Ripped At 73: Chef Babette Davis On Self-Love, Fitness, & Reinvention At Any Age

Chef Babette Davis is a 73-year-old vegan chef, fitness icon, and star of viral social media videos. This conversation explores Chef Babette’s journey from childhood hardship to health advocacy, her philosophy on food as medicine, and her mission to heal communities through plant-based eating. We discuss her lessons to vitality at any age, the power of self-love, and her spiritual approach to life. Before wrapping up the conversation, Chef Babette wows with impromptu push-ups! Chef Babette is an incredible spirit and a powerful lighthouse. This conversation is inspiring and practical. Enjoy! Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTube Newsletter Sign-Up Today’s Sponsors: On: Enter RichRoll10 at the checkout to get 10% OFF your first order 👉on.com/richroll Peak Design: 20% OFF thoughtfully designed backpacks & more 👉PeakDesign.com/RICHROLL Squarespace: Use the offer code RichRoll to save 10% off 👉 Squarespace.com/RichRoll AG1: Get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D3+K2 AND 5 free AG1 Travel Packs 👉drinkAG1.com/richroll Check out all of the amazing discounts from our Sponsors 👉 richroll.com/sponsors Find out more about Voicing Change Media at voicingchange.media and follow us @voicingchange Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Babette Davis?

  The only person that can truly take care of me is me. I am responsible for me. I'm responsible for my health.

• 0:09Rich Roll?

  Chef Babette is back.

• 0:11Babette Davis?

  I view life as an amazing gift. At 73, still learning so much. What can you do about anything that you're stressed over right this moment? It's just reminding yourself, I can embrace this moment and be happy in this moment because I control my thoughts. I control my heart. And all of that stuff, it's not real. It's not real, Rich.

• 0:44Rich Roll?

  Hey, everybody. Welcome to the podcast where today we're going round two with one of the most popular guests of 2023, my favorite septuagenarian chef Babette Davis. You know her, you love her. She is the renowned vegan chef at the helm of Stuff I Eat, the restaurant that is uplifting her underserved Inglewood community. And this is somebody who at 73 years young is just a badass fitness icon and an absolute motivational force of nature. Today, we pick things up where we left off, going deeper into fitness for longevity, food as medicine, and spirituality as source. Babette is the best, and this one is a banger.

• 1:29Rich Roll?

  It's all coming up quick, but first.

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• 2:23Rich Roll?

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• 2:45Rich Roll?

  So good to see you.

• 2:46Babette Davis?

  Oh, so good to be here.

• 2:48Rich Roll?

  Great to have you back. It's been, I think it was October of 2022 when you were in here. Yeah, so it is coming up on two years. It's been a minute. So you're, you're 73 now, yeah?

• 2:59Babette Davis?

  I'm 73.

• 3:00Rich Roll?

  73, glowing. You look amazing, of course. Not surprised. How's life treating you?

• 3:05Babette Davis?

  Wonderful. Everything is good. And I feel so good, Rich. I feel amazing. And you know, every year, when you're a senior citizen, you know, they always want you to get the different insurance packages and all that kind of stuff.

• 3:24Rich Roll?

  Get all the AARP stuff in the mail?

• 3:26Babette Davis?

  All that social security stuff, you know. And I had been always talking about the fact that I don't even have a primary care physician. So I said that on an interview one time and people were like, she really needs to get a primary care physician. And so I signed up for one. I've never met him.

• 3:45Rich Roll?

  You still haven't gone though.

• 3:46Babette Davis?

  I still haven't gone, but I want.

• 3:48Rich Roll?

  It would be, it would be interesting for you to go in and just get all the tests and get the blood work and just see exactly where you're at.

• 3:54Babette Davis?

  But if I feel good, Rich, if I feel amazing, if I feel amazing.

• 3:59Rich Roll?

  You just don't want, you just don't want something going on that you wouldn't feel.

• 4:02Babette Davis?

  I'm 73, Rich.

• 4:03Rich Roll?

  I know.

• 4:04Babette Davis?

  73 and 22 is how much?

• 4:08Rich Roll?

  73 and 22?

• 4:10Babette Davis?

  Yes, how much?

• 4:11Rich Roll?

  It's 85.

• 4:12Babette Davis?

  Is that all?

• 4:13Rich Roll?

  No, 95.

• 4:14Babette Davis?

  It's 95?

• 4:15Rich Roll?

  Yes, 95.

• 4:16Babette Davis?

  Well, what do I need? So is it 73?

• 4:18Rich Roll?

  Plus 22?

• 4:19Babette Davis?

  And 32?

• 4:20Rich Roll?

  Oh.

• 4:21Babette Davis?

  Is that 100?

• 4:21Rich Roll?

  That's 105.

• 4:22Babette Davis?

  That's 105? I only need 100. So 73 and?

• 4:30Babette Davis?

  Rich, your math is as bad as mine.

• 4:32Rich Roll?

  What, 28? To get to 100? I don't know, what are you driving at?

• 4:35Babette Davis?

  I'm trying to get to 100.

• 4:36Rich Roll?

  What's the equation you're trying to solve?

• 4:37Babette Davis?

  And I'm trying to say, if I'm chilling and I'm feeling amazing, and there's nothing wrong with me.

• 4:42Rich Roll?

  27 years.

• 4:43Babette Davis?

  Why would I need to go do all that?

• 4:45Rich Roll?

  I feel ya, I hear ya.

• 4:47Babette Davis?

  Check this out, though. I did have an incident where I was feeding an eagle. I was in the gym. December the 5th, two days before my 73rd birthday. I was feeding my eagle. I did a 45-minute spin. And that eagle said to me, "You should go get on the treadmill." Remember how you used to do that little eight-minute mile after that? After you get off the spin bike? And I said, "Yeah." So I go over to the treadmill. Hadn't been on a treadmill for at least two years. I get on the treadmill. This girl walking next to me. That's what I should have done. But my eagle said, "Turn it up to 7 and sprint." I did.

• 5:31Babette Davis?

  I was getting it. Then I saw my trainer come in, got off the treadmill, went into the training room. He could hardly train me. I was showing off, Rich. I was... I get to the restaurant. I bend down to wipe a spider web off the... And my left knee, no, my right knee, cracks three times. Yeah. It was not good.

• 5:57Rich Roll?

  The ego always gets ya.

• 5:58Babette Davis?

  The ego. And that is what I have been sharing with people, to stay in your lane. I had absolutely no reason to turn that treadmill up to 7 and sprint. I had not been on a treadmill and had just got off the spin bike. That was way, way too much.

• 6:17Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 6:18Babette Davis?

  And I learned such a valuable lesson. At 73 years old, I learned to check that ego at the door.

• 6:26Rich Roll?

  But you still didn't go to the doctor to check out the knee?

• 6:29Babette Davis?

  No, you know what? You know, I didn't. I didn't, I didn't, I didn't.

• 6:32Rich Roll?

  Is it alright? There you go.

• 6:36Babette Davis?

  Yeah, but, no, I didn't go to the doctor. I'm human, and, and, and, you know, of course, but as long as I am ingesting good nourishment and good thoughts, um, and I feel amazing, there's nothing wrong with me. What, why do I need to go to the doctor? To tell me what?

• 7:03Rich Roll?

  I don't know that you need to. I guess my only concern, as I said earlier, was just that you want to make sure there isn't something going on that you wouldn't otherwise be unaware of because you're asymptomatic. That's all. That's like the Western mind inside of me that's looking out for you.

• 7:21Babette Davis?

  You know what? I'm just giving you a hard time. I should go to a doctor and, and do all that stuff you said. I really shouldn't.

• 7:28Rich Roll?

  I would like you to go so that he does all the tests and is amazed. And then, then, then you have the ability to just show anybody who questions what you're doing. You know what I mean? You're like, well, look at it here. Like, everybody says, oh, the, the way that you eat is not healthy, or you're nutrient deficient, or you're not getting enough of this or that. And you can have all the blood work, and you're like, here it is.

• 7:49Babette Davis?

  But you know what, though? Rich, I don't really care about them saying that.

• 7:54Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 7:55Babette Davis?

  Because the only person that can truly take care of me is me. I am responsible for me. I'm responsible for my health.

• 8:05Babette Davis?

  I, I understand what you're saying about, you know, having knowledge if something is up with you.

• 8:11Rich Roll?

  Well, let's talk a little bit more about this idea of your responsibility to yourself. That's not unrelated to this idea of self-love, and you always talk about putting yourself first. We talked about that a little bit last time, but maybe we can go a little bit deeper into that. So what do you mean when you say that?

• 8:30Babette Davis?

  Basically, I, I, I view life as an amazing gift, a beautiful human experience. And, um, for me, the only way that I can show how appreciative I am of this gift is to practice self-love and self-care. And that includes my thoughts, the people that I surround myself with, how I nourish myself. Just how am I caring for this human body? So that I can, I can live at my purpose.

• 9:14Babette Davis?

  And I feel right now, I figured out what my purpose is. And it's sharing my journey. Because it's so inspiring to so many.

• 9:27Babette Davis?

  And so, yeah, I'm just really crazy about me right now.

• 9:31Rich Roll?

  That's great. We were talking before the podcast and we were joking about the fact that the last time you were here, I was sort of chiding you about the fact that you wouldn't hire anyone for the restaurant and you're still in there at, you know, like 2:00 a.m. like chopping vegetables. And, you know, you could hire a young person to do this, like you don't still have to do this.

• 9:52Babette Davis?

  I know.

• 9:53Rich Roll?

  Because fundamentally, your job is to be you, right? And you just said it yourself. So you know it, right?

• 10:00Babette Davis?

  I do know it.

• 10:01Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 10:01Babette Davis?

  I know so much. And at 73, still learning so much. That's what's incredible. When I talked about the knee, I learned a lot that day. I learned a whole bunch that day. But man, when it comes to the restaurant, you're right. We, finally, my husband hired a couple of folks, really awesome. Couple of people that are just coming out of a culinary arts academy. They had great attitudes, they know what they're doing, it's awesome. I still have not been relieved of, you can look at these hands. I do have a trigger finger, these two fingers don't bend. And I have carpal tunnel syndrome.

• 10:45Babette Davis?

