Good morning. Welcome to Good News York. It is
Monday and I'm feeling like I got a case of the
Mondays I had a very long weekend But I'm being
uplifted as I speak because I'm here with a very
special guest that I personally invited on the
show in Person because I was so moved by his
interview on Sean Kelsey's podcast rising Phoenix
rising. Excuse me. Is it Phoenix rising or rising
Phoenix Phoenix rising? I always get that mixed
up, which is one of our great clients here growth
mode content I'd like to welcome to the show,
to Good News York, Mr. Mike Catalano. Hey, guys,
thanks for having me. It's only one person clapping,
yeah. So, Mike, I'm so glad to have you. Again,
it is Good News York, sponsored by Ads on the
Go, GetAdsOnTheGo .com. Mike, you're the first
guest that I've just booked on the spot. You
know, it was... You did this great episode of
Sean Kelsey's podcast, like I just mentioned.
And you really moved me with your story and,
you know, your journey. And when you got up and
like we hugged, you know, we immediately connected.
And, you know, you were like, I'd love to come
on the show sometime. I was like, you know what?
Pulled out the calendar and we put it on the
books. And it's for a good reason. Back Nine
Barber Shop is is your barber shop, which if
we can look at that hat, that is. That is sexy,
my friend. Very nice. And I'm not just saying
that. Like, that is a very sexy logo. And, um,
Bac9 Barbershop is your bread and butter. It
is your passion right now. But getting there...
was quite a journey. So I would love for you,
if you're comfortable, just talk about how this
all came about. Well, you know, uh... It started
out with... My passion for golf mixed with hair
cutting and actually even more so before that,
my father is a PGA professional member of the
CNY section. Hell yes. My mother is a retired
hairdresser slash bus driver. You're like the
perfect... hybrid of your parents. Nobody saw
this coming. I certainly didn't see this coming.
I thought I'd be teeing it up with, you know,
Scotty Schaffler, Thursdays through Sundays,
you know, trying to, you know, make a good buck
out there, grind it on the golf course. However,
things shifted and we adapt and we keep moving
on. And, you know, I started out with probably
about the first two thirds of my life in the
golf industry. Big pronounced name in the area.
And then, you know, as you were saying, you know,
the journey, I fell down, I collapsed, I hit
rock bottom and struggled and clawed my way to
get back up to where I am today. And that's,
you know, providing top -notch grooming in Cicero,
New York for people that, you know, need haircuts.
Mike, that's, yeah. It's an amazing story because,
you know, this show started, you know, Matt started
this show on, you know, you open social media.
you know, you turn on the news and it's just,
ugh, it's deaths and fire and fighting and just
every negative thing you can think of, you can
find. So it was like, you know, let's start a
show where we can highlight things in New York,
all over New York state that are uplifting, cool,
awesome, funny, you know, businesses, people,
and you embody that because of your story. And
the great thing about hitting rock bottom, as
you said, is that there's only one way to go
when you hit rock bottom, in my opinion. You
can just lay down and die there, or you can push
yourself. The good news is there's only, or you
can go up, right? And you chose to go up. Before
we get into that, let's talk about your golf
career, though, because I mean, you know, we
all golf around here. Everybody hears, like,
I'm a golfer, you know. I wanna be great, you
know. I golf all the time. I have such a passion
to be great. I'm not, you know? It's a very tough
sport, and a lot of it's between the ears, right?
It's a very mental, cerebral sport. How did you
start golfing? When did you start golfing? And
talk a little bit about how that career came
about, because you were on your way to pro status,
would you say? Yeah, I would say tour professional.
So there's several different listings of a Class
A golf professional. I think you got people that
all the way from doing news articles in the post
standard to teaching pros to touring professionals.
And that was what I was trying to inspire it
to be. I started out when I was one years old.
Soon as I could walk, my dad threw a golf club
in my hand. I think everybody can remember those
plastic Fisher Price sets of clubs. For sure.
I'd be sitting there ripping golf balls around
the yard, and I had my own little holes laid
out in the backyard. I would just do that for
hours. Literally, give me my golf clubs, leave
me alone, Mikey's going to be good. At that age,
you loved it. At that age, as soon as I could
walk, man, that was it. And we started out, as
far as I can remember, at Rouge Roost. My dad
was a very pronoun golf pro in the area, sponsored
by FaZe. Remember FaZe? Matt was here. Matt is
obsessed with FaZe. You know, he's from Illion.
He's got a FaZe sweatshirt. Love that. Let me
tell you, dude, it is fire. Not as fire as your
hat, but it is fire. Love me some FaZe. And,
you know, we started out there. I remember one
year... Over the summertime of school I was at
the golf course every single day and then this
is where I really kind of noticed I Was gaining
traction but without really noticing what was
going on All I did was just sat there got bored
hit 300 golf balls go take a nap on my dad's
golf cart Watch him teach a lesson go hit another
300 go pick up golf balls and another 300 This
is what that was my life every single day for
the course of the summer I was probably seven
years old. I'd put that was about my daily routine
hit about 1 ,000 golf balls a day, watch him
teach, and learn how to hit bunker shots. That's
self -taught. So there you go. Everything else,
though, was old school drills, kind of like Rocky
Balboa in the hit and stuff, the vintage way.
That's how I sit ups in a barn. Yeah, you know
we're sitting there after we don't need any any
big crazy equipment You're no Ivan Drago. You're
no Ivan Drago. You are rocky my friend I love
that I love that and you know the first time
I started to break 45 I was seven years old from
the Red Tees. Are you serious? Damn you so and
from there um I want to say the first tournament
I won right in your backyard at Cornell Golf
Club. Yeah. And I shot 38. It was the 10 and
under, I believe, or the 11 and under. And I
knew I was like 9. So I knew I was playing against
some of the older kids. And I smoked them. Or
at least I thought I did. Sure. And from there,
it was getting to the junior tournament level.
