On today’s Let’s Talk About… episode, Elise sits down with Blake Moynes.
You probably know Blake from the Bachelor franchise where he got the final rose in season 17, but there’s more to Blake than his time on the bachelorette. Like he is a fellow Canadian, has worked for the urban wildlife management for the past several years and is an advocate for the environment, he even has his own merchandise line that directly supports wildlife conservation.
Elise and Blake talk about everything from sharing the male perspective on dating in 2022 to supporting your partner and stepping out of the notion that love is only found in fairy tales.
“Find the ways to be happy on your own first, if your happiness and your non-negotiables mix with her happiness and her non-negotiables and that just meshes well, you’re off to a hell of a start, and you have to have that happiness first and it should naturally want to mesh with the right person if it doesn’t and you’re not happy or you’re giving up too much, it just, it doesn’t match.” Blake told Elise on this episode Let’s Talk About.
To listen to Blake’s episode of Let’s Talk About, simply click here or search for “Let’s Talk About by STYLE Canada” on any major streaming platform.
Check out the show transcript below.
This episode is brought to you by our friends at Smithery.
[00:00:00] Elise: Hi everyone, and welcome! This week we’re talking about being a bachelor with Blake Moynes. You probably know Blake from the Bachelor franchise where he got the final rose in season 17, but there’s more to Blake than his time on the bachelorette. Like as a fellow Canadian and has worked for the urban wildlife management for the past several years and is an advocate for the environment, he even has his own merchandise line that directly supports wildlife conservation.
Blake, thanks so much for being here with us.
[00:00:25] Blake: Thank you for having me.
[00:00:26] Elise: Yeah, I’m excited! So, we, we started this season off with a series on dating. We’ve had a researcher, behavioral scientist, someone from the dating apps, and we wanted to bring you on as kind of like our, our token bachelor to give the male perspective to things and to dating in 2022.
[00:00:44] Blake: Sure. It sounds good. I feel like now I got to really deliver cause I’m the one that knows about from the male side of things. Okay. Fair enough.
[00:00:50] Elise: You’re giving us that perspective. No pressure! You’re speaking for all males across north America (laughs). Understood, it’s your own experience!
So, I think really you know, getting into the psyche of the other side of things is of interest to the female listener out there as well for those in hetero relationships anyways. It’s a big topic, dating in 2022—it’s an overwhelming topic. Well, we’ll attempt to chip away at it. But let’s start with how are you personally approaching dating this month anyway?
[00:01:23] Blake: Oh, geez. This month. Well, I’ve been easing back into things obviously after doing it in a very public setting on a show. And so, it’s been a while since I’ve been a part of the ‘normal’ way of dating. And so, I feel like things have changed a little bit more. I think they’re more aggressive online socially even more when I was doing it two years ago before I started all my show stuff. There’s a lot of emphasis online, which I think is a great way to get people connected, but I think people are leaning on it too much and not putting enough emphasis on the actual person-to-person connection in real life.
[00:02:01] Elise: Because when you started the process of things that would have been pre COVID too, right?
[00:02:07] Blake: Yeah. So, yeah, so right when Colby first started was when I left for Clare’s season and got sent home right before night one started. So, it’s been two years of it.
[00:02:19] Elise: Okay. So, really, I can see why you’re saying that, being that focused on online because we’ve all had to do virtual dating, FaceTime, all of that. Kind of, and I don’t want to say everyone’s online, but likely a lot of people that weren’t online are probably online.
Blake: Exactly.
Elise: Yeah, okay, so that makes sense. So, on that kind of note, what are your thoughts on, it sounds like, your preference is meeting in person. So, there’s obviously the, ‘are we meeting online or a meeting in person’ where do you kind of stand on that? And it doesn’t have to be necessarily what you’re personally doing, but thoughts around it even.
[00:02:53] Blake: Yeah, I think, I think we spent too much time online. So, I think it’s great to make the connection online because you can check a lot of boxes—everything can look great online, but the longer you stay online, the worse it is, because I think you can hide behind a phone, and I think time is very valuable and you can spend a month online talking to somebody and get to real life and it’s like, what this a whole facade, like, who are you? Right? And so, I think it’s important to make a connection, but get out and see them right away. Like as soon as you can, because I just think you can waste a lot of valuable time and it’s hard out there right now.