  So ladies and gentlemen, I do sleep sitting up at night with a rubber ball. Because the blood flow is so bad. Now, I've, I've been challenged with carpal tunnel before. I had carpal tunnel surgery, trigger thumb surgery, carpal tunnel surgery, trigger finger surgery. Now I have trigger finger again and carpal tunnel again. That is called overuse syndrome. It's not anything I'm eating, it's what I'm doing.

• 11:13Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 11:13Babette Davis?

  But I'm doing it for my business. And yes, you're right, it's time for me to stop.

• 11:20Rich Roll?

  You could delegate that part of your business.

• 11:22Babette Davis?

  I have to delegate it.

• 11:22Rich Roll?

  But you can't delegate the job of being Chef Babette though.

• 11:25Babette Davis?

  I know, that's the only thing.

• 11:28Rich Roll?

  Right?

• 11:28Babette Davis?

  Yeah.

• 11:29Rich Roll?

  But this idea of self-love, I surmise this was not always the case, right? Like, we talked about your past when you were here before, but I think it would be good to kind of travel back a little bit for people who didn't enjoy your first appearance on the show and just kind of create some context here.

• 11:47Babette Davis?

  You mean back to where before I knew that I was supposed to, that I was supposed to love self?

• 11:54Rich Roll?

  You've gone through a lot.

• 11:55Babette Davis?

  I have.

• 11:56Rich Roll?

  Babette, you know, and you've come out the other side.

• 12:00Rich Roll?

  You've endured a lot, you've faced many obstacles in your life, and you sit across from me so pure of heart and so radiant in your positive energy. You know, I can't imagine that you were always this way. It feels like you were always this way.

• 12:15Babette Davis?

  No, I wasn't. I wasn't always this way. But I've come to realize that this human experience is full of a lot of bumps and knocks. And, you know, it's a beautiful thing to be able to get through all of that and then still be high enough that you're willing to share you with the masses. And that's what I do every day. And that is what I'm embracing and I love so much about my journey right now. It was really, really hard. I think about, man, I think about, so remember I talked to you about some of the guys I was with?

• 12:53Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 12:55Babette Davis?

  The husband that kind of calmed my life out.

• 13:01Babette Davis?

  He passed away.

• 13:02Rich Roll?

  Oh.

• 13:03Babette Davis?

  Last year, April, in April. Um, yeah.

• 13:06Rich Roll?

  Had you stayed in touch with him?

• 13:08Babette Davis?

  I had been in touch with him. He was the really nice person. Now, I'm with Rondell right now.

• 13:14Rich Roll?

  He was husband number three?

• 13:15Babette Davis?

  Let's see now, let's see now. We had, we had, Warren died. That was the first one. That was my daughter's father. He passed away. Um, the old man that used to batter me around, that guy, yeah, he, he kinda had, uh, what do you call it when you can't, you can't remember anything?

• 13:34Rich Roll?

  Uh, dementia.

• 13:35Babette Davis?

  Dementia all the time. He, he was walking around, didn't know where he was. He died. And so, yeah, chemo's dead. But, um, I think it's only about two of them that are still standing.

• 13:46Rich Roll?

  But you're still going strong with Rondell.

• 13:49Babette Davis?

  Yeah, you know, Ron and I still are, are figuring everything out, you know?

• 13:53Rich Roll?

  You still, you still maintain separate, uh, households though, right?

• 13:58Babette Davis?

  We do that, we do that pretty good. And, and he's, you know, he moved me into this gorgeous place, um, that, that I've, I'm so blessed to reside in. But, um, he has a studio. He's into music. When I'm getting up in the morning, he's going to bed. And so, you know, it's working out. He's 76, I'm 73. And instead of sleeping in separate bedrooms, we're just sleeping in se- separate square spaces.

• 14:26Rich Roll?

  Yeah, I get it, I get it. I get it. Whatever, whatever works. It's working for you.

• 14:30Babette Davis?

  Whatever works, whatever works.

• 14:31Rich Roll?

  I have no judgment on that.

• 14:32Babette Davis?

  Thank you.

• 14:32Rich Roll?

  But I think, uh, you know, to the point of like cultivating self-love and this positive energy, what you endured would have broken most people. So why, you know, how were you able to emerge from that different? Like, what was the catalyst for you to go a different way? Or what was the experience, or the book, or the individual that, you know, reframed, you know, how you were reflecting on your life?

• 14:58Babette Davis?

  What, what Rich is talking about is my journey, um, to date. I, I was battered. Uh, I was molested at five years old. Um, I was beat up a lot through this thing called life. Um, I was sickly, uh, eczema, asthma, couldn't digest my food. I was, um, pretty unhappy for the most part. And, um, the thing that really got me though, Rich, was when- I walked into the City of Angels Church with Reverend Dr. O.C. Smith. And then I went over to Agape Spiritual Center.

• 15:43Babette Davis?

  And when I was introduced to metaphysics, if you will, that was when I began to understand the oneness on this planet and how we're all connected.

• 15:56Rich Roll?

  Through Reverend Michael Beckwith?

• 15:58Babette Davis?

  Reverend Michael Beckwith. And how you cannot separate yourself from that intelligence that created all of this. I'm just a mere expression of it. So that rather than being angry about the journey, I accepted the journey. And now I just decided I was going to be full of love going forward. And I understand that that is a lot stronger than hating. And I think I mentioned that in our other interview. What does being angry get me? Just a grumpy old lady being angry?

• 16:40Rich Roll?

  Right.

• 16:40Babette Davis?

  I'm full of life right now. I'm happy. I'm, all that stuff is back then. Yes, I am who I am today because I went through all of that. But man, I'm so much better than I was.

• 16:56Rich Roll?

  Well, those experiences ultimately made you stronger, right? And I think there's a beautiful freedom when you can just embrace your past in that way and not hide it for, you know, the sake of shame or be embarrassed about it. Like you, you share these stories and these horrible things that have happened, but you're so liberated from their power to control your behavior and your refusal to let them victimize you.

• 17:21Babette Davis?

  Yes.

• 17:22Rich Roll?

  Which is really empowering. There's agency in that, right?

• 17:25Babette Davis?

  Yes. Baby, I, I've learned to stay present.

• 17:31Babette Davis?

  I don't, I don't have to move too far in the future and I ain't hanging out back there.

• 17:37Rich Roll?

  How do you hold on to that though? It's one thing, it's one thing to say, yes, we're not separate. Everything is one, or we only have this moment and we shouldn't be obsessed with, you know, what happened in the past and tripping on like what might happen in the future. But to actually live that.

• 17:53Babette Davis?

  I live it.

• 17:54Rich Roll?

  How do you get there? How do you do that?

• 17:57Babette Davis?

  I live it because my daughter said to me, I think it was yesterday, I was talking to her. She's, everybody goes through whatever it is they go through. And she said to me, I'm just so stressed right now. I am so stressed at this moment right now. We've got a lot going on with family and the whole nine yards. And I said, what can you do about anything that you're stressed over right this moment? What can you do about any of that? She said, nothing. I said, so why don't you just take advantage of right now? And let's just make each other laugh and just move past that. And I found some silly, something on YouTube that was really stupid.

• 18:41Babette Davis?

  And I sent it to her and we had the best laugh ever. It's just reminding yourself, there's absolutely nothing I can do about any of that right this moment. But I don't have to let this moment go. I can embrace this moment and give thanks for this moment and be happy in this moment. Because I control my thoughts. I control my heart. And all of that stuff, it's not real. It's not real, Rich.

• 19:13Rich Roll?

  I heard you say one time, something along the lines of, you know, people say, all you have is today. Like live it, live today like it's your last day. But you say, live this moment like it's your last.

• 19:23Babette Davis?

  Cause that's all you got.

• 19:25Rich Roll?

  Another moment.

• 19:26Babette Davis?

  That's all you got. We're not.

• 19:27Rich Roll?

  Are we gonna make it through the end of this podcast?

• 19:29Babette Davis?

  Hey, we are. Hey, we are.

• 19:31Rich Roll?

  Yeah, you might.

• 19:32Babette Davis?

  We're not done.

• 19:33Rich Roll?

  No, we're not done. We're just starting. That's really beautiful. I, and I agree with you and I have moments where I can embody that. But they, they so quickly pass, right? Like where our default settings are so overriding at times, are so powerful.

• 19:49Babette Davis?

  That's true.

• 19:49Rich Roll?

  It takes a lot of, kind of strength and consistency to like resist that.

• 19:53Babette Davis?

  You need to understand, Ron and I can get into some serious battles.

• 19:58Rich Roll?

  Oh, I bet.

• 19:58Babette Davis?

  Ooh, let me tell you. But you know what, every time we ever go at each other, if you ask me tomorrow, what were you guys upset about yesterday?

• 20:12Rich Roll?

  Like, no Hangover, no Half-Life on that.

• 20:14Babette Davis?

  Most of the time, I don't even remember. And I'm constantly teaching me, who are you, Babette? You don't like what he said? You thought he said something that you just thought was not... But who are you? Do you know who you are? I do. Did he say... Was he on point when he said that? No, he wasn't. So why did you buy into it? Why did you buy into that?

• 20:40Babette Davis?

  And that is what... That's how I reel it in, Rich. I have to make sure that I understand who Babette is. And why are you so bothered about something somebody else said about you? If it's not you, know self and love self.

• 20:59Rich Roll?

  I feel like everyone wants to talk about your fitness regimen and all the pushups that you do and how luminescent your skin tone is and how you're aging in reverse and all these things. But I think, and that's all great, and we could talk about that all day long. But I think what gets missed or is sort of underserved in this discussion around your approach to life is this spiritual peace. Is this knowingness around oneness? And this real commitment to cultivating forgiveness and compassion and self-love and love for others. Like fundamentally, that's the real engine, I think, behind all of this.

• 21:42Babette Davis?

  It is.

• 21:43Rich Roll?

  And the pushups are just the outward manifestation of that inside work, which is harder for people to get their heads around. But I think you can do pushups all day long, but if you don't have that peace, which is the foundation,

• 21:56Babette Davis?

  Thank you.

• 21:57Rich Roll?

  then there's really nothing to talk about.

• 21:59Babette Davis?

  And I don't want to just feel good physically in this life. Emotionally, I want to continue feeling like I'm on top of the world because I came from a space where I was so low. You know? You know? Especially...

• 22:19Babette Davis?

  With the crack, when I was doing that.

