#61 | Mike Mulkey | Surfing in Heaven

Surfer, author and life coach Mike Mulkey on leaving 25 years in Silicon Valley and his book Surfing in Heaven. A surfer, author, and a life coach who writes about finding the perfect wave in heaven, Mike's passion is helping people tackle work/life balance challenges provoked him to launch "Surfing for Balance in Silicon Valley" in 2014 to blog about his struggles to stay afloat amidst the chaos. After 25 years of riding the Silicon Valley Express train, Mike disembarked and discovered that his world had turned upside down. His first book, Surfing in Heaven, is a true story about Mike's journey to find hope amidst the daily battles we all face at work and beyond. To learn more about Mike: https://surfingforbalance.com Chapters 0:00 Welcome Mike Mulkey 2:36 Air travel isn't what it used to be 5:10 Self-publishing Surfing in Heaven 7:44 Simon Parker and Covid friendships 10:18 Long podcasts without ads 12:52 How Ryan live-switches the show 15:26 His father's post-war surfing days 17:58 Marriage, kids and Silicon Valley 20:34 Sundays are for surfing 23:06 Reading 70 books on heaven 25:40 A surfer who died and came back 28:14 Finding faith later in life 30:51 Surfing versus high school basketball 33:21 Ryan's father and discipline 35:53 Ryan's practice schedule 38:26 Coaching kids 40:57 Bill Russell 43:28 The Seven Summits 46:01 Climbing in Switzerland 48:36 Ryan's summers away from Dubai 51:13 The birth of the San Onofre Surfing Club 53:46 An idyllic childhood on the beach 56:19 Prize money and the World Surf League 58:54 Ironman training in the Philippines 1:01:25 The road to destruction 1:03:59 Training to escape your demons 1:06:34 Ryan's motorcycle trip around China 1:09:07 Air quality in Shanghai 1:11:45 China's early internet 1:14:15 China's most exciting decade 1:16:50 Bamboo scaffolding 1:19:26 What surfing gave him 1:22:01 Leaving the ocean and the next book 1:24:39 Waves at Middle Peak 1:27:12 Surf Ranch as a corporate retreat 1:29:42 Close to nature 1:32:19 A rained-out trip 1:34:52 Skis versus snowboards 1:37:28 Surfing with his kids 1:40:04 Surfing in unsafe places 1:42:38 Making a surf movie at 50 1:45:14 Warren Miller 1:47:51 Setting his eyes up 1:50:27 Pressure on young people today 1:53:01 Keeping up with the Joneses 1:55:35 Fighting for food 1:58:09 Heaven in scripture 2:00:45 A thousand books a day 2:03:17 The five-minute podcast 2:05:49 A Navy SEAL memoir The Ryan Pyle Podcast is ad-free by choice. If you enjoy these conversations, you can buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/ryanpyle Ryan's TV series are streaming around the world. Follow the Podcast X: https://x.com/RyanPylePodcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpylepodcast Follow Ryan Pyle YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ryanjpyle Instagram: https://instagram.com/ryanpyle X: https://x.com/RyanPyle Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpyle https://www.ryanpyle.com