Probably my best junior finish was called the
Williamson Cup. It's where the top six players
in each section, four players play two alternates
from Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, and all around
the Northeast gather. So you got like 80, 90
golfers and they all go after trying to win this
Williamson Cup. And I was at the Country Club
of Detroit. I shot 73 in my first round. and
I'm like three shots back. So I'm fired up, swings
clicking on all cylinders. I have all the confidence
in the world. And it was 36 holes one day. I
sit there and I start out birdie, birdie, birdie
on my second 18. Beautiful. And I'm fired up.
End up, you know, obviously just like, you know,
have a couple bogeys, couple pars down the stretch.
End up shooting one under 71, 73, 71, coming
third place. They announced first place, second
place. They didn't announce third. I will never
forget that moment. Why didn't they do that?
I don't know. I guess if you're not first or
second, then nothing else matters. So I learned
a valuable lesson right there. Win or don't be
noticed. That's actually a great mindset, though.
Right? And that really catapulted me to just
take my already sharpened game to another level.
Wow. And from there, we went on to high school,
had a great high school career, won many sectionals
with a great team of guys. moved on to Florida,
tried to do the minor league tour. And I'll tell
you what I learned about that is no matter how
good you think you are, holy smokes, man, there's
always somebody better than you. I would go out
there and shoot two, three under and get annihilated.
I'd shoot 68, 69. And these dudes are shooting
63s, 64s. So then they call you a trunk slammer.
Trunk slammer. I've never heard that one. Yeah,
you didn't make the cut. You go home slamming
your trunk, keep it moving. Oh, man, that's a
good one. So I did the whole Florida thing for
a winter. Ended up, you know, missing home. Then
I was like, you know what, I'm gonna go to college.
And we went, I went to Monroe Community College
on Rochester. That's actually a fantastic community
college. It's like nationally ranked. It's like
a... It's a fantastic game. They no longer have
golf. Really? Yeah, I don't know what they did
there. They stripped their whole athletic program.
I think baseball was their big bread and butter.
I could be mistaken. I think they still have
baseball, but I could be wrong. They might have
gotten rid of baseball, too. I don't know. I
know they did have baseball. I definitely remember
them being on the map, because I'm originally
from Herkimer, so HCCC, Monroe, they played each
other in a lot of things. But man, I got to tell
you, so... There's a million things going through
my head. One is, you know, that is wildly impressive,
because for people that don't golf, you don't
understand that, yes, it does take some athletic
ability, but it also takes so much mental discipline.
It is such a mental game, and I'm a mental case,
and I think that's why I can't get over the hump
and break. I think I shot a 45 once, but I'm
in like the 47, 48, and at like 55 on nine holes,
and I just... But in that I also realized, you
know, at some point I went, why am I getting
mad that I can't golf very well? I golf a dozen
times a season. You know, you were out there
at Power World, you said you were seven years
old, hitting 300 balls a day. And anybody...
A thousand. A thousand balls a day. And, you
know, people hear that and think it's a cliche,
like, you gotta hit like a thousand balls a day.
But you really do. And all the greats that you
look up to, you hear those stories and you were
living that. And it's wildly impressive to me
that you were able to not only get as good as
you have gotten, but to compete at such a high
level. Do you, I've always said that like if
you want to take golf to the next level and you
really want to, maybe if you don't even want
to go pro, but you want to get really good. Do
you think, like for golfers that are listening
or watching, do you think you have to move down
south where you can golf year round? Because
it's tough around here right you get three four
months five months if you're a young junior golfer
um And you really want to further your career
in golf the easy answer. That is yes. Yeah Jeff
Sloomin is Mike we're all Mike where's Canadian,
but he also played like I'm pretty sure he played
at a skinny at this golf club um But Jeff Sloomin
went to Monroe Community College He is, yep.
Wayne Levy, Wayne Levy, shout out Wayne Levy.
Those are like, you know, a few of the names
that from this area upstate New York have made
it. But it, I mean, it's not easy for them. It's
not. There's a guy from Syracuse on the tour
who a couple weeks ago, one of the tournaments
was in the top, he was in the running, he almost
won it. Like on day three, he was climbing the
ranks. I can't remember his name off the top
of my head, but I wish I had wrote it down, but.
Um, but you're right. It is, it's not like it's
impossible, but, but like you said, if you want
to put in the work year -round, weather -wise,
I mean, now you can do things like indoor and
stuff like that, but yeah, I think... Kyle Roy.
Kyle Roy. Kyle Roy. That's him. Shout out Kyle
Roy. That's him. Kevin Roy. Kevin Roy. Kevin
Roy. The brothers. I'm so sorry, the Roy brothers,
if we're getting you mixed up right now. Yeah.
I played junior golf with these guys. Ah, see,
I had a feeling you did. I had a feeling, you
know. Yep. Jim Roy, their father. Yes. Uh, had
a great... Great career as far as I'm concerned.
Yeah, he made it there. I didn't you know, he
had a great senior tour run Kevin Roy is he I
believe he started down in the South American
tour Started lighting it up there dude. He's
playing great golf man. I really honestly I'm
happy for he is playing great golf. I really
hope I get to see him I know I know he's over
at Timberbanks every once in a while. I'm possibly
interested and you know, maybe getting over there
and Calling that a home now. Absolutely. Moving
forward. It's a great course. We were there for
the NFL Alumni Tournament with David's Refuge.
I shot an episode there. What a course. Lovely.
Holy hell. It's my best round there, 71 from
the tips. Man, the par threes there alone. Everyone's
always talking about the greens, greens, greens.
And then my answer is, well, hit it in the right
quadrant. Right. But I mean, easier said than
done, right? And then we all we all face the
times where, you know, you sit there, you over
club, you under club, you got a Morty foot pot
and they're hard. Yeah, that is a great chess
match for four or five hours on that golf course.
