Getting Wet and Dirty in Maui with Suzie Cooney

Well, I've just chosen to focus my attention on the past and on the podcast.

SPEAKER_00: That's what I want to do for you.

SPEAKER_01: Because no matter what, you may be going through the mic, I hope to inspire you to focus on the past.

And you know what?

I hope that I can also be a source of inspiration for you to just be fast models.

Hey, welcome back to the podcast.

This is episode number 72 here on The Lowdown with Kevin Low.

Before I dive into today's episode, I do have to fill you in on something cool that's been happening behind the scenes here at the podcast.

And well, now the Lowdown with Kevin Low is a proud member of the Ship It Studios Podcast Network.

You're going to be hearing some more about that name, the Ship It Studios Podcast Network, coming up in future episodes.

And well, I just wanted to fill you in on what's happening in the world of podcasting.

It's pretty cool.

It's kind of like we're growing up a little bit, taking a next stage in this podcasting journey by now being part of this new and up-and-coming podcast network.

On today's episode, I'm joined by Susie Cooney coming to us from the island of Maui.

What I think is pretty cool about today's episode, and specifically today's guest, is that she actually has relations to two prior guests who have been on the podcast.

You'll actually hear them mentioned throughout our interview today, those being Blake Hill and Fred Haywood.

Ironically, both of those two guys also live on Maui.

So I guess you could say the island of Maui has now become the most saturated place in the world with guests who have appeared here on the podcast.

Imagine that.

Anyways, Susie Cooney is a super amazing person with a super awesome life story that, to be quite honest, was way more than we could capture in one episode.

But what I think is really neat about Susie's story is this common bond that I immediately found with her, and that is the love for riding dirt bikes.

I grew up riding dirt bikes as a child and rode until I became blind.

And Susie, she's right there playing in the dirt, riding motocross.

And so I just was like, oh my gosh, so drawn into her story.

But Susie also found another passion early in her life, and that was the water, specifically talking about windsurfing.

I think somewhere deep down, Susie always knew she was meant to live on the island of Maui.

And well, life would end up taking her there.

But more than just talking about sports and getting dirty or wet, the story of Susie goes a little bit deeper.

It gets way more interesting than just that.

And well, you're gonna find out about all of that and more in my interview with her.

But before we get there, I do have to give a special round of applause to today's sponsor, that of course being Freedom Nutrition Coaching.

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All right, are you ready to dive into today's interview with Susie Cooney?

Because we're about to get a little dirty, get a little wet, and have a whole lot of fun with this amazing, amazing woman, Susie Coony.

Susie, welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_04: Aloha Kevin, and thank you.

SPEAKER_01: Oh, well, thank you.

I'm super excited to have you joining me today.

I feel as though I'm kind of working my way around around Maui.

And, you know, kind of from from past guests, I hear you're you're the person to have on the podcast.

SPEAKER_04: Well, we have an uh we have an amazing ohana here, and we welcome you, Kevin, to come anytime.

Come crash the party.

SPEAKER_01: Trust me, I'm so there.

Let me just tell you what.

Oh my goodness.

Uh well, Susie, my hope with today's episode is that we can can offer those listening a little, you know, kind of snapshot of your life and and you know, how you got to where you are today.

And I feel like it's just this really kind of incredible journey that you've been on.

And and I feel like a lot of that has is been tied with with I would consider kind of like a this love for the water, this draw to the water, the sense of adventure, and and tying that into helping others.

SPEAKER_04: That would be pretty spot on, Kevin.

Good summary.

SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_04: Well, wonderful, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: Well, wonderful.

Well, well, before we get to to what you're doing in life today, I would love to take us back.

So obviously now you are living in Maui, but I don't believe that you've always lived on Maui, correct?

SPEAKER_04: That is true.

I serendipitously ended here about 22 years ago from Northern California, and Sacramento is my hometown, and then ventured to the Bay Area.

And always in my life then and now, it was the water was always a draw besides the dirt, you know.

And so and I just didn't realize how how long it would take to actually throw that dart on the dartboard to make it here.

And um, you know, we have that bullseye in life where we like to land, you know, and that's what hopefully, you know, you get to make your dreams come true.

And through a lot of unusual twists and turns and personal sacrifices and stories that didn't always turn out so well, I'm living my best life here on Maui.

SPEAKER_01: Well, that's wonderful.

That's wonderful.

So so when we talk about this passion, this this draw to the water, I specifically think of you with with windsurfing and and stand-up paddleboarding, and then and then you touched a little bit on that need to get dirty also, which I believe comes in the way of way of uh motocross.

And so where where did that whole kind of adventurous spirit come from?

SPEAKER_04: Oh, Kevin, how how long do we have on the show?

Well, you know, it's so funny.

Oh boy, we have a lot of adventurous spirits here on the island, and a lot of sports cross each other.

And I would have to say that we have a mixture of dirt and water.

And, you know, dirt biking was my first love in life.

I was thrown onto a tank of a trials bike and old Bull Taco when I was about three, I believe.

And I remember my father, who has a colorful past, strapped me on and I grabbed on the crossbar and we kind of motored over these big boulders.

And that was my first physical experience connecting to a motorcycle.

SPEAKER_02: Yes.

SPEAKER_04: And from then on, it just literally became in my blood, you know, physically, literally all that, and chasing some tracks around Northern California, you know, from the little RM50s to the 80s to the 125s, and then on Maui up to the 250 class.

And that's always going to be with me.

That's I guess that need for speed is just kind of innate.

And yeah, that's another story in itself.

And then while I was 15, you know, still dirt biking.

I found a love of windsurfing, which was really unusual on the mainland.

