- 16 hours ago
Misty Copeland Sits Down for an Intimate Conversation with President Obama
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00I want to start off by saying that you guys have a lot more in common than I'm sure a lot of people
00:10know. You're both born into multiracial families, you were raised by single mothers, and you've
00:16risen to the top of your respective fields as African Americans, which is pretty notable. But
00:21I'm curious, what do you see in each other that you recognize in yourself? Is there a common
00:27thread that has allowed you both to succeed? First of all, I thought you were going to
00:31say that I'm also a really good dancer. I thought about it. I saw you dancing. I'm 12-year-old.
00:37So I was a little let down as you were. That wasn't the common thread that she picked up
00:42on. Well, first of all, I mean, I couldn't be prouder of what Misty's done. As the father
00:48of two daughters, one of the things I'm always looking for are strong women who are out there
00:56who are breaking barriers and doing great stuff. And Misty's a great example of that. Somebody
01:04who has entered a field that's very competitive, where the assumptions are that she may not belong.
01:17And through sheer force of will and determination and incredible talent and hard work, she was
01:23able to arrive at the pinnacle of her field. And that's exciting. The other thing is, as a father
01:35of two daughters, seeing how images of strong, athletic, accomplished women carry over and encouraging
01:45them in sports and dance and, you know, how they move physically, it turns out that every
01:53study shows that young girls who are involved in sports, dance, you know, athletics, end up
02:00having more confidence generally. And across the board, in everything that they do, end up
02:05being more assertive, happier. So this is one of the reasons why having Misty on our fitness
02:14council has been so important. Absolutely.
02:16I think that there's a sense of humbleness and humility and there's a human that's within
02:26you. And I think that that's something that I can relate to and connect with that people
02:32are drawn to. And they feel this genuineness coming from you. And I think that it allows
02:40you to rise to this level and not feel this pressure that's kind of pushing you down, but
02:47allows you to take the responsibility with a sense of pride and again, just being grounded.
02:54And I feel like as I'm embarking on my first season as a principal dancer, I'm experiencing
03:02something that I didn't prepare myself for. I think emotionally and mentally and psychologically,
03:08when you have all of these expectations and goals to reach this point that 1% get to, you
03:18know, how do you, what do you do when you get there? How do you stay grounded and humble and
03:23striving? And I think that's on a much smaller scale for me, but something that I feel like
03:29I can relate to with you that I can't imagine you must have experienced.
03:34Well, you know, it's interesting that this whole notion of when you arrive, I don't know
03:41how it felt for you, but certainly for me, you know, probably I burst out on the national
03:46scene with the Democratic Convention speech in 2004. And it was the first time that I had
03:52a big national audience. And everybody responded really favorably. And so I got a lot of attention
03:59and interviews and magazine pieces and all this stuff. And I still remember telling Michelle
04:05and my closest friends, I said, I'm not any smarter today than I was last week, right?
04:11In some ways, when you've struggled for a while and you've had the ability of being an ordinary
04:20person and you've gone shopping, changed diapers and tried to figure out how to pay the bills
04:27and so forth so that you're not some overnight success, then handling some of these issues ends
04:34up being easier because you have a better sense of perspective. You don't sense somehow that,
04:40well, this is because I'm just so special or because I'm so much smarter than that other
04:46person because, in fact, you've known those other people and who were talented and smart
04:52and capable. In some ways, you got a break. You were lucky. And that, for me at least,
04:58keeps me grounded because it reminds me that, you know, for all the blessings and privileges
05:04and responsibilities that I've got, you know, I'm just representing a huge cross-section of
05:12people who are talented and capable and supported me getting to where I came from. And so it,
05:23that takes a little bit of the edge off. And more importantly, it means that, you know,
05:31your friends don't start looking at you and thinking, no, you're acting kind of like you're
05:35all that, right? And it's good to have friends who will do that for you. If you start acting
05:41weird, they're all like, yeah, it's like, what? Suddenly you're some prima ballerina? Please.
05:49I remember when, and they'll remind you of some story. Okay, okay. That's helpful.
05:56And you both represent the African-American community. Do you, as the President of the
06:00United States, as a principal dancer for the American Ballet Theater, do you ever think
06:05that, how does race come to play? Like, do you think that people still treat you differently
06:10because of race, because you're African-American in your field?
