Carl visited one of his favorite cities in the world -- New Orleans and had the privilege to interview the amazing Nick Mueller, co-founder of the World War II Museum. You do not need to be a history buff to love this episode.

Nick was contemplating his first (un)retirement in 1990, when he and Stephen Ambrose (best-selling author and celebrity historian) met over a bottle of sherry and discussed the idea of starting a World War II Museum on a historic site right there in New Orleans. The original idea was to raise one million dollars and have a modest warehouse museum by the water. Thirty-four years later, they have raised $400 million and now operate one of the world's best museums, right in the middle of New Orleans.

Nick was the founding CEO of the museum (after his first career) and just retired again last year at age 84. He's a remarkable person and the museum is an incredibly moving experience. Along the way he's made friends and has garnered significant contributions from celebrities Tom Hanks, Tom Brokaw and Steven Spielberg.

Please make sure to listen to the last 6 minutes of the interview. As Nick talks about the lessons learned from WWII, Carl asks him where he thinks our country is headed now. His thoughtful insights are so inspirational and he gives us some needed hope for the future.

• More about Nick Mueller:
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/about-us/our-team/museum-founders/gordon-h-nick-mueller

• Nick's new book Preserving the Legacy: Creating the National WWII Museum: https://lsupress.org/9780807184493/preserving-the-legacy

• Episode Content:
https://pickleballmediahq.com/blog/Nick-Mueller-Interview-Mr-World-War-II-Museum-Co-Founder-and-Former-CEO

• Sponsored by Capital Advantage:
https://capitaladvantage.com/promotion/retirement-planning-guide

• Sponsored by How to Retire and Not Die:
https://garysirak.com/how-to-retire-and-not-die

• Join the "I Used to be Somebody World Tour":
https://pickleballmediahq.com/tour

• Subscribe to the "I Used to be Somebody" newsletter:
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Probably anyone who loves to travel has thought at one point about what it would be like to travel the entire world. Everyone has that thought but who would actually do it?

This month's guest Wayne Schmidt and his wife Sally quit their jobs in Australia -- sold their house, cars and all their worldly possessions and started their journey in 2017 and have never stopped. Yes, 92 countries later they are living the (un)retirement dream life.

Wayne says he's made every mistake possible but has no regrets. They eventually figured out a lifestyle that works for them. They are "Digital Nomads" that work 2.5 days a week offering a unique business model by providing marketing consulting for ten accounting firms. And the rest is adventure time. It's been one crazy eight years of adventure!

Wayne has some very helpful travel and life advice for us all. It's a super fun and thought-provoking conversation.

• More about Wayne and Sally Schmidt:
https://www.traveldinestay.com/blog

• Forbes Article about The Schmidts:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/garystoller/2025/02/17/digital-nomads-improve-marriage-by-traveling-to-92-countries

• Episode Content: https://pickleballmediahq.com/blog/Wayne-Schmidt-Interview-A-Traveling-UnRetirement-Adventure-92-Countries-and-Counting

• Sponsored by How to Retire and Not Die:
https://garysirak.com/how-to-retire-and-not-die

• Sponsored by Capital Advantage:
https://capitaladvantage.com/promotion/retirement-planning-guide

• Join the "I Used to be Somebody World Tour" to Croatia in 2026: https://pickleballmediahq.com/tour/croatia

• Subscribe to the "I Used to be Somebody" newsletter:
https://pickleballmediahq.com/contact/subscribe

What a great way to kick off the baseball season with a super fun episode about a guy who's whole career was inside the world of sports. Gary Saunders had an exciting career in management and marketing/sales working the minor league baseball circuit. He traveled around the country working for about a dozen different organizations and capped it all with a big time sports exec job at University of Mississippi.

You don't need to a sports fan to love this episode. Gary retired to Florida with his wife Eileen. He started what he thought would be a dream retirement and just become a beach bum. Gary who always was a busy guy, soon found himself bored out of his mind and has put together a combination of part-time jobs that as he says, "puts a smile on his face everyday."

He went back to his roots and got his dream job being the music/sound guy for the Pittsburgh Pirates Spring Training team and during the summer works for their minor league affiliate. He's a popular radio DJ with the very cool handle of "HoDad" on the Longboat Luau show. What's a "HoDad"? You'll need to listen to the episode.

And get this -- he's also a resident butler at the fancy St. Regis hotel. Plus, a whole lot more. Most importantly he's build a really cool community of friends through each of his part-time jobs. This episode is 100% fun and inspiration! You'll dig it all...

• More about Gary Saunders:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-saunders-4391635/

• Feature about Gary Saunders:
https://www.yourobserver.com/news/2023/feb/22/longboat-luau-is-a-labor-of-love-on-wslr/

• Episode Content:
https://pickleballmediahq.com/blog/Gary-Saunders-Interview-Sports-Exec-becomes-HoDad-Radio-Personality-and-Minor-League-Baseball-Sound-Machine

• Sponsored by Capital Advantage:
https://capitaladvantage.com/promotion/retirement-planning-guide/

• Sponsored by How to Retire and Not Die:
https://garysirak.com/how-to-retire-and-not-die/

• Join the "I Used to be Somebody World Tour":
https://pickleballmediahq.com/tour/

• Subscribe to the "I Used to be Somebody" newsletter:
https://pickleballmediahq.com/contact/subscribe