Izzy Battres
Appearances
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
And I was like, you know, you do a lot of dirt when you're running the streets and stuff like that. You do dirt. People do dirt with you. What's dirt? You know, causing pain, pain being caused by you, causing other people pain. You're just in that environment, right? You're just like the walking dead, right? People are just eating people. That's the way it is. Yeah. Right.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
And the Victory Outreach home in Santa Ana went and petitioned the judge and saying, look, this man has a family. You're just populating the prison. He's going to come out worse. Why don't you give him a shot in our recovery home? And the home director named Pastor Joe Carrillo petitioned him. And he offered Rudy, hey, you could go into our home one year or go three years into prison. Right.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
So mama didn't raise no fools. So my brother said, okay, let's go into the recovery home.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
No, just working off and on jobs, you know. Okay. But yeah, you're stuck. You're just stuck. I heard that you now have treatment centers. I don't have treatment centers. I work still with the Victory Outreach Ministries. I thought you had one. No, we don't have a treatment. My wife and I don't have treatment centers. So the way that the ministry works at Victory Outreach... It's a nonprofit.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Sure. You know, like the lowest of the lowest, you're walking in. When I ran a treatment, I ran a treatment center. I was a home director. So after I got better my second year, I was a home director for five years. They put you to work? So in exchange for free living? Yeah, in exchange for free living. So I ran a Victor Outreach recovery home for several years.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
And there you have people coming out of the joint, off the streets. I'm going to Skid Row and getting guys, hey, you want to change your life? I got a home for you. God did this in my life. He changed my life. I used to be where you're at. Come here and I'll help you. And I brought them into my house. And that's what we did. And so my wife and I still do that.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
You got to come over here, support the family, all that story that you hear. Now, people are just trying to find refuge, right? Right. So they found refuge here in Santa Ana, California. They met and... I grew up poor. I wouldn't say dirt poor. My wife grew up dirt poor. But my parents, they made it work, got married. They had kids and they raised three boys, one girl.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
One of our properties had a women's recovery home. So we're still very well involved with, I work with cats coming out of our recovery home, training them to run business and still mentoring them in how to run their business. Kids, you're going straight to heaven.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Yeah. So 1998, April 27, I was already on my last run. I felt like the sentence of death on my neck, like I'm not going to make it another week. They're just going to find me dead at some point. And I just, I was raised Catholic. And so I had heard of a purgatory. Yeah. And I was like, I just need to get into, I know I'm not going to get into heaven. I don't want to go to hell.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
I just need to get into purgatory. And I called the most religious individual that I knew growing up. And that was my aunt. You know, she didn't shave her legs. She didn't, you know, she was hardcore. I figured, okay, she's the nearest person that I know that's to God. And I didn't know she was Christian and she was a janitor at a church. I called her up.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
I said, I just need to make peace with God. That's what I told her. I said, I don't think I'm going to be able to live another week out here. I just need to make peace with God. Can you help me? And she said, meet me at this place in an hour. I walked over there. It was a converted church. It was a movie theater converted to a church. No church servers, no nothing.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
And I thought I was just going to go confess. Like, hey, you know, and then, you know, have another few days getting high and then die. That was it. And then hopefully I make it into purgatory. And when I got there... Um, I just, she just, I just felt something there. And she, you know, what I know now is the altar. I just started walking toward, they had a big cross.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
I just started walking towards the cross. It was dark, no church service. It was just her and I. And the minute I got to the front of the altar, I just broke. Like, I just like... You know, I never felt bad about doing people wrong and I didn't feel guilt about stuff. But that moment, I just felt all the heaviness of all the madness and dirt that I did.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
And I felt remorseful and I felt like I just needed to get forgiveness. And I asked them to just forgive me for all the dirt that I did and all the people that I've wronged. And I felt it. From that point on, I just like an immediate transformation happened. I got up. I felt lighter. I felt delivered. And from that day on, no more meth, no more madness. And it was just a miracle.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
And then from there on, that's where I started. I knew my brother went to the outreach, Victory Outreach, and he was getting better. And I seen him being transformed. I said, I just, I got to get to where he's at. And I started connecting there with the men there at church. And there was men with my background that could relate to me. And they started telling me, this is your new walk now.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
You're not going to go back to the neighborhood. You're not going to go back to the streets. We're going to start this walk together.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Yeah, it's what I know now, repentance. Right? Repentance is you're going one direction and you turn around and you go the opposite direction.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
And it was my life was something of you got easy because you were born here. Right. You know, you don't know what it is to struggle. You don't know what it is to suffer. And the way that you're going to get ahead is you work. You don't complain. You don't do any of that. You just work. And if you work hard enough, then you're going to be able to build something.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Yeah, I met her at church. And what attracted me to her is that... The Jesus Club. What's that? The Jesus glow. The Jesus glow. No, that wasn't it. That wasn't it. I don't think she had a glow to her. Honey, I didn't see a glow on you. And what attracted me to her was her love for the streets. Her love for the streets. And this is what I mean for her love for the streets.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Not like what we used to do because she comes from that background too. But her love to go out there. And tell the hurting people that are living on the streets that there's a way out. And so we would have what's called evangelism. And those times would be like, we would go into neighborhoods like 10, 12 o'clock at night.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
And we'd go into neighborhoods and try to pull people out of the neighborhood and get them back to the light. Where would you get them? Where would you put them?