And uh back in Sacramento, you were thought super cool to have a surf rack on your car.

And people would ask you, wow, what is that for?

Just a couple of pads and a rack.

I said, Well, it's for my windsurfer, you know, and there were maybe only five of us in the whole city of Sacramento windsurfing at that time.

And so it that's how the passion for water kind of blended with the dirt.

And then as I got older, you know, it's I found that the dirt is harder than water.

And it was it depends upon what speed, though.

I mean, you can go to a fast clip, as you'll heard from your previous guest, Fred Haywood.

He broke the world record of speed.

And when you're going at high speeds, you you can hit pretty hard too on a slab of water.

SPEAKER_01: So yeah.

SPEAKER_04: So there's a a cross passion, you know, for the dirt and the water.

And I just became so fortunate over unusual times in my life to begin to make a living at it, you know.

And so yeah, there's so much to share, Kevin.

I don't want to.

SPEAKER_01: Of course.

Well, well, I have to go back a little bit to talk about the dirt bikes and stuff.

And and to those listening, I'll kind of explain why I'm so drawn into that in a moment.

But but I'm curious.

So, so your passion for dirt bikes and and talking about moving up to the different classes, getting a little bit bigger and faster as you go along.

Now, have you been into straight up like motocross riding, like jumps, or have you been more trail riding?

SPEAKER_04: Oh, great question.

Well, they're both, you know.

Yikes.

My my you know, my biggest highlight in my young motocross career was Hangtown.

And that was a big deal to actually get on that track and do some laps as a girl, you know.

And that was like, you know, when you have your the gate goes down, and it's like, I'm a girl, I'm a girl, don't forget, you know.

And the first turn, it's like, you know, you you can barely, you don't know what to do.

And that first turn, you either make it or you don't.

And I made it, luckily.

But yeah, so the dirt biking, always dirt, I guess.

My father did speedway, drag bike, enduro ice racing.

I was exposed to all the different elements and genres of motorcycle racing, you know.

So that was in Baja 500, all that stuff.

But the motocross, I like the action, I like the jumping, you know, that you know, when you when you're a kid, Kevin, you can remember like you know, when you're on your BMX little bicycle and you see a dirt claw, you want to jump this dirt berm, and then you go back as an adult, like that's only two feet tall.

That's nothing.

It's just like in the in a child's mind, it's like, oh man, I'm gonna jump it, I'm gonna clear it.

And so yeah, so I got into nothing too crazy, you know, but I I'm sure we all thought we could fly.

And, you know, motocross definitely number one.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, that's so awesome.

Well, well, I I'm just so compelled by it because in in and I can totally relate to I feel like once it gets in your blood, it never leaves because because me, you know, I started riding dirt bikes when I was four years old.

Wow.

I got my my first, it was a Honda Z50 with with with training wheels.

SPEAKER_02: Oh, cute.

SPEAKER_01: And yes, I had training wheels on that, and and my my family will tell you that that I would go around the yard and when the training wheel would hit like an amp pile, I'd flip over.

SPEAKER_04: So I would that's so cute.

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01: But they said I then I guess I got to the point where I guess maybe we took off the training wheels or even with the training wheel, but they said I would just be riding and and all of a sudden I'd be riding through the yard and I'd be ready to get off, and I'd just like jump off and you know, and kind of let it fall over.

But but you know, but that was something that that I grew up doing with with my dad.

And and that grew into just this absolute passion for for motocross that became truly my life.

I mean, all my all my other friends, their, you know, sport superheroes were football players and basketball players.

Mine were, you know, Jeremy McGrath and Jeff Emming and Ricky Carmichael, you know?

And so I I totally understand.

And now, even, you know, I've been blind for for 18 years, which is really just blows my mind because of the fact that I still to this day just absolutely crave to want to be on the back of a bike again.

SPEAKER_04: Right.

SPEAKER_01: You know, there's just no better freedom than to be on to be on that.

And and you know, the sport has evolved so much from, you know, when when I rode back, you know, before I became blind, because now we used to go every year to the AMA supercross.

One of the one of the stops was right here where I live.

And they would tear up the inside of the the Daytona International Speedway where they had the NASCAR races, they would tear up the infield and turn it into a supercross track.

And so me and my dad, we would go every year to that.

Well, gosh, it's probably been about five years ago or so.

I finally told my dad, I'm like, you know, I'm like, I know it seems weird.

I'm like, but let's go to the supercross this year.

He's like, okay.

And so it was the first year that I could do it because any other year before that, I couldn't even stand to think of it, or I would just cry and get too upset.

And so, so I just went though just to be part of the experience.

And I cracked up though, because we went from screaming two strokes to these low groaning four strokes.

That is that's all there is now, you know?

And um, and so, anyways, I know I went off on a little tangent there on dirt bikes, but I just think it's awesome.

I love when I encounter somebody because not everybody rides and grew up riding.

And so I just think that's really awesome.

SPEAKER_04: Oh, Kevin.

And you know, the novelty of the smell of the track, you know, the two-stroke, you know, and just the smells, and I mean it sounds silly, but I love that.

SPEAKER_01: You know, yep, yep, exactly, exactly.

Oh my goodness.

Well, that's awesome.

Yeah, so so now uh at some point though, you uh in in all of these awesome sports you're doing, the the the motocross, now you got into windsurfing and stuff.

So you made mention about about Hawaii, about Maui being this like point on the map that you knew you wanted to be someday.

SPEAKER_04: Yes.

SPEAKER_01: Why is that?

SPEAKER_04: Yes.

Well, you're very good at getting right to it, Kevin.

Thank you.