06:14Um, you know, my experience has been that a lot of what I've, what I've experienced has
06:23not always been to my face or it's been very subtle. Um, but it's in a way that I, I know
06:30what's going on and I feel it deep inside of me. And I, and I, being the only African-American
06:36in almost every environment in terms of classical ballet, um, it weighs on you and it wears on
06:42you after, you know, after a while. And I feel like a lot of it as well is, um, what I'm kind
06:52of putting on myself and this, um, just trying to not get too caught up and too wrapped up
07:02and too weighed down with being black and trying to just be the best person and the best dancer
07:08that I can be and work and work harder than, um, even if I see the person next to me that,
07:14you know, things may be a little bit easier for them. I'm going to try and push myself even
07:18harder than them. But I think that being African-American has definitely been a huge obstacle for me,
07:23but it's, um, also allowed me to, um, have this fire inside of me that I don't know I would
07:30have or have had if I weren't in this field.
07:34Hmm. The, uh, well, part of, uh, classical ballet, uh, that makes it challenging is that
07:43there's a very set way of doing things and sort of this canon that people want in just
07:50a certain way or they want it to look a certain way. And so do you find now that, uh, you're
07:55in a position where you can start pushing the barriers a little bit and boundaries in terms
08:00of what people expect, um, now that you've established that, all right, I can do this,
08:05so let me also do that, or I, you know, I can, uh, master that style. And so now can we
08:14introduce something a little bit different? How much of that takes place?
08:17Absolutely. I mean, I think that, um, having a platform and having a voice to be seen, um,
08:23by people beyond the classical ballet world has really been, um, my power. I feel, uh,
08:30it's, it's allowed me to say, it's okay to have a healthy athletic body. We are fully capable
08:38of doing everything that the person who doesn't have an extremely athletic body that is more,
08:43you know, thin, um, we're fully capable of doing exactly the same thing. And I think that
08:48being in this position and, um, showing that I can execute and do all of these things, that
08:54it's, it's possible to have any skin complexion, to have, uh, a healthy body image for the ballerina
09:02body. Um, I think it's given me more of a voice and it's, I think, forcing a lot of these top
09:09tiered companies to address the lack of diversity and diversifying the body, the bodies that we're
09:15seeing in classical ballet, it's really forcing that conversation to be had.
09:20I have to say, as an outsider, I don't know if you feel the same way, when I hear that, like,
09:26your body type is considered sort of, uh, more athletic or large, you're tiny. For those of you
09:34who are watching, you may not be able to see. I mean, you're petite. Yeah. So the notion that
09:42somehow that was even a question is, is pretty interesting. Yeah. I mean, I think, I think
09:46it's how, I think it's a lot of the, the language and how we use it. And I think for a lot of
09:54people of color, um, that seems to be, uh, an easy way or a way out by just, by saying
10:02you don't fit in, it may be the, your skin color, um, it may be the texture of your hair,
10:08it, whatever it is. We want a certain look. Yeah. And I think that's an easy way of, of
10:13addressing that. Interesting.
10:14As a father of two daughters, do you see that at all? Do you see that pressure in your own
10:20life? Yeah. Well, I mean, some of this is just, uh, gender issues generally. I mean, when,
10:25when you're a dad of two daughters, you notice more. What, when I was a kid, I didn't realize
10:32as much, or maybe it was even a part of, which is, uh, the enormous pressure that young women
10:36are, uh, placed under in terms of looking a certain way and being cute in a certain way. And
10:42are you, uh, you know, wearing the right clothes? And, you know, is your hair done the right way? And,
10:48uh, you know, and that pressure, I think, is historically always been harder on African-American
10:57women than just about any other women. But it's, uh, part and parcel of a broader way in
11:03which we socialize and, uh, uh, you know, press women to, to constantly doubt themselves or
11:12define themselves in terms of a certain appearance. Um, and so Michelle and I are always guarding
11:17against that. Um, and, you know, the fact that they've got a tall, gorgeous mom, uh, who has
11:28some curves and that her father, their father appreciates, uh, I think is helpful. Um, I do
11:35think the culture is changing for the younger generation a little bit more. Right? You know,
11:41you see Beyonce or you see, uh, you know, some of these pop stars and, uh, what both white, Latino,
11:50black children are seeing as representative of beauty, uh, is much broader than it was when I was
11:58a kid. Uh, you know, uh, you just didn't see that much representation. Um, and that's, that's healthy
12:05and that's encouraging. Um, but it's still a challenge. I mean, Malie will talk about, you
12:11know, white girls' hair and, and, and, you know, we'll have much opinions about, she's
12:19pretty opinionated about the fact that it costs a lot, it takes a long time, that sometimes,
12:24uh, you know, girls can be just as tough on each other about how they're supposed to look.
