1
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And send you the Superman audio.

2
00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,120
On audacity,
I can send that over to to after this.

3
00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:08,240
That's almost done. Editing. With what?

4
00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:09,200
With. Oh.

5
00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:10,800
Yeah. It's right. There's a sound. Okay.

6
00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:11,440
It does sound good.

7
00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:14,440
Yeah, yeah, yeah,
if it sounds really bad, I'll remind you.

8
00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:17,120
But generally, like, I got to get,
I got to get the editing going,

9
00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,080
so I generally will go a little bit
sooner than that.

10
00:00:19,080 --> 00:00:19,720
Okay.

11
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Check my audio levels and just.

12
00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:25,840
But yeah, if it's bad, I will make sure
you know, but it's it's fine.

13
00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:28,320
Okay. Cool. How do how do I sound?

14
00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:29,000
All right.

15
00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:31,000
You sound good.
I you're going to record your side, right?

16
00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:33,320
Yep, yep. I got go going on audacity.

17
00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:34,600
We'll do two different intros.

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00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:36,760
One for channel accepted.
One for the gig for combo.

19
00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:40,360
And then
I always I try to cut the interviews like

20
00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:41,280
it sounds like we're mid-conversation.

21
00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:44,280
I'm working on that type of editing.

22
00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:47,280
So for the other one, okay,

23
00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:48,000
cool.

24
00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:50,760
All right. Let's go ahead and get started.

25
00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:51,400
So do the charges.

26
00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:52,680
Have the intro first

27
00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:56,520
stop, take a breather and then do it again
for graphics and just go okay for them.

28
00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:57,440
Sounds good.

29
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And 54321 hey I we're going to
charge said that the podcast

30
00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:03,600
recharged each other to a new movie
or TV show every week.

31
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But this is a very special episode.

32
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I am joined by Thomas.

33
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Well, everybody.

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Yeah, this one is, this is a weird one.

35
00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:14,640
We're gonna be discussing the next project
for Thomas

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00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:17,920
and what you guys can do to go support
Thomas and learn so much more.

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00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:19,440
Okay. Stop there.

38
00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:21,720
Okay.

39
00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:23,280
Five. Four. Three. Two.

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00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:24,800
One. Hey, all geek freaks.

41
00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:27,080
I am Frank, and I'm joined by Thomas.

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00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:28,680
Hello, everybody.

43
00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:30,280
Thomas is a pretty familiar voice.

44
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You guys should definitely hear him
from other things.

45
00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:33,560
But today's a very special interview.

46
00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:37,200
We're gonna be discussing Thomas's brand
new podcast, The Sick Burning podcast.

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00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:40,960
Thomas, can you just give us
a quick rundown of what this podcast is?

48
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Yeah, absolutely.

49
00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:47,280
So for all of you out there, again,
you probably have heard me

50
00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:52,080
maybe somewhere in some Geek Freaks
podcast over the last few years.

51
00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:56,000
And yeah,
what really got me into podcasting was

52
00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:59,120
I got out of the hospital because,

53
00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:03,000
maybe a lot of you don't know this,
but I was actually in a plane crash.

54
00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:07,840
I was pretty badly burned over somewhere
between 60 and 70% of my body.

55
00:02:08,640 --> 00:02:10,000
You know, I was trying to heal.

56
00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,000
Got out of the hospital, Covid hit.

57
00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:19,000
And so also not only to reengage with
my friends, but as a way to heal, too.

58
00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:22,800
You know, we started online
gaming and conversing, and I'm like,

59
00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:25,280
let's record this. This is awesome.

60
00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:28,240
And that kind of kicked off
the podcasting journey.

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And I love it
because I get to do stuff with you,

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Franken, and a bunch of other awesome
geeks out there

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and talk about things I love like Marvel,
DC, Star Wars, that kind of thing.

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But I think there's always been
a part of me that also is really drawn

65
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to mental health
and trying to recover both physically,

66
00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:49,640
but also mentally, emotionally,
spiritually, all that kind of stuff too.

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And Sick Burn is kind of a foyer
into that.

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Yeah.

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Now with Sick Burn, you're
trying to incorporate the beginning of

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like a tragedy,
some chaotic event in someone's life.

71
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And then you're transitioning
into humor and recovery.

72
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How is how is that possible?

73
00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:06,840
To me, it seems like it's such a hard
concept to brace.

74
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And you're you're finding so many people
who share that journey.

75
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Yeah.

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And, so the tagline is exploring
the bright side to life's darkest moments.

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00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:13,960
Yeah.

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And I mean, if that doesn't describe
what life's been for me the last five.

79
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Years,
I don't know what else could, you know?

80
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Like, yeah, yeah.

81
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Out of all of this, kind of craziness,
you know, I know it is,

82
00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:30,120
probably a wild story to people,
but there has been a lot of moments

83
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that I've seen pop up
because of how tough things are

84
00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:38,120
when you're so low,
when you feel like you have nothing.

85
00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:42,280
I mean, for me, my whole life changed in
literally like a blink of an eye,

86
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you know, lost career and,

87
00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,920
identity and ways that my body worked

88
00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:54,880
and all these different things that just
instantly kind of got taken away from me.

89
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And I really just
didn't know where to go from there.

90
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I'm like, how am I ever going to
keep living or find a new way into life?

91
00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:08,200
And, you know, it took little by little,
but, you know, only recently, I'd say

92
00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:12,040
in the last few years that I was able
to kind of find some good things.

93
00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:15,080
And it also reminded me of things
I could reflect

94
00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,120
on when I was at my lowest, that I'm like,
you know what?

95
00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:22,240
That kind of was funny
or that kind of was awesome, you know?

96
00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:28,200
And which sounds wild to say, but I think,
you know, it is this place where I think

97
00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:32,600
out of the darkest, toughest moments,
there are things we can take away from it.

98
00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:36,480
There are good things that are there
and there are cool, just,

99
00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:38,400
things that present themselves to you

100
00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:41,400
that never would have because
of this low moment.

101
00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:41,880
Right.

