Show Transcript

00:00:00.797 --> 00:00:06.657

Kevin Lowe: It goes without saying that I wish the bad things in life never had to happen.

00:00:07.197 --> 00:00:13.897

Kevin Lowe: I wish that no one had to experience loss or heartache. I just wish it didn't exist in this world.

00:00:14.457 --> 00:00:20.877

Kevin Lowe: But in fact, of course it does. And so I pose the question, though, just what if?

00:00:21.257 --> 00:00:27.497

Kevin Lowe: What if the hard times that you and me experience, they're not there meant to

00:00:27.497 --> 00:00:32.877

Kevin Lowe: break us, But rather, maybe they're meant to have us create something even more.

00:00:33.077 --> 00:00:37.477

Kevin Lowe: To pick up the pieces, not to rebuild what was, but to build something new.

00:00:37.817 --> 00:00:39.897

Kevin Lowe: Something bigger. Something more impactful.

00:00:40.377 --> 00:00:47.077

Kevin Lowe: Today, you're going to meet Andrew Berger. A guy who's experienced unimaginable loss.

00:00:47.257 --> 00:00:51.097

Kevin Lowe: From that of his mother and his sister, Jodi, to his wife's health.

00:00:51.097 --> 00:00:55.897

Kevin Lowe: But what's awesome about Andrew is instead of giving in or giving up,

00:00:56.177 --> 00:00:58.337

Kevin Lowe: he created Jodi's Climb for Hope.

00:00:58.557 --> 00:01:02.197

Kevin Lowe: And with over a million dollars raised for medical research,

00:01:02.597 --> 00:01:07.737

Kevin Lowe: Andrew proves to us all that even in the darkest of times, we can choose hope.

00:01:08.017 --> 00:01:10.957

Kevin Lowe: Today, you are about to hear a story that's going to make you laugh.

00:01:11.117 --> 00:01:15.857

Kevin Lowe: It's going to make you cry and ultimately leave you inspired by a conversation

00:01:15.857 --> 00:01:20.357

Kevin Lowe: that proves that hope isn't something that happens to you, but is rather something

00:01:20.357 --> 00:01:22.457

Kevin Lowe: we create. one step at a time.

00:01:22.717 --> 00:01:25.517

Kevin Lowe: This, my friend, is episode 364.

00:01:25.957 --> 00:01:28.877

Kevin Lowe: But before you dive in, I want you to know this.

00:01:29.337 --> 00:01:35.237

Kevin Lowe: If you have a dream, if you have big plans for your life, I want you to realize that they are valid.

00:01:35.397 --> 00:01:39.737

Kevin Lowe: Because if nobody's told you yet lately, I want you to know that I believe in you.

00:01:40.177 --> 00:01:45.777

Kevin Lowe: You, my friend, because you're here today, choosing to listen to this very podcast,

00:01:46.097 --> 00:01:49.337

Kevin Lowe: I know something about you. And that is you are made for greatness.

00:01:49.677 --> 00:01:53.997

Kevin Lowe: You have greatness inside of you. And maybe you've just needed a reminder,

00:01:54.877 --> 00:01:58.917

Kevin Lowe: Somebody to remind you that, you know what? He's right.

00:01:59.317 --> 00:02:05.077

Kevin Lowe: Kevin's right. I'm capable. I'm able. And I am deserving of having all that I want in this life.

00:02:05.297 --> 00:02:09.717

Kevin Lowe: That is the truth, my friend. And I hope that today you're reminded of that,

00:02:09.917 --> 00:02:14.957

Kevin Lowe: that no matter what dreams you have, no matter how big or far-fetched they may

00:02:14.957 --> 00:02:17.357

Kevin Lowe: seem, that they are all indeed possible.

00:02:17.677 --> 00:02:22.757

Kevin Lowe: I believe in you. So with that, my friend, gain the inspiration you need from

00:02:22.757 --> 00:02:27.897

Kevin Lowe: today's amazing conversation with today's amazing guest, Andrew Berger.

00:02:28.077 --> 00:02:31.017

Kevin Lowe: I welcome you to Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

00:02:31.937 --> 00:02:35.917

Kevin Lowe: Hey, I'm your host, Kevin Lowe, and you are listening to Grit,

00:02:36.057 --> 00:02:37.397

Kevin Lowe: Grace, and Inspiration.