I love it. When you're I got to ask you this
because I have such a passion for golf. I don't
know why, you know, I could get out in front
of 70 ,000 people and perform comedy or song
and be fine. But when I'm on the golf course,
I am like when I when I get up for my approach,
I am so terrified of this little fucking ball,
dude. And, you know, and then sometimes I'm fine,
and then sometimes I'm doing, okay, keep your
arm straight, remember your tempo. What is your
approach to when you're getting up to address
the ball? How do you quiet your mind? Do you
quiet your mind? Do you have a routine? You know,
I'm glad you just said that. I was gonna say
routine. Yeah. You need to practice your routine.
For that seven to ten seconds pre -shot routine,
during the shot and post shot. That routine,
it just locks you in, quiets out all the noise
around you. My dad used to jingle keys, ask me
questions like, what's two plus two? Something
that I know the answer, but I can't answer until
after I struck the shot. That was the rule. That
was the rule. He would try to get me off my game.
And I loved it, honestly. People driving by honking
their horns, yelling, hey four! You know what
I mean? It never bothered me. See, that's my
problem. I'm locked in. Dude, if I hear a mouse
fart in the woods, I will shank it 50 feet. I'm
so, like, hypersensitive to that stuff. So you're
saying, get in a routine. Mm -hmm. You don't
have a routine to shut your mind off, but what
you're saying is if you get in a routine, it
will shut your mind off? Yeah, you are now all
in on your routine. I get behind the golf ball,
I line it up, something in the distance, could
be a top of a tree, cloud, whatever. Whatever
I'm marking to aim at, get behind it, get ready,
boom. Everything else goes blank. Now I'm just
locked into that shot, dialed in 100%. You're
never thinking about, OK, tempo, any of that
stuff. You're just going to swing. You're going
to swing free? It'll be like a deep breath. And
yeah, you know, whatever confident mind thought
you could have. Or for instance, I was just playing
in a charity event for the rescue mission at
Skinny Atlas with Sean. And it's a great show
there. And I was playing so tense from the stress
of opening the business and trying to maintain
our clients, keep them happy. And I'm just like,
ah. And I just had to just try to find my woo
-sah out there. Yes. And you can't play golf
tense. No. You can't play golf if your mind's
racing. Once you're out there, it's you, the
grass, the ball, the elements. Nothing else matters
for those four or five hours And then I know
as cliche as it sounds Shot by shot one shot
at a time. That's it. It is it it has to be it
You know, and I've heard you know in in sports
psychology and in pro sports, you know in football
You hear it a lot. They they preach like whatever
just happened Forget it put it out of your mind.
It's done. It's over with we are on no matter
how bad it is an interception a fumble Whatever.
Missed field goal. That's over. We're not even
thinking about that now. We're thinking about
this play right now. And then when the game's
over, you hear a lot of athletes go, uh, yeah,
we're going to enjoy this win for a few hours,
and then it's on to next week. Everything is
just very in the moment. And I just think that's
great practice for life, you know? 100%. On the
golf course, I have a six -step rule. OK. Good,
bad, or ugly. For six steps after I struck my
shot. You think about what happened after the
sixth step you're on to your seventh You are
now moving forward and you're worried about the
next shot, you know, I'm gonna I am going to
use that Do you do you give golf lessons anymore?
Cuz I know you're busy. We'll talk about the
barbershop You know, I I would love to get back
into it. Um, I totally am and Excited about doing
it again. Sure. I once we get back to some normalcy
with the life here and get the business 100 %
locked in grand opening coming later this month
Yes, back nine barbershop. We'll be talking about
that in a second. And I would love to. And I
think that I'm able to connect to a lot of people.
I'm a little bit more of a realist. But I also
am not that golf pro that wants you there for
10 or 15 sessions. I want you there for five.
We're going to lock in. We're going to give you
the drills. We're going to give you whatever
knowledge you need to move on. Whether you're
struggling, breaking 90 will get you there. Breaking
80 will get you there. Now, everything after
80, every two shots, call it about 10 hours of
working on your game. You want to shoot 78, better
put 20 hours. 76, another 20. It just gets harder
and harder and harder. You use 20 as a metric?
I mean, maybe five hours. Maybe 10's a little
excessive, but, you know, my father always used
to make me go out there, and if I only played
nine holes in one day, he was like, oh, well,
good job. Waste of day. You know, it's funny
because I find, you know, we, I get, you know,
I'm doing these tournaments. We all play in these
scramble tournaments and things like that. And
we're getting off the couch, you know, we're
drinking a cup of coffee and then we're getting
out there and swinging and everybody's like,
Oh, what's going on with my drive? And it's like,
listen, first of all, you know, that's like a
guitar player who, you know, plays guitar three
times a summer. And it's like, why can't I play
Eruption by Van Halen? It's like, dude, you gotta
practice. And then I've always noticed, like,
in a tournament, when we get to, like, hole 15,
I start dialing it in, and it's because I'm warmed
up. Do you think, honestly, like, if you're gonna
compete, do you think you really need to get
out there and practice for hours before the tournament
starts? If it's a, you know, if it was a real
deal tournament? My... It was always at least
an hour. Because I never know what the threshold
was. Like when are you going now? You're gonna
tire yourself out like where is the line for
you? So I played so let me answer that question,
then I'll go into a second statement of it um
For me it was an hour hour and 20 minutes you
stretch for 20 minutes Hit some golf balls, and
then the last thing was 50 to 100 three foot
putts take some straight some straight putts
three feet You know you're gonna make them get
the putter feeling good get that hole looking
like a basket Early, otherwise, you know, it's
gonna look like a pinhole on you, right? So get
the putter flowing and the putter honestly I
feel like that is you know, that is the most
important club in the bag. People might say well
the driver is. No, drive for show, putt for dough.