102
00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:46,680
And I think the, the guest that I've had
on recently, they're also different.

103
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There's other survivors of of accidents,
a paragliding accident,

104
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a tsunami survivor.

105
00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:54,320
But then there's also people
who just think,

106
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how am I going to carry on with my life?

107
00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:57,680
Like, I might have to,

108
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you know, move back in with my parents
after I had this crazy, insane career.

109
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And then I lose everything, right?

110
00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:07,320
And there's comedians and chefs
who change their life around

111
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because they were doing one job,
and it basically just got clipped

112
00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:13,160
and they had to figure out
what their next life was about.

113
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So I think there's
so many people out there

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who experienced tragedies
and loss and, and pain.

115
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But you have to carry on.

116
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And so for me, it's
finding where that wisdom is.

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It's finding the mindset they used
to kind of carry on and it's finding

118
00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:30,600
where was the bright spots
that you were also

119
00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:34,120
just telling yourself when life felt like
it was crumbling around you.

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00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:35,640
So yeah.

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00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:38,360
In in what you call the darkest
and toughest moments,

122
00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:41,120
what are some of the commonalities
you're finding amongst all your guest

123
00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:42,160
and including your own story?

124
00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:44,760
Oh, man.

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00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:47,640
So I think there is this belief,

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you know, is really it's
this is kind of interesting

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00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:56,040
because I don't know if I had it
for a long time, you know, doing

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00:05:56,200 --> 00:06:00,200
seriously, like, doing podcasts like this,
being a guest on your show on Geek

129
00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,520
Freaks, gave me so much confidence
in the more people

130
00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:07,960
I met in podcasting, the more I was like,
maybe there's something here.

131
00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:09,880
Maybe I'm still useful.

132
00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:13,680
And I think that was a giant fear
that I had, was like,

133
00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:15,240
I'm never going to be, like, useful again.

134
00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:18,240
I'm never going to be able
to do anything of value again.

135
00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:21,120
And I think in my guests

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00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:25,000
there
is this belief that I got to keep going.

137
00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:27,560
And then there's other ones
where I'm like,

138
00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:31,360
I can make it to
whatever the other side of this is, right?

139
00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:34,680
So, you know, the yeah,
you're there, you're in this dark tunnel

140
00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:39,160
and you know, you're like,
hey, I can't go backwards or I can do,

141
00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:41,240
you know, there's just no room.
I can't turn around.

142
00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:43,160
So all you can do is keep moving forward.

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00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:48,080
And now having I think we've recorded
5 or 6 episodes now it's

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00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:52,000
there's just this belief that
we're going to make it on the other side.

145
00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:53,200
That's something you're funny
with everybody.

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00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:54,800
They all have that belief in the end.

147
00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:56,880
I think so, yeah.

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00:06:56,880 --> 00:06:58,920
Yeah, it's so different.

149
00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:01,320
There's so many different things
and yet they merge.

150
00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:05,360
I think that's a really good question,
but if I could just summarize it

151
00:07:05,840 --> 00:07:08,880
briefly without thinking about it too
deeply.

152
00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:09,320
Right.

153
00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:14,080
It's that they do believe that there's,
there's light at the end of the tunnel.

154
00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:16,600
Okay. I got to just keep walking towards
that.

155
00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:18,280
I'm just going to keep moving towards it.

156
00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:21,200
And yeah,
I think that's the thing that I'm,

157
00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:23,880
I'm finding the most yeah.

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00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:25,760
Maybe connectivity out of everybody.

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00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:29,160
One of the things you mentioned was,
you having a fear of whether,

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00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:30,360
you know, the self-confidence problem.

161
00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:32,520
I will tell you,
as a personal friend of yours,

162
00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:34,440
we, you know, we reference you
when you go to conventions

163
00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:37,800
as, like, shameless
Thomas will really mean is fearless.

164
00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:40,920
You have this confidence about you
when you go to, approach

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00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:42,440
somebody that I don't know.

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00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:45,000
I know none of us have it,
and we admire it a lot in you.

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00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:47,600
So you may have had fear before,
but you don't show it.

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00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:49,640
Well. I talk he's that.

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00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:51,080
I'm telling you it's there, though.

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00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:53,000
It's definitely there.

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00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:55,480
But I also now know what
the alternative is.

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00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:57,880
Right? And you, you know, I, I,

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I thought I was in good shape,
you know, I,

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00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:05,960
I felt happy about the way I looked and
the way I was able to do things in life.

175
00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:09,080
And after flight school and graduating,
getting my pilot's license,

176
00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:12,160
I'm like, I finally proved myself
that I was smart enough, right?

177
00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:14,560
Yeah.
And so I felt like I was on cloud nine.

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00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:18,120
You know, I had kind of all
these wonderful things going for me.

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00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:20,240
And then, you know, this accident happens.

180
00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:21,320
It all gets stripped away. Right?

181
00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:25,840
And I just really was like,
how am I going to do this?

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00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:28,120
And then when we first started

183
00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,120
interacting together, man,
and just kind of chit chatting,

184
00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:34,240
that first LA Comic-Con
I was talking to you about,

185
00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:37,240
it was like, man, I got a hey, this events
coming up, should I go check this out?

186
00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:38,480
You're like, yes, you want tickets?

187
00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:40,400
I'm like, sure.

188
00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:43,600
I was so freaked and nervous,
like so nervous.

189
00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:46,440
I around that. Being.
And I'm, like, writing questions. Yeah.

190
00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:51,120
I was like, I was afraid, you know, and,
but there was this moment

191
00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:54,400
where I was sitting there and I was
thinking like, what's the alternative?

192
00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:57,760
Right? But you've sat in a hospital bed.

193
00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:01,800
You sat in a hospital just locked
in a room where you couldn't leave.

194
00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:06,760
I was hooked up to IVs, and I had a track,
and I had all these tubes

195
00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:09,000
and everything coming out of me,
and I literally couldn't.

196
00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:13,320
Even the most I could move was just
kind of sit up a little bit out of bed.

197
00:09:13,680 --> 00:09:16,680
And, I mean, that was months
and months and months and months.