Well, the thrill, you know, we all have our icons and you know, dirt biking and all that, and all the sports we do.

And, you know, the freedom is what feels so good on the body is that sensation.

And I thought somehow, someday I'll get to Maui.

And this was some time ago.

I was in orthopedic field and very stressful job on call 24-7 for five years.

Only only female in the company at the time, you know, running around Northern California, Nevada, you know, driving 3,000 miles a week, doing surgical instrumentation.

And it was very stressful.

And I thought, and I windsurf on the weekends, I'd have my windsurfer on my car with my mountain bike, and I'd be traveling all over, working, you know, going into surgery and doing these instrumentation demonstrations and surgical stuff.

And I'd windsurf on lakes anywhere I could.

And then all of a sudden, my friends one by one started moving to Maui.

Wow, how can you just drop your life and keep that?

Who does that, you know?

And so it was always in my subconscious and playing like a real, you know, like just kind of playing in this background, real.

And, you know, life continues and you just certain things happen.

And, you know, that word I used earlier is serendipitous, and it's so true because, you know, my life had a different track, so to speak.

And um, you know, and then another opportunity came about, and my life changed, some for the good, some for the really challenging, heart-wrenching stuff.

And I did end up on Maui.

And, you know, through the grace of the universe, I guess we just don't always know what is going to come before us.

And uh I thought, well, here I am, I've made it, and now what?

So as life changed, I put my career on pause because of the stress.

The orthopedic world was too much.

And then I had an opportunity to literally take a break from life for a couple of years, and I w was on Maui, dirt biking every day, windsurfing every day, you know, whatever else I could do physical, and just really embrace the lifestyle of Maui.

And luckily, I landed here with a bunch of friends already here.

So I was so grateful to have that camaraderie that I had from California to here, you know, like it was really fortunate, not very common for people that moved to Maui back in that time.

And so, yeah, so my direction turn, I know the body.

I worked in physical therapy a little bit.

I thought, well, I'm an athlete or wannabe athlete and was semi-sponsored and motocross and went surfing.

And thought, well, I'll take the knowledge I have in medicine and sports and see what I can do with that.

And I thought, well, I'll take the course and get proctored to be a personal trainer.

And then that's where the journey takes us today.

So that was back in 2001.

SPEAKER_01: Wow.

Wow, wow, wow, that's amazing.

Yeah.

So amazing.

Now, now I wanna I wanna have you explain a little bit for somebody who might not be familiar with the sport of windsurfing.

How would you describe that to somebody who who doesn't know anything about it?

SPEAKER_04: Well, windsurfing is the best way to get your adrenaline fixed by holding like a bed sheet and a couple of poles, and I'm kidding, on a flat board with a fin.

No, it's it's to harness the wind and the surf all in one and to go up to 25, 30 miles an hour and then maybe get go down the face of a wave or jump off a wave.

I mean, there's nothing like it.

There words can't describe.

And so Maui offered warm water, you know.

I was always sailing out in the bay, Chrissy Field under the Golden Gate Bridge, shivering in a wetsuit, watching out for submarines, you know.

Then on Maui, it's the man in the tiger suit, you know.

So I don't know.

So but it's the camaraderie, it's the it's this common stoke, it's the physical element too.

It's taxing on your body.

And that's that feeling, as you know, and you've ridden all day on the track, it's the same thing.

You get off the water and you can't speak, you can't talk, but you're so happy.

SPEAKER_01: Yep.

Yep.

No, I I totally get it.

So now I had never really thought of it until just now when you're talking about windsurfing.

It's almost in a aspect, I guess, kind of like your own personal little sailboat.

Sure.

Because because does the the sail on uh you know, windsurfing board act the same way that like a sail on a sailboat?

SPEAKER_04: Pretty much, yeah.

I mean, you have to know some of the elements and terms, you know, tacking, you know, driving.

Those terms are used crossover from sailing a boat, which I've never done personally, but you have to have some wind theory and some wind knowledge, and then the rest is all physical and mental, you know, and then you know, your body's steering everything, and you're connected to this harness with a rope.

It used to be a rope, and now it's just tubing.

But yes, you have to have some some smarts to figure it all out.

It's a big learning curve, but worth it, you know.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.

No, well, that's that's amazing.

SPEAKER_04: But I don't do it anymore, Kevin.

I just don't do it.

I just, you know, after 20 some years on the water, I can ride it like a ride.

A bicycle, but you know, sports on Maui, we're the epicenter of water sports at the world here.

SPEAKER_01: So and yeah, absolutely.

So now at what point you'll have to kind of help me, you know, remember that the timeline of events and stuff.

But but so you get to Maui, you're you're starting life there, but now at some point in and I don't know if this is I feel as though this is before a big event that we'll we'll talk about that included a big women and and windsurfing and and all of this or stand-up paddle boarding.

Yeah.

But you actually had a really bad fall, a bad accident that happened while you were at home.

SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that was kind of yeah.

So you think I could have a better story, you know.

Dirt biking, yeah, I've had it's funny, Kevin.

Speaking of accidents and things, like dirt biking, you take your lumps, then you get run over, you get sucked under, you get all these things, you got handlebars in your back and your ribs, you know.

Yep.

Yeah, and you can relate.

Windsurfing, not as much, but yeah, you think that I'd have a good story.

But yeah, so my timeline is interesting.

So, you know, arriving to Maui, having a a personal change, married life, divorce, and that's at another another show, but sometimes out of other tragedies of great new things happen.

So yeah, so the windsurfing was always a part of my life.

I came to Maui, did that, and then yes, correct, back in 2009, I wish I could say I was at the track doing a tabletop and I missed or something, but or doing, you know, I don't have a good story.