00:02:38.568 --> 00:02:42.488

Kevin Lowe: Andy, man, it's a pleasure to have you here. Welcome to the podcast.

00:02:43.448 --> 00:02:45.888

Andrew Buerger: Good morning. Good morning. It's great to be here. Thanks for having me.

00:02:46.048 --> 00:02:47.768

Andrew Buerger: And I'm looking forward to our conversation.

00:02:48.208 --> 00:02:53.088

Kevin Lowe: Yeah, well, me too. Well, Andy, I figured the best place that I would love to

00:02:53.088 --> 00:02:59.148

Kevin Lowe: start is asking you to kind of take me back and giving me a kind of snapshot

00:02:59.148 --> 00:03:05.708

Kevin Lowe: overview into growing up and specifically relationship with your sister, Jody.

00:03:06.628 --> 00:03:10.608

Andrew Buerger: Yeah well we're going a few years back how much time do we have today kevin,

00:03:13.068 --> 00:03:16.688

Andrew Buerger: it's like my therapist all over again talking about my childhood a year after

00:03:16.688 --> 00:03:21.988

Andrew Buerger: i was born my mother died of a rare blood disease and so leaving behind my father

00:03:21.988 --> 00:03:28.168

Andrew Buerger: a widow at age 27 and my me and my sister two kids in diapers she was just a

00:03:28.168 --> 00:03:31.608

Andrew Buerger: year older than i was i was one she was two.

00:03:31.828 --> 00:03:35.528

Andrew Buerger: And, you know, just from that moment on, super close, you know,

00:03:35.628 --> 00:03:37.648

Andrew Buerger: where I couldn't go to a birthday party without her.

00:03:37.808 --> 00:03:40.608

Andrew Buerger: You know, we went to, you know, I stayed close in high school.

00:03:40.688 --> 00:03:44.308

Andrew Buerger: We had high school friends. We went to college near each other, not the same school.

00:03:44.508 --> 00:03:47.328

Andrew Buerger: But then, you know, if I lived in Vancouver and she lived somewhere else,

00:03:47.528 --> 00:03:51.288

Andrew Buerger: you know, we traveled to see each other quite often, just as close as a sibling could be.

00:03:51.708 --> 00:04:00.048

Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Wow. I mean, in speaking to a tragedy at such an early age in life, I can only imagine that,

00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:05.419

Kevin Lowe: That would probably draw you guys closer together with the loss of your mother.

00:04:05.619 --> 00:04:07.659

Kevin Lowe: I mean, at such an early age.

00:04:08.179 --> 00:04:12.859

Andrew Buerger: Yes, it would bring anybody closer together. And I was very fortunate.

00:04:12.959 --> 00:04:16.859

Andrew Buerger: She's just an awesome human being, kind, generous, thoughtful.

00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:22.479

Andrew Buerger: And so, of course, we fought, you know, as all siblings do. But it was easy

00:04:22.479 --> 00:04:24.999

Andrew Buerger: to be close to her. It wasn't a lot of drama between the two of us.

00:04:25.179 --> 00:04:29.679

Andrew Buerger: There wasn't a lot of, you know, sibling rivalry. so it made for a very healthy,

00:04:30.059 --> 00:04:31.759

Andrew Buerger: strong, long-lasting relationship.

00:04:32.219 --> 00:04:35.379

Andrew Buerger: You know, then, you know, when our father died, when I was 31,

00:04:35.499 --> 00:04:40.579

Andrew Buerger: she was 32, we kind of also just had to lean into each other just a little bit

00:04:40.579 --> 00:04:41.939

Andrew Buerger: more than we already had.

00:04:41.999 --> 00:04:45.639

Andrew Buerger: We turned it from a 10 to an 11 in terms of our relationship,

00:04:45.799 --> 00:04:48.659

Andrew Buerger: in terms of needing each other, being there for each other, and supporting each other.

00:04:48.939 --> 00:04:54.199

Kevin Lowe: Yeah, absolutely. Now, as you guys grew older, were you able to stay?

00:04:54.339 --> 00:04:56.119

Kevin Lowe: Did y'all still live near each other?

00:04:56.119 --> 00:04:59.959

Andrew Buerger: No, we never had that luxury after high school.