198
00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:18,560
And so I think about that.

199
00:09:18,560 --> 00:09:23,520
I think about not being able
to just go out and do anything.

200
00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:27,200
And so you get this opportunity now
to go do something you love and,

201
00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:31,400
and talk to fellow nerds and talk to
things that, you know, like Marvel movies

202
00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:36,800
and Marvel comics, like, really helped me
get back into a better mental headspace.

203
00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:40,000
And I'm like, Holy crap, I'm going to
get to see people who love this stuff.

204
00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:41,440
Just as much as I do

205
00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:45,880
and you, and get to meet people
who are making it like, that was crazy.

206
00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:47,400
And I thought, you know what?

207
00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:51,120
I'm so nervous, but I'm just going to go
and ask me, hey, will you talk

208
00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:54,520
five minutes about the comic
you're doing or why, you know,

209
00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:58,280
this, this cosplay so awesome, you know,
do you mind if I take a picture or.

210
00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:00,240
I love this comic you created?

211
00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:01,400
Why did you create it?

212
00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:03,360
What were you thinking
when you're making it, like all of that

213
00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:07,160
stuff, it just,
I think the the goal and the opportunity

214
00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:12,960
to talk to these people supersedes
my fear of, am I going to look stupid?

215
00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:14,400
You know, I'm
going to say the wrong things.

216
00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:18,240
Like, we're inevitably, yeah,
I can't tell you how many wrong things.

217
00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:20,960
I've said on. Podcast over the years.
Right.

218
00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:22,400
It's just natural. We're human.

219
00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:26,360
And I think, you know,
I think it supersedes that fear.

220
00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:29,000
For me, it's just like, you got to do it.
You have one life to live.

221
00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:30,840
I truly do believe that.

222
00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:35,480
And I just want to live a life that
I'm proud of and that I'm excited about.

223
00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:38,320
And I think those things align.

224
00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:41,400
Before we leave the dark air
and go into a more of the lighter side.

225
00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:42,440
I do want to touch on one of the things

226
00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:45,760
I'm hearing out of you a lot right now,
and something that I think personally

227
00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:48,480
I fear too, with a little bit
of what you're dealing with.

228
00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:50,080
Very lightly in comparison.

229
00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:52,640
But, the loss of independence,
I think that that would be

230
00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:54,920
one of the greatest fears
in that early stages.

231
00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:58,360
And now seeing you today, you're starting
essentially a new business.

232
00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:01,320
You continue to start
and thrive in podcasting.

233
00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:04,360
You have a wonderful, supportive family,
wife and group of friends.

234
00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,800
Do you feel like that
fear of loss of independence

235
00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:10,920
is warranted for a lot of people,
or do they have to find their

236
00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:11,960
own version of independence?

237
00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:13,960
That's an interesting question.

238
00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:17,000
So in terms of like losing
the independence, or are you talking

239
00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:19,800
more about like in the hospital
when I couldn't do things when.

240
00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:21,120
Yeah, we were sitting on that bed.

241
00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:23,160
And you're not sure if you'll be able
to do what you used to be able to do?

242
00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:24,720
Like that's
what you're talking about beforehand.

243
00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:29,240
And now finding a new way of doing things
like I, I feel from what

244
00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:32,760
I understand too, is you kind of embrace
more of your culture to afterwords.

245
00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:34,720
You found a way
to talk to these kind of creators

246
00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:37,080
when you should just be a quick reader,
that type of thing.

247
00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:38,520
Yeah, yeah.

248
00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:39,720
I think again, you know,

249
00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:43,440
you know, what the alternative is
of not being able to do something.

250
00:11:43,560 --> 00:11:43,920
Yeah.

251
00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:46,840
And again,
you know, I had this fear of I'm

252
00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:50,760
just not going to be able
to do anything of value in life again.

253
00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:54,720
And I know that maybe sounds ridiculous
to people, but when you're at that low,

254
00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:58,320
you know, I mean, just
my body was so messed up and, you know,

255
00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:01,680
not being able to communicate with people
like I literally couldn't speak.

256
00:12:01,680 --> 00:12:03,520
I couldn't even use my hands.

257
00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:05,000
They were all bandaged up,

258
00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:09,360
literally, like I was, you know,
strapped to a bed for months and months

259
00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:13,720
and so much of it, I think, is
probably why I talk too much now,

260
00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:16,800
because I know what it's like
to not be able to talk.

261
00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:20,520
And I think that just
there was this compulsion of

262
00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,520
I need to say something

263
00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:27,000
and you start looking at things again
when you're, you know,

264
00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:28,800
not like I'm a monk or anything,

265
00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:31,200
but I have heard this reference
where, you know, like

266
00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:34,160
the monks will be in the monastery
and they're looking at the wall. Right.

267
00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:34,520
And the wall

268
00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:36,480
maybe has all this scripture
carvings in it,

269
00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:38,960
and they just stare at it
for hours and hours.

270
00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:42,240
And what your mind does
while you look at it, it changes.

271
00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:43,800
It goes through all these things.
You have it.

272
00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:46,800
You contemplate every decision
you've ever made in your life

273
00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,040
and what you can do
and what you couldn't do and

274
00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:50,760
and how your life's going to change.

275
00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:53,360
But it while all of that is valid,

276
00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:56,440
it becomes completely different
when you are able to leave there, right?

277
00:12:56,760 --> 00:12:57,520
Right. And you're right.

278
00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:02,040
I wouldn't have been able to even leave
or have healed up as well as I did

279
00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:05,800
if it wasn't for family, friends, yeah.

280
00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:10,680
Support, you know, but I think it just
this opportunity comes along and,

281
00:13:10,680 --> 00:13:11,640
and I started just leaning

282
00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:17,120
into the things that I really loved
and I really cared about, you know, I did

283
00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:21,000
I suppressed my geek side for so long,
you know, I grew up,

284
00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:23,280
I loved all the action figures and X-Men.

285
00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:26,680
The animated series got me hooked on,
you know, comics.

