Cameron Teske - Starting a Foundation, Gifts From Loss & Remembering to Live - Episode #76

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What's up friends, Welcome back
to Ruder Wisconsin.

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Appreciate you for clicking
another episode.

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Always grateful to have you
here.

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Today's episode is with Cameron
Teske, founder of the Remember

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to Live Foundation.
Really emotional, really deep,

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really reflective conversation
with Cameron.

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A lot of it centers around his
inspiration to starting the

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foundation and that's very
emotional and personal to him.

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He moved up here with his wife
originally for some career

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opportunities and they got
pregnant with their with their

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child and found out shortly
after that that his wife was

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diagnosed with breast cancer.
And she fought A2 year battle

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that ended up with her losing
her life.

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And Cameron found himself
expectedly at somewhat of a

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crossroads in your life, in his
life.

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And that is a lot of the mission
and passion behind starting the

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foundation.
They were just recently able to

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give away their first trip,
which is going to happen coming

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up in August and it sounds like
there are many more where that

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came from.
Of course we talk about a bunch

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of other things in life too, as
we always do.

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Glad to have you here for it.
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Let's jump into this episode
though, with Cameron Teske.

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What about you?
What do you dig A.

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Little bit of everything I grew
up on, like punk and ska, OK

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kind of got out of that now and
just bury in the country, OK,

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Like, how cliche is that?
But yeah, love it.

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I went to Ed Sheeran concert on
my honeymoon in August and that

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was like one of the coolest
experiences.

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We're in Copenhagen for it.
OK, so my first like foreign

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concert and I don't know, guess
kind of a dream come true and

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always loved Ed Sheeran and to
see him perform just the most.

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He just looks like a child
having fun up on stage.

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Like I love seeing live artists
or or anyone really like banter

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with the audience and just talk
and you can kind of see their

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personality.
But then there's other artists

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you see like OK, Yep, I see your
personality and you're

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charismatic, but you can tell
it's a little bit rehearsed.

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Ed Sheeran looks like he just
gets up there and is just

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chatting with whatever.
Like he says things like, what

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is he even talking about right
now?

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But he's just having fun up
there and it was awesome.

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Nice.
Yeah, yeah, I like Ed Sheeran

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too.
My wife is a big fan.

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I've wondered about his live
shows.

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Did he have a full band with him
or was it just him and a?

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Just him and he he like loops,
he's got like a beat whatever

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thing on the on the ground and
he'll like get the beat going

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and then he'll loop something
else and add to it and then

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he'll do things with his mouth
like what is that?

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Whatever.
The acapella stuff where you

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know, it kind of makes the beat
with his mouth and then he'll

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sing over that as it's just
looping through.

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It's phenomenal.
I, I've kind of assumed that was

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a vibe that amazes me, man.
Like it, it kind of like it's

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adjacent to stand up comedy.
Like you get up on stage and you

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bare yourself 100%.
And I, I get I assumed it was

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that way, but I've never been.
I'm kind of like a ancillary Ed

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Sheeran fan.
Like, my wife listens a lot, so

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I listen.
I play some once in a while

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because she's got a few songs
that she likes.

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But it reminds me of back in the
day.

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Do you remember Jack Johnson?
Absolutely.

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He would do the pancakes.
Yeah, he would do that, like

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just one dude in an acoustic
guitar, and he didn't even loop

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much or anything.
He was just kind of like playing

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his little groove, singing his
song and just like one dude on

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stage at Alpine or something,
Like everybody's there.

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That's so intimidating to me.
Well, Ed Sheeran's coming to

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Summerfest, so maybe.
Maybe that's for.

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Your life and what what will
actually make you become a fan,

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if you're not already?
He has a documentary on Disney

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Plus.
I think it's only three or 4

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episodes, so it's pretty short.
Phenomenal though, just to see

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into how he became who he is and
who he still is now.

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Maybe arguably the most famous
male artist right now.

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And he's just a dude that lives
in in the UK and doesn't care

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about much in in the best way,
yeah.

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So sick.
My Oh my little dude is upset

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right now because I cancelled
Disney Plus.

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Oh, sorry to bring that one up.
There's a there's a couple of

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things that he would go to on
there.

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We don't let a ton of screen
time, but a couple of his

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favorites were on Disney Plus
and I guess him and Mama had a

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long conversation yesterday
about me cancelling that.

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So I'm going to.
You didn't even get to face it

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for him.
No, he didn't even know.

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So I'm I'm sure I have a package
waiting for me that he's ready

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to deliver when.
The diamonds, right?

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He's only four, but he's a good,
he's a good negotiator.

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So I'm sure he's planning in his
mind about what angle to take.

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Started because we had Hulu Live
and there's just like all these

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channels that I never watch.
And the price just kept going

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up.
What streamers do.

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And then I found YouTube TV came
out with the sports only

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package.
And that's my only value for

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live sports right now is, is for
live TV is sports.

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And it was like, I can't
remember, the intro thing is

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like $49.00 a month or
something.

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So it was literally half the
price, but I had Disney Plus

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with Hulu and when I excite it
all it left.

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So maybe there's a meet in the
middle ground here that that it

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comes back.
But man, I appreciate you coming

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in.
I'm glad you reached out.

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We crossed paths briefly a while
back and I had actually heard

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some of your story about
starting the foundation and

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stuff as as you were kind of
leaving that scenario and in

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moving on to what you do now.
And it was one of those things

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like we get overloaded when our
minds and, and I remember

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thinking at the time I was like,
that sounds like a good story.

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I got to make a mental note of
this and then you ended up

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messaging me.
So I'm glad we got together and

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get a chance to talk.
Yeah, no, I appreciate you

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having me here to to share my
story and just hang out for a

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little bit and talk about
wherever we end up going.

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Yeah, dude, yeah.
What maybe a cool place to start

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is I'm sure a lot of people have
this idea of starting a

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not-for-profit.
Like we all have these issues

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that are central to us, things
that happened in our lives that

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are central to us, that move us
in a way that leaves you

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changed, which I'm assuming
we're going to get to today with

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you.
But before that, what is that

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process been like, man?
Like, 'cause I mean, you kind of

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worked in that space previously.
I mean, it is not really the

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not-for-profit, but kind of what
were like, what were the

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learning?
What was the learning curve

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like?
How has it been going?

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What did, what did you do great
at?

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What did you miss?
Like what's the process been

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like starting a foundation?
I, I actually, yeah, in a in a

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previous life, I was a part of
the team that started a non

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profit for a capital campaign.
So there's many people working

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on it, and I at least knew
enough of what information to

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start my own, of what
information I needed or who to

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surround myself with.
Getting a lawyer on the board is

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really helpful because then they
will help you with legal jargon.

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And as you're applying for
nonprofit status or dealing with

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different state governmental
departments to get some these

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applications out, whatever
lawyer jargon is out there, it's

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like a completely different
language.

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I don't know, I don't know how
they figure it out.

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I don't know how they write like
it, but it's helpful to have a

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have a lawyer there.
I think they do that on purpose.

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Dude, I've had four
conversations about this.

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I think lawyers intentionally
make it hard to read so we can't

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read it.
Absolutely.

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And it's like job security for
them, right?

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Like you read, you read poetry
in Old English and like, at

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least I can understand that
that's tough.

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But this is a completely
different language.

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I know I like to think I'm a
pretty proficient reader, but

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you read some of these things
and it's like you get lost in a

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circle.
I just want to check Austin.

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You push the red button on the
video, right?

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All right.
Thanks.

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So it's always a fear of
podcasting, right?

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Yeah, Yeah.
OK.

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So that was, so you had some
experience doing this previously

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that kind of led into this, OK.
So yeah, I I guess a a back

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story.
I moved to Green Bay in 2015.

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Brand new city, brand new job,
relatively new marriage, brand

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new house we just bought home.
We were home owners for the

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first time.
On the drive from Milwaukee to

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Green Bay to move here, my car
started acting up so needed to

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buy a new car when we got here.
And we're here, things are are

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going pretty great.
We're here for actually less

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than a month.
It was a Friday night.

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We put a pretty large down
payment to buy a golden

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retriever puppy that would be
coming in the next few weeks.

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And then the next morning, my,
my wife at the time, her name is

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Lauren.
The next morning she took a

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pregnancy test.
Like you couldn't have done this

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yesterday before we put the down
payment on a puppy.

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So now we have a puppy and a
baby coming here in the next few

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months.
So she gives birth in May of

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2016 and breastfeeding was not
going well.

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Lactation specialists and all of
the, the doctor's appointments

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to figure out what's going on.
And then August, I'm sorry,

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October of of that year, so a
few months after giving birth,

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one of the the specialist was
like this, This doesn't seem

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like it's just a lactation
issue.

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Let's get you in for some more
testing.

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And then you hear the word
biopsy, like, oh boy, that's not

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a good word.
And then, yeah, right away

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diagnosed with stage 4 triple
negative breast cancer.

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And triple negative is a pretty
aggressive form of cancer.

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It is.
There's no pattern.

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There's no passing it down
genetically.

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It's just random and comes out
of absolutely nowhere for really

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no reason.
I'm not a scientist, so that

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might not be completely
accurate, but that's the way

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that I understood it at the
time.

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So for, for two years, she was
going through treatments, chemo,

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radiation, battling breast
cancer in in a variety of

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different ways while still
working, while still raising a a

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baby.
We continue to to travel

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throughout the the process.
I remember our oncologist at

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Green Bay Oncology, I think it
was right before right after she

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was about to start treatment,
she had a a girls trip planned

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and she asked the oncologist,
hey, can I go on this trip?

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And I remember almost like
crystal clear, he said, we are

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here to give you the life that
you want while still trying to

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make you better.
So do whatever your body's

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comfortable with, whatever you
feel, feel that you can do.

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And I thought that was a really
cool perspective of like, yeah,

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don't, don't stop living your
life.

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We'll, we'll try and help you
and, and heal you, but you still

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need to live the life that you
want to be living and are and

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are able to live based on how
you're feeling.

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And I think that stuck with us
for for two years.

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Continue to travel.
And then Brecon, my son was two

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years old, we took him to Disney
World and obviously at Disney

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have all the memories, take all
the pictures.

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And then a couple months later
we went to Banff, Canada again,

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a beautiful place, take all the
pictures, have all the stories.

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And about a month after that,
that Banff trip, Lauren passed

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away after a 2 year battle
almost to the date of two years.

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So those memories, those
pictures are what Brecon

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remembers his mom by.
So that was November of 2018

226
00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:05,480
when she passed away.
And there's another, another guy

227
00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:07,560
in the Green Bay area, Andy
Hireman.

228
00:12:07,560 --> 00:12:10,360
A lot of people might know him.
He was a a business owner and,

229
00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:13,160
and his family's been around for
a while owning a printing

230
00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:16,640
business.
I met him at his wife's funeral

231
00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:19,240
a few months after Lauren passed
away.

232
00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:21,680
And it was the same parallel
story.

233
00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:25,560
A young mom with children passed
away from breast cancer.

234
00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:28,960
So he and I got to know each
other and, and I don't know, one

235
00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:32,160
time we were spending some time
together and he said, you know

236
00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:35,440
what would be awesome?
We took a lot of trips as

237
00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:37,640
families and we were, we were
capable of doing that.

238
00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:41,080
That's how our children are
going to remember their moms by

239
00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:44,040
why don't we do that for other
families?

240
00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:48,240
So that was that was a
conversation probably mid to

241
00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:51,480
late 2019.
So this idea had been brewing in

242
00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:54,400
my mind for a while.
Then COVID hit and the world

243
00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:57,640
kind of went went chaos.
But that idea never left my

244
00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:01,360
mind.
I was working on other other

245
00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:04,400
work projects, making some
things happen.

246
00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:07,720
Those came to fruition,
successfully launched the

247
00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:11,040
capital campaign, successfully
worked on getting the NFL draft

248
00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:13,720
to Green Bay.
And then I was sitting at work

249
00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:18,280
one day and I was like, I have
accomplished what I set out to

250
00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:21,120
accomplish here.
I think it's time for a change

251
00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:25,840
and that idea never left of
like, I think it's now time to,

252
00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:30,520
to go forth and, and help other
moms who are fighting breast

253
00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:34,520
cancer and their families take a
family vacation to, to create

254
00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:37,240
those memories that will last
for the rest of all of their

255
00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:41,400
lives, no matter if that's two
years or a four year old child

256
00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:43,160
for the rest of, of his or her
life.

257
00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:51,840
So I, I quit my job to, to get
this thing started and reached

258
00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:54,680
out to the, the Greater Union
Bay Community Foundation.

259
00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:57,600
Many cities across the country
have community foundations and

260
00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:01,880
they're a nonprofit umbrella
and, and they handle a lot of

261
00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:05,560
wealthy money, but they also
have the capability of having

262
00:14:05,560 --> 00:14:08,560
other nonprofits sort of work
underneath them or utilize their

263
00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:11,440
nonprofit status to, to
fundraise dollars.

264
00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:16,080
So they, they were a fantastic
partner to, to help me get this

265
00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:18,800
all started.
And that's, that's where our

266
00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:21,440
money still is right now.
And we've just been fundraising,

267
00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:23,520
sharing our story, and here we
are.

268
00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:28,400
That's so amazing, man.
I have to assume, like COVID or

269
00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:32,320
not, obviously COVID put the
brakes on the travel aspect for

270
00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:38,160
a little while, But man, I, you
know, talking about the four

271
00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:43,160
year old and just living that
for four years, Like there had

272
00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:48,080
to be a certain amount of time
afterwards where you just had to

273
00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:52,640
like you just had to do it.
You there probably wasn't room

274
00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:56,160
to create to like this in your
mind anyway, because it had to

275
00:14:56,160 --> 00:15:01,000
be just unbelievable.
Just the day-to-day of life.

276
00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:06,320
I can't imagine man.
Yeah, you hear a lot about the

277
00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:08,360
the grieving process and what
that looks like.

278
00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:15,080
I, I don't, I don't think I knew
how to deal with my emotions.

279
00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:16,680
Actually, I know I didn't know
how to deal with them.

280
00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:23,000
I was 20, I was 28.
So 28 year old guy like what 20

281
00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,040
year old guy?
28 year old guy really knows how

282
00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:29,240
to deal with his emotions
anyway, let alone losing a a

283
00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:32,440
spouse at that age.
And now I also have a 2 year old

284
00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:35,280
son that I need to raise by
myself.

285
00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:38,880
Being a being a dad came very
natural to me.

286
00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:43,400
So I wasn't worried about doing
that per SE.

287
00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:47,760
I had, my mom was in green, It
wasn't his in Green Bay.

288
00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:50,560
Brecken's other grandparents
were in Green Bay at the time.

289
00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:54,920
So I had a lot of help.
But the day like we get home

290
00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:58,640
from the funeral and there's no
time to, to deal with anything.

291
00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:02,520
It's just all right, I got to be
a dad and that's you have to do

292
00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:03,600
everything.
That's what I am now.

293
00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:08,080
And yeah, so there was, there
was no time to create or grieve

294
00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:10,760
or worry or even feel bad for
yourself.

295
00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:14,720
It was just like survival mode.
It was all wrap it up in a

296
00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:18,360
little box and tuck it somewhere
in your brain and then someday

297
00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,240
this can come out.
I that is unbelievable, dude.

298
00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:25,600
What was the what was the two
years like of her battling it?

299
00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:28,480
What like what was the prognosis
at that time?

300
00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:34,000
Were you were you both hopeful
but aware or what were the

301
00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:36,960
percentages like?
What what was that two years

302
00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:39,760
mindspace like?
What was the end written?

303
00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:44,200
Or was the battle like 5050?
What was it like?

304
00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:52,280
I, I think I might have a whole
lot of naive optimism and a

305
00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:54,920
whole lot of things in life and,
and that was one of them.

306
00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:58,600
And maybe that that helped the
process to some degree or help

307
00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:04,640
me deal with it in some degree.
I remember shortly after the

308
00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:07,440
diagnosis calling a really good
friend of mine and just like

309
00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:09,280
this is what's going on right
now.

310
00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:12,839
And one of his first questions
was like, just help me

311
00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:15,480
understand where you're at.
Do you think your wife is dying

312
00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:18,920
right now?
And I said, no, we've had good

313
00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:21,560
doctor's appointments.
They have a plan, they have all

314
00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:25,640
these things.
And I, I fully believe that.