00:05:00.419 --> 00:05:06.439

Andrew Buerger: That new statistic I heard after the age of 18, I think you only spend basically

00:05:06.439 --> 00:05:09.519

Andrew Buerger: one more year with your kids after they turn 18.

00:05:09.899 --> 00:05:14.559

Andrew Buerger: We didn't have the luxury. So she remained in Boston. So I went to college in

00:05:14.559 --> 00:05:17.179

Andrew Buerger: Vermont three hours away and she went to college in Boston.

00:05:17.319 --> 00:05:21.159

Andrew Buerger: She stayed there. So I lived in a lot of different places, Vancouver,

00:05:21.159 --> 00:05:25.419

Andrew Buerger: Hoover, Aspen, Boulder, Detroit, and then we'd see each other.

00:05:25.479 --> 00:05:28.759

Andrew Buerger: We were never physically close, but then I moved to Baltimore.

00:05:29.119 --> 00:05:32.519

Andrew Buerger: So we'd see each other, but no, we were never in the same city.

00:05:33.039 --> 00:05:39.279

Kevin Lowe: Okay, okay. Well, I know, obviously, a big part of our conversation today really

00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:43.499

Kevin Lowe: revolves around your sister Jodi's diagnosis with cancer.

00:05:43.819 --> 00:05:49.779

Kevin Lowe: Would you kind of go ahead and talk to me about this whole kind of chapter of the story?

00:05:50.659 --> 00:05:54.359

Andrew Buerger: Yeah, sure. You got to get the back story in terms of our relationship where

00:05:54.359 --> 00:05:58.479

Andrew Buerger: we were there for each other, to support each other through good times and bad.

00:05:58.939 --> 00:06:02.659

Andrew Buerger: Dance at her wedding, you know, and we're there for, obviously,

00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:04.099

Andrew Buerger: the birth of her children.

00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:07.579

Andrew Buerger: So it wasn't just the challenging times. We had amazing times.

00:06:07.739 --> 00:06:09.339

Andrew Buerger: And as I said, I lived in Vancouver.

00:06:09.539 --> 00:06:12.439

Andrew Buerger: We had some amazing experiences there. and then

00:06:12.439 --> 00:06:15.919

Andrew Buerger: when i was basically 40 years old she was 41

00:06:15.919 --> 00:06:19.159

Andrew Buerger: she was diagnosed with stage four metastatic

00:06:19.159 --> 00:06:22.739

Andrew Buerger: breast cancer for which there's no cure unfortunately they

00:06:22.739 --> 00:06:27.639

Andrew Buerger: have not found a cure for that when it's stage four yet when it's involves various

00:06:27.639 --> 00:06:31.519

Andrew Buerger: parts of the body from the brain to the lungs and the liver and so i've been

00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:36.039

Andrew Buerger: given a gift in life which is like this filter my brain no bad news goes in

00:06:36.039 --> 00:06:39.899

Andrew Buerger: there so every time something i get this news i don't see the bad news i can

00:06:39.899 --> 00:06:40.819

Andrew Buerger: only see an opportunity.

00:06:41.119 --> 00:06:44.599

Andrew Buerger: And I didn't think she was going to die. I heard that she had cancer,

00:06:44.739 --> 00:06:50.279

Andrew Buerger: but I didn't think it would eventually kill her because that's just about where my brain goes.

00:06:50.419 --> 00:06:53.559

Andrew Buerger: And so something switched in my brain. I said, I've got to do something.

00:06:53.699 --> 00:06:57.699

Andrew Buerger: So we started raising money for a very promising treatment here that happens

00:06:57.699 --> 00:07:00.339

Andrew Buerger: to be in Baltimore. I look for where the best treatment was being done.

00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:04.299

Andrew Buerger: And it was a woman named Dr. Alicia Emmons here in Baltimore that was doing

00:07:04.299 --> 00:07:08.139

Andrew Buerger: really cool research where they would take a woman's tumor cell,

00:07:08.519 --> 00:07:11.759

Andrew Buerger: turn off the DNA, chop it up into a million pieces and then put it back into

00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:15.319

Andrew Buerger: the woman's body with a low dose of chemotherapy that woke up the immune system

00:07:15.319 --> 00:07:17.619

Andrew Buerger: to fight that. I'm like, wow, that is really cool.