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
It was funded through the church.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
You. It reminds me of. leaving the 99 to go after that one. And I feel that's what, tell me about that. I don't know about that. Well, you leave the 99 sheep. He left 99 sheep that were fine, but he felt the desperation in your voice. And he felt that that was his main mandate to go after that one sheep that is not doing well. So you leave the 99 and you go after that one. And that's what he did.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
And he served you and Lydia, you said, right? Oh, yeah. And he served Lydia. And that's what a minister is.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
He was, that's a, that is, that, God is proud. Well, it also shows the amount of faith that you had. And you had enough faith to go and step out and say, this is what I'm going to do for her. I'm going to go get what she needs now. And I'm going to have enough faith to go speak to this man.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
I don't believe in coincidence. I believe in God-ordained moments. That's how my life has worked out. And I checked you out. And you still came? Yeah. It wouldn't have been my first choice. Hey, but you probably heard that before, right?
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Not my first choice, but hey, we'll make it work. But I've shared this story amongst other venues, you know, and I've shared it in... in the prisons in Costa Rica, in the prisons in Tijuana, in Venezuela, on the streets. I've shared my story to that group of people. And you have helped... So different people in a different socio economic bracket. Is that what you think? That's what I've read.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Right. Cliffside. Right. And he's just opened up. Is it Carrera? Yeah. Yeah. So that's not what I'm most proud of. I know, but you're still, you're still helping you. I've read you helped over 10,000 families. Yeah. And those people I've never been able to reach because I, you know, but you've been able to reach. Right. Yeah.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
And so I felt like this is a good way to tell my story and to just share it. Now, you're asking me questions that I didn't think I was going to share, like the jail and all that. And I think it's good.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
And I think I still see things. Yeah. A little bit, a little, little once in a while. Yeah. And I'm still paranoid.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
I still, I don't, I close the windows when I'm sitting in front of my living room. I still check the door when I'm at a restaurant. I don't, you know, I just.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Apparently, I didn't know people were, well, people are, you know, people are people, right? People are people and people are always going to want to see the bad in other people. You know, hurt people hurt people. You've heard it said, right? And so usually it's the hurt people that are having a problem. They're hurt. They want to hurt others. That's the way it usually goes.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
And with Tariq and Christina, when I first worked with them on Flip or Flop on HGTV, I knew they were always good. You know, they want to do things, but they're young. Money comes, fame comes. You make bad decisions. You learn from those decisions and you find out what's the true meaning of it all. And at the end, it's family. They made a whole TV show about it too. What TV show? The flip off.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
The new one. Tell me. So they got good at what they're doing and they designed Flip Homes. They made the TV show The Flip Off. And there you could actually see some of the true rawness of what their relationships are and running a business and co-parenting. Really? Yeah.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Who's that guy in the show? So you remind me a lot about a lot of Tariq. I do. Yeah. Some of your manner is- Is he handsome? So handsome. Right? He's just like fast. Okay. Right? Fast, makes decisions and thinks about the decisions later if they were good or not. Right. Well, they're his decisions. Yeah. They're his mistakes to make. Yeah. Yeah. So I would say Tariq's always going to be that guy.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Uh-huh. Yeah. You don't know what you're going to get from him. So that's it. And his ex-wife, she's great? Christina's great. Christina's great? Yeah, I was out at her house the last week and people are always evolving.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
I'm asking. Oh, I wouldn't know that. I wouldn't. Well, they're on the show. Oh, you're saying Tariq. I'm saying. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. He's already married. He has already got another.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
You know, people have a hard time being alone sometimes. Right. You know, I mean, people have a hard time being alone sometimes. I am very grateful for their friendship. You know, when HGTV gave me my own show, Izzy Does It. It has the best name of a show ever, by the way.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
So I had the example on my mom's side as she worked. My dad was a hustler. My dad hustled. And, you know, when you think of the word hustler in this day and age, you know, it could be described as many things, right? Right. But my dad, you know, at seven years old was, you know, just like what you see, the little kids selling cheeklets and all that. He was selling newspapers.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
The name Izzy? Eric Wright, Eazy-E. Does it really? Yeah. NWA. Really?