315
00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:33,160
And, and I think she did too.
And there was, there were, there

316
00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:35,120
were UPS, ups and downs
throughout the, the entire

317
00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:36,960
process.
As can be expected, some

318
00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:39,680
treatments worked better than
other treatments.

319
00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:42,400
And some days she felt better
than other days.

320
00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:50,760
There was even a moment, maybe
at like the 18 month mark where

321
00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:53,920
all of a sudden her tests come
back and like, it looks like

322
00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:57,520
everything's pretty much gone.
So now that optimism's like, OK,

323
00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:00,480
we're, we're good.
We're, we're, we're not in the

324
00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:03,440
clear, but we're definitely
seeing the clearing happening.

325
00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:07,360
And then a month or two after
that, another test came back and

326
00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:09,680
it was like, uh oh, this is,
this is even worse Now.

327
00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:15,040
It's like 2, two months after
stopping the, the, the harsh,

328
00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:20,280
intense treatment, stopping that
for two months was like her body

329
00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:26,120
just let everything back in.
So then for the last four months

330
00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:29,200
it was, it was pretty rough.
And I had lunch with that same

331
00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:32,200
friend who had asked me that,
that question about is your wife

332
00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:35,720
dying 18 months prior to that?
We're sitting at lunch and I

333
00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:37,200
said I need to change my answer.
Oh.

334
00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:44,440
Heavy yeah that's it's so crazy
to think about man.

335
00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:48,360
It's awesome that you had the
awareness in the time, though,

336
00:18:48,360 --> 00:18:52,200
because like I'm a, I'm a, like
a find the gift person, right?

337
00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:55,960
In the hardest parts of life, If
we can find some type of gift in

338
00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,520
what was given to us, it's
helpful, makes me emotional just

339
00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:01,840
hearing your story and thinking
about it because we, it's so

340
00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:05,280
easy to put ourselves in another
person's shoes, but at the same

341
00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:07,600
time, it's impossible, right?
And you think about all these

342
00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:09,080
what ifs and what it would be
like.

343
00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:14,920
It's amazing like the gift and
it has to be obviously you 2

344
00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:18,520
made a child that exists now in
the world and that's like a

345
00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:21,840
living remembrance, right?
There's probably a double edged

346
00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:23,680
sword to that too.
Sometimes when you look in their

347
00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:27,280
eyes or whatever it may be, you
know, but it's awesome that you

348
00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:31,640
had the wherewithal.
And I'm sure at times it was

349
00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:35,320
tough for her to find the inner
strength, like tired from chemo

350
00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:39,560
or whatever therapy was to to go
somewhere or do something or

351
00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:45,440
recognize that like, OK, a 2
year old won't probably put

352
00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:48,240
themselves back in the shoes.
But we all talked to our kids

353
00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:50,000
about pictures and they're like,
yeah, I was there.

354
00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:53,680
I remember that.
And then like, that can be the

355
00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:55,040
gift.
Move forward.

356
00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:58,440
Like, it's awesome that you were
able to find that mind space in

357
00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:02,840
a time that I'm sure was just
cloudy and downtrodden most of

358
00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:04,600
the time.
Looking back on it, I think

359
00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:06,400
there's there's a lot of
cloudiness to it.

360
00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:11,520
There's there's moments that I
remember crazy vividly, and then

361
00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:13,880
there's other moments of like,
I'll see a picture of like, I

362
00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:18,360
don't even remember being there.
But yeah, Brecon, yeah.

363
00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:20,600
He's got those memories and
we'll put himself there because

364
00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:22,160
he's seen pictures or he's heard
stories.

365
00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,840
But then there's other times
where he'll just share something

366
00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:29,480
about her or a memory.
And like, in my mind, like that

367
00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:32,600
for sure did not happen.
But if that's the memory that

368
00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:36,360
you want to have have in your
mind, it's a good memory of, of

369
00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:38,800
your mom, then.
Yeah, yeah, awesome.

370
00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:40,680
For sure that happened and I'm
glad that you still have that

371
00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:44,120
memory kind of thing.
Yeah, dude, what a trip.

372
00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:50,160
What you know, what an absolute
just like devastation that

373
00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:52,520
happens.
It's it's pretty like, I mean,

374
00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:55,600
breast cancer awareness has been
a thing since I it seems like

375
00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:58,040
we're about the same age since
we were young right when the

376
00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:00,680
pink ribbon started and and all
of these things.

377
00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:05,760
And I actually, my best friend,
his mom ended up passing away.

378
00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,560
She had breast cancer.
But it was one of those things

379
00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:12,600
where it was a 20 year process,
you know, not a two year thing.

380
00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:17,080
So I think that probably, you
know, everybody navigates their

381
00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:21,080
own waters in this situation.
And I can't imagine living like

382
00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:23,440
we don't know if it's next
month, we don't know if it's two

383
00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:25,480
years from now or we don't know
if it's cured.

384
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:30,600
But today I'm going to live like
it's today, you know, I don't

385
00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:37,080
know, man, It's it, It's just so
poignant and reflective to hear

386
00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:40,040
how, how often do the
conversations come up with him

387
00:21:40,360 --> 00:21:44,120
now?
Honestly, not as often as maybe

388
00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:47,760
they should.
I I guess there's no should or

389
00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:51,840
there's no right way or wrong
way to do anything Chance like

390
00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:56,200
we still celebrate her birthday.
We still talk about her on

391
00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:59,520
Mother's Day.
So, so things like that will

392
00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:04,200
come up or randomly something
will happen and he'll say like a

393
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,880
memory about her.
It doesn't happen often, but it

394
00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:13,560
happens So, so probably not as
often as as I should for him.

395
00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:16,640
Right.
I'm I'm now happily remarried.

396
00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:18,920
We are creating a family
together.

397
00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:24,600
She loves Brecon like her own.
We're actually do with our our

398
00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:26,480
own baby together in July.
No way, dude.

399
00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:28,280
So yeah.
So everything's, everything's

400
00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:29,760
going really well.
And, and Megan's been a

401
00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:34,720
phenomenal proponents of an, an,
an asset to getting the remember

402
00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:38,400
to live foundation going and
just someone that that believes

403
00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:44,400
in it believes in me and is, is
helping raise raise my son like

404
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:47,080
her own as well.
And so, so it's, it's

405
00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:49,720
surrounding yourself with people
that that love you and care for

406
00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:53,760
you and, and are willing to deal
with some of your shit too.

407
00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:55,560
Yeah.
Dude, absolutely.

408
00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:59,160
Yeah, I'm, I'm sure it's one of
those things that we all

409
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:02,880
navigate these waters of we
don't you don't want to talk

410
00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:04,480
about tough stuff all the time,
right.

411
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:06,520
So it's easy to
compartmentalize, put it away

412
00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:11,760
and just kind of let it linger
and and and live and breathe

413
00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:15,920
until it comes out.
Well, so now transitioning to

414
00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:19,440
the the foundation and what
you've Don and are going to

415
00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:21,400
accomplish.
I think I just saw something

416
00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:23,640
recently.
You gave away the first trip,

417
00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:25,160
right?
Like the inaugural trip.

418
00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:27,800
What was that like?
Man, that their firsts in life

419
00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:30,520
are awesome.
This first had to be crazy.

420
00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:39,800
It, it was so I, I officially
launched this in November of 24

421
00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:45,640
November 20th of 2024 was the
death anniversary of Lauren.

422
00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:51,880
So just very monumental date
that that had some meaning to

423
00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:54,800
it.
And then I put together a board

424
00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:56,840
of directors in the following
summer.

425
00:23:56,840 --> 00:24:01,680
So summer of 25 is when it like
really officially started did a

426
00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:04,920
bunch of fundraising.
Right now we have enough money

427
00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:08,440
to send five families on a
vacation.

428
00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,040
Like right now we can do it
continuing to fundraising,

429
00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:13,760
continuing to do events to to
make all that happen.

430
00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:19,960
And then after we we hit some
dollars in the bank account,

431
00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:22,520
that was like, OK, now we need
to find a family to give this

432
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:25,840
to.
That was the hardest part, I

433
00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:27,920
bet.
Like the asking people for

434
00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:29,960
money.
Yeah, great, here's money,

435
00:24:30,120 --> 00:24:32,200
donate this whatever.
Here's the.

436
00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:35,880
Story tells itself, yeah.
And now I'm saying, OK, we, we

437
00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:37,360
have the money.
Thank you everyone.

438
00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:42,440
But now if you know someone who
knows someone who is a mom with

439
00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:45,320
breast cancer, we want to give
them a vacation.

440
00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,360
We will pay for everything and
just have them create a memory.

441
00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:51,360
There's a form.
It's a simple form on our

442
00:24:51,360 --> 00:24:56,360
website and weeks and months and
no form was ever filled out.

443
00:24:56,360 --> 00:24:58,240
Oh Dang, that was the hard part.
That was.

444
00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:01,120
The hardest part was like, we're
trying to give you something,

445
00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:04,520
give someone you know something.
And I don't know if it was a

446
00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:07,480
pride thing.
I don't know if it was a US

447
00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:10,760
messaging thing.
And then finally we got one and

448
00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:13,080
then we got another one.
So it was like a snowball effect

449
00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:15,560
of like one came in and then one
from a completely different

450
00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:17,360
angle came in and another one
came in.

451
00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:20,160
So I was like, oh, OK, So we
didn't have any.

452
00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:22,240
And now we have a really hard
decision of who's going to be

453
00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:26,840
our first one.
And it was a single mom out of

454
00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:29,920
the Fox Valley area.
Her name's Tina, and she has a

455
00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:33,280
10 year old daughter.
I have never met Tina.

456
00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:36,840
Tina has no clue who I am or
what this organization is.

457
00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:40,360
And I got her cell phone number
from the person that nominated

458
00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:43,480
her.
I texted her one day and said,

459
00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:48,880
like, hey, Tina.
Tina also started a TikTok

460
00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:54,440
channel to to document her
cancer journey called Metastatic

461
00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:56,320
Mama.
So I knew she was comfortable

462
00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:58,640
telling her story.
I knew she was comfortable on

463
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:01,880
camera.
She's got pink hair just like a

464
00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:05,360
character in the the best way.
Yeah, So I texted Tina.

465
00:26:05,360 --> 00:26:08,360
I didn't want to see my last
name and be able to Google and

466
00:26:08,360 --> 00:26:10,680
find remember to live.
I didn't want the e-mail just to

467
00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:16,280
pop up where she could get any
sort of evidence that that what

468
00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:18,880
could possibly be happening.
So I texted her and said, hey,

469
00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:23,000
I'm starting a podcast.
I know you've been sharing your

470
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:26,040
story online.
Great content, great videos in a

471
00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:29,360
very dark humor kind of way.
It's making light of how awful

472
00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:31,880
you feel after chemo.
And it's just the, the rawness

473
00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:37,200
of, of going through cancer.
I had worked with coffee Wizards

474
00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:40,640
in Appleton for a location and
said, you know, I want to

475
00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:45,200
interview you, hear your story
and we'll be a coffee wizard.

476
00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:47,680
Here's a here's a few dates.
She didn't ask me one question.

477
00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:49,080
She said, cool, I'll be there On
this date.

478
00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:51,640
Nice.
Like that was way easier than I

479
00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:55,360
was expecting.
So I had a friend with me who

480
00:26:55,360 --> 00:26:56,800
helped.
Like we, we set it up like a

481
00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:58,120
podcast.
There were there were cameras,

482
00:26:58,120 --> 00:27:02,000
there was audio recording.
And I remember I saw, I saw her

483
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:05,920
pull up in the window and I said
to Jonathan, like, she's coming

484
00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:08,680
in.
She has no idea why she's here.

485
00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:11,200
I don't even know how to like
start this.

486
00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:14,480
So she got in and she was great.
We chit chatted for a little

487
00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:17,200
bit.
We sat down to record a podcast.

488
00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:20,640
We actually recorded an
interview just to hear her

489
00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:22,920
story, hear what she's gone
through.

490
00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:29,000
And the, the conversation was,
was leading to the right way for

491
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:32,320
me to transition into it.
So I said to her, so Tina, I

492
00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:34,720
wasn't fully honest with why I
brought you here.

493
00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:39,600
And she just looks at me and
she's OK, Like she has no idea

494
00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:43,080
what I'm about to say.
And you can see like this, this

495
00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:46,320
might not be good.
I don't know what whatever I

496
00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:49,000
said, I started an organization
called Remember to Live

497
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:53,280
Foundation and we give moms
fighting breast cancer and their

498
00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:55,600
families a vacation to go create
memories.

499
00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:59,720
And she just stared at me and
tears started in her eyes and

500
00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:03,000
she said, I don't want to say,
but can I stand up and hug you?

501
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:07,480
And it was it was the coolest
thing on my way to to go to that

502
00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:12,800
interview, Megan said to me,
this is a big deal.

503
00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:18,360
Just be in the moment.
And as we were getting to that,

504
00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:22,560
that point, I remember just like
being there and like the

505
00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:25,320
adrenaline, I could feel it
going through my body of like,

506
00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:29,400
this is such a big deal and
everything I've been wanting to

507
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:31,480
do.
And it was awesome.

508
00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:34,040
It's like reaching the summit.
Yeah, yeah.

509
00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:37,320
What an amazing story.
What a cool way to do it too.

510
00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:41,120
That's such a great idea to be
able to like drop the bomb, you

511
00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:44,480
know, in a way like that that is
captured forever for her, too.

512
00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:47,320
That's so cool.
I want to go back.

513
00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:49,120
I never would have.
I thought that.

514
00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:50,520
So I was going to ask you this
question today.

515
00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:52,840
I've been thinking about it
since you reached out and what

516
00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:55,600
we're going to talk about.
I would have thought the hard

517
00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:58,000
part that I'd like.
I thought, and even today I

518
00:28:58,000 --> 00:28:59,600
thought you were going to say
sifting through all the

519
00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:02,320
applications and being like, Oh
my goodness, how do I pick

520
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:04,440
between this story and this?
Story.

521
00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:06,960
I'm sure it is now.
Yeah.

522
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:10,680
But I never would have guessed
that the the an initial hurdle

523
00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:14,760
was nobody applying.
And I guess I mean, lifelong

524
00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:18,000
marketer trust is hard to build,
you know, So you, you got to

525
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,760
start the snowball somewhere.
And how do you get those first

526
00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:24,440
few in?
What did you did it start as

527
00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:28,720
nominations or or was it or can
it be like I'm sure you can

528
00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:32,400
probably self nominate to right?
But which of those was that?

529
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:34,560
A.
Piece of it right now we have

530
00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:42,040
it's a nomination form and and
we did that thinking a the the

531
00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:45,280
family that is affected by
cancer, they're going through

532
00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:46,840
enough.
They don't need another

533
00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:50,000
something to do by filling out
an application.

534
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:51,960
Yeah, I mean, they're going to
get a vacation out of it, but

535
00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:55,400
just to take one more dumb
little task off their plate of

536
00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:56,880
let's have someone else nominate
them.

537
00:29:57,000 --> 00:29:59,320
After living it, you knew how
heavy your head was already.

538
00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:00,800
A lot of them probably won't
even find it.

539
00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:02,040
You're just treading.
Exactly.

540
00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:07,000
But then there's also a pride
thing too of like, oh, I'm not

541
00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:10,000
as sick as someone else might
be, so I don't deserve this.

542
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:13,360
Or we have some money.
We could probably take a family

543
00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:14,960
vacation.
So I'm not going to take it from

544
00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:18,080
someone that might financially
need it more than I do Human

545
00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:19,320
nature.
Exactly.

546
00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:22,840
And that's not that's not fair.
That's not what we're trying to

547
00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:23,920
do.
We're not trying to give a

548
00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:25,960
vacation away then make people
feel bad about it.

549
00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:29,080
So in our minds and
conversations with, with the

550
00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:33,040
board and other people for that
matter, it was just like, let's

551
00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:37,880
have family and friends nominate
them because they're the ones

552
00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:40,560
that are seeing the struggle
that this current family could

553
00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:44,040
be going through.
So it's a way for, you know, a

554
00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:46,920
sister to say like, Oh, my
sister's, my sister's going

555
00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:49,000
through something right now.
She deserves this.

556
00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:52,480
Yeah.
So then now let's talk about the

557
00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:54,840
sifting through a little bit.
That's got to be so hard.

