WHOA That's Good Podcast - Standing Up for Those Who Cannot Speak for Themselves | Sadie Robertson Huff & Bindi Irwin

Episode Date: November 4, 2021

Wildlife warrior Bindi Irwin joins Sadie to talk about facing your fears, getting outside your comfort zone, and carrying on the legacy of her father, Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. They also dive into why "Dancing with the Stars" is way more terrifying than a crocodile, Bindi's love story with her husband, why they named their daughter Grace Warrior, and how to find the good in any day. Check out more about Bindi's conservation work at wildlifewarriors.org. - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You know that fresh produce is the best produce. That's why at Crogr, we invest in local farmers to bring you seasonal picks that taste fresh from the farm good, like sweet corn, refreshing watermelon, and juicy peaches. So whether you're a delivery lover, a picker-upper, or you shop in store, your local produce always tastes 100% fresh, or you get a 100% refund guaranteed. Crogr, fresh for everyone. Friends, welcome back to World Ads. Good, happy Wednesday to everybody. Y'all, today's actually going to be a really cool day. I'm excited to roll these out. So in the past few

months, I've actually been doing these out. So in the past few months, I've actually been doing these things on Facebook where it's Facebook audio, where it's basically a live podcast. People get to go on Facebook and listen to me have a conversation with a friend or a guest that people know about. Might be famous, might be an influencer of some sorts.

And we just get to have a cool conversation. What I've been calling them are behind the screens. Basically where you might think you know someone that you think is super famous and cool, but do we really know them? Like what's behind the screens that we see? What's their heart look like? What's their family life look like?

What kind of things do they love and enjoy? What do they like to eat for breakfast? Just the simple things that you might not know about these people. So I get to interview some incredible people and Facebook was so nice enough to let me actually roll them out on my podcast. Because as I was talking to these people I was like, man, I so wish my world that's good

listeners could hear this because it's such good advice. No I didn't ask the question what's the best piece of advice you've ever been given. But to be honest, I received so much good advice from these people. Just incredible people with good families. So this week I want wanna share with you the conversation I had with Bindi Irwin. She's absolutely just a beautiful human. If you don't know who Bindi is,

her dad was the late Steve Irwin. He was just an absolute legend. He, the way he cared for animals, the way he would just dive into situations, just absolutely the coolest thing ever. He was one of me and my brothers heroes. And then we actually grew up watching Vindy we watched Vindy the jungle girl after Steve's show the crocodile hunter

Ended we watched her on dancing with the stars We just kind of saw her life unfold her get married to her now husband Chandler her have her daughter Actually, it's kind of crazy because me and her in similar seasons But anyways, I'll like to say, I was super excited that I was gonna get to have a conversation with her, but I didn't want you guys to miss it. Well, that's good listeners, y'all, it means so much to me. And I hope that you love this conversation

because I did, it really touched me, and I think it's gonna touch you too. So give it a listen. Today is going to be an absolutely great conversation. Let's see, I know people are starting to pop on. If you were on, last time that I was on, I had my mom and my brother on, and we got to talk about so many different things

from our childhood that maybe no one knew about. You know, you might think that you know a lot about our life, but maybe some of those things you didn't, and that was super fun to get to talk to you all about. John Luke and mom are absolutely hilarious and some of my closest friends, so that was super fun to get to talk to you all about. Jean-Luc and Mom are absolutely hilarious and some of my closest friends, so that was a blast. They all just really guys listening on a conversation we'd have without anyone listening to.

Well, today I'm really excited because I don't have a family member on, but I do have a friend on, and we are going to talk about some things in her life that maybe you don't know too. Bindi Irwin on our audio chat, and I am so excited because she's just an amazing human being. about some things in her life that maybe you don't know too. Bindi Irwin on our audio chat, and I am so excited because she's just an amazing human being.

And we actually have a lot in common. So we're going to talk about that. But welcome to the Facebook audio room, Bindi. G'day, it's so good to talk to you. Thank you for having me today. I am so excited. It was actually pretty funny for those listening. We don't talk a lot.

I mean, I met you years ago, and we've kind of kept up through social media, but weirdly enough, our life is so similar. Like, we've been on the same track on some really sweet, light things. Like, we both run dance with the stars, then we both ended up getting married around the same time.