There you go, baby. And Your putter is almost
guaranteed to be the one club that you use on
every single hole. Yeah, unless you're chipping
in so People sit there and they're like, well,
Mike, how do I learn how to lag putt? How do
I do this? How do I do that? You gotta spend
some time. Sure. And it's 150 yards in. If everybody
was just to focus on that aspect, you will tremendously
see a decline in your scores. Everyone's always
like, oh, the driver, the driver, the driver.
You don't even need a driver. No. I got a buddy
that puts this in the bag. He can't hit it. And
he uses a whatever, four iron or five wood, three
wood, whatever he's comfortable with. That's
it. Get to your number. Play high percentage
golf. My father used to hate that. He wants me
ripping driver. I remember I went to Oswego Country
Club and I hit driver three times during the
round and I shot somewhere around par. But I
didn't mind having 200 yards in, a par four.
I'm right in the center of the fairway, got in
my like five or six iron, four iron if it's uphill.
And I'm just letting it launch right at it, throwing
lawn darts. And your birdies are going to come.
I don't need to sit there and go after, especially
if the driver feels good and the driver's swing
feels good, let it rip every single one. But
if you have any doubts, high percentage golf.
Yeah, it's such creative advice because I think
there's a lot of people I golf with that feel
like, well, this is where I'm supposed to use
my driver. You don't have to use it. If your
driver's not working, I'm not saying never use
it again. You should try to get it fixed, because
there are holes where you're going to need the
most distance you can get. But you don't have
to use your driver. Use your fucking six iron.
Whatever is best for each hole, and to put you
up in the best position to win. I mean, a little
fun time here when I was at Northern Pines. I
had one of the car kids working with me, and
he was feeling some type of way. I think he just
got off of playing a real good round. And he
was like, yo, Mike, I'm ready for you. I'm ready
for you. And I'm like, buddy, listen, I'm just
going to use my seven iron. Seven iron. Let's
go play the backside. Seven iron only. No putter?
No putter. Is that your favorite club in the
bag? It is my favorite club. OK. And I shot 38,
and I beat him. Bro, that's wild. That's fucking
wild. Well, you know, at that point in time,
and you know, mind you. Two national championships
at Monroe Community College. Love them boys Got
to be part of that and then moved on after that
like I really haven't Worked on my yeah, I call
it cruise control I do enough so it's not foreign
to me right now sure but I am your captain and
crew golfer currently and that and everyone's
like Mike like come out of you like you're not
even a golfer anymore and Bullshit some people
are like you're an 80s golfer. I've like well,
whatever You know, I mean, they love, you know,
poking the bear. Um, and, uh, you know, I would
love to get out there. I haven't, Mike, I can't
tell you the last time I played 20, 20 rounds
of 18 holes. I'm out of the ball. Really? In
a season. By choice? By choice. Uh, not including
Captain and Cruz. Those were always fall ball
stuff. Well, let's talk about that. What, what,
why? What, is it just life in general? You're
too busy? Or is there something, have you fell
out of love with the game a little bit? Well...
Well, you know, let's go. Are we going to get
back? Yeah, we'll get into the journey. Let's
get into the journey now. This is this is it's
an amazing story. You know, so I mean, we've
talked up to this point, obviously, about golf
in general. But so here you are. You're competing
at a high level at a young age. And then some
things kind of kind of change for you. You know,
I would probably say that the time that I really
started to disconnect myself. From Just being
out in the spotlight was after my parents got
divorced. Well, and obviously there's percentages
that lead in every direction from there I was
lost Confused I was 12 13 years old My mom and
my sister moved out. I don't think I fully understood
what was going on I mean old enough to understand
but that's where things really started to go
How old were you at this point? I was 13 13.
Okay And then like I said in the in the Phoenix
Rising podcast Started to you know get into smoking
weed And they say you know then the experiment
from there. Yeah the gateway drug the gateway
I mean it is it really is for those that don't
agree with that it is And you know I end up getting
arrested on a high school field trip going to
see the Statue of Liberty in New York at 15 and
That burned any sort of d1 offer that I had I
didn't know that at the time. My golf coach calling
me a prima donna. And I'm like, man, you know,
I'm the first one at practice. I'm the last one
to leave. I'm a cocky son of a bitch at that
time. Really was. And it's important to be confident,
but not cocky. There is a line. Got to be humble.
Yeah. And I didn't understand that. Everybody
was, you know, hooking me up, giving me free
golf, free clubs, free this, free that. I'm 13
years old signing autographs for people. To be
fair to yourself, I mean, anybody at that age
experiencing what you were experiencing would
also probably be cocky. I mean, we're not wired
at that age to be able to handle that kind of
pressure and, you know, local fame. And, of course,
you were cocky, you know? I mean, if you were
in your 20s, you know, at that point, you should
know how to kind of balance that. So go easy
on yourself with that. I think... Appreciate
that. I think that's a lot of pressure for a
13 -year -old. And you have to also factor in
your parents are just splitting up. You know,
who are you going to? You know, your mind's all
over the place at that point. It really was.
And then we just continued on the path, you know,
by senior year in high school. I think because
of the arrest on the field trip, I was not eligible
to play in states. So I lost a year of states.
And then I just started to hate everybody. Sure.
It's like the school that I was at. It's everybody
else's fault. No accountability over here. Again,
being young. So we fast forward to Florida. And
everything's going good there as well. I'm starting
to meet some great contacts, playing with some
great LPGA players. and the shark pull of everybody
else down there. My gosh. And then I came back
up here, went to school, because I'm like, what
else am I going to do? Let's further our education,
which is hospitality management and business
management. And that's where the Dewey's started
to happen. Got the first one in college, year
and a half later, got a second one. Year and
a half after that, got the third one. And then
that's where, you know, I was still, I was still
floating. I was still making way and still being
motivated to try to continue life. I just keep
getting knocked down and I'm like, all right,
whatever, whatever, you know, what else is new?