12:30Uh, and, uh, and so it's, uh, as a parent, that's a constant learning process that you're
12:37trying to, uh, trying to pull them forward. And, and that's why somebody like a Misty ends
12:43up being so important. A lot of it is the power of that image, even if they're not dancers,
12:52even if they're not, uh, you know, interested in, uh, pursuing a career, uh, in entertainment
13:01or the arts. Um, for them to know that that's valued ends up making a big difference.
13:07And beyond the, you know, just simply being there, that obviously makes a difference, but
13:12then there's also a pressure, like you mentioned, to do more. And I'm curious also what you make
13:17of social movements like black girl magic, when there are these, like, grassroots level,
13:23you know, reinforcement of these ideas that, you know, it's black and beautiful, in a sense.
13:27Um, it's so important for this generation and, and to use social media to have a positive
13:34impact on our generation, um, is huge. Uh, and I know that, you know, you have a presence
13:41as well, and it's such a part, um, I think we have to be involved, I think, in order to really
13:46reach the younger generation, um, on social media, but to have movements like black girl
13:51magic, I think it couldn't be more positive for, um, a young black girl to see that it's
13:58okay to be yourself. It's okay to not have to transform and look like what you may see
14:02on the cover of a lot of magazines, that you are beautiful, um, that it's, that it's possible
14:08to succeed in any, uh, field that you want to, looking the way you do, with your hair the
14:13way it is. I think all of that is so extremely important and something that I'm constantly,
14:19um, celebrating that, uh, you know, something that I fought so hard for throughout the beginning
14:25of my career is that I didn't want to pancake my skin a lighter color to fit into the corps
14:29de ballet. I wanted to be myself. I didn't want to have to wear makeup that made my nose
14:34look thinner. Um, you know, they're just, it's, it's important, I think, with this, um, generation
14:41of young minorities, uh, children especially, um, to feel comfortable and confident in their
14:48skin. Well, look, social media obviously is, is the way in which young people are receiving
14:55information generally, so the, the power of young activists to help shape culture and politics
15:02through things like Black Lives Matters, I think is, is, is hugely important. And, you know,
15:09when I, when I think about, uh, the journey I've traveled, there's no doubt that, that young
15:18African American, Latino, Asian, LGBT youth, they have more role models. They've got, uh,
15:26they have more, uh, folks that they can immediately identify with. Um, and, and that in and of itself
15:34value. But what we also have to remember is that, you know, the barriers that exist for
15:41them to pursue their dreams, uh, are deep and structural. And so it is wonderful that the
15:54potential dancer can see Misty and say, I can do that. But if there's no dance studio at all
15:59in their neighborhood, and if their schools don't offer any extracurricular activities
16:04at all, uh, or if their school is chronically underfunded, then it's going to be a problem.
16:10I, I, I hope that there are young, uh, men of color who are looking at me and saying, I
16:16can aspire to be the president or a senator or, uh, a community organizer and, and make change
16:22in my neighborhoods. But if they are locked out of opportunity and in neighborhoods where
16:35even if I'm on television, there are no men in their neighborhoods who've got, uh, jobs
16:42that are able to support a family, then you've still got problems. So I think culture, changing
16:49attitudes is, is hugely important. Uh, we're, for example, trying to get more girls and women
16:59to study, uh, the STEM subjects, math, science, engineering, because they're chronically
17:04underrepresented. And in, in researching this, we found out that, for example, since CSI came
17:12on and there are women who are doing forensic, uh, investigations, that the number of women
17:19who are in this field has skyrocketed, right? So some of it is just, okay, I, I now picture
17:25myself as doing that. Um, but I think it's important for us to remember that it's not just
17:31a matter of providing a, a strong image. It's also making sure that they've got good schools,
17:37making sure that, uh, you know, they're, uh, getting programs that, uh, allow them to explore
17:45all their talents, making sure that, uh, the economy is working, uh, in a way that gives
17:51everybody a chance to succeed. Uh, you know, uh, it's a both-and rather than either-or proposition.