We both have had little baby girls around the same time. And so it's so fun to just get to get on and have a conversation with you. Oh it is so wonderful and I have to say I absolutely love following your journey. It is so special to see someone who is filling the world with such light and positivity because we all could use a little bit more of that so I love being able to follow your journey and I'm so happy to be able to talk to you today. Thank you, that's so sweet. That means so much. And honestly, the same for you, people ask me a lot of times like, who do you think are good influences these days? Because, you know, people are constantly looking for people to look up to

or a little light or positivity. And your name is always mentioned on my list of encouraging women to follow. And so thank you for shining your light and just being who you are. You're the best and I can't wait to get to know you more. So tell us all what are you currently doing? Like what is the day in the life of Bindi? Look like right now because we might have seen a lot of what you've done in the past, but what's today look like?

Oh my goodness. Every day is so busy. I'm actually sitting at our Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital right now. I'm doing this call from here, which is a lot of fun. Every day is different because I quite literally live in the middle of Australia Zoo. So my backyard is filled with wildlife and our place is kind of a sanctuary for wildlife kind of like a resort for wildlife Where you know our animals are part of our family and we do a lot of rescue and rehabilitation work and it's always busy But I also have a beautiful baby girl named Grace. So my days have have changed recently where she is on the adventures with me. So she's right alongside me helping me out whether it's at the wildlife hospital or work at Australia Zoo. Most days I'm busy with our animals feeding crocs, checking them on different things.

It's a lot of fun. We've also been busy filming for Animal Planet. So it's a wildlife, I've also been busy filming for Animal Planet. So it's a wildlife, but it's really fun. It's out normal, so it's really exciting. And I love the fact that I get to share our family of wildlife with so many people. I mean, we have many, many visitors every day. And we try to create unforgettable experiences for people. So they can really be touched by our animals. They gain a better

understanding of our wildlife and wild places and they take home this appreciation and respect for our planet. So it feels like we have a we have a very big a big mission. We call ourselves wildlife warriors and to be to be a wildlife warrior means to stand up and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. So it's a lot of fun and I'm very grateful but definitely big, big missions for us. Yes, that is so cool. I love that about your family. It's like everything you do, you do it on purpose with a purpose for a greater mission. And I think in life, we can go about our day and we can do our things, we can do our job, but to do our job with purpose is when magic happens

and your family certainly does that. And I just want to note that you just said so many amazing things. You're so casual about it. You're like, oh yeah, I feed Crocs and I take care of animals. That is so cool. My backyard, we have a couple animals,

but we have goats and pigs. You have crocodiles and koalas. That is amazing. We live on a little farm. So it's not quite the Australian zoo, but we have a... I love that though. I love goats and pigs.

And I also see you have a beautiful puppy dog as well. We do. We have a beautiful puppy dog named Cabo after a honeymoon. We love our dog so we definitely love and appreciate animals and your family and Spirises to love them even greater. I was going to ask you because I actually saw a little clip of your wedding video and you were talking about how you really wanted the animals there because they're like family to you. And I think that that concept that I can animal is like family is such a concept.

Like not many people can understand unless they've had like a cat or a dog or something like that. And so hopefully it's like see inside of what that relationship with the animals for you actually looks like. Like, what, how do you bond with something that you can't speak the same language? It's, it's true.

I think it's a really special way. Like, you describe with your cat or your dog, even your goldfish, you have this bond and they, they become part of your family. You, you care about them so much. And without wildlife here at Australia, Zoo, it's similar. It's a little bit different because, you know, crocodiles aren't exactly like cats or dogs, you know, they don't really snuggly. But you gain this understanding where you know what they're feeling, what they need through how they express themselves. So,

it's wonderful for us where, because I've grown up with these animals. I mean, we had a tortoise here at Australia Zoo that lived to be 174 years old. And this tortoise, her name was Harriet. She felt like my grandmother, or my great-great grandmother. I guess.

You know, you spend so much time with these animals and they communicate in their own way and every animal has a different kind of personality. Even with animals like crocodiles, we have one crock named Monty and he's just a really chubby dolphin. He eats like his life depends on it. He loves spending time with people. And he grew up, he actually knew my dad when they were both about the same size, you know, as dad grew Monte grew.

And he's been part of our family since I was born. So it's these connections and bonds where they do feel like, you know, part of your family. And they are so special that when I got married, I had to have our beautiful animals with me because yeah, they're a little bit like your dog or your cat.

They're just so important to your life. And what's so wonderful too is that, you know, all of our animals at Australia Zoo, they have such fun days where they have endless amounts of room to be able to roam and explore, but they actually really like spending time with people like our alimas just want to sit with you and eat fruit and our tortoises love to get their shells scratched and the koalas just need cuddles. It's really funny where you know you'll be walking through the zoo and the koalas will climb down out of their trees to come get hugs.