00:07:18.019 --> 00:07:22.559

Andrew Buerger: And so what can I do to help you? She said, I need money. So we started a nonprofit.

00:07:22.919 --> 00:07:25.759

Andrew Buerger: At that time, we called it Climb for Hope to raise money for that.

00:07:25.959 --> 00:07:29.639

Andrew Buerger: And so we raised a lot of money and we advanced her research pretty quickly,

00:07:29.639 --> 00:07:33.179

Andrew Buerger: but we didn't do it in time, unfortunately, to save my sister's life.

00:07:33.599 --> 00:07:38.199

Andrew Buerger: She died at age 45, leaving behind three of the most gorgeous kids in the world.

00:07:38.199 --> 00:07:40.399

Andrew Buerger: And an amazing, loving husband.

00:07:41.387 --> 00:07:46.807

Andrew Buerger: You know, it was hard to go through that with her and lose, you know,

00:07:46.867 --> 00:07:51.367

Andrew Buerger: basically my best friend after having gone through that fight with her and tremendous loss.

00:07:51.627 --> 00:07:56.027

Andrew Buerger: But what remains is her memory and an organization that's raised over a million

00:07:56.027 --> 00:07:58.647

Andrew Buerger: dollars for breast cancer research at Johns Hopkins.

00:07:59.347 --> 00:08:09.927

Kevin Lowe: Wow. So just to recap what we just heard is you lost your mother when you were only a year old.

00:08:10.087 --> 00:08:13.187

Kevin Lowe: Right. You lost your father when I think you said you were 31.

00:08:13.767 --> 00:08:14.147

Andrew Buerger: Yes.

00:08:14.387 --> 00:08:17.387

Kevin Lowe: And now you just told us that you lost your sister.

00:08:17.827 --> 00:08:19.147

Andrew Buerger: Yes. Yes.

00:08:19.347 --> 00:08:27.307

Kevin Lowe: That seems for a man who doesn't take in the bad news and finds opportunity,

00:08:27.307 --> 00:08:32.107

Kevin Lowe: it seems like anybody would say, wow, that was a lot.

00:08:32.427 --> 00:08:35.327

Andrew Buerger: Yeah, I can see. I can see where you'd say that.

00:08:35.507 --> 00:08:41.087

Andrew Buerger: It's a lot. And, you know, there's an amazing quote from Marcus Aurelius,

00:08:41.207 --> 00:08:46.107

Andrew Buerger: who was the last of the great Roman emperors and a student of Stoic philosophy.

00:08:46.327 --> 00:08:49.927

Andrew Buerger: And he once said, it is fortunate that this happened to me.

00:08:50.047 --> 00:08:54.827

Andrew Buerger: It is fortunate that this happens to me. So I embrace that philosophy.

00:08:55.127 --> 00:08:59.307

Andrew Buerger: You know, when I get to the top of a mountain or I have a good event at work

00:08:59.307 --> 00:09:03.527

Andrew Buerger: or something positive happens in my life, it is fortunate that this happens to me.

00:09:03.527 --> 00:09:08.407

Andrew Buerger: And then when something negative happens in my life, I also say that it is fortunate

00:09:08.407 --> 00:09:13.067

Andrew Buerger: that this happens to me because I know that there's a silver lining on the other side of that tragedy.

00:09:13.407 --> 00:09:20.267

Andrew Buerger: And all those losses turned out to be a gift to me in that I know why I'm on this earth.

00:09:20.507 --> 00:09:26.087

Andrew Buerger: I'm here to use all my creativity and energy to help take a bite out of disease

00:09:26.087 --> 00:09:30.887

Andrew Buerger: so that other families can live more fulfilling lives. So my life for the past

00:09:30.887 --> 00:09:33.787

Andrew Buerger: 20 years has been in this area.

00:09:34.545 --> 00:09:38.265

Andrew Buerger: As I said, we started a nonprofit that we've renamed from Climb for Hope to

00:09:38.265 --> 00:09:40.985

Andrew Buerger: Jody's Climb for Hope. And we've made a difference.

00:09:41.265 --> 00:09:45.665

Andrew Buerger: We've sped up research on that vaccine, which now is not necessarily treating

00:09:45.665 --> 00:09:51.125

Andrew Buerger: breast cancer, but now you're seeing immunology working for other forms of cancer, like skin cancer.