I missed the two stairs at the bottom of my home.

It was pitch black.

And, you know, I live on a two-acre parcel, and there's not many people around out here at night, and the wind howls on Maui, you know, 25, 30 miles an hour day and night.

And I missed the two stairs and I broke my legs, plural, in two seconds.

Yeah, I thought, did someone just take a baseball bat to my lower part of my body?

And I remember kind of, you know, when things happen, they happen in slow motion.

I remember kind of taking this weird fall onto a slab of cement and my phone skidding across the cement into the darkness of on the grass.

And somehow something told me, get your legs up, get your legs up, you know, elevate, elevate in my brain, warning.

SPEAKER_01: Yes.

SPEAKER_04: And that's what I did.

And thank God I have strong abs, you know.

So I little did I know that I, you know, had a tip bib fracture, tore out the tendons and muscles on my left ankle, fracture on the right, tore all the tendons on my right ankle.

I blew up, basically.

And I laid there for about 30 minutes with no help and just not like pain you can't even imagine, you know.

And so that's when things changed.

And I was in a wheelchair for three to four months, and really hard when you live on a two-story home, you know, and I had my dirt bike stool that I re you know, change the oil.

I use, you know, my my stool that I roll around and I, you know, when you had two of those.

I know what you're talking about.

Yep.

So that came in handy.

I used that normally I'm wrenching on my bikes, but now I had to, you know, use that to roll around to go from one place to the other, take my dirt bike gloves, put them on my hands, and scoot down the stairs on my bottom with two casts on my legs because my stairs were so hot, get on the other stool down below, hop in my wheelchair, and train people.

And gracious.

Yeah.

So it was a test beyond tests.

SPEAKER_01: Wow.

Wow, wow, wow.

Now, now, how long after kind of the all the other struggles that you were going on in your personal life with divorce and all that, how long after that did this accident happen?

SPEAKER_04: Oh, about five years, I was like, Yeah, about yeah.

So I was dirt biking and having a ball, riding, taking my dirt bike to other islands on the ferry, exploring.

It was a pretty cool setup, Kevin.

You'd have loved it.

Yes.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.

It's one of those scenarios when when life is going good.

SPEAKER_04: Yes.

SPEAKER_01: And then all of a sudden it's not.

SPEAKER_04: Well, it's like getting, you know, when you're a kid riding your bike and someone sticks a stick in your spoke and you endle.

unknown: Right?

SPEAKER_01: There you go.

Exactly.

Total faceplant.

Yes, yes.

Yep, yep.

Wow, wow.

But I mean, and and I listened to you though, just like so like nonchalantly talk about like, yeah, you know, the stairs were so hot, so I just had to put on my motocross gloves and and both legs are in cast, and I just make my way up and down the stairs.

And I'm just like, I'm like, Susie is a total beast.

SPEAKER_04: Oh, goodness.

Well, my triceps got really big.

So that was a bummer.

You have to laugh in the face of sometimes some hard stuff, Kevin.

You know, you sense of humor, sense of humor saved me.

But there were some dark times where I'd just be sitting like a wet puppy in a wheelchair, you know, looking out the window, wondering, you know, like what is coming next.

You know, here the coach, I coach everybody, I had no one to coach me and help me, you know, and it was hard.

It was not easy.

There were some definitely dark, some dark times in that time, you know.

But with this, I knew there'd be something I'm going to heal eventually, but how how would my life look like?

SPEAKER_01: So of course, of course.

So now I am curious because how does a a trainer like yourself train your clients at that point when when you have two broken legs?

SPEAKER_04: Right.

Good.

Well, I can articulate pretty well.

I would tell them jokingly, I said, okay, now this is what Susie says, and forget about Simon because you got to listen to what I say.

Because I can't do at the moment.

Um no, but I it was good to be the example of what you can do.

SPEAKER_02: Yes.

SPEAKER_04: And so I felt it was a motivating factor for them.

Like, gosh, if she can I could do bicep curls, I did everything I could do, Kevin.

And I even had a stationary bike, you know, that I would pedal and it would itch and be awful with, you know, eventually one leg was in a cast longer than the other.

So I had a walking boot and a cast on one leg, and it just was it was not easy.

But I would just people were patient, my clients were lovely, and I would train clients on Skype, you know, and that was helpful.

But that was just starting out that technology.

But people were very patient and you know, it wasn't easy, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_01: Of course, of course.

Wow, wow, wow, wow.

So now at what point then after that whole venture in your life, did you go on and you'll you'll have to be the one to kind of lead this because I don't know the details more other than the fact that you put together some massive event.

SPEAKER_04: Yes.

Well, uh, you know, I was so low and so felt so hopeless.

And, you know, I just thought, what the this is so hard for my spirit to not be active, you know, it's just debilitating in every way, mentally, emotionally.

You know, I get my charge going fast on the water on the dirt bikes.

I looked at my dirt bikes every day.

I cried, I petted them, you know.

SPEAKER_01: I I've been there.

I've been there.

SPEAKER_04: Don't worry, I'll be back, you know.

And so one day I was on my stationary bike again, just doing what I could do because my my whole lower body atrophied in two weeks, gone, you know, no muscle, just mush.

And so as I was peddling, Kevin, I'm not kidding you.

I got this visual and like this intuition hit where I thought I have to prove.

And my mother, she's lovely.

She's at the time that was 2009 April.

She's my mother is schizophrenic and just beautiful and lovely.

And she was going through breast cancer, which was very hard on me uh to, you know, to be debilitated and not being able to be in California to help her.

And it was just really hard.

And so I was peddling in my cast, crying, kind of feeling sorry for myself.