558
00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:57,400
I I, you know, thinking about
what we're going to talk about.

559
00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:00,200
I tried to envision what that
would be like, just reading

560
00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:03,200
story after story.
Like what's the cadence?

561
00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:06,000
You said you have like 5 or 6
right now, but like what's your

562
00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:13,080
planned cadence and how do you
work through that process of

563
00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:16,160
like reading them it?
You have to relive it every time

564
00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:19,000
too when you do it.
So that has to be another angle

565
00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:19,920
of it.
What's it like?

566
00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:27,720
I think probably a struggle with
every nonprofit organization or

567
00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:30,400
any good hearted person for that
matter.

568
00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:33,600
You want to help everyone and
you don't ever want to say no to

569
00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:39,600
people.
We right now we're just planning

570
00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:43,520
one family's trip.
The first one after sitting down

571
00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:47,160
with her, one of my questions I
asked her was, you know, do you,

572
00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:49,440
do you have a bucket list?
Is there anywhere you really

573
00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:52,240
want to travel?
Like what do you want to do in,

574
00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:56,440
in, in your life right now?
And her and her daughter like

575
00:31:57,040 --> 00:31:58,240
national parks.
They've, they've gone to a

576
00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:01,960
handful of national parks.
And then she made some super

577
00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:05,840
passing comment about Hawaii and
that was kind of it.

578
00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:09,680
And then I sent her a, a survey
form for her to fill out an

579
00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:12,640
interest form of like, OK, what
are your top three destinations?

580
00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:13,840
We'll do our best to pick one of
them.

581
00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:17,640
What do you guys like to do?
What kind of food, whatever,

582
00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:21,080
just all this information about
what they like to do.

583
00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:24,880
And in there she said something
about it is always been a dream

584
00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:28,240
of mine to go to Hawaii.
Like done, we will make this

585
00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:30,320
happen.
So in August she's going to

586
00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:34,720
Hawaii.
So that was absolutely a dream

587
00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:38,960
come true for her while going
through a nightmare.

588
00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:46,160
So I, I texted her like this,
this graphic itinerary that I

589
00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:48,760
put up and said like, hey,
here's what we're thinking.

590
00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:52,280
Is this work for you before we
start to book things.

591
00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:55,640
And she responded back within
like 5 seconds.

592
00:32:55,640 --> 00:33:01,640
Like OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG yes, like
that is that is perfect.

593
00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:05,400
That is exactly like the emotion
that I, I want her to feel is

594
00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:07,280
that excited.
And then a couple days later she

595
00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:09,200
texted me and said me and my
daughter have been watching

596
00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:11,040
every Hawaii video that we could
find.

597
00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:14,040
And we are so pumped.
It's like that.

598
00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:16,720
That is a story in and of
itself.

599
00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:20,960
That's that can't be scripted.
That's just human emotion and

600
00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:28,200
someone who is is grateful for
what she has while also dealing

601
00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:32,920
with very heavy things.
So obviously you never want to

602
00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:36,240
say no to another family to get
to get give them that.

603
00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:39,440
So right now we're we're
focusing on this first family

604
00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:41,600
and we just had a board meeting
a couple days ago and said like,

605
00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:46,520
OK, this first family is for the
most part ready to go.

606
00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:49,720
We have to officially book the
the airlines now with the book

607
00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:52,000
the hotel and that's all in the
process right now.

608
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:53,760
But it's time to find our next
family.

609
00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:58,000
So we have a couple applications
that that we are holding onto

610
00:33:58,000 --> 00:33:59,800
right now.
And then we'll put the call out

611
00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:02,760
to for other nominations.
And then we'll meet as a board

612
00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:06,600
and, and look at stories and
just have to make a decision.

613
00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:12,800
And once we had the first one, I
knew that it, or I believe it

614
00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:14,880
hasn't happened yet, but I
believe it will snowball.

615
00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:17,360
Oh yeah.
For such a long time, it was

616
00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:18,920
like, this is what we're trying
to do.

617
00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:23,280
This is our vision.
This is our goal to send

618
00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:25,800
families here.
And after that initial

619
00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:28,480
conversation to give away the
first vacation.

620
00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:31,520
It was like, this is now what we
do.

621
00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:34,600
And that seems like a
transitional moment of here's a

622
00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:39,239
hope in the future, here's a
vision and a goal to Nope, this

623
00:34:39,239 --> 00:34:40,679
is just too weird and what we do
now.

624
00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:44,719
Yeah, it, it is the thing that
can snowball so easily,

625
00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:46,400
especially with that creative
execution.

626
00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:50,400
Cause like the, the, the, the
content exists.

627
00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:53,080
You don't have to.
You just capture it.

628
00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:56,520
You capture the moment and then
you call people in with that

629
00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:59,800
moment and yeah, it, it's going
to keep going that direction.

630
00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:01,720
You brought up something in
there that I didn't think about.

631
00:35:02,480 --> 00:35:07,520
It's like there's layers to the
gift and like talking with her

632
00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:09,480
daughter about watching Hawaii
videos.

633
00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:11,000
Like we're going through that
right now.

634
00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,880
My, my little dude's a shark
and, and whale nut right now.

635
00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:16,280
It's been like a year.
He just loves sharks and whales.

636
00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:19,320
So I was going to like, we were
going to plan a trip to go on a

637
00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:23,360
whale watching boat trip, but
they're like 6 hours, 5 hours

638
00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:25,440
long.
And I was like, I don't know if

639
00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:27,920
he's ready for that long yet.
So we planned a trip to the

640
00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:29,840
Shedd Aquarium and told him like
a month ago.

641
00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:35,040
And every single day we talk
about it and it's almost like,

642
00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:37,840
you know, it's easy to look at
your foundation and think, OK,

643
00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:43,360
the trip is this escape.
But in reality, the year around

644
00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:46,520
the trip is an escape because it
changes the dynamic of

645
00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:48,840
conversation.
It gives you something to look

646
00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:53,080
forward to it it, you know, you
know, it sounds cliche, but it

647
00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:57,080
gives you something to live for
and through so that the gift is

648
00:35:57,080 --> 00:36:02,240
much more than just the trip.
Like it's those moments that

649
00:36:02,240 --> 00:36:04,000
build up.
I didn't think of that coming

650
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:05,600
into the conversation.
It's cool.

651
00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:08,640
Yeah, and we also have come up
with a way to have it live on

652
00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:11,920
after the fact as well.
And you you told me before like

653
00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:15,120
that I had this this clarity
while going through two years of

654
00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:18,560
treatment.
And to some degree may be true,

655
00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:20,960
but to some degree there's
there's other things that I wish

656
00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:23,000
I would have done differently.
Sure.

657
00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:29,120
And, and this is one of them
where working with, with DJ cast

658
00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:30,800
at shift visuals in in Green
Bay.

659
00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:39,760
I want to interview the family
pre trip to just get a get a

660
00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:43,400
sense of where they're at,
what's going on, how's everyone

661
00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:46,440
doing and coping?
And, and maybe there's some

662
00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:47,960
emotion to it.
Maybe, maybe there's not

663
00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:51,360
depending on, you know,
children, but at least the the

664
00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:54,680
woman that's affected by it, a
partner or a husband or a spouse

665
00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:57,680
or whatever, they're going to
have their own perception,

666
00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:00,840
perception of it.
So get that interview and then

667
00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:04,040
encourage the family while
they're on the trip.

668
00:37:04,960 --> 00:37:10,040
Take all the pictures, take all
the videos, and then afterward

669
00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:14,240
do a post interview.
What did that experience mean to

670
00:37:14,240 --> 00:37:16,400
you?
What were some of your favorite

671
00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:17,520
parts?
What were some of your favorite

672
00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:21,680
memories?
Yeah, we can all think we're

673
00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:24,640
going to remember vivid moments,
but if they're not documented,

674
00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:27,760
journal recorded, whatever,
maybe they'll slip by.

675
00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:32,760
And then I want the mom to sit
down with the camera and give a

676
00:37:32,760 --> 00:37:38,920
message to her kids.
And that way, even even if she

677
00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:42,400
lives for another 40 years, the
kids hopefully will outlive her

678
00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:44,200
and they'll at least have that
in the future.

679
00:37:44,720 --> 00:37:49,440
But then to have this video
package given to the families to

680
00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:52,200
to have something tangible to
remember this trip by.

681
00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:55,800
So it's not just a one week go
on vacation and have a good

682
00:37:55,800 --> 00:37:59,080
time.
It's creating a lasting memory

683
00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:02,520
that they can go back to.
And and if if the ultimate

684
00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:06,120
devastation does happen and in a
year that that mom's no longer

685
00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:12,440
there, they now have this video
montage of that trip was

686
00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:15,120
phenomenal and we created some
amazing memories and now we can

687
00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:18,320
relive those anytime we want.
Yeah, that's awesome.

688
00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:22,000
That actually encapsulates an
idea that I've had bouncing

689
00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:25,840
around in my head.
I had this scenario very early

690
00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:29,240
on in this podcast.
I had a a good friend of mine on

691
00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:32,760
dealt with a bunch of health
issues that things were touch

692
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:35,040
and go for him too.
He didn't know what was going to

693
00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:38,640
happen.
And he's a very gregarious,

694
00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:44,040
positive guy.
So like, you know, we, it was

695
00:38:44,040 --> 00:38:47,920
this thing of we didn't, we kind
of just ended up talking about

696
00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:52,080
real life a lot, you know, and,
and he, he was progressively,

697
00:38:52,080 --> 00:38:54,240
you're consistently looking
forward in the conversation.

698
00:38:54,240 --> 00:38:57,240
And there was no like inkling of
this, of, of that.

699
00:38:57,680 --> 00:39:00,200
And luckily he's, he's still
doing pretty solid.

700
00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:02,720
He's still fought some health
issues and it still is.

701
00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:07,520
But the where this idea came
from as I went to an event last

702
00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:11,960
summer and and he was there with
his wife and it was the first

703
00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:15,240
time I had talked with her in a
long time.

704
00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:20,640
And she came up and like, oh,
got like 4 words out before she

705
00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:26,760
just started bawling tears.
And she was like incredibly

706
00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:29,880
thankful to me for having him on
the podcast.

707
00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:33,000
And I was like, he's a good
friend, you know, I mean, I do

708
00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:34,360
is deal with stuff, but he's got
a cool story.

709
00:39:35,120 --> 00:39:37,520
But she opened my eyes to seeing
it through a different way.

710
00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:41,840
She said their grandson watches
and watches and watches and

711
00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:47,680
watches his episode.
And like, I always, you know, I,

712
00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:51,000
I can't help.
I'm a serial idea person.

713
00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:53,000
Like, I just see these things.
I wish I could do so many.

714
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:55,960
For sure.
And it it's not, it's not and it

715
00:39:55,960 --> 00:39:59,280
probably never will be something
that'll fit with my brand about

716
00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:04,000
what I do, but it fits yours
perfectly about this time

717
00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:06,400
capsule type thing.
I like that.

718
00:40:06,680 --> 00:40:12,080
And you could see that.
Thing like and it's so easy to

719
00:40:12,080 --> 00:40:14,400
do right.
It's so easy to do, especially

720
00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:16,480
with someone like shift.
I actually had page who works at

721
00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:19,480
shift on iPod too.
But it's it's easy when you like

722
00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:22,560
if you can get some in kind
services and and like you

723
00:40:22,680 --> 00:40:27,240
leverage all of these talents to
build this time capsule for

724
00:40:27,240 --> 00:40:28,800
somebody.
So now it's not even just the

725
00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:31,400
trip and it's not even the
stories in front of back, but

726
00:40:31,400 --> 00:40:37,080
it's in 50 years when that kid
is now 50.

727
00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:40,360
Oh my showing this?
Showing his kids their.

728
00:40:40,600 --> 00:40:44,400
This grandma, yeah.
And like, oh, my goodness.

729
00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:46,520
And that.
Oh, that brings me to how hard

730
00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:48,560
it would be to write what you
wanted to say.

731
00:40:48,720 --> 00:40:50,880
Oh, being the person.
Can you imagine being in those

732
00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:53,280
shoes?
What do I want to say in this

733
00:40:53,280 --> 00:40:57,840
video?
Oh my God, dude, that has the

734
00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:01,360
the ceiling of that is through
the roof, man, because you could

735
00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:06,360
do so many things with that.
And that's it's funny because

736
00:41:06,360 --> 00:41:08,720
that's been something since that
happened that day.

737
00:41:08,720 --> 00:41:12,000
I've been thinking about the
power of that moment because we

738
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:13,360
all have these why moments,
right?

739
00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:16,640
Like I got to a point in my
career where I was really

740
00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:18,640
successful doing what I was
doing, but I don't have AY, the

741
00:41:18,640 --> 00:41:21,400
old Simon Sinek thing for sure.
It it didn't matter.

742
00:41:21,400 --> 00:41:23,040
To you and then just seems
hollow and you're ready for a

743
00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:25,080
change.
Yeah, absolutely.

744
00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:28,280
Everything seems hollow and Gray
and it's like, wow, I'm really

745
00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:30,400
good at what I do and I'm making
good money.

746
00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:35,000
But does it matter in the grand
scheme of things in that moment

747
00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:37,880
when those things happen, when
she like, started bawling when

748
00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:40,320
she saw me and I hadn't looked
at it from that angle

749
00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:44,880
whatsoever?
Like the Y resonates with you

750
00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:49,760
and it starts coming to life.
And you're obviously your Y is

751
00:41:49,760 --> 00:41:52,760
incredibly poignant, right?
Like you started this foundation

752
00:41:52,760 --> 00:41:57,800
because of personal experience.
But then, you know, you see

753
00:41:57,800 --> 00:41:59,880
these.
What would you say?

754
00:42:00,240 --> 00:42:03,640
You see this picture of what it
could be, and you probably have

755
00:42:03,640 --> 00:42:06,240
countless ideas of this floating
through your mind.

756
00:42:06,240 --> 00:42:08,480
I'm also a serial idea guys.
So I kind of got that.

757
00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:13,000
It's a struggle sometimes.
Yeah, well, because it can be

758
00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:14,760
our worst enemy too, right?
Yeah, and.

759
00:42:14,840 --> 00:42:16,200
I got to execute on some of them
I.

760
00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:20,560
Know yeah I got to follow
through on something and see the

761
00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:23,400
see the end and not get
squirreled by the 10 other

762
00:42:23,400 --> 00:42:28,440
things but this one like you can
you can feel the power of this

763
00:42:28,440 --> 00:42:33,320
light and I you know that one
little moment for me you could

764
00:42:33,800 --> 00:42:39,320
exponentiate into these
incredible time capsules for

765
00:42:39,320 --> 00:42:43,320
people that are above and beyond
the the plane there and the

766
00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:47,040
plane back in the discussions
that's what a gift man what a

767
00:42:47,040 --> 00:42:47,840
gift in the.
Dark.

768
00:42:47,840 --> 00:42:50,640
It's definitely a rewarding,
very much a passion project.

769
00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:54,040
Yeah.
And with a, with a very clear,

770
00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:57,880
very personal why, but even like
your why here, I mean, yeah, are

771
00:42:57,880 --> 00:43:00,520
you going to do any sort of time
capsule or anything like that

772
00:43:00,520 --> 00:43:02,280
for every guest?
No, but you're creating a

773
00:43:02,280 --> 00:43:04,840
platform to tell stories.
And what what's impactful is

774
00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:06,840
storytelling.
Someone's going to relate to

775
00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:10,760
something that that you have you
have a guest on here or even

776
00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:14,280
even if it's just entertainment
value, someone is coming to

777
00:43:14,280 --> 00:43:16,600
share their story.
And what do people like to do

778
00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:19,040
but talk about themselves?
A. 100% yeah.

779
00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:23,080
And given the right atmosphere,
right, Like we have to open the

780
00:43:23,080 --> 00:43:25,520
door because there is that pride
thing that comes along with it

781
00:43:25,520 --> 00:43:30,080
that some people, you know, we,
we hide that stuff sometimes

782
00:43:30,080 --> 00:43:32,760
because even if we know we have
a good story, it's like, does

783
00:43:32,760 --> 00:43:35,000
the person want to hear it?
Do you want to listen?