00:09:51.625 --> 00:09:56.025

Andrew Buerger: So not that that was all of our doing, but we were a tiny cog in the wheel that

00:09:56.025 --> 00:09:57.725

Andrew Buerger: sped it up. It may have saved some lives.

00:09:57.945 --> 00:10:02.705

Andrew Buerger: We've given hope to thousands of others that we can continue to advance cancer research.

00:10:02.705 --> 00:10:07.465

Andrew Buerger: And we skipped over one small detail in that I married this beautiful woman,

00:10:07.805 --> 00:10:12.965

Andrew Buerger: Jennifer, and six months after we were married, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

00:10:13.205 --> 00:10:18.205

Andrew Buerger: And so we're now also raising money for multiple sclerosis research.

00:10:18.425 --> 00:10:22.205

Andrew Buerger: And so the money we raised goes to breast cancer research at Hopkins,

00:10:22.405 --> 00:10:27.045

Andrew Buerger: as well as their amazing multiple sclerosis research center.

00:10:27.045 --> 00:10:34.305

Andrew Buerger: And so, again, we're helping move the needle there to find the next viable treatment for MS.

00:10:34.885 --> 00:10:43.685

Kevin Lowe: Wow. I think that is one of the most amazing life's purposes I've ever heard.

00:10:43.845 --> 00:10:45.145

Andrew Buerger: Thanks. Thanks.

00:10:45.545 --> 00:10:50.405

Kevin Lowe: The name of Jodi's Climb for Hope. Talk to me about the name,

00:10:50.705 --> 00:10:53.285

Kevin Lowe: Climb for Hope. What is that in reference to?

00:10:53.285 --> 00:10:58.705

Andrew Buerger: You know, we started it when she was still alive, and we wanted to give her

00:10:58.705 --> 00:11:03.305

Andrew Buerger: hope to live one more day, one more week, one more month with her kids.

00:11:03.645 --> 00:11:09.345

Andrew Buerger: We want to hope that hopefully we could find a cure or treatment that would keep her alive longer.

00:11:09.945 --> 00:11:15.545

Andrew Buerger: As it turned out, you know, we give her hope, hopefully advanced her life a

00:11:15.545 --> 00:11:17.085

Andrew Buerger: little bit to be with her family.

00:11:17.085 --> 00:11:23.805

Andrew Buerger: But as it turns out, we've discovered this interesting byproduct of our organization

00:11:23.805 --> 00:11:25.945

Andrew Buerger: where we go mountain climbing.

00:11:26.125 --> 00:11:31.005

Andrew Buerger: So we started this, you know, most places we're doing 5Ks, 10Ks to raise money for $10.

00:11:31.332 --> 00:11:37.852

Andrew Buerger: For breast cancer, where we started, our first fundraiser was climbing a 19,400-foot

00:11:37.852 --> 00:11:41.592

Andrew Buerger: mountain in Ecuador. So we didn't start small.

00:11:41.852 --> 00:11:47.272

Andrew Buerger: And so what we discovered by accident is that both of us carrying a backpack,

00:11:47.632 --> 00:11:50.892

Andrew Buerger: a weighted pack up that mountain, we got altitude sickness.

00:11:51.192 --> 00:11:55.592

Andrew Buerger: Some of us were literally vomiting, headaches, pain, fatigue,

00:11:56.112 --> 00:12:00.532

Andrew Buerger: overwhelming exhaustion of climbing for 12, 13 hours.

00:12:00.992 --> 00:12:06.552

Andrew Buerger: You know something? My sister went through that every single day for five years.

00:12:06.752 --> 00:12:10.852

Andrew Buerger: We could push through that pain. We could vomit and keep moving on that mountain

00:12:10.852 --> 00:12:14.112

Andrew Buerger: for 12, 13 hours because then we got to go home and rest.

00:12:14.252 --> 00:12:17.452

Andrew Buerger: Where those undergoing breast cancer treatment don't get that luxury.

00:12:17.912 --> 00:12:22.392

Andrew Buerger: People with multiple sclerosis carry a heavy pack every single day.

00:12:22.832 --> 00:12:26.032

Andrew Buerger: It's difficult for my wife to walk around the block, walk the dog.

