’s not how you became Spiderman. No, Spiderman came to be because, and you can correct me if I’ve got this wrong.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Ok.

Cassy Joy: But I think I’ve got the inside scoop. You were visited by your grandmother in a dream, and she showed you an image of the future you, Spiderman, handing out gifts on Christmas. And then you went out, after a tough and gloomy period in your life, and you bought your suit, and you became Spiderman.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: That is correct. That is Spiderman’s birth in a nutshell.

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: And as opposed to the comics, I am not in high school or graduating college, I’m 31 years old, so let’s put that out there also.

Cassy Joy: Whoa! That’s amazing.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: It’s hard being Spiderman at 31, I’m telling you.

Cassy Joy: Man, I didn’t know I was about the same age as Spiderman. {laughs}

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Yep. It’s hard to crouch that many hours when your 31, trust me.

Charissa Talbot: {laughs}

Cassy Joy: {laughs} Man, we’re going to get into it later, but I want to hear about how Spiderman stays in shape.

Charissa Talbot: Yeah, we’ll get to that. We want the lowdown on that, for sure.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: {laughs}

2. What it’s like to be Spiderman [5:18]

Charissa Talbot: So, Spiderman, or Ricky, can you tell us when you put on the Spiderman suit, do you find that you’re able to connect with people in a whole new way when you’re being Spiderman? What’s that like?

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Well, after the first few initial visits, I realized that wearing the suit is 100% different as opposed to, obviously, walking in as myself to kids in need because when I’m in the suit, the thing with kids is they have an imagination fully intact. They truly believe that the Spiderman from the big screen just walked in. In that moment, they believe that he took the time out of his busy schedule fighting crime and whatever else Spiderman does, to be with them solely. So it hits them all really fast, and you can see it on their face within the first 5 minutes. It just, the suit is just a doorway for my true character, me as Ricky Mena to come through. I’m a caring individual, and I truly care about these kids. I’ve probably bet with over 1500 kids so far, since October, and connected with each and every one of them.

I have an address where kids can send drawings and things like that, I receive so many drawings from kids I’ve met, letters from some of the older children, and it just lets me know that I’m on the right path, I’m doing the right thing, and I was meant to do this. The suit is, like you said, when I put it on, it does make a difference. There’s an advantage there. Like I said, the kids, you know, little kids, 5 years old, 4 years old, 3 years old, they still believe in Santa Claus and all the characters that we once believed in too. It’s just magical. I can’t explain, it’s hard to explain it in words. It’s really moving, and usually when I take the suit off, the whole thing doesn’t even hit me until a couple of hours later. I’ve actually broke down a few times after a few trips, because it’s just that real. It’s just a blessing.

Cassy Joy: That’s amazing. That’s really, really cool. And this is one of the reasons we really wanted to have Spiderman on the podcast today. We’re all about, more so a healthy mindset in the context of making sure that you’ve got your food and fitness lifestyle is rolling along nicely but to kind of look at the glue that holds it all together, which is just being a positive, happy person. And you’re a great example, Ricky/Spiderman, of someone who has been able to really find a way to assign more meaning to your life. And it’s just so inspiring to hear your story and all the people you’ve connected with since October. That’s mind blowing.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Yeah.

3. Spiderman’s most recent favorite story [8:42]

Cassy Joy: So congratulations. But, I’d love to know. Of all these children that you connected with, and you’ve been able to make them feel special because Spiderman is visiting them, do you have a favorite story so far, whether you were out fighting a villain or whether you were hanging out with some kids?

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Oh man, finding a story. Like I said, they’re all; I just feel like they’re all my, it sounds weird but, they’re all my babies.

Cassy Joy: Oh, yeah.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Each visit is my baby. But there was one recently, just last week I was in Oakland, California at Kaiser Permanente Pediatric Ward, and man, first of all they showed me so much love. They were like, ok you’re going to come in. I saw about 25 kids that day and went into 25 rooms separately. So it was individual visits. Honestly, it’s going to sound crazy, but the one that recently is most special to me is one where the child was, this child had seizures all the time, and I walked in and the child’s head was wrapped, and there were all these wires hanging out of the child’s head, and instantly, visually it’s tough to take in because she was probably about 6. The mom said that she can’t talk, and she can only communicate with her eyelids. You can see her eyes moving around behind her eyelids, and that would mean that she knows your there, this and that, but she hadn’t done that in like 3 or 4 days, so she hadn’t communicated because she’s just been so out of it.