Get to the golf course at Northern Pines. And
that's when I got the second and third one. So
I lost my license. I could no longer smoke weed
anymore. And then I started my opioid addiction.
Started with pills, escalated into fentanyl,
heroin. Probably three years with the pills and
then, you know, once that got too expensive,
we graduated on. But that fentanyl and for anybody
that is struggling with opioid addiction, you
know, I am a... I'm standing living proof that
you can beat it. How did you get introduced to
the opioids? Did you have an injury or was it
just kind of you're at a party? Someone's like,
hey, try this shit. You know, I always wonder
how someone goes right like, because everyone
kind of knows what can happen. So I always think
what goes through someone's mind when they know
how dangerous this is, this kind of drug, how
does it get introduced and how do you make that
decision? If you even remember. You know, experimenting
with pills in high school was something that
we did, but nothing of habitual status. I had,
who was it? It was a friend of mine. Don't say
his name. Who was it? It was John Smith. He lives
at 1435. John Doe. He introduced me to a gentleman
that lived right up the road from me. And again,
couldn't smoke weed anymore, stays in your system
too long, I'm on probation. And I'm like, how
can we still get high and hide pills? That's
what it was. Got in out of my system, and I remember
telling him, I'm like, bro, I don't want to get
addicted to these things. It's like day three
or four. I don't want to get addicted to these,
so don't answer my call for a couple days. Didn't
like that. He didn't answer my call after I was
told them not to so I think I showed up at his
house or something like that and Again like once
my habit grew to like two or three hundred dollars
a day I don't know how I didn't lose everything
in the process Wow I got lucky dude like a lot
of people lose their house their life their family
and I somehow kept it afloat barely but did um
That's when I was like dude I can't afford this
habit anymore. But the withdrawals, they stink.
Like the flu on steroids. So I found somebody
that I worked with once I left Northern Pines
and I was working at a box manufacturing plant.
This gentleman sold fentanyl and Man, it's just
like, you know, it's everywhere. It really is.
You know, for those listening or watching, and
I'm gonna sound stupid here, but I think it's
important that I ask this question. You know,
we keep hearing about this fentanyl -fentanyl,
and I'm a little confused on some of it because
I know the problem is happening where a lot of
drug dealers are cutting, you know, these pills
or whatever, these drugs with fentanyl because
it's cheaper, and that... Fentanyl is so dangerous,
it can kill you. But is there a sector of people
that actually seek out fentanyl? Like you do
fentanyl on its own? Or is it always a part of
something else? So I would say when I was doing
it, whatever cutting agent that they're using,
because if you're just using straight fentanyl
and you have no medical practice with it at all,
it's dangerous. One tenth of a gram. I had to
be transparent. I went to get a colonoscopy,
and I'm laying there, and they're getting ready
to put me out. And I hear her go, all right,
and now we're going to start the fentanyl. And
I was like, the fentanyl? You know, because I
was like, all I've heard is how bad, you know,
I didn't understand that it actually is used
in medical, you know, with actual doctors. I
was like, what are they doing to me? In very
small doses. Yeah, yeah. So. What I was using
was, you know, you get the bags. You know, they
call them bundles or bricks or something. Honestly,
I get it all confused now. But, you know, it's...
To my knowledge, it was straight fat. No, it
was. It was cut with something. Whatever cutting
agent that these people are using at the time.
You don't know. You don't know. And, you know,
at this point in time, I... You know for anybody
that uses heroin or man, is that just the world's
dirtiest drug? I I Didn't ever like that. You
did try heroin. I did try heroin And you know,
it's what from the opium plant or whatever But
like whatever they caught it with I saw a documentary
of these dudes on Netflix making it over in Colombia
And I'm like, holy shit dude. It looks like it
looks like dirt. Really? Straight dirt and they're
not using it's like Why you even put this in
your body if you if people saw the way that it
was produced, maybe then I don't know but um
Nowadays, this is what people are doing. They're
getting smarter. They're adapting you can buy
pill filler online and a pill press and people
are taking the fentanyl and cutting it with the
pill filler and making their own Roxy 30s, whatever
brand pill that you can get at all. And this
is how people are now getting a hot pill. They're
dying. It's like people getting those take -home,
like, brew -your -own -beer kits. They've been
bottling them and putting them in the stores,
you know? And you're just drinking whatever piss
these people are making. You don't know how much
of anything is in it. And they can sit there
and say, oh, we blend real good, this, that,
and the third. They don't know. No. They don't.
Nobody knows. So it's... So you fast forward
a little bit. So now you're dealing with this
opioid addiction. Mm -hmm. And you've got some
DWIs under your belt. You know, you're still...
You love golf. You're trying to find your way.
You're back in school. What happens now? Where
are we at? We lost the job at the boxing plant.
Yep, we're at the boxing plant. I am absolutely
hating that job. For those, again, that work
in the factory sector, God bless you. Oh, my
God. I've done it, too. It gives you a new respect
for people that work in that industry. It's awful.
It's awful. Some of the worst work conditions
I've ever... It's a sweatshop. And I'm sorry
for if anybody is a general manager of a plant
and, you know, I respect your business savviness
and you have goals, we all have goals. We need
them. But I mean, the working conditions, the
food, if you're going to mandate overtime on
people, give them some good food to eat. Healthy.
Give them some showers. Give them a place to
take a nap. They're putting in the work for you.
Those are the guys on the front lines. Take care
of them boys and girls. But I hated it. I wanted
out. And that's when I started to ask Sammy Catanzaro,
the ex -owner of Big City Barbershop. I said,
hey man, can you teach me the ways? I'd love
to learn how to cut hair. These guys are always
at the golf course when I was at the golf course.