And wow. You can tell it's kind of that mutual feeling. They love spending time with you and you have that same love and respect for them. And it is amazing. I mean, we are living the dream, I guess, in a way. You'll have to come and visit us one day when the world finds some balance.

You'll have to come, yes. Because I'd love for you to cuddle some koalas as well. Oh, that would literally be a dream. Christian today was watching some of y'all's videos with me. And he was like, this would be like a dream to get to go and meet them and see this. Like he loves animals.

And so one day we would definitely have to do that. And I'm not even kidding. We would absolutely love that. It's kind of funny because I don't know if like y'all say this. I'll show you, but if you were here, like, what's your spirit animal? And I always say mine's a koala because I just always want to hug. And so that's so funny that you said that about koalas. That makes me love that.

Well, they do have the life. I mean, they sleep like 21 hours a day. They eat for the rest of the time and they just want snuggles. So I mean, I'm so glad. It's pretty good. Well, I love that. You mentioned your dad and I have to say your dad was such an amazing man. I mean, you know that more than anyone.

My brother and I were such huge fans of the Crocodile Hunter. And we loved the movie. That was like in our mini-fan, we used to watch the Crocodile Hunter movie like every day. We would sing the song and laugh when the bar and exploded like we loved it. We loved your dad. And we remember exactly where we were were whenever we heard about his passing and

cried with y'all through that and so it's a joy like growing up, you know, in the spotlight and carrying on this great mission of your dad? Oh, well, firstly, thank you so much. That's so kind of you. It's phenomenal to me how many lives dad really touched with his conservation message. And he always said, I don't care if people remember me, I care if people remember my message and my mission. And it wasn't until he passed away that we found out

how many people he affected. And it was overwhelmingly special. And I think that when he died, as a family, we came together and we really thought about, what do we do now? Like, where do we go from here? And we decided that, you know, when, when you are faced with tremendous loss and insurmountable grief, you tend to have two options. You can either curl up and say, I'm done. I just need to stay in my little bubble or you can choose to rise again

and to find love and light and happiness in life and carry on where that person left off and remember all the good times and celebrate their life. And that's what we've decided to do is we really want to make sure that Dad's mission lives on forever and every day we want to celebrate him. I mean, my beautiful daughter, she's about five and a half months old now and for me it's so important that she gets to watch the documentaries and know her grandpa crocodile as we call him.

So sweet. That's why we've continued on with all of our conservation work. You know, he spent his whole life working so hard to protect wildlife and wild places. And all he wanted was to bring people with him on this journey, to appreciate not just the cute and cuddly animals, but animals like sharks and snakes that are slightly misunderstood, but still incredibly important for our

world. And he wanted people to know about these issues facing our planet, but do it in a way that you felt good, you know, when you watched a dad documentary, that was who he was in real life, by the way. He was so excited and always he was such a fun dad. But he really wanted to be able to inspire you with this amazing message, but he didn't want to lecture anybody. So it was kind of that sense of accidentally learning something when you would watch his last documentaries to the crocodile hunter.

Yeah. And so that's what we've chosen to do. So that's why we continue on with our wildlife hospital, we have conservation projects all over the world because we want to make sure that his legacy lives on. But that's why it's so lovely to get to talk to you and to hear that you that you like the show is mean so much. It's almost like every time I hear that, it's like getting a little piece of dad back. If that makes sense, it's really special because he lives on in all of us. Yes, that's so beautiful, that's amazing.

And I really don't just say that to be honest, like we loved him so much. My brother had a birthday party and that was the Crockett 100 birthday party. We had an alligator come in, we had animals, we, I mean, seriously, we definitely learned a lot from your dad and even I love that you said that about like snakes and sharks and stuff

because my brother actually really took that on because we always had snakes at the house and he would always, he would just want you to hold them. He's like, no, they're friendly, he always get the friendlier ones that we'd hold and he learned how to catch them from watching her dad. And so, I mean, it's just crazy because y'all are in Australia.

We're here in a little small town in Louisiana and the message was passed. And so I just wanted to tell you that. And I think that that is really cool. Speaking of crocodiles and sharks and snakes and everything, how do you help people get past maybe the fears that they have and animals like that? Because they can't be kind of scary and you're right, I think a lot of people are scared

of them and so when you see the things you'll do, it can feel so shocking and so where does that heart for them come from and how do you kind of get past the fear? That's such a good question. I think it's similar to what you were saying with your snakes. Being able to understand them really helps take the fear away and granted, I mean, we don't encourage anyone to go up and kiss an alligator on the face. I mean, it's okay, like there's this boundaries, right? But it is something where if you are able to understand an animal and kind of gain a better scope on why they do what they do. For example, snakes were also scared of their slithery, they're kind of freaky.