And I’m noticing that for myself, I’m trying to make a connection online and then trying to get them out in person right away, which isn’t always the easiest, right? Especially now because I’ve been over in the States, I’m talking to people from all over the place. And so, it’s not necessarily right here where I have the ability right away when I want to, but get out from behind your phone, it’s better for you. It’s better for them. And stop putting such an emphasis, I know it’s easier but easier. Isn’t always better, so we need to get away from that.
[00:04:01] Elise: I think some of the, I’m trying to remember who we interviewed that said something like four days within the time of when you make a connection. To meeting in person, because then you start kind, of which you’re right—when you’re traveling and you have a full life, it’s not the easiest to do—but then you kind of start building things up in your head, right.
Blake: Oh, yea.
Elise: Maybe when you’re, when you’re just checking off those boxes, like I’m going to Google search, make sure this person is normal, then you start creating like a picture of who this person is and who their life is. Right?
[00:04:31] Blake: Exactly. You’re setting yourself up for failure with this expectation, because everything, people can be perfect online from their photos to everything they say. You can’t see a tone. You can’t see an expression. You can’t see the things that you need to see in person. So, someone can come off so perfect, and when you’re like this person’s everything, I can’t wait to meet them and it’s been a month, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
And I think to, it kind of fizzles out over time, it’s like what else can you talk about? I also think too, when it comes back to wasting time, I like to dive into really important things. First, get all the heavy stuff out, tell them what your boundaries are, and the non-negotiables because I don’t want to waste time until people don’t want to do that through texts, get it in person and have those conversations in real life and the hard ones right away. I mean, I, I think I’ve learned the right way because that’s what we’re forced to do on the bachelorette. Right?!
Elise: Right.
Blake: You have to go deep right away and be vulnerable. It’s not easy for everybody. I’m lucky that I’ve been forced to like, learn that experience, that now I have no problem doing it in the real world. I know it’s like a timid thing you want to tip around. But, dive right into it. Don’t waste time. Do it in person.
[00:05:46] Elise: I was going to say, I think that that is probably unique to you in some ways, because that doesn’t often happen anyway that everyone kind of gets it all out there. I agree with you that getting it all out there, but then I’ve also seen just in relationships I’ve been in that there is some aspect of time and getting to know each other that you uncover more to, right.
I’m like, just tell me all the shit now. Cause I want to like brace myself for it. But then you realize that there’s, there’s little instances where maybe you find out a little more as, as life happens. Right? And you experienced life together.
[00:06:21] Blake: Absolutely. I think there’s, there’s definitely, I think specific things that you can, that can wait, and naturally kind of come into play. But I think there’s definitely, if you have non-negotiables in your life, whatever they are, I think it’s important to get those at least out first and then start working through the other things.
But, to keep things bottled up and like spring it on them later, when it’s something that they would have went for earlier, you’re doing both of you with a disservice, right? So, I just think that there’s some things, if you know that it might bother the person or it’s something that you can’t live without, or you have to have, get it out there.
[00:06:55] Elise: Yeah. You seem like a very good communicator when it comes to even just watching you, you know, in your inner reality TV life, and in hearing you on interviews. You do seem, um, kind of like enlightened in terms of how you approach dating. What do you attribute that to? Is it, I feel like your mom seems very in tune with that too? Like where does that come from?
[00:07:16] Blake: Yeah, I think majority of my personality traits come from my mom and I am just a very easy going out person too. But I also just hate disappointing people. And I think I’ve been through enough where I’ve been disappointed on my own, and I know what that feeling is like to be like heartbroken and all those things.
I went through a crazy little stage of depression and anxiety coming through my first heartbreak ever. And I remember those feelings well. How can I manage that better for people going forward? I don’t want to put that on anyone ever, because I hated it. I hated it. And so, I’m just very conscious about other people’s feelings—trying to be understanding. Let’s just look at this and like be conscious and get an overview of like, what’s going on.