• 22:23Rich Roll?

  So Rondell told you to tell me.

• 22:26Babette Davis?

  Rondell said, are you going back on there and tell that man you were a crackhead? He said, you were not a crackhead. You smoked it, but you weren't a crackhead. I was like, Rondell, I was crawling around on the floor looking for cocaine rocks. People are going through all kinds of stuff. And if I can come out of it.

• 22:46Rich Roll?

  For you to share like the experience of crawling around in the rug, looking for rocks, or you know, how you navigated these abusive situations to demonstrate, to like model that level of vulnerability and to show people that you can do it without that, without that like veneer of like shame and embarrassment. That is a way to, for other people to connect with you and to see, and to find hope in their own story. Like, I don't have to walk around with this shame that I've been holding about this other thing that, that is nothing compared to what Babette went through. And I think that gives people, you know, a path forward.

• 23:25Babette Davis?

  I mean, we're, we're humans and we're on a journey. It's an experience and we're gonna go through stuff and we're gonna experience all kinds of stuff in this thing called life. And there's absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, nothing. I'm not, and like I said, right now, I'm constantly teaching Babette. But it's, to me, I'm embracing Babette. I'm loving Babette. I'm, you know, I know I'm not running a hundred, like, nobody is, you know? But, like with the knee, you learn and you go forward with it. And I share it. I share that with everybody, especially women that are just now getting in the gym, that are stepping out of their lane, trying to do way too much.

• 24:10Babette Davis?

  You'll hurt yourself. Don't do that.

• 24:12Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 24:13Babette Davis?

  You know?

• 24:14Rich Roll?

  So, for example, when

• 24:17Rich Roll?

  Covid was at its peak and you were trying to keep the restaurant from closing its doors and you were under tremendous financial pressure and you know like that would be

• 24:27Babette Davis?

  That was rough.

• 24:27Rich Roll?

  Like a situation that would be very difficult for anybody, no matter how much PMA you got to like gracefully walk through.

• 24:35Babette Davis?

  Yeah.

• 24:35Rich Roll?

  So when the times are really hard and you're feeling it, like what is the practice? Like, how do you get to that place and walk forward?

• 24:43Babette Davis?

  You know what's so weird about it, Rich? I'm so glad you brought that up because I really haven't given that a whole bunch of thought. I remember being in that time and trying to hold on to stuff I eat, closing our doors, maybe only opening Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, four days a week instead of six, you know what I mean? But I don't know, for some reason, I didn't, I wasn't fearful. I didn't feel frightened. I didn't feel like, oh my God, I never felt that. I, what Ron and I felt were, we're going to do this, we're going to do it this way, we're only going to do that right there. And we just kept it moving, Rich.

• 25:25Babette Davis?

  We didn't get so shook about what was going on that we felt like it was our demise. We had each and every moment to get through it and we got through it. And I never, I never felt like we would lose stuff I eat. I never felt that at all. It was a moment and we were making the adjustments and when this stuff is over, we'll be good to go. And that is the way we felt. Now, you know what? Rondo handles all the money. That's the way I felt because I don't pay a bill. He might have felt differently. But I didn't feel, I just, I just felt like we're making adjustments and tomorrow it will be better.

• 26:06Rich Roll?

  Yeah. I also imagine if you were to reflect on the worst case scenario, like it's just nothing compared to where you came from. So how bad could it be?

• 26:16Babette Davis?

  How bad could it be?

• 26:17Rich Roll?

  You've been, you've been to hell and back, so this is just a blip

• 26:21Babette Davis?

  I know.

• 26:21Rich Roll?

  On the radar screen.

• 26:22Babette Davis?

  And it is.

• 26:23Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 26:25Rich Roll?

  Let me see those pipes.

• 26:26Babette Davis?

  Yeah, you wanna sing?

• 26:28Rich Roll?

  There you go. That's pretty good.

• 26:29Babette Davis?

  That's not bad.

• 26:30Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 26:31Babette Davis?

  And I haven't been in the gym since December 5th.

• 26:33Rich Roll?

  How come?

• 26:34Babette Davis?

  I busted my knee.

• 26:35Rich Roll?

  Oh, for the knee thing? So you can't do any upper body thing?

• 26:38Babette Davis?

  I can do it now. I'm back.

• 26:40Rich Roll?

  I see.

• 26:40Babette Davis?

  I'm back.

• 26:41Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 26:41Babette Davis?

  It took, but look, look how long it took me.

• 26:44Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 26:44Babette Davis?

  Somewhere almost in June.

• 26:45Rich Roll?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 26:46Babette Davis?

  That was December 5th.

• 26:47Rich Roll?

  So did it take longer to get back into it? I mean, it's sort of a user loser thing, right?

• 26:51Babette Davis?

  I detoxed. I went on a 12 day water cleanse, fast. And then I did a detox. It's time for me to do another detox, uh, right about now. But I just got rid of a lot of inflammation, stayed off of it. I still had, I went in every single day and chopped those potatoes though, Rich.

• 27:11Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 27:11Babette Davis?

  Every day with bad knee.

• 27:13Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 27:14Babette Davis?

  Um, but wow, what does that say about chef? I'm pretty awesome.

• 27:18Rich Roll?

  Well, resilient, for sure.

• 27:20Babette Davis?

  At 70 some odd years old.

• 27:21Rich Roll?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 27:22Babette Davis?

  I got it done.

• 27:23Rich Roll?

  You did. You did.

• 27:24Babette Davis?

  I really did.

• 27:25Rich Roll?

  But you're back to the pushups now.

• 27:26Babette Davis?

  I'm back to everything now. I'm good to go.

• 27:29Rich Roll?

  So this idea of oneness, like I wanna explore that a little bit more deeply. Uh, my wife and I went through a period where we were going to Agape a lot. So I'm very familiar with, you know, Reverend Michael and, and, you know, his beautiful way with words and the community that he's cultivated. And I know that your kind of food journey began with you like sort of serving food in the parking lot, like in front of that organization every week.

• 27:57Rich Roll?

  And what's interesting about that, like when you really reflect on oneness and this idea that we truly are not separate and everything is interrelated. It, it perfectly, you know, dovetails into not only the self-love piece. Like if we're truly not separate from anything else, how could you love anything if you're not loving yourself? But also in your relationship with what you put in your mouth, right?

• 28:22Babette Davis?

  Exactly.

• 28:23Rich Roll?

  If we're not separate, like how are we? How are we conducting ourselves, comporting ourselves compassionately with that sort of sensibility, right?

• 28:35Babette Davis?

  Wow, listen to you.

• 28:36Rich Roll?

  So, talk a little bit about that because your relationship with food began first as a means of healing your inflammation and, you know, all these sort of eczema and all these like problems that you were having, but it's evolved since then.

• 28:51Babette Davis?

  Oh, so.

• 28:52Rich Roll?

  It's about, it's about something much more than that.

• 28:53Babette Davis?

  Much bigger, much bigger. I wasn't thinking about not one animal when I transitioned. My husband fed me my very first vegan meal and I felt amazing after eating that meal. And it was properly combined, so I didn't have any indigestion, indigestive issues. And then when he gave me the books, The Fit for Life and The Mucus List Diet, I read those books and began to understand the importance of knowledge.

• 29:31Babette Davis?

  Before, I didn't know, I felt like everything sold in the supermarket was okay for us to eat. I mean, we have government agencies that check out the food that they're selling, so everything is okay. And I began to understand that that's not necessarily the case. And because I understood that, I was a mirror reflection of that which, that intelligence that created all of this, so there's no way that I can separate myself from that. But it created all of it. So that means there is a oneness and we are all connected.

• 30:14Babette Davis?

  But the intelligence also gave us a diet for every species that walks the planet Earth. There is a specific diet for that species. And as I began to read and learn more, I understood, wow.

• 30:34Babette Davis?

  I'm that species that can pick an apple off the tree and just eat it and be nourished from picking that apple. I don't have to slaughter anything, I don't have to murder anyone, I don't have to go through, I don't have to use heat, I don't have to cook, I don't, if I don't want to, I don't have to do any of that stuff. Because that intelligence put it here for me. Nuts, seeds, I can just pick it right off the vine and it works for me. Therefore, I understood, I don't have to murder a chicken to nourish myself. I don't choose to do that any longer.

• 31:16Babette Davis?

  I don't want to eat another animal's intestines, i.e. chitlins. No, thank you. You understand? So I understood that there was, that, that, that chicken has a diet, that cow has a diet, that horse has a diet, that kangaroo has a diet. You eating kangaroo meat?

• 31:37Rich Roll?

  No, I'm not.

• 31:38Babette Davis?

  Anyway, somebody just told me about somebody eating kangaroo meat, but anyway. So, so, and then I began to understand, I don't need, I don't need to bother anybody else to nourish myself. It's, it's been put here for me and it's very easy for me to consume it. And that, that to me says, that, that's, that's practicing love of others as, as well as self. I don't, I, I, I'm so disappointed in the human species that trips on complexion. What? The intelligence created more than roses. Flowers come in all different colors.

• 32:22Babette Davis?

  We love them for being what they are. We're all expressions of that which created us. I love you, Rich. I don't care about your unmelanated ass. I'm just... [laughing]

• 32:40Rich Roll?

  I'm trying to get more melanated. It's too foggy out, though. I like being in the sun.

• 32:45Babette Davis?

  But the bottom line is, we're all one in this, and we should be embracing it. If we learn to love one another, if we learn to just love of self, like you said it, if you don't start with you, it's impossible to love outside of you.

• 33:02Rich Roll?

  Yeah, you can't truly love another unless you love yourself. And I think there's confusion around the self-love piece. People will say, "Oh, that's indulgent," or "it's selfish." Like, "I have all these kids and I have multiple jobs. Like, I can't afford to do that." This is, you know, this is an experience that is reserved for, you know, people that have a lot of free time or whatever.

• 33:25Babette Davis?

  Put your oxygen mask on first, or you're not gonna be there to help anybody else.

• 33:41Rich Roll?

  The additional little ripple here is that when you are engaged in that practice of self-love, and you are cognizant and compassionate towards all other life, and you make this choice, like, "I'm not gonna participate in that cycle of suffering," that your body ends up doing better. Like, you heal yourself, you're vital, you're 73 now, you're crushing it. You don't need to go to the doctor, you're not on any meds, none of that, right?