But in all honesty, the only reason why a snake would bite is if it felt scared or if it was trying to eat. We always tell people because we actually have a snake phobia therapy session here at Australia Zoo because some people are so afraid of snakes that they see their garden hose and go into a full-blown panic attack. Which I mean, you can't live like that, right? So they come into Australia, and we start by just teaching them that snakes are more afraid of you than you are of them. If you are a snake, you think about it. If they're on the ground, they're only like a couple inches tall. There you are. That's fair. Sundering over them. They're terrified. That's the only reason why they react. And so it's understanding the inner workings of these animals

because really, they're all just trying to go about their daily lives. You know, crocodiles, they can't chase you down the street. You know, they're very slow moving animals, sharks. They live in the ocean. You won't have a problem if you're in your house. And it's understanding how they work. And we've always tried to take the mystery out of it. Because I think it's that monster

under your bed mystery that breeds fear. And look, it's an instinct as well, I think, as humans. We have this instinct to be afraid of snakes and sharks and crocs because that's how you'd live longer back in the day. If you were scared of a snake, you'd probably live longer because you weren't likely to pick it up. But, you know, we haven't really developed that instinct to be afraid of cars yet. Right. Cars kill way more people.

So it's, um, it's, it's fascinating. And I do think there's, there's room to learn and granted, you don't have to fall in love with the animal, but just to gain a mutual respect is what we try to do for people here, just really easy. That's cool. We all do an amazing job, and I love that. So speaking of fears, this is a little bit different than a crocodile, but we both went on dancing

with the stars. Oh my gosh, that is way scarier than a crocodile. Oh my god. Because that is way scarier than a crocodile. Okay, thank you. Oh my god. Because that is very scary. That is a very intimidating thing to do to dance in front of millions of people watching and I always said to people, which I don't know if you felt this way, but I was like, I didn't even think about the millions of people watching.

Just the fact that there are like four judges who are going to literally judge the way that I dance and when I don't even know how to dance was just as scary to me than the millions of people. And so terrifying. I know. And you also mentioned before we got on this call that you had never like really worn heels before the show. Nope. I had never worn heels in my life before I went on dancing.

And then suddenly my partner, poor Derek, oh my word. He is so wonderful and so lovely. But I put hi, he's on for the first time and immediately fell over. I mean like, face-planted. And I just watched his face and the producers face go, well, you know, it's probably not gonna be on this show for very long.

So much. So good. I felt so bad. Poor Derek, he had to work literally from the ground up. Like it was just, it was ridiculous. But it was terrifying. I have to tell you, I would way, way rather hug on a 15 foot crocodile than dance.

I mean, all my word. It is scary. And I don't know how you found it, but it was trying to get into the right headspace before everyone went, the show went live and everyone was there was really challenging. It was quite intimidating that I remember Derek used to say to me, you just have to tune everyone else out.

It's just us dancing. It's wild, but you did such a fun dance. I'm trying to remember, is it? It was like the theme song to the Mario Brothers. The Mario? Yes. That was amazing. How did you do that?

It was incredible. It was so much fun. I have to say, we practiced for that dance like so much longer than any other dance. It was like we would get there early in the morning say to like past midnight because Mark had like always wanted to get the rights to the Mario song so we could do the dance. And it is very hard because you know how songs are sometimes hard to get rights and Mario and Nintendo is such a established thing. And so they finally released it to us

the year that I was on. So it was such a big deal to mark. So he was like, we have to crush this. And I will say I was so bad with heels too. And they let on the freestyle, they let you wear whatever shoe you wanted. So I went and got some con verses. And I got these con verses.

And it was, yeah, it was a blast. That was like the most fun thing ever. And I feel, yeah, it was so hard, like, right before when the audience is like clapping and then you hear like your three clicks and like, it's just so overwhelming. But I remember in that moment, like, my faith means so much to me. And there's a scripture that says, I will not forget the confident trust

that I have in the Lord for it will be richly rewarded. And every time in that moment of like chaos, I will not forget the confident trust that I have in the Lord for it will be richly rewarded. And every time in that moment of like chaos, I would just like say that verse over my head. And it was so crazy because sometimes, I mean, I don't know if you felt like this, but it was like the dance went by so fast.

Sometimes I didn't even know if I did it. I was like, did that just happen? Like it felt like such a blur. And your partner, like Derek is such a great partner. Mark was so great that they really carry you through it in so many ways. Like they're pulling you here and pulling you there and you practice so much that it's almost just like routine. So it's amazing how your confidence grows as the show grows.