784
00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:37,240
And if we can embrace it and
come out once you get somebody

785
00:43:37,240 --> 00:43:39,760
going, of course they, we, we
love talking about what we do

786
00:43:39,760 --> 00:43:42,640
and what we experience.
And you're right, man, you're

787
00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:46,320
right.
That is I, when I, when I think

788
00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:51,840
about my why, when I started
this, I just like there's a

789
00:43:51,840 --> 00:43:56,520
disconnect between how we see
everybody in society.

790
00:43:56,520 --> 00:44:00,160
Like if we're driving our car,
especially on social media,

791
00:44:00,160 --> 00:44:01,360
that's kind of where it started
for me.

792
00:44:01,360 --> 00:44:08,120
Like seeing people that wouldn't
argue or talk the way that they

793
00:44:08,120 --> 00:44:11,760
are to each other in real life
for sure, but they do it on on

794
00:44:11,760 --> 00:44:13,040
the computer.
Sword Warriors.

795
00:44:13,040 --> 00:44:17,440
Yeah, dude, and I think about
that and I it's just there's the

796
00:44:17,440 --> 00:44:20,920
stark contrast between the life
you experience when you walk

797
00:44:20,920 --> 00:44:23,840
through life and you're engaged
with people in a human way.

798
00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:27,080
And then what you see online,
we're a lot of us spend our time

799
00:44:27,840 --> 00:44:32,840
and that disconnect, I think is
so unhealthy that it it like

800
00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:38,000
it's easy to develop this jaded
view of life and humanity

801
00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:42,200
because social media makes us
think that we're all so

802
00:44:42,200 --> 00:44:44,920
different and we all believe all
of these different things

803
00:44:44,920 --> 00:44:47,960
because it's the fringes that
would do well, right?

804
00:44:47,960 --> 00:44:51,080
Like I can post a clip from this
podcast about, you know, a

805
00:44:51,080 --> 00:44:53,800
somber moment with you talking
about everything you went

806
00:44:53,800 --> 00:44:59,960
through and it'll do really
well, but might not translate to

807
00:44:59,960 --> 00:45:03,320
someone getting to the next step
of thinking about that of, OK,

808
00:45:03,320 --> 00:45:05,160
what is the gift in this?
What is the positive?

809
00:45:05,600 --> 00:45:07,240
And I just want to be a
connector, man.

810
00:45:07,240 --> 00:45:11,120
And I think stories do that.
If if we get the more people we

811
00:45:11,120 --> 00:45:15,000
can get to someone, listen to
someone talk for an hour and be

812
00:45:15,000 --> 00:45:18,680
really human about it.
We realize that that divide

813
00:45:18,680 --> 00:45:21,880
isn't real.
It's fabricated by social media

814
00:45:21,880 --> 00:45:25,400
for sure.
It isn't in existence like my

815
00:45:25,400 --> 00:45:28,600
neighbor might think different
politically than me, but if we

816
00:45:28,600 --> 00:45:31,480
see each other at the fence,
we're going to talk about the

817
00:45:31,480 --> 00:45:34,160
things that happen in life
because it's what matters.

818
00:45:34,240 --> 00:45:37,440
Yeah, and I think that's even.
It's not just social media, in

819
00:45:37,440 --> 00:45:40,600
my opinion.
I think it's talking at the

820
00:45:40,600 --> 00:45:42,280
fence.
It's sitting down in face to

821
00:45:42,280 --> 00:45:45,200
face to have this conversation.
It's going to the coffee shop,

822
00:45:45,200 --> 00:45:48,240
it's going to the bar, it's
going to a family reunion.

823
00:45:50,680 --> 00:45:55,920
We spend so much of our time in
in the Zoom room of talking to

824
00:45:55,920 --> 00:45:59,400
each other via Scream.
Like that has a whole emotional

825
00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:02,360
disconnect compared to sitting
here face to face.

826
00:46:02,360 --> 00:46:04,880
And I think that's such a huge
problem too.

827
00:46:05,080 --> 00:46:09,320
No, 100%.
I've had several guests, some

828
00:46:09,800 --> 00:46:11,960
that it's incredibly tempting,
right?

829
00:46:11,960 --> 00:46:16,080
Because with the, with the
vanity metrics comes growth, you

830
00:46:16,080 --> 00:46:19,920
know, and I've had some like, of
course, people that are busier,

831
00:46:19,920 --> 00:46:23,320
have a bigger presence or
whatever, they've tried to

832
00:46:23,320 --> 00:46:26,080
persuade me to do an, a virtual
interview with them.

833
00:46:26,440 --> 00:46:29,400
And that's a hard stop for me.
And like, if it gets there, I'm

834
00:46:29,400 --> 00:46:32,880
like, I would love to have you
on, But if I talk to you on a

835
00:46:32,880 --> 00:46:37,280
screen, if I'm talking to you on
a computer, I, we can't feel.

836
00:46:37,280 --> 00:46:39,240
I think there's, I'm kind of an
energy guy.

837
00:46:39,240 --> 00:46:41,360
I'm a little woose eye energy
type guy.

838
00:46:41,360 --> 00:46:44,560
And there's an energy that comes
with in person conversation.

839
00:46:44,560 --> 00:46:48,480
Like today, I mean, hearing your
story, there's two or three

840
00:46:48,480 --> 00:46:50,920
times in that that I'm holding
back tears.

841
00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:52,520
You know, I'm because I can feel
it.

842
00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:55,800
If we're on a screen, I don't
think I would feel that same.

843
00:46:55,800 --> 00:46:58,560
Way.
And the conversation is

844
00:46:58,560 --> 00:47:01,800
different man.
And of course it, it's very

845
00:47:01,800 --> 00:47:05,160
convenient, it's easy.
There's platforms like Riverside

846
00:47:05,160 --> 00:47:06,960
that plop it all together for
you.

847
00:47:07,480 --> 00:47:10,360
I have I've had people drive
from 5 hours away to come on the

848
00:47:10,360 --> 00:47:12,880
pod and I feel a little weight
with that like OK, I got to make

849
00:47:12,880 --> 00:47:14,880
this worth it for them.
They're coming a long way.

850
00:47:15,200 --> 00:47:18,960
But at the same time, it's I
think it has to be this way for

851
00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:24,760
me at least it has to be this
way because you're you're

852
00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:27,400
building on your point.
Like you're exactly right.

853
00:47:27,400 --> 00:47:31,240
Like if we make the time and
intentionality to be with

854
00:47:31,240 --> 00:47:38,280
someone, it's it's it matters
and it doesn't happen enough.

855
00:47:38,920 --> 00:47:41,600
Yeah.
That's why I love the podcast

856
00:47:41,600 --> 00:47:44,200
idea, dude, that you did with
her to give her the thing.

857
00:47:44,200 --> 00:47:50,720
It's it's so isn't it amazing
how one, how easy the yes was?

858
00:47:50,720 --> 00:47:53,520
I've been incredibly like
surprised by that since I

859
00:47:53,520 --> 00:47:56,240
started the pod about people
that are even naturally

860
00:47:56,240 --> 00:47:58,560
introverts and stuff to be like,
yeah, let's talk.

861
00:47:58,880 --> 00:48:02,000
And without asking me any
qualifying questions, they don't

862
00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:05,440
know shit about what people do.
It is yeah, like what what do

863
00:48:05,440 --> 00:48:06,840
you want?
What are you going to try to get

864
00:48:06,840 --> 00:48:12,000
me to say?
And then two, how quickly

865
00:48:12,480 --> 00:48:14,480
people, when they feel
comfortable, they get into the

866
00:48:14,480 --> 00:48:17,760
deepest, darkest moments of
their brain and.

867
00:48:17,760 --> 00:48:21,280
Even sitting down with her like
she, she got to some pretty raw

868
00:48:21,680 --> 00:48:26,880
parts and at one point she said
something about I, I, I had

869
00:48:26,880 --> 00:48:31,960
asked her like, how did you deal
with a cancer diagnosis and

870
00:48:31,960 --> 00:48:35,320
being a single mom?
And she referenced back to being

871
00:48:35,320 --> 00:48:37,760
a teenager.
She went through some, some

872
00:48:37,760 --> 00:48:41,080
pretty debilitating anxiety and,
and some mental health issues

873
00:48:41,480 --> 00:48:43,680
and she kind of left it at that
and said, like, you know, I, I

874
00:48:43,680 --> 00:48:46,960
learned how to cope with some
internal pain that way.

875
00:48:46,960 --> 00:48:49,560
And now this is pretty parallel
to that.

876
00:48:49,560 --> 00:48:52,680
So, so I've, I've been trained
and, and I know some different

877
00:48:52,680 --> 00:48:56,360
coping mechanisms.
And then later she like just

878
00:48:56,360 --> 00:49:03,160
dropped a bomb on me.
She said, when I was 18, I

879
00:49:03,160 --> 00:49:06,320
wanted to take my life.
And now here I am, fighting for

880
00:49:06,320 --> 00:49:09,240
my life.
The whole man that is.

881
00:49:10,280 --> 00:49:12,560
That is a full circle moment
right there.

882
00:49:15,080 --> 00:49:20,160
Wow, yeah, I've had a I've had a
couple of those nuanced.

883
00:49:20,160 --> 00:49:25,080
It's been a little more veiled
on the pod, but it's been, you

884
00:49:25,080 --> 00:49:30,200
know, nuanced towards that.
That was an idea in the mind

885
00:49:30,200 --> 00:49:33,240
that is it time to end or is it
time to continue to go?

886
00:49:33,840 --> 00:49:40,600
And the like, how in, well,
there's been a lot of instances

887
00:49:40,600 --> 00:49:44,000
where I've had a lot of firsts
like like someone like

888
00:49:44,000 --> 00:49:46,680
realizing, damn, that's the
first time I've ever said that

889
00:49:46,760 --> 00:49:48,240
to anybody.
That's heavy for you.

890
00:49:48,520 --> 00:49:50,720
Yeah.
And but I love it because it

891
00:49:50,720 --> 00:49:53,320
that means that it's doing what
it's supposed to do.

892
00:49:53,720 --> 00:49:57,920
And what I love about it is it's
so damn easy to get it out.

893
00:49:58,080 --> 00:50:00,360
And that's proof in the pudding
of what we're talking about,

894
00:50:00,360 --> 00:50:02,240
right?
If and maybe no one's ever even

895
00:50:02,240 --> 00:50:04,200
asked him a question to get them
there and you just asked the

896
00:50:04,200 --> 00:50:06,560
right question and they said,
yeah, I'll just dump it all.

897
00:50:06,640 --> 00:50:08,960
Exactly.
It's it's almost like it's this

898
00:50:08,960 --> 00:50:14,000
dog behind a cage ready to jump
out, gets ready to get out and

899
00:50:14,680 --> 00:50:18,640
society as is doesn't really
provide that opportunity to let

900
00:50:18,640 --> 00:50:21,640
it out.
That's powerful, man, that's so

901
00:50:21,640 --> 00:50:25,480
good.
I'm a, I'm, I'm a, I'm envious

902
00:50:25,480 --> 00:50:28,720
of the position that you're in a
lot of ways, like the, the

903
00:50:28,720 --> 00:50:33,120
ability to be able to provide
something like that for somebody

904
00:50:33,920 --> 00:50:38,120
is the ultimate.
Why the ultimate ultimate?

905
00:50:38,120 --> 00:50:41,800
Why?
How hard was it to make the

906
00:50:41,800 --> 00:50:43,600
decision?
You had to know that going into

907
00:50:43,600 --> 00:50:45,880
this year, Of course, you knew
that it was going to be so

908
00:50:45,880 --> 00:50:50,120
incredibly satisfying.
How hard, how scary, how

909
00:50:50,200 --> 00:50:55,920
everything was it to just like,
say, career, what I've done to

910
00:50:55,920 --> 00:50:57,840
this point gone, I'm going to
do.

911
00:50:57,840 --> 00:51:01,800
This.
It was wildly hard, I bet.

912
00:51:03,040 --> 00:51:06,280
But then there's also, if you
find something you're passionate

913
00:51:06,280 --> 00:51:09,520
about at the exact same time, it
was wildly easy.

914
00:51:09,880 --> 00:51:12,600
OK, And maybe too easy.
Yeah.

915
00:51:12,600 --> 00:51:15,120
I I had a very successful
career.

916
00:51:15,120 --> 00:51:23,600
I absolutely loved what I did.
I had grown pretty quickly into

917
00:51:23,600 --> 00:51:26,120
different positions, into a
whole lot of responsibility.

918
00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:29,400
I.
Get a really cool office.

919
00:51:29,400 --> 00:51:35,320
I had a cool office I I was on
track for even more growth and

920
00:51:35,320 --> 00:51:38,400
part of me to some degree felt
like an asshole for giving it

921
00:51:38,400 --> 00:51:39,440
all up.
OK.

922
00:51:40,080 --> 00:51:44,280
In terms of like, I've worked
really hard, people have helped

923
00:51:44,280 --> 00:51:46,120
me and mentored me along the
way.

924
00:51:47,520 --> 00:51:54,440
Am I just walking away from all
of this time and energy and

925
00:51:54,440 --> 00:51:59,280
effort and passion and what
other people have have helped me

926
00:51:59,280 --> 00:52:06,920
get get to as well?
And then it came down to that

927
00:52:06,920 --> 00:52:11,240
was an amazing moment, an
amazing chapter in my life.

928
00:52:11,240 --> 00:52:13,680
But it's time to write a new
chapter.

929
00:52:14,640 --> 00:52:21,040
So if you can find the the why
behind it and something else

930
00:52:21,040 --> 00:52:25,080
you're passionate about, you'll
get to a point in your career or

931
00:52:25,080 --> 00:52:29,120
in your life that there's a fork
in the road.

932
00:52:29,200 --> 00:52:33,880
Do you take the path that you're
on or do you do you take the the

933
00:52:33,880 --> 00:52:37,920
next one?
And it, it was pretty clear to

934
00:52:37,920 --> 00:52:40,560
me that, yeah, it was, it was
amazing.

935
00:52:41,400 --> 00:52:45,760
It was amazing run that I had in
a professional way.

936
00:52:45,760 --> 00:52:48,120
But it was it was time to take a
new path.

937
00:52:49,240 --> 00:52:51,880
Yeah, and almost two years in,
you're glad you did it.

938
00:52:51,880 --> 00:52:55,160
Absolutely.
And I think maybe maybe the the

939
00:52:55,160 --> 00:52:58,400
easy part of it was it wasn't
just like a rash decision.

940
00:52:58,400 --> 00:53:00,240
It was like, oh, I have an idea
I'm going to do this.

941
00:53:00,400 --> 00:53:02,000
Like we're talking about like
being idea guys.

942
00:53:02,560 --> 00:53:04,680
Like, yeah, there's a whole lot
of times where like this would

943
00:53:04,680 --> 00:53:07,040
be awesome.
I have this idea, but I'm not

944
00:53:07,040 --> 00:53:09,560
going to change my life for that
particular idea.

945
00:53:09,560 --> 00:53:14,400
This was an idea that literally
was in my mind for six years.

946
00:53:14,680 --> 00:53:18,320
The why behind it was wildly
life changing for me.

947
00:53:19,280 --> 00:53:24,280
So it's something that I knew I
needed to to chase.

948
00:53:24,680 --> 00:53:30,600
Two years in, it's given me more
freedom to spend time at home

949
00:53:30,600 --> 00:53:33,840
with my son.
My wife Megan travels for work.

950
00:53:33,840 --> 00:53:39,080
It has given us freedom to mooch
off her work trips and like, OK,

951
00:53:39,080 --> 00:53:40,480
cool, you you go to the
conference.

952
00:53:40,480 --> 00:53:41,800
Breck and I are going to go to
Disney World.

953
00:53:43,360 --> 00:53:48,480
So like if, if I would have
stayed at a nine to five job

954
00:53:48,480 --> 00:53:50,840
that wasn't always 9:00 to 5:00,
there were late nights, there

955
00:53:50,840 --> 00:53:55,080
were weekends, it wouldn't have
afforded that lifestyle.

956
00:53:55,080 --> 00:53:59,960
So I think there's, there's
ancillary benefits to taking a

957
00:53:59,960 --> 00:54:05,320
leap and, and gambling on
yourself and you, you create a

958
00:54:05,320 --> 00:54:11,640
life that you are fully in
control of rather than relying

959
00:54:11,640 --> 00:54:13,720
on other people telling you what
to do.

960
00:54:13,720 --> 00:54:15,440
And, and there's a time and a
place for that.