• 34:16Babette Davis?

  Right.

• 34:17Rich Roll?

  And I think that blows people's minds. They get confused around that. And that's another thing that humans do when they see something that they can't quite understand, even if it's aspirational, our minds will immediately

• 34:30Babette Davis?

  It's true.

• 34:31Rich Roll?

  try to find an argument why you're different, and that doesn't apply to me.

• 34:35Babette Davis?

  It's so true. It is so true. You must, you've been reading those comments, haven't you? They don't play.

• 34:42Rich Roll?

  I get those comments also.

• 34:44Babette Davis?

  Yeah, they don't play. They don't really get it. And this is, the path that I'm on is not to put anybody else down.

• 34:53Babette Davis?

  It's just the path that I'm on. I, I appreciate life. I give thanks for life. And I show how grateful I am each and every second of the day. Even when I'm screaming at Rondell. And I have to take a few minutes to take a deep breath, go outside and come back and be like, okay. All right, you're back. You're good. You're good now.

• 35:23Rich Roll?

  I want to be a fly on the wall for one of those fights.

• 35:26Babette Davis?

  Yeah, sometimes.

• 35:30Rich Roll?

  On the point of, of other people sort of being confused, curious but confused. It's inevitable that the protein question comes up, especially as we age. There's more and more research coming out. We need to eat more protein, sarcopenia and all this sort of stuff. But I just saw you flex your bicep and you only got back into the gym in December and it's impressive.

• 35:52Babette Davis?

  No, no, no. I've been out of the gym since December. Yeah.

• 35:57Rich Roll?

  Okay. So you're still not even back.

• 35:59Babette Davis?

  I'm just now, I have a beautiful gym at my new apartment. And yesterday I was interviewed by Gillian Berry. And, and she had me in the gym showing, that's the first time I've been back in the gym since I hurt the knee.

• 36:13Rich Roll?

  Oh, wow.

• 36:14Babette Davis?

  But, but see.

• 36:15Rich Roll?

  You're hanging on to that muscle though. That looks good. Yeah.

• 36:18Babette Davis?

  Yeah.

• 36:19Rich Roll?

  No protein powders.

• 36:22Babette Davis?

  But I do, I do a lot of sea moss.

• 36:24Rich Roll?

  That's your thing, right? Why, why sea moss such a big deal to you?

• 36:28Babette Davis?

  Because I'm, I'm selling it now.

• 36:32Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 36:32Babette Davis?

  You had to, you had to find out. You just had to.

• 36:35Rich Roll?

  No, I'm giving you like, like.

• 36:38Babette Davis?

  Hey.

• 36:38Rich Roll?

  Like, sell me.

• 36:39Babette Davis?

  Earth and sea wellness.

• 36:40Rich Roll?

  I'm giving you the opportunity. It's a green light of that for you to promote.

• 36:44Babette Davis?

  I put sea moss in everything, every sauce, every smoothie, every juice. I just make sure I get my little dose of sea moss in there. But, but a girlfriend and I, because, come on, listen. You guys Google everything. Google the benefits of ingesting sea moss.

• 37:05Babette Davis?

  Please, okay?

• 37:07Rich Roll?

  We'll do it.

• 37:07Babette Davis?

  All right.

• 37:08Rich Roll?

  It's good.

• 37:09Babette Davis?

  But yeah, yeah, anyway. So, so the sea moss and, and I'm on, I'm on Orlo now. Because I was never the person that, I was horrible with taking vitamins and every day popping something. But are you hip to Orlo?

• 37:23Rich Roll?

  No, what's that?

• 37:24Babette Davis?

  That is a vegan omega three.

• 37:26Rich Roll?

  Hmm.

• 37:27Babette Davis?

  So, um, my levels were very low. They tested me and I had really low omega three levels. And so now I take Orlo and I take it every single day. And I'll advertise for Orlo whenever they want me to advertise more. Because it's a good product.

• 37:42Rich Roll?

  Omega threes are important.

• 37:43Babette Davis?

  Yes, they are.

• 37:44Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 37:44Babette Davis?

  Yeah.

• 37:45Rich Roll?

  So walk me through that day in the life of food then.

• 37:47Babette Davis?

  Day in the life. Okay, so generally, like I fell asleep so early the other night, Rich.

• 37:54Rich Roll?

  Hmm. Which, I mean, last time you were here, you go to bed at like five or six and you get up at like one or two, one or two in the morning.

• 38:00Babette Davis?

  I do.

• 38:01Rich Roll?

  What time did you wake up today?

• 38:03Babette Davis?

  Well, I had fallen asleep so early that day. I woke up around 10 to use the bathroom. I was thinking, is it one or two? It was only 10 o'clock.

• 38:10Rich Roll?

  You can't get up then.

• 38:12Babette Davis?

  Anyway, so I still go to bed early, but I spend a lot of time with self. I, I have come to really love being with me. I, I tell jokes and crack myself up. And I'm like, is this some senile stuff you on here? Cause you, you sure hang out with yourself good and you talk and you laugh and just have a great time. But I get plenty of rest. So if I, if I fall asleep at six or seven, I'm waking, like Chris, my manager sent me a message yesterday and he sent it at 7:45. I was already out. I didn't get it till two o'clock this morning.

• 38:54Rich Roll?

  Uh huh.

• 38:54Babette Davis?

  But I'm still waking up between 1:30 and two and I start my day. Um, now, since it's gym time again, after I'm up, I'll get myself together. I'll go to the gym and then I'll come back, freshen up, go into Stuff I Eat. And you know what? Chop up a box of potatoes. You know what I do. Um, but I start my day nourishing myself with either fruit or a juice. Now, we have a big Ruby's juicer at Stuff I Eat, so I'm juicing anyway. So I'm gonna have myself some juice. Um. So, most of the time, I'm at the restaurant till afternoon.

• 39:35Babette Davis?

  Lately, Rich, I don't know where all these people are coming from, but so many people are showing up just to get a picture with Chef B.

• 39:44Rich Roll?

  Oh, that's nice.

• 39:45Babette Davis?

  It is so cool, but most of the time, if I leave, when we open, I miss them. So, what I need to do right now is get a big picture of myself that they can...

• 39:55Rich Roll?

  Take their Instagram photo with.

• 39:57Babette Davis?

  Instagram photo with.

• 39:58Rich Roll?

  I saw Maria Shriver did a story on you.

• 40:01Babette Davis?

  Oh, she did, yes.

• 40:03Rich Roll?

  Yeah, that was cool.

• 40:04Babette Davis?

  Wasn't that cool?

• 40:04Rich Roll?

  Very cool.

• 40:05Babette Davis?

  That was very, very cool.

• 40:06Rich Roll?

  Yeah, so you're out there.

• 40:07Babette Davis?

  I know, and my numbers are just like, I don't know... But these people, what they're doing nowadays, they're grabbing bits and pieces from interviews like this and putting together...

• 40:20Rich Roll?

  Their own videos.

• 40:21Babette Davis?

  Their own videos.

• 40:21Rich Roll?

  Yeah, that happens a lot. That happens a lot.

• 40:23Babette Davis?

  I never saw that before, but my numbers, every day, they're just inching up. I'm almost at 400,000.

• 40:31Rich Roll?

  Wow.

• 40:31Babette Davis?

  Yeah, I'm growing up.

• 40:32Rich Roll?

  Yeah, good for you, and that's translating into foot traffic into the restaurant.

• 40:37Babette Davis?

  Yes, it is.

• 40:37Rich Roll?

  That's the important thing, yeah.

• 40:38Babette Davis?

  A lot of people, a lot of sisters come in there, and brothers too, they come in there. When I say sisters and brothers, I mean men and women. I'm not talking about... You understand that? Do I have to tell you that?

• 40:49Rich Roll?

  The level of melanin?

• 40:50Babette Davis?

  I'm not talking about just melanated people. When I say sisters and brothers, I'm talking about humans.

• 40:54Rich Roll?

  I get you, yeah.

• 40:55Babette Davis?

  Okay, I just want you to get me.

• 40:56Rich Roll?

  Oneness.

• 40:57Babette Davis?

  Yeah, right.

• 40:57Rich Roll?

  All right, keep going.

• 41:00Babette Davis?

  But...

• 41:01Rich Roll?

  We're up to the first day's juice.

• 41:02Babette Davis?

  They're inspired.

• 41:05Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 41:06Babette Davis?

  To be... Come on.

• 41:07Rich Roll?

  Well, you're an inspiring person.

• 41:09Babette Davis?

  But to be an inspiration after the shit I've been through, really...

• 41:13Rich Roll?

  But that's what makes it inspiring.

• 41:16Babette Davis?

  Isn't that just amazing? I would have never...

• 41:19Rich Roll?

  Because it's not, Babette, it's not just the message, like the food and all the, you know, information, the knowledge, right? It's the vessel. It's like, who's carrying the message?

• 41:29Babette Davis?

  It's true.

• 41:30Rich Roll?

  And when you have, like, lived a life and, you know, gone through a lot, you carry a certain resonance, a gravitas, an authority, right? And your story is so powerful, it allows people in...

• 41:46Rich Roll?

  And makes them more open to connecting with whatever the information is you're trying to impart, right?

• 41:53Babette Davis?

  Yes, it does.

• 41:54Rich Roll?

  Because you're not trying to bullshit anyone.

• 41:56Babette Davis?

  And I would never.

• 41:57Rich Roll?

  You might be selling a little sea moss, but beyond that, it's not, there's no pitch here, you know?

• 42:03Babette Davis?

  Okay, Rich, you got me. Earth and sea wellness.

• 42:10Rich Roll?

  Right. So I'm not surprised, you know, I'm not surprised that, you know, Maria Shriver wants to write about you and that you have people showing up on the doorstep of the restaurant trying to get a glimpse of you.

• 42:23Babette Davis?

  It's so wonderful.

• 42:24Rich Roll?

  Because people want that energy, you know?

• 42:27Babette Davis?

  Yeah, that's what it is, the energy.

• 42:28Rich Roll?

  And the energy that you're emitting is contagious and infectious.

• 42:32Babette Davis?

  Yes.

• 42:32Rich Roll?

  And we're all starving for it and we all want and need more of it in our lives. And I think we get, we get in our own way.

• 42:39Babette Davis?

  I'm a big hugger, too.