It is, it is, I think we need to be selfish, but when we’re talking about feelings and emotions, you got to be careful about the other person, because I know how it’s felt. And so, I’m just a little bit, I just tippy-toe around that a little bit better, just like, let’s put it out there. If I put it out there. You can’t get upset if I hold something back and I lie . You’re allowed to be upset. So let’s put it out there, whether you like it or not, at least you have the information and you can make the decision for yourself. If I hold it back, I don’t give you that. Then, then you’re allowed to be pissed off.
[00:08:23] Elise: Yeah. Like it’s not, it’s not kind of. That, that holding back is just going to create more attention later. Absolutely.
[00:08:30] Blake: Later on, eventually at some point, right? So, it’s just when, when do you face it?
[00:08:34] Elise: So yeah, so you strike me as someone that, or struck, struck me anyway. I know we’re taking a little bit of a dating break maybe, or a little time on dating in terms of finding real love and real connection. What prompted the initial? Um, I guess application, I don’t know how one applies for the bachelor or bachelorette, but what prompted that initial, uh, getting into this series?
[00:08:55] Blake: Yeah. So it was, uh, I had just, well, not just, it had been about a year.
I was with somebody for three years and who I potentially thought was going to be like, there, she was, you know, five years younger than me. Amazing. I can’t say anything bad about her. She’s incredible person. Timing was off and a bunch of other things, but just wasn’t right. And so that was about a year or I was single and just dating, doing all the things while you’re on social media, doing all the things and not figuring it out.
And, uh, it was just honestly an opportunity I had with friends who were speaking after a hockey game with my buddies. And they’re like, why don’t you go try with one of those shows, like nothing’s working for you here. You don’t care what anyone thinks, like, go jump on and do one of these things. And it was just an experience type thing that was okay, I’ll do it for the experience.
But then we started getting into the casting process and seeing how serious it was then learning about Claire. Knowing for three months it was going to be Claire. I did exactly what we’re not supposed to do and we’ve already talked about, I built her up to be this whole big thing right. Where I shouldn’t have, and I should have waved that connection you realize, because it wasn’t really there, but in my head, I’m like, she’s perfect. She’s got dogs. She just looks like she’s always hiking all the time, like this, this and that. Right. And like I did exactly what I was not supposed to do. So that’s a prime example I’ve learned to like, not do that anymore now.
I still think she’s awesome. Not for me, but, um, yeah, that’s kinda how it got started. And then Claire was super emotional about her experience and like really excited, really wanted to find her person. It was easy for me to be like, okay, this turned into an experience until I, okay, this is actually real because this person’s taking it extremely seriously and I have to get there too. Otherwise, it’s not going to go good for her or me. And it just, I could look like an idiot – so, let’s really dive in here and give back.
[00:10:38] Elise: Interesting. And so, you mentioned some of those like lessons, I guess, that, that came out of that experience. Is there anything else that like, noteworthy that you took from it? I’m sure a lot, but any top three, I guess maybe things?
[00:10:52] Blake: Top three things.
Elise: They all probably built up as one probably.
Blake: Probably, yeah, I would say.
How important it is to talk it out. And what I mean by that is, you know, is every day we, we have interviews, every day about how we’re feeling that day. How do you feel about this person? How do you feel about you and your conversation with this person? How do you feel about the lead, whoever it was, whether it was Tisha, Katie or Claire?
You’re constantly talking to people about your feelings and your emotions that allows you to build confidence that when you come out of that, it’s like, this just feels normal now. And because I’ve been out there and I’ve done it on a public stage to millions of people I’m not scared to do it with whoever it is, whether I’m at the grocery store and run into somebody, this or that. Like I think vulnerability to people gives them trust when you’re able to open up it’s—I’m giving you everything—so talk it out and just talk, give it like people will give you the benefit of the doubt and they love that genuine, vulnerable, authentic, authenticity, you know, the word I’m trying to go that, you know, people like to hold in. So, it’s like just talking. Don’t build things up too much before we actually meet in person, and a third one. Uh, that’s tough.