And by the time we did our free cell and we did the Mario dance, it was just a whole lot of fun. Man, I was so scared when I started that show. And so I can't even imagine having never worn heels, but had you ever danced before? I had not. I had never danced before in my life.

And so it was, wow. It was such a wonderful, terrifying thing. But, you know, I think that you, in life, you know you're on to something extraordinary if it scares you just a little bit. It's that feeling of pushing your own boundaries and trying something new. And I also, I was amazed because our world is conservation. And for me, to be able to bring the conservation message to, like you say, millions and millions of people every week was such a blessing.

To be able to share our story and our journey was extraordinary. And I think that I never imagined that I would be able to bring my conservation message to so many people by wearing sequins and high heels. But I I know right. That's where we were at. And it was so cool. So much fun. And I'm so grateful to be able to share our journey with so many people and to be able to hopefully spread a little extra light in the world through our dances. It was really fun. And it was funny because at this very first time we danced together. Derek is so amazing, but I said, you know, we did that.

We got through the first dance. If I get voted off tonight, it's okay. I understand. And I said that every single week. I'm ready to be voted off. I packed my bags from that first night. I'm like, I'm ready to go home. And then somehow we made it through. It was extraordinary, but so, so special. And I'll forever be grateful because I also got to meet you through dancing. So that's really wonderful. It's so special.

It does make so many great connections for you, as far as just friends and family. And you just get so close to the people on the show because you went through something together that is so Outside of your comfort zone and it does push you and I think you're right like things in life that are worth it and things in life that are probably going to do something Extraordinary after you're gonna have to face fear and you're going to have to get pasta. And that's not just things like dance for the stars or jumping under crocodile. For people listening, that's through daily decisions in life. I think it scares you a little bit, but you know it's something that matters. And it's worth it to press past that fear to do the thing that's hard to get you,

to get your message out or to get make the world a brighter place. And I loved your light dance. You, that was so beautiful. And there's just so many things on the show that I just thought you carried it so well, world a brighter place and I loved your light dance. You, that was so beautiful. And there's just so many things on the show that I just thought you carried it so well with so much grace. Thank you. So funny, I just said, with so much grace, and my next question

was going to be about your daughter. So good timing. That was fun. I know that was that. This worked out great. I love her name. I think it is beautiful. You know, my daughter's name is Honey,

and her name means so much to me. And I saw you post a little post about why you named her Grace Warrior. So can you talk about your name process with us? Absolutely. Well, actually, when she was born, we hadn't chosen a name because we said, we want to meet her first.

We don't want to name her without holding her. That's just that was just our philosophy. And everybody is different. Sometimes you find out your pregnant and you immediately know this is what I'm going to be thinking. But for us, we were just like, no, we're going to wait. And when she was born, actually the first thing that I said was that she's our little grace for warrior. And we had been looking through our family trees and my great-grandmother's name was Grace. And in Chandler's family, dating back to the 1700s, his family had a few graces pop up every now and then. And when she was born, I said she's our grace for warrior. And Chandler goes, oh my gosh, that's her name.

And we just looked at each other and went, oh my word, this is it. And we decided grace warrior would be her name. And it is perfect for her. It is her. She is our little grace for warrior. And has been since the moment she was born. And it's really, really special because, you know,

we call ourselves wildlife warriors. So it really fit beautifully. So her middle name, warrior, is a tribute to my dad. And it meant a lot. It's extraordinary how when you meet this little person, you just know everything clicks into place. And it's extraordinary. It's, I was having that conversation with Tana last night,

actually, my husband, Tana. He's such a good man. I'm so lucky. And he was just saying how there is no description for the amount of love you can have in your heart. I mean, it's like your heart grows to be able to fit this much love in because, you know, as a couple, we love each other so much through everything. We are there for each other and we love each other. And then you bring into this world this beautiful little person

the capacity of love that you can hold within is extraordinary. And then it's so special. And I see that with you in Christian, with your beautiful little honey, it's so special to be able to share that love. And whenever you share a photo of honey and talk about your journey, I can feel it with you.