And I had a visual that I've got to show the world that you can stand again.

You know, like this is just temporary.

And stand-up paddling, which was new to the world, was already a couple of years on Maui.

Because like, you know, like I mentioned, everything kind of starts here, all the innovators.

And I had just tried it right before I poke my legs.

I got on a paddle board.

It was actually uh a Laird Hamilton board, big, big size of a picnic table and it with a big kayak paddle, you know.

And um, not even a bald, really.

And I thought, oh my gosh, I'm going to show the world that you can stand again, you know, literally, figuratively, and I'm gonna do this event for cancer and for mental health.

I've always been an advocate for mental health, still am, and work with great organizations.

And I I thought, I'm gonna put on a free event.

It's gonna be the biggest in the world.

I don't know how I'm gonna do it, but it's gonna happen on Maui.

And it did.

And it's just it took about a year's worth of planning.

And I was training the general manager of the four seasons here at the time, and just lovely woman.

I knew the marketing team and I present, I pitched her my idea, and she goes, Susie, we will support you a hundred percent.

Whatever you need, you've got it.

And I thought, oh my gosh, I really have to do this now.

And that was before, you know, Facebook was ever big or anything.

So it was still coming about, and fast forward, we turned this event into a world event for women to stand up for women's health and fitness to help mental health awareness and breast cancer.

And I had some help, and everybody in the whole community rallied.

We had news coverage, we had Navy SEAL teams, we had doctors on the water, doctors on the beach, 20 volunteer lifeguards, and every paddle board shop in the community brought their boards down for free.

So, and Kevin, the the craziest thing that day was that at this one spot in front of the four seasons in Quihay called Wailea, typically on a January day, it's flat and you can see people snorkeling, it's beautiful.

Yeah, it was overhead high surf on that day.

And I'm thinking, oh, I'm so glad I got the Navy SEALs here.

And you know, and it was a big liability concern.

And I, you know, and we were able to get 430 women to come.

SPEAKER_01: Wow.

SPEAKER_04: And that was the it was the first biggest stand-up paddling event in the world, and two boards broke in the surf, but you know, no egos, thank goodness, or bones.

Yes.

And the footage and the pictures and the stoke, and that we had inspirational speakers, I had hula dancers, DJs, amazing prizes, and we did it.

And that was kind of how I showed the world that you know, I had a stage, I had 400 women on the beach working out with me.

I had to be that conduit of hope.

SPEAKER_01: Wow, Susan, you're so amazing.

Oh my gosh, that was so awesome.

SPEAKER_04: Thank you, Kevin.

I think the biggest part was that it was a community event, and it was it was the inspiration was so contagious.

That energy, I mean, I can't describe it.

It took me about six months to recover from that.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: Putting that on, but it it put me on the map.

It put the sport on the map, and I became one of the first pioneers in the sport.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's so awesome.

Well, I I mean, I know the stand-up paddle wearing here in Florida.

You know, it's it's been, you know, several years now that, you know, but it all of a sudden it it was like this thing that no one had ever heard of, and all of a sudden it just blew up.

SPEAKER_04: That's how it was.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so so that yeah, after I put on, I've traveled all over the world.

I've, you know, teaching and coaching, and it became my livelihood.

And all of a sudden, you know, sponsors were contacting me, and it was it was like the can the dot-com boom of stand-up handling happening.

Yes.

I mean, people were mortgaging their houses, opening up shops, you know, it was crazy.

And it was so it was just so empowering for people who were afraid to be on the water, now had another way to be on the water.

And it gave people a physical inner strength and mental strength they'd never had before.

And to be a part of that evolution was just incredible.

And it still is.

It's still amazing, Kevin.

And I'm grateful for it.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, I think that's so cool.

So now I have to ask you, as somebody who has never tried the sport of stand-up paddleboarding, kind of explain it to me a little bit.

Because when when I get the picture in my my head of somebody doing this, okay, I think to myself, a couple of things.

I think, why don't they just sit down and get in a canoe?

Or I think, or I think, are they training to be one of those gondola drivers in Italy, you know, and and pushing the boat around?

Or number two is why not just go to the beach and catch a wave and skip paddling?

So you get so so I'm so I'm so anxious to, because I've never, you know, to to really understand kind of what it is, like is the motion, are you using a paddle like a kayak or a paddle like you use in a canoe?

Like give it give me the details.

Well, and what is so amazing about this sport?

SPEAKER_04: It's just propelling your own body across the water on a board, a piece of foam.

Okay.

But the paddle is you're like you're standing and you get to see so many wonderful things, and it's leverage, you know.

So when you're sitting, it's a it's a different leverage body mechanic.

But stand-up paddling, you push the paddle straight up and down into the water, and all of a sudden you catch a glide, you know, you get that sensation of surfing, but it's not as painful, it's not as painful.

Yes, and you can see so much more.

I mean, when you're sitting in a canoe, that's great, but when you're standing, the world is bigger.

SPEAKER_01: Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: And it's not it's multi, it's a different dimension, you know.

You have you're using your entire body, although it doesn't look like it, you have to balance, you have to use your body to balance, and you know, it's a whole nother sensation.

I I've taught thousands of people, Kevin, and it's it's a sport that everybody can do.

SPEAKER_01: Well, that's cool.

So now what is the paddle like double-sided like a kayak or more like an like I think of for a canoe?

SPEAKER_04: For a canoe, one-sided.

So you've got one blade on one side and you just switch sides, you know, back and forth.

SPEAKER_01: Well, that's super cool.

That's super cool.

Well, I one of these days I've got I've got to try it out.

And um, you know, I've I've I've seen we've we've been different places.