00:12:26.292 --> 00:12:30.372

Andrew Buerger: So we figured she'll be walking her shoes when we have these expeditions.

00:12:30.892 --> 00:12:35.952

Andrew Buerger: And so we're understanding what these people are going through and we're giving

00:12:35.952 --> 00:12:40.492

Andrew Buerger: hope to people back home that we can continue to raise money and continue to make a difference.

00:12:40.912 --> 00:12:44.872

Andrew Buerger: Another thing that we stumbled upon was that we discovered this doctor early

00:12:44.872 --> 00:12:48.792

Andrew Buerger: and we found some other doctors very early on and we were able to give them,

00:12:48.952 --> 00:12:51.992

Andrew Buerger: you know, 50, $150,000 very quickly.

00:12:52.252 --> 00:12:54.452

Andrew Buerger: Didn't have to write grants, didn't have to fill out paperwork,

00:12:54.672 --> 00:12:56.932

Andrew Buerger: didn't have to do a lot of red tape. Here's your check.

00:12:57.372 --> 00:13:00.512

Andrew Buerger: And so they were able to get proof of concept of their research.

00:13:00.852 --> 00:13:03.892

Andrew Buerger: And then once they raised money, like, stop giving me money.

00:13:04.152 --> 00:13:06.712

Andrew Buerger: Now the government's giving me millions, go give it to somebody else.

00:13:07.032 --> 00:13:12.312

Andrew Buerger: And so we've discovered that the Climb for Hope can be a sort of a VC,

00:13:12.532 --> 00:13:17.432

Andrew Buerger: an early funder for people doing promising research, because you can't get money

00:13:17.432 --> 00:13:20.292

Andrew Buerger: until you have some kind of proof of concept and we allow them to do that.

00:13:20.932 --> 00:13:26.832

Andrew Buerger: And so again, we're giving hope that we can find a unique approach to disease research.

00:13:27.461 --> 00:13:35.061

Kevin Lowe: Wow. Where did the whole concept even come from about the idea to even start

00:13:35.061 --> 00:13:40.941

Kevin Lowe: such an organization and then, though, to do it not like everybody else with a 5K,

00:13:41.121 --> 00:13:43.561

Kevin Lowe: but instead we're climbing mountains?

00:13:43.941 --> 00:13:47.181

Andrew Buerger: Yeah, I tend to swim upstream a little bit.

00:13:47.321 --> 00:13:51.641

Andrew Buerger: I've got a couple of gifts. One is that filter that we talked about where nothing

00:13:51.641 --> 00:13:54.081

Andrew Buerger: bad enters my brain, drives my wife crazy.

00:13:56.381 --> 00:13:59.161

Andrew Buerger: I think that other things i triangulate things you know

00:13:59.161 --> 00:14:02.021

Andrew Buerger: i see when three things kind of appear to

00:14:02.021 --> 00:14:05.301

Andrew Buerger: me i'm like oh that's something and so

00:14:05.301 --> 00:14:10.641

Andrew Buerger: you know my sister getting sick meeting that that doctor i happen to be climbing

00:14:10.641 --> 00:14:15.601

Andrew Buerger: with a buddy of mine on pico de orizaba which is the highest mountain in mexico

00:14:15.601 --> 00:14:21.121

Andrew Buerger: uh at about 18 400 feet and we were climbing that mountain and i'm a horrible

00:14:21.121 --> 00:14:22.661

Andrew Buerger: climber It's not like, oh,

00:14:23.061 --> 00:14:26.341

Andrew Buerger: I'm a world-class climber who does this. I'm a horrible climber.

00:14:26.521 --> 00:14:29.741

Andrew Buerger: But I'm like, wait a minute, Crony. What if, you know, we've got a bunch of

00:14:29.741 --> 00:14:33.021

Andrew Buerger: friends together and made them raise $5,000 to go climbing with us?

00:14:33.161 --> 00:14:38.261

Andrew Buerger: And so I happened to get, again, lucky that the guy who ran the local climbing

00:14:38.261 --> 00:14:40.581

Andrew Buerger: gym happens to be one of the foremost climbers in the world,

00:14:41.021 --> 00:14:43.841

Andrew Buerger: a guy named Chris Warner, who now became the second American climber.

00:14:44.421 --> 00:14:48.981

Andrew Buerger: Ever to climb all the 8,000 meter peaks. So he said, yeah, I'll take you.