It's just, it's really, really special and powerful. There's just, there's nothing, there's nothing in the world like it. It's amazing. That's so true. I feel like the exact same way. It's such a different kind of love that you've ever experienced. I think it's such a selfless love because I think with your husband, like, it's like you love them so much, but they're so amazing. They're so kind. They're so awesome and sweet and fun, and all the things on there with you with the hard times and they're with you in the good times. And it's like this mutual just like love

and respect for another, but with your child, it's like they can't do anything for you, but they're everything to you. It's like, yes, can't give me anything, but you've already given me everything by being who you are. And I think that that in and of itself is just a love that you've never experienced before because it has nothing to do with what they do, what they can, what they can't do, it's just who they are. You just love who they are. And you're already so proud of who they are. Like it's so cool. Honey, you're four months old

and like, she literally would do the smallest thing. And I'm just like so proud of who they are. Like it's so cool. Honey used four months old and like, she literally would do the smallest thing. And I'm just like so proud of her. Like I just couldn't do so much. And it's just sweet. We talk about the same things. Like she is a little bit sick right now and she was doing her little Nebula is her breathing treatment because she has RSV,

which has been about a walkthrough. But Christian walked in today and she had her Nebula is her and she poked her face out of it and looked at him and gave him the biggest grin. And he came in and he was like, say, I love her so much. I just like one little moment,

you can just literally melt you. So we feel the same way totally. And I love that our daughters are so close to when we come. They can be sweet little friends. I would love that. Grace would love that. And I raised in honey, that can be sweet little friends. I would love that. Grace would love that. And I raised in honey, that would be too much cuteness. It's perfect, but we love about the same thing.

We always say, because it's the funniest thing where we'll be eating dinner and then Grace will smile or go, a goo and roll like, oh my God, Grace, you're really, we love you. And then we just end up going, like she just said, go. We should be amazed by everything that we do too, you know? Like, yay, we got up this morning. So proud of ourselves.

And it's so funny, you're just, you are proud of every little thing. And it is wonderful. It's so wonderful. But I think that when you have a little one, you see the world new again. And you find magic in even the tiniest of things. And I love that so much because we were just recently on a camping trip in far north Queensland. And it was such a blessing to be able to take grace with us and share the beauty of nature.

But we would honestly see the world through new eyes whenever she would stop and go, I love this leaf. And then we'd spend half an hour looking at a leaf. And you'd go, if it wasn't for grace, we never would have spent 30 minutes just sitting here looking at this leaf. And you know what? It is an amazing leaf. And it is extraordinary that this little leaf exists. And it's awesome.

It's funny. You just, you see the magic in the world again. And you see what an extraordinary place it is. And I, I think that's so special. I think we could all learn a lot from that to be able to appreciate our surroundings a little bit more and find the beauty and joy in even the tiniest of things. I love that so much.

Good show. I hope she feels better. I'm sending thank you. Thank you. And good vibes. I'm so sorry. Thank you. I appreciate that so much.

Yes, it really is so true. They see everything with wonder. It's all new to them. And it's extraordinary. And the world is so beautiful. And it is amazing. You're right. A leaf is really cool.

A tree. It's beautiful. The sky is really amazing. And I think because we have seen it day after day after day after day, sometimes we don't appreciate the gift that it is. And seeing it through the eyes of a child, with the wonder of a child, with the excitement of a child truly is just amazing. And child, with the excitement of a child. Truly is just amazing.

And it's a blessing to get to do that and to see from that perspective. I wanna talk to you about your husband. You mentioned him several times. And the always relationship is so sweet. And it's kind of funny because we have a lot in common. I mentioned to you this before the call, but we've both married guys from Florida,

which, hello, thank you Florida for raising two great men. Absolutely. And your has his name is Chandler and Christian's middle name is Chandler. So I just thought that was so cool that that happened. But of course, everyone loves a love story. So tell us about how you and Chandler from Florida met.

I love that so much. It's incredible. So Chandler and I, wow, we met. I love that so much. It's incredible. So Chandler and I, well, we met, oh my goodness, I'm gonna have to do some quick math here. We met in 2013 and we, gosh, it has been such an adventure. He actually used to be a professional wakeboarder and he traveled all over the world because he was, I hate to brag, but like the best in the USA. He was an electrician.

Yeah, that hit his back on your husband. I know, I know. It was really special. He's so funny. He was like, don't bring that up, you know. Amazing. Be proud of that. Anyway, so he was traveling. He was traveling all over the world at that time, and he came to Australia. And I was giving the tours that day here at Australia Zoo. And thank goodness, I'm very happy. Everything happens for a reason. So I gave him and his family a tour, and we just immediately hit it off.

And he was so much fun. I immediately just fell in love with everything about him. I mean, he was just such a kind, thoughtful person. And he's that real old-fashioned gentleman, which is challenging to find these days. That's true. That is true. And when you find one, you know, oh yeah, completely.