• 42:40Rich Roll?

  We complicate it and we struggle with trying to, you know, get a little piece of what you seem to exude effortlessly.

• 42:47Babette Davis?

  I like the way you put that. So that means every hug, did you feel it when I hugged you today? Did you feel that energy?

• 42:53Rich Roll?

  Yeah, of course.

• 42:54Babette Davis?

  I hug everybody. I don't even meet strangers anymore. How about that?

• 42:59Rich Roll?

  What does that mean?

• 43:00Babette Davis?

  I don't meet strangers. I just feel like I know everybody. I do. Isn't that weird?

• 43:07Rich Roll?

  No, I think that's consistent with this oneness idea, right?

• 43:13Babette Davis?

  Yeah.

• 43:14Rich Roll?

  All right. So you make juice in the juicer.

• 43:17Babette Davis?

  I make juice in the juicer.

• 43:18Rich Roll?

  We're on the what you eat in a day.

• 43:20Babette Davis?

  And then, you know, come on, you know what, Rich? I can't even eat my own soul food platter anymore. It's too much food. It's gluttonous. And it's, it's so, I can make a handful of nuts a meal, you know, salads. I do have a quinoa bowl, it's stuff I eat that I really, really love.

• 43:40Babette Davis?

  I just, I just, I'm not wild about too much cooked food. I'd rather have a little bit more life on it.

• 43:47Rich Roll?

  Yeah, I mean, you're, you're kind of primarily raw, but you're not entirely raw.

• 43:51Babette Davis?

  I'm not, no, no, no. I have a cook, a restaurant that's, our, our menu is pretty transitional and I eat cooked food, but my preference is more live food. And so that's why my, my manager, Chris, Chef Chris Tucker and I are getting ready to do a cooking show.

• 44:10Rich Roll?

  Tell me about that.

• 44:11Babette Davis?

  And it's gonna be called Hot or Not. And so I will be doing the live version of the dish and he'll be doing the cooked version of the dish. So we'll have two dishes each day. One will be raw and one will be cooked with the same name. Like if I was gonna make you some raw chili, you know I'm about to use walnuts up in that bad boy, right? That's gonna be my beans. The walnuts are gonna be my beans. But, um, so that's the kinda fun show it's gonna be. And you, you, you advertised my book last time, Cash In on Cashews. And I do have another book set up. The Stuff I Eat book is being written right now, so I will definitely send you a copy when I'm done with it, because you talked about me last time, because I only had that dessert book.

• 44:56Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 44:57Babette Davis?

  Yeah.

• 44:57Rich Roll?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 44:58Babette Davis?

  Yeah, you remember that?

• 44:59Rich Roll?

  I do.

• 45:00Babette Davis?

  Okay.

• 45:00Rich Roll?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 45:01Babette Davis?

  Well, anyway.

• 45:01Rich Roll?

  That's good.

• 45:02Babette Davis?

  So the cooking show, I'm really, really, really excited about that.

• 45:05Rich Roll?

  When does that launch?

• 45:06Babette Davis?

  Ooh, as soon as we sit down, I just got into my spot. We're gonna shoot it at my, my residence. They've got a beautiful kitchen. And so we're gonna shoot there. And I'll definitely let you know as soon as we got it going, because I'm so excited about this show. It's gonna be a really good show.

• 45:25Rich Roll?

  Is it, uh, something you'll record before a live audience or no?

• 45:28Babette Davis?

  No, it won't be a live audience. Uh, not, not initially. It'll just be Chris and I knocking them out.

• 45:35Rich Roll?

  Right.

• 45:35Babette Davis?

  Yeah.

• 45:36Rich Roll?

  That's cool.

• 45:36Babette Davis?

  Yes.

• 45:38Rich Roll?

  Do you do like live kind of community events in the restaurant?

• 45:42Babette Davis?

  I'm about to.

• 45:42Rich Roll?

  For the Inglewood community?

• 45:43Babette Davis?

  I'm about to do an event that it's a round table. I call it a round table and what I'm doing and there's so much illness in in our communities, but especially in black communities. The the heart disease, the diabetes, all these illnesses and and most of it is because of the way we nourish ourselves. Or attempt to nourish ourselves. And so what I've decided is to bring in some hard hitters, doctors in particular, melanated doctors. I've got Dr. Bobby Price. I've got Dr. Baxter Montgomery, Dr. Baptiste, Dr. Zarif and Dr. Shabnam.

• 46:27Babette Davis?

  And they're going to be a part of the round table. And we're going to have an audience. So you'll be able to listen to what they have to say and ask as many questions as.

• 46:37Rich Roll?

  That's cool.

• 46:38Babette Davis?

  You need. So I'm planning on having that event in, it's going to be in Burbank, though, at a studio. That's July 2021. Two day event. So I'm really excited about that. I haven't really, I used to do a lot more in the restaurant years ago, but for some reasons, it just wasn't quite as comfortable for me to give events there in that spot as I would desire it to be. So whenever something makes me feel a little uncomfortable, I just move it. I just do it somewhere else. I I just need to feel good when I'm doing what I do.

• 47:21Babette Davis?

  And if I'm not feeling good, if I'm feeling too tight, if it's too up, too weird, no thanks.

• 47:26Rich Roll?

  That's part of the self-love.

• 47:27Babette Davis?

  Hey, I don't want to feel it.

• 47:29Rich Roll?

  You've got to honor the intuition.

• 47:30Babette Davis?

  That's it.

• 47:31Rich Roll?

  Yeah. I think that's a beautiful mission. Clearly, black and brown communities suffer the most. When you look at the food deserts and the availability of fresh, healthy produce and other foods in urban areas, it's a real problem. And I think with respect to the plant-based movement and community, it's often just associated with being of a higher kind of socioeconomic echelon. It's like considered, you know, this luxurious lifestyle that you'll find at Erawan and is only available to, you know, a certain type of person who can afford it. When in truth, most of these foods and the foods that you prepare and that you talk about,

• 48:15Rich Roll?

  I mean, this is like basic stuff, right? Quinoa, beans, nuts and seeds, leafy greens and the like. And these things, although, you know, although affordable, depending upon where you get them, are not as accessible as they should be. And this has a downstream negative impact on the Inglewood community and communities like it. And I think your message is so powerful because you're invested in changing that. And this is where we need to see the change the most.

• 48:48Babette Davis?

  Well, see, the reason I'm pulling the round table together is because not only do we have, we don't have access to a lot of good stuff in certain communities, we have a lack of knowledge. We don't even know we should be eating differently. I mean, like I told you, there was a time that I thought everything that was sold in the supermarket was okay to eat because I'm trusting my government has my back. I'm bothered by the fact that we eat out of boxes and cans and bags, a lot of processed foods, and we think they're okay. We have a lack of knowledge. We don't understand.

• 49:33Babette Davis?

  That if we don't get life into our system, we're not nourishing ourselves. Everything that's just manufactured in a warehouse is like a food-like substance. It's not necessarily nourishing food. And so many of us don't understand that, you know?

• 49:52Rich Roll?

  Sure.

• 49:53Babette Davis?

  So it's a lack of knowledge, too. We just don't, we don't, so many times, we don't even realize we need to be eating something differently.

• 50:01Rich Roll?

  I'm sure you saw our friend John Lewis's documentary, Hungry for Justice?

• 50:05Babette Davis?

  Yes.

• 50:06Rich Roll?

  Yeah, which addresses that head on, right? Are you, did you appear there?

• 50:09Babette Davis?

  I was in there.

• 50:10Rich Roll?

  You were in there, yeah, okay. It's been a while since I've seen it. I wish more people had seen that movie.

• 50:13Babette Davis?

  It's good, though.

• 50:14Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 50:15Babette Davis?

  Yeah.

• 50:16Rich Roll?

  It is true that it is a knowledge problem, but it's also more complicated than that. Because you can provide people with the knowledge, but then it's about the willingness to make the changes. And not everyone has the same level of willingness. You could provide people with the knowledge.

• 50:36Babette Davis?

  For sure.

• 50:36Rich Roll?

  But food is tough. We have our habits and those kind of preferences are very hard to break. And it's further complicated by all the complicated social messaging around it. We associate certain foods with love and nostalgia and the way that we were raised. And those habit change, you know, kind of journeys are hard for a lot of people.

• 51:02Babette Davis?

  I know it's challenging. It's, it definitely is, but do you know how many people have gotten in touch with me on the deathbed?

• 51:09Rich Roll?

  How many?

• 51:11Babette Davis?

  Too many, young people, people that grew up with my daughter. And, and now they want to know, what can I do? Do you have a doctor I can go see? Do you, you know?

• 51:23Rich Roll?

  After, after, you know, the diabetes is really bad or the obesity is out of control.

• 51:28Babette Davis?

  Or the cancer. Whichever. And now you're gone. There was nothing anybody could do because you waited. You were stubborn. I've been stubborn. I have a, an addiction to sugar. Refined sugar is poison. My mother put it in everything. Um, when I was doing that water fast, I'mma tell you, 12 days, that was, that was challenging. That's tough. Just water? Do you know what I wanted to do? I don't know. I want to take that agave syrup bottle and just squirt it in my mouth all day long. You know, but I, I, I do have the knowledge and I understand you can't just, sugar's sugar.

• 52:10Babette Davis?

  I don't care if it's agave, maple syrup, or what it is, you have to understand that you cannot be on sugar overload. That's not good for you. But I am, I will claim addiction to sweeteners. Um, but I have to check myself and I have to calm myself down. Even when I make sweet potato pie in the restaurant, Ron has a totally different palate than myself. He doesn't like it too sweet. If it's too sweet, he can't ingest it. Sweet potato pie's supposed to be sweet as far as I'm concerned. Hey, my mother put 12 eggs, a dozen eggs in her sweet potato pies and 40 cups of sugar. So, that's, that was my palate. Right.

• 52:53Babette Davis?

  But I still have to make the adjustments. Yeah, I could be stubborn about it and keep zits in my face and be stuck on, I don't eat animal products and, and just continue eating the sugar and have bad skin and the whole nine yards, but I don't choose that any longer. Because I did get away from it. I saw a difference to my body. I saw, I felt it differently. You understand? So you have to try, at least give it a shot. Now, like you said, everybody's, everybody's not gonna do it. But for those, and everybody that goes into church on Sunday, Reverend Michael knows, he ain't catching everybody. But if he catches one person. He's done his work. So.