[00:12:10] Elise: There was something. Well, there was something you said I’ll, I’ll prompt you a little. If you tell me, you let me know, if you think this is true or not.
Blake: Sure.
Elise: But there was something you said just about how kind of perfect the bachelor world is in terms of the episodes, right. Or that we see rather the dates you go on. The fact that the outside world, is your kind of cocooned from that. Is there any kind of lesson around that? How cause I’m just placing it into the average person. Right? We’ve all been, especially here in Canada, we’ve been cocooned. If you’ve been dating someone, you might not have liked seeing them out at a restaurant. Right. Yet, like now you probably don’t but is there, is there a lesson there in terms of how real life plays a role in like.
[00:12:54] Blake: Yeah. And that’s where I think over time, naturally the relationship when you start to sort those things out, which you can’t do through a phone. So, it’s, again, getting back to just doing things in real life, but yeah, there’s a, there’s definitely a major transition from coming off the show where everything is perfect, but it’s not real life, from, I don’t know, does she, does she want to do like great gestures where she wants to make me coffee in the morning? Which, you know, Katie would always do the little things like that. What I would have never noticed on the show. But like acts of service, things like that, you would never notice on a show or how do you treat a waiter or little things that, you wouldn’t get when you’re just hanging out at somebody’s house together and just like watching Netflix is the only thing you can do in the pandemic.
For me, it was being on a show and everything was built up to be this big fantasy world, which, you know, it helped us get there, but we just weren’t strong enough to get through the transition of real life and the distance and all those things. So. Yeah. I mean, coming back into real life now, you’re, you’re getting back in the swing of things, seeing what someone’s like in public, talking to the people that they flirting with, other people in public, those things you would never deal with, that people are going to be starting to deal with again. And maybe some people forgot. So, um, just being conscious of that because, uh, now everyone’s making that transition. Not just me.
[00:14:12] Elise: Yeah. Yeah. Every, I mean, I’m just, I’m relating it to myself and absolutely. It’s like, you’re seeing how people maybe interact with your friends or like you’re saying out in treating the server. Right. And, and that is like learning a lot about a person that’s honestly like how someone lives their day to day is I don’t, I don’t know what percentage I want to give it, but a big percentage of what matters in a relationship. Right?
[00:14:38] Blake: Definitely. And how you communicate, like there’s things that would spark, like, I don’t know, how do you respond? What’s your body language, like, or your expression, your tone of voice and new spawning and certain things like that. I would, might look at something and be like, oh, I hated how you handled that. Like, whoa, that was such a turn off. And you’re right. And it’d be like, hey, maybe that’s a bit of a thing that I would have never known otherwise, unless I saw it because she’s never to tell me that I’m gonna to tell me that. I’m not saying she said she did, I’m just saying whoever it is in general.
Elise: I don’t tip well. Someone’s not going to say that.
Blake: Yea, there are things you just never know otherwise it’s time in-person is the only thing that’s going to solve that and give you that. So, um, yeah.
Like drive, like how much drive it after they get that routine, like they want to do it or do they sluggish and lay around. There’s just things that you need to see if matched with you. If you’re not happy day to day. This is the thing I think that strikes me the most is that people can almost be in a relationship and be sad in a relationship trying to make it work. If you’re sad in a relationship, trying to make it work, it’s never going to work. You gotta be, find the ways to be happy on your own first, if your happiness and your non-negotiables mix with her happiness and her non-negotiables and that just meshes well, you’re off to a hell of a start and like you have to have that happiness first and it should naturally want to mesh with the right person if it doesn’t and you’re not happy or you’re giving up too much, it just, it doesn’t match. I don’t know why I’m using this symbol, but no.
[00:16:04] Elise: It makes sense. We’ll use that in the video. We’ll use that as the one clip we show is that whenever I can even do it, but yeah. Perfect.
Well, no, it’s completely true. I remember reading Michelle Obama’s, I think her, her bio and she made in this, the chapter was on marriage, I think. She said, you know, she wasn’t happy, but she couldn’t put that on her husband too. Right. Like everyone has to go into it as, as a full person in their own person. And I know that you have quite a few passions.