17:57How do you make sure those things are protected when you see, for example, affirmative action,
18:03you know, in the balance again? Is that something that's important in academics and the arts,
18:08for example? Well, I, look, I'm a strong supporter of affirmative action, uh, as a way of opening
18:15more doors. And I think there are ways of structuring affirmative action so that, uh, everybody's
18:22getting more of a chance. Uh, you know, the truth of the matter is there's always been affirmative action.
18:27It just hasn't always benefited minority folks, right? If you make a big donation to a university,
18:32your, your kid is more likely to get into university. Uh, it's not called, affirmative action,
18:38it's called, uh, uh, legacies. Uh, and so, uh, for a school, for a dance program, for, uh, uh,
18:49a political organization to say, we're gonna actively seek out and recruit talent that hasn't had insight
18:56into this field before, this world before. Um, we're gonna have a bunch of young girls, uh, come into
19:05American Ballet Theater and just watch and get a workshop and have them imagine themselves on that stage.
19:15Uh, you know, because they're much less likely to have a program available to them in their community
19:24or to have parents who, uh, uh, even know about ballet. Well, you know, that's, uh, that's something that's
19:32extraordinarily valuable and I think we can, we can sustain while not being so rigid that it ends up
19:38locking, uh, anybody else out of opportunity. I absolutely agree. I mean, I think it's, it's so
19:44completely necessary, especially when you're dealing with the field that's never really been open to
19:49reaching out to communities that don't have the access, that don't have the exposure and the means
19:54to be a part of, um, something, uh, especially that's, you know, so, um, niche as the classical ballet world.
20:01And, um, I think that it's, it's a responsibility that I feel, um, you know, being the only African
20:12American at this level in American Ballet Theater, I feel like people are looking at me and it's
20:17my responsibility for me to do whatever I can to provide these opportunities in communities,
20:23um, to be able to educate them. And if that means having a program just for black dancers to allow
20:30them to have the same opportunity, um, that generations and generations of white dancers
20:35have had, it's necessary. Yeah. The, uh, this is one of the reasons why I'm, I've got something
20:40called My Brother's Keeper that we've been mobilizing all across the country and the notion
20:47is if we can reach young men of color who so often are channeled into destructive behavior
20:55or into dropping out of school and ending up, uh, in the prison pipeline, if we can just
21:02expose them to what their possibilities are, link them with a mentor, um, work with the institutions
21:10like schools to say, um, examine what your policies are on suspensions and expulsions to make sure
21:19that, uh, black boys or Hispanic boys aren't being treated differently.
21:24Um, what you do is to, um, what you discover through this process is how much talent is there, untapped.
21:38And, you know, uh, we bring in some mentees into the White House, uh, each year and, uh, I have lunch with them
21:46and we pair them up with senior advisors here. And a lot of them have never even been into an office setting before.
21:54A lot of them don't know what it means to be a Secret Service agent or what would be required for them to, um, pursue a professional degree.
22:05And, you know, we've been doing this for a few years now and we're already seeing how the horizons
22:12that these young men suddenly have for themselves starts, uh, rising.
22:18And it, the great thing is we've been able to duplicate this in hundreds of cities across the country.
22:25Uh, it's, you're seeing companies step up saying we're willing to bring in somebody for the summer
22:31so that they can get exposed to what a law firm looks like or what an accounting firm looks like.
22:36And that then provides the motivation for these young people, uh, to, you know, navigate and, uh, take, uh, make better choices in their own lives.
22:47Because ultimately, I'm sure Misty feels this. I certainly feel it. Um, we wouldn't have succeeded if we hadn't worked hard.
22:54Uh, you can't replace hard work and initiative and discipline and sacrifice, uh, and delayed gratification.
23:06And there are all kinds of things you give up along, uh, whatever path, uh, uh, to success you've chosen.
23:13But part of what inspires you to make those sacrifices is the sense that I might actually succeed, you know.
23:22And, and so much of what we want to do with our young people is persuade them to, uh, to dream big
23:32and, and, and to not feel that somehow their, the circumstances of their birth or the circumstances of their, uh, upbringing or poverty or race in any way inhibits them.
23:47You have to be honest with them and say, yeah, it's going to be harder for you than it might have been for somebody else.
