Life & Work with Makai Lui

Today we’d like to introduce you to Makai Lui.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am an American Samoan, 3rd generation off the island of Samoa but born and raised in Orange County, CA. I am a father, brother, friend, leader and the host of my podcast – Orange County’s Very Own (OCVO). This is a summarized version of my story…

I have always had a passion for leading others, mentorship, and speaking. Looking back on my life, I have exercised these roles through relationships, my Football career, Presidency in social organizations and social media as a platform to share my message and journey with others. It wasn’t always like this though… I entered college as an athlete not knowing who I was, who I wanted to be, I had walked away from my faith and chasing after pleasures, addictions, etc. Not long after, I found myself even deeper in a hole after experiencing a brutal back injury that ended my football career forever. This is what sent me over the edge to what I thought was a never-ending downfall…

As I was blindly chasing after the wrong things, God intervened back into my life and presented me with the opportunity to turn my life around with His guidance, and gave me a special gift in the process. He painted a picture of what my purpose was in life… to use my voice and share the journey of my experiences. I was changed forever with that encounter and made a 360 turn in my life. I lost 115 pounds in 9 months, grew closer to God, crushed my addictions and created a lifestyle that was relentlessly pursuing my full potential in all aspects of life. This gave me the confidence to start sharing my journey publicly with others where I started to gain feedback that people were being inspired and moved by the words I was sharing.

Once I graduated college from Northern Arizona University, I was introduced to fatherhood and started my career shortly after. During this time and with my son being born, I had a realization that with my life being changed dramatically, it was going to require me to change a lot about myself as well. COVID, lockdowns and quarantines did not help during this process and I was not mentally prepared to handle the adversity that it brought upon my life as I am sure many can relate.

Where I am today started with another realization that since graduating college and becoming a father, I hadn’t put myself in a position to utilize my gift of speaking/inspiring others and felt a gap that needed to be filled in my life. So I spent ample amount of time trying to figure out the best method to do this. One day an idea struck me to start a podcast with the name “Orange County’s Very Own”. From that moment, I have not looked back… I feel like I have aligned with my purpose God gave me and now have a platform to share my life experiences, challenges, ideas, insights, failures, victories, etc. to bring value to this world through my messaging and other conversations I will have with guests on the show as well.

By using my life experiences as real-time examples, my overall mission is to utilize this platform to inspire and encourage others to relentlessly chase after becoming the best version of themselves and bring light into the world of darkness that seems to be so casual in today’s society.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The struggles, challenges and obstacles that I have encountered along the way have all been created by me… I was getting in the way of who I needed to be and who I was purposed to be in this life. Instead, I was cluttering my mind with addiction, pleasures, and other negative aspects of life that served me no value and drifted me further away from the truth. This has been one of the biggest realizations for me as I journey through life and now understanding through doing the work that regardless of what happens, I ultimately have control over my mindset, response and action that I take following that event.

I have also embarked into a mental toughness program called, 75HARD created by Andy Frisella which has been life-altering to say the least and something I desperately needed to overcome these obstacles I created for myself. I am currently 45 days in and have noticed an immensely positive change in my confidence, mindset, physical stature, discipline, perspective on life, and a laundry list of new habits/routines that are helping shape and mold me into the man I desire to be. I am excited for the next 30 days as I close out the 1st phase and for the remainder of my life as I put in the daily work to create a sustainable life of accomplishing my dreams/goals/visions, having control over my mental warzone and being battle ready for the unpredictable/inevitable events that life will bring. I will forever be chasing the next win and want everyone to do the same…

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I host a podcast called Orange County’s Very Own. I specialize in having real conversations comprised of topics around the relentless pursuit of becoming the best version of ourselves and reaching our full potential. I am most proud and grateful that I have a platform to encourage, inspire and love on others with the topics I speak on and hopefully help others see their potential so we can win together through the journey of life.

What makes you happy?
Multiple things bring me happiness in no specific order…. #1 Gratitude brings me happiness. #1 My son brings me happiness. #1 My family brings me happiness. #1 Impacting others to see potential in themselves that they couldn’t see for themselves brings me happiness as well.

Contact Info:

• Email: orangecountysveryown@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orangecountysveryown/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4av-uQT-t8U5Fb-F_OMPUQ/featured

Image Credits:
Clayton White, Alexis Jimenez