Driving nice cars wearing nice clothes playing
the golf course more than me and I'm like, what
am I doing wrong over here? And You know, I did
that I worked nine to twelve and then ten to
two at the factory. I did that for about Eight
ten months and I had enough Said forget you I
well I actually got into some trouble with the
fentanyl at the factory I passed out over over
stacking boxes and it's called a cookie sheet
that slides out big big metal metal Apparatus
that just slides in and out while you're stacking
boxes it came out I passed out and somebody grabbed
me by my belt Otherwise, I would have probably
went head first. Oh my 10 12 feet landed on my
neck probably died Wouldn't have known anything
They chalked it up as me being overworked Even
though they all knew what was going on and they
put me on a two -day leave, light duty, outside
patient or outpatient rehab. And it was kind
of like, I didn't really learn anything. I'm
like, really? Is this how this is dealt with?
I've never been in this situation before. And
the plant manager and the GM also haven't dealt
with this before. So my union rep didn't, nobody
knew how to help me. Isn't that crazy? That is
crazy. They have all these procedures in place.
Nobody can help a struggling drug addict. That's
why it's important for interviews like this to
get the word out, because for some places and
people, it's uncharted territory, but it's a
part of life now. Opioid addiction, drugs, I
mean, it's everywhere, and, you know, Narcan
being a huge thing now. Mm -hmm. You know, the
more we talk about it, the more people can put
these kind of procedures in place for, God forbid,
something like this happens. Absolutely. And
for those struggling with addiction of any kind,
that doesn't make you a bad person. It doesn't.
But society has a way of making you feel like
a bad person. You know, like, you were talking
about how you got caught. You're still, you know,
at your age. You still remember vividly when
you got caught on that trip with weed. and how
it just, it fucked so many things up for you,
and you still feel bad about it, I bet, in some
ways. 100%. And you shouldn't, because it was
a mistake. And I always talk about this, you
know, society had a way of, when we were growing
up, you know, we're around the same age, if I
had got caught drinking, you know, while I was
in high school, I'd get in trouble by my parents,
but it was boys will be boys, that's what they'd
do. If you got caught with weed, it was like
you... had like crossed the border with heroin
up your ass. I mean, you were treated like you
need to stop hanging out with your friends. You
need to go to drug counseling. You're going to
be a loser. You're never going to have a career.
And it's funny how it's flipped. And we've realized
now through research and just wisdom about life.
It's actually the other way around sometimes.
I've never seen anyone die from weed and I'm
not promoting that people should go smoke weed.
But we've found out that weed is so much safer.
It has medicinal purposes and alcohol is just
poison. And it's led to so much trouble. And
I tell people all the time, look, I ruined it
for myself. I quit drinking October 1st, 2020.
And it was the best decision I ever made. I do
not fault people. I tell people, if you can drink
and control it, do it for your whole life. Because
it's awesome. Let's be honest. I can't. So it
just amazes me how, I mean, I'm glad you learned
a lesson for it. But the fact that you're still
Maybe mentally beating yourself up over a field
trip where you got caught with weed, that sucks.
It sucks. It really does. I lost back to the
weed on the first DWI guy. I could have pled
to a UPM, not a DWI. What's a UPM? Unlawful possession
of marijuana. Oh, gotcha, okay. Which would have,
if I pled to that... Now, mind you, I'm in college.
I need financial aid. If you get a UPM, they
cut you off from financial aid. But not a DWI.
Not a DWI. This is exactly my point. See what
I'm saying, dude? That's my point. So I'm like...
It's backwards, man. I wanted to go to Colsa,
Carolina to finish my hospitality degree, and
I'm like, holy cow, I have to make a decision.
You know, we're in a time now, and it's always
been this way, but even more now with social
media and cancel culture... I am a firm believer
in holding people accountable. We have to do
that. But there is a line that we've crossed
with canceling people and getting people fired
where it's like we're teaching society that you're
not allowed to make mistakes and learn from it.
And I think that's really dangerous. I think
you can hold people accountable without ruining
their lives over some mistakes that we've all
made. There's a million kids that had fucking
weed on a field trip. Through all this, now you're
coming out of it. I know you kind of relapsed
one time. There was a story you told on Sean's
podcast that really hit me about when you kind
of injured yourself. Do you mind talking about
that? And I believe that was your last straw.
That was my last straw. Your rock bottom. My
rock bottom. I met a girl. I got clean. Or I
started to get clean. And it was like a two -year
process of me mentally blasting myself saying,
dude, this is garbage. What are you doing? Stop
doing this. Okay, you know, we're going to lower
the dose of what we take, which never happens.
You can try it, but then the beast will always
win. The devil always wins. And I'm sitting there
and I'm like, all right, you know, I got a girl
in my life. She has some children. Things are
changing. You had a purpose. Had a purpose. something
happened where it was over the summer. I am clean
for probably 30 or 60 days now. And she went
to some party and I'm like, you know what, man,
I'm lonely right now. Screw it, let's go get
high. And that's all, by the way, that's all
it takes sometimes for addicts is that in any
moment, something can trigger you. Even something
as simple as, oh, my girlfriend went to a party,
you know, I'm gonna get high. Yeah. It just...
Any addict that can make any sort of circumstance
of that justifiable, boom, let's go. So I did
that. I called up the man, said, hey bro, what's
up? He's like, yo, I got some lean. And I'm like,
oh, I can't get my hands on that. And I did.
On the way home, I'm on my street. And it kind
of like forks out like a wishing bone. And I
remember that I passed out and almost took out
my neighbor's mailbox. And I see this mailbox
every single time to this day. And it's like,
boom, flash, instant flashback. And I'm like,
holy cow, dude. So I get to the house. And I'm
by myself. And all of a sudden, I'm like, all
right, whatever. Do two bags real quick. That
was what I used to do. And I'm like, why not?
Let's get right back into it. Used to do is the
key. Yep. Mike, next thing you know, dude, I'm
naked, in the middle of my floor. I don't know
how many hours have passed. I have the worst
pill hangover, opioid hangover ever, which just
sounds like you have just been flash banged in
your head. Is it worse than the worst alcohol
hangover you ever had? The worst. Really? Worst,
yes. Yes, yes, bro. And there's nothing you can
do. Everything is super sensitive anyways. I'm
sitting there and I'm like, why does my eye hurt?
