Kelly Slater: I was 21, world champ and broke | Forward Progress

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0:31This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required, compatibility and availability varies 18 plus. Hey, it's Graham. Our past in-depth guests have shared so many inspirational stories about overcoming adversity and tackling the darkest and most challenging times in their lives.

1:06We're sharing one of those moments in today's Thursday podcast in the hope that it provides a blueprint for any difficulties you might be facing. Way back when, kind of took a crash course in finance because I think you were in high school even before your senior prom. You were already one of the top paid surfers in the world. and then fast forward a few years, I think you're around 21 going to buy a house, and I believe you find out you're basically broke. How did you handle that? You know, my story is kind of like a lot of other stories out there you hear. And, you know, I grew up, we didn't have much money.

1:44I wouldn't necessarily classify us as poor, but no, we didn't have any money. I mean, my mom was scraping quarters together to get my lunch paid for at school. most days you know I think my mom raised the three of us boys on two thousand dollars a month and not much help from my dad so we didn't you know we didn't have much money and so you know it's not a sob story it's just the way it was in in my family you know we didn't when you are raised that way you you don't have a lot of uh intelligence around money and so by the time I was about 20 I guess I was like 21, 22. Yeah, I tried to go buy a house with my then fiance and found out I was broke.

2:30And I didn't take, I didn't handle my finances at all. My mom just kind of took care of it for me. And so it was a real kind of quick wake up lesson in learning about your money and taking care of what you have and planning for the future at that time. So I had already been a world champion. I had made over a million dollars in my life at that point, and I was in debt. So it was a pretty quick wake-up call. What did you learn from it? I learned to, well, number one, to start handling my own finances and know what I was having and to not overextend myself. It was an opportunity for me to kind of wake up and take care of myself and take care of other people too, you know.

3:20That's it for now. But if you're hungry for more in-depth with Graham Bensinger interviews, head over to youtube.com slash Graham Bensinger. You can dive into our deep library, which includes more than 2 ,000 clips spanning 12 plus years. Thanks again for listening.