I felt the boards.

The boards are massive.

Um they're nothing they're yeah, they're so I always yeah, I always thought it was gonna be like a surfboard, and it no, they're huge.

SPEAKER_04: Well, some are.

I have probably 15 paddle boards, maybe.

SPEAKER_01: Okay.

SPEAKER_04: I I I get I like to brag that I've got more boards than I have shoes.

You know, who used to like nice shoes and purses, I'm happy I can brag about I brag about that.

But um my paddle boards range from eight feet up to sixteen feet.

SPEAKER_01: Okay.

Wow.

SPEAKER_04: Well, I yeah, I just you know, channel crossings and we do distance.

Wow.

And so we do go down waves, big waves.

So you need different different boards for different conditions and different paddles too.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.

Well, well, Susie, I I just I just had to think when you made that little comment about more boards and shoes.

I thought to myself, guys listening, I'm sorry she is taken.

His name is Blake.

He's been on the podcast because I know if you're like me, you're thinking to yourself, wow, we didn't know women existed who ride motocross, they paddle board, they windsurf, they're proud that they have more boards and shoes.

SPEAKER_04: And you know, that's a good one.

That was not my profile.

No, I'm kidding.

I don't do that.

SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness, that's so funny.

So funny.

So now, what is Susie Cooney doing today?

SPEAKER_04: Well, fast forward, Kevin, things have changed.

Paddle boarding and windsurfing have really served me well.

You know, the the water has been kind of my conduit to help people be stronger mentally, physically.

And I have just been so fortunate to be able to work my passion and make a living and help thousands of people across the world.

And just so grateful for all that has developed.

So, with that in mind, I wrote the world's first big stand-up paddling book called How to Increase Your Stand-up Paddling Performance, Beginner to Elite.

And in 2015, it literally became the stand-up Bible.

It was touted as the Bible of stand-up paddling.

And it was a monumental effort for my first book.

My only book at the moment.

I've got, you know, I'm trying to get others out, but it's just hard to be a one-person show.

So this book is was a an amazing endeavor.

And 11 chapters later, it's still thriving out there in the world.

And the biggest chapter that has come to life where I am today, and it was chapter seven, which is really a book within in the book, it's called the mental part.

And part of my training that I've helped people, you know, from non-athletes to some of the best athletes in the world, I somehow figured out that there's more to this in the physical part.

And so fast forward, you know, 11, 12 years later, here we are.

And we have gone through a pandemic.

We are still going through it.

And we've learned, we've always known that the mind is fragile, but it's also very incredibly powerful.

And you yourself, Kevin, have shared with me, you know, how much you rely on your mental strength and other sensations in your life now.

And when I wrote this big chapter in the book, this chapter alone is 50 pages, and it needs to be a book on itself.

And, you know, we can't rely just on our physical body to help us cope in the world.

We have another part of our body, and that's the mind and the brain.

And that is now where I'm really expanding on my career and my practice.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love it.

I absolutely love that of instead of trying to separate out the two of the mind and the body, instead kind of combining them into one.

SPEAKER_04: Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: Yeah.

So we all know that, you know, to have a strong body, you need a strong mind, and they're both related.

And in my coaching years and for myself, you know, I like when I was on that spin bike, I had a visualization that there can be more to this than just the physical part.

You know, what will it take to help people stay mentally aware, mentally strong, and mentally healthy?

And having been an advocate for mental health, which is so important, especially with our world today, I feel that I can offer now new hope for people through the world of neuroscience.

And I just completed a very intense, long year of studying, and I graduated this September.

And now this whole nother part of my world is opening the mind and coaching people how to integrate all of the nuances of the brain in their sport and in their life.

SPEAKER_01: Wow, that's so incredible.

So now can you can you give me a little bit, just because I'm very intrigued on this concept and a little bit of like an example of what this would look like for an athlete, like combining Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: Oh, sure.

So, you know, athlete or non-athlete, you know, we always have to perform in life, it seems, you know, whether for our own goals or other projects or expectations to win a race.

So if I have an athlete that is maybe kind of plateauing and they're not hitting their marks, their times are actually worse, you know, like their their training practices are slumping, they're not feeling great, they're not motivated, you know.

Like I said, their their numbers are getting worse, they're not taking good care of themselves, they're just kind of in a funk.

And as a coach, it's my role to help them figure out what is happening here and what are the steps that we take.

So through this neuro-based brain training that I'm offering and that I have been doing for the past many years, but didn't realize it.

But now I have the science to back it, is that we all have kind of a sweet spot.

And if you take your two fingers and you just put them right on your forehead there, for example, Kevin, you know, besides your skin, right behind there is labeled, you know, we have the prefrontal cortex.

Okay.

And that's also known as the PFC or the executor function center of your brain.

And this area of the brain is very important because it regulates all these chemicals, and it's kind of the sweet spot of thinking.

And if you have everything correct, like you've got the right levels of dopamine and noreprinephrine imbalance, a very small example, Kevin.

You know, when our chemicals.

Chemicals are in balance.

For example, if we're getting enough sleep, if we're not overstressed, we won't make bad decisions.

You know, we can control impulses.

We're kind of in the sweet spot.

So I help athletes get back to their sweet spot in the prefrontal cortex and making sure that when they're we're going through an exercise of like, why is their memory bad?

Why are they really making dumb decisions?

You know, what is happening here?

And sometimes if you have too much stress and stimulation, you know, you don't have very good control.

You see things in black and white, you don't have as much empathy.

You can be cranky, a little irritable.

And you can also at the same time, you know, you lack structure in your life because everything is just not right.

So it's kind of the Goldilocks principle.

