Episode 40 - Nicole Elliott & Tyler Henn: The Live Like Zac Story

Mel and Don sit down with Nicole Elliott and Tyler Henn, the parents behind Live Like Zac—a movement and 501(c)(3) born from the life of their son, Zachary, known to everyone as Zac. Divorced but the closest of friends and devoted co-parents to three boys, Nicole and Tyler lead with one simple ask: talk about how Zac lived, not how he died. And what a life it was. A junior at El Dorado High in Placentia, Zac was endlessly curious, creative, and confident—a self-described cowboy who wore boots with his shorts, took a genuine interest in everyone he met, and was always the first to do the jobs nobody else wanted. He skied competitively, rode horses, surfed, skated, and worked any side job he could find, saving up to buy and restore a 1984 Corvette entirely on his own at seventeen—smogged, insured, and titled in his name. Above all, he was a friend to the underdog: the kid who made sure no one ever felt left out.

On June 4, 2024, on his way to school, Zac was killed in a car accident in front of a community that watched it happen. In the days after, friends began tagging "Long Live Zac" across Placentia—until Tyler reframed it into something that could carry forward: Live Like Zac, a mantra to be kind, compassionate, creative, genuine, and confident enough to live that way. The family printed thousands of stickers and left them at the site, figuring a sticker is easier to clean up than spray paint. Those stickers have since traveled the world—turning up in Greece, Japan, Canada, South America, and beyond—each one logged on the @teamlivelikezac "spotted" page. What began as grief became a place for that grief to live, and a way to keep helping people, exactly as Zac would have.

Today, Live Like Zac channels that energy into trade scholarships, honoring Zac's own plan to take up welding, through a partnership with Tri-Community Adult Education in the San Gabriel Valley, where applicants write about how they live the mantra. The foundation has already given away nearly $25,000 to roughly twenty kids, covering tool kits, certifications, and in some cases full rides. Its signature fundraiser, the all-ages Live Like Zac Pub Crawl on Main Street, has grown from 250 people and $20,000 in its first year to a third annual on July 18, 2026, complete with a beloved themed ice-chest raffle that now invites other bereaved families to honor their own children. Nicole also co-hosts the grief podcast "I Have No Words" and wrote a children's book about Zac, while Mel and Don pitch in with help of their own: a Live Like Zac canopy for the Fourth of July and a paint-correction package for the car raffle. Learn more and grab pub-crawl tickets at livelikezac.com. A must-watch episode.