286
00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:28,480
And I was a Power Rangers kid,

287
00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:29,040
and,

288
00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:30,600
all of that stuff went away
because I wanted to

289
00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:32,840
be cool in high school,
and I played football.

290
00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:34,560
Yeah. And I, like, wanted.

291
00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:37,840
A girlfriend and, you know, or in college
and all these things.

292
00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:41,800
And then my job out of college, like,
nobody was really like that.

293
00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:44,680
So I kind of just stuffed that down,
right.

294
00:13:44,680 --> 00:13:46,680
And well, you worked at ugly too,

295
00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:48,960
which I would have to say is pretty sports
brandy, you know.

296
00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:51,840
Yeah, yeah, there's a picture. Totally.

297
00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:53,480
There was like a few people who kind of.

298
00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:56,160
But you had to pick and choose
who you could talk about that stuff with.

299
00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:57,440
Right. And you and I.

300
00:13:57,440 --> 00:13:59,080
And for me, I didn't want to like,

301
00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:02,880
shout it from the rooftops
about any of this stuff. And

302
00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:04,440
again, I got out

303
00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:07,440
of the hospital and it's it's

304
00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:13,080
yeah, I think this is what saved me
truthfully, mentally, I was so broken

305
00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:17,240
and and talk about depression
and just not knowing if I wanted to.

306
00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:19,960
I mean, this is going to sound dark,
but truthfully,

307
00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:21,880
I didn't know if I wanted to be here.

308
00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:26,600
And the things that kind of
kept me in the game, along with friends

309
00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:31,120
and family support, was like,
I got to lean into things I care about.

310
00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:33,760
Yeah. And this became podcasting.

311
00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:36,400
This became
I listen, I've always loved Marvel.

312
00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:37,800
Like, I want to talk about that more.

313
00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:40,320
Or, you know,
I've always loved video games

314
00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:43,280
and I really haven't had a space
or an opportunity

315
00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:44,760
to ever really talk about this one.

316
00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:45,960
I just do that

317
00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:50,240
or comedy bringing my friends to do improv
with and like, we would just laugh.

318
00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:53,320
All of these things became
part of the healing

319
00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:56,520
and showed me that
maybe there was still a way that I could

320
00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:59,800
contribute to this world,
or I still had something to give.

321
00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:00,400
Yeah.

322
00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:04,880
And that allowed me to kind of see
maybe there is some type of independence

323
00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:09,200
there too, you know,
for people who feel like you lost it,

324
00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:12,920
I think it's just taking one little step
in a direction you care about.

325
00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:17,200
You know, we
we hold ourselves back so much,

326
00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:21,480
and the thing between our ears
can be our biggest ally.

327
00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:23,600
It can also be our biggest enemy.

328
00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:26,240
You know, we're so nervous
about how the people are going to judge us

329
00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:27,600
or what our parents are going to think,

330
00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:28,800
or what our friends are going to think,

331
00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:31,200
or what our, you know,
significant other is going to think.

332
00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:33,200
And all of that can be valid.

333
00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:35,040
But if you are stuffing down a part of you

334
00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:39,080
that you really feel strongly
about or connected to,

335
00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:42,160
or want to share with the world,
that's a tough place to be.

336
00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:43,800
Not being able to share it.

337
00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:48,120
I think again, you know, this it's sound,
this is probably heavy

338
00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:52,760
or a little crazy maybe to say, but,
you know, you you gain more of yourself.

339
00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:56,640
You get to live more freely
as you are able to express yourself more.

340
00:15:56,880 --> 00:15:58,560
And I'm not saying
that road is going to be easy.

341
00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:00,960
I'm not saying
it's going to be a walk in the park.

342
00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:04,960
You know, there are aspects of society
now that that, you know, pushes

343
00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:06,480
against you being yourself.

344
00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:11,000
But I also feel like there's no other way
to live, truthfully, you know,

345
00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:12,000
I mean, again,

346
00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:15,800
you got to be careful with it,
but I think it's better to lean into that

347
00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:19,680
and just taking those steps, gaining
a little bit of that and independence

348
00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,560
for who you are and owning
it is so freeing.

349
00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:26,320
It's almost a better independence
because it's more you.

350
00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:28,720
Yeah.
What you're trying to play by before.

351
00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:29,360
Right.

352
00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:31,760
Let's talk about where that uneasy road
leads to.

353
00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:34,560
We have your new podcast, the second
podcast link in the description.

354
00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:35,360
Make sure you're clicking around.

355
00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:39,240
Guys, this is you've developed
podcasts in the past obviously

356
00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:42,880
challenge accepted joysticks show
probably more in the future.

357
00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:45,640
But this one was very unique.

358
00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:47,360
You have, a studio for this one.

359
00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,160
Can you describe what it's like
to set up that studio for this podcast?

360
00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:52,080
Man, let me tell you

361
00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,760
that this is way easier than I thought
it was going to be.

362
00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:57,200
Right?

363
00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:01,800
Yes. So for the five year
anniversary of my accident,

364
00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:05,760
I put out a video kind of describing
it is on the burn page.

365
00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:07,320
It's on my personal page.

366
00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:12,480
But I really did not want to announce
that I was going to do this podcast.

367
00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:17,520
I again talk about fear
and just thinking like, this is crazy.

368
00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:21,320
Who's going to come and listen to me
talk about positive mental health

369
00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:24,720
and digging your way
out of a terrible situation?

370
00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:25,920
Or that kind of stuff.

371
00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:28,560
You know, it's like, I'm not an expert.

372
00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:30,200
I know I'm not a mental health expert.

373
00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:32,320
I just,
you know, been in a lot of therapy.

374
00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:34,680
So, yeah.

375
00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:38,520
But regardless,
I put out that video and in, in it,

376
00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:40,320
I wasn't even going to say this.

377
00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:41,040
I was like,

378
00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:41,320
you know,

379
00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:43,120
I actually said to my wife, I was like,
I don't know

380
00:17:43,120 --> 00:17:45,160
if this is something I want to stay,
which is I,

381
00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:46,480
I've been thinking about this podcast.

382
00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:49,400
I kind of want to do it, but I don't know
if I want to announce it here.