When everything is just right in the brain, we can hit that sweet spot in your sport.

So we don't have the boredom, we don't have the self-doubt creeping in.

So that's where the dopamine, you know, that reward chemical, you know, reinforces certain parts of the prefrontal cortex.

And we also need the right amount of norpinephrine, that adrenaline, to help stimulate the brain so we can become extremely high level in our functioning.

And that's a snapshot, Kevin.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

All I'm sitting here thinking to myself is, oh my, I think I kind of lost Susie a while back because my brain's going, what?

And then though, at the same point, though, I think because my mind is sitting there thinking to myself, wow, just think to yourself, before you get a picture in your head, when you're on the motocross track and you just get totally whooped by a girl who totally just who totally just totally passed you in the set of loops to go up to the corner, to totally block you as she took the inside line.

Yep.

You know, just realize, you know, it's because it's Susie and she's got this whole scientific approach to it.

She's retrained the brain and she's just out there to totally kill you.

You know, I may have to like that.

SPEAKER_04: Kevin, you're how did you know?

You're happy.

So what brings me to, I want to share with your listeners and with you is so I coined the term in my book a long time ago, hashtag the mind wins first.

SPEAKER_02: Yes.

SPEAKER_04: And so that's where I'm going with all of this, you know, is to help athletes to help anyone who needs to get back literally on track in their brain so they can be this highly effective individual.

And when you have full brain integration, you can do anything.

SPEAKER_01: Yes.

I mean, because I mean this I mean the brain is a muscle, you know, and an organ, it's a muscle, it's a lot of things.

SPEAKER_04: It's amazing.

Yes.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.

And and and it's so underutilized.

And then, and when you think of it in that way, it's it's kind of like, well, duh, you know, why why haven't we been focusing on this kind of thing before, you know, and and and leave it to Susie uh Cooney to figure it out.

So I think it's pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_04: I'm a conduit of of information.

And what I want to do with this, Kevin, in my practice now is, and I'm doing it all of a sudden, I have brain training clients coming out of my ears so gratefully.

And it's a matter of instilling confidence and making a person their most curious observer of themselves and how they show up in the world or how they show up on the track.

Like my athletes, how are you gonna show up?

You're gonna show up like you don't have the confidence, you don't have, you know, you would you have self-doubt?

How do how do you want to show up at the start, right?

What other what other tools besides a nice shiny bike and you know, new helmet?

What else, what else have you got?

What else can you show your competitors that you're ready, but you're so mentally prepared that you don't need the fast bike?

You have your body and your brain because they're all the same.

SPEAKER_01: Yep.

SPEAKER_04: You know, without, you know, your your your brain tells the body what to do.

SPEAKER_01: I love it.

I absolutely love it.

SPEAKER_04: And it's just, you know, it's just so amazing.

And and if you can think about the brain, it's so complicated and so beautiful.

And it's just there's a lot of misinformation out there.

And and neuroscience, Kevin, is quite new.

The studies that we work with and the people that I look towards, you know, these are it's just hard evidence.

It's not woo-woo stuff, all right.

And neuroscience is evolving, it's changing every day, and it's only new since the early 1960s.

And so when I got in this program, which is a story in itself, how I got accepted, it was incredible into this intense course with, you know, surrounded with people with PhDs and wow.

And it was just mind-blowing.

No, you know, and pun intended, mind blowing, get it?

Um, I think there are people out there that are hungry to learn what's next for me in my life.

How can I utilize the gifts that I have?

How can I fine-tune my skills?

You can be an incredible concert pianist, right?

But there can still be a missing element to your performance.

And what is that?

SPEAKER_02: Yes.

SPEAKER_04: And so when you can dive into the power of the mind and the brain, you know, people often wonder, well, what is the difference, right?

And that's a big scientific question out there.

Like, how can you define structure-wise?

You know, what is the difference?

Like, what is the mind?

It's just, you know, we have the structures of the brain, you know, we have different lobes, the cerebellum, the cerebum, all these different areas of the brain.

But what is the mind and how do you define it?

SPEAKER_01: I love it.

SPEAKER_04: Just a snapshot, you know, Dan Siegel, MD, and mind you, you know, when I'm quoting this information, it's not my information, it's from the the, you know, the specialists who've done all the research, but you know, how you apply it to your life and to the world in your sport and life, that's what I get to do.

I get to help people understand that if there are certain parts of the brain that are literally underperforming, how do we get all systems go?

You know, how do we how we take in the world, how we filter things inside our body, outside of the body is how we respond to it, right?

SPEAKER_01: Yep, exactly.

SPEAKER_04: And so, Kevin, I admire you so much, you have to rely on other sensations outside of your body, inside your body to filter the world, right?

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, oh, absolutely.

And and what I think is so cool in talking to you about all of this is kind of going back to that thing of of how much the the brain is capable of.

And and that's what you know, I talk a lot of times about how, you know, the fact that my mind, you know, we we use that term again, mind blown.

But back, you know, back in 2017, when I learned that I could retrain the visual cortex of my brain to learn to see through sound, through echolocation.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: You know, and and that's where now, you know, I I use, you know, echolocation all the time, and where literally my brain has developed and it continues to develop and improve, but where literally the sounds now reflecting off of the objects are now able to create an image, an acoustic image of all the objects around me.

And, you know, and and it's just when you think of it like that, you think, oh my gosh, like how limited our knowledge is on what we're capable of.

SPEAKER_04: Exactly.

Kevin, well said.

And so if I may expand on that, that is beautiful.

What you just said perfectly illustrates.

Let me share with you the brain loves metaphors.

SPEAKER_01: Okay.

SPEAKER_04: And I think you and I have that in common.