And so, what role does, you know, your own passion play in a relationship? Like how do you balance those passions with the relationship? Because that’s ours too, right? Like meshing someone into your life and especially the work you do. Like, I feel like, you know, you were in Kenya, takes you overseas often. So how does, how do you kind of merge those two?
[00:16:55] Blake: I think, I think the most important thing is having a partner that loves to see you succeed, because if you love to see somebody succeed, it should be like a turn on, like, go do it! Babe, go fucking do it. Sorry for swearing, but go do it.
Elise: That’s fine.
Blake: Um, because that like that to me, like if I know that my person has this passion and she gets, whenever she talks to me about it, she gets fired up and she loves it. I want her to go and do that because I see how, how much fire it brings her, how happy, how much happiness it brings her. So yes, if you got to go and spend two weeks doing that, the thing is if I’m sitting back, you’re yes, sure I can miss you, but I feel really good knowing that you’re like, you are doing everything you wanted – you have one life.
Why the hell would I be selfish enough to be like, oh no, I, you know, I want you to stay back, like, I don’t think you should. No. That’s not the partner you want. So find a partner, if you have a big passion that you, like I said, as a non-negotiable for you and your life, then you need to find somebody that supports the hell out of that, because otherwise it’s going to bring you down and it’s going to make you unhappy through life when you can’t chase the thing you’ve always wanted to chase and whatever that passion is, so find somebody that supports you, cause there’s a lot of things want to bring us down and that’s one thing that’s important.
[00:18:08] Elise: Yeah. And I think it’s interesting too, that you chose the word support, not shares the same passions because, and you tell me your take on this, but when you, when you mentioned Claire, you mentioned like, has the dogs, likes to hike and I’ve just been reading a lot of studies here and there that it’s like, you know, it’s not important that he or she wants to golf with you every Saturday, but that they may be support that you like that passion or whatever it is. What’s your, what’s your kind of take on that, that whole idea of needs to share the passion versus supports the passion?
[00:18:41] Blake: Yea, there’s a couple of things with this. It would be great. First off, number one, so, say for example, I think it makes it pretty easy for people to support what I want to do, because it’s like a good thing and it’s a good cause.
Elise: It’s a good cause. Yup.
Blake: And so, it’s easy to support. So, you know, if it’s not something that you necessarily support your partner doing, it could be a little bit more challenging. That’s why it’s important to find someone who’s okay with that. But yeah, I don’t need my person to want to be on, on these trips with me, and you don’t have to love animals and wildlife as much as me. You really don’t because there might be things when you think about it, the other way that you might love, I don’t know, shoe shopping and collecting shoes.
Elise: Not as meaningful.
Blake: Not as meaningful, we might be spending a little, maybe spending a little bit more money on things that aren’t, but like, you know, like you’ve got to find a way to support and understand if it brings you happiness, it brings you that much, I have to find a way to support and be okay with supporting you because your happiness, when you come home at the end of the day, is what makes our relationship work. It makes it, it runs smoothly, especially when all the kids and things come into play. So, whatever it is, if it makes you that happy, I’ve got to find a way to support it. Especially if you’re supporting me, it goes, it’s a two-way street. I think a lot of relationships play on a one-way street and that’s where things go wrong.
[00:19:59] Elise: Yeah. Yeah. And you, you talked a little earlier about, or we talked a little earlier, just about like the fairy tale, I guess, or this perfect world. What’s your, cause I think women, and again, I’m talking about the middle of the bell curve, not everyone on the outliers, but I do think in general, women have this idea of what the fairy tale relationship looks like, or how we meet as a fairy tale or how that progresses. Do men share in that? Like when you were growing up, did you, did you dream of this like fairy tale or this wedding? Or what does that look like from, from the male gaze?