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Everybody's shocked right now. But it's a redemption story. And that's why I'm here. Because there's a lot of people out there that find themselves in that place and they think they're never going to get out. There's no hope. And I'm just here to tell you guys that there is hope. And there was men with my background that could relate to me. And they started telling me, this is your new walk now.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Flip and Flop. Okay. Flip or Flop.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Like, what does that feel like? I don't think I'm famous. See, I, you know, HGTV is a great channel. Like when I think of fame, I think of Kelsey's old lady, Travis Kelsey.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
So that's what I think fame is. Right. Right. You know, people that like, that's what I consider fame, like a list kind of cats.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Yeah. That's what, when I think of fame, that's what I think of. Right. I think of big personalities and you, you go anywhere in the world and people will know who you are. Right. You know, Izzy Bachelors are like, who are you? Did you do my landscape? Where do I know you from?
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
What's the show called? It's Izzy Does It. Izzy Does It. Izzy Does It. That's how we do it. Izzy Does It and family? Izzy Does It. Yeah. It's a family. Like Sanford and Sons? It has a little bit of a hood in it. Yeah. Does it really? Yeah. Yeah. It tells about it. The pilot talks a little bit about my background. Uh-huh. Yeah. And then HGTV shares a little bit about my background.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
No, they started off with introducing my dad and how he raised his boys and built a family business. And then now I'm continuing that legacy. And you're teaching the kids how to do it. And now we're teaching the kids how to do it. And we're designing and building homes.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
He was selling everything. And so that hustle never left them. That entrepreneurship never left them. So he dabbled. In a lot of different, I'm going to say markets. Your dad was drug dealing? Your dad was drug dealing?
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
You're exactly dead on on that because I had four other people before her. Uh-huh. And they could not, they just didn't have the heart and the culture of the company. And when she came on, she blew it up. You know, she just blew it up.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
It's just, it's just perfect. And, and she is not just going to, she's not just a yes person. You know, you hire other people. Sometimes they're just yes people. Right. But she knows how to, you know, put me in line as well. Right. And I'm going to receive it from her. She'll say, that's not a good idea because.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
The advice that I would give somebody that's struggling with drugs and alcohol or any kind of abusive behavior is you have to be tired. You have to be tired of wanting to get help and change. The advice I would say, and usually I say this when I'm out on the streets talking to people, is are you tired yet?
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Because if you're not tired, you got one more run in you, one more hit in you, then, you know, you're not going to fully surrender.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
So you tell them that, right? You say, if you're not tired, you don't know what's coming next. And sad to say, some of our guys that went into our recovery home, they go out, they think they got one last run in them. Gone after that fentanyl hit. That's right. Gone. And it's not the same dope like it was before. This fentanyl thing takes you out. You're done.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
And you think you got one last hit in you? Boom. And we're burying people still for coming out of our recovery home.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
He can't say it. It hasn't been proven 100%, but he dabbled in a lot of different areas. Right. And he hustled. He worked hard. Nine to five jobs. He did construction. He worked for the labor's union. He was in the labor's union. He poured concrete. He did all of that. We built our home, you know, ADUs before they were called ADUs. That's how you learned construction. Oh yeah, we did.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
When you're humble, doors open up. God, you know, is a friend to the humble. He opposes the proud, but gives more grace to the humble. And, you know, that grace comes when you're humble. And sometimes, you know, you said, you know, saving face and protecting yourself and all that, that's... You got to drop your guard sometimes.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Oh, you've been there.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
What keeps me grounded is just the people that I'm around with. My wife keeps me grounded. My wife keeps me grounded. He who finds a wife finds favor with the Lord. And man, she's amazing. You know, she keeps me grounded. And just being around her, it's just real. And everything is, all the noise is gone. You love her kids just like they're yours. Oh, yeah. Every day I'm praying for them.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Every day I'm looking out for their success. Every day I'm trying to build them up and getting ready for their next phase of their life. How old are those kids? Who's that? How old are your wife's kids, your kids? So Joseph is 24 and Brianna's 22.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
So your kids that you had at 45 and 47. Yeah. They're not with you.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
A house is down. Up. Up. Yep.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
You see, I wanted that from Joseph and Brianna's dad, but he was so caught up in his... And his own madness, we didn't have that. I'm sorry. Yeah. And doing the TV show was very therapeutic for us.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
I remember my mother calling somebody to come fix the house. Most disrespectful thing you could do to a Mexican father is call a white contractor over to fix the house. You call a white contractor? My mom called up like, hey, I know somebody. And then once my dad seen the bid, he's like, no, we're not doing this. So we fixed up the whole house. We roofed it, I think, three times.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
because you know i was the stepdad you know just you said something powerful you're wired to automatically love your dad you are and so i was always you know i was the guy the other guy that's right um and so but doing the tv show together really made us close to each other we dropped our guard and we worked together on TV, doing projects on TV.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
And it provided a forum where we had to be amongst each other and even talk things through. And there were times where he would be able to talk it through with the production company. And he would just talk about it. And I'd be surprised about him talking about it. And the people would listen.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