So I was talking to her as Spiderman; I don’t know if she knew I was there. I say really encouraging things; I let the little girls know that they’re still beautiful. You know, you’re beautiful. Even for us, if we’re in the hospital for X amount of days, we probably wouldn’t feel handsome or beautiful at that point, you know what I mean? You start feeling a little run down. And these kids have been there for like a month, or longer. I met kids that were in there for 450 days, you know.

Charissa Talbot: Wow.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Yeah, so anyway, she wasn’t really responding to me at all, and then I asked the mom if it was ok if I touched her hand, like place my hand on her hand and talk to her a little closer, and I delivered a more powerful speech, I feel like, to her so she knew I was there, and if she could hear me then it would be something good, you know? So I did that, and as soon as I placed my hand on her hand and told her that she was beautiful, her eyelids just started fluttering like crazy. And her mom had the biggest smile, and wanted to cry, because that was the first time in like 4 days.

Cassy Joy: Oh my gosh.

Charissa Talbot: Wow.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Yeah, so this is my favorite. I honestly left the room, I’m trying not to cry about it right now. I left the room, and literally took a deep breath. People can’t see my facial expressions, they can’t see when I shed a tear or whatever. But I came out of the room, and the nurses, like I had an entourage following me, you know, and so I walk out and it was just dead silent. It was dead silent, and everyone heard be breathing inside of the suit, kind of heavy, and they were like, are you ok? And I was like, I answered I’m ok but in a shaky voice, and they were like, why don’t we just take a second, you know. And I said, you know what, I can’t take a second because I have to go to the next kid. If I wait too long, if I let this weigh too much on me, think about it too much, then I’m never going to be ready for the next kid. So immediately we went to the next room, and I’m like, bam, “Hey, how’s it going?!” You know.

Charissa Talbot: Yeah.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: You’ve got to put it behind you a little bit for a little while. That was probably my favorite in the last, most recent favorite. It sticks with me because I wonder if they’re ok still.

Cassy Joy: For sure.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: It’s real. It’s more than just pictures that I post, the little hugs and stuff. It’s definitely really real to me and the families involved.

Charissa Talbot: Yeah.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: The support is tremendous.

Cassy Joy: That’s amazing. It sounds to me Ricky, all joking aside, that that really is a super power that you have to be able to connect with people authentically, connect with these kids, be with them one on one, and really be present so much to the point where you can, they really feel you and they know that you’re there and it makes an impact on them. And then to be able to carry that weight of wanting the best for that person and move on to the next kid and show up brand new for them, as well. I think that’s amazing. That is definitely a superpower. And it really just, these stories so far, it really reminds me how small our problems are.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Right.

Cassy Joy: And how huge our job is as the fortunate. It’s that much more important; if you’re in good health, and I mean, that’s really all you need. If you’re able to get around and you’re able to communicate in some way, then you can go out there and make a difference in the world.

Charissa Talbot: Yeah.

Cassy Joy: So that’s awesome.

4. Spiderman’s advice in making a difference [14:.06]

Charissa Talbot: So, curious, Ricky or Spiderman. What, for someone who hears this and maybe gets inspired and wants to help out in their local community. Or just maybe, you had this vision come to you about being Spiderman. Or maybe someone just has an idea in their head about something they want to do and maybe they’re thinking about making a big change or something in their life. What advice would you give to someone who is looking to make this type of big shift like you did? What advice would you have for them? Where could they start if they wanted to dedicate their life, if they feel inspired to do something like this?

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: I think if it’s just going out and doing stuff for people in general, not necessarily in a suit or as a hero character, or whatever, I would just say I think the main thing is, people are afraid to do something for other people because they’re afraid of the other person’s reaction. I used to, before the suit thing, I used to randomly go to Chipotle, go to a restaurant, get a burrito, and hand it to a homeless person. But I’d be so nervous before I did, because what if he’s like, I’m not hungry! You know. I would think of 1000 excuses to not do it. What if he does this, what if she does this, you know, and I just feel stupid, and I wasted my money and time. But it was never like that. It was actually very fulfilling every time.