383
00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:52,440
And she said, if you don't announce it
in this video, you shouldn't do.

384
00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:57,000
It because, Yeah, she's
but I loved, you know,

385
00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:58,440
some people be like,
oh, that was kind of rough.

386
00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:00,760
But I really appreciate that push.

387
00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:01,520
You know what?

388
00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:02,520
Yeah. Why not?

389
00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:04,680
Let's announce it. Let's do this. Right.

390
00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:09,680
And then, from that video, the
the outpouring was, was so incredible

391
00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:11,520
and it was so overwhelming
and it was so wonderful.

392
00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:12,720
I really didn't expect it.

393
00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:17,520
But somebody who I didn't even realize
was kind of follow me said, hey, I'm

394
00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:20,640
working with the studio
actually here in San Diego where I live,

395
00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:24,000
and it wasn't too far from where
I was actually living at the time.

396
00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:26,520
And he was like, hey, you know,
you said you mentioned

397
00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:27,800
you wanted to do this podcast.

398
00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:30,120
Maybe you should check out this studio.

399
00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:33,480
And so I'm like, 
all right, you know, and I started going

400
00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:35,640
through all this list of different places.

401
00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:40,440
And yeah, I really wanted to just try
to take this podcast to a different level.

402
00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:43,800
And I go there, meet everybody.

403
00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:45,360
They're all wonderful.

404
00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:46,200
It's called Voice and Video.

405
00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:47,120
In San Diego,

406
00:18:47,120 --> 00:18:49,000
if you have any type of video
producing things

407
00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:51,000
that you want to do anywhere
in Southern California,

408
00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:55,800
they have all this kind of crazy, amazing,
like movie quality equipment.

409
00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:57,680
But we met with them.

410
00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:01,800
I kind of told them what I wanted to do
and just through us kind of chit chatting,

411
00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:02,560
work it out.

412
00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:04,640
So yeah,
we were able to kind of land on something.

413
00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:09,240
And yeah, so far
all six episodes have been recorded there

414
00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:11,280
and they're just been wonderful
to work with.

415
00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:13,800
But it has been a slow process

416
00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:17,440
of building out the set and figuring out
how we're going to film it.

417
00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,560
And the audio, a lot of what, you know,

418
00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:24,240
as an audio expert,
but yeah, it has been a slow process.

419
00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:27,120
It's been a labor of love,
and it's been a lot of fun.

420
00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:29,160
As you've had these interviews.

421
00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,880
I'm sure it's tweaked and or and evolved
over time as natural for any podcast.

422
00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:36,000
How have you felt the transition going

423
00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:39,240
from the tragic
beginning to the humorous ending?

424
00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:41,320
How has that changed over time?
Because it feels like it's

425
00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:43,680
a very tough transition
in the middle of a conversation.

426
00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:44,200
Yeah.

427
00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:50,200
You know, I think what's good about it,
based on what we've both done for so long,

428
00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:52,400
I mean, you a lot more than me,
but it's like we

429
00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:54,480
a lot of preparation
goes into this, right?

430
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,120
It's like the,
the funniest thing is, have you heard

431
00:19:57,120 --> 00:19:59,240
somebody who was like,
I just want to start a podcast.

432
00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:00,880
Oh, like, oh, okay.

433
00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:03,720
You know, like I'm in a I'm down.
I think that's awesome.

434
00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:04,440
You should do it.

435
00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:06,800
But also like, do you know about this?

436
00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:07,520
Is it. Right.

437
00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:11,320
And then you've like A to Z on all the
things that you think they need to set up.

438
00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:13,200
Right. Oh yeah. Right.

439
00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:17,000
So part of that all of my guests
I usually speak to them

440
00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:20,640
kind of pretty in-depth
before we ever record.

441
00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:22,320
So they know what it's about,

442
00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:26,040
not just for me and not just for what
the show is going to be, but for them to

443
00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:29,160
to understand
what the expectation is for the show.

444
00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:31,160
Because that's the idea, is

445
00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:34,680
we're starting from a place of, hey,
this was really hard thing in your life.

446
00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:37,200
This was, you know,
there was trauma there.

447
00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:40,200
There was pain, there was this crazy
accident, whatever. Right.

448
00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:42,720
But the goal of the show
is not to stay there.

449
00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:45,720
The goal of the show is to talk
about how you got out of that,

450
00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:48,960
how you moved on, how you found peace,
how you found success,

451
00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:51,960
how you work towards a happier life.

452
00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:55,040
And so that is kind of the thing,
you know, it's

453
00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:58,680
not just to dwell on people's
trauma or pain or sadness.

454
00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:00,720
It's that's the jumping off point.

455
00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:05,000
And I think that's so kind of true
to who I am to,

456
00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:07,920
you know, like,
I there's so many people out there

457
00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:08,680
who are hurting

458
00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:11,400
or have things in their life
that are just really tough

459
00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:13,600
and they don't know
how to move through it. Right?

460
00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:16,600
But we have to find a way,

461
00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:19,840
if you've been through those things,
to move through it too.

462
00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:22,280
Otherwise you're going
to, you know, you're going to be bitter.

463
00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:23,560
You're going to be sad, you're going to

464
00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:25,320
your mental
health is not going to be a good place.

465
00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,800
You you won't be able to thrive,
I think, and I,

466
00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:33,160
I do not feel like I'm fully healed
or anything by any means.

467
00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:33,840
Right.

468
00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:37,240
But I have heard from a lot of people
like, hey, how did you get this mindset

469
00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,000
from where you were at to
where you are now?

470
00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:43,560
And I thought, man, if I can do this,
there's so many other people

471
00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:47,680
who are going to be better share their
stories who have also moved from things.

472
00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:51,000
And I don't compare trauma like,
I know mine's a plane crash, but like,

473
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:53,640
you could have skinned your knee on a bike
when you were eight years old

474
00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:55,920
and that could have been the roughest
thing you've ever gone through.

475
00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:57,760
It could have affected
you your whole life.

476
00:21:57,760 --> 00:21:59,520
But how did you move past it?