And so he's just being able to talk about it and being able to, you know, communicate that I think is a powerful thing.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
I agree. I agree. I went through my series of therapy when not being able to have a child. I had to go through that part. And you're right. They provide certain tools and conversations that brings healing. And, and yeah, I agree 100%. Prayer doesn't take care of it. You know, they say, just pray about it. You know, you just need other tools.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Sometimes even your relationship with the Lord, God made therapists, you know, and they have a certain, you know, intuition and gift to be able to help other people out of being stuck. All right.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Well, in the realm of, we're hoping to get season two, right? We did season one. We'll see what season two looks like.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Not of all HGTV, but in this season, we ranked in the top 10. And for it to premiere as a new show, it did fairly well. So of course they're picking it up. Yeah. So we're happy about that. We're happy that we're one of the very first Latino families on HGTV. Predominantly, it's a different demographic. Last one. Yeah.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Um, because I think that that's everybody's, uh, Innate desire is to be seen. Didn't see you as a child. You know, growing up in a household where it's chaos, you go find it somewhere else. And that's where I found it. I found it on the streets. I found it wanting to belong. I found purpose in other things. And you get caught up that way.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
And the time we were there, we converted the garage before they were called ADUs, right? Yeah. We built in a dish and we did all of that. That's how we learned construction.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
And that's what I would say to any young man, you know, making that connection and really making them feel like there's purpose in their life. If they could find that purpose. Then they don't have to go through all the madness and all the chaos and try to belong somewhere where that belonging is going to take them down a bad, evil street.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
The colors. Design is an antidote to chaos. And if you can make it warm, If you can make it inviting and welcoming by using colors, that's a big thing. What's the happiest color? What's the happiest color? For me, it's going to be green because that's my favorite color.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Yeah. That's awesome. And I hated every minute working with my dad. Because, you know, they're impatient. And there, they train you to, you know, you're just, they talk to you the way men talk to you.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Instagram at Izzy Bachelors, Google Bachelors Construction. If you guys need some design build services, Izzy does it. You can still stream it on Discovery and on Max and look out for potentially Prayerfully Season 2. Working on a book as well. What book? We've yet to hit the title yet, but we're working on some of the publishing companies that put out, you know,
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Nice books for people coming out from my background. So working on that as well. Cool. I appreciate you having me on here, Mr. Tate. Yeah, man. The pleasure's all mine. See you next Tuesday.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
You're not going to go back to the neighborhood. You're not going to go back to the streets. We're going to start this walk together. I see you. You matter. You have purpose. I think that's everybody's desire is to be seen.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Yeah, I think as a society, we start realizing how you see like the greatest generation that was before us and you see our grandparents, right? And you see how they built this country and, you know, 18, 19 going to war fighting and then coming back and building things. Um, and then that's slowly making it, making it easier for their kids.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
I K I don't want them to go through that, what they went through and then us now doing it to our kids. And so you think of as a nation, as a, as a, um, As a country, we're young, 200 plus years. And you see these empires that they've been around for generations, like generations, hundreds, hundreds of years. And you kind of see it like what you just said right now, or your boy, the comedian.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Jimmy. Yeah. How things become a little bit more diluted and it becomes a little bit more softer. I don't like using the word soft, but that's the word that keeps getting thrown at me.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
I don't think I'm famous. HGTV is a great channel. Like, when I think of fame, I think of Kelsey's old lady. Taylor Swift? Yeah. The way that you're going to get ahead is you work. You don't complain. You don't do any of that. You just work. And if you work hard enough, then you're going to be able to build something.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
And are they going to be resilient? I'm sure they're resilient in their own way. So that's one of the balances in running a business. Yeah. Especially with my daughter is having that balance and my son having that balance of You know, once you use the towel, right? And once you use the rod, right? having that balance. Cause the ways.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Is it heavy? Well, the towel after you're on a fight, you know, you're in a fight in the boxing ring, you do the towel, you, you know, take care of them, you throw it, you know, take care of them, stuff like that, you know? So it's a balance that I don't think I've, I've, I've, you know, mastered, you know, so especially running a family business.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Okay. My pops wasn't in the picture lot. He was there, but not there. Well, he was working every day. He was working every day. Sometimes, you know, his work would take them out of the household for a few months and Right. You know, but when he came home, like a good Mexican wife, she'd have the food ready, the tortillas ready.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Dad has seen him in weeks sometimes and he'd come home and he was dad and you respect your dad. That's the way you were raised. That's awesome.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
well in the very beginning it was great right because you're just i mean you're having fun
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
No, I like that. You know that, you know, because usually you hear all the like madness and crazy stuff, but it was like, you know, the very beginning, like a Budweiser commercial. Yeah. Or Bud Light commercial. They show all the pretty women. Everybody's having a good time. Six packs, all of that stuff. But it kind of feels that way.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
In the very beginning, you get all the sense of what the drugs do to you. I started off with drinking, then smoking weed, then dropping mushrooms, dropping acids, smoking PCP. You were smoking PCP?