961
00:54:15,440 --> 00:54:17,360
And amazing things happen from
that.

962
00:54:18,120 --> 00:54:23,800
I loved that in the moments that
I, I had it, but it's just time

963
00:54:23,800 --> 00:54:27,640
to, to make a, a change.
And it was, in my mind, a very

964
00:54:27,640 --> 00:54:30,520
impactful change.
Yeah, satisfaction looks a lot

965
00:54:30,520 --> 00:54:33,080
of different ways and there's
levels to satisfaction.

966
00:54:33,360 --> 00:54:35,840
One thing it's I talk with this
with my students a lot.

967
00:54:35,840 --> 00:54:39,000
One thing it's easy to get lost
in, especially when you're young

968
00:54:39,000 --> 00:54:43,560
before you have a lot of things
to reflect upon, is how

969
00:54:45,400 --> 00:54:49,000
insignificant and really not
important you are to an

970
00:54:49,200 --> 00:54:52,200
organization.
It's just going to keep rolling

971
00:54:52,200 --> 00:54:55,760
like, you think, you know, we do
all this stuff and put all this

972
00:54:55,760 --> 00:55:01,240
time and energy and motivation
and into something that, you

973
00:55:01,240 --> 00:55:04,000
know, if you're not an
entrepreneur, it isn't yours.

974
00:55:04,560 --> 00:55:07,960
And it's easy to get lost in
that thing of like you really

975
00:55:07,960 --> 00:55:11,360
matter to this thing because you
have to feel that way to be

976
00:55:11,360 --> 00:55:15,080
successful.
But then once you age a bit and

977
00:55:15,080 --> 00:55:18,520
you get a few different jobs and
you leave jobs and, and you see

978
00:55:18,520 --> 00:55:23,400
that like the the rebound time
is relatively non existent.

979
00:55:23,400 --> 00:55:25,600
They're planning before it even
happens.

980
00:55:26,120 --> 00:55:30,200
It's a lot easier to make the
decision for you as opposed to

981
00:55:30,200 --> 00:55:33,280
for others, and I think that's
where there's value in that.

982
00:55:33,280 --> 00:55:35,920
Well, I think you also need to
determine for yourself what is

983
00:55:35,920 --> 00:55:38,000
success.
Yes, society tells us what

984
00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:39,800
success is.
College tells us what success

985
00:55:39,800 --> 00:55:42,520
is.
Get a good job, get a good

986
00:55:42,520 --> 00:55:45,480
paycheck, get some good
benefits, move up the corporate

987
00:55:45,480 --> 00:55:46,480
ladder.
Yeah.

988
00:55:47,880 --> 00:55:50,840
Is that really what success
ultimately is?

989
00:55:50,840 --> 00:55:52,520
No.
Maybe to some people.

990
00:55:52,520 --> 00:55:56,080
But do those people have
fulfilment in their life?

991
00:55:57,240 --> 00:55:58,880
Maybe some do, but I would argue
a lot don't.

992
00:56:00,400 --> 00:56:02,400
Are those people passionate
about what they're doing every

993
00:56:02,400 --> 00:56:04,360
day?
Maybe there's some things that

994
00:56:04,360 --> 00:56:06,880
they're passionate about, but I
would argue they're probably

995
00:56:06,880 --> 00:56:09,080
more passionate about something
else than they are.

996
00:56:09,080 --> 00:56:11,280
They're 9 to 5 corporate job.
Absolutely.

997
00:56:11,280 --> 00:56:17,480
So I think that was that was
something that I I was confident

998
00:56:17,480 --> 00:56:20,200
in for myself of what is
success.

999
00:56:20,960 --> 00:56:22,880
I had a great job, I loved what
I was doing.

1000
00:56:22,880 --> 00:56:29,760
I was surrounded by people that
I loved, but I also wanted to be

1001
00:56:29,760 --> 00:56:36,240
in control of my own time.
I also sacrificed being home

1002
00:56:36,240 --> 00:56:40,880
more with my son as an only
father like or as a as a solo

1003
00:56:40,960 --> 00:56:44,760
single single dad.
Jeez, that's the word it.

1004
00:56:44,800 --> 00:56:47,000
It was.
I was at a place that I could

1005
00:56:47,000 --> 00:56:51,280
now leave and and spend more
intentional time doing that.

1006
00:56:51,280 --> 00:56:54,800
And that is way more rewarding
than any professional accolade

1007
00:56:54,800 --> 00:56:56,880
I've ever had.
And I've had some pretty cool

1008
00:56:56,880 --> 00:57:00,440
things that I've done.
But what, what ultimately are

1009
00:57:00,440 --> 00:57:01,960
are we here for?
And that's going to look

1010
00:57:01,960 --> 00:57:05,120
different to everyone, But I
knew what I knew what mine was.

1011
00:57:05,200 --> 00:57:06,600
Yeah.
And isn't that awesome how it

1012
00:57:06,600 --> 00:57:09,800
changes when that that feeling
changes when you have a kid?

1013
00:57:10,120 --> 00:57:15,920
Just having a kid changes like
there are, there is to me is

1014
00:57:15,920 --> 00:57:18,640
very quickly apparent that
there's nothing more important

1015
00:57:18,640 --> 00:57:21,200
to do than just existing with
your kid.

1016
00:57:21,440 --> 00:57:24,600
Just being there.
There's nothing like it feels

1017
00:57:24,600 --> 00:57:28,880
like you were put like you exist
because to do that.

1018
00:57:28,920 --> 00:57:31,800
Yeah.
And I, that was a, that was a

1019
00:57:31,800 --> 00:57:34,280
really drastic shift for me when
I became a dad.

1020
00:57:34,280 --> 00:57:37,360
Like, wow.
I can see like I had a, it's

1021
00:57:37,360 --> 00:57:40,120
funny, I have a, one of my best
friends had kids much earlier

1022
00:57:40,120 --> 00:57:42,880
than I did.
And I got to see this

1023
00:57:42,880 --> 00:57:46,960
transformation of, of what I
think a lot of parents go

1024
00:57:46,960 --> 00:57:49,640
through where you, you trim out
these the things at the

1025
00:57:49,640 --> 00:57:53,120
boundaries of your life that you
realize don't have a ton of as

1026
00:57:53,120 --> 00:57:56,440
much value.
And I was always like, they're

1027
00:57:56,440 --> 00:57:59,520
still going to be there when you
get home, just just come.

1028
00:57:59,760 --> 00:58:04,000
And now I was so wrong, dude.
I was so wrong in in thinking

1029
00:58:04,000 --> 00:58:05,280
that isn't.
It good to be wrong about the

1030
00:58:05,280 --> 00:58:06,720
right things.
It is dude.

1031
00:58:06,720 --> 00:58:08,600
It is.
It absolutely is.

1032
00:58:08,600 --> 00:58:11,600
Because now I'm like, I think
about my other friends thinking

1033
00:58:11,600 --> 00:58:15,080
about me like that, like I used
to one.

1034
00:58:15,080 --> 00:58:18,360
One thing that's pretty much
virtually left my life is golf.

1035
00:58:18,360 --> 00:58:19,400
I used to golf a lot.
Oh.

1036
00:58:19,640 --> 00:58:22,680
I can't give that one up.
And the key is to get get your

1037
00:58:22,680 --> 00:58:25,000
son into golf because now it's a
bonding experience.

1038
00:58:25,320 --> 00:58:27,560
Yeah.
Maybe someday, yeah, we'll see.

1039
00:58:27,560 --> 00:58:30,720
He hasn't shown an inclination
to anything athletic yet, which

1040
00:58:31,200 --> 00:58:33,800
everybody always asks me about
because I've always loved

1041
00:58:33,800 --> 00:58:35,240
sports.
I've played a lot of sports.

1042
00:58:35,240 --> 00:58:39,000
I've been a sports guy and I I
just look at it as however the

1043
00:58:39,000 --> 00:58:41,680
time spent is going to be good
and it's going to save me a shit

1044
00:58:41,680 --> 00:58:42,080
load of.
Money.

1045
00:58:42,080 --> 00:58:45,600
There you go.
Like if I don't have to buy a

1046
00:58:45,600 --> 00:58:48,040
bunch of stuff, but like that
was one of the things that's

1047
00:58:48,040 --> 00:58:50,960
been trimmed out and it's so
easy to do.

1048
00:58:50,960 --> 00:58:54,440
It's so easy to just say like,
but like you said, everybody

1049
00:58:54,440 --> 00:58:56,480
have their has their things.
I'm not going to stop going

1050
00:58:56,480 --> 00:58:58,960
trout fishing.
We need that sanctuary in life

1051
00:58:58,960 --> 00:59:01,200
to also be energized for the
people around us.

1052
00:59:01,760 --> 00:59:07,440
But that's I don't get the same
feeling as I do when I'm just

1053
00:59:07,800 --> 00:59:09,880
hanging with them and being that
thing in there.

1054
00:59:09,880 --> 00:59:12,720
There's these.
You hear the the cliche about

1055
00:59:13,800 --> 00:59:18,760
how does it go in?
I'm drawing a blank on it right

1056
00:59:18,760 --> 00:59:21,560
now, but whatever you get.
I'll jump in here then I I got

1057
00:59:21,560 --> 00:59:22,920
something there.
I see your Marcus Aurelius book

1058
00:59:22,920 --> 00:59:26,920
behind you for Meditations.
I have a tattoo on my chest that

1059
00:59:27,080 --> 00:59:31,440
that portrays a Seneca quote.
If one does not know to which

1060
00:59:31,440 --> 00:59:34,000
port one is sailing, no wind is
favorable.

1061
00:59:34,520 --> 00:59:36,240
So if you don't know what you
want in life, if you don't know

1062
00:59:36,240 --> 00:59:40,640
where you're going, it doesn't
matter how like on the path to

1063
00:59:40,640 --> 00:59:43,880
success that you have, like
where do you want to go?

1064
00:59:43,920 --> 00:59:46,280
Then, then you'll get there.
But otherwise you're just kind

1065
00:59:46,280 --> 00:59:50,080
of floundering and failing and,
and not failing, flailing,

1066
00:59:50,360 --> 00:59:52,200
floundering and flailing all
around.

1067
00:59:52,200 --> 00:59:56,160
And, and maybe you're going in a
direction, maybe you're moving

1068
00:59:56,160 --> 01:00:01,360
somewhere, but are you moving
toward what you really want in

1069
01:00:01,360 --> 01:00:02,560
life?
Yeah.

1070
01:00:03,080 --> 01:00:05,360
And so that perfectly helps me
out.

1071
01:00:05,360 --> 01:00:08,160
I still don't know the phrase I
was looking for, but it is the

1072
01:00:08,160 --> 01:00:11,720
purpose thing, right?
It's purpose is so easy to find.

1073
01:00:12,000 --> 01:00:14,800
And I think that's probably part
of the reason why some deep

1074
01:00:14,800 --> 01:00:18,240
reflective moments happen for
parents as their kids leave the

1075
01:00:18,240 --> 01:00:20,080
nest, right?
Because it's almost like purpose

1076
01:00:20,080 --> 01:00:22,240
is leaving like.
Your purpose was a parent for

1077
01:00:22,400 --> 01:00:24,680
1820 years.
Yeah, you've done your thing and

1078
01:00:24,680 --> 01:00:26,240
now it's like, OK, what's my
next?

1079
01:00:26,400 --> 01:00:27,720
Purpose.
I don't know who I am anymore

1080
01:00:27,840 --> 01:00:29,800
yeah, yeah.
So that's where like, you know,

1081
01:00:29,800 --> 01:00:32,520
talking about fishing or golf
for that matter, like you still

1082
01:00:32,520 --> 01:00:35,480
need to have your moments to
figure out who, who you are and

1083
01:00:35,480 --> 01:00:37,960
what you want.
And if you don't take those

1084
01:00:38,080 --> 01:00:41,440
moments of solitude, are you are
you ever going to really reflect

1085
01:00:41,440 --> 01:00:43,720
on that for yourself?
Or are you just constantly in go

1086
01:00:43,720 --> 01:00:45,880
mode of get the kids ready, get
the kids out the door, get the

1087
01:00:45,880 --> 01:00:48,600
kids to soccer, get the kids to
school to do all these things,

1088
01:00:48,600 --> 01:00:50,920
clean up the house, change the
diaper, feed them, whatever.

1089
01:00:51,400 --> 01:00:56,400
Like you could do that for 18
years and every day is that.

1090
01:00:56,400 --> 01:00:58,720
And then you're like, I, I
haven't done a single thing for

1091
01:00:58,720 --> 01:01:01,320
myself in yeah, that long.
So.

1092
01:01:01,480 --> 01:01:02,880
That would be easy to do,
probably.

1093
01:01:02,880 --> 01:01:04,440
It's easy to get lost on that
rabbit and.

1094
01:01:04,440 --> 01:01:05,800
That's what I think we were
talking about this at the

1095
01:01:05,800 --> 01:01:08,080
beginning where, you know, we'll
talk about humility.

1096
01:01:09,120 --> 01:01:12,000
Like even even when I do stuff
for myself, like, there's still

1097
01:01:12,000 --> 01:01:13,280
a guilt factor.
Oh, yeah.

1098
01:01:13,280 --> 01:01:16,160
So I don't know if it's like the
the Midwest humbleness or

1099
01:01:16,560 --> 01:01:19,000
whatever, but yeah, like, you
still need to take care of

1100
01:01:19,000 --> 01:01:20,040
yourself.
Yeah.

1101
01:01:20,280 --> 01:01:23,000
And my wife's going to yell at
me because she ells me for that.

1102
01:01:23,000 --> 01:01:25,040
I don't do a good job with that.
So me telling other people that

1103
01:01:25,040 --> 01:01:28,920
it's like, it's like the nurses
do as I say not or do yeah, do

1104
01:01:28,920 --> 01:01:30,360
as I say not as I do kind.
Of thing.

1105
01:01:30,720 --> 01:01:34,480
Yeah, yeah, it is.
There is that guilt factor of,

1106
01:01:34,840 --> 01:01:37,040
you know, a couple night trip,
like by the second or third

1107
01:01:37,040 --> 01:01:38,560
night I'm like, God, I should
really be home.

1108
01:01:38,560 --> 01:01:39,240
Yeah.
What am I?

1109
01:01:39,240 --> 01:01:40,360
What am I doing?
What am I?

1110
01:01:40,800 --> 01:01:41,800
What am I here?
Yeah.

1111
01:01:41,920 --> 01:01:44,200
But it's it is important to
recharge.

1112
01:01:44,280 --> 01:01:47,840
Have you read Meditations?
Not fully, but OK, I'm familiar

1113
01:01:47,840 --> 01:01:48,960
with.
Yeah, quite a bit of it.

1114
01:01:49,320 --> 01:01:54,560
Yeah, love it, man.
It's it's amazing how relevant

1115
01:01:54,680 --> 01:01:57,720
it is being so old.
And it's awesome that he wrote

1116
01:01:57,720 --> 01:01:59,760
it and never thinking that
anybody was going to read it.

1117
01:01:59,760 --> 01:02:03,240
It was just him, yeah.
So Speaking of tattoos, I've

1118
01:02:03,240 --> 01:02:05,000
been looking at the tree tattoo
on your bicep.

1119
01:02:05,080 --> 01:02:07,240
Yes.
What's the thing around it?

1120
01:02:07,240 --> 01:02:10,720
I can't tell.
So OK, it is actually a lake in

1121
01:02:10,720 --> 01:02:13,440
northern Wisconsin, White Sand
lake in Boulder Junction.

1122
01:02:14,200 --> 01:02:19,280
It is where Lauren is buried.
Her family has a cabin on the

1123
01:02:19,280 --> 01:02:22,520
lake and then in Boulder
Junction is is the cemetery and

1124
01:02:22,520 --> 01:02:25,360
then the three trees are me,
Lauren and Brecon.

1125
01:02:25,920 --> 01:02:29,680
All right, super cool.
I'm assuming those tight in your

1126
01:02:29,680 --> 01:02:32,080
situation, those type of
conversations are forced.

1127
01:02:32,880 --> 01:02:36,040
I've been very forward with my
wife about my hopes to be a tree

1128
01:02:36,040 --> 01:02:37,760
someday.
There's really cool ways to to

1129
01:02:37,760 --> 01:02:40,760
turn it turn like a, you know,
cremated body into a tree.