So I would say anything you do in life should take a plan. Sit down and write down what the first steps should be and just focus on those first steps. For me, it was contacting the person, finding, locating the person that would build this suit that looks real. And the guy that actually builds them for me, he’s located in Los Angeles, and he’s one of the best. So that’s what I needed for this to happen. So, as far as funding for it, I had a Chrysler 300, I had a really nice car, that’s all I had to my name, and I sold it for half of what it was worth just to get the money up front, and I slept on a friend’s couch so I didn’t have to pay rent so I could put everything I had into this. All my energy, focus, time, everything, because I truly believed in it. And I think that’s what you have to do if you believe in something, you want to do something, whatever it may be. If it’s helping other people or helping your family or your career, goals, dreams, you have to put both feet into something. Just like a relationship; you can’t have one foot in, one foot out and expect it to work. So you have to plan things out.

You have to know that everything is not going to work. Not everything on your piece of paper that you wrote down is going to work. And you can’t be discouraged when they don’t. Actually, when I have obstacles in my path, I actually smirk and challenge it. I love challenges. I’m all about hurdling them, or finding the next best route. So it just takes love for what you’re doing. If you have an idea, and something that you already fell in love with the idea of, it’s just like, that’s the first step. And the plan, and locating your resources.

When I was waiting for my suit; it took 4 months to get it made, and while I was waiting, what I did was I emailed all these foster care homes, I Googled everything. Everything is at our fingertips now a days with the internet. I Googled all these things and places; and trust me, more than half of them didn’t respond because they probably thought I was crazy. “Hey, I want to show up as Spiderman.”

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: You know? But as soon as I got my suit, I took pictures in it, like high quality pictures, resent the emails, and then I was booked.

Charissa Talbot: Yeah.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: I was booked. That’s what I would say; have a plan and just strategically hit people up, tell them what you want to do, and you’d be surprised. You’ll never know the outcome unless you put it out there.

Charissa Talbot: I love what you said about both feet in, and then the fact that discovering what that is for you or what you love is the hard part for a lot of people and then making your plan. I love that whole idea of, if there’s something you want you really have to be all in about it. And I really like that. I really like that a lot.

Cassy Joy: Yeah, and I want to chime in on that too, because I’m over here like, yeah, amen!

Charissa Talbot: {laughs}

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: {laughs}

Cassy Joy: Because it’s so true. If you don’t put both feet in; if you just have your toe in the water, you’ll drag out a bad situation, or you will take forever to get to a good place.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Right.

Cassy Joy: So you might as well either rip the Band-Aid off and realize that it’s worth doing or that it’s not worth doing and know now. You can know now, you just have to go for it, and I think you’re an awesome example, Ricky. I also think it’s interesting, too, that the fear. I so identify with that; handing the homeless man the Chipotle burrito. I have, it’s one of those things, one of those to-dos that I’ve put in the back of my mind for so long, and I haven’t done it! And you know why? It’s because I’m afraid of the reaction. I’ve always thought, because there are several people that I pass that are on the side of the road asking for handouts. And what do I do? I sit in my car and I’m uncomfortable, and it’s not that I, my heart does not go to a judgmental place, but it goes to, you’re confused about how to help them. Is money good? Will that not be good? I don’t know what to do, and I don’t want to insult them. It’s somewhere in my heart that I’m just going to buy a case of water, I’m going to have a case of water in the car, I’m going to strap a pair of socks to each bottle, and I’m going to put a card in there for the shelter and maybe 50 cents so they can make a phone call. You know?

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Nice.

Cassy Joy: And just hand that to people, and if they throw it back at your face because all they wanted was a $10 bill, then so be it. You know? But that shouldn’t be the reason why you don’t do something. And that’s such a small thing. I’m definitely not investing in a Hollywood worthy suit, and I’m not emailing hundreds of places to go visit. That’s such a small thing that people can do. So anyways, I just wanted to throw that out there because you’ve inspired me. I’m going to go make my water bottle and sock packages {laughs} for the guys on the side of the road.

Charissa Talbot: {laughs}

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Nice.

Charissa Talbot: I love that idea, Cassy. That’s great. You’ll have Instagram that and tag Ricky so he can see you!

Cassy Joy: {laughs} You guys are all my accountability system now.

Charissa Talbot: Yes. {laughs}

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: For sure.

5. How does Spiderman stay Fit? [21:37]

Cassy Joy: Ok, awesome. Let’s take a slightly lighter turn, slightly more superficial even though Charissa and I could talk about this all day long.

Charissa Talbot: Yep. This is the Fed and Fit podcast, so this question is fitting.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Ok.