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
And that's what you did. You dropped the PCP, put joints in PCPs. They call them lovelies. And that's what we did. Did you get arrested when you were a kid? I was. Did you go to jail? I did. Tell me about it.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
No, it's not the worst thing. But it's a redemption story. And that's why I'm here. That's why we're hearing it. That's why we're here, you know, because there's a lot of people out there that find themselves in that place and they think they're never going to get out. There's no hope. And I'm just here to tell you guys that there is hope. So give it to me.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
So I've always wanted to get out of the neighborhood, right? Because they say you're a product of your environment. So I wanted to get out. I joined the Navy. At 17, a Navy recruiter had to meet his quota. He says, you want to get out of here? I said, yeah, I need to get out of here because I'll end up dead before I'm 18. So he goes, okay, do you want to join the Navy?
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
I said, will you buy me a 40-ouncer of Old English? And he said, yes.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
I don't remember his name. So he takes me out. I do the whole weekend up here in L.A. There's hundreds of kids, minorities, black, Hispanics, a few white guys. And we're all joining the armed forces, you know, Air Force, Marines, Army, Navy. I joined the Navy, made my allegiance to the flag, came back home, was leaving. I said, where's my 40-ouncer? No kidding.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Stopped off a liquor store here in L.A. Bought me a 40 ounce of Old English. Drank it in the back of his car on the way to my house. Told my mama, hey, I'm going to be gone. I joined the Navy. She's like, you did what? I was like, yeah, I just got to get out of here. My departure date was 1990, July 5th. I said, I got to party one more time.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
Before I go off to become an outstanding citizen in four years. Well, that party got me into strong arm robbery and got me into jail. The day before going? The day, yeah. Before going out? Yeah. Wow. And I was already 18, so I had to go to the big boys, no juvenile hall. How long were you in jail for?
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
They gave me three years with the five-year joint suspension, and I ended up doing six months in the county. Oh, that sucks. Yeah, six months in the county. And instead of going to four years in the Navy, I ended up going down that route. And the judge said, you will never serve our country. Did you? No. Even after I got out of my recovery, I tried joining again. They wouldn't let you.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
They wouldn't let me. I said, what about the National Guard? They're like, nah.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
All right. Raised by my mom and dad. Migrated, immigrated from Mexico, Durango, Mexico, and Oaxaca, Mexico, to the city of Santa Ana, Orange County, California, back in the 60s. They met in the 60s. And their life, you know, just like anybody's life, trying to seek a better place, was pretty rough. You know, murder. In Mexico. In Mexico.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
After I got out, you know, you go down the straight and narrow for a few days and then you go back and to your old ways and i went back to my old ways all the way down to i was 26 i you know i graduated into uh meth and that then the meth was my choice of a dope for 10 years you smoking it or shooting it i was smoking it off the foil paper the heavy duty reynolds foil paper with the big pin Yeah.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
So, you know, I did that and I couldn't get that monkey off me. And it got pretty bad.
We're Out of Time
Rock Bottom to HGTV: Izzy Battres' Journey of Faith and Redemption
At my latter part of my run using meth, I couldn't speak a clear sentence. No. My brain was gone. Yeah. I'm seeing things. Everybody's after me. I couldn't even, I would mumble to people and I would, you know, you'd talk to me and I'd look at you and I'd want to say something, but the brain wasn't processing the words and I couldn't say them. That's right. That was at the end of my run.