You know, it's easy for us to find metaphors to explain how we feel sensations, because that's just how our brains operate for us.

Yes.

But to everybody listening out there, it's a good thing.

You know, your brain references memories through metaphors and sensations, and then it starts to catalog that information.

But what you're doing is beyond.

I mean, you're retraining your brain, which is called neuroplasticity, which we can still grow our minds.

And remember, so here's a big you ready, Kevin?

So, with all the great things that you're doing for yourself and some of my clients and people that I mentor as athletes, we don't give our minds enough credit for putting all the information in an order so that we can function.

So our brain is filtering through the mind inside our body, outside of our body, information coming at us at warp speed, and we have to somehow categorize that into a thought or an action.

So if you think of your mind as kind of the orchestra inside your brain, making sure that everybody's playing at the right tone or seeing the correct visual, that's kind of a an easier explanation to grasp.

Would you agree?

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, definitely, definitely.

And and meanwhile, I'm thinking myself, good gracious, like this whole thing of orchestras and everything makes me kind of tired.

Oh, really?

Thinking how much we're doing just to think and be able to talk to each other, you know?

I mean, it's really, but but it's but no, I mean, in in reality, it's it's just truly fascinating.

It's truly to me fascinating.

And especially this whole concept of of the mind and the brain and and working together and and how all that is, I just think is it's one of those neat things to just kind of be able to ponder, you know, to just kind of sit back and and think on.

I just think is really amazing.

SPEAKER_04: Kevin, and you nailed another part of neuroscience.

When you're sitting back and daydreaming, that's the dream mode network of the right hemisphere, just FYI.

And it's a very it's a very healthy thing.

So I have a gal that I'm coaching, she's taking a course in Australia and she's a top-level athlete.

I'm having she's having some struggle.

So we're talking about this.

I said, you can hang out in the right hemisphere and the dream network, but not too long.

We've got to give you some boundaries in there because you're not gonna get anything done.

SPEAKER_02: Yes.

SPEAKER_04: So then your brain's all your brain also craves structure.

Yes.

And if you can here's here's the ticket, Kevin, if you can combine structure and freedom, you have full brain integration.

Oh.

So that is the goal.

And it's hard.

And if you'll notice in life as you go along and interview these wonderful people that you you've the guests that you've had and others that you're going to have on your show, you know, mentors and coaches have mentors and coaches because they want to learn more.

Our learning is exponential and our potential is also exponential.

SPEAKER_01: Yes, absolutely.

Absolutely.

Well, well, Susie, if somebody is just totally enthralled with this conversation, they want to learn more about what we're talking about, or they they want to learn more about you, your coaching, your book.

Where can they go to learn more?

SPEAKER_04: Oh, thanks, Kevin.

I so appreciate that.

Well, I'm active on Instagram.

I have two handles at Suzy underscore Cooney, S U Z-I-E underscore Cooney.

And then also, you know, we got to be on that social media, although it's a pain, but it's how we reach great people.

And also at the mind wins first on Instagram.

But you can find everything at Susie S U Z I E Trains, T-R-A-I-N-S, Maui M A U I dot com.

And that's where you can see all kinds of interesting things.

And with this mind concept in neuroscience, Kevin, I'm I'm helping, you know, I offer like a 30-minute phone conversation for free if anybody is interested.

And it's just neat to hear and learn and talk story about it.

You know, we say in Hawaii we talk story.

SPEAKER_01: So yeah.

Now, can somebody can they find more information if interested in booking that?

Can they find that there on your website?

SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I'm not as up to speed as online booking, but yes, they can contact me through my website and I'm happily to arrange a 30-minute conversation about neuroscience and how it can open your world and help you think more clearly and use it's to harness full brain integration.

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01: Well, wonderful.

Well, wonderful.

Well, well, I will be certain that all of the links that have just been mentioned will all be in the show notes.

So please know that that you don't need to rewind and try and write anything down.

Just click on the show notes, the uh episode description, you'll find all of that right there.

Able to click right over and go uh following this amazing lady on Instagram or hopping over to the website.

Susie, I want to thank you not only for just sharing this little snapshot of of pieces of of your life, the story that I just find so amazing.

There's so many aspects of your life that that I want to dive into deeper that, you know, I can only imagine we're gonna have to have you back on the podcast in the future.

But most of all, though, you know, I want to thank you for simply giving us all this amazing information that I feel like, if nothing else, can be a source to get those listening today thinking and thinking about what they're capable of in their own life.

Absolutely and you know, and so I just I want to sincerely thank you.

Thank you for for sharing all of that with with me and for my listeners.

SPEAKER_04: Oh, thank you, Kevin.

I'm so happy to have had this time with you.

I so appreciate it.

And yes, I would love to be on your show in the future.

Please have me back.

SPEAKER_01: Well, wonderful, wonderful.

Well, for you listening today, I want to thank you.

This show is only made possible because of the support of my amazing fans and loyal listeners.

So thank you.

And, you know, I hope that you enjoyed today's episode with another just totally awesome guest.

And like I said, be sure to check out the show notes where I will leave links to all of Susie's information.

Plus, I'll also drop links if you're totally digging this Maui Hawaii vibe.

We've got two other episodes that I've done in the past with people that have actually been mentioned in today's episode, like Blake Kale and Fred Haywood.

So in case you need a little bit more Hawaii in your life, I'll be sure that uh you can have easy access to all of that and more.

So again, thank you so much, and I hope that your day is amazing.

And that's the lowdown with Evan Low.

I hope today's episode inspired you, motivated you, and excited you to get out and enjoy life, no matter what obstacles may be standing in the way.