477
00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:02,640
How did you go on to bigger and better
and better things?

478
00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:03,240
Right.

479
00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:07,200
So that became the thing
that I got fascinated by.

480
00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:10,760
And how do I how do I translate that?

481
00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:14,640
And I thought there was no better way
than to talk to people who had been

482
00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:18,520
through all different types of situations
and what they learned from it,

483
00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:22,000
and how they talk to themselves,
and the mental health

484
00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:25,720
tips that they use to kind of allow them
to move on.

485
00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:28,560
Mental health
has got to be a big part of this process.

486
00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:30,080
Is there anything you've learned

487
00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:33,080
that you personally have implemented
in your own life from your guests?

488
00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:35,240
Oh, man. Yeah.

489
00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:39,200
You know, I mean, we're still so early
on, you know,

490
00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:43,640
it's just like we've literally
just recorded recorded episode six.

491
00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:48,920
I haven't even had time to really process
too much of what we had talked about.

492
00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:52,440
But I feel like every episode so far,
somebody says something

493
00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:55,800
and a light bulb goes off.

494
00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:58,800
It has been this crazy, crazy experience.

495
00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:02,760
You know, I, I was telling my wife, after
these are done, like, I'm so fired

496
00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:05,800
up, I'm like so pumped out there
at the end of these

497
00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:07,960
at the end of recording these episodes.

498
00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:09,720
But I'm so drained too.

499
00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:13,200
And I think it's actually wonderful
because I'm I'm so amazed by it.

500
00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:17,160
There's so many smart, intelligent,
wonderful, creative,

501
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:18,960
inspiring people out there.

502
00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:21,600
And you just if you show them,

503
00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:25,800
you give them the opportunity,
they want to take you through that path.

504
00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:27,680
You know, they want to take you through
that journey.

505
00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:32,160
There's so much I've learned from
everybody, you know, appreciating life,

506
00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:36,920
learning how we move on from our trauma.

507
00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:41,520
Like, also how we how we handle things, 
kind of in a self-destructive way.

508
00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:45,560
You know, there was, a guest on our show
who survived a tsunami,

509
00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:47,640
and that alone was traumatic.

510
00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:51,480
Her describing was like,
holy shit, like that is insane.

511
00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:54,960
But then she got addicted to drugs
and alcohol down the road,

512
00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:58,560
and didn't see how those two things
were connected, but then later on

513
00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:02,400
did see it when she went to school for it,
and talking about how

514
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:06,600
they both had intersected in the
in her life and made things hard.

515
00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:08,040
But also she needed

516
00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:11,280
both of these things in her life
to take her to where she is now.

517
00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:13,840
And she's thriving
and like helping so many people.

518
00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:15,520
And she's a coach and an author

519
00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:19,280
and a podcaster and,
you know, it's it's been pretty amazing.

520
00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:23,080
So I think every guest has shown me
something different about their trauma,

521
00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:25,880
their pain, their
their tough thing in life.

522
00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:27,720
And they all approach it differently.

523
00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,360
But there are common threads
which I think I again,

524
00:24:30,360 --> 00:24:33,000
I need to really dissect
more of what that is.

525
00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:33,440
Yeah.

526
00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,240
You're still processing this, this journey
as a whole already.

527
00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:38,360
I mean, it's gonna be hard
to one of the things I'm picking up

528
00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:41,040
just from even this conversation
and she's a great example,

529
00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:43,960
you know, again, you're like,
are you gonna lose that independence?

530
00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:47,400
And you could go one of two ways
and you can go to where you're so

531
00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:49,320
independent, become isolationist.

532
00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:50,840
It sounds like drugs and stuff like that.

533
00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:52,760
That could be lead,
that could be that path.

534
00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:55,760
But then she finds recovery humor
through community.

535
00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:57,240
And that's getting yourself out there,

536
00:24:57,240 --> 00:24:59,840
accepting your situation
and finding a new way forward.

537
00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:01,320
And now she has a community.

538
00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:02,680
She does a lot of community work.

539
00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:05,680
And it's also kind of
what you're doing with psych burn.

540
00:25:06,120 --> 00:25:09,000
You're kind of creating this community
of people who found

541
00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:12,000
hope and a better mental health
in the future.

542
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:13,480
Yeah, yeah.

543
00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:15,040
I mean, I think that's the thing.

544
00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:17,400
It is for anybody
that wants some inspiration

545
00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:17,840
or who

546
00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:22,520
wants to improve their mental health or
just their their whole emotional demeanor

547
00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:26,200
or like just feeling like, man, okay,
everything's going to be okay, right?

548
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:26,760
Right.

549
00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:30,360
There's some people 
I think there's a lot of people right now

550
00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:33,360
who just feel like I this
things are not nothing's gonna get better.

551
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:37,240
And like, they look at the world
in the news and we think, man, this sucks.

552
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:39,120
And how is anything going to improve?

553
00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:43,200
But one thing I learned from this
terrible situation where, you know, they

554
00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,440
they said I had a less than 10%
chance of surviving,

555
00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:50,880
is that even at that lowest moment, even
with all the pain and the pain medicine

556
00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:55,040
I was on and everything, it's like, no,
there are still good things there.

557
00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,840
The people that showed up for me
and the people that just wanted

558
00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:03,440
to be there because, you know,
I had connected with them at some point in

559
00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:07,800
life is an amazing thing,
even though I couldn't even see it

560
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:09,360
when I was in the muck. Right.

561
00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:14,720
And, and, and I think there's
so many people who are talented

562
00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:19,200
and creative and smart and capable,
but they just see the bad.

563
00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:19,840
Yeah.

564
00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:23,280
And I just wanted to show that there's, 
another side to it.

565
00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:26,200
So even if you don't think
you need any of this,

566
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:29,480
you know, there's
there's just so many things you can learn.

567
00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:32,840
And I truly do believe
you can learn something from everybody.

568
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:37,320
And, yeah, these lessons, I think, are
just going to keep presenting themselves.