So it was really fun and we had a great time. And then he left and we didn't talk for a little while because we didn't really have any way to communicate. I didn't really have his number. He didn't have mine. And so he ended up actually his brother contacted my mom and said, hey, Chandler would like to ask your permission to stay in touch with Bindi. And so Chandler talked to my mom and he

said, I'd love to stay in touch with Bindi without being okay with you. And my mom ran into me and she said, you have to marry this guy. Like, wow. He's incredible. He's so tiny. So he ended up, we exchanged details and, and, yeah, stayed in touch and him living in Florida and me living in Australia here in Queensland. It was, it was long distance for a very long time, but we just, yeah, we just hit it off and we were great friends for years and years and years. He was my best friend and, and it developed into something more. And we've never looked back. I mean, it's that really, really special happenstance. You never know when these things are gonna happen.

It's like lightning strike, but it's extraordinary. And it's so important to hold on to that when you find it. So yeah, we were kind of like the rest of history. I love it. I love it. It's all happened and now, gosh, he's extraordinary. We kind of, we're a little bit of a wild family where we deal with lots of different animals. So, we're always doing crazy things, but I knew that he was the one when he was working with the crocodiles, sometimes to be able to get them home, we have to like jump into the water and splash

and to get them to go to certain ponds and things after we've given them a feed. And so I knew that I was going to have to marry him when he jumped in the water with one of our crocodiles and helped us swim in home. And I went, you know what? This man is marriage material. I think I found my one.

That is a real man right there. If he can jump in a water, we'll just drop it out. Yeah, I mean awesome. It's hard to find someone to do that. It takes a real level of commitment, but that's true. I mean, let me see it. Whenever we come, I'll see if Christian, you know,

can jump in the water. Oh my gosh, we will keep in safe. We will keep in safe. I promise. It is so much fun. It's so much fun and we are so lucky to have found each other. It is that I believe that everything happens for a reason and there is this plan for you. So I think it's really special. Yeah, yeah, to a lot of customers. Well, I totally believe that too.

And I do think you said it's like lightning strike. And in a sense, it really is. And I always like to tell girls because a lot of girls get really caught up in the anxiety of looking for someone to marry. And I say like, I wish I would have rested more and like my anxious thoughts and knowing that it's not up to me to like, look, I can always be ready

and posture myself in the position to meet someone. But honestly, you're right. It all happens for a reason. Everything happens in the time that it's supposed to happen. And literally like the day I met Christian, I would have never thought like I was going to find my husband. I was looking for my husband. I literally just was doing my thing,

hanging out with my friends, and I saw him, and I saw him in his element, and he saw me in mine for who we were. And we were like, really, we were like, okay, I like this person, this person's awesome. I wanna hang out with this person more. And I think when you can take things, Iod off yourself and the pressure of yourself And I think when you can take the anxiety off yourself

and the pressure off yourself, that's when you actually open yourself up more to be able to even be in that relationship when the guy comes. And so I love that. Hearing your story is so beautiful. One thing I love about you and your family is just you all have such a positive outlook online.

You're always pointing towards something positive and happy and joyful, but you don't ignore the bad things. You don't ignore the hard things that happen to you. You talk about them, but at the end of the day, you're always looking towards something positive. And so, where do you think that that mindset comes from within you? Yeah, I think that for us as a family, we try really hard to find the joy in every day. And I think that's so important because life is filled with ups and downs. I mean, we all have a story and we have all dealt with our own battles and grief.

And sometimes it is difficult to find the light in the day. And for us as a family, we, my mom actually started doing this at the end of every day, we would sit down and we would say, what was the best part of my day? What was my favorite thing that happened? And then what was my good deed for the day? And every single day we would do that. And she started

this after my dad passed away. She said, we're doing this as a family at the end of every day. And actually, it almost sets this pattern in your mind and your heart where suddenly, each and every day, you're looking for the good part of the day and you're looking to do your good deed for the day. And it is so powerful because, you know, some days, some days are hard and some days you go, the good part of my day was my shower. I loved the warm water, I loved getting to wash my hair. That was a really good part of the day because the rest of the day was really difficult and then you find your good deed. You're like, well, today I rescued this animal or might help someone out with something

that they were working on. And it's extraordinary how it changes the way you look at life and you look at your day-to-day activities. And I think that has really helped us as a family to find the good because, you know, it is difficult. There's a lot going on in the world right now. There's a lot that you can kind of get stuck in the same pattern of negativity and it's hard to climb out.

And that's when you have to look around and find your support group, the people that you love, find what you are passionate about in life and just hold on to that and find that light. And it doesn't have to be a big thing. It can be really, really little like getting the door for someone or, you know, just looking at the sunshine. That's a good part of the day. You can always find something and and that has really helped us as a family and and I'm I'm really grateful to my beautiful mama for for doing that. Do you do you have anything in your family that's that's similar that you do every day? I love that. Vinny that's so cool. You know, it's so funny is that I'm not kidding you.