[00:20:38] Blake: Um, you know, I think it, I think to be honest, I think this goes for a lot of males. It’s this, um, testosterone alpha-male driven type thing. When you’re going through high school, it’s having lots of girlfriends, like hooking up with girls, like that’s a natural thing progression through high school. And as you mature, you start to realize that that’s not that cool. And how many people you’ve slept with is not cool. And you start to transition out of that.
Some people never do unfortunately, some males just like, that’s just the way they are and they just haven’t matured. And they just don’t understand that. But I do think there’s a handful of people, males, that have that earlier, where they can see like, okay, finding that love and what that looks like. Now, I think a lot of it has to do with upbringing. How much love you’ve had from like your mother or your family setting that kind of drives that for you.
So, family and how you’ve grown up and your surroundings, I think dictate that and how a male kind of thinks and how long it takes them transition to that maturity to like, but yeah, I would say, when it came to like 23, 24 when I was like done university and I was really like trying to find what I want to do in life and had my first girlfriend that I was really, really excited about. I was like, okay, like, I love this feeling of like this pure love, but I think it comes a little later for men, I think. Right? Just based on my personal experience and my friends and how that happens, but it definitely comes. I think family has a lot to do with that in the early stages of like, and seeing what you see. Yeah.
[00:22:10] Elise: Yeah. And family and media to right, in a way like the, not that young boys aren’t watching Disney movies, but there’s like the Disney princess and that kind of whole idea you know idea in fairy tale. I think young girls are probably fed that more than young boys are. I just think of my friends that have children and, you know, the, the daughter likes, um, like Elsa, but the son likes Marvel comics, right? Or something or something like that. So, it’s a little, a little different kind of the messaging, I guess we’re fed around fairy tale, which is kind of interesting too. Um, and, and so for, I guess, I guess too, like you’re, you’re 30 right now?
[00:22:51] Blake: Yeah, I turned 31 in August. Yeah.
[00:22:53] Elise: Okay. So maybe you haven’t, I’m a little older than you, so maybe you haven’t like had this, this, this hasn’t come yet. I guess, but I do think there’s like in love a little bit of a naivete where you mentioned, you know, falling in love was that around height, like high school, 20ish, maybe like around that time period.
Blake: Yea. Yes.
Elise: So, there’s like that naivete of falling in love then versus in your thirties, you just know more. Right? And, and maybe, I feel like you’ve probably had an accelerated dating experience, right.
Blake: Yea.
Elise: That you probably learned some of those lessons in your mid-thirties, you learned, you got about five years ahead of the game there. But what are, I guess some of those, like, do you see that a little bit? Like, do you, have you, have you lost a little bit of your naivete around, around dating and love? Do you still have that like, you know, feeling that you can get that, that feeling that maybe you had with your, you know, your first love?
[00:23:53] Blake: Yeah. And I, and I think you always have to chase that. Like, I don’t think it’s, I don’t think it’s smart to turn that off and be like, oh yeah. Cause that’s when. You live one life. And when you had that feeling and it gives you that high. You can get that again, but the right person’s going to give it to you now, when you first experienced it, it’s different. Cause I think there’s a lot of things that come into it. When you’re first connecting with somebody, you’re like, this is what it’s like. And whether it’s, you know, you sleep with the person for the first time. Now you’ve experienced all the little things that makes up what you think is this perfect person – now it’s going to be harder to find that really hard to find because you went through enough experiences that, you know, I don’t like this. I don’t like this. I love this, hate this. And so now you you’ve, you’ve created this perfect person in your mind. It’s going to be really, really hard to find.
But I do believe that that person is out there. Don’t lose the faith in trying to find that I do think it’s out there and don’t settle just based on a timeline, all these things. I understand that women have more of a timeline than men do, but try hard to not lose faith in that and try not to settle and try to find that right person because we just want to be happy. And so, um, yeah.
[00:25:05] Elise: Well, you seem really happy now.
Blake: Yea.
Elise: What are some of the, what did you know going into this year, I guess is it feels, I know it’s not, I know we’re, you know, a few months into the year, but it does feel at least here in Canada with everything opening, it feels like, kind of like a fresh start. What are your kind of tips for anyone that’s out there dating in 2022? What are some maybe things that you’re going to implement in your dating or things in general that you hope to implement?