• 53:38Rich Roll?

  You know what it's like to be free of those kind of addictive yearnings, right? With sugar, et cetera. So you've had that experience. You can, you can like, you can like, remember that when you're in that struggle. And I think through the restaurant, the way that you, you know, try to get people on this journey is to provide them with not just healthy food, but food that's delicious, right? So that they can have their version of that experience and know what it's like to actually feel better, perhaps for the first time, right? And, and there's a, there's a compassion in that, but there's also like a trust. You, like me, like, I don't tell anyone what to do. Like, I'll share my experience, but I'm not here to tell you, don't do that and do this.

• 54:18Babette Davis?

  Right.

• 54:19Rich Roll?

  But here's some delicious food. Like, you decide.

• 54:21Babette Davis?

  There you go.

• 54:21Rich Roll?

  What is the experience that you're having? Is this better? Do you want more of this? Here's some information if you want to, you know, embark upon that journey. And I feel like that's why food is so powerful. Like, serving food prepared with love that is made to nourish the body, to really honor the body. And it is like a living, kind of three-dimensional, like, vehicle for self-love.

• 54:45Babette Davis?

  Exactly.

• 54:46Rich Roll?

  Because self-love is nothing more than, you know, performing acts of self-respect and love for oneself, right? And food is, is, is the way that we do it three times a day.

• 54:57Babette Davis?

  Yes. It's all over that. It really is.

• 55:00Rich Roll?

  Have you noticed changes in the Inglewood community? Like, is this starting to ripple out? Like, are more and more people starting to?

• 55:07Babette Davis?

  You have more and more, more and more people changing their lifestyle, but we also have more and more meat restaurants opening up.

• 55:15Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 55:16Babette Davis?

  You know, it's just, it's gonna be what it's gonna be. You know what I mean? It's gonna be, and those people that are gonna transition and move away from it, they're gonna transition and move away from it. I'm like you. I can't sit here and put anybody down for the choices that they make. But I can say this to everybody. The choices we make on this planet today.

• 55:41Babette Davis?

  Has consequences. Every one of us, whenever we make a choice, it has a consequences, whether good, positive, or negative. There are consequences. And with the amount of, I find it disgusting that we are destroying forests to grow as many soy plants as possible to feed animals. Cows normally graze, and now we just determine that we're going to give them a new diet. So there are things that we do that have consequences in terms of the health of our planet, our home.

• 56:22Babette Davis?

  I don't know of any other place to live outside of here, not in this human form. And the planet is going through changes because of our choices. I find us, we're responsible for it, but we're sensitive as well. We're super sensitive. And someone would hear me say this and be like, well, and I don't want it to come out that way. I'm just saying, we're still responsible. No matter what your choice is, you're still responsible.

• 56:56Rich Roll?

  That is 100% true, but I think a lot of people struggle to receive that message and just think, well, I'm just one person. What does it matter? My decision or my choice around food, is it going to make a difference? And second to that, a lot of people also don't care. They don't want to shoulder that responsibility. They just want what they want.

• 57:19Babette Davis?

  And I, you're 1,000% correct. You're 1,000% correct, but it ain't going to make me shut up. It's not going to make me stop sharing the message that I know to be true. I lived this. I lived this every second of the day. I know what I am talking about, period. And I remember a mother, my mother, the bathtub that I have right now, my mother could never climb in that bathtub, sit down in it, let alone get out of it. At my age, she could never have done that. You know what I mean?

• 57:56Rich Roll?

  Mm-hmm.

• 57:56Babette Davis?

  But I am so blessed. That tub is so deep. I've never had a tub that deep. I get down in that tub. Do you know, I feel like the Hercules girl. I get down in that tub and I can get out of that tub without any help at all.

• 58:09Rich Roll?

  Uh-huh.

• 58:10Babette Davis?

  That is just...

• 58:11Rich Roll?

  And just so we're clear, and for people that don't know, you, you went totally 100% plant-based in 1990?

• 58:20Babette Davis?

  1990.

• 58:20Rich Roll?

  You're 40?

• 58:21Babette Davis?

  You just got a good ass memory, yes.

• 58:24Rich Roll?

  Yeah, 40 years old.

• 58:25Babette Davis?

  40.

• 58:25Rich Roll?

  That's when I made my change too.

• 58:26Babette Davis?

  Yes.

• 58:27Rich Roll?

  Um, prior to that, eating whatever.

• 58:29Babette Davis?

  I was in chitlins.

• 58:31Rich Roll?

  Health issues, all kinds of problems. Um, but since 1990, which is 34 years ago, no animal products.

• 58:40Babette Davis?

  None.

• 58:42Rich Roll?

  No doctors, climbing in and out of the bathtub.

• 58:45Babette Davis?

  No.

• 58:45Rich Roll?

  At 73. I mean, it's pretty fucking rockin', you know? Like, you're, you're, you're a powerful... You're a powerful example of this lifestyle.

• 58:54Babette Davis?

  It's quality, sweetheart. And that's, that's so important to me. The quality of life is everything. I can live in that apartment. When I moved into that apartment, they had these beautiful... You know how you go into a hotel and they got the luggage carts?

• 59:09Rich Roll?

  Uh-huh.

• 59:09Babette Davis?

  Somebody had taken the luggage cart. I made 100 trips, carrying crates, all kind of stuff, from the basement, where my car is parked, to the second floor, where my apartment is. I made so many trips, even after having a bad knee. If I wasn't having a good quality of life, I could have never have done that.

• 59:34Rich Roll?

  Mm-hmm.

• 59:35Babette Davis?

  By myself. All by my leverage.

• 59:38Rich Roll?

  Hmm.

• 59:39Babette Davis?

  That is such a blessing. That is... I'm blessed.

• 59:44Rich Roll?

  I read that, uh, or I saw a video, that you, you super glued your hand to the counter of a Starbucks.

• 59:52Babette Davis?

  You, you got in on that?

• 59:54Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 59:55Babette Davis?

  That's my manager, Chris, got me hooked up with all kind of stuff. Yeah, so, um, man, you know, being a sister, you know, that was kind of weird. I'm in Starbucks, gluing my hand to the counter, and at first I was terrified. But then I understood. There's a homeless woman in Inglewood, in my neighborhood, that's usually at Bond's supermarket early in the morning. She is broken out with eczema on her face. It's ripped. It's just horrible. Every morning, because I'm always, you know, hooking her up.

• 1:00:37Babette Davis?

  Every morning she goes into that Starbucks and she buys whatever it is she buys, but she can't afford the non-dairy. So they just give her the milk free, but it's jacking her skin up. And I thought about her. She doesn't need the dairy. She's allergic to it.

• 1:00:58Babette Davis?

  But she can't afford it because they're charging 70 to 90 cents.

• 1:01:02Rich Roll?

  Mm-hmm. They do the up-charge on the plant-based milks?

• 1:01:05Babette Davis?

  On the plant base. But they give you the calf's mama's milk, or the calf's milk. That ain't... It's for the calf. It's not supposed to be for you, and you're giving it away. You're not charging me for that. But you're going to charge me for the plant base. I can't tolerate dairy. Never could. I had eczema, asthma, the whole nine yards. And so, um, thinking about that, I felt like, well, this is a decision that I'm going to make because I need to be vocal about this. And that's why I did it.

• 1:01:43Rich Roll?

  So you glued your hand to the counter?

• 1:01:45Babette Davis?

  And made a lot of noise in there.

• 1:01:46Rich Roll?

  Yeah. Basically protesting this up-charge. Which is interesting because... Starbucks doesn't upcharge for plant-based milks in other countries.

• 1:01:57Babette Davis?

  No, they don't.

• 1:01:58Rich Roll?

  And their competitors actually don't, not all of them, I don't know which ones do or don't, but there's plenty of competitors that don't upcharge either.

• 1:02:07Babette Davis?

  We could be better. That's the only reason I was there. It's just to say, come on, we can be better with each other.

• 1:02:14Rich Roll?

  So what happened when you did that? How long were you?

• 1:02:17Babette Davis?

  We were there for a while. The only thing is, the police came and they were like, "You guys can protest, but you gotta go outside the store." And I said, "Well, my hand is glued to the counter." And he said, "Well, we'll get the paramedics to come and get your hand unstuck." And the girl from PETA said, "If the paramedics come, we're going to jail." So she made sure I got my hand off that counter, and we completed our protest. But we were loud in there. We were not playing.

• 1:02:56Rich Roll?

  Hmm, but they didn't change the policy?

• 1:02:59Babette Davis?

  But hey, things don't, they didn't...

• 1:03:02Rich Roll?

  Things don't change right away.

• 1:03:03Babette Davis?

  Ask Martin Luther King when he was, how long it took.

• 1:03:07Rich Roll?

  Sure.

• 1:03:07Babette Davis?

  But you gotta stay focused. You gotta stay on it. You gotta make noise. And then maybe one day they'll do the right thing.

• 1:03:24Rich Roll?

  What do you think is the difference between someone who's able to hear your story, or some version of it, and get it? They've got the knowledge, they have the inspiration, the motivation, and the willingness, and they make the change, versus the person who just says, "I can't do it." Like, "But that's special, but you know, I could never do it."

• 1:03:44Babette Davis?

  Well, I've got family members like that.

• 1:03:45Rich Roll?

  So what do you think that is? Like, what is the difference between those two people?

• 1:03:49Babette Davis?

  Some people are ready, and some people are not. Some people are ready, and some people are not. And so, every minister, every time he's in church, he's speaking to the folks that are ready. He speaks to the masses, but the people that get it are the ones that are ready.

• 1:04:08Rich Roll?

  And what do you think leads to that readiness? Pain?

• 1:04:12Babette Davis?

  I don't necessarily feel that it has to be pain. You just, "Hey, I got a word we're gonna use today." "You're just woke."

• 1:04:22Babette Davis?

  You woke up. You just woke up and you decided it was time for change. Yeah, that's what I did. I met Rondo and fed me a meal and gave me a book.

• 1:04:42Rich Roll?

  After he hiked backwards up a mountain with you, right?

• 1:04:45Babette Davis?

  Yeah, showing off.

• 1:04:45Rich Roll?

  Yeah, he was, yeah.

