#0. 100% Humboldt-Discovering Humboldt County’s Inspiring Changemakers with Scott Hammond

Host: Sitting in for Scott Hammond today here on 100% Humboldt, and my guest is

Scott Hammond: It's me, Scott Hammond.

Host: Scott Hammond.

Scott Hammond: How you doing?

Host: I'm doing great. How are you doing?

Scott Hammond: Good. Way to jump right into it.

Host: Thank you.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Host: So I have to ask, who is Scott Hammond?

Scott Hammond: Who is Scott Hammond? Um, sixty-three-year-old, uh, guy on a journey. You know, I interview people all the time for work, and I get factoids. Who am I? Uh, I'm a learner. I'm a guy who's been broken and rebuilt many times and more hardy than ever. I'm a, I'm a follower of Jesus. I'm, um, a local in Humboldt County, 100% Humboldt since 1978. I've raised nine kids here. I'm a father of nine, a grandfather of soon to be ten. I'm a, uh, oh, I'm a good neighbor. I almost had my State Farm thing on here, so I'm a good neighbor. What else am I? I'm an amazing husband and even sometimes better boss. I'm told I'm a really good mentoring boss, so. Uh, I'm a father. I'm a son. I'm a friend. I'm a brother. I'm a, um, a mentor. I'm a mentee. Several guys have been really meaningful in my life that I've determined to learn from, so that's a little bit about me, I guess. I'm a homeowner in McKinleyville.

Host: That always helps.

Scott Hammond: That's, that's not a bad thing.

Host: And so what are you hoping to achieve with your podcast? What are you hoping to do?

Scott Hammond: Thanks for the question. I, y- what I wanna do is talk to local people here in Humboldt. We're really proud of our county. It's such a… I know you are. I am. Uh, I've raised my kids here. It's, it's such a unique iconoclastic county in California, way up on the north coast with some of the most beautiful, you know, natural beauty in the world, and I would propose some of the most amazing people in the world. And so my goal is I'm gonna follow and find and talk to and get curious with those people who are difference makers in our, uh, our beautiful county we call Humboldt.

Host: Well, I think that's a good goal to have.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I think there's a lot of them too. I'm gonna be excited. I've already kind of started a list. We got some folks coming in that are gonna blow my mind, blow your mind, and I'm just hoping to get organic and curious and ask some good questions and, and let it unfold and see what happens.

Host: And maybe shine a little light on Humboldt in the process.

Scott Hammond: And, you know, shine a lot of light, and I think there's, um, uh, not only, you know, cast some light on us, but, you know, I wanna learn. I wanna learn from these guys 'cause there's people, guys and gals, that have done things. It's like, you did that quietly in the corner, and you made this, this amazing thing happen. You, you got healthcare for Humboldt County, or you got, you know, you built a bridge, or you created a whole system of BLM trails on the beach. How did, how did you do that? What, what, what sparked the Redwood, the Great Redwood Trail? That'd be a good one. We should find out who that is. So-

Host: Coming up on 100% Humboldt-

Scott Hammond: Coming-

Host: The next episode.

Scott Hammond: Coming up. No, what's coming up is, uh, Mary Keene. She's, uh, the, the lady that started Cypress Grove, uh, Goat Cheese, multi- multi-jillion, uh, some of the best goat cheese on Earth. They just won a bunch of gold medals down at the state fair in Sacramento and sh- again, and she said sold it, but she's doing some th- other amazing things, um, in McKinleyville around special needs population, so she's got a, an amazing philanthropic, cool, 100% Humboldt story too.

Host: And so for that listener sitting at home right now tuning in, what do you hope that they get out of this podcast? What do you hope that they take away from these experiences that you're going to have?

Scott Hammond: I think 100% Humboldt could be a metaphor hun- for 100% anywhere, Timbuktu, Tennessee, San Diego, Sacramento, Tallahassee. It's getting engaged in your community, in your network, in your family, in your town on some level where you can shine. You bring out your gifts. You bring out your, your talents. You bring out your, your vision and go make it happen. And so many of us are sitting around complaining and, and, and doing stuff on, on Facebook and, you know, and ranting, and it's like, "Come on, man. Why don't you just stop, put the phone down, and go do something? Go, go, go make some, some stuff happen, dude. Dudette."

Host: Unplug and tune in, as they say, right?

Scott Hammond: Unplug and tune in and put your boots on and get out in the field, man. Get off the bench, and let's, let's roll. Let's see… And bring what you got. And, and, you know, one plus one equals three, so you and me and our effort are, uh, more than enough to, you know, make something start, go, finish, and do another thing. So it's, uh, and then there's a lot of folks that are doing just that, and this is county rife with that. There's people who've been quietly doing stuff in the background for perhaps decades, and, uh, we're gonna find you. We're, y- we know you're out there.

Host: 100% Humboldt is coming for you.

Scott Hammond: 100% Humboldt. N- it doesn't mean they're 100% from Humboldt. I mean, I'm not from Humboldt. I'm from Iowa.

Host: It's more of an ethos in the direction you're going.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah, well said. It's 100% Humboldt ethos. There is… Actually, going back, there is 100% H- uh, Humboldt, Iowa.

Host: Is there really?

Scott Hammond: There's a Humboldt, Iowa. Yeah, it's funny. Yeah, there's a couple o- there's a Humboldt, Nevada, I think. There's a couple other Humboldts, but those are towns and we're counties. So we're the Humboldt County from, uh, uh, named from Alexander von Humboldt, who discovered it, discovered it. He, uh, found Humboldt Bay. I'm sorry, it was just a bay.

Host: Okay. Well, Scott, I'm excited to see what you do with this.

Scott Hammond: Thanks.

Host: Do you have any reservations? Are you worried about anything, or are you just ready to hit the ground and lift this thing off?

Scott Hammond: I think my confidence levels are good. You're, you're a great coach and, and, and an interviewer, and you've inspired me, Nick. So yeah, I think we're ready to rock and roll, and I think it's, it's very much, um, not about me. So if I can get out of the picture and lower my, um, fear levels and let other people shine, then it's, then it gets really fun. You know, to get curious, to get interested, and to get, uh, people to talk about, um, their life, their vision, their past, their present, and where they're going, I, I think that's gonna be, um, the inspiration, and that'll be the payoff for, uh, for the listener, for the host, for the guest, and maybe for you. And did I mention that we're unofficially brought to you by Dick Taylor Chocolates, uh, which are 100% Humboldt? Oh, wait, I actually brought a bar. We were there today. We're the first tour ever of their chocolate factory in Old Town. This is the Blackberry Bergamot, and I thought, "Well, I wonder what that's about." And I got curious, and it was 100% Humboldt delicious. So these guys, uh, do chocolate like, like nobody else, and we're gonna have them as, uh, as guests here on 100% Humboldt as well in July.

Host: And when can people expect the first episode to be out?

Scott Hammond: I'd say late, uh, mid to late June, we'll probably start dropping episodes and, uh, uh, watch your, um, watch your social media. We, we'll figure out how to get that word out there somehow.

Host: Okay. Well, Scott, this is gonna be an exciting journey for you. I'm excited.

Scott Hammond: Thanks.

Host: I think you'll enjoy it.

Scott Hammond: Thank you, Nick. Thanks for coming along with that, and 100% Humboldt with your s- with your new host, and now guest, Scott Hammond. Have a great day.