569
00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:40,680
And yeah,
I just want to help really everybody

570
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,760
I mean, truthfully, you know,
and whoever can take something away

571
00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:46,760
that helps better than their lives
is is a win for me.

572
00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:49,200
Well,
and leading up to the release of six Burn,

573
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,200
which is out today, as you guys
listen here, this, on the 28th,

574
00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:55,080
you've been putting out a lot of videos,
a lot of content

575
00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:57,240
talking about some of the mental health
struggles that you're dealing with

576
00:26:57,240 --> 00:26:59,280
and some improvements
over what you're learning.

577
00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:02,720
Has there any has there been any feedback
from the community you're building

578
00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:06,600
over there, that you've seen,
like some impact from what you're sharing?

579
00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:08,320
Yeah, yeah,

580
00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:12,480
yeah, surprisingly
there was yeah, I've done a video on anger

581
00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:18,440
or anxiety or loss
and some of some of the feedback has.

582
00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:20,040
Yeah. Really blown me away.

583
00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,040
You know, again, talking about fear.

584
00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:25,080
Throwing something out on the internet
like it was scary enough to talk.

585
00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:26,640
About like a marvel movie.

586
00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:26,880
Yeah.

587
00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:29,880
Let alone like your depression. Right. So,

588
00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:32,000
it was, it was a.

589
00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:36,840
Definitely a scary process, but I think
the feedback, you know, I don't know,

590
00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:40,680
maybe there is an added benefit to saying,
like, I was a plane crash survivor.

591
00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:42,120
You know, it's like hard to argue.

592
00:27:42,120 --> 00:27:45,000
You wouldn't be depressed
in that situation. Of course.

593
00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:50,280
So to to move out of that,
you know, you have to learn something.

594
00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:54,480
And the tricks that used to work for me
before my accident didn't work anymore.

595
00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:58,280
I used to just beat myself up, just say
like, hey, you're not strong enough.

596
00:27:58,280 --> 00:27:59,760
You're not smart enough, you're not fast.

597
00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:00,720
Whatever. It was.

598
00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:01,400
Right?

599
00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:04,920
And I used to I listen to David
Goggins book all through Flight School

600
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:07,680
to try to power me through this,
and it was up into my

601
00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:10,560
that point in my life
was the hardest thing I'd ever done.

602
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:15,320
And those tricks, though, once I was in
the hospital, didn't work for me anymore.

603
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:19,200
I couldn't, like, beat myself
self up enough to like, heal.

604
00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:22,360
You know, it was like,
I can, like, force myself to heal faster.

605
00:28:22,360 --> 00:28:25,280
I'm not Wolverine. So like even
he can't really control it.

606
00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:28,440
So yeah, it's just like you had to learn

607
00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:33,200
new tricks on how to move through life
and how to move on,

608
00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:35,040
and to stop looking at things

609
00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:38,560
that were, you know, like a destination
and more just like a direction.

610
00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:42,240
But yes, I think the feedback
from other people to to digress,

611
00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:46,680
it has been wonderful
and it's been surprising and,

612
00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:50,880
I just hope that it really does
help other people as much as possible.

613
00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:53,680
And like, I just kind of want
to be a resource, you know?

614
00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:55,080
Yeah.

615
00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:57,120
And I think that's something that you're,
you're definitely doing.

616
00:28:57,120 --> 00:28:58,600
You're again, you're creating a community.

617
00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:04,440
People are seeing a lot of really great
inspiration from you looking at sick burn.

618
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:06,280
And I know you're early in your journey,

619
00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:08,360
but the journey
hopefully will last a long time.

620
00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:11,040
Where do you want to see this journey
go for sick burn?

621
00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:13,240
Yeah. That's funny. So.

622
00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:13,560
You know,

623
00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:16,920
I think when it comes to podcasting,
we get so stuck on the numbers, right?

624
00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:19,360
Like, yeah,
yeah this download this listener.

625
00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:22,920
And you know we we've made
X amount of episodes or what.

626
00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:23,240
Right.

627
00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:24,680
Like it becomes

628
00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:27,960
very much like a all life for me
with sales it became about the numbers.

629
00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:30,320
Like am I hitting this goal
by hitting this percentage.

630
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:34,000
And you know, I was very successful,
I feel like in my old life.

631
00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:37,440
But I was miserable, you know, I,
I was making more money

632
00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:41,000
than I ever made in my life,
but I just kind of hated what I had to do.

633
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:44,440
And I,
and I, just the people I was around were

634
00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:49,240
everybody was so angry or like, mad
and just they just didn't seem happy.

635
00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:52,600
And that's ultimately
what made me move out of aviation.

636
00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:55,840
And so, you know,
I think that's still there,

637
00:29:55,840 --> 00:29:59,040
but also keeping in mind what I couldn't
do, you talking about independence,

638
00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:02,040
like I wouldn't have even
had the opportunity to do this podcast.

639
00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:05,880
So truthfully,
the goal is just to keep making more

640
00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:09,960
is there's a author I really like
and a speaker is Simon Sinek, he said.

641
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:11,480
He calls it the infinite game.

642
00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:14,200
So I just want to stay in the infinite
game, and I want

643
00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:17,280
my episodes
to be as good as I can possibly make them.

644
00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:22,120
Every episode hopefully
take nuggets of wisdom from other people

645
00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:25,280
and what they've overcome and share
that with others.

646
00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:28,920
You know, just be a resource out there
that other people can kind

647
00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:32,880
of lift up their lives and start
seeing more positivity out there.

648
00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:33,240
Yeah.

649
00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:36,720
You know, I if if there is so much
negativity in the world

650
00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:39,840
and if you only focus on that,
there will be all that you see.

651
00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:42,800
But the the other side must also be true.

652
00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:47,160
There must be positive things
that if we are neglecting that also exist.

653
00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:49,200
So now how do we focus on that?

654
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:52,880
And I think that is something
that I want to put more out in the world

655
00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:56,640
and just build a community of people
that are just more open about talking

656
00:30:56,640 --> 00:31:01,440
about these things, support each other,
and then let's all just find this

657
00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:05,960
like positive, healthy space to just,
I don't know, support one another.