1130
01:02:41,440 --> 01:02:43,960
And I told her whenever I go,
like that's my one wish.

1131
01:02:43,960 --> 01:02:45,400
I don't care what you do with
the rest.

1132
01:02:45,400 --> 01:02:47,520
I just want to be a tree
somewhere.

1133
01:02:49,160 --> 01:02:54,720
What like I'm assuming you had
like she had these wishes that

1134
01:02:54,720 --> 01:02:57,400
you had to carry out, like being
buried in a certain spot and

1135
01:02:57,400 --> 01:03:00,600
stuff.
That's that's got to be a

1136
01:03:00,600 --> 01:03:03,560
different way because my wife
and I like I I talk about it in

1137
01:03:03,560 --> 01:03:07,480
jest, but it brings a whole
nother layer of in your face

1138
01:03:07,480 --> 01:03:10,040
Ness when you're talking about
it when it's real kind of

1139
01:03:10,040 --> 01:03:15,240
immediate.
Yeah, after two years of, of a

1140
01:03:15,240 --> 01:03:21,160
cancer diagnosis and a battle
and every hospital visit through

1141
01:03:21,160 --> 01:03:23,240
the the paperwork and the
questionnaires of of whatever

1142
01:03:23,240 --> 01:03:24,800
medical provider pops into the
room.

1143
01:03:25,520 --> 01:03:30,440
Often the question was, I forget
the exact term, but basically do

1144
01:03:30,440 --> 01:03:32,360
you have, do you have a will?
Do you have, do you have

1145
01:03:32,560 --> 01:03:36,720
everything lined up in the event
that this goes in the wrong

1146
01:03:36,720 --> 01:03:39,200
direction?
And that goes back to like the

1147
01:03:39,200 --> 01:03:43,960
naive optimism, both of us, even
even when things were getting

1148
01:03:43,960 --> 01:03:47,560
bad, it was kind of like, I
think there's there's still some

1149
01:03:47,560 --> 01:03:50,520
hope here.
And by doing some of these

1150
01:03:51,760 --> 01:03:55,520
finality things is almost feels
like you're kind of giving up.

1151
01:03:55,600 --> 01:03:57,680
Yeah.
And that was never what either

1152
01:03:57,680 --> 01:04:00,000
one of us wanted.
It was we're going to have blind

1153
01:04:00,000 --> 01:04:02,280
hope here.
We're going to pray a lot.

1154
01:04:02,280 --> 01:04:05,160
We are going to trust in all of
this a whole lot.

1155
01:04:05,520 --> 01:04:10,040
And by taking care of the end
times felt like giving up.

1156
01:04:10,920 --> 01:04:15,240
So it some of those
conversations happened within

1157
01:04:15,240 --> 01:04:18,080
the final 48 hours of being in
the hospital.

1158
01:04:18,440 --> 01:04:19,520
Damn, really?
Yeah.

1159
01:04:19,520 --> 01:04:22,880
Like we had a lot of great
conversations about my future if

1160
01:04:22,880 --> 01:04:27,680
she's not there.
But in terms of like maybe more,

1161
01:04:27,680 --> 01:04:31,200
more of the detail logistics
kinds of things, it was it was

1162
01:04:31,200 --> 01:04:34,000
pretty much in the final days of
the hospital.

1163
01:04:34,240 --> 01:04:38,440
Like Big Sand Lake, get it done.
Yeah, right, man.

1164
01:04:39,120 --> 01:04:43,640
But I mean, it's, it's one of
those things, learning that

1165
01:04:43,640 --> 01:04:48,240
lesson to some degree the hard
way, my wife and I now are, are

1166
01:04:48,240 --> 01:04:50,400
dealing with that in a very much
more proactive way.

1167
01:04:51,480 --> 01:04:55,240
So like, yeah, it's something
that every person, every couple

1168
01:04:55,240 --> 01:04:57,240
should talk about.
Why would you not?

1169
01:04:57,240 --> 01:04:59,680
Because I could be driving home
and get hit by a bus.

1170
01:04:59,680 --> 01:05:03,440
And what did he want?
What where is where is this

1171
01:05:03,440 --> 01:05:05,160
paperwork?
Where is all of these things?

1172
01:05:05,160 --> 01:05:09,280
Like why would you not have a
contingency plan to help your

1173
01:05:09,280 --> 01:05:11,320
family out?
See I think the same way.

1174
01:05:11,320 --> 01:05:12,800
My wife can't stand when I do it
but.

1175
01:05:14,160 --> 01:05:21,400
What, what I actually like, I
felt like my battle that I, I

1176
01:05:21,400 --> 01:05:29,080
was making sure I won,
especially after after she died,

1177
01:05:29,680 --> 01:05:34,080
I hated people's sympathy
because it felt so like forced,

1178
01:05:34,200 --> 01:05:37,360
but also like I don't, I'm, I'm
doing just fine.

1179
01:05:37,920 --> 01:05:41,880
I'm thriving as a parent, as an
employee, like maybe inside I'm

1180
01:05:41,880 --> 01:05:44,400
fully not, but like I'm, I'm
doing good.

1181
01:05:44,960 --> 01:05:47,280
Like the, the puppy dog.
I was like, oh, how are you?

1182
01:05:47,280 --> 01:05:50,440
Don't talk to me like that.
I'm I'm a grown man here.

1183
01:05:51,440 --> 01:05:54,160
But then there's also people
that like refuse to talk about

1184
01:05:54,160 --> 01:05:56,000
it.
And those were the like, let's

1185
01:05:56,000 --> 01:05:57,760
just normalize it.
Something happened.

1186
01:05:59,160 --> 01:06:01,320
Why not just address it, talk
about it.

1187
01:06:01,400 --> 01:06:04,560
And, and I think that's where
people like, oh, I don't know

1188
01:06:04,560 --> 01:06:06,760
what to say.
Like that is the worst thing to

1189
01:06:06,760 --> 01:06:07,880
say.
Tell me it sucks.

1190
01:06:07,880 --> 01:06:12,200
Tell me I feel bad for you.
Tell me something, say

1191
01:06:12,200 --> 01:06:13,200
something.
Don't say others.

1192
01:06:13,480 --> 01:06:15,400
I don't know what to.
Say, address the situation,

1193
01:06:15,400 --> 01:06:17,000
don't let it be an elephant.
Yeah, the.

1194
01:06:17,000 --> 01:06:18,640
Elephant in the room was the
worst.

1195
01:06:18,680 --> 01:06:21,320
Yeah, I bet.
And then when like, yeah, I had

1196
01:06:21,320 --> 01:06:25,040
people ask about the tattoo and
I tell them and like, oh, I'm so

1197
01:06:25,040 --> 01:06:27,480
sorry for asking.
Like you don't think I'd about

1198
01:06:27,480 --> 01:06:29,560
something visible and like, why
don't you not to ask about it?

1199
01:06:30,280 --> 01:06:31,240
It's like just be normal about
it.

1200
01:06:31,240 --> 01:06:32,720
Don't be weird.
I'm not weird about it.

1201
01:06:32,800 --> 01:06:38,720
And that was that was like my my
goal was just normalize talking

1202
01:06:38,720 --> 01:06:40,680
about death because everyone
deals with it.

1203
01:06:40,960 --> 01:06:43,440
Sure, mine was at 28.
She was she was 31 when she

1204
01:06:43,440 --> 01:06:46,920
died.
Sure, like I guess the ideal is

1205
01:06:47,080 --> 01:06:50,480
8090 years old, but everyone
deals with it.

1206
01:06:50,480 --> 01:06:53,240
So let's just normalize it.
We're on a weird ass rock

1207
01:06:53,240 --> 01:06:55,800
hurling through space that we
don't know anything about.

1208
01:06:55,800 --> 01:06:59,440
Like I think this is a this,
it's been a huge benefit for me

1209
01:06:59,440 --> 01:07:01,040
in my life that I miss that
bone.

1210
01:07:01,040 --> 01:07:03,600
Like I miss the bone of like,
oh, I don't want to like I

1211
01:07:03,600 --> 01:07:04,880
shouldn't bring this up or
something.

1212
01:07:05,400 --> 01:07:07,360
It's actually quite the opposite
for me.

1213
01:07:07,360 --> 01:07:09,600
Like I got to know like that's
why you.

1214
01:07:09,600 --> 01:07:10,760
Asked a question.
I don't know if I should have

1215
01:07:10,760 --> 01:07:13,000
said that one out loud.
Yeah, I've had some foot in the

1216
01:07:13,000 --> 01:07:15,360
mouth moments, getting a little
too deeper, uncomfortable with

1217
01:07:15,360 --> 01:07:17,760
people in situations that I
shouldn't have, but it makes me

1218
01:07:17,760 --> 01:07:19,160
feel alive and it.
Makes and if you have a

1219
01:07:19,160 --> 01:07:21,280
microphone in front of you, then
you are allowed to do that.

1220
01:07:21,400 --> 01:07:23,320
Right.
Yeah, because it's it's my get

1221
01:07:23,320 --> 01:07:25,280
out of jail free card.
Like that's what it's here all

1222
01:07:25,280 --> 01:07:26,400
about.
We're here to tell the story.

1223
01:07:26,560 --> 01:07:29,600
So really, this is just my
excuse to do what I would do in

1224
01:07:29,600 --> 01:07:32,320
everyday life because I've had
some scenarios where I might

1225
01:07:32,320 --> 01:07:34,760
have gone a little too far or
got a little too personal with

1226
01:07:34,760 --> 01:07:36,400
someone that immediately locks
up.

1227
01:07:36,680 --> 01:07:39,280
But I think it's far better than
the opposite what you're talking

1228
01:07:39,280 --> 01:07:43,280
about.
I can't stand being in a room or

1229
01:07:43,280 --> 01:07:48,400
a conversation when you know
there is like potential things

1230
01:07:48,400 --> 01:07:51,080
that could be talked about that
are real, but they're being

1231
01:07:51,080 --> 01:07:53,720
danced around.
I'm like, I got to get to it

1232
01:07:53,720 --> 01:07:54,760
here.
We got to get to the point.

1233
01:07:54,760 --> 01:07:59,480
Let's talk about what The thing
is, and I don't know, that's

1234
01:08:01,560 --> 01:08:04,080
it's something that it's it's
it's I have to so I miss the

1235
01:08:04,080 --> 01:08:06,600
bone of the awkward like I I
definitely wouldn't have been

1236
01:08:06,640 --> 01:08:08,480
That's good.
I wouldn't have been the person

1237
01:08:08,480 --> 01:08:11,200
like I'm so sorry.
I would have been like how it

1238
01:08:11,240 --> 01:08:14,000
how is this going for you?
Like, and often through the

1239
01:08:14,000 --> 01:08:16,439
lens, like it might not come off
this way, but it's more like

1240
01:08:16,439 --> 01:08:19,279
looking like, OK, I want to be
there with you.

1241
01:08:19,520 --> 01:08:22,800
And most of the time I'm just
looking to pluck out a place of

1242
01:08:22,800 --> 01:08:26,120
value that I can maybe try to
help in a way or something.

1243
01:08:26,479 --> 01:08:29,279
But it's all well-intentioned.
Sometimes it's just the package

1244
01:08:29,279 --> 01:08:32,680
is a little bit, it's a little
bit kind of in your face.

1245
01:08:32,880 --> 01:08:34,560
It's right there.
Like I'll ask the tough ones,

1246
01:08:35,000 --> 01:08:37,920
but I don't know.
It's, it's better, better for me

1247
01:08:37,920 --> 01:08:40,680
than the opposite because I know
how I feel in those scenarios.

1248
01:08:40,680 --> 01:08:43,479
Like, Oh my God, hearing you
talk through that and like

1249
01:08:43,840 --> 01:08:46,680
thinking about yourself in those
social scenarios, it makes my

1250
01:08:46,680 --> 01:08:49,319
skin crawl thinking about just
somebody tap dancing around

1251
01:08:49,319 --> 01:08:51,000
feeling real bad for me or
something.

1252
01:08:51,000 --> 01:08:53,840
Let's let's talk about it.
I feel like shit, I feel great.

1253
01:08:53,840 --> 01:08:56,840
Here's what it is.
And we're on this weird rack

1254
01:08:56,840 --> 01:08:58,840
again.
Doesn't particularly matter.

1255
01:09:00,160 --> 01:09:04,600
OK, so I want, I'm going to
switch gears considerably here,

1256
01:09:05,520 --> 01:09:09,640
but in our e-mail exchanges, you
joked about being a Bears fan.

1257
01:09:10,000 --> 01:09:11,880
Yeah, absolutely sucks, dude.
That's yeah.

1258
01:09:11,880 --> 01:09:13,040
So see some things.
I'll do some.

1259
01:09:13,080 --> 01:09:15,760
Shit in my life.
So it being a Bears fan prepared

1260
01:09:15,760 --> 01:09:18,560
me for a lot of bad things in
life and disappointments, yeah.

1261
01:09:19,080 --> 01:09:21,359
So when you say you moved to
Wisconsin, is that where you

1262
01:09:21,359 --> 01:09:22,920
were?
Did you move here from Illinois?

1263
01:09:22,920 --> 01:09:25,760
Yep, I grew up about 40 minutes
South of Chicago, right on the

1264
01:09:25,760 --> 01:09:29,600
Indiana border.
It it took me 1/2 hour to get to

1265
01:09:29,600 --> 01:09:32,359
Soldier Field.
OK, I didn't go there as often

1266
01:09:32,359 --> 01:09:35,439
but grew up watching the
Blackhawks, White Sox, Bulls.

1267
01:09:35,439 --> 01:09:37,560
I grew up in the Michael Jordan
era of the Bulls.

1268
01:09:37,640 --> 01:09:39,960
And then I went to College in
Milwaukee and have been in

1269
01:09:39,960 --> 01:09:45,359
Wisconsin ever since.
I believe it's this this summer

1270
01:09:45,359 --> 01:09:49,080
or it was last summer, is now
going to be the the transition

1271
01:09:49,080 --> 01:09:51,640
where I've spent over half of my
life in Wisconsin.

1272
01:09:51,640 --> 01:09:55,520
Good for you, I love Wisconsin.
Talk about a good decision deal.

1273
01:09:55,960 --> 01:09:57,360
You got a Wisconsin lake
tattooed?

1274
01:09:57,400 --> 01:10:00,600
On your eye, I just.
The football team is the only

1275
01:10:00,600 --> 01:10:04,200
thing that I still despise
spies, but everything else I'm

1276
01:10:04,200 --> 01:10:06,400
in.
Well, it's probably hard to get

1277
01:10:06,400 --> 01:10:09,720
over that there.
There's a living through the

1278
01:10:09,720 --> 01:10:12,640
Bears period that you did.
It always sucks when someone

1279
01:10:12,640 --> 01:10:16,360
beats you a lot, a lot.
And just like some devastating

1280
01:10:16,400 --> 01:10:18,720
things, like you have to have
bad dreams about the Aaron

1281
01:10:18,720 --> 01:10:22,240
Rodgers, Aaron Rodgers, Randall
Cobb, like coming back from the

1282
01:10:22,240 --> 01:10:24,480
knee.
I I told myself when I moved to

1283
01:10:24,480 --> 01:10:29,560
Green Bay, I would go to the
Packers games.

1284
01:10:29,600 --> 01:10:32,040
I would enjoy myself.
I wouldn't be a Dick about it.

1285
01:10:32,040 --> 01:10:34,760
I'm not going to cheer for them,
but I'll just be there and I

1286
01:10:34,760 --> 01:10:38,200
will enjoy it.
But I will never go to a Bears

1287
01:10:38,200 --> 01:10:41,560
game because it will hurt too
bad to watch them lose in person

1288
01:10:42,080 --> 01:10:46,600
in Lambeau Field.
I went to every Bears game

1289
01:10:47,160 --> 01:10:50,320
except for the one that they won
on Thanksgiving, that awful

1290
01:10:50,320 --> 01:10:55,000
rainy like 40�� green night.
Like, OK, so I've seen 7 losses

1291
01:10:55,000 --> 01:10:56,480
and I missed the one that they
won.

1292
01:10:57,120 --> 01:11:04,320
But last January we took Brecken
to his first Bears game and it

1293
01:11:04,320 --> 01:11:06,080
was in like the final 10
seconds.

1294
01:11:06,080 --> 01:11:07,840
We we bought the tickets to the
last second.