00:14:49.141 --> 00:14:52.281

Andrew Buerger: I won't make any money on you. And let's go climb the world's highest active

00:14:52.281 --> 00:14:53.781

Andrew Buerger: volcano down in Ecuador.

00:14:54.081 --> 00:14:57.561

Andrew Buerger: And so off we went, you know, we just, I wanted to take a little different approach.

00:14:57.761 --> 00:14:59.581

Andrew Buerger: She needed the money and I like climbing.

00:14:59.821 --> 00:15:03.821

Andrew Buerger: And so we've got a bunch of my friends together and it turns out we raised like

00:15:03.821 --> 00:15:06.981

Andrew Buerger: $150,000 the first year. We're like, well, let's try that again.

00:15:07.461 --> 00:15:12.161

Andrew Buerger: Went to Kilimanjaro and raised another $150,000 and just kept going.

00:15:12.581 --> 00:15:18.501

Kevin Lowe: Wow. I think that's amazing. I love not only, I mean, the mission behind it,

00:15:18.561 --> 00:15:22.641

Kevin Lowe: of course, but I love the creativity and stepping outside of the box.

00:15:22.841 --> 00:15:23.121

Andrew Buerger: Thanks.

00:15:23.661 --> 00:15:29.321

Kevin Lowe: Thanks. Yeah, that's amazing. Well, talk to me more about your wife.

00:15:29.681 --> 00:15:32.821

Kevin Lowe: How did the two of you meet in the first place?

00:15:33.781 --> 00:15:35.201

Andrew Buerger: I hate this story.

00:15:38.321 --> 00:15:42.861

Andrew Buerger: I always i always ask people do you want the truth or the story that i like to tell,

00:15:44.181 --> 00:15:48.881

Andrew Buerger: my kids love it too so yeah i was getting out of a bad relationship we tell

00:15:48.881 --> 00:15:52.581

Andrew Buerger: people that we met at a coffee shop because we live very close to each other

00:15:52.581 --> 00:15:56.561

Andrew Buerger: and i used to like that story better but in truth i was getting about a relationship

00:15:56.561 --> 00:15:59.941

Andrew Buerger: i'm like oh i need what i gotta what am i gonna do now.

00:16:00.141 --> 00:16:04.761

Andrew Buerger: So I went on mats.com, looked up and, you know, I saw this beautiful woman who's

00:16:04.761 --> 00:16:08.621

Andrew Buerger: well-read, well-traveled, well-educated, a master's degree.

00:16:08.741 --> 00:16:11.221

Andrew Buerger: She worked in an orphanage. I'm like, oh my God, she's a saint.

00:16:11.401 --> 00:16:14.401

Andrew Buerger: And I'm like, well, I guess I got to join this stupid thing. And so I,

00:16:16.761 --> 00:16:20.541

Andrew Buerger: and then, you know, went on one date on mats.com and that was it.

00:16:20.981 --> 00:16:21.341

Kevin Lowe: Wow.

00:16:21.941 --> 00:16:22.261

Andrew Buerger: Yeah.

00:16:22.601 --> 00:16:23.781

Kevin Lowe: That's crazy. Awesome.

00:16:24.581 --> 00:16:29.581

Andrew Buerger: Yeah, so we met in February, and then I decided to start the nonprofit in April,

00:16:29.641 --> 00:16:32.821

Andrew Buerger: and I had that meeting with Dr. Emmons, who's this amazing,

00:16:33.412 --> 00:16:36.292

Andrew Buerger: researcher and uh chris warner again who

00:16:36.292 --> 00:16:39.232

Andrew Buerger: i said is one of the foremost climbers in the world and we

00:16:39.232 --> 00:16:42.172

Andrew Buerger: had this meeting and we had like uh 20 people show

00:16:42.172 --> 00:16:45.192

Andrew Buerger: up and every one of the 20 people

00:16:45.192 --> 00:16:48.392

Andrew Buerger: signed up and one of those people and jennifer and

00:16:48.392 --> 00:16:52.072

Andrew Buerger: mckay you know we just started dating two months make you mind coming this meeting

00:16:52.072 --> 00:16:56.332

Andrew Buerger: with me and so she after the meeting she tells all my friends you're gon