Cassy Joy: It’s fitting, pun intended.

Charissa Talbot: {laughs} Fitting.

Cassy Joy: We want to know, how does Spidy stay in superhero shape. Do you have a workout routine that you stick to? What does your diet look like? You make sure you get a lot of sleep?

Charissa Talbot: Especially being that you said being Spiderman at 31 is hard, and I can imagine. Cassy and I are both in our 30s, and it takes some dedication and effort to stay in a certain shape.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Right. I’ve been doing a lot more stretching lately, I’ll tell you that, because I would just go to these events and I would be crouching, or posing. I don’t know if you’ve seen Spiderman in his natural, like on pictures and stuff like that, in the comic books, this dude is flexible. That’s one of his superpowers, actually, is flexibility and agility. So, that’s one thing that’s crazy because prior to the whole Spiderman thing happening I had become certified myself in the field of fitness, and was personal training people, and I had been working out myself for 4 years. As you know, you learn more as you go along, so I feel like I’ve obtained so much from different styles of training that I put them all together. People love the way I train them. And I train myself the same way. It’s a lot of explosive, functional fitness type of things. Meaning box jumps, and frog jumps, and all kinds of things that test your agility, open up your hips, and get you more flexible, along with the weight training you would normally have as a male in the gym. Paired with my diet, I’ve been able to keep a slim yet muscular figure, which is what Spiderman embodies.

Cassy Joy: It’s part of the job description. {laughs}

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Yeah, it really is. I really train in the gym now with my headphones on, thinking, I am Spiderman, I have to stay Spiderman {laughs}.

Cassy Joy: {laughs}

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: So it goes all the way, outside of the gym, what do I eat? I eat a ton of protein, I add things in my diet, take things out like rice. I do my whey protein shakes twice or sometimes three times a day. I meal prep, I do it all. The only thing I’m slacking in, I could use more of is probably sleep. So that’s the one thing {laughs}. It’s hard being the CEO of this company that is blowing up. We were recently shared on our local news station, two of the biggest stations in California, so since then its’ been pretty hard to juggle everything and still step in the suit. But I make it happen. It’s definitely not easy, and anyone out there who’s trying to do the fitness thing, it takes consistency and it takes two feet, like we were talking about earlier.

Charissa Talbot: Yeah.

Cassy Joy: Yeah.

Charissa Talbot: For sure.

Cassy Joy: That’s great. I just want to reiterate something you said. I want the world to know that even Spiderman meal preps! {laughs}

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Yes.

Charissa Talbot: Amen!

Cassy Joy: We are a broken record, Ricky, on this show about the secret to success as far as healthy foods is prepare and plan ahead.

Charissa Talbot: Prepare, prepare, prepare.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Right.

Charissa Talbot: And we are big about our sleep here, too.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Yeah.

Charissa Talbot: Next time you’re doing your stretching or at the gym, you’ve got to listen to our sleep episode. We give you all the details you need on that. {laughs}

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Ok. I’ll have to listen.

6. What’s next for Spiderman and Heart of a Hero [25:37]

Charissa Talbot: So, our last question, which I think is really good because we want to be able to connect our listeners to you and find out what’s going on. Can you tell us what’s next for Spiderman and maybe a little bit about Heart of a Hero, and how our listeners can support you if they feel inspired to do so?

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Yeah. If the listeners want to support the cause ,basically what’s next for Heart of a Hero will benefit everyone. And I’m talking about people who donate also. We’re actually pending our nonprofit status. I’ve always put in the paperwork, I have an accountant, I have everything that we need, we’re just waiting. It’s a filing game now.

Charissa Talbot: That’s very exciting!

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Yeah, so that’s what’s next. So now when people donate it’s not just like, hey I’m donating this don’t worry about it. It’s, here’s your donation receipt. You know what I mean, so you get a tax write off at the end of the year. Which means that opens up, not just people to people, but already we’ve had Capital One, the credit card company, wanting to sponsor us, and my big thing that I’m going to go after. I’ve never talked about this outside of my circle, but I don’t mind it because I’m really adamant about going after them, is Under Armor. I want to take this whole thing to the next level. I have ideas that will benefit not just children; I want to benefit the community as a whole, adults too. There’s just so many issues that I feel like I can resolve, or help resolve, or ease the pain of.