1295
01:11:07,840 --> 01:11:11,720
We were five rows behind the
Bears bench for ridiculously

1296
01:11:11,720 --> 01:11:17,520
cheap tickets for that, that
close and field goal opportunity

1297
01:11:17,520 --> 01:11:20,400
at give or take 40 yards.
And like, I've seen this play

1298
01:11:20,400 --> 01:11:24,080
out so many times in my life.
I know they're going to just

1299
01:11:24,840 --> 01:11:27,600
fail at this so badly.
So I can't even, like, get

1300
01:11:27,600 --> 01:11:30,480
excited that we're here.
I'm just ready to walk out.

1301
01:11:30,480 --> 01:11:33,600
Like, we had it so close and
then they made the field goal

1302
01:11:33,960 --> 01:11:37,600
and it was one of those absolute
core memories with Brecon and

1303
01:11:37,600 --> 01:11:40,120
me.
Like he was ecstatic and just,

1304
01:11:41,080 --> 01:11:45,040
yeah, so, so I've now, I've now
seen some success at Lambeau and

1305
01:11:45,040 --> 01:11:47,600
I'm comfortable with that.
So you're indoctrinating him to

1306
01:11:47,600 --> 01:11:49,600
be a bears A. 1000% that's a
bummer.

1307
01:11:49,600 --> 01:11:50,720
Absolutely.
Yeah.

1308
01:11:50,920 --> 01:11:53,080
Yeah, that's what happens.
He's I was the only one

1309
01:11:53,080 --> 01:11:58,840
influencing him and here we are.
Man, I I am a little bit nervous

1310
01:11:58,840 --> 01:12:02,040
about the Bears moving forward.
Caleb Williams.

1311
01:12:02,200 --> 01:12:04,640
Caleb Williams is going to be a
problem.

1312
01:12:04,640 --> 01:12:07,400
Yep, for a while I wasn't sold
on him.

1313
01:12:07,400 --> 01:12:10,000
Like I wasn't either.
I love the, I, I was really

1314
01:12:10,000 --> 01:12:12,600
confident about the, you know,
look at the string of USC

1315
01:12:12,600 --> 01:12:15,320
quarterbacks and what's happened
and, you know, it'll just be

1316
01:12:15,320 --> 01:12:17,120
another Bears thing.
And the string of Bears

1317
01:12:17,120 --> 01:12:19,040
quarterbacks.
I'm 36 years old.

1318
01:12:19,440 --> 01:12:22,880
You've had far Rogers love in my
lifetime.

1319
01:12:23,240 --> 01:12:26,880
I've had 43 quarterbacks
starting for the Bears in my

1320
01:12:26,880 --> 01:12:29,200
lifetime.
That's more than one a year that

1321
01:12:29,200 --> 01:12:33,040
is horrendously bad scouting.
Terrible.

1322
01:12:33,240 --> 01:12:36,560
And and it adds even more
perspective when you think about

1323
01:12:36,560 --> 01:12:40,560
all the years with Jay because
like, he his tenure was pretty

1324
01:12:40,560 --> 01:12:42,840
long.
So that makes it even worse to

1325
01:12:42,840 --> 01:12:46,120
think about Jay Cutler.
He's always funny.

1326
01:12:46,120 --> 01:12:47,640
I always kind of like Jay
Cutler.

1327
01:12:47,640 --> 01:12:49,880
He was one of those guys that
you kind of love to hate.

1328
01:12:49,880 --> 01:12:51,080
Hated the love.
Yeah.

1329
01:12:51,120 --> 01:12:53,480
Yeah.
My, my passion was sexy.

1330
01:12:53,480 --> 01:12:55,880
Rexy, though, took us to the
Super Bowl, and then Peyton

1331
01:12:55,880 --> 01:12:58,160
Manning devastated us.
Yeah, and I.

1332
01:12:58,320 --> 01:13:00,680
Love Peyton Manning up until
then, and now I'm just.

1333
01:13:01,400 --> 01:13:04,080
Rex was so bad he that was such.
Generally Kyle Orton though,

1334
01:13:04,080 --> 01:13:05,880
because that was that was his
backup who also played that

1335
01:13:05,880 --> 01:13:08,440
year.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1336
01:13:08,440 --> 01:13:12,360
He that was such a good team
that y'all had like to think

1337
01:13:12,360 --> 01:13:14,120
about.
Devin Hester was one of the

1338
01:13:14,120 --> 01:13:15,280
greatest.
Yeah.

1339
01:13:15,800 --> 01:13:17,680
Specialty players, Ever.
Yeah.

1340
01:13:18,680 --> 01:13:25,040
Yeah, so opening that Super Bowl
2005 or 6, the kickoff, Devin

1341
01:13:25,040 --> 01:13:28,120
Hester returns the touchdown.
First time that's ever happened.

1342
01:13:28,120 --> 01:13:31,840
Like, Oh my, the Bears might win
the Super Bowl and then the

1343
01:13:31,840 --> 01:13:34,640
man's just take by like the
Bears are not winning the Super

1344
01:13:34,680 --> 01:13:36,120
Bowl.
How do we start like that and

1345
01:13:36,120 --> 01:13:39,840
then just fall so hard?
Yeah, yeah.

1346
01:13:40,240 --> 01:13:42,720
Well, I'm glad you spent over
half your life in Wisconsin.

1347
01:13:42,720 --> 01:13:45,240
Now you can.
You can be an honorary Wisconsin

1348
01:13:45,240 --> 01:13:47,760
even if you're a Bears fan like
everyone.

1349
01:13:47,760 --> 01:13:49,360
Has their flaws.
Everyone does have.

1350
01:13:49,360 --> 01:13:51,880
Their but I'm I'm loyal.
That's yeah, you show.

1351
01:13:51,880 --> 01:13:56,720
Despite, despite all the signs
to not be loyal, yeah, I'm still

1352
01:13:56,720 --> 01:13:58,600
loyal.
Yeah, that's a bummer.

1353
01:13:58,800 --> 01:13:59,960
What?
What?

1354
01:13:59,960 --> 01:14:01,280
What College in Milwaukee did
you go to?

1355
01:14:01,280 --> 01:14:02,240
What's Council?
Lutheran College.

1356
01:14:02,320 --> 01:14:04,760
OK, Small, small D3 school.
I played soccer there.

1357
01:14:04,960 --> 01:14:05,920
OK.
Love Mosky.

1358
01:14:06,280 --> 01:14:08,280
OK, All right.
So played soccer.

1359
01:14:08,400 --> 01:14:09,880
That's a that's a piece I didn't
know.

1360
01:14:10,160 --> 01:14:11,800
Do you still like play rec
league sometime?

1361
01:14:12,360 --> 01:14:20,360
I did up until I was 31 or 32.
Two weeks in to that season.

1362
01:14:20,360 --> 01:14:25,080
It was the first time I had
played over 30 and I not only

1363
01:14:25,080 --> 01:14:28,960
tore my ACL, I exploded it.
So now I've I've hung it up now

1364
01:14:29,080 --> 01:14:30,600
because that was miserable to go
through.

1365
01:14:30,880 --> 01:14:33,960
That's a theme, dude.
We we know the age we stopped.

1366
01:14:33,960 --> 01:14:36,120
Doing Because I was still trying
to play like I was 21.

1367
01:14:36,160 --> 01:14:39,240
Yeah.
And my body was not Yeah.

1368
01:14:39,240 --> 01:14:41,680
So now I golf.
Yeah, I had the same thing,

1369
01:14:41,680 --> 01:14:43,680
dude.
I used to hoop a lot and I was

1370
01:14:43,680 --> 01:14:46,040
hooping with people that were
younger than I am and I was

1371
01:14:46,040 --> 01:14:47,400
thinking I was younger than I
am.

1372
01:14:47,400 --> 01:14:49,440
And it was a it was A and
ankles.

1373
01:14:49,440 --> 01:14:51,200
So that happens in basketball
all the time.

1374
01:14:51,200 --> 01:14:54,560
But it was just a way worse
ankle than I've ever done.

1375
01:14:54,640 --> 01:14:58,920
And I can't do it anymore.
And it's back to the age.

1376
01:14:58,920 --> 01:15:00,400
And it's like, OK, you're done
with this.

1377
01:15:00,400 --> 01:15:03,560
Let's talk about the next.
Chapter Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1378
01:15:03,560 --> 01:15:05,440
And now, now Brecken's playing
soccer and I'm out, like

1379
01:15:05,440 --> 01:15:07,560
watching him.
Like, I just want to be out

1380
01:15:07,560 --> 01:15:10,000
there and and playing.
I miss it, but yeah, it was

1381
01:15:10,000 --> 01:15:11,640
time.
Yeah, I'm still going to kick

1382
01:15:11,640 --> 01:15:14,080
Rave's ass and horse and stuff,
absolutely, and I'll beat him in

1383
01:15:14,080 --> 01:15:16,280
one-on-one for a long time.
But Fives isn't going to be

1384
01:15:16,280 --> 01:15:19,840
isn't going to be in my future.
Any maybe maybe when he's five

1385
01:15:19,840 --> 01:15:22,120
you can play his five year old
friends for a couple years,

1386
01:15:22,960 --> 01:15:24,200
right?
Right.

1387
01:15:25,680 --> 01:15:29,560
Man, there's a there's a few
different directions we could

1388
01:15:29,560 --> 01:15:34,960
go, but I first I just wanted I
appreciate you sharing the story

1389
01:15:34,960 --> 01:15:38,640
like it's now getting to know
you a little bit.

1390
01:15:39,040 --> 01:15:41,760
It it might come a little bit
more free than it does for some,

1391
01:15:41,760 --> 01:15:43,640
because you seem very
comfortable talking about it,

1392
01:15:43,640 --> 01:15:46,040
talking about the thing of let's
just get it out there and talk

1393
01:15:46,040 --> 01:15:47,920
about it.
But I know it's not easy.

1394
01:15:47,920 --> 01:15:52,360
So I appreciate your time man.
Yeah, I think it's, it's very

1395
01:15:52,360 --> 01:15:56,400
early on in the diagnosis.
And then especially right after

1396
01:15:56,400 --> 01:16:02,840
she died, it was, I want to
ensure something good comes out

1397
01:16:02,840 --> 01:16:07,080
of a shitty situation for for a
while I was hosting blood

1398
01:16:07,080 --> 01:16:10,680
drives.
I had no idea that cancer

1399
01:16:10,680 --> 01:16:13,720
patients needed so much blood
given to them.

1400
01:16:13,720 --> 01:16:17,320
Thought it was just for physical
trauma victims losing blood, but

1401
01:16:18,000 --> 01:16:19,920
anyone in the hospital needs a
whole lot of blood.

1402
01:16:19,920 --> 01:16:22,520
So I guess that was my my little
way to give back.

1403
01:16:23,640 --> 01:16:27,720
I at the time the American
Cancer Society had something

1404
01:16:27,720 --> 01:16:30,800
called the Real Men Wear Pink
campaign to get guys involved in

1405
01:16:30,800 --> 01:16:32,920
the fight against breast cancer.
So I did that for a couple

1406
01:16:32,920 --> 01:16:38,120
years.
I turned my Jeep pink, drove

1407
01:16:38,120 --> 01:16:39,480
around with a pink Jeep for a
while.

1408
01:16:39,520 --> 01:16:42,000
So I did like different cool
things to just raise awareness

1409
01:16:42,000 --> 01:16:45,680
and, and fundraise about $50,000
to the American Cancer Society

1410
01:16:45,680 --> 01:16:47,760
in just a few years.
It's like I knew how to

1411
01:16:47,760 --> 01:16:49,120
fundraise.
That was the easy part of the

1412
01:16:49,120 --> 01:16:51,560
Remember to Live foundation.
Like I, I've fundraised the

1413
01:16:51,560 --> 01:16:53,400
capital campaign, I've
fundraised for the American

1414
01:16:53,400 --> 01:16:55,920
Cancer Society.
I knew how to tell a story that

1415
01:16:55,920 --> 01:16:58,240
has some sort of an emotional
hook that convinced people to

1416
01:16:58,240 --> 01:17:00,400
give money to something that
they also believe in.

1417
01:17:01,360 --> 01:17:05,360
And so yeah.
And now, now my, my big fun one.

1418
01:17:05,960 --> 01:17:10,040
I, I created a bucket list for a
school project in in college.

1419
01:17:10,680 --> 01:17:12,960
I was actually down at Disney
World for an internship and they

1420
01:17:12,960 --> 01:17:15,240
have Disney University.
So I created a bucket list

1421
01:17:15,240 --> 01:17:17,200
there.
And one of the items was to

1422
01:17:17,400 --> 01:17:21,440
complete a century bike ride.
So there's a Aurora Baycare has

1423
01:17:21,800 --> 01:17:24,640
a a century bike ride, 100 miles
on June 6th.

1424
01:17:24,640 --> 01:17:25,960
So I'm currently training for
that.

1425
01:17:25,960 --> 01:17:28,480
I rode 50 miles this morning, my
longest bike ride ever.

1426
01:17:28,480 --> 01:17:29,280
Before you came here.
Yeah.

1427
01:17:29,280 --> 01:17:30,560
So like an hour and a half
before I came here.

1428
01:17:30,640 --> 01:17:33,080
I couldn't walk from my garage
to my door because my legs were

1429
01:17:33,080 --> 01:17:35,440
cramping up so bad.
Nice.

1430
01:17:35,480 --> 01:17:37,120
So yeah.
So June 6th, so we're we're

1431
01:17:37,120 --> 01:17:39,560
raising money for Remember to
Lift Foundation by riding 100

1432
01:17:39,560 --> 01:17:42,040
miles on June 6th.
OK, 100 miles.

1433
01:17:42,040 --> 01:17:43,960
What's the route?
Where?

1434
01:17:43,960 --> 01:17:46,440
Where?
The easiest explanation because

1435
01:17:46,440 --> 01:17:48,040
this is also the only thing I
know about it.

1436
01:17:48,440 --> 01:17:52,080
We started Aurora Hospital on
the east side of Green Bay and

1437
01:17:52,080 --> 01:17:55,680
we ride to Lake MI and then we
turn around and we ride back to

1438
01:17:55,680 --> 01:17:57,880
Aurora.
OK, nice.

1439
01:17:58,480 --> 01:18:00,680
Has cycling always been a thing
for you?

1440
01:18:00,840 --> 01:18:02,840
No.
I have biked before.

1441
01:18:02,840 --> 01:18:07,080
I mean, like just for fun, like
I enjoy, you know, a quick 10

1442
01:18:07,080 --> 01:18:11,280
mile stepping down the trail or
one of my favorite pastimes was

1443
01:18:11,280 --> 01:18:14,320
biking to go get a Bloody Mary
or now with a a nine year old we

1444
01:18:14,320 --> 01:18:16,240
biked to go get ice cream a lot.
Yeah, it's like that.

1445
01:18:16,240 --> 01:18:19,720
Absolutely.
But yeah, 100 miles is just one

1446
01:18:19,720 --> 01:18:22,920
of those one of those things
that like that sounds really

1447
01:18:22,920 --> 01:18:24,440
cool to.
Complete back to the idea guy.

1448
01:18:24,600 --> 01:18:26,160
That's that's.
The ideas are really big.

1449
01:18:26,160 --> 01:18:30,200
Coming on in execution, that is
definitely the idea guy coming

1450
01:18:30,960 --> 01:18:31,680
up.
That's great.

1451
01:18:35,080 --> 01:18:39,160
So century, 100 miles.
I'm trying to put that in

1452
01:18:39,160 --> 01:18:40,560
perspective.
So I'm kind of a cheater.

1453
01:18:40,560 --> 01:18:42,520
I have an E bike.
Oh yeah, that would be really

1454
01:18:42,520 --> 01:18:44,320
nice right about now for me.
Yeah, dude, yeah.

1455
01:18:44,320 --> 01:18:45,960
I don't have.
I don't walk too hard.

1456
01:18:46,920 --> 01:18:48,920
I don't struggle after I'm done,
but I can.

1457
01:18:49,000 --> 01:18:52,000
I've been, I've done like 30-40
miles.

1458
01:18:52,000 --> 01:18:55,520
I'm trying to just picture
living in the moment of not

1459
01:18:55,520 --> 01:18:59,320
having the pedal assist because
I'm not the you know, people

1460
01:18:59,320 --> 01:19:01,280
think you buy an E bike and you
just drive the throttle

1461
01:19:01,280 --> 01:19:02,560
everywhere and ride like a dirt
bike.