[00:25:36] Blake: Yeah. I, I would say just advice in general is pull triggers and whenever you pull triggers is bet on yourself. Be competent, be secure, pull triggers. Don’t just be, wishy-washy be good. Do something you want and seek it out.
Say yes. Be more of a yes person. Oh, not now or not tonight. Like, if you really want to find somebody, you got to put yourself out there and pull triggers to make things happen. If you sit back, yes, potentially it can fall on your lap. I’m not saying go out there like I’m going out to find my boyfriend thing. No, but like get out there, network, meet people like that. You know? We have the ability to do that now, after two years, have excitement about it and go out. Cause everyone’s looking for the same thing right now. Everyone’s looking for that. And, and so we’ve been missing that for so long.
So, get out there, pull triggers and get after it.
Aside from that, what am I going to do? I’m going to try to do a lot of that. Now I do it in a little bit of a more cautious way I think coming off the show, I sometimes don’t know who’s in it for me. Who’s in it for like attaching themselves to that in a weird way. I vet things a little bit differently, but. But again, I’m pulling triggers. I’m down to meet anybody. I’ve been meeting people online. I’ve met people in person and, um, it feels good to be doing it in a real setting again, and taking a step back from the last two years that I’ve had. So, it’s been nice. I’m getting out there pulling triggers, just like everyone else should.
[00:26:59] Elise: I love that pull the trigger. So where can ever, I mean, I know we touched on some of the great work that you’re doing. I love by the way that you have, like your merchant lines, like support something. I feel like a lot of people out there have a merchant line that obviously for profit, but like you have a cause behind it. I also thought it was really unique about you—when we were, we knew about you obviously, but when we’re kind of diving a little deeper, your, your link on Instagram doesn’t even have like a personal mention about you. It’s like all about your causes, which I thought was really cool. Right. So, tell us a little bit about, you know, some of those causes and, and where we can support.
[00:27:37] Blake: Yeah. So, um, you know, I went on the show, I realized what this is. I went on a reality show and it was an amazing experience. I know that time is limited and valuable with it. I know that there’s a lot more that I can do than just self-serving things for myself. I have a passion for animals, and then with that, animals need a voice right now, more than ever. So, it was a very clear, easy for me to realize, okay, great platform—how can I help?
Made a foundation, called Mowgli Moynes Fund, a fund that essentially, I put money into through my brands and things I work with I dump in money from this. Um, and then I work with non-for-profits I go on these trips and help them shoot content for awareness and education purposes and then I donate from the fund to these organizations. So, it’s all about awareness and education. You can support that fund if you want to, but it’s primarily for me to show that my money’s going in there from these brand deals because people get in crap all the time from, he’s an influencer, she’s an influence she went on. No, no, no. I’m doing a lot of good. And I’m trying to show that I am. And so, you can support that fund, which is going to support me, but the initiatives that I’m going to go shoot content with that you probably see on Instagram. So, you can give that a follow or $5, $2, whatever it is. It’s, uh, I show you where the money’s going. And that’s, I think important so people make the connection.
[00:29:00] Elise: That’s awesome. And then if they want to personally find you, where can we find you on Instagram and social?
[00:29:04] Blake: Yeah. So, it’s just my name @BlakeMoynes. And from there you can find Mowgli Moynes Fund in my bio and yeah, you just follow along with all the cool trips that I’ve got coming up, which I’ve got a great lineup this year with shark work, um, wolves, always types of things. So, there’s some exciting things coming up.
[00:29:22] Elise: Awesome. Well, great. That’s exciting! So, you have a good year ahead of following your passion projects. I love it!
[00:29:26] Blake: Exactly. Yeah. I’m focusing on that this year. I mean, the women in finding that person is there too, but I think finding the passion and the happiness first and that person come in and support me. Right. Just like you said.
[00:29:37] Elise: You meet her on safari. Who knows? I love it. Blake, it was so fun. Chatting with you. Thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it. It was really enjoyable.
Blake: Of course, thank you for having me.