• 1:04:47Babette Davis?

  He was showing off.

• 1:04:48Rich Roll?

  It worked.

• 1:04:49Babette Davis?

  It did work.

• 1:04:50Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:50Babette Davis?

  I mean, you know.

• 1:04:52Rich Roll?

  But prior to meeting him, you wouldn't have known that you were ready.

• 1:04:56Babette Davis?

  I thought to be a vegan or vegetarian, you had to be Hari Krishna. I was so ignorant. I was like, no, I don't want your herbs. I don't know. Thank you. I was that. That was where I was.

• 1:05:09Rich Roll?

  Do you think that part of it was you just, you just, you liked him and you wanted to kind of get on his page? Because you guys were early in your relationship?

• 1:05:16Babette Davis?

  Well, let me just tell you. First of all, I wasn't a big reader. So I'm gonna go meet this brother and he gonna give me two books.

• 1:05:25Rich Roll?

  He's like homework.

• 1:05:26Babette Davis?

  Really? You can't, you can't just go on a date, you know? So I, once I began to, to read, I, I started understanding a lot of the stuff in Fit for Life. I was experiencing some of this discomfort.

• 1:05:45Babette Davis?

  Eating different foods that shouldn't have been combined. I, I shouldn't have been eating them together and making myself physically ill.

• 1:05:56Babette Davis?

  Come on, we're the only species that, that has to medicate themselves after they eat. Tums. Anyway, and, and once, and, and when I read that, I could actually connect the way that I felt with a lot of what was in that book. And then when I read The Mucusless Diet Healing System and his, his thought was, I don't care what name you give your illness or your disease. It's overload of mucus. You're inflamed. Period.

• 1:06:26Babette Davis?

  And that just hit me. And I understood, wow, I've been doing this all wrong. So I started playing around with the suggestions in the book of how to combine foods properly. And I never felt what I used to feel. Every time I ate, Rich, every time I ate, I was so bloated and I belched. I was so miserable every time I ate. But I was just combining my food poorly. Of course, eating some of the wrong things, but definitely miscombining food.

• 1:07:03Rich Roll?

  Was your journey around self-love, was that already underway at this point? It's sort of a chicken and the egg thing, right? Like, you don't really want to start eating in the way that is healing to your body until you have some self-respect and some self-love. But it is in that, you know, eating that way is one way to kind of cultivate that, right?

• 1:07:27Babette Davis?

  Right, exactly, exactly. The other thing that really, in terms of the whole love thing, was the fact that I understood that my connection, I began to understand my connection with everything and the fact that I felt one way when I was up and loving, and I felt another way when I was down. And I just felt like I had more power in a loving space. And, but, to be perfectly honest with you, it did take a little bit more time, after I met Ron,

• 1:08:10Babette Davis?

  to really, really have a grip on love and how I'm going to make that more important in my human journey than anything is loving and understanding and forgiving, and forgiving me, all of that. It wasn't, yeah, it didn't come real quick. First, it was about, oh, I feel better when I eat. And then it was constantly learning, constantly. And I was really agape a lot back then. And just really, really understanding, understanding life.

• 1:08:50Babette Davis?

  Understanding life, that's pretty much what it was. I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful. It didn't, it doesn't, it didn't have to be as beautiful as it is right now. Cause, cause it's really, I really have a good life right now.

• 1:09:04Rich Roll?

  You do, you do.

• 1:09:05Babette Davis?

  I do.

• 1:09:07Rich Roll?

  I, I recently returned from India where I had the opportunity to basically sit this far away from the Dalai Lama two days in a row.

• 1:09:16Babette Davis?

  Man, how was that?

• 1:09:18Rich Roll?

  And it was a series of, of talks led by this man, Arthur Brooks, who, who, who teaches at Harvard Business School, but really has kind of become this scholar on happiness. And he led, he led this discussion over two days. And what was interesting about it was that no matter what question was posed to the Dalai Lama, his answer was some variation of one single idea, which is that the answer is always love. Like it's just, on one level infuriating, like really? Like we came all this way and like we're hearing this thing that we already know. And on another level, like perhaps the most profound thing that he could say. And I think we, we hear that word so much that it's difficult for us to

• 1:10:02Rich Roll?

  really like embrace the true profundity of it if we were to actually like live it in the way that you're, you know, that you're speaking about.

• 1:10:09Babette Davis?

  You have to live it. And because we're created in and of that, that's what we are. And we, once, once we live it and continue to live it and understand the importance of living it, wow, it just makes such a massive difference.

• 1:10:27Rich Roll?

  Is the restaurant mostly an expression of that love? I feel like it's, it's sort of a way for you to show your love with your community.

• 1:10:37Babette Davis?

  Well, I only want Rondo, if Rondo, if Rondo ain't come to me.

• 1:10:39Rich Roll?

  But with the people who come in and have the food.

• 1:10:40Babette Davis?

  They love it. They, they love it. And, and like I said, sometime, come on, Rondo's 76. He can be grumpy sometimes. Can you turn your phone down, please? Well, I don't want to hear you speak, but, but other than that, they understand what we do with the food. That, that, that, come on. I pat the burgers out myself. They're made out of walnuts. You know what I'm saying? I pat them out myself. And I feel like people ingest that love. And we have some really great customers. Very, very, very loyal customers and so many brand-new people coming in, loving what we're sharing.

• 1:11:23Rich Roll?

  I feel like it's almost an act of courage to eat this way and live this lifestyle, because all of the incentives and all of the messaging, everywhere we go, every single day, from the moment we wake up, are pushing us in the other direction.

• 1:11:44Babette Davis?

  You are so...

• 1:11:45Rich Roll?

  You know what I mean? Like, all the food that's accessible, that's cheap, is the food that's killing us. All the billboards that we see in the television that we watch and the news that invades our brains is selling us on this idea of separateness and division as opposed to oneness and love. And so you really have to be intentional and determined to rebut all of those incentives and all of those cultural forces that are pushing us apart and making us sick and making us loathe ourselves and separating us from our true nature,

• 1:12:25Rich Roll?

  which is to really embrace this idea of oneness and love is kind of the answer to all.

• 1:12:31Babette Davis?

  You got it. Man, you are on point.

• 1:12:35Rich Roll?

  Yeah, but I say this now and five minutes later and be grumpy and like, I'm not a naturally grateful person to that. You know, like, I can brush up against it once in a while, but, you know, I'm lost in the Maya most of the time.

• 1:12:49Babette Davis?

  No, you're not. No, no, no. I communicate with you too well. You get it. You get it.

• 1:12:57Rich Roll?

  I just want to tee you up for a sermon.

• 1:12:59Babette Davis?

  You get it.

• 1:13:00Rich Roll?

  Like, tell me the truth. What do we need to know? What's the secret?

• 1:13:04Babette Davis?

  I kept giving it to you. That's all I got. I gave you all I got.

• 1:13:08Rich Roll?

  There's more.

• 1:13:09Babette Davis?

  But I am a happy girl.

• 1:13:15Babette Davis?

  And I don't want to, I don't, I don't want this to come off like I'm sitting here trying to act like there's perfection here. I'm saying, come on, I busted my knee showing out. So, um, but once you live it and you experience it and you, you, um, you, you live that whole loving thing, you don't want to change that. You don't want to go back to anything else. I watch MSNBC. That's my, that's my, that's my news source, MSNBC. I, I listen to political news. That's what I do. But it does not stop me. It does not hinder me being able to embrace love. It does not get in my way because I know how

• 1:13:58Babette Davis?

  I feel that way versus the other way. And, and, and there is such a difference in the way that I feel.

• 1:14:09Rich Roll?

  The other thing that Dalai Lama said was that if you don't understand what he means when he's talking about love, or you are challenged to, to really feel that energy, look to the mother's love of a child, or look to an animal's love for its offspring. And all the answers can be found in that incredible bond. And it's this metaphor, like basically what he's saying is, can you take that and bring that into your lived experience and treat all life in the way that a mother treats its young? In other words, like the mother

• 1:14:53Rich Roll?

  energy is the most powerful force in the universe.

• 1:14:56Babette Davis?

  I believe that. I would agree with that.

• 1:14:59Rich Roll?

  If someone comes to you and they're like, oh my God, I just, you know, I want what you have. Uh, how do I change my diet? How do I, you know, how do I cultivate more compassion for myself? Like, how do you?

• 1:15:10Babette Davis?

  I get that question.

• 1:15:11Rich Roll?

  Yeah, like I'm sure people ask you this all the time, right? Like, how do you, how do you get people to take that first step and, and move forward?

• 1:15:18Babette Davis?

  I usually talk to people about, um, knowledge. I, I, I can't, I can't go away from that. I, I don't want you to try to transition or do anything differently if you don't know why you're doing it. If it, if it, if it intellectually is not. Important to you, or you don't have a full understanding as to why it is important that you transition. I think for me, a lot of times, we just don't succeed. So, the first thing that I'm telling people is to, you know, the first thing Ron did was gave me books. Boom, that worked for me. Okay?

• 1:15:59Babette Davis?

  And then I start thinking about, once you know what works for the human species in terms of nourishment, and what doesn't work, what are the foods that clog arteries? Is that coming from the apple? The corn? The peach? Is the clogged artery coming from that? Or do you know where the clogged artery is coming from? Make yourself understand who and what you are, and why there's a certain diet that works for you.

• 1:16:30Rich Roll?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:16:31Babette Davis?

  Those are the first things I talk to them about. I try not to go hard. I try not, like, we talked about it before, we used to, "Why are you not eating that salad?" We don't really mess with people like that anymore. Now, you can choose if you want a salad with your entree or not. But, I just don't believe in killing animals to nourish yourself. So, I mean, you know, they understand that that's how I feel, and I don't have a problem asking them questions like, "Would you, with the pus, would you ingest body fluids from yourself? Would you do that?" And most of the times, the answer is no. So, why are you ingesting body fluids from another species? Why would you do that?

• 1:17:15Babette Davis?

  So, it's just, you know, just think about certain things. And a lot of times, people say to me, "You helped me so much. I never thought about it that way. I never did it. But let me tell you what I've been doing. I got that book you talked about. I got this book you talked about. I'm doing this nowadays." That, to me, is everything. Because I didn't have to spend a lot of time with them. To just make them aware, just start with that. Just start with the real reason that you need to make a transition. Just start with that.