23:51But that's okay. And it turns out the kids are extraordinarily resilient if they feel like they can actually make something happen.
23:58And looking back, was there anything that someone told either of you about race or didn't tell you about race, um, that you wish they had or that you felt like you had to learn on your own?
24:07And how does that impact how you talk to young people, um, today?
24:11Um, I feel like my mom pretty much covered everything with me.
24:17Um, you know, being biracial, she made it very clear to me that, um, yes, you are Italian and you are German and you are black,
24:25but you are going to be viewed by the world and by society as a black woman and you should be prepared for that.
24:32Um, I think that I, being, um, very shy, going into a setting where I was the only black woman, um, allowed me to observe more rather than react.
24:48And I think that saved me a lot and it taught me a lot.
24:51And it has allowed me to, when I'm interacting with my mentees, um, to say to them, you know, there are just ways that you have to approach situations that may be difficult or may not be fair, but it's how you represent yourself.
25:07Um, you may be, you know, carrying a responsibility that you don't want, but, um, it is what it is being African American and being in certain environments.
25:18It doesn't matter if you're a ballet dancer, if you're an attorney, you know, whatever it is you're trying to do, you're going to be faced with these, um, obstacles.
25:27I mean, I think about this now as a parent and Michelle and I, you know, I have a lot of conversations around the dinner table.
25:33And for me, what I always try to transmit to my kids is that issues of race, discrimination, uh, tragic history of slavery and Jim Crow, all those things are real.
25:49And you have to understand them and you have to be knowledgeable about them, uh, and recognize that, uh, they didn't stop overnight.
26:00Uh, certainly not just when I was elected.
26:03I remember people talking about how somehow this was going to solve all our racial problems and I wasn't one of those who subscribe to that notion.
26:11Um, and, and that, but, but what I want them to draw from it is a sense of justice for everybody.
26:20I, my view is, is that the strength of, uh, having been a minority on the receiving end of discrimination is that it should make you that much more attuned and empathetic towards anybody who's vulnerable,
26:37towards anybody who's being locked out.
26:39Uh, so, you know, what I say to my kids is, is, is, is use this as, as, uh, uh, something that, that provides you a particular power, uh, uh, to, to be willing to fight on behalf of, uh, what you think is right.
26:55Um, and that includes thinking about and, uh, uh, uh, uh, being concerned with the struggles that, uh, whites have in this society as well.
27:13Um, you know, part of what I think is sometimes difficult, uh, but I think absolutely necessary for black activists,
27:24things like those who are, uh, you know, uh, engaging in, in, uh, some of the protests around Ferguson, et cetera,
27:32is to try to also get yourself in the mindset of a police officer who is scared and who is, uh, trying to figure out how to navigate, uh, uh, you know, uh, a,
27:48very challenging job and wants to get home safe and may make a split second decision.
27:54And how are they being trained? And are they being provided enough guidance, uh, from their bosses that will steer them in a better direction rather than the worst direction?
28:04That's hard to do because it's easier to just kind of say, be angry and frustrated.
28:10And, you know, part of what I think successful social movements have involved is, uh, having a certain righteous anger about injustices being done to you,
28:22but also understanding that, you know, the people who are on the other side of this, uh, they've got their own history and their own circumstances.
28:30And you have to understand that and you have to, um, you know, recognize that, uh, each of us has some good and some bad in us.
28:39And, uh, and, uh, and that they're not, that's not an excuse, uh, but it, what it does do is it gives us an opportunity then to have a conversation and to reach across, uh, the divide.
28:52Um, and that's, that's not something that always, um, at a time when so much of communications is sound bites and tweets and, uh, cable news.
29:06Uh, it's, it's hard to have that kind of conversation.
29:09It's easier, I think, to just make everything very black and white.
29:13Um, but I think that when you look at how social change has happened throughout history, including in our country,
29:22it's, it's been because we can project ourselves into the circumstances of other people.
29:28And, uh, and hopefully that's something that Malia and Sasha and her generation is, uh, is picking up on.
29:35And, and I think they have.
29:37And, um, wrapping things up, what do you see as the single greatest fixable obstacle to success of young people today?
29:46How can we, what's the, single, wow.
29:50Um, I think, I mean, everything that you were saying, being able to have an understanding of yourself and how you, how you fit into society and who you are,
30:00but to be empathetic to everyone around you, I think is such a powerful, a powerful thing to hold, um, to be able to forgive.