1462
01:19:02,560 --> 01:19:04,400
Like I still get AI did it for a
workout.

1463
01:19:04,440 --> 01:19:05,600
You're not running a motorcycle
here?

1464
01:19:05,720 --> 01:19:08,200
Yeah.
It's it's just more fun, like I

1465
01:19:08,200 --> 01:19:13,200
can go further faster and I I
can get to my destination.

1466
01:19:13,200 --> 01:19:16,720
But hundred 100 miles.
So that so you rode 50 miles.

1467
01:19:16,720 --> 01:19:18,520
So what happens in a day, right?
Yep.

1468
01:19:18,960 --> 01:19:22,280
OK, so how long did it take you
to ride 50 miles this morning?

1469
01:19:22,280 --> 01:19:26,520
Today was 3 1/2 hours, OK, The
last ten were absolutely

1470
01:19:26,520 --> 01:19:28,560
miserable.
I was going into the wind nice

1471
01:19:28,720 --> 01:19:32,160
and I don't know, my legs were
just like, I don't want to pedal

1472
01:19:32,160 --> 01:19:34,000
anymore.
And it was, it was a little a

1473
01:19:34,280 --> 01:19:36,440
little struggle.
So I have I have 50 more miles

1474
01:19:36,440 --> 01:19:38,520
to get in shape for.
I was going to say, it's only

1475
01:19:38,520 --> 01:19:40,800
halfway there.
Yeah, and we're a couple months

1476
01:19:40,880 --> 01:19:43,680
out.
Seven weeks, 7 weeks, yeah.

1477
01:19:43,720 --> 01:19:45,320
So how hard going to be?
Yeah, right.

1478
01:19:45,640 --> 01:19:47,600
It's the idea guy.
He knows they'll figure it out

1479
01:19:47,600 --> 01:19:50,840
when you get there.
So how long have you been

1480
01:19:50,840 --> 01:19:52,600
training for it?
When did you start?

1481
01:19:52,600 --> 01:19:55,680
Well, this was probably my fifth
ride over the last month and a

1482
01:19:55,680 --> 01:19:57,880
half.
I was, I was in Antigua for a

1483
01:19:57,880 --> 01:19:59,080
week.
I was in Florida for a week.

1484
01:19:59,640 --> 01:20:02,600
There was a week on either side
of that where my bike was

1485
01:20:02,600 --> 01:20:05,360
getting maintenance.
So I actually took it to the

1486
01:20:05,360 --> 01:20:07,800
bike hub in Green Bay and I was
like, hey, can I just get a tune

1487
01:20:07,800 --> 01:20:09,360
up?
There's nothing actually wrong

1488
01:20:09,360 --> 01:20:13,400
with it, but I'm training for
100 mile bike ride and just

1489
01:20:13,520 --> 01:20:15,840
looking over do whatever you got
to do to just help it run

1490
01:20:15,840 --> 01:20:17,240
smoother.
And he looks at the bike and he

1491
01:20:17,240 --> 01:20:19,360
goes.
You know, there's more efficient

1492
01:20:19,360 --> 01:20:21,320
bikes that can get you 100 miles
than this one.

1493
01:20:21,840 --> 01:20:23,560
Like, yeah, I'm sure there are,
but I also don't want to pay

1494
01:20:23,560 --> 01:20:25,800
$10,000 for a bike.
I have a working bike.

1495
01:20:25,800 --> 01:20:28,200
Yeah, it might just suck the
ride 100 miles on, but I'll do

1496
01:20:28,200 --> 01:20:28,680
it.
Yeah.

1497
01:20:29,200 --> 01:20:31,080
I mean, it's, it's a good line
of thought though, because it's

1498
01:20:31,080 --> 01:20:32,200
going to suck either way, right?
Yeah.

1499
01:20:32,200 --> 01:20:34,480
So you might as well just do
with what you have, not have it

1500
01:20:34,480 --> 01:20:36,440
suck and spend 10 grand.
Right, exactly.

1501
01:20:36,440 --> 01:20:39,000
That would double suck.
Yeah.

1502
01:20:39,600 --> 01:20:43,720
So what about the, I'm guessing
travel's probably transformed

1503
01:20:43,720 --> 01:20:46,360
for you too, right?
Like you probably look at travel

1504
01:20:46,360 --> 01:20:49,720
with your son a different way,
like you spoke earlier, but kind

1505
01:20:49,720 --> 01:20:51,640
of piggybacking on your wife's
travel and stuff.

1506
01:20:51,840 --> 01:20:54,520
Is that the case?
Like are, do you have more

1507
01:20:54,520 --> 01:20:56,440
intentionality around travelling
now?

1508
01:20:56,840 --> 01:20:59,720
Travelling has been something
that I've, I've grown up with.

1509
01:21:00,280 --> 01:21:03,320
My mom worked for the airlines
for, for many years and then she

1510
01:21:03,320 --> 01:21:04,680
had kids.
But she's still was passionate

1511
01:21:04,680 --> 01:21:06,640
about travel.
So yeah, we've, we've been

1512
01:21:06,640 --> 01:21:10,720
travelling in my whole life and
that's something that I've

1513
01:21:10,720 --> 01:21:12,280
always loved to do.
It's something that I've

1514
01:21:12,280 --> 01:21:16,280
instilled into Brecon.
Megan on her own journey was

1515
01:21:16,280 --> 01:21:18,440
travelling the world and then we
met.

1516
01:21:18,680 --> 01:21:19,960
Like, what can we both like
travel?

1517
01:21:19,960 --> 01:21:21,480
Let's continue travelling the
world together.

1518
01:21:22,080 --> 01:21:24,280
Brecon.
I remember, you know what, at

1519
01:21:24,280 --> 01:21:27,560
two and three years old, he'd be
just walking to the airport

1520
01:21:27,560 --> 01:21:31,440
pulling his little carry on and
people like pilots would stop

1521
01:21:31,440 --> 01:21:32,800
you.
Like Deck has done this before.

1522
01:21:32,800 --> 01:21:37,000
Like, yeah, he's he's a well
seasoned traveller and he's just

1523
01:21:37,000 --> 01:21:41,400
so easygoing and and loves
exploring is the best eater.

1524
01:21:41,800 --> 01:21:44,080
So just take him to different
cultures and and experiencing

1525
01:21:44,080 --> 01:21:52,000
new foods with him.
I think, I believe it was.

1526
01:21:52,360 --> 01:21:54,960
I'm not even, I don't know,
maybe, maybe some good fact

1527
01:21:54,960 --> 01:21:58,040
checking, some famous guy.
I want to say it was Mr. Rogers

1528
01:21:58,040 --> 01:21:59,520
or Doctor Seuss or something of
the like.

1529
01:21:59,680 --> 01:22:02,000
No, I know who was who wrote
Huckleberry Finn.

1530
01:22:05,280 --> 01:22:07,320
The first thing that came in my
head is Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain,

1531
01:22:07,320 --> 01:22:07,880
Mark.
Twain.

1532
01:22:08,000 --> 01:22:10,880
Mark Twain has a quote, I guess
that's the same as Mr. Rogers.

1533
01:22:11,240 --> 01:22:15,680
Mark Twain has a quote that says
something along the lines of

1534
01:22:15,680 --> 01:22:20,200
like, travel is, is the enemy to
prejudice.

1535
01:22:20,600 --> 01:22:23,560
So like getting around and
seeing how other cultures, other

1536
01:22:23,560 --> 01:22:25,600
people live, what their houses
look like.

1537
01:22:25,600 --> 01:22:27,240
We were just in Antigua and
we're driving through the middle

1538
01:22:27,240 --> 01:22:29,120
of the island and talking to
Brecon.

1539
01:22:29,120 --> 01:22:31,320
Like these people, this is what
they know.

1540
01:22:31,320 --> 01:22:34,000
This is how they live.
Their houses look much different

1541
01:22:34,000 --> 01:22:37,920
than the houses we live in.
But this is this is the way that

1542
01:22:37,920 --> 01:22:39,280
they live.
This is the way they cook.

1543
01:22:39,960 --> 01:22:45,400
So it's just appreciating that
in the moment of embracing

1544
01:22:45,760 --> 01:22:47,000
difference.
Yeah.

1545
01:22:47,320 --> 01:22:50,800
And it's super important to, I
think it, it brings to light

1546
01:22:50,800 --> 01:22:53,560
very apparently where happiness
comes from when you do those

1547
01:22:53,560 --> 01:22:55,560
things.
Because no matter how different

1548
01:22:55,560 --> 01:22:58,320
it is to you, like you look at
it and you're like, I wouldn't

1549
01:22:58,320 --> 01:23:00,960
be happy in this situation, but
you see smiles, you see.

1550
01:23:00,960 --> 01:23:04,640
Laughter they are, because they
have joy the way that they live.

1551
01:23:04,640 --> 01:23:05,840
Yeah.
And it's important to remember

1552
01:23:05,840 --> 01:23:08,480
that happiness is inside of us
and we let it out.

1553
01:23:08,640 --> 01:23:12,440
We let surroundings impact our
happiness, but that's not where

1554
01:23:12,440 --> 01:23:14,120
it lives.
It's not where it's born from.

1555
01:23:14,120 --> 01:23:15,800
It's born from inside of us.
Absolutely.

1556
01:23:16,000 --> 01:23:18,800
And that's a really great way to
keep that apparent.

1557
01:23:19,400 --> 01:23:20,800
Yeah.
It's good to have a good eater.

1558
01:23:20,800 --> 01:23:23,440
I, we ditched the we ditched the
training wheels last week.

1559
01:23:24,160 --> 01:23:26,320
And my dude's been strider
biking for a while.

1560
01:23:26,320 --> 01:23:28,160
But I, I was telling my
neighbors about it the other day

1561
01:23:28,160 --> 01:23:31,200
and I I, I remember their faces.
I thought about hearing you say

1562
01:23:31,200 --> 01:23:33,840
this.
He knew he could do it.

1563
01:23:33,840 --> 01:23:36,240
But he, I like, we're crafting
this little negotiator.

1564
01:23:36,240 --> 01:23:38,000
He's like, he's like already a
lawyer.

1565
01:23:38,400 --> 01:23:40,680
So I think he was like,
intentionally holding back until

1566
01:23:40,680 --> 01:23:42,200
I offered him something to do
it.

1567
01:23:42,520 --> 01:23:43,760
And I was like, you know what,
dude?

1568
01:23:43,840 --> 01:23:45,280
You and I are going to dinner
tonight.

1569
01:23:45,280 --> 01:23:46,680
Mama's going to have some Mama
time.

1570
01:23:47,480 --> 01:23:49,760
You can pick dinner.
All you got to do is try to

1571
01:23:49,760 --> 01:23:51,480
pedal for me.
And he just goes, he's like,

1572
01:23:51,480 --> 01:23:52,360
I've been waiting for that
moment.

1573
01:23:52,360 --> 01:23:56,080
And he's like, OK, deal.
And we do this and he pedals and

1574
01:23:56,080 --> 01:23:57,920
I knew he's going to be able to
do it because he's been strider

1575
01:23:57,920 --> 01:24:02,040
biking like he did too.
And after he's like as he

1576
01:24:02,040 --> 01:24:06,120
started taking his first pedals,
he like looked back at me.

1577
01:24:06,240 --> 01:24:08,200
Of course he did like not
watching where he's going.

1578
01:24:08,560 --> 01:24:11,480
Look back at me and says I want
chicken tikka masala.

1579
01:24:11,480 --> 01:24:14,480
That's the best.
Love it.

1580
01:24:16,080 --> 01:24:18,600
So we went and got Indian food
because he would pedal his bike.

1581
01:24:19,400 --> 01:24:20,600
That's awesome.
But he won't eat a chicken

1582
01:24:20,600 --> 01:24:23,240
tender.
It's the best.

1583
01:24:23,240 --> 01:24:26,400
Yeah, I don't know.
I probably created a monster,

1584
01:24:26,400 --> 01:24:27,680
but.
An expensive date.

1585
01:24:27,680 --> 01:24:30,280
Breckens every year for his
birthday.

1586
01:24:30,280 --> 01:24:33,280
It's coming up in a few weeks
actually since he was four and

1587
01:24:33,280 --> 01:24:36,080
I've had friends, Co workers
just give me such a hard time

1588
01:24:36,080 --> 01:24:38,040
about it.
His birthday meal has been crab

1589
01:24:38,040 --> 01:24:41,000
legs since he was four.
Yeah, he loves sushi.

1590
01:24:41,880 --> 01:24:42,960
Oh really loves sushi?
Tea.

1591
01:24:42,960 --> 01:24:46,920
Even at four years old, you
know, the the waitress would

1592
01:24:46,920 --> 01:24:49,160
bring like the kids menu.
He's like, does this one have

1593
01:24:49,160 --> 01:24:50,800
crayons?
And like, Nope, just the kids.

1594
01:24:50,800 --> 01:24:52,120
And he's like, oh, can I get a
real menu then?

1595
01:24:52,200 --> 01:24:53,360
Yeah.
OK.

1596
01:24:53,400 --> 01:24:56,120
Yes, Sir.
It's the best, it's the best.

1597
01:24:56,120 --> 01:24:57,120
I think there's a lot of value
in that.

1598
01:24:57,120 --> 01:24:58,880
We were at La Carreta the other
day.

1599
01:24:58,880 --> 01:25:02,400
It's our favorite Mexican spot.
And you know, he, he of course

1600
01:25:02,400 --> 01:25:04,360
loves cheese dip.
Who doesn't love the cheese dip?

1601
01:25:04,880 --> 01:25:06,720
And La Carreta, they do it
right.

1602
01:25:06,720 --> 01:25:09,640
Like it's pretty spicy.
And the, it was a different

1603
01:25:09,640 --> 01:25:11,920
server than we normally had.
And, and that week they had a

1604
01:25:11,920 --> 01:25:14,840
Poblano 1 and she's like, you
know, we have a Poblano cheese

1605
01:25:14,840 --> 01:25:17,920
dip that isn't quite as spicy if
you want that one.

1606
01:25:17,920 --> 01:25:20,600
And before I could even say no,
he's like, no, I'll take, I'll

1607
01:25:20,600 --> 01:25:22,920
take the regular.
I was like, don't worry about

1608
01:25:22,920 --> 01:25:24,480
it.
He eats spicy food all the time.

1609
01:25:24,480 --> 01:25:26,040
Like it's going to be cool.
He'll eat it.

1610
01:25:27,000 --> 01:25:28,400
It's the best.
I was like, that's my boy.

1611
01:25:29,120 --> 01:25:32,440
Proud moment.
Yeah, man, what was great

1612
01:25:32,440 --> 01:25:34,440
chatting with you.
I appreciate your time.

1613
01:25:34,520 --> 01:25:37,440
I appreciate hearing your story.
I wish you the best of luck,

1614
01:25:37,440 --> 01:25:39,680
dude.
I, I love, I love anybody

1615
01:25:39,680 --> 01:25:42,000
following their passion, but
when it's something as personal

1616
01:25:42,000 --> 01:25:46,560
as this and like the ceiling is
incredibly high, a content

1617
01:25:46,560 --> 01:25:49,480
person can see it really quickly
and it's like, OK, the snowball

1618
01:25:49,480 --> 01:25:51,720
is going to roll as soon as you
kick it down the hill.

1619
01:25:52,200 --> 01:25:53,360
So keep doing what you're doing,
man.

1620
01:25:53,360 --> 01:25:54,760
I appreciate you.
Well, thank you very much.

1621
01:25:54,760 --> 01:25:56,400
Thanks for having me.
And yeah, appreciate what you're

1622
01:25:56,400 --> 01:25:58,320
doing here and getting cool
people's stories out.

1623
01:25:58,480 --> 01:26:00,320
You're not saying I'm cool, but
you have a lot of cool guests.

1624
01:26:00,320 --> 01:26:02,400
I think you are, except for the
Bears fans.

1625
01:26:02,400 --> 01:26:04,360
We can leave that on the back
burner.

1626
01:26:04,360 --> 01:26:06,600
Just don't tell anybody that.
It'll be all good.

1627
01:26:07,080 --> 01:26:07,840
Appreciate it.
Yeah.