So Heart of a Hero is not always going to only be dressing up as a hero and visiting kids, even though that’s the core, that will be what we’re about. But there will be so much more. If people want to reach us, they can go to https://www.heartofahero.org/ or you can find us on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/HeartOfAHero. Any donation, we accept toy donations, they don’t have to be Spiderman themed, any dollar amount truly does help. Basically the money goes back into my travel. The visits are free to the kids in need, so literally it’s coming out of the money that people donate. That’s how we operate. And the toys, I get donated so many toys. I have bins and bins of toys right now that will probably be gone by next week.

Cassy Joy: That’s awesome.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Yeah, I bring backpacks full of toys for kids when I come, and I’m like, here chose 5 toys! And they’re just like, really? It’s like Christmas. It’s really awesome and I appreciate everybody’s support out there. This would not happen without the support. I would have only been able to do it for like a month of two, and that would have been it. But here we are.

Charissa Talbot: We have a couple more minutes left, and I just had a thought even though I said that was going to be the last question. Do you have that full circle moment where you’re actually handing out these toys to kids in your for real Spiderman suit; is your grandma always in the front of your mind when you do that?

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Yeah, you know, it’s funny because she always reaches out to me. I have a friend who does the palm reading thing, and I didn’t even know she did, but she’s a person who’s really in touch with her spiritual side, and she actually contacted me yesterday or the day before, via Facebook, and said something that only my grandma would know, and she told me that my grandma was proud of me and everything I’m doing. So she’s constantly validating what I’m doing, and I just, it’s a deeper connection for me. I know I’m supposed to do this. I’ve done everything I can to make it happen. I’ve never even heard of a nonprofit organization starting from October; I mean, the few months that we’ve …

Charissa Talbot: Yeah.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Been operating, you know what I mean? I literally was broke when I started this, and sleeping on someone’s couch to do it. It’s not about me, it never has been. I love my grandmother, and I know she’s speaking from the other side to me, and I’m not going to stop doing what I do because I want to make this the biggest thing the world has ever seen. Not for me, but there’s so much going on in the world. Eventually, like the earthquake in Nepal. In the future, I can see like troops, you know what I mean, a group of volunteers by the hundreds or thousands with us, Heart of a Hero, being sent there to help.

Charissa Talbot: Right.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: You know what I mean? Whether it is pass out water or help people dig up the rubble, clean up, all that stuff. That’s what I want to do.

Charissa Talbot: I love your big picture vision, and it says a lot to your passion. That’s just amazing.

Cassy Joy: It does, and you know, I think it’s important to note for folks listening. Maybe you have a vision; not everybody does. Maybe people have a desire to assign more meaning to their life, or they really want to give back, and they really want to feel like they’re doing more, that fulfillment that comes from this type of work. And whether you have a really clear picture or you don’t, know that if you can visualize something, it can happen. Because Ricky, you can visualize Heart of a Hero troops, going around to these disasters worldwide and providing encouragement and inspiration and love, because you can visualize that I believe 100% that’s it’s going to happen. So there’s a lot of power to that. It’s incredible. And you also never know the people you’re going to touch when they’re kind of outside your direct scope.

Charissa Talbot: Yeah.

Cassy Joy: Just from today’s interview. We don’t know who’s listening. You might just have spoken to a small handful of people who are going to go out and they’re going to start some amazing stuff. So throw a pebble in the pond. You never know where the waves are going to go and where they’re going to end up. I think you’re up to even greater good, Ricky, than you realize.

Charissa Talbot: Yeah. Thank you so much for coming on the Fed and Fit podcast today.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: No problem.

Charissa Talbot: Really, it’s a true honor to talk to such a highly motivated and inspirational person, and like Cassy said, just genuine.

Cassy Joy: Yeah.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: No problem, it’s my pleasure. And if I could leave you guys with one thing, or the listeners with one thing, it doesn’t take a suit to make you a hero. It doesn’t take you to dress up like Superman or Spiderman or Wonder Woman to be a hero to someone.

Charissa Talbot: Mmm.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: So just keep that in mind.

Cassy Joy: Preach! Love it! {laughs}

Charissa Talbot: {laughs}

Cassy Joy: Oh many Ricky, thank you so much. It really has been an honor. You guys definitely check him out. https://www.heartofahero.org/ I believe that’s the right address.

Spiderman/Ricky Mena: Yep.

Cassy Joy: And we’ll link to everything that Ricky’s up to in the show notes so you can find all the information there. Thank you again so much for coming on, and we’ll be back again next week.