658
00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:08,920
I don't know. 
Yeah, I can't think beyond that.

659
00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:11,920
And as long as I get to keep making these
I think that'll be a win.

660
00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:13,160
Yeah.

661
00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:14,760
It reminds me so much of E.B.

662
00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:16,920
white. He's the writer for Stuart Little.

663
00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:20,000
And if you guys have ever read the actual
book, not just the movie, which is good,

664
00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:21,360
but if you ever read the book

665
00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:24,120
at the end of the first book,
it really doesn't have an ending.

666
00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:27,120
It's you're reading basically
the first chapter of a long saga.

667
00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:27,960
And when E.B.

668
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,480
white was asked about that, you know,
like, why does it have an ending?

669
00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:32,920
He says, you know, it's
not about an ending.

670
00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:35,040
It's that Stuart Little has a good car

671
00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:37,680
and he's pointed in the right direction,
and that's what matters.

672
00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:40,680
And it sounds like you've got a good car
and you're pointed in the right direction,

673
00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:41,560
like E.B. white wanted.

674
00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:43,920
So I think that's really
pretty impressive.

675
00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:45,480
That's amazing.

676
00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:47,960
Metaphor to connect this with.

677
00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:49,360
Its I praise like I feel like Stuart.

678
00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:51,760
Little still like inspires
and teaches people today.

679
00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:52,920
You know. It never does. Yeah.

680
00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:55,200
It's awesome.

681
00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:57,480
So we have sick burnout today.

682
00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:00,240
You guys can be following it up
as we're talking about it right now.

683
00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:02,520
Just recapping what we're going over here
again.

684
00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:03,000
It's a place

685
00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:07,800
where you can hear about tragedy,
but most importantly, growth and where

686
00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:12,240
where people are today through humor,
through good storytelling and sharing.

687
00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:15,400
And I think that's so important is that
you, again, don't become isolationist.

688
00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:17,240
You you build these communities.

689
00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:18,600
I think it's really good work.

690
00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:20,480
And I wish you
the very best luck with burn.

691
00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:22,040
Thank you man. Thank you.

692
00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:24,240
What one thing you kept saying
was independence.

693
00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:27,360
I want to ask you, like,
what does the independence mean to you?

694
00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:31,920
And how do you think that showing up in
your life over the course of this podcast.

695
00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:36,000
I think it I think independence

696
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:40,680
also is, purpose in a way,
like to have a purpose that's not aimless.

697
00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:43,320
Otherwise you're a ship in the water
at a drift

698
00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:46,320
and podcast is giving me a motor
for that ship,

699
00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:50,040
and without it, I don't know where I'd be,
but it'd be adrift still.

700
00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:54,640
So, yeah, I am independent because
I have something to do with my time.

701
00:32:55,480 --> 00:32:58,520
Yeah, I, I'm
not the professional Marvel rival player.

702
00:32:58,520 --> 00:32:59,800
Like, I really wish I was.

703
00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:02,800
But yeah, you know,
this is you and me both. Dad.

704
00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:05,120
Goodness.

705
00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:07,440
All right, guys, thank you very much
for joining us on this one.

706
00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:08,600
And, Thomas, thank you very much for

707
00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:11,600
I know this is so weird,
I that we're talking in interview.

708
00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:14,320
Thank you for joining me on challenge
accepted. Thomas.

709
00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:15,680
Yeah, yeah.

710
00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:17,320
No, but I. Think this was cool.

711
00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:19,080
And, I really appreciate it, too.

712
00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:21,120
You know,
this has been near and dear to my heart.

713
00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:23,880
It's been something
I've been thinking about for years.

714
00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:27,120
And, you know,
it's like I'm just anybody out there

715
00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:30,360
who's wanted to start something
and you're like, I don't know.

716
00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:31,920
You've been tiptoeing around it just.

717
00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:36,880
Yeah, just take a step, you know, like,
just try to look up something

718
00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:40,560
on the internet, you know, call somebody
who maybe knows a little bit about that.

719
00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:42,200
Look up.

720
00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:44,240
I have some books that exist.
I don't know, Yelp it.

721
00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:44,880
Who knows.

722
00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:46,200
You better. Yeah. There you go.

723
00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:47,760
Does exist. Who knows?

724
00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:48,960
Yeah.

725
00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:51,400
But it's just take little steps in this.
Yeah.

726
00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:53,440
This life,
you never know what the opportunities

727
00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:54,240
are going to show up

728
00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:57,320
and what you're going to be able to do
and where you're going to go, you know,

729
00:33:57,320 --> 00:34:01,680
getting to meet you and starting challenge
accepted and joining geek freaks and,

730
00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:05,160
you know, going to different conventions
and hanging out with you in person.

731
00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:09,120
It's like none of that would have existed
if I didn't if we didn't just take steps

732
00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:13,080
and make a podcast and then take steps
to, like, start a new podcast.

733
00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:17,280
And, you know, it's just amazing
where these roads have taken me far

734
00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:19,360
beyond what I'd ever thought
I'd be able to do again.

735
00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:22,600
Because never thought I'd be able to do
anything again at one point in my life.

736
00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:24,080
And then here we are.

737
00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:26,880
So to all of you listening, like,
just take one step.

738
00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:30,000
It's just, yeah, this life is amazing.

739
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:32,000
There are amazing people out there. Sure.

740
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:35,600
You know, there's things to be afraid of
and skeptical about.

741
00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:40,000
And there I'm not saying there's
not bad things in the world, but but maybe

742
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:44,280
just focus a little bit on the next step
and a little bit of positivity.

743
00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:46,600
It's just a little thing
that could brighten your day,

744
00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:50,280
because I guarantee you, the more you
start looking for it, the more you see it.

745
00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:52,800
There we go again guys.

746
00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:54,880
Much more on the second podcast out today.

747
00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:57,400
Links in the description.
Make sure you follow up on that.

748
00:34:57,400 --> 00:34:59,120
All right guys
we'll see you on the next one.

749
00:34:59,120 --> 00:34:59,960
Bye. Aloha.