And dude, what happened was I did those two bags
and the corner of my dresser, one of my drawers
was sticking out, the bottom one actually. And
I passed out and the full weight of my body landed
on the corner of the dresser. And that's when
I kind of came to I thought that something had
stabbed my eye like a pen or a pencil I completely
felt that when I was gonna go up something was
something has stabbed me Yeah, and it wasn't
and I'm like, okay Why is this so excruciating?
Went to go look in the mirror dude, and I looked
like a tiger and just swiped me across the face.
No Right through the eye everything and you know
again I've heard stories from friend other friends
and people that are addicts that one of the People
relapse. It happens all the time, especially
when you begin any sort of program. I've heard
it's very, very easy for people to relapse. But
the real dangerous part about it is what you
said earlier, which is you did what you used
to do, but what people don't realize is even
after 30 days, 60 days, your body doesn't have
that tolerance. So that's why a lot of people,
correct me if I'm wrong, that's why a lot of
people have this happen or die because... They're
doing what they normally used to do, the same
amount. They can't handle it. And as crazy as
that sounds, for those that are even deeper into
the fentanyl, doing ten bags at a time, I could
even fathom. That's insane to me. I'm doing two,
and they're like, yeah, you know what I mean?
I don't know, just do a whole bundle real quick
and call it out. I'm like, holy shit. Yep. And
that's a whole different level. And I just wish
that, you know, after that, dude, I woke up.
And I grabbed like probably like I probably had
like 45 bags still Flushed him down. That's good
for you. Finally. That is so hard first and only
time I've ever done that but see that's the moment,
you know It's gonna work because this is what
I tell people when I quit drinking. I called
my buddy He taught he had he had quit drinking
I took the half a handle of vodka. I had left
and I dumped it I have a video of it on my phone
And before that moment, the thought of ever doing
that. But that's how I knew I'm serious. And
that's why you hear people say the only true
way to really, not always, but mostly, the only
true way that you're going to get off whatever
you're addicted to is when you're ready. Not
when the courts are ready. Not when your friends
are ready. You know, it is when you are like,
I've had enough. And you had had enough at that
moment for you to flush those bags down. I had
enough. I realized, you know, my mom would tell
me things, and I'm like, eh, what does she know?
My father... My father and Sammy were the only
two people that, no matter what happened, they
knew that somehow I was going to come out of
this. There's no timetable for it. You know,
again, probably four years of addicted effect
and all, two of which was trying to get off of
it. I was going to ask you because your dad seemed
to play a big role in your life with golf and
as a mentor and remember you were talking about
the pre -shot routine that he would make you
do or he asked you a question. Was he along your
side through this or had you separated yourself
from him because of the addiction? Did he help
in any way or was he angry? What was your relationship
like with him through that? So I'll tell you
what he wasn't. He was not an enabler. That's
huge. Many parents out there are huge enablers.
because they love their kids and they're... I've
lost... I lost one best friend because of his
parents enabling and another best friend finally.
He also beat the opioids finally now, but I think
he had to do the shot. Yeah. And, um, whichever
how you have to get sober, get sober. Absolutely.
Just do it. There's no right or wrong way. Everybody's
got a different journey. Like, whatever you need
to do to do it, do it. And, you know, my dad
would, uh, he would... He lived with me. He saw
how high I was day in and day out. He used to
call me the pinball wizard because I'd be in
the bathroom. I'd be in the bathroom and then
next thing you know, I'm passed out, falling
into the wall, falling into the shower, the toilet,
this and that. And I mean, it's funny to go back
and laugh on these moments now. Sure. And you
know... The after after I while I was on probation
there was another time that I passed out I'm
redoing the floors in my house, dude. I was putting
in tile and I just got caught driving without
a license and I just did not care one time was
on a Honda Grom I was test driving it to buy
it. Jesus So literally I'm test driving the Honda
Grom I get pulled over do you can't make this
stuff up? And it's just like, Mikey, you just
sometimes have some horrible luck. Well, I also
make some really dumb decisions, too. Well, you
know what? I've always said, because again, I
had an alcohol problem. And I'm a good person.
You're a good person. You hear these stories
about people doing that kind of stuff. Scott
was test driving a vehicle. He drove it through
the window of a fucking, you know, dealership.
Anything crazy and you think, man, how do people
do that? I realized when I was in the thick of
my alcohol problem, or I guess addiction, At
any moment, like literally at any moment, your
life can change over one thing because you put
yourself in situations that you normally wouldn't
put yourself in if you were sober at the moment.
Like for example, even little things like you
wouldn't be walking home at two in the morning
if you weren't out drinking. So obviously when
you're walking home at two in the morning, there's
things you can get involved in. Just I remember
when I quit drinking one of the things I was
most thankful for was that like I'm no longer
in these situations where at any moment Like
something crazy can happen. You know what I mean?
Like you're always one degree away separation
away from something fucking nuts and you know,
that's I Think alcohol is the worst of all of
them. I agree it can it cannot it can It opens
you up to really poor decision -making. And you're
right. Ah, fuck it. Let's just go do this and
that. You know what I mean? You're like, you're
at the casino. Next thing you know, you wake
up, you drove fucking to Cleveland. You know
what I mean? And it's like, what did I just do?
With no recollection. With no recollection, and
just, and it gets scary because sometimes you
sit there and you go, I don't know if I trust
my, it's not even like the drug or the people
I'm with. I don't trust myself on my decision
-making anymore. I mean, you go, the whole drinking
and driving thing is, it's serious, right? Nobody
should be drinking and driving. But shame on
government officials, the judicial system. Shame
on you for not implementing stronger penalties
on somebody's first one. Really? That's an interesting
take. I like that. Interlock devices automatically
installed after your first one You can get slapped
on the wrist slap them monetarily on the wrist.