• 1:17:50Rich Roll?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:17:50Babette Davis?

  And that's not to say that I have things that I probably need not to ingest right now. That I don't know that I don't need to ingest it. I'm not running a hundred.

• 1:18:00Rich Roll?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:18:01Babette Davis?

  But I know the way that I feel. And I'd prefer to feel like this than the way I used to feel.

• 1:18:10Rich Roll?

  I think your superpower, though, is just modeling this aspirational way of being. I think that's the most powerful thing. Because people experience you, they encounter you, they see you, they see what you're capable of doing. They feel the energy that you're putting out into the world. And that's something that's infectious. People want, you know, like, how do I have more of that in my life? So then you have the opening and you can say, here's a book, or you can read this, or try this meal, or what have you. But I think just being a lighthouse, where you're standing in your power, emitting this, you know, beam out into the world that is luring people towards you. And I think that's a very different energy from the activist energy, or the protester, or the person who's,

• 1:18:55Rich Roll?

  you know, judging and criticizing and shaming. Because I think that that's the antithesis of love. Like, that's just leading to more separation and division.

• 1:19:03Babette Davis?

  It's true.

• 1:19:03Rich Roll?

  And it's not winning the hearts and minds of people. And it's not inspiring them. And it's not an aspirational thing that somebody wants more of in their life. And I think to each their own, and we need activists, and we need people who are out there on the front lines, you know, demonstrating what's right and what's wrong, and the need for change and the like. But your energy is one that I think has served best in the way that you're using it now.

• 1:19:27Babette Davis?

  It works better that way.

• 1:19:28Rich Roll?

  Which is bringing people together.

• 1:19:28Babette Davis?

  It does, it really does. Yeah, because gluing my hand to that counter, that was some weird shit.

• 1:19:33Rich Roll?

  Yeah. Was it super glue? It wasn't super glue.

• 1:19:36Babette Davis?

  It was some kind of super glue, it was weird.

• 1:19:37Rich Roll?

  Because you're going to peel the skin off your hand. How'd you get your hand off that counter?

• 1:19:40Babette Davis?

  It was just really weird. She put something on there and got my hand off.

• 1:19:43Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 1:19:43Babette Davis?

  But I did get a few messages from friends going, really?

• 1:19:48Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 1:19:49Babette Davis?

  You into that now, huh?

• 1:19:50Rich Roll?

  I mean, it's cool you did that, but I don't know that that's the best use of your superpower.

• 1:19:54Babette Davis?

  But my superpower is just what you said.

• 1:19:57Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 1:19:58Babette Davis?

  That just extending the love, just, yeah.

• 1:20:02Rich Roll?

  It's a beautiful thing.

• 1:20:03Babette Davis?

  Just sharing.

• 1:20:03Rich Roll?

  You know, I think, and the thing is, it's like... This is work that has no end.

• 1:20:09Babette Davis?

  And no.

• 1:20:10Rich Roll?

  You know.

• 1:20:11Babette Davis?

  I know.

• 1:20:11Rich Roll?

  And you're a drop in the ocean, but you believe that, you know, the decisions that you make and the way that you carry yourself in the world can make a difference.

• 1:20:21Babette Davis?

  Yes.

• 1:20:21Rich Roll?

  And you're doing your part.

• 1:20:22Babette Davis?

  It makes a difference.

• 1:20:23Rich Roll?

  To do that.

• 1:20:23Babette Davis?

  Yep.

• 1:20:24Rich Roll?

  But it's not going to overnight solve the urban food desert.

• 1:20:28Babette Davis?

  And it doesn't.

• 1:20:29Rich Roll?

  Crisis, or the disproportionate way in which lifestyle illnesses are afflicting black and brown people.

• 1:20:37Babette Davis?

  Inch by inch. You just put it out there. You do your part. That's all you can do. Is do your part.

• 1:20:44Rich Roll?

  So what's the dream?

• 1:20:46Babette Davis?

  What's the dream? You know what I really want? I love gardening a lot. I've had one garden in my life, and we moved from that place, and I have not had a garden. So I believe that before I

• 1:21:04Babette Davis?

  leave this planet in this human form, I would love to have a plot of land that I can actually spend time

• 1:21:14Babette Davis?

  growing food. I would love to do that.

• 1:21:17Rich Roll?

  Are there urban community gardens in Inglewood?

• 1:21:19Babette Davis?

  I'm sure there are, but I want to have my own.

• 1:21:22Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 1:21:23Babette Davis?

  Yeah.

• 1:21:24Rich Roll?

  I feel like you would, that would be, you could like grow the food for your restaurant.

• 1:21:28Babette Davis?

  I loved doing that so much. I had watermelons. I grew watermelon in L.A. I grew watermelon. My zucchini, of course, they were too damn big, but they used to get big as watermelons. I really, really enjoyed that. And that's something I would really, really love to do outside of truly learning to swim. I've taken swim.

• 1:21:50Rich Roll?

  I can help you up with that.

• 1:21:51Babette Davis?

  I've taken so many swimming classes. I am so pitiful.

• 1:21:56Rich Roll?

  That's an easy one to solve.

• 1:21:58Babette Davis?

  Even though you've almost drowned two or three times, it's still easy.

• 1:22:02Rich Roll?

  I think I could help you. I could help you get there.

• 1:22:04Babette Davis?

  You could help me get there?

• 1:22:05Rich Roll?

  Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I'd be happy to help you.

• 1:22:08Babette Davis?

  Would you? Yeah, I really want to know how to swim. I mean, and be out there on my own without my, like, I have a brand-new pool that I have access to.

• 1:22:17Rich Roll?

  Uh huh.

• 1:22:18Babette Davis?

  I got this big styrofoam. Thing that I have to put on to go to the pool. I don't, I wanna go in my bathing suit and look like a chick. I don't wanna go out there with a big old styro, big blue styrofoam.

• 1:22:30Rich Roll?

  Yeah, we have to solve this problem.

• 1:22:32Babette Davis?

  You can help me? It's not.

• 1:22:34Rich Roll?

  No, I can.

• 1:22:34Babette Davis?

  Even though with all the love in my heart, I'm still scared as hell in that water.

• 1:22:38Rich Roll?

  Uh, there's no reason why you should be scared. We'll, we'll, we'll sort that out.

• 1:22:42Babette Davis?

  Please.

• 1:22:43Rich Roll?

  So, maybe we can end this with just a, you know, a powerful call to action for people to reclaim their health by being more conscious about the choices that they're making.

• 1:22:52Babette Davis?

  You know, and when you open that Bible and you, and you believe in it so strongly and you believe in the word and, please, show appreciation through the practice of loving self and caring for self. Show that appreciation. And that includes knowing how to nourish yourself, movement, loving, watching your thoughts, practicing love of self is everything. Because then you are saying to the oneness, to the intelligence that gave us this life, "Thank you, thank you." Yes. So now I'm healthy and I can be on my purpose and stay on my purpose and feel good while

• 1:23:38Babette Davis?

  I'm on my purpose. You oughta let me get down there and do you a push-up or two.

• 1:23:41Rich Roll?

  I wanna see it.

• 1:23:42Babette Davis?

  When?

• 1:23:43Rich Roll?

  Right now.

• 1:23:44Babette Davis?

  Okay, watch.

• 1:23:44Rich Roll?

  Yeah, do it, do it right now, okay.

• 1:23:49Rich Roll?

  All right, let's see it.

• 1:23:50Babette Davis?

  Ready? All right.

• 1:23:58Rich Roll?

  You got form too.

• 1:23:59Babette Davis?

  Say what?

• 1:24:00Rich Roll?

  The form.

• 1:24:00Babette Davis?

  Oh, the form's good.

• 1:24:01Rich Roll?

  It's dialed.

• 1:24:02Babette Davis?

  I'm slipping though.

• 1:24:06Babette Davis?

  Okay, can I get up?

• 1:24:07Rich Roll?

  You're, you're, you're good. You proved it. You proved your point.

• 1:24:09Babette Davis?

  Okay.

• 1:24:10Rich Roll?

  Yeah, amazing.

• 1:24:13Rich Roll?

  Sit back down. Let's take people out properly. How we gonna take them out? We're gonna take them out by me throwing a little love at you. You gonna throw some love? Which is me saying, I just want to honor you a little bit. Can I do that? Please. You are an incredible spirit. You're a powerful manifester and a powerful change agent. I think that you are a catalyst for growth and expansion in so many people through the work that you do and the way that you live your life. And I'm just, I'm very inspired by you. I'm in awe of you and I just want you around for many more decades. And I want you to spread this message, this powerful message that you have, you know, as loudly and as broadly as you can. So I am wind in your sails for anything you need.

• 1:24:57Rich Roll?

  I just want to thank you for coming here today again. Thank you, Rich. I love you. Peace. Love you too. Bye, y'all. Bye. Peace, plants.

• 1:25:16Rich Roll?

  That's it for today. Thank you for listening. I truly hope you enjoyed the conversation. To learn more about today's guest, including links and resources related to everything discussed today, visit the episode page at richroll.com where you can find the entire podcast archive, my books, Finding Ultra, Voicing Change, and The Plant Power Way, as well as The Plant Power Meal Planner at meals.richroll.com. If you'd like to support the podcast, the easiest and most impactful thing you can do is to subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, and on YouTube, and leave a review and/or comment. This show just wouldn't be possible without the help of our amazing sponsors who keep

• 1:25:59Rich Roll?

  this podcast running wild and free. To check out all their amazing offers, head to richroll.com/sponsors.

• 1:26:08Rich Roll?

  And sharing the show or your favorite episode with friends or on social media is, of course, awesome and very helpful. And finally, for podcast updates, special offers on books, the meal planner, and other subjects, please subscribe to our newsletter, which you can find on the footer of any page at ritual.com. Today's show was produced and engineered by Jason Camiolo. The video edition of the podcast was created by Blake Curtis with assistance by our creative director, Dan Drake. Portraits by Davy Greenberg. Graphic and social media assets courtesy of Daniel Solis. And thank you, Georgia Whaley, for copywriting and website management. And of course, our theme music was created by Tyler Piotte, Trapper Piotte, and Harry Mathis. Appreciate the love, love the support. See

• 1:26:53Rich Roll?

  you back here soon. Peace. Plants. Namaste.