My next question was what is things that your family does to keep your bond strong? And so that's so crazy that you just went into that. And our family does as well. And it's crazy because we always do our highs and lows. So at the dinner table, we say like, what was the best part of your day and what was something that was hard today? And the reason that we do that is not to like dwell on the negative. But I think because sometimes what's happening hard happens,, you tend to maybe keep it to yourself and it can make you feel like internally sad and isolated and I think that's whenever you start to feel like alone in your problems.

And so it kind of just opens up the table to talk about hard things with the people that love you and that can help you through it. So yeah, we always do our highs and lows and then my husband and I I we always pray together every day And that's just so important us because it's like okay, some things were like praise worthy and we're praying and saying Thank you God for this amazing thing and some days are a little bit harder and you're like God I can't carry the burden of this and so we give this to you as a couple. And so that is just really cool because I think anything that you do with your family, whether it is, you know, that

what y'all do, which I love, and we're going to have to incorporate that, which is the best eating the best that happened, or maybe it's a prayer, or maybe it's your highs and lows, like coming together as a family and doing life together as a family, talking about the good, talking about the bad, talking about the things that you did to help the world. Those things like in and of themselves, like probably do more for the world than you even know, because I think when families are together and families are strong, the world's a better place. And so I absolutely love that. Your family sets such a good example for so many reasons. And Joel, such a great example for wildlife and for the mission that y'all are on,

but you're also just great examples to watch as people. The way that you find joy and things, the way that your marriage is so strong, the way that y'all parent grace, warrior, the way that your mom loves y'all and keeps y'all together, the way I even saw a clip of your brother tearing up, talking about how thankful he was for how a trailer loves you. Like the love you'll have for one another is an example for the whole world to see. And your dad set the tone and y'all carried it out.

And it's beautiful. And Bindi, I couldn't thank you more for joining me. I actually kind of forgot we were doing a face like audio and there's a lot of people listening. I feel like I'm just talking to a sweet friend. And so I'm thankful that people got to listen to this and because I know you've inspired everyone today. But thank you for also inspiring me.

And if I were to say the best thing that happened to me today would definitely be this conversation. And a good deed I would have to say is that everyone got to hear it. And that people are going to be impacted. And so how can we support you and your family and what y'all are doing right now before we get off? Oh my goodness. What do you think about this? and that people are going to be impacted. And so how can we support you and your family and what y'all are doing right now before we get off?

Oh my goodness. Well, thank you so much for everything. And I have to say the feeling is definitely mutual. It has been so special getting to talk to you. And keep changing the world because it is so empowering to be able to watch you on your journey and you inspire so many people, more people than you realize. So please keep up the amazing work. And yeah, we're always busy here at Australia Zoo. You can check out wildlife warriors to be able to learn

more about what we do. We have Instagram and Facebook and we have our website wildlife warriors.org and you can see all of our conservation work globally. But I am so, so grateful to get to talk to you, Sadie and to everybody listening. It is a blessing and I am forever grateful that we're, we're kind of all on this journey together. And it's so important to find to find that that love and light in every day and yeah it's it's something where we could all use a little bit of

kindness and a little bit of happiness especially right now with how crazy the world is but sending giant koala cuddles your way and to everybody. That's important. Yes, and one day, Sadie, you will have to come and visit us here at Australia Zoo and get those koala cuddles in real life. And we'll make sure that honey gets to hug on a lot of animals too. Yeah. The end honey will go for the koala. It's interesting. You can go for the crocodile.

But we love it. We can't wait. Well, I appreciate it. And everyone that was listening, thanks for listening in to another Facebook audio live. I've so enjoyed doing this and just love getting to talk to amazing people. As Bindi said, we could all use a little bit more kindness and more light.

And I just want to encourage you that you can be that person. You can be that person in your city. You can be that person in the world. You can be that person right in your home by starting tonight. Talk to your family about some things that they did today. Talk about some things that you could do tomorrow and just continue to try to make daily decisions to bring joy and positivity into the world. And so we appreciate y'all

listening. God bless you all and thank you again, Bendy, for being on. Thank you lovely. Have a great, I think it's nighttime there. It's morning here. So have a great evening or morning wherever you are. Well, thank you all the good night and you have a good morning. Thank you, beautiful. Bye. Friends, if you enjoyed this conversation, I encourage you to go follow me on Facebook. I'm Sadie Robertson. I'm Facebook. I have a blue check. So you know that it's me. Go follow along on my Facebook journey. long my face with journey.