Yeah, because if you get three everything's times
three Don't wait, but they realize how much revenue
that they make off of these DW eyes I think that
it is now viewed as a money -making system and
people are getting away from Helping people get
back to their normal way of life Yeah. That is...
Somebody needs a stand. There needs to be more,
uh... What's the word I'm looking for? Uh, da
-da -da -da -da. Uh, why am I blanking out? Basically,
you've got to judge every situation differently.
Every situa... You can't blanket something. You
know, everybody's got a different reason for
what they're doing. Like, even in a DWI situation.
Well, what... Are they struggling? Do they have
any prior? You can't treat everybody across the
board the same. So I think it's important that
you look at these people as humans more than
just as someone who's breaking the law. Everyone's
got a story. So you come out of this addiction,
because I could talk to you all day. We've been
going long because I'm just fascinated by this
story. What happens now? We see the light of
day. Back nine barbershop. How do you get here
from there? So I just kept my head down and just
kept moving forward trust in the process they
did easy statement to say right Get into barbershop
Start flicking. That's what Samuel is used to
hanging and hold on, you know, it's gonna be
a bumpy ride I am now barbering for going on
my sixth year Congratulations. Thank you. Thank
you. Um, I've been sober for three years Hey,
hey, hey my man And, you know, me and one of
my business partners probably earlier this year
were like, ah, you know, is there really a good
exit from one of these things? It's probably
not. Nobody likes to see anybody leave. But,
you know what, we stayed true to ourselves and
we wanted personal growth and for us to do better.
So we decided that opening up Back 9 Barbershop
was that direction to take. It's awesome. It
really is. And in only three years, a thousand
days ago, I almost lost everything. You know,
one of my favorite sayings that I learned in
therapy was in relation to drugs or drinking
is you can give up everything for one thing or
you can give up one thing for everything. And
it really is that way. There's no truth. My kids
get all of me. I mean, I have it all. You know,
I gave it up, and so did you. And you're amazing,
man. I mean, your story is so inspiring. And
I'll tell you, if anyone's listening or watching
that is struggling in any sort of way, go get
a haircut with Mike, because you might get some
help out of it. You know, people struggling coming
to you. You know, because I've learned going
to my barber, dude, it's like a therapy session.
We talk, we laugh, we crack jokes, we talk football.
We are part therapists. You really are. Women,
I hate to label women men, but women typically
go to the spa. Yeah, no. The nail salon. Sure.
Us gents, we go to our barbershop. That's our
safe haven. Hell yeah. We talk about everything
under the sun. And, you know, if I can give out
any motivational quotes or help anybody in the
process who is struggling, you know, just let
yourself be known that you can do it. You can
do it. You're living proof, dude. I am living
proof. And I'm so inspired by you and, you know,
I love you for it. And I just love how it all,
all this bullshit that happened, it all funneled
down into this back nine barber shop, which combines
not only the two things that you love, cutting
hair, three things, helping people. Golf mm -hmm
and it's also the two things your parents did
for a career It's just it's very storybook man,
and I'm happy for you. I could have never even
have thought this of course not It's hard to
see it now when you quit. Did you do cold turkey?
Did you do rehab last time I did cold turkey
you did cold turkey um I did too that it's like
you don't recommend it to people if you can I
know. So for anybody that's listening that is
struggling with opioid addiction, that is recommendedly,
medically not the way to go. But I wanted to
remember how hard it was to get sober. Like it
was easy to get high. It should be hard to get
sober. Sure. And the thing about it is now is
they'll slide you to suboxone or methadone. Yeah.
But what you're not doing is going through the
withdrawals. Right. And, you know, they will
keep you now locked into suboxone. which look
at the lawsuits, people losing teeth, or they'll
keep you locked in a methadone, which you still
can abuse. And they don't taper you off fast
enough. So if anybody's gonna go that route,
make sure that you have a written out system
of, okay, we're gonna start at six milligrams
of Suboxone, and then month one, we're taking
a third off of it. slowly taper your way down
because the doctors are probably not going to
do it. They're just going to give you, oh, you've
been good. You haven't had any dirty piss tests.
Okay, cool. We'll keep you on for three, four
or five years. And then when you finally want
to get off the box and holy hell is those, those
withdrawals are even worse. Yeah. So the withdrawals
are, they're imminent. They're going to happen.
Face it. Get yourself a good circle, a good support
system, and you can beat it. Then you're the
man Mike Catalano back nine barbershop golfer
extraordinaire Give me the plugs before we go.
Where can we find back nine barbershop? How do
we contact you the whole thing? So, uh, you know,
you can go to back nine barbershop .com Our link
will take you right to our book see booking app.
We are open Tuesday through Friday 8 to 6 Saturday
7 to 2 for right now. We are closed Sunday Mondays
We are at the 31 Center across some spears off
31 We are two doors to the left of Kenzie, 6257,
Route 31. We would love to have anybody come
in there. We are open to walk -ins. We are open
to give you our hospitality, whatever. Bac9 welcomes
you all in. That's amazing. And for those of
you struggling with addiction and need any sort
of help, contact the show. We can put you in
touch with Mike, or we have other resources to
get you help. Mike Catalano is living proof that
you can go through the depths of hell and come
out on top. And I'm honored to sit here with
you and hear your story, and I appreciate you
sharing it with everybody, man. Mike, thanks
for having me on, and I'm glad that I'm able
to slowly start to pay it forward. The man. Mike
Catalano, Back Nine Barbershop. One of my favorite
interviews. I've got goosebumps, to be honest
with you. We will see you tomorrow. Matt will
be back from his vacation at Enchanted Forest.
I'm kidding, he didn't go there. But we love
it there. Yeah, Matt will be back tomorrow. Good
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