30:12Um, all of those things, I think, can strengthen this, this generation of, of, um, our youth.
30:22I think having a strong sense of self and, um, and just knowing who they are and being comfortable with that.
30:31Well, you know, I spend most of my time, um, thinking about institutions.
30:39And there's no doubt, even though it's a cliche, that the single biggest difference we can make is making sure that our kids get a good education.
30:47We can do a lot to keep the economy moving forward. We can do a lot to make sure that we're enforcing our non-discrimination laws.
30:56We can do a lot more, uh, to open up people's, um, perspective about, you know, who belongs where.
31:07And, uh, press to make sure that we have more women CEOs and more African American film directors and more Latino, uh, police officers.
31:21And, you know, all those things are important. But the foundation that all this depends is making sure that on the front end,
31:29when these little babies are born and starting to get curious about the world and, uh, are, uh, like sponges,
31:42that we are giving them the kind of education and nurturing that they need so that they're off to a good start.
31:51And, uh, that involves, uh, an imaginative leap, a moral leap on the part of the society as a whole that says,
32:00every kid should get genuine opportunity. And we're willing to put money behind it.
32:05And we're, we're willing to invest in that, uh, to, to break cycles of poverty and to, uh, reach out and, and, and pull kids up,
32:13even if they aren't born into the best of circumstances. And that's hard to do because we're working off the legacy of hundreds of years,
32:22uh, of, uh, discrimination that gets passed on generationally. If, if, if we could decide tomorrow that there was no discrimination at all,
32:34that, that, that, that, that we had some new drug that everybody took and suddenly nobody would be, uh, uh, racially prejudiced.
32:47We still have a whole bunch of really poor kids who need help. And that still requires us making investments in them.
32:54And that means that, uh, all of us, the government, private sector, nonprofits, um, have to make some sacrifices
33:03so that those kids are getting opportunity. And if you talk to the average person, uh, they embrace that ideal.
33:13You know, one of the great things about being president is you get to meet people from all walks of life.
33:18And, and the American people are fundamentally good people and they want to do the right thing.
33:24And if you ask them, should every child have opportunity, they will tell you yes.
33:28But if you tell them, okay, that may mean we got to spend more tax dollars to provide them with better schools.
33:35And the teachers have to be paid more. And we have to make sure that they've got computer equipment in their schools.
33:41And arts and music programs aren't a luxury. They're something that helps that child thrive.
33:48Then people start saying, well, you know, I've got my own bills to pay.
33:54And I moved into this, this good school district and I want to make sure that that school district maintains its advantages.
34:02And I'm not sure whether the money's going to be well spent.
34:04And we find all kinds of excuses why we don't actually, uh, move that agenda forward.
34:11And part of my goal through my, things like My Brother's Keeper, part of Michelle's goal through, uh, an initiative she's got called Let's Girls Learn,
34:20is to keep on creating more and more avenues where we as a society can have that conversation and actually move forward and do the right thing.
34:33If we do that, we're not going to eliminate racism and prejudice entirely in this society.
34:40But what we can do is to greatly lessen how much it determines the life chances of people.
34:48Uh, and that should be our goal.
34:50Great. Well, thank you both so much for chatting with us.
34:53Uh, this has been really great.
34:55And lastly, did you guys catch the game on Saturday?
34:58Is Steph Curry the greatest or is he just great?
35:01Steph Curry is the greatest shooter that I've ever seen.
35:05You knew I had an opinion on this.
35:07And, uh, and I am having more fun watching him than anybody since Michael Jordan and his peak.
35:14I was going to ask, is he better than Jordan?
35:16It's pretty remarkable.
35:17He's not, even Steph wouldn't necessarily say he's better than Jordan yet,
35:20but he's, the fact that he's about my size and he's doing what he's doing is amazing.
35:25And I think the growth has been tremendous.
35:28I can imagine where he's going to go.
35:29It is. That's a great point.
35:31It's rare where you get, uh, somebody who's already at the pinnacle
35:34and then they take it another notch iron.
35:36And he's a wonderful young man.
35:37He's a lot of fun.
35:38Great. Well, thank you guys again.
35:39Thank you so much.
35:40It's great to see you.
35:41Thank you. I enjoyed it.
Comments